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ktgoodmorning · 2 months

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Useless: Part 3

Claudia Pina x reader

Part 3 (and final part) to useless

Find Part 1 and part 2 here

Masterlist

Claudia is bored due to her injury, you struggle to keep her entertained

It had now been a week since Claudia’s injury. Things had definitely started to improve since your talk a few days ago. Your girlfriend was clearly still feeling down but now it was in a way that was more expected given her injury. The focal point of her frustration was now her boredom. Unable to navigate without crutches and still advised to be resting, she was yet to leave the apartment.

Claudia was getting more and more restless by the minute. All of her favorite things involved movement- football, working out, partying with her friends, exploring with you. Your girlfriend wasn’t exactly known for being still. That’s part of what had originally drawn you to Claudia- how she was always bouncing around and full of energy. The new limitations on her were providing both a new challenge.

The second you walked in from training you were greeted by your girlfriend groaning dramatically on the couch. “Amooorrrrr,” you chuckled lightly as you made your way over to sit by her. As soon as you sat down, she laid her head across your lap, continuing her dramatics. “I’m boooorrrreeedd. Please tell me you brought me something to do,” Claudia pleaded with you even though it was clear you had come home empty handed.

“Sorry to disappoint, my love,” you ran your hand through her hair as you spoke, “just me today.” You noticed Claudia’s face change into a suggestive smirk. All you could do was blush and give her a playful eye roll, knowing that what she was hoping for wouldn’t be possible with her current lack of mobility.

“Mmm, I like seeing you blush because of me, baby,” she mumbled into your skin as she pressed a lingering kiss into your hip.

“Clau, that’s not gonna happen today and you know it.” Your girlfriend gave you another groan, this time accompanied by a major pout. All you could do was smile at your girlfriend, seeing her dimples poking through even though she was pouting at you. “But we can do anything else you want? We could watch a movie?”

“Nooo, I’ve been doing that all day,” this time she had punctuated her sentence with an equally dramatic sigh.

You tried offering your girlfriend some more suggestions, “what about a game of FIFA?” This got her attention as rarely played video games. After a few seconds of contemplation, Claudia took you up on your offer. You got it all set up and got each of you a controller as she got better settled into the couch.

The pair of you happily settled into the game. For a while she had settled on trying to help you improve your playing. You definitely couldn’t complain about how your girlfriend would hold your hands in her’s, teaching you all the little tricks to the game that came naturally to her. When she got tired of helping you, the two of you switched to playing against each other. Despite her help, you still were no match for Claudia. It didn’t take long before she started getting bored of how easily she was beating you. After three times, she returned back to her whining at you, “amorrrr, this isn’t fun anymore.”

You felt terrible for her. It was clear how much she was struggling with being stuck at home, but it’s also what the doctor had recommended. Especially given that it had only been a week, you didn’t feel comfortable going against that yet. “I’m sorry, Clau. I wish I knew how to help you,” you let out a heavy sigh, looking to her in hopes she’d give you any sort of lead on what could help her.

“The girls are going out tonight…” she looked at you hesitantly, already knowing what you were gonna say. “What if we just went for a little bit? It wouldn’t have to be long! And I wouldn’t drink or anything! I just need something other than this stupid couch.” You felt terrible, watching as your girlfriend pleaded with you. It broke your heart knowing that going out tonight was a terrible idea. You had already heard the girls planning their night and you knew that the club they were going to was going to be crazy. It was well known for being packed with people, an environment that would be nearly impossible for your girlfriend to navigate on her crutches.

“Clau,” you sighed, stroking her face gently with your hand. “Do you know where it is they’re going tonight?” the brunette shook her head tentatively, knowing this couldn’t be going in the direction she was hoping for. “Well I do. And it’s really not a good idea. I’m sorry, mi amor. I wish I had another answer for you.”

Her face fell even though you knew she understood. She nodded as she collapsed against you, falling into your arms. As much as it hurt you to see the one you loved in so much pain, you appreciated her newfound ability to express her emotions more openly with you. All you could do right now was hold her tightly and reassure her that this wouldn’t last much longer. After it had been a while of Claudia laying with you, you realized she was sleeping lightly in your arms. It seemed like a good idea to let her sleep. At the very least, it would pass the time while you came up with some ideas to make your girlfriend feel better..

After lots of thinking and texts with the girls, you had landed on the perfect plan. You had decided that if you couldn’t bring your girlfriend to the party, you’d bring the party to her. Between Mapi, Patri, and Alexia, you had arranged jobs for everyone in order to essentially arrange a surprise party for someone who wouldn’t be leaving your house.

Claudia had woken up late in the afternoon, hungry of course. Your latest job was to convince her to put off supper, knowing that the girls would be arriving with food soon. “Amor, maybe you’d feel better if you changed clothes?” You knew that she’d be much more appreciative of everyone coming over if she looked more like herself.

“Whyyyy?” she got back to her slightly whiny and pouty mood, reminded of how little she could do. “It’s so late in the day I don’t see why I should get dressed now? I just want to eat, mi amor.” Your girlfriend looked at you longingly, giving you puppy-dog eyes to get you on her side.

“I’ll get you food soon I promise. Just please trust me, Clau? I really think you’ll feel better,” now you were giving her the same puppy dog eyes, trying the same tactic back on her. It seemed to work as she gave in, letting you pick her up in your arms, carrying her to the bedroom. You set your girlfriend gently on the bed, while you went to pick out a fresh set of clothes.

With Claudia’s guidance, you had grabbed her a plain black t-shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. You knew she needed to be comfortable but would also appreciate looking a little better than she had the past week. She moved to sit on the edge of your bed so you were able to help her get changed. You pulled her t-shirt over her head gently, watching as a smirk grew on her face. It put your mind at ease, knowing that your girlfriend's typical suggestive attitude hadn’t yet disappeared. “Don’t even think about it, mi amor,” you warned her jokingly, making sure she didn’t get her hopes up. All you got in return was a light glare as you pulled the clean shirt on for her. The situation repeated as you carefully changed her pants, working gently past her boot. Changing clothes did seem to put her in a slightly better mood, looking and feeling a little more herself. She pulled out her messy ponytail and handed it to you, silently asking you to redo it for her, which you happily complied with.

Now that she was looking and feeling better, you picked her your girlfriend once again and carried her into the kitchen, setting her on a chair at your kitchen table. Right on time, you heard a knock at the door before Mapi let herself in, Ingrid in tow. In her hands was a bag of takeout from Claudia’s favorite restaurant. You had arranged for some of your closest friends to come eat with you before more of the girls came over to hang out later.

Confusion was clear on your girlfriend's face as she saw who had arrived, “Mapi? Ingrid? What are you guys doing here?” She looked between the two of them for answers before landing on you as well.

Finally, Ingrid decided to be the one to answer her, “we heard you could use some company, so we brought dinner.” You, Ingrid, and Mapi were all smirking, happy that the first part of your surprise had worked. Claudia looked over to you, knowing you were behind this. Her face was full of appreciation for how you had arranged this.

Just as Mapi started getting the food out, Patri and Alexia arrived together. Patri walked in greeting everyone loudly, knowing that it was exactly what her injured friend would want. “Hola, mi amigas!” Claudia’s face lit up upon seeing her two best friends walking through the door, seemingly understanding what was now happening. Patri went straight to her best friend, giving her a tight squeeze and a kiss on the top of her head.

Alexia went to you, her arms carrying bags full of a variety of alcohol. Her job was to bring things for the party later tonight and she seemed to have taken that job quite seriously. You put it all away, thanking her quietly while Patri caught up with your girlfriend. “Pina must be doing better now, si?” the Catalan questioned you while the others were distracted in conversation.

You nodded in response, “much better, just getting tired of not being able to do much.”

Alexia nodded understandingly, having recently spent plenty of time injured as well. “This will help,” she assured you. “You know her well, this will be perfect for her,” she gave you a small hug before the two of you began unboxing the food for everyone. While the six of you ate, you happily remained somewhat quiet, taking in the conversations among the rest of the group. Everyone was catching up with Claudia who was the most talkative you’d seen her all week. Watching her was a glimpse of her normal, energetic self and you just wanted to appreciate it while you could.

You let your girlfriend continue to get lost in conversation with Patri and Mapi while the rest of you started cleaning up the dishes. More of the girls would start arriving soon and you wanted to be ready. Ingrid went to your living room, cleaning up any of the remnants of the last week that Claudia had spent on the couch. Alexia started making some drinks so the party could start as soon as the others arrived. The captain had given everyone strict orders that they couldn’t stay over too late as Claudia would need the rest. She made sure everyone would be ready to start the night early, as soon as they arrived, to accommodate Claudia’s earlier than usual bedtime. As much as she knew she wouldn’t be drinking, she didn’t mind being the one in charge of the drinks. The captain liked being able to watch over everyone and make sure everyone was being safe, not like she had to worry much being in your shared apartment rather than a rowdy nightclub.

As expected, more teammates started to arrive soon after dinner. First it was Lucy and Ona, followed closely by Aitana, Kiera, and Mariona. Every time another teammate walked it, Claudia looked just as surprised as she had the last time. She would always follow the surprise by confusion, and then immediately look to you in thanks. It had not been long before most of the team had arrived, turning your apartment into a mini-nightclub. There were strobe lights going in your living room, drinks were flowing, and music was blasting (all from a playlist of Claudia’s favorites, of course).

It was clear how much your girlfriend was enjoying this when you walked into your living room and saw her on Lucy’s back, as the older girl jumped around with her. Again, you let her have her space, enjoying watching how she was having the most fun she’d had all week. Her energy was back, and she was enjoying one of her favorite ways to let loose and relax. Both of you had had a couple drinks but were far from drunk. You each needed to relax a bit while still being somewhat careful of your broken girlfriend. Everytime you spotted Claudia, she seemed to be on someone else’s back, yelling directions in their ear on where she wanted them to take her.

Eventually, you had been distracted, dancing with Kiera and Aitana, enjoying some time with your own friends, when Patri made her way to you. Claudia was on her back of course, very giggly, and reaching out for you. “(Y/n/n)! Will you hold me? I haven’t seen you all night!” She fake pouted at you while Patri carefully switched her to your back. “I missed you!!” she peppered the side of your face with kisses as she basically yelled to be heard.

“Come find me if your back needs a break from her! I’ll be in the kitchen!” you nodded to Patri appreciatively, thankful for how she was supporting you as well as her best friend.

Claudia wrapped her arms around your neck tightly, giving you a tight hug from her spot on your back. “Thank you, mi amor. I think I really needed this.”

You only responded by turning your head, giving her lips a quick kiss, “Anything for you, Claudia. Always.”

The two of you continued to dance, as well as you could with her on your back, until Alexia started to send people home. As much as everyone could’ve gone longer, Claudia could not. Normally she’d be the first to be out all night, but after being on the couch all week, this small amount of action really exhausted her. The two of you thanked everyone for coming as the small crowd slowly dissipated. Eventually you were left with the group of six of you that had eaten dinner together. The group cleaned up the place, returning it from being ‘nightclub’ to being your home again. Neither you nor Claudia could thank them enough. They had been lifesavers for you. Helping arrange this entire thing just to help make your girlfriend feel better. It was exactly what Claudia needed too. She thrived on socialization and valued her friends more than anything. This was her way of relaxing and she was finally able to do it.

Once everything had left, it was just the two of you, and a peaceful silence. You carried her into your bedroom, bridal style, and laid her gently on your bed, similar to how you had done it earlier in the day. You changed both of you into something more comfortable to sleep in, a big t-shirt with just underwear on the bottom. It was clear she was tired when there were no suggestive comments at you changing her clothes. You both got ready for bed, exhausted from the excitement. Immediately Claudia curled into your side, like she often did now. “Bebita, I don’t deserve you,” she spoke quietly, tired yet still awake.

“Yes you do, I promise,” it was all you could respond because it was true. You knew that if the roles were reversed, she would do the exact same thing.

“I don’t know how you can put up with me after I shut you out a few days ago. I can’t believe you did all this for me after I acted like that.”

Your heart broke once again, hearing how the love of your life didn’t think she deserved you. “Claudia, I love you. Always. Even if you try to push me away. It doesn’t change how I feel about you. I’m still gonna do whatever I can to help you and right now, that means throwing you a party.”

“Mi amor, I truly cannot thank you enough. You made today a lot less depressing. I love you.” She somehow managed to snuggle into you even deeper than before, although you didn’t mind one bit. You appreciated the closeness and affection she was unable to show you earlier in the week.

“I love you, Claudia. Always.” you gave her a tight squeeze in return, trying to force her to feel you love.

As tired as you both were, Claudia couldn’t quite suppress the energy she had gotten from being with her friends all night. You knew her well enough to know she’d be talking about it some as you both drifted off to sleep. “Did you hear about how Mapi wants a motorcycle?” she giggled to herself, knowing you were already half asleep. “I think Ingrid actually would kill her. She looked like she might just from talking about it today.” Your girlfriend continued to chat, mostly to herself, “I could see that though and…” She drifted into sleep shortly after you, her bubbly words turning to incoherent mumbling before coming to a stop as the two of you slept deeply in each other's arms. You both were filled with more love for each other than ever before, knowing you would go to the ends of the earth to make each other happy.

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Feedback and requests are always welcome! :)

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mystic-sky · 3 years

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One shot wherein the s/o of Gojo Satoru gets injured trying to protect him and brought to the hospital but doesnt die. With a mountain of angst pls. 🥺👉🏽👈🏽

Word Count: 1.6k

16-year old Satoru had never known much about compassion, or any crucial emotions that would’ve paved the way for him to be a brilliant jujutsu sorcerer, through and through. He lived life as he went, nonchalant and never dispatching empathy in the moments it mattered most. You appeared like wildfire, ringing out so many emotions from him all at once. You were placed on his team without warning, and he felt like you were just another nuisance for him to have to pretend to worry about. You were undeniably cute though, which was the only reason he ever made conversation with you from time to time. But even though he flirted with you, he was always sure to remind you that he was always better, stronger and more talented.

One day, to his surprise, you gave him a piece of your mind when he tried to pursue you. You told him to learn some manners, some compassion, and to come back when he wasn’t an asshole. You expressed that he was arrogant, and all but so many people would tolerate him the way some teachers and his so called “team mates” did.

“No ones going to fall in love with you for real if you keep being a jerk.”

That was when he first learned of rejection. He was so used to having everything he wanted. It didn’t register in his brain the first time that you didn’t like him. He picked on you more because of it, unfortunately. You were thick skulled, and headstrong. You were charming for someone who started out so weak. He watched as you worked hard, and never asked for help from him or Suguru, or Shoko unless it was for the sake of the mission at hand. You were extremely talented. Just a late bloomer.

He asked you why you became a sorcerer one day, much to your surprise. You explained it to him and from that day on, he wasn't so much of an asshole towards you. He’d learned of admiration, but considering he was so cocky, he never did tell you that. Instead, he went from saying things like “Leave this to us” to “I’ll leave this to you.”

Maybe you do or don’t realize that he finally acknowledges you as strong, but you do know talking to him was 40% more bearable when you reached your third year of high school.

That same year, you lose someone who was close to you. You had no control over it. The way it happened, the result was inevitable. It had nothing to do with weakness or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There are some outcomes in life that are meant to happen- and no one is ready for it. All he knows is that he didn’t like how it made you feel. He couldn’t give you a rebuttal on how it was possibly yours or someone else’s shortcomings that fated such a thing to happen. Instead, you both sat on the steps of the school long past curfew, sharing ice cream while he watched you cry. Neither of you spoke. For the first time in his life, he had nothing to say. He also knew he shouldn’t leave you there. He hoped his silence and presence would convey something, along with the free ice cream. This was the night Satoru learned sympathy.

He never wanted you to feel that way ever again. He became a bubbly force, always in your face. He smothered you with activities, sweets, things that became memories to deter you from your loss, and somehow amongst it all, you forgot that you hated him.

Some years had gone by. You'd become a fine jujutsu sorcerer, with the help of Satoru and so many others. You’d acknowledged him as a friend and possibly something more due his flirtatious personality. He had became someone who filled the void of the person you lost, showing you that life does in fact go on.

“It took you way too long to kill that thing,” he rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you a special grade jujutsu sorcerer? Get it together (Name).”

He playfully scolded you. “You literally stood there and watched me do all the work.” Your clothes were stained of blood, but you weren’t bothered entirely. You were looking for something to wipe your hands with, shaking them violently at the ground.

“What can I say, you’re truly a site to behold.” He winked, dwindling a handkerchief in front of you. The flutter in your chest was erratic.

“Nonetheless, I knew you could do it. I was just here for moral support.” He grinned, patting you on the head.

“Satoru,” You say, turning towards him and sheathing your weapon. “You’re really important to me. You’ve had my back since we went to Jujutsu Tech and then some. I don’t think I’ve ever said thank you for always being there for me.”

“So, thank you.” You say, offering him the warmest smile and making his heart skip a beat. He hadn’t known what to say. You hadn't ever put him on the spot like this before, which is what it made it so easy for him to be around you. You never praised him for anything, yet here you were thanking him, smiling at him like you loved him or something-

Did you? He wondered. He didn’t undertsand what it was he felt when he started to ponder the idea of you loving him. You never once complimented him on his looks, nor had you ever reciprocated his flirtations. And here he was, actively being your friend because he admired your character. He didn’t even know himself anymore.

“Stop staring at me like that and say you’re welcome.” You sass, breaking him out of his thoughts. “You’re freaking me out.”

“We’re friends. You don’t have to thank me for that.” He said cockily, getting right back in character. That night, he realized what it meant to love someone.

He got home and laid in bed, trying to draw the line in his head between how he loved you and how he loved kikufuku. Then he tried depicting the differences between his bromance with Geto Suguru and his friendship with you. He knew he liked being around you, and whatever goals in life he would eventually pursue- he wanted you to be there too.

You never once made it obvious that you liked him back in any sort of way, and it ticked him off. He would spend some days doing everything in his power to get a reaction out of you, even a kabedon, to which you burst out laughing in response. Satoru had never actually experienced true defeat until that moment. You had became one of the most precious things in the world to him, but he thought you were so dense and oblivious it pained him. He wanted to give up on pursuing you, but no one else in his entire life had ever made him feel anything. All these emotions he discovered were extensions and results of you allowing him to integrate himself into your life during your darkest moment. You had thanked him for being there; he wanted you to say so much more.

So when you leapt in front of him, coughing up blood in his direction and shielding his body, there wasn't a reason he could summon for it. What made him feel sick to his stomach is how you managed to smile whilst being impaled by the horns of the curse behind you. The rough taste of iron plagued your tongue and blood plopped from your lips and down your chin.

He caught your body with one arm, cradling you, before using his free hand to clutch the creature’s skull. He smashed it instantly, blood spattering all around your bodies.

“Why did you do that?” He found himself panicking. He knelt down, stripping himself of his shirt and attempting to suppress the bleeding. “You’re not weak and you’re not stupid- why?!”

“Because, Satoru, I love you.” You say through blurry eyes. He’s petrified. Satoru Gojo did not know loss or grief. He was sure to feel it if you died right there in his arms. He already killed the curse that fatally attacked you. If you died, what would his purpose beyond that be? The only thing he hadn’t done yet was tell you he loved you. He knew in that moment that he loved you. But before the words could fall from his lips, your body went limp in his lap.

“No...” He took hold of you, immediately teleporting to the nearest hospital. If you died, he would blame it on his own incompetence. He’d flaw himself for this moment alone and take responsibility. He found himself praying to whatever God there might be, begging them to spare your short lived life. Not without him saying it back.

After multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, the doctors had informed him you were going to live, but recovery would take some time. Your cursed ability was able to delay the blood loss and neutralize a bit of the damage just before it became entirely fatal. He was thankful, the most he’s ever been for anything.

“I told you, you’re not weak,” he stared down at your comatose body. “You may make stupid decisions. But you’re not helpless.”

His voice cracked a bit whilst saying this, as he knelt beside you. He would stay with you endlessly through your recovery no matter how long it took. Nothing else mattered.

He was going to tell you that he loves you too.

#gojo satoru #gojo satoru x reader #gojo sensei #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk angst #jjk fluff

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tobesobri · 3 years

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When the Lights Go Out (Halloween fic; 8k)

𝖆/𝖓: first off, happy Halloween yall! This is my second favorite holiday and so I really wanted to get something up in celebration of it! I’ve talked a lot on here about having trouble with writing recently and so I do what I normally do with writer’s block and I just leave what I’m stuck on and go off to write something random, which is what this ended up being. So, my writing style is definitely different and maybe not great, but this is just for fun so I don’t care! I still hope you enjoy! There’s spookiness (not too much), enemies (frenemies) to lovers, pumpkin carving, smut, alcohol consumption, and giant skeletons 💀 (oh and Harry dressed as Tarzan 🥵)

my masterlist 🎃 my askbox

𝕸ost people’s Halloween traditions weren’t too complicated; usually involving cult-favorite scary movies—ranging from Halloweentown to Nightmare on Elm Street—handing out Snickers and Kit-Kats to tiny trick-or-treaters, or just getting wasted at a friend’s haunted house party down the street. Their friend group, on the other hand, opted for a pumpkin carving contest every year on Halloween at Jason Hallow’s house, and, yes, his favorite holiday is Halloween because of his last name. And so, a few years ago when they were all undergrads together, he began hosting the annual carving contest at his house, in which they all paired up and, at the end of the night, whichever pair’s pumpkin came out the best—as judged by Jason, the resident Jack O’ Lantern expert—won whatever candy was leftover. That and marathons of R-rated horror flicks as well as occasional breaks to go out in the neighborhood and scare some of the kids while dressed in terrifying monster masks and slightly drunk off their asses from too much Tennessee whiskey.

Jason’s house was, hands down, the place to be in their neighborhood. Everyone who came by always wanted to join in on their festivities, and one year, they’d been just drunk enough to let a few of-age neighbors join in. This year, though, it was different. The stakes were higher. They were competing not only for the candy, but also for the much envied twelve-foot tall skeleton Jason had found at Home Depot which currently sat in his front yard amongst his other outrageous decorations. The skeleton was definitely the most noteworthy and had been the center of plenty group photos from just about every one of his neighbors since he had brought it home and especially tonight. In fact, every time the doorbell rang and he greeted another group of kids in his gory doctor costume—because Jason was in med school after all—every one of them squealed about how much they liked his skeleton. And so it almost pained him to have to give it to one of his friends after tonight, but if he’s being honest, he has nowhere to store it—he’d purchased it completely on a whim—and next year they will compete for it all over again anyway.

Tonight is also different because Harry and Y/N are not getting along. They all knew this beforehand, but simply brushed it off until they realized it was much worse than anyone had imagined. They had a horrible friendship—if one could even call it that—ever since they’d met as freshmen pre-law students six years ago. Sometimes they got along, but mostly, they bickered non-stop at each other, which all their friends took as misguided flirting. They got along for about six months once, after a drunken hookup, until, of course, Y/N hooked up with someone else and set off the volcano that was their relationship all over again. It had been calm recently with both of them needing each other’s help through their vigorous law school studies. So, a truce had been made and they tolerated each other at best. Tonight, though, the monsters had truly been unleashed and neither one of them had stopped picking at each other since they’d arrived.

It began on the street, when Harry took the spot Y/N had wanted to park in. Then at the door, when he asked her how her midterms were going and she felt like stepping on his toes until she crushed them. Which was perfectly logical since his was barefoot and mostly naked in his stupid Tarzan costume he’d recycled about four times now since they’d all known each other. He only wore it when the weather was warm, as he claimed, but they all had a suspicion he wore it so that he could watch Y/N drooling over him all night.

She wasn’t innocent either, in his defense, at least not this year when she came dressed in a sexy Beetlejuice costume, something none of them ever thought was possible. But she made it happen. She wore a too-short black and white vertical striped t-shirt dress—which had rips in all the right places, particularly across her chest—and a pair of neon green boots that were Doc Marten knock-offs she had found online. Other than that, she had spray painted the front bits of her hair a grey-green color and did her makeup to match the theme, dark purple smokey eyes and a green color used as contour. It looked good, she looked good, not that Harry would ever say that out loud.

Jason’s entire living room and dining room floors were covered with plastic tarps. He’d set up the usual fold-away tables and chairs for everyone. It was an easy clean-up job that wouldn’t leave pumpkin guts smudged into his hardwood floors or, even worse, the beige carpet in his living room. And, as always, he had a line up of various pumpkins on his kitchen counter—and the necessary kit of carving tools—ready to go. They usually didn’t start until nine-thirty or ten, once everyone arrived and had a few drinks in them and they had all agreed on what movies to watch. This year was a marathon of The Conjuring franchise, because Jason had spent way too much money on a box set and he would not be wasting them. Nobody objected anyway because the movies held a sentimental value to all of them. Every year since the beginning when a new movie came out, they all managed to go see it together, and also cause a horrible ruckus in the theater. Although they’d almost been kicked out a couple times, it was still some of the best memories together they’d ever had.

There was also that one year, when Annabelle Creation came out and Y/N and Harry were getting along on account of the LSATs, that they’d secretly gone home together. And then, of course, pretended it never happened.

That had been the second time they slept together, the second time she’d woken in his bed, with Harry’s annoyingly toned arm wrapped all the way around her, and the last as well because Harry got into a serious relationship their first year of law school and that had been the end of things.

Well… not completely the end. At least not until tonight.

“Okay we’re getting started!” Jason announced over both the music and the television, which someone turned down before Jason continued. He stood, wobbling, on one of the foldable chairs, for no other reason than the bottle of vodka in his hand. He was teetering on the edge sobriety and really didn’t give a fuck if he fell off. “Y’all know the drill! Isa’s handing out the cards. No whining. No trading. Or you’ll be disqualified.”

The cards in question were riddles that they had to match up with the answer. Half of them got the riddle card, the other half an answer card and that would determine who their partner was.

Y/N both wanted Harry as her partner and detested the idea at the same time. She was all for it because, well, he was hot dressed in nothing but his small piece of brown loincloth fabric hanging loosely on his hips. But at the same time, she knew they wouldn’t win together and she really wanted that skeleton.

The riddles were all hand-made by Jason on his computer and then laminated in his girlfriend’s school’s teacher lounge however many years ago. They all knew every answer to every riddle by now, but it was still a much more fun way to pair up than picking names out of a hat.

Y/N read her riddle twice, having absolutely no recollection of the answer to it, however—which was probably due to the alcohol she’d consumed herself within the past hour. She wasn’t all to blame, though, Harry had a lot to do with it too. She was still mad at him, for what she wasn’t sure, but she also could not stop herself from stealing glances at him and the only way to stop feeling so many confusing things about Harry was to drown it all away.

She read her riddle one last time: The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?

Her brain felt like mush after the third read and she hoped someone would find her first and give her the answer. She peeked around at people’s cards as they all tried to find their pair, some of them meeting up immediately and getting the prime pick of the pumpkins. It had dwindled down to just a few of them and she finally waltzed herself up to Harry, grabbed his card from his hand without his permission and read it.

In bold, 16-point Helvetica font, it read: A coffin.

Of course.

She rolled her eyes, shoving his card against his stupid bare chest and groaning audibly. “Figures I’m stuck with you.”

When she finally looked up at him, though, she wasn’t all that upset about her odds as she pretended to be. Not with the way his face set into a devilish, wicked, up-to-no-good look that made her want to rip him from the room and rip his useless Tarzan costume off too while she was at it.

He had also been drinking, which was made even more clear when he opened his mouth. “You’ll always be stuck with me.” And then he leaned in a little bit, his smirk widening and his eyes darkening and the sweet smell of vodka on his tongue strengthening, “Forever.”

She hated the buzzing in her stomach he caused, and hated that she liked knowing they probably would, at the very least, know each other for the rest of their lives. It had already been six years since they met and she still hadn’t managed to shake him off. And now they were finishing up law school together and getting offers to work at the same firm together. There would be no escaping him, not that she really wanted to.

The only time she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him was when he had a girlfriend. She hated seeing him in her classes, in her study groups, her circles, at her internship. He was always there, though, rubbing it in her face as she had once done to him. Hers was just a dumb hookup, partially just to spite him, and his was… well he dated the girl for entire year before they broke up and he seemed genuinely heartbroken over it. It had been serious, and Y/N had been seriously miserable the entire time. Even more so when she found out they’d split up and she just about threw a party while Harry moped around campus. She couldn’t help it, though, she’d liked him ever since they met, but then they just sort of… didn’t get along all the time.

She knew he liked her too, at least a little bit, or he’d never have slept with her twice. How much he actually liked her though was still up for debate, and so she chose keeping their weird hate-love relationship over ruining all of it by admitting her feelings for him. Plus, she liked working with him and getting his help on exams and papers too much to ruin that as well.

Y/N grabbed the third to last pumpkin, an unopened carving kit, and led the way to two lonesome chairs. They sat closest to the door, and farthest from the dining room and Jason, in their own little corner where they had enough room to stretch out given that no else had laid any claim on the other side of their table yet.

“So,” Harry began once they were settled and Y/N began opening the kit of tools, “what are we making?”

Before giving him an answer, she laid out all the tools on the table in front of them, next to their poor misshapen pumpkin, and then reached down into the side of her boot and pulled out a black sharpie; she’d learned a couple years back to start brining one. It might have been cheating, sketching her design beforehand, but Jason never outlawed it.

“I’m making Jason’s favorite Tim Burton character and you’re in charge of the guts.” She dictated confidently, slapping the sawing tool and the large orange plastic spoon in front of him so he could get started right away.

He eyed the tools for a moment, then the pumpkin, and then finally her. “Absolutely not. I’m not doing all the shit work while you do the fun stuff.”

“Thought you’d be used to that.” She half-mumbled, but he still heard her over the rest of the noise in the house. And, frankly, she was right. When they had interned together last year, she always handed off the demeaning tasks to him, like getting the coffee or making copies, while she did the much more interesting parts of the job. What she didn’t know was that she didn’t make him do anything. He always did it so she didn’t have to.

He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, arms that her eyes—which were completely out of her control at that point—glued to immediately. He’d been working out ever since the break up and finally filled out the Tarzan costume a lot better. He’d always had a nice body, she knew that, but now… now he made her dizzy.

“I’m not doing it. Least not all by myself.”

She gave up then, mostly because she lost her will to argue against the pout of his lips and the flexing of his biceps—which weren’t ridiculously big, but they were subtle and modest and very much bigger than they had been this time last year when he’d dressed up as a shirtless baseball player. Most all of Harry’s costumes involved some level of nakedness and not much sense, but she didn’t complain too loudly. And his arms were definitely bigger now than they had been the last time she was in his bed and he was over her.

“Fine.” She groaned, grabbing the mini saw tool and then standing to begin carving a hole at the top of their pumpkin, around the stem. She made it big enough for them to be able to stick their hands inside, and then once she was finished, pulled the stem piece off and set it aside for later, chopping off some loose bits of pumpkin shreds first.

Despite his earlier protests, he was the first to dig into the pumpkin, standing as well and going hands first into the thing where he pulled out fistfuls and dumped it into a pile on the table. They went back and forth digging out the insides of the pumpkin until finally, Harry grabbed the spoon and really went in. And she didn’t even bother offering to help, and instead stared, again, at his stupid biceps and especially at his hands, which were slick from the pumpkin juice. She shuddered remembering where his hands had once been, and then pulled herself together remembering how long ago it had been and how very little interest he’d shown in picking up where they’d left off pre-girlfriend.

Once the pumpkin was fully gutted, they both sat again, and cleaned their hands off on the paper towels Jason had set up on each table.

She was the first to begin the process, sketching out the design with her sharpie of Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She’d carved the character before, but still needed a reference picture on her phone to get all the details right. And Harry watched her the entire time, memorizing her face for the millionth time while she concentrated, and sometimes he stared at her hands, too, hands he also found himself reminiscing over, to the point of needing to cross his legs so it wasn’t made visibly clear what he was thinking about. He was starting to regret recycling the Tarzan costume.

While they all worked, Jason answered the door and handed out candy about once every five minutes. The best part of their tradition wasn’t the pumpkin carving itself, but rather, the atmosphere. They loved the feeling, the adrenaline rush of it all. How messy everything would eventually get, how loud they all were. The anguished shouting when someone messed something up. The sounds of Thriller playing in the background mixed with the loud jump scares from the horror movies played all night long. It was heaven to any lover of Halloween (and they all loved Halloween).

She’d let Harry start the carving of the design, informing him what parts were staying and what parts needed to be cut away, before she ventured into the kitchen to grab them both a drink. On her way back, she paused for a moment, just watching Harry work over in their corner. The sight of him almost made her want to finally admit how she felt. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad if he rejected her, at least then she’d know.

But then Zoe plopped down into her empty chair next to Harry and crushed everything back down like an aluminum can being recycled. She tossed back about half of her Smirnoff after Zoe had scooted closer to Harry and grazed her fingertips across his arm—the one he wasn’t using the carve the pumpkin. And at first, he ignored it, but then he set down the tool, pushed his hair back with his clean wrist and offered Zoe one of his annoying little smirks that Y/N always thought he saved just for her. But now, seeing him use it to flirt with Zoe, she felt stupid and betrayed. And stupid again for feeling betrayed.

She had no claim to him. She just had her memories, as inconvenient as they were at times. But that was nothing and it’d been so long that he showed any interest in her, in anybody, that for her to be jealous now was just pure selfishness. As much as she hated Harry sometimes, she still wanted to see him happy again.

Y/N made her way back slowly, eying what others were doing, until finally joining Harry again just as Zoe went back to her own pumpkin.

She was quiet for a moment, sipping on her drink, watching him as he got back to carving, before cleaning her throat as she finally said something, “What did Zoe want?” And she tried not to sound anything other than curious, but the way Harry glanced at her, with a raised brow, she knew she needed to be so much more subtle.

He took the other cup from her that she hadn’t drunk from and replenished his blood alcohol level. “She just asked me what I was doing after this.”

Instead of opening her mouth and being obvious, she just set her drink down and grabbed both the carving tool and the pumpkin from Harry to take over. He’d already done way more work than she had, so it was about time they switched anyway.

He eyed her curiously still, even though he allowed her to continue where he left off as he leaned back in his chair and took a break, downing what was left in his cup as she worked.

“You’re not jealous are you?” He finally asked, after a few moments to let his brain marinate in the alcohol in order to brave that question in the first place.

“No.” It was sharp. A piercing rejection he felt dig its claws deep into his heart. He couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, but if not, it hurt. More than he was willing to admit, even to himself. He wanted her to be jealous. He always did. That was part of the reason he’d gotten a girlfriend. And of course she was also part of the reason they broke up, if not all of it.

He nodded, “So it wouldn’t bother you if I went home with Zoe?”

He noticed her brief hesitation, when her hand stopped moving and she took in a breath of air, but then she settled again. “Doesn’t bother me what you do, Harry.”

Again, he nodded, still watching her just to get a sense of her reactions. Of course he had no plans on going home with Zoe. He just wanted to know. Where they stood. How Y/N felt about him. Whether she thought about their nights together as often as he did. When they were studying together and she’d shift her hair behind her shoulder and he’d get a whiff of her shampoo and be taken right back to one of those nights, and the nights that came after that when he got lost in that scent on his pillows until it eventually dissipated and left him craving more.

He tried again. One last time. If he still didn’t get the response he was hoping for, then he’d give it up and leave her alone. So, he sat forward, crossing his arms on top of the table, close enough to her now that the buzzing in her stomach reappeared even though she never braved a single glance at him. He was close enough that the smell of his cologne overtook the odor from the pumpkin. Close enough that she felt his breath on the side of her face when he spoke.

“So, I’ve just been imagining the way you’ve been looking at me all night then?” His voice was just above a whisper, and soft, caressing her ears as the sound crept its way inside of her. As it seeped into all the places the alcohol had been, although Harry was always something way more potent than whiskey or tequila. He made her head spin, made her feel everything and nothing at the same time. Made her heart flutter so much at times it hurt.

His words sunk in and all her motions stopped as she froze in place. She stopped carving their pumpkin, stopped blinking, stopped breathing. Staring blankly at their half-finished design until he was wrung out from her system completely. That never really happened, though, because he was staring at her, watching her with those glinting, impatient eyes, waiting for an answer. There wasn’t even the familiar hint of a smirk or a bit of amusement on his face anymore, either, that might have calmed her nerves. Because at least if he seemed to just be messing with her, she could play that game with him, but this was different.

He leaned forward a bit, trying to get her to look at him, to say something, anything, really. He’d be satisfied enough with her lies at this point. But he also knew the absence of an answer alone was all he really needed. He didn’t feel like he was getting ahead of himself, seeing the way her body reacted to him, by assuming that she felt, at least somewhat, the same way he did about her. Because if she’d been the one to ask if she was imagining how he’d been staring at her all night, he wouldn’t deny it.

Just as she opened her mouth, just as she had gathered enough words to form a coherent sentence, the room went dark. Pitch black, actually. The lights all around them flickering off, the television going blank, the music cutting out. And once the startled gasps and dramatic, drunken yelling had subsided, they were left in a ringing silence, so completely opposite to what they had been moments ago that it was painful for their ears to adjust to.

“What the fuck?” They heard Jason’s voice in the darkness and then, finally, a bit of light as he turned his phone’s flashlight on.

“Did the power go out everywhere?” Someone else asked.

And while everyone panicked, all Harry cared and thought about was Y/N’s hand wrapped tightly around his own on his lap. He wasn’t exactly sure when she’d grabbed for him, but once he realized she was there, he didn’t really care too much about the lights anymore. What he did care about still, however, was whether she’d ever answer his question now. If he’d ever get to hear what she was about to say just before the darkness cut her off.

A few of them stumbled about, making plans to go outside and check on things while everyone else stayed inside and waited. The room went dark for a few more moments as Jason left, but then someone else turned their flashlight on, and shined them at the ceiling so that there was at least enough light so that they didn’t have to sit in complete darkness.

If it wasn’t Halloween, the power going out wouldn’t have bothered her so much. Outages happened happened all the time. But now, in the middle of the second Annabelle movie with all sorts of other spooky shit around them, she couldn’t help but be terrified and imagine the worst. Like… what if there was a killer on the loose who had cut their power. What if the killer was chopping up Jason and the others and then eventually heading inside to do the same to all of them?

“Hey,” Harry mumbled beside her, inching closer and rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, realizing she’d grown tense when her grip on him had tightened. “You alright?”

Hearing his voice again, she let out a breath of air and tried to relax. She watched way too many scary movies and this was most definitely not one of them. Just a power outage, possibly due to everyone being home and using lots of extra electricity on their lights and decorations. She had no reason to panic. Although it could be blamed on Harry as well, if he hadn’t made her an astronomical amount of nervous just before.

She nodded until she realized Harry couldn’t even see her very well. “I’m fine.” She finally affirmed, and, to his dismay, took her hand away from his.

They sat in their own silence for a while, listening to the quiet conversations around them, particularly to Zoe and Julie who were trying to look up any information they could even though their phones were slow from the lack of Wi-Fi and service.

After a little while, she found his hand again in the dark, and this time, she wasn’t afraid from the power going out, but rather what she was about to say. Because if there was ever an opportunity to spill your guts to Harry Styles, it was in a dark room where his grassy green eyes weren’t all over you, sucking every ounce of courage from your bones.

Her voice was in a whisper, and she finally looked at him, or rather in his direction. To the outlines of his face, of his nose and his cheekbones. Even though she couldn’t find the green, she knew he was there, waiting, listening.

“You haven’t been imagining anything.”

She couldn’t quite see it, but his eyebrows had hit the ceiling and before he could question her further, she continued.

“I was miserable when you were seeing Liv and so fucking happy when you broke up.” Her voice shook, but she didn’t let that stop her, “And then miserable again because you didn’t want me. And maybe you still don’t, but it would really bother me if you went home with someone else.”

The quiet almost ate her alive for the next few seconds when he said nothing and she didn’t have his features to go off of. But then, she felt him getting closer until, finally, his lips were at her ear.

“I’ve always wanted you.”

The buzzing was back but this time it was debilitating. Especially when he faced her and cupped his free hand along her jaw. And especially when he tilted her head back slightly to meet his lips, which had pretty good aim given their predicament. She missed the way he felt, she realized, once he was kissing her. Once he had scooted closer and released his hand from her grip on his lap. Once he grabbed up the other side of her face and pulled her closer. And then her hand was left to fend for itself on his thigh, and she, almost unconsciously, drifted her touch closer and closer and closer…

He moaned softly into her mouth when she toyed with the flimsy piece of fabric tied around his waist with her fingertips. And finally, she pulled apart from him, catching her breath before whispering, “Do you think they’d notice if we left?”

He shook his head, “Don’t think I care if they did.”

And so they were off. Trying not to draw too much attention to themselves even though she slightly tripped over the leg of the chair and he tried not to giggle too loudly while helping her. His hand fell into hers again as he led the way out of the living room, down the hall and into Jason’s guest room, closing them both off from any light source completely, not that they really cared too much about seeing each other; they just wanted to feel each other again.

And as soon as Harry had closed the door behind her, that’s exactly what they did. As she wrapped her arms around his neck; as he felt his way around her waist, he kissed her like he hadn’t kissed anyone in years. Like he was a dry, cracking desert and she was a vast river flowing through him.

He took brave steps towards the bed blindly, backing her up further into the dark room and managing to not trip over anything when he finally made it to the bed. They’d both, on separate occasions, spent the night in Jason’s guest room before, which helped when maneuvering around in the dark. For instance, Harry knew that Jason kept his secret stash of condoms in the bedside drawer. Harry had no idea why, but he was thankful for it right now, when, after laying her back on the bed, Y/N had already begun undoing his costume—with such quickness, he was sure she’d studied how the thing was connected to his body so that she knew exactly how to get if off if need be—and, within the next few seconds, tossed the flimsy Tarzan loincloth out of sight.

Which left him in just the black thong he wore underneath. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t have even bothered with it. But, when he had first gotten the costume and tried it on without anything, he imagined all the wardrobe slips and potential boners might not be in everyone’s best interests. So, he went out and bought the smallest pair of underwear he’d ever owned, tucked himself inside of them, and called it a day.

Those, too, were stripped from his body in a matter of seconds, or at least pushed down his thighs to where they no longer covered what they were intended to cover. But then she flipped them around, so that Harry was on his back this time, splayed across the bed and she was finally ridding him of the thong all together and not wasting any time getting her hands on him and he wondered, with how quick she was to get to this point, if she had been thinking about this all night. And if she had, then he would definitely have to whip out the Tarzan costume more often.

He seemed to sink into the mattress once he felt her mouth close on him, his eyes fluttering shut and his mouth hanging open involuntarily when he hit the back of her throat. He had no idea how he’d gone so long without her, or why either. Why had he been so stupid? Why did he let her think he didn’t want her? Why did he deprive the both of them of this? Of the way she felt circling her tongue around the tip of his cock, the way he knew she was looking at him even though he could physically not open his eyes or come down off his cloud long enough to tell her how good she felt. How much he missed it. How much he was probably in love with her, even if that might have been crossing some sort of line.

“Forgot how big you were,” she whispered, giggling almost shamefully after wiping her mouth on the back of her hand and giving him a break to actually breathe properly again.

“Think we both know that’s a lie.” He was out of breath already and he was right, although she wouldn’t feed his ego no matter what he said. Although she remembered his cock perfectly fine, she wasn’t exactly used to it. And maybe she had momentarily forgotten what he had hidden under his costume. It’d been two years since they slept together, and the first time it happened they’d been drunk.

She didn’t say anything else, just tried to hide the blush on her face—even though he couldn’t’ see it anyway—by taking a mouthful of him again. She didn’t let him come, though, of course, and he didn’t expect her to either. She never had before. She always led him get right to the edge, to where he was panting and writhing and digging his fingers into her hair, on the verge of screaming her name into the dark, and then she’d stop. Pull him from the back of her throat and leave him a sopping, moaning mess.

He’d somewhat recovered when she crawled on top of him and and sat on either side of his hips with her hands planted on his chest. And now that their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see the curve of his lips as he smiled up at her and even the sinister little twist of his mouth just before he grabbed hold of the hem of her dress and ripped it off over her head, letting it fall onto the bed next to him. He wished they had just a little bit more light, but at the same time, it turned him on having to see with his hands instead. Having to reach up and cup her breasts in his palms and rely on his memories for a better visual than the one he currently had. And as she came down to kiss him again, there was one thing for sure he didn’t need any light or anything but his fingers to do.

He tossed her bra into the same vicinity as her dress and within seconds had his hands all over her again, and his tongue as well, wishing she was on her back so he could worship her in all the ways he desperately wanted to, but also aware that the power could flick on at any moment and he really didn’t have the time.

Not that she had asked, and maybe she just hadn’t thought of it yet, but he still, while continuing to make out with her, reached over, pulled the drawer open on the nightstand and reached inside to locate the box of condoms.

However, once he did, and he didn’t find what he was looking for, he sat up and pulled apart from her, twisting himself a bit in order to see inside the drawer. His other hand held onto her hips so she didn’t fall off of him as he searched the drawer. But, soon enough, he was laying back again, groaning as if he was in physical pain.

“There’s no condoms.” He muttered between his teeth and just that one little sentence ruined his entire night.

“It’s okay.” She assured, continuing to whisper just as he did so that no one would hear them through the thin walls. “I mean… we’re clean right? And I’m on birth control…”

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking up at her and trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. She was right, of course, but even so there was always a possibility. Even with condoms there was always that same possibility too. He knew one thing for certain. If he remembered correctly. There was absolutely no way in hell he’d be able to pull out, so that really wouldn’t even be an option either.

“If you don’t want to though, that’s fine.” She spoke again amongst his silence. It’s not like he would hate the potential consequences, and of course he would not hate feeling her without a stitch of anything in between them, he just needed to be reassured that’s what she wanted, truly.

“I do, just um… are you sure you’re okay with that?”

She nodded first and then, confidently, “Yes.” As she fell back into place over him, her lips came to his ear this time, “I want to feel you coming inside of me.”

His whole body shuddered, needing her more than he quite possibly ever had. And as she tucked her panties to the side and guided herself onto him, he would most definitely go outside and cut the lines himself if the power decided to come back on before they were finished.

“Forgot how wet you are…” He whispered, heart fluttering at the way she laughed while fucking him. He never forgot either, not quite. But feeling her again now, pooling around him, warm and snug, he again wondered why in the living hell he kept himself from her for so long. Sure, they didn’t like each other most of the time, but their first time together had been hot, drunk hate sex and ever since then he’d chased that feeling with other people, none of them ever quite adding up to her. He wondered if she thought the same. No one ever making her feel the way he did either. If, when she was with someone else, she thought of him instead.

He knew he wouldn’t last long the second she put her greedy hands on him, and so her being in control now was slightly dangerous. He wasn’t ready for it to be over, even if he was racing the clock, even if he could just take her home from here and do it all over again, properly. He didn’t want it to end as quickly as it started.

So, he flipped them back over, getting her on her back like he’d wanted to earlier. Slipping a pillow under her backside to get a better angle and letting her sink all the way through the mattress this time. He remained inside her the entire time, only making quick, shallow movements to avoid the sounds of their skin slapping against each other. But he gave up being careful about their noise level after she begged him to go faster, after he reached between them and rubbed his fingers over her clit to catch her up with him.

She tugged at his hair while he kissed her, breathlessly and without much of a second thought this time about how loud they were being. He assumed all their friends knew about them anyway, even if she chose to be ignorant to it. They all speculated about the secret hookups and the mindless flirting that was disguised as harmless bickering. So, he just stopped caring the closer and closer he got.

That was until he buried himself as far as he could inside of her, his hand wrapped around her throat the way he remembered her liking, and he felt the scream building beneath her skin, beneath his palm. Quickly, before her noises led to everyone barreling into the room to find out what was going on, he clasped his hand from her throat to her mouth instead. Holding tightly as she let it out, his eyes pouring into hers like a lake of shining emerald waters getting her to stay there in the room with him. So that she didn’t close her eyes and float away like he had before.

He titled her head to the side, kissed up her jaw to her ear. “Mm, I missed the way you sound.” He wanted to tell her how he thought about her pleads and her moans and her yells late at night when he was feeling particularly alone. When he wanted nothing but her, to either be inside of her, or to just have her there next to him. But all of that got caught in his throat, and instead, as he continued burying himself into her, he whispered like a growl in her ear, “Missed how well you take me.”

And although it made her moan, made her eyes cross and her fingernails scrape across his shoulder blades, he wanted to tell her that he missed how they fit together. How where he ended she began so seamlessly no one else could hardly compare. There had always been a seam with everyone else, with Liv, a visible divide between him and them, soldered together haphazardly. But with Y/N, it was smooth, flowing together as if they were the same person.

His hand slipped from her mouth as he began losing control, and soon she was the one having to cover the noises. Though, this time, she just simply pulled his lips to her own and felt all the vibrations escape from his throat against her skin, her teeth, her tongue. She breathed in nothing but the air from his lungs, and held onto his tightly as she began to unravel.

His moans quickened and quickened until she felt his release, warm and deep inside of her, just as her own gave way, until his body began to give out, until he was panting and no longer able to hold himself up over her. And so once they both descended from their cloud, once their wave had crashed onto the shore, he planted himself beside her, their chests in rhythm as they cough their breath.

And before either of them even managed to open their eyes or breathe steadily again, the surge of the power coming back on dimmed the haze. Their room was still dark, but light seeped under the door and the rest of their friends cheered from the other room as the music began again. And for a brief, stupid moment, Harry thought about fucking her again and letting her scream all she wanted, but that fantasy was cut short when he remembered their friends would soon realize they were missing.

“We should get back.” She mumbled. Although she made no sudden movements to get up. She even closed her eyes again, still off in another world.

And so Harry risked it, just for a few more moments, anyway, where he rolled closer to her and slid his hand up her jaw softly, pulling her attention toward him again as her eyes fluttered open, waiting.

“I was miserable when I was with Liv too. And we broke up because she knew I spent all my time thinking about someone else.” He swiped his thumb across her cheek, realizing for the first time that he’d probably royally fucked up all her makeup and then hoping she wouldn’t come to her senses and kill him for it.

“And who might that be?”

He smiled, sweetly this time unlike all his asshole smiles, and just as he glanced at her lips, ready to kiss her again, he was cut short.

“Yo, where are Harry and Y/N?” It was Jason, loud and clear and possibly headed their way to investigate his missing party guests who had snuck off together in the dark. Jason didn’t know that yet though, and as much as Harry would like none of their friends to find out, it wouldn’t exactly look great the two of them waltzing out of the guest room together. Harry’s curls in shambles, fresh scratches all across his back, and Y/N’s makeup smudged. There was simply no use in hiding what they’d been up to, it was written all over them.

Harry grabbed her clothes and handed them off while he went on a search for his own tiny pieces of costume. And just as they got decent again, there was a knock on the door.

“You guys in there? You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.” Jason warned and Harry and Y/n looked at each other for a moment before busting out laughing.

Harry got to the door first, throwing it open to a very surprised Jason, who then narrowed his eyes when he saw Y/N come up behind Harry.

“God, not in my guest room!” He whined as Harry pushed pass Jason, a looking Y/N following shortly behind, “Now I have to clean the sheets again! I just did them yesterday.”

“Sorry, mate!” Harry called over his shoulder, glancing down at Y/N quickly to give her one of his cocky little winks. And once they had reached the main room again, as he fell back into his chair, she realized just how many scratch marks she’d left on him, and wished he’d worn a costume with a shirt to cover it up.

She drowned out all the whistling and the comments about how everyone knew she and Harry were up to something, about the bets won and lost. All she heard was Harry’s voice in her ear, telling her how much he missed her and she wondered if it was real. If he really did miss her, or he just missed fucking her. If, when it was no longer October 31st, they’d just go back to normal. Like the horse-drawn carriage turning back into a lumpy, ugly pumpkin.

Harry noticed this, of course, because he’s a law student and notices everything, but just as he leaned in to ask if she was okay, she pulled away.

“I just, uh, need some air.” And then she was gone before he could do or say anything. She used through the front door, abandoning their poor pumpkin and headed toward her car. She’d left the keys and her purse inside, but it didn’t matter. She just leaned against the passenger door and gazed up at the stars, thankful for the clear night and warm weather.

And, of course, he was beside her not too long afterwards. She’d heard his footsteps against the pavement, knew he’d probably follow her out anyway.

He cleared his throat, half watching the same stars she was and half glancing at her. “Did I do something?”

“No, it’s um…” she faltered, her eyes falling to her feet. “Think I just had too much to drink.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. I—” she cut him off before he got too far in the wrong direction.

“No, I mean…” she pushed off her car then and faced him, “Are we just going to go back to how we always are after tonight? Because I don’t know if I can do that. But I never know what you’re thinking, Harry. Do you even like me or do you just like sleeping with me sometimes and arguing with me all the rest of the time?”

He continued to watch her for a moment, almost waiting for her to tell him she was kidding. But when she just ran a nervous hand through her colored hair, he realized she wasn’t.

He waited for a group of kids all dressed in various Star Wars outfits to pass by them before he began. “I guess I thought I was clear, but obviously not enough… I don’t just want to sleep with you every couple of years and pretend we don’t like each other in between. I think we’ve already wasted enough time, don’t you?”

She nodded once his words sunk in.

“Can we go finish our pumpkin now? And win the stupid skeleton. So I can take both it and you home with me?”

Again, she nodded, but this time it was matched with a smile. “Who says I want to go home with you?”

He rolled his eyes and threw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close enough to kiss the top of her head as he steered them back toward the front door. “Guess it’ll just be me and the skeleton then.”

They both glanced over at the giant thing stuck in the middle of Jason’s front yard, still attracting every young person like it was a princess at Disneyland, and then she looked up at him again. “On second thought, I might like to see that.”

He shook his head, opening the front door for them, “M’sure you would.”

#sorry if there are spelling or grammar errors #im just glad to have written something tbh #but yeah let me know what you think! and i hope you all have a great halloween and that you're staying safe!#harry styles smut #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x reader #harry styles imagine #harry styles writing

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wellimaginethat · 3 years

Text

Stitches: Part One

Pairing: Connor Rhodes x Sister!Reader

Requested?: Yes

Word Count: 3099

Author’s Note: This idea was super cute and I loved it, wish I could have gotten it written sooner for the lovely requester but stupid writers block hit. I decided I am going to make this into two parts

Trigger Warning(s): Hospital, needles, panic attack, injury, needing stitches, being bullied, physical assault

Disclaimer: I don’t owe nor am I affiliated with any of the Chicago shows, I just like to play with the characters

Summary: Y/N Rhodes is the younger sister of Connor, she’s been being picked on at school and it escalates to where she needs stitches and ends up in the ED, where she has a panic attack due to a fear of needles and hospitals, so Connor shows up to save the day.

Chicago Med Tags: @bethii1, @drakelover78, @lorenakaspersen (want to be tagged? message me!)

Y/N = Your Name

High school is rough, especially when you’re being bullied. But you tried to shrug it off and ignore it, but that just seemed to make it worse, so you tried talking to the teachers and the principal and that is how you landed in the ED.

You were brought in by the ambulance because you were pushed down a flight of concrete steps, luckily you didn’t get hurt too badly but the school called the ambulance regardless.

You absolutely hated hospitals, or rather you were terrified of them. You didn’t really have a reason for being afraid of hospitals, but they freaked you out. Everything about hospitals freaked you out. The doctors, the nurses, needles, the noises. Everything. And given that you were already upset over what happened, it just made it all worse.

When they wheeled you in, you heard the paramedic talking to a nurse.

“Sixteen year old female, pushed down a flight of concrete steps outside the high school, has a massive gash on her forehead and possibly some broken ribs.”

When they got you into the room, the nurse the paramedic had been talking to and a red headed doctor walked in.

“Hi my name’s Dr. Halstead, can you tell me your name?” The doctor asked

“Y/N Rhodes.” You managed to get out, your eyes were darting around and you looked uneasy.

The nurse looked at the doctor before looking at you. “You’re Connor’s little sister, aren’t you?” You nodded silently, feeling almost like a little kid. Dr. Halstead peaked out of the room and you heard him call your brother to your room.

The minute Connor walked in his face fell and he rushed to your side, checking you over and especially taking a look at the gash on your head. “God, Y/N, what happened?” He asked you in an incredibly worried tone, looking at you with an almost scared look in his eyes.

“Jake pushed me down the stairs at school.” You told him weakly, scared and sad. “He was mad because I told the principal about him.”

Connor nodded before looking at Dr. Halstead and nodding for him to head out of the room so they could talk.

The nurse approached you then with a soft smile. “My name is Maggie, how about I get an IV hooked up to get you some pain meds to help?” She asked you in a soft voice, noticing how scared you seemed.

“A-an IV? Doesn’t that involve a needle?” You asked, stuttering a bit. You shook your head violently, causing yourself to see stars, when she nodded. “No...no needles.” Maggie seemed hesitant but nodded a bit. “Alright, how about we wait on that until your brother gets back? Maybe he can ease your worries?”

You nodded a bit and watched as Maggie also stepped out of the room.

“I’ll talk to Goodwin about it, see if she’ll allow it this one time.” Connor told Will as they talked about five feet from your room, you couldn’t hear them but could see that Connor was discussing something with your doctor and it made you curious.

“Talk to Goodwin about what?” Sharon walked up behind him after hearing her name, looking at Connor.

Connor took a breath, thinking how best to broach the subject to her to convince her. “My sister was hurt.” He started out. “And she’s scared of hospitals and doctors and pretty much everything involving medicine.”

“I sense I know where this is going.” Sharon stated but waited for him to continue.

“Let me treat her.” Connor stated.

Will crossed his arms, waiting for Goodwin to tell him no.

Before Sharon had the chance, Connor spoke again. “She’s absolutely terrified and I’m afraid if someone else treats her it will cause her to have a panic attack.”

“And you think if you treat her you can avoid this?” Sharon asked him, skeptically.

Connor slowly nodded, a bit hesitant. “I believe so, yes. I know it goes against the code of ethics-”

Sharon cut him off, glancing over into your room and seeing how frightened you seemed before looking back at your brother. “I will make an exception.” She told him. “Due to the circumstances, I feel it’s in the patient’s best interest.”

Connor was beyond grateful and relieved. “Thank you.” He told her before heading back to your room. “Hey.” He said softly, moving over to take another look at the gash on your head. “So it looks like you’re gonna need stitches, okay?” Your eyes widened and you shook your head. “No no no no…” You started to panic.

Connor gently placed his hands on your shoulders. “Hey there, look at me.” He said softly, waiting until you looked at him. “It’s going to be okay, alright? I’m gonna take care of you and it’s all going to be okay.” He said softly.

You nodded silently but your eyes were still full of fear.

“Now Maggie is going to give you an IV, I want you to focus on me while she does that.” Connor said softly as Maggie took your arm in her gloves hands. “Just focus on me.”

You kept your eyes on him and winced when you felt the plastic tighten around your bicep, trying to brace yourself for the needle.

“Just keep focusing on me.” Connor said softly.

You squeaked when you felt the needle pierce the skin in the crook of your elbow but you managed to not panic or black out, which was an amazing feat.

“You did good.” Connor said softly, standing to get what he needed. “Now I’m going to have to give you a shot to numb the area so I can stitch up the gash, okay?”

“Wait!” You said quickly, stopping him before he had a chance to even get the syringe ready. When he looked at you, you met his eyes. “Just give me a second to prepare myself.” You said quietly, still trying to work through the emotions of getting the IV.

Connor nodded and set the syringe down on the sterilized tray, waiting until you were ready.

You took a couple of deep breaths before you nodded. “Okay...I think I’m ready.” You told him and he picked the syringe up.

“Do you want to hold my hand?” Maggie offered softly, holding her hand out to you.

You smiled weakly and nodded, taking her hand as you squeezed your eyes shut, bracing yourself.

It went a lot better than you or Connor was expecting, soon enough the area surrounding the gash was numb and Connor was able to start stitching it up. Luckily, if the gash left a scar it was along your hairline so it would be less noticeable, and you’d be able to hide it with your hair.

“Alright, almost done.” Connor said as he did the last stitch and tied it, cutting off the excess and setting it off to the side before taking a seat. “Now, tell me again what happened.”

You chewed on the inside of your cheek. “Jake’s been bullying me for a while now, but it just keeps getting worse. After he beat me up yesterday, I told the principal and then today he attacked me again and pushed me down the steps outside of school when I was trying to leave.” You explained, looking at your hands. “It just keeps getting worse.”

“Sounds like maybe we should inform the cops.” Maggie remarked softly.

“Why? They probably won’t do anything.” You were convinced that you’d just have to deal with it.

“What he did today qualifies as assault.” Connor told you gently, agreeing with Maggie and nodding to her.

She disappeared out of the room, probably heading to call the police.

“It’ll just make it worse!” You exclaimed, worried, wanting Maggie to stop before she got the cops involved.

Connor hushed you gently, moving to sit on the bed beside you. “It’s not going to get worse.”

“You don’t know that!” You insisted, trying feebly to push him away when he carefully pulled you into a hug.

“I do know that, because I’m your big brother.” Connor told you. “And big brothers are supposed to protect their little sisters. I’m sorry I didn’t know what was going on before otherwise I would have done something a lot sooner.”

You sniffled. “What if the cops don’t do anything?” “Well then I guess I’ll just have to have a talk with Jake’s parents.” Connor replied.

“His parents can’t do anything, he’s eighteen.” You replied quietly, leaning into the hug more as exhaustion took over you. You just wanted to go home and pretend nothing happened.

“Well that means he’s an adult and the cops should do something considering he attacked a minor.” Connor told you, trying to ease your worries. He glanced out of the room and noticed your dad was standing at the nurse’s station. “I’ll be right back.” He told you softly, kissing the top of your head before pulling away from the hug slowly.

“I want to know where my daughter is.” Cornelius demanded of the nurse.

“I just need a name, sir.” The nurse tried to tell him in a polite voice.

“I’ve got this, Doris.” Connor told her, gaining the attention of his dad. He wasn’t thrilled to see him, but the two had an unspoken agreement that they would play nice whenever you were around. “She’s in here.” Connor motioned to where you were, leading your dad in.

“Dad.” You were honestly happy to see him, even though he was a pretty absent father, you still adored him and you were kind of his pride and joy for now, favoring you over your two older siblings.

Cornelius walked over. “What on earth happened?” “A boy attacked her at school.” Connor told him, crossing his arms. “Did you know she was being bullied?”

“Bullied?” Cornelius looked at Connor and back to you before looking back at your brother. “I had no idea.” Connor scoffed. “Figures.” He muttered under his breath, looking out of the room and taking his attention off you and your father as he watched for the police to arrive.

After your brother’s dramatic exit, you and your father both fell silent. You were keenly aware of the fact that your father favored you compared to your siblings, and that he and Connor had an especially strained relationship for some reason. Neither of them ever put you in the middle of it and they always attempted to play nice in your presence, keyword being attempted. As a child, you weren’t aware of the fact that they had issues, but now that you were getting older it was rather hard to ignore, especially in tense situations like this.

You could hear different sounds coming from different rooms in the ED and it made you uncomfortable, causing you to shift on the bed.

“Are you alright?” Your father looked at you with concern in his eyes.

You nodded silently at first. “Yeah. I’m fine.” You finally managed to reply in a quiet voice. “I just really don’t like hospitals.”

“Well after you’re released we’ll take you home and you can rest in the comfort of your own bed.”

You smiled tiredly at him and nodded. “Sounds good.”

It was a while longer before the cops finally showed up to ask you some questions, and that was when Connor finally came back into your room.

“Miss. Rhodes, can you tell us what happened?” A female cop asked you in a polite tone, like the kind adults use with children who seem upset.

You shifted on the bed again. “There’s this kid I go to school with and he’s been bullying me for a while now.” You told her, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear nervously. “It’s been getting worse and worse and today he pushed me down the front steps at school.”

The female cop wrote what you said down, nodding as she did so. “And what did you say his name was?”

You pulled your lip in between your teeth, chewing on it nervously.

Connor walked over to you and gently touched your arm to comfort you.

“Jake. Jacob Smith.” You corrected yourself, taking a deep breath.

“And how long has this been going on?”

You thought about the question, trying to pinpoint just when Jake started bullying you. “About a year or so. It started when I was a freshman and just continued on. I think it was my second semester as a freshman.”

The cop nodded and was about to speak before your dad interrupted.

“We want to press charges.” He insisted.

You shrunk down a bit in your seat, knowing how your father could treat people, already embarrassed.

“We understand, Mr. Rhodes, but we do need to conduct an investigation into this first.”

“An investigation? Look at my daughter, she’s in the hospital for Christ’s sake! She’s traumatized!” He did have a point, but you knew the cops were just trying to do their jobs.

That’s when the male cop spoke up. “We understand that you’re upset, sir, but we need you to calm down and let us do our job.”

That didn’t bode well with your father.

“Dad, please.” You begged quietly, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. “Just let the cops do their job.”

Cornelius had a hard time saying no to you, given that you were the baby of the family and his favorite child, so he slowly backed down and took his seat at your bedside again.

“I hate to say it, but our dad has a point.” You brother spoke up, thankfully much calmer than your father. “She was attacked by this boy and it did cause her both physical and mental harm, so we would appreciate it if you could make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Both cops nodded to him. “We’ll talk to the witnesses, it was reported so we’re sure it will be a pretty open and shut case, but we do need to conduct an investigation.”

“We understand.” Connor told them, glancing over at his father before looking back at the cops. “Or at least I do.” He said in a lower voice as he walked out of the room with them.

It was a few minutes before Connor came back into the room.

“Thank you.” Your father told him tightly. “For agreeing with me instead of them.”

Connor didn’t respond, just shook his head a bit. He knew if he responded it would just lead to an argument and he didn’t want to put you through that.

“Can I go home?” You asked him quietly as he walked over to your side. “Please? I’m exhausted and I hate the hospital.”

Connor nodded. “I know you do.” He looked at your dad. “How about you come fill out the discharge papers so we can get her out of here?”

Cornelius nodded and stood up. “We’ll be right back.” He told you softly, touching your hand gently before following your brother out.

“You need to watch yourself around the cops.” Connor warned him once they were out of your earshot.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Connor turned to face him. “It means you need to be nice otherwise nothing will get done.”

Cornelius scoffed at that. “I know how to deal with people, Connor.”

“No you know how to push people around and buy them off.” Connor retorted, crossing his arms. “Just back off this time, let the cops do their jobs.”

Cornelius walked past him and to the nurse’s station. “I’d like you to discharge my daughter now. Y/N Rhodes.” As soon as the papers were signed, he went back to your room. “Alright, we’re good to go.” He gave you a smile.

You looked past him. “Where’s Connor? Isn’t he gonna come say goodbye?”

“He had to get back to work.” Your dad told you, but you could tell he was lying. Something happened and you knew it and it made you feel like your stomach was sinking into a black hole. You swallowed around the dry lump in your throat and nodded, trying to pretend you didn’t suspect anything. “Oh. Okay.” You could write the sadness off as not getting to say goodbye to your brother. You got up from the bed slowly.

“Do you need some help?”

You shook your head. “I’ve got it, thanks.” You waved him off as you grabbed your backpack from the floor before heading over to him. “I’m so ready to get home.” You breathed out, simply exhausted. “I just want to change into my pajamas and curl up in my bed.” You had plans to watch movies the rest of the afternoon.

Your dad nodded and walked out of the hospital with you, leading you over to his car.

Once you were home, you did exactly what you said you would, changed and curled up on your bed. You fished your phone out of your backpack before tossing it to the floor beside your bed. When you turned it on you saw you had a bunch of text messages from your friends asking if you were okay, you decided you’d respond to them in a bit, wanting to text your brother first.

It took you a few minutes and a few erased attempts before you decided on what to say. Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we’re home. Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye, dad said you had to get back to work. I love you, talk to you later. And with that you hit send before you began replying to all your friends.

The rest of the night you stayed in your room, texting your friends and watching movies. The housekeeper checked on you a few times, but you didn’t see or hear from your dad at all the rest of the night, which honestly wasn’t that unusual. You may be the favorite, but you were pretty sure he only remembered he had kids when it suited him or he was forced to remember.

Eventually, despite the fact that your head began to throb, you were able to fall asleep. The next morning you were rudely awakened by your alarm clock alerting you that it was time to wake up and get ready for school, which you immediately dreaded after remembering the events of the prior day. You got dressed before picking your phone up and checking it, only to see you got a text from your best friend informing you that Jake had gotten arrested.

Part Two Coming Soon...

#connor rhodes imagine #connor rhodes imagines #connor rhodes x reader #dr connor rhodes imagine #dr connor rhodes imagines #connor rhodes x sister!reader #chicago med imagine #chicago med imagines

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shyficwriter · 3 years

Text

Temporary Home: Chapter 11

Guardians of the Galaxy fanfic | Reader x Guardians (With Yondu and Kraglin!) Guest starring Nick Fury and Maria Hill

Summary: Fury comes for another weekly check-in and Reader gets in trouble. He also brings along a doctor, will he have good or bad news for Rocket?

Previous Chapter here | Next Chapter Here Or click here to: Start From Beginning

Author’s Note: A -l o n g b o i- of a chapter. Also, for my records, this is day 14 of the Guardians living with reader.

Word Count: 7,756

You wake up early, partially due to the pain in your arm, but mostly because you knew Fury would likely be coming today and you wanted to try and get to town and back before he arrived.

After a light breakfast you start to go out back door to retrieve the box the raccoon corpse was in, but Peter, who had also just finished eating and who suspected exactly what you're doing, jumped up and said he'll help you get the box.

You roll your eyes, and you're about to tell him you are fine to do it yourself when you hear knock at door. You assume it's Fury, but you want to be careful. You look out window, prepared to tell Peter to keep the others out of sight, when you notice two SHIELD vehicles behind your own, and that they hadn't been cloaked like Fury's was last time.

"It's Fury," you tell Peter, and he goes to fetch a few of the others who weren't already in the kitchen, mostly Rocket, because he expected they would want to see him after you said you'd be contacting SHIELD about the raccoon fight and whether Rocket had his shots.

Feeling slightly relieved that it was just Fury and that he hadn't decided to test you this time, you answer the door to see not only Fury and Agent Hill, but another man.

Fury gives a quick greeting and introduces the man as a doctor they brought along to test the dead raccoon. Apparently they came prepared after your message to Maria the previous night. You offer to go unlock shed but Fury says he needs you to stay there, and to give the doctor the keys. You are surprised, but obey, assuming he just wants briefed on what happened last night.

You hand the doctor the keys and he disappears back out the front door while you lead Fury and Maria into the kitchen where the others are just as Peter comes back down the stairs with Drax and Rocket.

As suspected, Fury asks first about what happened with the raccoon incident.

Rocket rolls his eyes and grumbles, "Nothing."

Drax speaks up. He tells Fury that he and you heard the commotion outside, saw Rocket getting attacked, and then you shot the offending animal.

Fury nods. "I see. I trust you've already looked him over, but our doctor will be doing so again before he administers the booster. According to our records Rocket was given a rabies vaccination, but you can never be too careful."

"Good." you reply, nodding your head in relief.

Rocket just hopped up on the counter to sit with his arms crossed indignantly, not looking forward to being examined for something he had already been checked for, but surprisingly he chose not to be a child about it.

"How long before we know if the raccoon was infected or not?" asked Kraglin.

Agent Hill answered. "The test takes about two hours. We brought a lab van so the test could be preformed on site that way we'd know as soon as possible."

Leave it to SHIELD to come prepared for literally everything.

"We also brought another couple weeks worth of rations. NOVA expects you all to be here for awhile more." This earned unhappy muttered grumblings from Rocket, but the others kept their mouth shut. They were never under the impression the negotiations would be done quickly. Maria continued, "So if a few of you want to help carry the boxes in..." she gestured towards the kitchen door. She said it politely, but it wasn't exactly a request. She wasn't a maid.

You nodded and started to head toward the door when Fury said. "Agent, stop."

You stopped, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sir?"

Peter, Drax, and Kraglin, who had stood and were also about to follow Agent Hill (and tell you specifically not to go, for obvious reasons), also stopped, surprised by Fury's tone. He almost sounded a bit like he was scolding you despite his tone being even.

"Please remove your sweater."

The sweater he was referring to was actually an old knit cardigan. You had taken to wearing it the past few days due both to a string of overcast and therefore chillier days, and well, for said obvious reasons. "I'm sorry, what?" you ask.

"Your jacket. Take it off."

You swallow. You had a sneaking suspicion why he would ask you that. He had an annoying habit of somehow knowing everything. "If it's all the same, I'd rather not-"

"Remove your jacket, agent. Or do you need Agent Hill to assist you?" It was clear that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

You try to hide a grimace as you did what you were told, doing your best not to wince as you pulled your sweater off your good arm first and then the injured arm. Silently you wondered who had squealed on you. A small gasp from Mantis was heard when she saw what your sweater had been hiding, and you could feel the eyes of the others also on you as Fury gave you an unamused look and Agent Hill's eyes widened sightly. Even Rocket looked a bit surprised. He wasn't expecting it to look that bad.

Purple and green bruising stained your arm, radiating out from your elbow and stretching from your bicep to maybe 5 inches shy of your wrist.

"The doctor is also here to check over your injury as well." Fury said. Looking to Gamora he thanked her for informing them of your injury before turning back to scold you for not having mentioned it to them or having seen a doctor for it. He also threw in that you should be wearing a sling and resting your arm instead of 'acting like a dumbass who thinks they don't need to take care of themselves.'

"Sir, it's fine. I-"

"I'm trusting you to protect these people. How are you going to do that if you cripple yourself by neglecting injuries?" he scolded.

You shot an unhappy look to Gamora, but you could tell she wasn't sorry. You also caught almost smug looks from Yondu and Peter before turning back to Fury.

"How did it happen?" asked Maria. Gamora had told her that it had happened, that you refused help, and that you put it back in place yourself, but she hadn't told her how it happened. Seeing the aftermath of the injury now herself had made her curious.

"Slipped," you say before anyone can speak up for you. "Clumsy me," you add sarcastically.

Peter raised an eyebrow and shared glances with Kraglin and Yondu, surprised that you seemed to be covering for him. However, he didn't correct you, assuming you gave that answer for a reason, and after all, it wasn't totally a lie, more just... not the whole truth.

That explanation was apparently good enough for Fury and Maria because she nodded at the guys for them to follow as Fury laid into you again.

***

Maria opened the back hatch of the SUV, revealing crates of rations to be taken inside.

Lifting up one of the crates, Peter tried to make conversation, mentioning how Fury seemed surprisingly mad at you for not seeking out a doctor for your injury.

Sure, he could understand your boss telling you that you were dumb for neglecting an injury and scolding you for being stupid, but Fury's anger seemed different than he would have expected. Almost like he genuinely cared that you had gotten hurt. He couldn't remember any of his mother's bosses caring that much. If anything, if she had gotten hurt or sick, they would have preferred that she pretended she hadn't and just worked through it. Then again, he always did think most of her bosses were mean. Maybe she just had bad luck?

"Yeah, well, this wouldn't be the first time she's hidden an injury." Maria admitted. "I imagine he's getting a bit tired of it."

Kraglin took a crate from Maria. "She do that often?" he asked, surprised that anyone would just routinely hide when they've been hurt for seemingly no reason.

"It's not a super frequent occurrence, but she does have a bad habit of not saying when she's hurt. Once she got stabbed on the job in Hong Kong... we only found out when another agent walked in on her trying to stitch herself up in the hotel afterwards." She stacked a crate on top of the one Drax was already holding and shut the hatch before bending down to pick up the last crate she had set on the ground for herself. "Then there was a time when we were on a job together in Romania. We had been captured and held hostage for two days. I noticed she started looking worse and worse as time went on. I thought she was just getting sick, but then she passed out during the last interrogation attempt before SHEILD busted in the door with backup." She started walking back towards the house with the men. "I found out after they got her to medical that the day after we got sent out she came down with appendicitis and instead of telling someone that something was wrong and getting medical treatment, she apparently decided it was better to just cut out her own appendix- still don't know how she managed that without anyone noticing." Maria sounded like she clearly disapproved of your prior actions. "Anyway, with no way to keep it clean while we were being held prisoner, she had developed an infection. She was put on suspension for that one. I've got more, but I think you get the drift."

The three men's eyes were wide as they followed Agent Hill back to the house.

"That's insane." Peter said. "Why would anyone do that?"

"Beats me. She didn't always used to be that way, but now we use her as an example for what you shouldn't do with the new recruits."

"What do you think changed? Could she have suffered a brain injury that made her dumb?" Drax asked.

Peter shifted his crate so he could open the door and scolded Drax for being rude. As they walked into the hall Maria said, "No head injury that I'm aware of, she just kinda changed after-"

She never got to finish that sentence, for they entered the kitchen to hear you angrily say to Fury, "You can't be serious."

The four made their way towards the pantry with their crates, cautiously eyeing the situation so as to not appear nosy. Well, except for Drax, who was just flat out staring.

You were staring angrily at a stern-faced Fury while Gamora looked at the two of you, uneasiness in her eyes. Yondu and Rocket had looks of almost smug satisfaction playing on their faces, while Mantis and Groot appeared confused and intrigued.

"Serious as a heart attack." Fury answered. "After the doctor examines you and gives his orders, she-" he pointed to Gamora, "is going to report back to me if you break them, since clearly she has more sense than you."

"Sir, I don't need a babysitter-"

"Act like a baby, you get a sitter." Fury responded, cutting you off. "Adults know better than to just ignore serious injuries, Agent. Or do I need to remind you of the stunt you pulled in Romania?"

Gamora looked uncomfortable, and she wasn't even the one being scolded, though now she did wonder what you had done in Romania, wherever that was. Yondu was also curious, as Fury's statement confirmed you had done this more than once.

You sighed indignantly, "Sir I-"

"Enough. Unless you want to tell me you intend to defy orders, I suggest you keep any excuses to yourself. If I hear anything about you neglecting the doctor's orders, your ass will be assigned to a desk so fast your head will spin. Are we clear?"

Your eyes widened. Desk duty?! He couldn't do that to you. "What? Sir?! You can't do that-" you say, your voice almost pleading with a hint of indignation.

He says again, more firmly, "Are we clear?" Not only could he, he most definitely would. You thought being assigned to stay home was bad? Try being stuck in a cubicle for the next foreseeable future.

"Yes, sir." you say begrudgingly.

"Good."

Rocket started chuckling, pleased to see you get dressed down by your boss. In your own home, no less. Then he got an idea. "Hey, Agent." he said in a mocking tone.

You turn to glare at him. "What?" you respond irritably.

"Why don't you tell me where that new bed in my room came from?" He was wearing a shit eating grin, and you weren't sure why he'd bring it up right now.

You roll your eyes. "How should I know? Bed faeries? Piss off."

Rocket grinned wider. "Really? 'Cause I've got a feeling you aren't allowed to lie to your director, so if he were to ask..."

Fury, not in the mood, flatly repeated what he had said on the last visit, "I'm not here to get involved with your petty squabbles." adding, "I couldn't care less what this was about."

Rocket almost looked disappointed, and you relieved, before Agent Hill said, "Well, he might not care, but we'll be here for the next two hours waiting on results anyway... and technically I do outrank you..." Her smile wasn't malicious, it was clear that her intent was only some good-natured ribbing to her fellow agent who seemingly didn't like to admit that she'd done something nice for the asshole raccoon. Trying to lighten the mood.

You give Maria a look that says, 'Are you fucking kidding?'

Rocket looked delighted, and a few of the others looked pleasantly intrigued by your expression. By now everyone had pretty much gathered that you had made Rocket the bed, but you never would say as much. It'd be interesting if you'd actually admit it, or suffer whatever consequence lying to a superior might entail if they would choose to enforce it.

Fury, however, rolled his eye and told Maria he was going to have a word with the doctor. His way of saying that this issue wasn't worth his time, but he also wasn't going to stop whatever happened next.

Maria didn't force you to come clean about the bed. Not at first anyway. She did, however, exercise her power to keep you in line. Meaning, if you didn't do like you were told and just sit and wait for the doctor while the guys finished emptying the crates into the pantry and returned the crates to the vehicle, she'd make veiled threats to ask where the bed came from.

You knew she was only having a bit of fun, but you still stared daggers at her.

***

After a bit Fury returned with the doctor, who greeted you again by handing you the keys to your shed, stating that he locked it back up. He also informed that part of the the rabies test involved freezing the samples for 45 minutes, so he would examine you and Rocket in the meantime.

You went to motion for Rocket to go first, but Fury prodded the doctor in your direction, giving you a look that you knew better than to argue with. Rocket stuck his tongue out at you and remained sitting, satisfied, on the counter. Out of most everyone's sight, though, his tail twitched.

You were tense, but on your best behavior the whole time the doctor examined your injured arm, not wishing for Fury to come up with another punishment for your disobedience.

The doctor pulled a device out of a briefcase that turned out to be a fancy portable X-ray device to make sure there were no fractures. Luckily there weren't any.

The outcome was determined that you were very lucky. Somehow you had managed to set the bones back in place well enough on your own without accidentally breaking the radial heads in the 're-entry' process, something the doctor said he'd wouldn't have expected for a self-reset, but then again, most don't attempt to reset this type of injury on their own either. You were given a mild scolding by the doctor for not putting the arm in a sling so the ligaments could heal, however, and he said you were very lucky it didn't re-dislocate. You internally groaned as "I told you so's" peeped from behind you.

The doctor placed your arm in a strange hinged brace with a strap that made it sort of like a sling with the instructions that you were required to wear it with the strap for a week. Afterwards you could remove the strap, but you would still need to wear the brace for at least another two or three weeks. You were also placed on a weight restriction of only 5 pounds for your injured arm. Great...

You didn't say anything, only nodded, having gotten the message that it wasn't in your best interest to argue if you didn't want another tongue-lashing from Fury.

When the doctor was done with you he moved onto Rocket, who's ears momentarily flattened when he saw the doctor was now approaching him, but he quickly recovered, begrudgingly allowing himself to be examined.

As expected, the doctor found nothing of concern, barely even a scratch, which he was sure to clarify that Rocket likely wouldn't have contracted rabies from even if the animal does test positive.

The doctor turned to his coat pocket and pulled out a pre-loaded syringe of pinkish liquid, declaring to Rocket that it was the vaccine booster as he pulled off the cap.

Peter saw Rocket stiffen and finally noticed the twitching of his tail, and decided to be merciful and distract him. "Hey, Trash Panda,"

Rocket turned his head to Peter as the doctor grabbed his arm. "I don't answer to that, Star-Munch."

"You just did." Peter laughed.

Rocket growled at him before turning back to the doctor and asking him to hurry up so he could bite a chunk out of Peter's face.

"Already done," stated the doctor, capping the now empty needle and slipping it into a plastic bag before returning it to his pocket.

Rocket raised his eyebrows, forgetting his previous anger towards Peter. "Oh." His tail ceased its twitching. He hadn't felt a thing.

Peter didn't return to taunting and just let him forget. Mission accomplished.

Now done, the doctor announced he'd be going back to the lab-van to check on the samples, leaving you to sit awkwardly with your boss, co-worker, and the rest of the Guardians.

You look to the ceiling and sigh before saying, "Well I suppose I should offer you some tea if you're going to be here awhile."

Maria nodded that she'd take some and no sooner than you go to stand does Peter speak up and say, "Let me help-"

You give him a seething look that actually makes him recoil. "Unless you know how to make tea, fuck off. And even if you do, still fuck off. I don't need both arms to make fecking tea and I don't need your help. I'm not an infant." Your tone was even, but the venom was still there. A bit harsh, perhaps, but it sent the desired message. The whole situation was making you very cranky and maybe they shouldn't push it. At least for awhile until you had a chance to decompress.

Fury, however, shot you a disapproving look before you turned to put the kettle on, though he didn't say anything. He had pretty much expected this is how you might react.

The next half hour was mostly sipping tea and awkward attempts at conversation as everyone waited for the doctor to finish the test.

Yondu wasn't much interested in trying to make conversation, though he was surprised to find he didn't mind the tea. He was watching as you fiddled with your cup. You were quiet, and he thought you seemed nervous. Could you be nervous about the test results on that animal? Why? All evidence pointed to Rocket being completely fine, he hadn't been bitten, and that's what you said they had to worry about, right?

When the doctor finally returned he had good news. The raccoon had tested negative.

Yondu watched you visibly relax and it made him wonder if there was something you hadn't told them.

He was right. You were worried about the possibility of the raccoon's blood or saliva having found its way into one of the scratches or, more grossly, Rocket's mouth or eyes. If the raccoon had been infected, you knew those would be other possible ways Rocket still could have contracted the virus. You hadn't told the others because you hadn't wanted them to worry, but doing this only then made you worry. Not just because you didn't want to see even an asshole like Rocket die like that, but because you had told the others he'd be fine if he wasn't bitten, and that hadn't fully been the truth. It was a weight off your shoulders to hear that the test came back negative.

With that news Fury, Agent Hill, and the doctor were finally all able to leave. Fury stood and made eye-contact with Gamora. "Remember what I said, she steps out of line, disobeys the doctor's orders, you report back to us. Understood?"

Gamora nodded uneasily. She hadn't expected to be put on the spot and honestly wasn't looking forward to her assigned task, sure that it would only serve to piss you off.

Fury looked at you now. "Understood, Agent?"

You exhale irritably and say, "Yes, sir."

"Good. We'll be seeing you again next week."

You led them to the front door to let them out, but right before she walked out Maria turned to you with a smile and said, "Oh, almost forgot. Where did that new bed in Rocket's room come from?" She said it louder than necessary, no doubt to make sure that the others could hear the question being asked.

"Dammit, Maria!" you scold.

Fury now turned with a smirk, seemingly finally finding humor in the situation. "You know what. I changed my mind. I'd also like to know. Agent?"

You look to the ceiling with a pitiful look. Maria had only been joking, there wouldn't be any real consequences for refusing to tell her. Fury, however, was your boss, and if he wanted to be a dick about it, he could. Apparently your recent stunt with your injury had pressed his 'asshole' button. "I built it." you mutter.

Fury spoke in a tone louder than necessary, just to mess with you. "Sorry, Agent, I didn't catch that."

You glare at him and only speak up a little bit. "Said I built it, sir."

Fury chuckled, and spoke again in the louder-than-necessary voice, "Ah, you built the bed! What a nice thing to do, Agent!"

Rocket could be heard from the kitchen cheering, "I frickin knew it!"

You glared at your boss and coworker. "I hate you both so much."

Fury chuckled. "Goodbye, Agent."

"Goodbye, sir." you reply, promptly shutting the door.

You turn to see Rocket standing smugly in the kitchen doorway. Peter and Kraglin were standing behind him, appearing amused.

"Not a word." you say, barely looking at them as you made for the stairs.

Rocket laughed. "Oh, I was just going to ask if I should give my regards to you, or the faeries."

"Can't hear you!" you call back as you walk up the stairs.

"Come on now, that was a nice thing ya did!" Kraglin said, his tone teasing.

"Not listening!" you cry back as you climb higher, fully aware you were acting a bit like a child, but not caring in your pursuit to get away.

They heard your door shut and Kraglin turned to Peter to say, "She's an odd one, ain't she?"

"Yep."

***

Gamora felt uneasy. After conversing with the others about you, she had contacted Agent Hill on the communication device SHIELD had given them in case any issues arose. They were naturally concerned with how you kept to your room after the injury, and a few therefore worried that the injury was worse than you let on.

They could have just let you be, after you made it clear that you wouldn't accept their help, but after they saw you risk further injury to save their friend, she and Peter collectively decided they'd risk overstepping and contact SHIELD. You helped one of them, they'd help you. Even if you didn't want it, they felt you needed it.

What they hadn't expected was for Fury to be angry about it and, as a result, assign Gamora as your warden.

She talked with Peter in private, discussing what she should do about the situation. She didn't see the situation going well. You barely knew each other and you could be... well, stubborn might be an understatement. Eventually they agreed there was only one thing to be done. Just do it.

Or, at least make it look like she had every intention of carrying through without pissing you off to much. Sometimes people needed a little tough love for their own good, but Gamora knew if they crossed the line into overbearing things could go south real quick, and she didn't want to risk finding the tipping point that would make you make them leave. Being assigned someone to report back on you if you misbehaved was probably humiliating enough without them pushing it.

Now if they could only get Rocket on board.

You stayed in your room most of the day, but when you did come out to eat or to stretch your legs Rocket would throw teases at you, saying that you better stay in line if you didn't want Gamora to tell on you, and throwing taunts about the punishment Fury had threatened you with if you disobeyed the doctor's orders.

To their surprise, however, you just ignored him. You literally just didn't acknowledge him. Just walked about your business, and returned to your room without even a glance in his direction.

Then they realized it was only because you couldn't hear him. You had your earbuds in. Probably for the best, really.

Gamora's uneasiness eventually turned into relief when it became clear that you didn't hold a major grudge against her for squealing on you or her assignment from Fury. Based on your reaction earlier she had been worried that you'd focus your ire on her, but for whatever reason, you didn't seem to.

It was true, you didn't hold a grudge against her. Well, not after you had a chance to cool down about the situation, that is. Listening to music always made you feel better, so it helped your mood that you had kept your earbuds in for most of the day, (and let's be honest, it saved Rocket's ass too.) You took some time to reflect. Except for a period when you went for a walk to decompress, you stayed in your room and just thought about the situation. From what you had seen of Gamora, she probably only thought she was helping. Why she wanted to, you couldn't guess, but you just assumed she did. Fury was probably just trying to teach you a lesson, and you resolved to not let it get to you. You'd play the game, be good, and then he'd eventually get off your back. Easy.

After spending most of the day reflecting, you didn't feel as cranky as you had that morning. Yup, good old music and walking had done it's job to help your mood...

You hadn't made the connection that each of the three times Mantis came to your shared room to check on you, and would take your hand or place hers on your arm to ask how you were feeling, you felt a little more contented. You just assumed she was feeling affectionate and that you enjoyed her company.

Both of those were true, but Mantis had also been working her magic a little, wanting to see you cheer up but doing it in tiny doses so as to not ruin the practical joke Yondu had said would be real funny later if she didn't tell you about her abilities. She didn't know when the joke would be over, but she also didn't want to ruin it and disappoint her new friend.

Later that night you decided to break out a bottle of whiskey from the cellar. Try to get a buzz going. You brought it into the kitchen, asking those already at the table if they wanted any. Well, it was more like telling them that they knew where the glasses were if they wanted some, but still, an offer is an offer.

You sat down and poured yourself a glass as Peter grabbed a glass each for him and Gamora, and Kraglin fetched one for himself and Yondu.

Gamora was the first to speak. "I just wanted to aplogi-"

"No."

"What?"

"It's awkward enough without the apology. It's done. I'm sure you thought you were being helpful or something, but it's done."

Gamora raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well I-"

You sigh. "Look, if it makes you feel better, you're forgiven or whatever, but I don't want to talk about it. 'Kay?" you down your glass and pour another. "Don't kill my buzz before it's even started."

Peter started to speak up. "Well I feel Krags and I at least-"

You cut him off as well. "Same goes for you. We're not going to talk about it right now. It's done."

"Oh...kay..." Peter said, taking a sip. He attempted small talk after a bit. "So... how did you come about working for SHIELD?"

You sipped and shrugged before setting your glass down. "My dad was an agent, and I guess I followed in his footsteps." you say, toying with your glass. Eager to turn the conversation away from you, you asked, "How'd you lot go about becoming 'Guardians of the Galaxy'?"

That question had the desired effect. Peter started off the story by telling you how it actually all started with them getting thrown in prison over a stone and then breaking out of said prison together to locate said powerful stone that some dick called Ronan was going to use to wipe out an entire planet.

About a quarter the way through the story the rest of the Guardians came and the same offer was extended to them before you stood up and announced you should probably grab another bottle as the one you brought up was nearly empty.

Rocket piped up, "So where ya hide it anyway?"

You looked at him, confused and a little tipsy. Cocking your head you asked, "What?"

"The booze. You always seem to pull it out of thin air. Figured you were hiding it."

You blink at him while Peter scolded him for being dumb, a sentiment you now currently shared. You laugh and look at Gamora, who looked embarrassed by her friend. "Is he always this dumb?" Not waiting for an answer you turn back to Rocket. "It ain't hidden. Dipshit." You turn away to resume your task.

Rocket, offended that you would call him dumb, said, "If you ain't hiding it, why haven't we ever seen where you keep it."

Now Kraglin was giving him looks. Even if you were hiding it, it was your shit. You were already giving them a place to stay, you didn't owe them booze too. The rest were sure Rocket was just trying to get a rise from you, but the secondhand embarrassment was real.

You rolled your eyes but kept walking. It was most likely the alcohol, but you were actually finding humor in his stupidity. "It's in the cellar, space case. I won't stop you from tagging along. Make sure your mother signs the permission slip." With that you slipped out the kitchen door.

The guardians exchanged glances at your comment and Peter, who remembered school and field trips, said, "That was a joke. You wouldn't get it." He then stood up and said, "Might as well take the chance to see something new since we don't know how long we'll be stuck here." He then looked to Rocket and asked if he was coming, since technically the invitation had been extended to him.

Rocket, who had been clearly hoping for, or at least expecting, a fight, awkwardly followed in the direction you had left. Mantis and Groot stated they wanted to go see the cellar too, but the others opted to stay behind.

Seeing that four of them had actually decided to take up your mock-offer to come to the cellar, you waited for them to catch up. You honestly didn't care if they went into the cellar, as long as Groot didn't go down there to play, and you made a point to ask Peter to tell him that you didn't mind him coming down with the rest of you tonight, but he was under no circumstances to come down there to play as he could get hurt.

Rocket translated instead, seeming irritated that you had given the message to Peter instead of him, and you open the door start to walking down the stairs, the others trailing behind.

The cellar wasn't anything spectacular. The stairs were a bit creaky with age, and it was dusty and dim even with the light on. The walls were stone strung with cobwebs and the floor was made up of old red brick.

You reached the ground and led them to some shelves on the wall across from the boiler, to grab the whiskey. On the other wall next to the shelves was an old wooden door, but other than that, a few cans of paint, and another set of shelves on the far end of the cellar, it was largely empty. You didn't keep much down there due to the damp.

You turned back to face them once you grabbed a bottle and asked if Rocket was satisfied. You didn't recieve an answer, not like you had expected one anyway. Gesturing back to the whiskey you said to Peter that it was down here if they wanted it. You didn't care as long as they didn't get sloppy drunk and start wrecking shit on the regular.

Peter nodded and the four took in the sight of the cellar. Mantis looked like she regretted her decision to come down, and said it was a little creepy, and Groot seemed to share her opinion. Good. Would mean he wouldn't care to come play down there. Peter and Rocket, however, looked at the shelf behind you in surprise. There was... more whiskey than they had anticipated. A lot more.

"Not that it's any of my business, but why do you have so much whiskey down here?"

You turned back to the shelf. Remembering the reason combined with your tipsy state made you giggle as you answered honestly. "Decided to order a small case awhile back just to have a bit around. Might have ordered it drunk and messed up the size of the order... just a bit..."

'A bit' was an understatement. The whiskey didn't sit on just one shelf, but rather the whiskey took up a whole shelving unit. You had only meant to order one case. A case would have been maybe six bottles. Somehow you ended up ordering six cases, and of course there were no refunds. So, into the cellar with a few other assorted bottles it went. You didn't do any online shopping while drunk after that again.

Peter chuckled at your honesty and noticed the wooden door for the first time. He debated asking about it, it seemed oddly placed considering the layout of the house above, but Mantis beat him to it.

"Where does that door go?" she asked, pointing to it.

You look to the door and then back to them. "Closet," you say, before widening your eyes in mock realization to tease Rocket. "Oh right, better prove it before that one gets all suspicious again!"

Rocket narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, not thrilled with you making him the butt of a joke as you opened the door to reveal a small, dark closet, maybe a meter deep and just as wide. Pipe wrenches hung on hooks off the door, and inside was a bucket, a broom, and a shovel resting against a wall of shallow shelves which were empty aside from a few random tools and a couple lanterns.

You closed the door after a moment and to Peter's surprise you handed him the whiskey bottle you had retrieved and grabbed another. "Might as well grab two, save me a trip if we run out again," you explain before shooing them all up the stairs.

Once back in the kitchen you re-took your seat and poured yourself another glass before sliding the bottle towards the middle of the table for someone else to grab. "Alright, I believe you were telling a story now?" you say to Peter as he also sat down, seeming surprised you were still interested.

And you were. It was quite an interesting story and you had to admit it captured your attention quite well.

Before you knew it an hour had passed and the second bottle was finished between seven of you when they'd finished telling it. Mantis didn't like the taste and Groot wasn't permitted to have any, though fortunately he didn't seem to mind. Just sipped on some juice you had gotten up to pour for him and Mantis and played about on the table adorably as Peter told the story.

The Ronan guy had gotten the stone, but Peter and his team still won anyway, having managed to get the stone away from him. You had giggled when you realized that Peter had more or less described that they had used 'the power of friendship' to hold onto the stone, though he didn't seem as keen on that comparison. You were also surprised to learn that the little Groot before you wasn't the original Groot, but rather more like the original's son, and that Kraglin and Yondu weren't part of the team yet in this story, but actually the leaders of an almost adversary group of space pirates that had agreed to work with Peter with the promise of obtaining the stone for themselves. You wanted to ask about that, how they came about joining Peter's team and where the rest of their crew was, Ravagers you believed they were called, but before you could Yondu interjected.

"Yeah, I'd almost forgot about that switcharoo ya pulled with the stone, boy." Yondu said to Peter, who, now several drinks in, included that bit of the story despite the former captain and first mate sitting right at the table with him.

Peter chuckled nervously in response, and said in jest, "Well, you got a cool troll doll out of it, that's something, right?"

You snorted a short laugh out your nose at that, making the others turn to you in surprise. Aside from a few questions, you had been more or less quiet the whole time until now. "Troll doll?" you say, clearly tipsy, behind your hand. The thought was ludicrous to you. Of all the things, a troll doll.

Peter grinned, pleased to see you found it funny. "It was the only thing I had on hand that would fit in the orb." He admitted, giggling.

Gamora's eyes crinkled as she looked at Peter. She hadn't had nearly as much drink as him, but she still found his giggly nature and his ability to tell a story to be endearing. This was probably the most she had let herself relax since they arrived.

Kraglin lightheartedly punched Peter in the shoulder. He'd been angry when the "switcharoo" incident happened, but he'd since been given enough reason to get over it.

"You goofy cunt," you chuckled at Peter, standing from the table and grabbing the empty bottle to bin it.

Peter raised an eyebrow and cocked his head at you as you walked toward the bin. Had you just called him a 'cunt'?

The others shared surprised contemplative looks and Kraglin said, "I think that was a compliment?" He was unsure, but you hadn't exactly said it in a derogatory way, so perhaps it was?

You overheard him and said from the bin, "Eh. Close enough." You spared one final giggly glance towards the group before leaving the kitchen to use the bathroom.

Peter shrugged, correctly assuming that he shouldn't be offended and stood to put his now-empty glass in the sink before re-joining the table with the others.

They sat chatting for a bit longer, before they thought they heard the soft sounds of singing coming from the sitting room. Exchanging glances, Peter and Gamora decided to go check it out.

***

You didn't return to the kitchen after you finished your business. The story was finished and you were in a better mood than you had been that morning so you just made your way to the sitting room to relax in your rocking chair before your buzz could wear off.

You had been there just a few minutes with your eyes falling closed when the sensation of something crawling up your leg startled you. You jump slightly only to see it was Groot crawling into your lap. You then relaxed. Cute little bugger looked sleepy, and for whatever reason, decided he would crawl up into the rocking chair with you. You didn't mind, and even if you did, you were getting a little too sleepy to feel like wasting energy making him move.

He climbed up on your slinged arm, too light for the action to cause you any pain, and curled up as you rocked away.

You weren't sure what possessed you, likely the whiskey, but you started to softy sing him a lullaby. One you remembered your grandmother singing you to sleep with when you were little.

***

Gamora peeked in the doorway and stopped, seeing you in the rocking chair, though you didn't see her. The rocking chair faced the bookshelf on the opposite wall, putting your gaze perpendicular to her own.

You were the source of the singing, and it didn't take long for her to notice Groot curled up sleeping against you and to deduce that what you were singing was a lullaby.

The others had come to see as well, but Gamora motioned for them to be quiet and didn't let them get past the doorway, afraid that you would stop if you knew you had an audience.

"What is it?" Drax asked.

"I think she's singing a lullaby to Groot." Peter answered, turning to peek back through the doorway for a moment before stepping aside to let Drax see. Drax smiled warmly at the sight and motioned Mantis to take his spot.

Kraglin chuckled and whispered over to an equally amused Yondu, "Well ain't that precious."

"So what?" asked Rocket, annoyed that everyone was gathered by the doorway instead of entering. He was, however, definitely not jealous that Groot would have taken to you well enough to let you sing a lullaby to him. He was also definitely not irritated about the fact that Groot had aparently just fallen right asleep in your lap, when he had been having to deal with Groot fitting to go to sleep most nights due to being someplace new.

Gamora looked to him. "It's sweet."

"She ain't sweet, it's all an act. She don't really care."

"So it was an act when she shot that raccoon and saved your ass?" asked Peter, rolling his eyes at his furry friend.

Rocket threw up his arms in frustration, unwilling to admit the possibility of being wrong. "Probably! She don't really care about us. We're just an assignment to her. And I didn't need her help anyway."

Peter rolled his eyes again, and that's when they noticed the singing had stopped. They were too busy arguing to notice it had been getting softer and softer. Gamora peeked in again and saw that you had fallen asleep, and she whispered back to the group as such.

"Good. I'm putting Groot to bed." Rocket said, pushing through the others before they could say anything.

"Rocket!" Gamora hissed, finally entering the room herself along with Peter.

Rocket ignored her as he approached the rocking chair. Who did you think you were anyway, singing lullabies to Groot? You weren't his mother. He was the one raising Groot, he didn't need some Terran dickhead stepping in and playing 'mommy.' Rocket let his frustration get the better of his sense and instead of gently climbing to retrieve Groot, or asking someone else once he realized he wouldn't quite be able to reach, he decided to be an asshole and jump right into your lap, startling both you and Groot awake in the process.

"Ow! The hell?" you said groggily, rubbing your eyes.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?" Rocket said mockingly before walking off with a confused and groggy Groot.

The others gave him disapproving looks as they dispersed, not wanting to crowd the doorway any longer.

"You're a real asshole, ya know that?" Kraglin said before heading towards the stairs with Yondu. Rocket just ignored him.

Mantis, who also decided she would go to bed, said to Rocket as they climbed, "You're wrong, you know. She does care. I've felt it."

Rocket just rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever," before bounding up the rest of the stairs and to his room to put Groot down to sleep.

Peter and Gamora had decided to head back into the kitchen with Drax to clean up the forgotten empty glasses on the table, so by the time you got up and decided to head to bed yourself the hall was empty.

Too tired to do anything else, you decided to just go to bed. As you made your way up the stairs you remembered taking the others to the cellar and showing them what was behind the door, and wondered if you should consider getting a lock, just in case Groot disobeyed and decided to go play down there anyway.

They didn't need to find out what was behind the back wall of that closet.

126 notes · View notes

itsdanii · 3 years

Note

I have no clue if this is where you take request but oh well! I was wondering if it was possible to have like a short angst to fluff with Asahi? This man is so underrated and I just need more of him 🥺 Have a great day!

Your Ace

Hey, bub. Thank you for requesting. I agree that Asahi is such an underrated character and he really deserves more love! He's always so soft and gentle that I want to hug him like a bear 🥺 Anyway, here's a piece for you. I hope you like it 😚

genre: slight angst to fluff, slight crack

ft. asahi azumane

encouraging someone to continue doing the things they love has never been so hard, especially when that person comes in the name of asahi azumane.

"Was that Shoyo and Kageyama?" you asked Asahi as you sat down on the chair infront of him, your eyes following the two first years as they scurry out of your classroom.

"Yeah, they're really persistent on making me play volleyball again." He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.

You stared at the man in front of you and tilted your head a bit to the side. "Why don't you join the club again then? I heard Noya's back," you suggested.

"I've already quit playing volleyball," he simply answered.

Despite what he said, you didn't fail to notice the way he clenched his fist. A faraway look was present on his face as if he was remembering a certain memory.

"Is this still about what happened?"

Upon receiving no reply, you decided to continue. "I saw you play, you know? You were actually good. Just because you were defeated doesn't mean you failed. What matters isn't the number of times you failed but the number of times you pick yourself up."

Asahi let out a small 'tsk' before looking at you straight in the eyes, a frown now visible on his face. "I appreciate the thought but can we please drop it?"

Stubborn as always, you shook your head and leaned over his desk in determination. "But a team is not a team without an ace, 'Sahi. They need an ace. They need you. Nothing will happen if you just sit here. You'll just get stuck and end up regretting your decisions in the future."

Asahi is a patient man, everyone knows that, but everyone can lose patience when they get provoked or if someone butts in in their business.

And unfortunately for you, Asahi's patience was running thin. The two persistent first years and your nonstop encouragement seemed to be putting pressure on him which is something you missed.

"Y/n, I already asked politely but you still haven't stopped talking so I'll ask again. Please, drop it. I'm not going back," he said with finality.

"But Asahi-"

"I said drop it. Look, I really admire you for trying to encourage me but I don't need it, especially not from someone like you."

You stared at him in shock. Never have you ever thought that you would hear such words from him. He was always gentle and soft spoken especially to you, so hearing him say that made you feel as if your opinion wasn't needed.

Oh, right. He didn't know.

"You really don't know anything, do you?" You gave him a small fake smile before bowing slightly. "I'm sorry for speaking too much. I didn't mean to cross your boundaries."

"Y/n, I-"

Luckily for you, your teacher suddenly entered the room which meant that classes were about to start. Without letting him finish, you turned your back on him and focused in class, unaware of how much the ace wanted to turn back the time and take back what he said.

To say that you were upset was an understatement and Asahi wasn't stupid to not know that. The way you were ignoring him was enough to prove it.

He didn't intend to snap at you but he couldn't stop himself due to the pressure. He didn't even know why you were just as persistent as Shoyo and Kageyama were when it comes to bringing him back to the volleyball club.

Sighing, Asahi stood up as classes ended. Just as he was about to call out for you, you were already making your way out of the door.

Asahi quickly grabbed his bag and followed you. He called your name several times but he wasn't sure if you really didn't hear him due to the noisy hallways or you were just purposely ignoring him.

"Such a stubborn woman," he murmured under his breath as he continued to follow you.

His footsteps slowed down as he saw you making your way inside the gym, Daichi's arms enveloping you the moment you stepped in.

Are you Daichi's girlfriend?

Asahi felt an unpleasant feeling at the thought.

With sneaky movements, Asahi pressed his back against the wall as he heard you and Daichi talking. He was lucky that the small windows were open or else he would need to enter to hear what you two were talking about.

"But Daichi, I can still play!" Asahi heard you raising your voice.

What's going on? Why were you two fighting?

"I said no, y/n. I know that it's hard for you quit being the ace of the girl's volleyball team but the doctors said that you have to stop playing unless you want to permanently damage your ankle." This time, it was Daichi's voice he heard.

"Just one set, Dai. I promise that I-"

"Asahi-san?"

All noises ceased the moment those words came out of Hinata and everybody's eyes turned towards Asahi who was now peeking through the door.

"It's Asahi-san!" Hinata squealed once again. The orange head grabbed Asahi's hand pulled him inside the gym.

Ignoring everybody's gaze, Asahi chose to focus on you. His eyes drifted down to your ankle for a brief moment before staring at you again.

The players noticed the tension between the two of you and decided to give you both space. Daichi's eyes lingered at you for a brief moment before sighing and leaving you guys when you gave him an assuring smile.

"I didn't know," Asahi said guiltily.

You frowned at him, the words he said awhile ago still fresh inside your memories. "Of course you didn't." You looked down at your ankle. "Such a bummer, right? I'm injured but I still refuse to give up."

"Y/n.."

"Maybe Daichi's right. Maybe I should just give up."

"No." You were surprised when Asahi placed his hands on your shoulder, his hand gripping you but not too tightly. "Didn't you tell me awhile ago that what matters is not the number of times you fall but the number of times you pick yourself up?"

"I guess I was just being hypocritical when I said that." You chuckled pathetically as you heard his words. "As much as I want to continue, I can't. If I do, I might end up breaking my ankle permanently."

"Then let me play for you."

You lifted your gaze to Asahi and saw determination in his eyes. "'Sahi.."

"I realized that you were right. Nothing will happen if I just sit and do nothing. I guess it's about time I face my fears." Asahi wrapped his arms around you, enclosing you into a hug. "I'm going to try again. Not only for the team, but for you as well. I'll be an ace you can be proud of."

You immediately hugged him back and buried your face to his chest, tears streaming down your cheeks. "You don't know how happy I am to hear that," you said and slowly pulled away from the hug.

The both of you stared at each other and it was only now that you noticed how handsome he is. Has he always looked this good?

A blush formed at both you and Asahi's cheeks. He quickly let go of you and maintained a safe distance. His heart was beating so fast that he was scared you might feel it.

"Are you done flirting with my cousin?" Daichi's said, interrupting the moment.

Cousin?

Oh...

What a relief.

"I-I wasn't flirting!" Asahi defended himself as he tried to avoid your gaze.

"Mhm?" Daichi said, clearly unfazed. "So it won't matter to you if I tell you she likes you then?"

Your eyes widened at what Daichi said. "Daichi!"

You quickly looked down in embarrassment and fiddled with your fingers, a nervous habit of yours Asahi was clearly familiar with.

At first, Asahi didn't know what to do nor how to act. Was he supposed to hug you? Was he supposed to confess as well? Or was he supposed to kiss you like what the guys from the movies do?

Clearing his throat, Asahi slowly stepped closer to you and put a hand on your head, petting you gently. "It's okay, y/n. I like you too."

Suddenly, Tanaka's laugh echoed throughout the whole gymnasium. Holding his stomach, he pointed at Asahi while laughing. "Are you seriously petting y/n's hair?! That's not how you confess to a girl Asahi-san!"

Asahi quickly removed his hand out of panic, his face now turning red. "I-I'm sorry!"

"What a bunch of idiots," you whispered before pulling Asahi down by the collar of his uniform, stopping when his face was merely inches from yours. You then rose an eyebrow at him before asking, "I like you and you like me. I guess we're dating now, right?"

"I-I guess?" he answered shyly.

"Good."

Those were the last words you said before finally pressing your lips against his.

likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated ❤️

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toosicktoocare · 3 years

Text

AU where the Avengers don’t know that Spider-Man is Peter Parker just cuz

inspired by a fantastic ask about concussions from @carley-carley-carley (hope it’s okay that I tagged you!)

“Young man? Young man, are you alright?”

Grunting, Peter drags his head away from the insistent tapping against his cheek, an almost rhythmic, steady pressure that jerks up his temple to spread across his forehead. The pressure isolates to the base of his skull, where the pounding seems to be at it’s worst, and it holds ground there, pulsing uncomfortably.

“Young man, you fell from a four-story apartment building.”

Peter’s brows furrow at this. He wants to object because he’s Spider-Man, and a fall like that is minor compared to the novel of inuries he’s suffered alongside the Avengers. He opens his mouth to do just that, to explain to this woman that this is nothing, that he’ll walk it off, but a pricking senstation hot against the back of his neck hotwires to his eyelids, forcing them open.

He’s aware of two things: One, the woman leaning over him is far too close, and she’s doubling and tripling before him, going in out of focus against his blurry eyes. Despite hazy around the edges, she looks concerned, if the deep-set wrinkles etched into her forehead are anything to go by. Two, there’s a small crowd surrounding him, and while Peter’s not particularly claustrophobic, right now, it feels like each body is pushing against his lungs, and his stomach. When the hell did he start feeling so nauseous?

“Young man, do you know what day it is?”

No, Peter thinks flatly to himself. He really doesn’t. He could dig through his mind, eager to push out logic, work through his mental calendar that operates soley around when homework assignments are due, but there’s a solid rock of pulsing pain blocking all normal, brain functioning. “Monday?” he tries weakly. He’s faintly aware that his own voice sounds hollow and distant, but more so, he’s distinctly aware of the saliva pooling in his mouth, a copper taste that coats against his tongue.

Peter didn’t think it was possible, but the woman somehow frowns deeper at him, and she climbs to her feet, body rigid. He supposes it’s not Monday after all.

“Call an ambulance! He’s concussed.”

Peter shoots forward into a sitting position, and the pain in his head bursts like a balloon. The redistributed pressure is blinding, and Peter drops his face into his cupped hands with a low groan that threatens to bring more than just air up his throat.

He wants to assure them that a hospital isn’t necessary, that his enhanced healing defies medical science, but when the white light coating his vision dies down to an unsteady sway of darker, blurring colors, he only sees scraped up palms before him, not gloves. He rips his hands away, and one, quick look down shows that he’s sporting a blue NASA hoodie and blue jeans and that he’s definitely not wearing his signature red and blue Spider-Man suit he thought he had on.

The hell?

He glances to see his backpack beside him, thankfully still zipped up and intact. He tries to wrack his brain, briefly craning his neck up toward the rooftop he assumes he fell from, only to quickly jerk his gaze back down when the setting sun seems to shine past his eyes to burn at his skull. He can’t remember why he was up there in the first place, especially since he’s in civilian clothing. He can’t remember much of anything, now that he dwells on it.

“Young man, by all accounts, you should be dead.”

Peter makes to reply, his clenched jaw unhinging almost painfully, but a different, probing jolt sparks up his spine to the back of his neck, and he’s climbing to his feet, pale, wobbly, just as two, new voices somehow carry over the wall of chatter around him.

“What’s going on?”

“Make way. Crowds typically mean one of two things: some weird alien contraption that equals bad news or a dead body, either of which I can’t really fit into today’s schedule.”

Even if Peter didn’t have the two voices memorized, down to the timbre, the sudden, loud squealing from the crowd of “Tony Stark!” and “Captain America!” is enough to have him eyeing for a quick exit, determining if he can duck his way through the pressing bodies.

“This young man fell from the roof!”

“So,” Tony draws out, his voice growing closer. “Dead body it...” He trails off as he nudges around a few people until he’s breaking into the center of the circle with Steve hot on his heels.

“Well, hello there, not dead person.”

Peter wants to shrink away from Tony’s gaze. He wants the ground to crumble and break and swallow him hole, to rid himself of the awkward fear and warm embarrasment that flushes his cheeks. He can feel a thick, lukewarm liquid dripping down his neck, and he doesn’t want to look down to see the concerning pool of blood at his feet.

“Son, are you alright?” Steve shoves forward, and on instinct, Peter backs away and brings a hand to the back of his neck, a nervous tick, but he pulls it back almost immediately, faintly frowning at the splattered red coloring his palm.

“You fell,” Tony starts, and Peter knows this tone well as it’s Tony’s signature speculation tone, where he dissects the situation around clipped, short sentences.

“From up there?”

Leveling his gaze, Peter huffs out a shaky sigh, wincing slightly as Steve prods lightly at the back of his head.

“Um, yeah. I guess?”

“You guess?”

“I don’t really remember,” Peter laughs awkwardly, clears his throat. He can sense the tension that builds behind him, can almost feel the way Steve’s muslces grow rigid.

“He’s concussed, Tony. Maybe save the interrogation for another time?”

“Sure,” Tony says, and he steps forward, carefully avoiding the puddle of blood. “But, you can’t blame me for finding this entire situation unsettling, Steve. This kid fell from the roof of a four-story building, landed on his back, and now he’s standing, and aside from the fact that he looks a tad worse for wear, he’s alive?”

“I’m right here,” Peter mutters under his breath, and Tony nods and crowds too close to him.

“You are. Standing. Speaking. Alive. Three things that don’t exactly pair well with falling off a roof.”

Peter’s head hurts, bad. Deflect, he thinks. But how? “I’ve always been told I come from a family of hard heads,” he mumbles around a hollow laugh, and, he thinks, it definitely sounds as stupid out loud as it did in his head.

Tony’s gaze, in response, his sharp, and narrow, and Peter unconsciously closes his eyes. He can feel the ground rippling below his feet, and he sways, steadying only when Steve wraps an arm around his shoulders.

“Enough, Tony.”

“How much would it take to get you to come back to our labs so I can run some tests-”

“-Enough, Tony.”

Steve’s voice vibrates all across Peter’s body. It’s a powerful yet familiar feeling that makes him shudder slightly.

“What’s your name, son?”

Peter contemplates lying, maybe even using Ned’s name. But, he’s been careful as Spider-Man thus far, so, he thinks, he’s not at risk by sharing his real name. Besides, it’s not like it’s uncommon. “Peter,” he says after a moment.

He could hear Steve talking beside him, but an unannounced rush of blood in his ears begisn to drown out close sounds. He grows hot suddenly, or maybe, he’s been getting steadily hotter this entire time and he couldn’t fully realize. His body’s shaking a little harder now, inconsistent trembles jerking his limbs. His throat’s tightening, and when he realizes what the hell is happening, he’s shoving away from Steve and hunching over to vomit.

He feels worse when he finishes. He’s exhausted, and his head is positively throbbing. Yet, there’s a color of clarity flicking across his mind. Through the thick pain, he can think a little clearer, see a little clearer.

“Peter?”

“Gross, kid. Time to go to the hospital.”

“No!” Peter whips around, staggers, and unconsciously reaches out to Steve’s arm for support. “I mean, that’s not necessary,” he clarifies at the two, wide expressions looking at him expectantly. “Really. I’m already feeling better.” To punctuate his point, he lets go of Steve’s arm and bends down to snag his backpack, clutching it close to his chest. “See, totally fine. No passing out or anything.”

On the back of his head, he can already feel his broken skin moving, closing torn gaps, slowing the bloodflow. He figures he’s got about an hour until it’s completely healed, and he’d rather not be around two Avengers when it happens.

“I’ll just go home and... rest! I’ll rest. Scout’s honor.” He mock salutes, and then he spins on his heel and starts pushing his way out of the crowd, missing the furrowed gaze from Tony. He swallows thickly when he hears two sets of heavy footsteps behind him.

“Peter, wait!”

“I’m with Steve on this one, kid. I can’t, in good conscience, let you disappear in this condition. I can see the headlines now. Iron Man Abandons Helpless Teen.”

“Tony...”

Peter keeps walking ahead, keeps his gaze locked to the sidewalk below him as Tony and Steve take either side of him. “My apartment’s just a few blocks from here,” he mumbles, focusing on the rhythmic pound of his shoes on concrete and not on the hot pain pushing all across his head or on the fact that he can’t shake a couple of Avengers, something he’d never consider as Spider-Man.

“Do you not like hospitals, Peter?”

Steve’s question is a gentle prod, and Peter goes with it, shrugging.

“Not really,” he offers, keeping his voice low, indicating he doesn’t want to pursue the conversation, and luckily, Steve takes the bait and drops it. At least, Peter thinks, they’ll stop insisting he seek out medical assistance now. Though, he does feel a little bad lying to Steve; he doesn’t like lying, unless it’s to egg on Tony’s nerves as Spider-Man. But to Steve? It feels morally wrong, and he thinks he should seek out a confessional for his sins later.

“Not interested in having a bunch of doctors deem you a medical miracle?”

“Definitely not,” Peter groans, finally dragging his gaze up until he’s looking forward and not at the scuff marks on his shoes. His memories, though fuzzy, are filtering through cracks in the thick mud that’s currently his mind. He can remember standing atop the roof, maybe a little too close to the edge. He was getting ready to rip open his backpack for his suit, and then he remembers losing his footing. He remembers the back of his foot hitting the edge of the roof, and everything goes dark after that.

Embarrassing, he thinks. He’s the only super hero he knows clumsier than a newborn deer. Lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t realize he’s reached his apartment until his leg muscles are dragging to a stop on habit. He looks up, craning his neck, and sighs. “Well, this is me. I appreciate the escort, but I’m good now.” He starts up the steps, sighing louder when he hears the two follow.

He makes it all the way up the steps to his apartment door and unlocks it before he spins on his heel, a second, longer sigh pushing past his lips. “Look, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but don’t you both have... bigger things to do? Iron Man and Captain America things?”

“You busy, Steve?” Tony asks, and Steve mutely shakes his head before following Tony into the apartment.

Groaning, Peter rubs at his forehead and shuffles inside, knowing full and well that both are incredibly busy on an hour-to-hour basis. He’s quick to slip his bacpack into his bedroom and close the door before he steps back out into the living room to see Steve motioning toward the couch with a pack of frozen peas in hand.

“It’s all you had.”

Shrugging, Peter drops down flat onto the couch, sitting up briefly so Steve can slip the bag of frozen peas behind his head. He shivers on contact because shit, it’s freezing, and Steve’s reaching over him to snag the blanket draped behind the couch. He hums absently when Steve tucks it around him, and then he cracks an eye open to see Tony staring down childhood pictures with a familair set of glasses on.

“Mr. Stark?”

“Huh?” Tony whips around, already plucking the glasses from his face.

“Really, Tony? How much info is FRIDAY feeding you right now?”

“What?” Tony drags out, both hands raised in defense. “Kid fell off a roof and walked away. Sue me.”

“I promise, Mr. Stark, I’m not even remotely interesting,” Peter tries, and Tony raises a single brow his way.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Peter’s kept his identity tightly under wraps thus far, and he knows childhood pictures or pictures with May aren’t going to reveal that he’s Spider-Man. Still, it’s annoyingly intrusive, and he sits up with a groan.

“If I swear on my best friend’s lego model death star that I’ll stay put, rest, and wake up every few hours to monitor my condition, will you both please leave? You really don’t need to hang around here; I know you both have to be really busy.”

“Your best friend has a lego model death star?” Tony starts, isolating that one fact. “Is your best friend in second grade?”

Peter clambers to his feet, stalks over to his door, and yanks it open. “We’re the same age, and I happily helped him with it,” he challenges, motioning toward the doorway.

“Easy, champ,” Tony says around a laugh as he and Steve start toward the door. “If you and your friend want to play with legos, that’s none of my business. Just try not to fall off any more roofs because, unfortunately, that is my business.”

“Yes, sir,” Peter says, offering a nod as the two step out.

“Consider going to a hospital, Peter,” Steve adds. “Maybe take your friend with you for comfort.”

Yeah right, Peter thinks. Ned can’t even handle the thought of a needle without feeling faint. Still, he nods, if only to appease Steve, and then he’s closing the door and sinking against it with a low sigh. He listens for a long time until he can no longer make out their footsteps, and then he’s ignoring the pressure in his head and running to his room to don his suit.

Concussion or not, Queens still needs the friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.

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gerrycoco · 3 years

Text

Here are chapter 4 and 5 of the TOL fanfic I’m writing based on @nwarrior777 comic. I’d been meaning to post chapter 4 a while back but hadn’t been sure where my cut off was between these two chapters until I finished them today.

Hope you enjoy and more should be coming soon hopefully!

You can also read this fic on ao3

Chapter 4

The weeks ticked away slowly but surely at the Academy, summer turning into fall and steadily veering into winter. I continued to have the best of fun with Tamara doing all sorts of shenanigans.

With the end of October came Halloween where she snuck us out to go trick or treating when Halloween came around. As we finished up grabbing as much candy as we could, I only half noticed how cold the weather was becoming.

A few weeks later there came the first snowfall, which everyone was super excited about. After a particularly big snowfall most of the residents of the Academy, myself and Tamara included, found ourselves in the outdoor courtyard making snowmen.

Given my nature of not being very good at anything, my own attempts at making a snowman were quite subpar. I could see others not far away snickering among themselves, probably whispering about how ironic it was that someone with ice powers was so bad at stuff involving snow.

I was rather preoccupied by my increasing discomfort at being in the cold to really notice them. Tamara, however, glared in their direction as she joined me after reappearing from having gone to get some extra accessories for our snowmen. "Don't listen to them, Demian," she said, "this isn't a competition or anything, the whole point is just to have fun."

"Yeah I know," I replied, trying to blow on my hands to get them warmer, which only made things worse as with my powers all I did was blow frost over my fingers. It was then that I realized that I didn't have to go about making a snowman the old fashion way. Stretching my hands out in front of me me I tried summoning the snow around me to form into a shape.

"Demian maybe that isn't a good idea," Tamara said, her voice filled with concern, "the doctors told you to be careful about how long you spend in the snow and you already look really cold. I think we should go back inside."

"Hang on, just give me a minute," I managed to reply despite my teeth chattering loudly due to how cold I was. A small crowd of others had come by to watch curiously and I was not about to give them another reason to tease me. Within moments I'd accumulated a pile of snow that I was twisting and bending with frost from my own hands. I’d stopped shivering by then so I ignored how painfully cold I was feeling and concentrated to finish what I was doing.

Soon I had made a full sized snowman, but this time shaped like an actual human. "Tada," I said, with difficulty, now that my whole face felt frozen, "say hello to snow Tamara!" The others all gasped as they came closer to inspect the near perfect snow and ice replica of my friend.

Tamara herself however looked at me, a very stern expression on her face as she grabbed my hand and teleported us inside. Once she was done she dropped my hand and glared at me, looking quite mad. "What were you thinking?! That was dangerous!" she exclaimed loudly.

"What do you mean?" I meant to ask, surprised by how angry she looked. I never got the chance to do so though as everything suddenly went dark.

***********************************************

"You got him here just in time so thankfully he's going to be alright," I heard an unknown voice say.

I groaned as I tried to stir, finding that my whole body was tingling from the sensation of me slowly defrosting. With difficulty I managed to open my eyes, to see that I was in the back room of the infirmary.

"What, what happened?" I asked, the words slightly slurred as my mouth and tongue still hadn't regained full sensation.

"You did something really stupid is what happened," Tamara spat out, angrily wiping tears from her eyes. She then ran out of the room, leaving me alone with who I now saw was a nurse.

“Tamara wait!” I called out. I tried to sit up so I could go after her but realized I was still too numb to do so.

“Woah take it easy there,” the nurse said, putting a hand on my shoulder to prevent me from trying again. “You need to stay lying down for a while longer, your body likely can’t tolerate going into an upright position just yet,” he explained to me. “Right now you need to rest. The doctor should be here shortly to check up on you to make sure you’re doing alright.”

I sighed unhappily but nodded in resignation. The image of Tamara’s face was burnt into my mind as I replayed the scene again over and over again. She had looked so scared and hurt, I felt terrible for putting her through what I imagined was a rather frightening experience.

My wallowing was interrupted by the arrival of the doctor, who I saw was the same I had met when first arriving at the Academy. “We meet again young man,” he said, though he clearly was far from delighted to be seeing me at the present. “That was a very foolish thing you did back there.”

“Yeah I know…” I replied, feeling the guilt weigh on my chest. Added to the fact that I fail at basically everything, I’ve also never exactly been known for being a particularly smart person. Even back at home, my family would usually avoid leaving me alone for extended periods of time.

“It’s a good thing your friend was there and that she was able to teleport you back inside when she did,” the doctor went on, his brows creasing into a concerned frown. He looked over at the monitor I’d been hooked up to and then picked up the chart on my bedside to examine it as well. “Thankfully you hadn’t gone far beyond moderate hypothermia and so your loss of consciousness was likely a form of rewarming shock.”

“I… I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad..” I said, feeling quite scared myself now that the reality of what had just happened was sinking in. “I wasn’t even shivering at the end.”

“Well that’s because shivering is only associated with the milder forms of hypothermia,” the doctor explained, putting the chart down and pulling out a small flashlight from his pocket. He then proceeded to point it in front of each eye and had me follow the beam with my gaze. “We already knew that you would be more sensitive to cold, but it appears now that because of your powers you’ve gone from warm blooded to cold blooded, no pun intended.”

“You mean, like a lizard?” I asked, my brain feeling a bit fuzzy as I tried to process what the doctor was telling me while spots danced in my vision from having the flashlight directed at my eyes.

“Yes precisely, or almost anyway,” the doctor replied, “cold-blooded creatures can’t internally cool themselves off while you have no problem with that. However, like them, you appear to have difficulty with generating sufficient body heat without some external help, which would explain why you progressed so quickly into an increasing hypothermic state.”

I simply blinked at him in response, his sciency explanations were too much for my thawing brain to understand. He appeared to see the look of overall confusion in my eyes and he gave me a small half-smile as he put the flashlight away in his pocket.

“The point is,” he went on, “from now on you will have to take extra special care to make sure you only spend short periods of time in cold environments.”

********************************************* I took the doctor’s word very seriously once I was allowed to leave the infirmary. Not only did I completely avoid going outside, I also made sure to always have an extra warm sweater as well as a hoodie wherever I went. While it might have been overkill, I didn’t want to risk anything happening again.

Mostly I kept to myself as the others gave me looks whenever I was in the common areas or the cafeteria. They had either been there to see me almost freeze to death or had heard about it as gossip spread rapidly around the Academy. I therefore spent the next few days in my room waiting for something new to happen so they wouldn’t be focused on me anymore. Time passed slowly though as I spent it alone seeing Tamara and I hadn’t spoken since the incident.

While normally she was constantly popping into my room to hang out, almost a week went by without me seeing her at all. She had obviously been very upset by my actions and I figured she was still mad at me about it. I really wanted to go and apologize, but, because of her teleportation powers, Tamara was very good at making sure she wasn’t able to be found if she didn’t want to be.

After a few days I decided it had gone on for long enough and decided to park myself outside her room. I figured if I stayed there at one point she’d have no choice but to talk to me. There was always the risk of her teleporting in and out of her room without ever having to use the door, but Tamara could usually only teleport so many times in a day before it started draining her too much and she risked ending up in the wrong place.

I decided then to go and wait outside her bedroom door after dinner time since she was more likely to be tired then and therefore less likely to use her powers to disappear on me. I’d been sitting there for a while, just scrolling on my phone as I waited, when I finally saw her walking down the hallway towards her room. She hadn’t noticed me yet, her head bent and gaze stuck around her shoes, looking about as miserable as I had been feeling.

“Tamara!” I called out, popping her out of her thoughts as her head snapped up at the sound of my voice. At this point she was about ten steps away from her door and I could see in her eyes that she was weighing whether it was worth it to try teleporting past me.

I stood up quickly and walked the distance between us, putting my hand on her arm. “Tamara, please,” I pleaded, “can we talk? I’d really like to apologize…”

She grimaced for a moment then let out a sigh. “Fine,” she replied, removing my hand and going to her bedroom door. I followed closely as she opened it, hoping that she wouldn’t dash in just to slam the door in my face. Instead she held the door open and gestured for me to come inside.

I went and sat down on the chair by the desk while Tamara shut the door before going to sit on the end of her bed. She glanced quickly in my direction before looking away and crossing her arms, visibly still quite upset with me.

I’d spent the time waiting outside her room going through how best to apologize to her, but in that moment all scenarios vanished from my mind as we sat in silence while I tried to figure out the best way to start. “So… I guess I’ll just start off by saying that I’m aware that what I did was really stupid and dangerous and I’m sorry for doing that to you…”

Tamara was silent for a beat before turning to look at me. “What were you even thinking doing that?” she interrogated. “Even without using your powers you’re more at risk when it’s cold, but with what you did you just made it 10 times worse! So what, you just couldn’t help but show off, right?”

I stared at her, surprised for a moment. It hadn’t occurred to me that by using my powers I’d put myself in even greater danger, although thinking about it now it did make sense. “No I wasn’t trying to show off, at least I don’t think so…” I replied, feeling quite uneasy. “I was failing at making a snowman the normal way just like I fail with everything else and then I remembered I have ice powers so, like, why not use the one thing I’m good at that’s actually relevant to the situation for once.”

“You’re telling me you made a snow person that looked just like me and it wasn’t just so you could look good in front of the others after they had made fun of you?” Tamara retorted, looking rather skeptical.

“I mean, maybe a tiny bit,” I admitted, “but mostly I did it because I thought it would make you smile. You’re always doing nice things for me so I just wanted to be able to do something nice for you too for once.”

“R-really?” Tamara asked, her tone now very different.

“Yeah, I just thought it would be funny for you to have a snow twin,” I said, letting out a nervous chuckle.

At this Tamara finally gave me a small smile before it fell away and she suddenly looked quite sad. “I guess I thought you had ignored my warning because you were too busy trying to impress the others. And maybe deep down a part of me was also scared that if it worked you were going to find new friends and wouldn’t want to hang out with me anymore…”

“What? Tamara no of course not…” I replied, getting up from the chair and going to sit down next to her on the bed. “You’re my best friend Tamara, you’re my only friend really. You’re also the reason nothing worse happened since you pretty much saved my life by teleporting us back inside when you did.”

“Damn right I did,” Tamara retorted with a smirk. “I hope you learned your lesson because I might not always be there to save your butt.”

“Oh don’t worry, I don’t plan on making the same mistake again,” I laughed. Tamara gave me a real smile this time and leaned over to hug me tightly.

“Okay enough talk about snow and ice now, how about we go get some hot cocoa?” I suggested.

“Good idea,” Tamara replied before teleporting us out of her room.

Chapter 5

While I was quite happy to be hanging out with Tamara once again, our time together afterwards was somewhat short lived. Her one year at the Academy was coming to an end and shortly before Christmas she returned home to her family. Thankfully, during the holidays, the Academy made special allowances where they hosted an annual Christmas party and other fun events for family and friends. With this I was kept well occupied up until New Years after which things went back to normal, leaving me to find myself mostly alone once again.

I was able to see my family during visiting weeks of course, but I still wasn’t having much luck in finding any other friends now that Tamara was gone. No one really cared about me when I wasn’t using my powers and ever since my last incident I’d basically decided against doing anything ice related unless it was actually useful, which in the dead of winter it really wasn’t.

Although my own one year milestone was still a good few months away, I figured I could start looking at different job possibilities to look forward to once I was able to return home. It was better than dying of boredom in the meantime. After all, the Academy had a department set up for the exact purpose of counseling and preparing those who wished to find themselves jobs once their time was up.

This didn’t end up being the most successful endeavor however. While the counselors were very nice and tried to look at different options with me, they had a hard time finding anything that would be a good fit. I’m not sure what I was expecting really, since by being not so great at basically everything I didn’t exactly have very many employable skills. The other issue is that usually the main solution is to try to find something that works with a person’s specific powers. In my case though, this didn’t pan out much since all the actual real jobs that would hire someone with ice powers involved working in very cold environments, and I was not going to make that same mistake twice.

“Unfortunately the only other option I can find is volunteer work,” Lenny, the counselor who had been assigned my case, informed me. “That means you wouldn’t be paid, but it would still be something if ever you’re interested.”

I left the employment center feeling quite disappointed as I headed towards the cafeteria. It was family visiting day and my mom would be arriving soon. Multiple parents and other family members had already started arriving as I entered the cafeteria and sat down at a table while I waited. A few minutes later I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hi mom,” I said, doing my best to smile as I turned to hug her before she sat down next to me.

“What’s wrong honey?” my mom asked directly. “Something is up, I can tell.”

I blinked with surprise at this. I’d forgotten how perceptive my mom could be. “I… well…” I started, going on to explain to her my less than promising visit with the employment department. “So I might not be able to get an actual job once I’m done here…” I added, looking down at my hands, blinking my eyes madly as I tried not to cry.

“I see,” my mother replied. She reached over to take one of my hands in her own and gave it a tight squeeze. I looked up at her to see her smiling warmly at me. “Demian, just remember that no matter what happens, whether you manage to find a job or not, you will always have a place at home waiting for you,” she said tenderly as her free hand went to wipe away a tear that had slid down my cheek.

I gave her a watery smile as I leaned in to hug her tightly. “Thank you mom, I love you,” I said, sniffling softly.

“I love you too sweetheart,” my mother replied, hugging me back just as tightly. “Always have and always will.

****************************************

After the visit with my mother I felt somewhat better about my future beyond the Academy. Though I still didn’t exactly know how I would ever manage to find a job, I also knew that I couldn’t give up trying.

My mood was also greatly improved by Tamara’s sudden and unexpected return to the Academy mid February. She’d had an unfortunate mishap with her powers, although she hadn’t really wanted to talk about it much upon her return. Bottom line was that she needed to be monitored at the Academy for another year now because of it. While I found that extremely unfortunate for her, I was also, rather selfishly, quite happy to have her back around.

It was only about a month later that she was finally willing to explain to me what had happened. Apparently when she had gone back home she had bumped into a former partner she had been dating not long before she had arrived at the Academy. They stayed in contact for the first little while after she had discovered her powers, however the long distance slowly became a strain on their relationship.

“At that point we agreed it was best to take a break and reconnect once I was able to go back home after my year was up,” Tamara explained to me.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about this?” I asked, feeling surprised and almost a bit hurt that I’d never heard about this before.

“I guess I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high just in case it didn’t work out,” she replied. “In the end that’s what happened because when I finally saw them again they were dating someone else…”

“Oh Tamara… I’m so sorry…” I said, gently putting my hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she said, though she had a sad look in her eye. “It was for the best really, I don’t think we would’ve lasted very long in the end. But this happened on Valentine's Day of all days so needless to say I wasn’t feeling great after that. After seeing them together with their new partner I almost ran home, trying not to cry. I tried to teleport back but instead of my room I somehow ended up on Mars.”

“Mars?! You mean, like the planet?” I asked, shocked and confused.

“Yep,” Tamara replied. “Luckily I quickly teleported back to Earth, first in Antarctica and then at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It took a few tries but I finally made it home before coming back here and begging them to put me on blockators. I felt like I was going insane.”

“Wow that’s crazy,” I said, not sure what else to say at this point.

“Yeah…” Tamara acquiesced, her gaze downcast. “I’ve never really been lucky with dating anyway so I guess it’s not really all that surprising. I am a bit much after all and I’m not really dating material…”

“Absolutely not!” I protested, offended that my friend could think so low of herself. “You are funny and adorable and super thoughtful and anyone would be lucky to date you!” I exclaimed, tapping the table with insistence with every new point I added.

Tamara laughed at my display, most of the sadness now gone from her eyes. “Thank you, I really needed that,” she giggled. “But that makes me think, what about you? I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned anything about dating either.”

“Oh,” I replied meekly, now that I was being put on the spot. “I haven’t ever really dated to be honest…”

“Really? Like you’ve never had a girlfriend… or a boyfriend?” Tamara asked, leaving the door open for me to fill in the blank.

I could feel myself blushing at this, feeling a bit embarrassed about the topic. “I, uh… I guess I’m not totally sure where I stand in terms of sexuality… it’s never felt super clear for me and I haven’t really had the chance to figure it out for myself quite yet.”

“That’s okay then,” Tamara said, smiling kindly. “There’s no rush for you to find an answer or anything. And if ever you do figure it out and feel like dating whoever it is will also be lucky to be with someone like you.”

“Thanks Tamara,” I said, smiling back at her.

“Just for the record, you’re great and everything, but you’re not my type dude,” Tamara stated matter of factly. We looked at each other seriously for a moment before both bursting into laughter so hard we were in tears.

**************************** Before I knew it there was only one month left before I was to leave the Academy. Poor Lenny was still doing his best to try and find me a job but unless I miraculously developed an actual useful workskill there was only so much he could do.

Of course I was allowed to stay on at the Academy once my time was up in order to volunteer and help with the newcomers. I would be allowed to room and board there by doing so but it wasn’t an actual job or anything and that wasn’t something that actually paid. Because of the laws and regulations put in place for awakened, there needed to remain a place for them to stay if they weren’t able to return to society for one reason or another. To avoid people taking advantage of that and using it as an easy way out to not have to work, the Academy stipulated that they would not pay permanent/long term residents. Instead it was a barter type system where those who wished to stay had to contribute in some form or fashion according to their powers or abilities.

Some people, both within and outside the Academy, still saw it as a lazy option while others saw it as the epitome of despair. I thought both those views were rather extreme and unfair. However, I also didn’t want to stay at the Academy forever. I wasn’t ready to believe that there was truly nothing out there for me, not yet at least. The only thing that made me feel better was knowing that Tamara was also still going to be around for a good few more months even if I did wind up having to stay at the Academy for longer.

There was also the option of going back home to my parents for a while before coming back to stay at the Academy. That way I could stay with them for a bit and then move back into the Academy the next time I would be coming in for my regular post one year check in to make sure my powers were still stable. As time went on I figured I would go with that option since I hadn't gone home in nearly a year and had mainly seen my parents during visits. That way I would get to spend some time with the rest of my family but also come back to be with Tamara for the time she had left at the Academy.

I was starting to pack my stuff when I heard an unexpected knock at my door. I was confused as to who it could be, since Tamara usually just let herself in at this point. Putting down the shirt I’d been trying to fold I went to open the door, surprised to see Lenny standing there. “Lenny, what are you doing here?”

“Hi Demian,” Lenny greeted me, “I know you’ve been planning on going home soon but I have some interesting news for you that might just change your mind…”

#temperature of love #tol #fanfic #pov fanfic #ao3

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sicjimin · 3 years

Note

Can uou write a part 2 to the Taekook fic you just released?? With Seokjin coming over to help them

A.N : i didn't know that anyone gonna want part 2 of that TT but thank you for requesting ! i hope u like it .. and this does justice to your expectations. i'm sorry if this is too far stretched out and just .. making the story pointless TT ((and Namjoon baby im sorry i didnt mean to neglect you:* ))

TW : emeto, mpreg

Taehyung was on the verge of crying when someone chimed in from the door. He snapped his head when he heard Seokjin grunts and Namjoon rustling from the door as the older's hands look full with groceries.

"Jin-hyunggg", Taehyung almost cries, relief going through his body. Seokjin fastens his pace and plops himself to the couch as the younger diving his head to the older embrace. Namjoon smiles fondly at the sight, deciding to walk to the kitchen and placed their groceries that include medicine and ingredients for soup.

" Taehyung-ah, hey, calm down. Everything will be fine", Seokjin mumbles soothingly, running their hand through Taehyung's hair. The younger nodded slowly but still cling to him.

"What happened?", he asks once Taehyung seems to calm down for his little breakdown.

" I thought Jungkookie just had his usual morning sickness this morning. Like, it was a usual occurrence. His morning sickness is actually pretty bad", Taehyung starts, sniffling in between every word since the sight of Jungkook being sick flashing through his mind. "But then i gave him anti-emetic meds, the one that our doctor gave us if his morning sickness went pretty bad. He keeps complaining that he's dizzy but i thought that was only because he just throw up", Taehyung continues, tears coming back to his eyes again.

Namjoon comes out from the kitchen, settling himself beside the younger and rubbing his back too. Taehyung continues, " And then he just keeps throwing up. He can't keep anything down. He had tried to eat pancakes since he wants one .. maybe his craving i dont know, but he just keeps vomiting and now he had a fever .."

Seokjin frowns and rubs Taehyung's shoulder, " He'll be okay", he says calmly, trying to get the younger to believe it.

"I'm afraid something will happen to our baby too, since Jungkook can't keep anything down", Taehyung adds. Fiddling with hems of his sweater.

"He'll be just fine, we'll make sure of it, yeah?", Namjoon assures. Seokjin nods and let Taehyung nuzzle into his neck, wrapping an arm around his waist.

" Now let me check on Jungkookie, okay? You can catch some rest. You look tired", Seokjin says before getting up.

"But hyung-"

"No, You catch some sleep here with Joonie. I will take care of Jungkook. I don't want you to fall sick too"

Taehyung bites his lips and looks towards the floor, not knowing what to say or do right now. He was about to open his mouth when Namjoon beats him to it.

"Let him go Jin. It won't kill him", he says with a smile. Knowing fully that rest and sleep were the last thing on the younger mind.

Seokjin rolls his eyes, " Fine"

They walked up to the bedroom, opening the door as quietly as they can. They saw a mess inside the room but Seokjin couldn't find it in himself to even nag at it when Jungkook looks pale, lying there on his bed with his eyes closed, obviously not feeling well.

He was wearing oversized sweatpants and a shirt that's big enough to cover the whole top half of his body.

He sits slowly on the edge of the bed, brushing his palms through Jungkook's sweaty forehead, making the younger stirring a bit.

"Hyungie?", he slurs groggily, still struggling to open his eyes to see Seokjin.

" Jin hyung? You're here?"

"Hey babe, how are you feeling?"

"Horrible hyung ..", Jungkook whispers, reaching out with one hand, wanting comfort. Seokjin quickly took the hand and held it close, smiling warmly.

"Have you eat anything?"

"Not really.. i've eaten some food, but it doesn't help much.. nausea doesn't stop..", Jungkook answers, shivering as he spoke with a raspy voice.

Seokjin sighs, knowing that this must have been hell for poor Jungkook.

"I will make you soup, okay? I think your medicine has worn off"

Jungkook nuzzled himself deeper to the pillow, "It's useless hyung .. i will just throw it back up", he whines.

"It'll be fine, Jungkook. Just give it a try. Can you?"

"Okay," Jungkook replies softly, already feeling asleep again.

Turns out Seokjin was overestimated this condition. Jungkook was sicker than he thought as he watched the youngest retching the soup up not even an hour after he takes in.

"Tae, let's take him to hospital", Seokjin suggests after watching his dongsaeng for five minutes, watching how Jungkook's stomach working hard to expel anything.

" Dont .. hospital—", Jungkook chokes in between heaves before trying to speak again. "Please.. no hospital.. I'm fine."

"No, Jungkook. I agree with hyung, you didn't have anything down. Please for our baby? They must be hungry too", Taehyung pleads.

Jungkook looks at him from his glassy and blurry eyes, letting himself slumped against Seokjin after he finished throwing up. He feels horrible. And the thought of had to go to the hospital just makes everything scarier.

" I'm scared hyung ...", he murmurs. He felt so weak, and doesn't have any strength to fight anymore. Seokjin holds him tightly and caresses his hair softly to make him feel better.

"I know baby. But this way you can recover quickly", Seokjin responds, "We need to go to the hospital, right? And I'm sure they'll take good care of you".

Seokjin stands, pulling Taehyung who stood beside him, and carries the youngest to the car, puts him in the passenger seat.

When they parked in front of the hospital, Jungkook hurriedly rushes to get out. Running around the car to get on the bushes on the side, and hunched over, letting thick saliva dangling from his mouth before it morphs into a gush of vomit.

"Kook!", he could hear his boyfriend and Seokjin rushing behind him, but he's too focused to look back at them, not even bothering to wipe off the spit from his lips. His vision was blurred, so everything looked blurry as well, but that didn't stop his body to shake violently, as he vomited his guts out. The sight of soup that Seokjin managed to make him eat, splattering as a puddle below him, just make his stomach clenched harder.

" Uurrkk-", he retches, feeling his bump jerked against his arms that clutching around it. He lets out a choked breath before he could throw up again.

He can hear Jin gasp behind him. He can almost feel his boyfriend's hand running through his hair as he holds him. Jungkook feels so warm, so so warm but his whole body is shivering as his fever seems to get worse. He can feel his cheeks burning hot and wet.

It takes all his willpower to stand still, so he did. Even though he felt like collapsing and throwing up again because of the dizziness and nausea, he took deep breaths, keeping himself from doing something stupid like throwing up again or passing out on the ground.

"Kook, hey, are you okay?", Seokjin asked worriedly after a while. Jungkook couldn't answer. He only shook his head slightly.

" I feel like throwing up again", he huffed trying to control his breathing. He's so warm, yet cold, and his head feels fuzzy and foggy.

"Lets get you inside, okay? So the doctor can check on you, baby", Taehyung said softly rubbing his back. Jungkook nodded as he let Taehyung guide him to the hospital.

Jungkook felt weak but he tried to keep it together. He didn't know what's going on around him. Everything just feels like a buzzing sound in his brain. His hand mindlessly keeps rubbing his bump, he's not sure why. He doesn't know if he does it for comfort or just to calm his baby bump down.

" They will call you in 20 minutes", Seokjin said as he joined him in the waiting room. Jungkook nods tiredly, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder, taking some deep breaths, focusing on calming himself down and staying awake.

Taehyung kept on petting his back gently, looking worried. His eyes were glued at the door, waiting. Jungkook tries his best to smile at his boyfriend reassuringly and kiss his cheek.

"Hyungie .. i'm nauseous", Jungkook whispered. His eyes are heavy and his voice is hoarse. Taehyung looks at him, worriedly frowning.

" Do you want to puke?", Taehyung asks worriedly, rubbing circles on Jungkook's lower back. The younger shakes his head with a small nod, holding his bump tightly. "I don't think I have anything left to puke on.. but i'm nauseous", he said. Taehyung nodded understandingly as he looked at Jungkook for a moment. His heart breaks at seeing the younger like this. Seeing how pale and sweaty he is. It makes Taehyung sick.

After an agonizing 20 minutes, the doctor finally called their name. Taehyung immediately helps Jungkook to stand up and take few steps towards the doctor. Jungkook looks like he's about to fall at any second due to his low strength and low stamina. But Taehyung held him, and supports him as he walks to where the doctor is standing.

Some examinations later and they figured that it will be best for Jungkook to stay 2 days there, for observation and getting nutrition from IV as eating not seems like a good option.

Taehyung sighs deeply, looking at Jungkook that already dozing off in one of the hospital beds after Seokjin helped them to settle the administration.

Taehyung grabs one of his boyfriend's hands, running it with his thumb, " You're scaring me"

Jungkook glance at him, smiling weakly, "I'm sorry hyungie"

Taehyung leans his head on his hand that hold Jungkook's. He sighs heavily once more.

"Kookie, how are you feeling? You're scaring us, no wonder Taehyung was frantic when he called me", Seokjin said walking up next to Jungkook, placing the blanket of the patient on top of Jungkook's body gently as he strokes the younger's head. Taehyung hum in response. " I was worried"

Jungkook chuckles, "I feel better now, the IV makes me less nauseous. and i think my fever is starting going down"

Seokjin sighs relieved, "Good, that's good".

" I will check up on you again tomorrow okay? Namjoon must be hella bored at your apartment now", Seokjin laughs

"You're so mean for leaving him behind", Taehyung chuckles too. " He was asking to stay!", Seokjin exclaims.

"Get well soon, Kook-ah, and you too little one you're so strong", he adds, rubbing Jungkook's bump for a moment before ruffling Jungkook's and Taehyung's hair, " i'm leaving!"

Jungkook smiles as he waves Seokjin goodbye. Seokjin smiled back before turning around to leave.

"You will be fine Taehyung-ah?", Seokjin asks as Taehyung walked him to the front.

" I will hyung, thank you so much", Taehyung hugged Seokjin tightly. "Please visit again tomorrow if you're not busy"

"I will", Seokjin chuckled. Taehyung lets go of him and give him a tight hug before walking him out of the hospital. Taehyung waves him bye and watches him drive away. He stands there, alone for a while, thinking how thankful he is to have Seokjin by his side and caring to him and Jungkook. He actually dont know what might happen if Seokjin and Namjoon didn't come to help, maybe he already losing his mind. He shuddered at the thought.

#bts sickfic #bts emeto #tw emeto #tw vomit #sick!jungkook #caretaker!taehyung #caretaker!seokjin #and again another mpreg fic

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tangledstarlight · 3 years

Note

hello 😌

“You’re in a coma and I confess all my feelings only for you to wake up” for juke please :)

you really went 'hm lets chose the saddest option' huh??? what follows is all on you okay i dont take any responsibility for it 😬(i really made myself a lil sad with this one okay). anyway!! hope you like it!!! 😊💜

trigger warnings!! mentions of injuries and character deaths

20. you’re in a coma and i confess all my feelings only for you to wake up

50 cliche tropes and prompts!

Julie didn’t like hospitals. Though she supposes that most people don’t like them. They’re too bright, too loud and too quiet at the same time.They can be places where you get the best news of your life. But for her they’d always been the place she got the worst.

She can still remember sitting in the waiting room as a doctor talked to her dad, and she can appreciate them trying to spare her, to give her one more moment to live in a world where her mom is alive. But she’d heard the alarms and the nurses rushing into her room. She already knew long before her dad came back over and knelt in front of her and Carlos.

Hospitals were places for bad news.

Where people died and didn’t come home.

(And she knows it’s stupid, and that it’s just a childhood superstition, but a part of Julie had always thought the day her mom died was her due to her. That her mom her died on the one day they’d had to leave early because of a stupid dance rehearsal, and no one had been with her. And maybe, if they’d not left, her mom might still be alive.)

Julie really hated that she’d almost not walked into the building after she’d gotten the call. Because if she didn’t walk in, she didn’t have to see him. She didn’t have to hear what had happened and what they’d done to help and how they didn’t know if he’d wake up. If she didn’t walk inside Luke would be okay and she could go home and pretend he’d just been held up in traffic.

A kind nurse had led her to his room after a doctor had explained about the accident, about the car that had run a light and how there had been bleeding on his brain and fractures close to his heart and that ‘surgery went well, we’re hopeful’.

Alex had been pacing in the space nearest the window, back and forth, back and forth while Willie watched with his arms right across his chest, and Reggie had been sitting in the chair next to his bed, staring intently at the monitors beeping away.

Julie had walked in slowly, and she knows she’d looked at the other boys, knows that she must have said something because Reggie stood up and arms wrapped around her in a hug and she’d been ushered into the chair.

But all she really remembers is looking at Luke in the bed.

Too still, too pale, covered in bruises and bandages and wires.

That had been 2 days ago.

Julie hadn’t left the hospital, his bedside, since. Even though she’d insisted that the boys go home, rest, shower, and have a real meal. They’d tried to make her go too, but something in her eyes had made them stop. She doesn’t know what they saw. But that’s fine. They’d left her to it.

They say people in a coma can hear you, that’s what the nurses and doctors keep reminding them. That they should talk to him. But for the first time in the 10 years that she's known him, Julie doesn’t know what to say.

Alex talks about the shows he’s missed and who’s released a new album that day, keeps him up to date with the ever changing top 100. Reggies tells him that his guitar is fine (‘because we all know that’s going to be one of the first questions he asks’), and all about the fight he’d almost seen in the parking lot. They talk to him like they always do. Like he’ll respond.

Talking to Luke has always been one of her favourite things, one the easiest things. They’d just clicked from the moment they’d met, and there hadn’t been a day since where they’d not talked.

But now, as she sits in the chair next to his hospital, where he’s too still and too quiet, Julie doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t know what to do with all the thoughts and feelings at war within her.

So, she does what she’s always done, she tries to write about them. About her. About him. And if she says it out loud as she goes, well that counts, right?

“You know,” she starts, and has to clear her throat at her how croaky her voice sounds, not sure when she’d last spoken. Knowing it must have been a while. After taking a sip of the warm temperature water Julie tries again.

“Y’know I sometimes think I've loved you my whole life. Which I know is impossible because we didn’t meet until we were 16 but, I don’t know. It was like I’d just been waiting for you,” she trails off, fingers tight around the pen as she stares at the page of his notebook, “For Alex and Reggie too. But— but mostly you. I’d been waiting for you to barge into my life and demand I start living again. I kind of hated you a little for that at first, y’know? I was quite happy living in my musicless life. At least I pretended I was. You saw right through that.”

Julie shakes her head at the memory, at 16 year old Luke asking why she didn’t sing anymore, at him saying it was silly to live in the quite when her mom had clearly loved all the noise.

“I don’t think I believe in fate or anything, because if fate is real it means my mom had to die and I just— I don’t think that’s right. But I think we were always meant to meet, that we’re… tied together. And that our lives are supposed to be lived together. Silly, right?”

She smiles over at him, lips almost quirking up with humour, and she can almost imagine him opening his eyes and smiling back at her the same way. But he doesn’t. The monitors continue beeping and Luke continues sleeping.

The doctors start to look a little worried when they check his vital signs on day four, whispered exchanges with nurses and eyes darting to where the three of them hover around his bed. It’s Alex who breaks first, turning to glare at Luke’s still form and demanding he, “Wake up. Wake up right now Luke. You are not allowed to just die on us. Not like this damn it!”

There had been tears, threats and bargains. Luke had slept on and Alex had stormed out, Reggie following after him and Julie had stayed in the room. Where she’d been for four days.

“Alex is right,” she starts quietly as she reclaims her chair, “You can’t just die on us like this Luke. We’ve only done one album, you always said you wanted to go out in blaze of glory or after you’d had at least five number one albums. We’ve barely even started.” There’s no response, not even a slight hitch on the machines and Julie blows out a breath, slumping back in her chair.

She lets her eyes trace over his face, taking in the way his eyelashes brush against his skin, the way his cheekbones stand out, the yellow-purple bruise that’s finally starting to fade along his jawline. His hair was already getting a little long and had never been great at staying neat, and four days in a coma seems to have done nothing to help that fact. If she pretends there’s no tubes in his nose, wires across his chest, needles in his arms, Julie can almost imagine they’re back in the garage after falling asleep after working too long on a song.

“I heard you, that night,” Julie whispers, leaning forward to carefully slip her hand under his, like they’re holding hands and whispering secrets in the dark. “When we were on the bus, and I’d gotten scared because of the thunder and you stayed up watching Disney films with me. I heard you when she said you loved me, when you thought I was asleep.”

Her thumb runs over the back of his hand, tracing a parallel line to the needle going into his skin.

“I didn’t say anything because I was scared. I’ve loved you for so long, and knowing you loved me too it just— it scared me,” it’s a secret she's keeps locked inside for so long that a sudden weight feels like it’s lifted off her chest at saying it out loud, “You mean so much to me Luke that I— I got scared about what might happen if we acted on the feelings and it all went to hell. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”

“But right now I’m more scared about maybe never getting to tell you. So I need you to wake up Luke, I need you to wake up for Alex and Reggie, and for yourself. But I need you to wake up so I can tell you I love you, okay?” She can’t look at him, doesn’t want to not see his eyes, always so bright and full of love, not looking at her. “So wake up, please.”

Julie almost doesn’t notice the change. Almost misses the way the monitor's beeping changes slightly, the way his fingers flex where they’re resting over hers.

“Luke?” Her eyes snap up to his face where his eyes are blinking open, gaze slightly hazy with pain but most definitely looking right at her, his lips turned up a little at the corners around the tube in his mouth. “Oh god. Hold on, just— let me get someone!”

It’s an hour later and many tests and questions later that Julie finally finds herself back in the chair by Luke’s bedside, and this time when she slips her hand into his, his fingers wrap automatically around hers.

“I love you,” he says, voice rough and there’s a slight wince on his brow but his lips are pulled into a wide smile and Julie can’t stop the laugh that bubbles past her lips.

“That’s what I was supposed to say! You can’t just beat me to it,” she shakes her head, and smiles at him, “I love you too.”

#ask #freeshawarmas #julie and the phantoms #*prompts #jatp fic #hm this is Sad but also has a nice ending i swear!!!

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ibijau · 3 years

Text

Futures Past pt16 / on AO3

Nie Huaisang learns more about his future self, and gets burdened with yet another annoying mission

Winter was never Nie Huaisang’s favourite season to begin with. It was cold, and wet, and grey, and generally unpleasant in every possible way. To make it worse, that year he wasn’t even allowed to head out of the Unclean Realm for a bit of bird watching, nor indeed to go alone in Qinghe to check the food, or just wander around and have fun. Nie Mingjue might not have been too upset about his brother failing his classes but he was still generally angry. He had apparently been worried sick about him disappearing, fearing the Wens had decided to take his brother from him, after having murdered his father.

After Nie Mingjue had confessed that fear to him one evening, Nie Huaisang stopped complaining against being grounded. Once, merely a year earlier, he would have called his brother paranoiac for jumping to that conclusion, and continued whining until he got his punishment lifted. Now though, with his older self’s promise of a war to come… It made him wish he could have found another way to rescue Xue Yang from his fate without worrying his brother. It also pushed him to make more of an effort to be a nice and obedient brother, though all that got him was Nie Mingjue thinking he’d gotten sick and asking the sect's doctor to check on him several times.

So Nie Huaisang was stuck in the Unclean Realm, bored beyond belief, constantly aching from all the training his monster of a brother forced him to do, wishing he could just go for a walk and do a bit of bird watching or find a nice landscape to paint. It was truly hell. Though at least, being constantly home gave him a chance to practice the guqin (he’d bought one of his own on the one and only outing to Qinghe he’d been allowed, after which Nie Mingjue complained at length about him spending too much money as always) and to keep a close eye on Xue Yang. That was nearly a full time job.

It was almost a relief when one night, his future self appeared in his room as he was preparing for bed. Unpleasant as their encounters tended to be, at least Nie Huaisang would know if his great plan had worked. So he sat cross-legged on his bed, and waited for the scolding that was sure to come.

“I should have come earlier,” his future self said with some annoyance, looking no angrier than he always did. “But my last visit drained me more than planned. When are you returning to the Cloud Recesses?”

“In a week,” Nie Huaisang mumbled, pointing at a pile of trinkets he’d just gotten around to unpacking from his previous stay. “Da-ge said to wait until after the new years celebration to start preparing, because I always bother the servants otherwise, and they’re busy enough already, and…”

“How is da-ge?” his future self interrupted. “Didn’t he hurt himself during a Night Hunt around this time?”

Nie Huaisang nodded. It had worried everyone when Nie Mingjue had returned from a Night Hunt with long gashes on his chest due to a particularly nasty fierce corpse, and they’d all made a big fuss of it. But in the end it hadn’t been anything threatening, and Nie Mingjue had healed quickly. In fact, he was currently absent on another Night Hunt, this time with Lan Xichen. That didn’t seem like a detail worth mentioning.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Nie Huaisang said, increasingly puzzled that his older self wasn’t scolding him yet. “It’s just, I’ve been wondering, you know and… well, is he alive now?”

His future self glared at him.

“What?”

“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang clarified. “I’ve changed things, right? He’s got to be alive in the future now, right? You’re not on your own anymore, are you?”

His older self went still and stared at him with wide, shining eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. After a moment the older man regained control of himself and turned away, opening his fan with a sharp gesture.

“That’s not how it works,” he hissed. “I thought it would be, but… but it’s not. I cannot change what has happened for me. My da-ge is dead, and nothing can change what happened to him. It’s… I don’t care. I’ve made my peace with that. He wouldn’t like what I’ve become anyway, and I couldn’t bear to lose him again, not like that. But I need to know…”

He paused, and Nie Huaisang thought he heard a soft sob.

“I have to know there’s a place out there where da-ge is alive. Not just alive, but he’s safe, he’s happy. No matter the cost to others and to myself, as long as da-ge is well… that’s what matters to me.”

For all the dislike Nie Huaisang had accumulated toward his older self, his heart ached to know that the man would never even get a chance to see Nie Mingjue again. It made him want to take his older self to have a chat with their brother, to see Nie Mingjue smile at him. Maybe he’d be a little less of a prick like that.

But since his older self was a prick, and unlikely to accept such an offer, Nie Huaisang instead jumped off his bed and went to take his hand to comfort him.

“I’m really sorry,” he said. “Thanks for… thanks for saving my da-ge. I’m so sorry for yours, it must be…”

His older self turned around, tearing his hand free with such rage that Nie Huaisang stumbled a few steps backwards.

“I won’t be pitied by anyone!” the man hissed. “I’m not sorry for myself, and I forbid you to pity me, you stupid little brat! If I’d been smarter at your age I wouldn’t have let him die, so how dare you pity me?”

Nie Huaisang lowered his head and hunched his shoulders. His older self should have been happy: any pity he’d felt vanished instantly.

“Now tell me what I came here for,” his older self ordered. “Is Xue Yang dead?”

“He is,” Nie Huaisang lied, and he found it easier than he’d have expected, now that he knew the truth couldn't be discovered.

A certain tension left his older self’s shoulders at that answer. In fact, he seemed relieved enough that it worried Nie Huaisang a little, and almost made him confess the truth. If Xue Yang was really fated to become such a horrible person…

But he wasn’t horrible. Not yet, anyway. No more than a lot of other people were.

Xue Yang was a brat, sure. And he struggled with a lot of common decency, doing things like stealing from other kids, or stashing food away, or trying to fight teachers that disciplined him. But in those few weeks, Xue Yang had also made a lot of progress already. He’d started understanding that nobody would let him starve, so he didn’t need to hide food that would rot somewhere, and should instead eat everything that was presented to him right away if he was hungry. He was also slowly learning to accept that, a lot of the time, if he needed something he could ask for it instead of stealing it from someone. He still had a problem with authority, and that might never change, but he sometimes seemed to understand that the teachers were not his enemies, that they only wanted to help him learn.

But the turning point had happened just three days earlier. Xue Yang, with great reluctance, had finally explained how he’d lost his finger. From the defensive manner he told that story to Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue, it was likely that those he’d shared it with before might have mocked him for being naive enough to think he'd ever have gotten the sweet he'd been pormised. But Nie Mingjue, instead, asked if he remembered any names or precise locations, if he could recall when it had all happened, any details at all that might help if they decided to confront Chang Ci’an for what he’d done. In the end, Xue Yang’s memory had been too fuzzy to think of building up a case, something for which Nie Mingjue had expressed great regret, before saying he'd still keep an eye open in case he might discover who was the man whom Chang Ci'an had insulted.

The expression on Xue Yang’s face was one that Nie Huaisang wouldn’t ever forget. He’d looked… young. Like he really was an ordinary ten years old kid, instead of the tough criminal he tried to be. Like he might cry, just because someone was showing just and deserved horror over what had been done to him.

There was no saying whether Xue Yang would turn out good or not, whether the efforts of Qinghe Nie would be enough to bring him onto a more righteous path than would have been his, but they were going to try.

“This is wonderful,” Nie Huaisang’s older self said, fanning himself a little too fast, as if unable to contain his excitement. “I’ve always hated that little creep, even before he started slaughtering entire sects. Now the world is safe from that at least, and that’s one worry less for da-ge. Now, on to your next mission…”

“Are you ever going to stop giving me orders?” Nie Huaisang complained. “Every time I do something you say, you tell me there’s more to do!”

“Welcome to adulthood. Now shut up.”

But I’m not an adult, Nie Huaisang thought. He was just going to turn sixteen, there was an entire four years before he’d be considered fully grown. Even Nie Mingjue, who always complained about him being an immature brat, never actually demanded from him the things he’d have expected from an adult. After all, Nie Mingjue knew too well what it was to be forced to leave one’s youth behind too early, and he’d said multiple times he didn’t want that for his brother.

Too bad Nie Huaisang couldn’t extend the same courtesy to himself.

“I’ve had to give a lot of thought to the problem that is Wei Wuxian,” his older self said, starting to pace the room. “I still haven’t come up with a satisfying answer. On the one hand, it was so convenient to all of us when he left the established path during the Sunshot Campaign and became a horrifying master of death. But I can’t decide if it’s worth all the trouble it created after the war, when his new skills were no longer required. And it’s not like I could ask you to simply kill him after he’s stopped being useful because…”

“I appreciate that, actually.”

“I can’t ask you to kill him because you’d never be able to,” his older self dryly finished, pausing his pacing just long enough for a glare before he resumed walking. “Wei Wuxian is only the most brilliant cultivator of our generation, skilled in every martial art, a genius who has invented talismans and tools beyond your imagination. He’s already so talented you could never harm him now. By the time the war ends, the only way he could die is through self-destruction, as we’ve all come to learn.”

That sounded scary and, quite frankly, Nie Huaisang wasn’t sure he wanted to get anywhere near such a person. Geniuses tended to be difficult to deal with. Like his own brother, who was always so intense about everything, and didn’t have any hobbies except cultivation and leading their sect. Or Lan Wangji who was very intense as well, and had even less conversation than Nie Mingjue. Or Lan Xichen who…

Well. Actually, Lan Xichen wasn’t so bad these days. In fact, Nie Huaisang missed their music lessons, and he missed chatting together immensely, because Lan Xichen was one of the most interesting people he knew, along with Su She. Nie Huaisang couldn't wait to see him again. But it had taken a while to get there, and before they’d found common ground, Lan Xichen too had been boring and difficult to get along with.

The problem with geniuses, Nie Huaisang figured, was that they didn’t know how to have fun.

“Here is what we are going to do,” his older self announced, stopping his pacing and closing his fan to point it at Nie Huaisang. “You are going to befriend Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, as you were always meant to do. But you must also get closer to Lan Wangi…”

“What? But he’s awful!”

“...and make sure he befriends Wei Wuxian as well. None of that pining for a lifetime nonsense! If they become close earlier and realise their love as youths, then Wei Wuxian will probably not go dark quite as easily as he’s done from where I stand. And Jin Guangshan will hesitate a little more to antagonise Wei Wuxian if he thinks Gusu Lan too has close ties to him. Yunmeng Jiang was easy to pick on, but Gusu Lan is of a different class. Its sect leader might have been spineless, but anybody would think twice before crossing Lan Wangji. I think that’s our best course of action.”

Even more than before, Nie Huaisang became convinced that this Wei Wuxian had to be the least fun person in the world. After all, if someone like Lan Wangji could fall in love with a person, then that person had to be absolutely awful and boring. Wei Wuxian was probably a stickler for rules too.

“Can’t I just help them without being their friend?” Nie Huaisang begged.

“Why wouldn’t you want to be Wei Wuxian’s friend?” his future self retorted, sounding puzzled by the request. “Whatever else he becomes later, I remember he was one of my favourite people when we studied together. I’ve always felt it was a shame he got kicked out so early. If he had stayed longer…”

The older man trailed off, his hand clenching on his fan, then promptly shook his head

“Nevermind,” he muttered. “Jiang Cheng was there the whole year, and that didn’t change anything to how shallow our friendship turned out to be. Just… just make sure to get them to like you, and help Wei Wuxian befriend Lan Wangji. But don’t get attached. No matter what promises you exchange with others, remember you don’t actually matter to anyone, so don’t let them matter to you either.”

“I won’t,” Nie Huaisang easily promised.

He didn’t think he was at any risk of ever liking someone who had Lan Wangji’s approval. And as for Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang had thought him to be a pretty interesting person when they’d met in Yunping City, but he was fairly sure the feeling was not mutual in the least.

“Excellent. I’ll cut this visit short then,” his older self announced. “Hopefully I will have recuperated enough for a brief visit in a month to hear about your progress. At worst, I’ll check on you for Qingming. Do not disappoint me.”

“I’ll try,” Nie Huaisang promised, but the older man had already disappeared.

It sounded like he had a very boring year ahead of himself.

And to make it worse, Su She was going to be so annoyed if he started hanging out with Lan Wangji.

#xisang #nie huaisang #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #double time travel

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talesofphantombandits · 3 years

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Zero to Six ~ I’ll Fight to be Apart of this Family - Edited Version. Part 5.

Characters: Four X Zero (OC)

Summary: Zero was the first person to be ‘saved’ by One, she was his first honorary Ghost. Her knowledge in tech meant she got the role of ‘Hacker’ she recruited new team members, looked for missions and locations and made sure every security measure was looked at. You know normal hacker spy stuff. But her tough up bringing meant that if needs be she could fight, she was maybe even better than some people on the team knew. But due to One’s protectiveness over her she had to stay hidden, she was more of an actual ghost than the rest of the team was. This didn’t mean she couldn’t have her fun though, over the months of being with the full team she had formed quite a passionate love/ hate relationship with the handsome Four. Who knows what sparks would fly if they were ever to meet. Warnings: Slight swearing, some suggestive flirting in later chapters.

Tagg list: (I know this is a edit of my original story but if anyone wants to be tagged let me know.) @raylan-c, @angelic-demonss

“Are we just not going to discuss the stranger in the room? why is the bartender here?” Four smirked at Zero. She in turn just raised her eyebrow at the blonde haired beauty, daring him to continue. “And why is Five giving her first aid?”

The room went silent, everyone was looking at Zero like she was the enemy, and in a way she was. This group of people were the closest thing she had to family and yet she was an impostor, an outsider who’s voice was the only thing the team had ever heard that’s the only thing they knew her by. She hoped One would forgive her for what she was about to do.

Zero coughed away any last nervous about coming clean. "You know for what you guys do, you are all so dumb sometimes."

Zero in return heard a hiss, her head snapped to the direction it came from. She was faced with One, his face and neck had gone completely red with how angry he was. A look that told Zero to shut her gob if she knew what was good for her.

"What?!" Was she really that surprised? It was One after all, did she really think he’d just let her spill the beans right here, right now when he’d kept her away for so many years.

"She, she just stumbled in here after the bar fight, and the doctor couldn't resist helping her." Zero looked from One appalled, to Five who was just as taken a back as Zero was. Her eyebrows furrowed as she gave a concerning look between the both of them.

Zero couldn't help but clock onto the suspicious glare that Two was giving her. She definitely knew the truth, she was an incredibly smart woman and Zero wouldn’t be shocked if she didn’t know the moment she walked into the room. She looked back to One who she could tell was getting more and more worried over the glances everyone in the room was giving Zero.

"Your name was Lilly right?" One asked marching up to Zero and grabbing her hand, but Zero shrugged it off "Come on I'll take you home."

Everyone was looking at One like he'd lost his mind, the team was supposed to be a secret so why would he offer to take a stranger home? The air was so thick in the kitchen that even a knife wouldn’t cut it. To make matters worse Four was starring Zero down with such ferocity she thought those ocean blue eyes she’d only seen in photo’s would melt her to the ground. She just raised her eyebrows at the man again, more threatening this time. Zero was brought back by the tug on her arm, she hissed back at One but jumped down off the counter anyway. As she slowly made her way pasted Five she quietly thanked her for being there to help her as best she could for the night.

“Who is she One?” Three pressed on, One looked like he would explode any moment, the man who never seemed to make such stupid mistakes had nearly revealed one of his biggest secrets. “No one, she’s no one. Just a normal bartender.” Zero stopped abruptly which also dragged One to a stop as his hand was still around her arm. When he whipped around she took the opportunity to strike the man straight across his dumb face.

One looked at her shocked, she herself was in shock at what she had just done. Had she actually just assaulted him? The man that had saved her life all those years ago, gave her food and shelter, she owed him everything and she had just straight up assaulted him. She looked at her hand that now slightly stung in shock, as did everyone else in the room. One’s shock only lasted a couple of seconds before his face turned stony cold and once again he latched onto Zero’s arm and headed towards the door.

After everything that just happened Zero couldn’t help but still be memorised as she approached Four, he was breath taking, a beautiful sight to look at. It was almost like looking into the blinding sun that eventually you had to tear your sight away from, in case of damage to the eyes.

She felt a wave of sadness overcome her suddenly, she had been so close to Four actually knowing who she was, she’d been close to the whole team knowing it was her. God even one normal conversation with him probably wouldn't have satisfied her enough but it would have been a start at least. Yet One just had to take even that away from her, while she was grateful for everything One had done for her, he was still in turn hurting her. What she really needed was a real family and she had found that in these guys but One was always in the way. If her only way was to fight to be apart of this family, then so be it.

"Hurry up" One snapped out angrily, there was definitely going to be consequences for hitting him and she knew it. But she was done being alone.

Zero looked back at Five who was still in shock and what looked like awe, she seemed to blink back to a little normality when she caught Zeros eye again. She gave Zero a ‘You’ll be okay’ look and a little nod, Zero was happy to know that she at least had Five to rant to afterwards when everything with One had settled.

As Zero got closer and closer to the little blonde shit leaning on the door frame she swore she could see him smirking at her, she had to also fight the urge to slap him into next week as well, he’d just seen it first hand so he should be scared. But as she crossed the thresh hold of the hotel kitchen his hand that was hanging by his side brushed against hers and it felt like lightning shooting up her arm, across her shoulder and up the side of her neck. She tried not to show the shiver it sent down her spine but the urge was taking over her. She met his eyes again and to her surprise she saw the same reaction but he quickly hid it. A sudden desired to leave struck her so she decided to just keep walking after One, who had steamed ahead of her.

Once outside she felt like the mist in her mind had cleared a little, but as soon as she saw One angrily waiting beside his car she suddenly felt all the anger rush back. "What the actual fuck One?!" She screamed marching her way to the passenger door.

He opened up his side of the car. "Shut up and get in the car." He said calmly which scared her more than if he had shouted it at her, he got in the drivers seat but slammed the door shut which made her jump in turn. Zero just huffed, not wanting to get in more trouble than she was already in.

"Where are you taking me?" She sighed defeated.

"Home." He said shortly.

"Why?, why did you do that?"

"Do what? A better question is why did you hit me?!" He didn't look at her but she could tell with every word he spoke he was getting more angry.

"Okay in my defence, you were being a dick! you make me think I was finally becoming apart of the team, which then you revealed was just a ‘mistake’ I think you’d also feel like punching someone if you thought you were finally getting the family you deserved just to have them ripped away from you in the same moment!" I tried so hard to not to scream my lungs out at him but the more I spoke the harder it got.

"You knew that they weren't suppose to meet you! Why are you suddenly surprised. I told you when we first made the team that this was how it was going to be and you agreed!" One spat back.

"I did agree! but I was still in a bad place at that time and I wasn’t looking for friends let alone a whole family, I didn’t know that I was actually going to find a sense of security in these group of strangers did I!” The tears started to stream down Zeros face, she could taste the saltiness of her tears with every drop. “I want to go back! I want to complete the rest of the mission, I’ve come this far there is no way I’m bailing out now, just to go sit in that apartment manning the coms by myself for the rest of eternity."

"No." He deadpanned, which made Zero even more angry. Had he not listened to anything she had just said to him? Did he not see just how much this mattered to her.

"One I’m not afraid to knock you out and drive there myself, I think I just proved that back in the kitchen." He just raised his eyebrows at her, like it was a challenge. "Come on One! why are you doing this to me? Why are you keeping me hidden? What do you gain from it."

"Because your job is best done in a flat somewhere, anywhere. Where no one can trace you."

"Bullshit!" Zero screamed which made One forcefully pulled the car over to the side of the road, the suddenness of the stop made her surge forward a little but luckily her seat belt prevented her from travelling any further forward.

"Please just tell me the truth." She said quietly, by this point she was drained physically and emotionally. "Why do you keep me away? and I don't want any of your bullshit. You and I both know I can do my work in any environment."

"I just want to keep you safe." One kept his focus straight ahead, staring out of the windscreen into the darkness.

"What do you mean? Since when have you ever cared about anyone's safety on this team?" I asked confused.

One had few rules, but one of the main rules that One lived by was if anyone gets stuck on a mission they are to be left behind. The team can never be exposed, so if one of them gets left behind because of capture or injury then it's just the price the team has to unfortunately pay.

"You were the first person I found." He slowly turned his head to look at Zero, this was the first piece of real emotion she’d ever seen from the man. She just looked at him confused and rightly so.

"Why does it matter who came first? I thought you weren't meant to care about any of us?"

"I’m not." He shrugged now trying to seem like he wasn’t intrested in the conversation anymore, hoping she’d drop the subject. "But you were the first member of the team, You were in a very bad situation when I found you. I do actually have human feelings you know and I guess, In a way I grew fond of you."

Zero didn’t know what to feel, was she actually touched by this? She’d known One for a few years now and this was the most emotion she’d ever seen the man show, although she did think of him as closed off and cold he’d still saved her so in some way she rested him. "So why keep me away?"

"I didn't want you to ever get hurt, It would hurt too much to leave you behind if you got stuck. But it's a price i'd have to pay."

"Then don't, what you’re saying is that deep down, somewhere in that cold heart of yours you do actually care for this team you’ve created. So change the rule. We all need to be there for each other, especially now." I said reaching out to him.

"You know I can't do that. The mission comes first." His voice grew cold again and she knew she’d never see his vulnerable side again, shrugging off her hand he turned away to stare back out into the darkness.

"Then at least take me back to the team. I can work at the base, I don't want to be alone anymore One." He looked at her dead in the eye. "I’m starting to go stark raving mad staying in those apartments by myself not seeing anyone for years on end takes a toll on a person."

"You're hurting me more by keeping me away from them."

They both sat there for a moment in silence as Zero watched the cogs in One’s head turn, she thought if she pushed enough maybe, just maybe she’d get her way for once.

"Fine.” Did he just agree? “But I’m warning you now, if you get left behind on a mission, or injured I’m not coming back for you." He started up the car again, eerily calm It always annoyed her to no end that she could never figure this man out.

"I've known that since day one." He didn’t say another word as he turned the car around and sped off.

When they reached the base she was shocked to see just how many old and broken down planes One had collected over the years. "You’re still collecting them I see"

"Even got one or two that actually work." He mused.

It may have seem like a childish thought given the circumstances but Zero honestly couldn’t wait to explore every single aircraft in the graveyard. One had made it up the long dirt road by the time Zero came back to her senses, the car stopped and she could see a big crate in front of her and standing outside the only door was a great big dog.

"Hey boy it's fine, she's with me." The dog then ran to One’s side and he started to pet him affectionately.

I just scoffed, raising my eyebrows at him. “What?”

“So the dog gets your affection but we don’t?” Zero grabbed her chest, gasping pretending he’d hurt her heart but One just rolled his eyes at her and told her to stop being so dramatic. He then guided her up to an aeroplane that had a cartoon of a ghost with three lightning bolts shooting out of its hand near the entrance.

Zero laughed to herself. "I like that!" Pointing to the symbol.

"It’s in honour of you and your spooky shit." She looked at him shocked. “Don’t say I never do anything for you.”

She let him walk ahead of her so she could get her bearings, what came next was going to be a big shock to her system.

"One, you're back! I’m going to need you to spill, who was the bartender? Come on you’re never nice to anyone! Let alone giving a stranger a ride home." As soon as Zero heard that annoyingly sexy British accent she stopped dead in her tracks.

"I'll let her tell you herself."

Then there was silence. It finally hit her that she was about to meet the only family she’d ever known.

She was mostly scared because all she wanted was for them to like her, which she knew they already did but now, seeing and being with them in the flesh she didn’t want to mess their connection up. Especially with Four. She couldn’t deny that her and Fours connection even just through coms was a strong one, she just didn’t know what that connection meant yet but she was definitely excited to find out, she just hoped her feelings for him aren’t one sided.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, then rounded the corner.

"Hey guys." She smiled at all their awestruck faces, she gave a little awkward waving but internally scolded herself afterwards.

Everyone but Two looked at her in shock, she just had to laugh, that woman was too smart for her own good. "Well darling, the anticipation is killing us." Fours dark eyes were trained on Zero as he leaned on the table, she swore in that moment her legs turned to jelly.

"Well if you'd actually let me speak you'd find out sooner, wouldn’t you monkey boy." Her words seemed to snap something in him as he shot straight.

Everyone else just laughed as the realisation of who they were meeting struck them. She just smirked at them all, finally she could be in on jokes, eat with them and just get to be around the people she cares about most in this cruel world.

"Zero?!" Three said enthusiastically, bounding towards her and scooping her up into a bear hug.

She felt like all the air was being squeezed out of her but she didn’t mind one bit. "Glad to see there are actually some smart people around here.” She chocked out.

“Three can you please release Zero, you’re literally suffocating our only hacker.” One said annoyed while he was fiddling with some magnets.

Three let her down and she just smiled, patting him on the shoulder to let him know she was okay. "Sorry! Sorry, I’m just so excited to finally meet you mami!" He proceeded to kiss both of her cheeks.

She just laughed at how adorable he acted in person, Three had always been one of her favourite ghosts. He wasn’t the smartest and most of the time made the worst decisions but he was sweet and funny and wouldn’t waste a single second if you were in trouble, he’d be by your side.

"Well dam." Four was leaning with his back against the table, arms crossed and staring Zero down. Her eyes travelled to his and she couldn’t bring herself to look away.

Someone in the room, Zero couldn’t tell who coughed awkwardly which snapped both Zero and Four out of their intense staring competition.

“So, the new mission?”

#6 underground #6 underground four #6 underground fanfiction #6 underground billy #6 underground x reader #billy #billy x oc #billy x reader #billy x scout #four #four fanfiction #four x reader #four x zero #four x oc #zero to six edited version

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doctor-gyro-gearloose · 3 years

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Silly one shot I accidentally dmd to someone

It was a colder than usually in the lab of Doctor Gearloose; who was trying to get work done as usually, having a much harder time due to the cold air in the lab, the heat must be down. He tried to just ignore it , but he was visibly shaking, which caught the eye of a certain blabbering intern he just liked so much.

“Doctor Gearloose! You look cold I think we should go for some nice warm coffee at Starducks.” Fenton says, hugging the lanky scientist, he looked unamused.

“Don’t. Touch me intern…and I don’t want your stupid coffee, I’m trying to work.” He sounded agitated, mostly because he was freezing and he hated being interrupted by his intern while he was trying to work.

Fenton kept persisting however, “Doctor Gearloose, I know you have been here all night, and day, it’s cold I think you deserve a break.”

The chicken rolls his eyes, “Oh right because going out for coffee is going to solve everything , look, I have more important things to do than to stop working.” Gyro rolls his eyes once more, a headache starting to pound in his head. can’t he leave me alone? For once…

“You’re stubborn sometimes Doctor Gearloose, please just come with me for coffee this once! “ The duck wasn’t going to stop bugging him no matter how mad Gyro got.

“Fine! If it means you’ll shut the hell up, I’ll go, don’t expect me to like it.” He mutters the latter, getting up off his seat, he walks across the floor of the cold lab, grabbing his coat, he puts it on, replacing his usually hat with a yellow beanie, with a Pom Pom on top.

“Finally!” Fenton too grabs his coat and a scarf, pulling the hood up, knowing it’ll be cold when they leave the lab. “Come on.”

The two walk out of the lab, met with the cold breeze of the air, Gyro winces as the air hits his face, he was never a fan of the cold, these coffees better be worth freezing my ass off . He thought.

The two walk the busy streets of Duckburg, crossing traffic to go to Starducks, where they would find warmth, once they approach the building Gyro doesn’t hesitate to run in.

The warm air met his face, his glasses fogging up, the place smelt of warm chocolate, coffee and pasties, much nicer than the cold brisk air that was outside, Fenton insist Gyro go sit down; he would bring the drinks to them.

Gyro sits down at a lonely corner table in the far end of the shop, he pulls out his phone, browsing at a book he’s been reading on it.

Fenton returns to him with the drinks in hand, “Dr. Gearloose!” He says happily , causing the lanky chicken man to jump, he had gotten distracted by his book and hadn’t even heard Fenton come up.

“Intern” he says, while picking up the cup, he expected the usual warm, bitter taste of the coffee he drank, black, no sugar, nothing, just straight coffee, however he was met with warmth and chocolate, he looks at Fenton, who was happily taking little sips of his drink. “What…is this?” He asked.

“Dr.Gearloose you’ve never drank hot chocolate!?” Fenton says shocked, he thought everyone drank hot chocolate when it was cold.

“Well…I guess I haven’t…” He mutters, he takes another small sip of the hot chocolate. It was so warm and welcoming, and very sweet it reminded me of…Fenton….no dont go there, don’t think about him what are you doing.

“Daw! Well it’s warm and sweet, I promise you’ll like it, I wanted to surprise you with it today, it’s so cold and well…and it’s..warm.” Fenton says, he smiles.

Gyro keeps sipping at the hot chocolate, each sip warmer and chocolatier than the rest, he smiles, a genuine smile across his cold angry face, making him look warm, he gets it on his beak.

Fenton looks up at him, his gaze meeting Gyros, he looked so…happy, the warm light hit his face just right, making that smile that was so very rare glow, the very subtle hot chocolate that sat on his beak shining. “I think you got a little something on your beak.”

“Hm?” Slightly embarrassed, Gyro pulls his phone out so he can clean his beak off, he wipes it off with his coat sleeve. “Guess …I was saving it for later.” He laughs softly.

Fentons face lights up, “That must mean you liked it.” He smiles.

“Umm, yeah, I guess…it was…warm, urm, kindalikeyou.” Gyro spoke fast.

“What was that?” Fenton asked.

“Oh nothing!” Gyro says quickly, phew he didn’t hear that I don’t know where that come from belch, I don’t like him, no…I do……not Gearloose! He thought. “Just it was good is all.”

“Heh, well we should head back to the lab, maybe the heat is working again.” Fenton says, while he gets up.

“Yeah, the lab…I have work to be done.” Gyro says, he admittedly liked the break more than he would have thought, the hot chocolate warming his cold body up, it felt nice, to just, sit, and drink hot chocolate with Fenton, it was like…he actually liked it and felt at peace for once in his god forsaken life.

“Yep.” Fenton laughs, “let’s head back shall we.” Fenton tries to push for Gyros hand , but he rejects slapping it, the two walk back to the lab, Gyro had a lot of his mind of his, and it wasn’t work this time, it was Fenton.

That was so…genuinely nice, I’ve never felt more…comfortable around my intern like that, he’s annoying. Insufferable. But. I liked it, he was…sweet and actually kind of funny,,,and dare I call him cute, that feels like it’s pushing it…but oh, the way he cupped his drink, the little smile across his face when he looked at me…I feel odd, butterflies in my stomach, fuzzy…feelings about Fenton..I think….I have feelings for him….oh…boy…

The Chicken shivered as the wind hit his face, he was cold once again, he missed the warmth of the coffee shop and the hot chocolate already.

“Here, have my scarf.” Fenton hands off his violet scarf to Gyro, wrapping it around him, it was warm, it smelt like lemon and basil…like, fenton.

Gyro smiles under the scarf feeling the warmth of his interns body heat, smelling him, he smelt good, something he never noticed before, and he kind of liked it, a lot.

End <3

#gyro gearloose #ducktales 2017 #ducktales #dr gearloose #fenro #fenton crackshell cabrera #THEMMM #NONE STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM #anyway #I felt like adding to this lil dm oneshot I sent #on accident #I love them sm

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bvccy · 3 years

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Tenderness and Ferocity | 6. The Last Day

Pairing: Winter Soldier!Bucky Barnes x Hydra!Reader Fic Synopsis: The Winter Soldier is starting to make stupid mistakes in the field, which is Bucky's way of trying to wrest back control and sabotage his handlers. Hydra brings a new doctor to figure out what's wrong with him and fix it. As she spends time with him, she becomes fond of the Winter Soldier, and he becomes fond of her. Bucky has other ideas. Or, a fic in which the Winter Soldier is the good guy and Bucky is actually the bad guy. Warnings for this chapter: Angst, some Violence Word count: 1858 Read on AO3: [link] [Previous Chapter] [Fic Masterlist] [Next Chapter]

"To get everything you want is not a good thing. Disease makes health seem sweet. Hunger leads to the appreciation of being full-fed. Tiredness creates the enjoyment of resting."

— Heraclitus

She wasn't supposed to be in the office on that day, at that hour. She spent all of the previous day mismanaging her tasks and various paperwork to create the plausibility of needing overtime. It was easy enough to convince one of her friends to drive her to the Headquarters, and she picked one that had no family just in case Hydra got overzealous… later.

One small mercy was that the whole building was mostly empty, except for the bare-bones of military personnel and the medical staff getting the Asset ready. They were due to fly him out late at night, and the sun was low in the sky.

The few staff who were there were surprised to see her, but she reassured them with easy smiles and a ditzy attitude that everything was fine. The Director was still in a meeting, said Suzi at the front desk, but he'd been there for hours and should be out any minute. And the Asset? "In his cell."

She went into her office like it was any other day, put on her lab coat, put her things the same place she usually did, and took only what she needed.

The way to the Soldier's cell was something she had mapped out a few days ago, first out of curiosity, then determination — and while she was at it, took note of a few more interesting pathways through the facility. The only thing to worry about were the guards.

"I'm here for a final evaluation before he's in the field."

"We weren't informed about that."

"Then go ahead and call the Director. I'm sure the Standard Operating Procedures are foremost in his mind."

The two guardsmen looked at each other, silently goading the other to pick up the radio while she nervously twirled a syringe with one hand, clenched a well-loved page in her pocked with the other.

"Go on, call him."

"…Door opened."

Her Soldier was waiting on the bed in his frightening black gear, hands clenched, feet apart, looking ready to pounce. He must have heard her coming a corridor away, and once he finally saw her there, his face broke into the most brilliant smile.

She grinned and snuck in the corner, right beneath the view of the camera. Silently, she beckoned him closer and uncapped the syringe, nodding to the men outside. He subdued them easily enough and, without even asking what she was thinking, followed her out: down the winding corridors, through parts stuck in reconstruction, in and out of the large dark meeting rooms she had the keys for.

They inevitably met a few guards on patrol, which the Asset could hear much in advance. When he first stopped her, arm out and hard which nearly took the wind out of her, she was frightened for a moment that he'd changed his mind. But he kept his eyes straight ahead, and she could tell by looking at him that he was listening intently.

With a feline slink, he stepped back and kept her behind him, further, further, into the doorway of a locked room while he holstered the guns they took from his keepers. She held onto him and steadied her breath against his back while he waited, silent as a statue, for the right moment. The men reached and passed them by, only just noticing him when it was too late — when one had his neck broken and the other was knocked out.

"Turn." he told her. She faced the wall without thinking and only heard a fleshy crack as he caved in the man's skull. Then he took her hand in his and led her away.

When there were too many at once, five of them approaching from somewhere to the left, he had them both crouch down in wait until the targets passed by the mouth of their corridor. They probably couldn't even see her, a minuscule target shielded behind him, as he steadily took them down with a shot to the head before they could even reach for their coms. The sound echoed through the emptiness, but she assured him they were almost out.

Within minutes, they reached a long white corridor, more civilian looking than the rest. At its end, an open door leading to a vast field and rows of jeeps and busses.

"We've made it." she laughed breathlessly, looking up to find him still tense and alert but smiling with her.

One leaping step after another and suddenly, in one breath, he was out. He had been out before, of course, but never like this. The coolth of the evening in early spring soothed his flushed skin as he walked out over the blackened earth and melting snow, a pale sun dipping beyond the horizon.

The Soldier already eyed a vehicle that looked good for the terrain, easy to hijack, small enough to be dumped somewhere once they were far enough away to start covering their tracks. He turned around to see her catching her breath as she took in the sight of him with pride, and relief, and some fear. She threw a chain of keys at him and he caught it mid-air.

"They're colour-coded with the jeeps. If you go South, in 15 miles there's an apartment complex. That's where the staff lives, keep driving. There are trackers on all the cars, but they stop transmitting beyond a 70 mile radius. Nearest settlement is 90 miles South-Southwest, an old fishing town."

"What?"

"The gate behind you, further that way, it'll be locked by now but the hinges are old and rusted."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"So you can escape, of course."

"But you're coming with me."

"I can't."

It was then that he noticed she hadn't stepped a foot outside, standing in the doorway at the very edge, one hand holding onto the frame. The rest of the facility was open behind her, a hungry maw empty and quiet.

"What do you mean you can't? Come with me."

"I took a oath. I can't leave my post unless dismissed or dead." she recited with chill equipoise.

Just like in the bad old days, the Soldier felt madness creeping in. "Then why let me go?"

"Hydra serves a noble goal, but what they were doing to you was wrong. They've never understood that, because they don't want to, because it's not convenient right now."

In the distance, through layers of concrete, he could hear them shouting to each other, panicking, having found the bodies. It wouldn't take long for them to figure it out.

"You know what they'll do to you…" he said, coming closer and just about ready to grab her but stopping, for now, right in front. The heat radiating off his body kept the evening breeze away and warmed her.

She felt the same horror he felt, but just shook her head. "I have to keep my honour."

"You don't need honor, you're just a dame!"

She cracked a smile at his odd choice of words, the unintended slight washing over her, 'just a…'. "Then why does it matter what happens to me?"

He placed his arms on either side, crowding her in the doorway and poised to pull her out. The shouting was always getting closer, she should start to hear it soon. "Because you're mine."

The smile paled from her lips and he thought he had finally gotten through. She looked around, searching for something and moved slightly closer, almost in his arms… And then a wall of metal bars came up at the push of a button, her sad face left in its penumbra. He gripped them instantly and started pulling.

"It's no use, even your arm isn't enough to break them." she consoled, placing her hands on his fists as much for his benefit as for her own. But he wouldn't let go and obstinately shook his head, mute with anger and going through any number of wild schemes in his head that could break her out.

"You know… I've always loved perfection, which is so well embodied in you." she spoke, leaning forward and holding his gaze. "They couldn't destroy you. They could only displace you, for a while. They can't destroy me either." she tried to comfort him. "Nothing can be destroyed. So don't worry."

He wanted to argue with her that it wasn't the same thing at all, that she was crazy, that it could be so bad, so much worse than she could imagine. As if reading his mind, she smiled and shook her head, and gave him a small kiss from between the bars. Then she turned around in a white flutter and ran away, down the corridor, further inside, the echo of her high heels clipping on the concrete drowned out by his angry shouts. She disappeared around the corner to the right, head kept intently down and not daring to look at him again. She kept one hand in her pocket, secretly caressing that white page with the clock he'd drawn for her.

The Soldier shook at the cage that stood in his way until he heard the boots and rattling of ammo one door away, and a gate opening further afield, outside. When the first shot rang and hit above his head, he turned and emptied what was left of a cartridge into the guardsman without even thinking. Then in an instant, one thoughtless instinct moved his body to the vehicle he had picked earlier. He planned to go back for her, but a thought in his head said: Later. The black car keys went in, just like she said, and he quickly found himself driving away. Now he just needed to find another way into the building. Sure, later.

One hand on the steering wheel, he took aim at the hinges of the closed gate in front and blew them loose enough for him to speed through and break it open, while shots rang out behind him. Maybe it was the air or the temperature outside, but he suddenly noticed just how heavy his left arm was, how cold, and how rigid. He didn't mean to drive very far, just far enough that he'd be out of sight and could circle around another way. He had to go back for her. Just a little bit later.

He navigated the half-frozen terrain to cross the 70 miles in well under an hour, the sound of his pursuers long faded away. He ditched the car in an overgrown ravine, and by midnight he reached the sleepy town she'd mentioned. His heart could finally afford to shrivel in his chest at the realisation that he hadn't gone back, and she wasn't there.

She must have known this place, must have seen once what he was seeing now, stepped on the same dirt road, breathed a different air under the shelter of the same sky — once, longer ago, before she knew him. His feet carried him on as his mind stayed behind and he struggled with himself, and with the burden of her last request — to not worry anymore.

Tagging: @chipilerendi @themaskismyface

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heloflor · 3 years

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Dance lesson

AO3 link

When Milo has to learn the waltz for a school dance, he ends up turning towards his honorary uncles for help.

Note : Another random thing that’s been on my mind for a while and that I finally decided to write down (I SWEAR I’m working on a longer fic). And it’s a fic with no angst and only fluff for once ! And it contains the ACTUAL main character of the show !

But yeah, joke aside, it’s just some random fluff that turned out three times longer than planned (as usual). Like always, Cavendish and Dakota are married. Also Dakota is a dad with Milo because I love this side of him.

There’s also one line that implies Dakota being too dependent of Cav and I really hope that it doesn’t count as romanticizing it because that’s not AT ALL my intent. I just wanted it to be pointed out but using Milo’s POV definitely makes it seem a bit clumsy, even if it’s just one random throwaway sentence. Which is why I’m talking about it now, to make you know that I’m aware that Dakota has issues and it’s not “cute”. And frankly, if I make more fics that take place after the show, I DEFINITELY would take the occasion to point out that Dakota is seeing a therapist and tries to work out how to let go of Cav and trust him to take care of himself.

On that same note, there’s also one sentence that mentions how Cavendish and Dakota hide their relationship out of fear due to homophobia.

There are also a few sentences that are mostly there to give some random headcanons about Cavendish and Dakota, because why not.

Oh yeah and one important thing : I’m no dance teacher, I don’t know how to dance, and finding info about the waltz without ending with a video is harder than I thought. So be aware that the description of the dance is VERY, VERY far from perfect.

I also don’t know shit about American proms and use it more as a set up than anything, so bear with me on that one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyways. Enjoy !

Milo opened the front door of his house, trying not to feel anxious. The day of the annual spring prom was fast approaching. The theme chosen by the teachers for the main dance was slow and formal, to the surprise of most students. While Milo knew that not everyone was going to be perfect when it comes to dancing a waltz, at least among those who would choose to dance it, he really hoped to have a dance with Amanda, who he knew would strive for perfection. And with the almost certainty of Murphy’s Law making the evening more difficult, the least he could do for her was to learn to dance, to be able to keep up against all eventualities.

But learning the waltz was easier said than done. His parents didn’t remember much aside from what it was supposed to look like. As for Sara, she didn’t know how to dance it. Same for his friends. Besides, Melissa had decided she wouldn’t dance if it had to be something like a waltz, much to Zack’s chagrin. So asking them wouldn’t help. Finally, looking it up on the Internet was a no go, as he wanted to learn from a more authentic experience.

So all that was left were dance lessons. But those had a cost. And while Milo considered himself willing to do anything for Amanda, there still was the risk of paying for a lesson only to get the place destroyed over and over again and be banned before learning anything.

Milo didn’t know what to do. Amanda deserved the best, and he truly wanted to be the one to give it to her.

It was with these thoughts in mind that he noticed the three men in his backyard. Doctor D. was working on some machine, helped by Dakota, while Cavendish was standing nearby, chatting with them. While Milo had asked the professor and knew he couldn’t be of any help, he hadn’t told Dakota and Cavendish about it yet.

“Hey guys !”, Milo called as he went to join them.

“Hi Milo !” “Hello Murphy.”, the former time-travelers greeted.

“Found someone to teach you to dance yet ?”, Doofenshmirtz asked as a greeting.

“No. Not yet.”, the teen replied, his smile faltering.

“Something’s wrong ?”, Dakota immediately asked.

“No, no ! I’m fine !”, the short man raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s not something bad or dangerous. It’s just…”, Milo looked away, suddenly feeling embarrassed to make them think that he had a big problem over something they probably saw as insignificant. “There’s the annual spring prom this Saturday, and I’d love to go with my friend Amanda. But I don’t know the dance and Amanda- she likes when everything that could go wrong doesn’t.”

“Trying to impress a girl for a dance, huh ?~”, Dakota asked in a teasing tone that made the teen blush. “Yeah I’ve been there.”, he shrugged.

“I suppose there isn’t a way we could help you ?”, Cavendish asked.

“Well, I need to find someone who can teach me to waltz. So if you know someone who can…”

Dakota looked at him for a beat, before his face brightened. “Well, I think you just found your teacher.”, the short man cheerfully said, turning towards his partner. The tall man looked between the two before closing his eyes and beaming with pride.

“I have to admit, I’m quite the dancer.”, he boasted.

“Cavendish can dance the waltz ?”, Doctor D. asked. Dakota nodded. “Somehow, I’m not even surprised.”, the scientist deadpanned, earning a glare from the British man.

“I’ll have you know I was taught a variety of dances at a young age.”, Cavendish defended. “I still master most of them.”

“Yeah. He can do anything that’s old-fashioned.”, his partner confirmed. He then leaned towards Milo. “But you don’t want to see him try a modern freestyle. Trust me.”, he jokingly half-whispered, making the teen laugh.

Cavendish cleared his throat in annoyance. He then turned his attention to Milo. “So, shall we start this lesson ?”

“Oh, you mean right now ?”

“Why of course ! Unless you don’t have the time, obviously.”

“no, no ! I have time. I just thought you guys were busy.”, Milo replied, glancing at Doctor D.’s machine.

“Oh that ?”, the scientist said. “Don’t worry about it. They already told me everything I needed to know to make my synthetic-time-juiceinator work.”, he assured. “Or at least I hope it’ll work. We’ll just have to see when I’m done building it !”

And with that, the trio scooted away, letting the scientist do his work.

“So,”, Cavendish started. “as you may already know, the waltz is a European dance with several variations, with a few danced amongst the highest courts. Given your time period, I assume what you need to learn is the slow waltz, the most universal one. There are two roles in this dance. One partner is the leader while the other is the follower. Since you’re a beginner, I would advise you to be the follower. N-”

“Um…Actually, I have to be the lead.”, Milo interrupted.

“Really ? Why is that, if you have no experience ?”, the taller man seemed genuinely confused.

“Well, the man is the one leading, while the woman follows his steps.”, he explained, wondering why he needed to explain something so basic.

The two former time-travelers shared a look. “They still do that gendered music thing in this time-period ?”, Dakota asked with a frown.

“…Yes ?”, Milo replied. The short man rolled his eyes. “I guess it changed in the future ?”

“It did.”, Cavendish confirmed, not without looking displeased himself. “The one who leads is the most experienced dancer, regardless of gender.”

“Yeah.”, Dakota continued. “That’s why Cav tends to lead. Between the two of us, he’s the one who knows what he’s doing.”, Cavendish raised an eyebrow at that.

“Anyways.”, the tall man coughed. “If you need to learn to lead, I can teach you to lead. Now…”, Cavendish walked to the center of the backyard. “the waltz has a certain amount of moves that you can do depending of your level and comfort. You said your party was Saturday, which means we have four days to teach you as much as possible. For today, we’re going to concentrate on the three most basic moves. The first one is the box step, the essence of the waltz itself. Dakota, if you please.”, Cavendish extended a hand towards the man.

“I-uh-what ?”

“I need a dance partner.”, the tall man deadpanned.

“I don’t know how to dance that, Cavendish ! I’m not a dancer ! I’m more of a singer. And a musician.”, he glanced at Milo at that last sentence, likely trying to amuse the teen.

“I’ve seen you dance the waltz before.”, Cavendish commented.

“Yeah, once. For our first dance. And I had to take lessons before the wedding. Annnd if memory serves, I tripped and fell only a few minutes in.”

“You tripped during your wedding ?”, Milo couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah.”, the short man shrugged. “But it was fine.”, he let out a chuckle. “I didn’t break anything. Besides, I had been giddy all day. It was one of the best days of my life after all ! One stupid fall wasn’t going to ruin it ! I never did that dance again though.”

“But surely you remember some of it ?”, Cavendish interrupted. Despite his tone, Milo could see a small smile on the tall man’s face. It seemed like Dakota wasn’t the only one thinking about the day they had years ago.

“eeeesh…”, Dakota punctuated his noise with a shake of his wrist.

“Come now.”, his partner grumbled. “I’m sure you’ll get it back soon enough.”, Cavendish grabbed the shorter man’s hand and led his partner to where he had been standing moments ago. He then put one hand on Dakota’s waist and took Dakota’s other hand in his. Despite his grimace, the shorter man didn’t offer any resistance and also took position, a hand on Cavendish’s shoulder.

“Now. The box is a series of steps that the leader takes, mirrored by their partner. The leader starts by moving forwards, then slide, join your feet, change the foot you put your weight on, and repeat the opposite of what they just did, all in the tempo. For the tempo, you have to count from one to three on rhythm. Now watch.”

After his explanation, Cavendish started slowly making the movements he described, one after the other, taking for each one the time to let Dakota follow. Milo looked at their feet and how they moved. Looking up, he could see the taller man glancing at him from time to time, surely to make sure the teen was still listening. His partner, however, kept his eyes down, looking at what he was doing. At some point, Cavendish pointed out the weight he was putting on each foot and how to change it.

Once Milo confirmed that he understood the moves, Cavendish asked him to put on some music with his phone. Then, the former time-travelers started making the steps again, this time moving to the right rhythm, not without guidance from the taller man. Dakota was clumsy and awkward, never looking away from his feet. But with Cavendish’s assurance, and with the shorter man’s ability to just go with the flow, Dakota managed. This made Milo smile a little. Seemed like he wasn’t the only one getting taught how to waltz.

After explaining everything about the box step, the man introduced the progressive step, followed by the reverse step. Both were rather similar to the box and served to move around the ballroom. The tall man described them as essential to master the more complex moves. Just like for the first step, Cavendish went slow at first to let the teen see how it looked and get Dakota to learn as well, before then following the rhythm of the music.

“Milo,”, the tall man started as Milo cut the music after a few minutes of dancing. “are you sure you understood everything ?”

“I sure did !”, the teen assured.

“Good. Now, we’re going to show you how to combine all three steps together.”

“Say what now ?”, Dakota asked.

“Before we start,”, Cavendish continued, ignoring his partner’s interjection. “there’s one important thing for you to understand. As the leader of the dance, the choice of where and when to move is in your hands. Your partner is meant to simply follow and mirror your steps so, unless they tell you where other people are, you can’t rely on them to guide you. This is why being the leader is harder than the follower.”

“I understand.”, Milo replied.

“Good. Now the music, if you please.”, the tall man asked in a jokingly polite manner. Milo turned the music back on and watched as the two men started dancing again.

As the minutes passed and they kept dancing, their moves started to get smoother with Dakota growing in confidence. Eventually, Cavendish let go of Dakota’s hand for a beat in order to lift the shorter man’s chin, making the duo hold eye contact for the first time since they started. The two smiled as they continued. Milo soon realized that Cavendish had stopped glancing at him. The former time-travelers were completely enraptured with each-other as they moved in harmony to the slow pace of the music.

Milo felt a strange fascination in looking at the two men. Never had he seen Cavendish look so…peaceful, before. Of course, Milo had seen him be happy or excited in the past, more than once. But when he and Dakota were talking, Cavendish had a tendency to be annoyed at his partner. Here, there was none of that. Cavendish’s eyes were filled with love and affection for the shorter man, making Milo understand better why the taller man stayed in their relationship despite his numerous complains.

As for Dakota, it was the same. While Milo frequently saw the shorter man in a good mood, it had never been to this extent. Dakota looked at his partner with pure adoration, as if Cavendish was the most important thing in his entire life.

Milo knew that the two were married. While talking relationships with him, Dakota mentioned how long-lasting relationships weren’t all romantic and cotton-candy like how TV portrayed it but instead were mostly about arguing over the dumbest things. Cavendish’s reaction to the statement accidentally gave them away. Since then, the teen promised to keep the secret, if only to keep them safe from what some people might think.

But while Milo had known of their relationship, he never saw a display of their affections. The teen wondered if their first dance had been like this. For a moment, it made him envious. He hoped that, someday, he and Amanda could be like this. That they could look at each other this way, with the same love, the same passion. Maybe this would be possible this Saturday…At the thought, a new wave of determination coursed through the teen.

“w-woah !”, the moment ended as quickly as it started when Dakota suddenly tripped, letting go of his surprised partner in his fall.

thump

“…ouch”

“Dakota, are you alright ?”, Cavendish asked. The softness from before hadn’t left the man yet and his voice was full of worry. However, it was cut short as Dakota started laughing.

“And that,”, he said while looking at Milo. “is what happened fifteen years ago !”

“…It did.”, Cavendish admitted with a sigh before helping his partner up. Milo walked up to them.

“I’m getting too old for this.”, Dakota grumbled after cracking his back.

“You’re only 45.”, Cavendish commented.

“So ? It’s already pretty old for this time-period.”

“How old can people get in the future ?”, Milo found himself ask.

“A few people have managed to reach 150 years old.”, Cavendish explained. “This means that a few of the people born today might live long enough for us to have met them in our youths.”

“But even if they live that long, they look like a living corpse by the time they’re 120.”, Dakota interjected.

“Still. With the evolution of science and healthcare, people our generation might live even longer. After all, we already are able to stay in good shape until we get near our 100th anniversary.”

“Yeah. Just look at this guy !”, Dakota pointed at his partner. “In his fifties and still able to run ten miles without stopping !”

“I’m 52.”, Cavendish replied. “And you could be in better shape if you worked out with me.”

“Yeah yeah, I know.”, the shorter man rolled his eyes.

“Anyways. Milo ?”, the teen quickly turned his head as the attention went back to him. Cavendish offered him a hand. “Now that you saw how a waltz looks like, I believe it is time to practice ?”

“Uh ? Oh ! Right !”

“I’m not dancing again.”, Dakota warned.

“I don’t expect you to.”, his partner replied.

Dakota took a few steps back, letting the other two take position.

“Are you sure this is going to work ?”, Milo asked, immediately noticing the large height difference. “I mean, Amanda’s more my height…”

“Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine.”, Cavendish reassured. “Besides, this isn’t about how you hold your partner, it’s about the moves that you make. Now, let’s start with the box step. Do you remember it ?”

“I think so.”

“Alright. We don’t have to use the music for now, just take it slow.”

“Right.”

Milo started moving slowly, following the steps he remembered. Like Cavendish said, the height difference wasn’t that much of a problem, especially with the taller man knowing exactly what he was doing.

With the minutes going by, Milo got more into it, though not without a few corrections from Cavendish. The teen managed to move smoothly, making the correct steps. And when music was added, it didn’t take him long to manage to follow it. Being in the backyard also helped a lot as Murphy’s Law couldn’t turn as chaotic as it could be in town. The watering system turned on at some point, both his and Dakota’s phone ran out of batteries, and a few birds ended up causing some damage to the place, but it wasn’t anything that could prevent them from continuing. And after half an hour of practice, Milo was happy to see how good he got at the basics.

Seemed like he had a shot to dance with Amanda after all.

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

During the following days, Cavendish and Dakota would show up at the Murphys’ house to teach the teen more. Once the basics were mastered, Cavendish taught him some more moves like how to twirl or dip your partner. Due to Cavendish’s height, Milo had had to train those moves with Dakota. These lessons had been more fall-inducing than the others, especially on the shorter man’s end, but at least Milo had been able to learn. And while it took more time to get it right, training with Dakota was really fun. The man was as lost as the teen, so the practice always ended with a laugh. And when they were about to fall, the shorter man always made sure to fall first to prevent the teen from getting hurt. Of course, Cavendish had shown annoyance at the duo’s antics but, as long as Milo was learning, he couldn’t really say anything to them.

Milo had to admit, Cavendish was a far better teacher than he first thought. The man knew how to take it slow, making sure everything was understood before moving to the next level. At the same time, he could be sharp, reminding Milo that he didn’t have all the time in the world and couldn’t just spend the entire time messing around. The man knew how to be involved without suffocating the teen, how to get to the point while still giving enough details.

From the way the man would look during some of his explanations, Milo guessed that Cavendish was repeating things he had been told when he had had to learn to dance. This made the teen sometimes wonder about what kind of childhood Cavendish had, though he never dared asking the man directly. Besides, Cavendish wasn’t there to talk about his past. Milo did once ask Dakota about one of the ways Cavendish would speak. But, as it turned out, Dakota didn’t know anything about Cavendish prior to his time living in the States. When Dakota first asked him about it, the tall man simply told him that anything from his past didn’t matter anymore. The only thing Milo learned was something that Dakota jokingly told him : given his personality, there was no way Cavendish used to be a serial killer or a runaway prisoner or anything like that. So there was no point in wondering about Cavendish’s past, especially if it made the man uncomfortable.

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

By Saturday evening, Milo knew most of the different moves possible in a slow waltz, along with a few steps from what Cavendish called an “American waltz”, which sometimes had moments in which the two partners separated.

The teen was extremely grateful for what the former time-traveler did to help him, and made sure to thank him more than once. Cavendish had received the praise with a proud smile. It seemed that the knowledge of helping Milo was enough compensation for him. As for Dakota, he had spent the end of the last lesson teasing the teen, trying to find him ways to approach Amanda, making Milo way more embarrassed than he thought he would be. Though, the shorter man ended his teasing with an encouragement, ruffling Milo’s hair while telling him to just be himself and that, with his talent to turn every situation around, there was no way the evening would be ruined.

Milo had thanked the duo one last time before going to prepare himself for the evening.

And now here he was in his best clothes, in front of the school gym, along with Zack and Melissa. Since they had no intention to do the main dance, the duo had agreed to help Milo by dealing with Murphy’s Law themselves. Zack had even brought his own backpack for the occasion.

“Here we are.”, Milo declared.

“Nervous ?”, Zack asked him with a smile.

“A little.”, the teen admitted.

“What are you scared of ?”, Melissa interjected. “The waltz doesn’t start before a good hour. And you trained for this. You got this !”, she encouraged.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I got this !”, and with that the trio entered the gym.

Just like for last prom, the place was greatly decorated. There was already music, played by one of the school bands. As Melissa predicted, the main dance wasn’t before a while. For now, Milo could just relax and have fun, at least as much fun as Murphy’s Law could permit without ruining the evening.

“Hi Milo !”, Milo immediately turned at the familiar voice that made his heart flutter.

“Hi Amanda !”, he greeted. Amanda was wearing a pink dress that reminded him of the one from last prom. The Hispanic girl also had a check-list with her, making Milo quickly understand that she planned the event. “Nice party !”, he complimented.

“Thanks !”

“I guess you’re in charge of every committee again ?”, Melissa asked with a smirk.

“Not this time. I wanted to have more time for myself.”, Amanda replied. “Though I did choose the people in charge. And made sure they all had backup if needed. And gave them all my number in case they need anything.”, the teen smiled awkwardly.

“But now you can have fun !”, Milo enthusiastically pointed out.

“Well, as long as nothing goes wrong.”, Amanda replied, looking in Milo’s direction.

“Oh don’t worry about that.”, Melissa said. “We’re here to make sure everything runs smoothly.”

“Yeah.”, Zack continued, pointing at his backpack. “The committee against Murphy’s Law and its backup are here !”

“Well, we’ll see how it goes.”, Amanda shrugged, though Milo could still see how nervous she was.

“Come on !”, he tried to encourage. “Let’s go see what they got for the buffet !”

“You spend way too much time with Dakota.”, Zack commented as the group started moving.

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

The evening had started in a great note. Of course, not everything went perfectly with Murphy’s Law. But, as long as Milo kept an eye open for trouble, the party could go on.

After several songs and about half an hour into the party, the lights toned down and the music changed for something more classical. Milo felt his heart start to beat faster.

It was time.

Turning towards his friends, Melissa gave him a gentle punch on his shoulder while Zack gave him a thumbs up, before the duo walked away, ready to deal with any eventuality.

Milo gulped, tried to calm himself with a deep breath, and turned his attention towards Amanda. The Hispanic teen was looking at the dance floor where a few couples were already starting to waltz, while others opted for a slow dance instead.

Milo offered her a hand, getting her attention.

“May I have this dance ?”, he asked, not without a blush.

Amanda looked between him and his hand before finally smiling. “Sure.”

Milo tried not to let his excitement show too much as he led her to the dancefloor. Remembering all of Cavendish’s lessons, he took position and they started to move.

As he expected, Amanda seemed to know exactly what she was doing and danced around with grace. Milo was doing pretty good too. He was especially satisfied about how easy it was to be with someone his size after spending four days dancing with taller people.

“You’re doing amazing !”, Milo flattered after a twirl.

“Thank you, Milo. You’re doing great yourself.”

“I’m glad you think that !”, the teen felt his face flush again. “I…I really trained hard to have a chance to dance with you.”, he admitted.

Amanda looked away with a blush of her own. “I’m…very glad that you did. And-“

She suddenly stopped as both of them heard the sound of glass shattering. They stopped in their tracks and turned at the same time, looking for the source of the problem. But as soon as they noticed the broken window, Zack was on it, already sweeping the shards away.

Milo was relieved to see that nobody had been hurt. He and Amanda shared a look before smiling and starting to dance again.

As they went through the room together, Milo started thinking of Dakota and Cavendish and the way the two of them would look at each-other while dancing. His envy from a few days ago came back as he thought of the possibility of him and Amanda being like that. Maybe that was it, maybe they could-

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream, and the pair stopped again, ready to act. But just like a few minutes earlier, the problem had already been half-resolved by Melissa who winked at the duo. Milo and Amanda went back to dancing.

“Melissa and Zack sure are doing a lot of work.”, Milo commented.

“I have to say, I’m impressed.”, Amanda replied. “I know they said that they got this, but I didn’t expect them to be so effective.”

“Well, they do have a lot of experience helping me deal with Mur-“, Amanda shushed him before he could finish.

“I think we’re unlucky enough without you mentioning it.”, she commented.

“Sorry.”, he replied.

“It’s alright.”, she reassured.

For a few instants, she smiled at him and he smiled back, growing in confidence. But before he could say anything else, another anormal noise was heard. And yet again, they stopped in their tracks, only to realize that the situation quickly got solved without their intervention.

“They really seem to have got this.”, Milo murmured, looking at his friends smiling at him and smiling back.

“You know, I’m surprised to see them willing to take this time to help instead of dancing.”

“Well, Melissa didn’t want to do this kind of dance.”, Milo explained. “And…weeelll, they kind of agreed to look out for me during this dance, so that we can have fun.”, the teen looked away, embarrassed.

“Oh.”, Amanda stayed silent for a beat, both teens looking away. “Well I’m…I’m glad they did. And perhaps…maybe they’re right.”

“What do you mean ?”, Milo looked back at her.

“Well-“

Another noise. But this time, as Milo looked away, he felt Amanda’s hand grab his cheek, pulling his attention back on her. The teen went back to dancing, leading Milo with her.

“I know it may sound crazy coming from me,”, she started. “but I think we should…ignore the mess.”, she looked horrified as she finished her sentence but shook her head to keep her composure. “Your friends got it. Let’s just…let’s just enjoy the dance.”

Milo looked at her for a second before feeling a smile spread across his face.

“You’re right. Let’s just keep going. And whatever goes wrong will get fixed without us !”

Amanda smiled back and the two started focusing back on their steps. Milo took back the lead and the two locked eyes, their smiles never faltering.

Slowly, as they kept dancing, Milo felt like the music was growing louder, making everything around them disappear, until all that was left was the two of them, gazing at each other while the soft music was leading their paired movements. Milo felt his heart pulse faster than ever, and yet, he never felt more at peace. He wanted to smile and laugh like never before, but all he did was continue dancing, admiring Amanda’s elegant steps. After a twirl, once they looked back at each other, the way Amanda looked at him made him feel like his heart was about to burst out. For a moment, he felt peace and happiness, pure happiness, and he wished for this instant to never stop.

He didn’t know how long they kept dancing, how long they stayed like this. All he knew was that, after a dip, it was all over.

The music ended, most of the couples started to pull away, and the band went back on stage. A few feet away, Melissa and Zack were trying to get a student out of a hole in the wall.

Milo and Amanda kept smiling at each other as Milo pulled Amanda back up. The teens then pulled away and avoided each other’s eyes, both blushing but unable to stop smiling.

“Amanda !”, Lydia suddenly interrupted. This snapped the Hispanic girl right out of her reverie.

Milo could only stand there, trying to blink his dream state away, as the two girls talked, until Amanda spoke to him.

“I’m sorry Milo, but I have to go.”, she apologized.

“Don’t worry.”, Milo tried to get his usual cheerful tone back. “A committee needs you, I understand.”, Amanda nodded.

“See you later, Milo !”

“See you later !”, Milo waved as the girls went away.

“Soooo.~”, Milo was taken by surprise as he suddenly noticed Melissa standing next to him with a smirk. “How did it go ? ~”

“Did you two have fun ?”, Zack continued, not without his own smile.

“It was…magical.”, Milo replied. He was still on cloud nine, Amanda’s smile forever graved on his memory. “Yeah. Truly magical.”

He really needed to thank Cavendish again.

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

The school prom was loud, loud enough to be heard a few streets away from the school. Though, the school had quieted for a while. And now, the music started again.

Vinnie smiled. Seemed like Milo’s time to shine was over. He hoped the kid had gotten the dance he wanted with his girlfriend.

With a nostalgic sigh, the man entered his ‘apartment’.

Balthazar was crouching near the couch, fumbling to get the bed open.

“The kid’s done.”, Vinnie said.

“What ?”, Balth stopped, looking at his husband in confusion.

“Milo. I’m pretty sure the waltz over.”

“Oh.”

“How do you think he did ?”, Vinnie smirked. “How much you wanna bet he fell ?”, he joked.

“Please.”, Balth smiled as he stood up. “Milo became quite the dancer. I’m sure he did wonderfully.”

“He did have a great teacher.”, the shorter man flirted.

“And he’s not the only one who learned a lot.”, Balthazar replied. The tall man took out his phone, and quickly put some music. Vinnie just looked curiously as his husband put the phone on the small table and offered him a hand. “May I have this dance ?”

“You’re not serious.”, Vinnie grimaced.

“Come on.”, Balthazar smiled in a way that made the shorter man silently curse the effect his partner had on him. “You did a lot of progress over the last few days.”

“Alright, alright.”, Vinnie sighed, though his smile betrayed his emotions. He took Balthazar’s hand, letting himself be led by the taller man. The two couldn’t move much as the space was small and cramped, but it didn’t stop Balth from doing a variety of steps.

Though, less than a minute into this, Vinnie tripped over the table’s feet and fell, barely giving Balthazar the time to react and push his partner towards the couch. Vinnie half-slumped half-fell into it.

“…Ouch…”, the shorter man complained

“Are you alright ?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank goodness.”, Balth mumbled, helping him up.

“You know what ?”, Vinnie declared. “We should let the kids do the whole dancing thing. I think I’m going to take a break from formal dances.”

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