#but yeah pico was to stay over for a week before heading back | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jubilantwriter · 2 years

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Siblings Singlings (SCRAPPED)

(A/N: Originally set before, “She Wears It like Make-Up”, it was meant to establish and introduce Boyfriend’s siblings, Ritz the Rat and Hatsune Miku. However, I figured the fic was more or less pointless to continue as it didn’t really do much but serve as an over bloated introduction to these two characters who won’t appear as often as implied. I scrapped it, but I may borrow scenes from it as there are some key character interactions that add more backstory to Boyfriend, Girlfriend, and Pico’s relationship.)

Word Count: 4260

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It was supposed to be a pretty average day for Pico. He had no hits lined up, his mind was being surprisingly manageable, and he has enough money to last him 'til the end of the month. It was supposed to be one of those rare days where he didn't depend on his friends to experience an ounce of normalcy. Even given the batshit insane things that Nene and Darnell sometimes do, it's enough that he can feel like a barely functioning adult, and not some mercenary hiding in plain sight. And Boyfriend and Girlfriend, bless their stupid hearts, didn't even need to try that hard to make him forget about his situation. They just had to do one thing, any thing, and he'd forget about how his shitty living situation is less a result of him purposely planning on it to mask his true occupation, and more like a result of him being a young adult thrusted into an economic landscape that's falling to pieces due to capitalism.

Capitalism, ho!

So yeah, it was supposed to be an average day filled with lazy normalcy. He'd only gotten up to get a few groceries from the nearby grocer, and then he was planning on actually watching some TV and maybe shooting the shit with his friends. It was supposed to be a really average, chill, normal day.

But of course not.

He almost drops his groceries on the gravelly parking lot in shock, but his mind helpfully supplies that he still needs the food. Someone comes up to stand next to him and offers a cigarette. He's supposed to be quitting but...

After quickly balancing all the groceries on one arm, he takes the offered cigarette and allows this someone light it for him. He takes a drag before blowing the smoke into the air. Police cars surround the front of the measly complex, his car thankfully nowhere near the parked vehicles. He glances towards the someone and is not too shocked to see his grizzly landlord inhaling a drag as well. They both focus on the scene in front of them as law enforcement mills about the lower floor.

"So," Pico begins, "before you ask, I didn't do shit."

His landlord snorts. "Yeah, didn't think so. Fucker just up and died without telling nobody."

"What exactly happened?"

"Resident in 1003." He points to the door with all the activity. "Haven't seen him in a while. Guess someone found his body in an alley. Coppers tracked down his residency to here, now they're snooping around trying to figure out his story."

"Was it murder?" Pico takes another drag, wondering how the poor son of a bitch ended up dead in an alley. There's reasons why people end up holing up in some shitty, out-of-the-way, motel-turned-apartment complex with an ass backwards address. Either they've got something to hide, or they just don't want to be found.

Of course he checks out for both those reasons.

"Nah." His landlord blows out a cloud of smoke. "Looks like a heart attack, but the medics were still confused. Didn't seem natural, but there wasn't a sign of a struggle. No other evidence but the smell of cigarette smoke and an empty carton."

"Huh." He wonders if he ever saw the man. Maybe shared a smoke with him on the odd nights he was standing around the parking lot. A faint memory pops up, but he stomps it to the ground with his cigarette butt. No use digging around for ghosts he hardly knows. "Ya think they're gonna leave soon?"

"Nah." His landlord offers him another cigarette, but he turns it down. "Think they found something of interest, and now they won't leave." The older man gives Pico a glance before looking back at the scene. "I suggest you get outta here before they start knocking at doors."

Shit. He glances over to his car. It's out of the way enough that they won't see him enter it, but it'd still be obvious if he just up and drove away in plain sight. Then again, where would he stay for the night?

"My car's around back." His landlord tosses some keys to him and Pico catches them easily. "Bring 'er back in one piece."

Now it's Pico's turn to snort. "Never heard of a landlord helping out his tenant before."

"You're one of the few fuckers who even tries to pay rent on time." His landlord keeps his gaze steadily forward as he smirks. "And besides, you're one of the more sketchier fucks I've had to take in. If the coppers knew I'm letting you stay here, they might find it in their ol' power-crazed hearts to try and implicate me in whatever crimes you've committed. And I don't need to add THAT to my rap sheet."

"Yeah yeah." Still, he appreciates it and pockets the keys. "Thanks."

"See ya back in a day or two." A few police officers scramble into their cars, looking a little too excited about something. "Or a week."

"Just shoot me a text." He turns away from his landlord with a wave and heads to the back of the building.

"Lay low 'til then, 'kay, kid?"

"Ya ain't my dad." He ignores the chuckle his landlord makes and the slight tingle of... momentary camaraderie that bubbles up. Instead, he finds his landlord's beat up old car and unlocks the door fairly quickly. He dumps his groceries in the backseat and sits in the front seat, contemplating where he's supposed to go next. It's not too unusual for him to fly by the seat of his pants when he needs to vacate and hide somewhere fairly quickly, but it is one of the few rare times where he's not in immediate danger. It leaves his brain slowly sputtering to life as he idly scrolls through his admittedly small list of contacts. He's sure all of his friends wouldn't oppose to having his sorry ass around for who knows how long (hopefully not too long, he only has the clothes on his back, after all, and he's not aiming to expand his wardrobe any time soon), but still, there's things he needs to take into consideration.

For example, he's pretty sure staying at Girlfriend's place is just asking for an unsolved murder on his end. Mostly his murder. He's not too sure how high up he is on her dad's shitlist, but boy howdy is he not prepared to find out. So unfortunately, as enthusiastic as he'd imagine she'd be, Girlfriend is out.

Then there's Darnell and Nene. As much as he loves his childhood friends, he knows they've got some... weird chemistry they're trying to hide from him. Honestly, he wouldn't be upset if they dated - ecstatic is more likely his reaction. Whatever reason they want to hide it from him probably has to do with unreasonable guilt. They always did everything together when they were younger, so maybe excluding him from their relationship probably makes them feel weird.

Or maybe they just don't want him to know for real because then it'd give him an excuse to cockblock them all the time just for funsies.

The more he thinks about it, the more he thinks it's the latter. It's got to be the latter. Now he really wants to bunk with them, but they'd probably just kick his ass to the curb if he gets too annoying. An unfortunate consequence, as tempting as it is.

...He could risk it though. He really could. It'd be so funny. But nah, there's a chance Nene might convince him to wear... embarrassing outfits actually, so maybe he should do a hard pass on that. She doesn't need any more blackmail than she already has.

Which leaves him with...

Boyfriend.

Granted, he doesn't have bad feelings for his ex. If anything, they've only grown... more positive, to say the least, over the time they've spent reconnecting. He enjoys spending time with Boyfriend, as irritable as he is. He hasn't changed much since they were teens, but at the same time he's... grown a lot.

Okay, not really - he's barely grown maybe an inch at most. But he's definitely gotten a bit more mature. There's a level of understanding Boyfriend now has, where he quiets down and listens and really puts thought into what's going on. He didn't do that much when they were younger. True, he had his own way of being observant and caring, but getting the gist of things usually took him far longer than either of them would have liked. It resulted in more tears on Boyfriend's end, if he was being honest. The boy wanted to understand, he really did, but some things just flew over his head no matter how hard he tried to catch them.

(He remembers seeing Boyfriend sitting in the library, fidgeting in his seat as he tried and tried to grasp the meaning of the texts in front of him. The cyan haired teen scratched at his arms in frustration, only to be stopped by Pico as he took his hands and squeezed them tight.

"It's okay," he remembered saying, "I'll help you figure it out."

"I know," he whispered, one of those rare few times he spoke, "but I want to do it myself too, some day."

"You will, I'm sure of it.")

And he sure did. A proud smile crosses his lips as he pulls out of the parking lot. College must have done something for his critical thinking skills, or maybe he honed it after Pico left him. Whatever the case may be, Boyfriend is a little bit of a better thinker than he was before. It can't just be his rapping skills and luck that gets them out of hard situations.

(It can't just be Boyfriend charging boldly ahead when he stops to make sure Pico is okay. It's not just him being cocky and confident and brash.

It's him trying to help in any way he can, even if he's lacking in some departments. It's him trying to catch what usually goes over his head, and it's clumsy and he almost drops it half the time, and he doesn't even know what the hell he just caught, but he's trying, he's really trying and Pico can see that. It's what made him fall-)

Mm, stop. He can't think about that right now. Boyfriend has Girlfriend now, and she's sweet, and kind, and silly and stupid and so very earnest, and she's absolutely perfect for Boyfriend. No way is he getting in the way of their love. He'd never forgive himself if he did. Because, after all, between the two of them, who's the most dangerous for Boyfriend to be around?

(She grabbed his arm as he tried to walk off. This broad was the reason why he was hired in the first place. His grip tightened on his gun.

"Thank you," she began, a smile gracing her lip glossed lips, "for sparing him."

"It's whatever." Pico tried to shrug her off, but she held tight to his arm.

"I mean it! You know, Boyfriend talks a lot about you, and I've always wanted to meet you in some way... and I guess I got lucky today!"

He looked over her shoulder to see Boyfriend waiting patiently on a bench, waving to him with that cocky grin. Guess he was aware that his girl was clinging to Pico's arm like some kind of fangirl. "Listen, I don't know what he told you, but I'm pretty sure it was all some kinda exaggeration. Fuckin' rose tinted glasses kinda shit."

"Rose tinted...?" He watched as her brain stopped processing in real time before it rebooted with a quick shake of her head. "I'm not familiar with that saying, but I'm pretty sure Boyfriend was being very honest!" She squeezed his arm as her smile softened, and his first thought was thinking that he didn't deserve that kind of softness. "My daddy hired you, right? To kill him? That's why you're really here."

He stiffened and yanked his arm out of her grasp. "That's what I fuckin' told you fools, now leave me alone."

He started walking away when she called out to him once more. "You're a good person!"

That was enough to freeze him in place.

"You're a good person." She jogged back up to his side and squeezed his hand this time, earnest and honest and filled with the kind of goodwill most demons shouldn't ever have. "It takes guts and courage to just turn down a request from daddy. I know you're risking a lot just by doing this."

He didn't give her an answer, only looking away and ignoring how her eyes seemed to see right through him.

"You know, he misses you a lot. Boyfriend, I mean." She giggled and swung their arms as though they were friends. He didn't stop her, though. He just let her have her moment. "And I've never had many friends. And you really seem like a nice person. I just think it'd be nice to hang out with someone as nice as you, y'know?"

"I literally kill people for a livin'." Still, he didn't shake her off like he did before. "Not much about me is nice."

"I'm a demon," she giggled, "I think my definition of nice might be different from a human's?"

For someone so stupid, she really had a point. Goddammit. "Whatever."

"Here!" A slip of paper was pressed into the palm of his hand before she released him. "Those are our numbers. I don't know if you kept Boyfriend's number or not, but he might still have yours!"

"I changed it," he lied, not wanting to admit that he kept their old texts.

"Oh." She actually pouted when he said that, before brightening and taking her phone out. "Then lemme get your number really quick!"

"I don't think-"

"Please?" Her earnest eyes made him hesitate from turning her down. The innocent naivety she exuded was just so... "I know you're his ex but... I really mean it when I said I'd like to hang out with you. Even if we don't become friends in the end, it'd still be nice to have someone on our side."

Her smile became just a little pained, and he remembered what he was hired to do. Kill off a daughter's boyfriend. If it'd been any other kind of sleazeball, Pico wouldn't have hesitated.

But it was Boyfriend.

And Pico knew Boyfriend.

She clearly had some kind of taste, even if it was for an idiot. He wondered just how many other lovers were offed because of her father's whims. How many times she'd been left brokenhearted because her father was overprotective. For a moment, she looked like those kids who sat by themselves at recess. Shy and lonely, with no one to play with her.

The little boy he thought was dead reached out in his place. Took his phone and sent a text to her number.

The smile on her face was the most genuine he'd seen from her that night. And when he looked up to glance at Boyfriend from behind her, the other man's smile just as bright and hopeful, he knew he'd done the right thing.)

Like hell he's gonna destroy that smile. There's not much good in the world, but he'll swear on his life to protect her smile even if it's the last thing he ever does. Which is why, even as he drives off to Boyfriend's place, he's going to keep himself in check and only be homies with the man. The couple only deserve the best, and the best is each other. He only hopes that they consider him to be the best man at their wedding when the day comes.

...Yeah. That's all he'd like.

(It hurts to admit it, so he just won't say it.)

He pulls up to Boyfriend's apartment complex. Compared to his own shitty place, Boyfriend's is the American Dream for young adults in a capitalist world: two bedrooms, a small kitchenette that connects to a small living room area, a single bathroom, and even a small little balcony area for a shitty plastic chair or two. All the furniture is still intact too, despite being worn through and old as hell. Grabbing his groceries, he takes the elevator up to Boyfriend's floor and walks to the familiar door he's been dragged through countless times. It never fails to surprise him how often the couple choose to hang out at his shitty place rather than kidnapping and shuffling him over to Boyfriend's much nicer abode.

(It never fails to warm his soul when they pop up at his place with wide smiles. Like they're genuinely happy to be with him.)

A part of him wants to break his door down, like they've done countless times to his door. It'd be such a dick move, but he always has been kind of a dick. He contemplates it for a moment longer before checking the time on his phone.

5:34 pm. Boyfriend is either still at work, or on the way home. He adjusts the bags hanging off his arm and kicks at the doormat that lays at his feet. A blatantly obvious spare key glints up at him.

He's got to teach this idiot better hiding places for his spare key.

Picking it up, he unlocks the-

Uh. He turns the key again, unlocking the door after mistakenly locking it the first. Dumbass never locked his door in the first place! He opens the door, doing a quick look over the apartment. It looks as messy as ever, but it doesn't look as if anyone rummaged through Boyfriend's things. He quietly creeps in and keeps his ears alert for any suspicious sounds as he closes the door behind him. It's quiet in the apartment, asides from the faint sound of pattering across the floor-

P-

Pattering?

Does Boyfriend have a fucking mouse problem in his apartment complex?

He always told him to clean up his messes and now look at this bullshit! Pico jumps onto Boyfriend's couch, groceries safely clutched to his chest as he looks around the floor for the tiny offenders. Forget home invaders, mice are the worst kinds of invaders! He takes his gun, fully intending on shooting the little bastards when he hears a startled squeak and turns to see-

"Jesus, Pico!"

"Ritz?!" He lowers his gun quickly and holsters it, safety on as the small rat clambers onto the couch. The orange beanie and pointy shades stay firmly on as the rat climbs up onto the highest point of the couch. Pico himself settles down and puts the groceries on the ground as he sits. Now at eye level with each other, Ritz grins as he sits on the top edge of the couch.

"Pico! I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Same." He chuckles as he holds a finger out for Ritz to hug. "Sorry 'bout almost shootin' ya."

"Eh, you didn't pull the trigger so it's all good. Gives me an excuse to show off how high I can jump now." Ritz hugs his finger tight and gives it a little nuzzle. Fucking baby.

"What the hell are ya doin' here anyway? Thought you were on some kinda sewer adventure, or like a cheese quest."

"Eh, cheese quest was kinda a bust." The rat releases his finger and sits back on his haunches. "This other fat rat was real fucking annoying, and I had to give him my cheese, and usually I don't care too much, but when I'm risking tail and limb for this guy, it kinda gets frustrating when he just sits there and demands I feed him." Ritz shrugs as Pico nods with sympathy. "So I'm taking a break from it until my patience comes back."

"Fuckin' good, man. Naggy dicks take the fun outta everything."

"Word." Ritz lays flat on the couch edge as he stretches out. "Why are you here, though? Last I heard from you, you'd just broken up with Bee and disappeared outta our lives. Even sis was worried."

"Miku?" Pico snorts and looks away. "I thought she'd be happy I stopped dating her lil bro."

"Nah." Ritz takes off his beanie and scootches closer to Pico with expectant eyes. Pico rolls his eyes and gives him the head scritches he quietly demands. "Sis felt bad. Thought she was the reason why you broke up with Bee."

"Of course she would, Ms. World is Mine."

"She's just protective. Runs in the fam, bro."

"Yeah yeah."

"So what happened?" Ritz looks up at him with curious eyes. "Bee wouldn't tell us."

"I broke up with him." Pico shrugs and pulls his hand away, willing the intruding memories to go away. "Your sis was right - I am dangerous. Still am." He pats his gun for emphasis. "I meant to stay outta his life, hopefully keep him outta harm's way like that. But then he had to go and woo a demon girl and, welp." Pico pats his chest with a smirk. "Here I am, like a boomerang of danger."

"Well, I'm glad you're back. Bee missed you. A lot." Ritz puts his beanie back on and sits up. "So much so that I thought maybe I had to drag you back. Figured maybe I'd run into you on my cheese quest. Convince you to come back, even if it was just for a little bit." Ritz looks up at him and smiles. "Get my second big brother back and stuff."

Aw fucking shit.

"Yah fuckin' whatever man, now you're stuck with me again." He picks up the rat and plops him on his hair, keeping the little man from seeing how choked up he is. Just like old times. "I'm puttin' my shit away and you're gonna have to deal."

"Groceries? You bought real food?"

"Yeah- what the fuck does that mean?"

"You know Boyfriend can barely cook!" The rat gets comfortable in his hair as Pico strides into the kitchenette. "All he gets is frozen food and takeout."

"Damn, guess ya had the gourmet shit in the sewers, huh?"

"Fuck off!" Ritz squeaks some nonsense as Pico chuckles, methodically putting his groceries away in a rather lacking fridge. Boyfriend doesn't even have eggs, the hell? "Why ARE you here anyways?"

"Gonna be bunkin' here for a while."

"Why?"

"My place is crawlin' with cops. Gonna lay low for a bit until they fuck off."

"Are you a fugitive now?"

"Nah, just didn't wanna take any chances."

"Does Bee know?"

"Nope." He shuts the fridge and tosses the bags into a random drawer. "I take it you're bunkin' here too?"

"Yeah, until I'm ready to go back." Ritz flops comfortably in Pico's hair. "Bee said I gotta go though when Girlfriend is over."

"Oh?" He smirks at the implications as Ritz gags.

"Yeah, as if I'm gonna stay if they decide to bone or whatever."

"Have you had to leave yet?"

"Only a couple of times." He can feel Ritz shudder in his hair. "I mean, she's a nice lady and all, but I don't wanna be around when they do the nasty, ya feel?"

A laugh rips through Pico as Ritz sounds genuinely disgruntled by the memory. "Yeah, okay." He walks them over to the couch as he sinks into it. It's not his beat up shitty one, but it'll do. Ritz skirts about on his head, before leaning over his face and making Pico go cross eyed.

"Hey, did you bring anything else with you?"

"Nah, just groceries."

"...Don't humans need like, more than one set of clothes? Toothbrushes and stuff?"

"I'll manage. I'm sure he's got some spares and shit."

"Even clothes?"

"Yeah."

"But you're bigger than him."

"Where's his favorite shirt?"

"...Are you gonna stretch it?"

"Fuck yeah."

"It's in his bottom drawer, left hand side. Hurry hurry!"

But before either of them can get a move on, a rattling at the door gets their attention. Ritz squeaks in surprise as Pico reaches up and gingerly grabs the rat as he lays back on the couch. Placing the rat on his chest, he folds his arms behind his head and waits for the door to open. Not a second after he laid down, the door bangs open as a familiar voice speaks in broken Japanese.

"Dakara, onee- shut up! Iyaiyaiya, omae wa- no! You're so annoying! Ugh! Okay, you know what- beep! Bap bowai! Beep skidap bo bwah bwah bwah! Bada boop skida wap bwap boo-" There's a pause before a triumphant cackle rolls through the air as keys jingle idly. "Ritz!" Boyfriend calls out, drawing closer to the couch, "Ba doop bada Miku-" His words fall to a halt as he leans over the back of his couch, eyes meeting Pico's amused ones as he's stunned quiet.

"Sup," Pico quips with a smirk, "sounds like you and your sis still annoy each other-"

"Pico!" Boyfriend practically slides down his couch to wrap his arms around Pico, the ginger holding him up and shielding Ritz.

"Watch it- WATCH IT! You're gonna smash Ritz!"

The rat in question quickly rolls off Pico's chest and onto the floor. A quick jump and a fart has him propelled high enough to reach the table instead, seating himself with a grin as Boyfriend plops inelegantly onto Pico. Pico grunts from the impact as Boyfriend props himself up with a smile.

"Pico!"

"Yeah, shit, that's me. Get off!"

#friday night funkin #fnf pico #pico newgrounds #fnf boyfriend #ritz the rat #i was going to tag miku but i realized that she doesn't actually show up in the fic LOL #she's supposed to show up in the second half #she and pico were supposed to have like this epic showdown...#that resulted in them doing the equivalent of trading old insulting nicknames that resulted from knowing each other a good chunk of time #miku's a bit protective of bf but that's fair #her brother stupid #also!! miku was going to stay over as WELL which is what bf was arguing with her about #he doesn't want her to stay over mostly because if big sis is around its harder to get freaky on a friday night #ritz is polite and leaves #miku will not #pico is a special case obvi #but yeah pico was to stay over for a week before heading back #and bonds with the boyfriend fam #and its also revealed in this fic that hatsune is her stage name #real last name is undisclosed #Incomplete work

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sir-subpar · 3 years

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Where have you been? (Part 2)

*Warning: Blood/Gore*

Five weeks. That's how long Boyfriend had been missing. Five weeks with still no sign of the blue-haired man, it was starting to drive Pico mad. The longer this went on, the harder it was for Pico to think positively. He was starting to struggle with sleep, sometimes going days without so much as a wink of rest. His fiery orange hair was messy from him constantly running his fingers through it. It was hard to relax when someone you care about was unaccounted for. Whitty and Hex were still helping out, which Pico appreciated, but it did little to ease his fears. The three of them met up and searched for Boyfriend as often as they could.

It was late in the afternoon, another day going by with no luck finding Boyfriend. The trio had resorted to putting up missing posters for Bf, splitting up to scatter them around town. It did little to help, especially when random vandals would tear them down or draw all over them. Every time Pico saw one of the posters being ruined it pissed Pico off to no end. He didn't think it was possible to want to strangle a graffiti artist as much as he did. By some miracle of willpower he refrained from doing so (that, and he didn't know who was doing it). Pico sighed angrily as he hung another poster, his thumb turning white as he pushed the tacks into a wooden pole. His gaze lingered on the poster. In the picture, Bf was smiling. He looked so happy.. Pico felt his chest tighten around his heart. It felt hard to breathe, but not impossible. He clutched the front of his vest, fidgeting with the teeth of the zipper. Pico could only imagine what Boyfriend was going through, and his imagination was not kind. As much as he tried to ignore the worst possibilities, he struggled to stay positive.

What if Boyfriend was dead?

He hated the idea. He didn't want to think about it. Surely he was alive. He had to be somewhere! Anywhere! He couldn't be dead! Pico tried to ground himself by thinking of other possibilities. Maybe Bf was just hiding from everyone because he didn't want Gf and her family to know where he was. Pico grit his teeth as more anger suddenly rose from his core. Girlfriend… he was honestly starting to resent her. Sure, most people don't want to see their ex after a breakup. Pico understood that, sure, whatever. But when someone goes missing, it's good to help find them. Especially when you're the last one to have seen them…

Pico was suddenly brought back to reality when he heard his phone buzzing in his pocket. Whitty was calling. The two exchanged phone numbers after they went to that diner weeks ago. Pico tapped the green icon to answer, and brought the phone to his ear. "Hey Whitty. What's up?" Pico asked, his anger faded a bit, now being distracted with the sound of Whitty's voice. "I just wanted to let you know that Hex can't help us for a few days. He's got some computer virus that's apparently been a bitch to remove." Whitty sounded agitated. Pico figured he was probably worried about his best friend. "Is he gonna be ok?" Pico asked, he was already missing one person, he didn't want to lose another. "Yeah, some tech guy's helping him out. He should be fine soon..." Whitty paused. "Hey, do you want to meet up? I'm out of posters to hang." Whitty's tone changed a bit, Pico couldn't quite figure out why, but he brushed it off. It didn't matter anyway. "Yeah, I'll pick you up. Where are you?"

…

Pico drove in silence as Whitty sat in the passenger seat. He felt a little bad for the bomb man as even with the seat pushed all the way back, he barely fit in the car. Pico's car just wasn't designed with people over 8ft tall in mind. Whitty had the chair leaned back so he wouldn't hit his head on the ceiling, his knees were bent just so he could fit in the car. Whitty's hands were in his pockets, despite the lack of space in the car, he seemed like he was relaxing a bit.

"Hey Pico." Whitty broke the silence. Pico let out a hum, signaling he was listening. "I had this random idea for the next place we should check." "Hmm?" Was Pico's only reply. He was tired, but he wasn't gonna quit for the day just yet. "You know that bridge close to the freeway? The one over the ditch?" Pico had to think for a moment before he caught on. "You think he might be hiding out in the ditch?" Pico asked, a little glimmer of hope making itself known. Whitty shrugged. "Maybe. I dunno. It's a common place to hide." Pico turned on his blinker, he had to drive to the opposite side of town to get there but at this rate it wasn't a big deal. If there was even a chance of Boyfriend being there, he had to take it. He had to make sure Bf was safe.

…

After Pico parked the car, he and Whitty climbed down into the dry ditch. It was now night, the darkness making it hard to see anything. Except Whitty's eyes, that is. In the complete darkness, Pico noticed Whitty's orange eyes were glowing. He could partially see the tall man's body as the warm light from his eyes reflected off of him. Pico found it fascinating. It was oddly comforting, like a fireplace. Pico found himself getting lost in them.

"... Pico?" Whitty's voice interrupted Pico's stupor. Turns out the inside of Whitty's mouth glowed too. "Huh? What?" Pico asked, a little lost thanks to his little daydream. "Are you alright? You seemed out of it." Whitty asked, shifting awkwardly as he stood. Pico felt uneasy, did Whitty see something in the dark that he hasn't noticed yet? Were they alone? Pico quickly shoved his hand in his pocket and whipped out his flashlight. As soon as he turned it on, and the light flooded the ditch, he realized no one else was near them (at least no one was close enough to see). So why was Whitty uncomfortable? Like someone was staring at him?

Wait…

Pico had almost physically face-palmed. He was staring at Whitty. He just stood there in silence and stared at this dude's face in the darkness. From Whitty's point of view, that probably came off as creepy. Now he felt a bit guilty for being so weird. Damn it, he had to say something to break this weird silence! But what? Should he apologize? Or just brush it off so they don't have to talk about it? 'Damn it Pico, say something! Anything!' He mentally chastised himself. Just when he was about to blurt out what probably would have been nonsense, Whitty piped up. "Did my eyes creep you out?" Whitty asked, sounding disheartened. Pico suddenly panicked, speaking before his brain could filter it. "What- No! No. Not at all. Your eyes are cool! Like a jack o lantern or something. They're neat! They like.." Pico cleared his throat to compose himself again. He had to give a rational response. "I think your eyes are fascinating. I didn't mean to offend you, I just got distracted. I'm sorry." Pico's face turned a light shade of pink out of embarrassment. He hoped his disjointed response would somehow make the situation less awkward. Whitty's eyes widened, and his cheeks glowed a bit as his expression shifted from surprised to bashful. He started rubbing the back of his head, a nervous habit, Pico assumed. "I… thanks. I've had people say my eyes remind them of Jack O lanterns before, but I think this is only the second time someone's used it as a compliment. Bf was the first." Whitty confessed, his tone sounding fond. Pico smiled a bit, of course B would say something like that. Pico snapped out of his trail of thought before he got more distracted with reminiscing. "Speaking of… we should get back to looking for him." Pico stated, bring their focus back to the task at hand. Whitty nodded. The two chose to walk throughout the ditch, hopefully they'd eventually find a sign of Boyfriend under these bridges.

Each step they took echoed off of the cement around them. It was a little eerie. Pico was glad that he wasn't alone, Whitty seemed like he could hold his ground. It was comforting. After a few minutes, they came across a blanket laid out next to a few plastic water bottles. They couldn't necessarily say they belonged to Boyfriend, but it felt like they were on the right track at least. They continued their walk, hoping to find more signs of Bf. A few more mostly uneventful minutes went by, then they saw someone not too far ahead of them. Pico lowered his light a bit so it wasn't shining in their eyes, but he could still see them pretty clearly. They were leaning their back against the wall of the ditch with their arms crossed. They had what appeared to be a goat skull for a head with long horns er.. Horn. Pico noticed that one of their horns had clearly been broken off. Their face had multiple large cracks all over it. He wore a dark blue hoodie that matched his hat. His jeans were either a darker shade of blue or black, Pico couldn't quite tell. The skull-faced stranger had turned their head to look at Pico and Whitty, clearly having noticed Pico's flashlight. His black eye sockets with glowing yellow pupils staring them down. Pico admittedly got a shady vibe from him, but he was accustomed to shady people due to his type of work. He decided to approach the man, but not get too close, he just needed to know if he had seen Boyfriend. "Hey. Mind we ask you something?" Pico called, hoping the stranger would cooperate. "What do you want?" The horned stranger rudely snapped in a clear Russian accent, he was clearly agitated. Pico wasn't that fazed by the man's rudeness, again, he was used to that kind of behavior (not to mention he wasn't all that polite or well mannered himself). "We just have some questions. We're looking for a friend of ours, maybe you've seen him around." The man appeared to relax a bit after hearing that. His expression was less aggressive. "What does your friend look like?" He asked, his tone a bit less harsh than before. Pico pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his gallery until he found a picture of him and Boyfriend. He turned the phone around to face the man. As soon as he saw the photo, his eye sockets widened, and he tilted his head back a bit in surprise. "Boyfriend?" The man questioned.

Now it was Whitty and Pico's turn to be surprised. "You know him?" Whitty asked, bewildered at the man's recognition of Bf. "Yes, we are… acquainted. I see him a lot lately." That, admittedly, made Pico angrier than it probably should have. This guy knew where Bf was while no one else did. B had trusted this guy instead of Pico? Or Whitty? Pico once again asked himself the question that plagued his mind for weeks. 'Why didn't he come to me?' Pico tightened his grip on his flashlight. He should be glad. They finally had a potential lead. Pico forced the irrationality down for what felt like the 100th time that day. "Do you know where he is?" 'Please. Tell me you know where he is.' Pico begged internally. The man nodded his head in a 'sort of' fashion. "I know where he's been hiding lately. It's not too far from here." He looked around a bit, as if checking to see if they were alone. "You know that little theater on Chavez road? The closed one? He's been around there lately. You'll find him if you go there." Pico suddenly felt a small rush of relief. That sounded promising. "Thank you, Mr..?" "Tabi" "Thank you Tabi. We appreciate it. Oh! I'm Pico, by the way. This is Whitty." Whitty waved, and Tabi nodded in acknowledgment. Tabi bagan to walk away. "Take care of Boyfriend you too. He's fragile right now." He called before departing. "We will," Whitty replied, "Thank you." Pico mumbled one more time before he and Whitty rushed towards the car.

…

For the first time in weeks, Pico felt hope. He felt almost giddy in a sense. Soon this nightmare could be over. Soon Bf could be safe. But there was still a chance that they wouldn't find Bf. There were a lot of emotions running rampant in his head. Nerves, excitement, doubt. He couldn't remember the last time he was this conflicted. Various 'what ifs' both positive and negative coming forth to give their piece of mind. Pico gripped the steering wheel of his car tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Tabi's words echoed in his head. 'Take care of Boyfriend, he's fragile right now.'

Was this all really because of Bf and Gf's breakup? It just felt extreme. Most people don't go missing for weeks after a breakup. Especially Boyfriend. This was out of character for him. He hated being alone. There was more to it. There had to be. Pico was sure of it.

Pico pulled over as the old theatre came into view. The decorative walls were a bit worn, but still beautiful. He knew this old place fairly well, it made him a little sad when it was shut down. Pico and Whitty stepped out of the car. Whitty stretched his arms, glad he could stand at his full height again. The bomb man looked at the various posters on the theater's walls, each one advertised some sort of play or performance. "Huh." Was all Whitty said. "What's up?" Pico asked. "I don't know why, but I thought this was going to be a movie theater. I didn't realise it was one of those performing arts places." Whitty replied. Pico turned to Whitty. "You've never been here before?" Pico asked, genuinely surprised. Whitty only shook his head in response. "Aw man, that's a bummer. This place was nice. It was family-owned, a local theater, ya know? It went bankrupt, but when it was open it was cool… B loved it here." Pico's tone shifted as he reminisced. Going from casual to bittersweet. Whitty tilted his head curiously, waiting for Pico to continue. He didn't make eye contact with Whitty, instead focusing his gaze on the theater's doors. "Ya know… sometimes, after a show, the owners would let B and I use the stage. We'd sing there for as long as they let us. We did it almost every week." Pico couldn't help but feel nostalgic. He remembered those times so well. It was years ago, back when he and B were together. They were memories he cherished. "Sounds like it was fun." Whitty commented briefly. "It was." Pico's tone continued to be bittersweet. Deep down, he hoped that he and Boyfriend could have what they did back then. He always regretted letting B go, but never said anything. Once Boyfriend found someone else, he figured he'd never have a chance again. Pico's vision started to blur slightly. 'Goddammit Pico! Now's not the time!' He mentally chastised himself, he didn't want to cry. Not when Bf was still lost. Not in front of Whitty. He was able to bury this before, he could do it again. Pico did his best to refocus on the task at hand. He needed to stop doing this.

Pico cleared his throat.

"A-Anyway, we should look for Boyfriend. He's probably around here somewhere." Whitty nodded. Pico was thankful that Whitty didn't pry into his emotions. He'd rather NOT talk about that at the moment, thank you very much. "Let's check inside." Whitty proposed, Pico gave a brief sound of agreement before pulling the front door's handle. Surprisingly it was unlocked. Was Tabi right? Was Boyfriend here? Did he unlock it? Pico made a mental note about the door and continued inside, Whitty following just behind him. Once again he needed his trusty flashlight. The theater was usually dark as is, but it was extra dark with it being the middle of the night. While in said darkness, Pico was briefly reminded of earlier that night when he stared at Whitty's eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time. Pico's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. This was definitely going to be one of those memories that kept him up at night whenever he thought about it. Then, Pico had another thought. "Hey Whitty." "Hm?" "How come you haven't been using a flashlight too? I mean, I don't mind sharing mine, I'm just curious." Pico hoped it wasn't a rude question. "Oh, well, uh.." Whitty began, Pico once again noticing how the inside of Whitty's mouth glowed like his eyes. "I don't really need a flashlight. I can see in the dark." Whitty's cheeks glowled orange a bit, now Pico was convinced that was how Whitty blushed. He found it kinda endearing, to be honest. "That's really cool. Wish I could do that." Pico said and chuckled a bit, feeling a bit lighter in spirit. Whitty also laughed coyly, feeling a bit flattered. "Let's check out the stage first." Whitty directed, already walking towards it. "Yeah, good idea." Pico agreed, following suit. The 'house' was dusty, and the seats clearly hadn't been used in a while. Well, most of them hadn't. Pico paused, getting a better look. He quickly noticed that a few of them had been folded out, the armrests were raised, and what looked like a shiney red blanket was draped across them. Someone had been using them as a makeshift bed, Pico realized. Someone was definitely here. "Psst, hey Whitty." Whitty turned around to face him, Pico waved his hand in a 'come here' gesture. Whitty nodded and approached him.

The tall bomb headed man leaned over Pico, looking down the same row of seats he was. It didn't take him long to catch on. "We must be on the right track. Wait, is that a curtain?" Whitty reached over Pico to pick up and hold the 'blanket' which was, in fact, part of a stage curtain that had been cut. Pico felt his heart clench. B was using a curtain for a blanket, he must be cold. Pico looked at the chairs/bed. One of the seats had a pile of clothes/costumes haphazardly bunched together, probably being used as a pillow. This was just… sad. Bf didn't deserve to live like this.

While Pico looked at the seats, Whitty took a second to inspect the curtain. It was red on one side, and white on the other side- wait, no, the other side had red too. In weird splotches and smear-like patterns. Whitty held it stretched out in front of him, the white and red patterned side facing him. The patterns looked inconsistent not just in size and shape, but in hue as well. Some of the red splotches looked darker almost..wet, while others looked faded, like stains. Whitty touched one of the darker red spots with his thumb, surprised when it was actually wet. Realization suddenly dawned on him, this wasn't a pattern. Now he was worried. "Hey Pico?" His scratchy voice quietly called, Pico turned around to look Whitty in the eyes. Whitty held the curtain in a way that only let Pico see the shiney full-red side and not the 'patterns'. "I'm not entirely human, so correct me if I'm wrong but… human blood is red, right?" Pico gave him a confused and worried look, then nodded hesitantly. "That's what I was afraid of." Whitty admitted, turning the curtain around so Pico could see. Pico's white eyes shot open wide, before giving Whitty a panicked look. Pico's heart dropped.

Just as Pico was about to say something, there was a loud *CRASH* from a distance.

Pico and Whitty's attention snapped towards the stage, it looked like a shelf had fallen over from backstage. Frantic footsteps could be heard. Neither of them had to say anything, they both bolted towards all the noise. Running up the small stairs to the stage. They ran towards the backstage area. Their own footsteps echoing as their shoes hit the wooden floorboards. Whitty, with his longer strides, took the lead ahead of Pico. Once they arrived at the backstage room, they saw the metal Exit door slowly closing. Whitty slammed it back open, dashing through it, Pico not far behind him. Once outside, they had stumbled into a fenced in parking lot. Street lights illuminated the empty lot, now they could see the other person running away from them. They were short, around Pico's height. They had a black hoodie on, the hood was up so they couldn't see their head. Even so, Pico was sure that it was Boyfriend. It had to be.

The hooded person ran into the parking lot's locked gate. Attempting to climb over it, but they weren't fast enough. Pico and Whitty were on their tail. They still tried, though. They were clearly struggling to get up the fence's bars, it looked like they kept slipping, like they couldn't grip the bars. Just as they were about to make another attempt to climb, Whitty caught up to them. The tall bomb man swiftly wrapped his hands around their torso, easily lifting them off the ground. Like holding a kitten. They helplessly swung their arms and legs, attempting to free themself from Whitty's grip. Amidst all their wild flailing, the hood came down, revealing a familiar face with blue hair. Boyfriend. They found him.

"N-no! Let me go! P-Put me down!" Boyfriend yelled, his voice filled with panic. His eyes were closed, and tears soaked his cheeks. Whitty knelt down to bring Boyfriend closer to the ground, still not letting go. "Hey! Hey… Boyfriend, it's just us. It's okay." Whitty did his best to keep his scratchy voice steady, hoping to calm down the terrified bluette. Despite not having the most soothing voice, it seemed to help a bit. Bf stopped flailing and yelling for the moment, his eyes snapped open. He seemed to have come to a sudden halt. His fearful eyes scanned the environment around him. Pico tried to approach him slowly, he didn't want to spook the poor guy more, but he too, was shaking. He had seen Boyfriend scared before, sure, but not like this. This was a new level of absolute terror. He looked so… fragile. Like if someone so much as flicked him, he'd fall to pieces. This was a far cry from the Boyfriend Pico knew. The dumb, reckless, confident man was no where to be found. What really struck Pico though, was the noticeable dampness of Boyfriend's hoodie sleeves. Pico figured he must have been injured, and he had to help.

In the moment though, he was overwhelmed. He was happy that they found him. He was also worried about him. Part of him was angry. After all the weeks spent searching for Boyfriend, after spending those weeks bottling up all his frustrations, fears, grief, worry. He had reached his tipping point. He couldn't hold back anymore. The tears in his own eyes couldn't be stopped this time. Pico threw away his inhibitions, and just ran up to hug Boyfriend. Pico buried his face in the crook of Boyfriend's neck, and dug his fingers into his blue hair. He was there, they actually found him. And he'd be damned if he lost Bf again. His own face was wet with tears. "G-god Damn it you- you fucking idiot. Don't scare me like that again. F-fuck." Pico's voice shook, sobbing, his cries making it harder to speak. Whitty let go of Boyfriend's torso, instead wrapping his arms around both Pico and Boyfriend, trying not to cry himself (emphasis on tried). A few of his hot, orange tears fell onto the other two boys, but neither seemed to notice.

After a few moments, Whitty and Pico pulled back from the hug. Pico kept his hands on Boyfriend's shoulders, he didn't want to let go. His attention was once again brought to the dampness of Bf's hoodie, he knew it had to be blood. "B… let's go home." Apparently that was the wrong thing for Pico to say, as soon as he did, Boyfriend panicked again. "I-! N-no! I don't want to see her again please Pico-! Don't make me go back!" Pico rushed to ask what was wrong, startled by Bf's reaction. "B, who are you talking about?" Pico gently grabbed Boyfriend's hands, he wanted to be comforting, but that changed when he noticed Bf heavily flinched, and his hands were wet. Pico gently brought Bf's hands into the light. His hands were cracked and bleeding. Badly. The skin and flesh looked like it was just barely holding on to the bones. Some of the blood was dry and crusty, while some of it was fresh. Pico furrowed his brow. "B… what happened?" Bf began crying again. "Gf.. She.." Bf's voice trembled, his lip quivered. He started sobbing. Whitty's orange eyes widened, in a spur of the moment, Whitty gathered both the shorter males in his arms. Lifting them off the ground and standing at his full height. "Hey Pico, why don't we all head to your place?" Pico nodded, still holding Bf's hands. "You can stay with me, B. I promise I won't take you to Girlfriend. She won't even know we found you, okay?" Bf looked into Pico's white eyes, then Whitty's orange ones, before slowly nodding and letting out a barely audible "okay".

Whitty carried them to Pico's car, he decided to sit in the back with Boyfriend so he wouldn't be alone while Pico drove the car (they moved the front passenger seat as far up as they could to make more legroom for him). Bf was huddled to Whitty's side, the tall, warm, bomb man made him feel safe. Whitty had one of his arms wrapped around Boyfriend, hoping to comfort him. The bluette was still crying, but not as much as before, he seemed to have calmed down slightly. No words were exchanged during the car trip to Pico's house.

Once they arrived, Whitty gently carried Bf into Pico's house and carefully set him down on Pico's couch. Pico ran off to grab his first aid kit from his hallway closet, mentally preparing himself for how wrecked the rest of Bf's arms might look. He didn't want to end up freaking out and scaring Bf more. Pico moved to sit next to Boyfriend on the couch. "Okay B, show me what hurts." Boyfriend seemed hesitant, Whitty, who was sitting at Bf's other side, rubbed his back. The small gesture seemed to comfort Bf a little, and he removed the black hoodie he was wearing, hissing as the fabric pulled away from his wounds; he was only wearing a tank top under it, so the damage to his arms was revealed easily. Boyfriend's arms looked worse than his hands did somehow. Cracked and bleeding, in some places, it looked like the skin had stitches only to fall apart more and undo them. He could see the bone in Bf's elbow and shoulder.

Pico felt sick. It was a mystery how Boyfriend wasn't just screaming in anguish. Pico took a quick glance at Whitty, who also looked appalled at the gorey sight before them. Pico looked into Boyfriend's teary eyes, then back at his arms. "We should take ya to the hospital." Pico said nervously, his gauze and hydrogen peroxide couldn't fix this. "I-I already tried that. They couldn't- *sniff* they couldn't stop it. I-It's magic." Bf confessed, Pico noticed Whitty's expression changed from shock to sympathetic. Whitty gestured to Bf's arms "Was this Girlfriend's magic?" Boyfriend nodded. Pico felt rage bubbling in his core. His attempt to keep calm and collected was thrown out the window. "Did she do this on purpose!? That's it! Imma beat her ass!" Pico whipped out his gun. Furious. "I'm gonna pump that bitch full of lead!" Pico was about to storm out his house when both Boyfriend and Whitty stopped him. "PICO DON'T!" Bf and Whitty said in unison. Whitty gripped Pico's arm (which was super easy seeing as his hand was big enough for his fingers to wrap all the way around Pico's forearm), and Boyfriend hugged him, burying his face in the crook of Pico's neck. "Why the fuck are you two stopping me!?" Pico shouted, still undeniably pissed. "Please don't go, Pico!" Bf cried. "Listen dude, as much as I'd love to see ya give that girl more holes than swiss cheese, if you even try it, her family will kill you. Plus, if ya went to her now, they'll know we found Bf, and who knows what they'd do to him then!"

Pico hated to admit it, but Whitty was right. He'd just make it worse by confronting Girlfriend. Her family was powerful, her parents would definitely come after all of them if he tried to do anything to her. His anger was screaming at him to go and blast her with his Uzi, but reason objected to it. Pico sighed, and put his gun on the table. "Alright. Yer right. I'm sorry." Bf hugged him tighter. "Thank you." He said quietly. "Well, if I can't shoot that bitch, let's at least try to solve… this." Pico gestured towards Bf's arms, which were bleeding all over him in the hug. Whitty rubbed the back of his head, unsure. "Well, demon magic did this in the first place, maybe another demon can undo it?" Whitty offered, Pico thought about it, it made sense. If hospitals couldn't treat a curse, might as well try magic. "I can't say you're wrong, the issue now is finding a demon who would be willing to help. The only other demon I know I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw her. Do you know anyone?" Whitty shook his head. The three stayed quiet. Pico wracked his brain for anyone who might be helpful. Maybe his dad knew someone who could help? Probably not. His brother definitely hung out with demons and whatnot, but most people his brother hung out with were bad news. Not to mention he hasn't spoken to his older bro in a long ass time. That was a no go. Who else could he ask? Pico glanced at Whitty, he appeared to be going over various options in his head too. They were silent until Boyfriend chirped in. "I might know someone. Maybe tomorrow we can find her?" Pico shrugged. "I guess that's just what we gotta do. For now though, you should go get cleaned up. You remember where the shower is?" Bf nodded, and started walking down the hallway. "I'll bring you some clean clothes you can borrow!" Pico called, Bf replying with a distant "Thank you" before disappearing around the corner.

Pico made eye contact with Whitty. He might not have known this guy too well, having only met him a couple weeks ago, but the time they spent working together trying to find Boyfriend made Pico appreciate him. He wanted to know more about him. Whitty was so helpful, even managing to calm Pico down when he was two seconds away from snapping. He found the gentle giant fascinating and comforting. "Hey Whitty?" Whitty let out a curious "hmm?"

"I just wanted to say thanks.. For everything. You've been really helpful and great and.. I really appreciate it." Pico's earnest tone made Whitty's cheeks glow slightly. "It's no problem. You don't have to thank me or anything. I just.. Wanted Bf to be safe too, ya know?" Pico nodded understandably. "I wish we coulda met under better circumstances. You seem like a great guy, I uh… I'd really like to keep hangin out with you. Maybe once we get this whole curse thing sorted out, we should do something together? Maybe all three of us should." Pico felt color flooding in his own cheeks now, feeling somewhat nervous. Whitty smiled. "I'd like that." Pico let out a small chuckle. "Cool. Cool. Sounds good."

An awkward lull took the conversation, neither saying much. Whitty eventually stood up and stretched, feeling a bit sleepy. "Well, I should head out. I'm gettin tired. Want me to meet up with you guys here tomorrow?" Pico hesitantly nodded, he almost offered to just let Whitty stay the night, but if he had plans to go home, who was Pico to stop him? "Sounds good. Imma uh.. Get some clothes for B." Pico attempted to make the situation less awkward, he was never good at goodbyes. "Yeah, that'd be good. I'll see you tomorrow." Whitty and Pico parted ways after that. Now, Pico just had to help Boyfriend. Hopefully this woman he was talking about can reverse whatever demon spell was on him..

Pico let Bf borrow his spare pajamas, and threw Bf's clothes in the wash. He wasn't sure if the washing machine was gonna be able to get all the blood out. As he was going through it, he noticed that the inside of Bf's jeans were bloody too, the curse must've been affecting his legs as well. Pico kept the 1st aid kit out, that way he could bandage what was left of Boyfriend's limbs. While Pico tended to the bluette's wounds, he made small talk with Boyfriend, hoping it would put him at ease. It seemed to help. Eventually it became time to turn in for the night. Both boys were exhausted.

"Hey Pico?"

"Yeah B?"

"Can I sleep in your bed with you? I don't wanna be alone."

"... Yeah. C'mere."

"Thanks Pico."

"No prob. G'night B."

"Good night Pico."

#fnf #friday night funkin #fnf boyfriend #fnf bf #fnf pico #fnf whitty #cursed!bf #cursed! bf au #bf x whitty x pico #fnf bf x whitty #bf x pico #bicobomb #bombeep #bico #fanfic #twoshot #where were you?

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fnf-brain-rot · 3 years

Text

[Whitty x Boyfriend]

Chapter 5 - Let's just chill!

Boyfriend awoke with a bit of an issue in the.. south region..

He groaned, putting a hand on his head before sitting up. It hurt too. He was about to handle it when he felt a presence to the side of him.

Whitty was just standing there..

Staring..

The blue haired male screamed and threw himself off the other side of the bed, which only made Whitty blink and lean over to look. "Sorry I startled you." He called to him. Boyfriend could only see the swirls in his vision. He eventually got up, pulling himself back onto his bed, also bringing his comforter back up as well. "Whitty, how long have you been standing there?"

"Mmh... Most of the night."

"Wh-MOST-"

Boyfriend threw his hands up in exasperation. "Did you SLEEP??" In response to his question, Whitty shook his head. "I told you I don't really need to." Boyfriend grimaced in his direction, making a small sound of discomfort to himself, then sighed heavily. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I thought you were having a nightmare." Whitty admitted softly. Boyfriend's cheeks began to heat up as he spoke. "It sounded like you were calling my name.. Was I.. doing something bad to you?" Whitty seemed hesitant to ask, gently pulling on the large shirt he was given.

"No no no! You didn't do anything bad! I uh.. It was uh.." Boyfriend bit his knuckle. Well he certainly couldn't say what was actually happening, but he was such a bad liar. "It was a recap of our day out.. yesterday!" He blurted out. Whitty blinked. He did something bad yesterday. Bee says it wasn't directed towards him, but he was still weary of him thinking about it. "How about you go wait in the living room? I'll make us some breakfast, yeah?" Boyfriend offered, and Whitty nodded, turning around to leave the room, of course, obliviously leaving the door open. Boyfriend let out a gentle sigh and got up to close it, then deal with his issue. Shouldn't take too long..

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Whitty sat down on the couch, nervously fiddling with his fingers as he stared at the blank tv. He couldn't have left a bad impression right? Of course not, if he didn't like him, he certainly wouldn't invite him over, and cuddle with him. Cuddling.. was nice. It would be nice to do that right now. He decided to figure out the tv, picking up the remote and mashing a random button. He pressed damn there every button on the device before actually getting to the power button, and he couldn't help but jump when he heard the tv turn on.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to meet Dearest's daughter today. At least it was only her, and from what he knew, she knew nothing about him other than when they first met. Does she even know she's meeting the same guy? She looked pretty scared of him. Whitty squirmed in discomfort at the thought. What if she knew about him and her dad? What if she didn't like him? What if she rats him out? His head swirled with worst case scenarios, and he couldn't help but stress about it. Boyfriend exited his room about five minutes later. Whitty could hear the bare feet slap against the wooden hallway floor. "Whitty? Whitty, what's wrong?" The blue haired male rushed to the couch. Whitty hadn't realized he had started crying, clutching his head in his hands like he felt a pain too great to bare.

Boyfriend hopped onto the furniture beside him, gently hugging his head against his chest. "I'm sorry, did I upset you? I promise you didn't do anything bad." He mumbled softly. Whitty shook his head. "I'm just.. nervous." Boyfriend parted a bit, looking down at the bomb with a slightly confused expression. "Nervous? About what?"

"Meeting her."

Boyfriend understood. She did talk about how scary and dangerous he seemed. He didn't exactly specify that it was Whitty he was talking to. There is a chance she could freak out when she sees him. Maybe Boyfriend hadn't thought this all the way through..

"How about we eat breakfast? It's hard to think on an empty stomach." He hugged onto Whitty again, gently rubbing his back. Whitty quickly began to relax. No one had ever done this with him before, and it was really affective. He really liked it. "Can we do that thing first? The cuddle?" Whitty asked softly, and Boyfriend grinned. "Of course we can, Whits." He got down, then climbed into Whitty's lap, but he faced him this time, wiping away his tears, just like he did under the tree. Whitty couldn't help but smile a little, wrapping his arms around Boyfriend in a slightly tighter squeeze than the first time. He felt warm..

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Boyfriend had decided to make waffles, oatmeal, grits, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, anything he could honestly find in his kitchen to make a big enough meal for someone who eats so much so fast. He himself was contempt with eating two waffles and some eggs, while Whitty, of course, ate everything else. "Dude, where does it all go?" Bee then asked, receiving a simple "hm?" from Whitty across from him. "Like.. You eat so much, but it's like it literally melts right off of you." Whitty shrugged. "It kinda does.. I digest food faster than normal humans." He explained softly. He picked up his dirty dishes and put them in the sink, with instruction, and did the same with Boyfriend's dishware. "Aww you don't have to clean up after us every time." Boyfriend laughed, sitting up and stretching before standing out of his seat. "I like to. I like to think it shows.. my appreciation for you feeding me." Whitty responded in a soft tone. Of course he didn't really know how to DO dishes, just put them in the sink. Boyfriend would deal with that pile later.

"Come on, let's get ready to go. I have a whole day planned for us." Boyfriend bounced on his toes before rushing back to his room to change. Whitty sighed softly. He didn't know how to use the dryer..

Boyfriend was quick to throw on his usual baggy jeans, white shirt, and his cap. He could barely contain his excitement, he was running back and forth in the hall, of course grabbing his mic and pocketing it for good measure. Whitty had crouched down in front of the dryer, staring intensely at it. "My clothes are trapped." He whined softly. Boyfriend came out from behind him, and couldn't help but laugh. "This is the handle to pull it open." He pulled it, and Whitty let out a sound of relief. His clothes were free!!

___________________________________________

"I'm gonna miss this carpet."

"We're gonna come back dummy."

Whitty blinked. He hadn't thought of returning to his house, he thought he was only letting him stay one night..

Boyfriend was sneaky in managing to get him to stay. He secretly applauded himself. He then smiled up at Whitty, gently grabbing his hand. "Let's get going!"

He decided to take Whitty to all his favorite spots. There was a burger joint he and Pico occasionally hung out at, and Whitty was totally down to eat again, so they went.

"Yeah, all the good stuff happens at night, so that's when we go see Gigi." Boyfriend explained with his mouth full, and Whitty nodded to show he was listening. "Oh crap, I forgot! I'm battling her mom tonight! I don't really know where though, they were gonna come pick me up." Boyfriend put a hand on his head and threw it back in distress. "Does this mean I won't meet.. Gigi?" Whitty questioned him. Boyfriend shook his head. "I guess we'll just have to wait until after. Her mom is sneaky as hell, who knows where she is at any time." He shuddered. That lady genuinely scares him.

Next up was the mall.

Whitty was hesitant to go into such a crowded area, but Boyfriend led him through the door in the back way. There were way less people coming through there, so he wouldn't have to worry about being spotted. As they entered, though, Whitty got this weird feeling.. Like they were being watched. He looked around the clothing section they were in. It was quiet back there too, save for the gentle music playing from the speakers in the ceiling. "Ooh! We should shop clothes for you!" Boyfriend then suggested. "But.. I won't be able to carry them with me everywhere.." Whitty objected, holding his hands up nervously. "You won't carry them everywhere. They'll be at my place." Boyfriend pointed his thumb at his own chest proudly.

He really did trick him into moving in, didn't he?

"The only money I get is from the collabs I've been doing so far, so until I get rich and famous, you can get one more outfit and a pair of shoes." Whitty hummed uncomfortably. Now he was taking more money from him, great. "Hey, I'm offering. Now go pick out what you like." Boyfriend smacked Whitty's leg at the knee cap gently, and Whitty quickly held it, puffing his cheeks. "Fineeee, I'll go pick out something.." He huffed reluctantly, but proceeded to look at some shirts and pants and such.

___________________________________________

The two walked out of the mall with one bag, and Boyfriend was holding a box, which had his new shoes in it. "Thanks.. for getting me new clothes. I'm sorry to spend your money." Whitty mumbled shamefully, and Boyfriend huffed at him. "I told you, I don't mind. I want you to be comfortable since it's obvious you've never relaxed a day in your life." Bee grunted in response, nudging his leg as they walked. Whitty laughed nervously, looking behind them. He swore up and down he felt like someone was following them..

"Where to next?" Boyfriend thought out loud, mostly to himself. It was already one in the afternoon, they only had about three hours left until they were coming to pick him up. They decided to go back to the house. Whitty felt uncomfortable being out in the open for so long. "You're sure you didn't tell anyone you were talking to me?" The bomb asked, taking his shoes off inside the house. "Yes, Whitty. I haven't mentioned your name to anyone. If anything I addressed you as 'the guy I battled last week' to Pico. Why?" Whitty shook his head, stepping onto the carpet, then relaxing all over again. It was just so soft-

"Whitty?" Boyfriend turned to look at him. Whitty sighed under his breath, then sat up. "I.. felt like someone was following us. All day. It just feels ironic that I'm supposedly meeting someone-a friend of yours-today." He muttered. Boyfriend stared at him for a moment. "You don't think.. You're not thinking I set you up, are you?" He asked hesitantly, putting a hand to his own chest. Whitty didn't answer right away. He curled up into a ball in his spot, the possibilities beginning to race through his mind all over again. Suddenly he didn't feel as safe as he wanted to. Suddenly he couldn't trust Boyfriend as much as he wanted to. Bee could see him breaking down into an anxious wreck, staring intently at one spot on the floor.

He was a little hurt, yes, but this guy had so many people out for him, it wasn't even funny. He couldn't be mad at him for being cautious. That's why he's still alive today. "Whitty.." Boyfriend approached him, and his heart broke when he saw how Whitty coiled away a bit. He didn't stop though. He crouched down, putting a hand on his head. Whitty slowly looked up at him, his black, inky tears trailing down his cheeks once again today. "When I told you I would be there for you, I meant it." He told him. "I wouldn't throw you in the gutter. Remember that? I would never set up my friend. If you don't feel safe going outside, you can stay in here, okay?" Boyfriend gently leaned forward, placing a kiss on his forehead.

Whitty had no idea what that was, but he liked how it felt. It was like his worries melted away with the feeling. Like he was.. safe. He took a breath, then nodded at Boyfriend's words. "Wait.. do that again?" Whitty's eyes held a less somber expression, and he gently held onto Boyfriend's head. This caused him to blush heavily. Whitty could feel his face heating in his hands. "W-What? A-A kiss?" Boyfriend was a little surprised as Whitty nodded. He tried to calm his heart beat. He could feel it beating out of his chest, so hard he would have thought he was having a heart attack. He leaned down and gave Whitty another peck on the forehead, and the taller couldn't help but close his eyes at the warmth it gave him.

"Thank you, BB." Whitty responded softly, letting his face go, then standing back up. "Y-Y-Yeah! N-No p-problem!" Boyfriend's hands were shaking, and he was laughing awkwardly. His face was so red, and Whitty remembered what that meant. He smiled, then picked Boyfriend up, a high pitched "beep!" coming from him. "Whitty!!" He exclaimed nervously, hiding his face in his hands. Whitty tilted his head. That must be an even more positive reaction! He sat down on the couch, still holding Bee in his arms. He was determined they would cuddle until Girlfriend came to get him.

___________________________________________

Boyfriend jolted awake to Whitty staring down at him. Again. He yelped out, but quickly exhaled, putting a hand on his own chest. "You don't wanna be late for your battle." Whitty noted softly. He was still holding Boyfriend. No wonder he fell asleep so fast. He sat up, and Whitty allowed him to, setting him on the floor in front of the couch. Boyfriend stretched his arms up, groaning at the good stretch. "Thanks Whits.." He mumbled softly, his face quickly beginning to redden again just by looking at him. "I'll protect the house while you're gone, don't worry." Whitty told him, and Bee laughed. "I'm sure you will." He made his way over to the door, slipping his shoes back on. "You sure you'll be okay?" He turned around, and watched as Whitty curled up on the couch. He nodded in response, turning the tv on. Bee smiled, then made his way out.

Whitty really wanted to see Boyfriend's little rap battle, to of course be emotional support, but he couldn't be seen. It sucked. He felt lonely all over again, sitting in the living room, sitting on a small couch in front of a tv playing something he wasn't interested in, and he had no knowledge of how to change the channel. He hugged his knees to his chest, puffing one of his cheeks in thought. Boyfriend seemed to genuinely care for him. He.. really did care for him.. Hopefully his friends are similar to that. Even if they weren't, Boyfriend was enough for him. He was all he needed..

___________________________________________

Whitty looked away from the cats on the screen about an hour later to the sound of the front door opening. His insides fluttered, like.. weirdly. He put a hand on his chest as the door opened, and Boyfriend walked in, talking to someone and laughing. He turned to look at Whitty, then winked. "Gigi, here's the guy I wanted you to meet!" Girlfriend walked past him, and looked directly into Whitty's eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and Whitty began to sweat nervously. "H.. Hi-"

"I'm very sorry!"

Whitty's eyes widened, and his cheeks began to glow orange. "I also participated in pushing you to that point, and I wanted to apologise for doing that." She took her shoes off, making her way into the living room. Whitty and Boyfriend let out a breath of relief, the latter quickly following after her. "I-It's okay.. really.. it happens.." Whitty stammered awkwardly, shrinking against the couch as she smiled up at him.

"I'm Girlfriend, but just call me Gigi. I hope we can get to know each other better. And don't worry, I'll keep you a secret from my parents." Whitty's eyes brightened as she spoke those words. She seemed kind already. "See!! I told you it would go well!" Boyfriend hugged Girlfriend from behind, making her giggle. "Yeah.." Whitty mumbled to himself.

Maybe it won't be that bad making friends..

#fnfboyfriend #whitty #friday night funkin #fnf whitty #fnfwhitmore #whitty x bf #bf x whitty

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anythingandeverything1d · 4 years

Text

Accidents happen

“Babe?” Harry’s voice called from the front door. He sounded exhausted, and his dragging feet and tired eyes confirmed your suspicions when he entered the kitchen. He smiled when he saw you though, walking in your direction and looking at you head to toe. “You look cute.”

You grinned and nodded at him. You had chosen a new pair of leggings that hugged your body in all of the right places. You also were causally lounging in the bralette that matched. “How was the studio today? And you had an interview right?” you asked while walking around the counter, hugging him tightly as he walked into your open arms. He just shrugged and held you tightly. You smiled, pressed a kiss to lips and separated your bodies. Harry had been updating you with texts throughout the day so you had known it wasn’t the best day of work he’s had, which is why you had planned something special. Harry was eyeing the counter with a slight confusion and you spoke up,“I figured you may need to destress a bit after today so I thought for dinner I would make a taco bar since I know that it’s your favorite and then after we could snuggle in bed and watch a movie?”

Harry smiled and nodded, his lips pressing to your temple. “That sounds lovely.”

“Good. Why don’t you go shower and I’ll finish up here.” Harry nodded, heading upstairs to clean up and you got to work. You figured you would make chicken for the tacos, along with all the fix ins, and your special rice. You had the rice cooking on the stove, lettuce and tomatoes were cut and diced, freshly shredded cheese was sitting in a bowl along with sour cream, your homemade pico de gallo, and guacamole. You had hard shell tacos sitting on a plate, along with corn tortillas, and flour tortillas, making sure he had every option for what he wanted tonight. The last step was cutting the chicken into small cubes.

You had the knife sitting on the edge of the counter and turned to grab a bowl to place the cubed chicken in, the only problem was that your elbow knocked the knife and it fell towards the ground. Everything seemed to slow. You felt your elbow hit the knife, you turned to watch it drop but didn’t move quite fast enough. The blade fell onto your bare foot, slicing through a piece of skin and allowing blood to spurt out. You just stood there for a minute, processing what was happening, shocked that it had actually landed AND cut your foot. You blinked, watching the blood pool under your foot before springing to action. “Fuck...fuck....fuck...” You grabbed the dish towel hanging on the stove and dropped to the ground, applying as much pressure as you could to stop the bleeding. “HARRY!” you screamed, trying to stop yourself from hyperventilating. You were feeling a little dizzy at the sight of the blood. It was turning the towel a deep red color, your foot still slick in the stickiness of the blood on the floor. “HARRY!” you cried again. “HARRY HELP!”

Tears were falling down your cheeks when you finally heard his footsteps rushing down the stairs. He came sprinting around the corner, shirtless and in a pair of jogging shorts that hung low on his waist. His body was still wet from the shower and his hair leaving water droplets on the floor and his wet towel in his hand. “Where are you? What’s wro-” Harry’s voice trailed off. He took the scene in, his mouth opening. He looked at the blood pooled around you, tears falling down your cheek, a streak of blood across your cheek from where you had moved your hair back. For a moment time froze. He didn't know what to do or where you were even bleeding from until he noticed the towel on your foot. He snapped into action, he dropped to the floor next to you, trying to calm you in any way possible. He removed the towel you had pressed to your foot and tried inspecting the cut a little more. Blood was still dripping down your foot though, making the mark incredibly difficult to see and focus on. He tossed the blood covered towel to the floor and tightened his wet towel around your foot, wrapping it a few times the best he could. “You’re okay love, it’s okay. Just focus on me okay?”

Harry was talking fast, way faster than usual which was freaking you out even more. You were still hyperventilating, unable to speak or breathe correctly. Harry’s hands gently guided your chin up, forcing your eyes to focus on him rather than the blood soaking through the towel. “I-I” you stuttered, crying even harder now that Harry was here.

“Shh...it’s okay (y/n) just breathe.” Harry pressed a quick kiss to your nose before jumping up and grabbing his phone. “I’m calling an ambulance...” he dialed 911 and nodded as they answered. “Yeah, this is Harry Styles, my girlfriend (y/n) had an accident in the kitchen. The knife seems to have fallen and cut her foot. Yeah, there’s quite a bit of uhm blood. She is still conscious but she’s been hyperventilating for a few minutes. Yeah, we have the foot wrapped in a towel but it’s not doing too much...okay yes that’s great thank you. Yeah, the door is unlocked and we are in the kitchen which is down the hall to the left. I’ll be waiting. Thank you” Harry hung up the phone and focused his attention back on you. He tugged your body against his chest and whispered calming words into your ears, trying to settle your breathing a bit. “Just breathe love....in.....and out....in......and out.”

You could feel your heart beat pounding in your phone which freaked you out even more. Eventually the ambulance arrived and Harry jumped up showing them where you were. The EMT’s unwrapped the foot and and applied a temporary bandage while another took your information and brought the gourney over. “Alright (y/n)...we are just going to lift you up and make sure you get into the ambulance. The pressure of walking could cause you to lose more blood and we want to make sure that doesn't happen. So what we are going to do is lift you on the count of three and carry you onto this gourney here okay?”

You shook your head and looked to Harry who nodded. “It’s okay love...they are going to help...”

“No...” you whined, reaching away from the EMT who was trying to lift you off the floor.

Harry nodded to him and knelt next to you. “(y/n) we need to get you to the hospital and this man is going to help okay? Just try to breathe its okay...” Harry lifted you carefully into his arms and walked you over to the gourney. He set you gently down and kissed your forehead while holding onto your hand as they wheeled you out. You watched the puddle of blood disappear as they moved you out of the house and into the ambulance. Harry followed suit, sitting next to you and trying to take your mind off of the throbbing in your foot. The EMT placed and oxygen mask on your face and took vitals while the sirens roared and you were transported to the hospital.

You arrived at the hospital tired, in pain, and still crying. Harry never left your side though, which gave you a sense of comfort. The EMT’s left you on a hospital bed for a nurse to attend to, of course that had yet to happen. Harry was calmly rubbing circles into your hand and trying to distract you but your foot ached. “H....” you whined looking up into his green eyes. “It hurts...where’s the nurse?”

“I don’t know....I’m sorry love.” He pressed a kiss to your lips and sighed rubbing his temple.

You felt bad, you were trying to give him a stress free evening and had done just the opposite. “I’m sorry.” you cried. “I always ruin things.”

“Babe...”

“I was just trying to give you a nice dinner and instead I further exhaust you by dragging you to the ER.”

“(y/n) stop....you didn’t ruin anything. It’s not your fault okay? Things like this happen....”

You were about to respond but luckily a nurse interrupted to give you some pain medications and let you know the doctor would be in shortly. He walked in, a smile on his face. “So, who wasn't wearing shoes in the kitchen?” You raised your hand and he laughed, removing the bandage to look at your foot. “Gotcha good did it? No worries, some stitches and you will be good to go. We are going to wheel you back right now and get you on your way. First thing though, I’m just going to numb your foot that way there’s less trauma to your body okay?”

You nodded and looked at Harry who was pale in the face watching him stick a needle into your foot. “Can you come?” you asked him, your lip between your teeth.

Harry looked to the doctor for permission who shook his head. “Unfortunately we aren’t able to have anyone come back who isn’t a guardian. It shouldn’t take too long though.”

Harry sighed and pressed a kiss to your lips. “Love you.” he whispered with a grin.

“Love you too..” you held tightly onto his hand but as you were wheeled away, your grip was removed, leaving you to fend for yourself. The process of getting stitches was quick. You didn’t really feel a whole lot but a nurse kept your head from looking down just in case.

After a few more minutes the doctor looked up with a smile. “6 stitches later and you are all set to go home. For tonight, stay off the foot and try not to get it wet for a few days. We will see you back in a few weeks to check and remove the stitches but other than that you are all set okay?”

“Okay...thanks.” you mumbled with a smile. A nurse pushed you back to the room Harry was in and he jumped up at the sight of you. “6 stitches.”

“6 stitches?” he repeated. “Damn.”

“Keep her off her foot as much as possible for the next day or so and try to avoid getting the stitches wet for at least 48 hours.” The nurse directed it at Harry with a grin who nodded and kissed your forehead. She then got you a wheel chair and Harry wheeled you out to the uber that was waiting.

Once back home, you hobbled inside, wincing as the pain throbbed through your foot. “You okay” Harry asked immediately at your side.

“It’s just sore...” you mumbled. Harry grinned and picked you up, carrying you bridal style to bed. “Wow...if only we were married and about to head to bed for something other than sleep.” you grinned, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“I don’t know....sleep sounds great to me.” Harry laughed, carefully making sure you were settled before climbing into bed after you. You wrapped your arms around his chest and smiled. “Well that was an eventful evening”

“I’m sorry I-”

“Do not say ruined the evening.”

“But Haz...I did. I mean we didn’t even get to eat. And now there’s a huge mess downstairs that will need cleaned....”

“(y/n) all that matters is you are okay. We can have tacos another night. We will clean the kitchen in the morning....I’m just grateful that you are here...you are okay....and the doctors got those stitches in without any problems..” He kissed you softly and grinned. “Nothing else matters. Plus...now I get all the cuddles. That’s really all I’ve been looking forward too all day. They are even more special now though because I’m able to remember the truly important things in life. Like you.”

“But-”

“(y/n)....accidents happen and we deal with them. As long as you relatively unscathed that’s all that I care about. Deal?”

“Deal.” You pressed a kiss to his lips and smiled. Your foot may be in pain, and you may have screwed up dinner, but Harry always has a way of fixing those things and reminding you that what really matters is that when the time comes you support each other. Nothing else is more important than that.

---

A request I received. Enjoy! Has anyone ever had this happen? I feel like its a freak accident thing that is more rare.

xoxo

#directioners #one direction #one direction fanfiction #one direction imagines #Harry Styles #harrystyles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagines #harry styles imagine #harry styles blurb

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happysoldlady · 4 years

Text

Desvelado - Angel Reyes

a/n: in one of my high school spanish classes, we did a whole lesson on words that don’t have an exact english translation and so I decided to use one. hope you guys enjoy per vote!

tag list: @woahitslucyylu @thoughtsmeander2tumblingblindly

Angel rolled over and looked at the clock: 3:43AM. He let out a breath and then looked down at your sleeping figure. Your cheek was squished against the pillow, your hair fanning all around you in your deep slumber. Angel found himself slightly jealous that you were sleeping so soundly, when he hadn’t been able to get a good night’s rest in weeks.

But even in his jealousy, he didn’t want to bother you with his tossing and turning, so instead, he decided to take a shower, and maybe try to cook some breakfast. He’d been really craving molletes, but wasn’t entirely confident in his ability to fix them.

His shower wasn’t at hot as he had anticipated, and he made a mental note to check out the water heater some time soon. He stood under the lukewarm water for a while before deciding to try his luck in the kitchen. He dried off with a towel but didn’t bother covering himself as he walked into the bedroom in search of boxers. He glanced over at you to see you still passed out, and smiled to himself. He found a pair of boxers and pulled them on, along with a pair of old basketball shorts and then a plain black tank. He strolled to the kitchen and looked through the fridge to see what he had to work with. He found some bollilos in the cabinet that were still fresh enough to eat and then scrounged up beans and cheese. Then, by pure luck found some fresh vegetables to make pico de gallo with.

He takes out his phone and glances through a few recipes to remind himself of how to make them, and then gets started. He’s half way through browning his rolls when he hears your soft footsteps treading down the hallway.

“Angel, it’s 4AM.” You say, walking into the kitchen, eyes still hazy with sleep.

He turns toward you and gives you a grin. “I wanted molletes.”

You scrunch your nose, “At 4AM?”

Angel shrugs. “Any time, really.”

“Well, here,” You say, tying your hair into a loose ponytail just to get it out of your face, “let me help so you don’t burn the house down.”

Angel wants to be offended, but instead, he just laughs and takes the vegetables to a different part of the counter to cut them up for his pico de gallo.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Angel says, as he’s dicing up the tomato.

You look up at him in confusion. “Why?”

Angel shrugs, “I don’t know, mi reina. Just haven’t been able to lately.”

You peer into the pan to check on the bread before walking over to him and wrapping your arms around him. “I love you, Angel. You can always talk to me if you need to.”

Angel sets down the knife and turns to wrap his arms around you. He presses a kiss to your head and you can feel him smile against your hair. “I love you too.”

You step away from him so you can remove the bread from the pan before it burns, and then motion for him to grab you a plate to put them on. The two of you spend the next fifteen minutes putting together Angel’s comfort food, and enjoying each other’s company.

Long after the molletes have been devoured, you and Angel are lying on the couch together with several blankets layered over the two of you, Masterchef Junior playing on the television. Laying down, watching television with your man was something that you haven’t got to do in such a long time and you made a mental note to make more time for this kind of relaxation.

Angel’s favorite kid gets sent home on the show and you laugh as he rages about Gordon Ramsey’s ‘lack of taste’.

“Yeah, laugh all you want but your kid got sent home on the second challenge.” Angel points out, a playful look in his tired eyes. As you stare at him, you realize just how tired he looks and you can’t believe you hadn’t noticed it before. His smile fades as he sees the concerned look on your face.

“Aye, princesa, what’s wrong?” Angel says, moving his arms under the blanket to wrap around you.

You shake your head and plant a kiss to his mouth. “You just look so tired. I’m sorry that I’ve been too busy to notice.”

Angel furrows his brows and shakes his head. “No, no, baby. It ain’t your fault.”

You nod, “No, I know. But I’m serious, Angel. You can talk to me. Get some shit off your chest.”

Angel sighs and shakes your head but you take his face gently into your hands. “Encuentra un poco de paz, mi amor.”

Angel stares at you for a minute and then he tells you everything. You sit up and cross your legs under yourself, giving him your full attention. He tells you about EZ’s deal, about all the shit with the cartel and Los Olvidados. He tells you how lonely it feels to constantly watch his father choose his younger brother. He tells you how hard it’s been to separate himself from the shit that he’s seen. He even tells you about the club’s beef with another club that resulted in a dead Son. By the time he’s done telling you everything, it’s light outside and your eyes are swelled with tears.

You wrap your arms around him, and he lets out a deep breath, placing a kiss to your hair.

“Thank you for trusting me, mi rey.” You whisper. “You can always tell me anything, and I promise you,” You pause and rest your hands gently on the sides of his cheeks, “It will stay between us.”

Angel stares at you, a mixture of awe and pain. “Gracias,” he whispers softly, leaning his forehead against yours. Angel knows that this thank you carries so much more weight than any other thank you he’s ever said.

Angel lays back down on the couch, and you lie down on top of him, pulling the blankets over the two of you. You swear it’s only minutes before Angel goes limp under you and his soft snores fill the room.

#angel reyes #mayans mc #angel x reader #mayans fx #mayans imagine #mayans #angel drabble

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ngame989 · 4 years

Text

“Soul” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 9

Writing: @ngame989

Art: @toxicpsychox

Editing: @ubercelloczar, @toxicpsychox, @seddm

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: It's that time of the year for another Soulrise, and Tom throws Marco the birthday bash of a lifetime to celebrate, but Marco realizes that underneath all the joy and celebration Tom has a storm of emotions brewing inside. When Star gets dragged into some mysterious mission on the surface, it's up to Marco to realize just what's been bothering his demon friend.

Comic Page

Masterpost

And we're back with another chapter! Things are ramping up a bit, and we have plans for probably the next dozen chapters in the works already with a few special events in the mix. Thanks for sticking around, and stay tuned for more. Hope you enjoy!

“A little to the left.” Tom hovered above the door and moved a massive cloud of dark blue balloons slightly over in the wrong direction, glancing up at her to check. “My left, honey.” He nodded and shifted them back. A little more, a little more, and… “There. Nice work, Tommypoo,” Wrathmelior affectionately growled in her native tongue while reaching down to rustle her smiling son’s hair. When Tom suggested throwing a party for a friend she hadn’t met yet, the same boy who had been the subject of quite a few mother-son heart-to-hearts in years past, some old concerns had bubbled up in the back of her mind. But she couldn’t bear saying no for long, and it wasn’t long until she was more than happy to volunteer the Lucitor lake house for the occasion.

Tom’s enigmatic friend Janna popped her head out the front door with a sly grin that would put many of the devils Wrathmelior personally knew to shame. “Yo Tommypoo, can I get a hand at the snack table?”

All three of his eyes popped open and cast intense glares back and forth between Janna and Wrathmelior. “You even taught her that?” he groaned incredulously at the latter.

Wrathmelior smiled apologetically. “Sorry, sweetie. She’s quite persuasive.” Janna had been spending enough time in the Underworld that Wrathmelior had given her a few crash courses in conversational demonic, enough to get by on her own when she tagged along with whatever Tom was doing in the kingdom. Though she was still difficult to figure out, they got along swimmingly. So many humans seemed either too scared or concerningly excited about the lava, wings, and horns they might encounter down below, and Janna’s cool enthusiasm was refreshingly welcome.

“Guilty as charged.” Janna pointed finger guns at Tom as he walked through the door and they disappeared into the house.

Wrathmelior went into the more appropriately sized entrance into the kitchen, where by the time she arrived Tom and Janna were putting out plates and napkins. Her husband was there as well and had apparently been receiving a cooking lesson from Star for some time now, judging by the lecture she was giving him. “-can’t do this too early or the chips will get totally mushy and gross. Crunchy chips, molten cheese, crisp pico - all required elements for any Marco-approved nachos.” Star instructed before bending down to grab a tray full of chips out of the oven, setting it down on the counter next to the other supplies. “If you pour juuuuuust right, the cheese will get all in between the chips so you get a little with every bite.” Dave solemnly followed her work as the jumbo bowl was filled with a quantity of triangle chips, yellow goop, and vegetables that gave even the full-sized demon pause. “Voilà! Star’s Super Spectacular Nachos!” Everyone grabbed a sample chip, and just as she said, a little bit of everything seemed to work its way through the dish.

“Mmmmph,” Dave grunted. “These are good. Star, can you teach the castle staff how to make this marvelous thing?”

“Honestly, I’m not that good at it, Marco and I have just been cooking a ton lately. Campus food is both really expensive and really crummy.” Star stuck her tongue out in disgust. While the others, Wrathmelior included, tried and failed to stop eating, Star wandered through the living room and looked around at all the decorations and party games that had been set up, her grin only growing wider as she did.

Tom leaned against the stairs with his hands in the pockets of his teal shorts, smirked as he coolly observed the room. “We are preeeeetty good party planners, aren’t we?”

“Aww yeah we are!” Star skipped over and bumped shoulders with Tom. “But honestly this was mostly you. Marco’s gonna love it.”

“You think?” Tom’s cocky demeanor fell away to the earnestness underneath. “Ah, it was nothing. I mean, sure, we’ve got a private beachfront property, the most state of the art ping-pong tables in the world, a live Love Sentence cover band… I mean, who wouldn’t do this for their friend’s 17th birthday?”

Janna slurped the stretchy cheese off her last chip before chiming in from the kitchen. “You’ve been spending, like, every waking moment on it, dude. Feels like we haven’t even hung out in weeks, buuuut it is pretty cool. Remind me to call you when I’m in the mood to throw a grave rave.” He flashed a casual toothy smirk, but there was an extra glint in his eyes that caught Wrathmelior’s attention. Janna sauntered into the living room to join the others. “So what’s the special occasion, Tom?”

Whatever that look had meant, it was quickly replaced with sheer confusion. “Uh, Marco’s birthday? Did you get bit by a Hippocampotamus or something? Those things are nasty.”

The Earth girl rolled her eyes. “I mean why all the fuss? This is basically the one human teenage birthday that isn’t extra special.”

“Whatever. Just wanted to throw an ultra awesome party for one of my best friends because he’s a super cool guy.” He quickly averted his gaze, eyes drifting around the room until they stopped on the elegant family grandfather clock. “Probably about that time, ready for me to send you back?” he asked, glancing sideways at Star.

“Oooooone sec.” Star ruffled her hands through her hair, brushed sand out of her light blue blouse, and stuffed her sunhat and sunglasses into her purse. “Sand would blow my cover.” Pillars of fire erupted in the wide open area of the living room as Tom’s eyes glowed, and the familiar carriage he’d built himself once upon a time quickly spawned from the ground. “See you in a few!” Star climbed into the seat; one sizzling rush of air later and she was gone. The irony of Star using the vehicle Tom had delicately crafted once upon a time in the service of wooing her to pick up her human boyfriend wasn’t lost on Wrathmelior, but there was no point to harboring any negativity if Tom was happy with it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Wrathmelior saw a smug Janna sneaking up behind Tom. He lightly shrieked when she slapped him on the back. “Good job, Lucitor. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go set up the traditional Diaz prank. I’m pulling out all the stops this year.” When she opened her jacket, his eyes widened at the various weapons, gadgets, skulls, and animals hiding within. One of them stuck its furry head out. “I became the alpha possum just a few weeks ago. Scooter here can smell red hoodies through walls, isn’t that right?” She scratched the creature’s head before closing the olive jacket back up. “So, you want in?”

“Nah,” he scoffed, waving his hands dismissively. “You go ahead, do your thing. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of the master.”

“You flatter me. Suit yourself, see ya,” Janna shrugged and slinked off elsewhere in the cabin, leaving just the Lucitor family behind. Tom milled about the cabin making minute adjustments to the decorations and furniture, seemingly to kill time more than anything. What had him so worked up? There was no time for Wrathmelior to ponder this question, though, as a loud swoosh from the outside signalled the arrival of the carriage before she could even collect her thoughts.

Tom perked up and bolted out the door while Wrathmelior took the larger exit out the side. Just as the carriage doors opened, Tom snapped his fingers and summoned a black cloth, blinding the boy within whom she presumed to be Marco. “What the heck, man?” Marco curiously started the famous sword-hand dance, but Tom floated over and past him to peek into the chassis.

“Wait, where’s Star?”

“Moon needed her for a little bit, she said she’d be ready pretty soon but said I should go ahead. Can you get this thing off me?”

“Right, right, sorry,” he stuttered while fumbling with the knot until it came undone. “Anyway, welcome to the Lucitor family lake house!”

“Surprise!” The Lucitors spoke in unison, although Wrathmelior knew she wouldn’t be understood. “Happy birthday!”

His eyes widened in wonder at the massive quantity of balloons and the big sign that greeted him. “Wooooah, you guys, you didn’t have to!”

Tom put his arm around Marco’s shoulder and began walking him towards the door. “Don’t worry about it. Oh, Marco, meet my mom and dad, Queen and King Lucitor of the Underworld.”

“My pleasure, young man,” Dave warmly stated as he stepped forward to shake Marco’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Wrathmelior growled out with Dave translating.

Marco waved up at her, possessing the same unflinching assuredness that she’d noticed in Janna. “Tom’s told me a lot about you, thanks for having me. Just one question. Is there-”

“Ping-pong?” They said in unison, both their faces breaking into wide smiles before they’d even finished the word.

“If the brand-new Dropshot 720 DX model with real-time trajectory tracking and RGB paddles counts, sure.”

Marco excitedly grabbed Tom by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth. “With optional holographic crowd simulator?”

“Duh. Marco, please, I’m not an amateur.”

“What are we waiting for? The ping ain’t gonna pong itself.”

“We’ve got snacks and music and all sorts of other things, too. Ha, now I feel kinda silly, putting all this together and being the only one here when you show up. I totally understand if you want to go with Star instead, I’d never try to get in the way of, you know, the whole thing you two have.”

The human boy crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in response. “Tom, you’re one of my best friends and you’re throwing me a ping-pong birthday party. If you think I don’t want to kick your butt until we’ve broken every last ping-pong ball in the kingdom, you’ve got another thing coming, buddy.” Both glanced down when his stomach loudly rumbled. “...but maybe, um, we start with the snacks.”

Wrathmelior cooed at the exchange as Tom wrapped an arm around Marco’s shoulder and led him into the house. So much had changed in the past few years, both above and below ground. Even if her own home and kingdom had been affected to the same degree as those of the surface-dwellers though, none of it would compare in Wrathmelior’s eyes to what she’d seen out of her son. With the ample time she’d had to reflect since the state of the world settled down, she might even say that he’d been the more mature one between them. The last time she’d played doting demon mom over her son’s relationships had gone… regrettably, to say the least, and it had hurt like heaven when he broke the news of what had happened. Could anyone blame her for wanting things to work out with the girl he’d spent years chasing? Most shocking of all was that he hadn’t even talked to her about it beforehand. Before she could even realize it, he’d grown into a capable young Prince of the Underworld solving his problems all on his own.

“Surprise, Diaz!” The moment of solemn reflection was interrupted by Janna’s voice from inside the house followed by a series of crashes and girlish shrieks. “Go, Scooter, go!” As the chaos unfolded, she could hear Tom simultaneously laughing to the point of breathlessness and blasting fire to defend Marco.

While she still couldn’t help but worry that something seemed off with Tom today - a feeling compounded by how little experience she had not being the first one to know what might be going wrong in his life - it was surprisingly easy to push aside. With the friendships he had, she felt at ease knowing he could handle it.

***

“Lava snakes up above you, Tom!” Marco launched up into the sky with a flurry of sword strikes to stun the enemies while Tom floated over to cover. Tom’s mage dropped icicles from the ceiling to pin the first of the bosses to the ground for Marco to execute. “Thanks.”

Meanwhile, Janna’s character dropped a smokebomb and used the cover to sneak up and eliminate the ranged attackers with his shotgun. “These stupid alien crabs won’t stop spawning,” she growled.

“It’s fine, keep on them. Obsidian lizard to your right, Marco!”

One of Tom’s gifts to Marco had been Threat of Wet 2, the hit sequel to the original action game Threat of Wet. He initially hadn’t been sure if it would be his sort of game but it only took a few minutes of endless heart-pumping mob-slaughtering multiplayer action to be hooked. Even if he was having fun, he wasn’t great at it, judging by the amount of nervous sweat he had to wipe off his brow in a rare free moment between dodging deadly lasers and spikeballs. He used an uppercut to alley-oop the lizard into Tom’s laser blast before dashing and slashing through it for the kill.

“Little help?!?” Janna shouted, tossing a stun grenade at the ravenous pack of creepy jesters clawing at her and rolling under a fallen pillar to regroup with the team. The horde got distracted and chased after one of their mini fighter drones, giving the group a moment of respite.

“Last ones, I think,” Marco said with a grimace. “Not sure what the best move is here, they’ll obliterate me.”

Janna snapped a finger and pointed at Tom. “You think we can pull off Tamalebolge here?” Marco had no clue what she was talking about, but Tom’s mouth slowly widened into an eager grin as he apparently understood what she was trying to say. They nodded with conviction and turned back to the game.

“Set the smokescreens, I’ll get in position. Marco, just follow me.” He went along with it and hunkered his swordsman down between two clouds of smoke blocking their vision while Janna laid out more in a straight line with gaps in between. Janna maneuvered her character towards the spooky clowns and shot a single pellet at them to get their attention. Once they began charging over, Tom started unloading every spell he had while moving backwards in and out of smoke patches.

The clowns kept moving forward, but seemed to be stuttering in a way that prevented them from ever successfully landing a hit. In a moment of confusion while Marco tried to process it, he got bodyslammed into the ground and instantly killed. “You’re dead… that was embarrassing,” the game’s message on his corner of the massive screen in Tom’s media room taunted. What the heck were they up to, and why was it working?

“Almost… almost… no!” Tom’s thumb slipped on the controller and Marco could literally see the fire in his eyes at the mistake. At the last second Janna rolled under the legs of their enemies and stunned them just as they were about to slam, finishing them off and displaying a message to proceed to the next level. Their characters sauntered over to the exit and halted for a moment while Tom and Janna proudly hi-fived in celebration… and in the half-second they’d looked away, a thin blip of flame from a single floating wraith pierced through both, killing them instantly. “OH, COME ON!” Yep, this game certainly was unforgiving.

Janna busted out laughing and patted Tom on the shoulder. “Dude, take it easy, that was sick. You were right, this was pretty fun.”

“Told you.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but what the heck is Tamalebolge?”

“There’s this place called Tamalebolge on the outskirts of the Underworld, we stopped there for lunch one day after Mom sent me to give a big box of eyeballs to the mayor there. Dunno why a town needed 10000 preserved eyeballs, but whatever.”

On the other side of the couch, Janna scoffed resentfully. “Lucky town.”

“Anyway, they had this tamale that was a bunch of layers that got spicier as you bit in, and it hurts because each time you hit one layer you let your guard down for the next so you get that burning feeling a bunch of times in a row. In one of our trips to the Librarinth we got cornered by some Decimatals and had the idea to put up a bunch of walls of fire, since they could-”

“Could never adapt to the fire because it wasn’t steady,” Marco finished with a hint of awe as the pieces clicked into place. “Dang, that’s really smart.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Janna exclaimed in a monotone, not even looking up from her phone. “Alright, Marco, what did Star say she was doing exactly? She hasn’t even asked for any pictures yet.”

Marco raised an eyebrow. “Well, Moon said she needed to borrow Star for a bit, but that was a few hours ago so…” Suddenly the weirdness of Janna’s last statement - well, compared to the baseline he expected from her - struck him. “Wait, pictures?”

“Yeah, dude,” she coolly responded, leaning over Tom and showing him an album with… how many pictures of him was that exactly? 500? 1000? He looked away before any more could load to just stare in complete indignant shock at his friend. “Anytime we hang out without her, Star asks me to, like, take pictures of you and send them to her. You haven’t noticed by now? Damn, I’m just that good.” She smirked and twirled her phone around, blowing on it like a smoking gun before holstering it in her pocket.

Tom folded his arms and leaned forward to stare Janna down. “Really? Star asks you to do this?”

“Yes. Well, I started it first. And sent a new shot every few minutes for weeks. And now she’s so used to it that me not doing it makes her think we all got eaten by weresharks, so whenever I stop she always asks what’s wrong. So yeah, basically she asks for them.”

From Marco’s position reclined into one end of the sofa, Tom had to twist himself around to shoot Marco an incredulous look and nudge his attention towards Janna as if to beam “Are you really gonna just let that slide?“ directly into his brain. “Whatever, I’m used to it. The most surprising thing is that you actually, y’know, send them to Star."

Janna finally devoted her undivided attention on Marco for a few seconds, assessing him with her cold and enigmatic expression before sighing. “I already had them and Star’s madly in love with you for some reason so why not? What, Diaz, I’m not allowed to do nice things for my friends now?” Leave it to Janna to make being kind of normal and thoughtful still creepy and weird.

“You know what, I’m just gonna message her,” Marco said, walking out of the room to clear his head and pulling out his phone to check in on Star. She could certainly handle herself, especially with Moon there, but he was still curious what could be making her miss a lot of the celebration that she herself had helped set up. After he’d sent the first, he hastily added on a second asking if she needed him for anything. OK, so maybe a little worried. It surprisingly only took a second before his phone dinged with a response.

“Mina’s back. Long story, not what you think, we’re fine here 👍. Kinda crazy tho. 😵 Will tell you later. 😈 acting a bit strange, stay and try to see why? 🤔 Also have fun, it’s your party!!!!🎊🥳🎉🎈 Hopefully will be done soon, would never miss 👻rise with you 💕💞💏 Love you 😘🥰😻”

Mina? Every bone in his body wanted to leap into action, but Star knew her better than probably anyone; if she said there wasn’t a problem, he’d trust that. The fact that something was up with Tom, on the other hand, demanded attention. Was there something strange going on? It hadn’t occurred to him, but now that the idea had been planted in his head, Tom wasn’t the first person he’d have expected to go through all this trouble. He was a great and thoughtful guy, sure, but weeks of detail-oriented planning seemed... a bit out of place for him. Like Star said, though, he should still just enjoy the day and there’d be plenty of time to try and sleuth out whatever Star thought was going on.

“Hey, man,” Tom said as he poked his head around the corner. “We’re going surfing, wanna come with?”

“Sure Tom, just one tiny problem: the water here is lava-”

Tom only smiled wider in response. “Come on, you’ll see.” The two headed outside where Wrathmelior and Dave were sunba- uh, stalactitebathing, he supposed? Marco wasn’t sure what the point was underground but, hey, maybe it was a demon thing. Janna, too, had already made her way outside and stripped down to an outfit more suitable for a lava beach. She appeared to be rubbing some sort of neon red goop all over herself, which stupefied him so much that he barely noticed she was wearing a pair of hot pink shorts. What kind of bizarro world had he entered?

When she finally noticed him, he quickly averted his gaze to avoid any suspicion. “Yo, Diaz, liking the view?” Too late. She put a cap on the bottle of goo and nodded in the direction of the lake. What was she up to? As Marco warily followed, he saw Tom swimming around in the lava unfettered. All of a sudden, Janna started running with intent towards the lake.

“JANNA, NO!” Marco surged forward to try and stop her but she had a headstart and was surprisingly fast on her feet. When she kicked off the sand to hurl herself into the lava, Marco’s eyes instinctively squeezed shut and let out a whimper despite knowing somewhere in the back of his mind that she had to have some sort of plan.

When Marco opened his eyes, Janna was completely unharmed and lazily treading lava. She ducked under to sneak up on the lazily backstroking Tom, rising up to grab him by the horns and dunk him. He flailed for a minute before bobbing back up and taking a big gulp of air.

“Janna, what the here?!? Not cool...” he paddled to shore and shook the excess molten rock from his ears before standing with Marco, careful to keep his distance since he still had some residual slag on him. “Can you believe that?”

There was no other way Marco saw fit to respond to that than look of pure incredulity. “Yes? Always? So, anyway, how is she not dead right now?”

“Full cocktail of fire and heat resistance. Mostly Earth sunscreen with some demon incantations courtesy of my parents. Seeps in and affects your hair and innards and even any tight clothing for perfect safety. There’s enough for you too, if you want.”

As if today couldn’t get any crazier, disbelief morphed into fight or flight instinct as he tried to keep himself calm. “...so I’m just supposed to rub something Janna is giving me all over my body… and- and then jump into lava? Are you insane? What if it makes my tongue sentient, turns my legs into pudding, o-o-or worse? Oh my gosh, i-it’s gonna kill me-” Well, so much for calm, the sole bit of his mind hanging on to rationality offered.

“Woah, man, easy. Deep breaths. Just offering.” Tom gently patted his back until his breath steadied. He sighed and looked away. “For the record, Janna is a pretty good friend, you know. I’ve actually liked doing all the princely political crap when she’s here, and- and she does help. A lot, actually. I get that she likes messing with you, and honestly dude, it is pretty funny sometimes. If you don’t want to risk it, I totally respect that, but…” Marco followed his gaze out towards the lake where Janna was trying to befriend a wandering hellbat. “She really does care, in her own way.” There was an emotional conviction there that impacted Marco on a level he wasn’t prepared for, and even after a lifetime of wariness around Janna he found himself trusting more in Tom’s vote of confidence in the here and now… plus lava surfing did sound pretty awesome. Was this what Star had meant about his behavior today? He made a mental note before turning his focus back to the present dilemma. In all his time as an interdimensional adventurer he’d piloted dragoncycles, trained in combat with the sharpest swords he’d ever seen, and flipped a horse made of pure magic while floating on the back of one of his best friends. Why not go for this?

“Alright, let’s do this,” Marco said, marching over to the towel that had been laid out on the sand and cautiously picking up the bottle at arm’s length as though it was a radiation hazard, which he couldn’t even be sure it wasn’t.

The bottle floated up out of his hands on a puff of smoke guided by Tom’s magic. “Heads up, though, the souls of the damned mixed in there can bleach pretty badly, so maybe don’t wear anything you care about. Janna ruined my perfectly good ‘cold as ice’ shirt testing it,” Tom pouted. Marco stripped off his hoodie and goblin dog t-shirt, finding them far too valuable to damage.

I didn’t care about these swim trunks that much anyway, he internally grumbled while he snatched the bottle from Tom and gingerly applied it to his skin. After giving the first gentle dab on his arm a minute to verify he didn’t turn into a pig-goat, he reluctantly spread it around the rest of his body. He was surprised to find that it soaked in even easier than regular sunscreen despite its incredibly visible color. The even more daunting step was trusting it to protect his skin from literal lava. Tom held up a small flame in his hand. Marco instinctively recoiled but allowed Tom to bring it closer as a test, and sure enough even once it came in direct contact with his skin he felt nothing beyond a weird air current and a gentle warmth with no damage left behind. The only step left was taking the plunge. Now or never, Diaz, he chanted as he walked towards the edge of the sand.

“Aww, does Marco need floaties?” Janna goaded, having moved back into wading level to witness Marco’s entry. One toe went forward, very delicately. Almost, almooooooost… and it was in! It probably took about 10 minutes for Marco to fully immerse himself in the boiling liquid, mostly by choice, although its viscosity made the prospect of freely swimming around seem tiring regardless of magical protection.

Tom’s parents had approached the shore during that time and applauded Marco’s efforts. Wrathmelior made some deep rumbling sounds that caused Tom and Janna to both snicker. Tom noticed Marco’s frown and waved reassuringly. “She just said you’re moving slower than the lava itself, but don’t worry dude, you’re only the second human who’s even tried this. You’re doing great!” Tom motioned towards his parents before taking a running leap into the lake and paddling over to Marco, patting his back and inviting Marco to hop on. “Remember that move we practiced? The Screeching Bat?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Think we can use it here?” he asked, pointing to the beginnings of a massive wave forming in the distance.

Despite all his reservations about every step thus far, one thing he knew he could always trust was his and Tom’s teamwork. They’d had each others’ backs even when their friendship should have been shattered to pieces by guilt and heartache, and it had only improved from there. Deep breath, Diaz. “Let’s do this,” he confidently declared, climbing onto Tom’s lower back and bracing his legs under Tom’s arms while he assumed his usual four-limbed propulsion flight position. “Wait, where’s Janna?”

As the rippling sea started to form a recognizable wave, the pair saw a creature emerge to ride the peak with Janna on its back. “I’m QUEEEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD!” she screamed as the three-headed sea-turtle-esque animal carried her along.

Wrathmelior waved her giant camera in the air and made another comment that instantly left Tom with face a few shades redder than normal as he turned away. Being new to the whole “dipping skin in lava” experience, Marco’s focus was too scattered to trust his own judgment on whether or not Tom’s reaction was just a trick of the heat. He didn’t have time to dwell on it further before Tom jostled under him. “Whatever. C’mon, Marco, let’s just do this thing. Keep steady and don’t push down too hard, the heat doesn’t bother me but it’s still not fun having my face skid on molten rock at highway speeds.” Marco nodded and Tom lifted them off of the surface before flying over to the waves, picking up speed as they went.

They lost track of time as they did loop-de-loops and pushed their moves to the limits, swimming over and under and through the most insane ocean waves Marco had ever seen. At one point, as Janna rode closer to the ground, Tom followed the curve of a wave until he was upside-down under the crest of the wave as it crashed down behind them. Marco let go of Tom’s neck and felt his heart pounding as he straightened out, letting his body dip down in their signature trick that earned this flight pattern its name. Come to think of it, this was the first time they’d even made use of any of the awesome combat patterns they’d spent weeks naming and practicing in the last year, but they’d had enough fun goofing off in the sky that it was its own reward. When the largest wave yet approached, Tom veered straight for it and carved a hole in it with a fire blast at the last second. Marco tucked himself closely onto Tom’s back as they blasted through, and he was so high on adrenaline that he couldn’t help but sit straight up and holler in victory right afterwards.

As it approached an hour since they’d set out onto the lake, they all headed back at Tom’s suggestion that the potion’s effect wouldn’t last. They were greeted with another assortment of snacks and drinks from Tom’s parents, giving their swim trunks some time to… whatever the lava equivalent of “dry” was... in the comfort of the living room. Janna grabbed a glowing green glass bottle and took a huge swig. Marco’s wary gaze on its contents must have lasted a bit long because Janna took notice. “Chill, this is just Underworld cow’s milk. Tastes the same as ours.” If anything, that freaked him out more, but he’d had enough of these moments throughout the day that he could just put up with it at this point. As Tom approached with some sort of large bug shells on a plate - thank heavens the Underworld imported Earth snacks now - Janna silently looked him up and down a few times. “So, Lucitor, I didn’t know you had those moves. If I knew you could float upside-down so easily…” she trailed off with implications Marco didn’t feel like trying to unpack. Tom could only babble incoherently in response until he sprinted off deeper into the house. “Ooooor not,” Janna grumbled before sinking into the couch and taking a swig.

“Is everything OK with Tom?” Marco hesitantly asked.

“Beats me. Lately we’re just on mission after mission with no time to stop and catch our breath or even get a bite to eat in-between. Can’t believe one lousy year has already made him such a workaholic. Even Star only got like this when she thought, like, the entire kingdom would collapse or something.” She grabbed her phone as it buzzed, frowning at the screen. Suddenly, she took a photo of Marco and tapped her screen a bunch of times, standing up as she shoved it back in the back pocket of her shorts.

“What was that?”

“That was Star, she apparently needs me to bring a few of my more… let’s just say noxious potion blends, in case of some kind of emergency. But first she wanted to make sure the lava surfing didn’t damage your abs.” She faked a gag response and rolled her eyes. “And she also said, and I quote, ‘Tell Marco he doesn’t need to come because he should reeeeeally take care of the thing, and that I’m suuuuuper sorry for skipping out on you, and that we’re aaaaaalmooooost done here, and then we can cuddle up for the Soulrise.’ Normally I’d pry about ‘the thing’ but I’m too nauseous right now. Also, an ‘I love you’ filled with hearts until the character limit, so that settles it: me reading that is the next five years of birthday presents, minimum, for both of you. You’re welcome.” She punctuated with a snap of her fingers and a rumble grew louder until a chasm opened up in the ground and Tom’s carriage rolled up the side.

“Since when could you-”

Janna winked and hopped in the carriage door as it vanished in a column of flame, leaving only Marco behind. He had hundreds of questions and concerns about Star’s situation, but between her continued insistence on staying behind and what Janna had just said, his certainty was growing that something fishy was afoot with Tom. Where might his friend go if something was troubling him? This could take an hour, no, all day to crack the case, but Marco was ready to sleuth harder than ever to solve this mystery.

One guess and thirty seconds later, Marco found Tom sitting on the couch in another one of the lounge spaces in the lake house, manipulating two paddles to play ping-pong against each other. Leaning against the wall, Marco observed as the simulated crowd went wild in stark opposition to Tom’s joyless expression that alternated between the match and his own lap, never once noticing his friend to his side. After a few more minutes of this, the announcer enthusiastically cheered for the victor of the round.

When the system rebooted, Marco made his move. “Playing without me?”

Tom glanced up from the table. “Wuh? Oh, hey.”

“Wanna play?”

“Well, obviously I would, but, um, I just… gotta…”

“What’s wrong, Tom?”

“Wrong? Me? Nothing’s wrong, Marco! Why would anything be wrong?” A puff of smoke shot out of his nostrils and clearly forced grin on the last word.

“C’mon, man. We both know something’s up. You’ve been acting all strange today.”

He threw his hands up with a defeated scowl creasing his eyes and face. “OK, fine, you got me. I stubbed my toe on the beach earlier and it really stings-”

“Tom.” Neither budged as they stared each other down. So it’s gonna be like that, huh? If he cloaked himself in bravado, then Marco just needed to find a way to open up that shell and draw the inner turmoil out. “You, me, first one to 6. If I win, you talk.”

Tom crossed his arms suspiciously. “Dude, you’ve literally never beaten me.”

“Yeah, well, then it should be easy for you. Whaddya say?”

“What do I get when I win?”

Marco gestured at the table humility. “I will officially give up any hopes of ever beating you and you’ll forever be known as King Pong.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll play. You’re going down.”

“Game on.”

"Let's see, ‘enter nickname’... Tom the Bomb? Seriously, man? I-"

Marco was interrupted by the fake stadium’s booming audio as the commentators began. "Welcome everyone to the championship bout where we will determine who is the true king of the ping."

“Hey, that’s my joke,” Marco whined pointlessly, drowned out by a second female announcing voice that continued without pause.

“On the away team, we have the human, the underdog to win it all this year, Marco Diaaaaaaaz! He’s got wicked topspin sure to send heads spinning and he’s hungry for the title. Never count out the man in red! Now on the home team, you know him, you love him, it’s the man with a plan to slice and dice you to pieces, it’s Prince of the Underworld Tom Lucitoooooooooor!”

Marco pointed incredulously at… well, everything happening around them. “Seriously, dude, are you sure this is even a computer?” Tom shrugged nonchalantly in response.

“We have a lot we could say up here about this long-awaited grudge match, isn’t that right, Janet?”

“That we could, Derek, but I’m sure all the lovely AI fans here don’t want all this AI blabber. They want some good old-fashioned ping-pong. Now let’s watch while Tom readies up the serve…” Tom deeply inhaled and exhaled a few times, then got into position on his end of the table. He crouched over slightly with the ball in one hand and paddle in the other, then tossed it up into the air and smashed it with the paddle. Marco jumped backwards to avoid the searing speed of the projectile that was aimed at him with a disdain reminiscent of the first time they’d ever played the game. If he’s gonna amp up his game with demon powers, I’ll just need to be better.

“Wow, what a scorcher right down the diagonal! I sure wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that, it’d fry my processor to a crisp!” Marco didn’t find a chance to start a volley on the second point, nor did his possession of the serve change the outcome in the slightest. When Tom got the ball back, he didn’t even use his paddle as his powers drove the ball directly sideways after the initial impact in Marco’s court. Marco called a timeout and turned away from the table in thought, stumped for solutions. This game was his idea, after all... The AI announcers irritated Marco with their constant humiliation of his skills, but one sarcastic jab struck an unexpected chord: “If he wants to beat Tom, maybe he shouldn’t be playing ping-pong.” He’d gotten nowhere trying to break through with blunt questioning and was doing a worse job trying to get past his confidence at the sport. But if there was a deep insecurity underneath that facade of confidence, maybe he needed to work on building that up instead.

Turning back to the table, he placed his paddle flat on the table for a moment. “Look, Tom, I get it. I can’t beat you at this game. I-I just didn’t want my best friend acting so bummed at a party he threw, OK? If winning here would cheer you up a bit, it’s match point. I won’t stop you. And- and maybe I’m not even the one to deal with this, since I know you usually talk to your mom about this sort of thing, but-”

“Marco, I-” He paused, started again, stopped, and stuttered his way through another half-dozen attempts at a sentence before falling silent and gazing at the floor. “Look, I’m not upset, everything’s fine,” he angrily said through gritted teeth. Tom grabbed the paddle and gracelessly swatted at the ball. Marco flinched and shut his eyes, ready to hear the announcers celebrate the clean sweep… but nothing. “Huh?” he wondered aloud before seeing a ball way off to his left. Had Tom just flubbed the serve? Tom tried once more, much less methodical in his swing. Marco swatted it back over the net and in Tom’s haste to return he spiked it directly onto his own court.

“...and in a shocking turn of events, it’s now 5-1, Lucitor! Now is Marco’s chance to turn it around!”

The three eyes in front of him glowed at the edges in anger, but the expression within wasn’t one Marco feared was directed at him. Marco centered himself and performed a straightforward serve to the edge of Tom’s court, and Tom managed to return it for the first genuine volley of the match, but a steep drop shot gave Marco his second point of the match. Tom grunted in frustration as Marco set up for the next serve, and he immediately lashed out with demon telekinesis but put too much power into it and sent the ball flying with an animalistic growl that betrayed more pain than fury, as if he was squaring off against himself and not Marco.

Tom flopped four serves in a row, leaving the game tied at 5-5. “Whatever it is, Tom, we can talk about it. You’re worrying me a bit, dude.” Tom didn’t even bother to return Marco’s next serve, putting the game at match point, win by 2.

“Just off my game. I told you, nothing’s wrong, there’s not anything I need to talk about right now,” his voice trembled. “I can do this.” Marco raised an eyebrow in a challenge to Tom, then served the ball in the exact opposite direction of the table. Bluff called. Tom hesitated a split second before sending his paddle soaring through the air around Marco’s head to make contact with the ball and fruitlessly swat it to the ground, giving Marco the point as the crowd went wild with cheers and boos at the performance. But Tom ignored all of that to toss himself onto the couch and buried his head in his hands, and Marco immediately dropped next to him.

“Dude, just talk to me,” Marco offered sympathetically.

“I don’t know how much longer I can deal with this.”

“With what?”

With his face buried in a pillow, Marco didn’t catch anything more than “a-a” in response.

“What was that?”

“Janna,” he forced out as though the word caused physical grief.

He had been a bit weird around her specifically, but somehow Marco hadn’t come into this conversation quite expecting it. “Um, OK. Well, I get that… she gets on my nerves too, and since you’re spending so much time with her I totally get- oh.”

Tom sighed.

“Ooooooooh.” It was all Marco could say as his mind raced to process the new developments.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t think you-”

“Neither did I, but here we are.” Marco placed an arm around Tom’s shoulders to try and comfort him, and Tom merely returned a lopsided smile, opting to sit in silence while Marco wracked his brain for an idea of how best to respond. “When I…” Tom hesitantly spoke up but immediately faltered, taking a moment to regroup mentally. “My whole thing with Star went for, like, two years, and looking back I kind of feel like I was an idiot every second of it. Every time I got caught up in that dumb crush it just messed things up more. Like, remember that big monster party she threw? I was too hung up on dancing to even worry about what my friends needed.”

“Look, Tom, we all did lots of dumb stuff back then-”

The half-demon sunk into the couch, shrugging Marco’s arm off of him and staring up at the ceiling. “Yeah, sure, but at least you and Star were only completely clueless about how much you guys love each other, and even that was at least a little bit my bad too! A year after Star and I broke up the first time, she came back to Mewni as this confident and charismatic person, and I didn’t even know how to do anything besides flounder around doing nothing when she wasn’t around. Ever since I put all that stuff behind me, it’s- things have been going great!” Tom paused for a second after his voice cracked sharply. “Janna’s clever, she’s actually really thoughtful sometimes, she’s the funniest person I know, and she helped me realize I actually kind of like doing all the stuff that a prince is probably supposed to be doing. And here I am, the buffoon with a crush yet again.”

Marco had a few differences of opinion on the details, to put it lightly, but the sentiment struck a chord. “It’s- it’s never easy. I mean, there was a part of me that felt like I couldn’t even be regular friends with Star anymore for a while ‘cause it just kinda sucked to keep getting reminded of those feelings.”

“Really? Never would have thought.”

“Yeah, well, me too. But that did get better after, well, the booth…”

“So I just have to find a photo goblin and kiss her then, got it.”

“Not my point, Tom,” he retorted with a light punch in the arm, both of them smirking; it was still a sensitive topic, but this seemed to be helping Tom shake off the worst of his anxieties at the very least. “You’re being too hard on yourself, man. Literal hours after we met, you tried to kill me for dancing with a girl you weren’t even dating, then you saved me from a rampaging monster who then proceeded to get turned into a baby.”

“Has that ever stopped being kinda messed up?” Tom quickly interjected.

“Not really, no. But even if all that stuff you said is true, which it isn’t, anyone would still be lucky to have a friend like you. If you think you’re not a good enough friend for Janna or whatever, you’re wrong, and if you think you might screw something up, maybe you will but that doesn’t mean you should just give up those feelings. Take that from me.”

With a giant huff of air, Tom ran a hand through his hair, body language still displaying loads of tension even if he was being more open about his problems. “I’m not- I don’t want to just walk away entirely, but… When I went on that trip by myself right before Earth and Mewni merged, when I was just chilling on a hill in some dimension out there looking up at a thousand stars disappearing behind the horizon, I finally realized that what I wanted most was to find someone I could share that sort of moment with, even if it’s not romantic. Someone I could just sit next to without saying a word and still feel like we were doing something special.”

“Yeah…” Even though Marco had a great respect for his friend, it never ceased to amaze him how potently reflective and sensitive he could be, especially for someone who’d once been every human’s worst stereotype of a rage-filled demon monster. The words made him think of Star, who he could spend every single day with doing absolutely nothing and never get bored. Who was always there to lift him out of his lowest times, celebrate his best, and everything in between. Who would always be his very best friend, so long as they both shall live. Tom deserved every bit of happiness that Marco had discovered came with that kind of relationship, and if he could find it with Janna then Marco would be behind him all the way. “These things can take time, it did for me and Star.”

“No offense dude, but did it? You were best friends, like, seventeen hours tops after you met, and I bet even when things were at their worst you knew it, too. I like Janna, a lot, but I don’t know if that’s the sort of thing we have in the first place. And if I’m not sure of that, then I might be risking a friendship for something I’m not even sure would be good for me.” All three of Tom’s eyes sparkled their plea as he finally turned to fully face Marco, who returned the favor. “What do I do?”

“...really, Tom, I’m not sure.” Jackie, and Kelly, and the Curse… he’d had a lot of doubt in what he wanted most, for sure, but Tom was right about one thing: even if he hadn’t realized it, that unshakeable certainty in Star’s friendship somewhere in the core of his being had gotten him through whatever life threw at him. Without that, he shuddered at the thought of what might have been. “If you think saying something is a bad idea right now, then don’t. Just promise me one thing, OK?”

“Mhmm?”

“If and when you do feel confident that saying something to her is what you want to do, don’t wait, OK? If she really is your best friend, don’t hide it from her. That’ll only hurt you both, and that is 100% Marco Diaz first hand advice.”

Tom pulled Marco into a tight hug, clapping him on the back a few times for emphasis. “Thanks.”

When they broke apart, Marco kept a hand extended to Tom’s shoulder. “You can always join me and Star for sunset-watching, too, if you want. They might not be the same as one thousand at once, but Earthni’s are pretty amazing.”

“Might take you up on that. Feeling a lot better already, to be honest. Don’t feel like I need to avoid being around Janna anymore.”

“I’m glad.” Marco felt his phone buzz and check

“Awwww, isn’t that heartwarming, folks? It just warms my neural net. With that healthy of an approach to love, I don’t think there’s a wrong play Tom could make here. He’s got a good spin on the ball to angle that shot exactly where he needs it to go. What do you think, Janet?”

“Right you are, Derek, this is a truly remarkable sight seeing these two guys talk about their feelings. Usually we see young players put all their focus into fast smashes without buckling down on the fundamentals and getting a good, clean drive. If he can just find someone to lob, I think he’ll be alright. What do you say, all you people watching out there?”

“JANTOM! STARCO! JANTOM! STARCO!” The crowd chanted in unison, some even holding up signs. Were those doodles of their faces?

Notice of the loud noise startled the boys. Had they been watching the whole time? “What the-” they both exclaimed in utter shock as they jumped up and struck defensive poses.

One spectator ran up to the edge of the holographic projection with a pair of fake horns. “I LOVE YOU TOM PLEASE MARRY MEeeeeeeeeeuuuuu...” Marco yelped as the control console exploded from one of Tom’s fire blasts, causing the shrieking voice to trail off into a deep robotic crackle. Both breathed heavily as their eyes, wide with fear, flickered all around the ping pong setup in search of any other hidden dangers. When his heart had stopped racing enough for him to feel any external sensations again, Marco felt a vibration in his pocket and pulled out his phone.

“Oh, hey, Star’s ready for the Soulrise, which is in… forty minutes? Holy crap.”

“Sorry you spent so much of today dealing with my stuff.”

“Hey, anytime. I’ve always got your back.”

“C’mon, at least let me feel bad about this.” The pair each put an arm around the other’s shoulders and grinned at the warmth of friendship. Well, and the warmth of the flaming wreckage in front of them.

“I’ll get the carriage for them, but first, um, can you help me with one more thing?”

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“That we should throw this thing into the lava ocean?”

“You read my mind.”

***

How long had it been since she’d last seen a Soulrise? Despite her lifespan as a demon, she had never understood the fuss. Last year Relicor had discovered that the merging of dimensions had shifted the surface geography enough to make the Soulrise visible from their lake house, and it was only the sheer convenience that kept her here. As the winged skeletons danced above the lake, Wrathmelior could certainly admit it was a charming display, but was it really that different than anything else one could find in the Underworld if they only looked around them? Still, it was nice to spend an evening on the sands of their own private beach with her husband and a pretty display of spirits. But where was Tom?

“Hey, Lady and Lord Lucitor, thanks for everything today.” She looked down at the sound of Marco’s voice and saw him escorting a half-asleep Star with mud caked onto her skirt.

“Why yes, Roy, I- zzzzzz - would like all fifty flavors of goblin dog, thankszzzzz,” Star mumbled as she drifted in and out of sleep. Her eyes slowly blinked open and stared at the boy’s face. “Oh hi, Mr. Pillowzzzzzz…” She was visibly drooling into Marco’s hoodie as she clutched his torso tightly.

Dave stood up and went around Wrathmelior’s legs to see what was going on. “What happened to her?”

“Had a really long day dealing with an old enemy, I think. Didn’t get too many details before she fell asleep on me. Can you send us home, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“No, you’re adorablezzzz… wait, home?” Blonde hair whipped around her face as she jolted awake with a mortified expression. “Ugh, Marco, nooooo, it’s your birthday and I said I’d be heeeere and I can totally stay…” She trailed off into a massive yawn and firmly pinched her cheeks. “...awake.” She hung her head shamefully, turning away from him but leaving his arm hooked around her waist that was keeping her upright.

Marco smiled and spun her around to face him. “Hey, don’t worry about it. You should rest, don’t force yourself to do this.”

“Nighty tightyzzzzzz...” Star hooked her arms around his neck and drifted off to a deeper sleep.

“I can summon the carriage, but I’m afraid I don’t know where you live,” Wrathmelior grumbled with her husband translating. Now that she had a glimpse, she could understand a bit better what Tom had meant when he said those two had something special.

“Oh, right, duh. Um, the Monster Temple then? We can stay there tonight.” He put an arm behind Star’s knees and lifted her up, using her unconscious grip on his neck for leverage.

Wrathmelior nodded and began to tap into her well of demon magic to yank Tom’s carriage from its usual den deep in their home when Dave spoke up, catching her attention. “Did you want to say goodbye to Tom, too? I don’t know where he ran off to.”

Something above her caught Marco’s eye, causing him to beam at the sight. “Nah, it’s fine, I’ll just call him tomorrow.” Wrathmelior craned her head to look behind her; Tom and Janna were sitting together on the roof, not saying a word. Even from a bit of a distance, it was plain to see that Janna was completely enraptured by the whirling vortex of shrieking ghouls while Tom was spending just as much time taking in her reaction as he was the event itself. If neither had noticed the commotion on the ground now, nothing in all the dimensions would do the trick.

“It’s just a Soulrise,” Wrath muttered, communicating through Dave.

After entering the carriage, Marco cast one long look at his friends. “Yeah, but they’ve earned this one.”

#starco #jantom #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #tgg svtfoe #wonder if we'll see how star's day went? ;)#fanfic

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awkward-radar-tech · 4 years

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Kylo Ren, The Rising Star

Summary: You are Kylo Ren’s personal assistant. The rising star doesn’t know how to cope with his sudden popularity. You let him take sanctuary in your apartment, and help him return to who he was before, Ben Solo.

A/N: I’m stating this now, no romantic relationship blooms in this. But, the seeds are planted. And I will write more where the relationship does grow, if requested.

Prompt, from an anon: But I got an idea, how about worn out actor Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo has been doing to much lately he doesn't even know what time zone he's in sometimes. Reader is average Joe lucky enough to be his PA in his new film. With the stress of everything and fans following him everywhere Ben hides out at your house, were he sleeps all day in your bed and you feed him lots of food, cos you like to cook?

Chapter 2

🌟🌟🌟

You didn’t know what you were getting into when you applied to be an assistant for a local movie shoot. But being the new personal assistant to the biggest rising star was not it at all. And you weren’t always local like you expected. Being Kylo Ren’s PA meant you had to go with him on his other press tours during breaks in shooting. Caffeinated anything had become your friend, and today was one where you were dependant. You had jumped across every American time zone in a day and a half, and now you had crossed the Atlantic, only to turn around in twelve hours and fly home.

You checked your watch and went to knock on Kylo’s dressing room door, “Twenty minutes until you’re on, sir. Do you need anything else?”

He opened the door, still in the t shirt and jeans he wore on the plane, “I just have one question, where are we?”

You looked at him, concerned, “We are in London, sir. You’re doing an interview for ‘the rom-com’ right now. Your suit should be hanging up for you.”

He yawned, “I told you to call me Kylo, not sir. And it is there. Could you step in real quick?”

You nodded and waited for him to step aside, following him inside, “Sorry, Kylo. So used to using sir. Now, what do you need?”

He closed the door and sat on the couch, “First, no need to apologize. Second, can I have a caffeine pill?”

You pulled out a packet from your bag and handed it to him, “You can hold onto these. But, uhh, Kylo, you didn’t need to ask me in here for that. Nobody cares how you stay awake.”

He hummed, “Thank you, (y/n),” he quickly took a pill, “and that isn’t why I asked you in here. I have an unconventional request, that nobody can know about.”

“Yes?”

“This movie, people are going crazy over it. They have surrounded my building at home, waiting for my return apparently. It is exhausting having to go through all these people, some have even found ways inside my building and to my door. I need a break. Could I stay at your place? I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Kylo, sir, I live in a run down apartment. You wouldn’t want to stay there. And my couch is only a bit longer than this one, you wouldn't sleep very well."

"I'd much rather stay there than possibly anger fans. Please, think about it."

You gave him a pointed look and checked your watch, “Fifteen minutes, Kylo. Now get changed.”

You left the room, closing the door. Kylo was, but also wasn’t, your boss, and he was asking to stay at your place? He had bodyguards, couldn’t they tell the fans to leave? No, he cared too much about his fans’ feelings to have them told to leave. Maybe you would let him stay. Once back he was off for a week, so he wouldn’t have to leave. It would be fun to hang out with somebody for once, even if it was the person you worked for.

The interview went well, and before long you were being taken to a hotel for the night.

You followed Kylo outside to the car and he looked at you once inside, “Woah… It is already night?”

You nodded, “Yeah, it is almost eight. I think we are here for like ten hours then we head home to rest for a week.”

As you pulled up at the hotel, there were clearly a bunch of fans waiting for him, and you heard a muttered “shit.”

You looked at him, “When we get home, you can stay at my place, okay?”

He smiled wide for once in his life, “Thank you, so much, (y/n). I’ll give you a bonus.”

You shook your head, “We’ll talk about it later. I don’t want any extra money. Think of it as a kind gesture from a friend.”

The door was opened and Kylo was escorted into the building. You stayed in until the car parked before grabbing your own stuff and going up to your room; there were shrieks from girls, obviously he decided to stop and talk. You went up to your room and got ready for a bit of sleep.

As you washed your face you heard your phone ringing in the other room. When you went out to check it, you read it was Kylo calling, so quickly answered it.

“How can I help you, Kylo?”

“What time do I have to be ready by? Need to set my alarm.”

“Six. Hopefully the crazies won’t be awake then.”

He groaned, “Hopefully. Thank you. Goodnight, (y/n).”

“Goodnight, Kylo. Text me in the morning so I know you’re awake please.”

He hummed in acknowledgement and hung up.

In the morning he clearly hadn’t slept much, or well, he was a living zombie in a somehow oversized sweatshirt, clutching to a cup of coffee.

He looked at you in the hallway, “Oh, I forgot to ask if you wanted a cup. Security brought it up to me. They said everybody left at like 2 am, so the coast is clear.”

You gave him a warm smile, “It is alright, Kylo. I’m fine. Let’s head down to the car then.”

You thankfully got to the airport and onto the plane without incident, people have better things to do between 6 and 7 am on a Tuesday apparently. Landing back in Los Angeles was a different story, people don’t care that it is noon on a Tuesday.

Kylo still looked exhausted, and you hoped nobody followed you. As the car pulled up to the studio you knew you would be safe. You showed Kylo to your car and got in to drive to your apartment.

He looked at you as you pulled out of your spot, “Hey, thank you so much. I appreciate it, more than you might think.”

You nodded, “You’re welcome, Kylo. Do you want to listen to some music?”

“Sure. Listen to what you normally do.”

You turned on your radio, the bluetooth connecting and automatically playing your playlist. You tapped along to the songs on your steering wheel as you drove. After twenty minutes you pulled up to your run down building and parked in your spot.

You turned to Kylo, “No crazy fans it seems. That is good.”

He hummed, “Yeah. But there are still people around that could recognize me.”

“If they ask if you’re Kylo Ren just tell them no and give a fake name. I don’t talk with my neighbors so they don’t know what I do. And none of my friends know who I work for.”

He nodded and prepared himself to step out. He messed up his hair so it wasn’t as perfect as his normal style, put on the hood of his sweatshirt and stepped out, slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder.

You stepped out and got your bag from your trunk. You looked over at him awkwardly looming next to the car, “Let’s go, sir.”

He followed you like a lost puppy, and then you heard the voice of your annoying neighbor from the floor below yours, “Hey, 32! Is that Kylo Ren?”

You turned to her voice, “No. This is my friend.”

She acted like you were lying, “You sure?”

He stepped in, “Uh, yeah. I’m Ben. But I get that a lot. It is a bit tiresome.”

You tried to pull him away and walk inside, but she wouldn’t relent, why did she have to be out? And why did she care? She has always been vocal about despising everything about Hollywood, especially celebrities.

“Do you have ID to prove it?”

Kylo stopped and you turned, “Ben, don’t pay her any mind, let’s go get some lunch.”

He didn’t move when you pulled, “No, she wants proof I’m not stupid Kylo Ren, I’ll prove it,” he pulled out his ID and showed it to her, “See? Benjamin Solo. Now, can me and my friend go have some lunch? I’m rather hungry and I have a short fuse when I haven’t eaten.”

She just walked away after reading his ID. He looked to you and you just walked in, taking the elevator up and getting him in your apartment.

You threw down your bag as soon as you closed your door, “I’m so damn sorry Kylo. She is so annoying, and thinks she can know anything she wants. She isn’t even on this floor, she is in 21. But, uhh? You aren’t really Kylo Ren?”

He sat on your couch, “Well, I am now. I legally changed my name last year when people started recognizing me, but I still have my old ID, which I had just renewed a few months before I changed my name.”

You nodded, not wanting to pry further, "Alright then. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Can I get some water please?"

You went and dropped your stuff in your room then got him a glass of water.

You sat on the floor after you gave him the cup, "TV? Food?"

"Watch whatever you want, (y/n)."

You turned on Netflix and turned on the show you were currently binging, then your belly grumbled, “I’m going to go fix some lunch, any requests?”

He looked at you hopefully, “Tacos?”

You thought for a moment and nodded, “Yes, I have everything to make tacos.”

You left the show on, you could rewatch the episode later, and went in to cook. You cooked some carne asada you had prepared for this week, some rice and beans, then prepared all the toppings you needed. Assembling Kylo's tacos were easy, he liked his tacos almost plain, just meat on the tortilla with some fresh pico de gallo. When everything was finished you fixed each of you a plate of your preferred tacos with some rice and beans then brought the plates to the living room.

"Here you go, Kylo. Just as you like it."

He took the offered plate and began to eat, "Did you make all of this right now? This is amazing."

You nodded, "I did most of it. I had the carne asada marinating to fix this week, and the salsa I just made. The beans and rice are pre-packaged, but I try to make them myself too, when I have the time. And the tortillas I buy fresh from a neighbor."

He hummed, "Well this is all delicious. Thank you so much."

You smiled and ate your meal. When you finished you took your plate into wash along with all the items you cooked with once you stored the leftover food.

After a moment Kylo sheepishly walked in with his plate, "Excuse me, (y/n)? Is there anymore?"

You turned to look at him, "Yeah! I just put it away in the fridge. Help yourself."

Kylo took out the containers and fixed himself more tacos, then stood at the counter to eat them while talking with you. "Where did you learn to cook like that?"

"Mostly self taught. I had to learn how to stretch my food budget when I moved out. Cooking from bulk purchases helps. So I had to learn how to use the same ingredients in as many ways as possible so I wouldn't get bored."

He handed you his now empty plate, "Can you be my personal chef and my PA?"

You laughed, "You don't want to see me 24/7 Kylo."

He walked out of the kitchen, "Maybe I do."

You just shook your head and finished washing everything. When you walked back into your living room, Kylo was passed out on your couch. He looked so uncomfortable, he was almost bigger than the old thing. You went to your room, changed all your bedding, then hid all the embarrassing things you had out.

You gently woke up Kylo once you finished, "Hey, go sleep in my bed. It is a lot more comfortable than this small thing."

He groaned and stretched, voice heavy with sleep, "No. That is your bed. You sleep in it. I'm fine here."

You crossed your arms, "No. Kylo. You are sleeping in my bed. I don't need to sleep right now anyways. You do. You've been working so hard recently. Go sleep in a damn bed."

He stood up and pat your head, clearly still mostly asleep, "Whatever you say, my dear. Goodnight."

Your cheeks burned and you just shook your head as you watched him shuffle into your room and unceremoniously flop face first onto your bed, snoring within moments. You went and shut the door most of the way, but first you placed his bags in plain sight in case he woke up and wanted to change out of his jeans.

You worked around your apartment, not letting the fact you had an unplanned guest keep you from your planned chores. You swept and dusted, set your bedding on to wash, the one nice thing about this apartment, you had a washer and dryer in your unit. While the wash was on you sat down and restarted your show and went through your social media. One of your friends shared a tabloid article theorizing that Kylo Ren is in a secret relationship since he has yet to return home after landing earlier today and has spent a lot less time interacting with fans these past few months.

You mumbled to yourself, “He’s staying away from you pricks. You’ve exhausted the poor man.”

You continued perusing, finding nothing else of interest, then paused your show before moving everything to the dryer. You continued watching until it was time to make dinner, pasta is what you had planned for tonight, so you doubled everything to have enough for Kylo.

As you were cooking you heard Kylo enter the kitchen, “Good evening, sleeping beauty. Are you hungry?”

Kylo was still a bit groggy, but rapidly waking up, “Yeah. The smells woke me up. What are you making?”

He sat at your kitchen table and you brought him a glass of orange juice, his favorite, “Pasta. Specifically homemade cheese tortellini with meat sauce. And garlic bread.”

He took a sip and hummed, “You make pasta?”

You nodded, “Only filled pasta, it is cheaper that way. And I made the sauce and garlic bread. Including the bread. But I freeze a lot of stuff so I didn’t actually make any of it tonight.”

He held up his glass, “And this juice?”

You laughed, “That is store bought. I can’t make it as well.”

“You’re lying. I’m sure you can.”

You hummed, “Yeah. I can. But only when oranges are in season.”

You turned back and began to stir the sauce and added the pasta to the now boiling water. You pulled out the garlic bread and shut off the flame for the sauce. After a few minutes you drained the pasta and added a bit of the water to the sauce, then added most of the sauce to the drained pasta.

"Alright, food is ready Kylo. Come help yourself."

"It smells amazing."

You handed him a plate and he served himself then sat back at the table. You followed suit and served yourself, then sat across from him.

You shared pleasant conversation, taking turns asking about the other's life. While you worked for him, and were around him more often than not, neither of you knew much about the other, but this time together would change that.

When he finished he looked up and smiled at you, "Now for a more personal question, if you want to answer it. Are you dating anyone?"

You smiled back and chuckled, "So asking about my parents and childhood isn't personal, but asking if I'm dating is?" You paused to take a sip, "No, Kylo. I'm not. Haven't dated in awhile. What about you then? There is a tabloid article out there theorizing you're in a secret relationship since you haven't come home yet and aren't interacting as much with fans."

He groaned and covered his face, "No. I'm not. Same as you, haven't in awhile." He rubbed his face and looked at you again, "And you know that tabloid is wrong. I'm here with you."

"But what about the fan interactions? Just the burn out?"

He nodded, "Yeah. I've really just wanted to go to bed recently, or get into work. They're great and all, but I don't want to be on at 7 am or 9 pm, especially if I just came from a different timezone."

"I can't even imagine. But you don't have to be on at all this week. Stay here for as much of that time as you want. Be Benjamin Solo again, if only for me."

His eyes lit up, "Yes. Call me Ben. Please. Only my mom and dad call me that anymore. I need to be Ben for a week. I'll order some plain clothes online to be delivered here too. I’m going to be Ben Solo again."

You nodded, "Okay, Ben. Let me clean up, and you can work on ordering everything you need. Then tell me when you're checking out and I'll fill out my address."

He stood up and grabbed both plates, "Let me help you please."

"Alright. You can help me Ben."

He grinned and had a tiny celebration, "Yes! Thank you."

He set to work filling up the sink with water, placing the plates and utensils in the sink, then turning to you, "Uhh, the leftovers need to be put away. Where are your containers?"

You moved to the right cabinet, "This one, Ben. But I'll put it away. You focus on washing."

He nodded, "Okay, (y/n)."

You put away the food and Ben grabbed each empty piece and cleaned it. Once the food was put away you sat up on your counter.

You looked to Ben, who was meticulously scrubbing the saucepan, "I had no problem cleaning up, Ky… I mean Ben. I do it all the time."

He turned to you, "I'm your unplanned guest. I want to do has much as possible to help and not throw off your schedule and routine. I'm sure you have one here too."

You looked away, feeling your cheeks warm a bit, "Well I do. But I'm fine doing it all myself."

He pointed a stern finger at you, but his face held a small smile, "No. I'm washing the dishes. Go relax. Put on a movie. Pour yourself some wine if you want, and have any. I'll be out in a bit."

You just nodded and listened, going to turn on some super cheesy rom-com your friend told you to watch. After a while you heard the sink draining and footsteps coming back out.

Ben plopped down on the couch right next to you and outstretched his arms across the back, then groaned, "Really, (y/n)? You like rom-coms too?"

You paused it, "Shit, sorry. Wasn't thinking. I just think that they are funny, especially the real cheesy ones. And one can dream about randomly falling in love with a stranger. But I'll change it to something else."

Ben shook his head, "No, you can keep watching. I'll order those clothes."

You started playing the movie again and he pulled out his phone and wallet to find clothes with rush shipping. After twenty minutes he silently passed his phone to you and you typed in the address information then handed it back. Once the order was placed he put his phone away and again stretched his arms out. You didn't know if he was actually watching or just zoning out, but you were happy he didn't mind.

As the credits rolled, you let out a yawn, “Alright, time for bed for me,” you tapped his thigh, “That means it is time for you to move, Mr. Solo. You’re on my bed.”

He turned to you, “No. I’ll sleep here.”

You grabbed his arm and stood up, “Nope, this is not an option. You are sleeping in my bed,” you began to pull on his arm, “Now come on you big oaf. You are going to sleep in my bed, just like you did earlier.”

He stayed planted in his spot, chuckling, “You’re gonna have to pull harder than that. I’m almost all muscles.”

You pulled harder and then tried to pull both his hands, starting to laugh, “Come on Ben. Go sleep in my damn bed.”

He stood up suddenly and caught you before you fell back, “Fine. Just this once.”

You crossed your arms, “This will be the second time, Ben. You slept before dinner.”

He smirked and walked away, into your room, “That was Kylo Ren, thank you very much. Now, do you need anything from in here before I close the door?”

You ran in, “Yes!”

He chuckled and just sat on your bed, pulling out his pajamas from his duffle bag. You grabbed everything you needed and went out.

You paused in the doorway, turning to Ben before closing the door, “Goodnight, Ben. See you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, (y/n). Thank you again.”

You nodded and closed the door then went to change and grab your bedding from the dryer. After setting everything up you crawled into your cocoon of blankets and pillows on the couch and fell asleep.

You were awoken a couple hours later by the sound of whining and screams, coming from your room. You quickly got up and knocked on the door, “Ben? You okay in there, sir?”

He didn’t respond, just more whimpers, so you opened up the door and walked in to find him asleep but thrashing.

Carefully, you approached him, reaching out to rub his arm, “Ben. Kylo. Wake up, sir. You’re having a nightmare.”

He woke up and clung to you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He was panting, repeating your name, “I’m so sorry. So sorry. For waking you up. Sorry.”

You ran your fingers through his hair, “Ben. It is okay, Ben. I promise.”

He nodded and slowly calmed down, “Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thanks for waking me up. I normally have to fight for much longer to wake up.”

You softly scratched his scalp, “Lay back down. I’ll stay until you’re asleep again.”

He hummed, “Can you keep doing that, and playing with my hair?”

You chuckled, “Sure.”

He moved back to laying normally and you moved to keep petting his head. It didn’t take long for him to get drowsy again, and he began mumbling to you.

His voice was barely audible and clearly full of sleep, “I like this. I like you. Don’t tell though.”

You felt your cheeks warm and continued until his murmurs turned to snores. You got up again and softly kissed his forehead, “Goodnight, Ben Solo. Sweet dreams.”

#a-r-t creation #ben solo / reader #kylo ren/ reader #kylo ren x reader #ben solo x reader #kylo ren/ you #ben solo/ you #kylo ren x you #ben solo x you

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mavmax · 3 years

Text

Doomsday | Self-Para

When: Last Thursday

Where: Around Santa Monica

Warnings: Panic Attack (no it wasn’t Maverick. DON’T COME FOR ME)

Featuring: Lexa Maxwell

6am - 7am

Thursday started out like every other. Wake up at 6am, head to the gym, workout, head home, hit the showers, and eat breakfast watching TikTok while the news plays quietly in the background. Normally, he didn’t pay attention to the news but his parents, especially his dad was particularly on his ass about hearing about Maxwell Energy’s stock spiking again. With that money, he could use that to anonymously fund his favorite pizzeria. The cogs in his head were slowly beginning to turn as he took another bite of his honey nut cheerios.

8am - 12pm

A fifteen minute drive to UCLA from Pico wasn’t bad around this time of day. Time passed by while listening to his favorite radio show, the talkshow hosts roasting each other and egging on Gossip God as today was the infamous Thirsty Ask Thursday. Many residents of Santa Monica sat at the edge of their seats, but Maverick, personally didn’t care what was said about him. Even the worst of rumors, he’d taken head on with a smile on his face...much to his sisters’ chagrin.

Arriving to class on time was a bonus at least. Sliding into his seat and his glasses resting on his nose. He had zoned out a few times while taking notes, mostly thinking about the weekend. Basketball game Friday, hang out with the boys Friday night. Mom’s chemo was Saturday morning, followed by Maxwell Energy’s congratulatory luncheon for Lexa’s first year as CEO. He had bugged Lexa earlier about throwing a party but she fought back saying she wasn’t going to brag in the middle of a crisis--whatever the hell that meant. Sunday was meant for relaxing, although knowing his parents it would mean brunch with the family before he could actually relax. It was a lot.

The hours seemed to have droned on until his final class from 11-12:30pm, except there was more bustling in the class than usual. Everyone had their laptops out, one side taking notes, the other side anxiously waiting for none other than Gossip God to make his weekly appearance on The Santa Monica Times page. Maverick remained focus on his notes until the green circle began to appear on the right side of everyone’s laptops signifying that Gossip God had been awakened.

There were occasional whispers among students while the professor attempted to teach the best she could, knowing that people would be more focused on gossip than the actual class. Maverick gave his professor props for holding it together, which is why he was hyper-focused on his work until someone nudged him to look on the right hand side on his screen when he suddenly saw pictures of Eric and Soo-Yun plastered all over the site. He could feel his heart drop to the very bit of his stomach.

“Eh, it’s fair game,” Mav whispered with a pout. Everyone around him was rather shocked at his reaction. Not at the fact that he was pouting, but the fact that he wasn’t seething. Raging. Incredibly angry, hurt. Instead, it was just a pout. Like a kid not getting his way at the store because his mom said no. It was simply that.

1pm

Maverick was headed home after grabbing some lunch on the way when his favorite radio station was reporting Gossip God’s Thirsty Ask Thursday posts that were coming up. Some were comical, others were...not. He hoped those people were thick skinned or had one hell of a support system for the shit that was being said. Before he was headed to the exit, his phone began to ring. It was Flo, Lexa’s receptionist.

“Talk to me,” Maverick responded with a smile.

“Mr. Maxwell--I mean--M-Maverick, I-I’m sorry to interrupt you right now, but is there a possibility you can come to the office right now?” Her voice was in a hushed whisper.

“Yeah, what’s up?” He asked.

“Well, um...Miss Maxwell...she--” She trailed off when there was the sound of a loud thud.

“Oh. Say no more. I’m on my way,” Mav added.

“Thank you, please hurry!” She quickly said before hanging up.

Maverick shook his head. He saw this coming a mile away but he had to have a stubborn ass big sister. He had to go in as carefully as he could otherwise he’d probably lose his own head. He shot a text to Izzy to keep her in the loop about everything and warned her to stay her ass off any social media for the next 48 hours with how everything was going.

1:30pm

As he made his way into the office, he practically bounced in, already clearly having gotten over the ordeal that one of his best friends was messing around with his crush, but it was what it was. He was attractive, he was smart, and athletic, he wasn’t going to dwell on that shit and get all bent out of shape, for what? Lexa on the other hand...it went deep for her. She and Eric had this special bond, but...it looks like she was too late, or maybe he wasn’t into her like that and she misread it. On the upside, their dad wasn’t in because it was their mom’s doctor appointment and Lexa’s floor was just her and Flo. Flo wasn’t a snitch, thank god.

Flo’s face brightened up.

“Maverick, how great of you to have made it! Miss Maxwell’s right this way,” She said quickly.

“How’s she doing?” He asked curiously, trying his best to peek through the blinds, to no avail.

“Between being worried about your mother and...whatever was said on Gossip God, badly,” She said with a soft sigh. After Lexa’s revelation, he promised to keep it a secret, but one thing he knew was that this was Lexa’s mania acting up.

“Don’t worry about it. The whole thing’s been pretty stressful, I think Lexa’s just taking on too much, you know?” He added. “Are there any meetings that she needs to attend?” He asked curiously.

Flo looked at her screen and then said, “She’s got a 2:30 and a 4pm. Shall I cancel those for her?”

“I’ll go on her behalf. She’ll have the rest of the day off and tomorrow as well,” He reassured the woman with a smile. Flo nodded, seeming to relax at his reassurance.

He entered his sister’s office to see her with her head down and her phone with a spider-webbed crack. He sighed, shaking his head.

“Lex,” He began carefully. “Hey,” He nudged her and watched as she lifted her head, mascara streaming down her face.

“It hurt that much, didn’t it?”

She shrugged, going to reach for tissues to wipe her eyes.

“I thought I could keep it together with mom and work, then this happened and I couldn’t control the surge of emotion,” She sighed.

“You need a break,” Mav began before Lexa interrupted him with,

“I need to get through the rest of these meetings.”

“Alexandra. You need a break before you implode on yourself. Sometimes all great leaders need a break. You’ve busted ass this past year. You deserve it,” He said with a wry grin. Lexa glared at Mav for a moment before relenting.

“You need a hug?” He offered

“No,” She said with a grin. “But thank you, Maverick. I do need a break. I also need wine.”

“Is it about-”

“We’re not going to even mention it.”

“Bet.”

5pm-7pm

Maverick playing boss for the day was weird. Sure, he knew everything that parents and Lexa had taught him, but it was always weird to sit there and talk to these hot shots and watch them all look at him up and down, surprised to hear him knowing his shit. Hell, it was exhausting. He couldn’t even imagine how Lexa dealt with that shit as a woman.

Finally, he made it home, crashed on his bed as his phone began to blow up between Gossip God alerts and friends reaching out to ask him if he was okay. Frankly, he was fine, despite taking a bit of an L, but you win some and you lose some. After ordering pizza because of the lack of willpower to cook, he scrolled watching some horrible pieces of gossip rolling in about his hyungie, Sunwoo and his friends Kian and Jae-Sang.

“Jesus, GG, can you let up on those three for once?” He mumbled to himself.

To add insult to injury, Ivy, his friend AJ’s sister was also heavily involved, they even threw in AJ and Lydia as well. This Thursday was particularly brutal for a lot of people. All he could hope was that everyone was okay. He wasn’t going to message anyone seeing as how, it was bad enough that their business was aired out for all of Santa Monica to see, but he did want to let everyone know that he would be supportive for them and so, he took to twitter to make known his stance.

@MavMax: My friends names must be candy to @gossipgod, but beware bc those names will rot those pearly whites of yours.

@MavMax: My money’s on Jae-Sang & Kian to whoop @gossipgod #JustSaying

@MavMax: Shout out to the realest ones out here hustling. @gossipgod’s just jealous for wasting his youth on talking shit about his peers.

@MavMax: RT:@AJSiciliani: “All talk no action” @gossipgod

And with that, Maverick left his phone off to the side and tuned into Netflix to watch Bridgerton, and finish up his homework for the rest of the week.

#sp

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totallyexists · 4 years

Text

Leon x Frey

The night air was cool against Leon's chest as he wandered through the deserted streets. No one was awake but him, and as he walked he could almost imagine he was in his own time, if not for everything being different.

Well, everything but the stars and moon. Those had stayed the same during all the years of his slumber, though few were visible due to the overcast skies.

Leon neared the castle and a stray thought of slipping into Frey's room crossed his mind. He figured it might fo her some good to be flustered and yell at him. Heat rose to his face and he fanned himself. No, he decided, if I slip into bed with her I might do something I'll regret. And so he continued on his way.

Or so was his plan.

A loud cry cut the air. Frey's cry. Leon's eyes widened. Any thought of his promise left his mind and he rushed into Frey's room.

The doors slammed against their hinges and Leon's eyes scanned the room. No one was there, not even Frey.

"Must be the foxes." Leon mumbled.

"Nope." Two voices came from behind him. "Not us."

Leon glanced at the foxes which plagued him and scowled, at least others can see Pico. They were quickly forgotten when another cry cut the air.

Now in the castle, Leon could tell it came from Venti's chamber. A frown crossed his bronzed features. His footsteps were light as he crept towards the source.

In the low lamplight of the room, a small figure sat hunched over. Tears poured from the girl's green eyes and pooled on the floor. Each one contained a fervent wish, a prayer so much like the one that had helped her defeat Ethelberd. But unfortunately, not even the entire town wishing together could do what she wanted. She did her best to keep her sobs quiet, but occasionally a sharp cry broke from her chapped lips. She had no idea how none of the butlers had heard her, why none of them had come to see what was wrong. Volkanon seemed to have a sixth and seventh sense for when she was in need, so it left her to wonder what the entire town thought of her.

She was the acting princess, an Earthmate, someone who could find a way to save Venti. But in the end, she failed. She failed and her best friend was dead because of it.

"Venti..." A strangled plea left her lips.

Leon's fan clattered to the floor, his ears flattened. Frey's next sob cut off and he thought she had heard him. As soon as it crossed his mind, the loudest outcry yet broke the silence. The sound rattled him. He scooped his fan off of the ground before padding over to Frey. He sat on the ground next to her, one leg stretched out with the other pulled close.

"Frey," he said. "Are you okay?" If she were crying for some other reason, he would tease her. Say something along the lines of I guess if other's opinions mean that much to you, I'll tell you exactly how I feel and then when her familar blush appears comment on how her hair should not be able to hold its shape, or say something about how the dirt refuses to yield to someone with such stringent bathing habits. But...this was about Venti.

The person, well dragon, who Leon gave his life for. The reason why Leon was sealed away in the tower for so many years. The god he worshipped, brought offerings to, and in whom he quickly found a friend.

"Yeah. I- I'm fine." Frey straightened and offered Leon a watery smile, tears still falling down her face.

He narrowed his eyes and flicked his tail. Leaning in, he put his face right in front of hers.

"What are you doing?" Frey asked, doing her best to keep her voice steady, doing her best to hold back the rest of her tears.

"They say if one looks into the eyes of another, they can see into their very soul. I assume that allows one to find out if one is lying or not."

"Leon, I'm fine," she said, turning away from him as she felt more tears begin to slip down her cheeks. "Go- go home. It's almost- it's almost midnight."

"Then why are you still awake?"

"I was...adventuring. My bag was full and I had something I really wanted to keep so I walked home." It wasn't a lie. She had been outside of town. She had been scouring the dungeons for the last three seasons, looking for anyway to bring back the dragon that had once sat on the dais in front of her.

What Frey would give to hear Venti complain about Volkanon, to hear her demand that Frey bring her pancakes for her birthday, to hear her tell Frey to dance and Frey would go along with it because it was fun and it made Venti laugh.

Still, the half-truth made her throat constrict. She hated lying to Leon, to the other townspeople, but it was necessary. If she didn't, then they'd worry. In her mind, if she made them worry, then she wouldn't be a very good princess. Venti was dying, she thought, but she hid it so no one would worry.

Leon watched as Frey seemed to fold in on herself, her momentary facade of strength crumbling. What was left was the tired shell of a Princess. A girl whose memories who were lost to the abyss of time. A girl who fell from the sky and into duty. Within a year she had done what the king's army could not, what Venti could not. She saved the Guardians and defeated the empire. There was glory with that, the king offered her a true noble position once Arthur had sent a report to the castle, the king even offered to have one of his sons marry her. But all the riches and proposals in the world couldn't bring back what Frey wanted.

Leon wrapped his hand in one of the long strands of mint green hair. He was half tempted to pull it, but instead he gave it a gentle tug. He wasn't trying to tease her or make her more upset, he wanted her to look at him. "Frey, look at me."

She shook her head. A long exaggerated sigh left Leon and he stood up.

"I guess I'm leaving." Without another word, he walked out the main door. As soon as he was gone, the crushing weight overwhelmed Frey again. She stared at the dais, at the place where her best friend used to sit. All of her emotions seemed to drain out of her body and heaviness settled in her legs. She lifted her chin and stared up into the sky.

"I want to fly with you again." Soft spoken words seemed louder as they echoed off of the stone walls. "I want to sit and talk. I want you to complain about the giant Wooly. I want to give you cookies on Valentine's day because everyone else still thinks you don't like the holiday. I want- I want you back!"

She knew it was selfish. Who was she to go against the natural order of the world? Everything has to die, even gods. She knew she should focus on taking care of the town. Venti wanted her to watch over the town, to make sure none of her hardwork over the centuries went to waste.

"Here." Leon draped a blanket over her shoulders. "Don't want you catching a cold. Be a shame if I couldn't tease my favorite target because you got the sniffles."

"I thought I- I told you to go home."

"Where do you think I got the blanket from?" Leon patted Frey's head. "Nearly woke Lin Fa up stealing it from Xiao Pai."

Frey stared up at him, with no energy to scold his behavior. Leon frowned and knelt down, placing a folded piece of fabric to the side.

"I heard what you said," Leon's eyes focused on Frey's. He stopped her with a hand as she tried to look away. "We all want her back, Frey. But, she's gone. There's nothing we can do to change that."

"There has to be some way. Something we haven't thought of yet. Something has to-" Her voice cut off as Leon wrapped his warm arms around her and pulled her to his chest.

"Listen to me. There's nothing we can do. She should have died ages ago, back during my lifetime. We broke the laws of nature and in the end, they righted our wrongs. We need to accept that."

"She can't be gone." Trembling, Frey's hands grabbed at the back of Leon's vest. Instead of the leather material, her gloved fingers caught some of his long silky hair. "She can't."

His ears flicked back but they quickly righted. "Frey, why are you up?"

"I- I told you."

"You never come in here. You haven't since she died. So why are you in here now?"

Frey pressed her forehead against his chest. She never responded to him, she didn't want to. She didn't want to admit that she, the happy-go-lucky princess almost never without a smile, would sit in this chamber and berate herself for letting Venti die almost nightly. One would think the habit would have dulled with the passage of time, but it was exactly the opposite. As days turned into weeks and into seasons, the guilt Frey felt only grew in size. If she had only gotten the spheres away from Ethelberd, if only she had convinced Forte to place guards around the spheres in the first place, Venti would be alive and happy.

Leon rubbed Frey's back through the material of her dress. He didn't know why Frey refused to answer him, but he knew he was getting tired. He could only imagine how tired Frey would be, she did more work than he did. All he did was some translation work for Arthur and the occasional adventure with Frey. Those had all but stopped. He missed it. He missed watching Frey's back, he missed helping her conquer foes.

"Come on, let's get you to bed before everyone thinks Dylas got turned back into a horse," he said.

"No, I'm fine."

Frey got no choice in the matter. Leon tightened his grip on her, grabbed the cloth he had sat aside earlier, and stood up.

"Leon!" Frey kicked her legs, but to no avail. He carried her into her room and placed her on her bed.

As Frey glared up at him, he fumbled her hair pieces. The moment he pulled them out, her hair fell down around her shoulders and pooled on the mattress. Rubbing her eyes, she looked up at Leon.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you get ready for bed," he said, lifting her tiara from her head. Frey's eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Leon chuckled. "I may be a tease, but I'm not a pervert." His smile faded. "You know you can tell me if something's wrong. If it's something serious, I won't tease you. I love you. Even if I can never marry you, I can't deny that." Every day I want to break my promise a little more, he thought.

"Leon, it's been a year. Exactly a year since I couldn't save her." Frey stared at her palms. Leon took her hands and slid the gloves off. He lifted one of her hands to his lips. Soft lips pressed against her knuckles and Leon's blue eyes flicked up to hers. Angered burned in them. Frey's shoulders fell as she mistook it as being directed towards her. Leon was angry with himself, how could he not realize she was hurting? How could he not realize something was wrong with her? Before she could say anything, Leon started undoing the fastenings on her dress.

"Leon!" Frey squeaked, smacking his hand away. Her tears and mourning were forgotten as Leon continued to untie laces and unfasten buttons. He cast her belt to the side, Frey prepared to kick him when he suddenly stood.

Without saying a word he moved to her closet and pulled out her blue nightgown. He handed it to her before disappearing into one of her adjoining room.

Frey half expected him to come in when she wasn't fully dressed, but surprisingly the cunning, sly, fox-eared Leon could be a gentleman. Actually, what surprised her more was when Leon reentered her bedroom wearing his robe. There was no sign of the clothes he was wearing earlier.

"Move over," he said, climbing into her bed. "This is a twin bed, so try not to push me off." This time when arms wrapped around someone, it was Frey doing the wrapping. Her grip was strong despite her lithe frame. So much power resided in her body, both in terms of physical strength and in magical prowess.

Frey's eyes drifted close. Moments before she fell asleep, Leon's chest rumbled.

"Find me."

"Hm?" Frey looked up at him with eyes nearly shut.

"I don't care what you need, if you need something find me. I'm just as much at fault for this as you are. I could have offered more power. So if you need someone to go outside of town with, find me. And remember, I am your lover. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be more than willing to find Margaret." He laughed. "All joking aside, I love you. I want you to be happy. So, are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"We haven't went on a date in forever. I'll meet you outside at the usual time. As for now, come here." Leon pulled Frey closer, tucking her to his chest. "Bad night, sleep loose, let the bed bugs bite."

Despite his words, Frey's chapped lips stretched into their first real smile of the night. "I love you." She snaked one of her hands up to his hand and scratched his ear. It flicked and she managed a soft laugh.

Leon kissed her head. "And I'll love you until the moon stops it's journey."

———

This is my first thing I'm actually writing on here. I wanted to write something with Frey being upset after Venti dies and her being comforted by Leon.

If you guys like this, I'll be happy to do some with the other bachelors.

#rf4 frey #rf4 leon #rune factory 4 #ventuswill #oneshot #one shot #leon

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imagineredwood · 5 years

Text

Pairing: EZ Reyes x Camila (OC)

Warnings: None

Word count: 3.3k

Camila sipped at her iced tea as she sat in her back patio, overlooking her garden that had finally started to bloom and reflecting on her past month. A good three weeks had gone by since she had settled into her new home in Santo Padre. She’d settled into her home, settled into her job, and settled into her life, slowly making more and more friends as she met new people. Living by herself, she had gotten rather close to the neighbor Elisa and her children, the four of them having already had dinner together twice so far. Elisa was sweet and nurturing, a mother figure through and through and Camila couldn’t help but be reminded of her own mother, all warm food and even warmer love. She’d built a relationship with them, as well as Mr. Salvatore and Sandra at the bookstore. She had learned more about their family and their history, learned about Ethan’s academic struggles as he came to the bookstore more often to study and do research. She had started to feel that she fit in and was enjoying the feeling of being accepted by those around her.

The Reyes family was a little different though. Camila had settled for going to Felipe’s when she could, opting to put her money back into her community and a business she trusted rather than some chain. All her meats and spices were purchased from there and slowly she had started building up somewhat of an acquaintanceship with him, occasionally bumping into EZ as well. But there always seemed to be somewhat of a wall put up there, where they were kind but kept the interactions minimal. Every now and then she would see them break out, sharing a little more, being a little more open, but it always seemed to get closed back down eventually and Camila couldn’t help but wonder why. It was clearly a family business, the name of the shop being their own. She had taken notice of the photos along the wall when she waited for Felipe to pack up her meat of choice. She had seen the woman in the pictures, her hand grasping EZ’s at a baseball game, Felipe standing next to her with a smile as bright as the sun. The fact that she never saw the woman and they never mentioned her was not lost on Camila. She could read people well, always had ever since she was little. A blessing her mother had called it, though sometimes it felt more like a curse. She could feel that the family had been struck by tragedy, though she didn’t exactly know in what way, but she could tell that both EZ and Felipe carried some sorrow in their hearts and she figured she would do what she could to bring a little brightness into their lives.

Standing from her chair, Camilla made her way out to the garden and grabbed the woven basket sat on the stool and beginning to pick some of the vegetables that were large and ripe. She picked off 3 bell peppers, 2 yellow and one green, a couple Roma tomatoes and snipped a handful of cilantro, placing them into her basket. Once back in the house, she headed to the kitchen, washing the vegetables and drying them. She pulled out one of her reusable grocery bags, unfolding it and placing the vibrant vegetables inside with a smile. After the kindness that Felipe had shown her, she figured it was only right to pay him back.

The bell jingled as Camila walked into the carniceria, looking around to see if Felipe was in the front. Finding the counter empty, she looked around, seeing a taller man walking out from the back of the shop. He wore the same kutte that EZ wore and the same bright smile, though there was a hint of a smirk in this man’s as he looked at her.

“Hi, I’m Angel.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Camila. Is Felipe in?”

Just as she asked the question, the white-haired man stepped out from the back, walking around Angel to greet Camila.

“Hola, nena.”

“Hola Felipe.”

Both men looked at her as she walked over to the table in the shop, placing down her bag and motioning for Felipe to go over to her with a smile. With furrowed brows, he walked around, heading over toward where she stood with her hands digging in the bag.

“I figured, you always help me out telling me where to shop at, you stayed open that first day I got here even though it was late. I had the day off today so I brought you some stuff.”

Felipe’s eyes watched as she pulled the vegetables out from the bag, their skin bright and plump. She handed them over to him and explained with a soft smile.

“I know you said you liked to cook so I thought these would come in handy. They’re kinda small, but they’re fresh and I don’t use any chemicals pesticides so. Its just me at home so I thought I could share them with you.”

Camila began to ramble slightly as she started feeling like maybe doing this had seemed like a better idea in her head, the confused gaze of the man named Angel on her making her slightly nervous.

“You know, maybe make some pico de gallo or fajitas with them. It’s cool if you don’t want them. I just thought…”

Camila quieted down as Felipe reached out with a smile and put a hand on her shoulder.

“They’re very nice mija. Thank you. You grew them yourself?”

Camila nodded excitedly, not feeling nearly on edge now that she knew he liked her gift.

“Yeah. I started a garden as soon as I moved into the new house. I always gardened with my Abuelita and we grew a lot of our own produce so I wanted to get back to that. It’s not finished yet but it’s getting there.”

Felipe gave another smile, his eyes staring down at the produce. His voice was quiet as he spoke.

“My wife, Marisol, used to garden. She was more into flowers than produce but she loved the process just the same. Every Sunday you would see her out there, big hat on, pruning her roses.”

He was quiet for a couple of seconds as he got lost in his thoughts, Angel looking at him with an unreadable expression. Finally, Felipe looked back up towards Camila, a true smile on his face.

“Thank you. I see you’ve met my other son, Angel.”

With eyes widening, Camila smiled again feeling more at ease.

“Oh, yeah. He just introduced himself. I didn’t know you had another son.”

The small smile that Angel wore faltered a bit and Camila noticed, not knowing if she had misspoken or put her foot in her mouth. Feeling like she somehow had, she looked between the two, grinning.

“It’s nice to meet you though. I met EZ and now him. Do you have any other children?”

Felipe nodded and reached over to roughly clap Angel on the back.

“Nope. Just my two boys.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence as Camila stood there, still wondering what she had said wrong and she tried to break the ice once again, hoping not to leave a negative impression on the Reyes brother.

“So, who’s older, you or EZ?”

Angel smiled and turned his chin up a bit, a proud smile on his face.

“Me. EZ’s the baby.”

Camila nodded, falling quiet and it was Angel who spoke first this time.

“You come here often?”

She looked at him and he winced, holding a hand up.

“I ain’t trying to pick you up or anything, I was just asking. I see you and pops know each other so I was just wondering.”

They both laughed, Felipe not really paying any mind to either of them, more focused on putting the vegetables away carefully to take home.

“Once a week or so. This was the first carniceria I saw when I moved so I’m loyal to coming here now. Especially considering your dad didn’t kick me out when I came in here like 45 minutes late.”

Felipe chuckled softly in the background at her comment while Angel put the pieces together in his head. About how Felipe had said he’d had a new customer that came in late a couple weeks ago, how EZ had bumped into her once at the shop as well, then realized she was the same new girl that was working at the bookstore. EZ had spoken about her once or twice, saying that she and Felipe had developed and acquaintanceship. Even if they had only met twice, Angel could tell that EZ was somewhat interested in her and he was happy to hear it, hoping that maybe finally he would find someone else and get over Emily. All he wanted was for his baby brother to be happy.

The two continued to make small talk until Felipe had a customer come in. Looking at her watch, Camila shrugged and took a deep breath.

“Bueno, I gotta get going. I have a couple errands I have to run. It was nice meeting you though.”

Camila stuck her hand out and Angel took it in his, her hand being engulfed as they shook. Grabbing her bag, she stood from the chair and waved to Felipe as she headed towards the door.

“Adios.”

“Adios, Camila.”

She walked out of the shop and got into her car, recalling the look of appreciation on Felipe’s face when she gave him the vegetables with a smile. Starting up her car, she pulled out around Angel’s bike and drove further up the street to the bookstore, figuring she’d stop in and get a cup of coffee before going shopping. Pulling up in front, she hopped out and headed inside, going up to the front desk to say hi to Mr. Salvatore before heading to the café and getting in line. She was reading the menu up on the board when she heard someone call out to her.

“Hey, Miss Camila!”

Turning with scrunched brows, she found the high schooler Ethan jogging up to her, a wide grin on his face.

“I got a 97 on my new presentation! That bumped me up like 8 points so I have a B+ in my class now.”

Her smile grew to match his and she reached over for a high five.

“Good job! I’m proud of you.”

The kid’s smile dropped momentarily before he beamed again, a pink hue showing up along his cheeks and the tips of his ears as he slapped his palm against hers. He looked down at his shoes for a moment.

“Never really had anyone say that to me before.”

Camila’s heart clenched and she had to try hard to keep her features neutral. Squeezing his shoulder, she pulled him towards her in line and repeated herself.

“Well I’m proud of you. If no one else is, just know that I am.”

The kid blushed further and she pointed up at the menu.

“Order whatever you want, my treat.”

“I mean it isn’t terrible. My mom tries you know. She has to work two jobs to be able to pay everything so she isn’t home much. Never met my dad so it’s not like he’s there to help out with the bills or my younger siblings. I just wish I had more support at home I guess.”

Camila nodded as she listened, sipping at her latte as Ethan opened up to her about his home life. She had learned a good bit more about him over the last 30 minutes, the two of them enjoying a coffee and getting to know each other a little bit more since they weren’t pouring over a PowerPoint this time. She’d learned a lot about him, the main thing being that he was a lonely kid just trying to figure things out with next to no support at home. She felt bad for him and figured if nothing else, she would be the support he needed. They continued to talk, Camila looking over instinctually as the front door of the bookstore opened, EZ walking in. He looked around the store, searching for something and coming up blank before turning to Mr. Salvatore. The two of them spoke for a moment before Mr. Salvatore pointed over to Camila. EZ turned and looked at her, that smile coming to his face as they locked eyes. It was Ethan’s voice that brought her attention back to him.

“Is that your boyfriend?”

Camila’s head snapped over to him and she shook her head quickly.

“No, no. He just comes here sometimes. I know his dad.”

The high schooler nodded exaggeratedly with a knowing smirk.

“Riiiiight.”

Camila laughed, shushing him quietly, willing him to drop it but the boy continued.

“You both like each other. It’s pretty obvious.”

She opened her mouth to defend herself but Ethan butted in again.

“I saw you two making googly eyes at each other last time I was here. I ain’t blind. Look! He’s coming over right now.”

Camila’s eyes and head swiveling over to see EZ making his way over to the both of them. That million-dollar smile was still on his face and he waved to the kid before addressing her.

“How’ve you been?”

“I’m good, you?”

“Good. I was just stopping in before I head over to Pop’s shop.”

“I just came back from there. Met your brother.”

EZ laughed and looked out the window.

“Hope he wasn’t too annoying.”

They both shared a laugh, the moment broken by Ethan clearing his throat, a smirk fighting its way onto his face. EZ noticed and held his hand out to the kid, shaking it firmly.

“Sorry man. Didn’t mean to interrupt you guys.”

Ethan shook his head quickly and stood, giving her a look before turning back to EZ.

“I was actually just going. Why don’t you sit, catch up?”

Ethan motioned to his chair and she made a mental note to pinch him next time she saw him.

“You sure?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve got stuff to do. See you around Camila.”

Ethan quickly gathered his stuff, nearly leaving the bookstore but not before wiggling his eyebrows at her as he did. EZ took a seat where Ethan had been, motioning to her coffee.

“I would offer to buy you a cup of coffee but…”

She smiled softly and shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. Next time. You here for more books?”

EZ’s gaze on her sobered up some and he nodded quickly.

“Yeah. Yeah. I finished the first three so I was just checking to see when Sal wanted me to come back to drop them off. So, you met Angel?”

She couldn’t help but feel like he was trying to change the subject but she followed along anyway.

“Yeah, he was there when I went over. I took some vegetables. I finally got my garden going so I thought I could give your dad some.”

EZ’s trademark smile came back to his face.

“Thanks for doing that. Thinking about my dad I mean.”

“Oh no problem. It’s only fair.”

There was a comfortable silence that fell over the two of them as Camila took a large sip of her coffee.

“So how did you and Mr. Salvatore meet?”

EZ hesitated for a moment, not exactly sure if he wanted to tell her the truth. He had just met her and liked her; he didn’t want to drive her away so quickly by telling her that he was a felon. He didn’t want to start the basis of their friendship with a lie either, so swallowing his pride, he told her the truth.

“I had known him somewhat when I was a kid, in high school. It wasn’t until I got out of prison that we got to really know each other.”

EZ paused for a moment, watching for her reaction. He kept going when he didn’t see one.

“I like reading but I don’t really have anywhere to put books that I would buy so we set up this thing where he lets me kinda rent the books that I want for free and then I bring them back to him when I finish. Says its something to keep me busy.”

Camila smiled warmly and EZ felt his apprehension dwindle.

“That’s awesome. I wish more people did things like that. How long have you been out, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“A couple months. I got out and joined the MC with Angel.”

“That’s cool. Getting to spend time with your big brother, kinda follow him. My mom always said that everything happens for a reason. Even when bad shit happens, sometimes it has a way of working out in the end. It wasn’t an ideal situation for you, but now you get to be closer to your brother instead of drifting apart like most brothers do at this age.”

EZ nodded but he couldn’t help the feeling of guilt that bubbled up upon hearing her words. Looking from the outside in, that’s exactly what it looked like. The younger brother following in the older brother’s footsteps, wanting to be as close as possible. He knew she meant well and he appreciated it, but it didn’t make him feel any better knowing the truth behind his choice to join the MC and what was going on behind the scenes. Even still he smiled, feeling drawn to her warm and understanding nature.

He wanted to stay away, to let her start her new life in this town without any drama, but he couldn’t deny the slight crush that he had on her that seemed to grow each and every time he interacted with her. It was how patient she was, how she tried to see the positive in everything, how she tried to uplift those around her. He enjoyed her company and was about to ask her if she’d like to get lunch with him sometime when his burner rang. Pulling it out of his pocket, he cursed and looked up at her.

“Sorry, I gotta take this.”

“No, no, go ahead. Don’t worry about it.”

EZ flipped open the phone and didn’t get to say hello before Angel was talking.

“I need you to wrap up whatever you’re doing and come by Pop’s. We gotta handle some shit tonight.”

Angel’s words were very vague and may not have made sense to anyone else that heard them, but EZ knew more or less what those words meant and he nodded, Camila ignoring his conversation and looking over at a baby in a stroller that was waving to her with a smile.

“Yeah, ok. I’ll be right there.”

EZ flipped the phone closed and Camila looked back over.

“Sorry, I gotta go.”

Camila waved her hand in dismissal, swirling the little bit left in the bottom of her cup.

“That’s fine. I’m almost done. Go ahead. I’ll see you around.”

EZ stood and pushed his chair in, looking down at her with a bashful look, deciding to try his luck.

“I was serious about getting lunch one of these days.”

Camila nodded and looked down at the table to hide the goofy smile that came to her face before looking back up.

“I’ll be here.”

EZ grinned brightly, his smile squinting his eyes.

“I’ll see you.”

“Cuidate.”

He nodded and turned around, heading out of the bookstore as Camila swallowed the last sip of her coffee. Grabbing her purse, she stood and tossed the empty cup into the trash, walking back up the front desk where Mr. Salvatore still sat. He looked up from a notebook as he felt her come up.

“Hello there, sweetheart.”

“Hey, Sal.”

“Even on your day off, you stop by.”

The two laughed and she looked out the window as EZ pulled off.

“What was EZ looking for when he came in? New books?”

Mr. Salvatore stared at her for a moment before smiling at his newest employee.

“He was looking for you, my dear.

#ez reyes #imagines #mayans mc #Felipe Reyes #mayans imagine #ezekiel reyes #mayans fx #el destino

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sir-subpar · 3 years

Text

Where have you been? (1)

*This takes place in the Cursed!Bf au. This is pretty focused on Pico's point of view. Not a lot of shipping in this chapter, but I had a lot of fun writing this. This will be a 2-parter. Btw, swear words.*

Pico had challenged Boyfriend to another rap battle for fun and awaited his arrival. He was late, but they did plan to meet up at 5:00 pm so Pico figured it was just rush hour traffic holding him up. So he waited patiently. Minutes turned to hours, and the sun had set below the horizon. Pico tried to text him, but got no response. This was bullshit. He waited for hours like a fool and now B was ghosting him? If he didn't want to rap why didn't he just cancel?

Pico grit his teeth in frustration as he got into his car. He began driving to Boyfriend's and Girlfriend's house. His grip on the steering wheel was unnecessarily tight. Sure, maybe he was overreacting a little. It was just a rap battle, but it angered him that B had wasted his time. He could have done something to let him know that they had to cancel. So in the moment, telling him off just sounded cathartic. He muttered random obscenities under his breath, as if reciting how he was gonna tell him off.

By the time he had reached the house Bf and Gf shared together it was dark out, some stars had started making their mark on the blackened sky. Pico could see the living room light was on. Good, they were home. Pico slammed the car's door, then walked up the little path to the house's front door. He knocked on the door and waited. He tapped his foot impatiently. He had spent his whole afternoon waiting for this guy to show up so the idea of waiting any longer annoyed the hell out of him.

He could hear the door being unlocked and was about to start his angry rant when he saw it was Girlfriend at the door. The look on her face was odd, she looked surprised and… worried? That seemed off to Pico, as she usually opened the door with more enthusiasm no matter who was there. She was wearing a red crop top and black sweatpants, her comfy clothes.

"... Pico? What are you doing here?" She asked, her tone came off as nervous. "I just wanna ask Boyfriend something." He decided not to yell at Girlfriend, she wasn't the one he was pissed at anyway. "Oh… He isn't with you? He doesn't… live here anymore."

Just like that, all the anger built up in Pico had just fizzled. Replaced with confusion and shock. And a little bit of worry. "Why doesn't he live here??" Pico asked, what was going on? "Bf and I… we broke up. He left a few weeks ago and I haven't seen him since." She seemed nervous, she avoided making eye contact as she spoke. She left fidgeting with her hair, a nervous habit of hers.

"So you don't know where he is, huh?" Pico asked, he too, started feeling nervous.

"I haven't seen him since we broke up. He left most of his stuff here too. Even his phone. I figured he had run off to stay with you but I guess that's not the case." Girlfriend continued. Pico's worry only grew from there. He put his hands in his pockets and awkwardly continued their conversation. "How long has this been going on? Like, when was the last time you saw him?" Pico had to know. How long had he been out of the loop here? Girlfriend looked him in the eyes, almost shamefully. "Two weeks."

Pico couldn't help but be shocked by this. "Do you know anyone else he might have talked to? Anyone he might be staying with right now?" Anyone who would know where he is? That was what he really wanted to know. Where could he have gone? Girlfriend shook her head. "No, I don't know who he'd go to other than you. Most people we know don't really like him that much as far as I know." Pico couldn't help but grow more worried. This just wasn't like B… was he in trouble? "Well.. I'm gonna try to find out where he is. You wanna help?" Pico gestured towards his car, thinking they could ask around. Girlfriend averted her gaze, once again avoiding eye contact. "I'm pretty sure I'm the last person he wants to see.."

Pico couldn't argue with that. Hell, when he and Bf broke up they still kept in contact to some degree. Boyfriend completely ghosting someone was rare, so he must've really wanted to avoid her. "Yeah… I guess that makes sense. Uh, have a good night." Pico and Girlfriend shared goodbyes and went their separate ways. Pico never liked being alone with her, to be honest. It was always awkward, now it was made worse with Boyfriend being who knows where. Pico drove off in his car, contemplating what he should do. 'Maybe I should just call some of B's friends. He might just be staying at one of their places.' He thought to himself.

Pico had to think about who Boyfriend trusted the most (not counting himself or Gf in this case). He started thinking of people B had introduced him to. 'I have Hex's number, he's friendly, maybe Bf talked to him? It's worth a shot.' Pico scrolled through his contacts until he found Hex's number. The phone dialed for a few seconds, then he heard a robotic voice greet him. "Hello friend!" Hex exclaimed, enthusiastic as always. Pico wasn't really sure if he'd consider himself as Hex's 'friend' per say, but he never disliked the guy.

"Hey Hex, it's Pico."

"Greetings Pico! Haven't heard from you in a while! How are you?"

"I'm alright, thanks. I actually need to ask you something. Could you help me with something?"

"You sound worried. How can I help?"

"I know this might sound random but… is Boyfriend staying with you by chance?" Pico nervously tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He hoped that by some chance that maybe Hex knew something.

"No, why?" Just like that, Pico's hope was dashed. Despite that, he decided to fill Hex in on the situation. Maybe having another person looking out for B would help their chances of finding him.

"Well, he and Girlfriend split up 2 weeks ago and he just kinda… disappeared. I've tried to reach out to him but he's not responding. Gf said she has no idea where he is."

" I'm sorry, I don't know any more than you do."

Pico let out a small sigh. "Yeah, I'm worried about him. Hey, if you see him, will you let me know?"

"I will."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Pico was about to hang up the phone when Hex said one last thing.

"Actually, my friend Whitty sometimes hangs out with Boyfriend. I'll call and ask him if he knows where Boyfriend is." Hex sounded hopeful, which made Pico feel a little better. "Thanks, Hex. Let me know what he says."

"Will do! Bye for now!"

"Bye."

Pico hung up. Deciding to drive home for the time being. He couldn't help but suddenly wonder though… who was Whitty? The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't recall meeting someone named Whitty. Maybe Bf had mentioned the guy to Pico before. Regardless, if this guy knew anything about Bf, he'd take it.

Pico got home and felt exhausted. He kicked his shoes off at the front door, and dragged his feet as he walked towards his bedroom. He changed into some pajamas and started preparing to sleep. Part of him wanted to stay up and wait to hear back from Hex, but he was tired, and he needed to rest. He'd continue his search after getting some sleep, he decided. Pico pulled his bedsheets over his body, closed his eyes, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

…

Pico got up the next morning at around 7:30 am. He got dressed, brushed his hair and teeth, all that usual morning routine stuff. Then, just as he was about to start calling more people to see if they knew anything about Bf, he got a call from Hex.

"Hello? Hex?"

"Pico!" Hex yelled, sounding excited. "I have good news!" Now Pico was beginning to feel excited. "I talked to my friend Whitty. He said he saw Bf a few days ago!"

"Does he know where B is now?" Pico was nervously fidgeting with the collar of his shirt. He wasn't entirely sure why, but ever since his conversation with Girlfriend, he just had a gut feeling that something was wrong. He hoped it was just paranoia. "Does he know where Bf is now?" Pico asked. 'Please say yes.' He pleaded in his mind. "Hang on, let me ask him." Hex replied, then his voice sounded distant. He was talking to someone in person, their conversation muffled. "He said no, but he saw Bf in the same general area a few times last week. Maybe all three of us should go there and look for him together! Like a search party!" Hex sounded hopeful, and honestly it wasn't a bad idea. Pico took a deep breath. This was a good thing, this narrowed the search a bit. Pico reminded himself. "Okay, let's do it." He said, feeling determined. "I'll send you the address so we can meet up. See you there!" Hex proclaimed. "Thanks, I'll be there." Pico hung up, then rushed to get his keys, his gun, and other supplies then got in his car. Hex, as promised, sent him the address. Pico entered it into his phone's navigation system and drove there. It was in an oddly run-down neighborhood, with rundown buildings and dark alleys. He wondered what Bf would be doing there. He honestly didn't like the idea of parking his car in this neighborhood, do you worried that it would get stolen or broken into. So he parkes a little ways away, and walked the rest. It was for the best.

He walked to their agreed meet up spot. The sidewalk was in poor condition, as well as most of the buildings around him. Cracked and discolored walls, boarded up windows, shattered glass and trash was all over the place. The street alone looked as though the city gave up on it. This whole place was run down. Even one of the street lamps was knocked over, luckily it was the morning so it didn't matter.

Pico could see Hex's monitor head and basketball jersey from a distance. Said robot noticed him and waved to him. He saw someone else there with him, presumably Whitty. Upon closer inspection, Pico noticed a few things about Whitty. The first being that he was fucking tall as hell! Pico knew that he was short in comparison to most people but even so, this dude was TALL. Pico standing at his full height wasn't even half this guy's size. He had to be close to 9 feet tall. The next thing he noticed was the fact that his head was a bomb. His eyes were orange and glowed. Pico couldn't help but stare at the guy. When did Bf come into contact with this guy? How did they meet?

"Hey." Said the tall bomb-headed man. Pico flinched slightly, realizing he must have noticed him staring. His voice was kind of gruff, but not the usual kind of gruff. It reminded Pico of an electric guitar for some reason. Though he figured it probably was best not to say that out loud. Pico snapped out of his thoughts and finally replied. "Hey, I'm Pico. I'm guessing you're Whitty?" Pico held out his hand to shake Whitty's, the taller man returned the gesture. "Yeah, that's me." When their hands touched, Pico was surprised by how warm Whitty's hand was. It was definitely hotter than his own human hand. Not to mention how smooth his skin was, it felt somewhat like metal, but not quite. He kind of wanted to keep holding it just so he could examine it more, but he figured that would be weird to do to a guy he just met. So he let go.

"So… you saw Bf around here?" Pico asked, and decided it was time to start their search. "We crossed paths a few times but every time he ran away. He seemed… upset." Whitty explained, somewhat trailing off towards the end of his sentence. He too, seemed like he was worried about Boyfriend. Pico wondered how close they were. "Can you show us where you last saw him?" Hex asked, a question mark appearing on his screen. Whitty nodded "Yeah, follow me." He turned on his heels and began walking in front of them. He seemed confident, like he knew the area well. Pico and Hex quickly followed.

It was mostly quiet between them, Hex played some simple tune to break the silence. Something Pico appreciated. He felt a little awkward, he didn't know anything about Whitty, but apparently he was a friend of Bf's. He quickened his pace a bit so he could walk next to Whitty, he decided to break the silence between them. "So… how'd you meet Bf?" Whitty looked at Pico with an unreadable expression. "He challenged me to a rap battle." Pico chuckled at Whitty's answer and replied jokingly with "Ah, so the same way he meets everyone." Whitty chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much." He could hear Hex laugh a bit too. It really was the way he met most people. "So, how long have you known each other?" Pico asked. "Hmm… I think months now, almost a year. What about you? You two seem close." Whitty looked at Pico quizzically. Pico rubbed the back of his neck "Aw geez, a really long time. Since we were kids." Whitty's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow. So you're really close then huh? That explains a lot actually." Pico tilted his head in curiosity. What did he mean by that? "Yeah? Like what?" Whitty shrugged. "I dunno… B talks about you sometimes. He told me several times that I should meet you. Said he thought we'd get along." Whitty chuckled. "He always looked so happy when he talked about you.."

Pico couldn't help but feel flattered, but he also felt a little jealous. Bf told Whitty so much, he trusted him. He knew He longer than Whitty did, yet Bf apparently didn't trust him enough to tell him about his and Gf's breakup. Pico tried to ignore those thoughts. Bf, wherever he was, needed him. It wasn't time to be bitter. "Wish we could've met under better circumstances." Pico muttered, Whitty nodded. "Yeah."

Hex then decided to interject their conversation. "Hey Whitty, are we close to where you last saw Boyfriend?" The robot asked suddenly, startling Pico. For a second, he actually forgot the robot was there. 'Oh yeah.. We've been walking for a little while now.' Pico realized that he had lost track of where they were. "Yeah, sorry. It's just around this next corner, we're almost there." Whitty instructed. "Ok!" Hex replied. Pico nodded, observing their surroundings. This part of the neighborhood was… odd. It didn't seem quite as old as the rest of this beaten-down area. It seemed more… recently abandoned. The buildings, though still a mess, seemed more modern in comparison. Like at some point, this was a nice neighborhood, possibly even upper class at one point.

The trio turned right at the faded crosswalk, about three buildings down the street, they stopped. Whitty turned to face Pico and Hex. "This is where I last saw him. I tried to talk to him but he ran off and I lost track of him." Pico looked at the rundown building they were in front of. Unlike the other buildings in the area, it didn't seem that old. What surprised him though, was the obvious damage. It looked like the building caught fire at some point. The windows looked like they were shattered from the inside. Pico looked through them, he could see the remains of what appeared to be a restaurant. Broken and burned tables, shattered plates and collapsed support beams were all over the place. He could see the remains of broken speakers towards the back of the dining room, close to what was probably a bathroom. Pico took a few steps back and tried to read what was left of the restaurant's sign. Then it clicked.

He had heard of this place, about a year ago it was on the news because some lunatic blew up the place in the middle of a rap battle. He remembered seeing Boyfriend and Girlfriend escaping the smoldering wreckage on the news. He called them as soon as he saw it and let them stay at his house that night to comfort them. He could vividly remember the look on Girlfriend's face when they watched the aftermath on the news. Complete and utter terror. He had never seen her more scared in his life. Apparently the arsonist was never caught, for some reason. Pico never understood that. It was a restaurant full of people, surely somebody would have seen where he went, right? The thought made Pico uneasy. Why would B come anywhere near this place after that?

"Yo, Pico. You listening?" Whitty's voice suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts. He wondered how long he was zoning out for. "Sorry I- I just got lost in thought. What were you saying?" Pico felt bad. He was supposed to be looking for his missing friend, not zoning out. Pico mentally chastised himself for it before focusing on Whitty again. "I don't know where he went from here, but I don't think he left this side of town." Pico nodded, then looked up at Hex, his monitor was processing something. Pico guessed he was thinking up a plan. Then the monitor showed a map. "Maybe we should split up into different areas" the robot started, his now map that was once his face highlighted three different areas in the neighborhood. "After each of us surveys their area we can check in with each other over the phone." Hex offered. Pico, though he appreciated the thought, didn't really like the idea of the three of them splitting up in a neighborhood like this. Sure, he could take care of himself. Hell, he was an assassin for fucks sake. But even he knew he wasn't invincible. He was vulnerable. Especially in an area he wasn't familiar with. Before he could politely object though, Whitty commented on the plan. "Sorry Hex, that's a no go. This place ain't a good area. If we split, we could get ambushed." Pico was relieved that Whitty agreed with him. "If there were more of us, then we could split up into teams. But it's just too risky to do as is." Pico added, making his stance on the situation known. Hex sighed (or at least did the robot equivalent of sighing), his arms dropped and his now disappointed face appeared on the monitor's screen again. "Ok… this is far less efficient though." Hex replied, defeated. Pico gave him a comforting pat on the arm. "We appreciate the thought, Hex." Pico said, hoping it would appease the mechanical man. Hex smiled and let it go. "Where should we start looking?" Hex asked the group. Pico couldn't help but eye the burnt restaurant. "Let's check in here first." Whitty and Hex both looked at Pico quizzically, but shrugged it off and agreed.

Pico attempted to open the front doors, but they wouldn't give, the restaurant's double doors were stuck shut. Pico was about to slam into it when he was stopped by a large hand. Slightly startled, he realized it was Whitty who lightly grabbed him. The bomb man gently moved Pico away from the door."I got it." Was all he said before he gripped one of the door's handles and yanked the whole door off its hinges. Wood splinters flew everywhere as the door cracked and broke. Whitty tossed the door aside with one arm. Pico's jaw almost dropped. 'Holy shit. Either that door was weak or he's strong as hell!' Pico was tempted to comment on it but didn't want to come across as rude so all he did was thank Whitty. Hex on the other hand clapped his metallic claw hands, the metal making numerous "ting" sounds. "Great job Whitty!" Hex exclaimed before walking through the now open doorway. Whitty rubbed the back of his head, seeming a little embarrassed. Pico noticed Whitty's cheeks were slightly glowing orange. Was that how he blushed? "Err.. Thanks. It's nothing." Whitty had to lean down in order to fit through the doorway, Pico walked in after him.

The three of them spread out a bit to investigate the remains of the restaurant. Pico honestly thought it was depressing to look at. This had once been a peaceful place to take your loved ones to and enjoy food. Now it was just a husk of its former glory. An ashy, decrepit ruin. After a few minutes, they found nothing and decided to leave. Pico felt bad for wasting time in this old building, but he was glad the others were still willing to help. The trio decided to keep looking around the neighborhood, continuing their search for Boyfriend.

…

Hours. They had been searching for hours, and there was still no sign of Boyfriend anywhere. Pico felt his legs getting sore. He hadn't walked so much without stopping in a long time. Hex seemed unfazed, but maybe that was because robots couldn't get sore muscles. Whitty seemed a little tired, but didn't show signs of really slowing down. Pico really wanted to just power through it and be helpful, but his legs were in agony. He needed to sit down. It didn't help that it was past noon and he hadn't eaten much that day. "Hey guys. I need to sit down for a bit, my legs are killing me." Pico admitted, hopong the others would be cool about it. "Okay, let's take a break. We've been doing this all day." Whitty agreed. Hex noticed a bench in the distance. "Why don't you rest over there?" The robot offered, and the other boys agreed. The bench was a bit tall, Pico had to hop on to it. Whitty on the other hand had no such trouble, being the vertically-blessed giant he was. Pico was a little jealous. Pico let out a sigh. "Where the hell is that blue-haired dumbass?" Pico asked rhetorically, he was getting frustrated with this. He was worried, tired, and felt lost. He thought he knew Bf well, but he didn't know him well enough to predict this. "I wish I knew." Whitty added, sounding worried as well. Pico was thinking about what to say when his stomach growled loudly.

"Hungry, huh?" Whitty chuckled. "Fuck yes, I'm starving." Pico replied. "You know what? I'm gonna get lunch. You hungry?" Pico asked, standing up despite his legs begging him not to. "I'm always hungry, sure." Whitty chuckled again. "I'm never hungry!" Hex happily chirped. That time Pico chuckled. "Well, you could still come with us, even if you don't eat anything." Pico offered. "Thank you friend!" Hex smiled. "Cool." Pico gave a thumbs up. "So… where are we going?" Whitty asked, tilting his head a bit. He stood up, ready to follow Pico. "First to my car. Then I'll drive us to a restaurant or something." Pico explained, beginning to walk towards said vehicle. "Just a heads up, I parked a bit far, but it should only take, like, 20 minutes to get there." Pico warned, knowing the others (or at least Whitty) were tired as well. "No problem friend! Lead the way!" Hex declared enthusiastically. Whitty just shrugged and said "We've been walking for hours, 's not like 20 minutes will kill us." And just like that, they were off.

…

Pico, as promised, drove the three of them to a small diner that wasn't too far away. It was thankfully in a nicer neighborhood. The three sat together at a booth table near the back. Hex had powered off to regain some energy. More or less leaving Whitty and Pico alone.

"Hey, lunch is on me, k?" Pico stated. He had been paid generously on his last job, so he wasn't worried about meal prices. Whitty seemed caught off guard. "Uh, y-you don't have to do that-" "I insist." Pico bluntly interjected. Whitty again, tried to decline. "I shouldn't- you don't need to do that, really." Whitty stammered a bit. Pico doubled down on it. "I'm not budging on this man." Whitty tilted his head to the side curiously, but still seemed slightly flustered. "Why are you so persistent in paying for both of us?" Whitty asked. Pico shrugged. "I just want to thank you for all your help today. I've been stressed out trying to figure out where B is and I really appreciate you helping us out." Pico said earnestly, he was still really worried about Boyfriend. "I.. You're welcome. I'm not gonna lie, I care about him, and I'm worried for the guy. Last time I saw him, he seemed off." Whitty confessed, rubbing the back of his head. Pico's curiosity piqued a bit. "Off? In what wa-" ''Hello boys! Can I get you something to drink?" Pico was suddenly interrupted by their waitress. "Oh. Right. We should probably order something haha." Pico joked, chuckling a bit. "I'll take a Coke. What about you Whitty?" Pico asked, gesturing towards the taller male. "I'd just like water, please." Whitty replied, the waitress wrote their drink orders. "Okay. Are you ready to order your meals as well?" She asked sweetly. "I think we need a few minutes." Admitted Pico. "Okay, I'll give you some time to think about it and will be back with your drinks in a bit, okay?" Whitty and Pico politely thanked her and looked at their menus.

"What're you thinking of ordering?" Pico asked, he wondered what kind of food Whitty enjoyed. "I don't know. I'm still surprised that you're paying for both of us." Whitty responded unsurely. "It's all good man. I got it" Pico gave a reassuring smile. "I just want to warn you that I eat a LOT. I'm not exactly cheap to feed." Whitty warned, embarrassed. Pico chuckled, "I'm not exactly peckish, either." "I really mean it, Pico. I eat more than humans do." Whitty once again gave a disclaimer to Pico. "And I really mean it when I say I'll cover it. Just get what you want." Pico stated adamantly.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"..."

"Are you sure?"

"Whitty if you ask me that again I'm gonna smack the shit out of you."

(To be continued…)

(I wanted to write more but this is long so I'm gonna break it into two chapters. The next one is gonna have more angst so I wanted to end this one on a bit of a lighter note

#fnf #friday night funkin #cursed! bf au #cursed!bf #fnf pico #fnf whitty #fnf hex #fnf girlfriend #fnf boyfriend #bombico #bf x pico #pico x whitty #if you squint #fanfic #two shot #where have you been?

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fnf-brain-rot · 3 years

Text

[Whitty x Boyfriend]

chapter 1 - He Forgave Me!

note: This story stems off of my book of one shots and short stories. In order to get the full context, go ahead and read "Whitty&Boyfriend-You're forgiven".

___________________________________________

"You what??"

Boyfriend winced and pulled the phone from his ear. "I just told you not to freak out about it!" He pouted. He had to tell Girlfriend where he was and why he was late for his dinner date with her and her parents. Granted yes, walking into a bad part of town searching for a homeless man with no home and nothing to lose, something bad could have happened. He didn't exactly think it through, but his heart was in the right place!

"He's not mad at me though, in fact we talked for a couple hours and we have a lot in common!" Boyfriend quickly tried to reassure her. A shaky sigh was heard on her end of the phone. "Where are you? I'll come pick you up." She then offered. Boyfriend didn't like the idea of them coming all the way down here to get him, but he wasn't exactly up for walking back either. He told her his location and she hung up, and he sighed. He then turned around to face the alley he walked out of. "Whitty?" He called out. The male looked at him, leaning against the wall. He thought he had left already. "Are you sure you don't wanna come with me? I could... give you somewhere to stay.." Boyfriend shoved his hands in his pockets, while Whitty made an uncomfortable expression. "I think I'll be fine down here." He then told him. Boyfriend puffed one of his cheeks, but allowed it. Man he's stubborn. "Well.. I'm gonna go now. If you need me, you know where I am." He hummed. Whitty nodded, then looked back up at the orange sky.

Boyfriend told Girlfriend his location was a couple blocks away as to avoid Whitty being spotted, and he waited there.

Whitty was a tough nut to crack, however this is just day one of his master plan. He was patient, but at the same time he wasn't, however Whitty will be his exception. He didn't get so much out of him, other than his favorite genre of music, favorite foods, favorite colors, and where he came from, however he didn't elaborate on family or friends, anything of the sort. He was completely alone.

Well we can't have that now can we?

For the remainder of the day, all Boyfriend could think about was his new friend, Whitty. He wondered how he was doing. He couldn't help but feel bad. He's sitting in a mansion, with a family, eating delicious food, and comfortable. Whitty has none of those things. He's probably freezing under a single layer of news paper or something, living off of cheap grocery store sandwiches that aren't even that good. He could probably eat a horse right now.

"Bee?" Girlfriend's voice pulled Boyfriend out of his train of thought. He had been toying with his food unintentionally, and the family was starting to think something was wrong. He looked up from his plate to see Mommy and Daddy dearest staring at him. Her mother looked worried. "What's wrong hun? Do you not like the food?" She asked him. His face went a little red, and he shook his head. "N-No ma'm- I mean yes! I do! I just.. I got lost in thought for a moment.." He sighed at his poor wording. Girlfriend stared at him a while longer while her parents excused his behavior to continue eating and talking amongst themselves. "Is it about that guy?" Girlfriend whispered to him. He nodded. He asked her not to tell her parents, though she didn't really understand why. She respected his wishes though, and opted to keep it a secret for him.

"I can take you to see him tomorrow, so you don't have to walk that far." Boyfriend gave her a wide grin, obviously happy about her offer. He began to eat again, happily chatting with her about how he was gonna tell Pico all about it. Speaking of! It was eight at night! He would need to get going if he wanted to see him before the day ended. He finished his plate, thanked her parents for the food, and bounced his way out, waving at Girlfriend from the front door.

"Pico?? Are you up??" Boyfriend had walked to Pico's house, which only took thirty minutes from Girlfriend's place. His legs were still killing him though. So much walking in one day. He knocked on the door, which soon followed with it opening. "Pi- Oh, hey you two." He hummed in surprise. At the door stood Skid and Pump, Skid of course on Pump's shoulders. "Hello Boyfriend! We are here in place of Uncle Pico for spooky month!" Skid exclaimed. "Yeah, it's spooky in here!" Pump backed up his words. Come to think of it, the hallway to the door was pretty dark. "Uh.. So he's not-" Boyfriend was cut off by Pico's voice. "I told you guys not to answer my goddamn door when I'm in the bathroom!" The ginger was heard calling out. "Uh oh!" Skid and Pump quickly skittered away before Pico could get to them. As Pico walked to the door, he turned the hall light on. He was surprised to see Boyfriend at such an hour. "Oh hey Bee, what're you doing here?" Pico raised a brow and leaned on his door frame. It wasn't uncommon for Boyfriend to visit in the later hours, but he walked for so long today, it's a surprise he'd stop by.

"Can I come in? I wanted to talk to you about that guy!" Boyfriend beeped excitedly, causing Pico to chuckle. "Well hurry up and get in here, I don't trust these little shits to not eventually touch one of my guns." He walked away from the door, allowing Boyfriend to step in. He politely closed it behind him. He had a habit to take off his shoes before stepping onto someone's carpet, even if he wasn't staying long.

"Skid!! Pump!! I told you about touching my shit!!" Pico's voice was heard from another room from down the hall, followed by laughter and dramatic screaming as they came barelling down the opposite direction, passing Boyfriend and running into the living room. He couldn't help but laugh as Pico came walking back, a scowl on his face. "Come on, let's sit in the living room." He grunted, Boyfriend happily following behind them.

They sat down on the couch, and Boyfriend rambled on about the events that led up to Whitty being mad at him in the first place, then explained that he managed to find him and apologized. Pico seemed impressed, honestly, leaning against the chair arm behind him as he listened to the blue hair's words. "We talked for a while and I think I'm gonna go see him again tomorrow!" He grinned. Pico felt a bit skeptical. "Sounds like he's caught up in some shit. I mean, maybe not, but this guy is running away from something and never stays in one place for more than a week. You sure you won't be a distraction?" He made a face of concern. The last thing he'd want to happen is for Bee to get hurt over some guy he doesn't really know.

"He said I could come visit him whenever! Well, not whenever, but whenever!" Boyfriend threw his hands up excitedly. Pico hummed, then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. "What's this guy's name anyway? Did he tell you that?" Boyfriend nodded, and opened his mouth to tell him, but he hit a wall.

Whitty told him not to tell anyone his name, no matter who they were. He felt like he could tell Pico though! They were best friends! But.. Pico was basically an assassin.. He could be after Whitty too..

"Bee?" Pico narrowed his eyes, and Boyfriend shook his head to focus. "Oh sorry uh.. N-No.. He didn't tell me his name." He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Pico stared at Boyfriend for a good minute or so, then sighed. "Guy seems shady as hell, no matter how much you two have in common. I can't stop ya from going, but at least.. Be careful around him." He stated, sticking the cancer stick in his mouth. Boyfriend didn't like the negative view people were having on Whitty right now, but that was to be expected, he supposed. A hobo on the run as a friend? It does sound sketchy. He would prove them wrong though!!

That's when the door bell rang. Boyfriend winced once he stepped back on the floor. His feet weren't ready for it. "Must be Lila. Boys!! Lila's back!" He called out. "Momma!!" The two boys came running back down the hallway, Pico following close behind them to open the door.

Boyfriend sighed himself as he damn there limped to the front door as everyone exchanged their words. Lila looked exhausted, holding both boys in each of her arms. Pico looked behind him as Boyfriend slipped past him and Lila to get out. "You're goin' home?" Pico questioned, and Boyfriend nodded. "Thanks for letting me stop by and ramble! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" He grinned at the ginger, who huffed under his breath. "Yeah.." He agreed. "Hi ms. Lila, bye ms. Lila. By Skid and Pump!" Boyfriend waved to them all, the boys waving back.

___________________________________________

Boyfriend finally made it home. Trudging slowly, he threw himself onto the couch, tired beyond belief. Today was such a long day, he wasn't sure he could even go shower. He took off his shirt and sighed heavily, closing his eyes and relaxing on the sofa. "Don't worry Whitty.. I'll prove them wrong about you.." He spoke to no one in particular, but he felt somewhat happy he felt he had to apologise. He had a new goal in mind.

He and Whitty were gonna be best friends.

#fnfboyfriend #whitty #friday night funkin #whitmore #fnfwhitmore #fnf whitty #bf x whitty

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rezdogsyonder · 4 years

Text

Not Like You Think

Pairing: The Powered!Reader is married to an OC the marvel characters come in later.

Summary: You and your family are in trouble. What lengths will you go to keep them safe? Go against the Avengers? A gang infamous among CIA?

Warnings: Robbery, breaking the law, lying, murder, cheating

A/N: the reader is like early 20’s, married young to high school sweetheart. With a 3 year old. The reader has super strength, is bulletproof, and is influential. Like kilgrave but can turn it off. Also: didn’t expect it to be so long.. sorry! Couldn’t get back to present day in this chapter

**********

You don’t know how it got to this.

That’s a lie. You do, but you didn’t mean for it to get this messy.

They’re almost here. You need to leave. They’re not close to being done though. The car is waiting. It’s running. They’re probably gonna see you leaving if they’re here quick enough.

We could hide. Blend in. Yeah, that could work.

**********

2 weeks before.

“Honey? What time you gonna be home tonight?” You yelled from the kitchen. Your preparing your babies diaper bag for daycare.

“Right around 8:30 ish? Maybe 9. They pretty much don’t let you take more overtime after 9.” He peaked out the door while doing his tie. He walked over to the counter and began eating the food you prepared for him.

“I’ll keep some food in the fridge for you.” You walked by kidding him on the cheek.

You walk over to the bedroom and to the bed, “Come on baby, time to wake up.” She just rolls over and shoved her face in the covers. “Come on sleepy buns, it’s early enough that you can have cereal.”

That got her sitting up, she reaches out to you and you oblige, bringing her to the kitchen.

“How’s my nakey baby?” Christopher smiles poking her belly. She giggles a little bit but she’s still trying to fight it, still wanting to go to sleep.

You put her in her chair and pour some cereal in the tray. You grabbed her soft little brush and put her hair in two little pigtails.

“See you tonight. Love ya. Love you too my little bean.”

“Love you. See you.” You say halfheartedly, grabbing Leia’s clothes for today.

You hear the door slam. Getting her dressed quickly and grabbing her diaper bag and an extra outfit, you’re soon following.

**********

“Leia is at daycare, they close at 4:30, so I’ll need to leave at 4:15, drop her off with Joey, and head back to work.” You say to yourself in your car. You park in the one employee parking spot that is left and walk inside.

It’s not much, but this restaurant has been the only place that would hire you. It’s kinda like a subway, but for burritos and tacos, and the place tips well. Especially in the Summer, which is approaching right now. Pretty soon you’ll have to find a different place for Leia to stay. The daycare you go to only works during the school year.

You have your apron on and hat to cover your hairnet, but you see your day going down the drain when you see your least favorite person. The store owner. The one person you hate because, for some reason, he sees you as a threat. Maybe because the franchise owner almost gave this place to you. Yeah, gave. Guessing he found out from another manager in another store, he went to the franchise owner and laid down daddy’s money.

Why was he even working here if he was rich? Honestly you think he just has a personal vendetta against you. He has hated you since junior year.

“Ugh what are you doing here?” He said in disgust.

“How professional, Jamie.”

“I don’t need to be professional, I’m the boss Y/N.” He smirked smugly. “Just in case you’ve forgotten.”

A customer walks in, saving you from having to speak to him. You try to serve them fast, but slowly too because once they’re sitting at their table, Jamie is just gonna berate you for nothing. Like always.

“Who is the one that worked shifts last night? Hmm?”

“That was me and Matt.”

“What is this?”he holds his hand up.

“A bill?” It was 100. We catered a small party yesterday, probably about 20 people but that 20 brought guests.

“A counterfeit.”

“Well we used the pen thingy on every big bill that we get.”

“No you don’t. Cause then you would have realized it was counterfeit.” The door swings open and you expect a customer but Matt walks in.

“Matt tell him we always use pens on big bills”

“We use the pen on big bills. Every time, a habit we’ve gotten from you docking our pay a billion dollars.” Matt said immediately jumping on your side. A bit monotonous and you suspect it’s because of the bags under his eyes.

“If you used the pen then you would have known it was COUNTERFEIT.” He’s starting to lose his shit. Unprofessional as always. “I will dock you both 50 from your paychecks.”

“You’re so... ugh. You know that $50 is nearly a full shift.” You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Give me the bill.” Holding out your hand. He looks at you suspiciously before handing it over. You grab the pen from the register and write over it.

You hold the bill out in front of you mockingly. “Did you use an actual marker?” Showing the yellow marks.

His face goes beet red and Matt is about to laugh, trying to hold it back. Jamie just took out his own marker and marks the bill, the color turning a dark blue.

“See?”

“Well then this is on you. Maybe you should quit being cheep and get us more detector pens.”

You cross your arms, and Matt can’t can’t hold it back and he’s giggling quietly. You know Jamie is trying to find a way to pin it on you.

Jamie opened his mouth to say something, but he sighed and walked away. Matt fist bumps you.

“You know one of these days he’s gonna get what’s coming to him.”

“That would be the dream. But right now he is our boss so we gotta dream while we work, come on. We gotta prep the pico and quac.”

The two of you continued your days work in peace, getting a couple regulars. It was a bit busier today than usual, you don’t know what caused it though. You even had to ask Christopher to pick up Leia.

Pretty soon the last group of people left their table and were leaving the restaurant. These guys were really polite, cleaning up after themselves too.

“You get front, I’ll get kitchen and food?” Matt offered.

“Yep, I’ll get the ice ready for you.” You grab an empty bean bin and a plastic knife from your station and walk around to the fountain machine. You jam the knife in the ice dispenser and go to get the mop bucket from the back.

Once back there you hear arguing, they’re shouting and it sounds like they’re through the back door. The door to drop off garbage. You try to hear better by pressing your ear against the door. One of the voices is Jamie.

“Excuse m—”

“JESUS!” It was just Matt. He has a bag of garbage.

“Huho sorry Y/N. ‘Xcuse.” You put your hand on his chest stopping him.

“Here I can take it.” You hold your hand out, he shrugs and gives you the bag. It was warm from the unused meat from today. You scrunched your nose for a second before heading outside.

The arguing stopped as soon as you opened the door. You saw Jamie and a man you recognized as a regular. He’s kinda too attractive to forget. Long brown hair, but it suited him, especially in the man bun he has right now. He was actually apart of the group that just left.

“Hey.” You wave to the customer, “what are you still doing here Jamie?” You said in a less enthusiastic tone. You walk over to the garbage can. Quickly before the meat burned through the heavy duty bag. It wasn’t fun to clean up.

“Just dealing with business Y/N, just head back in.” He snapped. You heave the heavy bag over the edge and into the garbage.

“Whatever you say,” you put your hands up in mock surrender. “Have a good night.” You say to the man with him.

“You too, ma’am.” He took his hand out of his pocket to wave, his shiny glove glinting in the moonlight. ‘It’s nearly summer.’ You thought, but he was still in a long sleeved jacket and gloves apparently.

You went back inside to continue your work, but that weird altercation stayed in your mind. Consuming your thoughts. Matt has the beans cooled back down, good thing because you had forgotten about the ice, he caught it before it started overflowing.

You’re done with the food heaters, the steamer, the tips, and the till. You’re pulling out the garbage from by the front door when you hear a loud bang outside. You go in the kitchen to see Matt.

“What was that?” You keep walking towards the back.

“Y/N I don’t think you should go out there, they’ll probably hit you in the face with a fircracker... Shitkids.”

“Well, yeah but the garbage.” You open the door, or try at least. Something was blocking it.

“Matt? Can you open this?” You push on the door to emphasize your need, even though he can’t see from where he is. Whoever it was probably stacked stuff on the other side. Garbage most likely.

“Yeah, coming.” He walked around you and tried pushing on the door. Even he struggles with the door, which kind of surprised you with him being kinda buff.

The door is open just enough for you to get out and the two of you hear a groan. You and Matt exchange a glance before you squeeze through the door, him trying to pull you back in.

It’s too dark to see anything, the moon had moved higher and maybe behind some clouds, you can’t make out many shapes. You’re holding the heavy bag with two hands so you swing it into the garbage can and grabbed your phone.

“Turn on your flash, cause holy fuck I can’t see anything.” Matt asks, he’s just getting through. The door closing behind him, making it even darker than before.

“K just a second.” You get it on but the phone is having trouble reading your fingers. Whatever liquid was on your hand preventing it. You wipe your phone on your boob and your hand on your hip, it finally reads.

Once you see, the sight has you and Matt standing in shock. It was a body, face down and covered in blood. A good ten seconds has passed before Matt reacts and jumps to the other side of the person.

“Y/N call 911!”

“Yeah.... right.” You dial the number while keeping the light on the two of them. Your slow with your actions, this situation feeling as if it weren’t real. Not paying attention to the monotone voice at the other end, “Get to TacoTacos on main please hurry, send an ambulance.” You keep them on the line, answering the woman’s questions absentmindedly.

“Does he have a pulse?”

Matt’s hands were already on his throat feeling for one. After a couple seconds he shakes his head.

“No, he doesn’t.”

Matt tucks the man’s arm and rolls him over. It was Jamie. He begins cpr.

“It’s my boss. His name is Jamie Ness. I.. I think he was shot.”

“Don’t worry ma’am help is on the way. They should be there in a couple minutes.”

Yep, this wasn’t real. You look away. At the far corner of the shop is a man standing there. He was the man that Jamie was arguing with. He brought one finger to his lips, smiled, and disappeared behind the corner.

**********

“Do you know anybody that would want to do harm to Mr.Ness?” The police officer asks.

“Who wouldn’t?” You look at the paramedic then at the officer, “Sorry, I know it isn’t good to say, but I haven’t seen one person that got along with Jamie.” You pull the blanket tighter around you.

“Do you know what Jamie was doing back there?”

You look the the corner where you saw the man. The paramedic straps that tightening thing around your arm. “No, he might’ve been coming back, but after yelling at us I wouldn’t think he would.... he’s not the kind of person to apologize or say he was wrong. Yenno?” You feel a stethescope being pressed to your chest.

“Mmhmm” he hums, writing in his notepad before slapping it shut, “I should let you go for now, here’s my card. If you remember anything, call me.”

His card said Carl Cohen, and had his number. You nod and tuck it into your apron.

“You’re good to go. I thought you had shock, and you’re blood pressure was a little low and your heart rate was a little high, but nothing too bad.”

The paramedic takes his cuff off of you and you hand him back the blanket. You walk over to Matt who was sitting on the curb. He was looking at the blood on his hands.

“Come ‘ere.” You pull at his elbow. He looks up, you see the tears looking in his eyes. He stands up reluctantly.

You lead him back into the shop. Through the front this time. Bringing him to the sink. You wash his hands for him. It seems he’s the way you were earlier. The blood stained his skin. You do what you can for now.

You lead him back out the front and tell him to get in the car. He usually hitched a ride with you anyways. You run back and switch off all the lights, also writing a note for the opening crew that said call you and you’d explain why the closing didn’t close all the way.

Running back to the car you’re heart breaks when you see him. He’s just looking out the window as tear roll down his cheeks. You shut your door and his attention switches to you, before switching back to the window.

“Do you want to come over to my place?” You offer, thinking he shouldn’t be alone right now.

He nods back to you.

The ride was quiet.

You get to your driveway and notice that an unfamiliar car is parked in front. You park beside Chris’s car.

You open the door for Matt and usher him to the closest bathroom. Grabbing hydrogen peroxide from the mirror, you spray his hands with it. The stains washing away with it. You could tell he feels a little bit better now that he can’t see it, but it’s still bad.

“Hold on.” You rush to your room, upstairs, as quietly as you can so you don’t wake up Leia. You burst into your room, only to find Christopher and a woman in bed.

You stop for a second and you’re shocked, honestly, but Matt is downstairs. You glare and point at your stammering husband “You’re fucking lucky that I can’t deal with this right now.” You grab the shirt you stole from Matt when you were roommates a couple years ago and a pair of your pajama pants from when you were pregnant and huge.

You run back down to Matt. He’s still in the same spot you left him. You place the clothes in his lap and step past him to turn on the shower.

“Clean up. Take as long as you need. I’ll just be outside. ‘Kay?” You kiss him on the forehead.

You leave and softly close the door. Upstairs, the first door on the left is Leia’s room. She’s still in her crib, sleeping face down. You grab another blanket and place it on top of her. She’s practically in a coma if she’s warm.

You close the door softly before going back to your room.

“Well good to see you clothed!” You gesture to the other woman. You know it’s not really her fault, but you’re angry. You pull her closer. “Did you know he was married? Tell the truth.” Using your powers on her.

“No, and I’m really so sorry. He just told me he was a single dad.” She rushed past you, seemingly embarrassed.

“Are you serious?” You’re trying to stay calm. Not wanting to get to angry. “In our house. In our bed. With our baby in the next room?” Each sentence accentuated with one step closer to him.

“You said you couldn’t get out of work, that you were gonna have a late close.”

“So this is justified?” You gesture to the bed.

“I—ugh, I—“ he steps back for every step you take closer.

“Spit it out.” venom lacing your words. He’s backed into the corner.

“We—ugh—we haven’t been together in a while. Um and just, I—”

“Get out.” Not wanting to hear more. You’re backing away now, knowing what happens when you get too angry. Not even he knows, but now you guess he never will.

“What?”

“Get out. It’s that simple. Leave”

“Where will I go? What about Leia?”

“I don’t care, and if you cared about Leia so much then you wouldn’t have done this.” You said matter of factly.

“But—“

“Nope!” You cut him off. “Get out, and don’t you dare think of waking her.”

Knowing him, he’ll stomp throughout the house just to make things hard for you. He seems to always do that when he loses the argument. You watch him step past you and out the bedroom door. You follow, making sure he actually leaves.

Once downstairs you can see he heard the shower going. He grabs his keys and turns to you.

He points to the door then back to you, “Youre such a fucking hypocrite.”

“No, I am not.” You whisper yelled. You began pushing him out the door.

Once he’s fully out you close the door behind him, trying not to slam it, and lock it. You turn around and lean against the door, you hear his car start up and leave. You feel tears welling up in your eyes, you shut them tightly.

This isn’t going to be easy.

#marvel #avengers #powered!reader #marvel fanfiction #not like you think #bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes

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