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kasienda · 3 years

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The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 6 - Miraculous Abuse

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chapter 4: A Thank You

Chapter 5: Unwanted Revelations

Chapter 6: Miraculous Abuse

If Adrien had avoided using the snake before, he now was operating on the other extreme. Ladybug had told him to abuse it, and he’s not sure she would have meant it quite so literally, but well… he and Nino had come up with a list.

It had started with his homework. If he could finish his homework in far less time, he’d have more time to visit Nino and Marinette. Not that it took a lot of time to visit Marinette as it was usually a loop, so even if he spent hours with her, it never took longer than ten minutes as far as the rest of the world was concerned.

He unfortunately couldn’t do all of his homework in a time loop because that would leave whatever he had completed in the last five minutes erased. But he could do all the reading, researching, planning, and studying in a loop. Anything that didn’t require him to write anything down.

Nathalie had only walked on him transformed once.

“Yes, Nathalie?” he had asked, without looking up from his textbook. He hadn’t even thought about it.

She stood stock still and was dead silent. He glanced towards her with a frown - her eyes were comically wide, but that was the only sign that she was shocked. He glanced down, and remembered he was transformed at Aspik.

Read on Ao3

“Oh shit!”

But it had been easy enough to fix. He just reset, destranformed, waited for Nathalie to come in and deliver his schedule changes for the week and leave, and then he transformed again.

And then Nino had realized if he could pack all of his studying into the space of five minutes, Adrien could surely squeeze in some well deserved leisure time as well.

It only took 71 loops to read a hundred thousand words, and Adrien had long ago discovered the joys of fanfiction, but he had never really had time to read more than a bit here or there. Now? With unlimited time and an entire endless library of things to read based on his favorite games and anime? Let’s just say his current power set brought a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Just One More Chapter.”

And a season of anime was only 119 loops. Hell, he had gotten through all 981 episodes of One Piece in 4532 loops, which was still nothing compared to his time as Aspik, and honestly, far less traumatizing.

He had felt slightly guilty about it. He was literally using the powers of time travel to watch anime.

But when he mentioned it to Nino, his friend had just rolled his eyes. “Dude! You’re thinking about this all wrong. You’re a hero and we need you to be okay. This is about avoiding burnout as much as it is about having a good time. It’s so you get enough of a break and enough sleep to be a competent hero that we all need!”

But eventually the stories and shows hadn’t been enough to hold his attention. And he took another of Nino’s ideas and started paying visits to several of his friends.

He had gone to Kagami first. He had no expectations of healing things with her, but he had always wanted to be able to explain so that his apologies might mean something.

“Chat Noir? Is there an akuma?” she asked by way of greeting.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Ah, no. I wanted to talk to you about something, but I also have to erase your memory after the fact to protect identities. Are you okay with that?”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “You have piqued my curiosity. You may proceed.”

He nodded. He had already activated his power before he had landed in her bedroom that was definitely as lavish as his own if not quite as spacious.

“So… more than anything I wanted to apologize to you?”

She frowned. “I’m unaware of anything that you have done that would require an apology.”

“Kagami, I’m Adrien.”

Her eyes went wide for a second. “Ah, I see.” Then, she nodded.

“That’s it?”

“No, it makes a lot of sense.” And then she did something he never would have expected. She smiled. And most of his tension released.

“I just wanted to explain now that I had the ability to. That I wasn’t ever lying to you or running from our dates because I wanted to.”

“You had to sacrifice your own desires for a higher calling.”

“Yeah, that’s it exactly.”

She smiled at him again. “I appreciate you coming to explain and I understand completely why I can’t remember. May I ask you a question?”

“Of course!”

“Were you never in love with Marinette?”

“Well, I… uh… it was hard to see Marinette when I was completely enamored with Ladybug, but…”

She shook her head. “Are you in love with both of them now?”

“I mean, sortve?” He knew Kagami hated when he ended every sentence as if it was a question. “They’re the same person.”

Kagami sighed. “How disappointing.”

“Disappointing?! She’s amazing!”

“I know, but if she’s Ladybug and you’re Chat Noir, I have never had a chance with either of you.”

He felt like he had been thrown off a cliff. “What? You had feelings for Marinette?”

She grinned. “Well, she is amazing, as you always say. At least I know that I have really good taste.”

“Well, I’m sorry to have ruined all your prospects.”

“I will survive. Neither of you define me as a person.”

“You’re pretty amazing, too, you know,” he told her sincerely.

She nodded. “You honor me.”

He laughed. “Kagami, please don’t get all formal on me. I’m still just me.”

“Well, I hope you know that I appreciate all that you and Ladybug do for the city,” Kagami told him, ignoring his request.

“Thank you, Kagami. That means a lot coming from you.”

She nodded in acknowledgment and he knew he was being dismissed, and then he slid the switch on his bracelet and he was on the roof of her family’s manor once again his heart a little lighter.

He had gone to Alya after that. He had been nervous since she was the one who tended to push him aside as Chat Noir. But his fears proved to be completely unfounded as for the most part she could never stop laughing whenever he revealed himself.

“Wait! You’re Adrien?!”

She burst into cackles immediately.

“Why is that so funny?!” He has demanded the first time.

She had just grinned, shaking her head and still chuckling. “I wish I could explain it to you, sunshine.”

“I already know Marinette is Ladybug,” he said.

“Oh good! Then I don’t have to be panicked about accidentally slipping!” And she went back to rolling on the floor laughing.

“You wouldn’t happen to already know Marinette’s other secret would you?” she asked.

His eyebrows scrunched together under his mask. “Umm… that she’s in love with me as Adrien?”

Her face lit up. “Oh see!! You do get it!”

He shook his head. “I do not get it.”

“The two of you managed to get yourself in a love square. You’ve been chasing each other around like two cute little hamsters in hamster balls.”

He sighed, far less amused than Alya at the current state of his Marinette’s relationship. “I’m really glad someone is getting some joy out of this.”

“Hey!” she objected. “I’m only going to know this for another three minutes! Let me have my fun!”

He held up his hands in surrender, and he was smiling in spite of himself. Maybe some time in the future, after he and Marinette could be together, it would be funny to him, too.

“God! This is why it feels like I’m third-wheeling during akuma fights,” she exclaimed.

“You feel like a third wheel?!” he repeated in disbelief. “Have you seen the chaotic energy that is you and Marinette coming up with a plan together? I am definitely the third wheel in that situation.”

And then she was cackling again. “I’m sorry,” she wheezed. “Nino says I can be a bit of a bulldozer when I’m trying to find a solution to something.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” he said dryly.

All the mirth fled her face and she looked at him in concern. “Hey, you okay?”

He nodded. “It’s not like I’m allowed to be anything else.”

“No, don’t say that! You’re allowed to be upset with me! I deserve it sometimes.”

He shook his head. “I’m never going to hold your ability to defeat an akuma against you. I just… have felt a little unneeded lately,” he admitted.

She stared at him for a second and then she burst into laughter again.

And despite still not getting it, he found himself chuckling, too. Her laughter was just that infectious. “Why do you find this so funny?” he asked.

“Because you’re a literal superhero and a model with more money than god, and a heart of absolute gold. You work with her as Ladybug so well I have to deal with crazy conspiracy theorists on the Ladyblog who think the two of you must be telepathic aliens!”

“What? People don’t think that.”

“They do! And it’s annoying. But my point is you’re the real deal, Agreste, and she’s crazy about you, and you know it, and yet you still manage to doubt yourself.”

“I’m glad my struggles and hang ups are so amusing to you,” he said with a pout.

She sat up and fist bumped his shoulder. “Aww! Sunshine! I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, your insecurity makes you seem sweeter and cuter. And it makes you seem more human. I don’t mean to mock you in any way.”

He searched her face and only found open sincerity.

“Thanks, Alya.”

“So, does she know that you know?”

“I mean, she doesn’t right now. But I’ve told her. Many many times, but it was just like this and she doesn’t remember.”

She softened. “That sounds difficult.”

“It’s apparently better than the alternative,” he said, going for nonchalance, but he didn’t fool her if her scooching to sit right next to him was anything to go by.

“I wish we could all fix it for you, Adrien.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“How are you?”

He shrugged. “I’m okay at the moment. Some days are worse than others. Nino… Nino has been a godsend.”

She smiled. “He is pretty amazing. He knows outside of a loop?”

“He does.”

“I’m glad you have that, Adrien. Marinette was falling apart at the seams before she told me.”

“Does he know about Marinette?” Adrien asked. Sometimes, it seemed like Nino knew more than he was letting on. But maybe his friend was just really respectful of secrets and didn’t ask questions.

“Not from me! And he hasn’t told me about you being Chat Noir either.”

Adrien glanced toward the window.

“Does it bother you that there are secrets between the two of you?” he finally asked.

“No, not these ones. They’re not our secrets. They’re yours, and they’re Marinette’s, so they’re not ours to share.”

“I'm jealous,” he admitted.

She offered him a sympathetic smile. “Someday, you won’t have to be anymore.”

The Snake beeped it’s first warning. “Time’s just about up.”

She offered him a fist bump and then a hug. He reciprocated both. “I’m glad you stopped by, Sunshine. You’re always welcome any time you think my particular brand of company is something that would help you.”

He grinned. “Thank you, Alya.”

“I look forward to the day when all four of us can just be open about everything,” she said.

He snorted. “You and me both.”

His went to his bodyguard next.

“I just wanted to apologize to you for always running off. I don’t mean to make your job harder or get you into trouble. I am literally running away to save the city.”

His bodyguard didn’t say anything. He never said anything. He had just let out a resigned sigh and then patted Adrien’s shoulder.

Adrien took that as forgiveness and reset the loop. There was no sense in sitting there in awkward silence for another four and a half minutes.

When he had told Nathalie one afternoon at her desk outside her office, she looked horrified - frozen as still as a statue trapped in Medusa’s gaze.

“Nathalie?”

“I… all this time?” she whispered.

“Yeah. I know it’s a lot. I know it causes you a bit of grief when I disappear.”

She waved away his concern. “Right now, we’re in some kind of time loop and I won’t remember?”

“But you will,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” he confirmed anyway.

“Adrien, I need you to listen to me.”

He nodded.

“I can never find out. Your father can’t either. If you need something because you’re hurt or cornered, or…” she trailed off.

Was she crying?

She cleared her throat.

“Go to your friends. Their parents. Just… not your father, okay? Or me, because I’d have to inform him.”

His brows furrowed together in confusion. “Okay?” It wasn’t hard to to agree despite how weird she was being. He knew Paris needed him and he also knew that his father would never let him continue. Especially if he was seeking help due to an injury or something.

That’s what Nathalie was referring to, right?

She patted him on the shoulder. It was even more awkward than when his bodyguard had done it.

“Adrien, you’re quite impressive as a hero.”

“Thank you,” he said with a smile.

And then there was Marinette. He had learned that it was impossible to tell her he was Adrien without making her cry, which was frustrating because she was also so much more open and affectionate once she knew.

“How do I get you to not breakdown when I tell you this?” he asked her seriously.

She laughed through her tears. “I’m sorry, kitty. I have no idea. It’s just… it’s not fair.”

He smiled. “That’s what Ladybug always says,” he told her casually. She didn’t know that he knew this go around.

“She’s right! You deserve so much, and life… it’s not fair!”

He turned to her seriously. “I don’t need life to be fair, Mari. I just… don’t want to have to wear a mask all the time.” And then he smiled. “I’m glad that you’re okay with me doing this.”

She nodded tearfully. “Anytime, Kitty. Anytime.”

Then during a regular patrol at one point. He had just realized he wanted to make her laugh. So he spent another few hundred loops figuring out which jokes made her laugh the hardest and which ones were absolute duds. Then, on a day when she was having a hard time, he showed up on her balcony and gave her the best one hour comedy of her life.

Her unrestrained laughter was so explosive she had literally fallen out of her chair. Totally worth it.

“Thank you, kitty,” she said wiping the tears induced by her laughter. “You have no idea how much I needed this.”

He hadn’t argued. “Of course, princess. I am always at your service!”

Then, he started working on the perfect confession. He was trying to see if he could get her to kiss him as Chat Noir without revealing his identity because, you know, that always made her cry.

“Can I use the snake to ask you a very important question?” He has asked Ladybug on patrol.

She nodded, and he activated it.

“What do you think it would take to get you to kiss me?”

She laughed. “Are you serious right now? That is your very important question?”

“It is,” he nodded, but offered her a huge grin so she could take it as a joke if she wanted.

“Why? You haven’t been able to be successful yet?” she teased.

“Oh no! I’ve been super successful. All I really have to do is tell you my name.”

She scoffed.

“No, I’m serious!” he boasted with a huge grin splitting his face knowing she only half believed him.

“So, why don’t you just do that?” she asked seriously.

“Because you always cry! And I don’t want to kiss away your tears. I want to make you smile.”

She got quiet. “You know, we can’t be together right?”

“Yeah Marinette,” he whispered. “I know that really well.”

It was silent.

“How long have you known?” she asked softly.

He had no idea how to answer that question. Because time was now very weird for him. In one sense he had only known for a few weeks, on the other he had literally spent so much time in loops that it had to have been at least twice that at this point. Maybe more.

“A while,” he said. “But we’ve already talked about that to death. I’d much rather figure out how to get you to fall desperately in love with this half of me.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You want me to fall desperately in love with you in five minutes?”

He shrugged. “We have a solid foundation of trust and friendship. I’m not starting from nothing. Plus, I’ve fallen in love in less than five minutes before.” With her. He didn’t think he needed to say that though.

She actually smiled. “Yeah, I’ve fallen in love pretty fast before, too.”

And it occurred to him that he had no idea what had made her fall in love with Adrien. He probably could ask her, but that was one more memory that he wanted her to remember having told him.

He could probably just show up on her balcony as regular old Chat Noir and just say something like, “So, Adrien Agreste, huh?” She’d probably tell him, and she’d even remember it. But she wouldn’t know that it was him she was telling.

How the hell had his life gotten so complicated?

“There’s no way I would start crying just from knowing your name though,” she said. “You have to be making that up.”

He just turned to her and raised his eyebrows.

The expression probably didn’t work as well with his transformation covering them.

But she still hesitated. “There’s no way!” she exclaimed, but then she got a thoughtful look in her eyes. “Unless…”

And then her eyes started welling with tears.

And he almost laughed. But he managed to hold it back.

“Oh, come here, bug,” he said instead, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to him. And he just held her as she shook silently.

“It’s not fair,” she whispered.

“I know,” he said, and then kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

“Do you see my problem now?” he said after another pause.

And she laughed through her tears, which had been his intention, and he smiled.

She pulled away. “I’ve thought about it before, you know.”

“Thought about what?”

“Letting myself fall for Chat Noir?”

He hugged her tighter. “Yeah?”

“It never seemed like it would be that hard. I think if it hadn’t been for Chat Blanc, it would have happened after New York.”

He laughed. “Really? New York was when I thought maybe I should ask out Marinette.”

She looked up at him in horror. “Oh my god! We’re just perpetually screwed, aren’t we? We’re just going to keep missing each other over and over!”

He kissed her hand. “No m’lady,” he assured. “That can’t happen because now I know, and I can’t forget.”

And then she was crying again, harder. “I don’t want to forget either.”

“I know,” he told her, kissing her hand again. “I promise it won’t be forever.”

“I love you, Adrien.”

“I love you, too.”

And that time, of the two of them, it was he who was stronger and able to slide his fingers across the reset.

And he might have stayed in that loop far longer than he should have trying to figure out the way to the heart he had apparently already won.

He learned that she did enjoy his flirting whatever she said to the contrary, but the moments where he was vulnerable and genuine were the ones that seemed to move her the most.

But none of it was quite enough. If he wanted a kiss, he always had to tell her his name.

But despite his failure, pulling himself out of that loop was the hardest thing he had ever done.

And that’s how he knew he was in trouble.

…

“Nino, you have to take this away from me,” Adrien said, holding out the snake miraculous. He had just arrived and released both his transformations.

Nino took it, his eyebrows pinched together. “What? Why?”

“Because I’m scared I’m going to go into a loop and I’m never going to come out of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look! Being here with you, with you knowing everything, is amazing. It’s the only time I feel like myself, unless,” he held up the bracelet, “I’m using this and… it’s getting harder to pull myself out of the loops.”

“Your visits to Ladybug?”

“Yeah,” Adrien admitted. “She told me to go every single day so I would remember what it was like to be loved,” he paused for a second, trying to swallow the sudden lump in his throat. “The problem is I really really like being loved.”

And then he couldn’t hold the tears back anymore.

Nino pulled him by the arm down to the ground and sat right next to him shoulder to shoulder.

Adrien buried his face in his hands.

“For the record, dude,” Nino whispered. “You are loved even outside a loop with Ladybug.”

Adrien threw his arms around Nino. “I honestly don’t know why you put up with me at this point. I feel like you have to put up with a lot.”

Nino grinned. “Hey! I happen to like hanging out with you! This shift has been awesome because I get to see you way more often.”

“And I’m not like messing up date night with Alya or anything, am I?”

“Nah!” Nino waves away his concern. “Alya and I hangout in the mornings and during lunch. Lately Marinette has monopolized her evenings.”

Adrien managed to keep a straight face at that. “If you and her ever do need a day away from the children, I’m sure Marinette and I can figure out a way to take care of ourselves for a day.”

Nino burst out laughing.

“What?! I’m a big boy and Marientte’s a big girl. We can take care of ourselves.”

Nino just shook his head, still snickering.

“Maybe all four of us could do something some time,” Nino suggested, his eyes sparkling.

Adrien narrowed his eyes. Did Nino know? He knew he couldn’t ask without giving it away, and he had just handed over the snake.

“That sounds really nice,” Adrien said, knowing he wouldn’t be able to handle going on a double date that he had to pretend wasn’t a double date. But someday.

He wanted to cry again, but his eyes remained dry.

“So, you just want me to keep it?” Nino asked, holding up the bracelet. “Should I hide it here in the room? Or wear it?”

“Wear it,” Adrien said. That was the only way Nino would know where it was at all times. “But don’t use it. Not even for an akuma.”

He didn’t want Nino to ever experience a loop on the battlefield. Not if he could help it.

“I reserve the right to come save your ass if necessary,” Nino said as he slipped the miraculous around his wrist.

Adrien laughed. “Okay, but please don’t unless you absolutely have to. I don’t need Ladybug pissed at me for giving away a miraculous.”

Nino frowned at him then. “Why are you giving this to me, instead of back to her?”

Adrien’s answer to that was complicated. Partly because he didn’t want Marinette to know that his loops with her were hurting him even as they gave him hope, and he definitely didn’t want her to know that he had fallen to the point of being borderline addicted.

But there was also a strategic element to his choice. He could approach Nino in either form, and Nino would know to trust him.

“You know who I am,” Adrien finally said.

“Will you be okay without it?” Nino asked.

Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m definitely not okay with it right now.” He paused, then looked at Nino. “I might be texting and calling you a lot over the next few days.”

Nino laughed. “I can’t promise to answer right away all the time, but you can always do that, man. Always.”

Adrien let his head fall onto Nino’s shoulder. “Have I ever told you that you’re the absolute best?”

“I could stand to hear it a few more times,” Nino said.

Adrien grinned. “Noted.”

…

Chapter 7: The Five Minute Adventures of Ananta

#miraculous ladybug fan fiction #marichat #platonic adrino #trigger warning: addiction #hurt comfort #coping #identity reveal #time loops #The five minute adventures of snake noir #a miraculous reveal #ml spoilers #ml s4 #my own content #this fic writes itself #I'm just the channel #happy reading

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gaymershigh · 4 years

Note

Hello! I saw your askbox and open and read your rules and you are right, it's not often I see Male×Male reader inserts in the TWST fandom. So, I'd thought I'd request some to help the cause! If I may, can I request some headcannons of dorm leaders of TWST×Male!Reader who is in their dorm and has been noticeably stressed in their schoolwork and one night is seen super stressed out and the dorm leader's fellow students pull the reader aside and hand the reader over to the dorm leader because the reader refuse to listen to anyone else?

Of course you may! Tbh, this is such a nice request, I enjoy doing multiple characters, but it's so difficult for me to write for Azul and Vil in this hc for some reason??

REMINDER: Don't overwork yourself just because you don't think it's enough! The fact that you're trying is already amazing! Please remember to take care of your health because you matter! 💜

Triggers: None!

Dorm Leaders dealing with a stressed Male!Reader

Ever since Riddle got a text from Trey and its about his boyfriend doing his schoolwork on ungodly hours he was worried, very worried.

He wants to come to you and make a 2 hour speech about how you shouldn't overwork yourself but he barely has anytime as well, he's a very busy man as well.

So he decided to order your friends, Ace and Deuce to tell you to not overwork yourself. Hell, he even prepared a script for them.

Of course, it didn't work. It was so obvious it was from a script because Deuce sounds so robotic and Ace kept correcting Deuce. Your stubbornness makes it even more awkward and worse.

He ordered Trey and Cater this time, with a whole new script too.

They did a good job and all, but it also failed because your ass is so stubborn and Cater is pretty impatient and kept using his phone.

This only made you stressed out even more because these mofos probably dont understand how you feel.

Deuce's dense ass noticed this and told Ace about it. And that's how Ace got a big brain idea.

You were screaming, usually, the ADeuce duo usually stays at your dorm to chill while you do your work and NOT drag you to their dorm.

They shoved you to Riddle's room and what you're not expecting was your boyfriend showing a very worried face.

He immediately hugged you tightly before you could say a word. He cupped your face and caressed your cheek.

“My sweetheart, please don't overwork yourself, it's unhealthy for you. From now on, only work yourself for 2 hours max. Come now, let's drink some tea together.”

He knows that something's up when you haven't been hanging out with him for a while.

He misses his herbivore so much, he misses cuddling his boyfriend but he's too prideful to admit.

When he found out you've been doing your schoolwork 24/7 by Ruggie, his response is indecisive but on the inside he's bothered.

Since he's too lazy to move on his very comfortable position, he threatened ordered his dorm members to convince you to stop overstressing yourself.

Knowing Savanaclaw, of course they failed, there was no hope to begin with. It was a disaster. They tried but they're way too intimidating for you to even listen to their words. Thank god Ruggie was there to bail them out so it wasn't too awkward.

This made Leona very moody. Not only he cannot snuggle with you, his plan failed and he now forces himself to sleep alone in pain. Boohoo.

Ruggie can't stand this man's temper tantrums so he just snatched you away from your dorm and toss you to a sleeping Leona.

The lazy lion woke up immediately when he recognized your scent. Since he's still sleepy however, he just pulled you to his bed and hugged you close with his tail wrapped on your leg

“Hmph, you chose your schoolwork over me and had the audacity to not meet up for the entire week? You're not going anywhere this time, especially with you in my arms.”

He won't blame you to be honest. He overworks himself too and ignore your warnings multiple times. However, that doesn't mean he's not going to do anything about it.

He at least has time to spend with you but you didn't. Of course that made the octopus upset and he's not gonna five up when it comes to you.

He stalks you everytime he gets the chance. Your stressed expression really displeases him. He wants to do something about this so bad but he doesn't want to disturb his already stressed boyfriend.

Jade caught on to Azul's bizarre behavior and he cam up with an idea to surprise both of you.

“Kidnapping shrimpy? Ok!” of course Floyd would say yes, it's Floyd.

You're screaming in distress and confusion. Just a second ago you were messaging your temples because you couldn't mesmerize what Mr. Trein taught you and now you're getting kidnapped by the Leech twins, what a surprise. An unwelcome one at that.

Azul was shocked when he hears your cries as the twins dropped you off his room, still tied in ropes and leaving like nothing happened.

Azul untied you, explaining theories as to why they would do such things, but when he does got the right answer, he blushed in embarrassment. He caused this.

He placed a soft kiss and holds your hand gently.

“I apologize for causing a huge ruckus. It's just I missed you when you barely replied to my calls and texts and you kept working and that made me worried sick! I'm sorry that I sound selfish but.. Could you stay here a bit longer, please?”

Oh dear. How could you say no to that?

Ok first of all how could you even ignore him? He always keep coming to you and basically screaming at you.

Your stress may could have took the you over and may accidentally snapped at him for being too noisy.

This made him sad and left the room. BUT HEY AT LEAST YOU GOT SOME PEACE AND QUIET AM I RIGHT?

But if you think that's gonna make him upset??? You're his wonderful boyfriend! His treasure! No matter what, just seeing thinking of you makes him happy again.

This didn't last as you kept ignoring his daily chat with you and his messages and calls. This wasn't okay.

This genuinely made him stressed as well, he probably doesn't even exist to you anymore. Despite it just being 2 days if felt like forever since you talk to him or even looking at him with a smile.

Kalim wanted to spend fun times with his boyfriend like always. Not just sit there and look at him groaning at the worksheet every now and then.

He missed you so much. Even though he sees you, it just doesn't feel the same.

He got less happier as the days go by, everyone got worried sick. Even Jamil felt disturbed about it, usually he would be living the life when Kalim's quiet.

Everything's the usual today. Kalim visiting you and he's quiet again. You of course felt bad but you really need to pass this test.

But out of nowhere, you kept getting text messages from Jamil screaming to you about talking to Kalim and how pathetic he looks when sad.

When you turned around, your heart shattered to pieces. There it is, a sad Kalim in tears, curling himself on your bed to at least have your scent on him.

You stopped what you're doing and hop on tour bed and press his face against the crook of your neck, muttering sorry.

“Ahhh! I miss you so much,habibi!(my love) please don't overwork yourself and ignore me! I love you so much and seeing you date your homework then dating me hurts me! Please dont leave me! I'll be the best boyfriend ever!”

Who do you think you are, to ignore your lover's calling just for a paper of misery? How foolish.

Vil understood that your future is important to you, but do you really need to worry when you're dating the Vil Schoenheit? The beautiful, rich man who spoils you every single day?

Not only that, stress causes wrinkles and you're also ruining your sleep schedule?! Unacceptable.

He kept ranting to you about how greasy your hair and how big the bags under your eyes are.

To the point you have to lock your door to refrain him for entering and rant. You're already stressing out and there's literally no way you're going to hear about your dramatic boyfriend moan about your appearance.

He kept calling and texting you and you also ignore that. If anything you gave good morning texts or either leave him on read.

And he's not tolerating that.

His job was easier to handle than the others. He can just ask Rook to kidnap you and he would oblige and do so in an instant.

And he just did that.

Unlike the others, you know exactly what's going to happen when Rook is violently dragging you to Pomefiore. He's going to put you in Vil's room, listen to him rant for a few hours and do beauty things or whatever.

Well, have of that did happen when Rook closed Vil's door. He did rant but what your not expecting was him being very gentle and sweet.

“I knew it, you got increasingly worse. Oh well, I will refix this mess later. But for now, you should rest right beside me. No leaving no matter the circumstances, you understand, potato?”

I mean, of course you're gonna ignore him, he's just a gross, weeby loser. There's no way he can impact your life positively in any single way. If anything, he probably causes trouble to his you anyway.

He doesn't really wanna stop you, he really cherishes you and your choices even if they're not good and losing someone like you is probably gonna take years to move on to.

Poor Ortho, he needs to hear his brother rant about his boyfriend not being able to see nor play games with because he's busy working himself.

But this made Ortho worry. Not only id his brother is sad but you're risking your health to do schoowork! That's no good.

This made you confused. Ortho kept muttering about your health status to himself everytime you pass by the hallways.

And everyday, your stress levels increase and your health is deteriorating.

He needs to make you rest at all cost but he knows your stubborn. So he has to do one thing that makes your knees weak.

His very own special puppy eyes.

Ortho innocently dragged you to Idia without either of you guy's knowledge.

When Idia finds out, he immediately apologized for the inconvenience he caused and you might have to be the one to comfort him.

“I'M SERIOUSLY SO SORRY! I just really wanted to play games with you and hangout with you like usual.. Eh? You will?? REALLY!?”

At first, the fae didn't even realise you are stressing despite showing a few signals.

Until you start ignoring him. Then you got a pouty Malleus. (aw)

He doesn't understand why you're struggling with Mr. Divus' homework, it seems so easy to him, why is it so hard for you?

That made you upset and he still doesn't know why.

He never had a boyfriend like you before so of course he's not gonna understand gen z struggles. Spare him please.

Lilia gave him some tips, only for it to be tricks and make you more upset. snide mf

Seeing a sad Malleus made Sebek upset, then mad.

He asked Lilia what's wrong with his young master.

And when he found out you're replacing him with your schoolwork and then for some reason 'stressing' about it??

How rude!

Sebek kept nagging at you to stop working and pay attention to your damn boyfriend but you couldn't care less about Sebek and his shenanigans.

You only start sweating when he suddenly yanked your arm and dragged you to Diasomnia.

And what you see is a pouty Malleus playing with his little game.

When you sat next to him, he immediately wrapped you in his arms.

“My darling, I plead for you not to pressure yourself in something that only destroys you even more. What progress you have done is enough for today but as of now, you need rest. Release all your negativity away, love.”

This is literally my second work but I already feel like a failure.

-𝕸𝖎𝖗𝖎

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taechaos · 3 years

Note

Idea series oc sneaking Tae in the house after he had big fight with his father about something (your choice if it's smutty or fluff or angsty) with a peek of a vurberable Tae? Honestly i think he would change the topic as soon as he started it and prob with sex.

Anyway I'm really interest in their family dynamic since I remember don't know if it was in part one or two that you mention they have really religious parents? And seeing how harsh their dad is with Taehyung it have me wondering how is his relationship with the mother and ocs with both parents, despite everything the seem really distant from their kids, maybe thats why Tae and YN find comfort in each other. OC is the first real bond Tae made with someone so maybe that's the reason of his fear of being replaced and his obsession with her, and ocs mother probably don't pay that much attention to her so that's why even after the incident she still want him to be there. At this point I'm just rambling I'm sorry. And this ask is all over the place, started with a request and ended questioning characters life 💀💀. Sorry hehe.

when i read this yesterday i was literally blown away by this like hOLY shit your analysis is so in-depth at first i was like damn do my characters have more than oNE DIMENSION?? WHICH IS RLY FLATTERING BUT I THINK ITS JUST UR WORDS THAT MADE ME SOUND SMART 💀💀💀 the ending is chef's kiss tho made me bust a lung SHFJJD thank you so much for taking the time to write this its honestly so fucking amazing. hopefully u can see more of their family dynamic in this drabble :)

Rays of sunlight slither through the cracks in the blinds of the living room, allowing Taehyung's father enough light to scan the newspaper he holds in his hand, with the musical, happy chirping of mockingbirds filling in the silence. All of these beautiful signs of nature and peaceful rotation of the earth makes Taehyung tense up even more.

The moment he got back home from buying drugs, his father greeted him in monotone with a, "would you sit with me for a moment?" and he hasn't spoken since. The zipperbag in his pocket crinkles every time he shifts in his seat, making him cringe momentarily before he starts nervously fidgeting again.

This is so awkward and yet equivalent to hearing: we need to talk. God, why is he so silent?

Clearing his throat, Taehyung stands just as his father flips a page with a lick of his thumb. "I'm going to my room really quick."

"No."

"Oh." When will his step-mother return? She's his only hope as he sits down while avoiding looking at his father, whose gaze is set on the black and white printed pages.

It's only a minute later when he talks without diverting his gaze.

"Your sister is in her room, researching her major to get a headstart on a typical syllabus."

"Smart," he comments with disinterest and nibbles on his upper lip.

"Taehyung, how was your attendance in college?" he folds the newspaper and curiously peeks at his son, who is doing a poor job at hiding his nerves.

"It was alright–"

"Lying is a sin, son," his movements are aristocratic when he leans his chin on his fist. "Don't lie."

"I'm not," he stammers and his eyes flicker, "it was bad at the beginning of the year, but I fixed it."

His father pinches the bridge of nose where his frames lie. "I love your sister, Taehyung," he sighs and takes off his glasses, "I want her to do well. I've given up on you, but her? She can accomplish great things if you're not there to influence her. You're a bad influence. Are you following me?"

Taehyung nods dumbly with a racing heart before registering his words and shaking his head. "What?" he blurts. "I used to help her with her homework all the time–"

"You were home once every month."

"Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean I didn't see her," he coldly says. That's not entirely accurate, but it is true that he saw you more than he saw his parents before he started living here again. For you.

His father is taken aback, offended as he scoffs, "You avoided me and your mother, and yet have the face to stay in our home?" He stands up and passes the coffee table that was Taehyung's only barrier to hover over him with distance. "I expected so much more from you, but you can't even do the bare minimum. An adult without a stable job, respectable girlfriend, and embarrassing grades. I'm ashamed to have raised such a boy, for I can't even call you a man."

Taehyung abruptly stands but he continues, "If you can't even pay rent, go back to that landfill you came from."

"I have to pay rent to live with my family?" He's livid and his hands shake by his sides; they're taking you away from him because what? He isn't the son they wanted him to be?

"You've made it clear that the only thing keeping you here is my daughter," he blindly points at the closed door of your room, "and you will have to try much harder to see her again. Get your life together, and you can come back."

Taehyung's face is heated with anger from the injustice. "What the fuck?! This is such bullshit; you're kicking me out?"

His father frowns at his language, growling, "Taehyung! I will not let you drag her down that path with you. When you stop destroying everything you touch, I'll gladly let you live here."

Destroy? He hasn't done any harm to anyone—especially not you. He knows he's self-destructive, but it doesn't extend to his environment. If he fails, it's his failure, but his father takes it personally instead of encouraging him to do better.

The importance of reputation and success in this family enrages him; he's aware that he's not much of an affectionate person either, but a little love wouldn't hurt to witness in the household.

Instead of defending himself or speaking his mind, he obliges bitterly.

"You need to get laid," are his last words before he slams the door and opens the zipper bag to pop a pill. Ecstasy isn't so fun when you're not around, but he can use the distraction. It's been a bad day.

He flips off a stray cat idling around the garden before casually leaving the property.

—————

Studying isn't fun for you, never has been, never will be. Though you hate every second of it, it does give you something to do to make time pass faster. You've been tutoring yourself about things you'll learn sooner or later anyway, but you guess it doesn't hurt to have to study less when the time comes.

You check the time. It's approaching night at 9 PM, and your father wouldn't protest against a break now, hopefully. He only suggested that you should start studying, but you know what his suggestions really mean.

Do it, or get shamed into doing it with subtle glances.

As if that isn't enough, he constantly checked up on you throughout the day. He wasn't exactly giving you a choice, which irks you.

But that's done and over with, and there's a more pressing matter at hand: where is Taehyung? You heard bits and pieces of the argument, but you couldn't get the whole scoop. You worry he's going to go back to his old habits of never being here, rarely seeing you. He would've been hanging out with you six hours ago out of routine... It can't just be you being clingy. Something happened.

You: are you coming home tonight?

The response takes a few minutes.

taehyung: nop

taehyung: but i am coming to ur room

taehyung: cuz ik u cant sleep without me 😖

You: actually the opposite but ok lol

You: when are you coming

taehyung: whenever u want uwu

You: uwu...?

You: just come before it gets too late

—————

So that was a lie. It's 1 AM and still no word from Taehyung. Okay, maybe you're just being clingy now, but it's unlike him not to be clingy. Maybe he wanted to cool off for a long time after his tak with your step-dad, or simply wanted to hang out with his friends after spending all of his time with you.

That makes sense. What doesn't is the slide of your window and shuffling of your curtains. You instantly sit up in your bed and clutch your blanket closer. You watch a silhouette enter your room as you pick up your limp, your tense muscles relaxing only when you recognize the intruder. You put down the lamp with a click of your tongue, ignoring the relief in your pounding heart.

"Hey," he stupidly grins at you. He looks disheveled, clothes untucked and wrinkled, and from the little light you have, you can see his redshot eyes.

"There's also the door," you remark sassily. "Are you um... high?"

He shrugs and crawls in your bed, dismissive as usual. You both make an effort to keep your voices quiet.

"I talked to mom earlier," you ease into the discussion until he butts in.

"That's great."

You roll your eyes and prop an elbow to look down at him. His head lies on his hands while staring at you, mood strangely upbeat. He's definitely high.

"She was a little sad about something, and I know it involves you. I heard you talking to–" You're interrupted with a lingering peck, a little rough in its force but not unwelcomed.

"I've missed kissing you. Shouldn't you be asleep, by the way?"

Recovering from the unexpected attack, you reply, "It's not that late. I don't have to wake up early."

"You shouldn't ruin your sleep schedule," he tucks a hair strand behind your ear without taking his eyes off of you. "Staying up is hard to stop once you start."

"Yeah, you're a great example," you joke with a quiet giggle. Whispering with him feels intimate in a heart fluttering way. His heart pangs with a feeling he can't put a finger on. "You didn't answer my question."

"Hm?"

"Don't play dumb, I'm really curious. What happened with dad?"

"A lot of things happen with dad," he shrugs, "sometimes we play catch–"

"Taehyung," you give him a pointed look, and he giggles.

"You're right, he'd never play catch with me." He groans as he stretches in your bed before trapping you with his arms on either side of you in one motion. You don't know what he's trying to do, but you watch him above you in amusement. "No offence, but when is your mom not sad when my dad is around?" he laughs with a huff.

"That's rude, Tae," you remark seriously, "she's happy when you're around."

Taehyung's smile falters like yours, his happy guise crumbling when he says, "Are you?"

"Pfft," you roll your eyes, "What do you think? I was up waiting for you."

Ah. That's not a very good influence.

"I'm here now," he whispers, "go to sleep. It's okay, I won't do anything, I know you worked hard today."

You agree with a yawn and nod. But even in your sleepy state, you can read the room—Taehyung is especially attentive of his tone and volume aside from being so tense. "Are you alright?"

"I'm in and on ecstasy," he falls back on his former spot, "I can't not be alright."

"Taehyung, I haven't seen you all day–"

"Yeah, because I didn't want to be here," he looks at you dead in the eye, "and I don't want you to be here."

You blink rapidly, slightly shaking your head in confusion, "What are you saying?"

"Move in with me."

He's met with cold silence, so he persuades persistently, "Don't you want to get away from here? You'll have so much more freedom with me, and I can help you with your assignments and everything. It'll be perfect."

"I— do you... Where?" Taehyung is high and he doesn't know what he's saying is what you believe because this is so out of the blue, so irrational, but he describes it like it's utopia; you are not completely against the idea.

"I have enough money from drug dealing to rent an apartment, and you can tell dad that you want to move out to be like an adult or whatever, that you have a stable job, without mentioning me," he rambles, and his dilated pupils are more noticeable up close; it slightly puts you off.

"Wh-what about mom?"

He scoffs, "If she wants out, she can get her second divorce. Don't worry about them; after all, they're apparently the only real adults here," he relates back to not being worthy of being called a man. You shift away from him little by little. "Just trust me."

The phrase is triggering for you, a reminder of the time you were tricked into trusting him moments before your trauma. "We'll talk about this when you're sober," you meekly say, avoiding eye contact.

A wicked smile grows on his face, "I can't wait, princess."

#idea tae #*cue big time rush theme*#just gotta say this one last time #the analysis was so well written #its honestly a sight for sore eyes 😫

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kaistarus · 4 years

Text

Will You Social Distance With Me?

Pairing: Bakugou X Reader

Words: 2K

Summary: Quarantine and social distancing is hard, especially when you’re in high school and one of the only nights you look forward to is cancelled. You’ve given up any hope, but... maybe prom night can still be saved

Notes: This is for all you people that have gotten anything cancelled because of the coronavirus. My college graduation was cancelled, so we’re in this hell hole together :(

“I’m literally dying,” Mina’s face took up a majority your laptop screen as she whined dramatically. Her pink locks were pulled back by a silky hairband for the mudmask smeared across her face. Even in a global pandemic, skin care was her priority. “I’m losing my mind.”

“Wrong usage of literally.” Bakugou popped up front-and-center. He chewed a mechanical pencil as he focused on something off screen, likely doing the assigned online homework you were pretending didn’t exist.

“Okay, fun police.” You smirked. He sneered at his monitor and even though he couldn’t target the look, you knew it was for you.

“Whatever, you know what I mean.” Mina waved him off, falling back into her sea of fluffy pillows. “I haven’t had face-to-face interactions with anyone not my family in weeks. I’ll go insane before quarantine is over.”

“You should buy animal crossing,” Kirishima’s smiling face filled your screen as he held up a Nintendo switch. “I’ve never avoided my problems so easily.”

“Your grades are shit.” Bakugou said.

“Were they good before?” You tilted your head, looking at Kirishima’s videochat box as he focused at his lap where you assumed his Switch laid.

“Absolutely not,” Kirishima smirked. “But now I have Crimson Riot Land to disassociate on.” You weren’t entirely sure what that meant, but your interest had been peaked.

“Hey, where’s Kami?” Mina made a show of tapping her wrist. “He’s late.”

Which was weird. Kaminari was either scheduling their videochats or the first one in the call whining when someone was 30 seconds late. That’s what happens when you’re the most extroverted person in a group during a global pandemic.

“He’s on a date with that Tinder boy.” Sero stated as if it was common knowledge. He laid flat on his stomach toward his laptop surrounded by homework he’d held off till last minute. You tried desperately to forget about the mound of your own homework lying nearby.

Your jaw went slack in surprise and Mina exaggeratedly gasped. Even Bakugou paused writing and looked up at the screen confused.

“Where? Why?” Mina gripped her laptop monitor and began shaking it aggressively. “How?”

“McDonalds parking lot. He’s trying to make up for Prom getting cancelled.” Sero tapped his temple with his pencil’s eraser as he thought. “They’re staying in their cars with their windows cracked to avoid the virus.”

“That’s… romantic?” You said uncertainly.

“It’s fucking stupid.” Bakugou snorted, leaning against his hand. You stuck your tongue out and he made a mocking face.

“I forgot tonight was supposed to be Prom night.” Kirishima leaned back on his hands thoughtfully. You wished you could say the same. You looked over to the calendar hanging to your left beside your bed that had today’s date circled in red sharpie.

“How could Prom King forget?” Sero smirked, placing one of his books atop his head and leaning into crossed arms. Clearly, he’d given up hopes of productivity.

“I wouldn’t have won.”

“Literally everyone loves you Kiri. You were the only person people wanted to vote for.” You said. An unconvinced smile spread across his face and your heart dropped that he didn’t get to experience that love or recognition. He really deserved that moment.

“I’m just pissed I spent hundreds of dollars on a dress I don’t even get to wear.” Mina crossed her arms. “I would’ve looked so damn good.”

You looked at your own closet where your dress hung uselessly in its plastic store-bought bag to never be touched. You were sure there was someone you could give it to who would make some use of it in the future, but that just wasn’t the same.

“Who fucking cares. It’s all a waste of money,” Bakugou said uninterested.

“It’s not a waste.” You said offended, but he just rolled his eyes at you.

You knew Bakugou felt that way, but it still hurt hearing him say it. Perhaps it was because you had the pathetic fantasy that you could have asked him to go and he’d have said yes. Or because you picked out a crimson red dress specifically because you knew that was his favorite color. Or maybe even it was because you’d been in love with the idiot since freshman year history class and filled your head that this night would’ve been the night everything changed.

It didn’t matter anymore. The night was gone, and so were your chances with Bakugou. You’d just have to accept things for how they are. Your friendship wasn’t bad after all. You’d take late night videochats over no Bakugou any day.

“It’s a monumental moment of our high school careers!” Mina threw her hands up. “We go through four years of hell for one night of fun and the chance at a coming of age romance scene.”

“That’s stupid.” Bakugou stated. “Who honestly cares about that shit?”

You furrowed your brow. It was almost too easy to get worked up when you were talking at your laptop. That and being cooped up in your house for weeks probably made your emotions ten times stronger than usual. “Maybe I do.”

He blinked confused. “What?”

“Maybe I was hoping for a stupid teenage promposal and awkward slow dancing and cute stupid lovey confessions at a waste of fucking money dance.”

Mina looked all too amused at Bakugou’s stunned expression. Sero’s eyes were flickering around his screen while Kirishima’s head was directly downward to avoid confrontation. You felt your face reddening as the seconds passed.

“I didn’t… you aren’t…” Bakugou furrowed his brow and looked more and more stoic as moments passed. You quickly began regretting your comment. Just because you had been looking forward to prom doesn’t mean you had to force your excitement on to others.

“Bakugou… I didn’t mean to—”

“I gotta go.” He logged off the chat and you felt your stomach knot. You hadn’t meant to offend him. You shouldn’t have gotten upset that he ruined your stupid fantasies.

“I should apologize.” You muttered.

“Don’t bother,” Mina waved your comment off. “He’ll walk it off. Let’s watch a Netflix movie.”

The boys agreed and you exited the chat to pull Netflix up in a separate tab. Although the others were vocal throughout whatever movie Mina and Sero had argued over, you were absentmindedly zoning out at the dress hanging in the corner of your room. You really hoped you hadn’t ruined your friendship with Bakugou over something as stupid as a school dance. Even if you had been looking forward to it for such a long time, it wasn’t fair to take out your frustrations on him.

When the movie ended you contributed as little as you could their discussion about what you’d watched and helped schedule the next big online hangout that weekend. When everyone logged out you took a deep breath and stared at the mound of texts and worksheets lying on the nightstand beside you. Reluctantly, you realized it was probably time you stopped avoiding the coursework you’d been assigned.

Thankfully, the moment you opened your Algebra text your phone vibrated on the mattress beside you. A sign that you were meant to procrastinate work one night longer. You slammed the book shut happily and grabbed your phone.

Bakagou: Look out your window

You read the message over several times before wrapping yourself in your comforter and crawling out of bed to your second-story window. When you pulled back the curtain to peer through the glass your jaw went slack, and your phone fell from your limp hand.

Beneath your window was Bakugou, standing in your yard holding a poster with ‘PROM’ written in black sharpie in one hand and a handful off daisies in the other, clumps of dirt still attached to the roots. He was dressed in a charcoal button-up and dark slacks, and his hair that had been a wild mess just hours ago was now tame. You stared confused for several long moments before hurriedly undoing the windows lock and pushing it open.

“What are you doing?” You shouted.

Even from the second story you could see his face turning red as he answered. “The fuck does it look like I’m asking you to prom!” He waved the half-assed poster around as if you somehow missed it.

“I know,” you rolled your eyes, but couldn’t fight the grin taking over your face. “But we don’t have prom.”

“It’s supposed to be symbolic.” His grip on the poster tightened to the point you could see it crinkling near his hand.

“I thought Prom was a waste of time?” You leaned lazily into the palm of your hand as he narrowed his eyes at you.

“It is, but apparently it matters to you so…” His scrunched up his nose and kicked at the ground. “Are you going with me or not?”

You started to chuckle. “Yes. Obviously, I’ll go with you.”

He looked almost relieved at your answer. “Thank fuck.”

You smiled fondly at Bakugou who stretched his arms above his head before a frown overtook your face. “This is so stupid.”

His eyes widened briefly. “Well, I didn’t have a lot of fucking time. I know the poster is ass and the flowers are from my yard, but it’s not like I can give them to you anyway so—”

“No.” You waved your arms frantically in front of you. “No, you’re amazing.” You clarified and a small smile appeared on his face causing your heartrate to quicken. “I’m mean this.” You gestured toward the sky. “It just wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go.”

“How was it supposed to go?”

You felt your face flush. You stumbled over your words before deciding that he drove all the way here and if that wasn’t a sign you were meant to have a fairy tale prom night you didn’t know what was. “Well, first off you wouldn’t have to stay in my yard like this.”

“That does make it a little difficult.”

You nodded your head. “I’d be wearing my way too expensive dress. We’d get to take awkward photos and slow dance together and…” It was taking all of you not to turn away from his intense gaze. You urged yourself to continue. To finally say what’s been on your heart for years. “I’d probably tell you that I’ve been stupidly in love with you since Freshman year.”

You gripped the windowsill tightly to keep your nerves to a minimum, but the cocky smirk Bakugou gave you did bad things for your health.

“If we weren’t in a pandemic...” You added. “That’s probably how it could have theoretically happened.”

He nodded his head and chuckled. “And, theoretically, I’d probably respond by saying something stupid like I’ve liked you for a while too. Maybe I’d try kissing you if you’d let me.”

You smiled so wide your cheeks began hurting. “Well, hypothetically speaking, if that had happened, I probably would’ve let you.”

“Yeah?” Bakugou smirked.

You nodded.

You both smiled at each other and Bakugou ran a hand through his hair. You’d give anything to sprint downstairs and out your front door to tackle this boy in a hug right now. Every nerve in your body was screaming at you to kiss him and the fact that you couldn’t was driving you insane.

“Well, theoretically, if I were to ask you on a date. What would your answer be?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow in your direction.

“I’d say McDonald’s parking lot next Monday?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not going on a date at a McDonald’s parking lot.”

You pushed out your lips in a pout and crossed your arms. “No fun.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Obviously it’s a yes.” You rolled your eyes. How could he ever think you’d say no. Especially after tonight. “I’m just upset it’ll take so long.”

“We talk every day.”

“Not the same.”

He rolled his eyes, but a smile dusted his lips. “I waited this long. What’s a little quarantine gonna do?”

You weren’t sure your face could get any redder, but after that comment you were sure you had invented a new shade. He left that night resting a bouquet of garden flowers in your yard and a promise to see you in the distant future. You watched him drive off down your street, staring long after his car had disappeared. You rested your head against the windowsill, wrapped your blankets tightly around yourself, and continued to smile until the muscles in your cheeks ached.

Somehow, your prom night turned out better than you could have imagined.

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bnha imagines #bnha #bakugou imagine #bakusquad #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijirou #mina ashido #sero hanta #mha #quarantine au

338 notes · View notes

miafic · 4 years

Text

hi we are doing in-depth sexual assault discussion today and if that is not your thing, this is not your story.

one ~ two ~ three four ~ five ~ six ~ seven

---

“Hey, baby,” Zakk greeted as he walked up to Lucas’ chair and hugged him from behind.

Lucas turned his head to kiss him. “Hi.”

“How did your first session go?”

“It was good,” Lucas replied truthfully. “She’s really smart. And she’s no-nonsense, which is what I need.”

Zakk smiled. “Awesome!”

“Yeah. Um, I have homework,” he said, motioning to the piece of paper in front of him.

Zakk nodded, eyebrows raised.

“I have to make a list of all my responsibilities at Peace and Purpose and then make a list of everybody else’s responsibilities. The staff, I mean.”

“Yeah.”

“She had me start making it there, and when she saw how disproportionate it was, she said I need to hand some stuff off.”

Zakk took Lucas’ face in his hands. He leaned down so that their eyes were level. “What,” he began softly, “have I been telling you for years and years? Hmm?”

Lucas looked away, but Zakk kissed his forehead.

“I’m glad you’re finally listening to somebody. “

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if anything’s gonna get moved.”

“Can I see?”

Lucas slid the page over a few inches.

Zakk studied it. “Emails and paperwork you can keep,” he joked, tapping on the first two items, and Lucas chuckled tiredly. Zakk scanned the entire list and said, “Literally anything on here, I’m willing to do. Any of it.”

“Hmm,” Lucas said shortly.

“What can you let go of?”

“She wants me to pick five things.”

“Good. What can you let go of?” he repeated.

Silence.

Zakk pointed at the meal schedules line and suggested, “I can do this and make the grocery list since I’m already the one shopping. I can do the kitchen job lists, too; you can let me handle all the food stuff. Tell me what you want to eat and if you want any of the boys doing specific jobs, and I’ll make the lists and the schedule.”

“What if it’s not how I want it?” Lucas asked, voice tense.

“Then you say, ‘I want tacos on Friday night,’ and I’ll make it happen. But a lot of the time, I’ll just tell you what we’re having, and you’ll say, ‘Okay,’ and then you’ll eat it. And you won’t even have to think about it - you can just show up. You’ll be like one of the kids!”

“No.”

“No?”

Lucas shook his head. “We’re not doing that.”

“Okay, then...” He kept reading. “Why don’t you let me deal with payroll? I can handle that.”

“No, Zakk.”

“Why not?”

“Because. It’s really important.”

Zakk motioned to the list. “It’s all really important. And you’re trying to do all of it at once.”

“I’m not trying to do it. I’m doing it.”

“Please let me help. Look, driving! I can drive. I have a state-issued license and everything. It has my picture on it.”

“No. I like driving.”

“I know, but maybe sometimes I can have a turn. What if you take two of the kids to therapy, and I take two of the kids? Then it’s even. 50/50.”

“No, Zakk.”

“Why not?”

“Because I drive to appointments.”

“But I could take it off your plate! Just because you always have doesn’t-”

“Stop arguing with me,” Lucas warned.

“-mean that you always have to. I’m just as capable of driving as you are. And I really don’t mind sitting in a waiting room. I know you think I hate it, but I don’t care. I can entertain myself.”

“It’s not about that,” he sighed exasperatedly.

“Then what’s it about?”

“Nothing.”

“Then let me do it.”

“No!” Lucas spat, and he slammed his hand onto the counter, making Zakk jump. “You’re not taking them to appointments! I have to do that! Take whatever else you want, but not that one!”

Zakk was looking at Lucas with wide eyes. After a moment, it registered with Lucas that it was fear on Zakk’s face. Zakk was... afraid of him?

Without a word, Lucas got up and stalked toward the staircase. “Ruining your life, you’re ruining your life,” Lucas muttered urgently to himself. Zakk didn’t follow him, and again, he was glad. He was headed for the walk-in closet so he could shut himself inside someplace quiet and take a few minutes to calm down, but halfway between the door of the bedroom and the door of the closet, Lucas found himself sinking down to the floor. He sat there, hands pressed into the carpet, rocking slowly back and forth and trying to keep everything inside.

“Stop it, just stop it, stop,” he whispered. “Stop, stop, it’s fine, it was a long time ago...” But the hot tears had already welled up and were threatening to spill over, and Lucas couldn’t breathe, not all the way. Everything felt awful - the tears and the desperation and the regret and the physical pressure in his chest.

And that’s when Zakk opened the door.

“Lucas?” he called. Then - “Oh! Oh, hey... Hey... Are you crying?”

And then Zakk was beside him on the ground, and apologies were spilling desperately from Lucas’ mouth, and Zakk was soothing him, brushing a hand from his forehead up over the crown of his head over and over and over again.

“I can’t give up driving them to the appointments,” Lucas managed to say, his chest tight. “It has to be me.”

“Why?”

“Because I have to be there for them. If something happens, I have to-” He pulled in a big breath- “be there, I have to be there. It has to be me.”

“Why?” Zakk repeated.

The answer came in a whisper. “Because I know what it feels like.”

Lucas hated the silence that hung in the room. Zakk probably didn’t know what to say, but neither did Lucas.

He pulled away, crawled a few feet out of Zakk’s reach, and forced himself to keep talking. “I’m going to tell you now, okay? What I’ve been... not saying. Things will make more sense.”

Zakk moved so that he was cross-legged, and then he swallowed. “I’m ready.”

“Okay. I’m just gonna start talking.”

Zakk nodded.

“When I was in high school, my mom changed jobs, so we changed insurance companies. And we switched doctors.” Lucas’ voice was dull, as though he were reciting something that someone else had written. “My brother and sister were adults and already out of the house, and I was fourteen, so it was just me that went. I had to get a physical in the spring to be able to go to summer football practice. I was going to be a sophomore in the fall, and I thought for some reason that since I wasn’t a freshman anymore, I was going to get a decent chunk of playing time.”

Zakk smiled a little, and Lucas saw it out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t feel it.

“I was really excited to get my physical so I could get going. And I was right to be, because that was the summer that I met Chance.” He paused for several seconds before continuing. “Everything at the appointment was fine, but toward the end, my doctor - who was this guy probably in his 50s - asked if I’d ever had a-”

Lucas suddenly stopped talking. He felt sick to his stomach. He felt small.

“You’re doing great,” Zakk encouraged softly.

Lucas nodded. “Um, he asked if I’d had a ‘genital exam,’ he called it. At my last doctor’s office, I mean. Like, he was asking if I’d had one before, and I’d gotten the paper where they tell you how to check yourself for cancer, but not anything more than that. So I kind of laughed and said no, because for some reason I thought he was kidding. And he looked surprised and said that there were some things that I needed to look at, and that they should have started doing them when I turned twelve.”

Lucas wanted to look at Zakk, but he was too afraid. And he knew that if he stopped talking, he wouldn’t be able to start again, so he forced himself to keep going. “The way he explained it made sense,” Lucas said, his voice still emotionless but barely above a whisper, “so I let him touch me. And like I said, I was fourteen, so I got hard immediately. And he started, um.”

Lucas’ heart was pounding. He could hear his pulse in his ears, feel it in his fingertips.

“He started saying stuff like, ‘Excellent,’ and calling me, um... ‘nice little boy.’ And even then, I thought the ‘nice little boy’ thing was weird, but I just went along with it because I thought he was trying to make me more comfortable, I guess.” Lucas paused momentarily to deal silently with the flood of memories that were pouring back in. When he was ready, he continued.

“He never touched himself. I think that’s another reason I believed him so much. He was very professional - wore gloves and everything and seemed like he was kind of prodding around at first, and even now, I think he actually was. But when it seemed like he’d finished with that, instead of stopping, he started jerking me off. And I reacted - I kind of sat up and looked at him like, ‘what the hell,’ you know? But he said he just needed to make sure that everything ‘worked.’” Lucas shook his head in disgust.

“Of course, I didn’t last long at all, but he still seemed kind of happy. Pleased with me, I guess. But still very professional. After I finished, he threw his gloves away and made some notes on my chart - which I would love to read, by the way. I have no idea what he wrote. Um, but that was it. The only thing looking back that I realized was off was that he told me a couple times to stay quiet. He said it was because it was a pediatrician’s office and there were little kids around, but now...”

Lucas fell silent.

“Lucas, I am... so sorry,” Zakk said in a hushed tone.

He chuckled emptily. “I’m not done. That was when I was fourteen. I stayed at that practice with that doctor until I turned eighteen.”

“Oh, Lucas...”

“By the end of it, I was kind of looking forward to going to my appointments, you know? Because I knew I’d be able to get off or whatever.” He scoffed. “Into a fucking tissue, just like my brother said.” Lucas blinked. “The doctor kept the tissues. I forgot...”

“What?” Zakk asked, horror clear in his voice.

“Yeah, he put them in little sample containers and wrote my name on them. Wow. I forgot all about that. I wonder what he did with those.”

“Lucas,” Zakk whispered.

He shook his head. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago. Anyway, senior year, I had to leave early one day to go see that doctor, and I told Chance during break that I was leaving. It was just me and him, and we were sitting at the football field like we always did, and I said something like, ‘I have a love/hate relationship with going to the doctor.’ And he asked why, so I said, ‘The part where they jerk you off is so good but so awkward.’ I’ll never forget the look on his face.”

Zakk let out a shaky breath.

“He obviously knew that something was wrong, and for years, his reaction was the only solid clue I had that the discomfort I felt was justified. The doctor made so much sense when he explained it, you know? He made it feel necessary, and he re-explained it in full every time. It wasn’t until I was almost done with my undergrad degree that I figured it out. I was in a gen ed health class, and we were having a totally uncensored sex ed talk, and whoever was speaking talked about, like, what GPs do at an appointment as far as sexual health. Guys in the room were talking about their personal experiences with prostate exams and getting erections in front of nurses and stuff, and I almost raised my hand and said, ‘Well, my doctor jerked me off once or twice every year,’ but something stopped me, and I’m so glad it did.”

Lucas looked in Zakk’s general direction. “Sometimes I think I always knew it was wrong, and sometimes I think I had no idea. Maybe it’s both.” He shrugged. “But that’s why I take the kids everywhere they need to go. I know I’m not in there with them, so I can’t see what’s happening, but I like to think that me being there gives me some control. Like maybe people who would hurt them otherwise won’t if they see me. And I hope that if something does happen, they’ll tell me, because I don’t want them to go through the confusion that I did-”

His voice broke. Zakk immediately slid nearer to him but didn’t touch him.

“I’m still confused,” Lucas confessed. “It’s been twenty years, and I still don’t really understand. I just - I wish that I had reported it to somebody who could have stopped it. Because when I think about all the other kids that he must have manipulated and lied to and hurt...” His teeth clenched. “I tried to find him online a couple years ago, and I couldn’t, which hopefully means that he got busted. I hope he lost his license.”

“I hope he lost everything,” Zakk stated gravely.

Finally, Lucas met Zakk’s eyes. They shared a long look in silence.

“I’m sorry again for flipping out earlier,” Lucas said eventually. “I know I’ve been acting crazy for a long time, and I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I know I’ve been awful.”

Zakk nodded. “Well, now I understand why it was happening, so I’m not mad. We’ll talk about it later and get through it, okay? I love you so much.” He tipped his head, his eyes filling with tears. “And I am so glad that you opened up to me. I’m so proud of you. Thank you, baby, I know that took a lot of strength.”

Lucas tried to smile.

“Can I hug you?” Zakk pleaded.

“Only if I can hug you, too.”

Zakk slid forward, holding Lucas tightly. Lucas gave him a gentle hug in return and shut his eyes. As Zakk began to quietly sob against Lucas’ chest, Lucas exhaled.

“I’ve never said any of that out loud before,” he muttered, more to himself than to Zakk. Then he realized, “I’m so tired.”

“Of course you are.” Zakk pulled back, sniffled, and set his hand on Lucas’ cheek. “Do you want to lie down?”

He shook his head and leaned forward to rest on Zakk’s shoulder. “No, I want to stay here.” For some reason, the floor felt safe. Safer than lying down, which was what he’d been doing when-

His grip on Zakk tightened, and Zakk’s tightened in response. Lucas was surprised by how much it helped.

“Can someone talk to the kids about what’s normal at appointments and what’s not?” Lucas whispered. “I’ve thought about it for years, and I don’t want it to be one of us. I want it to be like a presentation.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.” Zakk kissed his hair. “Why don’t you let me figure out the logistics of that, hm?”

“No, I-”

“Let me have a turn, please,” Zakk said calmly. “I’ll find somebody good, and I’ll run them by you before I book them.”

“You’ll run them by me?” Lucas repeated, his exhaustion clear in his voice.

“Yep. But I’ll find them and book them. Hey, maybe I’ll find two good people and you can help me choose between them.”

“Okay,” Lucas whispered.

“Okay.”

“I love you.”

Zakk held him even tighter. “Moon of my life,” he said quietly.

“My sun and stars,” Lucas echoed. With a heavy breath out, he let himself close his eyes, but only for a moment.

#lucas #zakk #lucas' trauma pt 2 #finally #sun and moon #tw

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takaraphoenix · 5 years

Note

🔥 ........ marvel?

I absolutely hate the viewer-baiting MCU-tie in shows. Like, they haven’t even started airing but I am already so very sure that they’re not going to be good? They literally only exist so people will subscribe to the Disney streaming service and they’re so... shallow.

Loki? Purely for popularity’s sake. And it’s such a stupid concept. Like. There are things you could explore with Loki especially post-Endgame, but instead... it’s a... prequel... about when Loki was still the bratty, whiny, entitled princeling? Yikes. I was rather pleased with how he had been growing to be more than “odIn Is So MeAn So I hAtE tHoR!!!!” but... they’re basically setting Loki back to that mode exactly by making it a prequel and hng.

A rom com with Vision and Wanda? Personal feelings on Wanda aside, that ship died the quickest death for me when Wanda crashed Vision through the floor because she was on house-arrest. That’s... even if your boyfriend can go through walls... Really Not Good. And that short scene of them playing house in Infinity War did nothing to wash that taste away??

Sam and Bucky? WHEN DOES THIS TAKE PLAAACEEE? Because seriously, it’s not like Sam and Bucky actually know each other?? They worked together in Civil War, but then Bucky got put on ice until Infinity War. They fought two whole battles with each other. At what point exactly are they retconning a show in there, considering that post Endgame, Sam is literally Captain America and I’d rather see him carry a damn Captain America movie than be sidelined into a TV show.

Clint Barton TV show? Uhm... The MCU has done absolutely everything in their powers to ruin this character literally from the get-go and Endgame didn’t exactly make him a more lovable character by turning him into a serial killer?? And... introducing Kate Bishop? After Clint literally called his daughter Hawkeye in the Endgame movie?? How much, on a scale from 1 to 10, do you want to confuse movie-goers who are then meeting an entirely new Hawkeye? Not to mention that Kate Bishop would deserve to have a movie. Just because you made one (1) female-led superhero movie doesn’t mean you have to stop there. You’re allowed to have more than one??

These are all additional tag-ons after things are wrapped. Like, I’m in a place in my mind right now where I am genuinely done with the MCU because it was really well-wrapped. It ended. That they continue to shoehorn, very specifically, into the Infinity Saga is making my eye twitch.

Especially since this is already twenty-two movies long. And now, if you want the full, actual content of it all, you’d also have to watch TV shows? Since these actually tie into the MCU, unlike their other ““tie-in”“ TV shows like Agents of SHIELD that mattered so little, they didn’t even bring Coulson into Endgame because they know no one watches that show and it’ll only confuse the people who only watch the shows.

These aren’t projects that feel like excitement. I used to feel excitement about MCU content, but now with their three movies a year schedule, it’s become more of a chore. Yes, I was very excited for Captain Marvel because it was something entirely fresh and new. Same goes for Black Panther, but aside from them, it’s become a little much with just how many they pump out and those TV shows? They feel more like homework assignments you have to do for the movies than like something that’d actually get me hyped.

Personally, I would 100% rather have them pour that money into actual cartoon shows. Give every OG Avenger their own cartoon show, with Arrowverse-style crossover events once a season where they get to “Avengers Assemble!”. Give Black Panther his own cartoon show. Now that you got the rights back, give X-Men a new cartoon show - and reanimate that dead project of a Deadpool cartoon.

Do something new and exciting with the properties instead of dragging the Infinity Saga on and on and on until you gotta bingewatch an entire month without break to make sense of shit anymore.

That’s the beauty of comics and multiverses; you could have parallel-running adaptations of things. Not everything has to be MCU, you could do new, exciting things with those characters!

#Marvel #send me asks #Unpopular Opinion Ask Game #moderngenius94

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kettlewrites · 6 years

Text

private school!jaemin

*mark’s voice* let’s get it

oh before we get it,, dedicated to my true love @heartmins i love u bb<3

[also it’s longer than i expected so there’s a keep reading]

okay so,,, we’ll call the school Season High ,, like Czennies woot okay so Season High is a pretty well known as it’s one of the biggest private schools in the middle of Seoul

a ton of millionaire kids attend it,,, but how did you get there? last time you checked, you weren’t a big millionaire bathing in money

so you happened to have a dead beat dad who left you when you were younger,,, but would only contact you to give you money for your schooling

you hated him for it, but your mother tried to convince you that it was for the better

either way,, you were attending the top private school.

you weren’t that popular,, as most would think,,,

the bratty girls would tear you to shreds, physically and mentally

ever since you stepped foot into that school,, your life had been a living hell because of those girls

they would call you names, pull your hair and even rip your homework to shreds

but you couldn’t do anything about it because you knew that they could ruin your life completely with a snap of their rich little fingers

throughout the years you lost your happiness,, you were only there just to graduate at this point

which is why you let out a sigh of relief when you realized that senior year was finally here

you were sitting in your new homeroom class, staring out the window as you waited for class to start

a familiar snicker entered your ear causing you to turn your head, it was her

rachel, don’t ask why i knew a mean rachel >:( was standing at the other side of the room with her group of friends just staring at you

“i guess it’ll be one last year together isn’t that right y/n?” she smiles before taking her seat

a groan bounced off your chest before you turned back to look out the window

noticing a group of guys in the courtyard, laughing and playing with each other

you hadn’t seen half of them before,, actually you hadn’t seen all but one before today

perhaps they were transfers from another town or school

this,, is where jaemin comes in

jaemin was apart of the group of guys

he was celebrating with his friends that they were finally in their senior year,, donghyuck and renjun being transfers from different towns as jeno was just coming back from studying abroad to graduate with with his best friend

“senior year~” renjun sighs as they walked into the prestigious building, “i never thought i’d see the day.”

“is your crush in your homeroom again?” hyuck teases

jaemin laughs,, which causes all the underclassmen girls to swoon at their lockers

did i mention that jaemin had everyone wrapped around his dainty finger?

he wasn’t apart of any stuck up, rich kid clique,, it was more because of his handsome aura and kindness to everything/one

the kid could smile and everyone’s world lights up

he literally makes the ugly school uniform look like something that came off the runway

sadly,, the boys were separated in homerooms so jaemin walked to his alone

he was in your homeroom, cliche isn’t it?

not really,, remember how you only knew one boy out of the group,, because you knew jaemin

he had been in your homeroom every year,, and you were actually thankful for it

because even if you didn’t have many friends,, nor a good standing with the people in the school

jaemin was still the nicest to you,, which at first you didn’t understand why because what did he gain from it?

in his eyes he gains the world,, and one of the greatest friends ever

as soon as he enters the room,, he spots you at the back of the room

HIS ENTIRE WORLD LIGHTS UP

because like how he makes underclassmen swoon,, you make him completely melt

that crush hyuck was talking about? oh yeah,, that was you

maybe it developed in freshman year when you two first met on the staircase

where he found you crying after rachel poured milk on you during lunch

where he sat there,, and skipped two class periods just to comfort you even though you two just met

or maybe it was during maths,, when he was obviously struggling and you offered to help him because you felt like you owed him after he comforted you

and he thought you were an angel sent from heaven,, as you bit onto your pencil trying to figure out a way to explain how the concept worked

or was it sophomore year?

when you two had biology together,, and you would always skip every other week just to sit in the courtyard and eat five boxes of pocky and talk about the meaning of life

possibly it could’ve been junior year,, when you stepped out of your comfort zone (mainly cause your mom made you lets be completely real) and went to the junior prom,,

and there you were,, looking incredible and jaemin spent the entire night with you

with stars in his eyes and his heart on a treadmill

well whenever it was,, jaemin knew he had a H U G E crush on you

okay,, so he takes the seat right next to you and slams his hand on your desk

“good morning!”

it earns a jump from you,, and you were about to curse at him but the teacher walks in

so,, after receiving your schedule you realized that you had almost every class with jaems

which jaemin is ecstatic about,, like out of the roof

but lunch comes around ,, and you go to your usual area which is just hanging around in the library and eat your sandwich or something while using one of the computers for an hour

and jaemin is just being a giddy, happy pup while eating lunch with the boys

they all have at least two classes together,, except for renjun who sadly only one class with jeno but at least he has the same lunch with everyone right?

so,,, flash forward ~

it’s maybe two months into the school year

you’ve basically been spending your schooldays with jaemin,, and finally a week ago you started having lunch with the boys

finally,,, you had friends

you and jaemin were still,, great friends but you noticed that you had been viewing him differently this year

maybe it was a few weeks ago,, but you started thinking about him constantly

his breathtaking smile,, his amazing laugh,, or the way his eyes constantly had a twinkle in them

and you,,, were sitting in BC Calculus and when you looked over to jaemin that’s when you feel your heart flip in your chest for the first time

now it happens at least ten times a day,, and you’re going completely insane

but you know who was going just as insane as you were?

na jaemin

because ,,, homecoming was coming up and he had no idea how to ask you,,, bc he decided that this was the year he needed to grow the balls to just ask you out finally

he wrote out so many ideas down before getting to the perfect idea

something that would win you over,,, right?

let’s just hope

and the time had come,, and jaemin was already running in circles because the worse thing that could ever happen,,, happened

it was pouring down,, and his plan was suppose to happen outside in the courtyard,, where the friendship had firstly blossomed

but who cared,, because he still asked you to meet him in the courtyard during lunch

“are you being serious? jaemin it’s pouring outside.”

“y/n please,, it’s really important.”

you were in a dilemma too because you just couldn’t say no so you agreed to meet him out there even if you had a chance of being struck by lightening

the clock was ticking down,, jaemin had skipped english and was scrambling around the school to get the stuff ready

when the bell rang, you made your way down to the courtyard cursing under your breath as the rain pelted down onto you

and there he was,, just standing there completely drenched with a giant smile that you could see from a mile away

you couldn’t help laughing when you were standing face to face with him

“so what was so important for you to drag me out here na jaemin?”

“i wanted to ask you something.” he was internally screaming

you raised an eyebrow, even though he probably couldn’t see it and took a step closer to him

his hand goes to grab yours, he dry swallows before going to say what was on his mind

“ᶦ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶦ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᶠᵒʳ ʸᵉᵃʳˢ ⁿᵒʷ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵒʰ ᵐʸ ᵍᵒᵈ ʸᵒᵘʳ ˢᵐᶦˡᵉ ᵐᵃᵏᵉˢ ᵐᵉ ʷᵃⁿᵗ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰʳᵒʷ ᵐʸˢᵉˡᶠ ᵒᶠᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵒᵒᶠ ᵇᵘᵗ ʰᵉʸ ᶦ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶦᵗ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵐᵉᵃⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵐᵉ ᶦᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵍᵒ ᵗᵒ ʰᵒᵐᵉᶜᵒᵐᶦⁿᵍ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵐᵉ“

“i can’t hear you over the rain jaems.” you shout, “what did you say?”

“I REALLY LIKE YOU PLEASE CAN YOU JUST GO TO HOMECOMING WITH ME.” he shouts, startling you

your eyes widen but instantly a smile grows on your face, “you like me?”

he nods, his cheeks grow hot and flush a bright red but it was too dark outside to even notice

“thank god.” you finally say after processing your emotions, “thank fucking god because i really like you too.”

so yeah, you two end up going to homecoming together

and at the end of the night,, even though you both didn’t make it official official,, everyone accepted you two as a couple,, you and jaems did too

but now here you two were,, standing outside of your house at midnight

the stars were shining and he was holding your head gently

you turned to go inside but jaemin pulls you back and for a second he just stares before looking at your lips

“can i kiss you?” he asks softly, his cheeks flushing a soft tint of pink

“of course you—“

and that’s when it happens. his lips were pressed against yours, moving ever so softly as you two stood your door lamp. something about it was magical, maybe because you had daydreamed about this since you two confessed to each other. you didn’t want it to stop,, but you two needed to breathe

and yeah,, i honestly don’t know how to end this so yeah this is how i’m gonna end this. whoops sorry it’s literally trash ;; i thought i was out of my rut but apparently im not :[ maybe i’ll delete this,, but who knows

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igot7monbebes · 6 years

Text

Xu Minghao as your boyfriend

✾ The silliest yet sweetest boyfriend ever

✾ He gets playful if he's sleepy or if he's really excited about something so if he randomly starts to poke your belly or will cover your phone screen to annoy you, just know he's either about to fall asleep or talk your ear off

✾ if you want to know how to say a certain word in Chinese, he will keep telling you the proper pronunciation for it

✾ 500% husband material

✾ as we know, Minghao is a man of fashion so he would take you shopping every day with him

✾ you will always look as fly as him

✾ you guys are the cutest couple in the industry hands down

✾ posts 1,000,000 photos of the two of you guys on his Instagram account for no reason

✾ like even if you guys are just laying around, he will take photos until his phone tells him there is no more space for the photos

✾ he's not a good cook but he loves when you help him

✾ even if what you two make together is awful, he will still happily eat it

✾ the calmest over everything

✾ like you could cut your arm off and he would be the calmest man in the entire world

✾ "I can't fix that.. but you should probably go see someone who can."

✾ an open book, you know all of the secrets he's never told anybody and he doesn't try to hide his feelings or emotions from you

✾ lowkey an emotional wreck

✾ dates aren't specifically his favorite thing because of it being ruined by people asking you guys for photos or starting scandals so dates are very rare but special

✾ if he thinks you'll cute in a certain article of clothing, he'll buy it immediately and just patiently wait for you to find and wear it

✾ cuddling is his favorite thing ever

✾ he prefers to be the little spoon because he feels super special when your arms are wrapped around him but he doesn't really care how you guys cuddle as long as you're both curled up, happy and warm

✾ reading books on the couch could potentially be called a date

✾ Minghao always feels the need to touch you though ????

✾ Like if you're watching a movie together, he'll have to be touching you somehow whether he's holding your hand or he just has his arm wrapped around you

✾ PDA isn't his type of thing but because of his need to touch you, if you guys are in public he will grab you and pull you almost on top of him just so he knows you're safe

✾ nose kisses will melt him

✾ like if you just press a kiss to his nose, he will kinda just turn into a blushy, giggly and hiding little munchkin

✾ texts you every day even if you guys are together

✾ loves to send you the kissing or heart emoji at least 900 times a day

✾ only posts a selfie on instagram if you like it

✾ sends you memes because he loves you

✾ but if you don't laugh he'll be pouty and will never stop whining about it. It's almost like he holds a grudge against you for not finding the photo funny

✾ "when I laugh at everything you send me! disrespectful, I swear."

✾ then tickles your belly and giggles about your laughing and fighting him off

✾ takes you home to China so you can meet his family and gets a little embarrassed when his mom breaks out the baby photos of him in the bath tub or when he's in nothing but a diaper

✾ " Come on mom, I'm naked! Don't show Y/N my naked pictures are you crazy?"

✾ Flirtatious as all hell

✾ like if you are wearing something new, he'll just have to comment about how great you look or he'll make a joke and ask if you're single

✾ and if you tell him you're in a happy relationship, he'll send a wink and a "he won't know" your way

✾ Gets flustered if you flirt back though

✾ if you start to tell him how good he looks or if you make the same 'are you single' joke at him, he will just cover his little rosie cheeks and peek out of the cracks of his fingers at you

✾ "I didn't realize how embarrassing it is to be hit on"

✾ but secretly loves it????

✾ when you get flirty and he's all flustered is his absolute favorite thing ever because it just makes him feel so touched

✾ if you're studying something, he'll sit down and study it with you whether it's a new language or you're working on some homework, he's right there with you

✾ he'll always bring you little snacks and drinks when you're studying as well just so he knows that you're actually eating and staying hydrated

✾ but every thirty minutes he'll ask you to take a short break so you're not stressing yourself out too bad or forgetting to take care of yourself in other ways

✾ he loves when you guys make fun of one another in a silly, playful way!

✾ lowkey looks up insults to use without being too harsh on them to avoid hurting your feelings and likes that you do the same

✾ he will always end up sending you a horrible dad joke Seungcheol or Mingyu told him throughout the day at practice

✾ speaking of practice, if you ever show up he will teach you the dance and tug you into a different room so you guys can dance it together just so you feel included at a practice instead of sitting and watching with their manager

✾ gets highly offended if you order Chinese food

✾ even if his cooking is trash, Chinese cuisine is his forte because of being his mom's shadow when he was younger

✾ "you DARE order that? well I guess I'm eating dirt for dinner"

✾ you will participate in all internet trends with him because he HAS to beat Bambam in this 'challenge' of how many dumb internet trends you can do in a lifetime

✾ you are literally Minghao in a different body

✾ if he sneezes, you will almost 10,000% sneeze a few minutes after he does or you'll both say the same thing at the same time for an hour straight

✾ "Stop copying me.", "I'm not copying you if I'm talking at the same time", "How did you know I was gonna say that?", "WHAT IS HAPPENING"

✾ accidentally sends your nude photos to the groupchat and spams immediately after to try and make the photo too far up for any of them to see

✾ but poor baby chan saw it and doesn't know that he's about to be murdered for his bandmate's mistake

✾ highkey father material

✾ he's so good with kids it's almost scary

✾ like if you've been asked to babysit a family member, he's always going to change his schedule so he can help and he basically knows what the child is thinking or doing without even having to look at them

✾ "He's about to start crying in like 10 seconds"

✾ then literally ten seconds later the kid starts to cry

✾ and you look at him like ?????

✾ then he just shrugs "told you"

✾ sends you the ugliest photos of himself he can take then beat you with a leaf if you screenshot it or send it to your friends

✾ biggest love ball

233 notes · View notes

potions-and-potters · 6 years

Note

Hello Lilly! Can you do an imagine where Snape punishes a careless student who failed to turn in their homework with all his sarcastic snark?

Hi! So sorry for the late reply! Here is that imagine for you! Hope you like it!

Your Girding Potion was a very bright blue. It was bordering cyan at this point. Meanwhile, your classmates’ potions were all going from silver to red. Something was obviously wrong. You had no idea what because it seemed you were also the only student in class that didn’t do that bloody essay.

Here’s the thing: you had planned to do the essay. You had. You really really had! But then some Gryffindor had whipped out a supposed extreme version of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and you had to prove Slytherin had just as much bravery in its house. Everyone knew Gryffindors were less brave than they were reckless so with your cunning, ambition, and bravery, you were sure to win. AND YOU DID! You just.. sort of… ended up losing track of time and not doing your essay. But it was for house pride! Besides, you’d never heard of Professor Snape taking points from his own house so you were fine surely.

Your now definitely cyan potion was starting to bubble and spit in its cauldron. You had to do something. Snape might not have raked you over the coals for your homework but he sure as hell would if you exploded his classroom.

Frantically, you look around to see what your classmates are doing. Some of them were just waiting while others were adding stuff. What was it?

The sound of a chair pushing back had your eyes snapping to the front. Snape was about to make a round of the classroom. Luckily his first stop was always the Gryffindors. That meant you’d have time and he’d be in a better mood after taking some points from them.

You could do this.

You glance to your left, watching the other Slytherin fourth years. A girl next to you appears at her cauldron with some kind of measurement of something.

“Hey,” you whisper, glancing to Snape to see where he was. He was sneering at a Gryffindor. You turned your attention to the girl who seemed to have been checking on the same thing.

“What?” she asked

“What’s the next step?”

Snape’s footsteps indicating he was moving on. Two more workbenches of Gryffindors and he’d be onto this side of the room.

Your housemate tilted her measure casually, allowing you to get a sneak peak. Toasted dragonfly thoraxes. Right. You quickly go to the supply closet. How much should you put in? How much did she have? Was that a cup? Half?

Snape was onto the Slytherins now. Panicking, you grabbed a measuring cup and scooped it full, not bothering to check what it was. Surely your housemate would help you.

You rushed back to your cauldron. Your potion was turning into goo now. Was this normal? Could you save it? You probably should have at least read the chapter assigned to you last week.

Snape’s footsteps were heading your way so you begged Merlin and all thing magical in the world to help you out this one time and you dumped your entire measurement of toasted dragonfly thoraxes right into the cauldron and started stirring like mad.

Please work, you begged silently.

“Miss Y/L/N,” Professor Snape drawled behind you and you all but froze.

“Yes, sir?”

“Are you making Girding potion or scrambled eggs because I am quite sure beating it was nowhere in my directions. But then again, I have been a Potions Master for only fifteen years so what do I know.”

“Just trying to really incorporate those dragonfly thoraxes, sir,” you reply with a charming smile.

“Well, if you incorporate them anymore they’ll want to start a union.”

You don’t say anything. Instead, you just look down at your potion. It’s turned silver! And they say potions is hard. You smile and smirk up at him.

“That’s fine by me as long as the work gets done, which it obviously has been,” you say gesturing to your cauldron.

Snape looks into it, cocking an eyebrow.

“You call that silver? And here I thought Hogwarts had yearly eye exams.”

“You could practically stake a vampire with this!”

“You would know that then? You are remarkably like a vampire, miss Y/L/N. You truly suck the life out of everything. Just look at what you’ve done to this potion.”

You frowned. It was a little more grey than silver but it wasn’t that bad! Besides at least you’d saved it from the disastrous goop it was becoming.

“I doubt you could salvage that. Not because your potions talent resembles that of a drunken weasel, though that’s certainly a contributing factor.”

You opened your mouth to reply but snapped it shut as Snape simply walked away to continue his round.

Right. You’d show him. Your potions grades might not be that great and you might not do your homework all that often but it wasn’t like this was hard! Have a recipe. Follow the recipe. Make a potion. The end.

Just because he couldn’t get the Defense job didn’t mean he had to go around acting like potions was so dangerous and mysterious. He literally wrote the directions on the board for Merlin’s sake.

Speaking of directions, next step was to turn up the heat. You carelessly turned the heat all the way up. Hotter would heat it faster which means you’d be a step ahead. Then he could stick that up his arse. You’d be done first and perfectly well.

You glared up at his back as he made his way to the front of the room.

“Y/N, watch out!” your housemate next to you yelled just as your potion belched out a huge cloud of metal grey air and grey slime pinged out of the cauldron in a spitting explosion. Everyone ducked for cover, yelling and abandoning their own potions as they tried to get to safety.

Snape stopped mid-stride as the explosion went off behind him. You stood there in shock, splattered with the destruction of your potion. You looked up at him, too taken aback to speak.

“I didn’t know it would do that, I swear!”

“You stupid girl,” he growled as he charged towards you. His wand was out before anyone had yet come out from cover and he vanished the mess with a flick of his wrist. Including the mess on you.

“It’s not my fault, Professor!” you said, as he glared at you. “Will- Will I be okay?”

“At least you’ve saved me the trouble of reading your homework as there’s no way you could have earned a passing grade if you had to ask that question,” he said, staring down at you.

“I didn’t do my homework…”

Snape frowned, unimpressed. His black eyes boring into yours.

“And why not?” he asked slowly, crossing his arms.

“I was busy.”

Blank surprise followed by not just one but both eyebrows arched, nearly up to his hairline. Then, narrowed eyes and a tight-lipped expression was looking back at you.

“You…were…” he articulated, even slower than before, “busy.”

The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. People had come out of their hiding, too fascinated with the exchange happening between you and Snape to care about the state of their potions.

“I suppose you didn’t bother to read the chapter I assigned you?”

Your heart was beating fast. You weren’t used to having so much of his attention. Or it being this intense.

“Well?”

“No,” you muttered.

“What was that?”

“No,” you squeaked.

“No what?”

“No, sir.”

Snape watched you for a second.

“Where is it you think you went wrong today to land you in the position of being such a pathetically terrible potioneer or does it go all the way back to walking into this school four years ago? After all, not all witches or wizards have the capability to do something as simple as reading a book. Especially for someone such as yourself, with such a busy schedule.”

You didn’t say anything, your cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

“Can you not speak either? Surely that does not take magical talent. If it did it would be a wonder you uttered even a syllable thus far in life.”

“My potion turned really blue. I was trying to save it and panicked,” you blurted out. “I think it’s because it was such a dark red when I put it on the heat but it was fine before!”

“Page one seventy-nine,” Snape replied evenly, staring at you.

You hesitated before reaching for your classmate’s book. Snape stopped you. “I… don’t have my book.”

“Of course you don’t. Why would you bring your book to class when I’ve told you every first day since the first year to bring it to class. How silly of me.”

Your cheeks were burning. You pulled the book to you, muttering a thank you to your classmate. You flipped it open to the page he told you. You read, feeling his eyes boring into you. Your heart was beating faster.

Step One: Add one set of fairy wings.Step Two: Heat until the potion turns turquoiseStep Three: Add one measure of doxy eggs.Step Four: Heat until the potion turns pink.Step F-

Wait.

Step Three: Add one measure of doxy eggs.

Bugger. The Doxy eggs.

“Well?”

“I didn’t add enough doxy eggs.”

“And?”

You glance around the room. Everyone is watching. Some of them look sorry for you.

“They can’t help you. Answer the question.”

You look back at the recipe. “I think I messed up the dragonfly thorax bit.”

“You think? Are you sure you’re capable of such a complex activity?”

“I messed it up.”

“How?” it was more a statement than a question. You gulped. How?

“I panicked.”

Snape said nothing. Just waited. You sucked in a breath.

“I just tossed some in and started stirring and then turned the heat up as far as it would go.”

Someone in the room gasped. Snape ignored it.

“You carelessness is only matched by your incompetence and disregard of the use of the excuse you call a brain. Five points from Slytherin for not completing your homework. Another five for not doing your reading. Ten points for wasting my ingredients. Five points for distracting your classmates and almost causing their potions to ruin. And an additional five points for disgracing my classroom with your presence and pathetic attempt at being a student.”

Your jaw dropped open. “But I’m in your house!”

Snape stood and glared down at you sharply. “Ten more points for thinking you deserve special treatment and questioning my authority. You’ve also just failed your assignment and will not be given a second chance.”

“But, Sir, I’ll never be able to pull my grade up in time for the end of the year! I need potions for my NEWT! I’ll never make the cut now!” You stared at him open-mouthed, heart racing in shock.

His face was blank and he was paused as if expecting you to continue.

“How am I supposed to bring my grade back up?” you asked weakly.

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whatdoyouthinkmyjobis · 6 years

Text

Hunters on the Hellmouth

masterlist

first chapter

previous chapter

AN: Inspired by events in BTVS 7.15 “Get It Done.” This chapter references events that happened in GND 14, mainly, The First tricked a Potential into being his vessel and she later exploded. Here’s a cheat sheet for keeping track of the Potentials. Oh, and sex below.

Chapter 34: F Is For

Buffy had wracked her brain for hours before resigning herself to the hopelessness of her situation. Her head was still pounding when Willow handed her a large caramel latte. “I may have blanked on pretty much everything, but I’m sure I could persuade Professor Yardy that coffee is part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need.”

Willow nodded. “I’d put it in the safety level. Could you imagine people driving without coffee?”

“This entire semester was a failure. Again. I don’t think I’m college-girl, Will.” Buffy enjoyed her classes, if not the homework and papers. But a deeper worry than grades churned inside of her. A college degree was a key to certain futures, and lately, Buffy felt her desires for her future and the reality of the Slayer crashing against each other.

“Don’t be discouraged!” Willow said. “School has ups and downs.”

“Like that time you got an A minus?”

“Dark days, but no. Take this semester off. Deal with the literal Devil incarnate, and try again next semester.”

The next semester started in nine months, an incomprehensible time frame when Buffy could barely wrap her head around the events of the week.

“Besides,” Willow added, “you spent your big study day dealing with Astrid and Jada.”

After notifying Astrid’s Watcher that she’d been killed by The First, helping Sam’s (ex-)girlfriend and her addled aunt escape to somewhere safer had been practically relaxing.

“That's the problem though. When have I ever had a semester without a Potential-killer or a Professor Frankenstein or a super vamp? A smooth semester is practically Bigfoot.”

As they walked on, Buffy put thoughts of school aside and focused on what she could handle -- grocery shopping for the packed house, the upcoming birthday she hoped to ignore, her newly human ex now crashing in her basement.

“Why so glum, chum?” Willow asked.

“I keep thinking about Principal Wood,” said Buffy. She’d tried to avoid him in the week since he beat Spike. “I can’t imagine spending my life on a Mel Gibson movie-esque vengeance quest, only to discover the bad guy is in another castle.”

Willow scrunched her face and asked, “Is Mel Gibson playing Mario in this analogy?”

“Kinda picture him more as a Luigi,” Buffy sighed. “At least Wood left Spike alive.”

Willow threw disapproving side-eye over her coffee. Spike living in the basement was awkward for everyone. The main argument against him had been his attack on her months prior, but Buffy was certain that monster had been exorcised.

Then there was the lack of space and food. As it was, bedtime changed the living room into a sea of army cots and blankets. And it was a struggle to make sure dinner was something more substantial than cereal.

“How many did Giles say he was bringing back today?” Buffy asked.

“You know how there are numbers the human mind can’t comprehend, like the age of the Earth, the number of atoms in your body, or how many people are living in our house?” Willow sounded tired.

“Xander said he could take a few. We just have to decide on who to move.”

“What about Gabi?”

“Gabi’s growing on me; she’s just...Gabi. Besides, we can’t move her or Cloé will go back to crying all the time. I’ll probably move Naomi,” Buffy added.

“Aw, but she’s sweet!”

“She’s also avoided the porch since Annabelle. She’ll be more comfortable at Xander’s.” Buffy glanced at her friend and asked, “How about Dani? Stay or go? I may be crazy busy, but I’m not blind.”

“She’s not subtle either.”

“Are you crushing, or is this a one-way street?”

Willow sat down on a bench at the edge of campus where they watched pigeons fight over a half eaten bagel.

“I know it was Lucifer, not Tara, but it was still her face. Her voice. I’ve been dreaming about her ever since. The way the sunlight would hit her eyes and make them glow, like she was some sort of sea goddess. I keep smelling her sweater, and I’m worried the scent is going to fade. And if my memories of Tara slip away --”

Holding her friend’s hand, Buffy grasped for words. “Sweetie, you’ll always have those memories. Tara was -- is -- a huge part of your life. But I don’t think she’d want to be mourned forever.”

“I don’t want to mourn forever, but how do you know when the mourning is over? It’s not like we have some calendar of crying with coordinating clothes like in ye olden times.”

Buffy’s worst breakup had been Angel, her high school sweetheart who guided her into Slayerdom. And she’d had to kill him. She still thought about the kiss before she ran a sword through him. She thought about it, but she didn’t cry. “I think mourning is over when you feel it’s over. Do you feel like moving on?”

“The idea kinda makes me woozy, and it’s not the good wooz. Even if I did feel the good wooz, I don’t know if it would be with Dani. She’s okay, and she’s here, but what I had with Tara was more intense than ‘okay’ and ‘here.’ I mean, she was my first…” Willow took a deep breath, then a smile bloomed across her lips. “The thing is, I loved Tara, but I also loved Oz. All of this death aside, I have a lot to sort through before I even know which way to move.”

“As long as all juicy details are provided, I’m there for you.”

Giles sat on the basement stairs with a well-earned mug of tea warming his hands. In the last few weeks, they’d added over a dozen more girls to the house, including the crowd of six he’d arrived with that afternoon. They were currently making themselves comfortable on the training mat while Dawn and Andrew set up their presentation.

The pair was becoming fluid in welcoming new girls and acclimating them to the house. Repetition would do that. Just as Giles was becoming comfortable with altering parents’ memories and ignoring the tears of children whose lives he’d saved by ruining them.

“Hi, I’m Dawn Summers. My sister is the Slayer. You’ll meet her later.”

“And I am Andrew Wells,” he said in an affected accent, “hero-in-training and resident chef at the Summers house.”

“You have a chef?” asked Ju, whose face was mostly obscured by thick, black bangs.

“He likes to be useful,” Dawn sighed, annoyed with already being off-track.

“Anywhoodle, we’re gonna make this quick so you can get on with your jet lag and culture shock,” said Andrew. “There are a few simple rules. One, don’t leave the house at night. The city is infested with vampires and The First will send them after you.”

Bianka, a pale Polish girl with strawberry blonde hair, raised her hand. “Are vee not safe here? Girl upstairs say you kill First.”

“You’re safe inside the house,” Andrew clarified hastily. “All those marks on the doors and windows keep out demons and vampires. As far as The First goes, we cooked some Storm Troopers, but the Dark Father is still very much alive.”

“Vot?”

Dawn jabbed her elbow in Andrew’s ribs before he could add to the confusion. “We’re working on it, which is why you’re here. Safe inside. Speaking of The First, remember that it doesn’t have a body, so it can’t physically hurt you. So that’s a good side. But in horror movie twist, it can appear in the form of any dead person. So if you see someone who you know is dead, tell someone.”

“The list of people who’ve died includes Buffy, Dean, Sam, and Spike,” Andrew added, pointing to three photographs and a stick figure drawing of a blonde in a black trench coat. The girls started to whisper. “Short story: they died and got better. None of them want to talk about it, so don’t ask for more details.”

Ginika, a girl with tiny knots of hair dotting her head asked, “These people are regular to the ‘ouse? How do we know if they’re real or not?”

“If you throw a pencil at them and it goes through them, they’re The First,” Dawn said with atonal brightness. “If they tell you bad stuff like, ‘You’re a loser’ and ‘Why don’t you give up?’, they’re The First.”

“Throw things and be positive,” Andrew repeated with a big smile and rainbow hand gesture.

“The rest of your safety stuff will be covered in training--”

“Hold up!” said a dreadlocked girl in overalls. “I came here for protection. Mr. Giles said I was in danger, and I already knew something was watching me. What the hell you talkin’ ‘bout training?”

Giles had told all of the girls about their calling as Potentials as well as the danger that awaited him, but at his current break-neck speed, he couldn’t promise they’d all comprehended his information dump.

He cleared his throat. “Rona, you are in danger because you are a Potential. You may become the next Slayer, so you need to be trained accordingly.”

“But I don’t wanna be no Slayer. I got plans, an’ they don’t involve vampires.”

“I’m not arguing that the system is fair. I’m simply saying we want you to be prepared,” Giles replied.

Shaking her head, Rona stood up and hoisted her duffle over her shoulder. “Nah, you promised me an’ Gran I’d be safe here. Now you’s sayin’ it’s too dangerous to be out after dark, but you want me to bust up that danger? With what? You want me to poke it with a damn stick? Man, I’d be better off back in Flint.”

Giles scratched his chin as he considered the frightened girl before him. “If you want to catch a bus back to Michigan, you may, but you should have all of the facts first. For example, nearly all of my fellow Watchers are dead -- blown up or cut to bits. As I’ve traveled the world picking up Potentials, I’ve been too late for over a dozen of them. A couple were still warm as they lay in pools of their own blood. The last Potential who decided to leave the safety of the house was returned by The First with her throat missing. Just yesterday, The First intercepted another Potential at the bus station. She died. Now, would you like me to get you a bus schedule?”

Rona sat down.

Dawn tried to salvage her presentation. “Um, Buffy will be back by dinner to talk training with you. She may even take a few of you out on patrol tonight.”

Andrew lit up. “Now let’s talk about my favorite thing: The Wheel of Chores. Me, Dawn, and Willow put it together, so be nice to us.”

Buffy’s afternoon walk with her best friend had relaxed her, but the knots in her muscles returned the moment she and Willow entered the backyard. Where she’d expected to see her three squad leaders -- Grace, Dani and Gabi -- drilling the girls in combat basics, she instead found three Potentials smoking and laughing with Spike. She was only half surprised. New arrivals always seemed to throw off the schedule. Plus, she’d heard the girls whispering about the mystery man downstairs; she hadn’t had the time or energy to explain him to them yet.

She certainly didn’t have the energy or patience now. Buffy marched over to Kate, a sarcastic eye-roller from Ireland, and yanked the cigarette from the girl’s mouth. “Ever heard of cancer?”

“No, but I did hear a story about how we’re all fooked, so why’s it matter?” she asked, smoke curling around her glossed lips. Kate had been high on their success after rescuing Sam from The First, but Astrid’s death had sent her back to her neutral state of doom and gloom.

“You’re not fucked,” said Spike, apologetically.

Buffy grew hot with anger. “He’s right. You’re not fucked. I am. Have you noticed how there aren’t any full-grown, know-what-they’re-doing-with-life, briefcase-carrying Potentials here? Because you phase out. I stay alive, and you get too old to qualify for the Slayer Happy Meal. And I’m a bitch to kill, aren’t I, Spike?”

“Like a cockroach,” he muttered to the ground.

“You die,” said Eva, a pixieish blonde who’d arrived from France a week before.

Tucking her green hair behind her ears, Lys asked Eva, “Étiez-vous en train de lui dire de mourir ou de demander quand elle est morte?”

“Le petit homme n'a pas dit qu'elle est morte?”

“Andrew told us you died once,” Lys explained.

“Twice.” Buffy squeezed her fist and released, regretting her anger. She didn’t need to add her tension to theirs. Calmly, she said, “I don’t want to catch you smoking again, got it? Not a great habit for people who have to run a ton. Now get your butts inside.”

Buffy watched the girls slink back to the kitchen and huffed, causing her bangs to flop into her eyes. “What are you doing out here, Spike?”

He raised his hand to his lips, then dropped it. He hadn’t been smoking with the girls. “Enjoyin’ the sun.”

“Really?”

“Inside’s a sardine can. Given the ‘eightened fear since that girl exploded at the ‘igh school, I thought I’d chat up the mini-yous out ‘ere.”

“They’re not me,” she said coldly. “And they’re also minors.”

Spike stepped back, hurt in his eyes. He peered at her, into her, in his familiar, intimate way. “Test didn't go well then?”

How did he know? How did he always know? Buffy bit the inside of her cheek, ashamed anew at the way she'd lashed out. “I'm just going to pretend F stands for footloose and fancy-free.”

“Or fighter.”

The anger rushed out of her. He was right. She had passed greater tests than Developmental Psychology or a packed camp of teenagers.

“Or flirt. As in don't. The girls don't need you distracting them.” The venom in her voice was gone. Some of the girls, who were otherwise good fighters, were hopelessly boy-crazy. Having the Winchesters as trainers had drawbacks.

“Don't worry. I think we both know Angel’s the vamp into shagging teenagers.” Spike smirked.

“You were all with the sweet a moment ago. Where did William go.”

Spike laughed, low and rich. “William is gone, love. Good riddance. My demon, too. Still sorting out who’s left.”

Spike had been met with trial after trial since getting his soul back. He had been unfortunate enough to be the first creature Lucifer encountered when he rode the angel wave to Sunnydale. He’d become a cosmic punching bag, but she knew another, grander side of Spike.

“You want to help? I need leaders, fighters, people who can train teenage girls to kill vampires. You in?”

“Damn right, I’m in.”

“Be ready at eight,” she said before heading inside.

In the kitchen, Dawn was arguing with Willow about Ella, a techno-pagan from Australia who’d arrived a week prior. Since a few of the Potentials showed magical prowess, Willow was giving them additional tutoring. Ella was gifted beyond all of them.

“I don’t care if she doesn’t want to cook. It’s her turn,” Dawn insisted.

“If she says she can’t, then give her something else to do!” Willow replied, loud enough to draw the attention of several other girls.

Buffy’s stepped in between them spoke quietly so the other girls couldn’t hear. “Infighting is not on my list of needs, like, ever.” She looked over Willow’s shoulder, where Ella stood, arms crossed. “If you don’t know how to cook, Andrew can teach you. We can get another person to help, too. It’s just really important that everyone pitch in, you know?”

The girl sighed. “I know how to cook, but I can’t help with a big meal. Can’t clean up after it. Probably can’t eat it.”

This rang a bell. Buffy had noticed her sneaking away when the other girls were eating, but had yet to ask her about it. “Why? You have to eat to stay strong.”

“I eat! I eat my own food. Your food is too dangerous. I’ve killed two vampires in training no problem, but peanuts or dairy? That’s the end of me. If that means I clean the loo twice as often, fine. ”

Dawn turned away, embarrassed.

Buffy nodded. “Thanks for the compromise, Ella. Dawn, will you rearrange Andrew’s chore chart for Ella’s allergies?”

Buffy pointed at a pale strawberry blonde. “You, newbie, help Andrew.” She left before she could get angry again. Hopefully Dawn and Willow could make up without her.

In the living room, a group of girls were teaching each other their favorite dance moves. Buffy noticed Grace sorting out a squabble between Lili (always Lili) and Verusha over whose shirt was whose. Leticia, Cloé, and Gabi, giggling so hard tears streamed from their faces, bounced on the pillows and blankets piled on the couch. In the corner, Dani whispered with a pretty new girl. The girl (woman? She looked older.) had an explosion of dark curls and a small toy in her hand.

The dining room held a stack of folded cots that reached Buffy’s shoulders. Despite the cramped conditions, three girls were squished in at the dining table attempting to do homework.

Heading upstairs to find Giles, Buffy practically tripped over Mio, Jabulela and Naomi folding laundry on the steps.

“Bathroom’s busy,” Naomi said cheerily. The bathroom was alway busy.

Buffy nodded, catching a glimpse of the two girls from Mumbai, initially chilly towards each other, doing each other’s hair in the bathroom.

Giles was on the phone, pacing in her room, the one place off-limits to the Potentials.

“Miércoles, si. Gracias, Padre.”

“Padre?” she asked when he hung up. “Have you been keeping secrets?”

“No,” he said, swapping the phone for a file, “it seems I need to fly to Spain tonight. Three girls managed to make it to an abbey outside of Barcelona. There were five of them originally…”

“Oh.” Much as Buffy hated being trapped in a house overrun with strangers, she didn’t envy Giles for his nightmare.

“Anyway, I should be back in time for your birthday on Sunday.”

“Shh!” She grabbed the file from Giles’ hand. “We’re keeping that one super secret. No way it won’t add to the weird.

“Tell me about the new girls.” She flipped through the notes. Ginika from London. Ju from Toronto. Bianka from Wroclaw -- the strawberry blonde she’d told to help with dinner. The dossier said her English wasn’t the best. Good luck, Andrew. “Training?”

“Ginika has several year’s worth. Julia, Holly and Rona were completely in the dark, while Ju and Bianka have over a year between them. Julia, at least, runs a dojo with her husband--”

“Her what?!”

Giles gave her his grave news face.

Buffy flipped open Julia’s file, and was greeted by the face of the woman who’d been whispering with Dani. The Potential was twenty-two, married and -- Buffy’s heart skipped a beat -- Julia had an infant. A little girl.

Julia had the life Buffy could never have.

Snapping the folder shut, Buffy swallowed hard. “Spike’s joining my pod tonight.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“What else are we going to do with him? I’ll take Bianka, Ginika, Kate, Kimberly, Shakti, Wook, and Udoka. We’ll put our Spanish-speaking girls with Sam. Except Gabi. I need her and Dani to get the latest newbies up on their weapons training.”

“Didn’t Fernanda go out the day before I left for France?” Giles asked

“And she nearly got herself killed. Gotta get back in the saddle or on the bike or whatever non-motorized travel you chose.” Buffy was suspicious that Fernanda had a little crush on Sam, but with the language barrier, he was the best suited to train her. “I know I should know this, but I’m totally fried. Who speaks French?”

“Natively: Jabulela, Lys, Eva. Violet and Shakti speak it as a second language. Ju speaks some, but I doubt you want her out so soon.”

“None of them are Molly-levels of boy crazy, are they?”

“That would be difficult,” Giles sighed. “How is she doing, by the way?”

“At least a week in the hospital. Maybe two.” Buffy hoped Molly’s Potential state would speed her recovery from her burns.

She ran through the names in her head again. “Okay, leave Ju for weapons training. Put the French-speakers with Dean; Vi can translate. Give him Shakti, too. Voila! Three functioning squads.” Functioning felt like a stretch.

Buffy tossed the files on the desk and headed for the door. “You can give the others the destiny speech again, right?”

“Buffy!” Giles called out before she left. “How was your day? Did your examination go well?”

She watched his mouth move but had to hear the words a few times before understanding she needed to respond. She’d already shut the door on school. “Uh, I guess. I have to get downstairs, meet the new girls and all.”

Buffy had only wanted one thing for her birthday, private time with Dean. Instead, they’d spent the weekend moving ten girls into the Winchesters’ apartment and another half dozen to Xander’s. At least it was easier to get time in the bathroom.

As promised, Giles had returned Sunday night with three emotionally -- if not physically -- scarred Potentials. He had forgotten it was her birthday.

Monday morning started with tears. The last time someone had cried so much in Buffy’s makeshift office, it was because their parents were divorcing. Starting a new school barely ranked by comparison, but Magda’s big tears probably had less to do with math class than survivor’s guilt.

Buffy handed her another Kleenex. She’d thought putting Magda in school this quickly would help her, give her something to think about other than the slaughter on the train. Now she wasn’t so sure. “Listen to me, you did the best you knew how to do. It’s not your fault no one from the Watcher’s Council found you. It’s not your fault you were picked for this. Most importantly, it’s not your fault that those other girls died.”

Magda, who had just arrived the night before, was untrained. The only reason she’d survived the Bringer attack was because the girls she was with, Betje and Sophia, had eight years of training between them. Betje and Sophia’s Watchers and two Potentials had died in the attack.

“The-they were def-f-fending me. I do not know f-fighting.”

“But you know surviving. That’s all you need to do today: survive. You have all the same classes as Dawn, Cloé and Sophia, so you won’t be alone, okay?”

The girl nodded and wiped a black streak of mascara under her eyes. “Sophia is nice. She share with me candy bar.”

“If you need anything, I’m here all day. Now, go wash your face, take a deep breath, and go pretend Algebra makes sense.”

Once Magda was off to class, Buffy pulled out a worn journal Giles had brought back from his travels. It was his first journal as her Watcher, and he’d been hesitant to let her see it.

“There’s very little about you I haven’t changed my mind on,” he had explained, “in some cases a few times. Please, do not think this is the entirety of my view of you, Buffy.” She’d taken the journal with a smile, vowing to cry into her pillow and hold every word against him.

She’d asked to see it because she wanted to know how spun always-together Giles had been when he’d started as her Watcher. There were obvious differences. She was already the Slayer by that time, and her first Watcher, Merrick, had been murdered. Most importantly, there had only been one of her. Even so, she felt the journal would give her a peek into Giles’ mindset and methods that memory couldn’t provide.

The first few pages were Giles’ gleeful anticipation of her arrival. He had assumed the Council had been in touch since Merrick’s death, and that she knew he had been assigned as her new Watcher. The day she started school in Sunnydale, his journal read, “I had been lead to believe the Slayer is a paragon of discipline and duty. She is at peace with her destiny and gives herself over to the cause no matter the cost. This is not the case.

“I have spent the entire day surrounded by teenage girls. The Slayer is a teenage girl, a mystifying sort of creature who varies from age to age, continent to continent, culture to culture, and apparently hour to hour. No amount of destiny and duty will change this overnight.

“Though a gifted fighter, Buffy seems wholly uninterested in training. She would much rather run off with her friends in childish pursuits of what they refer to as ‘hang time.’ This adherence to friends and the social structures of the natural world is highly unusual.”

“That’s me, Unusual Girl,” she muttered.

She was deep in the journal when a voice interrupted her. “Miss Summers, may I see you in my office for a moment?”

Buffy looked up to see Principal Wood leaning against the edge of her cubicle, jacket unbuttoned, as casual as a person who had recently beaten an ex-vampire to a pulp could be.

Journal still in hand, she followed him into his office.

“Coffee?” He gestured to the chair across from his desk.

Having been up most of the night with Magda and company, she desperately wanted another cup. “No, thank you.” Though Wood’s story was no longer a mystery, she still found his piercing, dark stare unnerving.

“Two more new girls today,” he noted.

“Three. We have three, but one has already graduated.”

“Ah.” He leaned back in his chair and stared at her as if he was regarding a complicated piece of art. “How many started at Sunnydale last week? Six? Eight?”

“Fuzzy vagueness sounds right.”

“We certainly have the space,” he said. Several dozen families had moved out of town over winter break. “Buffy, do you know why I hired you?”

“You believe I can make a difference? I’m too tired to cliche.”

“I hired you because you’re the Slayer, and Sunnydale High’s death rate is the stuff of legend. In these few months, you’ve saved several students both from the typical evil creatures and from the everyday pressures they face. You’re good at this, at guiding kids.”

All this time, she’d been flying by the seat of her pants, doling out advice with no knowledge of its impact. “You think so?”

“You’re a good leader, which is why I’m firing you.”

“Excuse me?”

“You have a houseful of Potential slayers who need guidance. You can’t give them what they need if you’re here all day.”

“But most of them are here during the day. And you know what teenagers love? Eating. How can eating happen if work isn’t happening?”

“You’re resourceful. Besides, with the sudden downturn in legit enrollment, I can’t justify keeping you on.”

“But I need --”

“You need to be the Slayer.” He opened one of his drawers and handed her a purple sack and three small books. “Speaking of, my mother’s Watcher gave her these when she became the Slayer. I guess technically, they belong to you.”

She opened the bag and pulled out a small metal figure shaped like a man either dancing or writhing in pain. “Modern art? Great,” she muttered.

“I’ll get you a box,” he said, opening the door for her to leave.

Buffy, box at her feet, was sitting on a planter near the parking lot when Dean pulled up. He rolled down the passenger window and called out, “Hey sexy, need a lift?”

Her face flicked between amused and upset as she climbed in with her box and slumped against his shoulder.

“Is that a fired box?”

“Yep.”

“Want me to kick Wood’s ass?”

“Yes, but don’t,” she sighed. “Can I hang out with you today? I don’t want to go home.”

“Do you want a frou-frou coffee before or after you tell me what’s up?”

“Before.”

She barely looked at him as she sipped her latte, her frown sinking into her skin, her bones. He didn’t press. For once, they had hours alone, so he held her hand and waited. By the time they pulled up to his work, she’d filled him in on the details.

“Now do you want me to kick his ass?”

“No,” she said, this time with a half smile. “He’s not wrong. Slayer comes first, but it’s not like being the Slayer means I’m ready to run Buffy’s Halfway House for Protected Teenagers. The electricity and water cost money. They need food and blankets and soap. And dear God, they need deodorant! Did you know that’s not a thing in some countries? Not to mention, some of them have nothing. Last night’s arrivals? Literally the clothes on their backs. And Lili is from, like, the armpit of Estonia and keeps stealing from the other girls because everything she has fits in a backpack. Jabulela washes the same Catholic school uniform every night and wears it again in the morning.”

Dean had grown up poor, poorer than he’d understood as a child, but some of the Potentials were lucky if they had enough dirt to rub together. Not for the first time, he felt being the Slayer was less of a superhero calling and more of a crapshoot punishment.

But anger would have to wait. “Didn’t Giles say some of the Potentials’ parents offered to help?”

“Yeah, and they’ve been sending money, but it doesn’t come close to covering everything.”

“Can you ask for more?”

Buffy sighed. “‘Hey! It’s that stranger who has your daughter. I’m going to need more money for pizza rolls.’ No way that doesn’t sound like a terrible ransom note.”

Dean shrugged. “Pot pie instead of pizza rolls? It’s a comfort food.” A plan to hustle pool in LA all weekend half formed in his mind. “Anyway, I got it covered.”

“Legally?”

“Legally.”

“Safely?”

“Beggars and choosers, babe.” If Sunnydale’s citizens shifted from trickling exodus to pack-and-grab panic, looting would become too easy of an option to ignore.

He lead her upstairs to a recently vacated apartment he’d spent all morning painting. His boss believed all the people leaving town were merely a winter trend, and by spring people would be looking for places to live. Dean disagreed, but he was paid to paint.

“Maybe we could key his car?” Buffy pondered, tossing her purse and coat in the middle of the room.

“What?”

“Wood. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I don’t need him to look out for me. If work and slaying was too much, I would have said something.”

“No you wouldn’t,” he laughed. “You’d just keep wobblin’ with that globe on your back.”

“Not like I can put it down,” she grumbled. “Besides, if he wanted to help, he could have -- crazy idea -- volunteered to help. But nope. He jumped straight to a backhanded firing.”

“Flaming bag of dog shit,” Dean said as he poured the paint.

“Is that your new nickname for Wood, or your suggestion for swift retribution?”

“Both.”

Loading his roller, he started the second coat of paint. “Can I help?” Buffy asked.

He smirked at her khakis and black turtleneck. “Not really dressed for it, Girly.”

She cocked her head to the side -- her signature I don’t like what I’m hearing move.“Got another roller?” A moment later she was painting beside him, stripped down to only her black panties.

He managed to resist for half an hour before they collapsed into a pile of paint-flecked limbs, their sweat-slick bodies cooling in the afterglow.

Spreading her fingers over his chest, she purred, “Being unemployed isn’t so bad.”

“Told ya work was overrated.”

Before the priest stood a young brunette -- fourteen, on the cusp of womanhood -- with a crushed windpipe and a handprint-shaped bruise on her throat. A handprint that fit the priest perfectly.

Caleb picked up the leftover wine from communion and guzzled it. Some Catholics believed the wine turned into the blood of Christ. He liked the idea of the blood of a deity running down his throat.

He smiled, slick and satisfied. “She was the first little whore I killed. You got a point in showin’ me this?”

“You have a long history of doing God’s work, Caleb,” said the specter.

Caleb pinched out the candles in his sanctuary, enjoying the sizzle and hiss of his flesh. “Keepin’ the world clean of uppity women is God’s highest calling. And who are you, ghosty?”

“I’m one of God’s angels. He has a job for you. There is a houseful of uppity women who need to be put in their place.”

The killing visions had been flooding his dreams. Girls screaming. Crying. Blood soaking through their dresses. He’d wake up from them hard and aching. Surely, this was a sign. “I am a willing servant if you will but show me the way.”

I have a slight plot hole regarding The First and "Amends." I was going to fix it in this chapter with a phone call between Angel and Buffy after she's read Giles' journals, but I feel very crunched for time. Being a new mom (and being sick all the time, thanks winter), I don't have as much time to write. I'd rather get you this chapter with a minor plot hole than hold on to it for another six months.

next chapter

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secretagentspydetectiveninja · 6 years

Text

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 60

Turns out “I thought a skateboarding snake was cool, but a skateboarding robot is even cooler” is an actual sentence you can actually write

Anyway Kimax ahoy!

Also on AO3 as always where you can read the rest of the like 225k+ words (wow I really need to get a life)

The final year of school started off much better than either the first or the second had. Kim did not need to worry about suitors turning down courting gifts, or making enemies with people who should be allies, or catching the flu and being put into quarantine for several tedious months. No – this time round, things were actually looking up.

After letting Alya and the rest of his friends know the results of the International Alliance vote, she had told him that she would still keep a lookout for him just in case, but that he was certainly under much less pressure of assassination now, and the main threat was gone. That alone would have been enough to lift Kim’s spirits to levels they had not been at for a year at least, but as it was, something else was around to cheer him up even more.

Markov, Max’s little robot friend, was a hit with students and teachers alike. He followed Max around everywhere and commented on everything with that cute voice of his, asking questions all the time, his curiosity never satisfied, constantly learning more with each passing day. While he kept quiet in class, the rest of the time he absorbed knowledge like a sponge, making friends with everyone he could as he did so.

“You can’t do my homework for me, Markov!” Max laughed, sitting in the library with his robotic friend, while plenty of awed nobles watched from their seats.

“But I would like to help you!” Markov said, his dot eyes increasing in size to make him look even more adorable than usual. “You are having trouble, so–”

“Nnnnnope, no I’m not, I’m fine!” Max looked down at his work, his face warm. “Not having trouble, definitely not.”

Markov settled down onto the table beside him and decreased his volume until it was barely audible. “Max? All signs indicate that you are indeed unable to complete your homework without assistance.”

“Fine,” he replied, equally as quiet. “But I don’t want anyone else knowing that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve always been good at homework, and everyone has a certain impression of me. I don’t want to lose my reputation.”

“So is that why you were saying that you are not struggling with the homework, despite that fact being false?”

“Yes.” Max grimaced. “It’s called lying.”

Markov paused for a few seconds. “I see. I have just searched through my database and found that word, along with its definition. I understand now. You were lying, because you wanted the others to believe a fact that is untrue. Because otherwise it would make you unhappy.”

“Yes…”

Telling Markov things like this did not feel good. But hey, he had to know.

“Happiness appears to be a complex human emotion,” Markov mused, his volume slightly louder now. “I am still not sure I can fully comprehend it, as it seems in some ways, arbitrary.”

“I don’t understand it myself, Markov, and I am a human. It’s alright.”

“Perhaps in time, with more knowledge, I will be able to experience this emotion for myself.”

I doubt it, Max thought to himself. Creating a human-like robot was one thing. Creating a robot that could actually experience emotions, on the other hand, was way beyond the limits of possibility.

“So,” Markov said, “would you like assistance with your homework?”

Max sighed, knowing it would take him forever without help. “Yes please. But don’t tell anyone.”

By the time sports day arrived, the weather girls were both in a bad mood due to some ridiculous dispute over their commoner approval rates, despite the fact that such a thing for nobles was considered highly inaccurate due to most commoners not being very familiar with the nobility. Unfortunately this resulted in a sudden torrential downpour – after the activities had already started.

“Can’t you cancel this?!” Chloé was screeching at Duke Damocles from under a rather flimsy parasol with Lila and Sabrina. “I wanted to do the egg and spoon race so I can beat Alya this time, but I’m not letting the rain ruin my hair!”

“Sorry, but the activities have already commenced and the serious races have already been completed so it wouldn’t be worth it…”

“That is totally ridiculous! You reschedule this sports day right now or I’ll send a letter to my father!”

“We don’t have the funds!” Damocles cried, wringing his hands through his sopping wet beard in shame. “There simply isn’t enough money to schedule another sports day, Your Imperial Highness!”

Chloé stopped yelling abruptly, silent for several seconds. “Not enough money? You mean… has the school’s budget been decreased?”

“Yes, it has… though of c-course I don’t blame your father, His Imperial Majesty the emperor, definitely not, I’m sure he must need the m-money for something important…”

“My father is siphoning money from the school?” She turned to Sabrina and Lila. “Ugh, was the money he taxes out of the poor commoners not enough? Whatever does he need all that money for? Forget sports day, Alya can have the trophy this year I suppose…”

She clicked her fingers, and the trio took the parasol and headed back inside. Damocles breathed a sigh of relief.

Just a little distance away, Kim stood with his arms over Max, forming a protective barrier from the rain. “Max, seriously, you should go stand under the shelter with the snake and Markov…”

“But then I won’t get to cheer for you!” Max said. “It’s just a bit of rain, it won’t hurt.”

“Won’t you get ill?”

“That’s just a misconception, I’ll be fine. And anyway, what about you? You’re getting soaked!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…”

They were interrupted by the arrival of Alix, who stormed up to them, grabbed Kim by the arm, and began dragging him away. “You. Three-legged race. Now.”

“Oh, uh, are we teaming up then?”

“Yes. You chickened out of it two years ago, but I’m not having that this time.” She took the rope that a nearby noble handed to her and bent down to tie their feet together. “This time we are a team, whether you like it or not.”

Kim was about to protest that he certainly had not chickened out of it last time, before he suddenly remembered that the actual reason he hadn’t wanted to team up was arguably worse, so he kept quiet.

They lined up at the starting line, hardly anyone else taking part due to the crazy weather. Only Marinette and Alya stood in the row beside them, completely drenched but still grinning cheerfully. Max stood on the sidelines watching, along with the remaining teachers who hadn’t fled the storm yet. The track itself was muddy and half-flooded.

This was going to be… difficult.

The whistle to begin the race was barely audible over the downpour. Kim set off immediately, only for Alix to start complaining within less than a second.

“Hey, I’m short, don’t take such long strides! Go slower!”

“I’m not going that fast, it’s too slippery anyway!”

“Yeah but slow down a bit more, I can’t–”

“Mari and Alya are winning, we have to beat them!”

He was tempted to just pick her up and sprint to the end, but that would probably get them disqualified, not to mention that it would be a bit difficult when their feet were tied together. Going frustratingly slowly, he kept at it, until…

“Stop, my foot’s stuck!” he said. His shoe was trapped in the mud, and as much as he tried to pull it out, it wouldn’t budge.

“Oh, just take your shoe off and come on! We were almost catching up with them as well!”

“Ew, I’m not taking my shoe off, my socks will get all muddy–”

“Oh come on!”

He yanked his foot out of the shoe and, wincing, continued. “Fine… this is all your fault for making us go slow…”

“Are you blaming me for being short?”

“Oh shut up! Enough arguing, let’s just win this thing!”

He looked up to see that Marinette and Alya were almost at the finish line – already! No way, he couldn’t let them beat him! Well, not Marinette anyway. Right from childhood Marinette had been his opponent at everything, whether that was tennis or running or who could hold their breath the longest. Seeing her literally about to beat him at a race forced his rivalry instinct to kick in – with rather unfortunate side-effects.

Putting aside all concern for his teammate, he charged forward at top speed. He ignored the fact that poor Alix had slipped over and was now unhappily being dragged behind him through the swamp-like terrain, cursing him with as many different swear words as she could think of. He had to beat Marinette! He just had to!

By the time he reached the finish line it was too close to call. Who had crossed first? He turned towards a very unimpressed looking Lady Mendeleiev for the answer.

“Princesses Marinette and Alya are the winners,” she said. “And Prince Kim is disqualified for almost murdering his teammate.”

Marinette and Alya whooped, high fiving each other and running over to receive their trophy. Kim turned around and looked down to see…

Uh-oh. Now it hit him. Alix was sitting there in the churned-up remains of the waterlogged track, her hair and clothes covered in mud, both her shoes lost somewhere far behind. He did not doubt that had she not been coughing all the mucky water out of her lungs right now, she would have been yelling at him so much that it would make the sports day two years ago seem tame in comparison.

“Uh… I’m sorry…” He wasn’t sure how apologizing now would help. “I wasn’t thinking and I wanted to win and I…”

He stopped when he realized she had started laughing.

Okay, well… this was… good?

She untied the rope, but made no move to get up. “We’re such a disaster, aren’t we?”

“Well I am anyway,” Kim muttered.

“Yeah, well this one isn’t entirely your fault, ‘cause I’m the one who wanted to team up…” She tried to stand up now, but immediately slipped over again. “Ew, this stupid mud just went down my throat–” Trying again, she fell once more. “Oh – for god’s sake! Kim help me up, this stupid – I THINK A FROG JUST WENT DOWN MY FRONT, I HATE THIS – I’M NEVER GOING NEAR MUD AGAIN–”

He just stood there and watched her for far longer than he should have, resisting the urge to laugh. The sports day two years ago had been so different, and not just because of the weather. He hadn’t realized at the time that Alix’s intimidating personality was one that she dropped around friends, or that someone as cool and in-charge as she seemed to be could embarrass herself by slipping around and falling into the mud, or that she wasn’t some terrifying and bloodthirsty and strangely hot prince-killer.

She was actually just so… dorky.

He finally lent a hand to help her to her feet.

“Thanks,” she said. “About time, jeez.”

“Sorry, it’s just…” He looked at her grumpy mud-stained face, trying to figure out how to put it. “Honestly… what did I ever see in you?”

“Uh, excuse me?”

“Last sports day I thought you were way too cool for me. I liked you before I even knew you, and then it turned out you’re actually just an idiot, like me.”

“Thanks for the compliment, also I don’t care. Anyway, you wanna get out of this rain or not? Let’s go!”

Very carefully, she began walking off towards the paved paths where the mud problem was not so severe, almost slipping over a few times along the way. Kim watched his stupid dorky friend for a few seconds, wishing he could go back in time and tell his past self about this wacky race just to see the reaction. It was insane to think just how much everything had changed over the course of two short years…

The autumn ball was to take place just a few days later. Unfortunately, Max had caught a rather nasty cold and ended up spending the day in bed with Markov tending to him – while vehemently denying that his cold was caused by his brief stint in the rain. After all, neither Kim nor Alix were ill, and they had been the ones actually doing the race.

There was a knock on his door in the evening, and Markov answered to see that it was Kim there, not wearing the usual formal clothes that would be required for one attending the autumn ball.

“Hey Max, hey Markov,” he said, entering the room and shutting the door behind him. “You know when you’re ill you can get the servants to look after you, right?”

“I wanted to do it myself!” Markov said. “Human infections can easily be transmitted through close contact. The servants would have a high probability of becoming infected themselves, which would reduce their functioning like what has happened to Max. As I am unable to ‘catch a cold’ the best course of action is for me to look after Max instead until he is able to delete the virus from his system and function at full capacity.”

Max cleared his blocked-up throat. “Kim, aren’t you going to the autumn ball?”

Kim came and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Nah. What’s the point of going without you?”

“Kim, really…”

“Shhh.” He put the back of his hand against Max’s forehead. “Your temperature, it’s… uh… I don’t know. I can’t tell. Markov, does he have a high temperature?”

“Yes,” Markov said, whizzing over to them. “I checked 4.5 minutes ago. Max’s temperature is 39.2°C, which is above the normal human temperature. He appears to be overheating. Though he has also warned me to not take minor fluctuations in temperature too seriously, as being in your vicinity causes him to overheat too, though he has not been able to give a sufficient reason why.”

Max looked away, knowing he must be “overheating” right at that second. While Markov was starting to get the hang of how humans reacted in normal situations, being in love was something the poor robot could simply not comprehend. To him, it must have seemed like Max totally malfunctioned whenever Kim was around, with nothing to explain it.

“Kim, you appear to be overheating too,” Markov was saying now. “The blood flow to your cheeks has increased substantially. Why is that happening? Is the room at an uncomfortably warm temperature for you?”

Kim rubbed a hand on the back of his neck rather nervously. “Um… I’m just… I’m…”

“He’s blushing,” Max said, before coughing again – his throat was just killing him. Next time he was not taking good health for granted.

“Blushing,” Markov repeated, followed by a pause as he inevitably accessed his internal database. “An involuntary reaction, usually caused by emotions such as embarrassment, anger, or love. I see.”

Max sank further into the bed, pulling the blanket right up to his face. Hearing Markov talk about things like blushing just felt so surreal right now, and he was not sure whether that was anything to do with his fever or not. Being ill did tend to fog his brain up. And so did being near Kim, though in a different way…

“Kim, though I know my advice will likely be futile, I suggest you leave the room,” Markov said. “The longer you stay in close proximity to Max, the likelier it is that you will become infected too.”

“I know that,” Kim said. “It’s okay. I don’t really care.”

“Really? But your physical state is important to you, you have told me that before. Being at reduced functioning will make you unhappy.”

“I don’t mind. I just wanna be with Max tonight. This time last year when I had the flu, he was there for me, so…”

“But Max told me he was vaccinated against that particular flu strain, meaning that he was unable to become infected, so there was no risk to being near you. But you are very likely to become ill if you stay here right now.”

“That’s fine, it’s just a cold. I wanted to spend the evening of the autumn ball with Max, so I will.”

Kim’s voice was just so soft and warm. Max descended further into the blankets, knowing that this sudden feeling of being all flushed was nothing to do with his cold. He had really wanted to spend this evening with Kim too. He just hadn’t expected to be stuck in bed with a blocked nose all day.

“Humans can be very illogical due to their emotions,” Markov said, a hint of amusement in his robotic voice. “There is so much for me to learn about. But humans seem to be better at predicting each other’s emotions than I am. Alix warned me that if Kim comes to visit Max, he will be unlikely to leave for quite some time.”

Kim chuckled. “Yeah, she knows us way too well��”

“Anyway, I’m going to go and see her right now. She also told me that she is not attending the autumn ball, and that if I join her then she will teach me how to skateboard! I would very much like to learn. And if Kim is here to take care of Max, then I am free to leave.”

Max cleared his throat again. “Markov, are you sure you want to leave? You’ve never been anywhere without me, I mean, I trust you, but…”

“I’ll be fine, Max! Alix will take care of me. You should be more worried about yourself! Though perhaps you are not worried at all, because Kim is with you, and your thought processes seem to be oddly impaired whenever that is the case…”

Max pulled the covers all the way up to his eyes. “Okay fine, bye Markov!”

“Bye! See you later, when I’m a skater!”

He chuckled at his little rhyme, then flew out of the room. Max still stayed mostly hidden beneath the blankets. What with Markov constantly around, it had been quite a while since he’d had more than a moment alone with Kim. He knew how much Kim cared about his own health, always staying far away from anyone who had a cold and making sure he ate plenty of healthy food to build a strong immune system, and yet he was willing to put all that aside for Max…

“Markov is so awesome,” Kim said, sincere admiration in his voice. “You did such an amazing job, seriously. I keep forgetting he’s a robot, ‘cause he acts so much like an actual person.”

Oh, that was just so sweet! And oddly true – even Max sometimes forgot that Markov was a machine, rather than an actual thinking being. But then again, what was the difference? Was there one? Could a machine “think”? Or was Max too fever-ridden and out-of-it for his brain to be making any sense right now?

“And now he’s gonna learn to skateboard,” Kim continued. “I thought a skateboarding snake was cool, but a skateboarding robot is even cooler.” He ran a hand over Max’s hair. “And you’re the coolest of all. Not literally, ‘cause you have a temperature, but you know what I mean. You are so worth missing the autumn ball for.”

“You’ve never even been to the autumn ball,” Max mumbled from under the blankets.

“Huh, true. I guess I’ll never get to now, since this is our last one. But you know what? I don’t care. Hanging out with a friend or a sweetheart is always gonna be better.” Kim lifted up the corner of the blankets and crawled under, laying beside Max and pulling in him for a cuddle. “Okay wow, you are absolutely boiling. Do you need some of that… para-whatsit?”

“Paracetamol,” Max breathed, wondering if Kim could feel his ridiculously fast heartbeat. “I already had one about 10 minutes ago, I’ll be fine…”

“Oh good. Tell me if you’re getting too warm and I’ll go get some water or something, okay?”

Of course Max was too warm, he was too wonderfully, dizzyingly warm, but the last thing he wanted was for Kim to let go. Poor Kim, who was no doubt going to get ill as a reward for his efforts…

“You’ll catch the cold for definite,” Max said.

“Whatever. A cold’s no big deal. My immune system is the toughest ever, it’s totally gonna fight off all those germs, no problem.”

“Well then, since you don’t mind…” Max allowed himself to be a little self-indulgent. “…please don’t let go?”

Kim, in response, pulled him a little closer. “Aw, Max… I love you, you know?”

Max was not sure whether he was actually seeing heart symbols in Kim’s eyes, or whether that was the fever messing with him. Whatever it was, the expression on Kim’s face was cute. So very cute…

Half in a dream, he pulled away slightly just as Kim was about to kiss him, giggling. “I can’t breathe through my nose, it’s all blocked up.”

“Oh, well I guess you’ll have to wait till you can breathe before you get a kiss, then!”

“Or… you know…” Max was sure he was overheating again. As ill and tired as he was, he did not want to end the night at just a hug, though perhaps the fever was making him oddly reckless. “You can still kiss me, just… on the… um… I mean… I suppose I could just wear a scarf later, to hide the… um, if it shows…”

Kim was silent for a few seconds, blushing profusely. He traced a finger over Max’s neck, v-e-r-y lightly, following it with his eyes, seemingly lost in thought. Then he frowned and said, “Fine, but if Alix mentions anything about vacuum cleaners to you, kill her immediately. Don’t even ask, just kill her.”

What? Max was partially convinced he was already dreaming, or maybe the fever was making him hallucinate, or something like that. Because that didn’t make any logical sense whatsoever. Or did it?

“What’s wrong with vacuum cleaners?” he asked.

“Everything.”

“What does Alix have to do with it?”

Kim sighed. “If I tell you, do you promise not to make fun of me?”

“Yes.”

“And do you promise to murder Alix in cold blood if she ever brings it up?”

“Um… am I hallucinating?”

Kim laughed, before giving Max a kiss on the tip of his nose. “Okay fine, don’t kill her. But seriously, it’s really embarrassing, and I don’t want her bringing it up again, so uh… if it’s relevant, then please do wear a scarf tomorrow, okay sweetie?”

He was slowly running his finger across Max’s neck again, in a way that made it so difficult to think, especially with a fever.

Or maybe it was nothing to do with the fever, and more that Max did not really care about vacuum cleaners, and just wanted Kim to hurry up and start being more romantic already…

“Okay,” he agreed.

The next morning Kim lay in bed, his nose and throat burning, almost certainly running a high fever. Had he caught Max’s cold? Yep. Was it worth it? Also yep.

He had already sent Max a message on his phone and got a reply saying that while Max was better today, he was indeed still ill, and still had to remain in bed with Markov taking care of him. Kim waited in his own room for someone to check up on him – he had missed breakfast, so surely a maid or nurse or someone would be sent up to his room. For good measure he sent a message to Alix too, to let her know why he wouldn’t be around.

Soon enough there was a knock on his door. He called for whoever it was to come in, not bothering to look. He just lay there staring at the ceiling. Being ill was so unpleasant, and he was so unaccustomed to it! Though at least this was nowhere near as bad as the flu had been last year. This was just a simple cold, thank goodness. It would pass quickly.

“What’s up, beanstalk? I hear you got ill too.”

He almost jumped out of his skin – that was no nurse! Shuffling up until he was sitting against the back panel of the bedframe, he saw that sure enough, it was none other than Pharaoh Alix who was walking over to him, carrying a bowl of something steaming. The snake was sitting on her shoulders as usual.

“You haven’t already gone and seen Max, have you?” Kim asked. His voice sounded hoarser than usual.

“Yep.” She sat up on the desk next to him. “He’s a bit better now, though he says he’s cold. Won’t take off that scarf, even indoors. He’s turning into Jalil, honestly.”

Oh, thank goodness, Max was wearing a scarf after all…

“Anyway, Markov’s too busy taking care of him to take care of you too,” she continued, “so I guess that’s up to me.”

“Don’t you have school?”

“It’s a Saturday, you Kimbecile. No school. I snuck into the kitchens and stole some soup for you, so you’d better appreciate it.” She handed the bowl to him. “You’d better not pass your cold onto me too, okay?”

“You could have just avoided that problem by letting the servants take care of me!”

“But you’re my best friend. I didn’t get to help you out when you had the flu, so I’m doing it now, okay? Now eat your soup. Or drink it, or whatever.”

That was so oddly nice of her. He took a spoonful of soup and tried to drink it, but it was so hot it burnt his tongue. “I think I’ll wait a while…”

“Yeah, take your time. I, um, kinda wanted to talk to you about something anyway.” She was fiddling around with the jewel on her headdress. “It’s not a big deal. I just wanted to know.”

Oh no, what was she going to say? People saying that things weren’t a big deal usually meant that they were a big deal.

“You and Max,” she began, “you obviously really like each other loads. And you’re super happy together, which is awesome. And like… you once told me that having crushes on people is overrated. But that was before you actually had a sweetheart. Now you’ve got Max, and I can tell you care about him a lot. So, um, have you changed your mind about that? Am I… am I missing out? Because I don’t like stuff like that?”

As calm as she tried to sound, even through the grogginess of being ill Kim could tell that she was worried. Last year when he’d had the flu, having a fever had caused him to say what was on his mind with no heed to consequences – no matter how cheesy. And having a fever right now, even if it was less severe, was causing him to feel much the same way.

“You’re not missing out on anything!” he said. “You’re the coolest friend ever!”

She smiled a little. “Thanks, but me being the coolest friend ever doesn’t mean I’m not missing out on something that’s obviously so nice and important to everyone.”

“No, no, wait, lemme explain…”

His brain was too addled to think properly, but he forced himself to try. Alix deserved it.

“What I’m trying to say is that you’re such a cool friend that it’s the same effect! I know I love hanging out with Max, but I love hanging out with you equally. Just ‘cause he’s my sweetheart, it doesn’t mean you’re not at the same level of importance! You’re so fun to hang out with and I think sometimes I take it for granted and I don’t show you I care enough, but if you really like me as much as I like you then I swear you’re not missing out on anything at all. You don’t have to be, like, into someone to love them!”

Had any of that even made any sense? He was just saying the first things that came to mind, with no thought to whether or not it was actually coherent. And judging by the way she was staring at him and not saying anything, it probably hadn’t been coherent at all.

“Okay, nothing I’m saying right now makes sense,” he said, unable to even stop now. “But I really like being friends with you. It makes me happy. And it’s not the same way I love Max, but that doesn’t matter. You’re cool to be around and you’ve done so much to help me out and I don’t know what I’d do without you. And every time you’ve told me how much you care about me, like that time in first year when you turned me down, or on the Cupid Festival, it’s such a special feeling. It doesn’t matter if you’re aro. You still get that special feeling, and it doesn’t have to be romantic. You have people you love, so you’re not missing out on anything.”

His throat was sore enough to prevent him saying anything more, but he had pretty much run out of things to say anyway. At this point he would just end up repeating himself. He just wanted her to know how much she meant to him, and how important he considered their friendship – had he made that clear enough? Should he have even said anything at all?

He just took a spoonful of soup and forced it down. With his blocked nose he couldn’t taste it at all. He looked up again to see that Alix wasn’t looking at him; she seemed to be lost in thought. The snake slithered off onto the desk, where it slowly began tapping out something.

- . .-.. .-.. / .... .. -- / -.-- --- ..- / .-.. --- ...- . / .... .. -- !

“What’s he saying?”

Alix had gone red. “Um… he says you should stop being a sentimental dork before he starts crying.”

-. --- / .-. --- -- --- / .. / -- . .- -. - !

“…And also he says you’re a punk bitch.”

Kim was sure she must be lying – though he wasn’t even sure that the snake was speaking real Morse code in the first place. Maybe it was just gibberish. There was no way a snake could learn Morse code, after all. Maybe Kim would have to learn it himself to see whether or not this was real.

“Anyway, now that I’ve delivered your soup I should be leaving…”

Alix hopped off the desk and picked up the snake. Had she got the answer she wanted here? It was impossible to tell, especially with this fever. Kim took another spoonful of soup as he watched her walk over to the door, hoping maybe she would return later and actually tell him whether or not she believed what he’d told her, or if he’d even made any sense.

She hesitated just before the door. The snake tapped a message on the side of her headdress.

-.. --- / .. - !

“Oh, fine…”

She turned around and finally looked at Kim properly.

“Kim, you seem kinda half delusional right now so you may not remember any of this anyway. But I guess I’ll say it.”

To his surprise, she smiled a little.

“I think of you as more than a friend, you know. I don’t mean in a mushy gross way! I’m still aro. But all the stuff you just said, it was… really nice. So thank you for that. And, um, we have been through a lot together. Sometimes I feel like the term ‘best friend’ just doesn’t cut it. Or maybe it does, and this is what it feels like to have a best friend after all… I mean, I don’t have much to compare it with, so maybe this is normal…”

She sighed and shook her head.

“I guess I’ll never really know. But what I’m trying to say is that you’re… you’re special to me. Yeah. And so to hear you say that I mean as much to you as Max does, that I’m special to you too… um… it makes me feel a lot better. And I believe you. I’m not missing out on anything. So thank you, Kim, for telling me all that, and for being my friend and beyond. Thank you for everything.”

Smiling at him so earnestly now, even blushing somewhat, truly meaning every word she was saying… If Kim hadn’t been struck down with illness he would have hugged her there and then for at least ten minutes. As it was he was barely holding back tears.

She was right though. Sometimes it did feel like “best friend” didn’t cut it. What else was there? True companion? Life partner? There were no words that could quite convey it. But maybe they didn’t need words anyway. They just knew.

It would have been a perfect wordless moment that could have lasted forever, had the snake not begun tapping out a new message.

.... --- -.-. -.- . -.--

Alix frowned at the snake. “Dude, what do you mean? Wait… you don’t mean… Max… and that scarf…?”

The snake nodded. She stared at it in shock for a few seconds, before suddenly grinning and pointing an accusatory finger at Kim.

“Oh, nice try Kim! I’ve just figured out what you and Max were up to yesterday! And why Max needs that scarf to hide his neck!”

Oh no… oh no… that darned snake hadn’t told her via Morse code, had it? That was just unfair – he thought he had escaped!

But hopefully she wouldn’t bring up the–

“Ha, I guess you guys didn’t need a vacuum cleaner after all, did you?”

She did. She brought it up. That stupid thing that was going to haunt Kim forever and ever now, a reckless deed from another timeline that he could never erase.

He hunched over his soup, refusing to look at her. “Please can you and your punk bitch snake get out of here before I stab you with this soup spoon?!”

She laughed a rather unnecessary, evil laugh. “Sure. See you later, vacuum cleaner!”

With that, she ran out of the door. Kim tried so hard not to smile – he shouldn’t find this funny! It should be annoying!

But even vacuum cleaners could not bring down his mood. He had the most amazing friend in the world, even if she was really irritating at times, even if she was a dork who he carelessly dragged through the mud to no avail, even if he had a rather embarrassing history with her. And he couldn’t help but smile, thinking about how special she was to him.

Maybe he had been ever so slightly wrong earlier. It wasn’t that having crushes was overrated, because to be honest, it wasn’t. Knowing that Max loved him back was always going to feel amazing. No, it was that having deep friendships was underrated. They were just as awesome – even to a hopeless romantic like Prince Kim.

(Hhh the morse code doesn’t show up properly on tumblr I don’t think but basically the snek is a sentimental dork)

#the next time i bring up vacuum cleaners in this fic just kill me instantly #royalty au #miraculous ladybug #le chien kim #max kante #kimax #markov #alix kubdel #random stuff #aish writes #the misadventures of prince kim

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