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realcube · 3 years

Text

ARCADE

summary ★ she needs to get the action figure that's in the claw machine for her sister’s birthday, so saiki does her the favour of using his a telekinesis to win it...along with a few other favours.

trigger warning ★ gambling, god, swearing, fem!reader & reader has a younger sister

construction on the new arcade near pk academy had finally come to an end. the grand opening was today after school so of course, nendou suggested that they attend as a squad. usually, saiki tried to avoid getting roped into outings like this but for a change, he actually agreed without the need for any further prying. that's because the arcade was attached to a small cinema where they'd be premiering the latest action movie — based on the TV show adaptation of the game — 'Olfana's Story X-2'. as it turns out, a few months after saiki gave the game a shot, it became a craze and a massive hit among speed-runners. so from it's new-found popularity, they developed a TV show series which inevitably flopped so now they have created a movie. only the most elite people among the gaming community were allow to see it before the official release date and they all said it was incredible; but there was not a doubt in saiki's mind that they were being paid to sing it's praise. a crappy game turned into a crappy show, now adapted into a movie was sure to be crappy. so you may be wondering why he even wanted to view the movie if he was set on it being awful. Well, there are two simple answers; curiosity and the mystery. since it was so exclusive, he had yet to overhear spoilers through his telekinesis and he now had a germanium ring in his possession so he could watch the movie in peace. also, having played the game but not seen the show, he was curious to see how bad the movie is going to be and perhaps he'd be able to get a good laugh out of it. but he made the mistake of mentioning his plan to see the movie which screened a few hours after the opening of the arcade, as now kuboyasu, nendou and kaidou were all going to see the movie along with him. In theory, it shouldn't be a problem since he'll have his germanium ring on but in practise, the world seems to be against saiki so one of his friends will probably end up stealing his popcorn or chatting throughout the entire movie. he'll just have to wait and see. kaidou and nendou did not even stop to take breaths as they raced on about how excited they were while they were all walking to the arcade. "i'm sure the movie is going to be sick!" kaidou exclaimed, followed by rapid head nods from nendou as he replied, "yup! And i can't wait to see what sort of games they have!" saiki was a bit excited himself but he didn't care to show it like the others did. but when he saw the vaporwave building covered with bright neon lights come into view, his lips curled into a small smile. though it was short-lived as he noticed the massive queue to get in; it appeared as though they weren't the only ones who had the idea to visit the arcade after school as he noticed many familiar faces standing in line, amongst crowds of others. all of their cheery auras dissipated for a few moments until kuboyasu perked up, approaching the doors to the arcade with a smug smirk, cutting in front of everyone in the line and gesturing for the boys to follow him, "don't worry about the queue, guys. follow me." nendou followed without any further questions but saiki and kaidou were a bit apprehensive. all three of them watched as kuboyasu stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the guard by one of the doors, muttering something in the man's ear, causing him to sweatdrop and hesitantly open the door with a shaky smile; allowing all four of them inside. "woah, that was awesome, aren!" kaidou yelled, not only out of awe but so he could be heard over all the cheering, laughing and game noises from inside the arcade. "yeah, that was so cool! but what did you say to that guy? he looked freaked out!" nendou inquired, surprising saiki with his actually intelligent observation. kuboyasu's hand found it's way behind his neck, rubbing it awkwardly as he chuckled, "oh, nothing! it's not important-- hey! how about you guys start playing your games and i'll go get the tickets we reserved, yeah?" "yeah!" kaidou and nendou cheered in unison, high-fiving the purple-haired boy before the all ran off in different directions, leaving saiki standing alone at the entrance. he fidgeted with his germanium ring, contemplating taking it off as he stared at kuboyasu; he really wanted to know what the teen boy could've said that'd incite such fear into a grown man, but he decided against it — merrily making his way towards the claw machines, leaving kuboyasu's secrets alone. ★★★★★★★★★★ "shit." he cursed under his breath as he watched the cyborg cider man plushie that he's been trying to win — for yuuta — for half an hour straight slip out of his grasp once again. 'these things are rigged. and what's the point in having psychic superpowers if i can't use them.' he thought to himself but had to quickly shake off the idea, as there was no way he could risk using his powers in such a crowded place, especially for a plush that wasn't even for himself but rather for an annoying kid. he sighed, slipping another coin into the slot and about to find the right state of mind until he heard a loud "fuck!" from in front of him. his head jerked up, scanning the area for the source of the noise until his eyes landed on you. the claw machines were lined up, back-to-back, and playing on the machine diagonal from him was a girl with enchanting (e/c) eyes which contrasted greatly with her disheartened expression as she stared at the box. the only emotion she wore was sadness as she stared at the machine, so out of curiosity, saiki slipped off his ring in order to read her thoughts; feeling no guilt in listening to the affairs of a complete stranger. 'c'mon, stupid claw machine, i need this!' your silky yet whiny voice rung through his mind, 'what's she gonna think about me tomorrow when i tell her that i couldn't get her the gift she's wanted? she's gonna hate me- even more than she already does. and now i've spent all my money on this silly game so i can't even try get her a crappy gift with the little money i had. Wow, (y/n), you're the worst big sister in existence.' saiki cocked his head to the side, peering through the glass of the machines to see the contents of the claw machine you were standing in front of and when he saw the limited edition, silver cyborg cider man action figure sitting on a pedestal — almost as if it was taunting the poor girl — he finally connected the dots. your hand dug through your pockets until you found the smooth metal surface of your final coin, 'just once more try. if i win her this action figure, maybe she'll finally respect me as her big sister! and this toy will surely make her more happy than any gift mom could've possibly thought of. i'll make her sixth birthday one to remember!' the dejected look on your face slow lifted into a determined one, but it wasn't very convincing as saiki — and anyone else — could see the worry and shame in your eyes as you dropped your last coin into the slot of the machine, giving you one more chance to redeem yourself and claim the title of 'best big sister in the world'. saiki watched you maneuver the claw of the machine with bated breath, admiring how your pretty nose crinkled and your tongue poked out from the corners of your perfectly glossed lips in concentration — 'ew, stop being a simp, kusuo.' he mentally rebuked himself before engaging with your scene one again. your fist slammed down against the big red button, followed by the claw opening and lowering over the box of the cyborg cider man action figure, slowly closing it's jaws around the box and grasping it perfectly, resulting in a slight gasp to escape your throat as your lips pulled into a grin. the claw kept it's grip in the toy as it lifted up, slowly making it's way over the hole where it would drop the action figure, straight into your possession. that is, if the grip didn't falter hence allowing the toy to fall down, off it's pedestal and onto the bottom of the compartment to join the rest of the more average action figures. "fuck!" you screamed in an almost identical way to which you did earlier, expect this one held more pain. 'this can't be happening; is this the third year in a row that i'm going to show up to my little sister's birthday party empty-handed?' you thought, your bottom lips quivering so you quickly bit down on it, staring at the damned toy before turning on your heels, shuffling away from the game with your head hung low, the thoughts which cried in your head about how much you budgeted and how hard you worked made saiki's heart sink. 'maybe i could take out a mortga--' your thoughts were abruptly cut off when you heard the noise of something falling behind you. whipping your head around to see what happened, you exhaled a sigh of relief upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary. however, you caught a glimpse of inside the machine which you had been cursing at and realised that the toy wasn't with the packaging peanuts where you left it, as if it magically disappeared in the few seconds you had averted your gaze. creeping up to it, your gaze darted around in search of anyone who might've won it in less than 5 seconds but that was unlikely. now that you were closer, you peered through the glass once more to confirm that the toy was in fact missing and you were right. recalling the noise of falling you heard just before you turned around, you dropped to your knees and lifted the flap to the compartment which held the good that people would win from the machine. you almost screamed with delight and shock when you laid eyes on the limited edition, cyborg cider man action figure that was tucked snugly inside. yanking it out, you pressed it to your chest and the tears you were choking back finally came running down your cheeks, but now they were from joy. "thank you, god." you whispered to yourself, making saiki chuckle from his spot at the claw machine which he hadn't moved from. he wasn't god — nor was he friends with god — but he didn't mind not being able to take the credit for his kind actions of using his psychokinesis to drop the box into the hole for you. honestly, he found that seeing you happy, sitting on the floor with brightest beam gracing your features along with your now cheerful thoughts in his head, was enough of a reward for him anyway. also, he appreciated how you didn't question how the box ended up in the hole and instead you just deemed it a miracle as you were too overjoyed to use logic; that sort of thinking saved saiki a lot of trouble. 'i should probably go home and wrap this.' your internal monologue had now calmed down slightly as you were now able to produce a thought that wasn't just a squeal of delight, 'hm, maybe once i am done i could come back and see the new movie that's premiering-- but i've not got much money left so i guess i shouldn't get ahead of myself.' you hummed, picking up the box along with yourself, dusting yourself off before heading towards the exit. saiki must've been staring for a tad too long though as you caught his gaze while brushing off your clothes. he cringed, instinctively darting his eyes away so you didn't think he was an ogling creep but the fact he appeared defensive probably didn't help. so he fully expected you to frown or cast him a dirty look, judging him for his actions but to his surprise, you simply chuckled. waving at the pink-haired boy before strolling off with the box under your arm. 'he seems cool. where i can get clips like those?' why were you thoughts making him blush like an idiot? time to put the germanium ring back on. ★★★★★★★★★★ as it turns out, nendou is surprisingly good at poker. he figured this out after he stumbled across the casino section of the arcade, and since he looks way older than seventeen, nobody questions it when he took a seat at one of the slot machines, under the impression that it was a fancy, old-timey arcade game. he was then offered a round of poker with some old dude with way too many gold teeth and nendou ended up taking the poor, stubborn guy's entire fortune. god-knows how many games with how-many people later, nendou was sitting on stacks of cash at a round table with a tired dealer, and two grown men — one crying into the shoulder of his arm-candy and the other weeping into the sleeve of his suit — while the three boys who had came to give him his ticket stood by, all wearing matching confused expressions. "uh, nendou." kuboyasu tapped his friend on the shoulder, waving the ticket in front of his face, "the movie is gonna start soon, we should start heading over there right now so we can buy snacks and get good seats." nendou raised an eyebrow, puzzled until he recalled that he was supposed to watch a movie today, "oh, that sounds cool and all but i'm having a lot of fun right here." he smiled, motioning to the large casino area. kuboyasu chuckled awkwardly, backing away from nendou slightly as he turned on his heels, ushering the two other boys away, "alright, well, have fun, nendou! don't stay out too late!" nendou sung an okay in response, sliding a kaidou some cash for the extortionate theatre snacks before he was rushed away by kuboyasu, the purple-haried boy not wanting to spend anymore time in the casino than needed. "if nendou isn't joining us for the movie then we have a spare ticket. here, saiki, you should have it!" "why me?" "uh, because you said you saw reita earlier. so if you see him again maybe you could offer him the spare ticket." 'absolutely not.' was vocalised as "sure." by saiki as he took the ticket from kuboyasu's outstretched hand, fiddling with it before stuffing it into his pocket along with his own ticket. "what i said to nendou was kinda an exaggeration" aren mused, glancing at his watch before looking up at his two pals, "we still have some time left before the movie starts. i'm gonna go handle some business — you two have fun, and try find reita!" kuboyasu said before pivoting on his heels in the direction of the staff only closet. the only thing saiki could think to do during this free-time was escape kaidou's pestering to play dance dance revolution — since saiki didn't want to dance, dance or revolute, he darted outside as soon as kuboyasu left, leaving kaidou alone and confused in the middle of the arcade. 'finally, fresh air.' saiki inhaled, filling his lungs with the cool air rather than the stuffy, arcade oxygen. scanning the surrounding area, his eyes caught a glimpse of a figure standing by the ATM, which he immediately recognised to be that of the girl he had helped earlier. so naturally, he flicked of his ring to figure out the reasoning behind the awkward look on her face. 'do i really want to withdraw money to see some stupid movie? i mean, i could leave that money to accumulate and buy something nicer later.' without thinking, saiki hummed in agreement with your thoughts as he had been in your position many times before. 'but then again, i should treat myself! when was the last time i saw a movie that wasn't pirated? hmm..' your indecisive thoughts matched perfectly with your conflicted expression as you stared through furrowed brows at the screen of the ATM. a soft breeze passed, followed by something light smacking against you face. you winced slightly, your hand snapping your cheek and grabbing at whatever it was; just by the texture, you could tell it was paper. holding it in front of you, upon further inspection you realised that the mysterious sheet that had flew into your possession was in fact a ticket to tonight's showing of 'Olfana's Story X-2' row G, seat 9. you double, triple checked it out of fear that this may be a cruel prank but no, this was completely real! you cheered, bouncing up and down and away from the ATM since you no longer needed it's services as god had blew the desired item straight into your hands — or your face, rather. either way though, you were over the moon, clutching the ticket to your chest and basking in your second miracle of the day. unbeknownst to you, saiki's smile was almost as wide as your own. you thanked god for your relief and saiki had no problem with that; seeing your little happy dance and squeals with your free ticket was enough for him. but actually, perhaps he might benefit himself after all, since the ticket he had given you previous belonged to nendou. meaning that saiki was seated at row G, seat 10; right beside you. ★★★★★★★★★★ saiki forgot to send a few notes flying your way in the wind, so you walked into the theatre and took your seat, completely snackless since you couldn't afford the exorbitant prices that they sold food for at the cinema. but perhaps that wasn't all bad as it revealed the possibility for saiki to offer you some of his popcorn as a conversation-starter, as he's usually not too good at socialising with new people — forget starting a conversation. however, he didn't need to work up any sort of courage to talk to you as the first thing you did when you plopped down in your seat beside him was turn to him and chirp, "oh, you're the guy i saw at the claw machines earlier! i love your clip thingies." your buoyant-adrenaline allowing your to be more bold than usual. the movie had yet to start, low murmurs of chatter coming from across the theatre as the trailers played in the background, "yes. and thanks." 'good grief, curse myself for not being more talkative. she probably thinks i'm dull now. perhaps i should channel my inner nendou..if i have one.' instead of ending the conversation right there like he assumed you would, you continued talking and saiki was..glad? why did he want to interact with you so much? he spends most of his days trying to avoid interacting with people; why were you any different? "no problem- also, did you get what you were playing for?" you inquired, tapping your lip in genuine curiosity. his ring remained on his finger, despite the fact he wanted to know what you thought about him, he didn't want to invade your privacy any more than he already has. "no. did you?" "yeah, i did, actually!" you chirped, not noticing the smirk creeping onto saiki's lips as you were too engulfed in your memories, "i thought those games were rigged but maybe they're not 'cause i managed to win this super special action figure that my sister has been on the top of my sister's wishlist for like- forever! and her birthday is tomorrow so i'll be a--" you cut yourself off, crinkling your nose in embarrassment, "sorry, i'm over-sharing, aren't i?" your enthusiasm made his heart flutter in a way he wasn't used to, if you didn't know any better, he would have thought he was having a medical emergency. his eyes widened slightly as you halted in your speech, "no, you're fine." he said, the uncharacteristic softness in his voice catching the attention of his two pals sitting on the other side of him. you shook off his comment, "i mean, i'm telling you my life story and i don't even know your name." you said, laughing sheepishly at the reality of the reality of the situation.

“saiki kusuo.” he blurted out without a second thought.

you blinked a few times, shocked that he’d give his details away so easily as you somewhat expected him to be more of a reserved type of guy but evidently, you were wrong. “uh, i’m (l/n) (y/n).” you choked, biting down on your bottom lip slightly before continuing you story as he seemed to wait expectantly, “as i was saying, today’s just been the best day ever! everything has been going so well, i’m a bit scared as to what is going to happen when it hits midnight.”

saiki nodded along, popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth before remembering his plan, “oh- would you like some?” he asked, offering you some popcorn from his bucket. unfortunately, the plan was a last-minute thing so he had only bought a small, but he still wasn’t opposed to sharing.

you shook your head, trying to grin foolishly wide at his kind offer, “no thank you.”

saiki nodded, about to open his mouth to reply until the blaring music from the beginning of the movie started, putting a swift end to your conversation — despite the fact saiki would much rather talk to you than watch the crappy movie — out of theatre etiquette.

★★★★★★★★★★

it was worse than you or saiki could’ve ever imagined.

it was painfully trying not to burst out laughing right in middle of it or lean over and giggle in each other’s ear at the silly dialog but out of respect for the other people in the cinema, you both stayed silent and just cast each other occasional knowing glances whenever something cringey happened on screen.

you both let out audible sighs of relief with the credits began to roll, accompanied by a slow indie song. “that was..something.” you mumbled, grabbing your purse and jumping to your feet, wanting to exit the building as soon as possible and hopefully leave your memories of the movie behind you.

“definitely.” he snickered, absently flicking the side of his empty popcorn bucket, “i stopped paying attention once i finished my popcorn.” it felt weird to vocalise — or rather, telepathically communicate — the comments he’d usually keep to himself; why did he feel so comfortable speaking to someone he only just met?

he began gathering his things, stuffing all of his rubbish in the bucket so he could dispose of it all at once. his mind was fixated on crappiness of the movie and how a five-year-old could’ve shot a much better film, until you grabbed his attention by calling out his name, followed by a question which made him blood run cold.

“before i go, it gotta ask’ how’d you do it? or more importantly, why’d you do it?”

he blinked several times before putting on his best bewildered expression, with the idea that maybe if he played dumb, he could gaslight you into thinking that it never happened or that he had nothing to do with it. “what?”

“oh, don’t give me that!” you scoffed, narrowing your eyes at the boy, “i’m not stupid. every time something good happened to me, you were nearby. i’ve connected the dots so fess up. why did you do all those nice things for me? was it out of pity or are you that nice to everyone?”

“i’m that nice to everyone.”

“i don’t believe you.” you snapped, fixing your tone when you remembered that even though he was lying to you, he still helped you get the present for you sister and gave you his spare ticket. “i don’t care if you’re not gonna give me a straight answer, but at least let me make it up to you.”

he huffed, an unimpressed look covering his features before you even proposed your idea. there was really nothing he could possibly need from you. what were you going to give him that he wasn’t capable of obtaining on his own? so he frowned, ready to decline your offer.

“i saw that you bought one of those jelly pots from the snack stand and i actually work at a little café in the town, so i might be able to get you few things for free or discounted?”

“yes.” wait, that wasn’t refusal.

“great!” you chirped, glad that you wouldn’t have to pry further, “does later this week sounds good? we could meet up here then i can walk you to the café- or i could give you my number and we can arrange a date later?”

“sure.” saiki said without thinking once again.

but it wasn’t as though he regretted it when you slipped the piece of paper you had scribbled your number onto, into the front pocket of his shirt, tapping it with a smile. “alright! i’ll see you later then- unless you want to walk home with me?” you fidgeted with your fingers slightly, instantly regretting what you just came out with. not because you didn’t want to walk with him, but due to the fact you highly doubted he was going so say accept so you mentally prepared for the impact of his harsh rejection.

“sure.”

★★★★★★★★★★

BONUS

saiki ended up walking home with some girl he met at the theatre so that left kuboyasu and kaidou to fetch nendou once the film finished. they both searched the casino area for almost half an hour but neither of them had any luck finding nendou. that was, until kuboyasu had to take a step outside to escape the casino as he noticed an old friend of his playing on the slot machines, and he found nendou crouched by the garbage cans, on his phone.

“nendou! we’ve been looking all over for you- why are you out here by the trash? and what happened to all your money?!”

nendou chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with his spare hand, “fun story actually. i was doing so well and i was on my way to becoming a millionaire until these schoolgirls came marching in and absolutely slaughtered me! it was so embarrassing and the only way i could escape them was by running away so i hid back here.”

kuboyasu’s aura just screamed ‘disappointed but not surprised’, “so you’re telling me that you lost millions to highschool girls?”

“they might’ve been middle-schoolers, i’m not too sure. i didn’t get a very good look at ‘em but they were all wearing creepy red uniforms.”

all kuboyasu could do was massage his temples to ease his headache at the stupidity of his friends, “so you lost all your money to school girls in creepy red uniforms?” he repeated aloud, just to make sure he was hearing things correctly.

“yes. but not all my money.” he said, pulling out his wallet and grandly opening it to reveal a few notes and a button, “i’ve still got enough to spend on ramen with my bros!”

#the disaster of psi kusuo saiki #saiki headcanons #saiki kusuo no psi nan #saiki no psi nan #saiki k x reader #saiki x reader #kusou saiki #saiki imagines #kusuo x reader #kusuo saiki x reader #the disastrous life of saiki k.#saiki k headcanons #psychic kusuo #kusuo saiki

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katalicz · 5 years

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(You can also find this on AO3 here!)

“This is, by far, the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.”

“You know what?” Bandit starts, his chin resting on his hand as he watches Blitz chug down another glass of beer in 5 seconds flat, caught somewhere between disgust and amusement. The crowd around them cheer as he slams the glass down, and Fuze grumbles something under his breath in defeat before tossing a £5 note in Blitz’s direction.

Blitz pretends to bow victoriously, much to the joy of the crowd, and Bandit watches as Valkyrie pushes her way forwards to take the seat opposite them.

Just as she sits down, Thermite hollers for karaoke and successfully diverts most of the crowd over to the other side of the room where the machine patiently awaits. Valkyrie looks torn for a brief second – she normally performs at least one song, picked out by Blackbeard and almost always something dirty – before Blitz waves at her and says, “I’ll still be here later, go and sing!”

She grins at him, holds her hand out for a fist bump, and leaves just as quickly as she’d arrived, leaving Blitz leaning into Bandit’s side and grinning merrily. His cheeks are flushed from the alcohol and his eyes are dancing, and Bandit would lean over to kiss him if they weren’t sat in the middle of a crowded pub. Whilst the base knows that the pair of them are officially a thing (and have been for months), it's apparently still new enough that every little gesture makes them coo - or, in the case of Smoke, toss a handful of condoms at them at every given opportunity. It’s a bit like being back in high school, really - especially since four of the younger operators are now doing a staggeringly accurate rendition of Britney Spear's Toxic.

“What do I know?” Blitz grins, interrupting Bandit’s train of thought and gently kicking him in the calf. He's got a tiny bit of foam stuck to the top of his lip, which is endearing and gross and makes him look ridiculous. Bandit takes pity on him and wipes it away with a fond roll of his eyes.

“This is, by far, the stupidest thing you've ever done,” he says mildly, because it truly is. Fuze had been the last in a line of four to be defeated by Blitz’s lack of a gag reflex and subsequent ability to drink down anything far quicker than a normal human should probably be able to. It’s both impressive and gross, and he’s a little more than relieved that it only happens on a rare occasion, like before a rare day off, because it usually ends up with Blitz being drunk and needing to be carried home, which isn't exactly the easiest job in the world.

Blitz throws his head back and laughs, audible even over Rook’s singing. “I've made 20 euros, this is the best idea!” he replies, voice almost a shout and drawing a few looks back their way.

“You definitely haven't,” Bandit tells him, plucking the money from Blitz’s hands and putting it in his wallet with the rest of Blitz’s winnings. “And I'm pretty sure you've had enough, now, if you've seriously forgotten the currency.”

“I was joking!” Blitz quickly says, in a way that makes Bandit believe that he was not joking at all. “And it's not that late!”

He points towards the clock on the wall, which currently reads 21:43, and means that he’s been in the pub for going on three hours. Bandit had arrived an hour later – there had been an unfortunate situation involving a forklift, an ammo crate, and a fire axe back on base – so he’s not exactly sure when Blitz started, but he’s fairly sure that Blitz has had plenty all the same.

Blitz pouts sadly, which is ridiculously effective, because Bandit has never been able to deny Blitz anything at the best of times, let alone when he looks so sad. It’s something he only ever does when he’s in the stage between ‘drunk’ and ‘sloshed’, at least, which is a small bit of comfort when Bandit gives in.

He sighs, cursing his soft heart, and gives Blitz a fiver back - which should be able to buy him a single beer and not much more. He receives a quick, “I love you, you're the best!” and a firm kiss on the cheek in kind before Blitz is gone in a flurry of surprisingly coordinated movement, presumably in search of Valkyrie, who’s perched on the arm of a chair and looking rather out of breath. Someone whistles from across the room: he's almost 100% sure it was IQ, so he doesn’t bother responding, and instead turns his attention to the tiny stage where a frazzled looking Thatcher is now arguing with the karaoke machine.

Montagne comes to keep him company for a while – mostly to moan about their dumb, idiot teammates and their seemingly endless trend of getting into trouble, which means he’s had at least two glasses of brandy. Bandit lets him waffle on, half listening to the older man’s rambling thoughts and half keeping an eye on Blitz, who is at the bar with Smoke and Mute and likely to end up in trouble at some point in the near future if he’s not careful.

He makes his return four songs later, which is rather a bit earlier than Bandit was expecting. His £5 has become £35, which is unsurprising, and his legs are working just well enough to get him to their table without falling over.

He staggers to a halt, face flushed and wobbling on his feet, and Bandit just barely manages to sling an arm out around his waist to catch him before he tumbles into the wall.

“I'm back!” he shouts, voice slurred and happy, and Bandit is almost annoyed by how ridiculously fond he is of the idiot.

Montagne jumps up with surprising coordination to help steer Blitz into a seat, which is a relief, because Bandit’s arm isn't strong enough to hold up the entirety of Blitz’s weight by far, despite Blitz’s best efforts to make him do so.

“You're back,” Bandit replies dryly, accepting the wet kiss Blitz plants on his forehead.

“I'll leave you to it,” Montagne says with an exaggerated wink, and laughs as Bandit flips him off.

Blitz smiles warmly at him until the music starts back up, the speakers blaring the bass with far too much force. It’s enough to make Bandit wince, so he can only imagine how loud it is to Blitz, who drops his head to rest against the sticky surface of the table.

“Can we go?” Blitz asks, hands pressing against his temples. “It’s a bit loud, my brain hurts.”

“You’re an idiot,” Bandit tells him, gently patting him on the head and earning a whine for his trouble. “Have you had any water?”

Blitz groans, which Bandit takes as a no, so he pushes his half full glass of lemonade across the table to him, because any drink is better than no drink, and texts IQ to say that they’re leaving.

She sends him a myriad of emojis in return in place of anything remotely useful, so he texts Ash instead. He gets a thumbs up from her, which is better than nothing, so he gently prods Blitz until he sits up and drinks the lemonade.

“Come on, I’ll take you home,” he says, waving at IQ across the room before standing up and nudging at Blitz’s shoulders in an attempt to make him move.

“My face hurts,” Blitz replies, ever so eloquently, and lets Bandit heave him upright.

“I told you that you’d had enough,” Bandit huffs, wrapping an arm firmly around his waist and beginning the slow walk towards the door. It’s a bit of a task, really – the tables are close together and still mostly occupied, and Blitz is made almost entirely of solid, compact muscle, which makes him far heavier than he looks. It’s one of Bandit’s favourite things about him apart from at times like this, when it’s far more of a hinderance than a help. “For someone so smart, you’re incredibly stupid, sometimes.”

Blitz blushes and flops his head to rest on Bandit’s shoulder. He mumbles something that Bandit doesn’t quite hear – probably a denial, because Blitz is terrible at taking any sort of compliment – before gently squeezing on Bandit’s wrist.

“’Love you,” he says, voice slurred but undeniably affectionate, and it makes Bandit’s heart jump in his chest in the exact same way it did six months ago, when Blitz had first blurted it out.

“Yeah, I know,” he replies, gently pressing his mouth to Blitz’s temple. He smells like beer and sweat and it’s not particularly pleasant at all, but it’s Blitz, so he can’t bring himself to care. “I love you too.”

This was a bit of a silly one instead of anything too serious, I hope u like it anon ily <3

#r6s #rainbow six siege #bliban #banbli

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red-5 · 6 years

Text

A Christmas Carol

You enlist the help of Steve and Bucky to show Tony the simple charms of a good, old fashioned Christmas carol.

Rogers!Reader

A/N: A lighthearted AU I wrote in an attempt to not be such a Scrooge. Gif not mine.

You still had to squint every time you walked into the common area on your way to the kitchen. Even after nearly a decade of living in this fast, loud, bright decade, it still managed to send your senses into overload. The Christmas tree gleamed bright and proud, nestled in the corner by the window and adorned in what Tony insisted was an unprejudiced, ‘contemporary’ color scheme of scarlet and gold. Either way, you preferred the muted yellow glow of bubble lights and carefully strung, and even more stealthily consumed, popcorn strings over anything you had seen so far.

It was strange, to be homesick, even though you never really left home to begin with. Anyone who was anyone within S.H.I.E.L.D, the Avengers Initiative, or any person, company, or organization that had ever been affiliated with either knew of your outrage at the injustice that had been inflicted on you. Not for what they had done to you personally, but the reasons behind it. You still had dreams about gasping back to life, tumbling off the cold, sterile table to land in a choking heap on the floor. They had spared none of the pomp and circumstance they had provided your brother.

He was the weapon, you were the insurance.

At least, that was the gist. You were there to ‘help him assimilate.’ What they meant was, keep him under control until such a time as they needed another Rogers to step into the chamber. They had shrouded the true meaning of their words with jargon and flowery speech in a blatant underestimation of your intelligence. You didn’t remember the entire welcome speech, rage howling in your ears, mingling sourly with stinging pain after hearing what had happened, the war, the crash. You had known something bad had happened that day even before the telegram arrived, even through the pain from losing the man that had grown to become a second brother to you still ringing fresh in your mind. That was the thing about being a twin, the intuition that no one else in the world understood. The other nurses had cooed soft words of comfort, that it was just stress and lack of sleep, that Captain Rogers was fine and wouldn’t be too pleased to hear the Army had worked his sister to collapse.

None of them were ever able to look you in the eye again.

As it turned out, you weren’t long for the 40’s. What was dressed up as an invitation to debrief Captain Steven Rogers’ last remaining family member on the true nature of his service, and express their condolences for his sacrifice, had taken a dark turn. The last thing you remember was the harsh bite of the plastic mask across your nose and the bitter taste of the gas that filled your nose and mouth. You had heard stories about the legendary tantrum Peggy had thrown when she found out, and to this day were still distraught you had missed it.

The sly wink she had given you when you had visited her at the hospital almost made up for it.

“Oh, hey there Elsa,” Tony called from the couch.

It had taken you the better part of the time you had been awake to forge a relationship with the eccentric billionaire. Your mother’s words would ring through your head every time you saw his face and saw his father staring back.

‘Burden not the son for the sins of the father.’

And so, it was now with ease that you cracked a grin and chuckled back at him. His eyes glittered mischievously from underneath his Santa hat, so that was probably at least his 2nd glass of scotch. Christmas was still a few days away, but he had been in the holiday spirit since the day after Thanksgiving.

“Good evening, Mr. Humility, dipping into the medicine a little early tonight, aren’t you?”

You quirked a teasing eyebrow at this scoff and almost defiant sip of the amber liquid sloshing in his glass.

“It’s Christmas.”

His go-to excuse for everything for nearly a month now. To emphasize his point, he barked out a command at F.R.I.D.A.Y to ‘crank the music up!’ The tinny, pop version of one of your personal favorite Christmas Carols made your face scrunch as you went about the kitchen gathering supplies for movie-night popcorn.

“What’s the matter, Grandma? Don’t like the kid’s music?”

You spared him a glare over your shoulder as you shoved the bag into the microwave.

“No,” you began, reaching to the cabinet above your head to retrieve a bowl as the gadget whirred to life. “I just miss good, old fashioned Christmas music sometimes.”

He rolled his eyes, head flopping back into the cushions.

“Jesus, I can’t with the three of you.”

“What did we do now?” Your brother’s voice called as he rounded the corner, bright, blue eyes alight and sparkling.

It nearly took your breath away to see him like this sometimes. He always loved Christmas, even when it was terrible. His face would light up in wonder of the season through the hacking cough that always accompanied it, quick with a feeble yet cheery ‘Merry Christmas!’ to anyone that would listen. It was cruel, to have grown up so healthy, so… normal, and watch your other half suffer the way he did. You remembered the look of utter shock and grief that had crossed your mother’s face when you had crawled into her lap as a child one particularly harsh winter evening as Steve burned and trembled with fever, laid your head on her shoulder, and asked her if it was your fault. If you had taken all the strength away, taken too much, grown too much, and not left any for Stevie. Despite the assurance spoken through suppressed tears, it wouldn’t be the first time you would have that thought.

It took years for him to be able to look at you without at least a trace of sadness in his eyes, at war with the conflicting feelings of joy when he realized he wasn’t alone, that you were real and alive, and despair that you had been roped into this mess, his mess. That his choices and his actions had left you alone in the world, and at the mercy of merciless men.

“I swear, all I have left on old-person bingo is for one of you to declare ‘back in my day!’ before beginning a sentence.”

“I said ‘old-fashioned’ again,” you said flatly, ignoring Tony’s jab.

“Ah,” Steve said, nodding in understanding. “The music?”

You nodded as he grimaced in understanding. That was the last straw.

“Alright,” Tony announced, slapping a hand to his thigh and hauling himself to his feet. “You want old, boring Christmas music? Fine. Let’s hear it then.”

You began to chuckle at his challenging look when a thought struck you, stilling your movements and causing you to turn with your arms crossed across your chest.

Challenge accepted.

“Okay,” you chirped happily, an impish smile spreading across your face.

As usual, Steve knew exactly where you were going with this. The smile dropped from his face as the one on yours only grew wider.

“Bucky!” you called sharply over the sputtering pops sounding from the microwave before the protest you saw forming on his face had the chance to evolve into words.

A thump, a crash, a muted curse, and a slamming door later, a mess of brown locks popped from around the corner leading to the living quarters.

“Yes, ma’am?” He grumbled crankily, and you had to admire his attempt to remember his manners.

Judging by the rumpled state of his hair and clothes and the pieces of scotch tape and scraps of brightly colored paper that stuck wedged into the plates of his arm, he had been trying to wrap presents. Again. Your heart swelled. He was trying so hard.

“Get in here, we’re going to sing a Christmas carol for our generous proprietor,” you said sweetly, batting your eyelashes sweetly to combat the sarcasm that dripped from your words, Tony’s eyes lighting up brighter than the garish tower of gaudy ornaments and twinkling lights that shone from the corner.

He looked from you to the sticky strips that had tangled themselves around his uncooperative fingers in contemplation for a moment before conceding with a reluctant nod. He never could say no to you, neither one of them could. You nearly squealed with joy, wrapping your hand around your brothers arm to drag him into the open space of the common area, pointedly ignoring his bellyaching as Tony shouted for the others gleefully.

One by one they trickled in as the three of you situated yourselves in the center of the room, the two men straightening their backs and squaring their shoulders at your fretting and pestering, with the exception of Wanda and Vision who sauntered in arm in arm to take their places on the love seat.

“Movie time?” Sam asked, rubbing his hands together happily.

“Better,” Tony said merrily with a blinding grin. “The Rogers-Barnes clan is going to sing us a little ditty.”

Nat cocked an eyebrow, shooting you an incredulous look but sinking into the couch next to Sam all the same. You grinned in response, buzzing with excitement. The clamor quieted at Tony’s gleeful shushing as they all settled down into skeptical silence.

“Which song are we doing?” Bucky asked as if eager to just get this over with.

You shot him a look.

“Which one do you think?”

The corner of his mouth twitched at your enthusiasm, and for a brief moment in time, you were back in the ‘good old days,’ celebrating the joy of the season eagerly with the two most important men in your life.

You cleared your throat, shaking away the mournful nostalgia and setting your shoulders.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, will you pause the music please?”

“Certainly, Miss Rogers,” the A.I chimed politely, and finally, the grating sound halted.

Steve still looked as if he had sucked on a lemon, Bucky still sporting his ‘murder face,’ but you beamed between then, folding your hands neatly in front of you.

“On three. One… two… three.”

With that, you drew a deep breath of air into your diaphragm and began to sing.

“Hark! The herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn king!

Peace on earth and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled.”

Tony’s eyes bulged out of his head, the fragile glass tumbler nearly slipping from his fingers. In fact, there wasn’t a single set of eyes in the room, save for the three of yours, that didn’t snap wide in surprise, jaws dropping open at the perfectly harmonized soprano, tenor, and baritone that danced and mingled throughout the room.

“Joyful, all ye nations rise!

Join the triumph of the skies!

With angelic host proclaim

Christ is born in Bethlehem

Hark! The herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn king!”

The last note faded to give way to the stunned silence that had settled over the group. Owlish eyes gazed up at you, blinking stupidly and brimming with questions.

“Um… what?”

It was a simple question, but the only one Sam was capable of forming at that moment, and one that seemed to reflect the sentiments of everyone else in the audience. You giggled, wrapping your arms around the waists of the men on either side of you to squeeze them into a tight hug.

“Still got it, boys!” you cried through your laughter.

Steve relented with a laugh of his own, even Bucky’s chest rumbling softly as he draped an arm across your shoulders to return your embrace.

“Seriously though,” Nat interjected as you released your hold on the soldiers to drop next to her on the couch. “What the hell?”

“Well,” you began, tilting your chin up cheekily. “We used to do a little thing in the 40’s called caroling.”

Bucky and Steve shared a knowing look, but said nothing.

“Wow,” she drawled. “You three really took it seriously.”

“She did,” Bucky added without missing a beat.

Tony scoffed, finally breaking out of his stunned trance to add his two cents.

“Caroling?” he sneered. “You three sounded like a damn choir.”

There was a miniscule breath of silence before you fired back.

“Well, it was how we made our present money, so we had to be.”

The enthusiastic nods of agreement Steve and Bucky gave only increased his suspicion.

“That’s not the whole story. Please tell me that’s not the whole story.”

Steve’s lips pinched tightly together as Bucky held his hands up, ducking away from the questioning looks to drop into the cushions beside you. You had to press your fingertips to your lips to stop the giggles that bubbled in your chest. Tony’s eyes snapped to you, and back to the rapidly reddening face of the man that still stood alone and defiant, hands planted firmly on his hips.

“Come on, Cap, what is Christmas for if not for sharing embarrassing family stories with friends and loved ones?”

Seeing he could expect no aid from either of you, and under the pressure of every eye in the room, he heaved a defeated sigh before mumbling a response under his breath.

“I’m sorry, we didn’t quite catch that,” Tony preened, sending a fresh flush of scarlet blooming across Steve’s neck.

“I said… “he ground out through clenched teeth, screwing his eyes shut. “Church choir.”

The words had barely left his mouth before Tony collapsed in on himself in a fit of cackling laughter, Bucky hiding his own blush in the curtains of his hair.

“Oh… “He managed once he regained control of his lungs. “Oh, this is the best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten. Captain America… an actual altar boy.”

“I was not,” Steve protested meekly over another roar of howling laugher, shooting you an accusatory glare to which you responded with an indifferent shrug. “And we all were, why am I the only one- “

“You?!” Tony cried, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes, pointing a shaking finger at Bucky. “Mister murder? A choir boy?! Oh… oh this… this is too much.”

Now there were two sets of eyes glaring holes into your head.

“How…?” Was all Sam could choke out over his own breathless amusement.

“Our little songbird got it into her head she wanted to sing.” Bucky grumbled defensively. “We were just collateral damage once our Ma’s caught wind. They thought it would be good for us.”

“Not helping, Buck,” Steve strained, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“It’s the truth,” he shrugged stiffly. “Wasn’t the only thing she roped us into.”

You shot him a playful grin, swatting his shoulder lightly. Wanda’s face finally reappeared from where she had buried it on Vision’s shoulder, bright red with mirth and stretched into a smile.

“I thought you sounded lovely,” she giggled as Vision pressed his lips together.

“Like angels,” Sam cooed, mirth still twinkling in his eyes.

“Oh shush, all of you, there is absolutely nothing shameful about singing a couple of hymns and carols. And I didn’t hear either one of you complaining when we raised enough money to buy that little model train set for the tree,” you said with a hint of indignation.

“Oh, there was a model train too?!” Tony shrieked with delight.

Your boys groaned in unison, Bucky flopping into the pillows as Steve buried his face in his hands. Unperturbed, Tony bounded to you in childish abandon to drag you bodily to your feet and engulf you in a bear hug.

“Thank you, you beautiful, brilliant, wonderful woman, he sobbed happily. “This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

Swept in the throes of mirth and merriment, no one noticed Bruce fumble out of the elevator sporting the lab coat he most likely forgot he wore, deep lines carved into his cheek from where he had undoubtedly fallen asleep at his desk. His gaze skipped around the room, taking in all the rosy cheeks, glimmering eyes, and sullen looks scattered around the tree.

“What did I miss?”

@angelaiswriting

@wildefire

#avengers imagine #avengers fanfiction #avengers drabble #avengers reader insert #avengers humor #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #tony stark #tony stark fanfiction #tony stark imagine

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