#this post brought to you by “Why Are You Fucking Screeching Literally Nothing Is Happening To You”

[kangals]

if you’re ever at a vet hospital and can hear dogs/cats howling and screeching and making terrible noises from the back, please be aware that 99% of the time it is NOT because:

they are dying

they are in terrible pain

they are being tortured

It almost always IS because:

someone is taking their temperature

someone is placing an IV catheter

they’re mad about being in a kennel

#this post brought to you by “Why Are You Fucking Screeching Literally Nothing Is Happening To You” #please please please desensitize your pets to basic restraint and kennels I beg you #your dog losing its gd mind over someone checking their vitals literally makes things worse for everyone

[fivelakesinwriting]

Out of Character (Rafe Cameron) Part 2

Warnings: SMUT, Brief talk of drug use.

Authors Note: I posted this on my mobile, so I'm sorry this is sooo bulky on your timeline. I hope you all enjoy.

Days later, the events of The Red Night had been forgotten by most - with the exception of JJ Maybank and Topper Thornton.

Gemma and Rafe had moved on, and Topper despised it. He had wanted to make a move on Gemma that night. Frankly he thought after Rafe had almost put JJ Maybank in a watery grave that the tale of Gemma Mercer and Rafe Cameron would be done. Apparently she just liked him more.

Topper sat at a table at the country club after a round of golf with Kelce, and Rafe. They chose a table , obviously, in Gemma's section and waited.

"Hey, boys." She smiled as she walked up, leaning her body into Rafe.

"Hey, baby. Wanna get us a round?" Rafe smirked as he squeezed her backside unapologetically.

Topper ran his tongue over his teeth, his unconscious tick when he was uncomfortable. And he was very uncomfortable as he watched Rafe's fingertips reach up Gemma's shorts for her thighs.

Topper, that tickles. Stop. You're covered in cu -

Topper stood up from his spot at the table and knocked over his chair. He announced he was going to the bathroom and stormed off. He waved behind him as Gemma asked what kind of beer he wanted.

I don't fucking care.

Topper rushed into the one person bathroom and locked himself inside. He let out a shaky breath as he tried to gather himself. He had not realized the consequences of his actions, the severity of the hand he had been dealt.

Topper had not been honest with Rafe when he told him nothing had happened with Gemma on The Red Night. A pretty girl in a red dress who is full of vodka, and a Kook on coke with heartbreak don't mix.

Topper helped a drunk Gemma into his empty house, and watched as she kicked off her shoes. He tried not to noticed as her dress hiked up her thighs almost to her hips.

No panties. Fuck.

"C'mon, Gemma. This way." Topper laughed softly as he led her towards the spare room. He held her shoulders , guiding her safely to the bed.

"Goodnight, Gemma." Topper stated softly as he turned away while she crawled into bed. Her backside in full display to him. All the times Rafe bragged about sinking his teeth into it made him suddenly jealous.

"Wait. Topper?" She asked softly from the middle of the California King.

"Yeah?" He asked while he looked at his feet, unable to look at the drunk girl.

"Do you have any clothes I could sleep in? I kind of thought I would be with Rafe tonight." She smiled softly as she pushed her hair out of her face.

Topper nodded before he went to his room to grab a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt. When he came back into the room Gemma had gotten out of bed and stripped out of the dress to reveal nothing but her tanned body.

"What are you doing?" Topper stammered as he looked his best friend's girl up and down relentlessly. He didn't care anymore. If she was going to be naked in his house then he was going to look.

"Getting ready for bed, Silly." She smiled as she reached for the clothes he clutched in his fist.

"No. With me." He rasped out as his eyes moved from the tanlines on her feet , hips and the lack of lines across her chest.

"I'm not doing anything." Gemma replied as she looked up at him.

"You are, and it isn't fair . This what you're doing right now is fucked up. Because you think I won't don't anything about it because you're Rafe Cameron's girl. But fuck that." Topper spat as he tossed the clothes on the bed and closed the gap between them.

He placed a hand on her soft backside while the other entangled itself in her hair. He pressed himself against the naked girl and kissed her firmly, his tongue in her mouth immediately. He didn't give a fuck, especially not when she moaned into his mouth.

"You're in trouble, Topper Thornton." She panted when he let her breathe. Her hands pressed against his chest and she rubbed her naked hips against his golf shorts.

"Yeah, I am." Topper replied as he nudged her nose with his as he backed her up to the bed. He pushed her on to her back, biting on his bottom lip as she bounced on the bed.

"What are you going to do, Topper?" She asked as she bent her knees and held her thighs together.

"Kinda feel like devouring you. Kinda feel like making you beg. " Topper replied as he pulled off his shirt then spread her legs.

"Topper." She blushed as she tried to close her thighs again.

"Don't. I get to hear about how fucking good you taste, now it's my turn for a sample." Topper stated as he pressed her knees down on either side of the bed and looked down at her completely exposed to him.

"Topper." His name was like her only reaction now. Topper knelt at the foot of his bed as he pulled her closer to the edge. Her skin so soft while he tossed her thighs over his shoulder.

He didn't start slow. He attached his lips to her clit and gave a harsh suck that made her cry out. She grabbed at his hair and pushed her hips up into his face.

"Be fucking good." Topper grunted as he grabbed her hips with both hands and pushed them down onto the bed. He realized mid - action that he shouldn't be so rough. He could've left bruises on another man's girlfriend as he devoured her...

"Fuck, Topper!" She gasped as her hips writhed in his hands.

"You taste so fucking sweet." Topper slurred between her legs as he ever so briefly added his fingers to her centre. The pads of his fingers brushed against her soaked core, making her cry out for him, before he softly pressed them to her thigh.

"Topper. I think...please, don't.." Gemma gasped out as she pulled at his hair.

Topper nodded, then grunted in response. He gripped at her thighs to keep her close as he tongue swiped over her clit and brought her to the edge. For the first time in a long time he was happy he was home by himself. The scream that left this tiny girl was almost alien.

"Did I break you?" Topper asked as he placed messy kisses on her thigh.

"That tickles, Topper. Stop! You're covered in cum." She giggled as she gently pushed his face away.

"You don't like it?" Topper asked as he pulled his face up from between her legs, so he could lean down and kiss her lips.

"I like it a lot." She replied as she reached for his belt and ripped it through the loops of his shorts.

Topper's head was spinning. He wasn't sure how had quickly gotten into his position - literally - but he didn't want to stop. He now understood why Rafe didn't shut the fuck about her, and was incessant about their sex life. And all Topper had done was put his tongue on her .

"Come here, pretty girl." Topper grunted as he rolled onto his back and pulled her with him. He positioned the girl on top of his lap.

Just as Topper was about to lower Gemma onto his manhood. His breath held in his throat, he heard the screech of tires on the gravel out front.

"That's..fuck. That's Rafe." Topper groaned as she took the lead and sunk down onto him.

"Nooo, Silly. It's not." She cooed as she started to shift her hips. Topper groaned and his head rolled back at her tight heat.

"You feel so fucking good." Topper rasped out, his hands gripped at the flesh of her backside.

It was the long honk of the his horn that startled her. She squeezed her muscles around him as the horn went off and Topper growled like a trapped animal.

"You fucking bitch." Topper grunted as he thrust up into her. His hips became rabid as he thrust up into her over and over again.

Topper pulled out as he came, the feeling of her own orgasm too much for him to handle. Topper shivered as he laid on his back for a moment, Rafe's horn the background sound to their infidelity.

"I'm going to go calm him down." Topper stated softly as he put himself back in his pants and slid out from under her.

"Was I that bad?" She asked softly as Topper made his way to the door.

Topper's heart skipped a beat, while his cock jumped. Had she not been there for any of that?

"No. You were incredible, Silly." Topper smiled softly back at her before he quickly walked out of the house.

Topper would never tell her she was the best he had ever had in his young life. That after she left he couldn't get her out of his head. Her taste off his tongue, or her screams out of his ears.

He wanted more.

..

Topper stood in the bathroom at the country club and splashed  cold water on his face to try and calm down. He was not thinking about his best friend's girlfriend. And he was definitely not thinking about her on her back, with her thighs over his shoulders while his face was buried between them. He wasn't thinking about how tight and warm she was, or the way her hips rotated to get all of him.

No. He wasn't.

"Yo. Topper. You alright, man?" Came Rafe's voice and a heavy knock on the other side of the door.

"Be right out."

Topper opened the door to reveal Rafe with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

"What? You doing bumps without me in here?" Rafe grinned as he looked around as if to spot the white powder.

Topper scoffed as he led the two of them back to their table. Gemma had served them all drinks and was running around taking orders for a large party that had just finished golfing.

"So, you and Gemma make up after the other night?" Topper asked after a generous sip of beer.

"Yeah, we did." Rafe smirked as he lowered his sunglasses onto his eyes. As if they would block him from ogling his girlfriend in plain sight.

"That's good." Kelce replied as he texted on his phone, probably another conquest.

"Well, that pussy is just the finest quality bro." Rafe smirked as he watched Gemma walk across the terrace.

Topper clenched his fists as he stood up from his chair again. He glared at Rafe before he stalked off towards the bar where Gemma stood waiting for the glasses to be filled.

"Hi, Topper." She smiled at him, as if she hadn't rode him within an inch of his life four days ago.

"Can I talk to you?" Topper asked, his eyes darted from her to Rafe.

"Sure." She nodded as she slid her tray to a fellow server and walked off with Topper.

"So you and Rafe made up?" Topper asked as they stood away from Gemma's section, away from Rafe.

Gemma scoffed as she shielded her eyes from the sun. "I mean, yeah. We're together."

"And the other night with us meant nothing to you?" Topper whispered, careful of who could hear. The Outer Banks were small, everyone knew everyone. And their business.

"I didn't say that, Topper." She replied with a roll of her eyes.

She infuriated him. It was as if that night meant nothing to her. As if he had not pulled her from the crossfire of Rafe and JJ only to have her put him between her and Rafe.

"Exactly. You haven't said anything, Gemma. He picked you up literally as I was inside of you, he took you home. Probably fucked you, and then it's all good. It's fine. Because he's Rafe Cameron." Topper scowled as he looked her up and down, doing his best not to remember what she looked like naked and on the brink of orgasm.

"Fuck you, Topper. You're putting your anger at Sarah for shacking up with Routledge on me. And it's not okay. We hooked up, it was fun. Get over it." Gemma spat at him, her neatly manicured finger pressed into his toned chest.

"Yeah, it was fucking fun. But I think it was more than fun for you, Gemma. I think you needed me Saturday night." Topper hissed as he grabbed her wrist to pull her hand away.

"Needed you?" She replied with a glare, as she fought his grip.

"Yeah. You needed me. I took care of you when he was MIA on the fucking beach, made you come. Twice! And I have a sneaking suspicion he doesn't make you feel as good as you think he does in bed." Topper replied as they fought. He ended up with her pinned against the stucco wall as he held her arms over her chest.

"How dare you.."

"You asked me if you were bad in bed. And I don't fucking understand that. I haven't for days. Not when you look like that. Move your hips like you did, or your pussy tastes like.."

"Stop." She whispered as she avoided his intense eyes. His compliments embarrassed her.

"He doesn't say shit like that to you, does he?" Topper asked softly as he released his grip on her wrists.

"Not always. He's different when we are alone." She replied with a soft sniffle before she looked back up at Topper.

"Listen, I'm not...I'm not trying to put all my anger or whatever about Sarah onto you. Honestly I would rather focus that anger on Routledge. I just wanted you to know that I can't stop thinking about you. And that you weren't bad in bed. Quite frankly, you were the best I've had." Topper replied as he placed one had beside her head, while the other rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of who? Me and Sarah Cameron?" Gemma teased.

"Fuck you. I've had sex with plenty of other girls." Topper laughed softly as he looked at their feet.

"I'm sure."

"If I hadn't fucked a lot of girls then how would I have known what I was doing with you?" Topper grinned as he remembered the blissful moments between her legs with her hands buried in his hair.

"Beginner's luck?" Gemma replied as she looked up into his eyes.

Gemma didn't want to admit that she had enjoyed her time with Topper that night. He had made her feel incredibly good. She has not intended on sleeping with him that night, but it happened. She would be lying if she said she didn't think about him, too. The way he gripped at her hips as he devoured her, how his hips had a mind of their own once she had unintentionally squeezed her muscles around him.

The sounds he made.

It made her excited, and a little wet just thinking about how he roared as he came all over her thighs. How he slurred his speech into her core like he was drunk on her.

"Luckiest beginner of all time to make a pretty girl like you come that hard." Topper replied under his breath as he watched a sous chef walk by for a smoke break. Everyone knew who Gemma Mercer was, and that she was Rafe Cameron's arm candy.

"Guess next time you'll have to try harder. See what happens." She stated as she looked at him through his eyelashes.

"Don't fucking play with me, Gemma." Topper growled as he watched her shift her weight from one foot to the other.

"I should get back to my section before Melody takes all my tips." Gemma replied as she pushed her body off the wall.

"Come over tonight." Topper blurted out before he could catch himself.

"You want me to come over tonight?" Gemma repeated.

"Yes. Come over tonight. I'll make you dinner, we can raid my parent's wine cellar. We don't have to have sex, if you don't want to. I mean, I would really like to. But if you don't want to, I would be really happy with just having dinner with you."

"You're asking me on a date?" Gemma asked as she looked the boy up and down. She had never had a boy make her dinner.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I know that Rafe is technically your boyfriend and all, but I think you deserve better and.." Topper was cut off by Gemma grabbing his face and pressing her lips to his firmly.

"I'll be there at 7." She replied once she let him breathe. She quickly scurried back up the stairs to tend to her section.

Topper licked his lips, unaware Rafe Cameron had watched the whole scene.

#drew starkey #rafe cameron smut #rafe cameron imagine #obx imagine #obx smut #outer banks imagine #outer banks smut #topper Thornton smut

[jungshookz]

omg it’s me again i just thought of sth and only you can make it so good;; EMT seokjiN and this prompt i saw sth like “will you stop flirting with me? you just got seriously injured and I’m the emt trying to tend to your wounds, i don’t give a fuck that i look cute when i’m concerned, you’re lucky you’re not dead you dipshit”

➺ pairing; emt!seokjin x reader 

➺ genre; sfw!! namjoon is clumsy!! y/n is particularly cheeky that even i was like :0!! and handsome seokjin is simply handsome!! 

➺ wordcount; 4.9k

➺ what to expect; “i’m just checking out your pupils, darling. trust me. you’ll know when i’m about to kiss you.” 

➺ note; i thought i’d kick off the christmas with cee event with a jin drabble seeing as it was recently his birthday!! also i hope this drabble pumps you UP for the other drabbles that’ll be posted this month <3 happy deceember!! 

                                       »»————-　❄　————-««

“i just don’t think this is a super good idea, you know?” namjoon mutters sheepishly, looking down at you while you busy yourself with tightening his laces, “i mean, i can barely walk three steps without tripping over a normal floor, so i don’t know if me on ice is going to be any better-”

“oh, will you please give it a break? i’ve got you!” you get up off the ground before dusting your knees off, “besides, you were the one who said you wanted to try ice-skating - and it’s not like the ice skating rink is as steep as a mountain or anything. it’s all nice and flat! see?” you gesture towards the zamboni currently making its rounds on the ice, “and we came here just in time for a nice, clean layer of ice for us to skate on. there’s nothing that could go wrong!”

“nothing that could go wrong?!” namjoon gawks, hoisting his foot up so he can rest his ankle across his knee, “look at this thing, y/n! what kind of a shoe is this?” he taps his fingernail against the metal blade before quickly retracting his hand and shuddering, “these things are literal weapons- why can’t i just skate without the skates?”

“because that... wouldn’t be ice-skating anymore? that’d just be... ice-walking. and your sneakers won’t do you any good on the ice, anyway,” you shake your head before shrugging, “the blades are supposed to help you, like- they get a… solid grip on the ice and it helps you move around better, you know? something like that.”

namjoon scoffs and leans back on the bench, “please explain to me how a thin metal blade is supposed to get a solid grip on ice-”

“look, the offer to get you one of those little kiddie things for you to hold onto still stands.” you point over to the front counter, “they have one that looks like a penguin! it’s adorable! i mean, i think it’s a little shorter than your knees so you might have to crouch down a little if i get one for you-”

“wha-” namjoon immediately frowns before crossing his arms, “y/n, i am a grown man. i don’t need to hold onto a penguin-”

“okay, suit yourself!” you chirp, sticking your hand out for him, “c’mon, you manly man. i wanna get on the ice! i’ve been waiting all week for this-”

namjoon grumbles curses under his breath as he pushes himself up off the bench

penguin

he doesn’t need a penguin!

how dare you!!!!!

you can’t help but giggle as you watch him waddle towards you, being very careful not to fall over and twist an ankle

admittedly, bringing namjoon to an ice skating rink probably wasn’t the best idea

one time he sprained his ankle after tripping over literally nothing and he had to use a crutch for like two weeks

he’s verY susceptible to injuries 

when he first brought up the idea of going to an ice-skating rink you were going to turn him down and suggest something safer and more namjoon friendly...

but it’s december!

and december is literally the time to go ice-skating!

and there’s always a hot chocolate truck that’s parked right by the rink so hopefully you’ll be able to soothe namjoon’s bruised bum (you’re betting that namjoon’s bum will be all sorts of bruised after ten minutes on the ice) with extra whipped cream and marshmallows

hopefully he won’t be as grumpy as he is now when he’s sipping on a big ol mug of rich, creamy hot chocolate

“we’re going to have so much fun! the last time i went skating, i-” as soon as you slide onto the ice, namjoon suddenly yanks you backwards

you turn to look at him only to see him gripping onto the railing for dear life

he’s not even on the ice yet!

big ol’ wimp

“what’s the matter? cold feet?” you joke, namjoon giving you an unimpressed frown, “what?? you have to admit that was a good joke-”

“that was an awful joke-”

“namjoon…” you purse your lips and place your free hand on your hip, “you know that you have to be on the ice in order to ice skate, right?” you give his hand a reassuring squeeze, “i’m not going to let you fall. i promise! but in the rare case that you do fall, feel free to fall on top of me to cushion your blow. i’ll gladly break a couple of ribs just to keep you from hitting the ground!”

“what happens if you skate circles around me and end up cutting a circle into the ice and then i fall in??”

oh god

here we go

“that’s not going to happen, namjoon.” you shake your head, “because we’re not in a cartoon.”

“what happens if i accidentally fall backwards and end up stabbing myself in the eye with the blade?”

“that’s not going to happen, namjoon- first of all, the tip of the blade is rounded off, so you won’t be stabbing anything at all, and second of all, we both know you’re not nearly flexible enough for your body to be able to bend in half like that-

“what happens if i fall to the ground and someone skates over my fingers and slices them off?!”

“that’s not going to-” you pause for a split second, “well, that could happen, so maybe just don’t fall and remember to keep your hands off the ice-”

“okay, well- i don’t want to do this anymore!!!” namjoon lets go of your hand and you resist the urge to fall to the ground and let out a primal screech of rage, “if there’s even a chance that i’m going to lose the tip of one finger today, there’s no way in hell i’m getting onto the ice-”

“you’re not going to lose any fingers-”

“how can you be so sure?!”

you immediately shut up before reaching up to pinch the bridge of your nose

you love namjoon with all your heart but sometimes he’s just.., a little much

he’s not very big on risk-taking

he’s always been very content just staying within his comfort zone which is fine! 

you never pressure him into doing anything if he very clearly is uncomfortable with it

with that being said, it’s just that whenever you even try to nudge him like a centimetre out of his safety bubble, he flips out on you just like how he’s flipping out right now

like that one time you made him try a vanilla bean frappucino (arguably the plainest most basic frappucino flavour on the starbucks menu) instead of his usual iced americano and after he took a sip he accused you of trying to make him get diabetes

it’s not like you’re purposely trying to torment him by forcing him to ice skate

you just wanted to come here and have a good time with your friend!

“namjoon, you seriously need to calm down-”

“i am calm! i am so calm! in fact, i’ve never been MORE CALM-!”

it doesn’t take long for you and namjoon to start bickering with each other, the both of you too wrapped up in yelling at each other to notice the weird glances you’re getting from everyone

“all i’m trying to say is that the only reason why we’re here in the first place is because you said that you wanted to try-”

“yeah, and now i change my mind! what, are you saying i’m not allowed to change my mind?”

“i never- i never said you weren’t allowed to change your mind, i just want you to try to understand that it can be a little frustrating for me to set everything up for you only for you to chicken out at the end-”

“chicken out?! how dare you?! i am not chickening- i’m backing out for the safety of my eyeballs and my hands-”

“i said i would hold your hand the whole time!”

“that’s not secure enough! you holding my hand on slippery ice as a form of safety is equivalent to me getting on a rollercoaster using flimsy shoelaces to tie me to the seat-”

“that’s why i said i would get you the penguin so that you have two handles to hold onto-”

“i don’t want the friggin’ penguin!” namjoon snaps, stepping aside when a little kid nudges past him only to immediately glide onto the ice

the two of you pause to watch him and you gawk when he starts zipping back and forth like a maniac

that could be you right now

you, too, could be having a blast on the ice right now if it weren’t for your manbaby friend over here

you gesture to the random child currently twirling around on the ice before scoffing, “namjoon! look at him! if that literal toddler can do that on the ice, you can at least step forward to stand on the ice-”

“that is not a child, that is just a very tiny professional ice skater-”

you press your lips together in frustration as namjoon continues to list off reasons why the two of you should just go for hot chocolate and then go straight home

and for a second you think about giving up and just giving him what he wants but...

no

no way!

you are noT letting him talk himself out of this one this time

you wanna go ice skating today and you’re going to figure out a way to make both you and namjoon happy

okay

so he doesn’t want to hold your hand

he doesn’t want the penguin

what other options do you have??

you twiddle with the end of your scarf before pausing and looking down at it

…

lightbulb

                                        »»————-　❄　————-««

“alrighty… how does that feel?” you tighten the knot before giving namjoon’s stomach a pat, “nice and secure?”

yep

that’s right

you ended up tying your scarf around namjoon’s waist like some kind of a leash

you’re really hoping people won’t think this is one of those pet-play situations where namjoon is your human puppy and you’re his BDSM dominatrix

you’re not shaminG the kink or anything!!!

you’re just not into the whole arf arf roll over thing

it probably didn’t help that you wore a leather trench coat today

the weather’s finally cooled down enough for you to wear it so obviouSLY you had to wear your super cool leather trench coat but now you feel like you should take it off just in case it makes you look like you’re... into barking

namjoon hooks a finger into the scarf and gives it a little tug, “…i suppose… this is better than nothing…”

“great!” you sigh in relief, “so… i’m gonna take it nice and slow, okay? we’ll start off with some basic gliding and then we’ll go from there.”

unfortunately the ice is a little rougher now because it took like twenty minutes for namjoon to practice just standing on the ice without toppling over

you’re just glad that he’s now willing to actually give skating a try instead of giving up and going home

this is progress!!

you wonder if you’ll ever be able to convince him to go skydiving with you one day

...baby steps

“so, gliding is kind of like… it’s kind of like marching, i guess?” you hum, “it’ll help you transition into skating. you’re gonna march two steps forward and then let yourself just glide forward…” you wrap the end of the scarf around your fist to really make sure that it won’t slip from your fingers (because you’re 100% sure that namjoon will have a meltdown if you let go of it) as you continue to skate backwards slowly, watching namjoon’s feet like a hawk

you’re surprised he hasn’t fallen yet what with his wobbly knees

“am i… am i doing it??” namjoon asks dumbly and you can’t help but grin when he starts to pick up the movement

thank god he’s a fast learner

“hey, look at you go!” you laugh lightly, giving him a thumbs up, “you’re doing it! i mean, we’re going pretty slowly... but you’re doing it!”

namjoon reaches forward to grab onto the scarf when he wobbles a little and you immediately stop so that he can rebalance himself

(you don’t know how you’re going to catch him if he falls because he’s definitely going to end up crushing you and breaking all the bones in your body)

the two of you spend the next twenty minutes or so slowly making your way around the rink

for the most part, namjoon does just fine

there was one point where a little kid knocked into him from behind and he nearly fell over buT luckily he grabbed onto the railing before anything happened

he looked like he was fully ready to chase after the kid to strangle him but that’s beside the point

you let out an impatient little sigh as people continue to whiz past you

boo

you wanna do some whizzing too!

“are you…” you trail off, looking back over at namjoon, “okay to move on to stroking?”

namjoon’s brows furrow as he lets go of the scarf after regaining his balance, “stroking?”

“mhm!” you nod, turning to glance over your shoulder for a second to make sure there’s no one behind you, subtly skating backwards a tiny bit quicker, “it’s literally just, like, a longer version of gliding. you just extend the same motion for a longer period of time, that’s all.”

“oh... like... like this?” namjoon pushes off a little harder and you nod enthusiastically at the smooth movement

“yeah, there you go!” you laugh when namjoon picks it up with no problem, “look at you! you’re a natural... you might even be better than that tiny professional ice skater from earlier- make sure to lean forward a little…”

namjoon grins excitedly as he continues to glide left and right all while you (unbeknownst to him) gradually pick up your pace while pulling him towards you

hey!

he’s doing it!

this wasn’t as hard as he thought it’d be

he’s doing it!!!!!

and he’s going waY quicker than he originally was, which is probably a good sign, right?

“can i take the lead?” namjoon stands up a little straighter and puffs his chest out, “i wanna lead you now!”

you slow down a little and look down at the scarf that you’re still clutching onto for dear life, “you wanna take th- okay, well, do you want me to untie you?”

“oh no, i think you should still hold onto it just in case, but i wanna lead the way!” namjoon bounces up and down excitedly and clasps his hands together, “please, y/n? you’ve seen how fast i can go now!”

right

he can go super fasT on his own and it’s not because you’ve been pulling him along like a little wagon

you know what

it’s fine

you’re not worried about namjoon leading the way mainly because you know he’s just going to go around and around in slow circles

you could probably get away with closing your eyes while he pulls you around  

you snort before nodding and sliding to the side so that he can skate past you, “alright, hotshot. you take the lead. now it’s really going to look like this is a leash- woAH-” your eyes widen in surprise when namjoon suddenly surges forward, his legs going left and right and left and right at a consistent pace-

oh god

okay

you speed yourself up as well to try to keep up with him, keeping your grip tight around your poor stretched out scarf

“namjoon-!” you laugh uneasily, “take it easy, you speed demon-”

“we should go ice skating all the time!” namjoon cheers, raising both his hands up in the air as he continues gliding like a maniac, “isn’t this fun?!”

“oh shit, sorry, excuse me-” you try your best noT to collide with people as you skate past them, “namjoon, i know you think this is fun but i really think you should slow down a little- oh, frick-” you curse to yourself when you notice that your scarf is caught in the clasp of your bracelet

shit!

this scarf was expensive!!!!

there’s no way you’re going to accidentally yanK out the threads and ruin it

“c’mon, stupid thing...” you look up for a brief second to make sure that namjoon’s still going straight and that he’s not about to round a corner or anything before looking back down to try to unhook the thread

you could try tugging on it but you’re worried that it’s going to mess up your scarf and you are noT willing to take that chance

“i’m turning here!”

“uh-huh, yeah...” your tongue pokes out in concentration as you use your nail to try to pluck it out and...

ah!

success!

there we go

no destroyed scarves today!

“what did you just sa-!” your eyes widen in surprise when suddenly the scarf disappears from your fist and you look up to see that the-

SMAK!

                                       »»————-　❄　————-««

...

...

my head hurts

...

my ass hurts too

...

you peel an eye open slowly before closing it again

holy moly

your head is spinning and your ears are ringing and you’re pretty sure your eyes are permanently crossed because you can’t seem to get your vision to focus

is it possible to feel like you want to throw up and pass out at the same time?

you squeeze your eyes shut before shaking your head a little in a poor attempt to shakE the pain away

jesus

what happened??

the last thing you remember is going full speed on the ice and then everything went black

you push yourself up onto your elbows before looking around

you… are in a van that smells like bleach for some reason

why are you in a van??

oh god

were you kidnapped???

were you chloroformed and kidnapped???

you jump when one of the doors suddenly swings open and you immediately pull your legs up and away so that your kidnapper can’t reach over and drag you out by the legs

“hey, you! how are you feeling?”

“i- um-” you sit up all the way before turning and leaning back against the metal bench screwed into the side of the van, “i think i’m oka- a..a...aaaaaayyyy....?” you trail off dumbly, finding yourself being unable to shut your TRAP 

okay

hello

you blink owlishly at the very handsome kidnapper before tilting your head to the side a little

the corners of his mouth twitch in a smile and he mimics your movements, tilting his head as well

maybe… you weren’t kidnapped

you just died and went to heaven, that’s all!

this is heaven

heaven is the back of an impeccably clean van and you are currently staring at a real-life angel

“sorry you woke up all alone, by the way- i just had to ask your friend a couple of questions as to what happened... i also had to comfort him a little because i’m pretty sure he thinks he killed you-”

“i’m sorry, am i not dead? is this not, like, the bus to heaven or something?” you ask, looking around at your surroundings

there’s a lot of medical-related tools and gadgets in here considering the fact that this is heaven

apparently heaven has heart defibrillators which doesn’t make much sense

“hey, hey- relax!” you jump when you feel him wrap his fingers around your ankle to get your attention, “you’re not dead. this isn’t the bus to heaven. you’re just in the back of an ambulance. you got into a little collision with the plexiglass barriers.”

aH

okay

that makes more sense

“oh, thank god.” you breathe out, “because if i did die, then body slamming into plexiglass would’ve been a humiliating way to go.”  

“mm, i totally agree. i would’ve been embarrassed having to drag your dead body away from the plexiglass.” mr probably-not-here-to-kidnap-you laughs lightly and opens the door a little wider for himself, “i just wanna patch you up. will you let me do that?”

you feel your mouth go dry when he takes his jacket off

hello broad shoulders

“you can do anything you want to me.” you blurt out, watching in awe as he steps into the ambulance to join you

you’re pretty sure the fact that you might have a mild concussion has something to do with it but your filter has just completely disappeared because jesus christ you want this man to ram into you harder than you rammed into the wall

you just don’t get it

how can one man be so... attractive?

the soft, perfectly tousled hair is right!

the pillowy, cherry-coloured lips are right!

the twinkling brown eyes are right!

the low, soothing voice is right!

the broad shoulders and equally as broad chest... veRY right

everything is just so RIGHT

you swallow thickly when he sits down across from you and crosses his legs, his knees practically pressed right up against yours

you’re certainly not complaining about being so close to him but you’re definitely going to cramp up like this and you always make really weird faces when you get pins and needles shooting up your legs

you move your legs so that your ankles are on either side of his thighs before scooting your bum a little closer towards him

heh >:-) 

“can you tell me what your name is?” he asks, pulling a first-aid kit out from under the bench

“y/n y/l/n.” you answer almost instantaneously, keeping your eyes glued on his face as he rummages through the box

“mhm… very good…”

“what’s your name?” you watch as he rips open a little gauze pad

god

even his fingers are pretty

“seokjin.” seokjin smiles sweetly, your heart skipping a beat when he reaches up to brush some hair away from your forehead, “i’m just going to clean your cut up a little bit. stay still for me, yeah?”

you nod obediently and find yourself leaning forward a little bit even though you know you probably don’t need to

“what’s your last name?” you ask, seokjin looking down at you for a brief second before focusing back on the cut on your forehead

“kim. why?”

“just wanted to know what my future surname is going to be, that’s all.”

seokjin snorts before raising a brow, “quite the charmer, aren’t you?”

“it’s not every day that i get to talk to a very handsome ambulance man.”

seokjin chuckles, smoothing his fingers over the pad to make sure that it’s secure before pulling away, “mm, that’s fair. can you tell me what day it is?”

“saturday. which i think is the perfect day out of all of the days to go out on a date, because if we get super drunk and have crazy sex tonight, we can wake up late tomorrow and go out for brunch-!”

seokjin suddenly pinches your lips in between his fingers before frowning in concern, “your bottom lip is a little busted.”

“pheel vfree to kiss it bhetter.” you murmur, seokjin pulling away to rummage through his little kit again, “you look really cute when you’re concerned, by the way.”

“is that so?” seokjin hums, pulling a q-tip out and a tube of what looks to be some kind of a gel, “you can’t go around kissing strangers, you know.”

“you’re an exception.” you grin, dodging the q-tip when seokjin tries to dab some gel on your lip, “i was serious about the date, though. what do you think?”

“i think-” seokjin tries again only for you to turn your head the other way, “i think that you need to stop flirting with me so that i can do my job-”

“i’m letting you do your job!” you argue, “i’m just asking you an innocent question, that’s all-”

“if you were letting me do my job, you would be all patched up by now-” seokjin laughs lightly, shaking his head and leaning backwards when you move your head again, “okay, how about this? i will happily go out with you if you just stay still and let me clean up your lip.”

you perk up immediately, “for real?”

“for real.” he nods, holding the q-tip up, “are you willing to cooperate now?”

“mhm.” you hum contently, leaning forward and immediately pursing your lips, “please fix my lips so they’ll be nice and healed by the time we go out on our date.”

“why? are you planning to do a lot of kissing on our date?” seokjin teases, applying the gel before using the other end to dab off the excess

“that’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

seokjin presses his lips together to hold back a smirk

you are... awfully cheeky, aren’t you?

he’s verY into that

and bonus points because you’re very attractive and definitely his type

“okay, lemme just do one last thing here.” seokjin reaches into his shirt pocket for a little flashlight before reaching over and pinching your chin in between his fingers gently and bringing your face closer to his 

“you’re not even going to wait until after our first date to kiss me?” you murmur, your eyes widening slightly, “and i thought i was coming on strong.”

“i’m just checking out your pupils, darling.” seokjin hums, “trust me. you’ll know when i’m about to kiss you.”

you shift in your spot a little as you feel youR cheeks starting to heat up now

oh,.,. how the tables have turned.,,.

seokjin’s just glad that he finally figured out how to get you to stay still so that he can get along with his procedures smoothly

“hi, pretty girl…” seokjin coos, raising your eyelid gently so that he can get a good look at your pupils, “mhm, that’s right… just keep your eyes on me…”

gladly

you’d keep your eyes on seokjin for the rest of your liFE if you could  

“is this finally the part where you kiss me?”

“nice try, cheeky.”

                                      »»————-　❄　————-««

“so y/n’s going to be okay?” namjoon chews on his thumbnail anxiously and you reach over to pat his knee reassuringly

the poor thing is going to chew his entire hand off if he doesn’t stop soon

he joined you on the ambulance ten minutes ago but for eight whole minutes was just profusely apologizing to you (“i’ll never put on another pair of skates for as long as i’ll live!” “namjoon, it’s fine-” “for as long aS I LIVE-”)

seokjin nods as he packs up his kit and slides it back underneath the bench, “y/n’s going to be just fine. you can relax!”

“namjoon - you’re acting like you ran me over with a monster truck. i’m fine!”

“how many fingers am i holding up?” namjoon holds up three fingers and you blink at him before raising a brow

“obviously five.”

namjoon’s eyes widen in panic and he turns back to look at seokjin, “y-you said she was fine!”

“three! three fingers, you’re holding up three fingers-” you giggle, reaching forward to push namjoon’s hand back down, “seriously, joon... i’m fine! i swear.”

“alright, all you have to do is keep her company during the ride.” seokjin clears his throat, “i want to do a couple of scans at the hospital just in case!”

“aw, but i don’t want namjoon to keep me company-” you whine quietly, leaning against namjoon’s shoulder as you look up at jin, “why can’t you keep me company instead?”

“someone has to drive the ambulance.” seokjin teases, reaching down to pinch the apple of your cheek gently, “i’m all yours at the hospital.”

“namjoon can drive.” you push your bottom lip out in a pout before batting your lashes at him, “don’t you wanna hang out with me?”

“if namjoon’s driving skills are as good as his skating skills, i think i’m going to have to pass.” jin laughs lightly, sliding back into his jacket “we can hang out once we get to the hospital.”

namjoon narrows his eyes suspiciously as he glances back and forth between the two of you

...

..,.,...the energy in here...,.,..

.,,.,.,,the vibes,.,..,  

someone definitely wants to fuck someone

seokjin sighs to himself as he hops into the driver’s seat before slamming the door shut

he pulls his phone out to check the time before smiling to himself because :-) your number is on his phone :-)

he wasn’t expecting to get a cute girl’s number today but he welcomes this surprise with open arms! 

“y/n y/l/n...” he murmurs under his breath, reaching up to adjust the mirror

hm

your name does seem like it’d fit with his surname

his ears prickle when he hears your muffled voice through the thin partition and he leans back a little so he can do some sneaky eavesdropping

“i am planning... to have so much sex with that man. but in like a romantic way, you know? because i’m classy like that.”

seokjin snorts to himself before shoving the key into the ignition

(for the record: he feels the exact same way as you do).

christmas with cee 2020 masterlist 

🎁what would you like from ceenta this year? 🎁

#cwc2020 #requested drabbles #emt!jin #jin drabbles #seokjin drabbles #bts drabbles #seokjin fluff #seokjin fics #seokjin fic recs #seokjin #jin #kim seokjin #bts fluff #bts fluff recs #bts fics #bts fic recs #bts #bts smut #bts smut recs #seokjin smut #seokjin smut recs #bts au #jin au #seokjin au #kim seokjin drabbles #reader insert #seokjin x reader #jin x reader #seokjin cute #jin cute

[thejudgingtrash]

Guess who still hasn't finished the outline of this tragedy and is still pumping out scenes for this 🥳 Don't ask when I'll upload this, it'll come up in like a century or so I have way too many ideas and projects on my mind and uni is literally about to start HELP 😭 and I've yet to update Oh. It's Them Again and The Fool and stuff 🥴

TW: Athena is a terrible mom, I guess.

*absolutely not proof-read and I'm tired af, gn

Annabeth opened the fridge and sighed. All sorts of pureed goods, some eggs, chicken pieces and cheese and oh, that milk should probably be discarded by now.

She heard the giggling and barking in the background and turned around for a second to make sure that everything was okay, and it was. Daedalus rested on the sofa and his tail swung back and forth, signalizing that he was relaxed and probably slowly drifting into the realm of naps.

Blackjack seemed to take babysitting duty very seriously and brought Baby Jackson the stuffed animals back that the toddler carelessly threw away. Annabeth only had to start panicking once the dog started to bark, her cat jumped up and ran towards her, or she actually heard her child cry. Nothing in that regard had happened in the past fifteen seconds.

Annabeth didn’t know why she this nervousness and angst still remained in her chest nearly eighteen months of having given birth, but fear was something that apparently stuck with parents forever. That is, when they actually seemed to love their child. Fuck, how and why didn’t her mother feel this unconditional love for her, the same bond Annabeth had with her little baby? Was it post-partum depression, was it something else? Annabeth didn’t know and she probably would never learn the truth about it.

She closed the case, sealed it off.

A slight pang dampened her mood and slowed her heartbeat. Cursed be her egg donor. She swore to discard everything that Athena Pallas, especially after her last deed she had done to her. She would never forget, nor forgive her mother for barging into her safe space, demanding to see the grandchild she had neglected to see for almost his entire life. Annabeth would never forget the cruelty and neglect she herself had felt for the past twenty-nine years of existence.

Annabeth closed the door of the fridge with a little bit too much force as her thoughts drifted off into the darker places of her mind.

Blackjack barked in surprise and her baby jumped up by the noise. He looked up to her, curiosity sparking in his light eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disrupt you from playing with Blackjack,” Annabeth apologized to the toddler and walked past the isle to pick him up.

Her son wabbly got up on his feet and then made huge steps towards her, a toothy grin on his lips as always. He let the fish-shaped plushy drop to the floor by doing so.

“Momma!” he said and then raised his arms, demanding to be picked up by Annabeth.

Annabeth pulled him into her arms with a huff. Why did toddlers weigh so much? They were small and already bad for her back. Then again, the alternative of seeing her son grow up too much was something she hoped to push aside as much as she could. He had already grown way too quickly; he had been a tiny baby more than a year ago and now he had been the little carbon copy of Percy, able to reach for keys on the coffee table and his mother’s smartphone. Alternatively, his father’s piping hot cup of coffee.

“We need new milk and food for Blackjack. Also new diapers for you, young man,” she booped his nose which made him screech with laughter, as he loved it whenever his father did it.

Percy had never stopped that habit after the birth of his child, no matter how ridiculous Annabeth thought it was.

Her toddler then curiously began to analyze the updo his mother wore and wanted to tuck some of the curls out of the bun. Annabeth, already knowing what he had in mind, gently pushed his arms aside and walked to the door with him as the bell luckily rang in that moment. It was probably Teriza, their housekeeper. She would be able to keep an eye out on the pets.

“Let’s go grocery shopping, okay?”

The toddler nodded and hugged his mother’s neck as she opened the door for their employee.

******

It took them only twenty minutes to park, which was a rarity in the city. Not only that, but her son didn’t make any fuss whilst getting buckled up by her. Now he sat in the baby seat of the cart and curiously followed his mother’s movements as she navigated through the enormous store.

“We should really start potty-training you soon,“ Annabeth sighed as she placed the diapers into the cart. Why were diapers so expensive? Companies were exploitative. How could less fortunate people afford to buy them, especially if not all babies got along with all sorts of brands? If Annabeth summed up how many packs of diapers she had bought the past year, she definitely would hit four digits.

And Percy was also still right when he failed to understand how such a tiny being could create literally Greek fire in their diapers which had to be discarded every few hours. Apart from the buying a hazmat suit part, Annabeth still had to talk him out of that. And from buying her one for Christmas. Kind of too late when potty-training was the next big thing on the agenda.

Her son loved going shopping. All the people that smiled at him, some even waved at him, and he waved back at them! There was a grandpa puling a face and making him laugh, there was a lady at the cheese stand giving his mother a bit of cheese for him to try and he liked it! His mother immediately bought a pack of it.

He also loved it whenever his mother got a new product into her hands and asked him what he thought about it. He preferred the ones that had interesting designs, such as the toilet paper which featured Peppa Pig. And he also liked canned tomato soup for a reason. Tomato soup was neat, so why not? The only rule his mother gave him was to not drop the product, which he never did as he was a big boy and big boys liked holding a small bundle of carrots in their hands! Even if said bundle was as large as his torso.

But then his mother pushed the cart into his favorite section of the entire store: the pet department. Accessories and toys, crates and mats, plastic plants, and raincoats for your furry friend and so much more! It was a delight, each and every single time.

Annabeth looked out for a new stand for Blackjack and Daedalus’ bowls as both animals also had gotten older, and she wanted to support their necks from straining too much. She kept looking to the right as something else caught her baby’s attention. He immediately took the bright orange soother out of his mouth and looked to his right.

“Mommy! Mommy!” he cried, alarming Annabeth and an elderly woman walking past them.

“What is wrong?” Annabeth asked concerned.

Her child pointed to the right where the fish section was.

“Mommy, look!” he cried again.

Realization dawned Annabeth. Her little one recognized the brand of fish food his father distributed and used for their own fish in the living room. Percy’s fish food brand Triton’s Delight was the second most expensive fish food of the store but featured the better-looking design as it was neither outdated nor cheesy. Her son stuck his tiny arm out trying to grab a package. His mother had unfortunately pushed the cart too far to her right for him to grab it himself.

Annabeth ran her fingers through the soft dark brown curls. “No, ducky, we don’t need any of fish food.” Her baby wasn’t listening.

Her toddler’s large sea-green eyes looked up to her. He had absolutely inherited the ability to summon the cute little pleading seal look of his father on the spot to get whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. But Annabeth Chase stood firm. They already had enough fish food and Percy always got it for free.

“Bloop bloop,” he said as it was the thing his father always said whenever they fed the fish in the evenings together after he came back from work. It imitated the motions the fish did as they went on to swim back and forth trying to eat a small fish food pellet that fell like orange snowflakes in the water, creating an o-shape with their mouths whilst eating. Then the toddler began to pout.

“Your father brings fish food from work, we don’t need to buy anything from here,” Annabeth explained and then kissed his temple, but her son was a fighter and determined to get what he wanted. Just like his mother.

“Bloop bloop,” the toddler repeated as he was still reaching out. Why were his arms so short?! Why did his mother not understand that he wanted to feed the fish with his dada later? Life was so unfair.

“Yes ducky, bloop bloop,” Annabeth cooed. “You will feed Nemo and all the other fish later with dada, I promise.”

Her son didn’t care. He was dead set on a mission to get fish food and that was what he was getting! The toddler tried again reaching out for the small box, growing more agitated with each passing second. A soft whine escaped him, which would turn into a loud full-blown cry in the matter of more seconds. Then it happened.

Little Jackson felt how he was moving backwards. He opened his mouth and looked in surprise up to his mother who mindlessly had pushed the cart forward, away from the fish section. His mother kept staring at the rows of products ahead of her while doing so.

Annabeth had placed a stand into the cart. As she looked up, she saw that cat litter was on sale to hers and Daedalus’ luck.

“Look, ducky,” Annabeth grabbed two different packages of cat litter, the blue one that was on sale and the usual pink expensive brand they used.

“Which one should we buy?” she asked him to distract him from the fish food in the background. “The blue one or the pink one?”

“Daedalus!” laughed her son as he pointed at the black cat on the pink package which looked like their cat. The expensive one it was of course.

Annabeth sighed. What were almost three dollars more to appease her own child?

“Alright, you’re the boss,” Annabeth said as she placed the final product into the cart and kissed her giggling baby again.

Anyways... if you'd like to see more of this idea, here you go. Or if you want to read the gigantic 9k preview, go ahead. Alright, I'm off to bed, seriouslyyyy

#may I introduce you to my beloved wife #pjo #percabeth #percy jackson #Annabeth chase #percy and annabeth #percy jackson and the olympians #mel writes #hoo #heroes of olympus #percababies #Mel spoils

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

His Dark Materials - Season 2 Episode 7 *FINALE* (Thoughts and Rambles)

We have a LOT to unpack here oh my god oh my god

When I say I was screaming and yelling during the episode, I mean I was LITERALLY screaming and yelling

This post is mostly screeching and capital letters, you’ve been warned

“So cold” “life or death meant nothing” - well shit. Accurate description of a Spectre attack damn

I didn’t know what those creepy noises were at first and I was sat here absolutely TERRIFIED because it was creepy as fuck. Then I realized it was cliff ghasts because they said something that I recognized from the book and I was like “oh shit”

Pan and Will talking is the sweetest omg

The fact that Pan told him that Lyra thinks he’s as brave as King Iorek Byrnison :’)

“She’s the best friend I’ve ever had” “You’re her best friend too” - STOP, MY HEART

Lyra was awake and heard the whole conversation :3

“I’m no longer an aeronaut” :( “I’m an insect” - LMAO

Hester and Lee’s banter remains my favourite thing and now it’s bittersweet tbh...

“You could never be an insect, Lee” “Okay, hare” - bless them

Marisa finding where Lyra was staying and then finding Lyra’s coat?? And crying with it pressed to her face?? :’(

In case I haven’t mentioned it already, I am incredibly gay for the witches/their aesthetic/costume. Absolutely beautiful queens, all of them

Oh hi, it’s Mary and the two kids!

The fact that Mary helped them find their adults :’)

Also, “We like you miss” - BLESS

I’m kind of confused as to whether the blue flower petals are important or if it’s just her smelling them? IDK

“I’m close to my father, it’s time I found him” - OOF OKAY UMM ARE YOU SURE

“I let my best friend down” - Noooo Lyra, no you didn’t! :( Your dad is a terrible parent and killed him, that’s not your fault!

“Maybe this is how I let you down” - Well done, Asriel and Marisa, you’ve fucked up a perfectly fine child is what you’ve done

Will telling Lyra that she hasn’t let him down :3

That witch turning up because she was trying to warn Marisa about the spectres, only for Marisa to torture and kill her... oof

FUCKING MONKEY I CAN’T DECIDE HOW I FEEL ABOUT HIM

“She’s MY daughter” - Okay, damn, lady...

“EVE. She’s the mother of all” - OH FUCK YOU TOLD HER. OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK

THE SPECTRE ATE HER DÆMON OMG NO THIS IS HORRIFYING WTAF

Seriously, the way the witch went so grey and lifeless and just fell to her knees and down... Urgh, my stomach is turning

Just when I thought I hated the monkey again, he starts whimpering because he’s afraid of the Spectres :(

“Stop whimpering” - DAMN MARISA YOU ARE A STONE COLD BITCH HUH

Pan being the damn voice of reason and telling Lyra they should stay with the witches like yes, Lyra, listen to him for once!!!

Okay but why are the Magisterium soldiers lowkey dressed like German soldiers from one of the World Wars???

I’m not really surprised that BBC left out the detail of Ruta and Asriel fucking when she found him to be honest XD

So the witches think that the Æsahættr is a person but it’s actually the KNIFE. AND THEY DON’T REALIZE. RUTA YOU DON’T NEED TO GO ANYWHERE, IT’S LITERALLY RIGHT THERE

“...That’s not my dæmon.” “Run.” - OH SHIT OKAY MY WHOLE BODY JUST TENSED UP

So umm Lee got shot and FUCK NO FUCK NO I’M NOT READY FOR THIS EMOTIONALLY THANKS

I LITERALLY DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN OKAY

“You’re either with me or against me” Umm he’s your dæmon?!?!

THE WAY SHE SCREAMED AT HIM OH MY GOD SHE’S FUCKING TERRIFYING HOLY CRAP

“What are you frightened of?” - oh, I don’t know, Marisa, maybe because YOU FUCKING SCREECHED AT HIM. MAYBE HE’S FRIGHTENED OF YOU

Also I love the detail of Marisa getting onto her hands and knees, sort of crouching and mirroring the monkey’s body language. I just love the parallel

The way the monkey flinched from her when she went to touch him omg :( No dæmon should be THIS afraid of their person (or at all?!?!)

Honestly, I find this series’ portrayal of Marisa fascinating tbh

“We have to do whatever it takes to keep her safe” - Umm, like maybe drugging her and hiding her in a cave for months? 🤔

Also in case I didn’t say this before, the fact she has complete control of the Spectres is fucking scary and always has been from the very first time I read the books

Okay so Lee is fully aware that he’s going to die if he stays behind but he does it because he knows that it’s the best chance of making sure that Lyra ends up under the knife’s protection (because Jopari will find her). All Lee wants is for Lyra to be safe and that hurts my heart so much, he loves this child so much :’(

“I love that little girl like a daughter” - LEE STOP MY HEART IS ALREADY BREAKING AS IT IS

NO NO NO NO I AM NOT AND NEVER WILL BE READY

Oh hey Red PAN-da (sorry I know I keep repeating that joke but honestly LOOK AT HIM)

“Once I change, you’ll stop changing” - OH SHIT. So we’re having THAT conversation then

“What do you think you’ll be?” “A flea I hope” - LMFAO I LOVE IT

“Is it Will that’s changing you?” “I think” - FORESHADOWING FOR AMBER SPYGLASS ANYONE?!

All the meanwhile, while Lee is dying and shit is going down, Ms Mary Malone is just chilling in a cave on a mountain by a waterfall, just reading

I literally struggled to watch Lee’s final scenes. I literally didn’t want to watch it because I cried reading it in the book, and I knew I’d be the same here

The fact that Lee HATES taking away people’s lives but he says “it’s theirs or Lyra’s”... I love him. He loves her so much.

“Think about anything, think about bacon!” - LMFAO I LOVE YOU HESTER YOU ABSOLUTE GEM

THE BULLET CLIPPED HIS SCALP AND I HAD A HEART ATTACK 

“This is my fault, isn’t it?” - NO HESTER NO DON’T YOU DARE BLAME YOURSELF DARLIN’, YOU ARE THE BEST AND WE LOVE YOU AND LEE LOVES YOU

I do this everytime I read the book and I did here even though I know what happens, but I was praying mentally that maybe Serafina would reach Lee in time... just maybe...

I’m really sitting here crying over Hester and Lee on a Sunday night, love that for me

Hester limping :(

“Don’t you go before I do” - FUCK YOU BBC AND PHILIP I’M SOBBING MY EYES OUT

“Oh how far we flew” - STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT FUCKING NOW I SWEAR-

I literally yelled and cried out “NOOO” when Hester faded away and Lee died. I am so upset even though I KNEW it was coming. I am literally not okay.

Oh god no Will, now is not the time to be walking away from Lyra and that witch 

Also why is that witch asleep on guard?? Come on, love, do better, it’s not like these are the two most important children in all the universes.... 

To be fair to Marisa, I’d feel pretty invincible if I were climbing up a mountain while the Spectres were guarding me/on my side

WILL AND JOHN FINALLY MET AHHHH

“I was told I’d find my father here”  - YEAH AND THAT’S HIM WILL ASDFGHJKL;

I’m low-key disappointed that there’s no brawl between Will and Jopari here. Like they instantly recognize each other and... hmm. I know there has to be changes but still.

“Your mother, Will, where is she?” - Awww. John really didn’t stop loving her :’)

“My son... is the Knife Bearer” - oooooohhhhhhh

“You have a dæmon” - that’s right, Will. Don’t worry, you’ll get one next season

The way I audible went “oh shIT” when Mrs Coulter found Lyra fast asleep. Like I said, I knew what was going to happen but STILL

I’m not really surprised that those Spectres killed the witch who was supposed to be guarding Lyra and Will tbh like that’s what happens when only ONE witch guards two teenagers and that witch falls asleep

The way that Lyra panicked when she woke up and saw her mother stroking her cheek omg 

Off topic but I’ve only just realized that Jopari has a fucking man-bun LMFAO OKAY

The fact that Jopari tried to get back to Will and Elaine but couldn’t will always hurt me

“And you chose these people over your family?” - I MEAN-

“I’ve thought about you every day.” - Awww

So John tells Will that he has to go to Asriel and bring him the knife, and he tells him all about the war that’s coming and I have LITERAL chills because I’m so ready

“And then we go home?” “... And then we go home.” - RIP MY HEART OUT, IT WOULD HURT LESS

“I’m not strong enough” - yes you are, Will! I promise you, you are! And Jopari says, “Both of us were brought here” - exactly! You were brought there for a reason by fate or whatever you want to call it!

“Your duty was to be my father” - WILL REALLY CAME FOR HIS DAD LIKE THAT I GUESS

“Look what you’ve become without me” - Oh my god, just when I thought I wasn’t going to cry again

JOPARI HUGGING WILL, SEEING THE SOLDIER AIMING, AND THEN PUTTING HIMSELF BETWEEN THEM SO HE TOOK THE BULLET INSTEAD OF WILL ASDFGHJKL;

So in the book, Jopari is killed by a scorned witch who had once asked him to be her lover, but he had turned her down (because of Elaine and Will obviously), and she kills Jopari in front of Will and then he kills her (I think?). But here it’s just a soldier leftover from the Lee vs Magisterium fight, so... yeah. Kind of a little peeved about the change personally but whatever I guess.

“The night is full of angels, they will guide you now” - AHHHHH

Also, might just be me, but maybe that line would have been slightly more impactful if the scene had taken place at night

This show really said “fuck healthy parental figures” I guess

Except Will’s mum, she’s the best and if anything were to happen to her we’d all riot

SAYAN KÖTÖR FADING AWAY NOOOO I HATE SEEING DÆMONS DIE

Okay, last little gripe, but I just wanted to say that in the book, Will doesn’t realize it’s his dad until literally the last second before his dad dies - like they both realize and then BAM, Jopari is killed. And while I do love the father-son reunion, I am kind of annoyed by the change because it was such a huge punch in the gut in the book that Will searches for so long for his dad, only to lose him the second he finds him.

Serafina finding Lee’s body and kissing his forehead was yet another punch in the gut, thanks Pullman/BBC/BadWolf

The fact that Will had to bury his dad :(

Also, WILL WEARING JOPARI’S JACKET OH MY GOD MY HEART

Oof that shot of his amputated fingers...

So the narration, when it started I thought it was Jopari at first, like from one of his letters... but then as it continued, I went “hang on”, and then I said outloud “wait, is that ASRIEL?!”

DID MARISA REALLY PUT LYRA IN A FUCKING TRUNK?!? BITCH ARE YOU OKAY?!?

Will putting his hood up like his dad did just hits differently

Okay so um ASRIEL HI I WASN’T EXPECTING TO SEE YOU THIS SEASON OH MY GOD THE SCREAM I LET OUT

HIS MONOLOGUE BY THE WAY IS FUCKING ART AND A MASTERPIECE BUT I WAS TOO BUSY CRYING OVER JAMES MCAVOY TO WRITE THE WHOLE MONOLOGUE DOWN

Oh, hi Stelmaria!

It always makes me scream that this man is not only Lord Asriel now but he’s also fucking Mr Tumnus and MOTHERFUCKING BILL DENBROUGH LIKE HOW IS THIS MAN INVOLVED IN SO MANY OF MY FANDOMS?!?

ANGELS ANGELS OH MY FUCKING GOD-

“We stand with you, Asriel Belacqua” - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“Let us prepare for war” - FUUUUUUUUCK

(I was deadly serious when I said this was just me screaming and crying by the way)

I’m still reeling over the fact that Marisa put her daughter in a fucking trunk. Like I get you can’t exactly carry a drugged child about in the open but Jesus Christ, love, really?!?

Also Ruth Wilson / Marisa Coulter in a headscarf? *chef kiss*

The way that the screen went to black as she put the lid on the trunk down - SHIT OH SHIT GOOSEBUMPS

THE CREDIT SONG IS SO BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE IT HAS FUCKING ANGELS NOW I’M-

I WASN’T EXPECTING THE POST CREDITS SCENE OH MY GOD

ROGER?! ROGER! IT’S ROGER I’M NOT OKAY-

BBC YOU CANNOT JUST DROP THAT ON US LIKE THAT FUCK-

“What is this place?” - I’M SCREAMING SO LOUD I CAN’T HOLD IT IN

For anyone unaware, the reason I’m screaming so loud over the post-credits scene is because in TAS, while Lyra is drugged and in a groggy sleep, she has these visions of Roger talking to her from the Land of the Dead, which then later leads to her and Will actually GOING to the Land of the Dead and... well, the rest is even HUGER spoilers but YEAH I’M NOT OKAY.

Honestly, I’m just so happy and emotional because I’ve been waiting over a decade for a decent adaptation of not only NL but for TSK and TAS too, and we’re 2/3 there now. Just one more book/series to go... I wish we could have it now. I really hope that filming for the final one starts ASAP because if we have to wait two years just to see the conclusion to this series, I might cry.

This series is so amazing, and this season especially has been so incredible to watch. It’s been the highlight of my week for seven weeks, and I have no idea what I’ll do with my Sundays now that it’s over. I’ve asked for the DVD for S2 for my birthday already (since it comes out 29th December and my birthday is 13th January... just saying), and words can’t describe how much I do love this series. I know it sounds hollow since I say it about so many things I’m into, but this was such a huge part of my childhood and it’s one of my favourite fantasy series of all time. It’s truly one of the most incredible pieces of literature and now it’s making for incredible television... I love it so much.

#hdm #his dark materials #lyra belacqua #lyra silvertongue #marisa coulter #will parry #lee scoresby #hester #pantalaimon #jopari #john parry #lord asriel #serafina pekkala

[abarbaricyalp]

handholding- 10/12/13

hugs - 34

kisses - 7/13/27

touching - 47

sambucky :)

Buddies, I literally cannot believe I managed to get all of these done without being too repetitive.

Handholding 10: Happily doing everything with one hand if that means they don't have to let go is already posted on my blog and on AO3: ElisabethMonroe: (til i carry you home) Your Hand in My Hand

Reblogging with AO3 links in a second

Kisses 27: Desperate Kisses

Inhale My Soul

(Listen, listen y'all, you don't know how many different universes of them dying and bleeding out in each other's arms y'all aren't reading here. I didn't do that to you. You're welcome)

Dissolving hadn’t felt like anything. Sam wasn’t sure he even understood what was actually happening. Maybe he’d thought it was just a trick of the reality stone. Maybe human minds weren’t meant to comprehend anything close to what had happened.

Coming back felt like dying.

He woke up on his back and he couldn’t breathe. It was like he had no lungs at all, just a trachea spasming in his throat without air, like a gills with no water. He grasped for the ground and the feeling of dirt was horrifying, a grave waiting to swallow him down into the Earth. The wind was knives on his skin. His suit felt like it was trying to pry his spine from his ribs. His legs ached like someone was trying to stretch the bones on a crank.

He must’ve screamed but there was no air to make a noise.

Finally sight came back and the first thing he saw were the trees falling over him, ready to crush him and hide him again.

Had anyone seen him disappear? No one was by his side. No one looked for him.

No, the trees weren’t falling. They were swaying in the wind. The sun kept gliding down through them with every shuffle of the leaves.

It was so quiet he felt like he could hear the leaves sighing as they grew.

It took him too long to realize the ragged breath that broke the silence like a gunshot came from his own chest. The hands digging his own grave shot to his chest, felt the rise and fall of his ribs and lungs, the proof that he was breathing. He was alive again.

He rolled onto his side and heaved until his ribs creaked, still firmly attached to his spine. There was nothing to come up, but the noise was comforting, the ache that he could name and handle was safe. Human. Living human.

His knees were in his legs when he leaned back on his haunches. They sank into the earth but the grave didn’t swallow him down. No unwilling sacrifice to be taken from him. He brought his dirt covered fingers--firm and whole and attached to him--up to his face. He found his cheeks, a beard with edges that were too straight for a man who had died and been put back together, his teeth. They throbbed in his gums like they were all about to fall out but they were there in his head. His tongue.

He could speak.

“Steve!” he shouted and his throat screamed in protest, the air in his lungs turned to fire. “Steve!” he called again and forced himself to his feet. His boots were tied. His pants were still tucked into them. There was no blood, which seemed wrong. He felt flayed open and left to soak into the ground. How could there be no blood?

“Steve!”

God, if Steve was dead…

Sam couldn’t lose more people. He couldn’t fight his way back. Not after this. Not while everything hurt so fucking much.

“Steve, please, God, where are you?!”

“Sam?”

Sam whirled around at the tired voice. The trees danced in his vision. The grass clutched at his legs, which still felt like they were being stretched out and sunk into the earth. The trees were going to take him over. The grass was going to eat him again. No one was looking. No one would find him. Why wasn’t anyone ever looking for him?

“Sam?” the voice called again.

Footsteps. Crushing grass. A metal screech in the bark of a tree. A colorful curse. “Sam, fuck, shout again!”

Sam stumbled forward, breaking free of the natural world trying to take him away again. He shoved himself away from a tree and crashed into a warm, solid, human body.

“Jesus, Sam,” Bucky breathed and wrapped his arms around Sam tightly. It hurt in the best way. Sam held him back, face hidden in Bucky’s shoulder. He didn’t even care about what gore he was smearing all over himself. Bucky’s hand came to the back of Sam’s head and Sam almost expected it to hit exposed brain but it didn’t. Instead his calloused fingers brushed over Sam’s short hair, smoothing over the natural lines and divots in it until goosebumps erupted over Sam’s skin.

Right. Things could feel good. That was part of being human and alive.

He had no idea how long they stood there. His shoulders were aching, but in a pleasant way that reminded him that there was something he loved right in front of him, in his arms.

Bucky was the first to move, stepping back half a step, a quarter of a step, barely any at all, just enough to bring his hands up to either side of Sam’s face. The cheeks and the mouth and the skin that was all there and new again. He tilted Sam’s head back, eyes intense and clear in front of Sam.

Had it not felt the same for him? Was he not grappling with his ridiculously weak claim to existence? Or, fuck, was this how he always felt after being frozen and woken up? Had he been going through this for seventy years with no one to run to? With no one to hold him and remind him that things could feel good?

Sam’s fingers tightened in Bucky’s vest and just as Bucky was starting to say something Sam couldn’t honestly answer--something about how he felt, if anything hurt, if he needed medical attention--Sam hauled him down into a desperate kiss. Their noses smashed together and pain bloomed across Sam’s face, made his eyes water, made him want to sneeze, made him want to lean into it all the more, like the pressed-on-bruise ache of Bucky’s arms around him.

He felt Bucky’s teeth notch a split into Sam’s lip by accident, crushed together with nowhere to go. Finally it softened. Bucky’s mouth pressed against his until Sam felt like he could actually breathe, until he could make his mouth do what he wanted, catch Bucky’s lower lip between both of his, wring out a noise he’d never heard the other man make before. Bucky’s hands on his face kept him close and Sam’s fingers tightened in his vest. He wanted to crawl into Bucky’s chest--felt like, maybe, he could after being unmade and remade. Their noses knocked together again as Sam tried to turn his head, kiss the other side of Bucky’s mouth, let Bucky bruise the rest of his lips.

Bucky pulled away, but didn’t let go of Sam’s face. Cool air flowed into Sam’s lungs until all of his bones and muscles felt like they slotted back into place.

“I can’t tell you how fucking happy I am to see you alive,” Bucky breathed.

We should talk about this. That. Later.

“I thought everyone was gone. I don’t know… I didn’t know how I came back. I thought it was just me.”

Bucky shook his head. “No. There’s hundreds of people. Not everyone, but at least half of us.”

Half of them.

“Oh my God,” Sam said. “Thanos won. He wiped out half of the universe.”

“I think that was us. I think...someone brought us back,” Bucky said. Pain flashed over his face as he looked at Sam and then pulled him in for another kiss. Sam tried to understand a second chance in it, but all he could feel was Bucky and relief and adoration. He wasn’t sure where that one came from more--him or Bucky.

“There’s still a fight,” someone said from behind them. Another magic shithead. Terror clutched at Sam’s chest like magic itself was enough to unmake him again, take him away again. “There’s still a world to save.”

Bucky’s hand found Sam’s between their bodies. Sam took a breath with lungs that almost seemed to work again. “What’re we waiting for then?” he asked.

Kiss 13: Frustrated Kiss

Better Than None

“Barnes, you wanna jump in? Any time’s fine,” Sam called out, though the volume wasn’t actually necessary, since he had an earpiece in and Bucky was only a few feet away, leaned on what was left of a building’s wall.

“Nah, you seem to be handling it just fine,” Bucky called back with a nod.

Sam ducked under the robot arm that had been flung at him. “Barnes, I swear, as soon as I get my hands on you--” he threatened.

“Y’know, normally that gets me going but seein’ as you were so anti-giving me a good luck kiss, I don’t know if I believe you anymore.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Sam threw the shield to cut through seven wire-y necks and caught it at degree 355 of its arc.

“It’s just a kiss. Takes two/tenths of a second,” Bucky said.

“I meant this dumbass argument.” Sam jumped out of the way of an electrical charge and Bucky watched it sail dangerously close to his head.

“Damn, maybe I am lucky without you,” he said and didn’t move at all.

“Bucky,” Sam sighed and ripped the head off of the nearest robot.

“Hot. Wish I could show you my appreciation.”

“How does me not giving you a good luck kiss translate you into not giving me any kisses?”

“It only seems fair. You’re putting my well-being at risk. There should be consequences.”

“That’s not how it works! You’re the one not--” Jesus, he didn’t have time to fall for the bait. He freed a mini-EMP from his utility belt and hurled it at the cluster of robots trying to scale the debris that first responders were using as a barricade to the rest of the street. A few seconds later, the robots fell away, powerless and useless.

“I kind of felt that in my arm,” Bucky said.

Sam growled out a huff and stalked over to Bucky. He shoved the front of the shield against his chest a little roughly and leaned in to kiss him, mostly teeth and irritation. The bastard still looked pleased when Sam pulled away.

“Good luck. Now will you please go do your job?”

Bucky grinned, all teeth and victory, and bolted into action.

Kisses 7: Passionate Kiss

Hand holding 13: Linking hands during s**

Bring Heaven to You

Sam swore he could feel Bucky’s mouth all over him. Every inch of his skin felt electric and alive. Frankenstein’s creature surging to life after a bolt of lightning, every nerve and muscle singing at the same time, overwhelming sensation in the best way. Like a freefall that keep him tethered to the mismatched hands clutching at his hips, his ribs, his chest, his shoulders, his thighs, the backs of his knees. Like Bucky couldn’t decide where he should be shocking Sam back to life either.

Bucky dragged his hand down Sam’s side, flat and steady so Sam could feel the golden band on his finger scorching his skin like it was made of fire. Like vows and rings and heavy promises weren’t enough to prove they belonged to each other, like they needed it written in flesh and blood like everything else about their lives.

Hahahaha, no. The rest is on AO3. Link in the reblog

Hand holding 12: Possessive hand holding

A Green Monster, And No We Don’t Mean The Hulk

“Welcome back to the show, Captain America!” a bubbly, young talk show host greeted. Bucky assumed he’d watched at least a few seconds of the program at some point when he was making it his life mission not to leave his apartment, but he couldn’t place her name for the life of him. “And you brought Mr. Barnes with you!” This she said with much less genuine enthusiasm and didn’t seem all that thrilled to have to look away from Sam to address Bucky.

“Well, you know I can’t stay away too long,” Sam said with a friendly smile. He held out his hand and the host took it in both of hers. It was less a hand shake and more an excuse for her to hang onto Sam, it looked like.

Sam and Bucky sat in the cushy seats for guests and, even though they’d already walked through the staging of this whole farce, Bucky was still deeply tempted to take Sam’s seat so he was between Sam and the host.

“So, Sam, last time we saw each other, you weren’t yet Captain America.”

“Funny how fast things like that can change, right?” Sam asked with twinkling eyes. Bucky wondered if the cameras were bolted down and if he could wrench one free even if they were.

“Well, I think it’s still not soon enough,” the host said and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “You’ve always been Cap to us here. You’ve been so vocal about your mission statement as Captain America, so I won’t make you repeat yourself.” Sam nodded gratefully, though Bucky knew he’d repeat his goals and wishes until he ran out of breath if it meant one more person heard them and got inspired. “So I thought we could focus on what’s going on behind the scenes with you. Has anything else changed for you since you’ve been back?”

As if coming back to life wasn’t enough.

“Oh, definitely,” Sam said. “Buck and I just finished flipping a house down by my sister. Y’know, we got decent temporary accommodations--Buck still has his in New York--and staying with my sister again was nice, but there’s nothing like having a house to come home to that’s just ours. No pre-teens stealing all the food outta the fridge immediately after grocery shopping.”

The host laughed along with Sam, though her eyes couldn’t quite keep from flickering to Bucky. “It’s fun that you’re rooming with Mr. Barnes. Does it feel like having college roommates again?”

Sam frowned, opened his mouth to answer, ran through a bunch of diplomatic ways to say what should’ve been obvious but wasn’t because this lady was into Sam. Which, like, Bucky couldn’t blame her for. But he was anyway.

He reached over to grab Sam’s hand where it was picking at a loose thread in his pants. “Actually, it’s more like just living with a partner,” he answered for Sam. “That’s something else that’s changed too, huh?” he directed at Sam. “Turns out, with consistent showers and therapy, he thinks I’m pretty charming.”

Sam frowned again and scoffed. “No, I do not. That hasn’t changed.”

The host laughed again, forced but a decent show anyway. “Sure, we all love a good bromance,” she said.

Bucky’s eyebrows shot up.

“Don’t,” Sam warned.

“It’s a lot like a bromance, yeah. Just without the B,” Bucky said. “We kind of figured my name had enough Bs to last us for a while.”

“Sam, are you saying--”

Sam sighed and brought his other hand up to the bridge of his nose. “Unfortunately. And, yeah, he’s always like this. Some kinda puffed up bulldog or something.”

Bucky’s fingers tightened around Sam’s. “You’re my partner. I’m allowed to tell people that.”

“You don’t ever stop telling people.”

“Can’t blame him,” the host pointed out. Okay, maybe some of the hostility was misplaced, Bucky thought. Only some of it. “How did we not know about this, Cap?” she asked jovially, though Bucky thought she was still a little upset.

Sam shrugged. “Guess it’s not as exciting as superheroing. And cameras keep ending up destroyed,” he added pointedly.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at the accusation. “Half the places we go could be classified as an active war zone. It’s not always on me that media cameras get crushed under debris or aliens or something.”

“Every single one that catches you touching my face?”

Bucky shrugged.

“So...how long has this been a thing?” the host asked.

“Since before Sam took the shield. It’s actually a package deal. If you want the shield, you have to have me.”

Sam rolled his eyes and let out another long suffering sigh. “I’m sorry he’s ruining this interview.”

“Oh, no, I’m about to win an investigative journalism prize, I think,” the host laughed.

“I don’t know how investigative it is when your subject is physically incapable of shutting up,” Sam said, looking over at Bucky with a glare and the smallest pout that made Bucky want to kiss it off of his face.

So he did, holding their interlaced fingers next to their face to hide from the cameras at least a little bit.

Hugging 34: Hugging while grabbing butt

Get Sprung

(Man, I meant to put this in the fr@ story and forgot :/ )

The building came down faster than Sam expected it to. He supposed well placed explosives would do that. What happened to uncertain, uneven dynamite? Why was everything electrical and precise nowadays?

He had no idea how Bucky managed to get Sam and the shield bundled in his arms before the ceiling came down. He didn’t know how Bucky had managed to kick a piece of wall upright and then locked his metal arm to hold the shield in place above them. He had no idea how Bucky knew it’d make the perfect alcove for them. For someone who pretended not to know what math was when AJ asked for help on homework, he was very calculation savvy.

Bucky slowly freed his arm from the straps of the shield. The rubble shifted a little, pressed a little closer, and then stilled again. They both let out a small breath. There wasn’t enough room to lay out totally, or to stand fully, but they weren’t being crushed. Bucky’s arm joined the other around Sam’s waist. Sam dropped his face to Bucky’s shoulder and let Bucky’s pulse drum against his cheek for a second.

“Are you grabbing my ass?” he finally asked and Bucky coughed out a startled laugh.

“Yeah, you better hope it’s me and not some darkness monster.”

“Couldn’t blame the monster if it was,” Sam said.

“I gotta make sure it’s still there. Would be a shame to lose America’s ass, y’know.”

Sam shook his head and pulled away from Bucky enough to light up his wristlets. He shook them off and rested them on pieces of concrete and rebar to light the space.

Bucky sank down to the ground, legs bent a little to accommodate the space and Sam followed him down, settling between his legs.

“So, now we wait, huh?” he said, reaching for Bucky’s hands to tangle their fingers together.

“Guess we gotta,” Bucky agreed. “Are you hurt?”

Sam shook his head. There was still a ringing in his ears from the explosion and he was sore from Bucky tackling him out of the way, but nothing felt crushed or cut or broken. “You?”

“I’m fine,” Bucky said and then let out a breath at Sam’s arched brow. “I mean it. I’m not playing tough or anything. We got lucky. It came down on us, not sideways into us. I think there’s something lodged between the plates in my arm, but I don’t want you to do anything about it until we’re safe. It’s functional right now. I don’t need to be down an arm if we have to dig out.”

“We’re not gonna have to dig out,” Sam said. “Torres’ll track Redwing to us.”

“How’s your dumb robot?”

Sam reached for a wristlet and navigated to the Redwing menu. “Operational. Some exterior dinging, but nothing serious. He’ll be functional if we need.” Sam set the wristlet aside again and sighed. “Fuck, that was close, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. C’mere,” Bucky said, opening his arms. Sam shifted forward on his knees and leaned against Bucky’s chest, hugging him close. “‘M glad you’re okay,” Bucky murmured, lips brushing Sam’s temple.

Sam nodded and rubbed Bucky’s waist for a second. “Buck?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re grabbing my ass again.”

“I know.”

“Alright.”

Touch 47: Touching their elbow to get their attention

Quiet Birds Circling in Flight

(Jeez, the only thing that came to mind for ages on this prompt involved a spaceship but these men have SEEN aliens and spaceships so that’s not as fun :(((((( )

Sam stood outside the cenotaph long after everyone else had left the service. And that was quite the feat in and of itself. It felt like the mourning could go on for years. There’d been enough tears around him that he wasn’t sure what his own would add to the spectacle.

To everyone else, the cenotaph was a mausoleum. But Sam had been next to Bucky when he told the military to quietly bury him in the cemetery where his parents were both buried. “You know,” Bucky had said one afternoon while they watched the cenotaph being built stone by stone, engraving by engraving, “I’d wager that most mausoleums are just cenotaphs. Grave robbing and reactions to grave robbing mean probably everyone just got moved somewhere safer.”

“Plus decomposition.”

“Well, shit, Wilson. When do you stop being you after death? When does dirt become dirt again? When isn’t it your resting place? Does it even matter where your body is when alls said and done? Is that ever actually you or just a space filler?”

Sam had elbowed Bucky’s ribs and they’d each taken a piece of stone and pretended they didn’t see.

Sam weighed the shield against his shin, knocking it slightly to the side, and then looked up at the stone one ten more feet above his head.

Steve would hate this so much. Sam felt like he could feel his raging blush from the after life. Sam and Bucky had both asked for something more muted, something quieter. Hell, something that would do good for the world Steve was always trying to save. All this money and work and art, for what? A place to take pictures for likes on the internet?

No, Sam had to remind himself, it was a place for memory too.

As much as Sam kind of hated the whole thing, he couldn’t deny that looking up at the effigy of his friend inspired him the same way glancing over at him had in life too. The words wrapping around and around the base of the cenotaph sparked the same intense pride and righteousness they had the first time he heard them.

Maybe he didn’t hate the cenotaph. Maybe he just wanted the real thing back.

He startled at a gentle touch at his elbow. He thought it might’ve been another mourner come to offer condolences, though those mostly went to Bucky when someone was brave enough to approach him. Most people hadn’t looked at Sam twice. Not when Captain America was, in theory, laying in rest thirty feet beyond.

Sam was not in the mood to listen to anyone else talk about the time Steve smiled at them in a cafe or grabbed their cat out of a tree. If he heard his name again, he was going to break down.

But he had the shield now. He had to do the things Steve did. Smile when he didn’t want to. Hide any sign of weakness, lest it reflect poorly on the red, white, and blue he carried now. So he ground his teeth together until his gums ached and turned with a screwed on smile.

But it wasn’t a mourner. Not a random one anyway.

Bucky still had his fingers on Sam’s elbow, a sad look on his face. Dawn was creeping over the horizon and Sam realized with a start and a bloom of despair in his stomach that he’d spent the entire night in the park.

“Think if we wait two more days he’ll shove that stupid stone shield out of the way and come out?” Sam asked, voice wavering like a flag in the wind.

“We would literally never hear the end of it if he did,” Bucky pointed out.

Neither of them smiled. Neither of them really meant their jokes.

Sam finally broke down.

He collapsed against Bucky’s chest. It wasn’t until he lost his breath in the middle of a sob that he realized he wasn’t the only one shaking. Bucky was crying too. They clutched at each other, both terrified they might drift away, that the other might decide this was too difficult too and go back to something better at the first opportunity.

Sam didn’t even blame Steve. He’d laid awake in the temporary accommodation the government had put him up in and tried to convince himself that if he was in Steve’s shoes, he wouldn’t have saved Riley and stayed in that timeline. But he couldn’t. He knew he would have, almost certainly. And it wasn’t fair to ask Steve to give up a happy, quiet ending after more than a century of fighting and hurting.

But understanding it and accepting it didn’t make it hurt any less. “What are we supposed to do, Bucky?” he asked with an irritatingly genuine hiccup at the end of his words.

“I don’t know,” Bucky said, sounding for all the world like he was grinding his teeth together, trying to pull himself back together. “You have a lot more options than me.”

And it was true. Sam had had a job. The Air Force had reached out since he’d been back stateside. He had a family who missed him, who he missed. But it felt like something heavy and tethering had been locked away in that empty cenotaph. He didn’t want to walk away yet.

Bucky stepped back, kept a hand on Sam’s elbow. “For now, we should get back home. You need to sleep.”

Sam didn’t want to sleep. Everything hurt too much.

“Sam, come on,” Bucky insisted. “You don’t have to make any decisions right now.We could both use a few hours of being quiet, right?

Sam reached up to wipe the tears from his face. He had the shield. He had to act like it. “My place or yours?” he asked, still watery.

Bucky pretended like he didn’t notice. “Yours is nicer than mine.”

“And I have a bed.”

“I have a bed.”

“It’s unassembled in a box.”

Bucky squeezed his elbow and then tugged him into a brief hug that Sam was pretty sure they’d never speak of again. “Let’s get out of here. He’s not goin’ nowhere.”

Sam rubbed at his face again and nodded. “We-- We should order in. When’s the last time you ate?” he asked as they walked away.

“I had a better breakfast than you.”

“You didn’t have to give a speech.”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you didn’t throw up in front of everyone.”

“Shut up, I’m a great public speaker.”

“Sure, Wilson.”

“Screw you, Barnes.”

The dawn bloomed before them.

Do not stand

By my grave, and weep.

I am not there,

I do not sleep—

I am the thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints in snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle, autumn rain.

As you awake with morning’s hush,

I am the swift, up-flinging rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight,

I am the day transcending night.

Do not stand

By my grave, and cry—

I am not there,

I did not die.

#sambucky #sam wilson #bucky barnes #captain america #sambucky fanfic #writing #i answer things #the falcon and the winter soldier #prompt answers

[from-home]

𑁍 MARK LEE┊ 𝒔𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 / one ˎˊ˗

𑁍 summary : the one where mark lee time travels back and forth throughout the past and future with his crush, (y/n) ˎˊ˗

𑁍 pairing : mark lee x older!reader (by like three years lmao) ˎˊ˗

𑁍 word count : 6.7k ˎˊ˗

𑁍 genre : fluff, comedy (i hope??), minimal angst, time travel!au ˎˊ˗

𑁍 warnings : swearing, unrequited love (i know that shit hurts omg), my humour is ass, mark gives me slight second hand embarrassment in this, bad writing??, i gave up like halfway through this lol, first time writing a fic like this pls have mercy, it’s almost 2:30 am i'm too tired to proof read fuck ˎˊ˗

𑁍 a/n : first chapter of my first ever fic on here hehe - idk when the next chapter might come tbh but hopefully i’ll continue this series for my own enjoyment! in the meantime, uni still kicks my ass >:(( but anyway, enjoy and i hope that at least someone will find joy with this!    ˎˊ˗

[ 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬 : 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝟬 ]

when your pastor dad’s best friend was the biggest nerd in high school and became an eccentric scientist

O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,

  What a beautiful Pussy you are,

       You are,

       You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!

      If he could write like that, maybe Mark wouldn't need to be here in this boring literature class of his. Don't get him wrong, he liked writing, and he liked the way he could express his emotions through a pen and paper. But for the twenty-one-year-old boy who could barely sit still in one place without his mind wandering off into four different dimensions, it was hard to be interested in whatever the professor was rambling on about. Maybe Professor Jung was telling the story of how she met Dylan Thomas' widow's sister's friend's cousin, and how much of an artistic impact it had on her. She had told the story a good three times in the past two months - Mark kept count.

      Yeah, writing was fun and all, but literature class specifically was boring and dull to him. "Oh but Mark, why take this course then?" one might ask. But one should also know that it was a necessary course if Mark wanted to earn his oh-so-coveted diploma.

      Curse him for majoring in creative writing. His dad always did wonder why writers even bother writing when the bible exists.

      But maybe one day, an hour and a half of John Keats would produce him some ideas for a romantic poem that he could write and gift off to his love of seven years... and counting.

      (Y/N), the shiniest of all pearls and the most beautiful of all Mona Lisa's, the older woman and her beauty often left Mark stunned and helplessly in love. He first met her when he was fourteen, when she had been introduced as his seventeen-year-old tutor. She was so pretty back then, and still was now. In fact, it was as if she didn't age at all!

      Someone who resembled a goddess like (Y/N)  deserved only the most romantic of all romantic poems, and Mark Lee made it a mission to be the one to write it for her. He was so helplessly in love with her that he was able to channel his feelings for her into five different written forms: poems, song lyrics, an 'A for effort?' drawing of her, letters, and anonymous blog posts about how "unrequited love hurts".

      Sure, those blog posts were anonymous, but as good as Mark thought he was at hiding his feelings for her, everybody in town and their ancestors' spirits knew about the big crush Mark had on her. But no one bothered to tell (Y/N) about her not-so-secret admirer and nobody bothered to let Mark know that his mysterious crush wasn’t as well-kept to himself as he thought it was.

      But it was cute. Not the part where Mark slowly died on the inside as each day passed without his feelings being returned (that was pretty sad, everybody acknowledged), but the part where the adoration in his eyes were so clear for (Y/N). Legend went that he held stars in his eyes whenever his gaze rested on the older woman - like, actual stars from the galaxy. Or so the first-hand accounts go.

      Mark Lee was a talented and hardworking boy, that much was a shared sentiment by everybody in town. He excelled at all subjects, mowed the lawn twice just because he thought he missed a spot, gave it his all at church every Sunday by rapping and dancing in the name of Jesus Christ until he was reduced to sweat and threatening to rip his dress shirt off - he was a jack of all trades. There were even rumours that whenever it was time for a 'Make a Wish' patient to... make a wish in heaven, he would dress up as Spiderman and visit them in the hospital to make their final dreams come true. So maybe that's why it was so endearing, his one-sided love for his noona. If there was one person who could jump over that hurdle of "just friends" and out of the friend zone, it had to be Mark, the boy who's always gave it his all in everything ever since he moved here from Canada when he was twelve. It was one thing to have this crush that you desperately wanted to be returned, but it was another to have the whole town cheering for you - it said a lot about Mark's character.

      Which is why! There was no other perfect test subject for Scientist Kim, the local eccentric scientist who was obsessed with creating his "next big invention". He also happened to be the best friend of the town's pastor (weird combination, everybody knows), courtesy of their high school days and a misunderstanding over a carton of milk. The town's pastor also oh-so-coincidentally happened to be Mark's father, who had lived in Korea for all his life until he moved to Canada so his wife could give birth to baby Mark. He ended up moving back to his hometown, however, thus creating a new relationship between his best friend and son.

      Now Scientist Kim - who liked to go by "Cabbage" as a homage to his idol, Charles Babbage - didn’t really care about Mark's painful one-sided love, but he knew the boy could never say no to his father's best friend from high school, so there was no one better to try out his experiments and inventions than Mark. Like, there was literally no one else at all - the whole town swore Cabbage was out of his mind and were still waiting for the day the newspaper would come out with a headline that he's been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Everybody would be disappointed, but not surprised. But such an incident hadn’t happened yet, so for now, Cabbage was still freely working hard everyday to successfully complete and unveil the invention that would propel him to "the front page of every science magazine and a Nobel Prize in Physics".

      And it just so happened to be today, October 30th 2020, when Mark received a phone call from his dad's best friend in the middle of class. He was glad he kept his phone on vibrate, but god, was it distracting. To answer or not to? Why now of all times? Right, he forgot that some people don't have anything else to do with their lives other than... creating things that usually end up on fire by the end of it. You know, now that he thought back on it, the last time Mark willingly participated in Cabbage's experiment which involved some tinfoil, antennas, and laser beam machining, it left Mark's right shoe on fire - thank God he had brought a fire extinguisher over to Cabbage’s house with him.

      Just that memory alone convinced Mark to ignore the call, nearly forgetting about it once it had stopped ringing if not for the fact he received another call just seconds later. "What is this, an infatuation?" Mark grumbled to himself, before glancing up at the front to see if Professor Jung was distracted enough for him to take this call without her noticing. It didn't help that he sat three rows away from the front. But she still seemed to be rambling on about how much she loved Dylan Thomas' works, and that was a sign for him to accept the call. He kept his voice to a hushed whisper, however, "Hello-"

      "Mark! You have to come over!" There was no way Professor Jung did not hear that screech that came from his phone. He glanced up nervously, noticing his classmate's startled gazes on him. But his eyes wandered over to the front, and judging by how Professor Jung was now going on about Dylan Thomas' "attractive appearance", it seemed he was in the safe for now.

      "Cabbage, I'm in class, so could you keep it down?" Mark hissed quietly into the phone.

      "Right, right, sorry!" While he was still loud even after lowering his voice down, it was more than quiet enough for Professor Jung not to notice, thankfully. "Mark, I've just completed my latest invention. But this isn't just any invention, it's the invention of both my - and everybody's dreams!"

      Mark would be mildly curious if not for the fact that Cabbage said that about every invention of his, but he figured that his dad was going to urge him to go anyway, even if Mark didn’t want to. "But he's my best friend, Mark!" Jeez, because how could he possibly say no to the power of friendship?

      "Mark? Boy? You still there?" Cabbage’s voice pulled Mark out of his thoughts, and the boy could do nothing but sigh. This was just going to be like every other time - he’d be introduced to some machine that supposedly did one thing, said machine would catch on fire the next minute, and it would all result in Mark going home an hour later.

      "Fine, I'll be there. After class in like, half an hour." Mark reassured the scientist, and he swore, he could hear something catching on fire in the background.

      "Great!" He then heard rushed footsteps and... a fire extinguisher? "See you then!" And the call ended.

      He just couldn’t wait.

       When visitors would come to the humble town of Uicheon (의천), located just thirty minutes away by car from the bustling capital city, Seoul, the first thing they would notice was how much the town gave off Suburban American vibes, like walking through a town where the main characters of some random Disney high school movie lived. All single detached houses, varying in style from Country French to Cape Cod with recent contemporary and modern upgrades to those houses by residents who wanted to "spice it up".

        Uicheon was a town seen by others where most of the population was upper-middle class. There was nothing wrong with that at all, and actually, the residents of Uicheon were both happy and welcoming of anybody and anyone who stepped foot into town or even took an interest in moving, no matter of their social or economic status.

       If anything, the residents of Uicheon - the ones who've lived in the town for longer than ten years at least - were often worried that those who did show interest of moving in inevitably get... scared off. By one particular daunting house.

       It was a beautiful town. No seriously, Uicheon had been mentioned on multiple "Top 5 beautiful towns just outside of Seoul that you should visit!" lists published on the internet. And in the beautiful small town where all the houses provide comfort and beauty, surrounded by flowers on nearly every available patch of grass like something straight out of a magazine, there stood a modern house - the only completely modern house in the town - its exterior all... black. Even the big windows were tinted black, and it was obvious that the house stuck out like a sore thumb. Sometimes, the local kids told stories of how the house was abandoned, and was home to a ghost with a vengeful spirit inside who wanted to steal your teeth. The residents of Uicheon had gotten used to the house's presence already, but it didn’t stop the mutual sentiment of "...really?" amongst them.

       And currently, Mark stood in front of its black front doors, ringing the black doorbell and covering his ears as trumpets echoed from inside the house, playing to the tune of the guitar solo of Gun N' Roses' 'Sweet Child O' Mine.' Only seconds later, did the door swing open, revealing a robot, half of Mark's height. "SCANNING FACE... HELLO M-A-R-K, MARK." It greeted, well, robotically.

       "Hey, Edison," Mark greeted the robot nonchalantly, walking in and shutting the door behind him, "where's Cabbage?" He asked as he took off his shoes and placed it on the nearby shoe rack.

       "LOCATING THE DOCTOR..." Edison's eyes turned yellow, colour blinking repeatedly until it turned into a green light and stayed like that. "DOCTOR LOCATED - HE IS IN HIS LABORATORY DOWNSTAIRS."

       Because was it really surprising that the house belonged to a guy who invented things for a living and went by the name of a vegetable in a bizarre way to honour his idol?

       "Got it, I'll go meet up with him then." Mark informed, heading down the hall until he reached the black spiral staircase that led both to the third floor and bottom floor. It was really nice up there on the third floor though; Mark had been there before and it even came with a movie room! Too bad Cabbage rarely used it because he "doesn't have time for action sequences". So Mark, being the loyal lab assistant/test subject he was, headed down instead to the bottom floor, where he was greeted by a hallway that was lined up with pictures of old men on the walls. "My inspirations!" Cabbage would say. Among them were the likes of Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison (who he named his robot after, clearly), Nikola Tesla... you got the drift.

       Regardless, Mark never stayed in the hall longer than he needed to - he wasn’t sure if portraits of old men who were dead by now staring at him was exactly his kind of vibe.

       At the very end of the hall, all that awaited him was a grey metallic door that had some vapour seeping through the narrow space at the bottom of it. "Shit, I didn't bring a fire extinguisher today..." Mark cursed, grabbing onto the straps of his backpacks and readjusting it on his shoulders. "It's okay, Mark. He hasn't killed you before, so he can't kill you today...?" He wasn’t sure what the logic behind that thought was but you couldn’t blame him for trying to... reassure himself for whatever was about to come beyond those doors. It was funny to him; he had been the lab rat of many of Cabbage's crazy experiments and inventions, yet he kept coming back and every time he did, the jitters were always there.

       Maybe it wasn’t because he was scared of death. Because he wasn’t - his father always drilled the idea into his head that God would welcome him with open arms when the time came. At the very least, if Mark died - most likely because of one of these experiments and inventions - he'd be bringing Cabbage with him. But hey, that was beyond the point.

       If not the fear of death, then what? Maybe, just maybe... one of these days, one of Cabbage's revolutionary inventions would actually be successful. That for all of the craziness that's going on inside the mad scientist's head, it would finally pay off.

       If only he knew when.

       Mark reached for the handle and twisted it, pulling the door open and nearly coughing when a whole cloud of mist and vapour rushed at him. "Jeez, Cabbage, what are you doing this time?" Mark coughed into his arm as he took a step into the laboratory. He actually couldn't see the scientist at first, waving his hand around in hopes that he'd be able to swat away the mist and vapour. The space around him eventually did clear, though, revealing...

       Nothing?

       Instead of the usual grand machine that looked like it was taped together, Mark was greeted with... a clear space. The scientist was over at his desk just up a set of stairs that led to a second floor within the big room. "Cabbage!" Mark called after him, waving his hands to get his attention.

       Whatever the scientist was busy doing, it was important enough to leave Mark ignored for a good five seconds. It left him pouting, though the scientist eventually did glance over at the boy, his eyes widening behind his circular glasses. "Mark, boy, there you are!" Cabbage sprang out of his seat, quickly rushing down to the boy he had called over. He held some sort of watch in his hands, like it was the most precious thing in the world. Jeez, since when did Cabbage wear Rolex? "Took you long enough! I was bouncing in my seat waiting for you to come over! But in the meantime, I was able to complete another one after confirming my calculations for the twenty-seventh time..."

       One thing that nobody wanted to do was sit through Cabbage's rambling, prompting Mark to speak up. "Whoa, calm down, Cabbage. What's going on? Where's your invention?"

       "Oh Mark, you're looking at it." Cabbage held out the watch and Mark raised an eyebrow.

       "That small thing?" Mark narrowed his eyes at the watch in the scientist's hand. "Are you sure? Last time I came in for one of your creations, it was twice my size and almost killed me." But knowing the kind of person Cabbage was, Mark wouldn't be too surprised if this little watch managed to wreck havoc as well. How ironic it would be, for something so small to cause so much chaos.

       Cabbage shook his head, meeting Mark's gaze with oddly serious eyes. "Mark, the creation I hold in my hand can - and will - change the world. If left in the wrong hands, everything could collapse. Society will crumble, the universe will be left in a never-ending stream of terror, reality will no longer exist, the concept of time will-"

       "Okay, okay," Mark was left, once again, trying to calm down the frantic scientist, "Cabbage, deep breaths. Tell me, what did you create?" It couldn't be that bad that it left the older man going on some admittedly fear-inducing rant.

       "A time travel machine."

       One Mississippi, two Mississippi...

       "Alright, I'll see you next time then, Cabbage." And almost immediately, Mark turned on his heel, prepared to just dip out of there.

       "Wait, no, Mark!" The scientist called after the boy, grabbing a hold of his sleeve, "Please, hear me out!"

       "Time travel, Cabbage!" Mark whirled around, disbelief painted in his features. "Do you even hear yourself right now? That's impossible! This is impossible! Listen, I'm fine with being your test subject but even I have to put my foot down somewhere when things get a bit too crazy!"

       Despite Mark's reasonable concerns, Cabbage really didn't feel like letting his lab assistant slip away from the tip of his fingers, especially now of all times. "Come on, Mark! Twenty-seven times! I checked my calculations twenty-seven times! Don't let my hard work go down the drain!"

       "Then do it yourself! Time travel yourself!" Mark exclaimed.

       "I can't! I need you to go so I can stay behind and collect all the data while making sure you don't get stuck in the future or something!" Cabbage explained.

       Unfortunately, Mark's face still showed utter disbelief. "You know, this really doesn't help your case, Cabbage!"

       "Fine! We'll do this the fair way then!" Cabbage shouted, holding his fist out.

       "Are you serious? Rock, paper, scissors?!" Mark cried out, covering his eyes. If there was one thing he couldn't say no to, it was rock, paper, scissors. Why? Maybe because he boasts a seven-hundred-fifty-two win record, with a mere twenty-one losses in the game. As you could probably assume, Mark was the undisputed rock, paper, scissors king in Uicheon, and only two kinds of people would dare challenge him in the game when it came to bets. Those who were bold and those who were desperate.

       "I mean it, Mark! If you win, you can walk right out that door and never look back. I won't force this onto you. But if I win..." If Cabbage won, "you have to at least give this experiment a thought."

       "Wait, that's it?" Mark uncovered his eyes, surprise in his voice. But hey, it wasn't a bad deal at all - in fact, the opposite. If Mark won - which he was pretty much guaranteed to - he could leave. If he didn't, he could pretend he thought it over and just say no in the end. "Well shit, say no more, Cabbage." And out Mark's fist went. “On shoot?”

       "On shoot." The scientist confirmed, the two men placing their fists behind their backs.

       "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

       Rock for Mark, and... rock for Cabbage.

       "You got lucky." Mark rolled his shoulders back. "But this is it." And back their fists went behind them.

       "Rock, paper, scissors... shoot!!"

       Scissors for Mark, and... rock for Cabbage.

       "I won..." Cabbage glanced down at his fist, mouth left agape, "I-I won! Against you!"

       Yikes, better make that record seven-hundred-fifty-two wins to twenty-two losses now.

       "I-I..." Mark was still in disbelief, for a totally different reason now, however. "I... I lost?" Under such circumstances too... but seriously! Time travel was a bit too much! "H-Hey, that doesn't mean I'm going to be going through with this! Remember, you said if you won, you'd let me think about it!" Mark reminded.

       "Yeah, but only because I didn't think I'd actually win!" Cabbage snorted, shaking his head as he tucked the watch safely in the pocket of his white lab coat. "But I am a man of my word, so I'll give you some time to think about it. How about until the end of the day?" He suggested.

       "That's a bit too soon, don't you think?" Mark frowned, not really liking the idea of being forced into a decision so quickly.

       "Sorry, is that loser talk?" God, that damn Cabbage always knew how to get under Mark's skin.

       "Fine, by the end of the day. But don't be surprised if my answer doesn't change." Mark warned. "Now if that's it, I'll be going." Mark huffed, turning around and heading to the door once more. This time, the scientist let him go, but not without some parting words.

       "See you soon, Mark."

       (Y/N) doesn't know where her life went wrong.

       Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration and a dramatic one as well, but it didn't change the fact that instead of living out in the city and pursuing her dream as a world renown film director, she was stuck in her small hometown, working full-time at a film-rental store.

       What was even the point of this store anyway? Everything was online nowadays anyway - who did the owner think he was, trying to compete with Netflix?

       "One Mississippi, two Mississippi..." (Y/N) mumbled to herself from behind the counter, staring dully at the analog clock hung just above the front doors. An analog clock - what year was this again?

       "(Y/N)," the voice of the store's owner, Mr. Yoon, was a less than welcoming disruption to her daily "clock-watching" (as she termed it herself), but at least it was a good way to remind her that the day was almost over, "did the kids all go home already?"

       (Y/N) nodded, reaching below into the counter for a piece of paper with names and times. "Yup, Jungwoo and Sungchan just finished their shifts half an hour ago." She pointed to their names on the paper, "Signed out here."

       "Great. You're in charge of closing up for today then, I have business in the city." Mr. Yoon informed, proudly readjusting his grip on the handles of his briefcase.

       "Godspeed, Mr. Yoon." (Y/N) nodded, watching as the man left with a nod. And as the doors closed behind him, the female found herself alone in the store. All alone... which actually wasn't even that uncommon.

       (Y/N); twenty-four years old, graduated from a local college two years ago with a degree in Film Studies with hopes of eventually entering the field of film-making and directing. She had high hopes, especially when she graduated. "To the city and A-list I go!" She could remember cheering that day in her car, diploma in hand and graduation gown still on.

       But somebody must have forgotten to tell her that the university you went to mattered - and just how competitive the job market was for... pretty much every job.

       Now this wasn't to say the college she attended was bad or anything, it just wasn't... one of the SKY universities.  And before she knew it, when it came time for job hunting, the positions were constantly being filled out by "better candidates" and after a certain amount of "we regret to inform you"s, (Y/N) decided to go back home.

       Home, in the beautiful yet small town of Uicheon. All she wanted was to make it big, live in a nice condo in Seoul and shop at luxury brands. Yet now, she found herself wearing what was possibly a ten-year-old uniform from the back storage with a name tag that was always tilted at a forty-five degree angle no matter how many times she tried to fix it.

       But don't get her wrong! She hadn't given up yet - she absolutely would not! Her films might not be playing in theatres or at the Busan International Film Festival, but she still enjoyed writing up ideas and getting some of her co-workers to act out some scenes for her while she filmed eagerly with her trusty camcorder.

       The Sony HDR-CX675; this bad boy cost her a good two months of saving up but God, was it worth it. Jungwoo in a wig and Sungchan throwing pens like they were daggers had never looked so good in HD until (Y/N) had gotten her hands on that beloved camcorder of hers.

       "Should I film the clock or something?" She sighed, eyes wandering back over to the analog clock. At least she only had an hour left before the store closed, and she usually spent most of that time cleaning up anyway.

       And so that hour began, dreadfully long until with only ten minutes to spare, the front door had opened, prompting (Y/N) to rush back to the counter from the storage room, though not without grumbling to herself quietly about what asshole comes into a store ten minutes before they close.

       But it wasn't just anybody who came in - it was Mark, the boy who always complimented her hair no matter how lazy she had been to brush it that day. Still, flattery always earned some brownie points in (Y/N)’s books. So she wasn't hesitant at all when she had greeted Mark. "Hey, it's nice to see you here! Renting a movie?" She asked, resting her arms on the counter top.

       "Yeah, looking for some Christian-friendly Halloween movie. For the kids at church this Sunday, since Halloween is tomorrow." Mark chuckled shaking his head.

       "Let me see what I can find," (Y/N) grinned as she slipped away from the counter and to one of the shelves, "I'll be honest though, you're probably better off showing the kids some cartoon from Netflix or something."

       As if Mark was going to tell her that he insisted to his dad on renting a movie, for he wanted to see and talk to the girl of his dreams who currently had her back turned to him. "Well you know us, terrible with technology." Instead, that was all he could muster up.

       "I'll bet." She snickered jokingly, turning back to him with a movie now in her hand, "Toy Story of Terror sound good to you?"

       "Better than showing them Scream." Mark shrugged before heading back to the counter with her. "I'll pay with debit."

       "Mhm," (Y/N) nodded, taking his card and swiping it for him through the machine, "you know the usual, watch within thirty days and return it after those thirty days." She reminded him with a yawn. God forbid Mr. Yoon ever see that.

       "Busy day?" Mark offered a small sympathetic smile as he took his card back as well as the movie. "I kind of get it. Cabbage called me in for one of his inventions today."

       "Today?" She asked, watching as the boy across from her nodded. "What was it this time?" Everybody in town felt bad for Mark since he was the one always testing out Cabbage's inventions, but at the same time, at least it wasn't them?

       "Gosh, you wouldn't believe me if I said it." He shook his head with a heavy sigh. "A time travel machine - or like, a time travel watch, I guess."

       "Time travel?" The gasp from the female was expected; anybody would be surprised. "I always knew Cabbage was ambitious but definitely not to the extent of time travel!"

       "Yeah, needless to say, I said no. Or like, I told him I would think about it, you know?" Mark frowned. "I just can't believe... time travel of all things."

       "I'll be honest," there was a smile spreading on (Y/N)’s face, to the slight surprise of Mark, "the idea of time travel sounds so cool though. I'd love to try it out." When Mark had brought up what had happened at Cabbage's house, he didn't think (Y/N) would actually be... interested in the scientist's invention. Definitely not when it was so absurd. But she looked so cute, the way she stood up straighter and her attentive eyes as he talked about it. Gosh, he wished he could tell her that it wasn't worth the time. But her interest was clear, that much he couldn't ignore.

       "Then... why don't you try it in my place?" Mark suggested hesitantly. He didn't want (Y/N) and her pretty little self anywhere near those dangerous creations, for concern of her safety. But she really seemed to be interested in this, and this... it was the least he could do.

       "Alone? No thanks." She giggled softly, to the relief of the boy who had suggested it in the first place. "Maybe if someone else was with me though. Like a time travel duo!" Hold up - someone else?

       "This is your chance, Mark!" His inner voice practically screamed at him. Anything for (Y/N), right? "But it's so dangerous!" His other inner voice tried deterring him from going through with what he was about to suggest. But for (Y/N)! "Then," Mark felt his heartbeat quicken, excitement and hope visible in his eyes, "you wouldn't mind if we did it together, would you?"

       If his friends Johnny and Donghyuck were here, they'd definitely be cheering and slapping him on the back. It felt like he was asking her out, something he always dreamed of doing but never really having the guts to do so. Rejection was a scary thought, but as he watched the wide smile that spread onto (Y/N)’s face, he knew he had something to look forward to, even if through... this.

       "Of course! it'll be fun!" Score! "Too bad only one person can go though, I assume." She frowned.

       And for a second, Mark's hopes had shattered once again. But then he remembered something back at Cabbage's house, and maybe, just maybe, it wasn't over yet. "Actually, I think Cabbage mentioned making two watches." After confirming his calculations twenty-seven times. "Why don't we go together?"

       "Seriously? You wouldn't mind?" Oh, what Mark wouldn't given just to see that wide smile on (Y/N)’s face every single second of the day.

       And with a smile of his own, he nodded. "Of course not, noona."

       Love has always been a motivation for man, ever since the beginning of humans. And as time continued on and advanced, a variety of factors had been added to that list of motivation, such as money and power. But one constant above all was always going to be love - something that had always been interpersonal.

       So that was why Cabbage wasn't too particularly surprised to see Mark come back to his house later in the evening, this time, with a female companion. And judging by the look of awe on her face, it didn't take much for the scientist to connect the dots. "Mark, you came back!" Cabbage smiled down at the boy from the second floor of his basement lab. "With a friend this time?"

       "Right," Mark cleared his throat, gesturing to the scientist, "(Y/N), this is Cabbage as you already know, and Cabbage, this is (Y/N), my friend."

       "Hi! It's great to be here! Like, really great." (Y/N) was still enamoured by the many... things going on in the lab, though Mark couldn't blame her.

       "Anyway Mark, have you given my invention a thought?" Cabbage inquired, standing up from his seat by his computer and leaning against the railing. "I assume that's why you're here, after all."

       Mark nodded. "I have." He confirmed, biting down on his lip. "And I'll do it."

       "You will?" The scientist's eyes widened, grin spreading on his face. "That's great!"

       "But," Mark began, gaze falling over onto (Y/N) for a short second before back onto the scientist, "with conditions."

       "Conditions?" Cabbage raised an eyebrow, pleasantly intrigued.

       "Conditions!" (Y/N) suddenly spoke up with a grin, earning a look from the two. "Sorry, it just felt kind of intense so I wanted to ease tensions a bit." She coughed, glancing back and forth between the two. "Please, continue." She urged.

       "A-Anyway yes, conditions." Mark cleared his throat before turning to the scientist once more. "I want (Y/N) to come with me. You have two watches, don't you?"

       "I do." Cabbage nodded, fishing his hand into the pocket of his lab coat and bringing out two identical watches. "So far, they're the only two I have so I need to make sure that your friend will be extra careful with this."

       "She will." Mark reassured without any hesitation. "I know she will, because she's (Y/N)." A man who was claiming everybody's hearts left and right - except for (Y/N)’s though, unfortunately.

       Cabbage looked as if he was pondering on the thought for a bit before eventually nodding and making his way down the stairs. "Well, if Mark is vouching for you, I guess it should be okay." Cabbage nodded before gesturing for the two to follow him to the back of the lab, where large screen rested on the wall and multiple smaller monitors on both it's sides, resting on a glass desk. Below it were multiple keyboards, a few touch pads here and there with clearly different functions. It was like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. "This is where I'll be monitoring and communicating with you two while you're in whatever time period you land in." He explained, gesturing to his set up.​​​​​​​

       "What about the watches?" (Y/N) asked.

       "I'm just getting to that." Cabbage nodded, reaching for the two watches once again. "Gather around, you two." He motioned for them to come closer. "It looks like a regular analog watch at first, but if you tap the clock face," he did what he had just said, the other two watching in awe as a small digital hologram had appeared in the air, just above the clock face, "it has information such as your battery life on the right hand corner, the date and time you're in, the option to video call me, and the option to switch time periods." He pointed out each detail on the hologram. "Now the problem with the switching time periods is that once you arrive somewhere, you're stuck there for, at a minimum, twenty-four hours before the voltage and particle energies recharge and allow you to travel elsewhere."

       "Wait, so you're staying we might be stuck in a different time for a whole day?" Mark asked, a bit of alarm evident in his voice.

       "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out the proper calculations to make the recharging process quicker but for the meantime... yes." The scientist sighed. "But hey, at least it's not twenty-five hours...?"

       "Cabbage!" Mark groaned, running his hand down his face.

       "I mean, twenty-four hours doesn't sound that bad." (Y/N) hummed. "I'd love to explore a different time period, really get to know what it was like!"

       "See, at least someone's optimistic." Cabbage sent a not-so-subtle look over at Mark. "But anyway, I actually have a quest for you two."

       "Ooh, a quest! I feel like I'm in a video game." (Y/N) giggled, and if it weren't for the fact that she was totally digging this right now, Mark would have just straight up left out of fear for his own safety.

       "Exactly!" Cabbage nodded eagerly. "Since you two will be going to different time periods, I want you to bring back a memento of some sort from each time period."

       "Anything specific?" Mark asked, wanting to make sure he was going into this with full details.

       "Yes, for the purpose of analytic purposes due to their high amount of energy." Cabbage turned to the two, a suddenly serious look on his face. "A meaningful item to at least one person you encounter."

​​​​​​​        The two waited for him to say more, but nope, all he did was stare back at them. Mark ended up being the first to speak up. "Hm, I think you're missing the part where you, oh I don't know, tell us what you mean by ‘meaningful item’??"

       "That will vary from person to person, Mark boy." Cabbage sighed, giving an empathetic pat on the boy's shoulder. "One person's 'meaningful item' might be a necklace that their mother gifted them, or maybe a letter from a lover for a soldier - everything in life is a variable anyway."

       "Wait, then how do we know something is a meaningful item?" (Y/N) asked.

​​​​​​​        "That's where this last function of the watches come in," Cabbage turned his attention back to the watches, "this icon," he pointed to one of the icons on the hologram screen that resembled a heart, "will allow you to scan a person once you've talked to them. This only works one person at a time though, and it does drain a lot of energy from the watch battery. It'll allow you to see particles coming from objects, like sparkles. The more vivid, bigger and brighter the particles, chances are that's your person's meaningful item. So be careful with who you choose to use it on - once you scan that person, you'll have to find their meaningful item before you can use it again. Not to mention that the longer it takes for you to find the meaningful item, the more energy it drains." He warned.

​​​​​​​        "Talk about ominous, gosh." Mark sighed, shaking his head. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

       "It'll be exciting though, Mark." (Y/N) glanced over at the boy beside her, a grin spreading on her face. "We're in this together, after all!"

       "Noona..." A shade of red coated Mark's cheeks as he stared down at her, eyes sparkling with adoration.

       "Ahem, and me too." Cabbage interrupted, "Just, I'll be back here handling everything."        

       "Yes, of course, because where would we be without you, Cabbage?" Mark sighed, feeling a bit salty over the scientist's interruption during his and (Y/N)’s "moment".

       "Love you too, Mark." Cabbage blew a kiss his way before handing a watch to Mark and (Y/N) each. "Are you two ready?"

       "Wait, we're doing this so soon?" Mark's eyes widened, staring down at the watch in his hands with a bit of fear.

       "Better sooner than later." Cabbage shrugged, helping attach the watch onto Mark's wrist and then to (Y/N)’s. "You guys will be fine, don't worry. I'm here, after all!"

       "So reassuring, Cabbage." Mark grumbled, about to protest over the quick timing and suddenness of all of this if not for the sudden feeling of warmth in one of his hands. He glanced down at said hand, eyes lingering on the smaller hand that had clasped his own. And as his eyes wandered up to the hand's owner, he swore she was going to be the death of him.

       "It'll be okay, Mark." (Y/N) squeezed his hand softly with a reassuring smile. "We're in this together." She repeated.

       "Right..." Mark trailed off before taking a deep breath and nodding. "Together." He then glanced over at the scientist. "We're ready, Cabbage."

       With an excited smile, the older man nodded before turning to his set up and taking a seat down in the chair. The sounds of his quick tapping against the keyboard keys had Mark worrying with every passing second, but as (Y/N) held his hand, he figured this wouldn't be a terrible way to die. "Adios, you two!" Cabbage called out before hitting one last button. Click!

       And as a bright and large flash of light illuminated within the lab, Mark knew it had begun, especially with the way his limbs practically burned and his consciousness struggling to stay intact.

       The things he'd do for love, huh?

#nct fluff #mark lee fluff #mark lee #nct mark fluff #nct 127 #nct u #nct dream #mark lee x reader #nct #nct 2020 #nct fics #nct x reader #nct angst #mark lee angst

[heyitsani]

Let Down My Guard

Omega!Dick Week Day 2: Reverse!Robins

Word Count: 2926

Rating: Mature-ish

Warnings: Threats of non-con (nothing graphic) and Robincest (obviously)

Pairing: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd

Summary: Dick’s scent blockers fail him on patrol when he’s out alone and brings a predator his way.  

Notes: Day two and the one story for the week that doesn’t fit the rest of the series.  The non-con-ish scene happens in the very beginning so the entire story is under the cut to avoid triggering anyone who might stumble upon this post.  The ages/codenames of the Robins are as follows:

Damian Wayne: Sparrow 28

Tim Drake: Red Hood 25

Jason Todd: Phoenix 18

Dick Grayson: Robin 16

You can also read this on AO3 here

“Here birdie, birdie, birdie,” the voice called out, chilling Dick to his very bones.  He knew who the man was calling for.  He knew that somehow his scent blockers had stopped working and the dirty alpha had caught his scent.  He also knew he was cornered.  He had nowhere to go and unless one of the Bats answered his distress call soon, he was so very screwed.  Perhaps quite literally.  “I know you’re around here somewhere, birdie.  Can smell you.  Like,” there was a pause and Dick assumed he was taking a deep breath, “like honey and spice.  Do taste as tempting as you smell?”

And that was something the sixteen-year-old had no intention of letting this man find out.

He wished he knew if someone was on their way, but the sharp screech in his ear earlier and told him something had gone wrong with his comm unit and now he was just stuck.  Stuck hoping and praying to a god he didn’t believe in to save him from a fate he had saved so many others from over his years of being Robin.

There was no out for him.  And suddenly Dick to felt weaker than he had ever felt in his life.  Weaker than he had felt watching his parents fall to their deaths those years ago.  A glance above him told him there was no way for him to get to the roof and to safety without his grapple.  And since the snapping line was what had caught the attention of the alpha to begin with, he was stuck.  And he was scared.  And his head and his knee hurt from his fall.

“You might as well just come out from your hiding spot little birdie.  Make it easier on both of us.”  Closing his eyes, Dick tried to pull his scent back in a bit to put the man off just a little longer.  The closeness of his voice was enough to make his hands shake in terror.  “I won’t bite…too hard.”  And Dick could practically see the sneer on the man’s face.

“Is that so?”  Oh, thank god, Damian.  “Perhaps you didn’t get the memo, but that’s not how things go here in Gotham.”  Dick jumped when a shadow jumped down next to him from the roof and immediately, he fell in a defensive crouch.  He wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“It’s just me Baby Bird,” the electronic sound of Tim’s voice modifier in his helmet was a bigger comfort than most would have thought, and Dick felt his muscles relax as he threw himself into his older brother’s chest.  There was a click, but instead of trying to find the source of the noise, Dick just buried his face in the armor-plated shirt Tim wore as part of his Red Hood suit.  “Are you hurt?  You smell hurt.”

“Nothing dangerous, just so fucking glad you guys are here,” he muttered into Tim’s chest.  He relaxed further when one of Tim’s arms wrapped around his back and held onto him.  Dick could hear scuffling in the background and a pained yelp, and he knew it was Sparrow taking down the alpha who had put them in this situation.

“Robin,” the edge of Damian’s voice caused him to pull his face away from Tim’s chest and look over at his brother.  “Are you hurt?  Did he…?”  Dick shook his head quickly and though it took a moment, Damian eventually nodded and looked back at the entrance of the alleyway where the alpha had cornered him.  “Hood and I have Robin.  We are heading back to the cave.  Tell Phoenix he’s fine.”

That caught Dick’s attention.  “Why didn’t he come with?”

“Come, Robin.  You shall ride with me.”  Looking from Damian to Tim, Dick frowned.  He was going to demand an answer but stopped when Tim shook his head.  “Robin.”  The sharpness to Damian’s tone caused Dick to flinch.  Rare was the moment when Damian was short with him.

“Fucking hell, Sparrow.  Can’t you see he’s already freaked out enough without you snapping orders at him?”  Tim tightened his arm around Dick and while it wasn’t strange for Damian and Tim to be at odds, it was strange for it to be about Dick specifically. 

He could hear the sigh slip from Damian even though he obviously tried to hide it.  “I am sorry, Robin.  Please, let us get you back to the cave.  There is a very worried and just slightly injured Phoenix desperate to look you over.”

Without saying anything, Dick nodded and pulled away from Tim to follow Damian back to his bike.  Glancing back at his other brother, he watched Tim take out one of his guns and put a bullet in the chamber. 

“Don’t kill him, Hood,” was all the warning that Damian gave Tim before taking Dick’s arm and pulling him out of view of the still whimpering alpha and into the street.  Dick put on the offered helmet and slid onto the motorcycle behind Damian, the engine revving just enough to make Dick wonder if he actually heard the gunshot and resulting shout of pain.

But he decided he didn’t care if Tim had shot the alpha.  If he had tried to do that to someone who could obviously handle themselves (if not in that exact moment), Dick didn’t want to know how many others he had managed to hurt because they couldn’t defend themselves or have someone defend them.

No, instead he focused on tightening his arms around his older brother’s waist, closing his eyes, and letting go of the fear that had caused him to freeze.  He wasn’t sure what it was that had caused him to freak out so suddenly, but there had been something about that alpha.  It hadn’t been the first time one had tried to take something from him by force, but it had been the first time he had frozen so completely.  Never had he ever felt so weak before.  Not even just in a normal fight when the opponent was obviously far superior.  He had always managed to find a way to get himself out of a situation. 

But this had been different.

He shuddered to think of what could have happened if his brothers hadn’t gotten there in time.  What would they have done if they had come even a few minutes later to find him in the clutches of that alpha?  What would Jason have done if he had been violated?  Would he withdraw his intentions?

No, that wasn’t the kind of man Jason was.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made his intentions clear two years before he could even act on them.  Being eighteen meant Jason could bond legally, but Dick still had two years to go before he was of age.  And though Bruce could have given them permission, he had made it clear that he wouldn’t give his blessing until they were both consenting adults.  Even though he followed that up with stating he approved of the pairing and would happily support it when the time came.

Sapphire eyes opened when he felt the terrain change under the motorcycle, and he found they had pulled into the entrance of the cave.  So, carefully, he pulled the fear scent as far in as he could.  There was nothing he could do about the scent that still clung to his suit, but he could overwhelm with relief at least. 

Hopefully, Jason wouldn’t panic too much.

“Dick!”  Well, there went that hope.

“Honestly, Todd,” Damian reprimanded Jason as he came running up to where Damian brought his motorcycle to a stop.  Dick could see the bandage wrapped around Jason’s forearm and he knew there were probably stitches under it.  “I said he was fine.”

“Forgive me for wanting to check for myself,” Jason shot back, reaching out to help Dick slip out from behind Damian.  Thankfully, the helmet hid the wince of pain on his face when he was back on two feet and the pain in his knee made itself known again.  Dick let Jason remove the helmet and mask, dropping them both to the ground, before he ran his hands down the length of his arms and gripped his hands.  “What happened?  Alfred wouldn’t let me go out with Damian when you sent the beacon.  Are you okay?  Why can I smell you so strongly?”

“I don’t know what happened, but my blockers failed, and the alpha was following me before I realized it.  I was going through Crime Alley when my line snapped, and I think the crash of my fall caught his attention initially.  The blockers failing was just bad luck.” Dick said as Jason pulled him toward the med bay where Alfred was probably waiting to look him over.  He did his best to walk normal despite the sharp pain that shot through his knee with each step.  “I sent the beacon the moment I knew I was going to end up cornered.”

“The animal never got the chance to touch him,” Damian added from where he was following the pair.  “Tim arrived from wherever he was at the same time I did.  I took care of the disgrace of an alpha and Tim went to Richard.”

Jason glanced over the top of Dick’s head with a raised brow.  “Tim let you handle the alpha?”  Dick glanced back in time to see Damian sniff haughtily.  “You promised him he could take care of him if you incapacitated him in order to get Dickie out?”

“I certainly hope that wasn’t the case, Master Damian.  Your father would be greatly disappointed.”  Alfred stood next to one of the beds in the med bay, obviously waiting for Dick.

“Perhaps.  But perhaps not when he hears what that waste of space was planning for his youngest.”  And Damian was probably right.  Even if Dick was no longer a child, Bruce did have the tendency to treat Dick as though he was more precious than air.

Dick watched Alfred consider his oldest brother before the man looked back to Dick and waved him over to the bed.  “Come now, Master Richard.  Take a seat so I can look you over.”  Dick let Jason lead him over to the bed and didn’t complain like he usually would have when Jason lifted him to sit on the bed.  He could smell the distress on the young alpha and knew he needed this.  Dick could be coddled if it meant he stopped smelling so sour.  “Any injuries you wish to make us privy to?”

Thinking over his night, Dick couldn’t recall anything to worry about outside of when his line snapped.  “Maybe a light concussion from my fall?  I didn’t pass out at all, but I think I knocked it on the ground.  And my knee hit pretty hard as well.” 

“Very well.  I will need you to get out of the suit so I can check your knee.  Master Jason, will you please retrieve some more comfortable clothing for Master Richard?”  When Jason looked like he was going to protest, Dick placed a hand on his upper arm and drew Jason’s attention back to him.

“Something from your locker, maybe?”  The pleasure at the suggestion filtered into Jason’s scent and Dick was glad he could manage to get some of the sour distress scent out.  With a quick press of his lips to Dick’s temple, Jason hurried out of the room.

“That was wise,” Alfred commented as he moved closer and began concussion protocol.  Dick focused on the questions and commands as best he could, but his attention kept falling back to Damian who still stood in the doorway with is arms crossed and a dark look on his face.  “Yes, I do believe you have a minor concussion, nothing to be concerned about given your level of alertness.”  Alfred was stepping back as Jason made his way back into the room.

“Do you need help?”  Jason asked quietly when he came up to Dick’s side with a few items, all smelling strongly of Jason and home.  Dick only nodded and held a hand out so Jason would help him down from the bed. 

“Master Damian, you should get out of your own suit and contact your father.  I did not want to worry him without all the details.”  Though it sounded like a request, it was definitely an order and Dick could see the annoyance on Damian’s face without even bothering to read his scent.  But the oldest nodded and left the room.  He was followed by Alfred, to give the pair a bit of privacy Dick was certain.

Instead of letting Jason help him out of his suit, Dick turned and buried his face into the spot of his neck where his scent glands were as he wrapped his arms around Jason’s torso.  “Dickie,” Jason whispered, voice hoarse as he buried his face into Dick’s raven hair.  His arms came up and around Dick, holding on tightly.  The pair let the silence fall between them as they took the moment to comfort each other without words.  But eventually reality came back to them and Dick was pulling back so Jason could help him out of the suit and into the clothes he had brought.

He was just slipping on the t-shirt when Alfred reappeared in the doorway with a tray of food and some water.  “I would appreciate it if you would eat this while I look over your knee,” he explained, setting the tray next to Dick on the bed, giving him a pointed look.  Nodding, he picked up the sandwich and took a bite as Alfred moved to the knee he had left exposed by pushing the loose sweat pant leg up.  The touch was firm, but gentle and just enough that Dick was able to hold back the reaction to the pain that flaired up with the inspection. 

“A sprain,” Alfred told them, grabbing the items needed to wrap it to stabilize the limb.  “A few days rest and you shall be right as rain, young sir.”  Jason visibly relaxed at the diagnosis and Dick sent him a look before turning back to Alfred.

“Crutches?”

“If you would rather be carried everywhere…”  Dick balked at the idea of being treated like a damsel in distress and Jason choked out a laugh.  “Then yes, crutches for at least two days.  We shall check the condition of your knee once we check it again.”  He knew he was pouting, but Dick hated crutches and the limitations they placed on his movement.

“Don’t worry Dickie.  It’s only a couple of days,” Jason tried to comfort him, but Dick just pouted more and Jason let out another laugh.  Dick supposed if Jason took this much glee in the situation then he could suffer through it.  Especially if it made his scent go warm with amusement and joy.

“Fine,” Dick grumbled, finishing off the sandwich before grabbing the water bottle to drain.

“Before you finish that,” Alfred stopped him, getting up from his stool and grabbing a small cup Dick hadn’t noticed before.  But it was one he had seen plenty of times in the past.  Pain pills.  If he didn’t have a headache on top of the knee pain, he probably would have turned them down, but he knew there was no way he would sleep with this headache.  So he accepted the cup and tossed the two white pills back before finishing off the water.  “Now, Master Jason will you help Master Dick up to his room and place a pillow under his knee?  I am going to check in with Master Damian and then I will be up shortly.”

“Sure, Alfie.”  Jason said, holding the hoodie he had also brought in for Dick so the younger could pull it on before they headed up.  “Piggyback or…?”  Dick just rolled his eyes as his head slipped through the neck hole and he pushed his arms into the sleeves. 

“Just pick me up,” Dick said, holding out his arms to wrap around Jason’s neck.  He didn’t say anything else as Jason slipped one arm around Dick’s waist and the other under his knees, lifting him with ease.  The walk to the elevator that would take them up to the manor revealed Damian at the computer, talking to someone (probably Bruce) as Alfred soon behind him.

Nothing was said until the doors to the elevator slid shut.

“Do you think B will come home early?”  Dick asked, tucking his head under Jason’s chin.

“Maybe.”  The rumble of Jason’s deep voice beneath his ear was a comforting sound.  “Damian said the League was almost done anyway.”  So, it could go either way.  Dick wasn’t sure which way he wanted it to go.  Yes, he missed Bruce the past two weeks he had been gone, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with the surge of protectiveness that would be sure to follow his homecoming. Sometimes being the only pack omega had its downsides.

“Can you stay with me tonight?”  Jason didn’t say anything in response, but the tightening of his grip on Dick was enough of an answer. As if to say there was no where else he’d be.  “Thanks, Jay,” he whispered, closing his eyes at the steady sway of Jason’s steps as they stepped off the elevator.

“Anything for you, Mate,” Jason whispered back.  And though it wasn’t technically true yet, Dick still felt a familiar warmth fill him at the title.

#omegadickweek #omega dick grayson #omega dick #omega nightwing #alpha jason todd #alpha jason #alpha red hood #reverse robins #nightwing #red hood #damian wayne #tim drake #abo dynamics #robin #batman #bruce wayne #jaydick #robincest

[sunshine-in-a-bottle]

I'm watching Beast Wars again for no reason and so you all have to hear me talk about it.

If I was personally given Rights I would first use them to erase Cheetors weird crush on Blackarachnia because it literally adds nothing to the plot or the characters. Instead I'd take full advantage of my personal headcanon and make Cheetor desperately want a big sister because I am always a slut for Found Family. Like, that scene with Una ?"Aw, she wants to be you!" Like c'mon viewing him reaching out to Blackarachnia because he desperately wants some semblance of a relationship is a lot more wholesome when it isn't romantically coded. Cheetor is Lonely, so horribly lonely, and so young seeming in comparison to the rest of the cast. He hasn't lost that love for the stars or spiraled into cynicism just yet, and I would much rather explore the ways he tries to reach out to his bitter, jaded teammates. And maybe he's left wanting, maybe he gets tired of being lonely, and maybe he fucks up trying to be like them because "he tried to prove himself." And maybe that scene where Optimus, Silverbolt, and Rattrap reach out to him has a little more weight because it isn’t just Cheetor trying to be an adult, but a Cheetor that tried to be them and post Feral Cheetor has real fucking consequences and isn't just a cool upgrade.

I want that episode where Rattrap finds out they spat on Dinobot’s memory by making him into a "dishonorable" clone and goes ballistic. I want him to find the memories Dinobot stowed away and be conflicted. Is it Dinobot without the spark? Could he live with only a shade? Would Dinobot even want that? I want him to try and fail and be utterly distraught over the whole damn thing. I want him to be angry every time he sees Dinobot 2. I want Rhinox to try and fail to comfort him. I want Cheetor to sit with him, neither speaking but both knowing they're in this fucked up mess together now. CONSEQUENCES. WHERE ARE THEY. GIVE THEM TO ME.

I also just really want Blackarachnia to have closer bonds with the team??? Idk, I'm vibin well enough with her and Silverbolt but tbh I'd really just like her to have an episode where she's hanging out with someone else and Isn’t A Complete Rude Person. I think that's something I actually really vibed with in Beast Machines (although my memory there is still pretty fuzzy, I'll probably have to rewatch that to say for sure) Blackarachnia could actually work with the team in a friendly and occasionally sweet way. She was capable of a blunt and angry sort of kindness. Should that happen right away? Nah of course not, she needs to get comfy with her shiny new Dumbfuck Teammates. But there’s no real Solid Connections there other than Silverbolt, which is purely romantic. (Once again I emphasize Cheetor and Found Family)

Rhinox just needs more in general. If I had to guess the reason he was made a villain in beast machines was because he is only Meh as a Developed character after Blackarachnia shows up and takes over tech wise, not to mention rattrap is also pretty damn techy when he wants to be.(it was also probably to increase tension since his whole deal is being diplomatic but that's a separate thing) Sort of an issue when you make them scientists but don't have them specialize in anything and, more importantly, have a weakness in anything. If your character is simply the backup scientist when the other one is out of commission u gotta problem. Rhinox is stagnant personality wise, I can’t honestly say anything about him changes in the whole series. He has functionally gained nothing from this perilous journey, no real trauma, no bonds he didn't already have with the team, not even an upgrade in form. Isn’t rattrap supposed to be his best friend???? SHOW ME MORE THEN. Seriously if this show had let me have Rights I’m not saying I wouldn’t have loved if we had actually Really Dug In to a character arc or something about Rattrap and the concept of Honor vs Loyalty but that’s exactly what I’m saying lets talk about that. Season One Rattrap they played with this a little (After the whole early on “I would not send someone to do something I would not do myself” and “double agent rattrap” WHICH NO ONE WOULD EVER BELIEVE IF THAT HAPPENED ANY LATER THAN IT DID SINCE RATTRAP IS SO ANTIPRED) and the whole Dinobot thing really wedged it in (”But at least you know where he stands”) AND THEN FROM MY SHODDY MEMORIES OF BEAST MACHINES ITS PLAYED WITH EVEN MORE WHEN HE FUCKING GOES TO MEGATRON BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS BEING A LITTLE BITCH TO HIM 

Where was I going with this? uhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh yeah LISTEN Rattrap and his morals are Very Fascinating and I really wished there was more about that. Like, he gives no shits about Doing What’s Right or Being A Good Person, but he rewards friendship and loyalty and not getting him killed by miles. And despite his Hatefest Dinobot he was actually really... shocked? Offended??? about Dinobot handing over the disc because you’re an asshole but you’re also our asshole what fuckery is this did all our arguments mean nothing to you. And then attempting to join Megatron in BM because he might be Evil and it might be Bad Moral Conduct but fuck morals his teammates were being shitty friends. Is that petty of him? Maybe, but if the maximals had been evil but still genuinely kind and caring towards Rattrap I don’t believe he would ever leave for a second, not for all the Morals or Its The Right Thing To Do in the world. And that’s why darkfics that still use Found Family are the best! The End.

All the characters would actually be the size of their animals because goddamit I want a tiny Rattrap that has to be carried around by the others while he screeches indignantly. Or at the very least make him just a little smaller. Just a bit. And maybe they all have a big Sleep Pile. I like physical affection and cuddling and things no I don't care if they're robots no I don’t take criticism. Dinobot would have feathers fight me.

Optimus has died, been tortured, and painfully grew to like 3 times his size why doesn’t he have ptsd someone give him a hug.

Could we have waited for Airrazor and Tigatron to get kidnapped???? We should have gotten more for them. Let me see them more often. LISTEN THEY’RE VERY CUTE I LOVE THEM SHUT UP. 

WHICH LMAO BRINGS ME RIGHT BACK TO CHEETOR BECAUSE HE CONSIDERED AIRRAZOR AND TIGATRON HIS BROTHER AND SISTER AND HE THINKS THEYRE GONE FOREVER AND THEN ITS NEVER REALLY BROUGHT UP AGAIN LIKE CHEETOR AND FOUND FAMILY REALLY SHOULD BE EXPLORED HERE

Silverbolt is fun, but suffers from the same problem as Blackarachnia where all you really remember about them Relationship wise is the one they have with each other. Who does Silverbolt like best among the maximals, who does he like the least? And if I'm erasing that weird Cheetor crush thing then their interactions probably have a lot less tension so... what else do they have.

Depth Charge is an unrepentant asshole and I love him. He is so hostile but it doesn’t stop him from begrudgingly helping out on occasion. He also gave Optimus some backstory??? Like not as much as my greedy Character Loving hands would have wanted but GIVE ME.

Other Stuff:

Nothing will ever be as funny as Optimus being like “Evacuate the base you’re all gonna die” and Rhinox grabbing his fucking plant

Blackarachnia Craves Power 

Cheetor suffer from Bad Bondage multiple times throughout the series, but specifically during the web I remember Tarantulas leaning over him and thinking “wow this is kind of... date gone wrong vibes??? What the fuck”

Rattrap and Dinobot: *Spot each other from any distance* Miracle Hatemance has entered the chat

Why is Megatron wearing roller skates. Who did this. Why.

“Spider/Bird dog is hetero nonsense” - everyone who has to bear witness to them ever, including me the viewer

Tarantulas is completely done with any attempts to seduce him. Ever.

Airrazor tries so hard to be cool and hip oh my god she is a complete dork i love her

“FOR THE ROYALTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY”

please be nice to Waspinator he’s trying his best

Rhinox: exists

Me: hello yes sir I love u wise mentor sir

Holy shit Dinobot’s death scene is a gut punch. Rattrap honestly is what makes this scene perfect. I have never seen him so respectful or emotional is a way that wasn’t meant for comedic relief.

That scene, man

Tigatron’s speech about bringing beast mode and robot mode together is like foreshadowing to beast machines. Or it isn’t. Idk. Would have been really nice if they, yknow,

bothered to bring up literally anything from the previous series to beast machines

 (yes its been awhile since I’ve seen Beast Machines, but I do remember that being my primary complaint.)

This series is so cheesy but Thundercats is still cheesier so its fine

Rattrap was canonically a miner at some point apparently.

He’s also super prejudiced and honestly that’s interesting. HONESTLY SOMETHING I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE DISCUSSED IN BEAST MACHINES IS THE SUPER MEGA DIVIDE IN PREDS AND MAXIMALS BUT I GUESS WE WEREN’T GETTING THAT OH WELL

The ‘Everyone is blind’ episode was always one of my favorites and it never gets old

Upon rewatching the series I have concluded Cheetor is Babey. Which is weird because I didn’t think much of him from what I remember. Shift in perspective I suppose. They really made Rhinox farting the thing that saves the day, huh. What even was season one.

BITCH THAT IS A TERRIBLE WAY TO TRANSPORT MEGATRON NO WONDER HE FUCKING CONQUERED CYBERTRON Y’ALL DESERVED THIS HONESTLY

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh in conclusion:

Rattrap is my new religion apparently

#Beast Wars #listen listen listen #i have a lot of feelings #honestly I doubt this will be my actual conclusion im sure ill post this and instantly remembered something else to talk about #Look I have seen very little of the transformers honestly #I watched gen1 as a kid and beast wars and beast machine #and thats it #if you dont count a couple comics I have stashed in a drawer somewhere #i do not count them #I tried to read this over again #realized i dont know how formatting works #and have decided to just post it anyway so have fun with that

[clairecrive]

“Let’s stay home”| Quarantine AU

As promised here chapter 5. I’ve made it long to apologize about posting it late. Again, I’m sorry. However, I hope you enjoy it. As always if you have any ideas or things you’d like to see happen, let me know! Next chapter, someone will make a cameo, who do you think will be?

Tag list: @deaflikehawkeye, @mollybegger-blog, @of-love-and-of-the-sea, @br0ck-eddie, @fandom--0verdose, @evelynshelby, @shadow-of-wonder, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @sopxhiea, @fuseburner (let me know if you wanna be added)

If you lost a chapter: Masterpost

Chapter 5 - “Concert”

"Oh my god, yes, yes, yes!" Her loud scream of enthusiasm was heard throughout the house alarming its guests.

"What? What's going on?!" Tommy ran out of his room out of concern regarding her screech, thinking the worst.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Came Alfie's annoyed grunt as he got up from the chair he was sitting on with the help of his cane. Being cooped up in the house all day wasn't helping his sciatica at all.

But Emma didn't grace either of them with an answer. Instead, she simply jumped off her bed while calling her friend on Facetime, completely clueless of the worried men that were standing outside her room waiting to know what was going on.

Squirming on her feet, failing at staying still, Emma sported a huge smile on her face while she waited for her friend to connect. Half expecting to see Bane's face popping up on the screen, Alfie thought about leaving, not wanting to repeat the other day's situation but contrary to his expectation, a female face appeared on the screen. Adjusting his position against the door so that he was more comfortable, he now was genuinely curious. It was the first time that Emma talked with a female friend. He had even begun to think that she didn't have any.

"Jen, have you heard?" She excitedly asked her friend that seemed none the wiser.

"Emma, it's literally 8 am here. You're lucky I even answered you."

"Well then, I'm about to make your day ten times better. Check the message I've sent you on Telegram."

"Can't you just tell me?" Jen's tired voice complained

"That's not fun, I'm building the suspense." Emma firmly explained waiting for Jen to do as she said.

"What do you think is going on?" Tommy asked Alfie.

"I've no idea mate. No idea." Alfie simply said, scrolling his shoulders while not removing his eyes from Emma's form.

After a couple of seconds of silence, which saw Emma grinning like a fool and Tommy and Alfie simply standing there like some clueless bodyguards, Jen's squeal brought Emma's smile only to widen while Tommy and Alfie were startled, the former losing his balance while the latter lost his grip on his cane. What the hell...

"Thank all the gods in Olympus, they've blessed us!" Jen's face reappeared on the screen now mirroring Emma's expression.

"I'm so happy Jen, you've got no idea. I really thought they were just going to refund us."

"I told you, you had to be positive about this! You never listen to me, you pessimistic bitch." Jen sassed making Alfie's eyebrows shot up and Tommy's lips to pout.

"Can you, for the love of God, tell us what's going on?" Alfie's voice prevented Emma to respond, making her finally aware of their presence in her room.

"Oh, hello boys." She simply greeted him not understanding their worried stance. When they gave her an allusive look she finally explained with a big smile.

"Harry's concert got rescheduled."

"And that's what got ya screamin like a fucking banshee?" Alfie grumbled

"Other concerts have been simply cancelled and the tickets refunded. This way we still get to see him." Now fully facing them, she elaborated.

"Fucking hell." Alfie simply muttered under his breath leaving the room. She turned to Tommy but her confusion only grew.

"Next time I hear you screaming, you better be dying." He said before leaving as well.

As confused as ever, her face resembled the question mark which made Jen laugh.

"Ugh, men," Emma joked.

"While we're on the subject, how's the living together thing going?" Jen noisily asked wiggling her eyebrows making Emma know that she was here for the tea.

"It's going well actually. So far, at least. They've been surprisingly helpful so I'm not complaining."

"You're stuck with three handsome, mouth-watering men and that's all you're going to tell me?"

"I know they're attractive Jen but nothing is going to happen. We're friends."

"If I were you, I'd walk naked all the time and hide their clothes so that they'd also have to be naked all the time. You'll see how something will happen then." Jen shared her absurd plan topping it with a suggestive wink.

"You're missing Nik, eh?" Emma affirmed more than asked knowing very well that being away from her boyfriend was really taking its toll on Jennifer.

"You've no idea. This is going to be pretty tough, not going to lie. There's only so much we can do on video chat and of course, it's not like the real thing." Her friend complained, making it very clear why she was missing her boyfriend so much. If there was something that Jennifer wasn't, it's certainly being smooth. She's the kind of person that's very upfront about things, whatever they are.

"I can imagine." Was Emma's attempt at being sympathetic. Her relationship with sex was really different, however, she could understand Jen's problem. If she had a boyfriend whom she loved as much as Jen loved Nick, maybe she'd miss the connection that comes with sex too.

"I'm here, terribly horny and suffering for this quarantine and you're standing there surrounded by dicks and you won't take advantage of it!" Jennifer loudly complained, getting cruder and cruder and Emma couldn't help but scrunch her face in horror at her friend's choice of words.

"My god Jen, get a grip on yourself girl," Emma jokingly reprimanded her, " You should have come here when I invited you then."

"Unfortunately for me, I'm awfully loyal and Nick's dick is the only one that I want. But I know that you'd have been delighted by my presence, you don't have to pretend."

"Oh damn, you got me. My life is empty without you." Emma indulged her. It wasn't completely false, she did miss the girl a lot.

"I know, I know. Listen, babe, I've gotta go, Nick's calling me. I'll talk to you later and please, think about what I've told you, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, bye Jen." Emma willingly ignored her last statement and ended the call with a nostalgic smile.

Emma was fully aware of how unconventional most of her relationships were. She never really thought about them that way, it was always people's reaction to them that made her realize how strange to an outsider might look. But to be fair, however unorthodox her relationships may seem, they were all based on mutual respect and honesty. When people asked her if it was true that she and Tommy were just friends, Emma would always be puzzled by their astonishment. Yes, they had been together. So what? Some people work better as friends. And yes, Emma wasn't blind, Tommy was sexy af but while she could admit it without shame she would also be lying if she said that she thought of being with him. Been there, done that. It didn't work so she moved on. As did he, there was an understanding between them.

Alfie was a totally different thing.

They had started off as friends but both of them felt that there was more. That there could be more. And in fact, there was. They tried it out and it was working just fine until her job cut in and ruined everything. She had to leave. And neither of them were too sure of a long-distance relationship. Alfie respected her decision, he knew how important her job was for her, how ambitious she was. But breaking up was inevitable. And so they did.

However, since there really was mutual respect and affection between them, they kept in touch. Sure, it wasn't the same thing and both of them had had different partners in the meantime, but they always found their way back to each other.

So, when it came to them, friends was a reductive word but it was better than to explain their whole relationship to some stranger every time. They would better fit under the heading "it's complicated" but a global pandemic wasn't the right time to deal with this situation and finally label their relationship. Emma knew that that was why she was ignoring Alfie's jealous remarks and Jenn's proposal. Things were already difficult, neither of them needed them to be even more complicated.

Days went on like this then: Tommy and Alfie that would bicker from time to time, always because Alfie would provoke him in some way; Eddie would jump in and either fuel their discussion or would spend his time tormenting Emma. He was surprisingly helpful though. He would go out and go shopping for necessities claiming that it was impossible for him to get infected, he would help her clean up and take care of the house. As long as he lent a hand as he was doing, Emma wouldn't complain about him pestering her. Emma and Bane would still video call every other day to keep in touch but he was unexpectedly evasive when it came to his whereabouts.

Everything was going fine. Emma knew that she was one of those who had it good, that's why she couldn't find it in herself to complain about this whole situation. However, if she could speak freely, she'd have to admit that her mood was progressively getting worse. She tried to keep a routine to keep her busy but the truth was that she was finding it harder and harder to get out of bed and do things, with each passing day.

She still tried though. Because she had taken a commitment with the other guys and had chores to do, but also because of her job. And most importantly she didn't want anyone to know that she was feeling so blue. Emma was one of those people that prefer to deal with their problems by themselves and shy away from any kind of attention when they're going through something.

Up until this day, end of week two in lockdown, she had pulled it through. For whatever reason though, this day had hit her harder than any other. Maybe it was because of the article she was supposed to write. It was about self-love, how important it is and what are the different ways one could take care of themself quarantine edition. The topic wasn't weird perse, Emma wrote frequently about this kind of stuff, it was just that she felt like a scam writing it. How could she write about self-love and ways in which people could make themselves happy, especially in these difficult times, when she was the first one who was miserably failing in doing so?

Yes, it was definitely this the reason for her sulking.

She was lying on her bed facing the ceiling with her head dangling at the end of it trying to find a way around this article that she had to write. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't realize that the door of her room was open and that anyone passing through could see.

"Em?" Tommy's voice anchored her to reality and made her eyes snap open. However, she remained in her weird position, not bothered to lift up nor to answering him.

"What are you doing?" He walked further into the room but didn't get too close to her.

"Thinking." Emma just mumbled, scooping a little further so that her head wasn't hanging anymore. Nodding, Tommy got close to her now, and lied down beside her but facing the other way.

The reason why Emma and Tommy had stayed friends after they had hooked up, was because before that night they had actually hung out a lot. Emma was writing a piece on the tournament he was taking part in, Sparta, and had heard about him and his brother. In order to actually write the article, Emma had to speak with both of them. She didn't expect to get along so well with both of them. Not that Tommy was that much of a talker when they first met. Only a few short answers here and there and the occasional joke. However, Emma knew a little of his backstory and had also the impression that there was more to him than met the eye. He was hurt. Emma had no doubt about that. And just like her, when he was hurt talking to people was the last thing she wanted.

After coming to that realisation, dealing with Tommy became easier. He gradually opened up to her, even if it was only a little, and they got along really well. In some way, they were alike. And once you've found a soul similar to yours you tend to keep it close.

With time Tommy had learnt to read Emma just like she did with him during their first time together and come to the understanding that when Emma closed off like this, she was hurting.

He didn't say anything. He just laid there, next to her. Held her hand letting her know that he was there for her but leaving her the time to open up if she wanted to that is.

"Right, what's goin on in here?" Alfie's voice startled them both but while Tommy rolled his eyes, a little annoyed by his interruption, Emma reluctantly smiled at his antics. Sometimes, she wondered why he was so amusing to her and then realized the warmth and comfort that he brought her along with his annoying ways.

Pushing her head so that she was looking at him upside down, she smiled when she saw him standing there with his hands on his hip like an angry lady.

"Could you please stop pouting and come here and cuddle with us?"

Everyone knew that Emma was an affectionate friend. But for her to be so outspoken about it and asking for affection? It was a red sign and Alfie recognized it. So stop pouting he did and made Tommy scoop so that he could lay on her other side, holding her hand.

Their sweet cuddling session would be short because Eddie would soon be coming back from the grocery store but they all enjoyed while it lasted. Sometimes, Emma realized, the best self-love tip was simply being surrounded by our loved ones.

#let's stay home #quarantine AU #modern alfie solomons #alfie solomons #alfie #alfie solomons fanfic #modern alfie solomons fic #tommy conlon #tommy riordan #tommy conlon fic #eddie brock #eddie brock fic #alfie x oc #tommy x oc #eddie x oc #alfie solomons fluff

[monkey-network]

The Fiasco Finale of Future [1/2]

So in the penultimate episode of Steven Universe 2, the climax of both the season and series as a whole... is a group hug. As I expected, plenty were not too pleased with this turnout. Some felt it was anti-climatic, some felt it was resonating, and others tried to own the critics by digging deep into the scene like they always do sucking this show’s co- Coming from nearly a month later, I’m... split. One hand, I didn’t mind the climax. On the other hand, it was pathetic compared to plenty of other finales I’ve seen in media. It’s like this show as a whole, I enjoy it, but I also enjoy smacking it upside the head cuz it made some Karen-esque, All Lives Matter type stupid shit that I just cannot get behind. So you know what, Perry the Platypus, let’s mix it up. I wanna express the good and bad of this climactic end to the show and see where we can go from there. You ready?

What’s Good:

You truly wanna know what makes that final hug a great scene? A real showstopper? I have the truth, the best truth behind this, you won’t believe me but here goes. The climax worked because A Hug Is Nice. That’s it, there’s nothing else to it beyond a hug being nice. “But Monkey, you incel troll, there’s should’ve been more to that. The episode shouldn’t have taken that long to get to that point.” Well, in typical fashion, let me put it this way by talking about Spider-Man 2 (better than Spiderverse, don’t @ me). The whole movie is centered around Peter’s life getting shat on. He’s getting fired left and right, his people are abandoning him, he even loses his powers, he’s just at his utter lowest. But at his apartment, while contemplating, in comes his landlord’s daughter, Ursula, who offers him some chocolate cake and a glass of milk.

We can say the scene comes out of nowhere and that this is all that happens, feeling pointless, but I say this is an important scene because after everything that happens to him before, this one gesture from somebody out of nowhere to be honest was one of the nicest things he’s received in a while. It’s the seedling of a scene that keeps Parker going before Doc Ock comes to make him truly spring back into action. Above everything, it was nice. Like a hug.

I don’t need to be philosophically deep with SU2′s meta to tell you that a hug can be a worthwhile thing to get more than anything. It doesn’t resolve all the baggage Steven has in his mind, but a group hug from the people closest to you (and the Diamonds) can be a gesture so nice, it can numb you out, if only for a moment. Only other times where Steven got a hug was when he felt everything could be okay. With Lars, Peridot, and Connie after her “rejection”, and it’s after that “rejection” where he slowly loses it in his attempts to shake off that harsh feeling of abandonment and that everything can be okay. It is something where he can turn to the others for help but the concern of their response makes him reasonably suffer in silence. That last part is a little dumb, but I’ll get to that later. He can’t really hug himself because it doesn’t work like that. The point being that Steven, at his lowest, just needed something nice to consider. And a hug from everyone who loves him (and the Diamonds) can be that piece of chocolate cake he needed to be at ease, again, if only for a moment.

Like let me tell ya, as a deliriously depressed man that constantly wishes for death, a hug shouldn’t be spat on. Whether it be from your friends or mommy, a good hug can, at the very least, keep you sane and going. It isn’t medication, let’s not get it twisted, but a healthy remedy nonetheless, especially if you’ve ever felt touch-starved like I have before. It’s an affectionate gesture that for what it’s worth, should never be taken for granted. And while Steven could’ve well gotten this big type hug at almost any time he desired, I can at least appreciate the show for saving that at the right time. Whew. But, while the moment itself is nice, it’s predictably almost everything around it that unfortunately puts the moment in a vacuum and me with a bad taste in my mouth.

What’s Bad: 

Let’s get this out the way, because I’m such a literal bastard... *inhale*

Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis.

MUSHROOM! MUSHROOM!

Congrats on those with the corrupted!steven theories who no doubt had it hard on when this horned trunk ascended, hung its head high, and beat its meaty chest with blind rage, the crewniverse certainly had the balls to go with this design and a long discussion of utilizing Monster Steven’s full potential. And if you think I’m nasty about this, hoo boy, be glad that words are all you’re seeing right now because artists no doubt had a field day potentially ruining this design for you even more. I’m surprised Tumblr’s flagging system hasn’t taken down whole posts with this. HEHEHEHAAAAAAAA!

As you can probably tell, I’m not a fan of this Diamond Dinodildo’s design (say that 5x times fast). I mean Rebecca could be as horny as she pleased with this show, but this is next level, I tell you. But seriously, it honestly sucked that this is what they came up with when it served no purpose to Steven thematically other than him being a literal peen of a monster. Said this before, but what does becoming a corrupted looking amalgamation mean to him beyond “he’s a monster”? Corrupted gems weren’t the worst things in his world, they were products of a even worse thing. Turning into a diamond like figure would’ve said something about the cycle of abuse making you not feel like yourself, but a reflection of who you not only resent more than anyone, but were the indirect causes of your newfound issues. That would’ve took his struggle in the Diamonds Days arc to its next logical extreme, and brought most of Future’s episodes centered around Steven’s issues to a sensible turning point. Being a warped Diamond version of himself would’ve meant finally embracing inhumanity, and that would’ve conveyed the peak of Steven harshly feeling less like a human over the course of the season, especially when we had several episodes and new powers centering around him being inhuman. And a previous episode had him try to shatter a Pink version of White Diamond, two beings generally responsible for everything that’s happened to him. And it isn’t the design that made this a turn off.

What was Steven even gonna do as a monster? He does nothing to the town, he never even makes it pass the cliffside. He doesn’t even try to attack anybody, the only times he does is when he’s provoked by either the Cluster, the Diamonds, or any of the gems. Spinel raised more hell than Steven. So on the look back it’s insultingly sad they hyped up this big dick energy only to do... genuinely nothing. He already didn’t deserve turning into Pinky the Phallisaurus, but having him not even do anything as a monster left far more to be desired. Mob Psycho 100 did this nearly identical, but better. You can’t deny that it would’ve worked better with 22 minutes, actually give him something to do beyond screech and stomp like he’s Scrat from Ice Age. As much as I don’t like Change Your Mind, 45 minutes worked to its favor to do everything it did. Oh wait, this episode did make good use of time... with a fucking pity party.

They wasted my baby

This is. The WORST scene in the entire series and I’ll stand by that 100%. It’s one thing to show something offensive, but it’s another to have something be completely pointless. Yes, Connie talked some sense into them, but we didn’t need to waste time having White Diamond and the others bitch about something everyone who isn’t a toesucking simp should’ve figured out at that point. Not like it mattered, the Diamonds and Spinel never show up after this episode anyways, so good job making them count for something, I guess. This as well as minorly acknowledge the fact that the gems had a lot to do with Steven’s mental trauma because hey, we don’t have to hold these gems too accountable for child neglect. Speaking of which, where was Jasp- This plays well into my previous point, we aren’t shown what Steven was gonna do as a monster, so what else is the episode to do beyond holding him back in time to just make the characters go “All is lost” for one second before getting back up like this is Marvel’s Captain Driftwood?

Friendship is Magic had this type of moment in its penultimate finale but in that, more time was given to show the villains getting the upper hand, Twilight at her low point, her turnaround with her friends, and the lead in charge to defeat the villains. While some moments felt convenient and downright insulting, they made the most of their limit. The same can’t be said for this and it makes no sense. Speaking of things that make no sense:

Was this shapeshifting or corruption? Rushing or dragging? This personally bothers me because people are saying he shapeshifted even when they were also on board with him corrupting. But what was the point where monster Steven cums cries into the ocean turning it pink?

Now if Steven got himself corrupted, this would make sense since the three Diamonds are there with so fully turning him back to normal wouldn’t be an issue. Questions would arise about how corruption can happen to a human, then again this is Steven Universe, fans never really wanted you to ask questions. But if this was shapeshifting, then why have this permanent monster form? It would’ve made a little more sense of Steven changing his shape depending on his emotions, like what we’ve seen before. Additionally, Steven should have been capable of talking normally instead of roaring and growling like he switched brains with an actual animal. Just because he kinned Godzilla’s joystick doesn’t mean he was unable to speak to anybody, that is if he shapeshifted. Lastly, and this is more implicit than my previous points:

This season shouldn’t have tried tacking mental issues and trauma onto this dickslap of a climax. I’m on the side where we should’ve seen more from monster Steven, but what does this tell me for the topic of mental health? Nearly killing people on three separate occasions didn’t help, but having him transform into a near mindless beast is a backhanded way to convey post traumatic stress. Let me put it this way, if we didn’t get that episode where we learn Steven had held up trauma and stress from Doctor Priyanka, everything surrounding it afterward wouldn’t feel as fucked up as it did. Yes, understanding a root of a character’s problems is good, beneficial even, but having your character nearly, sporadically, commit MURDER THREE TIMES only to then have him become a wildin’ creature does nothing, if not disgust. It's disgusting when you talk about PTS one minute and have your main character be socially dangerous the next. You’d feel sorry for him, sure, but I gotta say nearly killing people is not something we should just hand wave. That is not a good or realistic depiction of depression and post traumatic stress; especially when you trying to discuss this with children. And don’t try to justify it by saying it was necessary for his downward spiral. Having to think and see death before my own eyes in real life, there should’ve been a better way to make Steven hit rock bottom without putting other’s lives on the line. It wasn’t compelling or resonating to see him become a witless creature after saying he could get away with anything, it felt jarringly hallow and teeth gritting sadistic to think this was acceptable. It took him turning into a literal creature to finally go to therapy or a throwaway line about therapy in this show’s case? Are you kidding me?

The hug is a nice moment on its own, but it took far too many kneecaps to get to this point and think it’s believably or justly earned. I can make fun of the monster design all I want, but what they put Steven through to get to this point is the most insulting writing I ever have to think about. Because you know what that hug told me, personally? It’s that you can commit near irrefutable atrocities, you can behave like a blithering rampaging beast all you wish, but that won’t matter. Because you’re valid and your people will love you. That is not only asinine, but it kinda pissed on what I went through growing up. Like, as idealistic as that felt, it didn’t add up because it made the mentally unstable come off as more unstable than they mostly are. You can disagree all you want with this, it won’t change the baffling fact that I came to this conclusion in the first place when I didn’t want to. “But the crew said in an interv-” NO, just nope. If the message the show gives is this polarizing for those that invested or were concerned with it, maybe the message wasn’t clear enough, who knows? I can believe Mr. Rogers never fucked this up when he made his show. I tried thinking of this differently, but I can’t excuse what they did and how they did it. Bojack Horseman never pulled this with its main lead and when it truly did, that was given more time to sort out; not an 11 minute epilogue in its final moments. The hug was nice, but this episode was trash.

Speaking of which, next time...

We Finally Look to the Future

Here’s Part 2, if you’re up.

#su critical #su criticism #su critique #su #steven universe #steven universe future #su future #suf #analysis #reviews #Good Stuff #dumb #I am my monster #long post

[etherealwaifgoddess]

Maybe I Am? - Chpt.4

Characters: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

Summary: Steve frets over his growing interest Bucky and decides to take things to the ~next level~. Master list HERE.

Content Warning: Some truly fantastic blow jobs. Steve being neurotic about what this means for him.

Word Count: 3.5k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! I’m really excited so many of you are enjoying this fic so far. I don’t know why, but I just got super invested in these characters from the start even though it’s one of my shorter fics. I was literally screeching to my best friend on daily basis while writing this LOL. So thank you for all the sweet feedback and likes and reblogs. Ya’ll make my day! XOXO - Ash

Chapter Four

They fell into a rhythm faster than either one had really expected. They text periodically throughout their days, just silly things they’d found or something about their day they wanted to laugh about or bemoan together. Thanks to Steve being able to adjust his schedule and Bucky working a basic 9-5, they were able to meet up on Friday nights for a date night and typically one other weeknight when they were both free. Sundays became their farmers market day, when they could wander around the busy market in the warm summer sun and drink entirely too many iced coffees. Despite the routine, labels were never used or brought up. Neither man quite sure how to define what they were doing. They were happy with their little routine, neither of them looking to shake things up, but there had been a few times where after weeks of second base, they both wondered when it might be time for more. Steve was terrified of finding his limit and wasn’t willing to risk what they had. Bucky was terrified of pushing Steve too fast and had bitten his tongue a few times when in the heat of the moment he had almost begged to taste Steve’s cock.

It had been over a month of swapping hand jobs and what Steve had learned was called frottage, thank you Google. Steve figured if he didn’t try to mix things up soon he’d never really know where his limit lied. And with how quickly his feelings for Bucky were developing he needed to start figuring things out fast. He was going to be in a world of pain if and when he reached the limit of what he was sexually interested in. Steve had been in rough shape when Peggy left him but the idea of leaving Bucky seemed a thousand times worse already.

Steve finally gathered the nerve to turn on his privacy mode search and look up tips on blow jobs. What he got was a horrific amount of bad porn and women's magazine articles. Most were absolute trash but he did find a few good tips. Though in the end, Steve figured he’d just have to assume what felt good being done to him would most likely feel good for Bucky. As long as he didn’t puke the second it was in his mouth, he was going to consider whatever happened progress. The idea didn’t seem too terrible in theory but Steve’s nerves were still running wild. 

They were curled up on Steve’s sofa, Bucky tracing the lines of Steve’s muscles along his chest and stomach. The movie had ended a few minutes before but neither man was willing to move just yet. Steve took a breath and decided it was do or die time. Bucky deserved someone who wasn’t trapped on second base forever. “Hey, Buck.” Steve said quietly, waiting for Bucky to look up at him, “Would it be okay if I sucked your dick? I think I could.” 

Bucky took a moment to replay Steve’s words in his head. Nope, still sounded the same. What in the actual fuck?! “Steve, honey, you don’t have to do that if you’re not ready.” Bucky assured him, “I’m so happy with you, with us. Don’t feel like you have to do this unless you really want to.” 

Steve sighed, half tempted to take the way out Bucky had offered him. “No, I want to. I do. I just… I’m worried. What happens if I don’t like doing it? If I can’t do it.”

“Then you can’t, Stevie. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not like I’d ever expect it from you. Hell, my ex probably only did it twice in the year we were together.” 

“What?” that caught Steve’s attention, “Why?” 

Bucky huffed a laugh, “Not all gay guys enjoy sucking cock. And Brock was an asshole, so who knows the real reason. I don’t really believe what he used to say. He, uh, he said a lot of things just to be hurtful.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” Steve kissed Bucky softly, wondering how bad his ex really was. He never really talked about it and Steve worried it was worse than Bucky let on. “I do want to try it with you though. You don’t have to reciprocate or anything, I just need to know if I can do this. For me. I’m still trying to figure things out and I need to know.” 

“Okay, we can try. And for the record,” he added with a smirk, “I love giving head.” 

The sound Steve made at Bucky’s declaration was barely more than a high pitched whine and Bucky cackled like Satan himself with delight. 

“Come here you.” Steve cajoled him, pulling Bucky close to resume their kisses. Steve waited until Bucky was making the soft little moans he’d come to know so well. The sign that he was getting impatient and needy for Steve to get him off. Steve loved how easy it was to bring him to that point. Steve pulled back, giving Bucky’s still clothed dick a squeeze before he slipped down onto the floor between Bucky’s legs. Resting on his knees, he helped Bucky get his pants and underwear off, another pair of those silky boxers Bucky seemed to favor that made Steve want to rut up against the silky material like a madman. They had done that once a few weeks earlier. Steve had been completely naked and Bucky in only his silky boxers, they had rutted against one another through the fabric until both their orgasms had snuck up on them before they could help themselves. It had been a little embarrassing but mostly wonderful. 

Steve teased Bucky’s shaft a little, trying to work up his courage now that he was down there. Bucky’s hair was blessedly well trimmed and Steve realized he probably should have afforded the same courtesy for Bucky. He made a mental note to take care of that before the next time. If there would be a next time. A small bead of precome formed on the tip and Steve jumped on the opportunity. Leaning forward Steve lapped at the drip of liquid, waiting to see if he could get past the taste. He’d never minded going down on women but he worried a man would be just too different. To his surprise, it wasn’t awful. Not exactly something he would crave, but the bitter tang on his tongue was manageable. Encouraged, Steve braced his palms on Bucky’s hips and tentatively lowered his mouth around Bucky’s dick.

Bucky wanted to weep at the sight of Steve licking the little bead of precome off the tip of his cock. His beautiful blonde adonis settled so easily between his legs was a sight to behold. When Steve took the head into his mouth Bucky fought to stay still, letting Steve take his time and figure things out. Though much to his delight Steve figured it out pretty quickly. He barely got half the way down Bucky’s shaft with the first few eager bobs of his head but it was enough to have Bucky trembling beneath him. Steve looked up through his impossibly long lashes and Bucky about lost it. He threaded his fingers through Steve’s thick blonde hair, giving him a soft smile of adoration. Steve resumed his tentative sucking, testing how far down he could go comfortably, too afraid of gagging himself and ruining the moment. The more he bobbed the more confident he grew, carefully hollowing his cheeks to increase the suction around Bucky’s dick. He started lapping his tongue along the underside too, reveling in the way Bucky completely lost his composure when he did that. 

There was something powerful being able to bring Bucky to a babbling mess with a few swipes of his tongue. Giving head was nothing like Steve had feared it would be. It was better than he could have expected and he found that the things he’d always loved about going down on a woman, he loved about going down on Bucky. The trembling thighs bracketing his head, the deep earthy scent of being at someone’s core, the trust it took for someone to let him do this, even the way curly short hairs tickled his nose when he pressed in deep. Steve felt himself getting worked up as he continued and he reached down for a moment to push his growing erection down with the heel of his hand. He wondered briefly if maybe next time he could multitask enough to get himself off while going down on Bucky. Because there was damn well going to be a next time at this rate.

Bucky knew he wasn’t going to last as long as he’d wanted to as soon as Steve started experimenting with his tongue. He wanted to give Steve as much warning as he could but all that he could come up with was filthy praise. “God, Stevie,” he panted out, half delirious, “That’s so good, honey. God just like that, yeah. Oh god you’re so good at that. Driving me wild, honey.” 

Steve made a muffled happy noise at the praise and the vibrations in his throat went straight to Bucky’s dick. He keened, trying to hold back his eminent release. “Stevie.” he pleaded, “Stevie wait. I’m gonna. Shit honey, I can’t… I’m gonna.” 

Steve was undeterred knowing what was, quite literally, coming next. He took Bucky in as deep as he could, figuring that would be easiest, and gave one last burst of intense suction until Bucky was coming down his throat, hot and fast. It was startling but after he got past the initial shock it was over before he could really mind. Steve pulled back once Bucky finished, settling back to sit on his heels with a smug grin on his face. Bucky, on the other hand, looked positively wrecked. 

“Jesus God, honey.” Bucky finally rasped out in disbelief. “That was…” he shook his head, “That was perfection.” 

“I did okay?” Steve forced himself to ask, needing to ensure he really had done an at least passable job. He was still a little breathless, his dick half chubbed in his pants and growing as he took in Bucky’s post orgasmic glow. 

“Better than okay. You were amazing.” Bucky reached out and took both of Steve’s hands in his, needing to ensure he was alright.  “Are you okay though? Really? That wasn’t too much or anything? You really didn’t have to swallow.” 

“It was fine,” Steve answered truthfully, “I loved seeing you so blissed out like that, knowing I was the one making you feel that way. And swallowing was over before I could really process it, so no big deal.” 

“You are one in a fucking million, Steve Rogers.” Bucky shifted forward so he could kiss his man, so overwhelmed with affection for him. He pulled him up after a few heated kisses, wanting to feel those solid muscles crowding him in. Bucky raised an eyebrow as Steve leaned himself up and onto Bucky. “Um,” he tried not to chuckle, “It seems like someone really did enjoy himself.”

Steve blushed lightly, hiding his face in the curve of Bucky’s neck, “Mhm. I, uh, I enjoyed it quite a bit.” 

At that Bucky did let out a short cackle, raining kisses down on Steve’s blushing face, “You’re a fucking gem. God, I…” Bucky cut himself off with a sharp cough. “A real fucking gem, honey.” He added somewhat lamely.

Steve was oblivious to Bucky’s misstep, practically preening under the affection and praise, still teetering on the edge of full arousal. He would have been more than happy to continue skirting that edge, Bucky’s hand rubbing against him lightly while they necked like teenagers. But Bucky was not going to pass up the opportunity to get Steve’s cock in his mouth at last. He wasn’t exaggerating when he’d bragged he loved sucking cock. He truly did. Every part of it, too. And because of his enthusiasm he’d had plenty of practice over the years. Bucky was thankful for that practice, too, because even after the newness of Steve had started to wear off, he was still convinced Steve had the absolute most beautiful cock he’d ever seen. It was like going from the minors to the big leagues, he mused happily.

“Hey, honey.” he crooned in between kisses, “Can I return the favor?”

“Hm?” Steve murmured, confused.

“I’ve been dying to get your cock in my mouth for weeks. Please? Let me return the favor?” 

Steve’s choked off moan was answer enough but he forced out his words, “Yeah. God, yeah, Buck. But only if you want to.” 

“Oh I want to. Believe me. I’d have to be crazy not to want you.” 

Steve huffed a light laugh as Bucky drug the waistband of his pants and boxer briefs down, moving himself down the length of Steve’s body in the process. He was fully hard and the head slapped against the hard V shaped plane of his lower stomach, leaving a trail of precome where it landed. 

Bucky had his mouth around the head of Steve’s cock seconds after tossing his clothes to the side. He wasn’t about to waste any time and he wanted to make sure this was a blow job Steve would never forget. He pulled out all his best tricks, alternating suction and speed, letting his hands knead at Steve’s balls while his mouth deep throated him like a champ, even running his nails along Steve’s inner thighs while dragging just the slightest hint of bottom teeth along the underside of his cock. Steve was barely coherent after the last one and Bucky wondered if anyone had ever played with Steve’s ass before. His whole body shook fiercely when Bucky’s hands would glance over his taint and brush over the curve of his ass right behind it. Bucky was tempted, so tempted, and while he was still worried about freaking Steve out, if he played his cards right Steve was in for one hell of a treat.

Bucky started his exploration slow, keeping his mouth busy with a steady holding pattern of torture. Enough that Steve was still making those gorgeous little noises in the back of his throat, but not enough that he was in danger of coming. It gave him enough time to sneak his index finger along Steve’s taint and then slip between his ass cheeks for a quick flick.

Steve’s whole body jerked when the pad of Bucky’s finger ghosted over his surprisingly sensitive hole. It was unexpected but felt too good for him to object. Steve knew if he spoke up Bucky would stop, but in the heat of the moment he wanted to ride it out to see where things went. He trusted Bucky wouldn’t push him too hard too fast, so he just focused on trying to stay in his seat and not choking the poor beautiful man between his legs with an unintended thrust. 

Bucky wanted to cheer at Steve’s reaction and it emboldened him to keep exploring. He let the tip of his finger flutter against Steve’s hole as he continued to suck his shaft down as deep as he comfortably could. He cupped Steve’s balls with his other hand, adding that sensation to the mix as well with stellar results. 

“Shit,” Steve keened, “Buck, baby, shitshitshit. I’m gonna…”

Bucky just nodded as he bobbed his head, fully aware of where Steve was at and what he needed to do to take him over the edge. Pressing firmly with the tip of his finger he pushed ever so slightly into Steve’s hole, not enough to breach that tight ring of muscle inside but enough to be felt. Steve was writhing and then Bucky wiggled his finger, just gently, while hollowing out his cheeks and giving Steve’s balls a squeeze. 

Steve shattered. 

It was too much all at once and he came with a broken sob as his body shook almost violently. He had no control over his limbs or his voice as great sobbing moans broke free from his chest. His body trembled even after his orgasm began to fade and Bucky clamored up onto the sofa next to him. Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve from the side, tugging him close and holding on to him tightly. It took a long minute for Steve to compose himself and for the world to really come back into to focus for him. But when he finally did, it was to Bucky holding him, rubbing soothing circles on his back with one hand, and whispering sweet nonsense in his ear. Steve couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so protected and cherished. Tears prickled at his eyes and he didn’t dare speak until he was certain he could trust his voice. 

Bucky noticed as Steve became more aware of himself, but he pretended to ignore the little tears that welled in the corners of the other man’s eyes. Steve sniffed harshly, letting out a long woosh of a breath. “That was….” he trailed off, at a loss for adequate words.

Bucky grinned and pressed a kiss to Steve’s cheek, cuddling in a little. “Told ya I love giving head.” 

“You’re like the fucking king of it. My knees are still all tingly.” 

“Aww, honey. It wasn’t too much, was it? I know we didn’t talk about ass play yet but I figured a little tease wouldn’t hurt.” 

“I’m glad we didn’t.” Steve admitted quietly, “I probably would have psyched myself out of it. And it was… okay? Good?” 

“Thank you, for trusting me like that. We should talk about it, though. Figure out what you’re willing to try, and go at a pace you’re comfortable with. It can be so good, honey, you got no idea.” 

“Oh, I got a little bit of an idea.” Steve laughed. 

Bucky chuckled with him, “Yeah, I guess you did. I won’t rush you though, promise. We can take as long as you need.” 

“I don’t-” Steve started and stopped with a frown, “I don’t know how long that’ll be, Buck. I’m sorry. I want to be better for you but I’m still a little scared.” 

Bucky’s heart was bursting at Steve’s admission. “I know, and it’s okay. We’ll go at your pace. And I’m not asking you to bottom for me. I prefer that myself, actually.” 

Steve groaned a little imagining Bucky coming apart underneath him while he fucked the smaller man into the mattress. He was getting ahead of himself but it was a damn nice image. “We’ll get there.” Steve promised to him, as much as to himself. 

They stayed curled up for a little longer until the air conditioning proved too strong and they both pulled their pants back up over goosebumped legs. Bucky begged off after that, to both of their disappointments. It was late and reasonably they both needed sleep but still, Bucky knew it wouldn’t be long until one of them cracked and they started spending the night together. 

Steve looked around his apartment after Bucky headed out, painfully aware of how empty and silent it was. Part of him wished he’d asked Bucky to stay. Not that he could have, he didn’t have overnight stuff with him, but Steve hated going to bed alone after such a nice evening. That had been the hardest part of adapting to life post-Peggy, sleeping alone again. She had never been much of a cuddler, much to Steve’s disappointment, but she at least warmed the other side of his too big bed. 

As Steve curled up in still too big bed, he worried that things with Bucky were all going to be over in a blink. That things were destined to become just a distant memory of the time Steve had tried something different for a while. His heart ached thinking about it. But what was the alternative? He and Bucky actually made it work? He would come out as gay? Bi? To all his friends and coworkers? Explain that no he hadn’t lost his mind, it really just took him thirty years of life to realize he liked men. Would he and Bucky slowly merge their things until they were practically living together? Would his early class day alarm drive Bucky crazy three days a week? Would he bring flowers home after exasperating Bucky over something silly like forgetting to fold his clothes or leaving dishes in the sink? Would Bucky save him a warm plate of dinner on the nights he had to work late? Steve’s mind swam with possibilities he’d never really let himself consider before. He knew it was foolish to dream, that this was a nice fantasy but he’d soon have to get back to real life, as much as it pained him. Still, despite the warnings he gave himself, Steve drifted off to sleep with the dreams of early morning cuddles and quiet late night conversations in his mind. 

#steve rogers #bucky barnes #stucky #stucky fanfic #stucky fanfiction #idiots in love #lots of smut

[ice-cream-nekogirl]

Young Love and an Episode of Friends (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader x Shinsou Hitoshi) FINAL

Oooookay~! The final part is over~!! I did it! I did it!! And I’m so excited to be posting the last part of this mini-series! Felt kinda like a movie lol 

Summary:  You keep telling everyone you’re okay after surviving Hell but Bakugou and Shinsou don’t buy it.

BTW SORRY FOR ANY OOC-NESS!!

Featuring: Lord Explosion Murder!! AAAAAND Our Fave Emo, Purple Boi!

Meanwhile, you were in the comfort of Shinsou’s room, sitting in his bed with the lights all turned off except for the TV’s light showing you a rather intense scene. You were feeling nostalgic, so you and Shinsou both decided to watch the 2009 movie ‘Drag Me To Hell’ ironically. At first Shinsou wasn’t sure about this movie given that the movie more or less described your ordeal, but you told him that it was okay and that you were still into it.

You slowly munched on an Oreo as the whole bag sat between you and your friend. Both of your eyes glued to the scene as he reached for once without even looking. “Yeesh… that is one ugly woman…” You remarked, amazed at how ugly a woman can go when she looks so haunted, angry and vicious when she attacked poor Christine in one of the earlier parts.

“Tell me about it… this movie is more disgusting than I remember…” Shinsou remarked, cringing slightly at how the fly went up Christine’s nose, and wondered how he and you managed to even eat the snacks you had placed in front of you.

“How the hell were we not scared back then?” You wondered out loud, not having to see the shrug from Shinsou as you both were intent on the jump scare coming up. You knew it was coming, you both did and yet you didn’t see nor did you know that THIS was coming.

SLAM

The door opened wide as soon as the old woman screeched in Christine’s face, but the surprise and sound of your door, and seeing Bakugou’s irritated face startled both you and Shinsou as you both literally jumped out of his bed, “AHHHHH!” Together, you ended up dropping all of the snacks to the floor as you and him let out little yelps and quickly you clung to your taller friend, which only irritated Bakugou even more.

“Stop shouting you idiots!” 

That was very ironic, and finally you registered that Bakugou was here and not Mrs. Ganush. “Oh! Hey Katsuki~.” You smiled and waved cheerfully, which had now annoyed Shinsou. “Get out.” He said bluntly and fast, but Bakugou was the wrong person to give demands to.

“Don’t tell me what to do you bastard!”

“This is my room.”

“I don’t give a shit!”

“I do.”

It was amusing match between loud and monotone, and you couldn’t help but snicker seeing them go at it like that. Bakugou and Shinsou never did get along with each other, in fact you were pretty sure that they despised one another because they didn’t enjoy each other’s company and were complete opposites, so they naturally butted heads. But with them both being close to things, it only made things worse…

You weren’t complete unaware that they didn’t like each other though. “Hey… c’mon you two… instead of fighting… why don’t we just watch the rest of Drag Me To Hell together?” You had passively suggested, making them both shut up for a bit, but Bakugou gave you an annoyed look the second he heard which movie you were watching.

“Isn’t that too soon moron?” Why in the world were you watching a movie about a woman being dragged off to hell, when you just came back from hell?

But all you did was smile and shrug your shoulders, “Not really. I haven’t seen it in years, and I guess my little ordeal inspired me to check it out after so long.” You replied casually, almost cheerfully and it drove Bakugou insane. He almost wanted to slap you silly for being so blasé and nonchalant about the shit you’ve been through. However, instead of being an ass and yelling about it, he scoffed and decided to watch the stupid movie with you and Eye Bags.

“Whatever.” He muttered and invited himself in, sitting right next to you, much to Shinsou’s immense chagrin.

“Don’t scorch my sheets.” Shinsou warned him with an annoyed mutter. He couldn’t just tell him to leave, well, he could have, but he knew that you liked the bastard for some reason, and he understood Bakugou a little bit. He was mildly shocked at your lack of reaction despite the trauma you likely suffered from that experience, but he didn’t press on it because he was sure you probably didn’t want to talk about it, and overall didn’t wish to start an argument with Bakugou for fear of upsetting you. So as annoying as it was, Shinsou let the jerk stay and watch the movie with you and him.

ONE HOUR LATER

Admittedly, watching Christine get dragged to hell kind of brought back some unpleasant memories, but you shoved it down deep so you didn’t unnerve your best friends. You heard them out, but the truth was you didn’t want to be babied, or treated like you’re vulnerable even though you knew that you weren’t really okay after everything that happened. Everything you had to endure for that entire week of being stuck in your Hell.

So you just chuckled and shook your head when the movie ended, “Wow… let this be a lesson guys, always check to make sure you have the right thing on you…” You stated in amusement, but only Shinsou looked amused. “No shit…”

Bakugou on the other hand, wasn’t as entertained as you were due to the movie’s corny effects and over-the-top visuals. “Tch… I can’t believe you still watch this crap…” He muttered in annoyance, and you could actually laugh since he wasn’t being mean about it, just exasperated. “Hee-hee… what can I say? I like that corny horror… back in it’s prime… it was actually even more scary… but I can still appreciate it in modern times…” You thought outloud with a smile, lying on the bed you sat on.

“Well! That sure was fun… thank you boys~. You guys fucking rock… that would NOT have been as entertaining with you guys.” You chuckled, smiling brightly at both the boys who you swore were blushing just a little bit.

“Yeah… sure…”

“Mm-hmm... you’re welcome.”

They were acting oddly awkward, which was a little bit unusual to you since both Bakugou and Shinsou were both so blunt and unapproachable most of the time that they didn’t seem the types to be awkward nor act like it.

However, you still smiled and gave them both big hugs, missing how they glared at each other when they hugged you back. This was supposed to be Shinsou’s time spent with you, but the jerk just had to come in and intrude on you and him. So Shinsou was NOT happy with the ash-blonde at all right now, even when you took the last of the Oreos he made sure to let Bakugou know that he wasn’t happy. But when you got up to leave his room, Bakugou discreetly flipped off the brainwasher as soon as your back was turned.

For the most part, they fought without you there to witness. Neither of them were willing to lose to each other when it came to getting close to you.

And you couldn’t have been more oblivious. You loved Bakugou with all your heart, but dammit, you’d be lying if you said that Shinsou didn’t have a place in your heart…

Was it possible to be in love with more than one person at the same time?

~~I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU~~

“I told you you couldn’t help… Shitty Girl…”

"(Y-Y/N)... you have to go..."

"You did this yourself you fucking idiot... I told you to just stay put... it's your own fucking fault..."

SLASH

“NOOOOOOOOO!!”

Your eyes shot open as you gasped in horror and quickly you shot up from where you lied and looked around your room frantically as your whole form quivered, wracked with fear. Panting and whimpering as you stared at your hands and then went to your mirror to make sure there wasn’t any blood on your face. Quickly, you got up on shaking knees and ignored how gravity seemed to weigh down on you as you stumbled out of your bed and to your door, opening it to make sure there was no blood and no bodies…

With a gasp you continued to walk, eyes wide and wild with fear as you looked in every direction, stumbling the entire time until you walked into the empty common room. Nothing but darkness and moonlight shining through the windows, and no blood or bodies in sight. And then you realized that this was your house and you weren’t at the dorms anymore, you were home with your parents…

Once more you stared at your hands, not seeing a speck of blood on them and you gave a big sigh of relief as you told yourself that this wasn’t Hell, you were still on the physical plane. Yet, your body was still trembling even when you tried to make yourself calm down. In and out you took deep breaths, but nothing was working at the moment…

God, you couldn’t get those images out of your head. Even when you tried to tell everyone that you were okay, deep down you know, and they knew that you weren’t okay. Those visions still haunted you, every time you closed your eyes all you could see was your bloodied, deceased friends…

Shinsou being injured and slashed apart, and Izuku’s pained screaming, and Bakugou…

Being killed right before your very eyes, blaming you and telling you that it was all your fault…

Even when you tried to regulate your breathing it wasn’t working, you couldn’t stop those images replaying in your head over and over again after that’s what you were forced to watch, over and over again. It was like a nightmare come true, even if it was over, it didn’t feel like it at all. Unseen little demons were crawling in your skin and making you shake as you shakily inhaled and exhaled in an attempt to regulate your breathing, but it felt useless. However, that little part of your brain that told you to ‘chill the F out’ was nagging at you to try and relax despite how difficult it was.

Oh how you wanted to call one of your dearest friends. Izuku, Iida, Shinsou, Bakugou, anyone. How you just wanted to tell them that you were freaking out and not feeling well at all to go back to sleep. But you weren’t sure how they would react, you didn’t want to bother any of them either especially since you knew they couldn’t. They couldn’t leave the dorms especially at such an ungodly hour. So instead of being a nuisance like you thought you would be, you went back to your room to get your phone, small blanket and headphones.

There was always one other person you could rely on for times of comfort.

Stevie Nicks.

So I'm back to the velvet underground

Back to the floor that I love

To a room with some lace and paper flowers

Back to the gypsy that I was

To the gypsy that I was…

Aside from Friends and other things, you adored the singer Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, they were an awesome band that you frequently listened to. Izuku and Bakugou were well aware of your tastes in music, since you often played Stevie’s music or would go on and on about how good she was. Izuku in particular found it endearing, but Bakugou was much more annoyed and didn’t get it. No he didn’t dislike the band, but you simply just did not shut up about them. He listened to classic rock too though, and he never really admitted to you that he liked some of their songs…

Like ‘The Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘The Chain’. Hell, Bakugou even enjoyed ‘Landslide’ even if it was a soft, somewhat sad song. He appreciated the singer’s emotions behind it all right?! 

Shinsou however, did enjoy the band and the singer and was more open about it, being into classic rock and pop punk like you. He never minded whenever you went on about how much you loved the group and even at times would smile and hum the lyrics when you would just sing your heart out to them. 

Tonight though you didn’t sing, because everyone was asleep and you did NOT want to wake your mom or your dad up. Instead, you kept your headphones in, mouthing the lyrics with your blanket around your shoulders and pretended that it was a shawl so you could do the spin just like Stevie.

And it all comes down to you

Well, you know that it does, well

Lightning strikes maybe once, maybe twice

Oh and it lights up the night

And you see your gypsy

You see your gypsy…

You were spinning around, mouthing and quietly singing the song, pretending that you were Stevie on stage and trying to forget about everything you had been through. As the song played, it worked for a little bit as the music took you away for a little bit and for once that night you could giggle. “And it all comes down to you~.” You even did a little air guitar for the awesome ending solo that you loved so much.

But when the song ended, you were a little bit tired from all that spinning. For a moment you thought that you could go back to bed, but fear took a hold of you and made you go back to your room to keep listening to your music and let it lull you to sleep. What if this was all a trick? What if you were still trapped in Hell? You almost believed that possibility as you closed your eyes, letting the next song play to just distract you… 

For the rest of the night you listened to Stevie sing her lullabies as your eyes eventually closed…

THE NEXT MORNING…

Of course, you got very little sleep last night after the nightmares just kept haunting you and replaying everything from your Hell over and over again. It was hurting your soul, even though you were so happy to have been back, the images plaguing your mind weren’t making this as wonderful as you wanted.

At least your homework was all done thanks to Izuku and Bakugou. God, you couldn’t see either of them today. You were worried that they might ask you things like ‘Are you okay?’ and you weren’t going to tell them about your feelings. They were already concerned for you due to the nonchalant façade you were putting up, and you didn’t plan on letting that break anytime soon. You were plenty a burden already, and you never should have tried to show off with your quirk…

Maybe if you hadn’t been so hung-up on trying to prove something stupid to Bakugou that you wouldn’t be riddled with these hellish scenes in your head. You wouldn’t blame him though, it was your own fault. And that’s what you couldn’t see him or Shinsou. 

So you stood in class, not getting up to go greet anyone from 1-A, nor did you answer any texts you were getting from Izuku, Shinsou and Bakugou the entire school day. When the day was over you retreated out of the class as quick as you could and made sure to avoid any direction that the 1-A students would go to, as to spare being greeted by any of the students and have them ask question. You wondered how they were doing, but you didn’t want to go and spy on them because then they would find you. Maybe you could use your quirk…

It felt like a bad idea, but Shinigami was gone. Michael killed him and now he was suffering in Hell, but you weren’t going to talk to anyone strange ever again in the spiritual planes. So, you decided to not use Decensum. 

You didn’t feel safe using it for quite a while, not after what happened to you. Thankfully, before you could brood about what happened to you, your phone went off for what felt like the 100th time today as you looked to see some worried and angry messages from your friends, particularly from Shinsou and Bakugou.

‘(Y/N). Are you all right?’

‘What the fuck Shithead? Where the hell are you?’

‘Hello?’

‘DON’T IGNORE ME!’

‘Did something happen?!’

‘Where are you?!’

‘Dammit answer me soon you idiot!!’

Now you felt bad. It was clear that they were probably both kind of freaking out or at least panicking internally after you ghosted them the entire day. Should you go see them? Or should you just go back home and tell them your phone died? No, they won’t buy that…

Eventually, you did answer back as you started to walk away from the school and went your own direction. 

‘I’m okay.’

‘I was distracted.’

‘I’m going home soon now.’

Your texts weren’t really as cheerful, nor did you make a joke in any of them. And you had no idea that that was enough proof for Bakugou and Shinsou to know that you were NOT okay. In their own ways, they were extremely concerned and didn’t even really acknowledge their peers once they went to their rooms really quick. 

“Hey, Bakugou? Where ya goin’?” Kirishima quickly sensed that Bakugou was a little on edge though, “None of your business Shitty Hair!” He replied pretty fast as he started to angrily march out of the place, stopping as soon as he saw Shinsou walking away from a concerned Kaminari. He had an idea of where he was going…

They stared at each other for a while or glared at each other. “Don’t even think about it…” Bakugou made the first warning to the brainwasher, who just scoffed. “You can’t stop me.” Shinsou was defiant though, and it made Kirishima and Kaminari nervous.

It looked like they were getting ready for a fight, but surprisingly Shoji had shown up to make them stop. “(Y/N) wouldn’t want you two to fight.” He softly reprimanded them, but succeeded in angering the already riled Bakugou.

“Beat it Octopus!” He shouted at him, but Shoji wasn’t deterred, nor did he seem insulted. “She’s not at her house.” Shoji’s reply was calm, even though that made Bakugou and Shinsou’s eyes go slightly wide.

“And how do you know that?” Shinsou asked him a BIT more politely, but somewhat curtly with a dubious look.

“I heard her on the first floor. She said she wanted to stay for a bit before she headed back home.” He finally gave them the information they wanted, but neither of them really thanked their tall classmate as they both kind of raced downstairs to try and find where you were at. “Dammit! Get lost already Eye-Bags!” Bakugou tried to threaten Shinsou, but the latter wasn’t willing to leave. 

“No.”

Just the simple word was enough to push Bakugou’s sensitive buttons, and he took the first step with crackling palms to just go after him but he stopped the second he thought he heard your voice. 

“I took my love, I took it down

Climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills

'Til the landslide brought me down…”

Shinsou paused the moment he heard Stevie Nicks’ song and your voice. That was definitely you, and Shoji was right. “(Y/N)?” He quietly called you, much to Bakugou’s annoyance as he growled a little bit and looked around angrily for you, wherever the hell you were in this damn floor. 

“Shithead! Where are you?!”

Not the gentlest way to call you, but Bakugou wasn’t the best at doing that. But he WAS concerned and wondering what the hell you were doing. Ignoring your friends and not seeing them or sending a message or dumb pun at least once in a day was unlike you. It had to have been because of what happened.

Bakugou never talked about his own ordeal with the League of Villains, he hated talking about his feelings period. He knew you weren’t okay, and he knew that it was because of what happened with Shinigami. And he had no doubt that you were doing what he had been done: trying to just forget that horrible time and fail when all the horrors come back and haunt you.

“Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?

Can the child within my heart rise above?

Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Mmm…”

Shinsou followed your voice, going a little further towards the entrance as he slowly walked when your voice got a little bit louder. But he didn’t call you, just in case you got startled.

He knew what happened when you got like this. Sure, you often used Friends and other shows and movies to escape unpleasant feelings, but when you used music to escape and isolate yourself, that’s when Shinsou knew it was something bad. Somehow, you managed to open up his heart by letting him into your weird world and let him be weird with you.

So Shinsou picked up on your habits and idiosyncrasies, and he knew when you were upset and trying to hide that you were upset or feeling something more. Stevie Nicks was your favorite singer, and you always turned to her music when you were really happy or really sad. Right now, Shinsou knew that you were probably really sad, or overwhelmed, and he knew it was because of the ordeal…

“Well, I've been 'fraid of changin'

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Even children get older

And I'm gettin' older, too…”

“(Y/N)…” 

Shinsou and Bakugou for once didn’t glare at each other or try to push one another once they heard your voice more clearly, and there you were, sitting right at the stairs that led to the inside of the place. Their reactions were very different, but they were relieved to see that you seemed okay, on the outside. 

“Hey idiot.” Bakugou called you first, but he didn’t yell or anything. Still it shocked you as you jumped a little bit, putting the song on pause and took your headphones out of your ears once you realized that you weren’t alone anymore. Anxiously, you turned and it was as you dreaded…

The guys you had been seriously contemplating your feelings towards, “Are you ok?” Shinsou was the first to ask you if you were okay, even though he felt like he knew the answer. “What the hell are you doing?” Bakugou’s question wasn’t as soft or gentle, but the concern was still there.

“Heeeeey guys~!” You put the act up, smiling nervously that they could see right through. “Ah I was… I dunno I just… didn’t wanna go home too soon after all… so I just decided to hang out… enjoy the view here. It’s pretty…” Wow, you sucked at hiding your feelings. Even you wouldn’t have believed you and mentally, you started scolding yourself since even you knew that they didn’t buy it.

“Don’t lie to me.” Bakugou scowled at you, but for once it wasn’t one out of anger. He was worried about you, and obviously you were hella surprised, which kinda hurt him a little bit. But in your defense, Bakugou hadn’t really treated you that well until yesterday so it was going to take some time to get used to. 

“You don’t normally isolate yourself. If anything you resort to begging a friend to come by so you’re not alone” Shinsou stated rather bluntly, and you did kind of glare at him a little bit for his observation skills, “And you listen to Stevie Nicks when you feel overwhelmed.” He added, and you almost grunted in annoyance. It wasn’t just you, Bakugou was extremely annoyed too at how much this bastard knew about you. Who the hell did he think he was?

You hated that they were right. You WERE lying, and you WERE isolating yourself and your smile had fallen away once the guys effortlessly broke through the thin wall you put up. “I’m sorry guys…” The first thing you did was apologize, putting your head in your hands. “I guess I still… have that stupid guy on my mind… everything that I just escaped…”

There it was. It didn’t surprise the two boys, but they did look a bit more concerned now that you were finally talking about it, and that prompted them to move in closer so they could both sit next to you.“I never should have used my quirk to try and find him… it was stupid…” You admitted more somberly, unwilling to let your eyes water as you forced back the emotions that desperately wanted to crawl out of your throat and pour out of you.

“Now all I see is… everyone… dead… and because I was… useless, and trying to do something just to feel important…”

Bakugou almost cringed when he remembered telling you those things, and accusing you of things that weren’t true. Now he felt really bad, “I can’t… stop seeing it…” Damn your human emotions, now you couldn’t keep the tears at bay or the nerves beginning to shake you, “E-Everything… I close my eyes and the Hell… is still there… I-I don’t even… I’m even wondering if I’m really here or… i-if I’m still in Hell… are you guys even… really Katsuki? And Hitoshi…? I know I see you both but… I can’t get it out of my head… a-and it’s all my fault... I’m so... weak...” You shook your head as droplets fell, and you didn’t see their faces… 

“Don’t say that.” Shinsou spoke first, even though comforting wasn’t his forte at all, he wanted to try for your sake. “You wanted to help... You are NOT weak (Y/N).” His replies were short, but oddly gentle.

“B-But…”

“No buts Shitty Girl.” Bakugou said a bit harshly, much like Shinsou, he sucked at comforting people because he never did it. It was a different story though, it was you who needed it. It was uncomfortable as hell, but he had to do something…

“I said stupid shit, but I was just mad… I didn’t really mean that…” He muttered a bit, starting to blush a little bit even though he was trying to make you feel better and not tell you that he liked you or anything. “You shouldn’t have used your quirk… I fucking hate your quirk… and yet… you were able to beat that bastard anyway… you... you’re not weak at all...” Bakugou agreed that you really shouldn’t have used your quirk, but didn’t forget about the fact that despite what happened, you still stopped a villain from getting to anyone else. 

Yet, it didn’t make the scars go away. Was that what heroes do? You had no idea how All-Might or even Aizawa could endure all of that…

“He’s right. It never should have gone like that… but you were able to return home.” Shinsou knew that even with the good you were able to do, that you were still in shock. “Yeah… thanks to you guys…” You inhaled and exhaled deeply, not wanting to suffer a major breakdown despite the tears that had streamed down your face.

“I can never thank you guys enough… Katsuki… Hitoshi…” You looked at both the boys, and they both had their concerned eyes on you. “Look… I’ve been going through some… weird feelings that I… wish I wasn’t feeling but… I can’t help it…” Your voice cracked as you sniffled and wiped the tears away as much as you could. “God… I love you guys… so… SO much…” There was a hitch in your breath as you felt Bakugou’s warm hand on your shoulder, an awkward attempt to try and give you some physical comfort as he awkwardly looked at you.

“I don’t… want to ask you guys this but… turns out that I… can’t handle everything by myself because I just… hate… HATE being alone… more than anything and I… I love… being with you guys… both of you… you guys take away that loneliness that I just… hate more than anything…” Your tears, it was almost painful for Bakugou and Shinsou to see and hear. Bakugou hated anything even remotely emotional, and he hated his damn soft spot for you because you were crumbling in front of him… 

He just wanted to protect the hell out of you, and never leave you alone again…

Shinsou didn’t like Bakugou, and Bakugou didn’t like him. But Shinsou liked you, hell… maybe it was more than that. He blushed heavily just thinking about it, but it was real, and he hated seeing you so sad because despite how you acted, Shinsou knew your deepest fears as you confided in him the most. He knew how much you hated being alone, and even though he enjoyed his solitude, he spent time with you. 

And he liked spending time with you, because deep down, he knew that you were the one person that made him feel like he didn’t want to be alone anymore…

“So… can you guys… just… promise me that… no matter what happens… you guys… won’t leave or forget me…?” There you finally asked them that, and they were both a little surprised and even glanced at each other. For once, there was no competitiveness or anger even though the envy was still there, but if there’s one thing they both agreed on, it’s that they both cared about you and wanted to protect you.

You perked up when you felt two pairs of strong arms around you, “You really are an idiot…” Bakugou muttered and blushed at how close you were to him again, “You’re always trying to bug me… how can I forget?” He asked you with his usual annoyed tone, and you couldn’t help but smile and laugh a little bit. 

“I promise.” But his next response made you gasp quietly, your glossy (E/C) eyes widening as your cheeks started to burn when the boy you’ve had a crush on since childhood promised to actually stay with you and never forget you…

“I really hate to say this but Bakugou has a point…” Shinsou said with a small smirk when Bakugou grunted in annoyance, “You bug me too… but I don’t hate it… and I don’t hate you.” He added, and your smile grew as you giggled a bit, since you knew Shinsou very rarely liked anyone, and was he blushing? “I promise too.” Shinsou almost sounded shy as he kept his arm around you and ignored the feeling of Bakugou’s own warmth contrasting with his slightly colder temperature.

Your blush deepened as you looked at your other dear friend. It shocked you to your core, but you had a special place in your heart for Shinsou, after everything he’s done for you it was impossible to just not have him on your mind most of the time. You liked him too…

And you weren’t so sure what this meant now, but Bakugou and Shinsou didn’t glare at each other this time and they kept you sandwiched in between them both. Your whole face heated up when you realized that you were more or less close to the two boys you were pretty much in love with. Okay, now you were really starting to wonder if you just went to Heaven instead of Hell…

This had to be Heaven…

“Hee~.” 

There was that giggle, Bakugou and Shinsou knew it very well as they saw you grinning, a warm flush coating their cheeks at how your stupid face could make their hearts flutter. “I really love you guys… I love you guys so much~.” You put your arms around them both and brought them closer to you and happily you kissed them both on their cheeks, and you heard them both gasp in surprise at the sudden affection.

“D-Don’t just kiss me so suddenly dumbass!!” Bakugou’s whole face lit up as he practically shrieked at you for such boldness on your part, even though he was secretly and internally bragging that he had gotten his second kiss from you while the brainwashing bastard only had one.

“(Y/N)…” Shinsou averted his eyes from you timidly, his scarlet blush dashed horribly across his cheeks and tinting his ears. He finally got a kiss though! And it felt incredible as Shinsou’s heart was racing so fast he thought he was going to keel over for a second had you not held onto him.

“Ahahaha~.” You blushed with a happy little giggle as you hummed in content, and the two boys blushed even darker as they tried to not glare at each other because despite their extremely polar opposite attitudes, Bakugou and Shinsou wanted to try and make this work with you, and they would always be there for you, the way you had been there for them too.

And maybe, just maybe, there was a slim but very real possibility that they might end up not completely hating each other in the end.

I’ll be there for you~

#bnha x reader #bnha #boku no hero academia #boku no hero academia imagine #boku no hero academia x reader #mha x reader #mha #my hero academia #katsuki bakugou #bnha bakugou #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugo x reader fluff #bakugou x reader #shinsou hitoshi #shinsou x reader #shinsou hitoshi x reader #bnha shinsou #bakugo x reader x shinsou #katsuki bakugou x reader #katsuki x reader #hitoshi x reader #bakugou x reader angst #shinsou x reader angst

[themockingcrows]

Tapping With Blue Eyes Ch. 6: Tainted

This chapter is SFW This chapter is available on my AO3

Werewolves, despite their general rarity, are not to be trifled with.

     “You going to tell him?” Dirk asked with an amused smirk. “Or do I just get to see you every day.”

     “Depends. How long are you planning on hanging around botherin’ me?”

     “I’m not bothering you. I’m coming in when you’re not even busy and having a nice conversation instead of fighting and causing a scene,” Dirk said, gesturing to the nearly empty shop and to his cup. “And I’m a paying customer no less. Common courtesy says that some casual conversation is warranted.”

     Dave made a face at him, and went back to sweeping.

     “I should tell him about you creeping around here.”

     “He’d have a fit, and Jake would be amused.”

     “...What, does he not know you come here?”

     “Jake’s.. How do I put this,” mused Dirk, swirling the contents of his cup before taking a sip. “He’s enthusiastic, but he doesn’t plot things like this. It’s too public. Swatting at you here wouldn’t do much good.”

     “Does he know or not.”

     “He knew I came here before,” Dirk admitted. “But he doesn’t know I’m still coming by to say hello like today.”

     “Right. Say hello,” Dave muttered sourly. 

     “That’s what I’m doing, yes. It’s not often I get to speak with other taps. Especially ones that are just normal humans.. I keep expecting you to be something else.”

     Dave glance dup from his sweeping with a frown. “Why’s that? Do I give off a non-human vibe or something?”

     “More like most people would assume James’ son would wind up with a powerful tap. He’s quite special in his own right, if he taps into his potential he’d be quite a threat. ..Except for you.”

     “What do you mean except for me?” Dave asked, frowning deeper. “I’m not a liability.”

     “You’re not. You’re a limiter AND a liability,” Dirk said, sipping his drink again. “I’ll explain more another time, Jake’s going to get antsy if I’m out of range too long. Here’s my number, for if you’re curious and want to know more,” he added, taking the receipt from the coffee out and jotting a phone number down on it. “I can help you learn more about why you’re holding him back.”

     Dave took the number by crumpling it up into a ball with his fist.

     “Right. Yeah. Sure. How considerate of you,” he said, stuffing it into his apron without a second thought.

     “Hey now, I didn’t say it’d not be worth your time. There’s ways you can help him more,” Dirk said with a smirk, this time showing the pointed tips of his teeth. He looked just as angular as before, but somehow far more wild like that. It was somewhat unnerving to look at, the same instinctive fear that John’s fangs sometimes brought out in him still. The inhuman edge of it all.

     Stuffing the number deeper into his work apron, Dave sighed a breath out when Dirk finally left, rubbing the bridge of his nose and wishing he had his shades on during work hours. What a fucking mess.. Hopefully that douchebag wouldn’t be coming back every day or something stupid like that. He finished his shift up before texting John for his pickup, waiting in the back room till he got a return text to come outside. So had become their habit for security’s sake. There was a snack waiting for him, along with a bottle of apple juice, and John’s worried eyes looking him over from head to toe. He was still weak, especially with work bearing down on top of everything, but nowhere near as gray faced as he’d been in the last few days and was only getting better.

     “Have a good shift?”

     “Eh. It was a shift,” Dave said as he buckled in and cracked open the juice for a few thirsty gulps. Phew, that sure hit the spot. “Same old same old.”

     “No interesting characters come through? Must’ve been a slow day if there wasn’t at least one old person complaining that a plain cup of coffee wasn’t listed anywhere despite it being on the list,” John snickered, pulling out of the space he’d parked in, checking behind him by bracing an arm on Dave’s seat and twisting around for certainty before pulling forwards to the street. 

     The number felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket already, burning a hole through the back of Dave’s head, but he held his tongue. This wouldn’t end well.. But then again, neither would keeping secrets at a time like this. He fiddled with the window, the radio, his seat, trying to psyche himself up.

     “What’s wrong? You’re squirming like you’ve got the worst wedgie of your life,” John snorted.

     “Uh. ...Dirk. Came into the store earlier,” Dave said.

     The car screeched to a halt so quickly that Dave’s body pressed hard into the seatbelt, hard enough he’d be surprised if there wasn’t an indention in his skin of some kind even through his work clothes. John frowned and turned on him, concerned, trying to check him over.

     “Fuck, really? Jesus. Why didn’t you mention it first thing?” he asked. “He didn’t try anything, right? Jesus, if he knows where you work that’s not safe, I don’t know what to do if Ja-”

     “It’s fine. He didn’t try anything, just talked and left. Apparently Jake doesn’t know he came there, if he’s to be believed,” Dave said, sitting patiently through the literal pat down before reaching up to grasp John’s hand so he could nuzzle it. “Chill. It’s alright.”

     “It’s not alright,” John insisted, finally putting his hands back on the wheel and leaving for the main road back to Dave’s apartment, looking twice as suspiciously at passerby now that he was on high alert.

     “Okay, okay, it’s not alright. But it’s not as bad as your brain’s makin’ you think, I can guarantee that,” Dave said, watching out the window. The number. The phone number. He had to mention the phone num-

     “What did he say?”

     “...That I was holdin’ you back.”

     John looked over and lifted a brow before snorting and shaking his head. “Holding me back? As if, hah. If anything, I’m going twice as hard in everything because of you being around. Learning wards and all that.. I didn’t really have a reason to worry before.”

     “Maybe because you’re worryin’. Because I’m not able to offer much in return.”

     “If you wanna be crass, you offer tasty as hell blood in return. But you offer plenty of things in return, Dave. Don’t let him get in your head, things are fine how they are between us,” John insisted.

     “You sure I’m not like. Some weak-ass that’s just a statistic waitin’ to happen?” Dave asked, frowning. “I mean, dude’s a werewolf and that asshole feeds off him, doesn’t that give him a boost?”

     “Well.. yes. But I don’t care. Who wants to drink dog blood anyway, yuck. And you’re not a weak ass! I already know what happened when we were at Dad’s and he tested you.”

     Dave frowned at him, not quite believing, but more than happy to let things sink down and dissolve naturally rather than be propped up for another round of No, You. He sighed out through his nose and watched the scenery till they stopped at his apartment, walking into the building with clasped hands that only dropped when it came time to unlock the door.

     John strode past to go check everything out, ensuring the wards were in place still. Dave went to the bathroom and then went to go change, all the while thinking about the number and how he’d manage to talk to Dirk while under guard. Try as he might, the curiosity was really eating at him.

     What if it was true? No matter what John said, he was inexperienced in these matters, he was a hindrance no matter what he wanted to think. No amount of movie knowledge was going to help against the real deal in the heat of the moment, and even the things he’d been taught weren’t going to save him in a two on one fight. He raked his hair out of his face as he dropped his apron and shirt, pulling on a comfortable tee and some baggy sweatpants to slouch around in, wanting to get off of his feet after the long shift.

     Before he could leave the room John came in behind him and laced his fingers together over Dave’s stomach, cuddling up close to his back as he fondly nipped the side of his neck.

     “Hey. Really though, are you okay?”

     “Yeah, yeah I’m just tired man.”

     Tired and fibbing. Tired and lying. Tired and hiding potentially important information. The reaction in the car had been strong enough that the curiosity only got more intense. He knew he was going to poke the hornets nest, all for the sake of some outside information and perspective in this. Dirk, enemy or not, seemed to be the calmest person in this entire bullshit situation. Maybe vampires were just naturally dramatic and this was all more of a fucking game than it felt like.

     ...Or maybe it was more serious, and Dirk just didn’t have any allegiance to Jake beyond being his tap.

     Dave felt the pressure behind his knees before registering he was being lifted up, carried into the living room like a princess and being sat down on the sofa. “Here,” John said. “Go ahead and chill out, I’ll make something for you. Want spicy?”

     “Mm. Not in a spicy mood,” he admitted. “You’re gonna spoil me rotten at this rate though.. Wanting another meal?”

     “Not so soon, duh. Gotta build back up before even thinking of it,” John chuckled. 

     Dinner was stir fry with shrimp and plenty of veggies, heavy on the ginger and soy sauce. Movies carried Dave and John through the evening, till finally there was nothing left but bed. ..mostly. Dave turned his volume down on his phone while John was in the bathroom, added the number from his apron to his new message screen, and sent the first text before he could stop himself at a cool 11pm.

              - hey

     The first reply came when John came back and climbed into bed, left unlooked at for a while in favor of scrolling instagram for a time. They showed each other things back and forth on their screens, different memes or interesting posts, things on tumblr being reblogged one way or the other in a conga line to make sure their friends saw them. Comfortable night routines that ended with John snoring with his head against Dave’s chest, his long body curled up on his side to keep his feet from dangling over the far bottom, safely out of grasp of whatever demons decided to take up residence rent free under his bed this week Dave noted.

     Hey. After finding out vampires were real, as well as werewolves, the boogeyman and shit hiding under his bed would just be another square on the bingo sheet his life had recently become. Can you blame a guy for believing?

     The text was still waiting for him when Dave slid the screen over quietly to peek.

             - Hey. Finally get curious?

             - i don’t know you tell me

             - Are you wanting information, or to be antagonized?

             - oh wow i get a choice

             - The gist of it will be the same either way: you’re a liability. If you were anything but human, you’d be more useful than you are to your fangy boytoy.

     Dave didn’t know what he expected. The bluntness was something he could appreciate at least, instead of being babied or sweet talked. It was quick, to the point, and fairly brutal.

             - ive heard as much already 

             - you got any new info for me or can i delete your number now

             - I’ve got new information in the form of an offer, if that piques your interest.

             - offer

             - like what

             - Like the offer to help you be something more than human.

             - You seem like a nice guy, Dave. I’ve got nothing against you. This beef is Jake and John’s business, not mine particularly. 

             - All it’d take is a good infection bite, and you’d be able to be like me. Consider how useful that’d be for your partner in the scheme of things.

             - Wouldn’t you like him to be as prepared as possible, stand as good a chance as he can in this pissing contest?

     Dave frowned at his phone and glanced briefly towards John’s sleeping face before typing quickly.

             - bullshit i already know thats a lie

             - im on the up and up man

             - a bite from you would just make me a feral piece of shit not whatever you are

             - Ah, damn. Should have acted sooner than I did.

             - werent you literally just saying you had nothing against me and then you pull this shit???

             - Having you trust me would have made a lot of things easier. Namely it could have also gone a long way in making sure Jake kept you alive instead of disposing of you when the time came to get John’s food source away from him.

              - bad dog go to the yard and think about what you did

     Dave muttered to himself as he blocked Dirk’s number, hurriedly switching back over to Instagram when he felt John shifting against his shoulder. Sleepily, he cracked his blue eyes open and looked Dave over a few times, squinting against the brightness from the screen.

     “Mmn… Why’re you still up…?”

     “It hasn’t been that long since you went to sleep,” Dave said, kissing John’s forehead automatically before even thinking the action through. Felt natural, felt right, fuck it. “Go back to sleep, I’ll pass out when I can.”

     That was apt. There was a lot to digest now. He’d need to put his foot down on any future visits from Dirk, maybe alert his manager that the new regular customer was actually stalking him, avoid his presence. It’s not like he knew his entire schedule, right? He just… kept turning up on the days he was working, at the right times, like clockwork. Somehow.

     Fuck, maybe this was bad. Maybe he should tell John after all.

     Yet the idea of waking him up now seemed entirely out of the question, not now that he was cuddling up again and closing his eyes, warm and pliant and relaxed. This was the kind of bomb someone dropped when they were dealing with a fully conscious person, not late night “Oh, by the way” conversation.

     Sighing, Dave scrolled a while longer before setting his phone aside and rubbing the bridge of his nose, fending off a late night headache. Too much thinking… One more glance to John, already unconscious again and drooling on his shoulder, and he finally settled down to sleep as well.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

      When he woke up the next morning it was to John leaving his entire arm tingling like the static on a television set and an ache in his head from thinking too long into the night. Even his dreams had been stressful, and looking at a bright screen so late at night in the dark certainly hadn’t helped things settle down at all in his mind. Really, he just wanted to forget it ever happened, chalk it up as a shit experience, and deal with it later.

     First, he needed to rescue his arm.

     “John. John. John. Earth to sack of potatoes currently cuttin’ off all the blood to my fingers to the point I can’t flip you off properly, can you maybe roll your fangy ass over and gimme some breathin’ room.”

     Nothing but soft snoring.

     Grunting, Dave struggled and finally yanked his arm out from underneath John’s weight, and sat up to rub his arm from fingertip to shoulder till the stinging went away and the blood flow returned to normal. He unplugged his phone from the charger and took it with him to the bathroom, scrolling out of habit and checking his emails, continuing to do so once he’d finished and washed up. Breakfast would be his treat today, and that meant something simple but tasty. He got out eggs and had just started to fry them and some breakfast hash up when John finally made his way out of the bedroom with bleary eyes behind his glasses. The vampire sniffed, stretched, and went to take a seat at the table before splaying out over the top like a sunning seal.

     “Good mornin’ to you too,” Dave said.

     “Mmmmorning,” John yawned. “Man I slept deep last night… did you finally get to bed at a good time?”

     “Eh. Tried but it was kinda hit or miss,” he said, flipping the eggs over so the tops would cook just a little bit. Sealed and perfectly over medium, nary a runny white to be seen, Dave slid the first two eggs and some of the breakfast hash onto a plate for John with some toast. He cracked two more eggs onto the skillet before delivering the dish, rubbing John’s upper back idly. “Woke up to you deadarmin’ me though. That was fun.”

     “Ah, fuck, my bad. Thanks,” John said, realizing silverware was needed. He stood up to go get two sets, leaving one opposite of where he sat for when Dave’s food was done. “So what’s the plan for the day? You’ve got work?”

     “A few hours, yeah, but not a long shift. And it’s not till later,” Dave said.

     Things were calm, peaceful. John was awake and calm. Maybe he could just-

     “...So. Dirk came to where I was workin’.”

     John choked on a piece of hash before swallowing and dropping his fork on the plate, planting his hands on the tabletop as if he were about to stand up and… what. Fight? “What? When? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

     “A few times,” Dave said, pointedly ignoring the incredulous look John was flashing his direction in favor of trying to distinguish every last flavor in the hash. Hm. Bit too salty but it worked fine with the eggs. “Nothin’ happened though.”

     “STILL! Why didn’t you let me know, this is dangerous shit Dave! Did he say anything? Do anything weird?” John fret, mind racing a mile a minute, already trying to come up with what the fuck to do next if any number of things had happened. Dave LOOKED okay but-

     “He gave me his phone number,” Dave said.

     “...What?”

     “He gave me his phone number, and we talked briefly. Don’t worry. It was bullshit. He was tryin’ to tell me I was holdin’ you back, offerin’ to “help” me. It was a crock of shit and he dropped the act when I pointed out I knew better already.”

     John relaxed a bit, but still seemed on edge as he lowered his hands back to his lap, trying not to sulk. Something that big and he hadn’t been told about it? What else was there that wasn’t being mentioned?

     “Before you ask: I already blocked him. There wasn’t anything to gain, so… cut’em loose.”

     “Nothing to gain?” John asked, confused.

     “The way he talked before, he was actin’ like nothin’ was personal. That he didn’t have any beef with me, that this was between you and Jake mostly,” Dave said, crunching toast after mopping up more egg yolk. “I thought it might be interestin’ if he was kind of doin’ his own thing aside from Jake and your issue.”

     “I’ve got no idea if that’s true or not,” John admitted. “It might be for all I know, I don’t know how close they keep their business to their relationship or how he acts as his tap aside from being one. But it’s not just a Jake and Me thing: you’re at risk too now, remember?”

     “How could I forget. When’s the asshole gonna leave town already.”

     “When he gets bored of antagonizing us and being a dick,” John grumbled, slowly going back to eating.

     “Maybe Christmas’ll come early. I’m gonna go take a shower so I can be a lazy piece of shit around the living room without smellin’ myself till work,” Dave said as he finished up his meal and rose to deposit the plate into the sink. 

     “You mind if I get your laptop out and play a game?”

     “Knock yourself out, you know the password,” he said, gesturing a wave of his hand without looking back as he left the room to get a change of clothes before closing the bathroom door.

     The pressure in here felt different somehow, though Dave was pretty sure he was just going crazy at this point. He’d noticed it briefly earlier, and every time he’d come into the bathroom since getting back home, how different it felt… but there was surely nothing to it. John had warded everything thoroughly, right? Maybe this was just a side effect of it being in a smaller space. Still, he looked to the window as if it would betray him before cracking it open to let the eventual steam out and turning to pull his shirt off.

     The window opened wider, and Dave froze in place, arms up over his head tangled in his shirt, face covered. He heard a step, then a second one as the window creaked under someone’s weight and then eased.

     “Dave?” John called. “Is everything okay?”

     Of course he felt it too. He’d have to be crazy to not feel the presence that now filled the bathroom. Dave had already put two and two together: John had been warding in here when he’d gotten interrupted to go open the window in the bedroom. The job hadn’t been finished. He’d interrupted and bitched and now look at what the fuck had happened.

     “You know, for a human you’ve got a pretty nice figure,” Dirk murmured from behind him. “Might want to tell him everything’s okay or things’ll get messy in here.”

     “Yeah,” Dave called. “Yeah, it’s. Yeah.”

     “Points off, not convincing,” Dirk hissed softly, but John didn’t call again so perhaps things were fine after all now.

     “What do you want,” Dave said, slowly lowering his arms but not turning around, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise up as he slowly looked to the side without moving his head, trying to catch a glimpse in the mirror of what was happening. He could just barely make out Dirk’s face, the dark shades he wore, the angular nose, the front of his lips. When he smirked, he could see hints of sharp teeth.

     “To give you a fair chance to get out of this,” Dirk said. “Jake’s outside right now waiting for me to take care of business… but I don’t like taking advantage of people in the bathroom of all places.”

     “Kind of you. What’s the catch,” Dave muttered.

     “You only get a head start. If I catch you… well. Let’s just say our conversation from last night won’t matter much anymore.”

     “And if you don’t catch me with your freakish speed shit?”

     “Then this round is a draw and I’ll accept my losses.”

     “And John?”

     “You assume I believe he’d let me chase you for fun with no rebuff? Please. I know what I’m doing, Dave.”

     “...How long do I have.”

     “You had thirty seconds, you’re down to about twenty five now.”

     Cussing under his breath, Dave jerked out of his frozen state and reached for the bathroom door, launching out and past a startled looking John.

     “Dave! I was jus- Where are you going!” he called out, turning to watch him run to the livingroom and fling open the door, rushing out to the hall. A shape rushed past him then, a blur to most watching, but to John he could see clearly enough to make out the stupid shades and blonde hair of someone who had no right being in this apartment. Snarling, he took off after him. “DIRK.”

     The elevator door closed before Dave could reach it, and he didn’t trust waiting for any length of time. Instead he grasped the railing and started to rush downstairs that way, jumping the last two steps with bare feet before turning the U bend and continuing to repeat the pattern floor by floor. He could hear John’s bellow from above, and could hear something uncomfortably close behind him. Daring to look up as he ran, Dave saw what could only be the blurry form of Dirk rushing down after him, two flights up.

     John dove for Dirk when he rounded a corner, dropping several stairs at once to tackle him with his full weight against the landing wall, succeeding in latching on around his neck and shoulder hard enough to gain purchase on before starting to punch towards his face with everything he had. The impact had been jarring enough that neither of them had their full wind, but something Dirk had that John didn’t was a muzzle full of sharp teeth as he started to shift in the other’s arms. His shirt fell away as his chest expanded and fur grew, arms bulking up, hands gaining claws, feet leaving his sneakers behind as they changed. A pair of ears lifted up into view, sensitive and laid back aggressively. John got a solid punch in before reeling back and releasing his hold, startled, not wanting his hand mauled by the beast who was rapidly bending its bones into a new position with soft pops and creaks.

     Dirk snarled at him and bared his large teeth once before perking an ear up and jerking away from the vampire to look down the stairwell. Several flights down, Dave was looking up, checking for where the enemy was. He could see the color drain from his face as he jumped the barrier and leapt down with lifted arms, catching onto the rung of a nearer floor before hefting himself over. John, unwilling or unable to risk doing the same, was stuck scrambling down the stairs anew in as many flashes as he dared, shouting for Dave to keep running as fast as he could.

     Didn’t need to tell him twice. The blonde was nearing the ground floor on shaking legs and veered for the front exit, not even knowing where he’d go next. Go in circles around the building until John got done zipping downstairs? He knew he could go fast, but that had been on fairly even ground before, not on stairs. Dave knew he himself could go ridiculously fast when pressed, that had to account for something, right? Maybe he had regrets about not joining track in some other life, but this would surely make up for any lingering thoughts. He raced for the front door and threw it open, almost running face first into someone.

     “Fuck, I’m sorry, I jus-”

     “No worries, chap. I take it John’s in there still, hm?”

     Dave could feel his stomach drop when he heard John’s name. The man in front of him looked… well. He looked a great deal like John, actually. Messy black hair and tan skin, broad shoulders and long arms ending in sturdy looking fingers. His eyes were wicked green and he wore an amused expression on his youthful face, one that brought unease to Dave all anew. He took a step back, then another, peering over his shoulder to see what his options were.

     Shit was what they were. Dirk, or the pale beast he assumed Dirk was, was coming towards him with John hot on his heels. It was obvious the vampire hadn’t seen who was in front of Dirk, the beast larger than its human counterpart and hurriedly barreling along, as nobody was slowing down. Thinking fast, Dave turned and ran towards Dirk as fast as he could before dropping to his knees and ducking down when he lunged.

     The wad of werewolf and vampire hit the opening of the door at an angle, Dirk rebounding to hurry along after Dave again on all fours, while John was stuck flat on his ass in front of Jake.

     No. No time. No time, had to get Dave away from the infectious one. Could he fend off two people at the same time? Had to get back into the apartment. No, the apartment wasn’t safe anymore, how had they gotten in!

     “DAVE! DAVE GET THE KEYS! THE KEYS!” he yelled, giving Jake another look before getting up to follo-

     “Ah ah ah, where do you think you’re going cousin! We finally meet up and you don’t even say hello, how rude! I’ll have to get on your father about teaching you some MANNERS,” Jake said, having caught John by the back of the shirt before yanking him back as hard as he could. Choked into obedience, John turned, preparing to fi-

     Preparing to get hit in the nose with enough pressure he was pretty sure he heard a cracking noise. Another hit, this one to the chest, forced him back into the building at an unsteady pace. A third punch, aimed for the side of his face, was finally blocked, giving John enough time to zip back away from Jake with a hiss. He could only pray Dave was getting the keys, that he was safe, that he was faster than Dirk. Going downstairs was one thing, but going up could be exhausting.

     Dave was halfway back to the apartment and his chest and legs felt like they were full of fire, yet he didn’t dare stop. Stopping now felt like a death sentence, especially with Jake around and James’ convincing play acting before. Would getting the keys even help at this point? He knew where they were, hung on the table beside the door where John always dropped them, ready to go and ready to not get lost. It was just a matter of avoiding every single thing downstairs. He heard vicious breathing below him, barely there visible cues of where Dirk was, and Dave pushed himself faster than he’d gone before.

     The door was just ahead.

     Lunging, he grabbed the keys, and slammed the door behind himself, hearing something heavy slam into the wood, nearly buckling it. The ward held, but for how long? How long would it take him to just go to the bathroom window again? Would he leave at all? Would he just be trapped inside, waiting for John to hopefully be able to get back upstairs?

     Hyped up on adrenaline and smelling a nosebleed coming on, Dave stared at the door like he was staring down destiny. The dive had worked before, maybe it could work again. Another battering ram lunge at the door and he dared to peek out the peephole, watching Dirk size up his target for another try.

     Just needed to time it.

     Needed to time it.

     Dave picked a song out of thin air and let it play in the back of his head, a quick tempo and heavy beat to match his thundering heart. 3. 2. 1.

     When Dirk lunged, Dave threw open the door and dove face first for the were’s feet, trading places with him before trying to catch the top of the stairs. He fell, ass over teakettle, till he hit the bottom before getting up and running. He heard scratching and thudding catching up with him, but there was only so much he could do. He had the keys. He had to get to the bottom of the stairs.

     He was so tired.

     He was only human.

     Good and fast as he was, he was still only human.

     With a bark like a demon, Dirk caught up with Dave around a corner, snapping near his shoulder and startling him. A misplaced step of a tired leg, a hard shift in balance, a fall, and Dave rolled down the stairs once more. Less prepared this time, the landing was hard on his side and arms at the bottom of the current staircase, making him grunt as he tried to get up, death grip still on the keys.

     Dirk was on him in an instant, huge hands shoving Dave down and pinning him by the upper arms so he could loom over him. His lips curled back to expose sharp fangs, long and dangerous.

     “It’s nothing personal,” Dirk rumbled. 

     Despite his struggling and kicking, the teeth sinking into the section of his shoulder where it connected to his neck hurt unlike anything Dave had experienced before. It was close to the sensitive space John fed from, a place that Dave had found himself starting to be tender towards even during cuddling, and now it felt like it was being ripped apart. He could smell blood, and down below a few floors he could hear yelling. When Dirk lifted his red tipped teeth away from him, Dave felt cold in the center of his chest, chilled despite the warmth at his neck.

     “You’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

      John, waylaid by Jake, was having a hell of a time trying to keep up with him. It was like a boxing match, something he wasn’t prepared for, and when it wasn’t up close punches being thrown, it was bites being exchanged or intimidating circling.

     Jake moved faster. He hit harder. Every time John threw a punch Jake knew how to dodge and return volley or cross punch him, undoing any bit of progress John felt he’d made. They both bore bite marks, tears in the flesh, but John was the one far worse for wear. He could feel it in his face and the swell of his eye, the way his glasses sat skewed on his face, the way his ears rang when he breathed and his nose whistled.

     It all changed when he smelled Dave’s blood, however.

     “DAVE?” he shouted, opening himself up for one more punch to the face.

     It had to be Dave’s blood, he knew it too keenly now. And the only way to smell blood was if he was hurt, or worse-

     “DAVE!” John shouted again, focusing on Jake and squinting, darting back to avoid a hit to the stomach before throwing a right hook with all he had, connecting square into Jake’s face hard enough to send his glasses flying and stagger him a few paces back.

     “Dave, hold on! I’m coming!” he shouted. Fucking daytime, of course most of the neighbors were at work, and the ones who weren’t probably were just waiting for the crazy shit to stop happening outside in the echoing stairwell. As if they had any idea of just how much crazy shit was happening in reality.

     Dirk was already off of Dave by the time he made it to the correct flight, having fled further upstairs to collect his shoes and make his way out the window the way he’d come. The apartment door clunked shut ominously out of range, but John couldn’t think about that, couldn’t remember Jake down below who might be following him at this very moment. All he could focus on was the smell of blood, the ripped shirt, the bruises. The fact he looked terrified, curled up in the corner of the stairwell with his hands around his own neck, just made his blood boil all the more.

     He’d pay for this. They both would, both of them would pay for what they’d done today and John was going to make goddamn sure of it.

     “John,” Dave finally croaked. “...John, he bit me.”

     It took a second to register what Dave said, what he meant, but when it caught up in John’s mind it made his legs go slack and sent him down to his knees.

     “It. ….No. no, no, no he didn’t,” he insisted, “let me see. He didn’t bite you, he couldn’t have, it-”

     “He bit me,” Dave groaned again, slowly lowering his hands to reveal where the blood smell was coming from. It was on his hands, on the edges of his ripped shirt, all stemming from a terrible looking bite wound.

     John’s baser instincts were warring with themselves, half fascinated by the scent and the sight, wanting to sample it, wanting to drink him dry. The other half was enraged that someone had harmed his tap, and wanted to get revenge right that second.

     “Shh…. Shhh it’s gonna be okay,” was all he could think to say. As for what to do… he spotted the keys by Dave’s feet and scooped them up before carefully picking Dave up as well. “We’re going to my Dad’s house.”

     Maybe he’d have some kind of answers, some kind of hope that this wasn’t as bad as it looked. He walked upstairs and opened the apartment, finding it empty. A quick trip to the bathroom and John sat Dave down on the toilet seat, wetting a washcloth and handing it to him while he focused on closing and warding the window thoroughly. He pointedly avoided looking in the mirror till he absolutely had to, and even then it was only to wash up and straighten things as well as he could. They bandaged Dave’s neck and got him in a clean shirt, grabbing a few things in a bag for the trip.

     The tension was gone when they locked up and left the apartment again, Dave on John’s back with one arm holding the bag over John’s front and the other holding on around his neck. Jake was nowhere to be seen, Dirk was gone, everything was peace and quiet again as if their entire life hadn’t just been upended. They made it downstairs safely, ignoring the specks of blood from the fight with Jake at the entryway that he hoped someone would be able to take care of soon, and out to the car before John pulled his phone out and dialed the familiar number of his childhood.

     “Dad?” John said when the warm voice answered. “...We’re coming home.”

#homestuck #johndave #john egbert #dave strider #jake english #dirk strider #my fic

[mistwolf45]

Silver Roses

Chapter Three

"Why is he here?" Hellboy groans as he sat down in the briefing room. 

Nuada stood, leaning against the doorframe as Manning set a dossier on the long, oval table. 

"Because I asked him to be." He says simply. Hellboy grumbles to himself, keeping the Prince in his peripheral vision. Liz sat next to him and he rested his stone hand on the back of her chair.

Manning opens the file and pans through it. "We have some reports of a ghost whisperer -a real ghost whisperer- in rural Nebraska." He says.

"So what? It's a fake. A charlatan." Hellboy shrugs.

"Not this one, at least we hope." Manning says. He glances to the seat beside him where a young woman sat. She was a new agent, only in her twenties, but she was smart and very accomplished. Not to mention she had a special...ability. Controlling and manipulating electricity. Agent Lydia Bellaire.

"True ghost whisperers are almost impossible to come by. Mostly because the real ones don't make themselves known to the public. Typically it truly is fakes and charlatans putting on seance's and making money off of the public." She says.

"And we think this one is real because…?" Liz asks.

"According to anyone in town who had a reading by this girl, this…" Lydia took a moment to flip through the file looking for the name. "Rosemary Moore; well they claim whatever she predicted came true and she knew things that she truly couldn't possibly know."

Hellboy scoffs and chuckles. "Doesn't everyone say that about psychics?"

"These are a bit more extreme." Lydia says as she pulls some reports out. "Let's see…"She knew that I had been raped when I was 13 years old, which is something I never told anyone. She even told me his name and gave a description of him"." 

"And she just... magically knew this?" Liz asks.

"No...she apparently channeled this woman's dead grandmother." Lydia says as she keeps looking over the file.

"So her grandmother knew and didn't say anything?" Hellboy raised a brow.

"Apparently the grandmother was dead long before the rape." Lydia sighs softly. "Ghosts are tricky things and from what I've gathered from research is that they can tap into all kinds of knowledge. Seeing into the future, or knowing things that simply shouldn't be known from the past and present."

"So...a psychic gets their readings straight from ghosts?" Liz asks.

"I'm not positive. That's why we'd like to go out and meet this Rosemary." Lydia says.

"And you wanna send us? This ain't a big deal, send someone like Myers." Hellboy says.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you liked going out." Agent Manning mocks, making Hellboy's face go a little redder.

"I was hoping it could be Hellboy, Nuada and myself." Lydia says as she stood. 

"Him? Why him?" Hellboy juts his thumb behind him where Nuada still stood, silent and still like an old oak tree. His gold eyes narrowed at Lydia as he honestly wondered the same thing. Why him?

"Well we're short on agents at the moment, and I also want to test this ghost whisperer." Lydia says.

"Test how?" Hellboy asks.

Lydia reached into her bag and pulled out two necklaces that looked ancient and gold.

Nuada's eyes flashed and he stormed over.

"Where did you get these?" He hisses at the young woman who kept a good poker face, even though she felt her insides shiver with anxiety. 

"Your sister." Lydia says simply. "She's already charmed them to you and Agent Hellboy specifically."

Nuada looked like he was seething. He hated seeing elvish relics in the hands of humans. They didn't belong there! And his own sister had handed them over...

"What are those?" Liz asks.

"Let the demon put his on." Nuada scoffs. "You'll see." He slipped away from the table to skulk in the corner.

Lydia held out a necklace to Hellboy and he looked at it as if she was holding out a dead cat. "What's that gonna do to me?"

"You won't feel a thing." Lydia sighs as she comes around the table to Hellboy. "The Princess already showed me and it's actually pretty cool."

Hellboy winced  and closed his eyes as Lydia reached up and let the necklace fall down around his neck. He didn't feel anything but he heard everyone gasp.

"What? What happened?" He lets one eye crack open a little. 

Lydia fished out a mirror from her bag and held it out to him and as he looked in he just about fell back in his chair.

"What the fuck." He says as he touches his cheek. He still felt the same but the face looking back wasn't him at all. He looked...normal. Pale, human flesh, blue eyes, salt and pepper hair. As Hellboy kept touching his face his fingers touched his horn stubs. He still felt the same.

"It's a glamor spell." Nuada explains. "So even creatures who aren't fae can change how they look."

"And if this girl is legit, she should be able to see through it. Literally or figuratively." Lydia says. "Plus you guys can go into town with me without causing a riot."

Hellboy was still looking in the mirror, checking out his face. He still looked like his original self in some ways, the build of his face and things like that. "Can I keep this?" He asks.

"No." Everyone else says in unison.

"Man this place is small." Hellboy looks out the window of the van as Lydia drove into the small town in Nebraska. 

"Ogallala." Lydia sighs softly. "It's nice. It's quaint." She says.

Hellboy had already slipped on his glamor necklace and tucked it under his shirt to hide it. Nuada was in the back seat of the van, spread out and seemingly asleep. 

Lydia drove through and pulled up next to a small motel. It looked cheap, but they wouldn't be staying here very long.

"Agent Silverlance, your necklace." Lydia says. 

Hellboy looks over his shoulder at the elf prince. He was genuinely curious to see what he would look like as a human.

Nuada sighs and sat up, pulling his golden chain and amulet out of his pocket and slipping it over his head. In an instant he morphed into a handsome human. Tan skin and blue eyes. Instead of long hair his head had a close shave. It was a drastic change and he looked utterly normal.

"Let's do this." Lydia sighs as she got out. Hellboy and Nuada followed. It was overcast and humid, promising rain later. Lydia pulled her leather jacket tighter around her body. A chill in the air signaled Autumn was creeping in. 

Lyida paid for a maximum of two nights for a room. The biggest there only had two beds which meant, if anyone got the chance to sleep she'd have to bunk with someone. She was already picking Hellboy because she was worried the elf prince might kill her if she was in the same bed as him.

They unload the bags they had brought and Lydia pulled out a local map and began going over it with a red marker. 

"So one of these reports actually gives directions to the farmhouse." Lydia bit down on the marker cap and pulled it off before she began to go over the map.

"It's not too far from Ash Hollow." She mumbled around it.

"What's that?" Hellboy asks.

"There's a museum and everything. It's on the Oregon Trail. Some people died of dysentery." Lydia explains as she kept glancing at her papers and slowly traced a red line across her map. "I've heard it's really nice out there ...here we go." Lydia circles a spot in the middle of nowhere.

"The farmhouse should be right here."

After breakfast at a nearby diner -where Lydia had pancakes and yogurt, Hellboy ate as much as he could without drawing attention, and Nuada just had a cup of black coffee that he barely touched- they were off to the farmhouse.

It was a long drive out through nothing but corn and wheat fields and there were no other cars coming or going. Lydia let Hellboy drive since it was something he didn't get to do very often. She would reach over and shift gears for him so he didn't break the shifter with his glamoured stone hand. 

A misty rain had begun to fall and the overcast got thicker. There was an ominous feel in the air with it and Lydia thought of the old "Children of the Corn" movies. 

"This is a long damn drive." Hellboy groans. It felt like they'd hardly been moving, everything looked the same outside. Finally the earth began to change a little, slipping up or down. Bluffs and small cliffs popped up on either side. They would have made excellent look outs for the Native Americans who had once lived on the land. 

It was kind of peaceful actually. The light rain made everything look an even deeper green. Nuada kept his eyes out the window, savoring it. If only he could just throw this door open and jump from the vehicle. To hell with his injuries; he could bolt for the fields and never be seen again.

He rubbed his left wrist hard, tugging at the tracking bracelet that was locked onto him. He remembered the shock it could give him as well. He wouldn't get two feet before someone pushed that button…

"Here!" Lydia says, pointing to a dirt road that broke off the pavement. Hellboy came to a screeching stop making the trio lurch forwards in their seats. 

"Fuck!" He winced and Lydia rubbed her shoulder. "You're ok." She assures him. No one had been behind them thankfully. 

Hellboy kept the van parked in the middle of the road a moment as he and Lydia squinted at an old looking sign posted by the dirt road. 

"Fortune telling and seances like nowhere else! You won't be disappointed! Not for the faint of heart. $60 per person, price non-negotiable. Worth every penny!"

"That seems excessive." Hellboy says as he turns into the dirt road. 

"Money is no object thankfully." Lydia says as she keeps an eye out for anything as they drove down the road. More cornfields on either side of them, closer now and making her feel boxed in. Thankfully the road wasn't long and an old, falling apart farmhouse came into view. 

Hellboy pulled the van up by an old, dead tree and Lydia put it into park for him and turned off the ignition.

"Creepy." She observes.

Good thing that kinda thing doesn't bother us." Hellboy smirks. 

The three got out of the van and stretched a moment. The rain was getting heavier and the sky was getting darker. Lydia quickly went up the old creaking steps into the wrap around porch. She waited for Hellboy and Nuada to be right behind her before she gave the front door a few good, hard knocks.

Just a half-hour earlier

When Rose had found the old hairpin in a crack between the floorboards she almost lost her composure. She'd been slipping away to bed the night before, late like always because she did all the cleaning up after dinner. Her uncle had been in the den, smoking and reading a book, so she had to be discreet about it. She pretended to trip on her chain -which of course awarded her with cruel jokes and chastising from her uncle- but it was just enough. She pried the pin out and found her footing again before slipping away to the closet under the stairs. It had been her bedroom for the whole ten years she'd lived here. Her aunt had said it was the only space she had for Rose; apparently her cousins refused to let her bunk with them in their rooms and there was no sofa to sleep on.

It was small and cramped but it was Rose's little slice of solitude. 

She slipped into the closet and shut the door behind her, stuffing an old rag into the hole where the doorknob should be. One good thing about using the closet as a bedroom, is there was a heating vent right in the corner. Rose could hear every word said in every room of the house, and she waited until she heard everyone go to bed and kept waiting to make sure they were all asleep. 

Finally, the only sounds she could hear was the creaking of the house settling and the furnace in the basement kicking in.

In the closet there was only a small lamp to see by and it's batteries were getting low. The light was dim and flickering and Rose was worried it wouldn't last long enough for her to pick the lock on her shackled leg.

She fumbled with the hair pin, slipping it into the keyhole and twisting it around. Damn it, this used to be so easy…picking locks wasn't that hard!

She was getting frustrated and desperate and her hands began shaking and forcing the pin roughly.

She lost her grip and it popped out of the keyhole, 

Rose bit her tongue to keep from screaming every curse she knew. And of course, because someone up there must have a vendetta against her, her lamp died out, leaving her in the pitch dark.

"Damnit damnit damnit!" Rose hisses as she gritted her teeth. 

Her fingers run along the floorboards in desperation, praying and begging under her breath. Her little closet room had never felt so vast before. The night had already passed and she was beginning to hear birds chirping outside. Once the sun was up, she might have a chance of seeing the floor, but she also had a very high risk of being spotted and caught again if she ran.

For once Rose wished a ghost would just help her for once! Sure, they came around when they needed something from her, but God forbid they could ever give her something in return! 

Yeah, come around and drain my energy. Leave your ugly feelings inside of me when I channel you and give your messages to loved ones. Can't a single one of you just pick up a hairpin and fucking shove it in my hand?!

Cold metal. Her fingertips barely register it at first, but it was there. Rose scrambles up the pin feeling her heart begin to pound so loudly she wondered if she would wake up the entire household.

This time she forces herself to be steady and slow with it. If she lost the pin again she was screwed.

Click

The lock twisted and popped off the shackle and clattered to the floor.

Rose gently removed the metal loop from her ankle and she rubbed the dark and bloodied ring it had left.

No time for that. She tells herself. She could take care of her injuries when she was Scott free. 

She fumbled around in her closet a few moments more, pulling on socks and grabbing a pair of battered cowgirl boots before she slowly opened the closet door. 

The first few bits of sunlight were peeking through the curtains, casting the house in a deep navy blue.

Her covered feet made little noise as she slowly scooted towards the kitchen. She'd have to leave through the backdoor because the lock on it was broken. The front door always stayed locked until her uncle got up, which would be any minute now. Farmers got up as the sun did.

As Rose reached the kitchen door she could hear the distant beep-beep-beep of an alarm clock upstairs and her heart wrenches. 

In a panic she bolted out the door, stumbling and tripping as she pulled on her boots and she ran as fast as she could into the foggy early morning.

The door opened very quickly after Lydia knocked. An older, very scrawny woman stood in the doorway, wearing flannel, jeans and boots.

"Can I help you?" She asks.

"Yes, my brothers and I saw your sign out by the road, about having a psychic?" Lydia says, playing the part very well. Although this woman obviously wasn't convinced that Hellboy and Nuada were her brothers, glamor or none. However, she didn't mention it. In fact the word psychic almost made her look panicky. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, is this the wrong house?" Lydia asks quickly.

"No...ah, our meetings with my niece are typically by appointment only." The woman says.

"We could come back." Lydia suggested but she really hated to do that. One, the trip out here was long but two, most importantly, this woman was giving her a very bad feeling in the pot of her stomach. She seemed off somehow. Crooked.

"No, no...if you have an extra twenty per person, I think we can forgive you." The woman says.

Lydia did the math in her head. $60 per person with an extra $20 tacked on would be $240. Good thing the BPRD was government funded and had very deep pockets, she'd hate to pay that out of her own pocket for what might be a complete scam. She didn't flinch as she pulled out her wallet and counted out two hundred and forty dollars and handed it over. The woman took the time to count it of course before she smiles softly and held out her hand. 

"My name's Bitsy Saunders, come on in."

Lydia shook it before stepping inside. The farmhouse was rustic and quaint. She looked around, spotting a small room sectioned off by thick, red drapes. 

"Head in inside, Rosemary will be with you shortly." Bitsy says. Lydia slipped into the small room. It was dark and cozy with red drapes along the walls. Trinkets and talismans dangled from the ceiling. Nuada scoffs softly as he looks around. All junk just for show. 

Hellboy hung back a little, peeking out from the curtain and keeping a close eye on Bitsy. Lydia hadn't been the only one to catch a funky feeling off the woman.

He narrowed his eyes as he watched the old woman go to the closet under the stairs and knock on the door.

"Rose we have clients." She hisses. "Get your lazy bones up!"

Apparently there was no answer from inside because Bitsy flings the door open and froze.

Hellboy slipped into the seance room and shook his head. "I think you just blew 240 bucks Lyd." 

"Why do you say that?" Lydia was playing around with the lucky rabbits feet that dangled from the sides of the small round table.

As if on cue Bitsy blew in past the red curtain door looking pale. "I'm sorry but she's not feeling very well at all today." 

I'm sorry to hear that." Lydia says, but she didn't believe a word of it. "You don't think I could just see her a moment? I only have a couple of questions to ask her."

"No! No...she's...my husband is taking her to town to see a doctor as we speak." Bitsy says. Something no one believed. There hadn't been any vehicles out front when they'd arrived and the house seemed completely empty save for Mrs. Saunders.

Lydia wasn't sure what she should do. Rosemary Moore could be laying dead somewhere for all she knew.

"You sure about that lady? You looked pretty surprised when you opened that closet. And please don't tell me that's your nieces bedroom." Hellboy scoffs.

Bitsy set her jaw and and shoves the curtain door open. "Please go."

"No refund?" Hellboy cocks his head, trying to get a rise out of this woman.

"Let's just go." Nuada scoffs as he slipped past Bitsy. He glanced over his shoulder, noticing that she was still focused on Lydia and Hellboy, so he slipped towards the closet door that was still standing open.

"I said leave!" Bitsy was getting very agitated and Lydia grabbed Hellboy's arm. 

"Let's go. She's not some monster you can beat in with your hand, she's an old woman." She whispers.

"Fine." Hellboy pulled away from Lydia and shoves past Bitsy and Lydia followed. 

"Your niece run away for a good reason?" Nuada calls from the closet door.

Mrs. Saunders's eyes went wide as she saw him bent over looking into the small space and Lydia quickly joined him and she felt her blood starting to boil. It was a cramped, sorry excuse of a place to keep someone. It was obviously being lived in quite a bit.

"You have no right to be nosing around my house! I'm sorry if we're not rich like you fucking City folk and can afford a nice big house with a bedroom for everyone in it!" She yells. "Now get out before I call the police!"

Hellboy was glaring at the woman, feeling his blood rage in his veins. Even Nuada felt sick and angry. He could see the chain and shackles laying on the floor…the woman had been a prisoner…

Lydia grabbed both men by their shirt collars and drug them towards the front door.

"We'll see who will be calling the police on who!" She yells over her shoulder before slamming the door behind her.

"We can't just fucking leave." Hellboy hisses at her as she storms to the van.

"Why not? She's not here and there's nothing we can do." Lydia sighs. "The woman got away on her own and she's out there somewhere."

"So we just leave?" Hellboy growls. He rested his hands on top of the van, and his stone one was beginning to dent the metal as he gripped it too tight.

"Yeah Red. We leave." Lydia sighs.

By now it was pouring out, and blowing like hell. Hellboy and Nuada had discarded their glamor pendants. Red was driving again down the deserted road back to town, groaning and muttering to himself. This didn't feel right at all. Someone had to save that poor girl.

Lydia was sitting in back talking on the phone with Manning about the situation. "She's in the wind! I don't know what we can do now." 

Nuada sat up front with Hellboy, arms crossed and watching out the window as the rain created rivers down glass. His stomach hadn't settled since he'd seen those chains on the closet floor. He couldn't understand why they'd keep their own niece locked away in such a fashion. Unless maybe she wasn't their niece...maybe some poor girl with a gift they'd kidnapped and abused?

He lets his head rest against the cold glass and he kept watching the scenery go by, dreading being back in the city. As he kept looking out his sharp vision seeing something moving along the road up ahead and he sits up straight again. Definitely a human but why were they walking along the road in this ungodly weather?

"Demon!" Nuada reaches out and grabbed Hellboy's arm, spooking him and making him swerve. 

"Fuck! What the hell is your problem?" Hellboy growls after slamming on the breaks.

"Look!" Nuada points out the window where the human had stopped walking and turned around. Nuada opened his door and looked out; a young woman with long hair being whipped and matted in the wind. She was shaking hard, only wearing a thin nightgown, hooded sweater that had soaked through, and boots.

"Nuada get back in the van." Lydia calls as she stepped out. "It's better if I talk to her first."

Nuada hesitated but eventually complied.

Lyida had slipped on her thick coat and she quickly walked to the poor shivering woman. As she got closer, Lydia could feel her heart wrenching and she knew without asking who this must be standing in front of her.

"Are you Rosemary Moore?" Lydia asks over the wind and rain as she stepped closer. The young woman was about the same age as she was but she seemed younger and smaller. She was thin...too thin…

"Please…" the woman's voice was hoarse. "Please don't take me to my aunt."

"I promise you that won't happen. You'll never have to see her again." Lydia says. 

"Who are you?" Rose shook out, looking Lydia up and down, glancing at the van.

"My name is Lydia Bellaire and I work with the BPRD." Lydia says as she gently took Rose by the arm. "You can't stay out here."

Rose swallowed hard as she followed Lydia to the van. She looks through the window and could see the driver. Big and red…

Lydia opens the van door and helps Rose into the backseat with her and noticed her staring at Hellboy.

Rose sat down shaking as she watched him. "Are...are you the Devil?" She softly asks. Hellboy chuckles softly as he shifted gears. 

"No but don't feel bad. People ask me that all the time."

#hellboy the golden army #hellboy #hellboy 2008 #hellboy 2 #nuadasilverlance #nuada #nuada silverlance #princess nuala #nuala #liz sherman #abe sapien #OC #lovestory #fanfiction

[gayexistentialcrisis]

Tumblr Connections Ch.6

**As always, thank you to my amazing beta @judgemental-llama and a reminder that this story is also on AO3 with the same name**

One minute I’m on top of the world, then the next I’m at rock bottom.

TJ traced his eyes over the words, leaning back in his computer chair as he sighed. What am I doing anymore? He thought about Cyrus, his warm smile, the way his mere presence made TJ weak in the knees, and then he thought about the boy he had been talking to online. I’m starting to feel the same for him as I do for Cyrus… Suddenly his phone started buzzing from where it presided next to his keyboard and he picked it up. Speak of the devil. Hitting accept, he raised the phone up to his left ear, leaning his cheek against his opposite hand.

“Hey Underdog. Do you need something?” He asked softly, his heartbeat immediately speeding up when he mentioned the other boy.

“Teej! I can’t call you just because I want to talk?” Cyrus asked, his voice sounding light as he laughed softly. Damn this boy… I’m falling hard for him.

“Of course you can. It’s just… we were literally together like an hour ago.” TJ said, his voice taking on a teasing edge. He wasn’t complaining. He could talk to Cyrus all the time and never get tired of hearing his voice.

“I missed you. Simple as that my not-so-scary-basketball-guy. Besides, I’m bored. Wanna come over?” TJ could hear muffled sounds on the other side of the phone and he knew the younger boy had just laid on his bed. Okay TJ, little creepy. You need to calm down.

“People might think we’re dating. We are together all the time.” The basketball player mentioned, not fully able to stop the hopeful tone his voice took on. Holding his breath he waited for Cyrus’ response.

“Oh never! You’re my best friend and I enjoy spending time with you. That’s all. Nothing more. Nothing less either. I mean does that make sense, because you know-“ Cyrus began rambling, breaking TJ’s heart more and more with every word. Never…

“Okay, yeah I get it. I’d never be interested in you either, don’t worry. I’ll be over in an hour. Bye.” TJ said bitterly before pulling the phone away from his ear to hang up, not giving Cyrus the chance to answer. He threw his phone down onto his desk and groaned loudly before slamming his fist down onto this desk, hissing in pain after he did.

“Oh fuck…” He mumbled to himself, cradling his hand to his chest. That’s going to for sure leave a bruise.  Remembering he never answered Cy back, he opened his messages on tumblr through his computer and smiled at what he saw.

Cy: Okay, not that I’m complaining… but are you okay? Do you want to talk about it? Ducky is an idiot for not wanting you.

Smiling, TJ remembered how he had come up with that name for his -no not his- Underdog. He was watching a movie with his family and they were watching The Land Before Time (Amber had voted for it) and he remembered how much Cyrus loved dinosaurs. Thus TJ started referring to him as Ducky (one of the characters) in his head and online.

Tris: Uh, no I don’t think so. I’d rather not talk about him at this moment. How are things going with your dear Lemon?

TJ hesitated before pressing send, wondering why he really didn’t want to know about the other guy. He’s just an online friend right? I don’t even really know him. He thought, leaning back to run his fingers through his hair as his eyes stayed trained on the blinking cursor on his screen. Sighing as he leaned forward, TJ held his finger to the backspace key, deleting his question before sending his message. Before he could retype out his question he shut his laptop with an audible thump and pushed his chair back to stand up and head to his best friend’s house.

The entire duration of his walk there, the only thing filling his mind was a constant battle of Cyrus vs Cy. Flipping back and forth between his online friend and his real life friend, his mind came to a screeching halt and he stopped dead in his tracks. Cy...rus? Could Cyrus really be Cy? Shaking his head, he continued walking, seeing Cyrus house enter his view. No way, he would’ve mentioned Tumblr at least once by now. Cyrus doesn’t keep secrets. Stuffing his hands into his pockets he made it the rest of the way to Cyrus’ front door and hesitated. He knew he could walk right in, but for some reason, it felt wrong doing that today. Ringing the bell he rocked on his heels while he waited for the door to open.

“Teej? You do remember you can just walk in right?” Cyrus said as soon as he opened the door, a confused look etched onto his features. TJ nodded his head awkwardly and shrugged, squeezing past Cyrus to get inside the house.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. Must’ve forgotten.” He said softly, leaning down to untie his shoes before slipping them off and carefully placing them beside each other next to the door. Standing up straight again, he glanced at Cyrus to see him scrutinizing him before shrugging slightly and heading upstairs to his room.

“So the GHC is having a movie night here on Friday if you would like to come.” Cyrus said once they were up the stairs. TJ coughed slightly and nodded before realizing Cyrus still had his back to him. Dumbass he thought, closing his eyes tightly as he flushed with embarrassment.

“Of course I’ll be there. When have I ever missed an opportunity to hang out with my boy.” TJ said before he could really think about what he was saying. He heard Cyrus draw in a quick breath and his eyes widened as he realized what he had said. Quickly turning, he went to Cyrus’ desk and sat in his chair, he knee knocking against the desk and causing the laptops screen to light up. Out of curiosity, TJ turned and scanned the screen, his heart dropping down into his stomach as he realized what he was reading. It was Cyrus’ tumblr page- correction Cy’s and he had just made a post before TJ arrived at Cyrus’ house.

Dear Lemon,

*I’m jumping on this train with my mans Tristian*

When I look at you, I see endless smiles. I see secrets, whispered with a breathy laugh and a chaste kiss. I see us, lounging at my house while I make you watch Love, Simon with me over and over as I shamelessly cry. I see us, hanging out with my friends, laughing at whatever new stupid thing I say.

I see us, but I also see him. I see him being there for me when you aren’t. I see him comforting me when you lash out at me again and I’m crying while blaming myself. I see him and I see a possibility of a future, not just the slight chance I could ever have with you. I want him.

I see him, but I love you even if you don’t love me.

Reading through, TJ couldn’t help the tears that filled his eyes. He hastily wiped his eyes and closed the laptop softly. He remembered the post he had made about Cyrus. It was basically the same thing Cyrus (or should he start saying Cy?) had posted, calling out how he knew there was something going on between him and Ander, how he was losing hope. He just never expected… this.

“Hey Cy?” He said softly, still not wanting to come face to face with the person on the receiving end of his crush. He could hear Cyrus shuffled behind him then a hand was placed on his shoulder as he flinched.

“Yeah Teej?” Cyrus asked, concern lacing his voice as TJ shrugged his hand off his shoulder. He cleared his throat and stood up quickly, knowing the chair into Cyrus in the process, causing him to groan at the impact.

“Oh! I’m sorry Underdog, I didn’t mean to- I just- Is there anything going on between you and Ander?” He rushed out, reaching forward to place his hand on Cyrus’ upper arm in a form of comfort. Cyrus furrowed his brows and shook his head, stepping forward to wrap his arms around TJ’s middle. Hesitating slightly, TJ wrapped his arms around Cyrus shoulders, resting his chin on top of the smaller boys head.

“That really hurt Teej. I am fragile you know.” Cyrus mumbled against the basketball player’s chest. The statement causes TJ to chuckle, shaking his head a bit before pulling back to look at Cyrus who glanced up at him. He caught a small flicker of Cyrus’ eyes, his own eyes drifting down to Cyrus’ lip momentarily before swallowing thickly as he hastily brought his eyes back up to the brown eyed boys. He didn’t know who had leaned in first, but before he knew it he could feel his nose bump against Cyrus’, their lips less than an inch apart. All he had to do was lean forward a little more and-

Cyrus jumped back, his face turning a deep shade of red as TJ’s phone began ringing loudly and he groaned, pulling it out of his pocket, checking the caller ID before answering.

“Amber, what do you want I was a little- woah. Calm down. What’s going on? Stop crying and talk to me dammit!” TJ’s face morphed from one of annoyance to one of panic and concern. He turned to Cyrus, his eyes wide. “I’ll be there soon okay? I’m coming now.” TJ pulled the phone away from his ear and hastily shoved it into his pocket, his eyes filling with tears.

“TJ, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” Cyrus said softly, reaching his hand out towards the older boy, who stepped back.

“C-can your mom take me to the hospital? Please?” TJ said, his words bumping into one another, almost incomprehensible. Cyrus nodded slowly, grabbing TJ’s hand in his own and leading TJ down the stairs, his head swimming with the information he had just heard. TJ numbly slipped his shoes on, barely registering that Cyrus was talking to his mom behind him before walking over to Cyrus who was slipping on his jacket.

“Can you tell me what happened Teej? Please.” Cyrus pleaded, grabbing both of TJ’s trembling hands in his own as he looked up at the glassy eyed boy.

“My mom… She got in the car accident on the way home. Amber wouldn’t tell me how bad it is…” He said softly, allowing Cyrus to pull him in for a hug as he squeezed the smaller boy tightly. I could never tell him I’m Tristian… It would ruin our friendship and his post… He’s with Ander now. TJ sighed, pulling back to look down at his best friend and frowned. I never really had a chance.

*I’m sorry my lovelies! But I promise our boys will be together and happy soon enough! Don’t hate me:((*

taglist: @allicat-76 @tyrus-is-endgame-fight-me @sarcasticfirehazard @alyxandraz @unprofessionalart

#tyrus #tyrustumblrconnections #tj kippen #tj x cyrus #cyrus goodman #andi mack #andi mack fanfic