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vannahfanfics · 2 years

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Morning People

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Characters: Kiyoomi Sakusa, Atsumu Miya

Hello, everyone! Here is my story for the Sakusa Reverse Bang! I had a great time writing this story for my partner jay’s absolutely stunning art. So, I hope you all enjoy!

Kiyoomi had always been an early riser. His internal clock was incredibly precise, drawing him out of the sweet twilight of sleep just as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Kiyoomi had never been one to try and cling to sleep, either; once he was up, he was up. He’d rise from the pillows with a quiet sigh, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms before sliding out of bed. His slippers were always in the same place, resting right next to his bed so he could slip his feet in without touching the cold wood floor. He’d shuffle over to the window and draw the curtains aside, letting the sunlight spill into the room.

His warm breath fogged against the glass when he exhaled from how close he leaned to the panes. A soft smile bloomed on his lips as he watched the sun spill over the horizon, chasing away the curtain of night and filling the air with warmth. The green leaves of the blossoming trees quivered in the breeze, and even through the closed window, Kiyoomi could hear them rustle. The songbirds were performing their dawn chorus, starting up a symphony more beautiful than any classicist could dream of creating.

Peaceful. Just how Kiyoomi liked it.

And then his nice morning solitude shattered.

Kiyoomi had chosen Atsumu’s ringtone on purpose—loud, obnoxious, grating to the ears. As it erupted from his phone, the poppy tune of the most annoying girl group song he could find piercing the silence of the morning, Kiyoomi debated not answering it. However, he found himself crossing the room and pulling his cellphone off the charger to look at the screen. A very unflattering picture of Atsumu was plastered across the screen, showing his eyes rolling back into his head as he devoured a monstrous bacon cheeseburger. Ketchup and grease were dripping from his mouth.

Just looking at it made Kiyoomi scrunch up his nose in disgust.

Still, he knew that Atsumu liked his sleep. Why was he calling him so early in the morning unless it was important? It was this that compelled him to answer, swiping the screen and putting the phone to his ear with a quiet, “Hello?”

“Omi-Omi!” Atsumu trilled on the other end of the line. Kiyoomi should have remembered to hold the phone a few inches away from his head; Atsumu had always been a screamer on the phone. Kiyoomi recoiled away from the speaker, his eardrum ringing from the pitch and volume of Atsumu’s voice. His grunt was buried in Atsumu’s lively chatter. “Good morning, Omi-Omi! Sleep well?”

“What do you want?” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. It was too early in the morning for him to be developing a migraine.

“Aw, did I wake you?”

“You know you didn’t. It’s just strange that you’re calling so early,” Kiyoomi sniffed in response.

“What? Am I not allowed to wake up early to be the first to greet ya, Omi?”

“Cut the crap, Atsumu. What do you want?”

“Go out with me today~”

Kiyoomi let out an unflattering choking sound, nearly swallowing his own tongue with the compulsive jerk of his head. It hadn’t been what he was expecting, and the abrupt request was jarring. A small part of him wanted to tell Atsumu to screw off and hang up the phone.

A small part of him.

“All right. I have nothing to do today, but I have to ask—why the sudden invite?”

“It’s Spring Break, Omi!”

“We’re not in high school anymore. We don’t get Spring Break.”

“Ugh, yer getting too caught up in the details.” He could envision Atsumu flapping his hand in dismissal, and it brought a smirk to Kiyoomi’s lips. “The point is that it’s a perfectly fine day to go out! Yer too pale. Ya need more sunshine.”

“I already agreed. Are you trying to get me to go back on that?” Kiyoomi sniffed. He ran a hand over the arm that was holding the phone with a sulky pout. I’m not that pale… he grumped while looking at his arm.

“It’s ma love language, or at least, that’s what ‘Samu says,” Atsumu laughed. Kiyoomi rolled his eyes. Of course Atsumu would take something that was clearly meant as a sarcastic insult as a compliment. “All right, Omi-Omi! I’ll be there to pick ya up in an hour.”

“Why so long?”

“Because I need time to pretty myself up for ya~”

“Ugh. You disgust me,” Kiyoomi growled, hanging up the phone in the middle of Atsumu’s laugh. He lowered the phone, looking down at that stupid picture of Atsumu with the cheeseburger. He hadn’t even taken it. Shouyou had while he and Atsumu were meeting up for their weekly jaunt to their favorite burger joint, and he had sent it to the team group chat, thinking it was hilarious.

Kiyoomi stared at it, his features slowly softening with a smile.

Stupid Atsumu. He better not try dragging me to that greasy burger place, or I’ll turn right around and go home.

Probably.

***

Atsumu Miya could never make an entrance like a normal person. Instead of coming up to the door and knocking like a civilized person, he parked in front of the driveway and honked the horn of his obnoxious red convertible. Kiyoomi marched out of the house with a thunderous expression, practically radiating rage as he glared at Atsumu from his doorway.

“Are you trying to wake the whole neighborhood?!”

“Ahhh, don’t be so angry, Omi!” Atsumu crooned over the rock music pumping out of his radio, pulling his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to look at Kiyoomi with glittering eyes. A smirk danced on his lips, that stupid smirk that made Kiyoomi want to smack it off of him but also made his heart do this weird pitter-patter in his chest. Pouting, Kiyoomi pulled his mask up his face before stalking down his driveway. He just so happened to glance in the backseat, and what he saw there made him want to go right back.

“You brought your Pomeranians?!”

Atsumu’s five Pomeranians sat calmly on their luxuriously fluffy car bed, their luscious golden-orange fur shining in the sunlight. The diamonds on their pink collars glittered as they all looked at Kiyoomi, ears perking and pink tongues flicking at their button-like black noses.

“I don’t go anywhere without ma princesses!” Atsumu huffed. “What’s the problem? They’re all in the backseat! That’s quite an honor, ya know. I don’t put ‘em in the back for just anyone.”

“You are ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous,” Kiyoomi snorted. He gave the Pomeranians a side-eye as he jerked the passenger side door open. All five of them had assumed identical positions, their heads tilted and one triangle-shaped ear perked up while they stared curiously at him. “Princesses,” my ass, he thought with a roll of his eyes, then plopped down in the seat. One of the dogs licked her nose, then crawled to the edge of the dog bed to sniff at Kiyoomi’s arm.

“So, it’s seven forty-five in the morning,” Kiyoomi said, leering down at the dog suspiciously while pulling his arm away from her cold, moist nose. “What are your grand plans for this outing of yours?”

“Breakfast, o’course!” Atsumu preened. He gave the engine a playful rev while wiggling an eyebrow at him; Kiyoomu wrinkled his forehead to show just how hard he was wrinkling up his nose. “Bah, so much for you being a morning person!” he laughed before putting the car in drive and heading off down the road.

Kiyoomi sniffed and turned to look out the window.

“I am a morning person. I’m just not a morning with Atsumu person.”

Yet, here he was.

Atsumu did not drive him to the greasy burger joint. Presumably, this was because the diner wasn’t open; if it had been, that’s probably what Atsumu would have opted for. Instead, Kiyoomi was relieved to realize that Atsumu had chosen to bring him to a café. Of course, this was Atsumu; it wasn’t the run-of-the-mill chain coffee restaurant that many ran through on their morning commute. This was a sophisticated little building on a street corner, with flowers blossoming in windowsill flower boxes and soft cloth umbrellas rippling in the morning breeze. With the convertible top open, Kiyoomi could smell the robust scent of roasting coffee beans dancing on the wind.

Coffee always made even the worst mornings better.

“All right, girls! Be good and Daddy will bring you back a treat!” Atsumu crooned to his Pomeranians as he closed his car door. His dogs jumped at the backseat door, their curly tails wagging and pink tongues lolling as they each fought to get to Atsumu’s hand. He made sure to give each one a good pet or scratch before strolling around the back of the car to Kiyoomi, who was just standing there with his arms crossed. “What?” Atsumu sniffed.

“I was just thinking that if you ever started going out with someone, your poor little princesses would get jealous and maul them to death,” Kiyoomi answered coolly. Atsumu tipped back his head, barking out a laugh. Kiyoomi raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t trying to be funny. Seriously, those dogs ate up so much of Atsumu’s attention, anything that took it away would immediately be seen as a mortal enemy.

“My girls are full of nothing but love!” Atsumu protested, swinging his car keys around his finger before stowing them in his jacket pocket. “And so prim and proper. How dare you insinuate that they would do something so unseemly!”

“... I need coffee,” Kiyoomi gruffed, turning on his heel to march into the coffee shop. Atsumu followed after him, still spouting protests about Kiyoomi’s cruel mistreatment of his “girls.” And yet, as much as he wanted to resent Atsumu’s attachment to his Pomeranians, he couldn’t help but find it endearing. And so, behind the safety of his mask, he smiled.

“One iced cinnamon latte and a cheese danish, please,” Kiyoomi told the cashier after she pleasantly addressed him. Atsumu peered over his shoulder, eyebrows raised, while Kiyoomi swiped his debit card in the card machine.

“Wow, Omi-Omi! I didn’t expect that?”

“And what did you expect?” he asked, not looking at him as he scrawled his signature over the screen.

“Yer so gloomy. I expected ya to order, yanno, like a black coffee and a plain bagel or some shit.”

“I’m not gloomy,” Kiyoomi said resentfully. Atsumu stepped back when he turned to look at him, and pouted at Kiyoomi’s narrowed eyebrows. “If you really find my personality so insufferable, then why bother to spend time with me?” Kiyoomi didn’t mean for as much resentment to pour into his voice as it did, but his hurt was made obvious; expression sour, tone bitter, eyes full of pain. And his teeth gritted in frustration behind the mask—he didn’t know why Atsumu not liking him bothered him as much as it did, considering that they sort of couldn’t stand each other in the beginning. But it did, and the idea of Atsumu dragging him out just to antagonize him really made his heart twist in his chest.

“What?” Atsumu cried. Either the shocked expression on his face was really good acting, or genuine. Kiyoomi’s heart decided to believe the latter, and he relaxed a little, relief making his muscles unwind just a bit. “Omi-Omi, I don’t find you insufferable. I’m just teasin’, that’s all! I’m sorry.” Atsumu seemed legitimately remorseful that his joking had caused Kiyoomi hurt. With a small sniff, Kiyoomi pulled the mask a little higher up his face—trying to hide the blush creeping up his cheeks.

“‘S fine,” he grumbled. “The truth is… I am a little more irritable in the mornings… Especially before I get caffeine.”

Atsumu blinked at him. Then, that stupid grin spread across his face again, immediately making Kiyoomi regret being just the faintest bit honest.

“Oh? Not as much of a morning person as you pretend to be, eh?” he jeered. Kiyoomi rolled his eyes, and when the cashier turned around to hand the plastic cup with Kiyoomi’s name on it to the barista, he flipped Atsumu off, too. “Ah! You wound me, Omi-Omi! Right to the heart!” Atsumu cried and dramatically splayed his hands over his heart like he had literally been shot. Kiyoomi ignored him, taking the cheese danish from the cashier with a quiet “Thank you” before moving on down the counter to wait for his latte.

Kiyoomi got his latte just as Atsumu sauntered down to join him. He had already taken a few bites of his cheese danish, and he pulled it away from his mouth to take a sip of his coffee. His eyes fluttered a little as the sweet yet hardy taste of the milk-coffee blend hit his tongue. He knew that the caffeine didn’t act that fast, but he still felt better even with just that first sip.

Just as he popped his mouth off the straw, he looked over to see Atsumu tearing off a piece of his cheese danish and popping it in his mouth.

“What the hell?” Kiyoomi snarled, yanking the pastry away before the greedy boy could take more. Atsumu just stared at him through his lashes, licking the danish filling off his thumb and first finger.

“I just wanted to see what it tasted like,” he simpered. “It’s still so weird to imagine ya with a sweet tooth, Omi-Omi. I couldn’t help myself!”

“Then order your own, damn it!” Kiyoomi barked back, then chomped down on the danish in retaliation. He was so burned up over it that he didn’t even consider that Atsumu probably hadn’t sanitized his hands before doing it. His mind was all in a jumble because he was thinking of the fact that Atsumu was the type of person to just take a bite out of something, but he had been considerate enough to use his hands instead to not freak Kiyoomi out. And that level of familiarity and tenderness in such an innocuous moment made his heart stutter in his chest. Unfortunately, he could not just chalk it up to the palpitations from the coffee.

“But I wanted my favorite bagel, too!” Atsumu whined. “I’m not made of money, you know.”

“You can afford to feed your five Pomeranians but not yourself, apparently,” Kiyoomi grumbled around the danish.

“Always so surly,” Atsumu sighed. The barista set his cup on the counter, and Atsumu grabbed it to immediately take a big sip. It was some abomination of a frappuccino, with caramel sauce swirled in the cup and over the gobs of whipped cream nearly bursting out of the plastic topper. And Atsumu was talking about Kiyoomi having a sweet tooth? Preposterous.

“And here’s your two cups of whipped cream!” the barista chirped to Atsumu, holding them out to him.

“Do me a favor and take one of those, will ya, Omi-Omi?”

Kiyoomi did as bid, though with a confused look.

“What are these for?” he asked.

“For my babies, of course! <3” Atsumu answered cheerfully.

It took everything in Kiyoomi’s body not to flip the plastic cup over and let the whipped cream slide out and splatter onto the floor.

“Annnnnnd, at least, the piece de resistance,” Atsumu purred when the barista handed him his warm bagel. Interested to see how Atsumu’s craving for sugar ruined such a quintessential breakfast item, Kiyoomi craned his neck to peer into the paper wrapping. It was a chocolate chip bagel, which wasn’t all that bad—but it was the plastic container of hazelnut-chocolate spread that made Kiyoomi sniff in disdain. “What?’ Atsumu huffed and held his bagel protectively to his chest. “You aren’t thinking about stealing a piece out of revenge, are you?”

“Well, I would be entitled to, considering how you absconded with a piece of my danish,” Kiyoomi said, “but no. I was wondering what aberration of a bagel you’d ordered.”

“It’s just a chocolate chip one!”

“With Nutella.”

“Listen, Nutella is God’s gift to men, and I intend to make the most of it,” Atsumu huffed, taking the plastic butter knife out of the package to waggle it scoldingly at Kiyoomi. “Now, let’s go outside.”

“Why?”

“I told ya this morning! You need sunshine!” Atsumu teased. He was already walking toward the door, so Kiyoomi just followed him. “Nah, it’s a nice day, and they have those fancy tables outside, so I thought we could eat out there. Plus, it’ll give my princesses a chance to stretch their legs while they eat their num-nums! <3”

“Atsumu, we’re in public, please,” Kiyoomi groaned. He looked back over his shoulder just in time to see the barista smother her snort of laughter with a cough.

Atsumu just sauntered through the door. He held it open for Kiyoomi, who wanted nothing more than to smack that stupid grin off his face and rip those jumping eyebrows off his forehead. Mostly because that sunny smile of his was making his heart palpitate again, and compounded with the growing warmth of the morning, it was making him feel a little light-headed.

Kiyoomi claimed them a table while Atsumu went to free his “princesses” from the confines of the convertible. As soon as he opened the door and lowered the seat, they sprang forth, a furry golden river crashed over a crumbling red dam. Kiyoomi really wanted to hate those damn Pomeranians, but as they circled around Atsumu’s feet and jumped at his legs, Atsumu laughed—and ugh, what a laugh. It was probably the most blissful laugh that Kiyoomi had ever heard burst from Atsumu’s lungs. It was like pure morning bells ringing in the coming of the sun, so demure and unadulterated that it was almost angelic.

Ew. Kiyoomi never thought Atsumu and angelic would be in the same thought. He squinted suspiciously at his coffee, wondering if he’d gotten a batch of bad beans or something. But his gaze slowly drifted back up to Atsumu, as if drawn by a magnet; and as he watched the way his sunny hair danced in the wind and the way his smile seemed to shine brighter than the sun peeking over the tops of the buildings, Kiyoomi just couldn’t help but feel like he’d been blessed.

“All right, my girlies, eat up!” Atsumu trilled as he set the two cups of whipped cream down on the ground. The Pomeranians crowded around them, and the air became filled with their snuffling slurps as they licked up the sweet cream. Atsumu then sank into the seat opposite Kiyoomi and breathed a contented sigh. Kiyoomi tucked his legs closer to himself and looked apprehensively down at the dogs.

“Ah, come on, Omi-Omi, they ain’t gonna bite,” Atsumu chuckled with an amused glance up from his bagel, which he was now smearing with the thick chocolate paste.

“I just… don’t have much experience with dogs,” Kiyoomi muttered back. One of the Pomeranians glanced up at the sound of his voice. He raised an eyebrow at the glob of whipped cream on the top of her nose, which she was unsuccessfully trying to lick off. She blinked, then began to wag her poofy tail furiously.

“Aw, come on, Omi! Give Porschia a pet.”

“Porschia?”

“Yeah! Porschia, Penelope, Peaches, Pepper, and Puddin’.”

One of those things is not like the other, Kiyoomi thought. However, his mind was soon overtaken again by the challenge before him. Porschia looked at him expectantly—the word “pet” had made her ears perk, and now her tail was wagging more slowly as she studied Kiyoomi’s movements. He squirmed in his chair; it wasn’t that he disliked dogs, he just… had no experience with them. Even these tiny little fluffy things made him anxious.

Still, Kiyoomi Sakusa was not one to back down from a challenge. And so, he steeled his nerves and slowly leaned down to give the dog a few hesitant scritches atop her head. As his fingers massaged into the fuzzy spot between her head, Porschia closed her eyes and let her tongue loll out of her mouth. Kiyoomi couldn’t help but chuckle; he supposed that it was pretty cute.

The rest of the dogs all perked up simultaneously. Kiyoomi froze as four pairs of beady little eyes came to rest on him all at once. The Pomeranians then sprang forward, crowding his hand to smother it in eager licks and snuffles. He quickly snatched his hand back, holding it to his chest as if he’d been burned, and looked apprehensively at the dogs. They all whined in disappointment, then began to nose at his legs in an effort to try and give them attention, too.

“Heh, they like ya, Omi-Omi!” Atsumu chortled. Kiyoomi looked at him with a slight pout, but it did not deter the grin stretching across Atsumu’s face.

Kiyoomi managed to give each of the dogs some affection as he nursed his coffee, gradually acclimating to their energetic activity. They actually were remarkably well-behaved, not bothered at all by the strangers that walked by (many of whom temporarily joined the two young men to coo over the Pomeranians and shower them in even more pets and baby-talk). They stuck close to Atsumu, lounging in the puddles of sunlight around the bistro table to just enjoy the gradually warming morning after they’d licked the cups of whipped cream clean.

“Yer right,” Atsumu remarked with a laugh after Kiyoomi had finally finished his coffee. Kiyoomi looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he continued with a slightly mischievous smirk, “Ya really are a much nicer person after ya’ve had some coffee!”

“Tch. Be careful, or you’re smack talk will sour my mood again,” Kiyoomi huffed. However, the corners of his lips were tugging up into a smirk, too. Perhaps it was the pleasant warmth of the golden sun spilling over his back, or the songbirds chirping cheerily in the nearby trees, but he was in an exceptionally good mood—good enough to find Atsumu’s normally grating attitude kind of entertaining. He drummed his fingers on the wrought iron of the bistro table, then regarded Atsumu with glittering eyes. “So, knowing you, you didn’t drag me out for just morning coffee. What’s next on the agenda?”

“Oh, what’s this? Are you getting eager, Omi-Omi?” Atsumu said with an amused whistle.

“I just don’t like surprises.”

“Bah, yer no fun!” Atsumu sniffed and waved a hand dismissively at him. It then landed on his face, cupping his cheek as he leaned forward slightly to smirk at him. “But yer right, I do have more fun planned. Shall we?”

They rose in unison, and the Pomeranians immediately jumped up. Their collars jingled frantically as they circled Atsumu’s feet, carefully avoiding his steps while being as close as possible while he walked to the car. Kiyoomi expected him to head to the driver’s side, but instead, he leaned over the passenger side door to pop open the glovebox. When he removed five pink, diamond-studded leashes, Kiyoomi raised an eyebrow.

“It’s just a short walk from here,” Atsumu explained as he leaned down and began leashing up his dogs.

“Oh, so this isn’t just me being dragged along while you walk your dogs?”

“Nah, Omi-Omi, you’re more special than that!” Atsumu laughed, standing up and wrapped the leashes around his hand. Kiyoomi flushed as pink as the woven fibers of the leashes and matching collars, and he was grateful that the mask covered the majority of his cheeks. Special, he repeated in his head. He tried to convince himself that Atsumu probably didn’t mean anything by it, but he couldn’t stop the butterflies from swirling around in his stomach.

So he kept his distance as he and Atsumu walked side-by-side down the sidewalk. The dogs strutted ahead of them, their little curly tails held high and ears perked while they eagerly observed their surroundings. Even though Kiyoomi made it a point to keep at least an arm’s length between himself and Atsumu, there was just something so domestic about the moment that it made his stomach begin to flip and flop around in his stomach. The pinkness in his cheeks gradually began to turn green with nausea, or at least it felt like it.

“Here it is, Omi-Omi!” Atsumu announced after just a few minutes of walking. Kiyoomi had been so busy trying not to throw up his breakfast that he hadn’t been paying much attention, and so he was honestly surprised when he glanced up.

“Oh… A cherry blossom viewing park?”

It was one of the many scattered around. This one was rather small, a long corridor lined on either side by the blooming pink trees. The pathway was ladened with the discarded petals, swirling around as the wind danced through the linear hollow. Even through the mask, the sweet aroma of the cherry blossoms flooded his nose, inviting him in. The branches had been carefully trimmed to curl over the walkway like an awning; it almost felt like a portal to some springtime fantasy world.

“Ya can’t properly enjoy spring without lookin’ at some cherry blossoms!” Atsumu grinned. He looked so positively pleased with himself that Kiyoomi didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had never much been one for the seasonal tradition. Well, it can’t hurt. I have nothing else to do today. That, and he definitely did not want to see the look on Atsumu’s face if he told him he didn’t want to. Walking under the cherry blossoms with Atsumu… Surely it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Right?

So he accompanied Atsumu down the walkway. The shadows of the trees folded over them; where once shone the warm sunbeams, now danced cool shadows. The Pomeranians let out happy little barks as they pranced around, their tiny paws throwing up the petals. Atsumu and Kiyoomi walked slow to allow the dogs to play, and they ran around, nosing around the soft petals and flinging them about.

Kiyoomi was in the middle of chuckling at Porschia trying to dislodge a cherry blossom petal stuck to her nose when he felt Atsumu’s hand slide into his.

Kiyoomi looked at Atsumu, then at their linked hands, then back up at Atsumu. Atsumu looked nonchalant at first, but as it became clear that Kiyoomi was utterly and totally perplexed, his expression morphed to a more bashful one. He refused to let Kiyoomi’s hand go, though, using the hand holding all the leashes to scratch at the side of his hand.

“Uh, Omi-Omi… People usually hold hands on dates, yanno.”

“This is a date?” Kiyoomi blurted. Atsumu’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head at his startled question. His eyes began to roam around, unable to focus on Kiyoomi as the blush began to color his face.

“Um… Yeah? Were you not aware of that?”

“No. No I was not.”

“Oh. I thought I made that clear.”

“No. No you did not. You just said you wanted to go out, not in what capacity.”

Atsumu looked awkwardly down at their hands, which were still clasped together. He cleared his throat, then looked apologetically at Kiyoomi.

“I guess I should, uh… Let go, then.”

However, when Atsumu moved to do so, Kiyoomi stubbornly entwined their fingers so as to lock Atsumu’s hand in his. He didn’t really know why in the moment; he just knew that it felt really good, holding hands with Atsumu, and so he didn’t want to relinquish his grip. Atsumu quietly murmured his name, and God, did that feel good, too. Kiyoomi stepped close to Atsumu, close enough that their chests brushed the barest bit with each of Atsumu’s slightly panting breaths.

“I didn’t say you had to do that.”

Atsumu looked both relieved and confused. He searched Kiyoomi’s face for any sign of maliciousness or discomfort, but Kiyoomi’s expression was stony and serious.

“I just said I didn’t know it was a date. I didn’t say I didn’t want it to be a date.”

Sure, there were parts of Kiyoomi that found certain aspects of Atsumu grating. But there were way more parts of him that craved his presence. The parts of him that saved that stupid picture. The parts of him that agreed to stupid early morning coffee outings. The parts of him that felt overjoyed that Atsumu put his Pomeranians in the backseat for him and only him. The parts of him that loved his smile and smirk and laugh. The parts of him that really wanted to kiss him right now.

And it was those parts of him that were in operation, driving him to pull his mask down and lean in to press his lips to Atsumu’s.

Atsumu melted into the kiss, even going so far as to let out a small, satisfied hum. As Kiyoomi’s lips moved against his, he squeezed Kiyoomi’s hand, as if convincing himself that what was happening was real. And Kiyoomi couldn’t blame him. His head was drifted into a hazy fog, too, growing drunk with the saccharine sweetness of his mouth.

He only pulled away when Porschia latched her little teeth into his pants leg and angrily began to shake her head around. Kiyoomi looked down, raised an eyebrow at her snarling and growling trying to maul his clothes, and then blaisely remarked, “I told you they would get jealous.”

“Pfft. They’ll have to get used to it,” Atsumu laughed. When Kiyoomi looked back at him, Atsumu’s eyes were shining with bliss. “Well… That certainly wasn’t what I was expectin’, but I can’t say I’m disappointed.”

“Tch. Next time we go on a date, make it clear.”

“So there will be a next time?” Atsumu preened. Kiyoomi hastily yanked his mask back up his face, feeling the heat of the blush return. Atsumu just laughed, pulled his hand out of Kiyoomi’s, and tossed his arm around his shoulders to tug him close. As they resumed meandering through the cherry blossoms, Kiyoomi thought again that he wasn’t really a morning person.

But he was definitely a “morning with Atsumu Miya” person.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

#sakuatsu #sakusa x atsumu #atsumu x sakusa #kiyoomi sakusa #sakusa kiyoomi #atsumu miya #miya atsumu #haikyuu #haikyuu!!

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batarella · 3 years

Text

3 birds 1 stone - chapter 7

‘Dick, Jason, and Tim. Supposed brothers 'till the end, until all three fall in love with you. Who wins your heart?

The man who earned it, the man who stole it, or the man who always had it?’

A/N: school’s a bitch, but nothing’s stopping me from having a fuck ton of fun with this series. and with this chapter, I had loads of it.

WORDS: 11,289 (I’m not even sorry) WARNINGS: batarella’s funeral

MASTERLIST | 3 BIRDS 1 STONE MASTERLIST

-----

First, it was the light.

You always slept with your curtains drawn, so the light almost never reached your room when you wake up in the early or late hours in the morning. So when you awoke with your eyelids red and bright, like the sun was a foot away from your nose, you knew something was wrong.

Second, the sheets. They were clean, but obviously different from the cottony light comforter you liked to wrap yourself with in the winter. The ones you had around your body right then, on the other hand, was just a thin, white sheet, warm yet not nearly as warm as your quilt.

Then the bed felt off as well. Stiff. Firm. Not at all wrecked like the mess you often left behind even after making your bed, or in your case just draping the blanket over the whole mattress before you went off for the day.

And when you were awake enough to have the rest of your senses snap out of your dreary, groggy vision of a dream that faded as soon as the sting in your temple kicked in, you realized that it was bacon being cooked somewhere within a few meters from where you lied down, warm smoke and all.

Forcing your throbbing eyelids apart, you confirmed that you were, in fact, not in your studio loft.

And you almost had a heart attack when the next thing that graced your line of sight was a large, shirtless man with roughed up dark hair and a pair of gray sweatpants, facing the stove from whence the sweet smell of bacon came.

You didn’t have the sober senses to linger on such eye candy for long, not when you went straight to clutching your clothes, your jeans, your leg, everywhere else. No, they hadn’t been taken off. Not for the whole night, it seems. And you didn’t feel anything funny down there.

Almost jumping off the edge of the bed, Jason spoke. “’Morning, pretty bird.”

Okay. It’s just Jason. At least you did not end up having drunken sex with a stranger and overslept.

And now that that was out of the question, the thoughts, the panic, eventually into this blissful yet brief momentous relief, the horrific migraine came along.

You grabbed a fistful of your hair and leaned over to cover your face with your bent knees.

“I’m assuming that hangover isn’t a good one.”

“I can't believe I stayed the night-“

“Relax. It’s no big deal.”

Seeing with the room so bright definitely didn’t help when you looked up at Jason. “Did I-“

“No, you didn’t do anything regretful, or memorable, and I was the one who insisted you stay over.”

“I remember…” Your palms stuck to your face. “Talking and burritos and Dick and Tim and-ugh…”

“Yeah that’s… basically it.”

“I didn’t tell you anything embarrassing, did I?”

Jason poured his pan of bacon onto a plate. “Define embarrassing.”

“Something you wouldn’t have wanted to hear.”

“If anything, pretty bird, you told me everything I needed to hear. My brothers sure have it bad for you.”

“Fuck,” you murmured. “What did I say?”

“A lot. Dick talking to you right before the wedding. Tim telling you he loved you right after. I told you some stuff, too. Remember those?”

“It’ll probably come back to me. Soon enough.” You swung your legs over the bed and saw that you, unfortunately, only had one.

You exposed yourself to Jason.

So hurriedly you reached for your prosthetic and latched it on at a record five seconds. Fuck, you showed yourself to him. That was the drunken move of the night. You could have said shit all, and it wouldn’t have mattered, yet you just had to take off that stupid robot leg.

You coughed, and it only made that stupid headache throb worse.

“Bottoms up.”

Jason placed a plate of his cooking with a fork for you to take onto the coffee table, then he made his way to you, stretching out his hand. You looked at him and you were sure you looked like some sorry excuse of a human being with your hair up in all directions and your eyes as dead as a rotting corpse’s. But Jason just shrugged, pulled on your shoulder when you didn’t take his hand, and led you to the couch.

You probably would have had something else to say other than a wordless mumble if he’d just made himself look a bit more presentable and not to overly distracting with his brick wall of a chiseled body. You picked at his bacon and forced it down your throat.

“I’m sorry…” you swallowed. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Done what?”

The bacon tasted great.

“I feel pathetic.”

“It sure seemed like you needed a talk.”

“I know -“

“Who else would you have talked to?” He took a bite for himself. “Steph? Cass? Bruce? They don’t know half the shit I do about Dick and Tim. And trust me, you deserved to know the truth.”

Yeah. Dick wanting to chicken out of his wedding to profess his love for you was something you definitely needed to hear.

“Yeah,” you snarled. “But then I got drunk and slept here… and you know I hate being an inconvenience.”

“It’s alright, pretty bird. If anything I had a good time last night.”

Then, so unexpectedly, he placed his arm around you and never have you felt a naked body press so tenderly against yourself that you froze at the contact. Then you looked up at his face, eyes so wide, then he looked back at you and smiled.

You smiled back, slowly easing in.

Your smile. That same smile.

It made Jason lose his, then you saw his throat hitch.

Your lips were flat and practically gone when you looked away, picked up your fork and stuffed your mouth with more bacon so he’d pull his arm off you.

“What did I say before I passed out?”

“About Dick and Tim?” Jason inched himself away and everything felt too cold. “A lot.”

“Was I pathetic?”

“No. I don’t blame you for being so confused.”

Okay. You were many things. Stupid was one of them. But confused wouldn’t exactly be the right thing to define that horrific typhoon devastation that was left of all logical thought. You weren’t confused per se, not when you understood everything with the timing with Dick and the break up with Tim. You knew exactly what went on with either of them, it’s just that you didn’t know how to make all these directions weeded out into this one, straight line so you’d know how to go through the rest of your days as smooth as you possibly could.

“I’m not confused.”

Jason sighed. “When you said you didn’t know if you should even choose, I just assumed.”

Maybe, in a way, you were confused.

But indecisive felt more like it.

“I just don’t want to-“

“Yeah, I know. You don’t want to upset either of them anymore.”

Jason stood up, and slowly, he went over to the fridge for a glass of water. He poured it into a glass, then he gave it to you.

“You called yourself selfish, too. But I don’t think you are. You don’t want to choose between them ‘cuz you want to do what’s best for both of them. Not for you.”

You’ve never seen him look at you like that. And even if he didn’t already look enough like his brothers, he had that same wide-eyed softness that often got to you. That look that made them all look the most beautiful.

He sat next to you again, elbows on his knees.

“My brothers were fucking assholes with what they did, but they’re good people. And they’re lucky, that you’re even considering them to be the one who gets to be with you. They deserve forgiveness. They’ll bend the world for you. I’m sure of it.”

If he wasn’t sitting so close, or watching your face like he wanted to note every detail you had on, you would have taken much longer just to shut your dangling mouth, because all there was right then was silence. Not just with your words, which you didn’t have even one, but that typhoon that raged, that indecisiveness, it was all quiet.

“Thank you…” you swallowed your food. “I showed you my… leg, too… didn’t I?”

“Yeah…” Jason hunched over and grabbed his hair, running his own fingers through his locks. “You don’t have to worry about that, though. But if it means anything, I’m sorry.”

“Why apologize?”

He shrugged. “Maybe you weren’t ready to show me, yet.”

You shouldn’t have been biting your lips so much before you’d eventually be tasting your own blood. But that, with that comfort you once had with him last night now this tension that you could pick apart with a needle, you were surprised your palms weren’t bleeding with the way you were digging your nails into them.

“I was ready…”

“Really?”

He was trying to bite back a smile. It was cute.

“Yeah…”

You finished the food, which you probably shouldn’t have done. You should have left before you even took a bite or said anything more than just a sentence.

His eyes were slightly squinted when he looked up at you, head craned down. This bashfulness you don’t often see. Then his brow was up and he was chuckling.

It made you smile back.

Jason stood up and went over to his closet to get a shirt. Finally.

Your bag was already on the couch, and even when you looked like aa troll had thrown up on you, you didn’t look absolutely horrific that people would stop and stare. So after a few brushes down your hair with your own fingers, you went for the door.

“I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“Really. It’s all good, pretty bird.”

Jason walked up to you, held out the door, then you stood just outside to pull on your coat.

“Thank you so much, Jay.”

“I swear. Don’t sweat it. Hit me up when you need anything.”

Jason was beautiful.

And he had the kindest heart tucked behind this façade of street and trauma. You swallowed, laughed, then you opened your arms to invite him for a hug. Jason rolled his eyes and let you.

Nose to his shoulder, you ran your hand down his clothed back, and with just one hand he wrapped it around you.

Then you left. Back home. Back to that inevitable loneliness and the thinking you could foresee that was as good in occupying the spaces in your mind as music in the background, which you should probably be resorting to just to have some kind of attempt at peace. When you got to your apartment, the unfinished canvas was staring daggers at you, screaming and demanding your attention away from boys.

You rolled up your sleeves. A shower can wait, after you go through this whole painting that was big enough to be a wall. This will distract you, hopefully. At least your hands will be busy.

A fashion magazine’s editor wanted a piece for her office. You ran frantically about in your studio and picked up your basket full of paint and brushes to use for the piece, which already stained your hands just holding it up. And you set it on the floor. You’ll work on the floor for now. An easel can suck it.

The canvas was right up against the wall and the blank strokes of yellow and blue for the background were practically growling at you to just finish it off, demanding apologies in the form of touch ups and polishes over its now dried up surface.

You started with the biggest brush and violently dried it off, slapped it onto your palette for the mustard yellow you’d concocted, then you swiped that brush over for the background swirling it around the roughed-up edges of the left side to creating this wind-like surface. There were whites, so it looked a lot like wind, and even with it so dark on your palette, it had lightened up the moment it hit the canvas. So light, and soft, like the bickering remnants of sunlight when barely would it pierce through roughened glass.

That, and with your brush smaller and more precise, you drew on with a tone a bit darker the curving lines to signify direction. Then you lightly tapped it on.

You placed more paint onto your own jeans and mixed it with white, over and over with your brush. Sitting cross legged on the floor, you could tell from the sun that it had only just passed noon. Hair up in a mess, you went on with sketching out the sky with an even lighter color, letting the mix play around and form these strips of clouds.

Yellow was safe. Warmth. Something you could rely on and a color so close to your heart, comfort when you hadn’t an idea where to start. The color that was still, calm, light. It was the sun. It was the wind. Often the horizon. The leaves when it was autumn.

You always managed to find a place for yellow in every painting you did, because it calmed you, like a blanket over your shoulders when you were curled up in your couch.

Done. Now onto the right side.

Your brush sinking into a cup of water, you started with a new shade. Cobalt.

Not your usual choice when you painted the sky, but this wasn’t so much of a sky as it was just an abstract excuse of a wall that went with the yellows and all. But it should look good. At least, in your head it did. You swept your brush onto your jeans and didn’t even curse when you got paint onto your shirt, so you rolled your sleeves some more, scratched your chin despite your hand covered in paint and went to town.

The cobalt did look good, but the blending with the yellow was going to take more work. You just went with it, let the pressure control the shades for different parts of the right side and let it splatter a bit, messily enough to look casual and unintentional.

It was yellow that calmed you and blue that brightened up your days when you felt the most… well… blue. When you often felt like anything you destroyed everything you laid your hands on when all you were supposed to do was create, on those days, those days, that you just couldn’t hold back from taking control of the best of you, it was often blue, and all the different shades of it, that gave you the foundation of a brightly lit sky, and you’d go on from there.

When nothing comes to mind, that color was what pushed you to move forward, inspired you, gave your creative juices that needed startup so you’d know where to go on from there and take you on until it all ends. You loved landscapes especially, and what other color was there more than blue. It was the sky. It was the water. It was shared, and most other people loved it as well. But so often did it brighten your work, it was what your eyes would turn to at first glance.

You were done with the background, and only had it been hours since you started. Your arm to your forehead, you backed away and eyed what you’d finished.

A dress. Of course. That, and the woman wearing it. You’d start with the woman for now.

Beautifully tanned skin, almost a dark orange even. You painted her hair and her head was slightly turned to the side. A sharp, small nose. Eyes were shut but soft, watching the ground beside her. Then you went on to outline her slender body, her leg in front of the other, then you placed her hands on her front. They won't be seen with the dress and all, anyway. So that’s what you went. She looked shy, like she was covering herself. And sad.

You wanted her hair flowing over her shoulders and her back, but you needed the dress first. A flowy, fiery statement dress.

A can of red paint was staring at you from all the way across the room, and with it definitely going to contrast against the yellow and blue, you decided for it and stood up, wiping your hands all over your jeans, then you picked up your paint. Barely anything left, but it should be enough for the dress.

You sat back down, mixed it on your palette for the shade you wanted, then you dabbed it lightly over the woman’s breast.

Then you backed up, eyed the whole painting from some distance away.

You weren’t often the one for red, especially not really bright tones that just wouldn’t look natural with your scenery paintings of either the country or the city. You don’t use it often, though it did look exquisitely beautiful when it was fiery and loud and would pop up over anything else painted onto the same plane, and it was beautiful. Mesmerizing. It called for attention and it was romantic and lustful and so awfully did it want your touch.

Not long after, your round tip brush was all over the woman, covering her with a skirt that flowed from one end of the canvas to the other so much like fire, the same ones from your dreams and nightmares. You hated fire, despised it, but it was beautiful. It didn’t spark a trigger or made you flinch. So seldom were you so mesmerized with your own work as you were in the middle of doing it. It was beautiful. Warm like yellow, bright like blue, but red had this sense of danger, darkness that just called out to you. And you just wanted to jump into it.

It was exciting. And its intensity called out to your darkest sides and somehow that intensity was what pulled the whole painting together.

You even gasped when you finished that last stroke, and with that, and the sun so close to setting, you put your brush down.

Your clothes looked like they’d just gone through a washing machine filled with red, blue, and yellow paint instead of detergent, and the rest of you looked no better than if you’d just climbed out of a drainage pipe. You wiped your sweat off your forehead, pulled the canvas off the wall, and set it on an easel.

She looked beautiful. The woman. Sad, but beautiful. You used that last bit of sunlight to look at how it set into the fabric, how it was practically its own world apart from the real one.

And after you decided you were content with it, and with it, ridding you from an otherwise horrible start with a hangover and all, you took a shower, cleaned up, and went to bed.

The next morning, you sent it over to your client, who told you that somehow, the painting told her a story.

A story, it could be.

Though even with the painting telling it, it was clear it was far from ending.

-----

You prayed to the deity above that it was Sunday, the only day you allowed yourself to sleep in now with you having three ongoing clients at that moment. And with the room so freezing, since you left the window open the night before, you’d rather wallow into the depths of your sheets than to pull yourself up from the bed and actually function like a normal human being. You forced just one eye open and openly cursed at how bright it was that day. You pulled on the blankets, right over your head, and forced your eyes shut to let your brain believe it was still well into the night.

But then your phone rang, and now you really wanted to beat yourself up for forgetting to put it on silent and leave it all the way over to the kitchen. You muffled the noise with your pillow but even after long minutes, the ringing just wouldn’t stop.

Throwing the blankets violently off of you, you reached for your phone, eyes adjusting to the light. You rubbed your eyelids open.

‘Dick’ it read on the screen.

Deciding that call wasn’t such a bad start for your day, you set yourself on the little table in front of your fridge and accepted it.

“Hey…” you yawned.

“Mornin’, night owl.” Dick sounded enthusiastic. “Did I wake you up?”

You yawned some more and it made Dick laugh.

“Obviously, you’d know when you call at this hour.”

“Y/N, it’s one in the afternoon.”

“Oh,” you said. “Explains why I’m starving.”

“How are you?”

You stood up from your chair and went over to make yourself a cup of coffee, anything to make that morning, or afternoon, just a bit more bearable. “I’m alright. I sent a new piece over to a client that other day. One of my biggest sales yet.”

“Oh? What of?”

“This one’s funny. And borderline illegal. This guy enrolled in some course over at Arts College needed a boost for his finals and he paid me to do his work for him.”

“Good thing they don’t run plagiarism checks on paintings.”

“Even if that was possible, I made sure to do it the way this guy usually does from a few pictures he’d sent me. He’s not bad. Not too good. But he must have needed that A or else he wouldn’t have paid me almost a thousand dollars for a small piece.”

“A thousand dollars?”

“I know. The guy’s rich.”

��No kidding.”

Dick laughed, and you missed hearing it in person so terribly. You could imagine the dimples that must have been on his cheeks right at that moment, knowing how beautiful they must have looked and you couldn’t even see them.

“I’m really proud of what you’ve done for yourself,” he said. “Just look at you.”

You felt your face all weird and you wanted to look away even when there wasn’t a ghost around you at all. You felt like a straight up moron.

“Thanks,” you coughed. “What about you? How are you?”

“God, you don’t wanna ask,” he grunted. “It’s a mess. Not everyone got along back when I was Robin, but it wasn’t anything as messed up as this. I don’t know what happened while I was out, but they can't keep off of each others’ throats for a second.”

“And you said you’d be home by the time you were done dealing with Deathstroke.”

“As long as that man’s alive, we’re never actually done with dealing with him. And even if he wasn’t almost immortal, we can't do much outside sending him over to Blackgate.”

“Is he in Blackgate?”

“For now.”

You swallowed. “Then what’s keeping you back there?”

Dick shuffled with the phone, and you heard voices. Gar’s, most probably. Dick was making his way out of the room, to a balcony of some sort away from other people, because then it was quiet.

“Everything else.”

Even with just a few sips from you mug, already you were wide awake. Your fingers fiddling with the hem of your shirt, you sighed.

“You really are quite the leader…” you said. “I don’t think there’s anyone else out there who can do it like you do.”

Dick snorted. “I doubt it.”

“Look what happened with you being out even for just a few months. It’s amazing, really, how people just listen to you.”

“Yeah… Except when it’s my siblings. It’s like tying bears down with dog leashes.”

“It’s not your fault. No one, not even Darkseid, can make Damian Wayne submit.”

“Almost as if he’s Bruce Wayne’s son.”

You laughed and sat back against your chair.

“Anything interesting happen lately?”

“Nothing that wouldn’t bore you to death.”

“Try me,” you said. “Just let me hear your voice.”

You heard him sigh. You heard him smile. From cheek to cheek. You wanted to see him, but you just calmed.

Then Dick started talking about this incident with Gar and Raven, how one catty little comment turned into this jungle fest between an overpowered demon and a green tiger wrestling it out in the living room. Dick was in the middle of it, of course, but his pleas weren’t nearly enough to calm either of them down.

And even when you were laughing and giving all these fun little remarks that often made him chuckle, it was all too difficult how you had to hold yourself back from spilling the mounds stuck at the back of your throat, everything you wanted to talk to him about, and you couldn’t, can't, say a thing. The things that had to be said, that had been waiting in this old shed stuck at the farthest corner of the earth for days too long. One that you were both too afraid to surface, because you were a coward yourself. What do you even say to him? How do you even begin?

And as Dick went on, the more you just wanted everything lash out of you, even when talking about it through the phone wouldn’t be the best idea.

You needed to look at him in the face, see how he’ll react to all the things you had to pour out of your heart and scream whatever you wanted to scream at him for. Your anger, the frustrations for his cowardice and how he just let Tim have you without so much as a fight or even try to find out who really had your heart, even when you yourself couldn’t even say. And even more did you want to tell him all that despite it not being his fault how the worst enemy there was to your story with Dick was timing.

But you didn’t do any of that and instead, you kept your silence. You pretended that this little conversation of yours was enough to get you through the day to keep all that sinking pit in your stomach at bay and not let anything bother you anymore. Even though, more than anything else at that moment, you desperately just wanted to get back to work without having so much to think about.

Dick finished the story, and by the end, you hadn’t even an idea what he’d said, when all those years you never even missed just one word out of his mouth when he spoke to you.

“What about you?” Dick asked. “Anything interesting happen other than work?”

The only thing interesting that happened lately that wasn’t work was Jason, and the last thing you wanted was to get away from that even when you hadn’t placed a thought on that night since, well, that night. You didn’t want to.

“Not much, really. I’m usually just at home painting.”

“Have you been outside to paint?”

“Just once. I wanted a view of the skyline. I went to the rooftop of the Gotham City Plaza just to paint for a few hours and finished it at home.”

“For a client?”

“No…” you said. “Just for me.”

“That’s so great. I’d take you to this place just an hour away from Jersey. It’s this farmland, but it has this really pretty view of a valley at the far end.”

“Dick, how do you know all these places?” You stuck your phone between your cheek and your shoulder as you cleaned up and went over to the sink.

“What places?”

“The ones out of the city. It’s not like you go out on vacation much.”

“Well, I-“ Dick mumbled, and you heard him shuffle his phone over to the other ear and his breath hitched. “I guess… I don’t know. I know you like painting the countryside. I look them up on the internet. Sometimes I ask around. Sometimes, most of the time, really, when I drive from Bludhaven to Gotham, I go through the route near the ocean. That’s where I found that cliff I took you last time.”

His voice was so soft at the end that you could barely even make out his words.

And, once again, you didn’t even have a breath you could take in to calm your throbbing chest.

“Oh…”

“Yeah,” he sighed.

“That’s-“ you placed your other hand on the kitchen counter. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Your cheeks were hurting, again, and you wanted to wash yourself with a bucket of cold water.

“Dick,” you croaked. “When are you coming back?”

You knew something was wrong the minute you didn’t hear a word out of him even several seconds after. You heard him walk around. You heard him cough. You could even hear him breathe a lot louder than he usually does, but when all that was from his silence, you knew it won't be for a long time.

“I don’t know…”

Then you heard him breathe faster, like he was running, like he was nervous.

“B-but, if you ask me to come home right now, I will. I’ll be there by tonight. If you need me at all…”

Something was picking at your neck like the knife you had laying around in your kitchen, and you wanted to drive it all the way up so you’d actually have an excuse not to have a response at all. Because you didn’t have one, not when your face felt like exploding from how much you’ve had to hold in.

“Or even if you just say you miss me, I’ll come back. Wait, no, that sounds… wrong. I’m sorry. But you know what I mean.”

You shut your eyes.

You want him home because you wanted to talk about how he’d just changed the course of your whole life in just one single letter and made you doubt all the waterfalls and rivers of feelings you’ve had for him all these years.

“Of course, I miss you. But…” You dipped your head down and faced the bottom of your sink.

“Stay there, Dick. The Titans need you…”

Silence. And you wanted to choke the air out of you when you couldn’t even hear him breathe anymore.

Something echoed from behind Dick, and you heard his muffled voice from his hand blocking the phone’s receiver. You swallowed, looked up at the window just to let the melting snow on the ground outside fill that frightening blank in your head.

You heard Dick clear his throat. “I’m really sorry. I have to go.”

“It’s alright,” you softly sighed. “You going out tonight?”

“No. I’m trying to let the Titans do the work by themselves. I’ll be sitting it out the next few days.”

“Alright, then. Be safe.”

“I will.”

You hung up first, and with that, you turned on the faucet and let the water flow out from the rim of your coffee cup, watching the brown dilute with the water so painfully slow.

Maybe Jason was right, you were confused.

You had to talk to Tim.

Maybe he can change all that.

-----

It probably was a mistake to come all the way to the manor, to talk to someone about things you didn’t even know in the hopes of clearing up a picture you weren’t sure you wanted to see.

But you’ve been holding out on talking to Tim, really talking to him without it turning into some pity fest for the both of you and it was obviously one you both really needed. And, without a doubt, you missed him. The days without even getting to text him was taking its sweet toll on you. You couldn’t be apart from him even if you tried.

Alfred welcomed you in, telling you that Tim was about to wake up anytime soon since he got home from the office at fucking twelve in the afternoon that day because he spent the whole night, and morning, working when even Bruce was telling him to come home. You started to take off your coat, but with it being so empty in the parlor, the fireplace dark and gritty and the walls so silent, it was eerie, you wanted to stay outside.

You went over to the back, through the kitchen where there was a backdoor, then you went outside in the light orange pasture where the snow had melted and the trees and bushes sticking up with just their trunks of wood. There were leaves around, drenched and muddy with the soil, and the grounds were unkept. But it was wonderful to see, nonetheless. You stayed outside at the gardens, grass under your boots, and waited despite the breezing chill.

Not long after, you heard him come up from behind you.

“Y/N.” Tim sounded relieved. “Christ, I was just about to call.”

And it wasn’t even awkward, hesitant, or at all unusual when he rushed to you and pulled you to his chest. You hugged him back immediately, eyes closed, ignored how the last time you saw him you were so close to just breaking down and focused instead that you hadn’t seen your best friend in weeks and none of you had the courage to even call. And already, that void within you felt infinitely better. And you didn’t pull away even after so long. And for such a moment, you pleaded that it wouldn’t end, that you wouldn’t have to pull away and face the realities don’t even want to go into. And after all you’ve been through, being here, being in his arms, it was too good to even be a part of your fantasies, the resort, or a distraction perhaps, of what was really going on.

But it wasn’t like you were revealing some long-forgotten truth that would crush him out of unexpectedness, because he already knew. You just didn’t know what it’s going to be right after.

Eventually, unfortunately, you both pulled away, but not without Tim brushing his thumb across your cheek which made you want to just melt in his arms. His hair was swept back and he looked like he’d just gone out of bed, but his eyes looked absolutely striking against the white of the snow left over on the ground, and the way he looked at you made you want to regret ever looking away from him after the last time, which, frankly, you couldn’t even remember.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t reach out-“

He hushed you down. “It’s alright. How are you?”

Still in his hold around your waist, your faint arms enjoyed themselves resting against his chest.

“I could be better.”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

You were so close to just blurting out ‘yes’, but that could possibly make him want to pull away, which you didn’t want to happen at all. At least, not for a bit longer. You needed to be held.

But Tim must have known, because he slowly pulled away, and you were in no place to just ask to be held one more when you were about to, possibly, rip his heart out.

You didn’t even have a clue on how he’s going to react.

“Tell me about you first,” you said. “Anything happen lately?”

“No. Nothing at all. I’m at the office when I’m not asleep at home and god, I really need you to make me stop drinking ten cups of coffee everyday because it’s driving me nuts.”

“You did not-“

“Oh, I am. And it’s so boring as well. I swear I’ve been wanting to just call you and have a car sent over so you could hang out with me in the office.”

You smiled and watched how the dark circles under his otherwise bright blue eyes were even more eminent now than even before, which you hadn’t thought to be possible. You straightened his shirt. “You should have called me.”

“Yeah. I know. I should have.” He roughed up his hair and placed his other hand on his hip. He looked tired. “I just thought you needed some time alone.”

Hands in your coat, you pretended that it was the cold that made you want to curl up into a ball and roll away on the ground, but your eyes were on your boots and you breathed out a bit of smoke past your lips because you really did not want to keep staring into his eyes, out of guilt or in awe. “I… I guess I did. But I would have gone to you if you wanted me to.”

“I wanted to.”

“Then call me next time.”

Tim’s adorable smile. It was amazing how quickly it got to you.

“I will.”

You couldn’t possibly hold this for long. You got your hands out of your coat, which didn’t actually need to be housed like that when you had gloves on to protect them, then you licked your lips.

“So… Did you come to talk to me about something?”

“Yeah…”

“We can head inside.”

“No, Tim.”

It won't be long. It shouldn’t have to be long. You’ll stay here, outside, so this agony wouldn’t have to last and you’d have an excuse to cut to the chase. He didn’t deserve to stand out here while you waltz around in circles because of your cowardice.

“It’s about Dick.”

The way his face fell.

And as much as you wanted to look away before it got to you, you had to face him now.

“What about him?”

“About two weeks ago,” you said. “That day I left the manor.”

The day you last spoke to each other.

Tim listened intently, stepped closer to you, almost as if he already knew where this was going.

“Dick and I… kissed.” Fuck, you wanted to cut open your mouth saying all this to Tim. “Then when I got home, he left me a letter telling me everything.”

“Everything?”

You saw his neck tighten, even with his collar covering most of it. “What do you mean?”

“I think you know what I mean.”

His face, what you thought to have been anger slowly building up when you first mentioned Dick’s name, all dropped into this soft, unmoving silence. Tim looked away from you, watching the empty branches stay still as if they were so much more interesting than having to look at you in the eye.

“That’s, uhm,” he whispered, voice harsh and forced. “That’s great.”

It didn’t sound so great when he said it that way.

“Are you… together now?”

“No. We haven’t exactly talked about it since then.”

He nodded, pulling on his hair a bit too hard when he ran it across his scalp.

“Tim, you knew about him, didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “He wasn’t exactly doing much to hide it.”

Now, he looked mad. He turned away from you, walking down to the gardens further away from the manor, where the others might hear. You walked with him, stayed by his side. He spoke so softly, yet you knew it came straight from his darkest thoughts too painful to bring up.

“I always knew. Back when we were together. He didn’t try to get too close to you back then, but I just… had a hunch, you know? I think every boyfriend can tell when other guys try to get too close with their girl.”

“Tim, I swear, I didn’t feel anything for him at all back then-“

“I know, I know.” His sad smile broke you. “A part of me was always afraid he’d just steal you away from me, but I knew he cared about you a lot. When I…” he bit his lip. “When we broke up, I wanted to make sure you were okay. Dick didn’t know if I was fine with him going to you so soon, but I knew you’d feel better if he was there for you, and I knew he wanted to be there for you, too, so I sent him.”

Just when you thought none of this could possibly get worse.

“You sent Dick?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“No…” you said. “Don’t be sorry.”

You stepped on a melted puddle and almost slipped on the mud. Tim held your shoulder, pulled you up, then kept his hand on the small of your back. You let him.

“It was the right thing to do. You were okay. It was my fa-“ He was choking on his own words by then. “I had it coming, after how I left you…”

“Dick had Kori then,” you said, and that only made Tim snort.

“I was honestly surprised he didn’t leave Kori the moment he saw you needed him. Idiot even made it through a wedding.”

“He thought I was still in love with you.”

That’s when he stopped walking right in front of you so you’d stop, too. You looked up at him, wide eyed, and somehow you couldn’t tell if it was hope or horror staring back at you from his eyes.

“Are you?”

You closed your eyes, and wished he’d instead asked if you loved him and not if you were in love with him. Because if there was anything this experience taught you, it was that it made a hell lot of a difference.

“I’m sorry, I just…” he shook his head. “Y/N, why are you even here?”

You wanted to cry. He wanted to cry even more. His voice broke and with how his uneasy shoulders were shrugging, you didn’t know if pulling him close would be the right thing to do.

“I thought I’d talk to you about this-“

“And I told you we were over…”

If he were someone else you would have slammed your fist up in his gut.

“Are you-“

“Be with Dick,” he said. “Please. Go to him now and be with him. I’ll be okay. Is that what you came here for? To make sure I’ll be okay with it?”

“I-“ you swallowed. “No, it’s not just that.”

Mouth parted, watching your face, possibly to see how your eyes were moving and your lips were shaking for any signs of lying or whatever it was detectives do to read faces. And Tim was smart. You didn’t have to tell him any more.

And when it came to him, he backed away. He looked like he’d just seen his own murder.

“Y/N, I can't believe you're-“

“You said you knew I loved you.”

“Listen,” he growled. He was angry now. Tim barely gets angry. “I can barely even live with myself after what I’d done to you. Why should you?”

Tim held your shoulders and squeezed them so tight, you couldn’t do much else but stare up at him so breathlessly. “I hurt you and you should have gotten rid of me the moment I walked out your door. You’re supposed to hate me, Y/N.”

“Is that what you really think?” you breathed.

He laughed, raised his arms up in disbelief. “I love you. For Christ’s sake, I love you so much and it’s going to kill me when I see you with someone else. Believe me. But this is what I get. I left you, and I hurt you.”

You tried holding his face, but he wouldn’t let you.

“You’re not even supposed to let me be your friend anymore. And here you are. You keep coming back. You’re not supposed to keep coming back. Are you actually choosing between me and Dick?”

Not a tear down your face, even when you thought you’d be breaking down by now. You were without breath and still not even your own body was processing all this the way it should already be and not be stuck in utter disbelief when clearly this was all happening.

“You are…” Tim whispered. He was shaking his head, and you just felt ashamed of yourself. “I can't believe this… You should be with Dick right now…”

“I can't.”

“That night we kissed.” He stepped back closer to you. “Christmas Eve. You told me you couldn’t handle being with me anymore because of what happened.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m over you,” You didn’t realize you sounded angry. “You don’t think I hate myself for that?”

“Y/N, just be with him. You can't keep torturing yourself like this.”

“It’s so easy for you to say, isn’t it?”

None of you were screaming. None of you could scream. Not at each other. Not even when you were supposed to.

“I can't forget what I did…”

“You’re not just talking about our breakup, are you?”

Tim’s mouth stopped trembling. His voice didn’t crack. He took a step back, never breaking away from your stare. Then you saw how he flattened his lips, biting them behind his mouth.

“Tim…” you swallowed. “It wasn’t your fault-“

“Stop it.”

His jaw clenched, hands crushing each other with his fingers locked. His eyes were on the ground.

“It’s true-“

“Y/N,” he croaked. “It was my fault.”

“It’s-“

No longer did he look so vulnerable. His forehead was creased up the way it did when he was firm. He stared at you so soullessly and so exhausted.

“If it weren’t for what I did that night, you wouldn’t have to worry about going out in the summer wearing shorts or getting to join the rest of the family in a pool party or anything at all. All this is because of me. We both know it’s true.”

You should have said something.

Anything.

But he wasn’t letting you.

His eyes darted to your hidden prosthetic and immediately he looked away. But you caught that glance. You always caught glances.

“I love you, Y/N. But choose Dick. Please. I saw how happy he makes you, and I’ll be damned if I held you back from even that. Just forget about us, Y/N. Please.”

From behind him, you could see Alfred waiting for you both by the library windows. Tim turned around, nodded, then couldn’t even look at you in the eye.

His plea was what broke you. It didn’t sound like a plea you could reason with.

Tim didn’t walk away this time. Instead, he waited for you to leave first. And when you did, with him trailing behind, you fought all the demons left within to not look back. You went straight to the foyer, to the door. Not even a minute after, you were out of the manor.

-----

A call wasn’t what you needed. Not even close.

But it had been days, and wallowing in your own sadness wasn’t exactly doing you any good.

And now, after what happened with Tim, it shouldn’t have to mean you’ll run to Dick just because you were freed from the confines of a choice.

You still had to decide whether you wanted to be with Dick or not. To stay alone or be with the man who’d done nothing but love you from afar, never failing to make sure you were smiling.

And with that, after you’d spent the past few days dwelling on what’d happened, you picked up your phone, sat on the little nook by the window in your studio, then called Dick.

He didn’t answer.

It was still well into the evening. You’ll wait it out.

An hour later, still no answer.

Three, four more hours. At twelve am, having to wake yourself up from dozing off, your own fault after days of having absolutely no sleep, was exhausting. You kept staring out the window and hoped to whoever was watching you from above, ancestors or a god or whatever there was, that Dick was at least still alive. It should be a crime for vigilantes to not answer their phone in the middle of the night.

Then, at one am that night, Dick finally called you back.

“Hey…” you forced yourself to sound awake.

“Hey.”

You heard him walking. He didn’t sound injured, or even tired at all. “I’m so sorry I missed your calls.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Why are you still awake?”

You laid back against the wall. “I was waiting for you.”

He snickered. You heard a door open and close behind him, and he must have crashed into bed right then because you heard bed springs from his weight.

“Where were you tonight?”

“With the Titans. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Your head was against the window’s glass and you watched the snow almost completely melt on the roads in front of you. “You poor thing. You sound exhausted.”

“I’m alone now…” You rolled your eyes at his tone. “How are you?”

“I’m alright,” you lied.

“What did you wanna talk to me about?”

That made you smile. His voice. His tone. Already it made things a lot more bearable.

“I just… thought you should know. I talked to Tim the other day…”

He didn’t sound like you had to say anything more for him to understand. You heard him breathe louder, heavier.

“What did he say?”

“Well… He said I should be with you…”

“He did?”

“Yeah…”

Then there was even more silence. You should have thought about this a lot more.

“I was going to ask when you’re coming home but it sounds like the Titans need you a lot more than I do.”

He chuckled. “Trust me, I want to go home more than anything.

“Then what’s stopping you?”

“You know what…” he breathed.

The glass was freezing being pressed up against your skin, but you just let it. It didn’t even bother you.

“Dick…” Your finger traced the glass. “We haven’t exactly talked about… what happened.”

“I just… I thought talking about it over the phone makes it even more… I don’t know… cowardly.”

“It’s been weeks.”

“I know...”

You threw your head back, up against the wall, then you closed your eyes. You let the cold seep in all the way down your toes. You let it calm you.

“I’m sorry if it was too much…”

“It wasn’t.”

“I was-“ He was a nervous wreck. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable, or that I forced my feelings down your throat. I hope I didn’t upset you…”

You couldn’t say it didn’t upset you. “It’s fine…”

“Y/N… You don’t have to do anything about it. I swear. We can just go on like nothing happened.”

Dick let out an agonizingly long sigh, then you heard his head fall to a pillow.

“That’s going to be hard…”

“I know… I don’t even know what to say to you when I come back…”

“You can say it to me now… if it makes things easier.”

Then there was silence.

Nothing at all. Not even the sheets moving. You could have sworn he was cut out for a minute. But then, when you heard him take a breath, then clear his throat, you just closed your eyes and hoped nothing he’d say would break you any further.

“I love you, Y/N…”

And despite the hurt, with everything else that went on, you let those three words be the only thing in your own little bubble of a universe. You smiled. You were never going to forget the way he said it so softly.

Then he was laughing. “I love you…” he said again. “God, it feels good to say that…”

You smiled so much; your face started to hurt.

“I read your letter like… fifty times…” you snorted.

“I hope that’s a good thing.”

“It’s a good thing.”

He giggled. You’ve never heard him giggle before. It was the most adorable thing you’ve ever heard.

“I love you. I meant everything I wrote. Everything.”

Your head met your palm, and you had to stop yourself before this was going to get the better of you.

“If it means I have to wait longer for you to sort things out, I will. Take as long as you need, and we… I can take this as slow as you want. Whatever you're comfortable with. I just don’t want to rush you into anything…”

Maybe, in a way, this was the right choice. He could be the right choice. And it’ll take a while to prove that, but it was a start.

“Dick, I-“

From his end of the phone, you heard a door swing open, then there was his phone shuffling in his hand, then all the other noises were incoherent and muffled. Voices. There was more than one.

And Dick’s hand was shaking because you managed to pick out a few of them.

“………… thank you……… Dick……”

“……………alright………”

“………. You………. sure?.........”

“………. Yeah……..”

“…….good….. talk……… understand……”

“thanks………….. rest up……..”

No. Not a few. Just one other voice. A sweet, melodic voice, much like singing.

You never thought you could feel losing a smile so quickly, your chest being pulled all the way down to the earth’s core.

The door closed, then it was Dick’s voice again.

“Hey… sorry-“

“Dick,” you croaked. “Where did you say you were tonight again?”

You heard how confused he was. “I was… the Titans…”

“You were with Kori, weren’t you?”

“I…”

“You said you were gonna sit it out the next few nights. You weren’t out on patrol with the Titans. You were in the tower with Kori. Alone. Weren’t you?”

“Y/N, I know that sounds bad, but it’s not what you think-“

“What were you talking about?”

“Y/N… We just talked…”

“About what?”

“I told you I had to come talk to her about what happened. The wedding. She deserves some closure-“

“It’s been weeks, Dick. And you spent what, five hours talking to her just tonight?”

“You know it’s not that easy.” His mouth sounded trembling. “But that doesn’t mean anything happened. Kori and I are friends.”

“I find it hard to believe that you could be friends with someone you almost married. Why didn’t you tell me you were with her tonight? After I told you I waited for you?”

“I didn’t- I don’t know… Y/N, it’s not like you don’t talk to Tim…”

“Then why did you tell me you were with the Titans?” You scoffed. “At least I don’t lie to you when I talk to Tim.”

“I wasn’t… We were at the control room alone to watch them from the cams. I didn’t think I was… I promise you, nothing happened.”

“It isn’t about that, Dick. It would have been fine if you’d just told me about it. Now I can't stop thinking about what you tried to hide from me. I know you. You're honest until you think the truth hurts a lot worse than a lie.”

It’s funny how quickly that high you went through just two minutes ago could blow over so quickly and leave you down at the bottom of an infernal pit you couldn’t climb out of, because that’s where you were right then. You were tired. You didn’t want to go through any of this. You weren’t even surprised, and that was what hurt the most. And even more so wouldn’t you be surprised if at any of those days he’d spent in that tower, they’d slept together.

“I don’t even know what I’m so upset about,” you sighed. “You don’t have to promise me anything, Dick. We’re not together. Stay there. Take as long as you like.”

You hung up on the phone.

You were done thinking.

You were done sulking.

You were done dwelling over those two boys and let them take so much control over you that barely could you even take control over yourself.

You fell asleep the moment your head hit the pillow.

You wouldn’t let the thoughts take over, at least, just for that night. There was no darkness, nor light.

There was just… nothing.

And for four whole weeks, it was just that.

Nothing.

-----

The world was kind enough to give you four weeks after that to prepare for what was possibly the worst fucking holiday there could possibly exist. And it wasn’t always so bad, not when at one point, you had a boyfriend who spoiled you with everything you could possibly wish for, and even after that, you woke up with a perfectly wrapped gift waiting for you at your doorstep full of art supplies. So not at all was Valentine’s day the absolute worse. Not always.

Just this year, you dreaded it. You woke up and already you wanted to sleep through the whole day if you could, which you did. If not for getting up to prepare yourself a lunch and eventually an early dinner, you managed to successfully sleep through the most horrific day of the year.

Eventually, it took its toll on you, because your head was throbbing by the time it was eight o’ clock that night.

When you heard the bell outside your door ring, you took it as an excuse to actually get up and at least be a human being for the day. You strapped on your leg and walked to the door. The bell rang again, and you screamed “Coming!”

Which you probably shouldn’t have done. You really were out of your own head that day, because there could only be two people outside waiting for you on Valentine’s day and neither of them you wanted to see possibly for the next few years.

Frozen, ever so slowly moving, you peeked through the eyehole.

Then that ice that froze you into the ground broke apart and you groaned when you saw it was just Jason with a shit-eating grin staring back at you at the peephole.

You opened the door.

“Happy Valentine’s day, pretty bird.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

You didn’t want to be mean or unwelcoming, but you couldn’t stop yourself from groaning and rolling your eyes all over the ceiling as you swung the door wide open. Jason, knowing exactly what went on, just snickered and took off his coat.

“You brought booze?”

“I brought booze.”

Two bottles. He held them up and that same shit-eating grin still hadn’t left his face. You shut the door behind you and went with him to the kitchen.

He opened one for you and you went through a quarter of the whole thing in one go.

“Woah, woah, slow down there.”

“You know what you got yourself into coming here on Valentine’s day. You come to mock me?”

He opened his own bottle and drank. “No. Maybe. But I thought it’d be better than being alone after four whole weeks of you practically disappearing from the face of the earth.”

“So I changed my number,” you shrugged. “You do it all the time.”

“Yeah, except Bruce doesn’t exactly want to pry on you like he does with me. And with Tim and Dick laying low, I thought I’d take one for the team.”

“Take one for the team?” You scoffed. “What are you, some goat they sacrificed?”

“Come on, don’t see it that way. We’re all worried about you.”

“If you wanted to know how I was, your whole family of vigilantes could just easily follow me around the whole of Gotham.”

“I know, but we wanted to know how you really were.”

You took a long, much needed swig, then something pulled you to the floor. You sat on the edge of your bed.

Then you slipped, your ass landing on the floor. You laid your back against the bed frame and sighed with the bottle of booze in your hand.

“Fine. I lied. No one sent me here. I just thought I’d come by today. I know how much this day probably took its toll on you.”

“Believe me, it did,” you drank some more. Jason walked over and sat right beside you on the floor. “I haven’t gotten out of bed until you came.”

Jason chortled. “I don’t blame you. I’m not exactly a fan of heart’s day, either.”

“Really?”

“Nah. Not one gift. Never sent anything to anyone.”

“Not even to Rose?”

Jason took a swig at that. “We spent Valentine’s massacring an entire ship’s worth of goons.”

“Romantic.”

“Better than some date serving this capitalist excuse to consume.”

“You’re too cynical for your own good.”

“And you’re not cynical when you probably should be.”

“I am,” you drank. “In a way.”

Your empty bottle was on the ground, and you looked up at the ceiling. You were there an hour, maybe more. Jason let himself get drunk as well and laid his elbows on the bed since he was tall enough.

“This probably isn’t what you want to talk about,” he burped. “But I’m assuming what happened with Tim and Dick wasn’t what you expected.”

“I hate them,” you growled. “God, I fucking hate them both.”

“Shit. How bad was it?”

“Those two assholes must have thought I was dead after how much I ignored their calls, texts, emails, everything.”

“It’s been four weeks. They probably found out by now that you’re… well… alive.”

“I can't believe their own kindness and selflessness brought this out. Tim wants nothing to do with me and Dick’s having the time of his life in California with his perfect would-have-been wife.”

“That bad, huh?”

Your bottle tipped over on the floor and you didn’t pick it up. “I hope you don’t hate me for wanting to murder both your brothers.”

“Don’t worry,” Jason laughed. “I’m not exactly far off from your loathing for those two nutjobs.”

You raised a brow. “Something happen?”

“They told on Bruce, and he practically disowned me that last time we went on patrol. I crossed the line, or whatever it is they like to call it. I haven’t seen them in weeks. Haven’t called them either. They say they want me on the family and they pull shit like that ‘cuz apparently the consequences will help.”

“Makes two of us.”

“Exactly why I’m here.”

He nudged your shoulder, and you were surprised you were still sober after all that when you didn’t exactly feel like throwing up just yet. You groaned, head against the mattress.

And with that, you turned over to face him, who had the same, exhausted look on his face. Eyes closed. Arms up on the bed. Really veiny looking arms that made his shirt pull up and tighten around his chest.

“You don’t have to choose, you know…”

“I know. But it doesn’t help how-“

“You want to choose.”

You wanted to drive that bottle down your throat at that question.

“I want to. I don’t want to. You know I can't answer that.”

“And they’re lucky you can’t.”

Your head against your sheets, you watched him face you in turn. He was so close to you right then. You could smell his breath. You could feel his breath. And it was there. That beauty. The one that understood so much about you that you hadn’t understood yourself.

“You don’t have to choose if you don’t want to…” he whispered. “Fuck them. You’ve been hurt too much. You don’t have to get hurt any more. Choose to not get hurt.”

Eyes on him, quietly lingering on every scar on his skin.

If there was one thing that separated Jason from his brothers, it was his scars. The ones that littered his face. They had the same hair. Same blue eyes.

But Jason had marks on his eyebrow, his cheek, his lips. And he was so beautiful because of those.

“You understand…” you breathed against his mouth.

Jason’s eyes were on yours, but you saw how they darted over to your lips.

“I understand hurting myself… for others…”

His arm, it found its way past your head. And you knew because you felt his fingers sneak onto your hair behind you. You bit your lip, turned your torso so you could face him better.

“I can't blame them…” He started playing with your hair. “If I was in love with you, I’d be as god-awfully stupid as they are, no doubt.”

That made you laugh. “Thank you, then. For not being in love with me.”

“You're welcome.”

Oh God, the way he said that. His low, breathy, husky voice. It made you fucking vibrate and your hair starting sticking out the back of your neck. And then, all you could see, all you could feel, was how close he was to you. He was the sexiest fucking thing you’ve ever seen. It might have been the booze, which you doubted. Because you felt so lightheaded and all the pain was just sitting there and all you wanted was just some kind of release.

Jason’s eyes, as obvious as they were, couldn’t keep darting down your shirt, as well. And you realized you weren’t even wearing a bra.

It made you stick your chest out even further, so you’d watch him watch you.

Booze breath against booze breath. Your lips met so sloppily and messily, and only for the shortest, briefest moment, because Jason was already making his way down your jaw, your neck, biting onto your skin.

There. The blur. That silent, ringing noise. Jason’s tongue lapped over the skin on your collar bone and everything that went on in your head for the past few months were just thrown out the window that very instant. His hands were on you. All over you.

And finally, the body you’ve lusted after for so many years¸ the body you’ve only gotten to see and drool over and fantasize on nights when you were lonely and all those days of wanting to touch every part, every ripple of his chest when you see him fresh from the gym. You practically ripped his shirt off and your hands couldn’t stop for a second ravishing every bit of his skin. And it was just as good as you’ve always longed and imagined.

Jason squeezed onto your hip, and with how he touched you, you thought maybe he’d felt the same. It hurt to pull away, but Jason was holding you, hoisting you up on the bed, then you were kneeling on the mattress, his hands on your waist just begging for you to be against him so close. You were there for so long, watching, touching, enjoying his body just as he did with yours. He held your face so gently and kissed you.

You held his arms, barely being able to hold them with how large they were compared to yours. And even with the light so dim, this orange, unintentionally beautiful dim, you took off your shirt. And for a second, just for a second, he watched how your breasts looked being held in his hands.

Everything was moving way too fast but you couldn’t have wanted it any other way. None of this needed a build-up, or a slow burning of a wick. Anything more, any longer and it would actually have to mean something, and with that, it brought hurt. It wasn’t a bomb that needed days just to explode. It just needed to happen, at least for just that moment.

You moaned, but he kissed you before you could cry out anything more. Lips first, then it didn’t take long for him to trail down to your nipples. Your arms were around his neck and you pulled him back up, kissing him because you just needed it. This sweet, all too sweet release.

“Wait…” Jason whispered. He held your wrists, but he didn’t pull them away. He looked at you and his forehead was all creased up.

“This your first time?”

You nodded, swallowed, then hoped it wouldn’t drive him away.

“Are you sure you want this?”

You kissed him in response.

Then he pushed you onto bed.

------

A/N: WHERE MY TEAM JAY BABIES AT

-----

MASTERLIST | 3 BIRDS 1 STONE MASTERLIST

-----

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

Text

Survey #331

my head hurts way too badly to think up some intro lyrics, so just g’night.

Have you ever become good friends with someone you never met in person? Oh yeah, I've had best friends over the Internet. Hell, I'm closer to many online friends than I am most irl ones. They know "the real me" more. What do you consider your default mood to be? Stressed, probably. Discontent. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever kept a goldfish alive for? Not long. Proper goldfish husbandry is a very neglected topic, and I sure as hell never knew how to set up its tank adequately. Have you ever been paintballing? No, don't plan to. It looks like it hurts like a bitch. Do you want a large wedding? No. Did you ever collect any sort of cards? I had a very small collection of Pokemon cards. I didn't collect them avidly. What’re the best and worst books you ever had to read for a class? The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was the best. The worst was some book we had to read in the 6th grade about a kid during some war that moved around a lot... I don't remember the name or who wrote it, but it sucked. What’s the best meal you had at an amusement park, or If you haven’t been to one, how about a good meal at another place like a zoo, aquarium or museum? I don't know. I haven't been to many. Who, whether a person or company, emails you the most? My PHP therapist emails me a check-in sheet and Zoom link every day there's a therapy session. What kind of sound or noise freaks you out the most and why do you think it scares you? Let's seeeee... I don't know if there's a sound that actually freaks me out. There are some I don't like, but none that like, frighten me. At least that I can think of. What’s the strangest art piece you’ve come across? Biiiitch there's a painting in Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs I'm not gonna go into, but shit fuckin wild. What’s the most clever or unique name you’ve come across for a business? I've definitely heard some cool ones, but I don't know about one that really stands out to answer this. If you had to name one of your hypothetical future children after a song, which song would you pick? Maybe like... okay, I'm blanking. Good thing I'm not having kids to name then, right? What’s the last song you heard? "Down in the Park" by Marilyn Manson is on atm. What is your favorite line from a TV show? *shrug* Any current family issues? No. How many hours do you spend online a day? How do you feel about that? I'm doing something on the computer pretty much... always. I hate it, and I hate it a lot. I don't want my life to be tied solely to the digital plane. I want to do more than bounce back and forth from website to website. Do you think that people have the power to make their own lives better? Absolutely, but there are some things they simply cannot change. It's about perspective and how you play the deck you're dealt. What is the biggest problem in your life right now? Right now, the most limiting thing is my physical health, probably. Just walking being torture affects my ability to exercise, and my body is a major reason - if not the biggest, at this current time - for my depression. This also plays a massive role in jobs I can handle. Not to sound like my emo self writing middle school poetry, but my body feels like a prison. Do you feel that you are loved? I know I am by some people, though I have a hard time understanding why a lot. What is the one thing you want most from life? Life satisfaction. Pride in what I've accomplished. A regular state of being content. Birthplace? I'm just gonna say in eastern NC. Do you believe in love at first sight? No, merely infatuation. Love is much too deep for that. Do you think dreams eventually come true? Some can, but usually only if you put effort into making that so. Favorite fictional character? like ummmmmmmm have you heard of this sassy bastard called Darkiplier- Go to the movies or rent? Before Covid, I loved going to the theater. It was something to do, plus a giant screen is nice. McDonalds or Burger King? McD's. I'm not a big BK fan. I only really went there during my vegetarian phase for the veggie burger. Current annoyance? This motherfucking headache. Last thing you ate? I have a meal replacement shake with me right now, if you consider that "eating." I didn't have a proper dinner. The last solid food I had though was some cookies and cream Greek yogurt. Last thing you bought? With my own money, I think I bought Mom and I some cheap McDonald's order semi-recently? Or maybe paying my $100 deposit for my tattoo was most recent, idk. Soonest thing you are looking forward to? For Mom to get her CT scan and find out what's going on in there. What did you do today? It was a pretty average day. I woke up way too early, though. The only thing even semi-unique about today was I played World of Warcraft for a few hours again; I've been quite unattached to it lately, but I went through an episode today of actually having fun playing. Oh, and I've been battling a migraine. It's more of a severe headache now, at least, but it still sucks big time. Do you like to see it snowing outside? Oh yes, absolutely! When you were in high school did you ever have bomb threats? I believe once we did from a very volatile student that honestly caused quite a lot of trouble. He's dead now. Who knows ALL of your secrets? Nobody. Did you have a job before you were in college? No. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have a baby right now? That's a terrifying thought, no. Are you on birth control? Yeah, but just because it tames my menstrual cramps. Without it, they could be debilitating some days. Who is your last sent text to? My best fren. Have you ever eaten at Chipotle before? Possibly? Idr. Do you swear often? Excessively. I had a dirty mouth prior, but my swearing got really bad when I started staying at Jason's house a lot. He and especially his mother swear like mad. Do you own any shirts with a peace symbol on it? No. Do you have your national flag hanging up anywhere outside your house? Not at this house, no. Would you ever go to Japan? Oh, yes. I would love to. It's... very morbid, but I would really like to walk the (public) paths of Aokigahara Forest, nicknamed "Suicide Forest" for the horrible amount of, well, suicides that happen there via hanging. Like, you might just casually run into a dead body. I want to just... feel it there, walk in silence and empathize with people who didn't know what else to do and hope so deeply that those departed know they were never alone in their pain. I know with absolute certainty I'd probably be teary-eyed the whole time and cry a whoooole lot, but it's just an experience I want to have. What was the last thing you went to Walmart for? Some basic groceries. What should you be doing right now? Sleeping, given this headache... I just don't want to yet. Are you afraid of getting your heart broken? I'm fucking terrified of that ever happening again, far more than words can properly express. Have you ever been in a choir? Yes, actually; when I was a Catholic kid, my sisters and I were in the church choir for a year or so, idr. Do you have a Twitter? Yes, but only to like Mark's tweets, haha. Oh, and very rarely enter giveaways I'm interested in. Describe your retainers to me, if you have them, that is. I have a permanent metal one behind my front row of bottom teeth to keep those straight. My upper teeth had one of those normal retainers you take in and out, but I didn't wear it enough, so now it doesn't even fit. Would you like for someone to call you right now? No. I'm tired, my head hurts, and I'm enjoying the song I'm bingeing. It's so weird, I rarely ever go on music hunting trips (no real reason, I just... don't), but I've found great shit lately. Do you like to brush your teeth? No; it's a chore. I only do it because I don't want my teeth decaying, falling out, or getting too yellow, and the taste in your mouth and gritty texture on your teeth isn't exactly great when you don't brush. Have you ever had a surgery? Two. Give out your phone number over the internet? I have over private messages. Do you look older or younger than you actually are? Given my wardrobe (like graphic tees and band shirts), I probably look younger in the eyes of especially older people. I personally say I look my age, though. When is the next time you’ll be up on stage? I never plan to be again. What is the last show that you watched a full episode of? Some cooking show with Mom. Nailed It!, I think? Do you know anyone who lives in Utah? No. I love Utah, though; it's actually a place I'd be willing to live in with just how pretty it is and not super populated. Do you get your feelings hurt easily? VERY. I'm probably one of the most sensitive people you can meet. Do you still talk to the person you last made out with? Yeah. Have you ever seen your best friend cry? Ugh, yes. What kind of vitamins did you take as a kid? First we took those nasty, chalky Flintstones kinds, but as time passed, Mom moved onto giving us gummy bear vitamins that were perfectly fine. Did you get any compliments today? No. Are you friends with your neighbors? Not "friends," no. What towns have you lived in? Three different ones. That's all you're getting. Have you ever thrown up from drinking? No. Done any illegal drugs? No. I mean I've had some alcohol underage, but I've never done anything remotely hardcore. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve been on an airplane without changing flights? Idk. Who have you texted today? My mom and best friend. What time did you wake up this morning? Ugh, like five in the fucking morning. I couldn't go back to sleep. What is your favorite condiment to go with french fries? Ketchup. What do you have a habit of doing when engaging in a conversation with someone? Making shitty eye contact, and I'm one of those people who "talks with [their] hands." I also lose my train of thought a whoooole lot. Have you ever layed in a hammock? Yeah; we had one growing up. Have you ever lost a pet in a tragic way? How did you cope? Well yeah, I've had lots of pets, so thus lost some in particularly painful ways. The most scarring loss of a pet though is as follows: Teddy, my dog, picked up one of our cat's very young, wandering kittens in his jaws in a manner that looked as if he was trying to carry it like Aphrodite (the mother cat) does when she would bring them back behind the couch, where she gave birth/had her little "nest." I absolutely freaked and had to pry the kitten from his mouth, and it slowly died in my hands. I think Teddy accidentally crushed its ribs. I. Was. A. Mess. Then, there was Aphrodite herself. I've told the story before of our former neighbors calling animal control because our cats would wander through their yard, and all of our cats were taken away while I was unaware at school. Came home, and they were all gone. Aphrodite was my baby, so I was devastated. Screaming, sobbing, cursing on the porch for like 20 minutes... It was awful. What type of curtains do you like? I don't... know? I don't know the actual names of any types... What type of quality is a must-have in a friend? I absolutely cannot be friends with someone who thinks they're above everyone else. Are you any good at reading someone's body language? I think I am. What goes good with a nice cold glass of milk? Cookies! Especially Oreos. Dip it in there for around five seconds, and it's perfection. What fruit is too sweet to you? Grapefruit came to mind first. How did you feel after your first kiss? I had butterflies galore and was so giddy and smiley. After the first, I just wanted to kiss him a billion more times. What’s your favorite constellation and why? I don't have one. Shower curtain or door? Curtain. The glass doors are too revealing. Have you ever thought to yourself that you’re the luckiest person in the world? Most deeeeefinitely not. What time of day do you most enjoy looking at the sky? Sunset if there are clouds present, but sunrise if the sky is pretty clear.

#survey #surveys #questions

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superpuppies · 4 years

Text

Hobbit High

Chapter 2: The Story Lost

Fandom- The Hobbit

Characters- Ori X Dwalin, Bilbo X Thorin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Gandalf, Thlandral, Legolas

Rating- PG13

Word count- 3093

Archive Link- https://archiveofourown.org/works/10027448/chapters/57582619#workskin

Summary- Bilbo arrives at school in a panic unable to find the seconded story, once Bilbo informs Ori of the situation the two begin a frantic journey around the school in hopes of finding the missing papers. Fili and Kili corner our boys and have a little pounding session. Thorin and Dwalin help the shocked, shaken and bruised boy back to the Ri house for a little rest.

Hey all, here’s the newest from my mind, please keep in mind that I do have dyslexia and I really do try to fix all spelling mistakes but some will always slip through. If you spot some please let me know and I will do my best to correct it. Thank you.

Ori trudged along beside Nori, still trying to wake up, he had stayed up later then he usually would have reading Bilbo’s story after writing a bit himself.

Nori wrapped himself around his brother and sang. “Wakey, wakey.”

“Oh, come on Nori.” Ori halfheartedly pushed at his brother.

“What? You pretty much ran away when Dwalin’s dad showed up last night and you’ve been unusually quiet all morning not even an angry grumble.”

“That has nothing to do with you, dangling off me.” Ori’s eyes narrowed to emphasizes his sarcastic tone.

“I’m just worried about you.” Nori looked at Ori with comically wide, sad puppy dog eyes. After a moment Ori turned his eyes to the ground with a sigh.

“I’m just really tired.”

Bilbo rushed past them and into the school. “Where’s he running off to?” Nori asked raising an eyebrow.

“Must be something good, he completely ignored me when I said ‘good morning’.” Thorin said falling into step beside them.

“That’s just because it’s too early to be looking at your ugly mug.” Dwalin yawned coming up behind them.

“I’m so glad we’re friends.” Thorin smirked rolling his eyes.

“Well someone’s got to tell you how it is.” Dwalin shrugged and turned to Nori. “Why don’t you just climb onto Ori’s back and have him carry you, he practically is already.” Dwalin’s eyes narrowed. Nori turned to Dwalin in a mock huff.

“Do you need to go back to bed too?” Dwalin just knitted his eye brows together in confusion. Nori stood up from leaning on Ori and pulled him tight to his chest. “What did you do to him? I could have sworn you’d left!” Ori pulled himself out of Nori’s arms.

“Can you just not do this to me today?” Ori growled storming away.

“Grumpy!” Nori shouted after him.

Ori found Bilbo digging almost franticly through his locker. “What are you doing?”

Bilbo stopped and looked up at Ori with worried eyes, he licked his lips before starting. “I, ugh, I can’t find it.”

“Find what?”

Bilbo stood. “The story you gave back yesterday.” Ori’s face fell. “I know I put it in my locker yesterday and then I thought I put it in my bag but then when I got home it wasn’t there. And now it’s not in my locker.” The bell rang and the hall burst into a frenzy. Bilbo closed his locker and headed for history a shocked silent Ori beside him and both boys an unnerving shade of pale.

As they sat Ori turned to Bilbo. “Did you check in all your books?” He asked quietly.

“Yes, I don’t know where it is.” Bilbo whined dropping his head onto his desk.

Ori groaned in disbelief as he lay across his own desk feeling crushed by the sudden added weight of this catastrophe.

As the day progressed their panic grew, at each class break they would check another spot that they thought of but still no sign of the story.

Just before lunch Nori found the two boys snapping at each other in frustration but his head hurt too much to care why at the moment. Getting them to stop snapping at each other long enough to tell Ori that he was heading home because of his migraine was harder than it should have been and did nothing to help with his head. Ori just waved his brother away as he tried to think of another place to look.

Ori and Bilbo met at Ori’s locker after their last class. “Maybe it fell out of my locker and the janitor threw it out.” Bilbo said hopeful.

Ori eyed his friend with disbelief as he gathered his bag. “Maybe” Ori said dryly. “You had violin lessons yesterday right?” Bilbo nodded not liking where Ori was going with this. “So we’ll swing by Mr. Théoden’s and see if you left anything behind.” Bilbo sighed as they started toward the door. Ori was feeling confident that his plan was a good one while Bilbo was still clinging to his janitor theory.

Kili Appeared around the hall corner behind Bilbo and Ori, an evil smirk on his face that didn’t match his soft tone. “Hey, Bilbo.” Bilbo jumped at the sound of Kili’s voice, then again as Ori let out a startled yelp. Fili reached out the door of empty class room two fourteen and pulled the red head into the room. Fili laughed as Ori tripped and stumbled to catch himself while Kili cornered Bilbo in the doorway and finally pushed the smaller boy into the room.

“Oh, Come on Fili, we just want to go home.” Ori whined straightening to standing.

“This won’t take long, Ori. We’ve been trying to talk to you guys all day but you’ve been avoiding us like we have the plague.” Both Fili and Kili put on false looks of hurt. Ori narrowed his eyes sensing danger as Bilbo tightened his grip on his bag strap.

“Why?” Ori’s suspicion tainted his voice.

“Well,” Fili began as he reached in to his back right pocket and pulled out the lost tale now folded in half. “We found something that belongs to you.” He snapped the papers flat. Ori and Bilbo’s faces fell in horror as their eyes locked on to the papers before them. “And we wanted to return it to you, well that was of course until we read it.” Bilbo let out an involuntary squeak just before he ran for the door, Kili clothes lined him just before he reached the door and he hit the ground hard. “I think, I’ll read you some of Kili’s and mine favorite parts.” Fili continued with a smile.

Ori stepped back from the twins, his eyes closing in horrified acceptance.

“No,” Bilbo begged his voice quieted from pain. “God no”

Kili knelt down and punched Bilbo in the ribs as his brother began to read.

“A shiver ran through Dwalin as he knelt before Ori. The red head simply watched with a small smile playing on his lips. ‘I apologies master’ Dwalin said dropping his eyes.

‘As you should.’ Ori leaned toward Dwalin somewhat ominously. ‘But if you think a few simple words are going to make up for it, you are greatly mistaken.’

‘What can I do for you sir?’

‘You know full well what you need to do.’ Ori smirked leaning back in his chair. Dwalin nodded but kept his smile to himself, he took a pleasure he knew he wasn’t meant to from his punishments. Moving closer still on his knees he reached up to open Ori’s pants.”

“Stop” Bilbo sobbed hiding his face in his hands as Kili punched him in the chest again.

Ori sank to the floor his eyes shut tight as he tried to block out Fili’s voice, he didn’t like reading it and hearing it was much, much worse. “Oh god, please stop. Please.” Ori opened his eyes and looked up at Fili with pleading eyes. “Please Fili, that’s enough.”

“Enough!” Fili laughed darkly. Kili chuckled as well as he landed another blow onto Bilbo. “This is far from enough, Ori we haven’t even gotten to when Bilbo sticks his dick into Thorin. Or when you have Dwalin writhing beneath you.”

The tears started to roll down Ori’s cheeks despite his best effort to keep them in. “Please Fili, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Fili Jumped down from the desk he was sitting on and squatted down in front of Ori. “For what? Hmm? For being a sick fucking perv or for getting caught fantasizing about being a sick fucking perv with our cousin.”

“I don’t want your cousin. I didn’t” Ori started, Fili slapped him hard across the face.

“No, that’s right you like the strong quiet type. What do you think Dwalin would do if he knew, Ori? Do you think you would survive it? Hu?” Ori grabbed Fili’s shirt, His cheek swollen and pink from the slap shimmered with the still flowing tears.

“Oh God! Fili don’t tell him. Please don’t tell him! Don’t tell Dwalin. I’ll do anything, anything just don’t tell him. We didn’t mean it. We didn’t mean any harm.”

“You didn’t mean any harm?! You ruined both Dwalin and Thorin’s name.”

Dwalin and Thorin walked down the quiet hall together in silence, it was strange being without Nori’s almost constant noise. Dwalin stopped for a moment and cocked his head to the side; he could have sworn he just heard his name.

“What are you doing?” Thorin asked coming to a stop a step past Dwalin.

“I thought I heard; there it is again.” Dwalin started down the hall once more.

“What?”

“My Name.”

“Why would you ever think Thorin and Dwalin would waste their time with you!” Fili growled in Ori’s face as he and Kili landed another blow onto Ori and Bilbo respectively. Fili was being smart about this, he knew better than to bruise up the face it would only attract unwanted attention over the next few days. Whereas body blows hurt more and were easier to hide, he had started latter on hitting Ori partly to punctuate some of what he was saying and partly because there was always the chance Nori would see something at home and get the truth out of Ori, where Bilbo did not present that problem.

Ori choked out a sob into his curled fist, he had his arms pulled tight up in front of his chest. His eyes closed while he tried to convince himself it would be alright. Fili and Kili would beat them up and then leave them alone and they would never have to go through this again, he hoped. Bilbo’s sobs had turned into gasping half spoken; half wrenched from his body pathetic please for the whole day to end causing Kili to laugh as he hit him.

Dwalin stopped outside class two fourteen very confused, he could hear sobbing and pleading and then once again his name. He reached out and through open the door to find Fili and Kili perched over Ori and Bilbo. Fili and Kili froze, their attention snapping onto Dwalin at the sound of the door slamming into the wall. Dwalin’s mind reeled trying to understand what he was seeing. Bilbo was pinned under Kili sobbing for air while Ori seemed small and defeated in Fili’s grip as tears streamed down his face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dwalin boomed fully entering the room, Thorin turned in behind him and immediately darkened at the sight.

“Fili! Kili! Get away from them, now!”

“But we’re just.” Kili started.

“You don’t know what they-” Fili tried to interject.

“Now!” Thorin growled. “Get the hell away from them and me before I kill you!” Fili and Kili glanced at each other briefly then stood. Fili tried to explain again as they wove their way between the two older boys.

“They-“

“GO!” Thorin barked and the twins disappeared down the hall.

Bilbo shifted into sitting and scooted closer to Ori while still trying to get the sobs under control. He was glad Kili was gone but completely horrified that Thorin was now there.

Ori scrubbed at his eyes trying to see what was going on but the tears just kept flowing, he thought he had heard Dwalin’s voice but that couldn’t be right.

Dwalin moved toward Ori but got distracted when he almost slipped on the story that Fili had dropped; reaching down he picked it up and began to read.

Thorin dropped down in front of Bilbo and reached out to try and assess the damage done. Bilbo flinched and pulled away curling closer to Ori with a whimper, Thorin tried again with slower more deliberate movements. “Bilbo, just let me” He tried to sound as soothing as he could.

“No!” Bilbo shrieked and pushed Thorin’s hands away scurrying farther behind Ori. “Please, I promise I’ll stop. I’ll destroy them all.”

“Thorin.” Dwalin sounded odd in monotone as he continued to read the papers.

“Bilbo, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Thorin said moving closer to Bilbo slowly.

“Thorin.” Dwalin said again.

“What, Dwalin. I’m trying to do something here.” Thorin turned to Dwalin sharply. Dwalin waved the story.

“It’s about us, us and them.”

“What? Who cares, they’re a mess can we deal with that first.” Thorin turned back to Bilbo with a huff. Dwalin looked down at Ori who seemed to be coming back to himself.

Ori placed his hands on the floor and pushed himself to standing. Dwalin reached out for Ori, who flinched and took off running. Dwalin took off after Ori stuffing the story into his back pocket.

Bilbo squeaked as he realized he was left alone with Thorin. Bilbo began a rattling constant stream of begging to be left alone and apologies that slowly turned into hyperventilation. Thorin sighed and cupped Bilbo’s face in his hands. “Bilbo, Look at me. I need you to calm down, it’s okay.” This, of course did nothing to calm Bilbo down.

Thorin stared at the panic-stricken boy with his flushed cheeks and open panting pink lips. He was an entirely different kind of adorable that Thorin had never thought of before. Without meaning to Thorin leaned forward and kissed Bilbo, who after a moment went entirely still. Thorin smiled at the bewildered look on Bilbo’s face as he pulled away. “There that’s better.” He said wiping at the tear streaks on Bilbo’s cheeks.

Bilbo’s mouth moved trying to find his voice but all he could muster was a soft airy whisper. “You, you kissed me.”

“Yep.” Thorin smiled again. “Is that going to be a problem?” Slowly Bilbo shook his head ‘no’, still disbelieving it had actually happened. “Want me to do it again?”

Bilbo’s cheeks flushed crimson and his chin dropped to his chest sliding his face from Thorin’s fingers. “Yes” he whispered.

“It’s kind of hard when you won’t look at me.” Thorin whispered into Bilbo’s ear.

Bilbo shivered but let Thorin tilt his chin up again. This was crazy, crazy how was this happening? Thorin let a smile play on his face as he leaned in for another kiss. Bilbo’s fingers tightened in his own jacket wanting to reach out for Thorin but frightened it would break whatever spell he was under. Thorin slid in closer and Bilbo breathed out a soft moan.

Thorin smiled and rested his forehead against Bilbo’s, “Better?” Bilbo nodded, eyes drifting across Thorin’s chest. “Good. Now, do you want to tell me what happened?” Bilbo shook his head tightening his grip on his jacket. Thorin gently rubbed Bilbo’s back. “Okay, maybe later.” He placed a reassuring kiss to Bilbo’s cheek.

Ori was booking it down the hall; Dwalin was having a bit of a struggle to catch up. He wondered where Ori had been hiding this talent, he never ran this fast during gym, not that Dwalin was creepily watching Ori through his English class window every day or anything. Apparently the nerd could pull this out when he really wanted to. “Ori, Stop!” Dwalin called after him. “Holy shit! Come on, Ori. Stop.”

Ori slowed to take a corner and Dwalin saw his chance, pushing himself to go faster he lunged across the final distance and slammed into Ori’s right side. The two of them fell heavy on Ori’s left side onto the hard linoleum, tangled together in a heap, knocking the wind out of Ori. It took Dwalin a moment to get himself untangled from Ori and then off of him but Ori paid little mind as he tried to suck as much air back into his lungs as humanly possible. Dwalin lifted Ori into something resembling sitting as best he could once Ori began to flail his arms and beg to be left alone as his breath came back to him. “Calm, Oww!”Ori’s wild flailing caught Dwalin right on the nose. “Calm down.” Dwalin caught Ori’s hands and pinned them to Ori’s chest. Dwalin loomed over the red head trying to get the smaller boy still and then hopefully calm. Ori wiggled attempting to get away from Dwalin’s daunting form.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I’ll get rid of them.”

“Ori, stop” Dwalin let go of one of Ori’s hands and covered his mouth. “and it’s not that important. Okay so just chill out for a second.” Ori finally looked up terrified, at Dwalin’s face and was surprised by the sincerity and concern in it also by the small trail of blood beginning to slide from Dwalin’s nose. “Jesus, Ori you’re a walking bruise.” Dwalin stood and helped Ori to his feet. “Sorry about tackling you. I just really needed you to stop.”

Ori opened his mouth to respond but Thorin cut him off as he and Bilbo approached. “Oh good you caught up to him.” Thorin had his left arm around Bilbo’s shoulders while his right held Bilbo’s, Ori’s and his own school bags. “Damn! Ori you can really move.” He handed Dwalin Ori’s bag. “It’s a good thing Coach Boromir didn’t see you move like that or he’d be hounding you to join the team.” Ori tensed up again at the idea. Dwalin glared at Thorin as he wrapped his arm around Ori’s shoulder and pulled him in close, Thorin just shrugged and mouthed ‘he would’ at him.

“He didn’t, Ori” Dwalin said quietly and felt Ori begin to relax again. “Now can we calmly walk you home? No running off or incoherent apologetic begging.” Ori simply nodded his eyes down cast. “Alright.” Dwalin pulled Ori’s bag strap across his chest as he turned the younger boy toward the door. Dwalin wiped the back of his free hand under his nose and smeared some of the blood on to his cheek as he got the majority of it off his face then wiped his hand on his jeans.

The walk to the Ri house was extremely quiet, with Bilbo and Ori tucked under their respective ‘hero’s’ arm. The two younger boy’s cheeks blazed red the entire walk. Bilbo limped slightly on his right side as the bruises from Kili’s punches began to take a more defined shape. While Ori tried not to let his body show how much pain he was in, his entire chest was peppered in bruises and his left side stung immensely from Dwalin’s tackle, every breath he took hurt and made it difficult to take the next. Relief flooded Ori as they turned on to Smaug Way.

#The Hobbit #Ori #Nori #Dori #Dwalin #dwalin x ori #dwori #thorin oakenshield #thorin x bilbo #Bilbo Baggens #fili #kil #Fanfiction #AU Highschool

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jinxfirebolt18902 · 4 years

Text

We are just best friends (Ben Hardy!Warren Worthington III Imagine)

A/N: may write a second part with some jealousy idk. Let me know if you wanna be tagged.

Words: 3006

Summary: Y/N and Warren are best friends although their friends don’t agree with that from what they see. Just random events developing their close friendship.

Warnings: Warren being annyoing(ly cute), and the f word as usual.

Scott’s arm is over Jean’s shoulders on the big couch with Kurt next to them. Peter is on the floor laying his upper back against the same couch while Jubilee and Ororo are on one of the white bergère and Warren is on the other. Peter had just pressed play on the DVD player when Y/N arrived with the three bowls of popcorn in her arms. Once she’d distributed two of them keeping one for herself, her bare legs showing off from her pajamas’ short directed her toward Warren’s direction. He’d been following her with his eyes. As he was sitting with one leg on the furniture she proceeded to playfully hit his knee so he would drop his foot to the ground like a normal person should sit, which allowed her to sit on his lap. Peter’s, Jubilee’s and Ororo’s eyes were on them skeptically. Warren’s left arm raised to take the bowl away from her as she got distracted at the same time his right arm sneaked around her waist.

—Warren! Give it to me, I made them! —he ignored her as he stretched the bowl as far away from her as possible. A mischievous smile plastered on his angelic face. He had a passion for annoying her. The movie hadn’t really started yet though the winged mutant acted as if the TV screen was showing the most interesting thing in the whole world instead of a standard add. In her barely illuminated face by the blue images he could catch a glimpse of her cute frown, her long hair free tickling his uncovered arms everytime she moved in failed attempts to get the popcorn back on her power. He would let out a few giggles here and there as he heard her grunting.

—Oh shush you lovebirds it’s starting! —Jubilee’s voice followed by an agreement sound from Kurt forced her to get in a comfortable position with her back half against the bergère (and one of his white wings) and half against his warm chest and stay still with her arms crossed at her chest to make clear she was mad at him, empty hands and a frown pout. Warren stole a quick glance at her and he just couldn’t resist her pout, so after a few minutes he silently offered the bowl, earning a long annoyed stare from her, which of course only made his smile grow wider. Neither of them bothering to make an effort and deny what they’d just been called for the millionth time.

An hour and a half had gone by with the group of young mutants enjoying the movie night at the library when Warren’s eyes catched movements from the couple next to Kurt. Given Y/N partly covered him from their view, he got to spy the pair safely without getting caught. Scott had been whispering silly nothings into Jean’s ear provoking giggles and idiotic smiles from the red-headed for a while but now they’d subtly started kissing. Kurt being Kurt had dozed off. Jubilee clearly was flirting through chat cause she wouldn’t stop smiling at her phone while Ororo, Peter and Y/N were attentively watching the film. Warren finished the last handful of snacks and dropped softly the empty bowl to the floor. Y/N took her chance and changed her position, her legs feeling numb. She put herself with her right side fully against his chest, her head resting on the couch and her right arm over his broad shoulders so her hand could mindlessly play with his curls while her left hand simply rested on his over her waist. As his left hand was now free he decided to lay it over her thigh, his thumbs unconsciously rubbing her skin. None of these actions had gone by unnoticed by two of the others.

When the movie had started to display the credits Peter was the first to speak out. —I call dibs on that one. —his finger pointed at Warren and Y/N, catching everyone’s attention, especially theirs.

—What? —Warren asked with his thick accented voice.

—I call dibs on your couch.—Oh I call dibs on this one, sorry Billie. —Ororo told her colour-haired friend next to her.

—The fuck you talking about guys? —Y/N dared to ask with confusion written all over her face.

—Oh you know... Just calling dibs on the couches for whenever you guys decide to become official and abandon the group’s night to have your dirty owns, sweet cheeks. —Peter finished his statement with a smile, checked her legs quickly and directed a wink to Y/N. Warren restrained himself to just roll his eyes for what his friend said and held back his strong dislike for his pet name for Y/N. She did as well roll her eyes but added a defeated sigh at the statement. —We’ve had this conversation a thousand times before, we’re just best friends Peter.

Ororo laughed and Y/N’s gaze turned to her friend in surrender. —Whatever. —Y/N sank back into her angel and ignored the rest.

—Speaking of which, Scott, Jean, you could free up space for the single ones in the big couch you know, not fair. —Maximoff spoke again, this time turning on himself slightly so he could look at the actual couple nesting on the green fabric.

—Who’s gonna carry Kurt to bed this time? —Billie’s voice got everyone into the matter. Immediately all of them said “not me”, Scott being the last one to which Jean laughed at.

It was half past two in the morning when they dismissed the gathering. Jean walking by a complaining Scott struggling to carry the Nightcrawler up the stairs. Ororo and Peter chatting about some videogame as they departed towards their rooms and Jubilee escaping to the kitchen for an extra snack before sleep.

Y/N was about to begin her way to her bedroom when she felt a hand grabbing her arm and dragging her backwards carefully. When she looked at the blonde for an explanation he only moved his head to the main gates. He pushed open only one of them and went out without letting go of her hand till they were down the few steps of the entrance. She barely took a moment to appreciate the dark sky to then direct her eyes to his figure and find him with cigarette between his lips. She laughed internally for the clichè. He had his back against the concrete, one leg bended with its foot on the wall as well, the plain black shirt contrasting with the clean white feathers and the lighted cig in his mouth, the so called bad boy in all its glory. Although she hadn’t made a sound a mocking smile adorned her lips, one he didn’t miss at all. As he exhaled the smoke seemingly uninterested in her, out of nowhere he quickly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him, his scent reaching her senses.

—Why are you laughing at me, your poor innocent best friend?

—Oh boy, the whole universe knows you’re not either innocent nor my best friend.

—Excuse me?—You’re excused��What did you just say? —her teasing didn’t last long once he had her in the air with him, going up.

—Holy shit Warren you know I hate it when you lift me up in the air without previous warning. —her arms held on him tightly.

—Maybe you want to repeat what you said down there, don’t you agree? —he uttered with the cigarette hanging at the corner of his lips, their faces pretty close.

—Okay fine fine you are my best friend now pull me down and let me smoke.

—Doesn’t sound convincing enough. —he played.

—Warren! We’re gonna wake everyone and we’re gonna get in trouble.

—I was never one to follow the rules, I think Charles has come to peace with that by now. —she sent him a hard glare. —Ugh! Fine... you’re so boring. —He flew over the roof and let her go. They both took a sit over the edge letting their feet hang on the air, passing the Marlboro from hand to hand in silence.

Another Friday night had come and all the students had free pass to stay up till late, do picnics, play games and watch movies and play videogames in the play room of the school. Ororo, Peter, Jubilee, Kurt, Scott and Jean had finished eating some hamburgers in the dining room when they were deciding what to do for fun.

—Hey where are Warren and Y/N? —Jubilee asked the group raising an eyebrow.

—I saw Warren finish up a burger and get up a few minutes ago. —Kurt mentioned, all heads turning to him.

—Oh wait I think Y/N had stayed in her room, she had her period and wasn’t feeling great. —Jean added and hugged Scott’s arm.

—He probably went to check after her... —Ororo said.

—He’s so into her. —Jubilee smiled as she spoke.

Peter rolled his eyes and smiled too. —He’s like a lost puppy going after her. But let’s not forget her lovey-dovey eyes whenever he comes into scene.

The group laughs and nods in agreement.

Warren flys up the flight of stairs towards his room with a burger and some fried fries hidden in a paper bag. He opens the door to find a sleeping Y/N on his unmade bed. He felt sorry for her, she’d been complaining about headaches and cramps all evening, not to mention her moody humor. It had taken her two painkillers, a bottle of water and God knows why, his bed, to make the migraine go away and let her relax a bit. Still a frown signaling discomfort was expressed on her unconscious face. He silently took his combat boots off and walked to the night stand to drop the food. She stirred a little but after nuzzling on his pillow her facial features relaxed and she kept sleeping.

He smiled and nodded, his curls following the movements. He went to the bathroom to take a shower while his phone started buzzing with the chat messages from their friends asking where they were and if they wanted to hang out. The vibration sounds took Y/N away from her light sleep. She frowned and annoyedly open her eyes to stare at the source of the sound. She heard the shower running and then she felt the greasy smell of the fast food Warren had left next to the phone. She re-positioned herself and took a handful of fries and two bites of the sandwich, disgusted by it after she swallowed it. She kept eating the fries as she checked for her own messages, not bothering to answer the group chat.

When her best friend stood at the bathroom’s entrance with a towel surrounding his waist and downwards with droplets falling from the blonde curly locks her breath hitched. The shining green eyes along with his perfect teeth-showing smile, the well-defined abs and the big wings made him look evilly angelical. She had held her stare longer than she meant but her hormones were getting the best of her.

—You’re awake. —definitely the strong accent didn’t help her dirty forbidden thoughts. Being on pain, feeling tired and having obscene thoughts about her best friend getting her horny with no possible pleasure release immediately put her in a terrible mood. Once again the frown taking over her face.

She groaned loudly as she turned around and buried her face onto the pillow and covered herself completely with the covers. He nodded again and got changed into clean boxers and a powder blue t-shirt. He got in bed and took his phone, resting his head against the wall. After a few minutes she turned her head and peered at him, the movements gaining his attention.

—I brought you dinner. —he went back to his phone, the screen lightning his face.

—I already ate. —She kept looking straight at him and started pouting till he turned to her one more time.

With confusion on his eyes and voice he inquired. —What?

—I’m on my period, I’m in a temper and I’m in pain. Give me attention! —he rolled his eyes and left his phone where it was minutes before. —I was just answering to our friends.

—Dicks. —he couldn’t help the surprise on his face, to which she elaborated. —They woke me up making your fucking phone vibrate non-stop. And they take away your attention from me. Dicks.

He laughed and hugged her with one arm only, the other grasping the laptop under the bed and looking up for something entertaining to watch. She got comfortable and laid her cheek on his chest, the fragrance of the shampoo, the soap and the deodorant filling the air.

She had fallen asleep a few minutes after but he’d kept enjoying the movie. It was reaching the end when a few knocks on the door interrupted him. He thought it probably was Peter wanting to enter their shared room but Ororo’s head poked instead. Warren paused the video and looked towards her.

—Hey there. —Ororo greeted, then looked at the female on him. —We went to her room and didn’t find her there so we worried. —she explained.

—I think the headache and the cramps went away finally... —he answered as he took a look at his best friend.

—Yeah I can see. Anyway, we’ll be playing billiards in the basement in case you wanna join.

—Thanks Ro.

The professor was next to the entrance of the school giving the tour to a new kid, encouraging him to stay assuring him he’d be safe and provided of all the help he may need.

—You should know you won’t feel alone ever again. No matter the day, the hour there’ll always be someo—Warren!—from one second to another, a laughing Warren run past between the professor and the soon-to-be student startling them, followed by a screaming Y/N who grabbed the door frame for a quick turn in the chase for the winged mutant. The professor’s eyes couldn’t avoid the two young adults running around the garden, observing Y/N’s scowl and Warren’s naughty smile.

—Warren I fucking swear, if you don’t give it back right now you’ll regret it for years. —her serious statement lost all the authority at his loud laugh.

—Sure thing! If you want it, come and get it —he quickly moved his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive manner, only getting her more exasperated. —Ugh! You’re disgusting!

—Who are those? —the boy asked the professor disorientated by the developing scene he was watching. Getting the professor out of his trance, he answered as he invited the kid inside the building. —Uh, nevermind. Come with me now I want to show you the library…

After some more chasing, running and hiding, Warren had lost her and couldn’t see where she was. She’d changed her strategy to get him. Hiding herself wisely she just had to wait until he fell for her trap. Less than 10 minutes passed when she got a glimpse of him walking down the corridor where she was. He was alert, knowing she was probably trying to catch him off guard. Indeed he was so focused on trying to spot her he missed her, and taking her opportunity she jumped right on his back between his strong wings. —Gotcha! —surprised by the attack he started to wriggle in failed attempts to get her off him. —Fuck! Y/N! —You were warned! —You’ll regret this! —No, you will! Give it back! They’re mine! —she whined stretching her right arm as far as she could to grab the blue package while with the other she held her body on his shoulder.

They were like that for about 5 minutes when they heard someone clearing their throat. They stopped their movements, Warren turning a little so he could face them, and consequently so could she considering she was still on him, red cheeks and disheveled hair from all the action. Both their breaths agitated and a thin layer of sweat covering their foreheads. Charles arched an eyebrow playfully at his sight.

—Are you planning to stop sometime today? —although he wasn’t legit smiling, they knew they weren’t in trouble, after all they hadn't broken anything… yet.

Y/N got off Warren and used her best weapon she knew worked perfectly with Charles. Slightly pouting and signaling her best friend with her index finger she complained —He took away my Oreos…

—You can’t be serious right now… —Warren said looking at her incredulous, he couldn’t believe she was getting her way like this.

The professor couldn’t restrain his amusement anymore, letting a soft laugh slip past his lips. He nodded his head as he heard them go on.

—You know my Oreos are sacred! —Yeah that’s exactly why it's so fun to stole them away from you genius!

—Okay enough now, Warren would you please give the cookies back to its owner? —Charles said smiling as he kept watching them. Warren rolled his eyes and sighed as he gave the chocolate cookies to her, who received them happily.

Later that day, she knocked at his room door and typed on her phone as she waited. Two seconds later it was opened by her best friend dressed in his sleeping clothes. She just went in and sat on her usual spot on his bed. —Where is Peter? —Warren shrugged his shoulders to go along with his answer.

—I don’t know. What are you doing? —he gestured with his head towards her phone.

—Just found a funny memes account, here check. —she handed him the phone as she eat an Oreo and offered him the open package as well. He took one immediately taking it to his mouth as his green eyes scanned the screen. They shared funny pics and chatted all the way til there were no more cookies left and bedtime came.

#Warren Worthington III #ben hardy warren #ben hardy imagine #warren worthington imagine #warren worthington x reader #ben hardy x reader

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