#I saw this exact text conversation online and immediately had to think about these two dumbasses lmao

[loverspersonas]

the most beautiful moment in life | viii

pairing: ot7? x reader

genre: hyyh au, high school au, angst, drama, fluff, smut?

length: 5.5k

summary: Eight strangers with different stories happen to meet one day, by fate or some kind of cruel, exquisite happenstance, and realize that they’re not as different as they thought.

a/n: i realize i’m updating really slowly and the reason for that is online school which is taking up pretty much all my time BUT it hasn’t stopped me from writing at all. i actually have many different scenes written already, they’re just not in order, so i have to kind of make myself write the scenes that are happening first before any of those, which is hard sometimes cause i have so many ideas :) 

i realize that the pace of the fic is also kind of slow and that’s because i don’t want to have such a big overarching plot (like some kind of mystery to solve or a big villain) but rather small subplots happening at the same time. it feels easier to me to develop characters and relationships and i get to include a lot of different plot ideas that way (and there is so much happening in hyyh). it’s also hard writing this cause the bangtan universe is really complicated when you think too much about it, and we don’t even know everything about it, so i have to work with what we have and what i know. 

so thank you guys for liking what i’m writing! i hope i can do the hyyh era some (even if it’s the tiniest amount) justice, and i hope you guys enjoy it too. and if you have feedback or ideas, i’d love to hear it!

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Remembering details from a dream was a lot harder than a nightmare. Nightmares had you waking up in a cold sweat, sometimes plaguing your mind throughout the day if they were intense enough. Dreams, however, were only alive while you were asleep, and then they slipped away from your mind like they never even happened.

For the past few weeks, you’d been getting dreams that you could mostly or somewhat recall more often. Vague, obscure scenes or flashes that changed sporadically because even in your dream state, you had no control over your mind.

But you noticed that they tended to involve people in your life. Your mother, Sana, your old friends, and the seven boys you’d unconsciously formed a friendship with over the past month. Of course, it didn’t have to mean anything. But some of them strangely stood out more than others. 

One time, you saw Namjoon standing in a dark area with a single white light illuminating his silhouette from above, and a cigarette slipping from between his fingers. Another time, there was Hoseok at what looked like a train station. He was walking along the train tracks at night like he couldn’t see you watching him. And then, there was a scene of Jungkook walking on to the road, changing almost immediately before a car swerved right into him. That was one thing you couldn’t forget. Because you remembered it had been you driving that car.

“Y/N?”

The voice of the exact boy you were thinking of broke through your string of thoughts. When you looked up, you suddenly remembered where you were. 

There were a lot of nice vast areas of green fields that belonged to the Academy. With iron benches and tables and the smell of oak trees, it was an ideal setting for many fundraisers, picnics and outdoor events. You were currently sitting cross legged on top of one of those gray metal tables right beside a tall tree that cast a shade over you and the seven others sitting around you. Judging by the way some of them were looking at you, you must’ve missed something in the conversation.

“Hmm?” you asked, glancing at Jungkook who was sitting beside you, also on top of the table.

“See, I told you she wasn’t listening,” Taehyung said to the two taller boys on either side of him. “Face it, Namjoon. The books were boring.”

While Seokjin seemed thoroughly amused, Namjoon’s expression was just the slightest bit annoyed, so you could tell this argument might have been going on for a while. But his patience with Taehyung and the some of the other boys was astounding to you.

On the opposite side of the bench, Yoongi was sitting with Jimin and Hoseok, and quirked a brow in Taehyung’s way. “You literally said that you watched the Lord of the Rings a month ago.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So?” Namjoon repeated, and the tick in his jaw represented the snapping of his patience. “They have the exact same plot!”

You found yourself drifting from the rest of the conversation again, as some of the other boys began to chime in. On your lap was a notebook you realized you’d been scribbling in with a pencil while the others had been talking. It was hard to decide which was more concerning— the fact that you’d so effectively tuned out the boys, or that you were only vaguely aware that you’d been drawing at the same time.

You felt someone studying you in your peripheral vision. Jungkook decided to finally nudge you. “Not interested in fantasy novel series?”

“No, I—just spaced out for a second,” you answered lamely.

His earlier grin morphed into a slight frown. “Are you okay?”

Am I okay? “Yeah.”

His gaze dropped to your open book, widening a little in mild surprise. “I thought you said you couldn’t draw.”

“I don’t. Art class was an ironic choice that way.”

“What are you talking about?” Jimin said as he leaned over Jungkook to get a better look. Slowly, the others turned their attention towards you too. “This is pretty good.”

Hoseok, who was one of the ones in closest proximity to you, stretched out his hand so you could pass him the book. “Woah.” He went through a few various facial expressions, a lot of them where he scrunched up his eyebrows. “What’s the inspiration behind that?”

“Probably not those dry as hell books,” Taehyung retorted.

Namjoon didn’t hesitate to shove the loud mouthed boy off of the bench, earning more than a few laughs from everyone. Taehyung shot him a glare with an offended hey! 

“Nothing,” you answered him. “I just got distracted.”

The notebook was now in Namjoon’s hand and his expression was contemplative as he fixated his eyes onto the page. “You got distracted and absentmindedly drew this? With no idea in your head?”

“I had a dream.” You gave a shrug, stealing a few potato chips from Jungkook’s snack. “So, I drew it.”

“A dream like this?”

You looked back at him, trying not to frown. “Why, is it that weird?”

“Not weird,” he assured. “Just… a little unusual. I’ve never met anyone our age who would come up with stuff like this from their subconscious.”

“Who’s the boy supposed to be?” Yoongi asked after the book got rotated to him.

“I don’t know,” you answered. There hadn’t been a real chance to glimpse the boy from that scene. All you remembered was the black hair and the white shirt he was wearing as he stood looking out the only window in a plain room with only a mattress and white flower petals scattered on the floor. “Some random guy, I guess.”

“Everyone we see in our dreams are people we’ve seen at some point in our lives,” Namjoon said.

You gave this a considerative hum. Though you knew maybe thirty people who could fit in that description. “Well, I don’t remember then.”

“Let me see,” Seokjin said, taking the book in his hand. A moment later, his face morphed into something you couldn’t quite decipher. But it was like for that moment, he had understood something without realizing it.

“Why the hell are so many people out here at this time?” Jimin spoke up as a few students or groups of them began to appear on the field or pathway, spilling out from the building. “This is when it’s supposed to be the quietest here. I was looking forward to not seeing… pretty much everyone.”

“It’s not like we own this place,” Jungkook reminded him.

Jimin shrugged nonchalantly. “As long as the bright young things don’t show up…“

And just like on cue, the group of cheerleaders and jocks were walking on the opposite side of the field. You didn’t let your attention linger on the old group of friends you didn’t want anything to do with anymore. But as you glanced away, Yoongi caught your eyes as though he knew what you were thinking.

“Way to go, Jimin,” Hoseok said, giving the boy a light shove. “You just manifested it.”

Taehyung leaned back in his seat. “Seeing them this early in the day is really bad for my digestion.”

“Who told you to shove two chocolate muffins down your throat?” Yoongi said to him, referring to the now empty plastic container sitting beside you. You’d made a large quantity of them the other day and after recalling how Hoseok had liked your baking—and all his following requests over texts to make more— maybe the others would like something too. 

The younger boy didn’t acknowledge the harmless judging tone he’d used. “My inner subconscious, which by the way, I have no regrets about.”

“It’s great how you can say that so confidently about something in your life,” Namjoon said with slight skeptical wonder.

“Y/N made those muffins for us with all her heart and soul—“

“Actually, it was just flour and sugar...” you mumbled though your voice was mostly lost under theirs.

“I was just displaying my gratitude,” Taehyung said finally.

“The muffins were actually really good,” Seokjin said to you as he closed the sketchbook and handed it back to you. You made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“Y/N’s a good baker,” Hoseok affirmed before looking at you. “How long did you say you’ve been at it for?”

“Not that long.” You twisted your dyed blonde hair into a bun and slid the pencil you’d been drawing with through it to hold it in place. “I just picked it up this year.”

Taehyung looked at you with a grin. “I guess I’ll have to annoy you enough at work to get stuff for free.”

You returned it with an exaggerated smile. “You come to work during my shift, I’ll have security ask you to leave for harassment.”

His mouth fell open. “B-but I’ll tip!”

You shook your head, chuckling a little. “You’re ridiculous.”

With his arms folded over his chest, he glanced around sombrely. “This is how brittle friendship is, I guess. Like a dark chocolate bar.” 

Namjoon, hiding his amusement with an arched brow, said, “Taehyung, remind me to never ask you for poetry recommendations.”

“Hey.”

Everyone seemed to fall into a silence, realizing that voice didn’t belong to any of you. They turned their heads towards the new arrival, but you didn’t have to look to know who’d approached the table. At first, you thought you could get away without saying anything, but the rest of the boys were casting imperceivable glances in your direction. Finally, one of the others did what you didn’t want to.

“Hi,” Namjoon said to the boy who’d once been the closest to you.

Min-hyuk stood there, as though expecting you to eventually say something to him. Then he looked around the group, smiling his friendly, star quarterback smile. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m Min-hyuk.”

“We know who you are,” Yoongi said, the cold undertones in his voice not going unheard by anyone. Leave it to him to keep things harsh but real.

Min-hyuk, probably not used to hearing that kind of tone with that sentence, stared at the boy, a little dumbfounded. “Oh…”

Namjoon—you reminded yourself to tell the guy what a blessing he was— stepped in again. It was probably good that it was him who was leading the conversation. You’d learned by now that none of the others were quite as sensible and level headed when they needed to be. “What he means is, do you need something?”

“Can we talk, Y/N?” Min-hyuk asked finally, the question you’d been dreading, because now it was explicitly directed at you.

You held back a defeated sigh and said, “I have class in a few—“

“It won’t take long, I promise.”

He seemed to be somewhat satisfied when you looked up at him and nodded just imperceptibly. He started to move away from the table, and you made a move to follow when a hand gently closed around your wrist.

“You know, you don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to,” Jungkook said quietly but firmly. His eyes held something like concern, and gazing around the table, the others wore similar expressions.

“Yeah,” you said. “But he won’t stop until I do.”

Jungkook released his hand from yours, watching as you got up and walked over to where Min-hyuk was waiting.

You put your hands in your pockets, right away saying, “Let’s get right to point this time, shall we?”

“I left you a note the other day,” he said, not happy with your attitude, but not able to say anything to it either. “You didn’t reply.”

“That was you?” you asked, dumbly. “I didn’t realize.”

“Come on, Y/N. Who else would write you that?” He paused. “My mother said she saw you at the hospital yesterday. Is everything okay?”

You didn’t meet his gaze, instead mostly looking at the ground. If your eyes drifted around too much, you were afraid to see that other students were watching you like a movie scene. You knew that the seven boys you’d just left were certainly doing that. “Uh huh,” you answered, without any emotion.

Min-hyuk held back an impatient noise. “Look, I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I just want to know you’re doing fine.”

This time, you did look up to meet his eyes. “Why?”

“Why?” He was partly taken aback with surprise at your response. “We might not be together anymore, but it’s not like I just don’t care all of a sudden.”

“You didn’t care before.”

He stared at your expression, like he was wondering if you meant it. “Do you really think that?“

“You were never on my side.”

“What?”

Before, this would’ve been hard for you to talk about, because you’d only ever avoided it. To think about it would make you think about all the times you knew you should’ve walked away, the times that you stood there and just took everything when you knew you deserved better than that. But maybe it was time to rip the bandaid off. How long were you going to go back and forth like this? How long was he going to try to hold on to you when you wanted out?

“You wanted to know where it all went wrong,” you spoke. “How about when you stood there and let everyone, even our own friends, say all those things about me. And when I asked you to trust me, you didn’t.”

“It wasn’t that simple.” He shook his head. At least he had the decency to look apologetic, to sound like he meant what he thought. “I–I wanted to trust you—“

“I think I see it now.” It was taking a lot of courage for you to finally say what you needed to say, and now that you finally found it, you didn’t even care that other people were watching or listening. “We were both so good at acting like everything about us was perfect. And as soon as I stopped, things changed. The difference between us is that one of us still pretending.”

“Min-hyuk!” One of his friends from the football team—one of your former ones— came up beside him, tapping his shoulder. He looked at you with the kind of friendliness that was reserved for any random student in the hallway. “Hi, Y/N. What are you guys talking about?”

Min-hyuk seemed to have nothing to say, his gaze on you fixed, but his mind on the words you’d spoken. You were glad you had the ability to leave him speechless, to see him actually opening his eyes to a world outside that bubble he lived in. The bubble that you’d also been a part of, but were now glad to have found a way out.

“Well,” you said to both of them. “I have class now.”

With your bag over your shoulder, you turned and headed for the building without paying attention to any of the stares that followed you.

By the end of the day, that courage and energy that had allowed you to speak up to Min-hyuk had dissipated. Hopefully, he wouldn’t approach you again any time soon. Was it asking too much to not be approached by anyone else at all?

Now, you were standing in front of the doors to the pool once again, looking inside, but not having the courage to go in. It was almost a metaphor for your life. You were standing on the outside of a part of your life from the past, not being able to actually go in and see it properly.

Yoongi’s figure materialized next to you, not saying anything at first as though he could tell you were deep in thought. So, you broke the silence first and asked, “Long day?”

“You have no idea,” he answered. “Guess which asshole of a teacher decided to assign us a 10 page paper due in less than a week?”

Glancing sideways at him, you grinned. “The one who probably has hypertension from having to teach you?”

He shot you a dry look, but the corners of his mouth twitched a little like he was also holding back a grin of his own. “You’re hilarious, princess. But also probably right.” He noticed your attention on the pool on the opposite of the doors. "What, are you not allowed to go in or something? Weren’t you on the swim team at some point?”

Instead of answering, you turned away from the doors and started walking down the hallway. “Weren’t you on the basketball team?”

As Yoongi walked alongside you, subtle surprise appeared on his face. “It’s been a while since anyone’s asked me that.”

“You were captain of the team too, right?” you asked. “That’s how I knew you.”

Something else flickered across his face, though you didn’t know what it was. To you, it was probably the face you wore when you were briefly and vaguely recalling something in your mind.  “Well, it’s always nice to hear that my reputation precedes me. And not just as a gothic, underground rapper.” He ignored your subtle roll of eyes. “I played shooting guard actually.”

You hummed, remembering all the basketball games you attended in the gymnasium with your old friends. As part of the cheerleading team, you’d had an obligation to be there, but some of the games actually got interesting to watch. The first time you’d noticed Yoongi was when one time you’d been running late and had been trying to not fall behind the rest of the team. You remembered dropping one of your pompoms while trying to tie your hair up, and in passing, he’d picked up and handed it to you. You didn’t think he remembered it, and maybe it was a little embarrassing that you did. 

“You were good too.” You stopped near the front doors, most of the students walking around you with no interest since it was the end of the school day. Yoongi shot you a slightly puzzled look. “I was a cheerleader, remember? I’ve been to a bunch of games.”

“I remember,” he said after a moment, and it didn’t sound like something you’d say to someone just to blindly agree with them, so that was why you ended up meeting his gaze. There was something underneath those deep gray eyes that you didn’t really understand, but somehow, still found it startling to hold eye contact.

You half forced a chuckle to move the attention away from you. “Besides, it’s kind of hard to miss the only guy on the team with dyed blonde hair.”

He chuckled. “I almost forgot about that.”

“How could you forget? You were literally my inspiration,” you said, gesturing to your own bleached hair. When he threw you a dubious side eye, you shouldn’t have been surprised. Surely, that would’ve tricked one of the other boys. “Alright, fine, you didn’t. You know, I definitely do not miss the 5 hour practices, or the tiny uniforms or Yuna screaming at some younger, clueless girl to stop slacking.”

“But the outfits were so cute,” Yoongi teased, and though you were glad the topic changed, you shot him an unamused glance. “It was a joke. On a related note… what did the ex-boyfriend want earlier?”

You arched a brow and held back an amused grin. “You can say his name, you know.”

“Yeah, but that would give him too much significance. Unnamed means unimportant.”

You hummed in agreement. “Nothing really.”

“Is that why you ditched us afterwards without so much as a word?” he asked skeptically.

You tried not to sound irritated about it, but you’d hoped you could make it through the day without having to talk about it. “I ditched you, because I wasn’t in the mood to be interrogated about it.”

“How quickly you assume we would interrogate you.”

“Well, wouldn’t you?”

“Fine,” he grumbled after some seconds. “At least 3/7ths of us might. Can you really blame us for being curious? It looked kind of intense.”

Folding your arms over your chest, you looked at him with a grin forming on your lips. “Remember how you said you didn’t care? Well, it’s starting to sound a little like you do.”

He scoffed. “Please. You mistake my blind curiosity for something it isn’t.” He watched you a little longer as you shrugged before saying, “Remember when you said I was good at deflecting? You’re not so bad at it yourself.”

A part of you thought that this was a good time as any to actually talk about it. About how you’d cut things off with Yuna and Min-hyuk, and why you’d wanted to. By now, you felt like you could tell any of the seven boys and they’d listen—actually listen—and Yoongi, despite coming off as aloof and indifferent, wouldn’t judge you or anything. But this recent bond with them felt like a new and good thing, and you just didn’t want to jeopardize it, like you did with most things.

"Do you a need ride home?” Yoongi asked when he realized you were too deep in your head to say anything else about it. “I’m giving Jungkook one too, so I can drop you off after.”

“You go ahead,” you answered. “I have some stuff to do first.”

At first, he seemed almost reluctant to leave you alone, but you had a feeling he wouldn’t insist or comment on it. It would contradict his indifference to most things. Only after he left did you turn and start aimlessly walking down the other side of the hallway. It wasn’t like you had anything to do. You just weren’t sure if you wanted to be around anyone with curiosity like Yoongi’s lingering above your head. Talking about yourself and your personal life was never fun.

Eventually, you ran into another familiar face. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Namjoon said as he approached you in the hall.

“If this is about this morning, I’d rather not talk about it,” you decided to say immediately because if anyone could get answers from you by asking the right questions, it was probably Namjoon.

Fortunately for you, Namjoon could’ve read that from a mile away and wasn’t one to pry. He nodded in understanding. “I figured as much. Oh, hold on a second.” From his backpack, he drew out some loose papers tucked into a notebook. “I went through some of these to find whatever was legible enough.”

You scanned the writing briefly. “Your English notes?”

“Yeah, I remember you said the last class went over your head.” 

“I just don’t understand why it’s bought and not buyed, but it’s walk and walked? Like why can’t they can’t follow the same rule for every past tense conjugation?” you complained, but still a little touched that he remembered something you’d probably said in passing. “But thanks.”

“Also, if you see Taehyung, can you let him know I can’t walk home with him today?”

You nodded. “Sure. Staying back for extra work?”

“No, I—I have a shift today.”

You wondered why he sounded reluctant to answer. “Where do you work?”

“It’s a library,” he said with a small shrug. “It’s on the other side of the city, so I like to leave a little earlier.”

You shot him an amused grin. “Were there no libraries nearby hiring? Because I know if they saw your GPA, they would not hesitate.”

“Uh, this one has a nicer collection.”

“Alright,” you said, deciding not to question his responses since he hadn’t questioned you. But for some reason, it felt like he was trying to hide something. “See you tomorrow then.”

Smiling, he said, “Thanks, Y/N.”

As he walked away, you had to stop the curiosity from getting to you. It truly was an ordeal to be so curious and not want to intrude upon things that didn’t concern you. You had to remind yourself that it was better that information came to you at the right time rather than forcing it. At first, the reminder was about other people, but sometimes, you thought it was also about yourself.

After exiting through the west doors, you noticed Taehyung at the bottom of the staircase right outside the building. He was leaning against the railing, hood over his head and concentrated on whatever game he was playing on his phone. You slowed your steps, approaching the stairs. “You’re still here.”

Taehyung glanced up at you, slipping his phone into his pocket as you came towards him.  “Waiting for Namjoon. The kid’s a genius, but his punctuality could use a little improvement.”

You quirked a brow. “Kid? He’s older than you.”

Folding his arms over his chest, he said pointedly, “And I’m older than you. So how about you don’t question me?”

You had to bite back a smile at his antics. It was hard to believe sometimes that most of these boys were older than you. “He told me to tell you he has work today, so he can’t make it.”

He let out a loud and dramatic groan, practically cringing at himself. “For real? I probably look like some idiot, waiting on the stairs for his even more of an idiot boyfriend.”

You shrugged, not hiding the smile this time. “Just a little.”

He looked back at you. “How are you getting home? I’ll walk with you.”

He already started walking, expecting you to follow, so you didn’t get a chance to reply. With a defeated sigh, you decided to go after him.

Your first mistake was choosing to walk all the way home instead of taking the bus. Your second mistake was letting Taehyung take the lead, because that boy looked like he’d never had a plan a day in his life. While you somewhat admired the spontaneity, you were used to routine or a plan of some kind. Although you did suppose that this year, everything that had happened, and was happening now, was not planned at all.

“I’ve never gone this way before.” 

The buildings were older and a bit worn away, but almost in an intentional manner, posters and signs on the gray brick walls. You passed several small shops and restaurants and cafes that despite appearing quaint seemed very cute. The people that walked by were all in their own worlds, not so much as glancing at you or anyone near them. It was something like a secret tourist spot or a hidden gem.

“Really?” Taehyung said. He walked on your right, but a little ahead. You wanted to say it was because he was leading the way, but that presumed he knew where he was going. “This street’s pretty cool. Hidden away from the centre, though, so you don’t really know about it until you come yourself.”

You removed your eyes from an old bookstore with a chalkboard sign outside. “You must do a lot of exploring, huh?”

“Whatever gets me out of the house.” He stopped walking abruptly. When you stopped to ask what was wrong, you saw a mischievous smile form on his face. “I just had a brilliant idea.”

“Why am I kind of doubtful?”

Despite the many, many questions you asked, Taehyung didn’t answer any of them. He could try and be mysterious if he wanted, but you wouldn’t buy it, was what you said to him. Instead, you waited outside while he went into a convenience store for a few minutes. You shouldn’t have been so surprised when he emerged with a plastic bag in hand, full of bottles of spray paint. You opened your mouth to ask what he was planning, but he just tugged on your arm and made you follow him around the corner.

The street you stopped at had to be somewhat of a visual arts scene, because you recalled passing arts and crafts places and small galleries, and the wall that stood in front of you now was a graffiti wall.

“This is so cool,” you said in awe, all thoughts of skepticism at Taehyung’s actions gone. Your gaze roamed over the various artwork and writing, painted on by different kinds of paint and people and minds. It was like an anonymous outlet for creativity and self expression, something like in the olden days when things like freedom of expression was outlawed, so people had to get creative around it.

“I love all kinds of art,” Taehyung said, dropping his backpack and crouching near the ground. “But graffiti has become more interesting recently. Here.”

You looked to see that he was holding out a can of spray paint for you. “This is vandalizing.”

He half scoffed, half laughed. “This is an artistic statement.”

“They’re not mutually exclusive, Taehyung.”

“Relax, Y/N.” He placed the can in your hand himself after he decided that you wouldn’t take it, then took another out of the bag for himself. “I’ve done this billions of times. You won’t get caught.”

Despite yourself, there was an urge in you to just do it, get your hands a little messy. That was why you liked to bake after all, wasn’t it? That was why you chose art class. You could make a mess and make something good out of it. You could control something instead of being controlled. But turning back to the wall of art and messages and stories, you hesitated. “I can’t paint like this,” you tried lamely.

Taehyung shot you a look. “I saw your sketch today. It was far from shitty.” After a minute of waiting, he sighed. “Fine, I’ll go first.”

The way he walked up the an empty section of the wall with confidence, how he shook the paint can and effortlessly began to draw strokes in red paint told you that he wasn’t lying when he said he’d done this a lot. 

When he finished, he stepped back to where you stood, briefly appraising his work before saying, “Your turn. Don’t think too much. Just whatever’s on your mind, let it out.”

So, you found yourself closing your eyes briefly, and releasing a breath before stepping forward. You pushed on the paint can’s nozzle and let your mind take over for your hand and for a few minutes, all that was heard was the faint car engines in the distance and the spraying noise of the paint. Finally, you let your arm drop to see what you’d made. It was a pair of blue wings like a butterfly’s.

Taehyung studied the wall for a moment before humming, “Interesting.”

“By interesting, you mean awful.”

He shot you a look. “By interesting, I mean interesting. You and Namjoon might like to have second meanings to your sentences, but I’m a simple guy.”

“Uh huh.” You watched him move back to the wall and start painting something else. It was funny how before you’d known him, you had him pegged for some kind of reckless skater boy with a rebellious streak. He was actually more of an artsy boy with a rebellious streak. “I guess it would be easier if everyone wasn’t always pretending to be something they’re not.”

“Was Min-hyuk pretending to be a super nice guy again?” He only glanced over his shoulder at you when he didn’t get an answer. Of course this topic would’ve inevitable come up although you’d also assumed Taehyung would avoid uncomfortable conversations whenever he could. “None of those guys are all what they show. It’s good that you hit one of them. You might accidentally activate some part in the brain that knocks some sense into them.”

You nodded at this, slightly amused. “If that was how neurobiology worked.”

“Let’s experiment. Hit me over the head really hard and tomorrow, let’s see if I pass my math test.”

You were holding back a laugh when your gaze fell on part of his drawing. “Is that your signature?”

“Oh, that... it’s kind of like my alias,” Taehyung said almost like it was embarrassing for him to say. This must have been the first time he’d told someone about his side hobby. “For when I’m out painting.”

“For when you’re out vandalizing,” you remarked.

He mocked the face you’d made earlier and said, “They’re not mutually exclusive, Y/N.”

You let out a scoff, but couldn’t hide your amusement. “What does it mean? The V?”

“It’s short for Vante.”

You hummed. “Interesting.”

“You mean interesting good or interesting bad?”

“I mean interesting,” you said, deepening your voice a little to mock him.

The side of his mouth curved into a grin. “Touche.”

Returning your attention to the wall, your eyes began to study the various drawings, fleetingly going back to another wall and another drawing. “You haven’t seen anything like the hwa yang yeong hwa we saw before, have you?”

“No,” Taehyung answered, then gave it another thought. “Not that I’ve been to a lot of graffiti places outside of this area. But from where I have looked around, it’s made me think that maybe this... Smeraldo person isn’t a regular graffiti artist.”

“As in, this was just a one time thing for them?”

“Maybe.”

“I guess that means it’s not just graffiti we should be looking at,” you speculated. “It’s definitely a start but could be any art form.”

“Or maybe the art is just a way to get it out there.”

You frowned. “Meaning what? Someone’s trying to say something? To send a message?”

He shrugged. “It’s possible, yeah.”

His attention refocused on the drawing he’d started, but your mind began to run through possible explanations. What if somehow someone was trying to say something? More importantly, what if someone was trying to say something to you?

The sun was beginning to lower by the time you reached Taehyung’s place. You didn’t even realize the two of you had been out for a while with his detour idea. 

You tilted your head up to observe the apartment building complex. Since you’d never been to this part of the city before, you couldn’t say much about it. But by the oldness and the obvious low maintenance of the building, you guessed that the rent was affordable. Taehyung, like you, wasn’t one of the richer kids of the Academy. You supposed that the talent that had gotten him in was art related, if not painting specifically.

“Is this where you live?” you asked to break the silence.

“Yup,” Taehyung said, popping the sound at the end. “Home sweet…” He trailed off a little as his faraway gaze crossed the building, instead turning back to you. “Do you live close by? I can walk with you.”

You made a dubious face. “Are you sure you want to walk there and then all the way back?”

“Hey, I may be lazy, but I’m not that lazy.”

“I don’t need protecting, if that’s what you were going to say.”

He scoffed. “Obviously not. You broke a guy’s fucking jaw!”

“It wasn’t actually broken,” you muttered before shaking your head. “Wouldn’t you rather go home? Your parents are probably waiting for you.”

“No one’s waiting for me.” Before you could say anything, he waved it away, his long hair hiding the expression on his face you were trying to read. “It’s fine. Forget it.”

But he didn’t make a move to walk towards the complex’s stairs that led up to the first floor. Even as you stood there for another minute and he just stood with you, you realized he wasn’t about to head home regardless of if you left now or stayed. And for a moment, you wondered if this was what he had meant that day weeks ago. No one’s waiting for me. It was a thought that had held a place in your mind for a long time too.

It’s better not to force information you don’t even need to know, a voice in the back of your head reminded. Finally, you said, “Are you hungry? I could go for some coffee, and the Brew’s not far from here.”

Taehyung turned to look at you. If he was grateful for the chance to avoid going home, he didn’t show it. “Will you give me a discount?”

“If you stop talking, I’ll pay for your entire order.”

The carefree smile that stretched across his face as he started dragging you towards the next street was enough for you to know that he was, in fact, at least a little grateful.

chapter vii // chapter ix (coming soon)

#bts #fanfiction #fic #bts x reader #bts fanfic #bts angst #bts scenarios #bts smut #bts fluff #bangtan x reader #ot7 x reader #hyyh #hyyh au #hyyh era #romance #drama #bts series #bangtan #seokjin #namjoon #yoongi #hoseok #jimin #taehyung #jungkook #v #rm #jhope #suga

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 22

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Leo Valdez can be sweet when he wants to.

A/N:  Sorry for the long break! The holidays were a rather busy time for me so it did good to take some time off from writing. But now I'm back for my weekly updates (at least I hope I am)! And not just with any chapter but a long-ish chapter full of Caleo fluff :) I really hope you guys enjoy! Please let me know what you think because I 100% mean it when I say I love reading your comments!!

Words: 3200+ 

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

Once Calypso had made up with Leo and Annabeth, she had new issues to deal with. When she paid her rent for the month, she noticed that she only had enough money for one more month’s rent, not even including the other living costs such as food, other daily necessities and school supplies. She had pushed back the job hunting earlier partially because the friendship issues had made her feel too low to care about that kind of thing, partially because she had no idea what she could do, only having a high school level education and no special skills. She had only ever worked at her father’s company and that was not something she wanted to advertise in her applications. But now she was in a situation that unless she wanted to return to the very place she wanted to stay away from, she had to come up with something.

Annabeth and Piper had seen some of the clothes and other items she had sewed and made with her own hands and encouraged her to sell them but Calypso herself wasn’t entirely convinced they were good enough to be sold. She was also a decent enough artist but with a class full of artists just as good (some even better) than her, what would make her stand out in the public? Her people skills weren’t amazing either so she doubted that she would make a good retail worker. But she knew she would probably have to come out of her comfort zone in this case, so if anyone was willing to hire her, she’d accept it.

She was startled when she suddenly heard a familiar voice from the other room: “Sunshine, I’mma head out to buy some groceries and stuff for a new project. You need anything?”

In some other situation, Calypso would have been thankful for the offer, but she was still feeling like a nervous wreck because of her earlier discovery. That’s why the words escaped her before she could stop herself: “Huh? No, I don’t think so? And I can still buy my own groceries, thank you very much.”

“Sorry, I just thought I’d ask… I didn’t mean to…” Leo seemed a bit baffled by her outburst. He was already about to head out when Calypso came out of her room and stopped him.

“No, I’m sorry.” She sighed, looking regretful. “I was just on the edge because I just noticed my financial situation isn’t exactly the best… But that is something I need to figure out on my own, I don’t want charity.”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna buy you a car or anything,” Leo tried to crack a joke. “Just thought that if you’re running out of milk or something, I could have saved you the trouble… Since I’m going there anyway…”

“Oh… no, I don’t think I need anything,” she said, this time a lot softer. “But thank you for asking.”

“No prob, Sunshine,” Leo replied, looking relieved now that he knew she wasn’t actually angry at him. “But hey, if you do need help with, like, searching for a job, or something, I’m your man.”

Calypso tried to keep her face neutral even though she had a feeling her cheeks were probably red. “I’ll… keep that in my mind.”

“Well, see you soon,” Leo said after the two just kept staring at each other for a while. He seemed to be sizing her, possibly still a bit thrown off by her weird reaction before he put his coat on (Calypso noticed it was the same shade of red as a lot of his shirts seemed to be. And it was also rather snugly fit, definitely not a bad sight, she thought before she had time to stop herself) and took his bags, leaving her alone.

“See you,” she said quietly when the door was already closed.

Once sure that Leo was far enough and not coming back, Calypso leaned her back against the wall of her room, sliding down into a sitting position on the floor. Throwing her head back, she groaned at herself. She had thought that the small falling out they had had because of the Percy incident might have affected her feelings towards Leo, but it seemed to become clearer and clearer every day that wasn’t the case. Even if she had admitted to Hazel and Annabeth that those feelings were not quite flatmate like, it was a whole different thing to really come to terms with that fact. She was falling quite hard.

The more she thought about it, the more she freaked out. Her relationships before one faithful day during her teenage years had failed badly (and that was over 5 years ago anyway) and the online dating she had done afterwards… Well, now that Calypso thought about it, only the conversation with Percy had seemed to be going somewhere. All the people she had cared about had left her and never come back. That, along with the fact that she had spent a lot of time alone in the past, had left her scared of relationships and ruined her self esteem, making her think that she simply wasn’t good enough. If Leo left too… she wasn’t sure how she’d handle that. Not to even mention, her dad was still probably looking for her and getting Leo mixed into that would be very dangerous for him. No matter what Annabeth said about wanting to help.

Biting her lip, she decided there was only one option. No matter what she felt, she should try to treat Leo just like any of her friends and conceal her true feelings. Having Leo in her life just as a flatmate was way better than not having him in it at all. When she remembered her friends’ hints that perhaps Leo himself wasn’t as indifferent to her as he probably should be, she suddenly felt like crying. In different circumstances… maybe they could be happy together, go on dates, hold hands… Now she would inevitably have to let him go when someone else would realize that Leo was a great person worth dating.

Calypso didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, and she also hadn’t noticed that there were tears running down her cheeks. She didn’t snap out of her daze until she heard the front door clunking again, this time indicating that Leo had already returned.

“Please just ignore me…” Calypso ranted in her head, but no luck. She heard steps from outside her room, stopping right in front of it. Swiping her wet cheeks quickly into her hands, she stood up from the floor just in time for Leo to knock on her door. Calypso didn’t really want to open it when she was in that emotional state but she knew that not answering would raise even more questions. Her messy looks she could always try to shrug off as a ‘bad day’, she decided.

“Yeah?” she asked weakly, opening the door to reveal her flatmate with that stupid trademark grin of his on his face. He seemed pretty happy about something he had or was about to do. The late autumn wind had made his curly hair even messier than usual and his cheeks were red from the cold weather and the exercise but his eyes were sparkling excitedly, like he couldn’t wait to show her something. He started: “I went to the hardware store and…” He quickly stopped when he noticed Calypso’s expression and puffy eyes. His happiness immediately melted away. “Hey, what’s wrong? Have you been crying?”

“It’s been a rough day,” Calypso sighed, looking down. “Don’t worry, I was just being overwhelmed by the loads of uni work before the exam season. And like I told you before, I need a job… But… it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Alright, if you’re sure…” Leo narrowed his eyes slightly, probably sensing that she wasn’t telling him the entire truth. “But yeah, I was gonna give you something. Hope it cheers you up a bit. He handed her a tiny packet of what seemed like flower seeds but before Calypso had time to read the text on it, he started explaining.

“So, I was gonna tell you that I went to the hardware store to buy me some supplies, and you know how they sell all kinds of seeds there as well? Well, I just happened to notice these while waiting for my turn to pay for my stuff and I just randomly decided to buy them.”

“But… why?” Calypso asked, finally looking at Leo directly.

“Um…” He started rubbing the back of his neck. “Remember when Festus jumped on your desk and broke it? There was a plant on it too… and I never replaced it. When I saw those,” he nodded towards the packet Calypso was holding, “I remembered that the plant looked like that… At least I think it did… I’m no good with that kind of stuff… But I know you care about your plants… so I thought it’d be only fair if I got you those. I know it’s not gonna be the exact same one you had, but…”

Leo didn’t manage to finish his sentence because Calypso couldn’t contain her feelings anymore. She closed the space between them and hugged him even tighter than the time they had had a game night with Jason and Piper. No one had gotten anything for her in years, and even if the seed bags didn’t cost much, it was the thought that mattered way more to her. She had never expected him to remember such a detail from several months ago when they hadn’t even been friends, but apparently he did.

“Uh, Cal, some air would be nice,” Leo said jokingly when it started seeming she didn’t even want to let him go. He didn’t attempt to break the hug, though, instead gently stroking her back. “Wow, Sunshine,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood, “You’d think I bought you a house based on your reaction.”

Calypso raised her head from his shoulder, giving him a half hearted glare as she broke the hug.

“I’m not allowed to be thankful for a gift? You don’t know… You don’t understand…”

“Understand what?” Leo raised his eyebrows.

Calypso took a deep breath before answering. “I haven’t gotten gifts from anyone since I turned 16. And even then it was just… uh, never mind. The point is that I’m not used to such nice gestures… And I didn’t think you’d remember… It was my favorite plant. So excuse me if I’m feeling a bit emotional because your gift was more thoughtful than you probably realized.”

“OK, sorry,” Leo apologized quickly. “If you’re not used to nice gestures, I’m not used to displays of affection so I got a bit surprised, that’s all… Well, either way, I’m glad I got you something you care about.”

Calypso’s expression softened again. “Yeah. Thank you. I’m sure they will look pretty.”

Suddenly Calypso realized she was feeling a little dizzy, not sure if from the crying or from the smell of the mechanic oil she had just smelled on Leo’s shirt as she had hugged him. Sitting down on her bed, she leaned her face into her hands.

“Um, are you really OK?” Leo asked. “I know it’s not any of my business, but… if I can help you somehow, let me know.”

After a while, Calypso looked up from her hands, having half expected Leo to leave already. “If you happen to know anyone who’d be willing to hire an inexperienced, uneducated young woman, sure, be my guest,” she muttered.

“Hey.” Leo sat down next to Calypso on her bed, nudging her arm slightly. “Where’s the Calypso who has told me to fight my fear? I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who’d be willing to hire you if they knew how talented you are.”

“Wait… what?” Calypso wasn’t sure if she had heard right. Even if they had been friendly towards each other for a while now, she didn’t remember Leo complimenting her like that before. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true!” Leo exclaimed, his eyes gleaming fiercely the same way Calypso had seen a couple of times earlier. “You are a talented person and even I can see that. You can draw and paint – I bet you’d do way better blueprints for machines than I do. To be honest, I’d probably hire you to do that if I could. You create a lot of things with your own hands – like that one dress you wore the other day, right? Like, OK, I wear overalls all the time so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I thought it looked neat.”

“But…”

“But there are other things as well,” Leo continued persistently. “You know a lot and you’re always working on something – if not something university related, you take care of your plants or bake or something like that – and I think under that hard cover of yours you’re actually a super caring person. I dunno, those are things that at least I value. But maybe I’m the weird one here.” He rolled his eyes as if everything he had just said had been very obvious.

“Leo…” Calypso just stared at him with wide eyes, not finding the right words. She hadn’t been emotionally prepared for Leo showering her with compliments. If her cheeks had felt warm earlier, they were definitely burning now, and her eyes felt weird too… like she was going to cry again. “I…”

“Shhh. Crying doesn’t suit you, Sunshine. Luckily Uncle Leo is good at bad jokes that make the ladies laugh. How about this: What do you give to a sick lemon? Or… why didn't the astronaut come home to his wife?”

“Leonidas,” Calypso repeated but this time she did it with an annoyed groan. That was apparently what Leo had wished, though, because he grinned at her in return.

“Alright, I won’t finish that one!” he raised his hands up. “But it did work because there’s still some spice left in you. That’s what I wanted to see.”

“You’re the only person I know who can literally go from 100 to 0 when trying to cheer someone up,” Calypso said, but her mouth twitched. “But thanks. As much as I hate to admit it, I think it might have worked. For your information,” she added unexpectedly, “you give lemon aid to a sick lemon and the astronaut needed his space.”

“I think my job here is done,” Leo said approvingly, taking one step closer to her. Calypso had seen his brown eyes sparkling when he was happy and burning when he was mad but now she thought they seemed soft and warm, unlike she had seen before. And her heart skipped a beat when she registered that the reason for the warmth might have been… she herself. He looked at her right in the eyes and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear before his fingers moved to her face. He brushed some of the wetness off with his thumb and for one, short second Calypso thought that he also wanted to do something else… touch her jaw, her lips… But that moment ended fast when he cleared his throat and pulled his hand away. One, tiny part of Calypso’s brain yelled: “no!” while the rational part tried to be relieved.

“Um… You had something there…” Leo tried to brush his previous actions off. “Anyway. Like I said I have no doubt someone wouldn’t hire you. But now that I think of it, I remember hearing from my moms that one of their friends is looking for a holiday helper at her flower shop that is quite near Waystation. The holidays are always a busy time there and the owner’s daughter, who has usually been the one helping, has moved away, so they could really use an extra hand.”

“A flower shop?” Calypso asked, hope starting to flicker in her eyes. “Do you think they may have a lot of applicants?”

“Who knows.” Leo shrugged. “I think it might be a pretty popular place… but you can’t win if you don’t try, huh?”

“Yeah. You’re right,” Calypso agreed. “Do you know how I can contact the place?”

“Hold on for a moment. I can call Emmie and ask,” Leo said and left Calypso alone in her room, baffled by what had just happened but also a bit hopeful. Maybe at least something would turn out right even if her social life would probably continue to be a mess.

A few minutes later Leo returned with a piece of paper in his hands and a satisfied expression on his face. It told Calypso that he had managed to get the number.

“Here you go, Sunshine! Hope you’ll still remember me and how I helped you when you become rich and famous.” He winked.

“I know I’ve told you this before but you really are a weirdo,” Calypso shot back but took the piece of paper gratefully. She excused herself to make a phone call and managed to get a hold of the owner of the flower shop who suggested a meeting for the next day. After finishing the phone call, Calypso searched for Leo who had withdrawn into the living room to watch a movie.

“So… I’m going to have an interview with the owner tomorrow,” she told him. “Keep your thumbs up that it will go fine. I’m kind of nervous, to be honest.”

“I’d keep even my big toes up if needed but I think you’re gonna do great,” Leo noted. “For reals. Have some faith.”

“Easier said than done,” Calypso sighed. “You probably understand.”

“I… yeah,” Leo admitted, thinking about one moment only about a week earlier when he had felt like nothing would work out. “But for what it’s worth, there are people who do support you.”

“You too?” Calypso asked carefully even though she was a bit scared of his answer.

“Yeah, me included.” Leo nodded.

“Listen, Leo… Thanks… for everything you’ve done for me today. Not just the seeds and the phone number, the emotional support too. It really helped.”

She surprised even herself by leaning closer to Leo and giving him a quick peck on his cheek. He went completely speechless and just rubbed the spot on his cheek Calypso had kissed absentmindedly as Calypso waited for him to say something.

“Uhh… you… you’re welcome?” he finally stuttered when Calypso had already started thinking she had crossed some line with the cheek kiss and they were back on square one.

“I should probably go back to do some research…” she said. “I’ve had a hard time focusing on anything lately but I’m feeling better now so hopefully I will manage to make some progress with some assignments. Have fun with your movie!” She attempted to sound cheerful even though the two sides of her brain were having an intense battle in that moment. One said: ‘why don’t you just stay with him? The assignment can wait!” while the other side wanted to run from that situation before Calypso did something she would regret.

“Alright… Thanks. And good luck with that!” Leo said. Calypso was convinced that she just imagined it but to her he had seemed just a bit disappointed that she hadn’t joined him. When she was back in her room, she exhaled sharply. So much for that ‘being just friends’. She would really have to start working harder on that before someone got hurt.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

[sugamama-san]

The Tweet

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┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩

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┊ ✯ ┊ .˚ ˚✩

                           ╔═.✵.═════════════════╗                            ⇝ ⚝  α/η:                              Shεllσ ενεrγσηε! τσδαγ I hανε mαδε                            α Kαgεγαmα sτσrγ fσr γσυ gυγs! Τhιs                           ιs αcτυαllγ α smσl rεςυεsτ frσm mγ frιε                           -ηδ ιη schσσl αηδ shε jυsτ ωαητεδ αηγ                           -τhιηg Kαgεγαmα, sσ hεrε γσυ αrε! I ho                           -ρε τhε γσυ gυγs εηjσγ τhιs, ησω ωιτhσ                            -υτ α fυrτhεr αδσ lετs gετ σηε ωιτh ιτ!                                               • ₊°✧︡˗ˏˋ❤ˎˊ˗                                       ρ.s τhε hεαδεr ιs mιηε

                           ╚═════════════════.✵.═╝ 

You were sitting on your bed during a light and wintry morning on Christmas break. You were on twitter just scrolling through the post like you usually do. Today you decided to tweet that you were bored and that your dms were open. At first no one had responded or even liked or retweeted, you honestly didn’t mind, but towards the end of the day while you were studying for an exam for the day after. You hear a short ‘PING’ coming from your phone. You decided to check it out, it had been from twitter and someone had actually dmmed you-. You were shocked, since nobody usually took note of your posts. You checked your dms and the Dm had come from someone named ‘Tobio Kageyama’. You were excited but you were nervous at the same time. You checked it and the only thing that was there was, was a simple text message that said “Hi”. You decided to dm him back and said “hi”. You then waited for his response, so you put your phone down to get back to studying but to your surprise he had texted back immediately. So you dropped what you were doing and went on your phone again. You then saw that he had said “Im really bored rn- can we talk?” he seemed flustered even through the text but you decided to reply back with “Sure what do you wanna talk abt?”. You waited silently for his response………

                                                  5 mins ltr

After about 5 mins he replied. He had said “I don’t really know, can you start?” you chuckled and typed *typing noises* “Sure, so what are you doing right now?” *more typing noises, and sent sound* his typing notification popped up with a little ‘PING’ and it said “Nothing much just studying” you then immediately typed back and said *typing noises* “omg SAME! .....” *more typing noises* the conversation then went on until about 3 in the morning where both of you had accidentally fallen asleep.

                                               The next day

Once you woke up you had immediately went on twitter and texted Kageyama and said *intensive typing* “ohmygod I am so so sorry I accidentally fell asleep-” *sent button noises* Once it was sent immediately you saw the ‘Kageyama is typing…’ on the bottom of the screen. You smiled thinking that you’ve actually found a good online friend! He wasn’t the type that was overly confident or toxic. He was the type that was just as insecure and shy as you. As you were day dreaming you heard a bright ‘PING’. You checked it and sighed with relief, since it just happened that you and Kageyama had fallen asleep by accident thinking that you left the other hanging. After a few days of talking during winter break. It was time for school again, on the last day you guys had texted each other for the last time, well “last time” is not really appropriate so let’s go with “last time for now” You guys then ended up confessing. The conversation had gone something like this…                                                   ..chat..

 ...

Kageyama: Hey y/n… y/n: Yeah? Kageyama: I have something to tell you… y/n: omg- I have something to tell you too- Kageyama: :O omg- okay d- do you wanna go first? y/n: uhmm- idk not really… OH I have an idea Kageyama: What’s that? y/n: What if we tell each other at the same time? Kageyama: That’s a great idea y/n! Kageyama: how are you always so smart-???? y/n: *gives virtual slap* IM NOT THAT SMART YOU BOKE Kageyama: HEY BOKE’S MY LINE! y/n: fineeeeee, let’s just tell each other what we wanna say okay? Kageyama: okay okay okay fine Kageyama: lets say it in…3…2…1 y/n: I LIKE YOU Kageyama: I LIKE YOU

                                                                                                                            …

When he said those exact words, and you said it too him. It seemed that the world was yours. You felt like the sky was the limit and even if this relationship was formed from a simple tweet. It was still so- how can I describe it- Amazing. You were then flushed and you face was red. You bet Kageyama was blushing too but he continued to deny it while saying “BOKE” and other mean words. But inside you knew that he was blushing too. So said goodbye and made a promise that you two would still text whenever you were free.

It had already been a week since you’ve settled back in the dorm and you were just about to head to class to start your first period. So you then grab your phone and started playing some lo-fi music. You had your eyes closed while heading over to the other building for your lecture.

As you were walking though you bumped into someone. You looked at him stunned, then you suddenly recognize this man. It was KAGEYAMA. You had noticed him from the selcas he sent you, it seemed that he recognized you too with a shocked face. But you made the first move, you screamed happily as you hugged him and said “I can’t believe I could finally meet you irl” Kageyama smirked and let you sink deeper in his hug. He then whispered a phrase that made you blush uncontrollably “I love you too y/n,” he then pulled away from your hug and said “Why don’t I treat you to a nice date later, hm?” he asked you so you reluctantly agreed and after that the day just came and went.

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu #hq #x reader #imagine #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #haikyuu!! imagine #haikyuu imagine #hq imagine #kageyama #tobio kageyama #tobio kageyama x reader #tobio kageyama imagine #kageyama x reader #kageyama imagine #tobio x reader #tobio imagine #haikyuu!! fanfiction #haikyuu fanfiction #hq fanfiction #kageyama fanfiction #tobio kageyama fanfiction #tobio fanfiction

[neshabeingchildish]

League of Extraordinary Geniuses || Chapter 1

A/N: I never actually rated this, I don’t believe, but there’s a little bit of cussing here, I can’t tell you yet exactly which direction everything is going in. I’m predominantly an angst writer and I do have a lot to give to this story, mainly with Chase, just because, plain and simple... I don’t know if that man has really had people in his corner the way that he’s needed in the past, so there’s things to work through with him in particular and there’s always things to sort of try to get over and into in relationship dynamics and moreso when more people are involved than two. Also, at least two of these people are workaholics, so work projects, assignments, flashbacks, etc, will be something that is likely to appear a lot as a backdrop. The work won’t always be things that we, or even sometimes they agree with, but it’ll be there. Tagging only who I heard from last time @kiddangers @sunbeameyes @just-a-j-reallly @supercasperprincesslove-blog Let me know if I need to take you off. Edit: Thunderbolt headcanon from flashback was introduced to me by @famousflowermagazine (You don’t have to read, but I wanted to make sure that I credited your idea)

They’re the Same Picture

Charlotte woke up to the hyper sounds of the excited yipping of puppies and she immediately got out of bed and headed for the courtyard. The caretaker was out there, minding them, but when they saw Charlotte, they rushed back to her and she waved to let the caretaker know that the puppies were coming with her. They were light brown with black ears, and wearing matching little malleable outfits. She brought them to her lab and let the caretaker worry about accepting her guests, because she left her phone in the bedroom and she was not going to pick it up any time soon. 

She had one group chat titled Defenders for herself, Henry and Jasper, and it was the most used one in her phone. She had one titled Bionic Forces, for Chase and his siblings, and sometimes Donald. She had been added to that one at one point by Leo, whenever he had to casually ask her a question that she could somehow feel was tied to a catastrophe that he and his older brother, Adam were trying to evade at the Academy (and if she was being honest, one of them probably started), and she didn’t get involved again in that one until after she met Chase and he at’ed her to say that he realized that she had been in this old GC of theirs before. Now, she frequently visited and used it. 

She had one titled Elite Force, one titled T-Force, and one titled Danger Force and she hadn’t thought about how many Force teams had a GC with herself and the members, or even the fact that she knew several Force teams, until those three were active and she kept switching between the 3, one particular day. IF. EVER. There was another triple crisis, she vowed that two androids would have to get onto cloned phones and be her, because trying to sort out more than a dozen names and comments for a foreseeable incident was… a mess. 

Fortunately, Chase, Max, and Mika each took initiative in their respective chats after a while to be the point of contact and unclutter the chat at the time. But still… There were androids capable of evaluating very accurately exactly what Charlotte might think and say to responses.

She had several GCs that were business related, several that were science-for-fun related, one that was the Bionic Academy mentors, one that was everyone that she knew who had bionics, one that was everyone that she knew who was a superhero, one that was her team of androids, and one that was her lab workers. 

She was a busy woman who knew busy people, but she also was the type that liked to be helpful to friends and associates and to keep up with her loved ones and business relationships. So, most of the ones who she had GCs with… They also individually texted with her, as well.

Currently, her most frequent ones were from Henry or Jasper, who truth be told, would likely be texting her frequently for the rest of the three of their lives as lifelong best friends. Almost as frequently though were Chase Davenport and Max Thunderman.

It was a little shocking to her after she met Chase, to find out that they were extremely alike in a lot of ways, considering how differently the conversations she had with each of them went. Chase was always the perfect gentleman. If she mentioned a problem, he would factually assess it, give her stats, numbers, wish her well and ask her to touch base with him later to let him know if his assistance was fruitful. 

Max was less precise, but as correct in advice… he could probably give her stats, but knew that they weren’t usually needed and it wasn’t his default to calculate outside of an invention or something where exact numbers were necessary. Also, he was a little more profane. 

Whereas Chase might say something like, “I’m sorry that they’re making you jump through these hoops at a place of business. That is terrible customer service. Do they not realize who you are?”

Max would say, “Those guys are dicks. Just drop your name and get ‘em fired.” 

Which… was in essence the same response, to her, as their responses frequently were, and yet worlds apart. That was who they were, in her mind too. The same great person presented in two extremely different, but equally attractive ways. She valued them on the same level, though she was closer to Max, because she had known him longer and gone through more with him.

Whenever Max posted his video journal of gadgets and inventions, Charlotte noticed (and this was whenever she was in Dystopia, towards the beginning of the trio’s rise in popularity there), that he had both artwork of Dystress, her alter ego on his wall, and Charlotte Page accolades. News and fanfare!

She honestly lost her shit for a moment and squealed to Henry and Jasper, “This guy that creates gadgets and shares them online KNOWS ABOUT ME!” They had been in the habit of listening to her, but what were the odds of some dude from Hiddenville who posted science projects online for nerdy strangers like Charlotte to wind down, chewing on ice and making comments like, “I didn’t expect that to work out so well. This dude’s a genius!” just knowing about Charlotte, tucked away in one of the most silenced charities in Dystopia?

She pointed out and zoomed in on things on his wall - framed photos of her at gizmo fairs, plaques of her stats in Swellview, etc, and on THE SAME WALL, her with her purple hair and the mask that covered the bottom half of her face, many, MANY shots of her and stories about the mysterious new three Defenders who appeared in Dystopia and began vigilante justice. “That dude knows who you are, Char,” Henry said, worried.

Stressed out, she made a whole account and sent a private message, “So, I saw on your wall that you have the Dystopian Defenders. That’s cool. I like them.”

He almost immediately answered, because he was simply at home, and he was interested in fanboying any chance that he got. “Not so much interested in the Defenders as The Damsel.She’s currently my muse.”

She replied too quickly, “She prefers to be called Dystress.” The she winced and wished she could take it back. How would someone know that? Maybe another hardcore fan? There were a lot of clips of her online...

Well, that had done it. Because, now this complete stranger seemed to be trying to suggest to Max that THEY knew his favorite underground vigilante better than HE did, and before he decimated them, he was curious who he was about to destroy. “Is that something she told you?”

“I’ve heard it around Dystopia...”

He kept up the conversation long enough to trace her IP address and phishing her account. He almost fell out of his chair.“Are you Charlotte Page???”

“WHAT?” She screeched out loud, then typed, “Is that the other Black woman on your wall? You know… People are gonna think that you’re obsessive… or have a fetish... or something unbecoming.”

“I’m a fan. I didn’t mean to alarm you… So… WAIT… You’re Charlotte Page AND you are a Dystress fan AND you’ve seen my series??? This is perfect! This is like a DREAM for me! Or… is this like one of those things where you contact me and tell me that it’s creepy that I have your stuff on my wall? Because, honestly, that’s fair. It’s just… I looked up some of your work and you were super brilliant, but we’d met previously under not so great circumstances, so I didn’t want to be that guy and make it weird, but this is just how I’ve decorated my workspace. I just admire your work, a lot.”

Charlotte had watched --she didn’t know how many of this dude’s invention videos -- Every time she saw his face, a glimmer of a thought that he looked familiar passed through her mind, but his face wasn’t on screen most of the time. The focus would be on his hands and his inventions, so she didn’t notice his face too much. The way that the human brain works, she simply put it out of focus and subconsciously presumed she’d seen his face there, in the videos.

But, now that he said it, she gasped again. Realizing the familiarity, she dropped a phone number. She did NOT want to continue this conversation on the same device he had just hacked, and she had a burner phone on her.

“Hello?” She said. It took him only long enough to pick up his phone and dial while looking at the computer for him to call her.

“Is this real???” He asked. “Are you honestly Charlotte Page?” Before she could even answer, he continued, “I am absolutely freaking out!” 

It was a far cry different from the first time they crossed paths, the time that she had remembered only after he made it known that they had before. When he was a little villain-to-be. She hadn’t gotten a very good look at him, but her eyes had at least passed over his face a little, years before.“What do you want?” She asked, through her teeth. “To expose me?” 

“Expose?” He gasped and lowered his voice, but heightened his excitement, “Are you some kind of criminal mastermind, because I can totally dig that.”

“I’m…” She looked at the muted video where she had been studying his wall and she realized something. There weren’t photos of each, next to each other. There were no lines, or notes or string... He didn’t know that those were the same people. He didn’t know that she was the Damsel of Distress. He really was... just a fan of both of them. Maybe it was subconscious on his part, but she didn’t feel like he was playing mind games or anything. And… he had powers, so exposing her wouldn’t be wise for him or other supers. 

“Charlotte? Are you still there? I’m not gonna expose you, if you were waiting on an answer to that. But, I’ve gotta tell you… I’m a superhero now and if we gotta cross paths while you’re in your criminal phase… I mean… It’ll be AWESOME and like hella fun… but, I’d have to take you down. Duty and all that.”

Now, she laughed. “The Dystopian cops haven’t been able to, but give it your best shot.” There was a long pause and then a longer gasp, then the exhaling and declaration, “CharlottePageisalsotheDamselandIcan’tbelieveIdidn’tnoticeitbefore!”

“I prefer Dystress. With a “Y,” like Dystopia + Mistress… The Damsel of Distress was supposed to a clever one liner and nothing more. Some overgrown goon caught me about to tamper with supplies that we needed to steal from the criminals to give to the kids in our charity, and he said something like, “Looky here, a damsel in distress,” and…”

“And you, a 4’11 (I can’t believe that I didn’t even place your identical measurements to figure this out), you touched your wrist, hulked up somehow and beat him with his own weapon, then said, “More like a Damsel OF Distress,” and it was caught on security cameras. I HAVE that footage. I’ve gotten probably every piece of footage of you that has been recorded. I am not kidding when I say to you, that I am your biggest fan.”

“You’d think that with that wall you’ve collected,” she said, her wide smile evident in her voice. She knew that the kids in Dystopia stanned Dystress. They would tag her name and image all over the place and whenever in costume, girls and women always gave her stuff, sometimes, what appeared to be their last. She would refuse it and give them whatever she had on her to spare. 

Dogfight was in essence sleepwalking through battle, so even though he could reply to people (in Spanish), they usually didn’t understand it and generally didn’t talk much to him.  

Deflector was just that, on or off the battlefield. Henry had never mastered lying, that much was sure, but found that avoiding questions because he only spoke English, or if they spoke English, simply deflecting the conversation instead of making up something worked better for his mystery and his cover than lying ever did. 

Dystress was the one who spoke with the people. She spoke their language. She spoke to them as people. All of the Defenders were heroes to the Dystopian downtrodden, but Dystress was like a motherly hero. She could be both that ferocious bear whose cubs are threatened but she generally delivered the goods while Dogfight and Deflector fought off the criminals. Her covered face and purple ombre locks were what they saw right before they had meals that weren’t drugged to kidnap them or rotten. The image that they saw whenever they got clean socks, soap and towels...

“What are you thinking about?” Max wondered, his voice now soft, having regained control of himself after this wondrous discovery.

“I’m hoping that my secret really is safe with you and I’m appreciating being noticed by someone who I didn’t have to help save, first.”

He smiled, “Of course your secret is safe with me. I admire everything you do, apparently as you and her. I’d never let myself be a threat to you.” She was smiling on the other end and he knew it, but he also knew that this was a Dystopia line and probably a burner she got from a corner shop. He needed a doorway in. He didn’t want to let her slip through his fingers. “I can probably actually help you, you know? I have a lot of resources, with T-Force. Dystopia is a red level city. Every time the Hero League has assigned someone, they either die, quit, or turn, because the crime is like a hydra. It would only take a mention that the heroes there need supplies for me to get approval to bring some.” There was another long pause and he said, “I wish I could see your face right now.”

“You can see it… As soon as we get some supplies.”

“How do I contact you? I know this is a burner you’re on.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think this is a burner you’re on and I got your number when you called. Thanks in advance… what should I call you?”

“My name is Max.”

“Thank you, Max.”

“My pleasure, Charlotte.” They both smiled and hesitantly hung up their phones. But, Charlotte was looking forward to seeing “her biggest fan” in person… ESPECIALLY if he was using his power to come with supplies. 

After a few weeks, he made good on that. She sent him a list and asked, “Is this asking too much?” He was confused at first, because it was a different phone number, but whenever he saw the list, he knew who it was from and he smiled brightly. “Not at all. I can be there by Friday. Send me coordinates to wear to meet you.”

The Defenders were there. T-Force shook hands with them and commended them on volunteering to take on Dystopia. They unloaded everything onto a trolley and Thunder Man was explaining to Deflector and Dogfight that once everything was out of the transport, his youngest could teleport them to wherever they felt safe to bring it. 

Charlotte realized that they had brought twice the amount she requested when she placed the order, and Max added, “We also took donations up from the Hero League and transferred the total into yen, in case something comes up in between now and next time that you need us.” 

“You’d do this again?” She wondered.

“For you? Are you kidding?” He laughed, but was silenced when she practically leaped up so that she could throw her arms around his neck. Nobody was paying attention, because the rest were working. He was staring into her eyes, because that was all he could see, and it definitely was enough for him to recognize them from footage of her Spelling Bees and stuff, but, he wondered, “Could I see...” he didn’t get a chance to finish the question and she pulled down her mask, stuck her tongue out and smiled. “I’d do this however many times you need,” he finished.

Since then, they’d been gravy. Chase took much longer to warm up to her like that, and even when he had, his gushing in her presence, was generally due to some exciting news, findings, work, etc. He hadn’t gushed over her like that, and Max did not mind doing so, at all. Really, the fact that she was always comparing the two in her mind was how she came up with this idea to… well… to ask them to come on an adventure with her towards saving the world. 

She knew that she could tell Max to do anything and he would say yes and figure out how. Chase would WANT to say yes, but have some questions and need some reasonable answers. He would ultimately say yes, whether or not she was able to provide them, but he would be out of his comfort zone without a fully detailed, full transparency blueprint and trajectory. But, he would say yes no matter what she gave him because, if she knew one thing about both these people, it was that they both trusted, respected, and she hoped, loved her, and they listened to her for these reasons. SO, she would always try to reciprocate it. That was something that she knew that they didn’t always get. Max from knowing him and his family for several years and Chase from mostly Douglass and Leo’s stories. Chase only ever seemed to talk about his attributes and advantages. He never complained about the things that she’d heard about his life. Or maybe, he just didn’t trust her that much yet. 

She opened a GC with the three of them and asked them when they could all meet sometime in the near future. Max was getting ready for a furlough and Chase was finalizing another bionic mission team for field work. She was getting ready to take a hiatus on degree work for the first time in 8 years and get settled into her castle that it took 5 years to have built. For reference, it took longer to build her castle than it did to rebuild Dystopia itself, but of course, one of these things she was paying for and the other had been greenlit by a billionaire.

Eventually, the three found where they could make the meet happen and she could hardly wait to share her ideas with them and also just spend time with both of them, instead of having to always divide herself.

.

Max was visiting, spending his furlough in the castle and Chase was there “on business,” because Mr. Davenport literally never allotted vacations for him, so Charlotte told a half truth about requiring him at her place for a few days for a special project and since they scheduled it after the formation of the most recent bionic field team, Donald approved the request, but reminded him that he would still be on call, if needed.

“Firstly, I need to apologize to you both for the short notice, but whenever I realized that you finally both were free at the same time, I made sure that we could all get together! I’ve… introduced you two before, right?’

Chase raised an eyebrow and studied Max. She had never introduced them, but she talked about Max to him a lot, and pretty fondly from how he recalled. “I’ve never seen this man before in my life,” Chase said. It was partially true. He had not met him face to face or even crossed him in passing. They were once in Dystopia at the same time, but although she planned to introduce them, both had avoided allowing it to happen.

Max said, “That’s your boss’ little kid, right?” Max knew exactly who Chase was. He had read about him, seen his work, talked to Charlotte NUMEROUS times about his ideas, and even was impressed by him, sometimes, But he also knew that there was no way that this dude didn’t know who he was. Therefore, two could play that game. “The one that doesn’t really fight much,” he added for good measure. Chase narrowed his eyes. He fought all of the time, but people often reduced his efforts because he didn’t have feats like the members on his team. He had better feats…

“Chase Davenport!” Charlotte corrected Max and cut him off at the same time, seeing it might turn into a pissing contest if she didn’t rein it in, “Mission Leader of the world’s first bionic mission team, Mentor at the Davenport Bionic Academy, he creates most of the bionic teams that you see on the news during missions!” She proudly announced.

Chase blushed and shuffled his feet bashfully, then said, more confidently, to Max, “I do more than that, actually…”

“Cool,” Max said and made a little sound with his mouth, to which two puppies came trotting into the foyer to him. “Hey, Buddies!” He cheered and began to love talk to the brown puppies with black ears. 

Chase wondered, “Oh, you have pets?”

Max collected both puppies into his arms and stood, “Have you not been invited here, yet?” He asked, meaning for it to sting.

Charlotte interjected, “Chase is usually too tied up in missions for social visits, so this is his first time being able to stop by and his first time seeing them.”

“They’re her kids,” Max said.

Chase cleared his throat and wondered, “I’m sorry, what?”

“These are the Swagger twins,” Charlotte clarified.

Chase let out a sigh of relief, then immediately engaged with the puppies, while Max grimaced, still holding both. “They should be about two years old, shouldn’t they? Why are they puppies and not full grown dogs? Also, why are they dogs?” And both pups became toddlers in Max’s arms, causing Chase to flinch a moment, but he still petted both their heads. 

“They have shapeshifting bionics with identical coding,” Charlotte said. “Jack had very specific speculations for them. He wanted them to be male presenting, have certain traits from himself and certain ones from Cheyenne, and identical bionics that were allotted for them to transform into dogs. They are currently puppies because they’re too young to realize that a two year old dog would be full grown and probably too small to do it, if they knew it.”

“Why does Jack Swagger want his kids to be able to turn into dogs?” Chase asked, very confused.

Max grumbled, “Because celebrities are weird and gross!”

Charlotte laughed and said, “Jack’s fiancee is Max’s former celebrity crush. He’s been moody since the engagement,” she laughed. “I, on the other hand am DELIGHTED that celebrities are weird and gross. Jack has funded all of my private research on genomic architecture JUST so he can both have perfect babies with his future wife AND also have dogs.”

“Whatever happened to good old fashioned going to a third world country and buying a desperate mother’s kid from her because they’re both starving?” Max asked and scoffed.

Chase, ignoring the rhetorical question, asked, “Why do you have his two year olds at your castle?”

Charlotte shook her head and said, “Oh, these boys aren’t going to go to him. He’s not going to actually collect until I get the formula for the perfect sons who shift into the perfect dogs, with the perfect model bionic chips, and I’m going to take that to create the embryos for their surrogate.” She forced a smile and her eye was twitching, but it was extremely lucrative, if not incredibly privileged and highkey eugenics.

“Weird and gross,” Max repeated.

“Well,” Chase ignored Max again, “Where are they going to go?” He wondered, concerned about the Swagger twins. 

Charlotte laughed and said, “Budding Flowers,” like it was obvious.

“That orphanage?” He asked, a little bit horrified.

“It’s really more like a boarding school,” she told him. “And shelter for orphans. People aren’t exactly adopting them.”

“But… these boys are bionic. Aren’t the kids there all… normal?” Chase wondered.

She pointed to him and said, “You are absolutely right! We need a bionics specific orphanage/education center. I propose either in Dystopia or Centium City.”

“Why not on the island?”

“Are you kidding? You think she’s gonna hand her babies over to Davenport after how he raised you?” Max asked. 

“Max!” Charlotte hissed and held her hands out like wtf. Chase was definitely a little bothered. Charlotte tried to explain, “Excuse him for that. Sometimes Dougie complains about The Dom whenever we’re hanging but I don’t know WHY Max would bring any of that up!” She threw Max a look. Max looked unbothered.

Chase squinted, “He… knows my Uncle Douglas?”

“He’s your dad, Dude,” Max said.

“Douglas just TELLS people these things???” Chase said, highly upset, now.

“No. It’s mostly been said in what was supposed to be confidence. With the two of them both being on the board of the Max O. Thunderman Rehabilitation & Reformation Metropolis.”

“I like to call it the Maxtropolis,” Max said, smirking with his mouth and his eyebrows.

“And everyone hates when you do,” she teased. “They’ve got stuff in common.”

“You… wait… Your friend Max is ON the board at that place?”

“It’s literally named after me,” Max said.

“Yes, I realized that, but I thought it was because you were a donor or something. Douglas said that board is composed entirely of villains!” Chase said, now on alert.

“Reformed villains,” Charlotte corrected. “Like Douglas, and like Max.”

Chase ground his teeth and stared at Max. He didn’t fully always trust Douglas, at times. He certainly wasn’t ready to trust this very shifty character, so close to Charlotte AND with a villainous past? He REALLY needed to start paying more attention to others, even those that he was writing off. Now, he would have to research and review everyone that came into contact with Charlotte. How many other dangerous possible traitors did she trust in her midst? Charlotte and Max were staring at him and he realized that the puppies were too. Also, that the kids were puppies again. 

Charlotte offered, “Let’s go settle into the lounge and sit down.” She opened her hand to let Chase see were the lounge was and she caught Max’s hand and whispered as low as she could, “Why are you antagonizing him?”

“I’m not. I just don’t like him.”

“You haven’t even given him a chance!”

“I did whenever I came in and he started it. “I’ve never seen this man before in my life? You and I both know that waif has seen me before.” She covered her forehead with her fingers and lowered her face at the insult. “Furthermore, I don’t like his sanctimonious song and dance, just because he’s the poster boy for heroes, a position that he has only been granted because bionics in the past few years that they’ve been accepted have taken credit for every superhero’s victories and act like they’re doing us a favor by doing small percentages of the work and capitalizing on all of the victories!” He folded his arms and Chase turned around and looked at them. Max glared at him.

Charlotte noted still whispering, “He has super hearing. I think he’s heard us whispering.” 

“I did,” Chase said.

Max shrugged his shoulders, “Where was the lie? Bionics are just non-supes with technology. You’re only special because a madman put technology into you when you were too young to consent.” Charlotte covered her lips with her fingers this time and lowered her face again. 

“You obviously know enough about me to continue to personally attack me because of your perception of my position. If that makes you feel better, do it,” Chase said. What wasn’t about to happen was him losing his cool in front of Charlotte, or worst, inside of Charlotte’s home.

She shook her head, “I thought that the two of you would get along. There’s so much greatness inside of both of you, that I see, I guess I presumed that you would see that in each other. I had no idea that there was some kind of superhero vs bionics bad blood in you two.”

“Seriously? Because, I’ve heard that your friend here is pretty anti superheroes. Besides the members of his team, who he’s been openly negative towards (we talk, Bionic Boy), and the only super that you’ve really fully accepted was your sister, after she siphoned a little from Skylar Storm. You had supers right in front of your face, proof of our existence and you berated them and talked trash on them. At least that’s how Sky would tell it.”

“You… know Skylar too? Technically… she’s not a super. She’s an alien. All of her people are like that.”

“Wow. So not the point,” Charlotte said. “Are you actually anti-supers?”

“No! I may have said some of what he’s gossiping about, but I was younger at the time he’s speaking about, probably not much older than he was when he was aspiring to be a super villain.”

“So, NOW you know who I am?”

“I researched the information while the two of you were whisper arguing!” Chase said.

“You knew who the fuck I was when you walked into this castle, Boy! You, the smartest man in the world, who has been betrayed and bamboozled multiple times didn’t do a background search on someone who was going to be staying in the home of the woman you love and meeting up with you for possible business? I’m not the smartest man, but I’m not a dumbass, either. You absolutely looked into me, just like I’ve been looking into you from the first time she mentioned your name. Maybe you could get a fast one on the simpletons you’re usually surrounded by, but Char and I? We're in the genius leagues.” 

Chase was breathing hard and eyeballing Max, looking a bit menacing and sort of hovering over him. Chase scanned him over and Charlotte stepped between the two of them, into Chase’s line of sight. He seemed to calm down and she was grateful, because he’d looked pissed and she heard that could make things get really ugly. “I heard your response, Chase and it’s valid. You were younger and didn’t subscribe to the value of superheroes. Max was young and didn’t either! Yayyy! Similarities…” She looked at both of them. They both folded their arms and scoffed, then both groaned because they’d had the same reactions. Getting them on the same page might be a hard sell. But, she had a few days. “Let me show you your quarters, and maybe everyone can have a drink and kinda…” her shoulders slumped and she sighed, unsure of what words to use.

Henry and Jasper had been friends when she met them. Douglas and Schwoz hit it off right away. These two… SHOULD have too. But, they were both extremely pissed and she felt like she’d missed something that she should have considered before bringing them together like this. That argument proved that she missed several things. She was so in love with the idea of them being science bros, she didn’t think about Chase’s trust issues and how they might affect his view of Max. She didn’t think about Douglas telling Max things that she didn’t even know about, like Chase having a past with superhero hate, or maybe just a little bigotry, but, still… She was supposed to be smarter than that. She had been judging both of them with her heart for so long… it just seemed natural that anybody else, especially one another, would adore them too.

“Charlotte, are you okay?” They both asked her in unison. She looked up and both of them looked concerned and a little guilty. They were most likely going to at least squash it for tonight, for her benefit. 

“I’m sorry for not doing MY due diligence. I just think, if you two could get past it all, you’d understand why both of you are here with me as I embark on a new chapter. You two were my first choice and it was an equal choice. It wasn’t one over the other, it was… I know that you both bring what I want and need to the table. I want it to be a table of camaraderie.” The men looked at each other with a raised eyebrow and flared nostrils. 

“It’s fine,” they both lied. At least she knew that they’d try.

#Henry Danger #Lab Rats #The Thundermans #Chasing Thunderbolts Fic #League of Extraordinary Geniuses #LOEG Update #Nesha Fics #Multiverse Fics

[blackberrywidow]

Don’t Tumblr and Tell

Summary: The Avengers discover an “Incorrect Avengers Quotes” Tumblr account that is full of things that they have actually said. They immediately set out to find the mole, unaware that Peter Parker is the culprit. 

Word Count: 1,927

Warnings: This is just a crack fic with a panicking Peter and an angry Natasha. Read at your own risk. 

A/N: Inspired by this post. 

Peter snickered, swiping through his notifications. The post he uploaded only an hour ago—a particularly funny Thor quote involving snakes—already had hundreds of notes, and a lot of the commentary was pretty good too.

He was still formulating a reply when he walked into the avenger’s compound, immediately triggering his spidey sense.

This wasn’t a rare occurrence, per se. His built-in warning system was often more of a joke, warning him about incoming spitballs and trip hazards more than large-scale threats. But Peter didn’t need his enhanced senses to tell him something was wrong this time.

The normally bustling entryway to the compound was completely empty of its usual staff and agents, and the normal tranquility that permeated the building was lost in the argument that was taking place a few doors down.

Peter cautiously edged his way to the room where he could hear the hushed voices fighting to be heard over one another—immediately negating any attempts at subtlety. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find when slowly peaked his head into the room, but it wasn’t… that.

All of the Avengers were gathered in the small conference room, apparently in a heated debate. Steve was at the head of the table, face a calm mask as he silently observed the others. Natasha stood next to him, her hands planted on the table as she leaned across it to sneer something at Clint, who seemed to be having the time of his life from where he sat with his chair leaned back, feet up on the table, laughter spilling out of his mouth. Sam seemed to be trying to engage Bucky in an argument, but Bucky was completely blank-faced and silent as he sat in the corner just staring at Sam in the way everyone knew he hated—that was a good one. Bucky-messing-with-Sam posts always got a lot of notes. He’d have to remember this for later.

“Hey, kid.”

Peter’s attention snapped across the room, focusing on where his mentor stood next to his best friend, though Rhodey seemed more invested in his conversation with Vision and Wanda. But Mr. Stark was just… staring at him like—

Not good.

Peter gulped, taking in Tony’s crossed arms, stiff posture, and calculating look. He knew that look. It was the same look that Aunt May gives him when she catches him sneaking in at three in the morning. It was the look that foretold certain doom, unless one was able to talk themselves out of it.

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” Peter replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

In order to get out of trouble, it would be nice to know what it was he did. Was this about the prank call that he and Clint made to Scott? Was it about him temporarily losing his suit along with another backpack last week? Was it—

“There’s seems to be some sort of security breach,” Tony replied, eyes still narrowed and searching.

“Oh,” Peter said, briefly forgetting to hide his relief. It had nothing to do with him then. “I mean, that’s awful. What happened?”

“It would seem,” Thor answered, interrupting his conversation with a nervous-looking Bruce, “that one of your Midgardian “social media” has been listening in to our conversations.”

“Uh,” Peter said, looking between the god and his mentor as though that would make things clearer. “What?”

“Some punk on tumblr has been recording and posting some of our conversations,” Clint answered with a laugh, earning him several sharp looks from his fellow Avengers. “What? It’s honestly kind of funny.”

Peter felt his stomach drop. Oh no.

“Funny, Clint, really?” Natasha said, shaking her head at her partner in exasperation. “This is serious!”

“You’re just mad because they heard you signing ‘Black Widow Baby’ when you were fighting that slumlord last week.”

Oh no no no.

Natasha sniffed, stepping back from the table to cross her arms, giving her glare as much venom as possible. “This coming from the guy they saw slip on an actual banana peel.”

Clint, of course, was unaffected. “It was for science.”

That’s pretty good. I’ll have to use that in something la—Not now Peter! Focus on getting out of this alive and unembarrassed.

“I think that we’re all missing the point here,” Steve spoke up, standing and giving everyone in the room a measuring look. “Someone has been listening in on our conversations. Just because the leaked information so far has been… harmless—okay, not harmless,” he amended with a small smile when Natasha gave him a sharp look. “The conversations that they’ve posted have all been for comedic affect, not intelligence leaking.”

“That we know of,” Rhodey interjected. “This could be information selling we’re dealing with, meaning we don’t know what kind of information has been leaked where.”

“He’s right,” Sam said. “This is a serious threat and we need to deal with it as soon as possible.”

“Could be,” Bucky spoke up, surprising Peter. Usually he didn’t say much in meetings like these, but when he did… “Or, you might just be a little pissed that they posted about you feeding birds. Speaking of which, do you really name them all?”

“Okay, that’s low,” Sam started, rounding on Bucky just as the room delved back into chaos.

Nobody seemed to be worried about secrecy or privacy anymore as they all clamored to be heard over one another, arguing about classified information and ridiculous overreactionswhile Peter tried to slowly edge himself back out of the room. If he could just get away long enough to go home and regroup, he could figure a way to fix this without his friends finding out that he was the one leaking these “trade secrets.”

“Not so fast, Pete.”

Peter froze, one foot out of the door, and cursed his luck. This was so not good.

He pivoted on his foot ever so slowly, turning back around to find everyone facing him with varying looks of interest as Tony approached him. “Uh, yeah, Mr. Stark?”

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this, would you Peter?” he asked, still appraising him as though he were a suspected criminal. Which, Peter guessed he actually was.

“Um, no,” Peter replied, trying not to answer too fast or too slow. “I don’t even know what Tumblr is.” Tony’s eyebrow shot up and he heard Clint laugh somewhere in the background. Too obvious, time to backtrack. “I mean, I’ve heard of it. I just don’t have one.”

“Uh huh,” Tony said, pulling out his phone. Peter had thought that his luck might be turning around, that Tony had just received a very important text that would pull him away long enough for him to escape. That hope, however, was ruined when Mr. Stark held the phone up for Peter to look at the screen.

Oh. No.

“Can you tell me what this says, Peter?”

“I—I think that there’s been some misunderstanding,” Peter hurried to backpedal, raising his hands and attempting to back through the door. He heard it close behind him and whipped his head around to see Thor standing there with his arms crossed and that intimidating stare directed at him.

“Okay,” Mr. Stark said, turning the phone back around to face him. “Then I’ll read it. ‘Tony Stark: *entering his bedroom* FRIDAY, what time is my meeting with Fury tomorrow morning? Spider-man, slowly descending from the ceiling upside down: It’s at 8 a.m. Wanna carpool? Tony Stark: *shrieks like a small child*’… Sound familiar, Pete?”

“Uh,” Peter said, eyes dancing across the room in search of an escape. All he saw was the Avengers looking at him in either disappointment, anger, or amusement. “No.”

“Really?” Tony raised a brow. “It doesn’t? Because that’s the exact exchange that we had when you broke into my house last month. My completely untappable house, where you and I were the only two present for the conversation. Do you know what that means?”

“FRIDAY has an insanely popular tumblr account dedicated to you?” Peter hedged, voice raising an octave.

Tony sighed. “Come on, Pete. You’ve been caught, just come out with it already.”

“Okay,” Peter burst out, unable to take the pressure of lying (terribly) anymore. “I made a ‘incorrect avengers’ account so that I could post all of the stuff that you guys say. But a lot of it’s hilarious! I mean, did you read the one with Clint and the banana peel?!”

Clint nodded sagely. “He’s right. It’s hilarious.”

Peter gestured at the archer with wide, hopeful eyes, as though his approval was all the proof he needed.

“So let me get this straight,” Natasha said, eyes narrowed dangerously. “You made this account to share private conversations with complete strangers, jeopardizing our security?”

“I don’t think that our security has been jeopardized, Nat,” Steve tried to placate her while Peter could only gape, guilt washing over him in waves.

“Oh really, Steve? He essentially told everyone that sing I Shania Twain songs when I’m drunk.”

“Well,” Sam butted in, his face losing its hard edges as he smiled. “You do.”

“Yes, Sam, that’s the point!”

“Actually,” Bruce cut in, standing up from his position in the corner to place a placating hand on Natasha’s shoulder. “I think the point is that nobody believes that what Peter’s posting is true.”

“Right,” Tony said, returning his attention back to Peter, clapping a hand on his shoulder as though that would help protect him from their scrutiny. “The kid wasn’t trying to embarrass anyone or ‘leak any top-secret information.’ No harm done.”

Natasha didn’t reply but continued to fume as Thor cleared his throat and also stepped forward. “Stark is right. He was just sharing his humorous experiences with his online friends, which I am told is something that you Midgardians do regularly.” Thor smiled his giant, impossible-to-stay-mad-after-you-see-it smile at Peter and said, “I see no reason to be angry with the boy.”

“It was kind of funny,” Sam allowed, much more relaxed now that imminent threat was off the table. “Did you see that one today about the snake biting Thor? What the hell were you doing man?”

The tension in the room seemed to bleed out as Thor defensively explained that he thought he knew that particular snake. Peter was still feeling a little bad about the whole situation, so he quietly slipped out the door, hoping to go home to figure out how to make it up to everyone.

Mr. Stark stopped him in the hallway though, stepping out of the room with his trademarked half-smile. “Where you off to kid? I thought we had training scheduled for tonight.”

“Oh,” Peter said, rubbing the back of his nick. “Yeah. I just thought that maybe it would be best if I gave everyone some space for a bit.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. You think that that was bad? Two years ago we were beating the shit out of each other in an airport parking lot. No one’s mad at you kid.”

“Really?” Peter asked, trying not to sound too hopeful as he edged his way back to the room.

“Really,” Tony confirmed, opening the door back open to let Peter in. “Though I would maybe consider leaving Nat out of any future posts.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, laughing as Thor demonstrated how to best pick up a snake that you believe to be your brother. “That’s probably good advice.”

Advice that he wouldn’t follow, of course, but good advice all the same.

#Marvel #Avengers #Peter Parker #Tony Stark #Steve Rogers #Natasha Romanoff #Clint Barton #Bucky Barnes #Sam Wilson #Thor #Bruce #Rhodey #Iron Dad #Spider Son #Spider-man #Iron Man #Captain America #Black Widow #Hawkeye #Winter Soldier #Falcon #Hulk #War Machine #Incorrect Avengers Quotes #Fanfiction #Marvel Fanfiction #My Writing #I'm really not even sure what this is #I'm so sorry

[kpoptart216]

Silent Validations (Namjoon Oneshot)

A/n: In celebration of mono coming out today, I just had to type a little something up when I had the time~ Congrats to Joon on such a beautiful playlist, it’s literally everything and more.

Silence. 

It was the only thing that surrounded him at the moment, as he sat in his room, waiting as each second passed by. 

In a matter of minutes, Namjoon was going to release his new mixtape, his playlist. 

The silence somewhat haunted him, because it really only left him with his own thoughts. Would it be successful? Will people like it? Would it meet expectations?

Though his members reassured him that the playlist was more than ready to make it’s debut to the world, Namjoon couldn’t help but stare at the clock and think about what the world was going to say. 

These tracks were his raw feelings somehow in musical form. Would those feelings be heard to those who listen? He could only hope so. 

And sure, he himself has grown since first starting to work on the mixtape, but he still wanted to show the world what he himself has felt and gone through since starting till now. 

He glances at the clock at the bottom of his monitor and shuts his eyes when he realizes that it was 11:59 pm. One more minute to go. 

It still amazes him how nervous he gets no matter how many songs he releases. This time was probably the most nervous he’s ever been. 

He knew he shouldn’t immediately log into different sites and look at the comments that people leave. So he shuts down his monitor, just as the time turned to midnight. 

It was strange, he thought. He felt so much anticipation waiting till midnight, but now that it was here, it almost felt surreal. 

Fans around the world were probably streaming the song already, and he slightly chuckled when he saw the first notification on his phone was one from Youtube, letting him know that his music video was now uploaded. 

He wasn’t even going to see it for a while. 

There weren’t that many places he could escape to so late at night in France, so he settled to taking a nice long shower. He forced himself to think of anything but what people were probably saying about his music at the moment. 

He could hear his phone beep with a few notifications, probably from the members congratulating him. He can almost guarantee that Jimin or Taehyung was probably the first one to message him. 

After stepping out of the shower and wiping at the fog on the mirror, Namjoon stood there and just stared at the reflection staring back at him. And...the reflection smiled. 

The journey he took up till this point was....long to say the least. It was tiring, both physically and emotionally. But those exact experiences are what shaped his current playlist. And he hoped that at least one person out there found some comfort in his words. 

Now, in that moment, Namjoon felt a lot of things, but perhaps the most prominent emotion was...eagerness?

He was eager to meet the future and tackle it head on. 

Namjoon grabs his phone, smiling further when he realizes that both Jimin and Taehyung had texted him at pretty much the same time. I know them too well he thinks. 

He chuckles at the rest of the messages from various other people. His other members, Bang PD, other producers, and even his family. He was so thankful for these people to be willing to listen to his works as soon as it was released, no matter what time it was wherever they were. 

Namjoon decided to reply to everyone in the morning, when he could gather his thoughts more. 

He stumbled to bed, ruffling his wet hair hoping to get a few extra drops of water to fly off. 

He plopped down on the bed, groaning a little when his whole body relaxed into the comfort of his bed. He was tired, but he knew that sleep probably wasn’t going to come anytime soon. 

What could he do to pass the time?

It wasn’t really a question he had to think of the answer for too long, because there was really only one thing he really needed to do at the moment. 

He quickly unlocks his phone, settling into his bed further as he wraps himself under the thick comforter. 

He opens up his own personal, and rather anonymous instagram account. It was an account that no one knew who he was. Sure, he had another account for his family and close friends, but this was a public account that he opened up just for fun one day. He uploaded mostly random pictures from his travels, but none of them revealed who or where he was. Plus, he only really had like 15 posts and 73 followers. 

He wasn’t even sure how he got 72 of those followers. 

One though, he knew very well. Well, somewhat. 

One day as he was browsing through instagram, he had stumbled upon an account. It wasn’t anything special really, the pictures were actually pretty basic. But the captions are really what caught his eye. 

It was rare to see people express their feelings in such a raw form on social media. He read the caption of the picture he saw first, and it was obvious that whoever the user was, was having a not a bad day. 

But he opened up other pictures from the user, and each picture had a little caption of that person’s life and it was oddly entertaining to Namjoon to read through this person’s life through instagram. 

He started from the beginning, and scrolled through each picture as if going back in time on this person’s life. 

And the first time he actually found a picture of the person himself, it was almost as if time stopped. 

That person, that beautiful woman behind the screen, took his breath away. 

“Too all the new people who have stumbled onto my account and have stalked through the rest of my pictures, hello. My name is Y/n. It’s nice to meet you.” you simply captioned, causing him to chuckle at that time. 

He just knew, he had to talk to you. So he had immediately sent you a DM right there and then. 

He wasn’t really sure what to say, let alone if you’d even reply considering you had thousands of followers, but it was worth a shot. 

So he sent you a simple message. “Thank you for sharing your feelings”. 

It wasn’t till a few days later after he sent that message did he really have time to check his instagram. And much to his surprise, you had replied. 

“Thank you for taking the time to read about my feelings, stranger. I don’t know how many people actually read the sappy stuff on my captions, but thank you for doing so” you said. 

Namjoon just smiled as he typed up a reply himself. 

Fast forward to today, you two had talked frequently. And by frequently, you mean you two talked almost on a daily basis. 

Namjoon never thought he’d make an internet friend considering his job. But you had respected his wishes of being anonymous, as long as he promised he wasn’t some creepy stalker or murderer, which also caused him to chuckle as he read the message. 

Your online friendship was now a solid 3 years strong, and Namjoon found silent comfort in your words, not only through your conversation with him but also through reading about your life. 

Somewhere along the line, Namjoon had become your favorite person to talk to, and somewhere along the way, you had confessed that you were a fan of BTS.  Namjoon remembers freezing when he saw that message from you, slightly wondering if you possibly caught on about who he really was. 

But thankfully, you hadn’t. 

So Namjoon just told you that he himself had listened a little of BTS’ songs (which was the biggest understatement of the century) and he had asked you on multiple accounts of what you thought of the music. 

And at first, he was just expecting you to fangirl about the music and the members. But then again, you never failed to surprise him. 

When he first asked you what you thought of BTS, he could see that you were typing. But he never got a reply for hours. 

So when he finally got a response, he was surprised to see almost a small essay in his messages about why you appreciated BTS and their music. You had related their music to moments and experiences in your life, and Namjoon felt tears form in his eyes. 

Sure, he constantly read from fans about how their music has helped them, but he felt this connection to you after talking to you for so long, and he was so happy that in some way or form, he had helped you overcome struggles in your life. 

“Wow, I didn’t know they meant that much to you” He had simply said. 

“You have no idea what they mean for lots of people” you say back. 

So since then, following any release, he would ask you what you thought of the music. And you were brutally honest when it came to your feedback. Sure, most of it was good, but you had to speak on your preferences. Of course you’d prefer some songs over the others. 

He remembers when Hoseok had released his mixtape, you had all but bombarded him with compliments. It was strange, but Namjoon realized that he was slightly jealous by it. 

 He knew that you were probably awake and had listened to his playlist by this time, so he anxiously sent you a message. 

“So...didn’t RM release a mixtape today? What did you think?” he asked, trying to play it cool. 

A few seconds later, he saw that you had read the message. 

You: Honestly?

He felt himself tense at the reply. Did she not like it?

Joon: Yeah, what did you think of it?

He could see you start to type again, and he felt his heart beat faster as each second passed. Why did he feel more anxious now then when he was waiting for the mixtape to release?

You: Well stranger, it’s everything. 

Namjoon blinked at his screen. What was that supposed to mean?

Joon: Everything? What do you mean?

He waiting again anxiously as you typed, but this response was taking a lot longer than he would have liked. He almost wanted to yell at the phone as if to tell you to type faster. 

But finally, his phone vibrated with a response. 

You: I mean like... it’s everything? I don’t know how to explain it, stranger. The emotions in the songs are so... how do I put it... raw? I wasn’t expecting this kind of a sound for his mixtape, considering his first one. But this one is just... beautiful to say the least. I love it, I love it all. I finally got done listening to all of the tracks, and I honestly can’t even pick a favorite. The lyrics, those really hit home for me. And plus, have you seen the MV? It’s so... sad? So meaningful? I know they’re famous stars and stuff and it probably makes me a bad person for saying this, but knowing that he struggles too and felt these...painful emotions? It made me feel like I wasn’t alone, that even people like Kim Namjoon is just a person too. And also like how even does he and the company even have time for this? I’m sorry, I know you probably don’t want to listen to me rave about BTS all the time, but this playlist kind of had me in tears. It’s just... it’s amazing...to put it simply. 

Namjoon read your message one, and then once again. And again for good measure, as if the message was going to disappear as if it were on snapchat. Hell, he even took a screenshot of the message. 

Because in that message alone, he got everything he needed. He needed just one person out there to understand the things he was trying to say through his music, and he felt like you had done just that. It was the silent validation that he was seeking. 

So before he could even think of what he was saying he quickly typed,

Joon:  you have no idea what that feedback means to me. Thank you, sincerely. 

You:  why does my feedback on this playlist have anything to do with you??

And it was at that moment that he realized that he had slightly messed up. Sure, he didn’t give himself away, but it definitely made you suspicious slightly. 

Joon: I guess you just helped me see things through your eyes more clearly. 

He knew that sounded ambiguous af, but he knew that you wouldn’t really question it. 

You: Oh, gotcha. Not sure if it helped, but you’re welcome. 

Namjoon placed his phone on the nightstand after sending his goodbyes for the day, a smile still plastered on his face. 

Tomorrow was going to be a new day, and when he awoke, he would take the time to go through and read the comments of fans all over the world. But he knew that he had already got the validation he needed. 

Tomorrow was going to be a new day. 

Perhaps, it was one day closer to finally meeting you in person. 

One day closer to thanking you in person.

One day, closer to you. 

A/n: just something short and sweet for our Namjoon. hope you guys enjoyed. stream mono!!

#bts scenarios #bts reactions #bts fanfic #bts oneshot #bts fluff #bts angst #namjoon scenario #namjoon angst #namjoon fluff #kim namjoon #namjoon #namjoon mono #mono #mono playlist #kpoptart scenario #kpoptart imagine #bts imagines #kpop scenario #kpop imagine #kpop fanfic rec #kpop oneshot

[prorevenge]

Predator vs Predator

Background: My son is almost 13 and plays AAA football at a provincial level. His 'bestie' we will call 'Joey' also plays on his team and he is my second child spending each weekend here and after school till dinner. Amazing kid and I love him like my own.

The Story: I was sitting outside on benches watching my son's football practice tonight when Joey's mom asked to speak to me privately. Uh oh...

She then proceeds to tell me that the police will be calling me to speak to me and my son about events that happened at MY house over the weekend. The events surrounded Joey's teacher and it was disgusting, disgraceful and empowering at the exact same time.

Apparently and on Saturday night at around 10pm, emails were sent from my home that would forever ruin the lives of a teacher that were sent to her husband as well as to the local police detachment where I live. Explicit pictures were attached to these emails and think I am still in shock, honestly.

Joey who is 11 years of age was getting 'hand-jobs' by his teacher during lunch and after school. She was in her early 30's, had 2 kids and a husband. He had told my son about his adventures with his teacher but my son always thought that he was joking.

I understand that around 9pm on Saturday night, Joey showed my son the pictures that his teacher had sent him and they were 'explicit' in nature and it was then that my son knew he was telling the truth. He saw the text messages and IG conversations and he took screenshots of them all. There were over TWO HUNDRED texts from this teacher to this young boy. I then saw a search history of her name and I saw it linking to her husband who was a realtor. (Yes, I record my son's history...Call me paranoid.)

"Hey, let's call her up and ask her for another hand job?", my son said.

The boys called her number at 9:35 according to the police and I am told that the boys asked if they could get another one and she retorted, "I will come to your school on Monday, Joey and one of us is going down"

Looking in my son's email logs, I saw an email sent at 9:42 to the teacher's husband outlining what he did with pictures attached and the email said it would be forwarded to the local police.

A call was made to the police at 9:51pm on Saturday night and I am told that there is a recording of my son's conversation to them and it started with 'Hi, my name is X and I want to talk to someone about a teacher abusing a kid in grade 5 and I have proof'

I received a call 30 minutes ago from a detective and after our conversation, I poured a glass of red and I decided to vent and thus, here I am.

My son has already had 2 conversations with the police and I smile when I look at him and I see that he recorded EVERYTHING and looked out for his friend. He said he even used a throw away email account to send the husband the proof. hahaha

The teacher was suspended immediately pending charges and I looked at him out on the field in awe. I had just learned this all and I knew NOTHING about it.

I looked out at my son on the field running yards and hoping to make it big and yet, he never said a word to me about this. I was PISSED.

After the practice and when we got into the truck, I looked at him and I said, "Maybe, we should talk about Joey and his teacher and the freaking cops?" I WAS NOT PLEASED not knowing.

"We called her. I wanted to ask her for another hand job and when she said one of us was going down, one of us was. You would have done the same thing"

Update from today:

I had to take my son into speak to a special detective in Toronto today in the sexual crimes unit. They called me at 7am and had to see him today for a video interview. I spent last night going through the keylog files on my son's system as this is a MUST HAVE in my home and it's hidden from my son. When we went for his interview today, I also took a flash drive of all my key log files from the last 3 weekends that Joey stayed over as well. On that flashdrive were some of the most disturbing and disgusting images that I can honestly say that I have ever seen. In my home, keyloggers are what I use to try and keep my son safe online and I record everything. The interview went well and I received a call from them this afternoon stating that distribution of child pornography and solicitation for child pornography would also be added to the list of charges for this vile creature. Will update if more happens. Joey is coming over this weekend and I'll see if anything else pops up as I have an interview myself on Tuesday next week about the evidence I found with the keyloggers.

TL:DR Young teen gets a handjob from a teacher at 12 and tells my son who decides to hand her back what she deserves.

(source) (story by bhurley10)

#prorevenge #by bhurley10 #pro #revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #revenge story #last10

[ghoulboyboos]

Prompted Shyan Mini Fic

PrincessPink on Ao3

The exact opposite of this prompt. Ryan/Shane are dating, and no ones realized it yet/everyone’s completely oblivious. I’m talking someone walks by them kissing and thinks they just lost a bet. They bring each other gifts, people thinks it’s for a video. They get caught in a *compromising* position on the Unsolved set-everyone thinks they finally got in a fiat fight over ghosts. Think of the RIDICULOUS possibilities! Think of the multiple POVs! 

It starts relatively innocent.

They’re at work and Ryan glances at his phone, saves his project and gets up, grabbing a few things.

“I got a meeting in ten so I’m gonna see you later, big guy.”

He looks over at Shane who nods and pulls down his headphones, looking over while Ryan shoves his phone in his pocket.

“Alright. See you at lunch?”

“I sure hope so we’re done by then. If anything comes up, I’ll text you. But I’m optimistic.”

Shane shoots him a half-grin and nods.

“Alright, see you later then.” When Ryan passes their desks he adds: “Love you.”

“Love you too.” Ryan says over his shoulder before walking out.

Behind his computer, Steven Lim muffles a snort, but Shane notices and glances over. He’s still smiling and his eyebrows are twitching up a little.

“Bit of a slip up?” Steven asks, expecting Shane to huff or flush, because the guy apparently hasn’t noticed yet that he exchanged “love you’s” with his co-host.

“No?” Shane seems genuinely surprised and Steven pauses.

“Ah. Sorry. Good for you, then.”

Shane grins and nods and returns to his computer.

Weird, Steven thinks. Maybe they are doing some experiment where you openly exchange compliments and endearments or something.

He remembers videos about paying people compliments and the lot and technically, there is nothing wrong with telling your friends you love them, no matter their gender. With a shrug, he returns to his work.

-

“Hey Ryan, what are you doing on Friday?”

Ryan lifts his head from his taco bowl.

Wednesday is the day he and Zach are grabbing lunch together because they work in different spaces now and can’t do it daily anymore. Usually they end up at a fastfood place, never anything fancy, but neither of them minds because fastfood is great.

“Uh. I’m going out with Shane.”

“Ah, dang. You got a venue yet? Because there is a new bar I wanted to check out.”

Ryan smiles apologetically.

“Sorry man, we got a restaurant booked and everything.”

“Okay, that’s fair. I was about to ask if you guys need a squad but that sounds like quality food time.”

Ryan gives him a bit of a strange look but then nods.

“Yeah. Work’s been a lot lately and he insisted we take some time off, just the two of us.”

Zach nods and takes a bite out of his burrito.

“No man, I get it. You need to hang with your friends one on one sometimes, that shit’s important.”

He wipes his mouth and misses the slight frown and giggle Ryan suppresses before shaking his head and returning to his own food.

-

On the way to the little kitchenette Jen almost bumps into Shane, which is funny because how in the world would you not see him coming from miles away?

“Oh hey, Jen. Hang on-” He moves out of the way, holding two cups of coffee over her head so she can push past him to get to the machine.

“Thanks, man.” She pops a capsule in and starts it, making a face at the whirring.

Shane leans against one of the counters and sips on one of the coffees. Once Jen’s is done, he starts talking again, clearly he had not wanted to scream over the sound of the machine.

“How’s work? I heard you ordered a suit to check out what Amazon wear is like?”

Jen nods, adding sugar to her brew.

“Yep. To be honest, I’m not expecting much. Dresses seem to be doing okay but I had my problem with suits before.” She shrugs. “But who knows, maybe it’s worth something.”

Shane chuckles.

“Well if you find something nice and they make Sasquatch sizes, hit me up. I need a new suit jacket for fancy evenings.”

“Oho!” She grins. “Got a hot date coming up?”

He seems surprised at the question, but he still smiles widely, eyes shining.

“Yeah you could say that, I’m-”

He’s interrupted when Ryan rounds the fridge and joins their conversation.

“There you are!” Shane immediately turns to him. “Got your coffee. Just the way you like it.”

The other mug is handed off to Ryan, answering the question who it was for which Jen had balanced on her tongue. Ryan takes a sip and closes his eyes. He looks relieved and the sigh he lets out speaks volumes.

“Thank you, big guy, that was just what I needed.”

Jen gets it. Nearly everyone on Buzzfeed has a caffeine addiction. She turns to grab one of the coffee stirrers. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Ryan stretch up and Shane lean down, as if Ryan has to whisper something to the tall guy. When she turns back to them, they part and for a second she could swear, they had been kissing.

Sure, Ruggirello, she chides herself. That’s a classic case of gay goggles if I ever saw one.

The three of them keep chatting for another minute or two, Ryan tiredly leaning against Shane’s side. Shane doesn’t seem to mind, but he has never been the guy who goes “No Homo” about anything and Jen really appreciates that. Makes the workplace a lot more chill.

Finally, she checks her watch and bows out, waving at the boys.

“I’ll hit you up if I find a jacket for you, man.” She calls back to Shane who winks and gives her a thumbs up.

While she’s walking away, she can hear Ryan speak.

“You’re getting dressed up for someone, big guy?” It sounds teasing and she can hear Shane laugh.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Right, she didn’t catch who Shane was going on a date with. Oh well, she could ask him via text later.

-

“Do you carpool with anyone right now?” Brent asks, leaning half on Ryan’s desk.

Ryan looks up, surprised.

“Uh. Yeah with Shane, I guess. Why?”

“I was wondering if you could pick me up tomorrow on your way because my car’s in the shop. I’ll pay you of course-”

Ryan waves him off.

“It’s fine, man, we’re driving anyway. We can pick you up.”

“Thanks, that helps a lot. I know we didn’t take a ride together in ages. It’s almost nostalgic.”

“Uh-huh.” Ryan says with a grin. “Except Brent 2.0 will be in the car.”

“I’ll never get over the fact that some people call him that online.”

“He called himself that at a convention, it’s his own fault.”

They share a laugh before Brent thanks him again and moves back to his desk.

When he gets into the back of the car the next morning, Shane is already on board. Brent wonders if he moved, because he can’t remember Shane ever taking the same trip as they did when they were still all interns. Well, with Unsolved going pretty okay and Shane creating Ruining History, he probably afforded a new place.

“Morning Brent. Welcome back on the old Ber-car-a.” Shane grins widely while Ryan groans.

“I told you to not make that joke.”

“You tell me all kinds of things, do I ever listen?”

“Clearly not.”

Ryan shakes his head but Brent knows he’s not really annoyed and just playing it up. He meets Ryan’s eyes in the rearview mirror and laughs when Ryan gives him an exaggerated eye-roll.

“So this is what you’re dealing with in the mornings now?”

“Not just the mornings.” Ryan grumbles. “I don’t know why I put up with him.”

Shane turns over his shoulder and leans a bit into Brent’s space. He cups his hand around his mouth, but Brent is sure that Ryan can hear the stage whisper.

“It’s because he loves me, Brent. But don’t tell anyone.”

“Shut the fuck up, Shane.” Ryan laughs from the driver’s seat. “And put on your seatbelt.”

“Yes, dear.” Shane says, only slightly mocking and Brent rolls his own eyes when Ryan’s ears redden.

Weirdos, he thinks. Anyone outside of their social circle would think they’re flirting.

-

There are flowers on Ryan’s desk.

It’s a tightly bound bouquet of colorful summer flowers. A sunflower thrones in the middle, surrounded by greenery and oranges, yellows, reds and the tiniest hint of purple.

Kate doesn’t know flowers in detail, but besides the sunflower, she can recognize the green carnations here and there and they are very pretty to look at. She’s still staring at them when Ryan reaches his desk.

“Morning Kate.”

“Oh hey, Ryan. You got flowers!”

Ryan pauses as he lets down his bag from his shoulder, looking at the bouquet. For a moment, he looks a bit confused, but then recognition lights up his face. He looks at the flowers with a new fondness, moving them carefully so he can still look at them but has space to work. Kate sees him lean in and pluck a little card out of the greenery. He opens it and reads the message inside, smile widening as his cheeks redden just a little bit.

“Secret admirer?” She asks, grinning a bit. Kate doesn’t want to tease, she thinks the gesture is incredibly sweet and the flowers are really pretty.

Ryan laughs a bit.

“Oh no, I know who it’s from. It’s for our anniversary.”

“Ah!” Kate gets it. She doesn’t follow Unsolved as much as she would like, but she figures that celebrating the anniversary of Ryan’s first great show is appropriate. Her gaze wanders to Shane’s desk. He didn’t get flowers, huh. Maybe it was because Ryan created it.

“Congratulations, Ryan!” She finally says, her honest happiness for him audible. Sure, it wasn’t a love bouquet but it was still pretty and a kind gesture.

Ryan nods, looking at the flowers with a besotted glance.

“He’s really going all out.” Ryan mutters and Kate tilts her head, wondering if she should ask. Before she can decide, Ryan sits down and turns the bouquet so the prettiest side is facing him. Shane joins them, waving as he spots Kate and Ryan and Kate remembers she has work to do.

“See you later, Ryan!” She waves and sees him smile. When she passes Shane, she turns. “Happy Anniversary, Shane!”

Shane looks surprised but then a bright smile takes over his features.

“Oh wow, thanks, Kate! I didn’t know that anyone caught on!”

Kate shrugs, feeling a little sheepish.

“I only know because Ryan told me. Good job, both of you.”

Shane winks at her and gives her finger guns before turning and walking to his desk. Ryan leans back in his chair as Shane joins him, saying something and gesturing to the flowers. Shane seems to feign disinterest.

Dorks, Kate thinks fondly.

She is quite surprised at noon, when she mentions the Unsolved anniversary to a coworker and is corrected. It’s not for another two months.

“Huh.” She mutters, staring at her screen in confusion. “Then what kind of anniversary-”

She pauses, eyes widening.

“Nooo.” She whispers in disbelief. “No way…”

-

Kelsey plays video games with Ryan on her stream and he is wearing a huge sweater. She is slightly amused by it because usually Ryan doesn’t wear baggy clothes, if anything he wears shirts with barely any sleeves, but this thing is gray and massive.

It also says Chicago in big letters on the front and the sleeves are so long that Ryan has to roll them up before grabbing the controller.

“So, whose monster is that?” She asks casually, tugging on the excess fabric around Ryan’s elbow. “Doesn’t really seem to fit and you’re not a Chicago boy, as far as I remember?”

Ryan seems to flush at that and clears his throat, rubs his nose and looks everywhere but Kelsey’s direction. She frowns, first at Ryan, then at the camera.

“Just something I borrowed because the AC makes it freezing in here.” He finally says. Kelsey wants to ask, but then the match they queued up starts and she falls back into screaming in slight panic while Ryan and she try not to get creamed by a bunch of twelve-year-olds with better internet.

After the stream ends, Ryan leans back in his chair and grins at Kelsey.

“It’s Shane’s stupid sweater, I thought it was obvious.”

Kelsey pauses, still putting away her headphones. Now that Ryan mentions it, it makes sense. The size, Chicago, the fact that it looks pretty comfy… Still.

“Why are you wearing Shane’s sweater?”

Ryan shrugs.

“I was cold and he had it and said he didn’t need it, so he kind of forced me to wear it.” He seems amused and Kelsey chuckles a bit.

“That’s cute.”

Ryan actually flushes at that and fiddles with the edge of the sleeves he rolled down again.

“Shut up, he’s just being a pain, acting like my mom and all.”

“He’s probably just worried you’re gonna freeze, Ryan.”

That makes the guy smile and he looks down, dragging a hand over the lettering on his chest with an almost tender expression.

“Yeah, probably. I should thank him.”

Kelsey nods.

“You do that, I’ll start cutting best bits.”

Half an hour later, she passes Shane and Ryan in the hallway. Shane has shoved his hands in the sleeves of the sweater Ryan is wearing and the shorter man tries to wiggle away, yelping something about Shane’s hands being cold.

She snorts, used to the ghoulfriends teasing each other a lot but she pauses her step when Shane grabs onto the sleeves tighter and pulls Ryan in and Ryan actually moves closer and pushes on his tiptoes to kiss Shane.

Kelsey blinks as she sees Shane return the kiss and then smile at Ryan with soft, happy eyes.

“Huh.”

They don’t notice her as they disentangle and leave, most likely going back to their desks.

-

It’s another wrap-up party and everyone in the office is drunk. Steven is drunk, Zach is drunk, Jen is drunk, Brent is drunk, Kelsey is drunk and Ryan and Shane are… gone.

Zach is the first to notice because he lets his eyes sweep the dance floor and the two faces of Unsolved are clearly missing. Not two minutes ago they had been dancing in the middle of the fray and now it was just Eugene getting down with a couple of coworkers surrounding him and cheering him on. He nudges Jen who interrupts her conversation with Steven and looks at him questioningly.

“Where are Ryan and Shane?” He asks and Jen cranes her neck to look around the room. When she doesn’t spot anyone, she shrugs.

Zach looks around and everyone else is frowning a bit. It’s the Unsolved wrap-party, it would be weird to leave your own wrap-party early.

“Maybe they were asked to take pictures or something,” Brent suggests as he pours himself another shot from the bottle in the middle of the table.

“Could be.” Steven is eating the rest of the mixed nuts that had been put on the table earlier. “Or they just left to make out in the bathroom.”

He laughs and so do Zach, Brent and Jen. But then Zach notices Kelsey pursing her lips and when he looks at Kate, she stares at the ceiling, feigning innocence a little too hard.

“What?” He asks, looking between the two.

Both jump a bit, clearly drunk enough to think that they were subtle. The others at the table lean in, sensing some gossip coming up. Instead of answering, however, Kelsey stares at Kate in surprise and Kate opens her mouth, pauses and closes it again.

Jen is the first to prod.

“Do you guys know something we don’t?”

Kate holds up her hands.

“I don’t really know anything. I just know that not too long ago, Ryan got flowers for an anniversary and I first thought it was for Unsolved, but it wasn’t and apparently it’s Shane’s anniversary, too, so I was wondering if- You know.”

Kate shrugs and seems a little embarrassed. The group slowly drags their gazes from her to Kelsey who looks uncomfortable now.

“Okay hang on, I don’t know if it’s okay to talk about this. If something is going on and they haven’t said anything, maybe it’s a secret, I don’t know.”

There is a long pause at the table while everyone is frowning a little and Zach wonders if they are going over their interactions with Shane and Ryan. He certainly is and he has to admit, Ryan has mentioned more than once that he’s going out with Shane to the movies or for dinner.  Now that Zach reconsiders it, it seems very much like they were going on dates. Steven mutters something under his breath and Jen has her eyes screwed shut, fingers pressing against her forehead as if she is trying to recall something in detail.

Brent finally says: “I mean… I think they are always coming to work together. They certainly take the same car.”

Zach hums.

“Wait so… is it a secret or are we just all really stupid?” He almost starts to laugh. “I mean most couples here don’t make out all the time in the office so…”

Kelsey suppresses a laugh but doesn’t comment.

While they still ponder, Zach sees the door to the balcony open and Ryan walks in with a wide smile. His cheeks look slightly red in the warm indoor lights and right behind him follows Shane, looking equally flushed. With the new angle, Zach zeroes in on that as well as their dopey grins and the fact that these two are holding hands.

The rest of the table slowly raises their heads when they follow Zach’s glance and when Shane and Ryan walk up to the table they are welcomed by five pairs of eyes staring at them in different states of confusion and curiosity. It makes Ryan slow down and a slight frown spreads over his features. Shane stops as well, looking more surprised than worried. He is still holding Ryan’s hand.

“Uh.” Zach starts eloquently. “Dumb question but: Are you two dating?”

He feels how the other four hold their breaths. For a moment both men seem confused and they turn to look at each other. Shane shrugs and smiles a bit and Ryan seems to suppress a laugh as he looks back.

“Yeah? Of course we are. I thought it was obvious.”

The entire table explodes. Everything from “I knew it!” (sure, Steven) over “What the fuck!” (same, Brent) and “I’m so dumb!” (same, Jen) is exclaimed as everyone talks over one another. When they calm down a little, both Ryan and Shane are wheezing with laughter, barely able to keep on their feet.

Zach still feels dumb as they all sit around the table and Shane says that he and Ryan have been together for over half a year and Ryan bursts into actual laughter when everyone shares their assumptions.

“We’re just private people, we thought it was kind of obvious but we didn’t want to shove it down anyone’s throat,” Ryan says at their questions and Steven shrugs.

“Clearly not obvious enough. Buzzfeed apparently employs a lot of idiots.”

“They do.” Ryan says grimly. “And he’s my favorite idiot.” He points at Shane who pretends to be insulted but is smiling when Ryan presses a kiss to his jaw.

Zach makes a pretended gagging noise at the cuteness and Ryan flips him off.

Five minutes later, they are all dancing and Ryan says something about having to make things more obvious which Shane seems to take as an invitation to pull him into a bump and grind and Kelsey wolf-whistles while the others pretend to be scarred for life.

It’s a fun night.

On Monday, Shane and Ryan walk in hand in hand, wearing matching “I’m with stupid” shirts that point perfectly at each other while they sit at their desks. Each shirt has been altered with sharpie so the shirts read “I’m with (not really that) stupid” and Jen assumes that’s what the office deserves when she sits down across from them at their own desk. She’s greeted with twin smug smiles and Jen answers by sticking out her tongue before tearing her eyes away from the couple and focusing on her work.

#shyan #skeptic believer #fanfic #prompt #prompts

[bleedingcoffee42]

Eureka AU- Part 4

This is fun, I’m enjoying writing this.  Halfway to 20k.  

  Pulling in some references of background FMA people who don’t get used much.  Dr. Jude is from the ‘Blind Alchemist’ OVA, Dr. Crowley from the Curse of the Crimson Elixir game.  And yes, Frank fucking Archer shows up so not much foreshadowing there.     

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 

xxxxxxxxxx

“Quite the amazing prototype.”  Captain Frank Archer reported after his test run with the Ultimate Eye.  The entire hour long experience in the fields around Eureka was breathtaking.    He encountered drone attacks, robots, some weird one eyed sex doll and multiple hazards and obstacles to tackle.  Each time the Ultimate Eye gave him the information he required to make every move, every shot count.   All fed right into his field of vision.  It was like living every video game simulation he every fantasized about bring to work.   Now it was a reality.    “General Raven, this is everything we have dreamed of.”

General Raven smiled and looked over at Mustang who was waiting for his response with a smug look on his face.   “I'll have to give it to you Mustang, this delivers on your promise to the budget committee and then some.”

“It's still a prototype, General.”  Roy said and held out the open pocket watch for Archer to put the contact lens back in.   He was eager to have the tech back in his possession before someone else ran off with it. “We still need to integrate a informational database that will support it.   Right now you're looking at topography maps, weather data, weapons specs and not much else. “

Archer reluctantly removed the piece and put it back in it's case.  “The thermal imaging is better than what we have now.”

“The lens itself is functional, but the computer needs to be fed the information to interpret it.”  Roy explained.  “It's only going to get better from here.”

“When can it go in production, as is?” Raven asked as Mustang snapped the watch closed and put it in his vest pocket.  He and Archer both watched that precious piece of tech disappear into his vest as if the sun just vanished behind the clouds and deprived them of the warmth and light they had been basking in.

“When it's ready.”  Roy replied and walked with the General out of the testing field and back to his car.  “As the database grows, the software needs to grow.   Then we can make adjustments with the user interface and product itself.”

“I didn't come all this way for a bullshit answer, Mustang.”   Raven said.  “I want a tangible date.”

“Give us six months.”  Roy said.  “It will be ready to be shipped and ready for it's experimental runs.”

“I plan to hold you to that.”  Raven said and got in the car.

Roy watched Archer get in with him, still smiling, and the driver left to take them to the hotel in town.   He pulled out his phone and called Riza to report in on the success.   Four months ago he would have just gone back to his office and celebrated his success alone by moving on to another project.   He would have gone home in a good mood and failed to share anything but the 'It went well' and probably would have left it at that.  Being in a good mood would put him at ease and he'd undoubtedly be the man Riza actually fell in love with, which would lead to the day culminating in great sex with his wife.   Then he would screw it all up the next day when Raven saw a not so promising sex doll/soldier wandering the fields with an leaking eyeball that was shot out screaming like a pterodactyl.   He would have been in a foul mood and brought it home.   He was glad he wasn't that man anymore.    He did wish his wife was here to shoot that Mannequin soldier as it was now humping a tree.   “Can someone please go get that damned thing or put it down?”

“I'll get it!” Dr. Crowley ran out from behind the observation screen to get his project before someone executed it.

“I expect a report on my desk in the morning as to why that thing now has the desire to want to fuck a tree!” Roy hollered and  of course that was the exact second Riza chose to answer her phone.  He heard her laugh and immediately his tension subsided.   “Hello dear.”

“How did it go?”

“Captain Archer is smiling, so I can't guarantee he didn't witness some homunculus kink.”  Roy said as Crowley tried to coax his creation away from the tree it was now clinging to.   He turned away.  He didn't want to know until it became a problem.  

“Frank archer?  Trust me, he's probably only turned on by the thought of tech that can kill people.”

“Comforting. Thanks dear.”  

“I need to check in with Raven before I call it a day.”

“Raven is heading back to his hotel.   Dr. Jude is packing up.   I'm heading back to my office to just check on a few things before I head home.”  He looked at his watch.   “Dinner at 4?”

“Will it be moist?”

“It's going to be fucking burnt if you use that word once more.”  He threatened.  

“See you at home.”

Roy smiled and hung up.    He knew his attitude had changed just sharing a little bit of his work burden with someone, damned near everyone had commented on it. That was saying a lot since most of the time people were scared to talk to him because he'd have some scathing sarcastic remark to put them on the verge of tears.  He was glad to have her as his partner in this, it made his life easier and better than he could imagine. He had to admit that having Riza by his side for even the most ridiculous tasks made things go smoother,  he even enjoyed joining her for her jobs even if they did spend their morning tracking down a homunculus.   As he heard one more horrifying screech, he really wished he insisted she stay for this trial so she could shoot that damned Mannequin Soldier.  

He looked across the test field and up to the hill where the Bradley's house overlooked the town.  They couldn't see anything as the test area was in a valley, but he could see it.   Fr the first time he actually looked at it as more than just scenery.  His thought about that house and couldn't help but compare it to their own home.  His home was modern, minimal and open.  The old house the Bradley's had was older, smaller but cozy.   A completely different feel to it.   It overlooked the town and wasn't lost among all the other houses that were lined up on the street.  He opened his contacts and looked for Mrs. Bradley and gave her a call as a thought entered his mind that felt right.

“Hello again Mrs. Bradley, It's Dr. Mustang.   Yes...everything is fine, actually I'm calling you on a more personal matter.  No....I don't need melon.   It's about your house, if you ever decided you wanted to sell your home, I would be very interested in buying it.”

Xxxxxxxxx

Riza was frustrated that she was going to be late getting home.  Roy was cooking, she hated to keep him waiting, but for some reason Raven had insisted she update her vaccinations per some recent bulletin that she didn't get or feel she needed to be included in.   He ordered it be done immediately as he had to bring the vaccination in a cooler with him from base to ensure it was delivered and given.   He mumbled about some kind of deposit and handed her the paperwork.  She sent Roy a text telling him she had to fulfill this obligation to her health records and would be late.   She was subject to the medical policies of Eureka itself, it seemed a little extra to be included in some field instructions when she was thousands of miles from any front.  She had been worried that maybe Raven was considering reassigning her, until she found herself with an entirely different problem.

Going to the infirmary was not a big deal, however one routine part of any exam for any woman was being asked “Are you pregnant?” by every medical professional for any ailment or condition.   This time, she had to admit that she was late and it was a possibility. She didn't tell Dr. Knox she hadn't gone for a home pregnancy test because she was waiting for one to arrive in the mail.  She was actually waiting in anticipation for her period, but that sounded like ignoring the problem and hoping it went away.  So she took the test.

Eureka was small and gossip traveled fast.   The last thing she wanted was to go to the pharmacy and leave with a pregnancy test.   She didn't want any false alarms and it's not like she hadn't experienced irregularities in her cycle before.   Especially here, where the scientists could literally be the cause of anything.   So she ordered one online and sent it to the office, hoping to ease her mind and make this easier on everyone.

She was on the pill and as far as she could recall didn't miss a single one.  However, she and Roy had been on hiatus for a month and she was not expecting to have sex during that time so it was possible she could have forgotten something.  Especially when she was dealing with that Barry situation and had a few sleepless nights.   So it seemed like a good place to finally just put her mind at ease anyhow.   Her doctor here was a professional and  patient confidentiality was a thing he took seriously.   She could just take the test, get her vaccination and stop waiting for her manila envelope from Amazon to arrive in the mail.  

“I have some good news.” Dr. Knox said.

Riza breathed a sigh of relief.   Well all that worry for nothing.

“You're pregnant.”  

Riza felt like he had kicked her in the gut.   Knox gave her a smile, a weird feature for the gruff doctor and he saw her reaction and she watched it fade away.   “I'm sorry, what?  You said good news?”

Knox grimaced. “Typically when someone waits to see the doctor for a pregnancy test they want it to be positive.”

“Are you sure?”

Knox handed her the test results.   He wasn't sure what she was asking for confirmation of.   “If you need to discuss options, we can do that, but I recommend thinking on it a while before you do.  Especially if  this wasn't planned.”

Riza stared at the words on the paper.  No it wasn't planned.   The last thing she expected was to have Roy stroll back into town two months ago and finish that conversation of theirs with sex on his desk.    It could have been anytime, but after that she was much more vigilant about her pills.   She just took it for granted that she didn't go lax on protocol while he was away, but she had so much on her plate at the time that....apparently she missed something.

“False positive might be a thing, but not in this town.  That's a guaranteed result from the Curtis Test.”  Knox said.  “Do you want me to do an exam?”

“No, I'm late for dinner. Thank you.”  She said and folded up the paper and gave him a weak smile.  Late for a lot of things.   She and Roy never even talked about kids.   They talked about a dog, but never kids.  When did she tell him?  AS soon as she got home?   After dinner?  Could she even eat dinner now that she was feeling so queasy from the news?  

“Just call me if you have any questions.” Knox said and opened the door for her.  

xxxxxxxxx

Roy was excited and he couldn't wait for Riza to get home.   Mrs. Bradley admitted she wanted to move closer to school now that Selim was ready to start school and agreed to sell him her house!   He couldn't wait to see the look on Riza's face when he told her he got them a home. Something for both of them  and something with a yard where they could have a dog!  So he ran over to the door when his phone alerted him to someone on the door step and startled her with a grin and “Welcome home!”

Riza's keys were still in her hand and she looked at Roy wondering why he was so excited.   Had Knox called him with the news?  No.  Knox would have never done that.   This had to be something else.   “Did the General increase your budget or something?  You're really excited.”

Roy let her come in and closed the door and then bounded in front of her like a puppy excited to see it's owner.  “I have a surprise!”

Riza was just at a loss for the source of his enthusiasm.   So all she said was a monotone, “Me too.”

“I bought us a house!”  He exclaimed.   “Bradley's farmhouse!  You said you liked it and it reminded you of your childhood home. I've been thinking about how this was just my house you moved in to.   It's not our home.   Hell, I know you really don't like it that much so I thought we could start over together with our own home and maybe a puppy!”

Riza stood there and blinked.   He...bought a house? For them.   It was definitely more thoughtful than just handing her the keys to his home, but it would have been more thoughtful to include her in the process.  She dared not tell him that she was just creating small talk and she honestly didn't like how much that house reminded her of her childhood home.   She didn't have a good childhood, she joined the military to get away from that house.     However, Roy meant well.   He was excited.   He was ready for a new life together and this was his way of committing to that.   He was giving up the house he custom built and crafted to his old lifestyle.   This was huge for him.  “I have something to tell you too.”

“You're bleeding.”

“What?”  Riza asked as he grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her nose.  She watched it come away from her face with blood from a nosebleed.  

“Are you alright?”  Roy asked and put his hand on her forehead to check for a fever.   He looked in her eyes to notice they were slightly bloodshot.   The nosebleed wasn't stopping.  “You said you went for a vaccination?   What were the side effects?”

Riza took the tissue and dabbed at her own nose.    She felt embarrassed.  She hoped she didn't tear up in the car when she was thinking about her condition.   She had to be flushed because she was nervous.   The nosebleed could be from anything.    “I'm fine.”

Roy took her wrist to feel for a pulse and she pulled away.   “You could be having a reaction. For god's sake Riza, I'm a doctor can you please...”

“You're not a medical doctor.”  She said and went for another tissue.  That was a lot of blood.  

“I know enough about biology to know that this is concerning.”  He said and pulled his phone out.  “What vaccine did they give you?”

“I don't know it was something the military insisted I have.  Some bulletin I didn't get because I'm not on base.  Raven brought it with him.”  Riza pulled the tissue away and grabbed another.  

Roy called the infirmary.   “I need to talk to Dr. Knox, now.”

“Roy.”  She reached out for his phone in a panic, thinking Knox would infer this was about her pregnancy and tell him before she got the chance.   As she reached for it though she got light headed and Roy grabbed her as she fell into him.

“We're going to the infirmary.”  He said and hung up his phone.  “Don't argue with me on this.”

#fic #eureka au #royai

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam Austin episode 2 reaction

I’m already sad that we probably won’t get a scene of them dancing horribly

Clip 1 - Smoothie talk

I just want to point out that while Meg is checking out Grace online, there’s a drawing on her wall behind her that says MAKE OUT. This is clearly foreshadowing. I proclaim it from the mountaintop.

This is a nice discussion of random crap when you have more important things to talk about. But also an illustration of how they’re not on the same page at all. Now he's mocking something else she likes (meglovessmoothies), kicking her when she's down.

Lol, I’m being hard on this kid. Him dissing smoothies is hardly the least of his crimes. But you exclude her so much, dude! She has no one to do the stuff she likes with her and he left her to do talent night alone. 

What I took away from this scene is a craving for a smoothie.

Clip 2 - Call me

It’s a pretty big cultural jump from Noora naming herself after a Twin Peaks character to Grace naming herself after a Dumb and Dumber character.

I think this was a good way to incorporate social media into the clip itself. It’s one of those interactions with a weirdly specific social connotation. The comment being deleted is more suspicious than if it had remained up.

I've seen people speculate why Abby would bother posting on his IG publicly. Maybe because she wanted Meg to see it? Or she really couldn’t get in touch with him any other way.

Clip 3 - Sad girl

It definitely sounds like Tyler said “Abby.” He says “Oh shit” afterwards as if her realized his mistake. Plus he decided to go to the vending machine and Marlon went along, maybe so they could talk about what just happened.

Usually Skam doesn't all-out twist what's happening, what we hear and see if what’s really occurring. Like with Isak hearing Even’s voice while buying his depressing cheese toastie, he's legit hearing a guy who sounds like Even, he didn’t imagine it.

Shay is a bad but adorable liar. 

And she seems flirty as hell and I hope I’m not just projecting.

I like how direct and kind Grace is. No Megan messing up with H and inappropriate slut jokes. Some of the characters are on the rude side (us Americans, am I right) and Grace was just sweet, and Megan got her message right when she needed a pick-me-up. Also, no sweating for days over whether Grace will follow her back!

Clip 4 - Chemistry

He's reading The Great Gatsby while Meg reads The Scarlet Letter. Any significance, since they’re going hard with The Scarlet Letter?

“We have chemistry together, you know that.” Yes, we do know that, Marlon. That’s why Meg is worried.

Marlon is such a liar, he can't keep his story straight. 

“If you were in my chemistry class I would be texting you non-stop” lol I know he didn’t mean it this way but that has some connotations in light of your current situation, bro.

Clip 5 - Girl Squad together

This is a low standard but I do love how realistic and down go earth all their clothes are. 

Kelsey’s red upper lip legit made me laugh. At first I thought she'd been drinking fruit punch.

Jo and Kelsey are ride or die BFFs, I love it.

Kelsey looking scandalized when Grace doesn't know what a Kitten is then her “bless your heart, no wonder you’re so lost!” when she learns Grace is new, tells you all you need to know about her priorities. Also I’ve never heard one of those Southern “bless your heart”s in the wild before, I feel like I’ve spotted a rhino.

Meg: “Who am I?” THEME.

Regarding the formation of a dance team, I have some questions/concerns as to how they would handle that. If it were just a recreational team that’s one thing, but if they can get out of P.E., as Jo says, then it’ll have to be school-recognized, and I’m sure that comes with a lot of rules that you wouldn’t have if you just want to dance for fun. My school required only one year of P.E. for students (thank Goddddd) but you didn’t get out of it even if you were on one of the school sports teams, so I don’t know quite how it works. I had some friends from other schools who joined their schools’ athletic teams as a replacement for P.E., but these were all well-established teams. If Kelsey’s team gets recognized by the school, do they have to agree to a particular schedule? Dance competitions? Performances at school functions and games? So many questions. 

Grace, a dance team is a hell of a lot to commit to just to show up an Islamophobe. I mean props to the sentiment but you’re probably going to have to like ... dance, and work out, and get up early and stay after school and stuff.

I also don’t think a dance team is something she can sit out as much as Noora could be whatever about the bus, especially if there’s a 5-person minimum for the team. Grace has to be all in or she’s out.

Is Zoya going to turn out to be an amazing dancer? Did she audition for the Kittens, or did she not bother because she figured she wouldn’t make it? I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a dress code that prevented her from wearing her hijab in performance. 

Clip 6 - Losers club

All right, so I kinda loved this clip and kinda hated it.

But boy did I feel bad for Kelsey in this one, in a way that I’ve never felt for any of the Vildes! Because Kelsey was doing more or less what I, a nerd, would be doing if I attempted to form a dance team. Jumping the gun a LOT with reserving yearbook space, but meeting with the principal, planning to raise money, and researching dance routines, all of that is what you should be thinking about. You know … putting together a team.

Kelsey: “I already have the agenda already...:” IDK if it’s scripted or improvised but I’m oddly into them capturing that kind of redundant language that I hear from a lot of teenagers. And well, adults.

Kelsey not even answering Grace’s question about the need for an alternative dance team. She just has an endgame and she’s going to stick to it, gosh darn it.

“Share some of that Kitten secret sauce with us” I’m not going to make a NSFW joke. I’m not.

Actually, what a blast would Jo/Shay be.

I guess what I wonder is why Zoya wants in on a nobody dance team unless she really loves to dance. Like are they ever going to show them dancing? Practicing?

Yeah, going off the earlier point, I feel really bad for Kelsey because she seems like she seriously wants to be on the dance team - maybe just for popularity/social reasons, because she seems to have a very high opinion of the Kittens. But if she’s tried out five times, she’s been practicing for weeks beforehand, and she’s throwing herself into creating a dance group of her own, that also sounds like someone who wants to dance because she enjoys it and not just to boost her social standing. 

And with that in mind, although I enjoyed a lot of Zoya’s dialogue, the fact that she stepped in with her suggestion to hook up with guys made me sad for Kelsey in a way that I haven’t felt for Vilde in any other version of this scene. Because russ/parties do have a social element involved that’s at least relevant to getting guys to like you. Druck has an established school party that the girls get assigned to and they just start going out as a crew. Skam Italia did away with the organized squad altogether and just had the girls start hanging out, somewhat formed around getting Silvia a date. But if I really wanted to form a dance team, I didn’t plan on having to hook up with dudes. That’s not a purely social organization, that’s an athletic/artistic/competitive one. 

“My plan is to work really hard on our routines” Kelsey :(

Lol somehow I think working hard on their routines will go over better with the principal compared to hooking up with football players.

Zoya says that “you guys” will have to get with the dudes because she won’t, but she includes Kelsey in this, soooo I guess Kelsey is not supposed to be that conservative of a Christian? Or will that not come up?

Jo immediately planning blackmail as a way to get the Kittens to join them - lol, this is the kind of character I enjoy, I love her.

Zoya: “If you didn’t want to be seen as a sexual object, you’d shave your head, stop wearing makeup and start wearing looser clothes.” Grace: “I wear these things for me, not for guys.” Zoya: “Well then I find it very convenient that the things you wear for you are the exact same things that a heterosexual man in America finds attractive.”

OK, that was a completely new bit of dialogue and that was something that got my attention. Because that’s good. Zoya and Grace, as the two most likely feminists of the group, having opposing takes on beauty culture. I saw people objecting to Zoya’s perspective but she’s neither 100% right or 100% wrong. Women have personal choice and preferences to style themselves how they want, including dressing with themselves in mind rather than men, but you can’t divorce that from the larger societal ideals of how women are supposed to look. I make the choice to shave my legs and no one is forcing me to do it, but I also didn’t wake up one day and form this completely independent idea that no one had done before; I had a societal norm to give me the idea. And a lot of beauty standards on women are enforced by patriarchy. It’s a really difficult conversation to have because you’re dealing with the individual (Grace saying she wears these things for herself) versus the collective (Zoya saying it’s not an accident what she chooses for herself also happens to be societally acceptable). Everyone at that table is making their own choices, but within a larger system that sets precedents and ideals. But there are also a lot of assumptions that Zoya is making, such as whether Grace is interested in heterosexual men; Grace could be a lesbian for all she knows. Not to mention that Grace is wearing an average sweater and not much makeup, so it is a leap to think she wants to be seen as a sexual object. All of the girls seem very casually dressed, in fact, and Zoya is wearing as much eyeshadow as any of them, so what’s the difference? Can Zoya say she’s wearing eyeshadow for herself, but the others can’t? To me it’s less whether Zoya is completely right and more about the fact that the ideas were introduced at all.

That’s my rambling way of saying I liked that exchange. 

Julie repeating the same camera angle with Sana/Zoya’s back surrounded by her court … sighhhhhhh come on.

General comments:

I guess what’s really frustrating is that there is so much rich material here in the setup that they could spin into new scenes and stories, but I’m not sure if they’re going to do it. Like … we should get them actually trying to dance! I want to see shitty dance montages! I want to see Grace being over it and Jo goofing around and Kelsey trying her best and Zoya defying everyone’s expectations and Meg becoming a crucial part of the team with her experience, finding some purpose and joy again! Let’s talk about clashes between Kelsey and Zoya over the uniforms, let’s talk about the first time they try to perform publicly and it’s a mess (actually let’s not, I would expire from secondhand embarrassment.) Give me all of that dance team drama, played realistically.

But also stuff like Kelsey’s religion and how that plays into the plot (like how DOES she feel about being asked to hook up with guys), how her being a Christian and Zoya being a Muslim should yield both some common ground and some huge differences. 

I’m sort of getting the same feeling I had in S4 of Skam where there was so much incredibly rich material to develop, but instead they went with stuff that was much less interesting.

The profanity filter on the FB videos is SO DUMB. There is a mature content warning at the start of every clip. Why do they have to bleep out the swear words? 

I get the sense that a lot of the new viewers on Facebook don’t know what to do about the texts and IGs. 

Marlon’s text about going to see Avengers makes it sound like the movie just came out, which is probably because the movie was supposed to be released that day (May 4) and was pushed up to April 27. Which I get but part of me’s kinda like, you could have revised that to sound a little more fitting to the date. I feel like Marlon would probably not going to wait a week to see Infinity War. 

Also Marlon has overtaken Giovanni from Skam Italia as my least favorite Jonas. He’s not the devil or anything but I definitely don’t want him and Meg together.

Jo and Shay continue to be my faves. They really should have scenes together at some point. Share one of those long candies, Lady and the Tramp-style.

#skamus reactions #skam austin reactions

[makistar2018]

Woman who analyzed Taylor Swift’s lyrics gets to meet her

BY TARA MCCARTY The Tampa Bay Times August 18, 2018

TAMPA, FLA. The Florida sun burned through my black pleather top as I hurried around Raymond James Stadium. I tried to grip a set of metal plates used at the Tampa Bay Times printing press, but my hands kept slipping. The sweat had little to do with the heat.

Days before, I had published a project in the Times called "Look What Taylor Swift Made Me Do," analyzing lyrics of her six albums over three years. My quest was to learn about my favorite singer, who is notoriously private, by decoding her lyrics.

I knew many people had read it in print and online. I'd spent the morning before her Tampa concert interacting with some of those readers on Reddit about my methods and why I did this. But I didn't know if one reader — the reader — had seen it at all.

Then, I'd gotten a text. It was Jay Cridlin, the Times pop music/culture critic: Hey, can you call me ASAP?

My heart pounded. Did I mess something up? I called immediately.

"Taylor's publicist called me. They read the project. She invited us backstage tonight to meet her."

The sweating began.

The security team at the stadium eyed the plates. A supervisor came over. There was no way I was allowed to bring them in. They were sharp, they were metal. I sputtered, knowing the words sounded pitiful.

"I'm meeting Taylor. Her publicist said to bring them."

That was a hard no. I felt defeated.

When the article went to press the week before, I'd called the printing plant to see if they could save the plates. The sheets of metal are not only a tangible form of my project, but also symbolize the work I do at the Times as a news page designer — a job dependent on the health of print newspapers, which so many people around the country claim are on their deathbeds.

The operators at the plant gave me two copies of the plates. One set will be framed and hung on my wall at home.

Now dejected, I started to set the other by a trash can near the box office. Maybe someone would stumble upon them and wonder why anyone would make metal posters that looked like newspapers featuring the face of Taylor Swift.

The project started from a desire to learn about Taylor, to support the connections my brain made with her lyrics. It resulted in collaborations with nearly every corner of the newsroom. Only after it was published on tampabay.com did I really start to think other fans might truly find it interesting.

I briefly entertained the idea that one day the project would reach its subject through social media, and she would tweet or blog it. But I never expected her to read it, much less before her concert in Tampa. I certainly never expected an invitation to meet her.

It's not the reason I wrote it, not at all. But now that I had the chance, I had to put an ending on this story.

As I turned back toward security, my friends yelled solutions at me. The heartbreak on my face was plain.

I saw Jay raise his hand. He was on the phone. Take the plates to the media entrance, he said. I whipped around and hurried them to a confused doorman, who, after a phone call, promised to get the plates where they needed to be.

I breathed, and gleefully glided through security.

Taylor Swift's publicist appeared out of nowhere as I stood gaping at the crowd on the floor level of the stadium. She led us through just a couple doors and then a curtain, and there she was.

Taylor gathered me into a hug. I was vaguely aware of how sweaty I was and how not sweaty she was. We had a brief, but real, conversation.

Her team asked us to keep exact details of the meeting off the record, so I'll honor that. In fact, it makes sense. This practice of keeping Taylor private is what led me to try to decipher her the first place.

But strictly from my perspective, the entire experience had a dream-like quality.

I was able to explain the gift of the newspaper plates, describing them as stamps that print the newspaper.

And it was my understanding that she saw the story in print. For a project intended for online and all the ways it was pushed on social media (I am now a member of no less than 22 Taylor Swift fan groups on Facebook), Taylor Swift saw it in our local newspaper.

The memory of meeting Taylor still feels like a dream, but it's also reality now. If my reporting proved anything to me, it's that there's a little room for both.

We took a glistening photo together, with a backdrop of her name on newspaper pages behind us.

Idaho Statesman

#taylor swift #reputation tour #tampa #florida #2018

[lapeaudelamemoire]

It's too hot to do anything today. Quick turn from it being too cold, I know. But it's too bright to look at anything in the sun without squinting and uncomfortably burning in the light itself. Crashing from my day out to Trakai yesterday. Wanted a quiet day in, but had to go out to get something and meet someone - there's a food festival on at the beginning of the avenue today, or perhaps this entire weekend - people coming out in droves, like swarming bees. The most ironic thing - a man coming up to me to ask for a cigarette, then when I explained I was smoking my last one, he asked where I was from, Japan or China. I replied Singapore, but he just asked again. This repeated once more, or perhaps twice, until he finally shook his head and walked away. Apparently there are only two countries, or mine doesn't exist. The irony was that immediately after this, another man came up to me, beginning the conversation with "It's hard to be a foreigner in a city, isn't it, when you're obviously not from there? I saw that man harassing you, and..." except he'd come up to me just the same way, and asked the exact same question, and lingered longer talking. I'm tired, I want to be left alone. I'm tired of people, men especially - sometime ago I rang up a tattoo place to say I wouldn't be able to come in that day, and the guy gave my number to someone else I don't recall even speaking to at the shop, who texted me saying that he'd been given my number because the original guy said I asked for his number, and carried on texting even when I said I hadn't. He eventually stopped after two more messages - I didn't know what to say, nor could I reply anyhow, since I'd run out of credit. I'm tired of men giving out my number to other people when they've no valid ethical grounds to do so - it's like privacy doesn't exist in the real world, though we complain so much about it being taken away online - my ex in London got my number from the landlord of the room I rented for that night by asking him for it, before I texted him on the number he left. What if I hadn't wanted to write? Tired of the way men work, tired of their circles. I want out. There's that thing I think Dali believed - that sleep is a waste of time, so much so that he'd hold a teaspoon in his hand and leave it hanging over the side of his bed, with a saucer beneath it, so that if he slipped off into sleep, he'd drop the spoon, and falling onto the saucer, would clang and thus wake him up. Fuck that, I want my sleep. What I don't have time for is people taking it up.

#personal

[fanfictionconnectionwordpress]

Mystic Messenger Fanfiction | VanderwoodxOC Cerise - Tagged | Ch. 15 Return

***All of my NSFW scenes have had their passwords removed. =0 So, now you can get dat gud gud when you want it. Enjoy your weekly dose of Cherrywood!***

*Remember, this is a sequel to Vanderwood Backstory, and Cerise has a bio. You can support my writing on patreon and get access to my VIP Discord Server or other goodies like early chapter releases and hidden scenes.  Tagged Chapter Directory*

It felt strange to Cerise, being in his weird place with nobody around. He'd been gone less than an hour, and she was already beginning to feel antsy. They had retrieved the rest of her pillows from the trunk of the car, and she spent a lot of her time buried in them and texting her boyfriend. He was so formal when it came to texting, but it was also kind of cute, too. The texts stopped coming at some point, meaning they must have arrived at their destination, and that's when she started to feel alone and just weird without him. Just like he said, he was checking in with her in twelve-hour intervals. It wasn't a lot, but it was at least something.

In the time between, she busied herself with exploring the house and watching TV while updating her blogs. She'd even managed to not burn the kitchen down. Coffee was a no-go, since she couldn't figure out the coffee maker. Obviously, there was only one thing to do there. Cerise took a sad picture with it and posted it, taking an hour or so to watch another show before she felt there was no doubt there many people explaining the mysterious workings of the coffee maker to her. After some reading, she was able to figure it out. Sometimes being cute and popular online had its perks. Cerise posted a new picture with her freshly made cup of coffee and thanked her followers.

While digging through the cabinet, she found a bag of chips she'd never seen before. They looked like they would be a good snack, so she opened a bag and took a bite. Nope. Nuh uh. Cerise found herself promptly spitting it out and taking a gulp of her still hot coffee to eliminate the taste from her mouth. Who could stand to even eat those? So gross. Her mind slipped to Marion. He certainly wouldn’t have eaten those chips. Was he eating right out there on his mission? Cerise did her best not to worry and keep herself occupied, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him like that.

The second day was coming to a close, and there was no sign of either of them. Marion was supposed to have come back…just two days, that had been what he’d said, so anxiety kept building higher by the second. Cerise checked her phone to see if maybe she had missed a text...something. She didn't like it...worrying wasn't going to get her anywhere, so she buried herself in the blankets and pillows of his bed and fell asleep.

Cerise wasn't sure how long she was asleep before a notification woke her up. She rubbed her eyes and sat up as she sleepily unlocked her phone to check it, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was from Vanderwood, but soon her relief turned into concern. `Can't talk am okay Wil take longr than thouht` He was saying that it was going to take longer...and the way he was texting was so unlike him.

Panic began to set in. Did something go wrong? He said he was okay...but was he really? She wouldn't put it past him to tell her he was when he wasn't. Cerise wanted to reply, but it wouldn't have done any good. He’d said he couldn't talk, and she didn't want to possibly compromise him by spamming his phone. That jerk had better come back in one piece.

***

He had spent the entire trip to the mission point texting Cerise, wishing he could be there with her instead of in the car with Zero Seven. It sucked ass that when they got to their location, he couldn’t talk to her much anymore, and maybe he was somewhat distracted by that fact. This was just further proof to him of why agents couldn’t have loved ones, why he couldn’t keep working, why they needed to get this done. At least he was managing to keep up with separating himself from the kid by calling him by his agency name, but he felt like that wasn’t really doing him any good on this mission either. Vanderwood didn’t feel like he was his usual self.

The first and second day went as planned. Every twelve hours he would send Cerise a quick message to let her know that he was okay. By the time Zero Seven felt he’d taken down all of the security cameras and given them the best possible guess on where his brother would be, Vanderwood was ready to get this shit over with.

They had some trouble getting past a few guards, but they slipped easily through the corridors of the building using the blueprint Seven had found. At this point, there wasn’t even a point to calling him Zero Seven…This mission was an emotional one anyway, not even agency regulated. With the security system down, they only had to worry about running into people. There was a strange large room that honestly looked like a church from the outside. Now they just needed to get through that to get toward the main information hub where Seven thought his brother would be.

Everything seemed to be going as it should…right up until they entered the strange church like building. For whatever reason, the people inside had been expecting them. Vanderwood tried not to blanch at the number of people surrounding them. They all seemed like they were in some haze, and the one that was clearly Seven's brother was no better. He’d noticed him almost immediately, the white hair tinted in pink and mint colored eyes not keeping him from being almost the exact likeness of his twin brother.

Brown eyes traveled to the queen bitch as she stood. Really, she was rather pretty, but her heart was clearly ugly. "Can I start my revenge, Savior?" The twin had a weird manic tone to his voice, and Vanderwood furrowed his brows. What the fuck was he talking about? The queen bitch looked over to them, her eyes glassy. "Not until after we give them their cleansing."

He shifted away from her. What the fuck did that even mean? They were at a major disadvantage here. Fuck. Already completely surrounded, and no way to just escape. "You're not giving me shit." Vanderwood didn't like the sound of it, and now two men were laying their hands on Seven. He moved instinctively, knocking the first to the ground before punching the other in the face so hard that the man fell backwards. "Seize him!" The bitch shrieked and then he was on the ground as four men kicked at him. He was lucky that the first one's kick to his jaw didn't snap his neck.

Vanderwood tried to block out the pain as the next started going nuts on his abdomen, one kicking him in the back of his leg and another assaulting his shoulder blade. It hurt like Hell, and he would be damn lucky if he didn't start internally bleeding to death right there on the floor. No, he couldn't think like that. He needed to get back to Cerise. Vanderwood just laid there, waiting for it to stop and thinking of her.

When he came back to reality, they'd ended up in some sort of dungeon, constantly being watched by two guards. Vanderwood ran his hands discreetly over his body, wincing at the pain, but finding his phone and a few other weapons still stashed on him. At least he had his phone. They'd found his taser and gun and stopped at that, it seemed. If he risked a text to Cerise, there was a chance he'd lose his phone completely. Still, he needed to let her know that he wouldn't be home, needed to keep her from doing anything rash. Not that he knew what she would do or could do.

He tucked himself into the corner sending the text as quickly as he could with his left hand, since his right was out of use, thanks to the damage his shoulder blade had taken. `Can't talk am okay Wil take longr than thouht` There wasn't time to fix the typos or punctuation. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket before making his way over to his moping partner, limping a little. "So. What are we gonna do?"

***

It was the fourth day now…When he could manage, he’d sent messages to confirm to Cerise that he was alive, but he was sure that she was frightened. Honestly, he was a little frightened too. There were guards everywhere, and they could easily knock out a few, but then they would be swiftly set upon by another few.

There was simply no way they could get out of this, and every day Seven’s brother would come by to taunt them about this ‘cleansing’, which Vanderwood was pretty certain was drug related, something that gave him a whole different kind of terror. Seven wasn’t as useful as he needed to be either, begging his brother to hear him out every time he was in their cell. Vanderwood had to knock the kid over the head just to get him to pay attention instead of staring off into a corner. They needed to get out of here somehow.

After long drawn out whispers of conversation, Seven and Vanderwood had decided they needed to knock out the guards and call for the help of Seven's friends. Usually they had the agency to rely on, but considering they were about to release the information of the major members of the organization as soon as this mission was over, as well as the fact that this mission was unauthorized, that wasn't an option. Seven had assured Vanderwood that the rich kid could handle sending the right people, and as much as both of them didn't want to involve anyone else, they didn't have a lot of options left open to them.

It was only a matter of minutes after Seven had made the call that they heard helicopters overhead. Damn. The rich dude really was resourceful. After what seemed like hours, they were finally released from their dungeon, giving Vanderwood a massive rush of relief as they were out of that dirty environment and back in control.

Seven hadn’t been able to handle this well. He felt like he’d completely lost himself in all of this. His brother…there was so much wrong with this. V had been supposed to keep Saeran safe…Rika had been…It didn’t make any sense. The others…they were all involved now, and they all needed to get to a hospital. At least with Saeran on his way to the hospital, he’d be able to remove the agency threat by releasing the information on those agents who deserved justice brought down on them…Seven wasn’t even sure he felt like praying, even though it felt like his entire soul was being flushed down a toilet.

Everyone would be getting the, 'cleansing' flushed from their systems, so he needed to go with Saeran, although Vanderwood looked…all sorts of fucked up. “Mary, shouldn’t you come too?” His girlfriend was at the bunker, she was safe, but it seemed like that didn’t matter much to Vanderwood, who only gave him a glare in response to the pet name he hated so much. "I need to get home to Cerise."

And he did. She was probably all sorts of panicked, and he felt absolutely empty without her. Driving hurt like Hell. Any time he moved the muscles black with bruise, it hurt like Hell, and every time he opened his mouth, his jaw clicked painfully. Still, the only thing he could think of was Cerise, holding her close and filling what felt like an empty void in his soul. He didn't care that he was driving, opening his phone to look at the picture they'd taken before he left. It wasn't enough, but at least he could look at her and remember the joy of that moment. His moitié, the other half of his soul.

Once he parked. the thought of having a cigarette wasn't even on his mind, nor was sex, he was tense and agitated, but all he wanted was her in his arms, to bury his face in her hair. He pushed the door open, grunting at the motion before calling out to her, his voice betraying the pain he was in. "Cerise?" Was she in his room? He limped along to find her.

Cerise had been napping when she was woken up by what she could have sworn had been her name being called. She sat up on the bed and listened...could she hear someone? The possibility of an intruder hadn't even crossed her mind; the first thing on her mind was the possibility of it being Vanderwood. Quickly she got up and practically ran for the door, opening it. Her suspicions were confirmed; he was finally home.

A mix of emotions swirled through her when she saw him. Love, adoration, worry, empathy, anger...He’d said he was okay, so why did he look so beaten up? Cerise couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes as she ran up to him and threw her arms around him as gently as she could, knowing that he had to be in all sorts of pain. "You jerk...you lied to me...said you were okay..."

Vanderwood could only describe the sight of her as angelic. He wrapped his arms around her, grunting softly at the pain as he pulled her close, nuzzling into her hair and breathing in her heavenly scent. It was like stitching his soul back together. "I'm more than okay now..." That was cheesy, but he was too tired to berate himself. He had lied to her a little...this was incredibly painful. "I missed you so much, shortcake." Pressing kisses to the top of her head, he made a move to get back to his room, keeping an arm around her, not willing to let go quite yet.

If it wouldn't have hurt so much, he would have flopped onto his bed, but instead he sat slowly, the pain in his leg reminding him that maybe he should just be laying down. Honestly, he should get some pain-relieving patches on his bruises just to get towards functioning again, but even the thought of getting up again was painful. "Mon amour...Would you do me a favor and get the first aid kit from the bathroom?" So far, she’d been silently watching him. His jaw was clicking again, and he winced, going to pull off his shirt, revealing the mass of bruising on his abdomen and right shoulder blade.

Cerise hadn't been able to do much to support him on his way back to his room. All she could think was that he was really beat up. It was a scary sight. He had asked for the first aid kit, but she didn't move upon his request, and as he pulled his shirt off to reveal even heavier injuries, she found herself getting even more angry and upset. Marion most definitely wasn't okay. Cerise frowned at him and sat on the edge of the bed with her back to him, her arms crossed. "...If you're so okay, you can get them yourself." Her voice held a bit of bitterness. What he needed was a doctor, not a first aid kit.

She was pissed at him. Rightfully so, he deserved it. Vanderwood was about to gather up the strength to get up and retrieve the first aid kit when she went off to get it for him after all. Cerise figured she might as well give him what he wanted, because he wasn’t about to go to a doctor, and she wasn’t about to let him hurt himself more with getting up, even if a small part of her thought he deserved it.

Vanderwood wasn’t really sure how to feel at the moment, even though she was angry at him, he couldn’t help feeling so refreshed simply being around her. Cerise had wordlessly gotten up to fetch the first aid kit and bring it over, and now she was rifling through it instead of handing it to him. “Do you want me to-“ Vanderwood didn’t get to finish his sentence before she gave him a glare. Apparently, Cerise was not in the mood to let him take care of it. She had some idea of what to do and grabbed some pain relievers from the kit, preparing a glass of water and bringing that to him. "Open."

He did as she requested, opening his mouth for the pills and water and drinking it down. God, it felt like forever since he'd had something to drink. Vanderwood probably hadn't eaten in over 24 hours either, and he certainly smelled terrible after four days of not showering and sleeping in a car and on a cold dungeon floor.

His skin started to crawl, but he had other pressing matters to attend to. He reached for the kit to grab those little patches, not wanting to bother her any more than he already had. Cerise just glared at him. Vanderwood started with popping one on his jaw, a couple on his abdomen and then contorting himself to attempt to place some properly on his shoulder blade. Which, really, he shouldn't be attempting to do by himself, because that was just hurting him more, but he wasn't about to ask her any more favors. He'd pissed her off enough already.

Cerise had been watching silently as he attempted to patch himself up and kinda fail. What did he think he was doing? Really? Marion was an idiot, pretending that he was ‘okay’ and trying to take care of himself. It was only making her madder. Sighing, she grabbed a patch from him and placed it properly on his shoulder blade herself, making him snort softly that she was still bothering to take care of him despite how angry she was. God, he loved this woman.

She disappeared into the other room, and while she was gone, he pulled his pants down just enough to pop a patch on the back of his upper thigh. She didn’t need to see everything. It was about fifteen minutes before she reappeared with what looked like soup in a cup. The cup of soup was a welcome meal, even if he would never eat that normally.

His heart was doing that melty thing that it always did when she took care of him, too, and Vanderwood thought it was oddly romantic…in his own special way. Cerise had just figured that the soup would be easier on him, since his jaw had looked pretty bad. "I'm not really good at cooking, but this should be tolerable. " Marion just nodded as Cerise sat on the bedside beside him and offered to help him down it by placing the rim of the cup by his mouth.

Fucking Hell, she was amazingly kind, kinder than he deserved, and her help was more than he’d ever gotten from anyone other than maybe an agency nurse, and she got paid for that shit anyway. Vanderwood let her help him drink the soup down, feeling his stomach protest somewhat at finally getting food again, but knowing that it would settle before long.

As he finished off the soup, he reached for her, taking her hand and pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. She deserved an apology, and he meant to give it to her. "I'm sorry...I should have told you. I didn't have much time to explain, and I didn't want you to worry...but I shouldn't have lied to you."

She enjoyed the feeling of his lips on her skin, but as much as she enjoyed it, she was still irritated with him. "Shut up, don't talk." Cerise was happy that he was apologizing, she just didn't feel like hearing it at the moment. He was just going to have to put up with that. She got up, taking the emptied cup with her to put away and then came back to clean up all the packaging mess from the first aid kit.

He did as she asked, clamping his mouth shut and watching her move about the room cleaning up. Vanderwood was happy she was picking up for him because otherwise it would have just driven him crazy. It was difficult to understand for him, the fact that his apology didn’t mean anything, but then he’d never been good with interpersonal things. Honestly, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d apologized for something. Cerise was pissed…he deserved that…and it wasn’t like someone had to accept an apology even if it was given. Perhaps she just wasn’t ready for it? Hell if he knew, but he laid back on the bed as best as he could, letting her do the cleaning, despite itching to do so himself.

Shit, he needed a shower too. Vanderwood tried not to think about it. Tomorrow…tomorrow after he took her back home like he’d promised, at least not failing her there, he could clean, and he could shower in the morning. For now, just focusing on the fact that he would get to clean up soon was keeping him from wanting to scrape his skin off.

Cerise left the actual kit out in case he needed it, watching him as he was laying there in thought before settling on the bed beside him and getting as close to him as she could without hurting him. Lying beside him, she reached out to stroke his hair comfortingly. She was mad, yeah...but that didn't mean that she didn't care or didn't love him, and she was sure that he knew that. Right now, no matter how much of a jerk he was, she wanted to be close…to appreciate that he was back at all.

As she played with his hair, Vanderwood closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of it. Cerise was angry, but the care was there. It was only too obvious how much she cared. No one ever cared for him like that in his life, and it made him smile, despite all the pain he was in. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, feeling like he needed it after being away for so long, thinking maybe she needed it, too. Now he simply laid in silence, lightly playing with her hair, happy to be back with the love of his life.

Cerise felt the silence was much needed. She didn't want to snap at him too much, just needing some time to cool down before she was ready for normal conversation with him. The jerk had lied to her and was in so much pain. It hurt, made her chest feel tight. She welcomed his arms and gently snuggled into him, hoping she wasn't hurting him too badly. After so many days away from him and despite being upset, she was happy to be in his arms and beside him again. There was no way she could fall asleep after that, so she just laid there awake, enjoying the feeling of having her hair played with as she returned the favor

Vanderwood's thoughts drifted around as he felt himself relaxing into her. He hadn't even needed sex to get to this point and was honestly pretty proud of himself, knowing that it was all thanks to Cerise that he could relax like a normal human being. The two times they'd had sex had only served to prove to him even more. While he was still impatient as ever, his relationship with sex had changed into something else entirely.

He remembered the last time they’d had sex, making a sharp intake of breath as it hit him full force that he’d nearly forgotten to put on a condom. It was the first time that had ever happened to him, and knowing the way it felt being with her, seemed to him that he could easily forget again. Vanderwood internally slapped himself, not wanting to keep his thoughts drifting in that direction.

His arms tightened around her. Now wasn't the time to think about it. They'd talk about it tomorrow when he went with her to her apartment. Vanderwood felt incredibly stupid on many levels, but again, it wasn't the time. Why was he even thinking about it right now? He was exhausted, she was still angry, and he was passing out even with that moment of panic. After pressing a soft kiss to her forehead and nuzzling into her wealth of hair, he took some time to just breathe in her scent, not even realizing that he was sinking into sleep.

Cerise had felt his hold on her tighten, heard his sharp intake of breath, but now he was relaxing again. She didn't know what he was thinking, but it didn't feel like it was really the time to ask. He needed to rest, be able to recover. and she wasn't going to keep him up any longer than he needed to be. He was out shortly after kissing her forehead, easy to notice with the way he went lax. The room was cold, but he was warm, and alive. Such a jerk…Marion had terrified her, but she’d clung to the fact that he was okay only to now find out that he really wasn’t. That was what made her so mad. She sighed again and snuggled into him more, hoping not to wake him, but he was so exhausted that he didn’t even stir in his sleep.

She wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, opening her eyes slowly and pulling back from him. For the first time since meeting him, she’d woken up before he did. Marion was out cold and was probably going to stay that way for a while, despite how light of a sleeper he was. Even a secret agent couldn’t train himself out of sleep when he was exhausted. Cerise did her best not to wake him as she carefully moved away from him to hop off the bed, heading to the kitchen to fix a glass of water to set by the bed in case he woke up. After grabbing some fresh clothes, she closed herself in the bathroom to take a quick shower, not wanting to use too much of the warm water. He was probably going to want to use the shower when he woke up.

The sound of the shower turning on was what finally woke him. He opened his eyes slowly and rolled over, groaning softly at how sore he felt. There was a glass of water on the table. A smile spread across his face as he realized Cerise must have put it there. Vanderwood drank it quickly before forcing himself out of bed. Gross, he felt rather gross in general, but Cerise was in the shower for now, and the best he could do was change clothes.

Energy wasn't exactly something he had a lot of at the moment, but he needed to eat, so he made his way to the kitchen, making some toast and grabbing some juice. Vanderwood set some out for her as well, not sure if she had eaten yet but guessing that she hadn’t. When she was done with her shower they'd just switch places, and then he could get delightfully clean. After that, back to her place. The thought of taking her home wasn’t one he was a fan of either, but she did need to be in her own place.

His thoughts stilled for a moment as he remembered what had panicked him last night. Fuck...They'd need to talk about that. It wasn’t a major emergency, but the fact that it could have been was enough to tell him they needed to talk sooner rather than later. It was strange the way that after coming back from something so dangerous and stressful, a person slipped into their normal life as though nothing had happened. Before he’d just continued on with training, so agency life was what had felt ‘normal.’ Vanderwood snorted at his own musings as he bit into a piece of toast.

***

Cerise finished her shower quickly, getting dressed as quickly as she could, too. Her hair was still wet, but she could dry it later, wanting to check on him first. She wrung out any excess water and threw a towel over her head before heading into his room. Her eyes scanned the room, finding he wasn't in bed anymore. "Marion?" Cerise called out and headed out into the kitchen, finding him there. She noted that he looked a little better, rested at least. "Morning. Shower's all yours." It would be silly to lie, she was still a little upset, but she had had same time to cool down. Sleep had definitely helped.

Vanderwood heard his name and perked up a little as she entered the room. "Morning..." His eyes scanned hers, checking to see if she was still angry, and it looked like she was, at least a little. "Thanks...I’ll be right back.” It would have been a lie if he said he wasn’t absolutely excited at the thought of taking a shower and washing off the dirt and grime. He chugged down the rest of his juice before wiping his mouth and giving the top of her head a quick kiss.  Vanderwood limped as quickly as he could into his shower.

Cerise gave him a non-committal 'Hnn' before she sat down and nibbled on what he’d set out for her. Even though he was injured, he was still thinking about her, making her breakfast. God, she was being a brat. Briefly she wondered where the red head was, but since Vanderwood wasn't broken up about anything, she assumed he was okay. As much as they seemed to not get along, she could tell they cared about each other. There was no way Vanderwood would have let anything happen to him.

Vanderwood felt like he’d been in a dream-like state as he showered. It felt so good to have the hot water over his sore muscles, that and washing off all the grime. He tried not to think too much about the conversations they needed to have as he dried off and got dressed, packing up a little bag for himself before heading into the kitchen. "Want me to help you pack up your things, mon amour?" He was taking her home today...It felt a little weird, not that he was going to let her stay there alone tonight. The last time he saw her in that apartment, she was being attacked.

She had been a little lost in thought when he came back into the room and inquired about helping her. "Huh, what...?" She stared confused for a moment while her brain caught up. Right. The plan had been to take her back to her place when he got back. It had slipped her mind as a possibility, since he’d been so injured, but clearly, he was still sticking to the plan. That…probably shouldn’t have surprised her, considering how OCD he was. "Oh! No, I have it. " For one thing, she wasn’t about to let him hurt himself helping her, but for another, Cerise had packed up most of her things already while waiting for his return, besides the things she knew she was going to immediately need.

He didn’t really have much of a chance to respond before she was moving the dishes to the sink and washing them. It was oddly homey, and he found himself wanting this every day, the time together at least. Vanderwood lightly touched the bruise on his jaw as she ran off to grab the rest of her things, feeling just a light twinge of pain. The formerly black bruises were now yellow and orange in color, so it wouldn't be long before they were gone completely. It wasn’t even that long before she appeared again and stood in front of the garage door. “Ready when you are, Marion."

It felt awkward to him, the way he was stiff completely unrelated to his pain as he helped her to the care. Vanderwood couldn’t quite place his finger on it, maybe all of the things that they needed to talk about were just…picking at him harder than he thought. As he was about to help her into the car, he felt like he needed to say at least something. "Hey...shortcake..." She paused and looked up into his eyes. Maybe she was ready to hear it now? He gently slid his fingers along her jawline, urging her to lock her eyes with his. "I really am sorry." It wasn't like him to apologize to anyone. Usually, he had nothing to be sorry for, but with Cerise, he was as vulnerable as he could ever be. "I love you, Cerise."

His eyes were so genuine as he apologized to her, and she couldn’t help the way her heart responded or the relief she felt now as the anger had washed off of her. It's not like she could stay mad at him forever. Cerise caught his hand and nuzzled into it before bringing it to her lips and kissing his knuckles like he often did for her. "I know...I was....I was just scared. I want you to be honest with me, even if the truth hurts." Cerise moved to embrace him gently before she got ready to get into the car. "I love you too, Marion."

His face lit up with blush at her simple little actions, those small moments feeling like they mattered more to him than anything else. "I'll try my best. I'm not really used to...sharing my world." He lightly stroked her hair before taking her hand to help her into the car as he liked to do. Maybe what he'd just said didn't make much sense, but hopefully she understood.

It's not that he really made a habit of lying, but it was far more often that he just lied by omission, because he had to, as much as he hated lies. Vanderwood drove in silence for a while, biting his tongue. There was still that other thing they needed to talk about. For the time being she was blissfully unaware, but it wouldn't be long before she'd notice how agitated he was, if she hadn't already.

Cerise was lost in her own thoughts as he drove. She hoped that eventually Vanderwood would open up to her more, maybe trust her. Yeah, she would worry, but at least she would have a clear idea of what was going on and what to expect. It was a complete shock to her when she’s first seen him when he came back, and she didn't want that to happen again.

The silence was starting to become almost deafening. Cerise felt like there was something between them, something unsaid, and she wanted to talk, but decided to busy herself with her phone for comfort. The air seemed so strange. Did he want to talk too? She peeked over at him more than once, waiting for him to speak up.

Maybe it wasn’t the right time at all, but the thought was starting to become impossible to ignore, so Vanderwood decided to just get it out there. "I uh...I have to tell you something.”  He needed to tell her something? She tensed up a bit. What in the world was he talking about? “We kind of might have a problem...Well, I don't think we have a problem...but the other night I got really distracted, and...I was so caught up in you I just, I uh...For the first time ever, I did something majorly stupid. "

She was giving him her full attention, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as Vanderwood was getting frustrated with himself. His words were having trouble working. Talking to Cerise about these types of matters was constantly flustering. It would be so much simpler if he could just come out and say it. "I almost forgot to wear a condom." Oh great. Well, at least now it was said. He coughed softly, going back to biting his tongue as he watched for her reaction from his periphery vision.

Oh. Cerise was at a loss for words before she could gather her composure. It's not like she remembered either..."I...uhh..." What was the correct response? She took in a deep breath. "I won't get pregnant will I...?" Cerise internally screamed at herself a little. Obviously, he’d only almost forgotten, but now her mind was going down another path. "I think...I'm too young." It was a little like having cold water dumped on her all at once. What would she even do if she got pregnant? She felt herself start to panic a little but tried to talk herself down from it. Nothing had happened, it could have happened, but it hadn’t.

"I…No, but…We should get you on some birth control in the future, just in case…I forget." Vanderwood couldn't stop biting his tongue, her comment that she was too young just making him think more about it. Cerise felt she was too young…but he wasn’t sure no matter how old she was if he could ever be a father. "I can't..." He sighed heavily. She wanted his honesty, and she deserved it. "I can't be a father. After Caleb...I mean...He died in my bathroom. I knew something was up, and I left him at my place alone. Had I been a better parental figure than I was a brother, maybe none of that would have happened."

Vanderwood felt like his heart was crushing in on itself as he pushed his bangs back with one hand, keeping the other on the steering wheel. "I'm sorry. Really, I never thought I'd have anyone in my life again, and I certainly never thought I'd have a girlfriend or a family. I don't know." That was a heavy conversation to just lay on her. It hadn’t been meant to be that kind of conversation, just a suggestion to solve any potential forgetfulness.  

He didn't like it, the pain that he felt, and he liked even less that now she was stuck feeling it too. It wasn't like he would run away if it ever happened. Vanderwood could never leave Cerise, but the thought of being a parent terrified him. Then again...No...Not now, and maybe not ever. His jaw was starting to get sore with how much he was biting his tongue. "I might not ever be able to give you that..."

Marion was clearly hurting so badly, and the air in the car was only feeling heavier, but at least he was telling her. That was all she could ask for right now. "Marion..." She listened to him talk, concern apparent in her eyes. "You were so young...a child can't raise another child. You did the best you knew how." Cerise put a hand on his leg and squeezed gently. "I can't say I understand how you feel, and I'm not going to pretend that I do. You've been through so much, and I've been through so little..."

Her heart ached for him. What happened with his brother was beyond his control, and Cerise wished that he could realize that, as hard as it was. Marion would probably beat himself up over it for the rest of his life. "I honestly....I never thought about it...but..." She paused, trying to search for the right words, "I want you to know that...all I need from you is yourself. That's all I want. You don't have to give me anything. "

Vanderwood listened, not really able to bring himself to talk with the knot that seemed to have formed in his throat. What she was saying...It wasn't wrong, but he would always feel like he could have done more, that he could have done something. His foot had gone off the gas, letting the car slow on its own as the weight of her words sank into him. 'All I need from you is yourself. That's all I want.' He pulled over, and Cerise was about to ask him why, thinking that maybe she had said something wrong before he was leaning over to slide his hand along her cheek and kiss her deeply.

He needed this right now. It was like his heart couldn't decide whether to disintegrate or to swell with affection, so it was doing both and he didn't know what else to do except this. She made the pain bearable when any other time he would have been slamming his hand through something or finding some random woman to just bury the pain. Cerise made him see things from a totally different point of view, with a new outlook on life.

She relaxed into his kiss. It felt like it had been forever since they'd last kissed, and she’d missed it, missed him. Cerise returned his kiss with fervor, letting him know how much she cared and how much she had missed him. Maybe one day he would be able to see himself through her eyes and stop blaming himself, even though it was a lot to hope for. Whether he could or not, she would stay with him every step of the way.

Vanderwood felt choked up, something now burning at his eyes. Was he crying? He was honestly crying. Vanderwood kissed her just a little longer, having missed the feeling of her lips on his. This wasn’t like when he sought physical release to make the pain go away, the pain was still there…just it was somehow a lot lighter.

It was so different, letting himself actually bear the pain, but it also felt good underneath it all. Vanderwood touched his cheek as he pulled away from her, fingers coming away wet, snorting softly at himself. Really, this just wasn't like him. He hadn't cried for so long it seemed, and now, here he was, crying in front of his girlfriend. It wasn't that he felt emasculated; it was just funny to him that after all these years she was what it took to break through his barriers. Seemingly, his whole life had been leading him towards her, somehow.

He pressed another kiss to her forehead, thumb stroking her cheek gently. "I love you. You're all I need." Cerise was surprised to see that he was crying when he had pulled away. If he was crying then..."I..." She started to sniffle as tears welled up in her eyes. "...I love you too." It wasn't that she was sad, she was actually really happy. Cerise just happened to be a sympathy crier. At least...that's how it was at first.

Once she started to cry just because he was crying, she started to cry harder as all the emotions from the past few days came flooding to her. Her entire composure broke, and she wasn't able to hold it in. Cerise didn't care if Marion thought she was a baby or if she was being silly, she just wanted to be close to him. After flinging her seatbelt off she leaned over to throw her arms around his torso and bury her face into him, sobbing. Really...he was the one who had all these problems and emotions to deal with and here she was making a scene and being a baby.

Vanderwood pulled her close despite the pain as she’d launched herself at him, nuzzling into her in turn as he gently stroked her hair, muttering softly into her ear. "Je'taime...Everything's okay." He continued to mutter sweet words, not really sure of what else to do. This was another of those new situations where he berated himself for not watching more romance movies, so he'd have known what to do. Vanderwood wasn't entirely sure why she was crying. Hell, he wasn't sure why he was crying, but right now he just wanted to hold her close and never let go.

After today, he was going to ask her to marry him. He’d already wanted to, had already thought about it before he left for his mission, had wanted that domestic bliss of watching her do the dishes just today…Yeah…Tomorrow he'd get a ring, and then he'd find the right time. It seemed like he held her there like that for hours as their tears dried up, but he still didn't let her go for a while longer, needing her close to him. "Je'taime, Cerise...Let's get you home, so I can hold you even tighter." That sounded cheesy but right somehow.

She didn't know how long they were there, and she didn't care. Marion didn't judge her, he just held her and told her that he loved her. It did wonders for calming her, and she could feel her tears lessen until she wasn't crying anymore. "...Je'taime aussi..." Cerise murmured into him and pulled back to put her seat belt back on, settling back down into her own seat. "That sounds good..." She was looking forward to potential cuddles, like she couldn't get enough of just having his arms around her, sharing their warmth. It was a beautiful feeling that she didn't think she could get tired of ever. Cerise leaned against the window and closed her eyes. The trip wouldn't be long, but a little relaxation never hurt anyone, and she even opted to ignore her rapidly buzzing phone.

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