#wow nearly all of these are about law... embarrassing but i have been shaking the jar ive put him in inside my brain for this entire arc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hotwings0203 · 3 years

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Hehehe I'm back! Loll these ideas of how Muslim Dabi would fluster you have been burning my brainnn and I totally blame you😫✋

Anyways so omg okay, I could totally see Muslim Dabi doing that thing where the guy pulls the girls dupatta to make her fall back into his chest pull as the girl turns to walk away, and he would like put his hand on your lower back or waist and lean down by your ear and just whisper about how you look so pretty today and how he can't wait to see you as his bride

Also! I could totally see him like playing with your churiyan or bangles and just touching your hand and wrist, tangling his fingers with yours and just teasing you about how your hands fit his so well, how he can't wait to put a wedding ring on you

Oh! If your churiyan get stuck to his clothes, he would totally milk that situation by standing just a little to close while you try to untangle your churiyan from his clothes while trying to not combust from blushing cuz he is leaning or staring down and just gazing at you with a smirk on his face, and teasing you about clearly you don't wanna be away from him or something smh

Also! Say if you are getting your mehndi (henna) done for eid or something, he would totally use this as a way to get closer to you, like you can't use your hands while waiting for your mehndi to dry! So he's just helping you by brushing your hair away from your face, or just guiding you with a hand on your lower back so you don't bump into someone and ruin your pretty mehndi, or sitting too close to you with his arm is draped behind you while your waiting for your henna to dry. Lmao he would totally wait for the henna to dry and when he sees how dark and rich the colour his, hes like see, look how much I love you (cuz you know the darker the colour, the more your husband loves you) and you are trying so hard to not just get all flustered and just can't help looking away all shy and blushy, while he looks at you in a soft but like still dominant way

Speaking of helping you! Lmao he would totally use this as an excuse to feed you food, and he would totally use this as an opportunity to touch your face and neck, just touching your lips, and looking at you with lust filled eyes, and telling you how he bets your lips will taste so sweet when he kisses you, and make such pretty noises when you're underneath him, and you're just like Dabi! Stop, people are gonna hear! You're gonna get us in trouble! But he just chuckes cuz you look so cute when you're glaring at him with a blush adoring your cheeks

Also he would totally find a way to make you feed him food cuz that's what good wifes do! lmfao like okay say your poor soul ends up getting engaged to him, and its your mehndi or something, and you know how sometimes they will make the bride feed the groom sweets like laddu or gulab jamun, brooo he would so sexual about it, he would totally hold your wrist and guide it to feed him, and maintain eye contact the whole time, and his lips linger on your finger tips for just a little too long, and of course everyone is just gonna be like omg! Wow look at how much he is in love with her! So lucky! While you're sitting there trying not to die from how fast and hard your heart is beating and your cheeks are on fire

Also! Imagine having to drive with him omggg like imagine your family is in the process of you guys getting engaged and are like going out for dinner or a picnic or something, and Dabi would be like oh! How about me and her drive together and use this as a chance to get to know each other better, and of course the parents are gonna be like yes! Like wow look at the initiative he's taking to get to know his future wife, so now you are stuck in a car with him. He would totally pull that move where when he is reversing he puts his arm behind your seat and he would totally "help" you by reaching across to help put your seat belt on, and just lingers by your face, his lips too close to your lips, and you just blushing and looking demurly at him through your lashes, and omg he would totally put his hand on your tigh and just relish in the way you gasp and clench them and blush as you are like Dabi! This isn't appropriate, the parents will find out! Lmaooo Also! Adding to the previous point, he would totally make your feed him food while he drives, and licks or nick your finger tips when you go to feed him, and just relish in the way you blush and squeak Dabi! And he would just he like damn I can't help that I love the way my name sounds on your lips

Also when you guys married hes gonna be soooo horny, and possessive for you cuz know it's all halal, and would just be like I wanna get you pregnant asap, cuz come on we gotta give our parents cute little grandkids and its your job as his wife to please him lmfao And like of course you're gonna be all flustered and stuff, but also he is good in bed, soooooo aianaokHgqNaah

And also like yeah Muslim Dabi is a total hooligan, but he's not dumb, homeboy is smart and gets good grades, and is gonna be graduating with a masters and is gonna work under his dad and all that, and his family is famous and well liked by the community, so he's gonna have like no issues with getting the reader to marry him, and her family is obviously gonna be so happy! Like wow what a good marriage proposal from such a prestigious and good family! And of course the Todoroki's are gonna be so happy to have a sweet and kind and pure daughter in law, who is gonna take care of their troublesome son, little do they know that yeah maybe Dabi loves you, but he's also gonna ruin you LMFAOO RIPPP

……….

hotwings.exe. has stopped working.

HELP ME

LORD HAVE FUCKING MERCYYYYYYYYY MY GAWD

WHY CANT HE BE REAL

WHY CANT I HAVE A MUSLIM SCUMMY YET LOVING TOUYA PLEASE GOD WHEN WILL IT BE MY TURN😭😭😭😭🔫

Dude it would be just like in Om Shaanti Om, maybe he sees you at chaand raat looking for churiyan or cute kurtis for Eid when he decides to approach you. He KNOWS how skittish you are but he’s had his eye on you for a while…yet you’re so damn evasive. You’re like a little mouse, jumping at the slightest brush of his body against yours.

He sees you admiring the jingle of the bangles, the way the sequins cast reflecting rays against your own hands and decides to play with his future wifey a bit.

He sidles up behind you and reaches around your body to hold your preoccupied hand in his.

“I can’t wait for the day you look at me with such admiration,” he breaths against your ear, and just as he expected, you jump about a foot in the air.

You clutch your chest and look at him warily.

“Dabi! Don’t do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

He lowers his lids and makes sure you’re watching as his gaze travels from your feet up your body to your face, settling on not so modest areas.

Your face flushed furiously when he rasps, “‘You sayin’ I make your heart race, meri jaan?”

He almost got kicked in the balls that day. But he wouldn’t say that he minds if it means his sacred scrotum has any contact with you

At another time he finds you waiting in line to get your mehndi done. You’re sitting patiently and poised as you flip through some sample design pages, and he slips in like next to you (and might I add, he received no backlash for cutting from the terrifying glare he gave to the people behind him, practically dating them to voice their displeasure).

“Whatcha lookin’ at guriya (doll)?”

You snap your head towards him with mild surprise, somehow already knowing he was going to find you. Wordlessly, you hand him the pages and he takes it from your hand, letting his fingers interlace with yours.

You try pulling it back, nervously looking around and giving him a pleasing look to let go, but he merely holds your gaze, his eyes filled with such tenderness that you had never seen before.

“Let them see. People should know you’re gonna belong to me anyways,” he groans quietly when your lips part in shock.

“Stop messing with me,” you murmur and turn your face. He won’t have any of it though, he follows your turning head and grabs a wrist, holding it up to his lips and kissing it, trailing his mouth from your palm to your single digits.

“‘This the hand you’re gonna get done?”

Your body lights on fire as you feel his tongue swirl around your index, the taste of you causing his dick to swell under his kameez.

He squeezes your wrist lightly and prompts you for an answer. You nod slightly, and he chuckles lowly.

“I’ll make sure to put a ring on this hand then. And you better wear it with your mehndi as well when you wrap your hand around my co-“

“Next person please!”

You leap out of your seat, face ablaze and fuming indignantly as you hear him laugh behind you.

“Hey, Y/N!”

You turn and barely meet his eye.

“What?”

“Get the design on page three. It’ll suit you.”

You get the design on page three.

He leaves at one point and you think he’s gone for good, when he comes back 19 minutes later, ladoos and kheer loaded in his hands, a brown paper bag in between his teeth.

Your eyes widen as he seats himself next to you, and the girl doing your hand gives you a knowing smirk when you frantically shake your head for him to leave.

But nope. Instead, he meticulously takes time to form little bites of mixed sweets and hand feeds them to you, much to your utter embarrassment.

You can’t help it though! You’re so hungry, and the food is actually delicious. It’s totally not cuz of the way he looks at you like you’re the only girl in the world, like you’re the only one whose allowed to see this soft side of the eldest Todoroki…

It’s much later down the line when you two get engaged. It takes Dabi argument after argument of persuading his parents to host multiple iftaars just for your family. He doesn’t even want Hawks to be with him when you come over, he just wants you all to himself.

When you enter his house his mouth waters at seeing your shalwar. You barely lift your lashes to look at him, but he’s basically ogling at you.

At one point of you coming over Dabi points out to the adults that you’ve never had a full house tour before. Your parents permit him to show you around, and he uses this opportunity to isolate you in a distant part of the house, right in his room.

The second you hesitantly step in, holding a light dupatta over your head for a show of modesty, he’s closing the door and locking it behind him. You turn at the sound of the click to see him smirking and crossing his arms over as he leans against the door.

You frown. “Open the door Dabi, if either of our parents see us here alone they’re gonna call off the nikkah.”

“Oh, so you’re worried about wanting to be with me, huh?”

“Dabi,” you say exasperatedly, already reaching around him for the handle.

But he uses this momentum to yank your arm towards him and spin you around, pinning you to the door with his chest pressed against your back.

It’s silent save for both of your ragged breaths.

You’re terrified, you’ve never had a boy touch you like this and you don’t know what to do except gasp when he presses his boner against your ass.

“You wanna know something?” He whispers into your ear.

You shake your trembling head, and he softly kisses the side of your cheek.

“I’ve never really been one to follow protocol, but I won’t touch you too much while we’re engaged. I’ll be gentle with you and let you get used to how you’re going to be trained under me.”

You inhale softly and flinch when his hands travel up your sides, letting the edges of your dress ride up and flash a bit of your stomach.

“But after our wedding…just know that I’ll take you however I want. I won’t be as nice with letting you go. Even if you think you can escape by having our wedding night in either yours or my parents’ house, I’ll make sure everyone knows how my name sounds when it’s screaming from your lips.”

He rubs against you, your body trapped between a rock and a literal hard place.

You think he’s gonna feel up your chest from the way he hooks his chin over your shoulder and peers down at your breasts, but he just lightly licks a stripe up your neck and cooes when you whimper.

“Please, Dabi, not like this. Just-just wait a bit.”

“How can I wait when you taste so fucking good though,” he growls and tightens his grip around you, ripping another gasp from your throat.

But then, he stops. He lets you go and spins you around to face him.

You look up at him and he strokes one hand over the column of your neck.

Unmarked, begging for any kind of sign of ownership.

“But don’t get too excited. I still have to see how you cook me biryani and butter chicken if you want this dick,” he smirks and breaks the tension in the air when he senses you’re overstimulated, misty eyed and scrunched eyebrows a dead giveaway for him.

You swat his arm and scowl at his crudeness.

“Okay you’ve had your fun now, you cretin-“

“Cretin?” His eyes widen mockingly and he takes a step towards you, placing a hand on his chest in faux hurt.

You back up and he takes another step forwards.

“That’s a big girl word to use. It’s a pretty mean one too, you’re so mean to your husband-to-be, Y/N.” He pouts and you can’t help the disbelieving snort that comes out of you. As if he were that sensitive.

“You think our kids will be as mean as you?”

“What?!” You sputter.

He cocks his head and studies you.

“Or do you think they’ll be freakishly handsome like me?”

“Get your head out of your ass, you’re actually unbelievable.”

“Maybe if I put you in a mating press they’ll come out nicer…but I heard back shots make girls more submissive, so maybe that’ll transfer to one of ‘em.”

“Who said we’re having any kids?”

“What, you think I’m gonna let you be on birth control? Naw janoo, that pussys all mine. ‘M gonna cum in it whenever i want.”

And before you feel like you’re going to pass out, you hear a knock from the door, Natsuo calling out for both of you to join them for dinner.

Dabi looks at the door, then you.

“Ladies first,” he smirks and opens the door.

#god damn I ramble too much #sorry this was such a juicy prompt #hot moots #muslim bnha headcannons #muslim bnha #Muslim Dabi

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dulce-pjm · 3 years

Text

all roads lead to you

word count: 4.2k

genre: fluff, angst

summary: nothing is more frustrating than standstill traffic. you should be long home, but instead you’re stuck in your car. alone, cold, and pissed. but when an old friend catches your eye, you might find it less difficult to bear the frustration and freezing weather.

You slam your hand on the horn and scream.

Nothing happens. Other than a few people yelling that you’re crazy from the safety of their cars, which, like yours, are completely and totally still.

It’s been like this for twenty minutes. You could have been home by now, curled up under the covers or chatting over coffee with your dad. But no. You were stuck in standstill traffic because of the shitty winter weather. And even worse, your gas tank is low. You knew you’d need to turn off the car soon and just suffer the cold if you planned on making it to your house. But you grant yourself a few more minutes of warmth, halfway hoping it’ll thaw your cold, frozen heart.

So much for the holiday spirit.

“Jeez, Y/N, you could have at least warned me! I have my phone to my ear.” You breathe out through your teeth, attempting to quell the anger and frustration rising in your chest.

“Sorry, Jimin. I’m just-”

“Pissed? I could tell.” Jimin chuckles sweetly through the phone, making you roll your eyes. Even when he was teasing, it felt like he was paying you a compliment and even you couldn’t be mad. Infuriating.

“Just check the weather channel already, would you?”

“I just got home from the store, gimme a sec.”

“Yeah, yeah...”

The car beside you honks their horn. Good effort, buddy, but you’ve already tried that. You grab your strawberry chapstick from the cupholder and start slathering it on your lips. It’s instinct to do it at this point. You hate chapped lips and you hate winter even more for making chapped lips a problem for you.

Through the speaker, you hear Jimin shuffling around his house and fumbling with the plastic grocery bags. Kid’s never been particularly quiet.

“Didn’t you tell me you were going to the store like an hour ago? What took you so long, the corner store is right down the street.” You hear Jimin drop something and curse.

“I got a bit-” Crash. “-caught up. I’ve been a little distracted since.” You scoff. He’d been a clumsy idiot since high school. You weren’t surprised even a grocery trip gave him trouble.

“You okay, kid? If you’re busy you don’t have to stay on the line.”

“No, it’s okay! I want to, just give me a sec, okay?”

“Okay...” The neighboring car honks the horn again. You think you might even hear shouting. You wonder if people would actually riot over a prolonged traffic jam. You hope they do, kinda sounds like fun.

“Well, shit, Y/N.” That can’t be good. “It just started snowing outside.”

“Ugh, really?”

“Yeah, really. I’m about to turn on the tv but I think that might be your answer.”

The car next to you honks a third time, this time prolonged and obnoxious. You wish you had something to bash your head with.

And then you think you hear your name. No, you’re certain someone is shouting your name from outside your car. You slowly turn your head to the left only to see the last person you would ever expect.

“Y/N! Hey!” You’re caught frozen, chapstick hovering above your bottom lip.

“Yeah, weather’s getting bad, but I think there was an accident ahead of you, so traffic should be moving soon. Oh, well that actually looks pretty awful, so maybe not? Do you want me to see if I can pick you up?” You aren’t listening to Jimin in the slightest when your eyes are locked with a certain individual’s.

“Hey, Jimin?” The words are whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

“Might be a few hours- yeah?” You gulp, unable to tear your gaze away.

“I’m gonna call you back.”

“What? Y/N-”

You hang up the phone, still staring at the boy just a few feet away, separated only by your car doors. He’s waving madly, a massive, boxy grin stretched across his face.

You roll your window down, unable to wipe the fearful and incredulous expression off of your features. Shivers run down your spine. Because of the cold, obviously.

“Taehyung?”

He hasn’t changed at all. His mess of brown hair is still overgrown and tousled, bangs barely poking over his eyes. His features are sharp and intimidating, but the goofy smile he always carries makes him nothing but approachable. Huggable. Even his outfit is reminiscent of your high school years, a rumpled plaid button up thrown over a white t-shirt. It’s almost like looking into the past, looking into a mirror but seeing your younger self instead.

Your heart squeezes in your chest.

“Y/N!” Taehyung sighs in relief, falling back into his seat. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for like five minutes now. What were you doing?”

“I-” You’re stammering, struggling for words. Are you these nerves you’re feeling? Nerves? You’re not sure, but what you do know is that you feel like a clumsy eighteen-year-old again. “I was on the phone with Jimin, actually.” Taehyung’s eyes crinkle in delight at that.

“No way, really? I was talking to him earlier. Did he tell you about the girl he met? He’d tried to play it cool but I can tell he’s already whipped.” You laugh breathlessly, still trying to wrap your mind around the situation. Taehyung- your Taehyung- talking to you like you were, what, old friends? Like nothing had ever happened?

“No, he didn’t.” You realize you’re still holding your open chapstick and quickly shove the cap on and toss it back into its designated cup holder.

“Well, you should ask. It’s pretty cute seeing him all flustered.” You nod, cursing yourself for letting him make you feel like this. He’s the only one who ever made you feel so soft, so nervous, so small. He’s always had you melting. You hate it.

“Well,” Taehyung pauses, searching your face, “how have you been?”

“Good, good.” You let the December chill shock you back to reality, force your mind to start moving. You should just treat it just like running into an old high school buddy, why should it be weird? “What about you?”

“I’m great! Though sitting in a car this long is making my back ache.” You nod in agreement. You weren’t gonna say it, but your ass was killing you. Without you offering any further comment, the man continues, suddenly looking as nervous as you feel. He throws a hand to the back of his neck, scratching anxiously. “Hey, I don’t really think this traffic is going anywhere and I’m starving. Wanna grab a quick bite to eat and catch up?”

“Yes.” The words leave your lips before you have time to think, to reason, to be logical.

And that’s how you end up slurping noodles across from your high school sweetheart.

“Market research? Makes sense, you always did like numbers.” You roll your eyes, but the gesture holds no malice or annoyance.

“There’s a bit more to it than that.” Taehyung smirks, shoveling his ramen into his mouth like it’s the last meal he’ll ever eat. Even when he dips his head to take another bite, his eyes never leave yours, making you squirm in your seat.

“Well, are you gonna tell me or make me google it?” A small chuckle leaves your lips against your will.

“Nah, it’d bore you.” You ignore the flash of disappointment in your ex’s eyes. “Last I heard, you were an art major?”

“Oh, no, not anymore,” Taehyung replies, shaking his head. He cracks his knuckles one by one, a sign you’ve long learned is one of nervousness and apprehension. You guess he didn’t love discussing this topic. Good, it’d make him less... comfortable with you. “I’m pre-law now.”

You nearly spit out your drink.

“What? You’re lying.” Taehyung laughs, the pleasant sound making your stomach squeeze.

“I’m not! I promise.” But you’re too intrigued now to let it go, and just like that, Taehyung’s pulled you in again.

“I’m sorry to pry, but how did you, the Kim Taehyung, art genius, end up choosing law?!” You lean back in the booth, ready for the explanation of a lifetime.

“Well, it’s not like I stopped doing art altogether,” he protests, mimicking your posture. “But I ended up taking a poly-sci class freshman year because it sounded interesting and easy. And then I ended up taking a philosophy class and I really enjoyed that. And then I met this really cool and chill lawyer that works with this nonprofit to change immigration laws and long story short, I realized I had taken enough prerequisites to switch my major and so I did. I guess I plan on being a lawyer now.”

You don’t know why you’re surprised. Of course he’d ‘go-with-the-flow’-ed his way into pursuing a law career. The most relaxed, unregimented person you knew had just happened to think law was cool and went with it.

“Wow.” It’s all you can muster for the moment. “Is it working out well for you?” Taehyung cocks his head, giving you a knowing look.

“If you’re asking if I’m flunking all my classes, the answer is no, Y/N.” You immediately feel heat rush to your cheeks, embarrassment fill your chest. You quickly lower your drink from your lips.

“No! That’s not what I meant!” A grin plays dangerously on his lips. Is he enjoying this? Seeing you flustered and caught off guard? You push the thought aside. “It’s just not like you, that’s all. You never were one for textbooks and memorizing and structure. And that’s what law is, right?” Taehyung shrugs, returning to his meal.

“Yeah.” He takes a big bite, chewing while he talks. Guess that’s a habit he never broke. “But I think I could help people. I’m serious about it. And when I’m serious about something-” He swallows, eyeing you intently. “-I’m gonna do the work and chase after it, you know?” You gulp.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Overwhelmed by his gaze, your eyes shift outside, watching the snow lightly fall. You can remember taking walks in the chilly weather with a certain person who may or may not be across from you. You remember shoving snow down each other’s jackets, gripping on each other for dear life when you started slipping on the ice, sneaking kisses as the sun set and the two of you were frozen to the bone. You remember hating the cold until you had Taehyung by your side, keeping you warm. You can feel his warmth now, comforting and inviting. It scares you immensely.

“Do you remember the time we fell down the hill near your and Jimin’s house?” You gape at him, feeling like he stole the thought from your mind. Taehyung doesn’t notice your look, too caught up in the memory, a light chuckle echoing from his chest. “I lost my favorite hat during that fall!” You glare.

“Not to mention my arm was broken.” Taehyung smirks.

“And who took you to the hospital and stayed by your side?” You feign ignorance.

“Hmm, Jimin?” you deadpan. Taehyung gasps, dramatic as always.

“You forgot already?! I was your knight in shining armor, you know.” You scoff to yourself, eyes on your soup.

“Yeah, I know.”

“I miss back then. We didn’t know how good we had it.” You quirk a brow, wondering if he means what it sounds like.

“We have it good now, Taehyung. That’s what you’ll be saying in a few years, at least.” Taehyung considers this and nods, sipping on his water. Your eyes linger on his lips for a moment too long.

“Right as always, Y/N.”

You can’t take it anymore. The question’s been plaguing you since you saw him in the car. It’s too painful without knowing, without understanding. The way he calls your name, the old habits he still falls back on, the new ones you’re itching to learn. It’s all too much.

“Taehyung.”

“Mmm?” He’s gone back to work on his noodles, hunger seemingly insatiable.

“Why are you talking to me? Why are you being nice to me?” Taehyung meets your eyes while he drinks his broth, leaving you in torturous silence for several moments. And then he shrugs.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” And now you’re annoyed. You shoot Taehyung a dark look that he doesn’t entertain for even a moment. He’s always been the more mature one out of you two.

“You know why.”

“I don’t.” He’s relishing in the way you’re squirming, panicking. You can feel it. The little shit. Your nerves are overtaken by annoyance as you angrily switch to picking at your food. The two of you fall into a silence that Taehyung doesn’t attempt to fill, instead letting you sulk like the child he knew you were.

It’s been nearly two years but the memories are still fresh. You’ve always been told that time heals all wounds, and in a way it does. The memories don’t hurt as much as they used to, thinking about them for too long doesn’t bring tears to your eyes. The sadness and heartbreak faded away, leaving resent and regret and shame in its wake. It was almost worse. Knowing what you did, who you were back then. Knowing you can’t change it or take your words back.

When your eyes lift again, they find Taehyung smirking at you, amused at the private hissy fit you’ve been throwing in your side of the booth.

You feel the heat rise to your cheeks. You suppose that while you were observing how Taehyung was exactly the same, mellow and unfazed by your antics, he was thinking the same thing about you, noting that your moody personality and attitude remained constant.

It was moments like these that ultimately led to your relationship’s failure. It was a high school romance, after all. Naive to think it’d last. You were insecure, immature, uncomfortable with vulnerability while he was just the opposite. It made you angry, how he could just sit there and watch while you were exploding uncontrollably with emotion. But even more so, you were jealous of him. He was nice and approachable. You were judgmental and pessimistic. Anyone else would laugh at the thought of you two ever being together.

But once you found yourself in his vicinity, you never wanted to leave again. He had pulled you in, made you feel soft and sweet. In turn, you made him feel brave and adventurous, more willing to take risks and work hard if it meant having another moment with you. You were addicted to his light and he was addicted to yours.

In the end, you relied on him too much to pull you out of the dumps, to give you hope.

But as the both of you realized that your futures were branching apart, that there was a chance this wasn’t going to work, you both started to self-sabotage. It was a dangerous trait for one person to have in a relationship, borderline explosive with two. You got madder, more irritable. You were looking for a reason to be upset with him so you didn’t have to deal with sadness of him being gone. And he was looking for a reason to let you go, to release himself from the guilt when he knew how you were feeling.

You regretted all of it. Every last word that left your mouth. You regretted succumbing to your fears and letting them control you. You’d worked on changing that over the past few years, worked on becoming more in control, more at one with your emotions.

But sitting across from Taehyung, you were absolutely terrified your old habits would sneak their way back in. That you’d fuck it all up just like you did last time.

“Wanna get ice cream?” You sharply turn your head in his direction, feeling like you were going through emotional whiplash.

“What?”

“That gelato place is down the street, if I remember right.” A sweet smile sits on Taehyung’s face as if you hadn’t just passive-aggressively tried to get him to admit what his intentions were.

“You want to get gelato?” He nods excitedly, fumbling to get out his wallet and pay for his lunch.

“It should be open, I think. I can pay if you’re worried about that, I don’t mind. And traffic still isn’t moving.” Your eyes narrow.

“You want to get gelato when it’s snowing?” Taehyung shrugs sheepishly, handing his card to the waiter and insisting he can pay for you in spite of your protests.

“Why not? Let’s to do it, for old times’ sake.” You sigh, allowing yourself to further indulge in his presence.

“Sure.”

You’re feeling particularly soft while spooning mint chocolate chip ice cream into your mouth and sitting on the sidewalk curb. It makes you just stupid enough to say what you’ve been thinking for the past two years.

“I’m sorry, Taehyung.” He looks at you curiously, his lips slightly parted as he struggles to keep his strawberry scoop from falling off the cone.

“Why are you sorry?” You inwardly cringe but push forward. You deserve to get this off your chest, to say the words you should have said all along. He deserves to hear it, too.

“I hurt you.” Taehyung doesn’t argue, so you elaborate further. “I was petty and childish and I didn’t deserve you. I took what I had for granted and I hurt you. I’m sorry.”

When your once-boyfriend doesn’t respond, you force yourself to look away from the mint chocolate chip and study his expression.

He looks slightly shocked, understandably. You weren’t the kind of person to admit when you were wrong very often. The person Taehyung knew definitely would not be admitting she’s wrong right now.

But then, to your surprise, he starts to laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

You blush, expression indignant.

“Why are you laughing at me?” He attempts to answer but the words get caught in his throat as he attempts to catch his breath. You can’t help but give him a light shove. “It isn’t funny! I’m being serious.”

After a few moments, Taehyung starts to regain composure and wipe away the tears from his eyes. He’s positively endeared at the way you’re pouting to yourself, playing with your ice cream like a toddler.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know you’re being serious.” He draws in a deep breath. “You really haven’t changed at all, have you?”

You’re suddenly ashamed. Because you’d tried. You’d tried to change. You’d tried to better, but you guessed it wasn’t good enough. Taehyung saw right through you, saw how terrible you were. He probably thought you were insincere and simply saving face, or maybe-

“Always blaming yourself.” You freeze. That’s not exactly what you were expecting.

“What?” A shiver runs down your spine as the cold finally seeps its way through your thick coat. Of course you were to blame, what was he even thinking? You were the one who’d acted like a child and told him to leave. You were the one who walked away.

“There was so many things I should have said to you, but I didn’t. I was an idiot. We both were. We were kids, Y/N. Stop think it’s all your fault and cut yourself some slack instead.” He shifts his body towards you, looking at you earnestly. “See the situation as it really was. We were young and naive and we made mistakes. And I don’t know about you, but I forgave you and regretted everything the minute you walked out the door.”

You laugh humorlessly, rubbing at the tip of your nose as it burns from the temperature.

“No, I did too.” You pause, glancing his way. “Seems like you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this.” Taehyung throws his head back and laughs, the sound comforting and sweet.

“Speak for yourself.” That signature mischievous look crosses his face. “You know, I’d really love to hear that apology again, actually.”

“Huh? Why?” A sense of unease crosses your stomach. You have a feeling you’re about to be annoyed.

“It’s not every day I get to hear the words ‘I’m sorry’ from the L/N Y/N. Actually, can I record you? I’d love to make it my ringtone.” You cover the giggle that threatens to leave you with a scoff while you jab at the sensitive spot in his abdomen. Taehyung yelps, nearly leaping to his feet and away from you.

“Jerk!” If the snow hadn’t solidified into ice, you’d grab a bunch of it and toss it in his face.

“Hey! That’s such a cheap move!” You roll your eyes at his protests.

“You started it, idiot. Don’t expect me not to retaliate.”

“Still, you could have skipped the retaliation tactic that makes me scream like a kid.”

You stare out at the cars, still stationary. The part of you that wishes you were home is rapidly shrinking, but you don’t notice

“I was scared back then. I felt like you were leaving me behind when you decided to move off for college. I didn’t have direction and thought I would just hold you back.” Taehyung nods, finishing off his ice cream cone.

“I was scared, too. I thought I was just stringing you along and one day you’d realize you were too good for me and leave.”

You scoff, shoveling another spoonful of ice cream into your mouth.

“You? Too good for me?”

“Ridiculous, right? I am pretty great.” You shoot him a look and he instinctively protects his side, but you decide to spare him.

“I’ve always been scared. Of you, mostly.” Your lips feel dry. You wish you hadn’t left your chapstick in the car. Taehyung hesitates, cracking his knuckles.

“You still scared of me now, Y/N?” You sigh, needing no time to know your answer.

“No, not anymore. I’m scared of myself. That I’ll hurt you again.”

“You shouldn’t be.” You meet his eyes, an unspoken agreement passing between the two of you. An agreement to put the past to rest. To forgive yourselves, to look forward.

“I missed you,” he murmurs, dark eyes staring deeply into yours. A warm hand settles over yours on the pavement. “A lot.”

“I missed you too,” you reply softly. “A lot.”

You don’t need to say anything more. You both already know what the other is thinking. You fall into silence as the two of you watch the snow fall, looking away from each other. You almost feel like you might float away, but Taehyung’s hand grounds you.

You feel calm. You have the closure you’ve been seeking for the past few years. A part of you dares to feel hopeful, too. Hopeful for a future with him. You’re not sure where it will lead, but you promise yourself to cherish every moment you have. You won’t make the mistake of taking him for granted again.

“Oh, fuck!” You snap out of your daze and follow Taehyung’s eyes to see traffic moving again. The both of your cars sit still while everyone around you to begins blowing their horns in frustration.

Before you have time to think, Taehyung is yanking you to your feet and tugging you towards your vehicles.

You giggle, childishly delighting in the clumsy sprint the two of you are attempting on the slick pavement. With anyone else, you might have been embarrassed. But there’s nothing that could wipe the stupid grin off of your face.

You throw yourself in your car, shoving your keys into the ignition. Luckily, you have just enough gas to make it home. You fumble to shift gears, when a knock on your window startles you. You whip your head to see Taehyung’s face staring at yours.

“Hey, uh-” He begins as you roll down your window, suddenly flustered. You secretly relish in seeing him struggling for words. He’s always been endearing like that. “Your number is the same, right?” If at all possible, your smile stretches wider into your cheeks.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Oh, okay. Great. I’ll call you, then.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

The two of you are stuck grinning at each other like idiots before another angry car blares their horn and you’re snapped out of your daze. Taehyung tears his eyes from yours and gives the other drivers an apologetic wave before dashing to his car and sliding inside.

You find yourself glancing at him as your cars take off and gain speed. A significant part of you is sad as you watch him take the exit before yours and you cruise down the highway, finally heading home.

You switch the radio to the holiday station and sink into your seat, letting yourself hum along to the cheesy tunes. Your fingers are tingling from your time enduring the outside weather, but you don’t mind.

You feel much warmer than before.

#bts #bts fanfic #bts scenario #taehyung #bts v #bts taehyung #taehyung fanfic #taehyung scenario #taehyung fluff #taehyung angst #i went a little overboard with this one but here we are #also it's not even close to the holidays but uh sorry ?#lol enjoy!

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hournites · 4 years

Text

Blackouts (1/2)

Part two

Hournite being cute? Okay.

~.~

Beth looked down at the print out instructions of the lab, double-checking that her station had all the instruments that she’d need as she tied her apron on.

“Hey.” She turned to find Rick with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He dumped it onto the surface. “I can help you with that.”

His hands were on her skin suddenly. Beth nearly jumped. The hairs stood at the back of her neck as he finished tying the apron for her. He stepped aside when he was done and flashed her one of his half-smiles.

Somehow along the way of becoming team members for JSA, without any verbal agreement about the matter, Rick stood in as her permanent team partner for school assignments. It was as surprising as it was welcome, Beth had been accustomed to doing everything alone. Or even, everything separately next to Rick, but alone. Now they did everything together.

“Hi,” she said as he threw on clear goggles of his own. “The experiment we’re supposed to complete is to prove Charles’s Law—”

“Which states that the volume of gases equals a constant value, the pressure, multiplied by its temperature as measures by Kelvin,” he droned on after a second of a glance at the page.

“Um,” she said after an awkward pause. “Wow. You really have been studying those chemistry textbooks.”

“Yeah,” he said, sounding a bit embarrassed about it. Beth wasn’t sure why. It was impressive. She had a perfect GPA, but she had to work hard at it. With that kind of memory, Beth wondered what else Rick could easily do. Rick shifted on his feet as if he could sense her scrutiny and it was making him uncomfortable. “Hey, Beth, listen. We don’t even need to do the experiment, I know all the answers to the questions for the lab report.”

He slid the worksheet from her side over the table, borrowing her pencil to answer the questions. Her eyes widened as she watched him speed through it all without even needing a calculator to transfer the Celsius to Kelvin.

A minute later he dropped the pencil. “Done.”

Beth gaped. “Did you just—?”

The tips of his ears went red. “Yeah. Whatever. It’s not a big deal.”

“Then what are we going to do for the next fifty minutes?” Kids were still trickling into the lab. The bell hasn’t even rung yet for the class to officially start.

Rick looked around, making sure they weren’t being overheard then leaned into Beth’s space. “Do you remember the badminton birdie that Sportsmaster threw at us?”

“You mean the smoke grenade he threw at us?”

He nodded.

“What about it?”

Rick pulled three vials from the pocket of his hoodie and flashed them to her. “You’re the most vulnerable member of the JSA so if we want to keep you safe while you run away, we’re gonna need to make you some of your own.”

Beth’s voice went shrill. “You want to make a bomb?”

He shushed her, putting his hand over her mouth to stop her from catching anyone’s attention. “Not with that volume!”

He pulled his hand away super quickly, blushing and wiping it against the side of his jeans.

“Rick,” she hissed in dawning horror as she watched him pour dangerous-looking substances into a beaker. Beth tugged on his sleeve, looking back anxiously at their chemistry teacher, explaining Charles Law at the front of the room, oblivious. “Rick. Rick!”

But he wasn’t listening, focusing on whatever poison he was about to concoct as something started to bubble up in the beaker into a black foam. “Rick! This isn’t safe! Do you know what you’re even doing!?”

“Relax. I got this.”

“We could get kicked out of class,” she told him. “We could get suspended. We could catch the room on fire. We could get expelled, Rick.”

He bit his lip like he was trying to hide his amusement at her nervous ramblings, but he did pause to look at her. “You honestly think Mr. Hyacinth is paying attention to us right now?” He nodded to their teacher, who was busy engaging in some heated discussion with another student at the desk far away.

“....No,” she admitted begrudgingly. “But I don’t think this is a good idea! If we get caught—”

Rick rolled his eyes. “We’re not going to get caught.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Do you want to be protected when we’re out on a mission or not?”

She chewed on her bottom lip and stayed silent. He knew she knew that was rhetorical. Of course, she did.

“Look,” he said, nudging her side and lowered his voice again. “I was thinking since you’re Dr. Mid-Nite, we could make you some type of ball that you can throw that will make everything go dark if you’re ever cornered by ISA or alone. And then, since Chuck can give you night vision, only you’d be able to run through that.”

“...That’s pretty clever,” she allowed, not wanting to let him know it was actually genius. Or at least, it would be if they didn’t have to try to experiment that during fourth-period Chemistry. “How are you doing that?” Because she very much needed to know if he actually had any clue what he was doing or if he swiped any and every flask from under their teacher’s nose that looked potent. There were lab safety rules for a reason. They could accidentally create a lethal gas or worse, Rick could burn his hands off with acid. He wasn’t wearing any gloves. Beth liked Rick’s hands! He needed his hands to be Hourman!

“Potassium nitrate,” he said, then asked her to pass the sugar from his bag.

Beth heaved out a heavy sigh, then unzipped his bag to find a few packets of sugar she knew came from the school cafeteria as well as a firework fuse that she didn’t even want to think how he got his hands on. She passed them to him reluctantly, and sighed again, making her disapproval obviously known.

“Thank you, Beth,” he singsonged in a smug tone that made it clear he knew exactly what she thought of this, and furthermore, knew she’d help him anyway. Beth scowled because it wasn’t fair.

She watched as he poured ingredients into the mixture like they were baking a very dangerous cake, passing along different chemicals and utensils for the lab that he claimed he needed.

Beth covered her mouth and held her breath when he lit up the bunsen burner flame to heat up what he was doing. Inside of the beaker now looked like molten lava, solidifying under the flame until it turned into a sickening brown molasses colour.

It didn’t look normal. This was how they were going to die. This was how they were going to go to jail.

“I feel like we should ask Chuck for help.”

“I don’t think so. It’ll be a bigger distractor. Besides, I told you I got this. I looked it up this morning.”

Beth didn’t know what to do with that information. Had Rick really woken up today deciding he was going to make bombs for her? And why did the thought give her butterflies? That shouldn’t be so sweet!

“Rick…” she wanted to ask why he cared so much. Even if it sounded stupid. They were friends. Great friends now. And they were members of the same crime-fighting team. Of course, he’d want to make sure she’s safe. Kids have died because of the ISA and she was at risk for not being good at fighting back against people. It’s just that something told her this wouldn’t be happening if she had partnered up with Yolanda or Courtney.

And not just because they wouldn’t do something so recklessly stupid (because honestly maybe they wouldn’t do this but they all had their moments) or couldn’t come up with the same ideas. No, because Rick really cared about her, she realized. Like really, really. He went so far as to think up how these blackout bombs would be on theme for her name. Who has ever went out of their way to think about Beth like that? No one.

She tried to study his face through the blurry smudged safety goggles, but the barrier made it hard to see his eyes. He was fiddling with the firework fuse, attaching it to the clump of mass. She put her hand back on his hoodie sleeve and tugged a bit. He turned as if her tug could do that. Make him stop and listen. Which was crazy, because Rick was big and honestly, she couldn’t stop him, not as Rick or as Hourman, so why did a gentle tug steer him toward her so easily? He looked at her with his undivided attention, waiting for what she had to say.

Her mouth went inexplicably dry. Taking a breath, she started again. “Rick…”

The beaker exploded.

Beth screamed, startling into his side so bad she thought she had a heart attack. Rick held her against him, shielding her from the glass and smoke. Beth’s face was smushed against his black, old borrowed lab apron, his hand protectively against her back. Her heart jumped again, though this time it wasn’t because of the noise. It took a moment for her to realize she wasn’t the one shaking. She looked up to find his entire frame convulsing and her jaw went slack at the sight.

Rick was laughing.

Like, genuinely laughing. Beth found herself grinning, eyes growing bright at the scene. She’d never seen Rick laugh. A chuckle or a smirk here and there, yes, but he couldn’t even catch his breath now, he had tears in his eyes and he was holding his side and his face was now pressed against the tabletop to hide from the class staring at them because Rick Harris was laughing.

At the nosey eyes, Beth took a step back, waving her hands to shoo away their classmates. She craned her neck to find that their teacher wasn’t even in the room. She let out a sigh of relief. “Nothing to see here!” she said, using her go-to spiel whenever one of them did something weird. “That was totally an accident. Our bad!”

She kept shooing until they grew bored, then turned back to assess the mess they made.

“Oh my god, Rick!” she smacked at his shoulder as she tumbled into her own fit of giggles because his laugh was infectious and happy and the best thing Beth has ever heard in her life. “I told you!”

But he couldn’t care less about their dangerous chemical exploits, and— She glanced back at the dark residue along the rim of the beaker—She realized she didn’t either. They may need to make some fine-tune adjustments, and maybe look at what they were doing when holding firework fuses in school, but it worked.

Rick pulled the safety goggles up into his hair and went to find the paper towels and broom to sweep up the glass. When he returned, he stopped and narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “What is it?”

Beth took the broom, carefully guiding the broken glass into the bio-waste bin next to the sink. “Nothing,” she lied badly.

“Beth…”

She glanced at him with her pleased grin. “You’re smiling.”

Rick’s hand dropped against the sink. “Oh.”

He avoided her eyes, ears reddening again like they did when she was marvelling over his ease with the worksheet. She grabbed his hand and he sucked in a breath, chancing a look.

“You’re smiling,” she repeated. “I love your laugh!”

“Oh my god,” he mumbled under his breath, turning away. Beth tightened her hold.

“You’re happy!” she squeezed his closed fist. His hand loosened in surrender, going flat against the table. Beth turned it over and slipped her hand in his, linking their fingers together. To her utter delight, Rick turned a whole other shade of pink.

Rick moved their hands so they weren’t on full display over the table, but he squeezed back, and that was all Beth needed to know.

#hournite #stargirl #beth chapel #rick tyler #beth x rick #fluff #hournite fic #hournites fic

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eternaliax3 · 3 years

Text

Just For Show

One Shot | AO3

Fandom: Frozen (Disney Movies) Relationship: Kristoff/Anna, Elsa & Kristoff Friendship Rating: T

Words: 10,647 Notable Tags: Fake Dating, Coming Out, Lesbian Elsa, AU - College, Slight mention of mild eating disorder, Ice Bros, Kristanna end game

Summary: Kristoff meets someone he becomes infatuated with at first sight, and wants to be with her. Too bad he was dating her older sister. Well, fake dating.

“I need to ask you for a favor.”

The hulking man sat in the library with textbooks open in front of him on the table, peacefully working on his coursework. He looked up to see his best friend Elsa look down at him, biting her lip. Kristoff leaned back and put his arm on the back of his arm with one eyebrow raised. He had never really seen her this nervous before.

“Yeah, sure. What is it?” he said nonchalantly. He actually really needed to get back to his work.

“I need you to be my boyfriend.”

“Excuse me?!” Kristoff’s indignant yell echoed through the library, the two being met with awkward stares and glares from the people scattered about. His amber eyes were comically wide as he stared at Elsa. “Last time I was aware, you weren’t even into guys,” he whispered harshly.

Kristoff and Elsa had always been friends once they met in college. He was studying business management to take over his adoptive parent’s ice trading business and Elsa happened to be preparing for law school. They had to take a general education course in their freshman year and got partnered up in a group project for which they had two other useless people who didn’t do nearly as much work as them. They bonded over the fact that they were generally anti-social, except for a select few in their lives. They both were diligent, but he always knew Elsa had more ambition than him. He appreciated her silent but fierce personality and they usually studied together.

He didn’t think much of her not dating throughout the years, even though she had a lot of attention from other guys. He thought she was stunning as well, but he never felt drawn to her romantically. So it became a normal habit for her to reject men on the daily. She was dubbed the “Snow Queen” for that very reason.

So it came as a surprise that she came out to him as a lesbian. Well, sort of.

“Well, that explains a lot.” Namely how she seemed to blush uncontrollably around a special person who went by Honeymaren.

And he nodded and they both went back to work. Elsa had a relieved smile on her face and he knew that she appreciated his nonchalance as a reaction. He wondered at her secrecy throughout her depression that she had during her teenage years and if that was how she and her sister had drifted apart. Kristoff had ever met her, even through all of these years. But Elsa had talked about her fondly and with so much love that her eyes glittered in the light.

Now two years later and they are both in their junior year. And he found himself in this strange predicament.

“I know, I know,” Elsa shook her head, the blonde tendrils that escaped from her braid drifting about. “But there’s a family gathering soon for Thanksgiving, and my family has been hounding me about getting a boyfriend. I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t go with someone.” She nervously twirled a strand of hair. He didn’t think he had ever seen her this nervous before. Was she really that afraid of her family?

“And you know, they don’t really know about…that. And I’m afraid of telling them. They’re not really the open and accepting type. They’re really old school.”

“Elsa, this is a lot to ask.” He leaned his head back and sighed. Even though he felt bad for her plight and how crap her family members are, her sister possibly not one of them, he just didn’t think he could do it.

“I know, I’ll make it up to you though. You can use our family’s cabin in the mountains as a little getaway during winter break.”

“For how long?” Kristoff’s interest was piqued. He did love being in the cold woods, away from people and just with his dog, Sven.

“As long as you want,” Elsa smiled sweetly, knowing she almost had him hooked. “And afterwards, I’ll just tell them we broke up. No big deal, and you would never see them again. It’s just for two days.”

Kristoff pondered for a few moments. Nothing could really go wrong, could it?

“Ok, deal.” They both grinned.

_____________

Kristoff drove with Elsa back to her home. He knew they had money, but geez, a large home in the middle of the woods was really expensive. It was like they owned the entire forest.

“So, how much longer?” he asked curiously.

“We’re about a half hour away,” Elsa replied. She held up her head on the windowsill, watching the trees fly by.

“Hey, everything’s going to be alright,” He knew she was worried. “I’m not gonna care about what your family thinks of me.”

“And you shouldn’t,” Elsa’s stern gaze was fixed on him. “They can be a bit much, but I’ll try to handle them as much as I can.”

“Hey, I’m not worried. I’m doing this for you, Elsa.” He smiled at her.

“And for that, I owe you so much.”

“I know, that cabin is gonna be mine for the winter!” He thumped his fist on the steering wheel triumphantly as Elsa laughed and shook her head.

The rest of the ride was drowned in companionable silence. They both weren’t ones to talk much, and for that they were good friends.

He finally reached the estate. Whoa, it was really that big? What, you guys have a lake too? He put the car into park and got out, opening the trunk and starting to unload his and Elsa’s luggage. Elsa came around to help.

“Elsa!”

They both turned around to see a fiery redhead bouncing up to them.

“Anna!” Elsa exclaimed, and the redhead almost literally jumped into her arms.

“Oh, I’m so glad to finally see you again.” She had a bright smile, which Elsa returned. “Oh, and is this the rumored boyfriend?”

She turned towards Kristoff, who towered over her and she stared up at him, and wow. Her blue eyes were bright and shiny and seemed to pierce into him. He didn’t think he had ever seen eyes so blue, and Elsa’s were pretty much like ice. Her sister’s however, were like the comforting blue sky during summer. Kristoff had no words for a moment, and he coughed into his hand. He didn’t want to admit it, but he might have just simultaneously developed a thing for redheads. Her face was adorably dusted with freckles and seemed to smile with her as she waited for him to answer.

“Uh, yeah. I’m Kristoff.” He held out his hand for her to shake, and he couldn’t help but notice how small her hand was in his. He almost engulfed it.

“I’m Anna, Elsa’s little sister. It’s nice to meet you!” He smiled back at her. Her energy was somehow infectious.

“Elsa, you really have to tell me how you met him! He’s so handsome!” She gushed excitedly, and Elsa couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. He could tell that Anna had a very special place in her heart, the fondness in her eyes told it all. And he couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride at the fact that she found him handsome, but also a sinking dread. He almost forgot he was supposed to be Elsa’s “boyfriend” after all.

“I will, I will. Let’s go inside first.” Elsa took her hand in hers and lifted up some luggage with the other. Kristoff helped her to take the rest in, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach that was growing.

This just got a whole lot more complicated.

_____________

“Hi mom! Hi dad!” The energetic redhead seemed to never be lacking in excitement as she ran over to give her parents a big hug. The tall blonde and brunette looked at both Anna and Elsa with happiness, and welcomed them back into their home.

Kristoff lumbered in after them, a bit of nervous dread building in him but mostly nonchalant as he stood behind Elsa. Was it bad to say that he wasn’t afraid of embarrassing himself in front of her parents but instead more of Anna?

“Oh mom, dad. I want you to meet someone,” Elsa said quietly. Kristoff could tell the slight tremor in her voice was from nervousness, and he tried his best to stay calm. “This is my boyfriend, Kristoff.”

He could feel their appraising eyes on him and he tried to match their stare. So these were the parents who Elsa were afraid of telling? He didn’t really understand how Anna could ever be so unaccepting of Elsa, she seemed to love Elsa unconditionally. He could feel the redhead giving him an encouraging and welcoming smile, even if their father was trying to burn a hole through him with his glare. Somehow it didn’t feel as biting as Elsa’s though. Maybe she got that from her mother.

He tried to not look at Anna throughout the ordeal.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” He tried to give a charming smile but it felt unfamiliar and awkward on his face.

The tall blonde man (who was glaring at him) stepped forward and held out his hand, now giving a smile.

“My name is Agnarr. And this is my wife, Iduna.” He gestured to the elegant brunette next to him who welcomed him with a kind smile.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Kristoff. We’re so excited, Elsa finally has a boyfriend!” She gushed.

Elsa groaned and put her hand to her forehead, and Anna laughed. It sounded like bells.

“Well let’s just go in and get you guys settled.” Anna saved the day and Krisoff mentally thanked her for ending the semi awkward (for him and Elsa at least) first meeting with their parents.

Just two more days to go. What was he thinking agreeing to do this? Oh yeah, Elsa was one of his best friends. Who had a beautiful younger sister—ok stop there, Kristoff. He thought to himself. At least break up with Elsa first.

He brought in his luggage and gaped at how expansive the house was, it somehow looked even bigger on the inside. How was that possible? Elsa and Anna walked inside, arm in arm, while Anna gushed about her classes. His ears picked up the fact that she had a new boyfriend, and he felt his stomach drop in dejection. Of course she would have a boyfriend. One that treated her like a princess, he would bet.

They sat at the dinner table and chatted amicably. He explained how he was doing in his classes, very well he might add, much to the impressed Agnarr. And they explained how they had met in class and started to spend more time together, which blossomed into their “relationship” now.

“Wait,” Anna stopped them. “This is Kristoff? Your best friend, Kristoff?” her eyes widened.

“Yes, Anna,” Elsa said coolly.

“Oh my gosh, why didn’t you tell me you guys were already dating? We could have had double dates with me and Hans! I had no idea, I mean, Elsa you had told me about Kristoff lots of times but you guys have been dating for a few months already!”

“Well, you know-” Elsa struggled to find the words as Kristoff mentally tried to catch up with her chattering.

“We’re pretty private people. We just didn’t want it to be public for a bit,” Kristoff supplied. Elsa looked at him gratefully.

“Oh, I see.” Anna nodded. She seemed to know her older sister very well.

“Where is Hans, by the way?” Iduna asked.

“Oh, he went back to the Southern Isles to visit his family,” she said, “But he’s been texting me everyday.” Her smile was bright with affection.

Kristoff and Elsa both sighed in relief as the conversation shifted over to other topics. Anna was studying psychology with the intent to become a therapist, which Kristoff thought was very fitting to her personality. Anna kept the tone of the conversation light and happy, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Kristoff and Elsa were walking back to their rooms, their separate rooms, and Kristoff wondered about the relationship with Anna.

“How come you haven’t told Anna yet?”

Elsa stopped in her tracks, her shoulders tense. She knew exactly what he was referring to.

“It’s hard, Kristoff. We haven’t...had the best childhood growing up. I was always isolated and didn’t want to spend time with her. I was so depressed I just locked myself in my room. I always felt different, and couldn’t bear to tell her in case she didn’t accept me,” she whispered.

“I don’t think she’ll be like that at all,” he said gently.

“I don’t want to ruin what we have now. I finally fixed our relationship together and we’re acting like sisters again.” Her stubbornness on the matter was clear through the set of her shoulders and he sighed.

“I think you should explain. I don’t think she’ll react the way you think she would.”

Elsa pondered his words, and he left her standing in the hallway to go into his room after wishing her a good night, to which she didn’t respond.

_____________

The next morning, he woke up bright and early. The mattress he was sleeping on was downright heavenly, and the sheets were so silky. He didn’t even want to know how much they cost.

Anna had joined the rest of the family for breakfast much later, yawning adorably along the way. Elsa had teased her mercilessly about her sleeping habits, and Anna stuck out her tongue. Kristoff couldn’t help but smile at their exchange, to which Anna smiled back at him and he swore his heart skipped a beat.

“So what’s the plan for today?”

“Well, we have to prepare our Thanksgiving dinner, of course!” Iduna answered and Anna clapped her hands in excitement.

“And then we’ll play charades after!” She said, her eyes bright.

“Ugh, do we have to?” Elsa said with a groan.

“Yes! It’s our tradition, you can’t back out of it!” Anna retorted. “Besides, you just don’t want to play because you’re so bad at it.” She leaned back in her chair with a smirk.

“I’m not that bad at it.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Girls, that’s enough,” Agnarr laughed.

“I’m actually excited to play,” Kristoff said, sending a smirk at Elsa, who glared at him indignantly.

“Ugh, fine,” Elsa relented and Kristoff and Anna shared a triumphant look.

Cooking dinner with the family was much like cooking with his own family, chaotic and fun, and full of laughter. Mostly from Anna’s antics. She would chuck ingredients at others and at one point her and Elsa almost had a full blown food fight. Anna seemed to draw out Elsa’s competitive streak. It was Iduna who made them stop with a single glare. Ah, so that’s where Elsa gets it from.

The day was mostly enjoyable and he couldn’t help but laugh with Anna most of the time. She was the life of the party, it seemed. He didn’t mind that at all though. She had a way of making things seem easygoing, and like the world wasn’t so bad. Whoa, that was pretty sappy, he thought to himself. He reminded himself that she had a boyfriend. One that apparently was two years older and was studying political science. He tamped down on the jealousy that arose in him at the thought of this “Hans.” He sounded like a pretentious jerk from what Anna had said about him.

Elsa seemed to relax as well, enjoying the time around her beloved family. Kristoff felt a bit out of place, although Anna did her best to include him in their activities, as much as he wanted to be on the sidelines.

They sat around the dinner table, lit up with candles and the turkey as the centerpiece. Elsa and Iduna were the main chefs of the house, Anna and Agnarr seemed to have no culinary expertise. But they had done a great job, and the food looked, and smelled, delicious. Kristoff and Anna proudly presented their salad and mashed potatoes. They said they typically have a live-in chef, but Thanksgiving dinner was their own tradition.

“Agh, I’m absolutely stuffed.” Anna smiled and leaned back in her chair.

It was so endearing watching her eyes sleepily regard the rest of her family, as she tried so hard not to fall asleep there. Kristoff gave a small smile at the sight. He would miss her after this, although this charade he was doing with Elsa seemed to be falling apart anyway. They both tried their best to be “couple-y” and hold hands and hug each other, but it felt really awkward. He found himself wishing that it was Anna that he was doing that with, she would take his hand without hesitation and drag him along wherever she wanted to go, and he would follow.

Kristoff could see it so vividly, and it scared him.

Anna amazingly perked up with energy again once they cleaned up the dinner table and sat in the living room to start their game of charades.

Since they had an odd number of people, they decided to forgo making teams.

“It would always be Elsa and I on one team, and mom and dad on the other,” Anna had explained to him. “But this makes it more fun! It’s like a free for all!” Her smile was bright and happy.

He couldn’t help but laugh at Elsa since Anna was right, she was kind of bad at this game. Her actions were a bit awkward and stiff, and it took a while to get what she was doing guessed correctly. But it was fun nonetheless, as Anna was so enthusiastic. She had guessed his turns correctly most of the time.

“A bear! Oh, setting a table? Riding a horse!” Though her guesses could get more and more wild, he learned.

It was her turn and she made a grand show of arching her hands and arms and growling loudly. Almost like a roar. He was pretty impressed, she seemed like she was having loads of fun, and he was too. Even if he didn’t want to admit it.

“Beast! A bear!” He yelled. Anna shook her head.

Iduna guessed next. “Wolf?” Anna shook her head again. But the buzzer went off, signaling her time was up.

She let out a breath. “Villain!” she said.

“Oooh,” they all said in unison.

She went and sat down, giving a smile to Elsa as they sat next to each other. They played a few more rounds, and they went to retire for the night, as they had a long drive back to campus in the morning.

Anna would be going back in her own car a bit later, as she liked to sleep in. Kristoff realized it probably would be the last time he would see her, unless it was around campus. He hoped that she wouldn’t be angry with him once Elsa told her they “broke up.”

In the hallway, Anna got to her room first, but turned to Elsa and Kristoff to wish them a safe trip.

“Kristoff, you have to come back here for Christmas break!” she said, and he didn’t have it in him to turn her down. Not when she was looking at him like that—like she was so happy that he was there.

“Alright,” he said dumbly, and Anna’s grin widened as she said good night. He ignored Elsa’s quizzical look at him.

_____________

The next week then passed without event, Kristoff not seeing much of both Elsa and Anna, as exam season arrived with a vengeance. He himself had a bunch of presentations and papers to sift through as well as research for them so he was also pretty busy. It happens.

As he was walking back to his apartment near campus he felt his phone ring in his pocket. He pulled it out and was shocked to see Anna’s name flashing across the screen. But he answered.

“Hello?”

Gaspy breaths and a sniffle came from the other side.

“Kristoff?”

“Anna? Oh my god, are you alright?” He couldn’t help but feel an enormous wave of worry for her as he heard her obvious crying, despite her trying to hide it.

“Yeah I’m fine.” A lie. “I was just wondering if you knew where Elsa was?” Another sniffle, but quieter this time.

“Uh, no sorry. I think she usually stays at the library until late at night during this time to study. And she usually keeps her phone off to not have distractions.”

“Oh.”

Kristoff’s worry for her grew as she stayed silent.

“Thank you for letting me know, Kristoff. I’ll see you around.”

“Wait!” He exclaimed before she could hang up on him. “Where are you?”

There was a small pause from Anna as she seemed to be taken by surprise by his tone.

“I’m outside of Elsa’s apartment,” she said quietly. “I thought she would be there.”

Kristoff immediately turned around to start walking quickly to Elsa’s.

“Alright, I’m on my way over.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, really.” He quickened his pace. “Just stay there, alright?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you soon.” Kristoff hung up and started to run, it was just a few blocks away and getting there as fast as he could was his first priority.

He reached the large apartment building and ran up the stairs to the fourth floor to where Elsa’s apartment was. He found Anna slumped against the wall wearing a black dress and heels. She lifted her head up to look at him and he took note of her blotchy eyes and red nose.

“Kristoff.” She mustered up a smile for him despite her crying.

“Anna, what happened?” He frowned at her demeanor and was mildly horrified at the fresh onslaught of tears that question evoked.

“It's Hans.” He made out from her soft sobs.

“What about him?” He felt his own voice become low and threatening, but Anna didn’t notice.

“I found out he was cheating on me with some other girl.”

“What?” Kristoff exclaimed. “That asshole!”

Anna couldn’t keep eye contact with him and stared at the ground. Kristoff didn’t usually do any of the affectionate things, but he felt compelled to try to cheer her up.

“Come here.”

Anna tilted her head at him and he engulfed her petite frame in a hug. He tucked her head underneath his chin, the heels that she was wearing managing to make her tall enough to fit perfectly in his arms.

“Hans is an asshole, alright? He didn’t deserve you.” And he meant every word.

They stayed in that hug for a while, at least until Anna’s frame stopped shaking and her sobs subsided and her sniffles became less frequent.

She pulled away first and gave him a smile. It was at that moment he knew he was taken with her, for good.

“Thanks, Kristoff.”

“Hey, no problem.” He smiled back. “Come on, let’s go.”

“To where?” Anna followed him as he started walking down the hall to the elevators.

“I know just what you need to cheer up.”

_____________

“A diner?” Anna stares up at the blinking sign and then at Kristoff who was smiling. By now she stopped crying and only had the slightly red face to show as evidence of it.

“Hey, they make the best breakfast dinner here, hands down.”

Anna couldn’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm. He must really like breakfast for dinner.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go!” She was the one to go inside first and she heard Kristoff chuckle as he followed her inside. The smell of delicious waffles, fried chicken, and something like doughnuts wafted into her face and she breathed in deeply.

“Wow, it smells so good!” She felt her stomach growl in response. After all she was supposed to have dinner with Hans today, but that wasn’t ever going to happen again.

“Told you.” Kristoff smirked at her. “Come on.”

He led her over to a table by the window and she sat across from him. She felt horribly overdressed in her dress and heels, but Kristoff smiled at her and she relaxed. There weren't many people in the diner at this time of day anyway, and it was near closing time.

“Is it ok to be here so late?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh yeah. It’s no problem.” He shrugged and handed her a menu. His own menu laid unopened in front of him.

Anna took a look at the delicious options in front of her and she couldn’t help but feel an urge for curly fries but she shut it down.

“Kristoff’s here!” A loud voice came from behind her and her eyes widened as she saw Kristoff slump back into his seat. He had an endearing smile on his face though as a woman came up to their table. Her smile was wide and kind as she looked down at Anna, and turned towards Kristoff.

“You didn’t tell me you had a date!”

“Hey, ma.” Kristoff said. “It’s not a date, this is Elsa’s sister, Anna.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Bjorgman.” She hoped her face wasn’t blotchy still and that she still looked presentable. It turns out she had nothing to worry about as she watched her face brighten with happiness.

“Oh dear, none of that now! You can call me Bulda.”

Anna giggled. “Alright, Bulda.”

“Now what can I get ya?”

“Oh I’m not sure.” She bit her lip. “There’s just so much to choose from.”

Kristoff regarded her through pensive eyes and she looked towards him.

“Is there anything you recommend?” she asked him.

“Sure, the waffles and chicken are great, they’re my favorite.” He looked towards Bulda and she winked at her.

“I do make them pretty darn good, if I say so myself.”

Anna smiled widely. “It sounds delicious, I’ll get that then!”

Kristoff laughed. “Same for me, ma.”

“You got it, hun. Two waffles and chicken, coming right up!”

She grabbed the two menus and went into the back in order to put the order in.

“You mom is so nice.” Anna said.

“Yeah, she can be a bit much but she definitely is welcoming.” Kristoff grinned.

They both stared out the window, watching the cars drive by and people walking in the street.

“Thank you again, Kristoff.” she said quietly.

“It’s fine, Anna.”

“No, really. I don’t know of anyone’s boyfriend that would do so much for their girlfriend’s sister.”

Anna smiled brightly at him. She was still really sad at what had happened with Hans, and extremely angry, but she didn’t think she was going to burst out into tears randomly anymore. The sneer that Hans has given her when she found him kissing another woman at his apartment was enough to make her want to explode during the moment.

But being in the soft and inviting diner made her more relaxed. Kristoff was such a nice guy, despite his tough and quiet demeanor when she first saw him.

Now, watching him devour the waffles and chicken made her giggle, but when she took the first bite of it she moaned and dug in, shoveling bites and bites into her mouth as if she was starving for a year.

“Hey, slow down there. There’s a lot to eat and it’s not going anywhere.” Kristoff’s voice held a hint of laughter but she didn’t want to stop, it just tasted so delicious!

“I can’t, I haven’t had this in a few months!” she said with her mouth full, and she didn’t really think Kristoff understood her with it being all muffled by the food.

“Wait, what? You haven’t had waffles ever?”

“No, pay attention. I haven’t had it in a few months.”

“Why?” His face was quizzical and she found it kind of adorable.

“Well, I wanted to watch my figure.” She paused and remembered all the salads she would eat and while they were good, she remembered feeling hungry sometimes.

“Is this because of Hans?” He asked, his quiet voice coaxing her to slowly meet his gaze.

“Well…” she hesitated. “Yes. He said I wasn’t skinny enough.” Now that she admitted it to Kristoff, she realized how absurd she was being.

“That’s bullshit. Anna, you’re perfectly healthy.”

“I didn’t realize it when I was with Hans. I thought it was normal.” She felt her face fall, and she frowned. “No more of that though!” She shoveled more food into her mouth.

“Hey, I want some curly fries too!” Her eyes were probably wide with excitement and she thought Kristoff would be weirded out by being excited about some measly curly fries, but she hadn’t had them in so long and they were her favorite...along with BLTs, steaks, and so many others. Her mouth practically drooled with the thought of all these foods that she had kept away from.

To her surprise, Kristoff only laughed and shouted out to Bulda for an order of curly fries. An exuberant “you got it!” was yelled back to them.

She practically bounced in her seat as the delicious curly fries were set down in front of her. And she took a bite of them and absolutely melted in her seat. And another, and another. She was in curly fry heaven.

And when they were finished eating (she took the rest of the food to go in order to eat later), they walked in companionable silence back to her dorm.

“Thanks again, Kristoff,” she couldn’t help but say.

“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s no problem.” He jokingly scolded her.

A light laugh escaped her. “Let me know how I can make it up to you.”

Kristoff smiled and she felt her heart beat a bit faster. Oh no.

“Just go and have a good rest. You deserve it after today.”

“Alright. Good night Kristoff.”

“Good night.”

He didn’t leave until she went through the door.

Later, her phone rang as she settled into her bed, after a relaxed bubble bath and in her fluffiest pajamas.

“Hi, Elsa!” she said cheerily.

“Anna?” Her sister’s regal voice sounded into her ear, laced with worry. “I have four missed calls from you and three texts. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I was looking for you earlier at your apartment.”

“I was at the library studying, I’m so sorry I won’t leave my phone off anymore. What happened?”

“Oh…” Memories of him with the other woman floated back and she was hit with a wave of sadness again at the reminder. “I found out that Hans was cheating on me.”

“That piece of shit!” It was funny how similar Elsa and Kristoff were. No wonder they were dating.

“It’s alright, I was going to his apartment to meet him before our dinner so we could walk to the restaurant together, and I saw him with someone else.”

“I’m going to kill him!” Elsa growled in her ear.

“I’m so sorry, Anna, do you want me to come over right now? We can have a movie night and ice cream.”

“Nah, I’m good now,” she said happily. “Actually I called Kristoff to find out where you were and once he heard me crying he rushed on over and took me to a diner to cheer me up!”

A pause on the other end. “He did?”

“Oh, it’s totally fine though! There’s nothing to worry about, there wasn’t anything romantic about it at all. He was just being nice to me, please don’t be mad!” This whole thing sounded absolutely terrible and she didn’t want to be the other woman, especially since she knew how it felt. The pain was still there of the very recent heartbreak, even though it was a dull fade at the moment, but it was there nonetheless. She wouldn’t ever do that to Elsa.

A light laugh floated out of her phone and she relaxed. “Anna, it’s fine. I’m totally okay with that! I’m just glad he cheered you up.”

“Yeah, he’s a really good guy. I’m really happy you guys are dating.”

There was a slight cough on the other end.

“Elsa?” she asked in concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Well if you’re sure you don’t need me to come over…”

“I’m fine now, Elsa. You just concentrate on your exams.”

“Alright. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

“Okay! Night!”

“Good night Anna.”

She hung up and set her phone on her nightstand. She stared up at her fairy lights that twinkled and blinked at her and thought about how lucky she was to have good friends in her sister and Kristoff.

Exams came and went, and Anna didn’t see Elsa or Kristoff at all during then. She texted Elsa in order to find out where she was and remembered that she was typically in the library.

Walking down the aisles of books she passed by people with their heads down, either scribbling furiously or typing furiously on their laptops. She searched for a hint of blonde hair.

She reached the end of the library and found a table, with a familiar looking light blue tote bag. It was definitely Elsa.

Anna was about to call her name, but stopped as she heard furious whispers. She rounded the corner and spotted Elsa glaring at Kristoff, who was doing the same. She froze.

Elsa spotted her first and her eyes widened.

“Anna!”

“I’m so sorry if I’m disturbing you. I just wanted to see if you two were up for a little late lunch? But I see that you guys are busy! I’ll just go now you guys can continue or I don’t know, try to fix it—” she spitted out in a ramble while taking slow steps back from the awkward situation.

Kristoff broke her tirade.

“Hey Anna, wanna hang out with us?”

There was no way that Anna missed the glare that Elsa sent him as she asked that. Uh oh. She knew Elsa was mad at her for going to the diner with Kristoff!

“No, it’s okay, I was actually just gonna go! Yeah, I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on for one of my classes and I don’t wanna disturb you, so I’ll see you guys later!” And she booked it.

It was such an awkward situation and she did not want to escalate it further. She liked that Elsa was happy with him and didn’t want to do anything to disturb that. She made the resolve to no longer try to see them together.

_____________

Kristoff glared at Elsa after he watched Anna twirl around and leave. He was met with one of her own and he rolled his eyes.

He didn’t think today would start off like this and he knew it looked like they were having a lovers’ quarrel. It couldn’t be farther from the truth. Although Elsa was happy and grateful for him cheering up Anna that one night, he brought up the idea of just telling her the truth. He was immediately met with an ice wall that was both chilling and stubborn. Typical Elsa.

“I mean, she’s your sister! She thinks the world of you and she would never judge you.”

“We’re not going to talk about this.”

“I can’t keep being your fake boyfriend forever.”

With that, her eyes softened and she looked down guiltily.

“I know,” she said quietly.

Kristoff felt his anger cool. Just a tad though. He didn’t like the situation she was in, but then again it was her idea in the first place. He won’t lie and admit to himself that he was angry because he felt himself more and more drawn to her little sister by the day.

“Listen, you have to go and tell her. Or I will.”

“You’d tell her my secret?!” she hissed, blue eyes flashing in indignation.

“No!” he started. “Just the fact that this is all fake.” He wouldn’t ever tell her that Elsa was a lesbian. That was Elsa’s business and Elsa’s business alone.

Elsa closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

“I know. And I will.”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll tell her the entire truth.”

Kristoff waited anxiously for Elsa to give him the news that she admitted to everything. This fake dating thing was only supposed to be for a few days after all. But then Anna, sweet Anna came along. The cabin up in the mountains didn’t even matter to him anymore. He just wanted to see the two sisters happy and knowing the truth about Elsa’s secrecy and motives for the whole shenanigan.

But he knew it was ultimately up to Elsa. And he would stand by her decision no matter what. No matter how sweet and pretty Anna was. He groaned.

How did his life become like this?

Elsa texted him later that day. He was already studying for finals and he wanted to get a head start. Looking at her text saying we need to talk, he called her.

“Elsa?”

“Hey.” Her voice sounded troubled.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Is this about Anna?” he asked.

A sigh. “No. And yes.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“Elsa?” His tone held no room for her hesitance.

“Okay! So my parents and Anna want you over for Winter break.”

“Winter break?!”

“I’m sorry! Anna just started rambling and I couldn’t get a word in since it was a video call with my parents in it. And I just wanted to tell Anna, not them so I just went along with it.”

“Ugh.” Kristoff ran his hand into his hair. This was just great. For all the times he thought about cool and nothing-fazes-me Elsa, he thought she sounded like Anna just then.

“How about I come along, and I help you tell the truth to everyone. That way it’s not just you. We don’t have to talk about you not being interested in guys, but we can just say that you weren’t looking for a relationship or whatever.”

“You’d do that?”

“Yeah. It seems like you’d need the support.”

“I do. I— thank you, Kristoff.”

“Anytime.”

Time to focus on final exams and then to a daunting winter break. Yay.

_____________

Anna resisted the urge to text Elsa. She didn’t want to meddle in her affairs too much but she was absolutely dying to know if Kristoff and her made up.

She gasped with a smile. Of course! She could text Kristoff and give him some tips if he hasn’t won her back yet. She ignored the quizzical bump of pain in her chest as she pictured him bringing her older sister flowers and chocolates.

She shook her head as she shot Kristoff a text.

[Anna] Hey Kristoff! Just wanted to see if you made any progress in your lovers spat with Elsa?

A moment later her phone jingled, and she rushed to look at it.

[Kristoff] Nah, she’s still a bit mad at me. But it’s not something I can just ignore.

Oh man, it must have been big in order for the two most level headed people she knew to argue like this.

[Anna] Ok, so you guys need to talk. When you do though, she’s more receptive to you if you bring her something she likes.

It’s like you thought of her and want to make her happy even when you’re angry at her.

[Kristoff] yeah?

[Anna] Chocolates! Definitely chocolates. Dark chocolate truffles are her favorite!

Oh and an apology of course.

[Kristoff] Lol how do you know I’m in the wrong and she’s not?

[Anna] Excuse you sir, this is my sister you’re talking about.

[Kristoff] Ok feisty pants, chill out.

[Anna] I’m kidding!

In all honesty I think you both will get through this and I’m rooting for you!

It was a few minutes before his next text came in, and she waited anxiously.

[Kristoff] Thanks Anna

[Anna] Anytime!! Ask me for advice on Elsa whenever you want! Good night!

[Kristoff] Good night

Anna smiled at her phone and turned back to her open textbook. Now to finally stop procrastinating…

The next day brought a genuine smile of surprise and an excited wiggle as she saw that Elsa and Kristoff were sitting at their usual library table studying. She held the bags of takeout carefully as she went towards them.

Yeah, they weren’t supposed to eat at the library but this was a desperate time of cramming and they needed all the time they could get.

“Hey guys!” she greeted cheerfully.

Elsa gave her a tired smile in return. Whoa she must have really been crammed.

Kristoff’s was bright and wide as he saw her. He was probably happy she got them food, she thought. He also looked haggard and tired. But still good, as the sleeves of his shirt clung to his strong biceps—whoa, Anna. She felt guilty even thinking that, especially since she’s been thinking that a lot more lately.

As they munched on the takeout and poured over their books—or at least Anna tried to, she was never the type to learn from reading, she thrived on auditory learning and hands on training, she snuck a glance towards the two.

They seemed to be on good terms again, since they’re sitting next to each other. The tiredness is probably from just stress.

She found her chance to find out more as Kristoff excused himself to go to the restroom.

“Pssst, Elsa!” she whispered.

“Yeah?” she mumbled back.

“How did things go with Kristoff?”

Elsa stopped writing, her eyes frozen on the page.

“What?”

“You know! After your argument. Did he bring you chocolates like I said?” Anna gushed excitedly. She wanted all the details.

“Chocolates?” Her eyebrow twitched.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Yes! C’mon Elsa, don’t leave me hanging here. I wanna know everything! And is he coming to stay or winter break?”

Elsa leaned back in her seat.

“Yes, we apologized to each other and he gave me chocolates. The end.”

“Elsa!” she pleaded for more detail.

“And he is coming to stay for winter break.”

“Yes! It’s gonna be so fun!”

“Not for the whole time though. He has to go back to visit his own family too,” she spoke in a guarded tone.

“Of course, of course.”

“Just focus on finals for now, Anna.”

“Okay!” She was just so excited for the two.

_____________

Kristoff sighed as he packed his things for this winter break excursion. Who knew that this charade would go on for this long? Well, it was ending soon. And he wanted to get home quickly after telling the truth to everyone.

It might mean that Anna hates him forever, but he hoped not. He really hoped not.

She was just so earnest about him and Elsa that he felt guilty for playing along with being the fake boyfriend. The text messages they shared when Anna was giving him advice about Elsa was almost too painful and awkward. He thanked god that he wasn’t in front of her in person when that happened, there’s no telling what expression he would have made throughout the ordeal.

He trudged onwards to his truck and mentally prepared himself for what was to come. But he knew that whatever he was feeling was nothing compared to Elsa.

The whole car ride was made in thoughtful silence and when he arrived he had no idea how to face Elsa. He decided to go with a supportive smile, and she returned it gratefully. Their friendship was stronger than this and he was thankful for that.

Facing Anna was easier than he thought it would be, seeing her cheerful face again made him happy. Elsa gave him a look that he did not want to decipher at the moment, but he definitely knew that she knew what he thought of Anna.

Her parents greeted them all with hugs and happy smiles, which he tried his best to return. He knew Elsa was on edge so he tried to make the focus on him so she could gather her thoughts and courage.

That was how he found himself being thrown into conversation with everyone at the dinner table. They had a chef prepare the dinner this time instead of them making it, and while the food looked absolutely delicious, it tasted bland and dry in his mouth.

“So, how did your semester go?” Agnarr asked.

Kristoff has food stupidly stuffed in his mouth and he coughed. Anna started talking in place of him.

“Oh, I’m sure he did great! Him and Elsa were always studying together and he was always working hard.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said in between coughs. He threw Anna a grateful look. “It was pretty good. I did better than expected with my finals and I ended up getting good grades.”

Agnarr nodded in approval. “That’s wonderful to hear. After all, Elsa needs someone smart and strong next to her.”

Wow.

“Actually dad, there’s something I…”

“But it’s absolutely wonderful that you’re able to spend winter break with us. We have a lot planned for tomorrow and we should turn in early tonight.” Elsa was cut off by her father’s suggestion.

Dinner ended shortly after that, and the topics of conversation went by too quickly for Elsa and Kristoff. She headed off to her room in silence, and Kristoff wished her good night.

He went off on his own to the backyard, which is absolutely huge if he should say, and he sat down on the bench. There was a cozy little bonfire lit up in front of it and watching the flames dance drew him into his own thoughts.

“Hey, you look a bit troubled. Did something happen?”

He turned to look into blue eyes that were gleaming with worry, though Anna smiled at him encouragingly.

“Nah, nothing happened.” He tried to smile at her.

“So what’s up?” she asked cheerfully.

They went into a nice conversation, talking about their semester, aside from Hans, though she did mention that she wanted to go back to Bulda’s diner again. “Those curly fries were so good!” she had exclaimed.

He told her about Sven, and she cooed and awed over photos of him on his phone. She made him promise to let her meet him sometime. He knew Sven would absolutely adore her. After all, she could make even the coldest of hearts warm.

The evening air grew more crisp and biting, and Anna had wrapped her arms around herself in order to be a bit warmer. Coincidentally, they had started to inch closer and closer together, so that their knees were touching. Neither seemed to mind. Kristoff knew that he didn’t.

The little bonfire had slowly grown smaller over time, and the embers lit up their faces with a dim glow.

Kristoff noticed her tiny tremors and the shake in her voice, and he took off his jacket and laid it across her shoulders. Her eyes grew wide as he did so, and a blush bloomed across her face.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“No problem.”

His arm was still around her from when he put the jacket on her.

Their faces were so close, and Anna’s eyes were locked with his, wide with wonder and a hint of something else. Desire? He saw her eyes dart to his lips and he so badly wanted to kiss her. He vaguely wondered if she wanted to too as she licked her soft lips.

Then, she pushed him away.

“Oh my gosh, it’s so late already!” she said in a rush. Her eyes held the gleam of tears. Fuck.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Good night!”

“Anna, wait!”

But she was long gone, her footsteps pattering on the cobblestone pathway, and past Elsa who stared at them with bewilderment.

Oh boy.

_____________

Elsa knew that whatever had happened, it wasn’t good. Well, it might have been good for the two but since Kristoff and her were still “dating,” technically it wasn’t. How did things get to this?

She spotted Anna’s tears as they rushed down her face, and she turned to Kristoff with a glare.

“What did you do?” she hissed.

“Nothing!” She continued to glare at him.

“Okay, so maybe not nothing, we were getting closer and I gave her my jacket because she looked cold and our faces were just really close.”

“So you guys almost kissed?” She didn’t know whether to be elated for them both or to just smack him into next year because her sister was under the impression that they were dating. The latter. Definitely the latter.

“Ow!” She rolled her eyes.

“You deserve it.” She turned around and walked off to the stairway.

“Where are you going?” His voice called out after her.

“Something I should have done since the beginning.” Her voice was resolute, and she knew that he knew, that she was finally ready to tell her. Anna didn’t deserve this. Kristoff gave her a look of worry, as if to ask if she was sure about this. Her own stare said it all.

“Anna?” Elsa knocked lightly on her door. She winced as she heard her soft sobs from inside the room. It was funny how she herself had locked people out when she was younger, and now she found herself on the other side of the door. She didn’t like the feeling.

“It’s me, Elsa.” Anna didn’t answer. “I’m not angry, you know.”

Soft footsteps followed her words, and stopped in front of the door. Slowly, the door creaked open just a bit, and Elsa smiled softly at Anna from the small crack.

“Why not?” Anna asked. “I’m a terrible person.”

“No you’re not, Anna.”

The door opened fully now.

“Yes, I am!” Her face was full blown and crying. “I’m terrible because I wanted to kiss Kristoff and he’s your boyfriend! I’m the other woman and I hate that!”

“Oh, Anna.” Elsa pulled her in for a hug. She didn’t realize that this would happen, but that was life, wasn’t it?

“I mean it. I’m not angry at all.”

“You should be.”

“Maybe, if this relationship was real in the first place.” Anna went still at that.

“What?”

Anna pulled away and Elsa looked at her. She knew that she would never do that to Elsa and the fact that she was so torn over it meant that she felt so, so guilty. She didn’t have to be.

“C’mon. I’ll explain everything.” Elsa shut the door behind them and led Anna over to the bed where she snuggled underneath her arms, just like how they did when they were younger, and before Elsa had shut her out.

“I asked Kristoff to be my fake boyfriend in order to get mom and dad off of my back. They’ve been asking if I had a boyfriend for so long that I finally caved and asked him to come over for Thanksgiving.”

She took a deep breath and continued. Anna listened with rapt attention.

“The truth is, I was never interested in men.”

Anna turned towards her, to see her face. Her face held wonder and awe, but there was no judgement. It was funny to see how those few words were so easy to form mentally, but so hard to physically speak. She regretted keeping it a secret from Anna for so long.

“That...explains a lot, actually.” She finally said, and Elsa chuckled.

“Yeah, doesn’t it?” Memories of playing with figurines and dolls had sprung up, and Anna had always been the romantic one, wanting to have a prince or handsome rogue marry the princess. But she had always found it off-putting.

“But, I understand why you didn’t tell me, Elsa.” Anna smiled softly. “And it’s okay. I’m really glad you told me.”

Elsa wrapped Anna up in a warm hug.

“So, you see? You don’t have to be angry at yourself for almost kissing Kristoff. I’m actually glad that you did.”

Anna looked at her quizzically. “Even if he was your fake boyfriend, wouldn’t you still be angry?”

“We both knew it was fake. I honestly was going to let him stay at our winter cabin for free with his dog during this break if he went through with it.”

“Wow, the one up in the mountains that no one goes to?”

“That very one.”

“Somehow, it does fit him,” Anna said after thinking for a bit.

“Doesn’t it?” They both laughed. Elsa was delighted to see that Anna’s face was getting less red from crying. She lifted up a finger to Anna’s face to wipe her tears from her eyes.

“Kristoff is crazy about you, you know.”

“He is?” She blushed.

“Oh yeah. You should have seen him whenever you would show up to study with us or to bring us food as a surprise. He was always so happy to see you.”

“He is sweet.” Anna admitted. “But actually, I have a lot of questions for you.”

Elsa looked at Anna, the latter had eyes that were excited and filled with delight.

“Alright, Anna. I’m ready.” I’m finally ready.

And they talked throughout the whole night, laughing and gossiping and feeling themselves grow closer than ever before. It was when they were both almost asleep and yawning, that Anna had asked another question.

“Are you going to tell mom and dad?”

Elsa bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Well, whatever you decide, I’ll be there to support you. Okay?” Elsa smiled down at her. Her support was all she needed.

“I know.”

Anna hummed happily and snuggled into her arms, finally falling asleep. Elsa rested her head on top of hers, and even if it was uncomfortable, she was more than happy to stay in that position.

The next morning, they awoke with the sun heating up their faces, and although Elsa was up and ready to get out of bed, Anna rolled over and put a pillow over her head. Elsa laughed quietly and pulled the blanket up to cover Anna’s shoulders.

And she walked out of the room to see Kristoff leaving his, with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at that and crossed her arms.

“Leaving so soon?”

“I just feel awkward around here now.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

They both stood in silence for a beat.

“I told her.” Kristoff looked at her.

“Yeah?”

“And you were right. She didn’t judge me at all.”

“I’m glad you did.” Kristoff smiled.

“Me too. Now I’m going to tell my parents.” Elsa looked at him resolutely. Kristoff looked really surprised, but Elsa wasn’t going to back down.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Come on, I’m going to tell them in the study.”

Kristoff followed her and they both made their way to the study. Telling them was much more difficult than telling Anna, and that had technically held more weight than them as she had effectively shut her sister out for most of their teenage years. She had to go through a lot of therapy to get to where she was now, but now that they all know, she felt like she could be herself. Agnarr was, for what she expected, perplexed. But Iduna took it more in stride, saying that it doesn’t matter who she loved, just that she would be happy with whomever it was.

Elsa smiled gratefully at that, while Agnarr had coughed and awkwardly tried to change the subject. Iduna and Elsa shared a look that only women would convey, and Elsa knew that her mother would make him accept it. Or at least, not make degrading remarks or ask stupid questions. Thank god for moms.

Kristoff had apologized for deceiving them, and while they were perplexed and mildly angry that they were lied to, they still invited him to stay for the rest of the break. He politely declined, and Elsa knew he felt uncomfortable.

She followed him out to his car, and watched as he helped to load up his truck.

“Have a safe drive back home, Kristoff.”

“Yup, I will.”

“You sure you don’t want to see Anna and say goodbye?”

Kristoff looked back at the mansion, and after a moment shook his head.

“Nah, I think she needs a break from me. We did almost have a moment, I don’t want her to be confused or anything.”

“I don’t think that’s the case at all.” Elsa also looked back towards the manor, hoping Anna would bound down the steps to the car in order to talk to him.

“But seriously, get away from here and take a nice long break. This charade has gone on long enough.” They both laughed.

“You feel better after telling them?” He asked seriously. She knew that he was looking at her with worried eyes, that he would honestly throw hands with her dad if he felt that he needed to.

But she could honestly say that she did. Deep inside, she felt free, and that she could be herself now. Something that she couldn’t say she was for most of her life.

“Yes.”

“That’s all that matters.” He smiled as he shut the passenger side door of his truck. “I’ll see you next semester, Elsa.”

“Bye!”

And he went around and drove off, the dust trailing behind him. She walked back into the house and went back to the bedroom, smiling at Anna who was still in a deep sleep. She would tell her to meet him when they were back on campus, when she woke up. But for now, she felt a bit tired. So she was going to rest some more.

_____________

Kristoff walked around on the first day of the new semester, finally sitting at the usual library table again. He didn’t really look forward to the new semester of classes, but it was a challenge and he wanted to get ahead. As per the norm lately, he wondered how Anna was doing. Was she back on campus yet?

He waited for Elsa to show up as she always did, she had let him know she would be free sometime in the afternoon. So he opened up a book, ripping off the plastic. God, he hated buying textbooks, they were so overly expensive. He turned the pages to the first chapter on macroeconomics and started to read.

But a brown bag was placed on the side of the table across from him. The smell of fries wafted over to him and he drooled. He didn’t realize how hungry he was.

“Oh man, you brought food, thanks Elsa!” He smiled, but when he looked up, he was met with Anna’s shy gaze.

“Anna.”

“I thought you would like it, I got it from your mom’s diner.” she said quietly, looking at him through her lashes and Kristoff coughed, a blush rising.

“I do, thank you.” Somehow Anna seemed even prettier today, her hair in waves and a cute blush showcasing her freckled cheeks. He couldn’t stop staring at her.

“Do you want to have a seat? Share the food?”

Anna smiled and nodded. “I got you a burger if that’s okay.”

“That’s more than okay, it’s terrific.” He munched down on it greedily and Anna laughed. She nervously picked at her curly fries.

“So…” she started.

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?” Anna asked, her eyes wide and excited, and also scared.

“Like a date?” Kristoff couldn’t help but smile. He was absolutely ecstatic that she asked.

“Like a date.” She nodded.

“I’d love to.”

Anna’s delighted smile warmed his heart, and he started to checklist potential restaurants in his mind. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he looked at it to see a thumbs up from Elsa. He looked up to see her peeking out from behind a bookshelf with a wave and a small wink.

A second later, another text popped up.

[Elsa] Bring her sunflowers. Those are her favorites.

He smiled to himself. What a stroke of luck that being a fake boyfriend for someone would lead him to someone that he would be a real boyfriend for. They snuck glances at each other from across the table and he knew that he would treasure her forever.

FIN

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! :D

#eternalia writes #frozen fanfiction #kristanna fanfiction #kristanna

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thebladeblaster · 3 years

Text

Rebirth of A Samurai (Part 3)

Summary: This fic is a what if scenario to SMT4 Apocalypse. I would go into more detail, but I don’t want to spoil too much of what this fic entails. If this fic gains traction I may continue the story on from this one-shot. Warning: This is a long one.

This may be the last I write for awhile with college right around the corner. I won’t stop completely, but it will become a lot slower.

“Shhh...don’t say that Flynn is supposed to be having a nice dream.”, Flynn’s mother said.

“Who the fuck are you? Your not my mother she might have been controlling and overbearing, but she had a good heart. She was never a colossal bitch even to Issachar.”, Walter questioned.

“Your mother? Are you Flynn’s…? No he’s not he’s...we’re...I-I’m not Issachar!”, Issachar said.

“What are you saying of course your Issachar!”, Not-Flynn’s mother said.

“No, I’m not Issachar! And their not Jonathan, Walter, and Isabeau! We’re the fifth son, Flynn Alexander!”, Not-Issachar rebuked.

The prentices eyes widened.

“I’m not…? I’m not Jonathan?”, not-Jonathan questioned.

“Think! Do you know your parents' names? What’s the first thing that springs to your mind? How about where you live?”, not-Issachar questioned.

“I-I...Why am I imagining…? Wait, I don’t know where Jonathan lives. I've never been there. Not even before or after he became Merkabah I just never had time to.”, not-Jonathan said.

“Merkabah? Why does that…? That’s right Jonathan became Merkabah and Walter became Lucifer! I fought them!”, not-Isabeau said as her eyes widened.

“Hoy?! What are you guys...Wait I fought Merkabah too but I didn’t fight Lucifer I helped him!”, not-Walter said.

“That’s right, we're the fifth son. You who looks like Jonathan you chose preservation. You who looks like Walter you chose upheaval. You who looks like Isabeau you chose neutrality. And I who looks like Issachar...I chose to unmake the world. I chose nihilism.”, not-Issachar revealed, after he did there was an audible crack in seemingly reality.

“Hoy, that means there’s a version of me that chose law? Ah gross…”, Not-Walter said.

“The feeling is mutual.”, Not-Jonathan said with disgust in his eyes looking at not-Walter.

“No wonder I thought you guys really were Jonathan and Walter. You sure butt heads like they eventually did.”, Not-Isabeau responded with a light chuckle.

Not-Flynn’s mom’s eyes were shadowed as the world around them went silent. Everyone around them froze in place before turning on them.

“You shouldn’t be here, interlopers.”, Not-Flynn’s mom said.

“I know we shouldn’t normally. Our memories of the previous cycle’s are usually mostly dormant in our subconscious, but you’re tampering with the current Flynn’s mind has called us here, Krishina!”, Not-Issachar explained.

A demonic smile identical to the one on Flynn’s face when he was possessed appeared on not-Flynn’s mom’s face. He dropped the disguise revealing himself as Krishina.

“Get away from us! I mean Flynn! I mean stop!”, Not-Issachar said as he pulled a samurai said as he pulled out a samurai sword from thin air and the others drew theirs.

Flynn's past lives memories were normally kept in his subconscious to prevent them from driving him insane. They are basically the embodiment of his memories of those past lives. He remembers they awakened when Krishna started messing with the current Flynn’s mind. They were awakened to stop him from turning him into a mindless puppet. However, when then entered the illusion their minds were tampered with like the current Flynn’s made to believe they were other people so Flynn didn’t instantly realize something was wrong. He could tell by looking in Flynn’s eyes those times. He was slowly losing his own will. He could feel he was dangerously close to losing what’s left of it. That’s why Krishna had so much power in his mind now. He created this illusion after his fellow Divine Powers tortured him for days to break him.

“My kalki is almost ready for our fight with YHVH and I’m afraid I don’t have much time for you since I’m dealing with another interloper right now. Let’s see if you can defeat your own mind. Well I won’t but...well see you later kalkis.”, Krishna said before disappearing.

“Pfft! Is this the best you can do Krishna? You should know better than to underestimate the king of Tokyo! I can beat this entire village alone!”, Not-Walter boasted.

As if Krishna heard him, demons, angels , gods, and even humans appeared from all around them. Every single person or creature they had ever fought throughout the cycles was here, even the likes of Lucifer, Merkabah, Ancient of Days, Sanat, and Masakado.

“You just had to say that didn’t you?”, Not-Jonathan questioned, with a priceless look on his face.

“Aww man...this is gonna be awesome!”, Not-Walter said.

Not-Jonathan’s eyebrow twitched incredulously.

“How in YHVH’s name did I become you?”, Not-Jonathan questioned in complete disgust.

“You probably got sick of that pole up your ass and decided to actually live a little in your next life.”, Not-Walter replied.

“Simmer down guys, we gotta work together for now. Even if it’s just a temporary truce.”, Not-Isabeau said getting between the two.

“For now, after all it would be a tragedy if I was forced to fight my lord.”, Not-Jonathan replied.

“Your lord is the reason we’re in this freaky time loop. But, I guess I’ll tolerate your high strungness for a bit longer. I’d hate to lose my free will.”, Not-Walter replied.

“Just uh wow…”, Not-Issachar said, amazed to see how extreme some of his other selves were.

“I guess this is what we would have been like had we fallen into ‘monolithic extremes’ as Isabeau called it. But, now is not the time for that, the people need us.”, Not-Isabeau said.

“Uh yeah…!”, Not-Issachar replied, feeling awkward since he chose nihilism.

Even now not-Issachar regretted his cowardice in choosing that choice. Unlike the other Flynn’s he did fervently believe in the path he chose.

They called upon their own demons from their respective cycles. Not-Walter rushed into a horde of demons with reckless abandon, slicing them into bits. Not-Jonathan swiftly beheaded Hope without any emotion. He then stayed back observing their enemies and exploiting their weaknesses. Not-Isabeau used Antichthon which was effective against basically everything, vaporizing low to mid and even some lower high tier demons instantly. For those it didn’t it lowered their overall performance crippling their offense and defense. Not-Issachar rushed to Flynn now that Krishna was nowhere in sight. However as he did he was stopped by his dad.

Not-Issachar froze facing his father still remembering finding his mangled form on that fateful day.

“Sorry dad.”, Not-Issachar apologized, before instantly vaporizing him with Antichthon.

He looked all over for Flynn before finding him unconscious. He ran over to him, shaking him awake. Not-Issachar looked relieved as he started to stir.

“Issachar?”, Flynn questioned sleepily.

That relief faded when he felt a sword get thrust through his chest. He knew that was a bit too easy. What he did expect was for him to transform into a giant fiery snake.

“I-I don’t remember that happening?! It must have been Krishna. You're a decoy.”, Not-Issachar said.

“I am Shesha. I fooled you like I fooled your little dim witted Tokyo.”, Not-Flynn said.

“You did what…”, Shesha nearly flinched when he heard the low angered tone of Not-Isabeau.

He could practically feel the anger radiating off her umm...him? Well he was Isabeau right now kinda. Anyway, Not-Isabeau practically launched herself at Shesha. They flew through the building creating a massive hole in the house.

“Then where’s Flynn?”, Not-Issachar questioned.

He looked around the remains of the house and ran through the battlefield making sure to punch Tayama when he saw him. Throughout the carnage he noticed a calm spot like the eye of a storm. That was it he rush through to see an unconscious Flynn guarded by Odin, Maitreya, and Great Innana. They haven’t personally fought them like Shesha so this was more of Krishna’s manipulation. His demons came to his side Quetzalcoatl, Tiamat, and Orochi. He was having a tougher time than the others due to having weaker demons since his cycle ended prematurely. He was able to defeat Innanna and greatly wound Matrieya, but he was tiring and Odin killed off his demons.

“Heh, despite not being the first, you're definitely the weakest incarnation of our godslayer.”, Odin taunted as he prepared to finish him off.

He closed his eyes as Odin thrust his spear forward and a loud crackle of lightning rippled through the air.

“Odin! You bastard, you embarrassed my current self by knocking him out and kidnapping him! I’m going to tear your head off like I did to the Odin of my cycle!”, Not-Walter yelled as he jumped out from a horde of dead demons and launched himself at Odin like a madman.

Odin was too low to turn his attention to not-Walter as he was nailed in the gut by Deadly Wind. He gasped in pain, flinching and dropping his spear as not-Walter smiled devilishly. Matrieya tried to attack but not-Walter grabbed his face and vaporized him with Antichthon.

“Hoy, get up Flynn!”, Not-Walter said as he kicked the unconscious Flynn much to not-Issachar’s horror.

He cringed as he heard Flynn wince.

“Argh!!! Walter stop! Wait Walter? How do I know your name?”, Flynn questioned.

“Because none of this is real and you’ve gotta get your ass up and kick the shit out of that fedora wearing god!”, Not-Walter explained poorly.

“I-I what?!”, Flynn questioned, reasonably confused.

Not-Issachar tried to explain the situation to Flynn properly, leaving out anything about his past lives letting him believe they were just versions of his friends created by his mind. Reasonably Flynn looked shocked and skeptical, but he also saw Kiccigiori was now a massive battleground full of demons, angels, gods, and humans.

“T-there’s no way it c-can’t…”, Flynn mumbled, tears forming in his eyes looking around at the battle.

“Tough shit! That’s the truth Flynn! Our family is dead, Issachar’s dead, Jonathan’s dead, Walter’s dead and now Isabeau!”, Not-Walter said harshly.

Flynn stepped back looking incredibly shaken to his core.

“Have some tact!”, Not-Issachar yelled at not-Walter.

“We don’t have time for tact! He has to man up and wake the fuck up now or we’re done for good!”, Not-Walter yelled back angrily.

Flynn’s head hung low, covered by his bangs. Not-Issachar put a reassuring hand on Flynn’s shoulder.

“It may seem all dark now, but don’t give into despair like I did.”, Not-Issachar told him.

“You can’t go Flynn! You have to stay here with us! That’s what you want right Flynn? That’s what you always wanted! You never wanted to make the tough decisions! You just wanted to be a follower!”, another Not-Flynn’s mom said with another fake version of his dad by her side.

Tears fell from Flynn's face as he met his fake mom’s gaze. She opened up her arms to welcome him. Flynn shook, walking over to their side.

“You can’t be serious! You're even weaker than that quitter over there!”, Not-Walter roared in rage.

“I’m sorry…”, Flynn apologized quietly.

“Flynn…”, Not-Issachar murmured, sinking his head in defeat.

“...Mom...Dad...But there's nothing left for me here. You guys are dead, so is Issachar, and the village is in tatters. I let myself fall victim to this illusion because I wanted it to be real. I wanted your deaths to all be a horrible nightmare, but it’s not. It’s real and because I bought into this illusion more people...people I was supposed to protect are dead. I have to go back.”, Flynn said, with a steely resolve turning from his fake parents.

“No! Don’t abandon us again! I didn’t raise you to be heartless man who would walk out on his own family!”, his fake father yelled.

“Kiss our ass Krishna!”, Not-Walter yelled back smugly, flaunting Odin’s decapitated head as a trophy as Flynn walked towards them slowly picking up speed.

His clothes started to flicker out from his peasant garb to his samurai garb. Suddenly everything went white.

“Haha! He has spoken! You have now regained your right to create a world messiah Flynn! Let’s see if you fight to keep that right!”, the voice from his dream at the beginning of his adventure said.

When he reopened his eyes he saw a familiar teen with a half shaved head of brown hair and eerie glowing green eyes. He wore a green jumpsuit and had glowing green celtic tattoos, Nanashi. By his side were his own demons Anubis, Shiva, and his own Odin. It seemed he was in the middle of battle with him. He felt the weight of a pink lotus in his hands making him realize he was transformed like before. He was doubled over as Nanashi prepared to strike him down.

“Isabeau...what happened to Isabeau?”, he asked.

“Huh? Why are you asking, didn't I tell you, Krishna?”, Nanashi asked.

Vishnu-Flynn’s eyes were shadowed as he asked and Dadga’s eyes widened in realization.

“Wait there kid!”, Dadga tried to warn in his odd accent.

“I killed her like I did to the others before facing you. Heh, she called out Flynn’s name till the end. She was just another useless bitch like Asahi.”, Nanashi taunted, thinking he’d won.

He didn’t fully mean that he felt a bit bad about killing the others after everything, especially after actually carrying out their deaths, but it was far too late to turn back now.

“Heh, he’s shaking. Krishna must be scared now knowing I beat the others.”, Nanashi thought.

Honestly the whole point of telling him of his betrayal was meant to intimidate him. After all, he knew his former friends weren’t complete slouches. To be fair he died a few times fighting them. He killed them because he knew they would oppose the path he took.

However, Vishnu-Flynn was not shaking from fear...it was unbridled rage. The entire area around them was filled with a powerful aura of bloodlust. Nanashi was going to swing down at him with Masakado’s katana, but he couldn’t feel his arm. He looked over only to gaping in horror when he saw his hand had been severed without him even noticing. His hand still holding the katana stabbed into the ground behind him. Nanashi’s eyes widened in absolute shock.

“You fucked up there kid. That’s not Krishna.”, Dadga said.

Before he could even react his body his head was cut clean off by Vishnu-Flynn’s next strike. Nanashi tried to bite back the intense pain circulating throughout him. Normally no one would know the pain of their head being severed due to dying instantly, but since Nanashi was immortal he felt all of it and he howled in pain.

“You!!! How dare you! I saved you! I trusted you! And you killed one of the only people I had left!”, Vishnu-Flynn roared full of venom.

He stood up to his full towering height with two new detached arms and four new red laser swords.

“Ah, Flynn! He’s Flynn. Did he have to go for my head?”, Nanashi thought as his body started to regrow itself.

Nanashi gasped in pain as he was torn apart by Vishnu-Flynn’s blades again before he could regrow his body fully. A loud crackle of thunder slammed down at Vishnu-Flynn which he blocked with his swords. Which hummed only powered up by the lightning. He turned his attention to Nanashi’s demons. He dodged a Mamudoon launched by Anubis. He swiped his arms not releasing his full magical power which was dormant while under Krishna’s control and used Antichthon on Anubis nearly vaporizing him on the spot and severely crippling him. He finished off the god with a single strike to his blade. Shiva launched himself at him and the two were locked in a dangerous dance of blades. Shiva was skilled certainly, known as the destroyer in the polytheistic religion he was technically apart of right now as Vishnu-Flynn. However, Flynn was very very pissed off. When he was pissed off he didn’t slip up no...he became more skilled and more merciless in combat. Besides he’s already fought Shiva before and he knows the way he fights. Vishnu-Flynn turned the tide against Shiva putting him on the back burner as Odin tried to shoot lightning at him.

Dadga gaped genuinely impressed as Vishnu-Flynn danced around Odin’s lightning and fought Shiva at the same time. The difference between Flynn and Krishna fighting was like the difference between Heaven and Earth. Krishna certainly wasn’t a slouch, but he was primarily a schemer who used what most would consider more underhanded tactics and trickery to win fights. Flynn however was a godslayer in every meaning of the world. Dadga felt he truly understood what exactly made someone a godslayer when he saw Flynn fight. Flynn reacted to and attacked on pure instinct like a demon. However, he attacked with the skill and precision of a human. His skill in question was truly staggering on the level of no...even surpassing the best warrior gods as he was completely overpowering and nearly toying with Nanashi’s demons.

He finished healing up his godslayer who took a deep inhale as his body finally reformed after being mangled badly by Vishnu-Flynn. Nanashi tried to regain his bearings and prepared to attack Vishnu-Flynn. It took much longer and was much more draining for Dadga than usual because usually not as much of Nanashi had to be healed when he revived him. Usually the kid might get stabbed in the heart, decapitated, or even instant killed, but those weren’t as hard for him to fix.

“That man is a real monster.”, Dadga thought, feeling nervous for the first time he started his campaign to kill all the gods and recreate the universe.

This man didn’t have the ability to revive as he pleased and he was merely a human. Well...he wasn’t right now, but he usually was. At least Krishna had good taste that’s exactly why he planned to steal his godslayer from him.

Vishnu-Flynn dodged Odin’s spear strike causing him to pierce Shiva. With a swipe of his hands Vishu-Flynn obliterated the two with Shine More like Anubis not even leaving a trace behind for Nanashi to revive. Nanashi concentrated and launched a Deadly Wind at Vishnu-Flynn. More demons had replaced his fallen ones: Great Innanna, Isanami, and Xi Wangmu.

Vishnu-Flynn dodged his attack shot forward faster than Nanashi could comprehend and sliced him into bits again this time using Dark Nandaka on his bits. His demons turned to Vishnu-Flynn completely stunned at his speed. Before Great Innanna could even act she was decapitated. Xi Wangmu shot a Ziodyne at him which he easily dodged before cleaving both her and Izanami into bits. With a swipe on his hands he vaporized their remains with Shine More.

Fear grew within Dagda as Nanashi hadn’t even fully regrown himself before Flynn slashed him into bits mercilessly. He knew Nanashi didn’t have many demons left to use and Flynn was killing all of them permanently. His slashes grew so fast all Dagda saw was a storm of blades. Before that he could count about 10000 strikes per millisecond, but now all he saw was a blur. He was killing Nanashi faster than he could revive him. Dadga had a hard time keeping track of if Nanashi was dead or alive since he died so fast.

Krishna was extremely pleased. While his kalki had broken free of his contract he was now completely embarrassing Nanashi and his forces which gave him no small amount of satisfaction. As well as having a front row seat to the true magnificence of his kalki. He was content to sit back and let his godslayer do the work in killing Nanashi. Of course, there was the obvious problem that he was no longer in control of Flynn, but he could fix that in time. For all he knows Flynn can go ahead and kill YHVH while he’s at it, then he can swoop in at the right time, steal control, and achieve salvation. So, yeah Krishna was pretty content sitting back and munching on imaginary popcorn while his kalki went berserk.

Dadga was sweating now as he was greatly drained by how many times he had to revive Nanashi in this fight alone. When he told his godslayer he could die as many times as he wanted he was joking. He never thought he would actually have to revive him this much consecutively against anyone besides YHVH. Dagda was a god, but even he had his limits. A limit he was dangerously close to hitting. Even his reserves weren’t infinite.

Nanashi hardly had a second to think before he was continuously violently torn apart by the man his more naive self once idolized. He had time to feel though. Absolute horror and terror. He had honestly thought he was up to Flynn’s level by now after all he’s killed many gods, demons, and angels at this point. Confident he could beat him if Krishna happened to seduce him to his cause like Dadga to him. Defeating his former friends and beating down Vishnu-Flynn only further bolstered his confidence that he was truly unbeatable. However, he now realized how completely wrong he was. He had never been anywhere near Flynn’s level. He was beating down Vishnu-Flynn because that fop with a flute was in control, not the true Flynn. He had his power no...not even all of that he swore when he sensed his magic power earlier it had nearly doubled. Though, that may be because how enraged Flynn currently was. His intense rage may be boosting his magic to ridiculous heights. Finally, his skill...was absolutely monstrous. He thought Isabeau and Gaston were pretty good, but this man was on a completely different dimension of skill from the both of them. He wasn’t exactly educated in such things, honestly he relied more on magic than anything, but he understood that he was kicking his ass worse than anything has in his whole life with freaking swords alone. He shuttered from deep within his soul with unparalleled fear. He wasn’t sure he could get out of this especially since he didn’t look like he was tiring. Tiring was an easy thing for someone like him to exploit. He was basically a zombie so he never got exhausted and Dadga healed his wounds upon death. Stamina and his immortality was his overwhelming advantage against everyone he faced. However, now he was honestly cursing it. This is what he imagined hell was like continuously dying infinitely and instantly with absolutely nothing he could do to get out of it. For an immortal like him this is exactly what hell was like. This was one of the best arguments against having immortality, endless suffering.

A deeper part of him...Akira shuttered in horror at the sight...no the very idea of Flynn’s rampage. What had he done to Ryou? He wasn’t like this. Ryou was always a kind, gentle soul. He was skilled, yes, but not to this...to such an inhuman degree. He remembered how Ryou would feel bad about even killing demons. He was a complete wreck after killing Kiyoharu and Kenji to stop their insane plans. He most certainly wasn’t ever the type to anger. He was more often than not a mediator between the more hot-headed members of the Counter-Demon Force. For such a kind, loving soul to be reduced to this blind bloodlusted demonic rage...It broke Akira’s heart to see his dear friend like this. Any sense of mercy and kindness was gone from the eyes of his incarnation replaced with anger and bloodlust. He still remembered the day he lost him. The day he sacrificed himself not unlike his current incarnation did to save Asahi. He knew then that he was truly his old friend reborn. But now that was all gone...Because of his own actions he turned Ryou into this monster before him. He unsealed Krishna who stole him away and merged with him. He made him completely snap by killing that girl Isabeau. He felt the worst chill down his spine when he heard Vishnu-Flynn start to chuckle. He was enjoying this?! The pure hearted self sacrificing idiot Ryou was enjoying this?!

“What the fuck have I done?”, Akira thought in complete horror from deep within Nanashi.

“Ryou! Ryou! Stop, please! Snap out of this! This isn’t you!”, Akira begged his voice cracking as he did so, knowing full well he couldn’t hear his begging.

No no someone had to stop him before he completely lost his humanity.

Flynn was beyond being enraged that word hardly encapsulated the fire he felt from within his soul. Even before all of this he had lost so many people close to him, his parents and Issachar. He still remembered the deep horror he felt when he realized...he killed his own mother without even realizing it. Once that guy apologized about not being able to help his parents his mind went completely blank. He killed every demon in his way without an ounce of mercy as he desperately searched for them. He didn’t know that one of the camazotzs was his mother. He didn’t know any of the demons in the forest were his fellow villagers at that point. When he found out he completely broke down. It was difficult to hide from the others he had to put on his own iron mask so they didn’t see him completely break down. He realized it when he finally found his father. He was still human, a bit mangled and in serious need of medical attention, but he was alive. But, then his hopes were completely dashed…

Flashback

It was after their first encounter with the black samurai, Lilith. Extreme relief entered his eyes when he saw one of the medics had his father. His fellows were off to themselves right now. He practically ran over to him when he saw him hope that his mother may be alive too bubbled up inside him. He didn’t expect his father. His strong, loving father to look absolutely terrified when he saw him. He was extremely confused when his father jumped back squirming away from the doctor when he saw him. That’s when he knew something was horribly wrong. He looked over his uniform checking for blood which may have spooked him. He gasped when he realized he had quite a lot on him. How did he not notice? He was just so focused he completely blotted out everything else.

“W-wait dad I can explain-“, He stuttered.

“S-stay away from me! Y-you turned into a-a m-monster like your mother did didn’t y-you?! Y-you here to finish me off!”, his father accused completely hysterical.

“M-my mother?! Mom...she….”, He muttered before he completely froze.

He pulled out a wooden sword guard shaped not unlike a flower from his pocket. It was badly worn, cracked, and had blood spattered on it. He recognized it as the one from the toy sword his mother made from him which he used to use to spar with Issachar. His mother may have disliked his friend, but she acknowledged that Flynn as a kid needed a friend to play with. Despite her distaste she made that toy sword full of love hoping he’d have lots of fun with it. He found it after he killed a demon which at the time confused him. He remembered the demon rushing up to him, but it wasn’t attacking strangely. He was too out of it though...when he fought he entered this state where he completely lost control over himself...He was just fighting blindly not thinking of anything else. He had no idea how it happened...it just did. He remembers coldly cutting down the demon that approached him without remorse. Thinking about it now he felt deeply sickened and revulsed by himself. Especially after realizing only now he was covered in blood. This feeling only worsened when he put two and two together.

That demon was his mother. He killed his mother.

He felt extremely lightheaded and nauseous now. His breathing became extremely heavy. His eyes widened at the realization.

“Ah! Ah!”, he gasped in complete horror.

He felt like he was about to have a panic attack as he clutched chest. He shook uncontrollably, hardly able to form coherent words as he imagined his mother’s warm smile. The doctor looked alarmed hearing the incoherent distressed noises he was making. For the first time he felt his soul wail. He completely collapsed on the ground. His father was right, he was a monster. He killed his own mother!

Flashback end

His father was deemed to be under demonic possession and had an exorcism performed on him which killed him. He wasn’t possessed, he was driven insane by seeing the woman he loved turn into a demon and thought the same thing happened to his son when he came over to him covered in blood! He killed Issachar too; he begged him to do so, but he didn’t want to lead his best friend to only suffer more. Then, Jonathan and Walter he knew they were dead from his illusionary Walter’s words. He still wishes he could have done something like awaken them from inside the beings that stole their bodies. However, he couldn’t they died as Lucifer and Merkabah twisted embodiments of their ideals. Isabeau...He didn’t kill her directly, but it was his fault she died. If he had woken up sooner rather than letting himself fall prey to Krishna’s illusion he could have saved her. No he should have never let himself be captured by the Divine Powers! He should have found another way to save Asahi and escape...Everything that has happened over these past few days, everyone who died because of the Divine Powers and Nanashi, they were all on his hands. H-he felt like he was close to snapping a morbid chuckle was coming from his lips as he tore Nanashi apart. Surely he didn’t deserve this even with the horrible things he’s done. He was just a kid, for all he knew that being that made him like this manipulated him into doing all this.

A deep part of Flynn...Ryou didn’t want to believe Akira would do something so horrible. Surely not? It had to be a mistake. Akira would never do something so heartless…right? But...Kiyoharu and Kenji did. They were his best friends since childhood he knew them so well yet they changed into something unrecognizable from their former selves. Then, they committed horrible atrocities for what they believed in before he struck them down himself. He personally saw through Flynn’s eyes the horrible words he would have created if he sided with them. Even that deep part of him didn’t seem sure of anything anymore. Nothing seemed to work. He remembers more than Flynn does. He remembers his past lives where he followed four different paths. He despised most of them except the third path, the neutral path which for some odd reason was going very differently in this cycle. He chose that third path again, but it seems like everything has only gotten worse for some reason. If Flynn didn’t wake up sooner then everything...everything he had fought for, sacrificed himself for would be gone. He knew more than Flynn, he could see Krishna’s memories; he knew the depravity of Dadga’s selfish plan. It was...Childish. He understood defeating YHVH, but that’s where it ended. Destroying the entire world, the world people had out there heart and soul into bettering and protecting just because you wanted the world to be ‘your’ ideal it was...beyond selfish. That plan spat on all the hard work and sacrifices humanity has made to better their world. Krishna wasn’t a saint either; he was nearly just as bad with his forced salvation plan. At least he had some love for humanity...even if it was twisted. But, Dadga’s plan was undoubtedly worse. This foolish god seriously believed that all a person needed was themselves. That’s completely wrong for a god of knowledge he sure didn’t know much. Humans were social creatures by nature; they needed each other to survive. No one is perfect and his world would be undoubtedly polluted by his own biases and cruel beliefs. Besides how was Ryou supposed to honestly believe that someone willing to sacrifice their allies and even the whole universe was going to be a more benevolent ruler than YHVH? He already was like YHVH, manipulating and sacrificing people for his own ends. They were exactly the same...It would be the same cruel world YHVH created just with a new face in control. It completely tore him up that Akira was actually a part of this depraved plan. He wanted to cling onto the idea he was manipulated and controlled but...He remembers destroying Tokyo he sacrificed himself for with his own hands alongside the angels. He remembers filling the world with demons and ruling over the hell on Earth he created. He remembers unmaking the world in a moment of weakness. He made these same horrible mistakes and he did those same horrible atrocities as the others. He had become the same if not worse than them.

Ryou still wanted to forgive, but he could hardly forgive even himself anymore. He felt bad for his current self; he was just as distressed and confused as he was, except he didn’t fully understand why. Despite his past lives memories being locked up he still had feelings and echoes of those lives within himself. From his law cycle he had obtained the ability to completely shut everything else out and focus on a singular goal no matter how depraved. His magic power had carried over and growled continuously stronger with every cycle. His inhuman level of sword skill was also for that life mostly from strangely after his death. After his death he became an angel for a confusing amount of time not even he was sure how long. Something that still deeply revulsed him. He remembers having a divine sword then YHVH gave him. Honestly, he didn’t remember the name, but honestly he just wanted to forget any of that happened. He became YHVH’s sword, cutting down anything that opposed him, even fellow messiahs for other worlds. He understood it was a long time, but he wasn’t sure how long than his ‘forgiving’ god shoved him back into the cycle he decided on as his punishment for saving Tokyo from his wrath as soon as he was done with him. Unbelievable...If there’s one being he truly hated it was YHVH. From his chaos cycle he gained the ability to completely give into his instincts and battle using instinct alone. Along with that rage he didn’t remember having. That alone has caused many troubles for the current Flynn especially what’s...currently transpiring. It even affected him. Making him go completely berserk at times if he felt really angry or got too into a battle. Without that cycle he would have never...Not even in his law cycle enjoyed hurting others. The king of Tokyo enjoyed a lot of things he disagreed with because he didn’t care. His heart had been turned rotten by Lucifer and he stopped caring about anyone, but himself. Honestly, his nihilism cycle didn’t contribute much, but his revulsion with his previous cycles unknowingly affected Flynn’s decision in that cycle to unmake the world. From his neutral cycle he combined his law cycle’s skill with his chaos cycle’s instinct to create a deadly combination in battle. He didn’t have as much time to refine his combat as his law cycle, but he still did improve it in the lifetime he had along with his magic like his other cycles. That first time he chose neutral was the happiest one that he hoped would stick; however, that hope was dashed when after a long and fulfilled life he woke back up at Lake Mikado again. However , that life influenced this Flynn to choose neutral again. He guessed he was still trapped because YHVH wasn’t done with him yet. He suspects YHVH wasn’t happy with him having an enjoyable cycle even if it wasn’t perfect. So, this time things changed he was prevented from removing the firmament and he was captured by the Divine Powers. Now, Akira was trying to destroy the world he once defended like he did. He could practically imagine YHVH laughing in his face while they killed each other.

“Please stop this Akira! We shouldn’t be fighting each other! Please forgive him Flynn! I know you’re hurting I can feel your pain! Please!”, Ryou begged, sobbing uncontrollably.

A less forgiving part of him couldn’t help but take pleasure in tearing Nanashi to shreds. He is the one who killed Isabeau, the last of his original prentice group. His heart hurt more than he expected when she was killed. He was the one who released Krishna and put him into this whole mess. He...He!

“Kill him! Kill him! Make him regret ruining things for us!”, that angered voice in his mind said which reminded him of the illusionary Walter.

#shin megami tensei #smt4 #smt4 apocalypse #flynn smt #issachar #walter smt #isabeau smt #jonathan smt #my crappy writing #avoiding some tags to prevent spoilers

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ace-t-fic · 3 years

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This a Peter si fic I started (its purely 'feel good' no eye roll moments) but never found out what I wanted to do with it. This hasn't been grammar checked ethier.

The yearly trip to science industries (after the fiasco concerning OC labs) was heavily guarded by the gpa efficiency minimum and it was usually 123 Seniors at Midtown high each year. That only left less than 30 who had the gpa needed in order to attend the field trip. But with detentions and tardies that often brought it down to 25 added in with the people who actually turned in their permission slips drop that number down to a solid 13. That usually meant the whole decathlon team, one jock, the Sat acres and people with tiger parents.

So when the paper was only passed to Peter and Flash in their homeroom he wasn’t surprised who qualified for the field trip.

Last year's field trip the students all got to go to Tesla and returned the day after. Liz said it was a fun experience and even one of the kids was later offered an internship available to him after their graduation. Liz herself wasn’t all that interested in the company herself but she said the experience was an enjoyable one. So Peter would have been lying if he said he wasn’t practically buzzed for when his senior year trip came.

He wondered if they would be able to tour the new labs Wakanda had set up. He wanted to go for a while but their outside personnel was strictly limited to certified personnel and those with names that ended with Stark or Banner or Avengers. But the name staring back at him was just laughing at him, “congratulations, you have qualified for this year's exclusive Senior trip to SI inc.” an all paid expense to visit his work. Now instead of taking the City bus he could just catch a ride on a big ugly yellow one.

Not that this was a let down it was still an amazing opportunity many would kill for. He thought gazing behind him to stare at Flash who fist bumped the air. The attention caught his attention and he made brief eye contact with Peter with a smug little smile on his face. Peter only flashed back his before the flash rolled his eyes and no longer paid him attention.

Flash still didn’t partially believe Peter's internship-neither did anyone else really- but flash was the most put out about it. He would be lying if he says he wasn’t rooting for Peter the night of his junior year party. He even helped Diana, the maid clean and dust just in case Spiderman really did show up. And when he didn’t show up he told Peter exactly how he felt about it with a new string of nicknames. Added on to the occasional passive agressive shoulder shove but nothing more or less beyond that. Sure he was a dick but he wasn’t a good fighter, just richer than Parker he was beating him in the fight of life.

Peter only rolled his eyes back, shoving the paper into the back of his class notebook.

The minutes ticked by steadily as Peter waited to meet Ned at his locker. He’s almost deadly positive Ned received one too and is waiting to shake the life out of his shoulders. Peter may work at Si but Ned’s never been and the experience in itself is quite entertaining. Things are always different when best friends are involved.

“Anyone who received a field trip paper will have to have it signed and returned to me, the office, or Mrs. Meyers up to five days before the date of the field trip. Other than that we will continue on with the stock market Tomorrow!” The teacher screamed over the rustling papers and scraping chairs as he let them out a minute early, if you ask anyone on campus that made him the cool teacher.

Petter grabbed his folders, having lost another backpack he was sure laid webbed to the building and exited the room. He easily made it to his locker before Ned did and even got to close it before he was approached

“Dude you can show me your lab.” he whispered to peter.

“Actually I can’t, my lab is Tony’s and that's only because Bucky has been keeping him away from the lab.” Peter announced before he got his hopes up. “We’re probably gonna tour below mid level, I don't think they allow anyone without a permanent badge into any of the labs.”

“Do we get to meet any of the avengers?”

“Probably Bruce, he’s usually chilling with all the other scientists. It’ll be cool though you know i haven’t actually met him? The dude has to be dumb smart, you know Tony scraps ideas if he can’t get Bruce to sign off on them.” Peter gushes, before an arm is roughly swung around his shoulder. “Ow-no.”

Flashes pffts, “give me a break i hate this as much as you but apparently since I’m friends with idiots i have to slum it with you and- I’m sorry what's your-”

“Ned”

“Yeah Ned, that sounds familiar for the trip. I asked more about it and this might be a good time to turn in our submissions for the upcoming Intern conference. We get in ahead and we can probably impress him enough for our stuff to actually be looked at. Peter, I know your tech smart, I do numbers and possibilities and Ned we’ve been in coding since middle school together so we can definitely do that.” Flash rambles.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’ve been coding together for 6 years and you just barely remembered my name?”

“What I’m talking about-Peter is welcome to the winning team. Listen your smart parker you may or may not have an internship although its kinda sketchy that out of nowhere you a loser 17 year old defies all social laws and pops on the popularity chart” Understandable he still cursed Ned for saying anything right before he asked Mary jane to prom god that was embarrassing.

You know that fancy stuff doesn’t bother me Peter. If I wanted to solely date you for your internship I’d hope someone would’ve knocked sense into you to get over me.

“But I honestly feel as if we wow at least one impressionable person. They'll seek us an audience with Stark before the rest of the crowd.” Flash continues.

“You know that honestly doesn’t sound bad?” Ned finishes unsure over the look of alarm on Peter's face. Because yeah it’s not a bad idea and that expo meant the world to the real science losers around the GLOBE. And Ned really did want to be involved beyond the guy in the chair way before Peter turned into Spiderman. Peter would probably still be hands deep in his theories if he hadn’t gotten bit by some escaped lab spider. This expo at one point in his life -sophomore year- was the only thing that was gonna get Aunt May out of the nearly slumps.

And flash…. Well he’s just a fucking nerd to put it lightly he was just rich, and since he was rich and gushes this much about being a intern of all things meant he might’ve been worse then both Peter and Ned when they first envisioned running coffee for Tony stark.

Plus it would be kinda unfair to see if he could pull strings for Ned instead of proving that he was capable of it far more on his own. “Fiiiinn-”

“Whoop! You might actually not be so bad penis.” and with a clap on his shoulder disappearing with the ringing of the bell.

Peter clenched his jaw shooting a ‘why’ look at Ned, “Oh don’t give me that look, you think I want to work with him. He has money and resources and he is good at real numbers not technical of coding, look you're an spaceship mechanic, he does the landing the thrust or whatever they do and I’m the guy who counts down which is honestly better then both of those jobs-”

“Please Ned you're embarrassing me '' Peter laughed as he and Ned made their way through the day. 2 months until the field trip that was more than enough time for three geniuses to at least come up with a concept and a prototype for something cool.

Scrap that they’re screwed.

“I almost died.” Ned said, sitting in a shock of foam. “You guys just sat there, you were gonna watch me die.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Ned reared back at Flash's comment, “Dramatic! I just went up in flames!”

“Hey, it was your boy Peter who made it. Plus maybe if he didn’t bail early last Monday we could’ve caught that our numbers weren’t matching up with his” Maybe if some assholes weren't trying to rob F.E.A.S.T after their charity event he wouldn’t have had too.

“I told you things happen Flash, I do in fact have a life.”

“MJ tell you that”

“-oo burn”

“Ned!- ok listen in order for this hoverboard to work we have to make sure everything is matched up. It shouldn’t have done that so something else must’ve gone wrong too.” Peter explained grabbing the notebooks and tossing them on the Flashes workbench. Hoverboard and back to future stickers on the covers.

“Might be the fact that it isn’t Hovering. But that's just me.”

#peter parker #flash tompson #ned leeds #si feild trip

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moonstruckbucky · 5 years

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Come Over (4/7)

Summary: You’re new to New York City. Fresh out of post-grad and wanting a change of pace, and this change comes in more ways than one.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader. Neighbor AU.

Warnings for Chapter: A lot of cursing, a lot of italics, and a lot of football talk. (Ya girl’s a NE fan so.)

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Bucky, Sharon, this is my brother Clint and my best friend, Sam.”

The words are acrid as you say them, your throat constricting as if it wants to choke them back down. But you don’t, and you ignore Sam’s pointed look when you mention the words “Bucky’s girlfriend”.

Following your embarrassing event in the hallway, face aflame, you’d repeated your question, this time directing it at both of them rather than just Bucky. Sharon had agreed, and though you plastered on a smile, there was a sinking feeling in your gut. She’s nice enough, from what you’ve seen so far. But there’s an underlying tension between you.

At Clint’s, she plants herself between you and Bucky every chance she gets—in the kitchen as you socialize and on the couch when the game starts. You’re not dumb; you know she feels some sort of discomfort with you and Bucky being friendly with one another, and you idly wonder if this is who he’s always arguing on the phone with.

At first it’s uncomfortable sitting beside her and not saying a word, but then the beer and the excitement of the game kicks in and you kind of forget she’s there, she's so quiet. You, on the other hand, are on your feet with your brother and Sam and surprisingly Bucky, all yelling obscenities and orders at the players on the screen.

“Where’s the fucking flag?” you holler, gesturing at the TV. When the game continues with no penalty, you and Sam collectively groan. “Helmet to helmet and there’s no goddamn flag? These fucking refs!”

“That’s what you get when you support cheaters,” boasts Clint with a smirk. Bucky whistles lowly as you slowly turn a murderous glare to your brother.

“Careful, brother,” you warn, leaning across Sharon, who leans back as if you have an infectious disease, to point threateningly at Clint. “Don’t start a war you can’t finish.”

Clint cups his hands around his mouth and taunts, “My sister supports the Cheatriots.”

“Listen,” you say, rising from your seat again to tower over the group. Sam has his arms crossed and a look that says you’re gonna get it, Bucky watches on with wide, curious eyes, Sharon looks as if she’d rather be anywhere else, and Clint merely waits with a teasing smirk and his arms crossed. “Spygate? Witch hunt. Honest mistake, whatever. It was bullshit. And goddamn, motherfucking Snowplowgate was a pathetic excuse at cheating. And Deflategate was the biggest crock of shit to ever grace the NFL. Clearly nobody at that piece of shit organization has any idea what a goddamn fucking gas law is or how it even works! “May have been aware”—bullshit! Brady missed four games and they still won the goddamn Super Bowl. The Patriots haven’t done anything any more sacrilegious than any other team in the NFL. They just get the most shit because they have integrity and they win. Six rings, asshole, count em and eat shit.”

Sam mimes a mic drop and a glance at Bucky shows he’s impressed, eyebrows raised high and icy blue eyes sparkling. Sharon looks between the two of you and you feel your face heat. Clearing your throat, you scoop up your beer, drain it, and step around the couch to head towards the kitchen.

“Excuse me.”

Unsurprisingly, Clint has followed you in; you can hear Sam and Bucky talking and laughing through the entryway. He leans against the counter next to the fridge as you dig around, shove a few chips from the bowl in your mouth.

“So I think Bucky just fell in love.”

You nearly choke on your chip as you sharply inhale. Coughing harshly, you wash it down with your newly opened beer and wait for your eyes to stop watering.

“Excuse me?”

Clint smirks and shrugs. “You heard me. Home boy looked about ready to propose.”

He’s speaking low enough that you won’t be heard, but still you crane your neck to look over his shoulder into the living room. Bucky and Sam are now sitting side by side on the couch, Sharon on the end scrolling through her phone. None of them seem to have heard anything.

You grunt. “You’re full of shit.”

He grins and shakes his head once. “With the way he was looking at you? No way.”

“I think you need your eyes checked, brother.”

“Oh are we discussing the way Bucky practically undressed Y/N with his eyes after her tirade?” chimes Sam as he enters the kitchen. You hurry to shush him, slapping a hand over his mouth as you cast another look into the living room. Bucky and Sharon sit stiffly on the couch, exchanging hushed but frenzied words if Sharon’s expression is anything to go by. Bucky’s shoulders are tense as he leans his elbows on his knees, the taut muscles straining against his navy long-sleeve.

What you don’t notice is the look that passes between Sam and Clint, matching smirks curving their mouths as you watch Bucky and Sharon in the midst of an obvious argument. You chew the inside of your cheek as Bucky leans back into the couch, shoulders relaxing, but only slightly. Sighing through your nose, you turn back to your brother and friend.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what we were discussing,” Clint finally answers with a cheeky little smile to which you roll your eyes.

“Whatever, guys. You both need your eyes checked. Pronto. Maybe your heads while you’re at it.” Behind you, they scoff, and you lead the way out of the kitchen.

Even without having witnessed an argument between the couple, you can feel the tension. Fortunately, halftime is over and the game resumes, just barely cutting through the negative atmosphere. Soon, you, Sam, Clint, and Bucky are all yelling at the television again.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, it’s a tie game and Sharon’s phone goes off. She checks it and begins to rise from the couch.

“I have some work to do,” she announces, shoving her phone back in her jacket pocket. She turns to Bucky, “We should go.”

He looks imploringly up at her and gestures to the TV with his beer. “There’s only eight minutes left. Can we stay? Or I’ll catch up to you? I just want to stay to the end.”

It unsettles you, the way he asks her, the trepidation in his voice. As if she were a bomb about to go off and not a person. You keep your gaze averted but your ears are open, as are Sam’s and Clint’s.

“I really think it’d be easier if you and I left together, James. I’m sure Y/N will tell you the outcome later.”

Though you can’t pinpoint why, the tone in which she says this has your grip tightening on your bottle. Just a fraction so that it’s unnoticed. Out of the corner of your eye, you watch Bucky stare her down for a few beats too long before he sighs, sets down his beer a little harder than intended on the coffee table, and stands up.

Disappointment floods you, and you hope it doesn’t show on your face when Bucky announces they have to leave. Sharon’s watching him like a hawk when he says goodbye to Clint, Sam, and finally, you, leaning over you to hug you—if you can call it that. He barely touches you, and you know it must be because Sharon’s narrowing her eyes at the two of you. He straightens, shoulders and smile stiff, and then the two of them are gone.

“Aight,” Sam says a few moments later in the quiet of the living room, “I’m just gonna say it, she’s such a bitch.”

“Wow, she sounds like a bitch,” Wanda observes the next day at work. You’re on lunch in the cafe on the bottom floor, and you’d told her all about your interesting weekend. Like your brother and Clint, she’s convinced Bucky has a thing for you despite his...wonderful girlfriend.

“You’re telling me. Obviously she’s got some insecurity issues going on. She would not let me near him at all. I thought she was going to burn holes in my head when he hugged me goodbye.”

Wanda grimaces and sticks a French fry in her mouth. “Yikes. You said you hear him arguing a lot? You think it’s with her?”

Snorting, you nod with an incredulous expression. “I’m almost positive it’s her. I can never hear exactly what he’s saying, but if yesterday was anything to go by, they fight a lot. Poor Bucky. He’s always so nice. How could he be with someone so...not?”

“Maybe they weren’t always like that, you know? Maybe this is all a recent development.”

You hum thoughtfully, eyes losing focus as you zone out for a few minutes. Your Stark watch beeps, signalling the end of your lunch. Sighing, you stand up from your seat and Wanda follows. After dumping your trash, you head back to the elevator.

Truth is, you feel bad for Bucky. And for Sharon...kind of. But only in the way that something has happened to her to make her see anyone and everyone as a threat to their relationship. It isn’t healthy, and you know Bucky’s smart enough to know it, too. But what could you do? You aren’t close enough with him to advise him to end it, and sitting idly by while she controls him feels wrong.

You think so much and so hard about it you get a headache. Fortunately, you have enough work on your plate to keep yourself occupied.

Later that evening, back in your apartment, you’re about to settle in for the new Dateline episode with a glass of wine when an all-too-recognizable moan is heard through the shared wall of yours and Bucky’s apartments. You grimace at the same time your heart drops, and you pull heavily from the wine glass and turn up the TV.

If at all possible, Sharon seems to get louder, more high-pitched the higher your volume goes.

Guess they made up, you type bitterly to Sam. Sharon’s wailing like a banshee.

You know it’s another territorial move on her part, and you can’t help but wonder if Bucky knows that as well. He’s far quieter, so much so you can’t even hear him over the whines of Sharon.

Your phone pings.

Awkward, Sam types back, need to escape?

Tempting. But I have an early start tomorrow.

Your date with Dateline gets cut short when they go for round two.

The next morning is...awkward, to say the least. Bucky’s dressed casually, no doubt for work, while Sharon hangs off him in the doorway. She’s giggling, and even Bucky has a grin on his face. When he notices you walking towards them, eyes pointed straight ahead because it’s awkward enough having heard them last night, his face goes bright red. You wait for the elevator, foot tapping and mind silently telling it to hurry the hell up because you really don’t want to be stuck in an elevator with Bucky.

But luck is not on your side and you hear his door close just as the elevator doors slide open. Bucky’s feet thud on the hallway carpet as he jogs to catch the elevator, and you’re almost ashamed to admit you very nearly press the ‘Door Close’ button on him. But he shoves an inked arm through and slides inside, leans against the wall adjacent to you.

He’s still as red as a tomato as he shoves his hands in his pockets and looks down at his boots. The air in the elevator tense and thick and it nearly makes you choke. Your heart thuds in your chest as you shift from foot to foot, even pull out your phone and scroll through social media in order to escape the awkwardness.

“I, uh, want to apologize if you heard us last night,” he stammers, that blush of his creeping down his neck and up to his ears. He’s rubbing the back of his neck when you glance over at him, give a small shrug to play it off like you’re indifferent. “Sharon can be...passionate.”

Internally, you wince. Didn’t really need to know that. But instead you respond with, “Glad you two seemed to work out whatever was up with you on Sunday.”

Bucky flinches and frowns deeply, taking to scratching at the light stubble on his jaw now. “You noticed that huh?”

He sighs when you nod. “Sharon’s…away for work a lot. It kind of puts a strain on things.”

For reasons unknown to you, you feel a small rise of irritation as the elevator touches down on the ground floor, and you sneer, “Well, I’m glad you both have the passion to sort out your issues.”

You can tell Bucky’s watching you wide-eyed and confused as you saunter out of the elevator, and even you can’t quite tell where the urge to snap at him had come from. His ignorance to acknowledge his girlfriend has security issues? The fact that he’d kept his neighbor up until almost midnight sorting out their issues? Or perhaps it’s just your unreasonable, growing jealousy that Sharon gets to know what he sounds like under those particular circumstances. Gets to see every expression that passes over his face or the way his body reacts to minute little teasing.

God, you’re so fucked.

Chapter Five

#bucky barnes x you #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes x reader #neighbor au #neighbor!bucky #bucky barnes neighbor au #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes smut

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

Text

Survey #383

“the big bully try to stick his finger in my chest / try to tell me, tell me he’s the best / i don’t really give a good goddamn ‘cuz i got my lunchbox & i’m armed real well”

Ever had a friend online for a long time without seeing a photo of them? Well yeah. Most of my friends are online, and while I've seen pictures of most at least once or twice, some I still haven't. The last time you threw up, what caused it? It was a side effect of a mood stabilizer I started. Any foods from other countries you would like to try but haven’t yet? I'm sure there's something, idk. Do you think the world would be more peaceful without any religion? Yes. Have you ever had a stalker? No. Does it hurt your feelings when people talk shit about things you love? It makes me self-conscious way more than anything. I start to obsess over whether or not the person things poorly or weirdly of me for liking what I like. I just feel judged for liking it, but that's my problem. Do you like it when people give you nicknames? I do, actually. It feels kinda affectionate to me. Do you often find yourself checking out people’s butts? Haha I'm not gonna say it's never happened, but it's not something I make a habit out of for sure. What fandoms are you in? MEERKAT MANOR IS BACK BAYBEEEE, Markiplier, Silent Hill, Shadow of the Colossus, World of Warcraft, Spyro, Wings of Fire, and lots more, honestly. I'm into a lot of stuff, and I don't love in moderation, haha. Are there any fandoms you used to be in, but left? Yeah, like Supernatural, Good Mythical Morning, or Warriors, but it wasn't out of "I don't like it anymore" or anything, I just drifted away. Anything the fans in your fandoms do that pisses you off? World of Warcraft if particular has one of the most toxic fucking fanbases. There are so many goddamn elitists and people who whine about "boohoo WoW is dying" and "omg this game has been trash since Wrath" and yada yada yada and it's annoying as hell. They always find some shit to complain about. Then Silent Hill... ugh. I think people just hop onto the "the series sux after 1-4" bandwagon to fit in with a certain crowd, but that's not the main thing that annoys me; rather, it's the fact the former main admin of the SH wiki made a fucking joke out of us there. He was clearly having personal issues and made a HUGE and utterly ridiculous deal of Silent Hill 4 having heavy symbolism to the main character being obsessed with the bullshit idea of him being circumcised, and it led to a maaaassive thread of us members trying to talk some damn sense into him as he abused his power. He was finally banned by the Wikia staff, but not in time for some gaming websites to publish "news" stories about it because it was just that ludicrous. Now, YEARS later, we still get trolls coming onto the site to try and revive the drama by inserting absolute rubbish into pages or making new ones. Nowadays I'm the main administrator there, and it's fucking embarrassing sometimes. I'm supposed to keep the wiki under control and respected, you know? Ugh, I'll stop. I could rant for a very long time about this. Do you prefer ruffly or regular potato chips? Ruffly. Do you write down your own recipes, or just commit them to memory? I don’t cook. What color do you want to dye your hair? My top three are pastel pink, lilac, and a light creamsicle orange. I REALLY want to dye it SOMETHING. :( How do you like your chicken? Of course breaded (like nuggets, tenders) is my favorite, but I also enjoy is broiled and seasoned well. There's other ways, but because I don't cook, I, uh... don't know how a lot are made lmao. Do you enjoy cheese fries? UUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH YES. Do you eat refried beans? I absolutely hate beans, so no. What is a food you enjoy, but don’t have very often? A whole lot because a lot of it is from restaurants and we don't eat out all that much. As well, my diet is very narrow just because of how picky I am. Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn? Why? I mean, what are we comparing them for? I think Audrey is fucking gorgeous, though. Marilyn is also beautiful. Favorite fictional world? Uh, I dunno. Do you use lint rollers often? No. Do you carry pepper spray? No, but I want to. Has your power ever gone out for more than a day? I think so. Other than a dislike button, what’s something you wish Facebook had? Hm, I dunno. What time do your parents normally get home from work? Mom can't work right now, but I think Dad gets off around 5PM. Are you afraid to ask people out on dates? Yep. Do you think it’s better to look for love or let it find you? Both can work, but I definitely prefer to let it find me. I feel that *in general* that usually has better results. Have you ever found yourself worrying about commitment? No. I'm a very committed person romantically. Would you get involved with someone if they had a child already? No. Have you ever had a rash from poison ivy? I don't believe so, no. Do you have any chairs in your bedroom? No. Did you watch Elmo as a child? Some, yeah. Do you know anyone who doesn’t eat meat? I don't think so, off the top of my head. When you throw up, do you cry? No, but I'm a whiner and will also shake from fear because I have such a phobia of vomiting. Doing it totally turns me into a baby. Who was the last person to carry you? I couldn't tell you the last person to full-on carry me, but back when I tore a ligament in my foot, my mom kinda had me lifted when she would help me walk. Is it easy for you to accept loss? Absolutely not. I handle it very, very poorly. Have you done anything sneaky lately? No. Have you ever had a rolling back pack? Yes. Who knows you better than anyone else? My mom, probably. Would you ever want to go to Brazil? Sure, if the opportunity came up. Are there any medical conditions that run in your family? A lot, mostly heart problems. What band has the best guitar solos? Metallica imo. Who is the biggest jerk you've ever met? She was somehow my former best friend. Have you ever swerved off the road to avoid hitting an animal? I've never been in that situation, thankfully. What's a charity you would never donate to? I'm really not familiar enough with charities and their practices to know which ones are sketch or not. Have you ever grown your own herbs? No. Do you have any exes you'd consider dating again? Yes. What were some of your favorite classes you took in high school? Art and German. Mythology was fun, too. Do you know anyone with a profession in law? Yeah, I have a cousin that's a lawyer. Have you ever Googled yourself? Yeah, outta curiosity. What's the shortest amount of time you've had between relationships? Like, two days. Part of the reason I left Girt was because I liked Sara. As a child, what comfort foods did your parents make for you when you were sick with a cold or flu? Chicken noodle soup. What's a movie series where the sequel was better than the original? Ha, for some reason Inspector Gadget came to mind. I guess from mentioning my childhood. I was FUCKING OBSESSED with that movie as a kid. The first one's fine, but I love the second one. Does your car have heated seats? Mom's doesn't. What is the strangest pizza topping you've ever eaten? Nothing strange, really. Describe your hometown. What’s it like there? Small and dangerous. Lots of run-down areas. A gang nearly broke into our house once, if that helps you get the picture. What was the last video game you beat? I replayed Silent Hill 2 forever ago. What did you learn from your last failed relationship? It really just taught me that you need to take care of your own mental health before you can effectively handle another's properly and strike a healthy balance. What country does your favorite band hail from? Britain. What’s something on your to-do list that never actually gets done? Finish decorating my room. -_- Have you ever been really passionate about something but then lost interest? If so, what was it? Good Mythical Morning, I suppose. I used to be OB-SESSED. I still adore Rhett and Link as people, they are fucking wonderful human beings and excellent entertainers, I just drifted away from their content. I don't really know why. Do you sleep with the TV or the radio on? No. What’s the worst thing about being male/female (whichever you are)? Menstrual cycles, I'd say. It affects your mood so much, and as someone who's bipolar, it can be very confusing. I like to know why I'm feeling a certain way. What movie has the best special effects? /shrug How many work hours per week is too much for you? I wouldn't know, I've never really worked long enough to figure this out. Can you remember your first day of school? I think I have the faintest memory of it. I know I was very scared to leave my mom (I had absolutely awful separation anxiety from her) and I MIGHT have cried, but I don't really recall with certainty. Have you ever entered a modelling competition? Would you? No thanks. Did you keep any drawings/stories from when you were younger? Most, no, because the level of cringe is LITERALLY unbearable for me. Do you have a safe? Mom does somewhere. What’s the scariest thing to happen to you so far? The breakup. That night was just fucking terrifying. I was so certain my life was over, like the situation was so, so impossible in my head. What was your last dream about? (or your daydream if you don’t remember) My memory's faint, but I just remember I had a nightmare where a LOT of my bones were totally snapped in half. When was the last time you saw a relative? Excluding my immediate family, I last saw my now-departed grandmother and my uncle a while back at a hotel as they were passing through. Have you ever been in a TV audience? No. Are you in any way close to reaching a personal goal? Not really... Do you prefer crosswords or word searches? Word searches. Do you like making collages? Not really. Do you remember any inside jokes from childhood? No. What would you love to learn to do? Digital art, like drawing on a tablet. Do you prefer monkeys or lemurs? Lemurs. Do you watch movies based on the actors or the movie plot? The plot, 100%. Are you more shy in real life or on the internet? I am WAY more shy irl.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''lunchbox'' by marilyn manson

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ambivalent-anarchy · 4 years

Text

Star Wars 101 (Ch. 2) Episode IV - A New Hope

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Wow, I didn't realize how much I'd written until I hit the tumblr limit. Hope you like it! Comment your thoughts!

Chapter Summary: Steve just wants to do his job, the avengers are the best wingmen, Scott doesn't like porn, and [y/n] thinks all nerds are freaky

~~~

sci-fi boi: okay which cartoon rivalry was better?? Popeye the sailor man and Bluto or Tom and Jerry?

crackhead [y/n]: dude.

crackhead [y/n]: how is that even a question??? Obviously Tom and Jerry lol

sci-fi boi: explanation pls

crackhead [y/n]: popeye and bluto were always fighting over that girl olive and some other stupid crap but with my two furry buddies it was no talk pete no discussions just murder attempts ON SIGHT. Tell me they don't go harder than any other rivalry

sci-fi boi: haha truuuu

~~~

"Are we boring you, Queens?"

Peter's head snapped up quickly, discreetly turning his phone off underneath the meeting table. "Um-huh? No no no, Mr. Rogers I'm listening. Sorry."

Steve shook his head and continued to speak as he pointed to the pictures on the screen at the end of the room. All of the Avengers of Earth were there, some half asleep, while the others either joked or listened intently.

In two short days, they were going to be taking back powerful tech that Martin Li(aka: Mr. Negative)'s "demons" had stolen from Stark Industries. A simple "get in and get out".

They'd known this plan for some days now, yet Steve insisted on calling meetings to go over it again and again.

Feeling a quick vibration go off in his hand, Peter instinctively looked back down at his phone to see a snapchat text notification from you.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible🐝...

~~~

Peter shook his head slightly as he chuckled, a smile shamelessly creeping onto his face.

~~~

sci-fi boi: did you really just quote the bee movie at me???😂😂

~~~

"Hey spidey-boy, would you mind sharing to the class what's so hilarious?" Rhodey's voice rang out loud and clear from across the table.

Quick as lightning, Peter turned his phone off and buried it in between his thighs, realizing that he hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought. To his luck, everyone’s eyes were trained on him now.

“It's n-nothing!” Peter squeaked, his voice breaking embarassingly. He shoved his phone into his pocket in fear of someone snatching it from him.

Natasha rolled her eyes and smirked. "So what're you looking at down there?"

"I-i, uh, I was just um, w-watching a funny- very funny video actually-"

"C'mon guys!," Sam laughed, clapping his hands together. "Don't tease the kid. We all know what he was smiling at down there!"

At that, Peter practically choked. "WHAT?!"

Tony snickered. "Personally, I don't think two inches is something to be proud of, but alright."

Peter's eyes widen, nearly falling out of his skull by the looks of it. "I-it's not two inches a-and I wasn't looking at-!"

"Jesus christ, guys..." Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He was obviously just doing something on his phone. Leave the poor guy alone."

Peter coughed as he saw Steve glare at him with that infamous 'Im Captain America and Im judging you' glare. Phones weren't allowed in the meeting room. Well, they weren't supposed to be. No one ever really followed that rule except Peter. But he'd already been so deep in his conversation with you that he just couldn't put his phone down. "No no, um, I wasn't.. I was just zoning out, y'know, and I just happened to be looking-"

"-at your phone?," Steve cut in to ask.

"-at your dick," Rhodey stated at the same time.

"-at porn," Tony said with an all-knowing smile, causing everyone at the table to turn towards either him or Peter, whose face was beet red with embarrassment.

"Peter please tell us you weren't watching porn," Scott begged, his jaw completely dropped. "I mean, no judgment but-"

"Full judgement, actually," Clint corrected, an extremely disturbed look on his face. "Seriously, what were you doing, kid? You gotta tell us now with all these assumptions being thrown around."

"Curious," Thor stated, leaning back in his chair. "What is porn?"

"Something that I definitely WAS NOT watching!," Peter responded as he practically slammed his face into the table and slapped his hands over his eyes. "Does it even matter what I was doing anyway?," he mumbled into the table.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, blowing the smoke off of her coffee. "People usually aren't this defensive when they're telling the truth, Peter."

Peter shrunk into his seat with a loud groan. Can I die. Can I please just die. Like why am I seriously even alive right now??? Some bad guy please just burst through the door and maim me please.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. pull up Parker's phone," Tony commanded once the commotion in the room died down.

Peter quickly lifted his head. "Wait, what?!"

"Accessing Peter Parker's mobile device, sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded. "Would you like for me to transfer the screen to the meeting board?"

Tony looked back with a laugh to see a frozen, slack-jawed Peter. He turned back around. "Yeah sure, F.R.I.D.A.Y., what the heck let's have fun."

"No wait- are you seriously hacking into my phone right now?!"

"Well why're you so tense, Parker?," Sam asked teasingly. "Thought you had nothing to hide?"

"I-i don't!," he stammered. "I-it's just..." he trailed off, looking for the right words to say. "..that's my private property," he said lamely while staring at the wall.

Tony stared back at him. "Well that's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard." He pointed towards the board. "Alright it's coming up."

Scott closed his eyes. "Oh God, please don't be porn.."

Peter rolled his eyes. Everyone else looked to the large board, fully expecting to see either porn or just some stupid game the boy had been playing.

But none of them expected him to be texting a girl.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: hey u still there?

~~~

"Who's crackhead [Y/N]?," Natasha asked.

Scott turned to Rhodes who was sitting on the side of him. "Is that some trashy porn star?," he whispered.

"Why're you asking me like I know?"

"It's this girl from school.." Peter answered, blushing profusely.

"And you like her," Natasha noted, watching his body language intently.

The boy's eyes widened. "N-no I don't!"

"Why crackhead though?," Rhodey asked, crinkling his nose.

Peter shrugged. "That's what she wanted her name to be," here responded. "Thought it was funny."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just like you thought 'sci-fi boi' was funny?" Shaking his head, he changed focused. "Guys, are we gonna get back to work or not?"

"Not," Tony answered as he scrolled up all the way to the beginning of the messages from early that morning. "So, you've been texting this girl today off and on since..." He checked the time. "Five in the morning?"

Clint chuckled. "Oh yeah, huge crush."

“No!” Peter protested, his voice an octave too high. Realizing that it isn’t working, he decided to try a different technique. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound and act as nonchalant as possible. “She’s just a friend from school.”

"She's first on your best friends list, even over that computer kid you practically live with. And you and her practically snap each other nonstop."

Peter scratched his nose. "W-well that's only cuz Ned doesn't like to text much."

Bruce took his glasses off and sighed, realizing there was no way this meeting was getting back on topic. "Look Pete," he said. "Friends don't do that. I've seen it all before. If you and this girl are talking on a daily basis all throughout the day starting at five in the morning?" He titled his head in a suggestive way, though Peter stared back at him blankly.

"What?," Peter asked.

"Oh my God, kid," Bruce sighed.

Tony held his head back and laughed. "It means either she likes you and your just too dense, you like her but won't admit it and she's just concerningly nice, or you both like each other and just won't make your moves!"

Sam, who hadn't lifted his eyes from the board the entire time, spoke up. "And judging by these texts, you already got her, it's just not official yet."

Tony kept scrolling. "You two went to winter formal together?"

"Yeah... but as friends," Peter said with a shrug.

Steve cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room at once. He looked at Peter who was doing everything here could not to look him in the eye. "Look, as much as I would love to talk about Peter's sad love life, we have a mission-"

"-that will still be there tomorrow, Cap," Bucky finished for him. "C'mon we've been going over this stuff for hours. Let us have this distraction."

Everyone looked to him, Tony feigning a puppy dog expression. Crossing his arms, he left the room. "Fine, but when someone gets hurt because they didn't know where they were supposed to go, don't blame me."

"...literally no one's ever blaming you, man," Sam said.

Suddenly, the screen lit up and F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke. "Sir, Peter Parker has a new message."

Everyone looked to the board. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Scroll down, Mr. Stark. Scroll down!," Peter yelled frantically. "What's she saying?"

Natasha smirked. "And you're sure you don't like her, Peter?"

His face flushed. "Okay fine...I might have a tiny crush-"

"I'm sorry I can't hear you," Tony cut in. "Can you say that agai-"

"-I SAID YEAH I REALLY LIKE THIS GIRL!," Peter finally yelled with his eyes squeezed shut. He kept them closed for about twenty seconds afterwards, afraid of the judging faces he would see if he opened them.

He carefully opened his eyes to see all of the avengers (minus Cap) staring back at him with stupid smiles and smirks on their faces.

"Well, that's all I needed to hear," Tony said. He clapped his hands together. "Okay everybody, first order of business, checking the text. Sam, you're our reader."

"Got it."

"What?," Peter yelled, reaching for his phone. Tony dodged him and gave it to Sam. "Mr. Stark, I can text a girl on my own. I don't need help."

"Nat, you're our timer. Make sure none of the responses take longer than a minute. We don't want the girl to get bored and go on to something else."

"Check."

"Mr. Stark, c'mon-"

"Sam, you explain stuff to lightning head over here if he doesn't understand it. This could be learning moment for ole Shakespeare. Thor, you listen to Sam."

"Right."

"On it."

"Everyone else, you're with me. We gotta find the perfect thing to say to this girl. I've got a feeling this is probably the only chance he's gonna have to get a girl in a long time."

Rhodes, Scott, Clint, Bruce, and Wanda looked to each other and nodded.

"And Pete?"

Peter raised his head. "Yes sir?"

"You know this girl more than anybody here does, so you tell us if what we say is appropriate for her or not."

Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

Tony pointed to Sam. "Okay, read it."

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: u going to flash's party on saturday??

~~~

"She wants to know if the kid's going to some party Saturday."

Tony turned to the boy. "You're going," her demanded.

Flash was the most popular douchebag in school. Totally rich and totally rude and totally determined to use his every breath to spite Peter. "I wasn't even invited," Peter mumbled, shooting a glare towards Sam when he heard him laughing.

"Well get invited," Tony ordered. "A party is the perfect place to make a move. Send yes."

~~~

sci-fi boi: yes

~~~

"Mr. Stark, how am I supposed to get into this party? Flash hates me! And if I crash it and Flash sees me, he's gonna make sure everyone thinks I'm a loser!"

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. "Peter we're trying to help you here. Figure that part out on your own."

Peter sighed, leaning forward in his chair. The last thing he wanted was another assignment, even if it wasn't actually an assignment. On the plus side, he'd get to see you, and maybe have some fun if he actually tried to enjoy himself.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: cool so i guess ill go too

~~~

Rhodey chuckled while shaking his head. "Kid, if you don't ask this chick out the second you see her again, I'm gonna bodyslam you."

Peter frowned. "What do you mean?"

Bruce smiled. "Whether or not she went to the party was depending on if you were going," he pointed out.

"This girl used to be like that with me back in college," Scott said with a shrug. "Thought she liked me. Turned out she just had social anxiety..."

"Yeah you're really not helping this, bugman," Tony said.

"Wait, you guys think [Y/N] actually likes me back?," Peter asked, getting groans and laughs in return.

"Where have you been the last few minutes?," Natasha said.

"We've literally been saying that this entire time," Sam deadpanned.

Peter stared at his feet below the table. If the team was right, and you did actually like him back, then the movie marathon he was planning was the perfect excuse to hang out with you. "I-i think I might have a plan!," he rushed out, his head flying up. He pointed to Sam. "Ask her if she's free tonight!"

"Yes!," Thor yelled, his fists pumped into the air. "The spider child has grown his man balls!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Sam nodded approvingly as he texted.

~~~

sci-fi: r u free tonight??😉

~~~

"Wait hold on," Peter said, suddenly rushing towards the phone in a frantic manner. "Why is there a winking emoji?! I didn't say anything about a winking emoji!"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were flirti-"

Peter groaned. "Delete it, man. Delete it before her bitmoji pops up!"

"Okay okay, dang kid," Sam chuckled, quickly deleting the text and replacing it with one without a winking emoji. "There. And ya girl didn't even see it."

"Hey guys," Scott said. "I know we're all freaking out and stuff. But honestly, I'm just glad he wasn't watching porn." He shrugged. "So no matter what happens with this girl, today's still an absolute win."

It went on like this for a solid thirty minutes.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: yeah wassup

sci-fi boi: wanna come over and watch movies?

crackhead [y/n]: sure what're we watching

sci-fi boi: we can decide that when u get here. how about 4??

crackhead [y/n]: alright sure

~~~

"Okay, last thing," Tony said. "We need a sly compliment. Something not that special about her, but enough to show her that you're tuned in. Gets them every time, trust me."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Wow, lady-killer."

Tony pointed towards her and shrugged. "She said it, not me."

Thor looked to Peter. "So, young spider. What have you observed about your darling love?"

Peter blushed, almost wanting to comment on the Thor's word choice but ultimately deciding not to. "Well, um, her eyes light up a lot when she gets excited and it's really dorky in a cute kind of way I guess," he mumbled, scratching his head.

"Alright I got it," Sam said, typing the words in. He lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "Who knows, kid? There be some hope for you."

~~~

sci-fi boi: btw how do you get ur eyes to sparkle so bright when u get happy about stuff? Just thinking about it lol its cute

~~~

Peter blew out a shaky breath as he looked back over the set-up he'd made in the living room.

He'd cleared out space to build a super huge homemade blanket fort and inside it at the end was his tv. Towards the middle were all of pillows he could find inside the house and at the other end were snacks. All around the inside were fairy lights because he knew you liked them, though personally he found them cliche.

He spent about an hour on the whole set and an additional thirty minutes stressing over and making sure everything was safe (with all three fairy lights and tv cords). The last thing he needed was for the both of you to catch on fire while watching the movie.

The two of you were going to be watching Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (or as normal 'not-nerds' like to call it, "the first one"). Of course, he hadn't told the team that. If they'd known what movie he'd planned on showing her, high chances are they wouldn't have even let him out of Avengers tower. But if Peter was gonna be forced to hang out with someone (not that he was really complaining), he would at least pick the film.

Finally checking all the boxes in his head for the night, Peter went to go check the DVD before he heard your knock at the door.

"Coming!," he yelled, quickly chucking the disc into the DVD player. He ran to the door and opened it with an awkward smile. "Uh, hey [Y/N]."

"Hey," you said back, already sort of blushing. "How's it going?"

Peter stared. Are your eyebrows done or are they just naturally that nice? He found his voice after abruptly noticing that he was staring. "Uh-well. It's been going great! How's it going for y-you also as well?" He frowned. "I-i mean, what's been going on with your life lately? No, that's dumb. I meant-"

"Peter, Peter! Calm down, dude," you giggled. "I've been fine."

"Oh," he chuckled. "That's good... d-do you wanna come in?"

"Question. What're we watching, Peter?," you asked, a smile playing on your face. Considering what you remembered from the last time you were at his house, and the fort you could get a peek of from the doorframe, you figured it was special for the nerdy boy. Plus his shirt had Yoda on it.

Freakin' Star Wars.

Immediately, a wide grin spread across his face. "Remember what you promised me we'd watch?"

You rolled your eyes, stepping past him into his living room. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Time to get nerdy I guess."

"Come on, you'll love it,"Peter said, quickly closing the door behind them and then briskly running towards the fort to hold up the side blankets for you. "So, snacks and drinks are beside us. We'll chill on these blankets here. And...um, yeah. That's about it." After stepping outside for a bit to go turn off the lights(for the full "movie theater" experience), Peter laid down on his belly, reaching for the DVD player to press play.

You watched as he fumbled with the wires, making sure the DVD player was plugged in before turning it on. Has your jawline always been that sharp?

You couldn't quite place it, but his texts from before seemed.. weird. But not a bad weird at all. A good, intriguing weird.

And that compliment was pretty nice, but odd for Peter. Sure, he complimented you often, but it just felt different this time. Usually it'd be something like, "new dress?" or "nice shoes". But never "you're eyes sparkle when you get excited." Heck, you didn't even know that about you. Was he paying attention? Did that mean he-

You remember how he acted about Liz Allen and Michelle Jones. Always staring. Never able to even say a full sentence in front of them without stuttering up a storm.

But he was so comfortable about you for the most part. You were just a friend.

"Okay got it," Peter said, laughing excitedly as the screen in front of him lit up. He scooted back to where you were sat. "Prepare to have your mind blown."

The Fort quickly became dark as the Lucasfilm logo shined on the screen.

"I seriously dou-"

"Shhh!," he cut you off. "Wait for it..."

You gave him a look but joined him in his silence to see what he was waiting for.

BUMMMMM buh buh bummmm

Practically jumping on top of him, you flinched at the loud and sudden music. "Crap dude! Turn it down!"

Peter shook his head, reaching for a soda. "You have to get the full effect, [Y/N]!," he laughed. "Just embrace it." He began to sing with the music and mime crazy gestures as if he were directing an orchestra.

Duh duh duh DUH DUHHHHHHHH

Halfway through he stopped and recited the opening crawl, his eyes glued to the screen with a sort of focus that made you sure that not only was this not foreign to him, he probably did this every other week.

"It is a period of civil war," he mumbled, throwing some popcorn into his mouth. "Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic- [Y/N] you have to watch the words, I swear it'll make the whole experience better." It went on for a little while longer until he paused the movie and looked over at you, cowering a bit. "D-do I have something on my face?"

"Huh? Nah you're good," you said, realizing he'd noticed you staring. "It's just-" you remembered his text from earlier. "-you got really excited... It-um..it was cute."

Because of the darkness(the only lighting being from the tv), you couldn't see if Peter blushed or not, but you could clearly see the stupid grin plastered on his face that he was trying to hide from you with his hand. Repeatedly licking his lips as a desperate attempt to stop smiling as he pressed play on the remote control. "A-ah, um, thanks [Y/N]."

The opening crawl was over and soon the movie actually began, showing a huge spaceship.

"That's the imperial star destroyer," Peter whispered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "They belong to the empire." He saw your blank expression, wide eyes as he realized that meant nothing to you. "Uh, the bad guys."

You squinted your eyes at the screen, silently judging the graphics of the energy blasts- space bullets?- or whatever they were supposed to be. "Pete, when was this movie made?"

"1977."

"Oh okay," you said, deciding to give it some leeway for the trash designs.

You scooted a little closer to your friend, figuring you'd get a little bit more comfortable.

Oh how he wished you hadn't done that.

Nothing like actual, physical contact with a girl that you like and you think she might like you back to actually manage to distract you from one of your favorite movies ever.

He froze, not wanting to pull away and offend you, but definitely not wanting to stay because just being this close to you was making his mind run wild.

Does she actually like me back? What if Mr. Stark and the team only said that to get me to make a fool of myself? She's too comfortable with me. She just sees me as a friend. Or maybe she likes me and she's just really chill about it? Ooh my gosh and she's leaning on me right now. What am I 'sposed to do?? I don't know I don't know I don't know!!!!!!!!!

Deciding for a quick compromise, he got up completely to reach for another soda, though his sprite was still half finished. When he sat back down, he wasn't as close. Hopefully, you'd just see it as natural human behaviour and not him wanting to be away from you.

Course you would see it that way, wouldn't you?

"Oh my gosh I recognize someone! That's R2D2, right?!" You pointed wildly, glad to not be completely clueless for once with this nerd crap.

"Yeah that's R2," Peter responded, letting out a secret sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.

"A-and that's that gold dude!"

"Yeah, C-3PO."

"And oh crap that's Princess Leia!," you shouted. "Fucking feminist icon!"

Peter tilted his head. "Wait, how would you know that if you've never watched this?"

You laughed. "I still have access to the internet, doofus! Scroll down the nerdy feminist side of tumblr and Leia is literally everywhere."

Peter chuckled as he finally finished his sprite. "Okay. Valid."

Since that, you stopped talking for a bit. Part of you actually did figure that since you're here, you might as well actually try to enjoy the movie and maybe find out what the fans actually see in it that makes them like it so much. The other part just really didn't want to annoy Peter while he was watching his favorite movie series.

But sometimes you just have to say something.

"Hold up, wait. Isn't that his sister? Oh my God, Pete I swear somebody told me before that Leia was Luke's twin!"

Peter shrugged while nodding. "Well, that's a bit of a spoiler, but yeah. What about it?"

"Oh my gosh, Pete- what about it?! Dude, he's literally making 'fuck me' eyes at his own sister! He's all like, 'ooh you're so sexy I'm gonna bone you all over the galaxy'. That's freaky!"

You grabbed the remote and began to rewind it.

"C'mon now [Y/N]," he explained. "He didn't call her sexy. He said she was beautiful. Sexy is wayyy different from beautiful. You can think your family members are beautiful can't you?"

You paused it once you got to where you wanted.

"Okay Parker, look at that. Look at that and tell me Lukes's not totally undressing her with his eyes!" You pointed at Peter's face with a goofy smile on yours. "Oh wow, I've finally figured you people out now."

Peter's head cocked to the side. "Figured out what?"

"Star Wars nerds are a bunch of horny kids that like that step-sibling porn stuff but can't watch that in front of their parents so they have to use an alternative!"

Peter fell on his back with laughter, practically rolling around like a pig. "[Y/N], what?!"

You gave him an incredulous look. "Who else likes to see two siblings bang each other, Peter?!"

At that he pointed back at you while picking up his other soda. "To be fair, they never do that with each other. They only kiss, like twice and that's it. And one of them is only to make Han Solo mad."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the Han Solo guy. Where is he anyway?"

Peter smiled. "Well, we're only twenty mintues in. He'll come soon."

To tell the truth, Peter really didn't even know what part you were at. His eyes were watching the screen but nothing was being comprehended. The only thing he could manage to think about was all the tiny things that were going on over on your side of the fort. Did you notice him staring? Was Tony right and you were just concerningly nice?

"I love how everybody at this bar is so chill south everything that's happening. It's like oh wow this guy just shot this green dude at table 8 and nope we totally don't care," you joked, pulling Peter out of his trance. He reminded himself that he should probably try to pay more attention. He didn't want to ruin the movie for you in case you had any questions.

But eventually, like all things do, the movie came to an end.

"So, how'd you like it?," Peter said while neither one of you made a move to leave the dark fort. You were laid out in practically a starfish-type position while he was sitting Indian-style.

You smirked. "I'll admit, it was pretty nice for a movie made in 1977. Still a bit lame though," you teased, pinching your fingers together with a giggle. Suddenly, you gasped. "Ooh, Vader was pretty lit though! Just straight force-choking people who disagree with you is such a power move."

Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed lightly. "Typical..."

"Excuse me?"

He bit back a quick smile. "Look, I'm not saying that Darth Vader isn't awesome. Because he is! Totally and completely but [Y/N], you do realize that in literally every movie we watch you like the villains?," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Because the villains are awesome!," you defended.

"Just saying. I'm sensing a bit of a pattern...," he teased.

You scoffed. "This coming from the guy who actually feels bad about some the people crashing into things when we're watching Ridiculousness," you said, reminding in how Peter was forever the relentless sap. "Well, while you're so busy judging me, whose your favorite character?"

At that, he gave a small sincere smile. "Ben. He's really cool."

"Ben Kenobi? The old guy that literally let himself die? But why?"

He shrugged, the small grin still present on his face. "Eh, sentimental reasons..."

He watched you return his sweet smile and it was then and there when Peter really felt content with the night. Though, you hadn't even known the weight his words carried, he did. Ned was the only other person who knew about it. But Peter knew right then and there that if you had asked, he'd tell you. And he knew you'd understand. Maybe you were just nice. Or maybe you did like him back. But in that moment, Peter didn't care. He just wanted to be here with you. Lost in the warm smell of popcorn and your vanilla perfume, watching a Star Wars movie with Uncle Ben surely smiling down from Heaven. And it gave Peter hope that maybe, just maybe, this was a step in the right direction.

2 hours (and five minutes) down. 22 hours (and forty seven mintues) to go...

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Taglist: @underoosjae @spn-assemble-seven @of-your-eyes-begonia-skies @parkerpeter24 , @audreylovespidey706

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simplyshelbs16xoxo · 3 years

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‘The Christmas Caper’ Chapter 4: One Step Closer

Prologue | Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3

FFN | Ao3 | Buy Me a Coffee?

When Mycroft headed into his room where Anthea waited, she raised an eyebrow at him. “Well?”

“They’re speaking to each other, and there’s minimal to average physical affection,” he replied. “They’re not talking about the elephant in the room, but I have no doubt all will work out.”

Anthea smiled approvingly. “Let’s hope the first time you give a gift, it doesn’t crash and burn.”

Mycroft grimaced. “So glad to see you have every confidence in me.” He walked over to the bed, and sat upon it, his back facing her.

“You know what I mean, dear,” she told him. “I just meant that your plans tend to backfire, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.” Anthea did her best to not laugh aloud in remembrance of the first time Mycroft tried to show her how he felt.

“Don’t remind me,” he sighed.

Three Months Ago

“Anthea, it has come to my attention that you’re a fully functioning female with above average intelligence,” he informed her.

She knit her brows in confusion. “Sir?”

He tried again. “What I mean to say is I would appreciate if you kept away of being in the company of other men—especially Wilson—who knew your standards were quite that low?”

She dropped her mouth open in shock, and walked right up to his desk, the clicking of her heels echoing in his office, and gave him a good smack. As she turned to walk out, Wilson came in with some files. Anthea approached him, tugged the lapel of his jacket and snogged him right in front of Mycroft, who was, for once, dumbfounded. And she left without a word.

Wilson stood there in a daze having felt the rage in her kiss. “Wow,” he said in amazement, “you must have really pissed her off.”

Mycroft was not amused. He pointed to the door. “Get out.”

Shaking the memory from his mind, Mycroft turned to face Anthea. “On second thought, maybe you should get more involved with the plan.”

“Oh no,” she laughed. “This one is all you—and your brother, of course. If anything goes wrong, the name Holmes will be written all over it which would make it understandable.” Anthea slipped under the duvet, and shut off her bedside lamp. “Now get changed and into bed, I’m exhausted.”

Sherlock hadn’t slept at all last night. With what little sleep he did get, his dreams were haunted by the words of John Watson: “Talk to Molly. This may be the very last chance you’ll ever have to fix things.” He knew that John was right. So many scenarios played out in his mind where he never spoke with her. And every single time, it ended with him and Molly drifting apart. His mind even went as far as to show him she would eventually move on into the arms of another man—one who probably deserved her more than a man who couldn’t be brave enough for her.

After getting dressed, he made his way downstairs where his mother was reminiscing about her career as a mathematician with Molly who was looking through one of the books she had written. Both women looked up at him as he entered the room.

“You’re up early,” Mrs. Holmes commented.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he replied with a shrug, heading towards the kitchen.

Molly noticed how tired he looked, wondering if he ever got a decent night’s sleep after the Sherrinford Incident. “Try drinking some tea before bed,” she suggested to him, like she was one to talk. She could hardly sleep last night either even with the tea.

“I’ll take that into consideration, thank you, Molly,” Sherlock smiled warmly. He met his mother’s knowing look. “Where’s father?” he asked.

Mrs. Holmes felt an idea brewing. “Went to pick up some eggs—we completely ran out what with all the baking. You know, why don’t you and Molly go into town for breakfast?” She turned to who she hoped would be her future daughter-in-law. “You would love it! It’s a little cottage diner on high street. Nettie makes the best fry up!”

Molly smiled. “That sounds delightful! What do you think, Sherlock?”

“Well, I—“

“Oh, Sherlock loves the food there,” she told Molly as she got up to leave the room. “Go on, you kids have fun!”

Molly looked up into Sherlock’s eyes, an amused smile forming on her lips. “I have to admit, your mum is a force to be reckoned with.”

He chuckled. “You have no idea.”

Once they began the drive into town, Sherlock had to admit he was thankful for his mother’s interference. He took a quick glance to his left at Molly in the passenger seat, her hair done up in a French braid. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to just throw all caution to the wind, and damn it all, he wanted to be selfish. But would it be considered selfish if she wanted the same thing? It was much too tempting.

“How’ve you been holding up?” Molly asked, breaking the silence. “Since…well, you know.”

She still cared for him—that was good. But, of course she did. One thing about Molly Hooper is when she gave you her love, it was unconditional.

Sherlock, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Mary’s berated him. If I have to hear you go on about how you don’t deserve her and she deserves better, I think I might die…again. Too soon? He ignored her in favor of the ache in his heart. “I’m getting by,” he replied to Molly. “But what about you? It’s not as if you escaped unscathed.”

“I’m okay,” she shrugged, but Sherlock knew better.

“You’re not okay,” he said matter-of-factly.

Molly sighed, turning to look out her window. “I’m just bloody frustrated,” she muttered to herself. Part of her hoped he had heard her.

He had heard her—loud and clear. Sherlock was tired of fighting with himself, and so, for their time at the diner, he let go. The two of them had a right good time, laughing it up and sharing stories, including memories that they couldn’t very well agree on.

Molly swallowed her last bite of food, having cleared the plate. “Alright, but I remember on John’s stag night, the two of you were pissed after only two hours, and I had to come pick you up in the morning!” She laughed. “I met Mary outside of the station and we were just laughin’!”

Sherlock took a sip of his tea. “I didn’t think it was particularly funny, Molly.”

“Oh, you know, you’re right,” she continued, laughing as she spoke. “It’s not nearly as funny as the seven voicemails you left me! You were so smashed!” Molly gave a light playful slap to his forearm.

His brows rose up. This was the first he had heard of this. “I…left you seven voicemails?” Was he too inebriated to remember? But he remembered so many other events of the night. “Molly, what did I say?”

She eyed him curiously. “You mean, you don’t remember?”

He shook his head. “Afraid not—what did I say?”

“I dunno,” she teased. “Maybe I want to keep it to myself.”

Sherlock tilted his head, clearly frustrated.

“Alright,” Molly conceded with a laugh. “Not one of them ever completed a single thought. It was like bits and pieces. In one you called me your pathologist quite possessively, then in another I think you said something about marriage changes people. Oh!” She was giggling now. “I think you called Tom a wanker in another one.”

He felt—what?—relieved? Embarrassed? Possibly both. “Right, well, no one said I could hold my liquor.” Sherlock returned the amused smile that was also on Molly’s face.

Molly couldn’t help but notice how at ease she was around him. Those first couple of years she knew him gave her butterflies and frayed nerves, but ever since she helped him with his lazarus plan, there was a shift in their friendship. It became deeply intimate from that moment forward. It was when her crush turned into a raw, honest love. Not once did it waver. His apology last night sparked something in her, and she felt the need to say the words rattling around in her head before she lost her nerve. “Sherlock?” His eyes pierced hers inquisitively. “I just want you to know, I’m sorry too.”

He furrowed his brows. “I don’t understand—for what?”

She bit her lip anxiously. “This friendship”—she motioned between them—“whatever this is; it’s a two-way street. Last night, you apologised for not having gone to see me. Sherlock, I’m sorry for having not gone to see you. I knew what had happened and why, but I wasn’t brave enough to face it all. Neither of us were. I don’t want to live a life that doesn’t have you in it. I’ve tried, and it’s bloody awful. I forgave you. Can you forgive me?”

The muscles in his face relaxed, giving way to a softness that Molly had only ever seen a handful of times. “Of course I forgive you. I’ll let you in on a secret…”

They both leaned their heads forward.

“…I don’t want to live a life that doesn’t have you in it either. A life without you, Molly Hooper, would be too dull to imagine.”

Whilst Molly went to have a look at the shops, Sherlock had an errand to run with an old friend. The bell on the door rang out when he made his entrance. The place was full of handmade jewelry, as far as the eye could see.

“As I live and breathe, Sherlock Holmes has come back for a visit!” The man behind the counter clapped his hands together. “It’s been an age! What can I do for ya?”

“Hello, Rupert, I need you to do something very important for me…”

Mycroft had been smoking in the backyard when Sherlock and Molly returned. He put out his cigarette just as his brother appeared. “And how was your morning with Doctor Hooper, brother mine? Inquiring minds want to know.”

“It was enlightening,” Sherlock answered.

Mycroft eyed him curiously. “And have you two discussed the events of that night?”

“Not yet,” he replied, looking down toward the ground. “It’s a delicate matter—a bit difficult to just bring it up, especially when we’re trying so hard to move past it.”

With a sigh, Mycroft shook his head. “Has it ever occurred to you, little brother, that it will be easier to move past it if you two have this conversation?”

Sherlock glared at him. “Of course it has! Honestly, Mycroft, why do you care so much? What’s in it for you?”

“Can’t I be a good brother for once?” he asked. “Is it so hard to believe I want you to be happy?”

Taking a moment to think things over, Sherlock turned around and turned back, unsure of how to process this information. “Yes, actually, it would be very hard to believe had we not just shared a traumatic experience three months ago.” He roughly ran his fingers through his curls. “Sherrinford changed you, Mycroft.”

“As it did you,” his big brother countered. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, do you?”

“No,” Sherlock agreed. “For what I need to do, it isn’t. She loves me—God knows why. But I’m not blind to the fact that sometimes loving someone isn’t enough. I love her, but can I provide for her everything she needs? I doubt it.”

Mycroft walked up onto the stoop. “I’ll leave you with this: it’s not about asking whether you can provide these things for her, but asking whether or not you are willing to try.” A knowing smirk appeared on his brother’s face, and then he was gone.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Sherlock needed to talk to her. It was all he could think about. It was early evening when she entered the sitting room after dinner. His eyes couldn’t help but linger, especially since she was holding their goddaughter in her arms whilst she sang Christmas songs to her. He found that he enjoyed hearing Molly sing. He also noticed how she had stuck a red Christmas bow in her hair much to Rosie’s amusement, the lights on the tree reflecting off of it.

This adornment reminded him of another Christmas at Baker Street. It was a bittersweet memory. On one hand, it was the first time he had ever kissed Molly, though only on the cheek. But on the other hand, he still regretted his behaviour to this day. Knowing what he knows now, he knew he had been jealous, thinking she had been doing all of that for someone else. It was cruel to insult her the way he did. Allowing himself a quick glance, he admired the set of her lips and the swell of her breasts peeking out from her blouse. Though he wanted to, he didn’t allow his eyes to linger there too long, and settled on watching her eyes light up.

Molly caught him staring eventually, and she just beamed at him as if there was no place she’d rather be. “Look Rosie, your Uncle Sherlock is actually smiling for once.”

“I smile,” he argued playfully. His heart was pounding when she approached him, only mere inches away. “May I?” Sherlock held out his hands from where he sat on the sofa.

Carefully, Molly helped to settle Rosie in his arms and seated herself beside them. It warmed her heart to see him take an active role in the little girl’s life. Surprisingly, Sherlock was actually good with children in his own way. Rosie reached a hand up, her dimpled fingers grabbing her godfather’s nose. He gently pulled her hand away and pressed a quick kiss to her fingertips.

“I hope you’re being good for your Aunt Molly,” he told her softly. “She works very hard, and deserves everything she’s ever wanted.” Sherlock didn’t know what it was about talking to his goddaughter, but he found he didn’t feel so afraid saying these things though he was very aware that Molly was sitting beside him. When he glanced over at her, he noticed tears forming just at the waterline of her eyes, but she held them back.

Molly brushed back the wispy pale blonde curls on Rosie’s head. “Your Uncle Sherlock is just a big softie deep down,” she laughed quietly. “And you know what? He deserves just as much—especially to be loved.” She looked up and their eyes locked, neither unable to look away. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, and before she could talk herself out of it, Molly kissed him tenderly, lingering long enough to get lost in the feel of his lips on hers. She hadn’t given him enough time to kiss her back, the shock evident on his face when she pulled away.

Without a word, she stood and left the room suddenly in need of fresh air.

#sherlolly #the christmas caper #my fanfiction

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varibean · 4 years

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Would You, Could You, Say ‘I Do’?

here’s a fanfiction inspired by the wonderful artwork by @fluttytheflutt here! it’s wedding time! hope y’all enjoy!

In previous stages of his life, when Sam I-Am thought about his future, marriage was never part of it. He was a romantic, somewhat at least. Having never gotten to experience romance first hand he couldn’t really say for sure but he liked the idea. The notion that somewhere there was a person just for him who would vow to never leave him behind, to always stay by his side, was enticing to put it plainly. But he never thought it was an actuality. The thought had never crossed his mind that such a life could be for him.

His life was anything but consistent and marriage was the most steadfast constant of it all in addition to-as his elders always said-death and taxes. But he’d cheated death and he didn’t pay his taxes so that was already two down.

Everything was always moving; his jobs, his home, his identity. Never in his life was he one person for two long. It started to make him sick if he was. Every new persona was fun at first but in the back of his mind there was always the thought, the fear that if he stayed as one person too long he would find out a terrible truth: He didn’t like the person he had become.

So he jumped and switched from fake ID to fake ID, only staying for the fun part. Nothing more, nothing less.

And then there was Guy. His Guy. His wonderful, amazing, perfect Guy who could do so many amazing things and came up with the most incredible ideas. Suddenly, with Guy, he wasn’t scared of being the same person anymore. He didn’t have to fear who he would be because whoever he was, Guy was going to be there too.

For a while it was just a promise of words. Nothing binding or set in stone, just the knowledge that Guy would always be there for him, that he liked him just the way he was. Sam thought that would be enough. They didn’t need to take the next steps forward because why risk the unknown when life was so comfortable as it was?

Then came the night that Guy took him on a small hometown cold air balloon. And there among the clouds just barely scraping above the roofs of the houses below them, Guy got down on one knee.

The ring wasn’t terribly special; just a silver band with the tiniest emerald in the middle, the green hue sparkling in the moonlight like a cosmos seen from a far off telescope. What could Sam do but say yes?

Up there, away from the world with just the two of them, the words seemed so easy to say. Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes! They spilled from his mouth like the crack of a perfectly runny yolk and he never thought anything in the world could taste as good as green eggs and ham but then Guy kissed him as the fog of the night drifted by him and he knew that some things just existed beyond compare or dispersion.

Everything was easier up in the air. But all things had to come back down to earth eventually.

The dressing room he stood in was lit up like a mall during the holiday season. On their own Sam and Guy couldn’t afford much but as there luck would have it the rest of the Am-I family wanted to pitch in for the youngest golden child. The bruckles poured in from Mr. and Mrs. Am-I and Guy’s brothers and no expense had been spared on setting everything up for the two. The venue, the flowers, the food; all if it five star and perfect in every way.

And of course, above all else, the dress.

The long and wide floor to ceiling mirror in the dressing room reflected the fabric back perfectly. If one were to spare it only a glance, it could be said that the dress was simple. The cut was a flower bud covered boat neck, showing off the slight dip of his collar before fading into a near sheer sleeve design. Crystals were sewn into the fabric, making his arms sparkle under the lights. The dress itself had a ribboned waist that showed off his slight form before fanning out as the rest of the dress poofed around him. It wasn’t overly fluffy, but it was well fitted and flowy. Plenty of room to move while still looking elegant.

Was he elegant?

Staring in the mirror, Sam wasn’t so sure. Elegant was never a word he thought of when he considered himself in a physical sense. Short, slender, rounded; those were words that described him. But beautiful? Radiant? Elegant? All the things he was told someone to marry should be? He wasn’t quite sure.

“Sam? It’s almost time. Do you have the veil on?” Michellee’s voice echoed in the near empty room.

For such a large and grand dressing room, there really wasn’t anyone else needed to get him into the dress. The lingering con-artist in him thought of money and how easy a wedding scam could go off. But he quickly shook his head at the thought before he ran his hands over his face.

“Yeah I’m-I mean no, I haven’t put it on yet I was just...uh-”

“Nervous?” Michellee offered with a smirk.

Sam opened his mouth to object but then realized it was useless to do so. He was trying not to lie as much, to be more honest with himself.

“Maybe, just an itty-bitty-teeny-weeny-itsy-bitsy smidgen of a smidge. Like, half a smidge. No, strike that, one twenty-seventh of a smidge.”

Michellee laughed and suddenly Sam felt a little bit better about everything.

“It’s ok Sam. I remember my wedding day. Of course, I didn’t have rich in-laws to pay for everything-”

“Hey come on, it’s not like we asked for it!”

“-But it was still the most important day of my life. Well, up until I had E.B.”

Sam chuckled and smoothed out the fabric of his dress even though it didn’t need it. As he did so, Michellee picked up the veil from its resting place and put it on his head.

“How’d you know?” Sam asked.

“Know what?”

“How’d you know that it wasn’t one big mistake? How’d you know that everything wasn’t going to fall apart?”

There was hardly a moment of silence before Michelle gently turned him around to face her, away from the mirror, away from all of his doubts reflected back at him.

“I didn’t. That’s the fun part isn’t it? Not knowing but still wanting to see. Going for it and knowing no matter where you land you’d be holding someone else’s hand. Trying something new.”

“Trying something new.” He repeated.

A smile formed on his lips and he reached for her arm to loop his around.

“Alright. Alright, here you go I-Am. Off to try something new.”

_______________

Guy’s Mother walked Sam down the aisle and the action only caused the slightest pang of sadness within him. But he was able to shake it off, kept his eyes forward and fixed on the altar.

The venue was a small park area just beside Guy’s home, everything rented out and decorated for an informal (but still, at the older Am-I’s insistence, fairly expensive) ceremony and party.

The second he saw Guy he knew that he was ridiculous for ever having any doubts. The knox was dressed in a charming bowtie and a deep blue wreath of flowers topped of his head. He looked so much younger without the hat, without the scowl marks. Instead smile lines had taken their place as his husband to be positively beamed at him.

Sam hadn’t even realized he was at the stand until Guy reached over to take his hand.

“You look amazing, Sam.”

“Yeah, well, one of had to do a booty tooch down the catwalk.”

Sam smiled as he saw Guy’s cheeks puff up as he choked back a laugh. He wanted Guy to make that face every day and soon, that goal was going to be closer to a reality.

The officiant nodded to Guy after the happy murmurs of the crowd died down to start.

“Sam I-Am, the first days after I met you, you took my briefcase, dragged me along on the craziest job in the entire world, nearly got me killed more times than I could count, and stole my wallet three times. Those were the best days of my life and every day since then has just kept getting better. You’re a weird little adult and I can’t find any room in the refrigerator for any of the groceries because all you keep in there is ham and eggs. The amount of luck you possess is almost infuriating and you are, by far, the biggest dope I’ve ever met. But...you’re my hope man and I always know that I have you in my corner. You gave me a reason to keep on trying and, Sam, every day...every day for the rest of our lives I want to keep trying new things with you. I think your luck really did rub off on me at some point, because otherwise I can’t imagine how I ended up so yipping lucky-sorry I know I’m not supposed to curse during these things but it’s true. So, if you’ll have me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you...um, the end? It’s-It’s been a while since I’ve been to a wedding I didn’t really think of a closer.”

There was a small chuckle that passed throughout the audience at Guy’s fumble and Sam could see in his eyes that he meant every word of his vows.

“Wow. You see, I had this whole spoken word musical number that I was gonna try to pull off in a dress but that just made me forget about ninety percent of it. So I guess I’ll just say that no one has ever really wanted me to stay the same person before. No one’s ever hung around long enough to decide if I was worth it. But you did. And that was the first time I thought that maybe I didn’t have to run away from myself anymore. I still don’t know who I want to be in this world, what kind of a difference I want to make, but I know I want to do it all with you. And, this is embarrassing, I don’t really have a closer either.”

Both men turned to the officiant with a questioning look, only to have the other shrug at them.

“I always thought weddings were supposed to be way longer and more boring,” Sam started, “But I think we’re good? Can say the Big Final Words and do the kissing thing now? I wanna skip to that part.”

Sam and Guy took out their rings and slipped them onto each other’s fingers with another nod of approval from the officiant.

“You’re absolutely ridiculous. I do.” Guy said.

“I do!”

And with that, Guy lifted him up bridal style and dipped him, a small nuzzle passing between them before they finally sealed it all together with a kiss.

The small crowd of friends and family cheered for the two as their grins became so wide that it seemed like their faces would crack.

Guy sat Sam down gently and before they began to walk into the crowd, he leaned over and chuckled.

“I was really excited to see you in your wedding attire. And as always, you didn’t disappoint.”

Sam giggled before standing on the tips of his toes and whispering something into Guy’s ear.

As the cheering and talking started to commence all around them, the knox’s face turned a bright red.

“Can’t say I don’t feel the same with you Wedding Buddy!” Sam chirped before heading out to the sea of smiling faces ready to congratulate him and get the party started.

Guy stood there for a moment, his face beating red as his brothers came and slapped him on the back for a job well done.

It was going to be an interesting honeymoon.

#green eggs and ham #geah #briefcase buddies #briefcase boyfriends #zk fic #guy am i #sam i am #i hope yall like it this was fun!!!!!!

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katahnisharma · 5 years

Text

the press tour [5] | t.h.

Word Count: 2.5 K

Warnings: none, i don’t think??

Summary: You’re a new, inexperienced actress plucked from the obscurity of everyday life to play the lead in the reboot of a famous British Jane Austen novel, and Tom Holland just so happens to be playing your love interest.

A/N: This one is a mini chapter so it’s shorter, but next week’s will be longer. Also Tumblr apparently won’t let me link things so if you’re looking for my masterlist, playlist, taglist, or writing challenge it’s in my bio <3

Tom Holland and Zendaya Officially Together! Is Marriage on the Cards?

“Ugh! It’s on BBC too?! I thought they had journalistic integrity!!”

For the past two days, every news channel had been carrying Tom and Zendaya’s whirlwind romance. Everywhere you looked, there were pictures of the two of them being cute somewhere. Out to lunch, taking a stroll in New York City holding hands, kissing in Paris, even posing for photos with fans at Central Park. It hurt every time you turned on the TV, it was like you were intentionally trying to see the new reports. You were shocked Tom had moved on so quickly, and with the girl he had always said he felt nothing for.

Guess that was a lie.

There were so many thoughts running through your mind about Tomdaya that you didn’t hear Bailey come down the stairs and stand next to you with her hands on her hips.

“That’s it, you need to leave the house. You haven’t moved from this couch in two days. You need to get out and date.” She said, pulling the blanket off you. You winced and glared at her, snatching the blanket back. You were also clutching a near empty tub of Haagen-Daz cookie dough ice cream, but you had mixed reactions about it because the brand was apparently Zendaya’s favorite.

Wow, you were petty.

“Really? What, just like that?” You muttered, poking around the tub with your spoon. You’d been picking out the cookie dough bits, and Bailey used to tease you for it. She thought it was stupid that you bought ice cream just to pick at it, but now it just made her sad. You looked so tired and upset, it was killing her.

“What, like it’s hard? You’re Y/N Y/L/N! All you have to do is bat your eyelashes. flash a smile and you’re set!” Bailey cried, sitting next to you and throwing the tub over your shoulder. You let out a yell, but she pulled you back before you could go find it. She looked at you and you felt yourself shrink from her eyes. You knew she was right, but you weren’t over Tom yet. Your heart needed time to heal.

“Fine, give me some time to get over him and I’ll do it. But I’ll only date on one condition.” You said, and Bailey let out a sigh of relief. If it meant you would finally leave the house and get out a bit, she would do whatever it took. She leaned forward and motioned for you to continue.

“You have to date too.” You smiled, and Bailey immediately recoiled. She jumped up from the sofa and began to pace around the TV. You watched her, rolling your eyes at how dramatic she was being.

“Yeah, no. No, absolutely not!” Bailey said, standing in front of you shaking her head emphatically. You got up and threw the tub in the trash. Surprisingly, you felt a little lighter having done it, and you turned back to see Bailey staring out the window.

“Too bad then. Bumble would have been perfect for you. The women get to pick the men, which is perfect for a powerful, independent woman like you. No more creeps and losers. Plus, I mean Priyanka Chopra created it so....” You said, and you swore Bailey perked up a little. She turned to look at you and she pursed her lips.

“Shut up, you’re just trying to flatter me. And you know I love Priyanka.” She whispered, and you laughed for the first time in a while. You had almost forgotten what that sounded like.

“Well, duh. Is it working?” You giggled, and Bailey threw a pillow at you which just narrowly missed. You threw it back and it hit the vase that held Tom’s lilies. They were dying anyways, and the vase hit the floor and shattered. You weren’t one to believe in signs, but it seemed like one.

“Yes. Alright, I’ll think about it. Now get up, the Met Gala is in three days and you need to meet with designers.” Bailey said, giving you a dress to change into. You took it and realized it was the same one you had worn on the date with Tom. Bailey saw the look and gave you a “come on, just wear it” look, and you weren’t about to argue with her while she was considering dating for the first time in five years.

“On it, boss. I’ll be back in a bit.”

✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦✦✧✦

Three days later and you were standing in front of the mirror, completely taken aback at your appearance. There you were, looking ethereal in a custom Maison Valentino gown and your makeup done to perfection. The theme for the Met Gala was Ethereal Fairytales, and Pier Paolo Piccioli had outdone himself. Your inspiration was Rapunzel, and you couldn’t be happier with it. The dress was a light purple satin that draped to the floor in a long train. The sleeves were a light chiffon that extended into a lacey, embroidered cape in the back. The rest of the dress was done in brocade, with jewels and flowers sewn into the fabric. With the lace and embroidery, the gown looked much heavier than it was. In reality, it was so light that you felt you were wearing feathers.

“You look so beautiful!” Bailey squealed, clapping her hands behind you. You turned and smiled, thanking Pier for his handiwork. Bailey looked gorgeous herself. She was wearing a strapless pale pink Stella McCartney dress with clear sequins. When you had asked her to come with you to the gala, she’d nearly had a heart attack. And then she had pulled out the only formal dress she had, and your heart nearly broke. Bailey hadn’t bought a new dress in years, though you knew you paid her enough for designer clothes. All the money she made went back to her family, keeping only what she needed to survive.

So you bought the dress for her, whatever she liked. At first, Bailey protested and refused to wear it. She thought it was far too extravagant and she felt embarrassed that you were spending all this money on her. But you assured her that she deserved it, she was the world’s best personal assistant. Plus, Priyanka Chopra was going to be there and she had to look stunning in case they bumped into each other.

They weren’t actually going to “bump into each other,'' you'd asked Priyanka if she would mind meeting Bailey at some point in the night. But Bailey didn’t have to know that. As far as she knew, the meeting would be purely kismet.

“You think so? I feel like a goddess.” You whispered, and Pier nodded in agreement. Bailey took your hand and twirled you around. The dress moved with you, and it made the most beautiful sweeping motion. Your hair was curled slightly and left half up and half down, and somehow Christian Louboutin had gifted you a pair of Degrastrass. Bailey had done her own makeup, she insisted upon it, but you bought her a pair of nude Sandale du Deserts which you wouldn’t let her refuse.

“Well, you look like one. And thank you for letting me come, and spending all this money on me. You shouldn’t have.” She whispered and you slung and arm over her shoulder.

“You don’t have to thank me, we’re best friends first and foremost. I wanted you here, and as for the money it was no big deal at all. I’m just glad you actually agreed to wear everything.” You laughed, and she nudged you slightly. You asked Pier to take a picture of the two of you, and he agreed graciously. You’d post it to your instagram later. After Pier had taken a picture of you and you’d grabbed your clutch, the three of you were planning to leave.

That is, until something on the TV caught your attention.

Pier had turned on the live red carpet updates for the Met Gala, because you loved seeing what everyone was wearing. There were some big names at the event, and Bailey had screamed when Nick and Priyanka arrived. The couples of course looked amazing, and you found yourself wishing that you had a date too. You wished you were here with Tom.

And that’s when you saw them.

Tom and Zendaya had stepped out of a limo, and your heart stopped. You almost weren’t breathing as you realized they were wearing coordinated outfits. Law Roach guided them up the steps and Bailey rested a hand on your shoulder to console you. They looked so beautiful together, you almost cried. Then you remembered Nina Park had done your makeup, so you couldn’t cry. Zendaya was wearing a gorgeous blue gown in the style of Princess Tiana’s from the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog. Except it had been elevated, so that the dress was a modern take. The left sleeve was satin and hung from her shoulder and the bodice was lace to match the lace trimmed hem. Tom was so handsome it hurt. He wore a cream colored suit that was trimmed with gold around the edges. A blue sash went across his chest and it accentuated his body. Tears pricked your eyes and you physically willed them away.

You cried for days over Tom, but you refused to do that today.

“You okay?” Bailey asked, and you nodded, straightening up again. Pier stood by the door, giving you a sympathetic look. You knew he meant well, but it rubbed you the wrong way. You didn’t want people to pity you, you wanted them to just see you.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go, we’re holding everyone up.” You said, and Pier took your arm to lead you out. Bailey walked behind, making sure your train wouldn’t catch and keeping photographers at a distance. There were lights everywhere, and you could barely focus as the cameras flashed. People shouting your name, telling you to turn, asking you about Tom, it was almost too much. Thank God for Pier, or you would have fainted on the spot. A particularly bold photographer moved forward, jostling to get your attention.

“Y/N! Y/N! How do you feel about Tom and Zendaya?” He yelled, and for a brief moment Bailey looked as though she was about to physically throw him out. But you held up your hand, and tried your best to plaster a smile on your face. Pier steadied you and you gave the photographer a defiant look.

“Why, am I supposed to say something scandalous?” You laughed, and the photographers laughed with you. For the first time in a while, you felt as though you had the upper hand. The photographer went red, but he persisted.

“I mean, how do you feel after Tom dumped you for Zendaya?” He shouted over the noise and your face went slack. You felt sick to your stomach, hearing someone say it for the first time. Sure, you had never officially dated each other, but the man was right. Tom had dumped you for one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Ouch.

“I’m happy for them, Tom and I are just friends. Nothing more. That salacious enough for you?” You asked, and the photographer went silent. Bailey came to your aid and told the photographers to stop asking questions. This wasn’t an interview, she said, and they needed to respect your privacy. Pier took your hand and lead you farther up the carpet. You were still shaking from the encounter, but you forced yourself to smile. Your father had always told you to never let your detractors know they hurt you.

It was a sign of weakness, and you weren’t weak.

“Alright, this stretch is just cameras, Pier will be answering the questions.” Bailey said, and you breathed a sigh of relief. You didn’t think you’d be able to endure any more questions about Tom and Zendaya. Pier stood with you as you posed and looked on as Pier talked about the process involved in creating your dress. From the corner of your eye, you could see Beyonce and Saoirse Ronan climb the stairs behind you. Bailey was watching, completely starstruck.

“See Priyanka anywhere?” You asked and Bailey shook her head.

“No, she’s probably inside with Nick already. It’s fine, it was cool just getting to see her on TV.” Bailey gushed, and Pier helped you up the steps to the top to take your final picture. Bailey stood next to you, because you made her, and you both looked down onto the street below.

“I would never have imagined I’d be here.” You said, and Bailey looked at you. She had more faith in you than you had in yourself, and though she wouldn’t say it aloud, she was extremely proud of you.

“Well, I would have. I know I don’t say this often enough, I’m really proud of you Y/N.” She said, and your mouth dropped a little. Bailey wasn’t one to talk about her feelings, so this was a big deal.

“I love you, you know that right?” You said, and Bailey rolled her eyes. You could see her eyes start to well up, and she dabbed at them lightly.

Awww, what a softie.

“Yeah, yeah. Stop making me cry, my makeup actually looks good today.” Bailey whispered, and she helped you up the stairs as Pier followed. The carpet began to get thinner, until you reached the doors of the Metropolitan. One more step, and you’d be inside one of the biggest events of the year.

“Ready?” Bailey asked, and you smiled at her and Pier.

“As I’ll ever be.” You replied, and with that you walked out of the frying pan and into the fire.

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fic #tom holland series #peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker fanfiction #the press tour

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ill-skillsgard · 5 years

Text

Sweet Peach - Henry Deaver x Mistress

Guys...

So many great ideas and asks about this little strange universe we’ve created that I can’t possibly fit them all into the timeline. But here’s just a little something to hold you over until we get into some more heavy shit. Because you know that’s how I do. Thanks for reading!

Warning: 18+ sex/mature themes/cheating/coarse language/ *this part contains ass-worship. Please read at your own discretion.

Read more Henry x Mistress here > Masterpost

You weren't you anymore. Not while he was in the same room. Voices of reason still existed, but you found them flippantly easy to quell. Especially when he clung to your body like that; so helpless and desperate. This man wanted you terribly, and it hurt in so many ways you couldn't hope to fixate on just one pang of guilt.

It shook you. The adrenaline in your body that had burst in your chest when Henry's wife came in had now gone stale, and you were slowly dropping like a half-dead fly. Of course, you didn't want to call a cab and wait in the lobby where it was cold while he blew up your phone, begging you to come back upstairs. Or worse, he could have tried following you out and it would surely cause a scene.

No, you had already had your heart set on staying and getting a good night's sleep in his wondrously soft bed.

But you were still pissed off. Pissed off at him, yes, but also with yourself. Surely, you had been taught better. A strong woman would look at Henry, appalled by his pitiful protests and whimpers for you to stay. Perhaps you weren't feeling particularly strong. Although there was a certain tilt when he begged you not to go. He was wholly yours and the morbid realization posed more than a passing thought. If you would do this, it would be the way you wanted it.

You could have the conversation another day; the inevitable ultimatum. But he had squabbled about expensive lawyers and how fast a bad divorce could drain your bank account and leave you financially debilitated. You believed him because Henry knew about money, the law and a lot of things you had little grasp of. Yet, he still submitted himself to you and that was when you had to stray away from the moral high ground. You were as much a player in the game as he was.

"Baby, please say you'll stay." Henry pulled on your work shirt.

You couldn't help but draw away from him, but he followed and tugged at the first button of your shirt until it popped out of the eyelet. He came up close again, and you had less room to move. The wall was a foot away, and he had both of his fingers working to undo the rest of the buttons of your shirt. Swallowing back all arguments of right and wrong, you pushed Henry's hands away and closed the gap between you by grabbing his belt buckle and tugging him in.

"Will I be expecting any more interruptions?" You asked calmly.

"No. The door's locked."

"Spare key?"

Henry leaned down to kiss you but you clutched his scratchy chin and kept him away. He sighed, deflating slightly. "Had them changed last week. And there's security."

"Good. Get naked and get on the bed."

"Really? You're going to stay?"

"Not if you don't start listening to me right now," you warned.

Henry's eyes widened and he began to strip off all his clothing until he reached his underwear. Looking up at you, he couldn't decide whether to proceed right there or wait until he was closer to the bed to rid himself of his last garments.

"I said get naked," one of your eyebrows popped up expectantly.

He shoved his boxers down and kicked them off before realizing his socks were still on. Hooking them off as well, he stood before you and waited with a clenched breath in his chest.

"Bed!"

"W-why. What's happening?"

You stifled the urge to shake your head and pointed a finger past him instead. "You're being taught a lesson and so far, you're failing."

"Okay, okay, I'll get on the bed!"

While his back was turned, you allowed yourself one fraction of a satisfied smirk. He climbed onto the bed and sat in the middle with his long legs crossed like a child sitting in a circle in kindergarten. You closed your eyes, bit your bottom lip, suffocated the giggles that longed to come up and then released a breath through your nose.

"Lay on your stomach," you commanded.

"Babe..."

"That's not my name."

"Come on-"

"You'll address me as Mistress tonight. Yes, mistress. No, mistress. I want to be a good boy for you, mistress. Understand?"

Henry was on his stomach by the time you explained to him the parameters of the evening but he still wasn't understanding the setting. You approached the bed, waited for him to be unaware and clapped your hand down on his ass.

"Ow! What the hell? What are you doing?" He cried out

"You've been bad," you explain plainly. "Bad boys get spankings."

"Oh..." Henry tried not to chuckle. "Okay."

You hit his ass harder this time and he tried not to flinch.

"Yes, mistress," you corrected him.

Henry twisted his upper body to the side so he could continue searching your face for signs of playfulness and when he saw none, he licked his lips and sighed.

"Yes, mistress," he relented.

"Good. Now turn around."

"Okay— yes, ma'am. Mistress," he turned away with reluctance slowing his movement.

When Henry was finally face down, you took a moment to analyze the curvature of his back. Pale skin stretched over so many supple inches, bowing down into a delicate valley before rising again. Hairless and smooth, you ran your buzzing palm down the gentle dip of his back, coasted over the left cleave and continued down until the hairs of his leg ran with the motion.

"Wow," you sighed. "Such a great body. What a gorgeous ass."

Henry wanted to make a doubtful comment but he held his tongue and let you stroke him from shoulder to ankle down his left side. You paused to pinch his ass along the way, and he wiggled from the toothless bite.

Climbing up on the bed, Henry looked at you again, but you raked your fingers up the back of his neck and shoved his face back into the pillow. He mumbled something that you chose not to listen to and straddled his thighs.

"Don't you have such a nice ass?" You asked.

Henry said nothing and that earned him another hard spank.

"Ow! Oh my god," he yelled into the pillow.

"I asked you a question."

"Yes? Yes, mistress!"

"Who has the nicest, pinkest ass?" You leaned over the great length of his body, hands pressing down below his shoulder blades so you could whisper in his ear.

"I do, mistress," Henry choked out.

"Yes. Yes, you do. So soft and juicy... Like a sweet little peach."

You watched his eye wander as his teeth cut into his bottom lip. He let out a strangled moan when you placed all ten of your fingernails on his shoulders and pulled down, leaving faint white marks that quickly turned rosy as you went. You didn't stop at his ass or even at his thighs where you were perched. You brought your fingertips back up and watched the goosebumps rise all over him.

"Who has nice, sweet bum?"

"I do."

"Yes. Who needs to be spanked because he was bad?"

Henry rolled his response on his tongue and relinquished when you squeezed him hard. "Me. I need to be spanked, mistress."

He acted shocked when you swatted his rear again yet couldn't hold a sour expression for too long after receiving a couple more good whacks. You started to giggle, and he went red in the face.

"Mistress, I'm sorry for being bad."

"Oh, I'd really love to believe you, sweet boy but... You're just not all that convincing."

"I promise," he said.

"You're just saying that because you don't want any more spanks."

"No, I don't want anymore spanks."

You cooed as you climbed off of his legs and rested a hand on the ditch of his left knee. "But I'm not finished with your ass."

"Please, mistress. I don't want anymore."

"Very well... No more spanks. But that still doesn't mean I'm finished with you."

He tried to roll over but you stayed him with a tough glare and a squeeze of his thigh. You thought it was sweet that he assumed he could turn over and that would be the end of it. A flutter of a laugh escaped you and he watched fearfully as you continued stroking your hand up and down his body.

"Get up on all fours," you told him.

Henry blatantly refused to do so at first. The look on his face was one of embarrassment that filled up your satisfaction meter to nearly bursting. He scrabbled for a response that didn't break character but didn't explicitly comply with your demand.

"Why... I thought... You said no more," he reasoned.

"Yes. No more spanks and I meant that. Mistress does what she says and says what she means."

He shifted back onto his knees, brought his arms up and lifted off the bed. You got a look at the muscles shifting under his skin and felt the back of your tongue moisten. He looked every bit as delectable as he had the first time he had strolled into the cafe. Only now he was without a stitch and waiting for your next move, ready to flinch at any sudden movement you made. The power tasted delicious.

But your attention couldn't be taken from his backside and you made it a strong point to remind him the topic at hand. You grabbed, squeezed, pinched and purred against his hip as he withdrew but kept up on his knees.

"Nice bum," you whispered.

"Mistress," Henry whined.

"God, if I had a cock... I'd fuck that beautiful ass."

"No," he murmured.

"Yes," you corrected him. "It's just so perfect. And you have no idea how much I think about it. When you come into my work dressed in your nicely tailored outfits and you have no clue how sexy you really look."

He scoffed and let his head dangle between his arms. The way his spine arched gave way to his mounting frustrations. Every time you touched him, he pulled back an inch out of fear of what might become of his exposed skin. You slid over, rose to your knees, framed his cheeks in your hands and pressed a kiss to each dimple flanking the base of his spine.

"Oh, no, no, no," Henry recoiled. "No."

"I hate it when you tell me no," you said with a smile.

Before you could venture further, Henry turned over; evidence of a leaking hard-on glaringly obvious contrasted with the worry on his face.

"P-please don't. Not yet. I'm... I don't think I'm ready for this."

"What? You don't wanna have that ass eaten?"

Henry's cheeks aglow, he sighed and looked around like somebody was watching. "I, um... It's been a long day and I don't know if I'm prepared to... I haven't ever... You know. I—"

You quieted him with a gesture of your hand. "Don't worry, sweet boy. Mistress can take no for an answer."

"Thanks. Thank you," he croaked.

His entire body relaxed now that his ass wasn't in the open air where your predatory hands could explore with too much enthusiasm.

"But you're still in trouble and you're still a bad boy."

"I know," he admitted.

"And even though I want to fuck that ass... We can wait."

"Why can't you just fuck my cock instead? That feels good."

You grimaced. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Selfish boy. Only ever thinking about his own pleasure and no one else's."

"That's not true," he defended weakly.

And it wasn't. Henry was wonderfully in tune with your body and capable of eliciting orgasms from you that temporarily shattered your sense of being. But tonight, you could only see him for what he was; a beautiful, lying son of a bitch.

#henry deaver x mistress #henry deaver fanfiction #bill skarsgard fanfiction #castle rock fanfiction #au fanfiction

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anubislover · 4 years

Text

Welcome to the Heart Pirates, Nami-ya chapter 12: Love is the Drug

As the clock struck nine, Law escorted Nami back up the narrow stairway to the main street, gallantly helping her back into her coat as they waited outside for Ikkaku.

Leaning against the doorway, he smirked down at her. “I’m going to go ahead and assume my choice for our victory dinner was to your liking?”

“You know what they say; ‘to assume makes an ass of you and me’,” Nami quipped, guard back up. It had been a nice dinner, to be perfectly honest, but the realization of how easy it would be to get hooked on Law’s seduction had shaken her.

After their dance, he’d led them back to the booth and ordered another bottle of champagne, settling in to watch the performers until it was time for her to go. The problem was, in order to get the best view of the stage, the two of them had basically had to cuddle up in the middle of the booth. Law had refrained from wrapping his arm around her waist again, but somehow, the way he’d instead rested it along the back of her seat, his long fingers just able to absently brush against the bare skin of her shoulder, had been worse. The pinpricks of heat they left behind with every casual touch had traveled through her veins like poison, settling in her lower belly and making her hyper aware of his presence for the next half-hour.

Yellow eyes rolled in mock exasperation. “Is it really so difficult to admit you had a good time with me?”

“I’m doing you a favor; with the way that place strokes your ego, your head will swell to the point where you won’t be able to walk through the Tang’s doors.”

He snorted, pushing away from the door frame to stand up straight. “How considerate of you. And how much are you charging for this service?”

Resting her back against the side of the building, Nami peered through the foggy streets, hoping to catch sight of Ikkaku. “I’ll cut you a break and say the cost of those four bottles of champagne we drank. Of course, you still owe me 75,000 belli per day for the rest of the time I’ve been providing this service, plus 300% interest,” she stated, sticking her tongue out at him. Even though she knew their banter would quickly turn to flirting, she couldn’t help herself. It came as naturally as breathing at this point.

“What a coincidence; that happens to be the same amount I’ve been charging you for room and board, plus medical expenses.”

“Liar! That was never in our deal!”

“I never agreed to cover it, either. You also still owe me for your lovely jewelry,” he chuckled, reaching out to run his fingers over the shimmering barrettes. “I believe that was 30,000 belli for the set, plus an additional 50,000 for the diamond hairpins. Oh, and you promised to pay me back with interest, too.”

She shifted her stance so he was no longer touching her, hoping the motion was subtle enough that he wouldn’t see it as a sign of weakness. For extra measure, she glared at him, crossing her arms and jutting out her hip with more confidence than she truly felt. “Well, maybe you should have brought that up after the mission.”

“Give me some credit, Nami-ya; I’m not going to shake down an exhausted, potentially traumatized woman for money,” he drawled as he tucked a stray lock of sunset hair behind her ear. The hot tip of his fingers brushed against the sensitive shell, and Nami fought to suppress a shiver, though she was certain from the way his smirk widened that she’d given some other subtle cue that he’d sparked her arousal.

She was really going to have to watch herself now. If Law was as good at reading her body’s tells as he claimed, it was going to be so much harder to claim she wasn’t interested. For the sake of keeping things professional, the Surgeon of Death needed to be kept at arm’s length, otherwise the next nine months were going to be hell.

Abandoning subtlety and jerking away from his touch, she snapped, “Fine, I’ll pay you when I get back to the ship. But only at 0.1% interest.”

“That seems pretty low.”

“I never specified, so that’s all you’re getting.”

“Hmmm, considering how much you like to weasel your way out of things, I think I’d rather you pay me back now. And if you don’t have cash, I’m happy to take another form of payment,” he said, leaning his forearm against the wall above her head and grinning mischievously down at her. “I’ll forgive your debt for one kiss on the lips.”

Instinctively arching her back to better look up at him, she scowled defiantly. “Kisses from me are worth 800,000 belli each, so I’d be taking a loss on that. No deal.”

“Kiss or pay up, Nami-ya,” he teased as he caressed her jaw, his hot breath, which smelled deliciously of champagne and whiskey, dancing over the pale skin of her throat. “You should know nothing in life is free.”

Luckily for the redhead, out of the corner of her eye Nami spotted Ikkaku approaching, so she ducked under Law’s arm, tossing over her shoulder as she dashed off, “Everything is free if you take it without paying!”

To her surprise, Ikkaku, having heard her parting quip, laughed and grabbed her arm, leading her down a dozen winding side-streets in a dead sprint. When they finally stopped to catch their breath, she winked. “Well. I promised a rescue, but it looks like you were managing fine on your own.”

“The assist was still appreciated,” Nami said with a grin, bumping their hips together. “Ready to party?”

Slinging her arm around the redhead’s shoulder, Ikkaku replied excitedly as she led her inside, “Hell yeah! Our long-overdue Girls’ Night has come at last!”

The bar, Venus, wasn’t nearly as extravagant as Ruby 8, but it was illuminated with cool blue lights that gave the place an unearthly glow, large glass tables, cushy couches, and plenty of attractive male waiters ready to serve the lovely ladies that come through the door. It seemed that, on top of being Ladies’ Night, there was a two-for-one special drink called Hypnotique on the menu. This resulted in a fairly impressive turnout despite being a new establishment as several groups of girls, lured by cheap drinks and lack of creepy men, had flocked to the place.

Luckily, there was still room at the long marble bar, and Nami and Ikkaku quickly claimed a pair of empty stools. Before they could even open their mouths, a tall, pale-haired bartender pulled out a pair of martini glasses. He was well-built, had intense green eyes, and flashed them one of those boyish smiles that could easily make a weak-willed lass melt like butter. “First ones are on me,” he said with a wink. “It’s the least I can do for such beautiful ladies.”

Giggling and fluttering her eyelashes, Nami cooed, “How gallant! Thank you!”

“Wow. Free drinks already?” Ikkaku asked suspiciously, eyeing him up with an unimpressed frown. “Bold to assume you already know what we’d like.”

Nami elbowed her friend in the side. Free drinks were rarely something to turn down, and she certainly understood why any man would treat Ikkaku; the engineer looked absolutely stunning in the short, body-hugging silver dress. The curves her jumpsuit usually hid were on full display, proving that for all her tomboyish personality, she had a great figure. Dark, straightened locks fell enticingly around her shoulders, and her makeup was minimal but smokey, enhancing her umber brown eyes.

The bartender, who’s ID tag stated his name was Mandōreku, didn’t seem dissuaded. “Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? When a man has a chance to win a woman as beautiful as you’s attention, it’d be a crime to waste it.” He leaned across the bar towards the dark-haired beauty, whispering conspiratorially, “Besides, I’m positive you’ll like it; Hypnotique is my own recipe. If it’s a hit tonight, the boss promised me a special bonus. So yeah, first one’s free if you promise to give a good review.”

Ikkaku’s thin eyebrows furrowed a moment before finally nodding in agreement, far more accepting of his practical reason than his flattery. “I don’t give praise lightly, so it’d better be the best damn thing I’ve ever tasted,” she warned.

“If you’re not hooked after tonight, I’ll cut off my nose as penance,” he said confidently before turning to finish fixing their drinks.

With the handsome man suitably occupied, Ikkaku turned to Nami with a teasing smirk. “Now that that’s taken care of; spill. I want to hear all about how your date with Dr. Heart Stealer went.”

“It wasn’t a dat—wait. You knew about that song?” Nami asked, gob smacked. “Why didn’t you warn me?!”

“Warn you that the boss had his own theme song or warn you about how sexy it is?”

“It wasn’t that sexy,” she grumbled unconvincingly.

“Uh huh. So, you weren’t even a little turned on?”

Pink dappled her cheeks as she recalled the suggestive lyrics and the way Law had held her close as they danced, her curves flush against him so she could feel every muscle ripple as they glided across the dance floor. “Can we change the subject? You promised me five consecutive minutes with no talk about Law tonight,” she replied with a pout, hoping the blue lighting hid her embarrassed flush.

“Fine, fine. But I’m counting the past minute.” The two martini glasses were placed in front of them, both containing a fruity, sky-blue cocktail with a drop of dark purple juice floating down towards the bottom like squid ink. Ikkaku took a sip and smacked her lips approvingly. “Ok, I’ll admit it; this is good,” she acknowledged.

Mandōreku beamed proudly. “Told ya so. Want me to bring you another once you’re done?”

“Fine. You can open a tab for us, too.”

“Sure thing, gorgeous,” he said with a wink, walking off to attend some other customers.

As she sipped on her own drink, Nami smirked. “He’s totally into you.” After all the teasing Ikkaku gave her over Law, there was no way she was going to miss the opportunity to return the favor.

Unfortunately, instead of showing even a hint of a blush, the engineer merely waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever. He’s not bad looking, but he’s only into me because of the dress. If he saw me in uniform, there’s no way I’d be getting free drinks.”

“Give yourself some credit—you make that jumpsuit look damn good.”

“Oh, I know I do, but I prefer a guy who thinks I’m irresistible in motor oil and baggy clothes as much as slinky dresses and lipstick.”

“And those are hard to come by, huh?”

“Big time.” Her full lips turned up in a smirk. “You should have seen the crew when I walked down the hall in this dress. They always seem to forget what a hot piece of ass I am, so it did my ego good to see them trip over themselves. Penguin literally walked into a wall he was so distracted.”

“I don’t blame him. I can barely keep my eyes off you,” she giggled, easily imagining the first mate’s dumb-struck face. The man might have been one of the more sensible Hearts, but he was still weak to a pretty woman. “But you should give Mandōreku a chance—maybe he is the kind of guy who would go gaga over a dirty engineer.”

“Please, he’s flirting because it’s his job—make a girl feel pretty so she’ll buy more booze. It’s no different from when you hit on a guy so you can steal his wallet.”

“Ok, ok!” Nami laughed, conceding the point. “But you don’t get to tease me about my lack of sex life if you’re just as picky as I am.”

“I’m not picky; I just know what I want. I know what you want, too. Tall, dark, scheming, dominating, dangerous…”

Rolling her eyes, the navigator slowly sipped her cocktail. It was fruity and tasted strongly of pomegranate and strawberries, but a sharp, sour note and the burn of alcohol cut through the sweetness nicely. “Couldn’t even make it five minutes, huh?”

“Technically, I didn’t bring up anyone specific. But fine, here’s a question I desperately need answered,” Ikkaku said, brow furrowing as she turned to face her, long legs crossed and drink in hand. “How the hell did a girl as gorgeous as you manage to stay a virgin on the high seas?”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Nami hesitated before replying, “It…it was partially by choice, but mostly I just never had the time to invest in a relationship. I had to earn 100 million belli if I wanted to buy back my village. Personal relationships would have been a distraction. Plus…my captain at the time would have slaughtered anyone who so much as touched me.” Even if he hadn’t been determined to keep her in his clutches, Arlong’s casual attitude towards killing humans would have ensured she’d avoid relationships to keep their blood off her hands. “Even a one-night stand wasn’t worth the risk. I mean, what if I got pregnant? That bastard wouldn’t hesitate to hold a baby hostage if it meant I’d have to work for him forever.” She shuddered at the thought. Though she often imagined children in her distant future, she’d get a hysterectomy without anesthesia before letting such a monster gain that kind of power over her.

“And your captain never decided to claim you for himself?”

The thought of Arlong bearing any amount of physical attraction towards her made her stomach lurch. “If there was one good thing about being a prisoner of Fishmen who saw humans as repulsive scum, it’s that sex with me was the last thing on their minds.”

“You’re lucky,” the engineer said softly, knocking back the rest of her drink. “A lot of girls have to suck it up and take it.”

Brown eyes widened as sick realization dawned. “Did you—”

Ikkaku shook her head. “Got groped a lot at my old engineering job. No matter how many times I complained about it, my boss always looked the other way; at least, until I’d threaten to bash someone’s face in. Then I was the one who faced docked wages.”

“Why didn’t you leave?”

“Couldn’t afford it,” she replied sadly, running her finger around the rim of her martini glass. She paused briefly as Mandōreku swooped in to replace their drinks with fresh ones. Thankfully he didn’t linger, and Ikkaku continued, “It was a shit port, but the only one with any real mechanic jobs, and I guess I was just stubborn, you know? My brothers had always told me that, yeah, I was smart and knew machines better than anyone else, but a female engineer just didn’t stand a chance. I wanted to prove them wrong, even if it meant putting up with creeps and assholes.”

“And then you got fired anyway for doing your job right.”

She smiled, eyes bright with pride. “And then I joined the Heart Pirates, where I’m respected and never groped, and the boss takes my opinions seriously. Most of the time, at least.”

Despite herself, Nami grinned as she raised her glass. “Sounds like we both got out of pretty bad situations and found captains worthy of our amazing talents and beauty.”

“That we did. Straw Hat’s a lucky man to have gotten you on his crew.”

“Damn straight.” Seeing an opportunity to gain some information, she asked innocently, “Speaking of lucky men, I hear you guys got to see Amazon Lily and live.”

A dark aura surrounded Ikkaku the moment the words left Nami’s mouth. “Yeah, the guys are lucky I didn’t kick all their asses!” she snarled, fist clenched in rage and murderous fire in her eyes.

Nami blanched. Penguin had said the crew had pissed her off, but this was a much more volatile response than she’d been expecting. “Yeesh, was it that bad?” she asked hesitantly. She was faintly reminded of her own reaction back when she’d been mocked for mentioning Skypeia but brushed it off. Surely, she hadn’t been nearly as bad, and that anger had been perfectly justified. After all, those drunken idiots had dared to laugh at her, all over an innocent question!

Caught up in her anger, the engineer ranted, “Those stupid bastards acted like they’d gone years without seeing a woman. Fucking heart-eyes and nosebleeds everywhere! Almost got themselves shot full of arrows for it, too! I don’t care that they don’t all want to bang me, but fucking hell, when I pointed out that they were acting stupid, they asked if I was jealous! I nearly walked right off the ship and joined Boa Hancock’s crew out of spite!”

Though it was probably smarter to change the subject, Nami found herself asking, “What stopped you?”

Ikkaku’s boiling fury simmered down into a scalding irritation. “Bepo. Literally the only male with sense during our stay. Well, I guess Jean Bart wasn’t so bad, either, but he didn’t really know any of us well enough to pick a side. Either way, Bepo managed to convince me to stick around, even though I still didn’t talk to the other idiots until a week after we left.”

A small smile lifted the corner of Nami’s lips as she noted the deliberate lack of mentioning the Heart Captain. “Ok, I’m curious, so I’ll let you off the hook for this; what did Law do to piss you off? Penguin said he made a stupid comment…”

Chin resting on her fist, she sighed petulantly. “I mean, I get he was stressed with Straw Hat’s surgery and trying to keep everyone alive, but the way he blew off my complaints about it reminded me too much of my old boss, you know? He even snapped at me and said if I didn’t like it, I could leave.”

“…Excuse me I need to go punch your jackass captain.”

A laugh bubbled up in Ikkaku’s throat as she caught Nami’s wrist, tugging her back onto her stool. “It’s fine! Like I said, he had a lot going on, so he was more sleep deprived and grumpier than usual. Straw Hat’s surgery took a lot out of him, and that on top of avoiding the Marines and keeping the boys from getting killed couldn’t have been easy. Once shit settled down and he realized how genuinely pissed I was, he apologized.”

Crossing her arms, Nami scowled. “You let him off with just an apology? I would have made Luffy grovel.”

“Oh, he knew I’d never let him get away with just a verbal admission of guilt, so said apology mainly consisted of a fancy new tool kit and a nice bonus to my paycheck; that’s basically groveling for him. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s part of why he put us together; figured I’d be more willing to keep putting up with his shitty attitude if I had some female companionship.”

A more cynical part of Nami’s brain wondered if that was why Law had been so eager to recruit her, but she brushed it off. He was opportunistic and probably reassured that her presence helped appease his best engineer, but he wouldn’t have taken the risk of trusting the nakama of a rival pirate for such a minor thing. “I’m surprised he wasn’t worried about you convincing me to run away with you.”

“Maybe that’s why he flirts with you so much—he knows I won’t leave if there’s decent entertainment.”

“And the subject of Law is officially back on hold again.”

Ikkaku sniggered. “Fair. But just you wait, oh blushing virgin. You can’t hide from my teasing forever.”

“I can try.”

They finished their cocktails, and before the empty glasses even touched the coasters, the bartender had already brought new ones.

“Impressive service,” Nami noted as Mandōreku darted away to attend to some other customers. She would have loved to watch him try to flirt with Ikkaku again; whether she shot him down or finally gave into his attentions, the redhead was sure it would be an amusing show. Unfortunately, it seemed that none of the men working the club had time to linger—the place was packed, so every man had their hands full, especially as the clientele got more wasted. There was a group of girls at one of the large glass tables that looked like they were having a great time ordering as many drinks as possible so they could watch the attractive waiters walk back and forth, and one black-haired beauty in particular appeared to be utterly smitten, leaning in closer every time one stopped by to drop off another Hypnotique.

“The place just opened, so they’re probably hoping to generate some good buzz,” Ikkaku replied, taking a sip of her drink. “Grimm’s full of flash-in-the-pan, pop-up bars and clubs. Everyone thinks they’ll be the ones to make it big, or it’s a front to some other illicit business, but sooner or later, the owner pisses off the wrong person and gets killed or run out.”

“Well that’s terrifying.”

“Eh, it’s an island full of brothels, black market brokers, back-alley doctors, and other scum. That’s why the crew enforces the buddy system. Which reminds me…” Reaching into her coat, she passed Nami her Clima-Tact and holster. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

Gratefully, she took her weapon, strapping the holster around her waist. “Right. Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Hey, no one’s allowed to steal you away from the crew but me, you hear?”

Laughing carelessly, Nami nodded, taking a sip of her new drink. It was stronger than what she’d expect for a two-for-one special, but maybe Mandōreku added an extra shot in hopes of impressing the duo. Or getting them drunk. She wasn’t worried, though; she’d out-drunk entire taverns with stronger booze than this, and she expected Ikkaku was no slouch, either.

Taking a glance at a nearby clock, the dark-haired engineer’s grin widened. “Anyway, it’s now been five minutes, so Law’s a viable conversation piece again. I don’t see any hickeys—Boss managed to control himself this time?” Ikkaku teased.

Nami’s face flushed slightly at the memory of the incident. Her skin tingled as she remembered the delicious way his teeth had scraped against her vulnerable throat. “Law is so lucky I didn’t slap him for that,” she groused, shaking the feeling away.

“I mean, that was his payback for the sunburn prank, right? Fair’s fair.”

“Oh, shut up; your boss is a lecherous jerk and you know it.”

“And you like the attention he gives you and you know it. I don’t get why you two don’t just fuck and get it over with. You don’t have an evil Fishman holding your life hostage anymore, so what’s the holdup?”

Finger pressed to her bottom lip, Nami sarcastically pretended to think. “Hmmm, I wonder; because we have to work together, and a one-night stand could make the next nine-months-and-change awkward? Because, despite the odds, I’ve made it this far with my virginity still intact, so it seems a waste to throw it away for some meaningless fling? Because I want my first time to be special and with someone I fully trust and not just a guy looking to get into my pants? Because we could end up being enemies in the New World and I don’t want to have to explain to my nakama that I had sex with one of Luffy’s rivals?”

“Do you really think they’d care about that?”

She sighed, absently playing with Nojiko’s bracelet. “I don’t know. I mean, they’ve forgiven me for a lot worse. But Luffy and Law might someday fight it out for the One Piece—you can’t tell me you wouldn’t feel a little guilty if you’d slept with, let’s say Drake or Kid?”

“I’d feel guilty about sleeping with Drake, but only because Law’s staked his claim. And please tell me you wouldn’t actually think I’d be crazy enough to sleep with Eustass Kid?!” she asked, nose wrinkled in disdain.

“Ok, bad examples.” Nami wracked her brain for other Supernovas. “What about Basil Hawkins?”

“If I’d actually managed seduce the world’s most stoic magician, Law would be singing my praises. But I get your point.” Taking a sip of her drink, Ikkaku smirked. “Here’s a question; would you sleep with Hawkins? I mean, imagine it’s not your first time—which, I’ll admit, is a totally legit reason for not giving into Law. But if Basil Hawkins came up to you and said, ‘the cards predict we’ll sleep together’, would you?”

The question caught her off-guard, but despite herself, she considered it. “I mean, I’d never settle for such a shitty pick-up line, but if we just went by looks…” she trailed off, thinking. “He’s got nice hair and he’s not exactly ugly, but the deadpan expression’s kind of a turn-off. Hard to imagine him as a lover.”

“Agreed. He’s from the North Blue, too, so we ran into him a couple times before we set off for the Grand Line, and I don’t think I saw his expression change once.”

“I believe it.”

The Heart Pirate’s grin turned salacious. “So, does this mean we’re going to start rating the fuckability of each Supernova?”

“I mean, what’s Ladies’ Night without arbitrarily ranking men you barely know based on how willing you are to sleep with them, right?” Nami joked, glad they’d moved the conversation away from serious topics. This was supposed to be a fun evening, after all, and she was still feeling a bit raw from spilling so much of her past to Law earlier. And while she’d often indulged in late-night girl talk with Robin, it had rarely been about men; there simply hadn’t been anyone who’d caught her attention at the time, and she’d felt awkward asking the archeologist about her love life considering what a private person she was. Ikkaku was definitely more inclined to share all the dirty details, whether Nami asked for them or not. “You already said you’d never lower yourself to sleep with Kid, but what about his first mate?”

“Bold of you to assume I haven’t already tapped that.”

The redhead’s jaw dropped to the polished bar top. “You’re kidding!”

“Nope.”

“Spill.”

Grinning like she’d been wanting to tell the tale for ages, Ikkaku leaned forward eagerly. “Happened the third time our crews crossed paths. Usually, we try to stay out of each other’s ways so our captains don’t try to murder each other, but we were both after the same treasure. A freak storm came out of nowhere and Killer and I got separated from the group, and since I was injured, we opted to wait for help in a cave.”

“You were hurt?”

“Just a sprained ankle. Nothing serious, but I wasn’t in any condition to traipse through the jungle like that, and with all the dangerous animals about, I wasn’t going to let Killer carry me around and not have his hands free in case we were attacked.”

“Who made the first move?”

“Well, I ripped off his mask and kissed him, but he’d been coming onto me for hours by that point. I mean, a girl can only hold back so long when a hot guy like that’s rubbing her shoulders and offering to share body heat to keep warm.”

Now that was an obvious come-on if ever she heard one. “How was he?”

To Nami’s amazement, a red blush spread across Ikkaku’s cheeks. “Surprisingly gentle, though that might have been because he didn’t want to jostle my ankle. I usually like it rough, but damn, he was such a tease I didn’t mind. Definitely a considerate lover; he even made me breakfast the next morning.”

“Nice. A guy like that at least seems worth my time, if you’re willing to share,” she joked.

“I’m not opposed,” Ikkaku replied with a wink. “Moving on, I’m going to pre-emptively assume that Apoo and Urogue are in the ‘no’ category.”

“Apoo is horrifying on at least a dozen different levels, but I heard that Urouge’s hobby is ‘making love’, so he might have some redeeming qualities.”

Ikkaku nearly spit out her drink. “Where’d you hear that?!”

Chuckling, Nami recalled her own flabbergasted reaction when she’d been informed of that surprising tidbit. “Robin. If there’s anyone who studied up on the pirates of the Grand Line more than me, it’s her. And she always seems to know the weirdest, most obscure facts.”

“Noted. So, what about Roronoa and Straw Hat? They’re Supernovas, too.”

Nami choked on her cocktail, the burn of the alcohol settling uncomfortably in her lungs. “I wouldn’t sleep with Zoro any more than you’d sleep with Law!” Shaking her head in exasperation, she continued, “Sure, aesthetically he’s good-looking, but he’s dumb as a sack of hammers and has even worse directional sense.” Wiping away some of the blue liquid that escaped her lips, she added, “Besides, he’s like my brother, you know? He and I were Luffy’s first crewmembers; if something were going to happen between us, it would have already.”

“What about Straw Hat?”

Shifting awkwardly, the navigator admitted, “Luffy…look, Luffy’s a sweetheart. He’s fought pirates for me, climbed a mountain to get me to a doctor, saved my life at least a dozen different times…I can easily imagine a girl with far more patience than me falling in love with someone as goofy, determined, and loyal as him. But I can’t imagine him having sex.”

Tapping her lower lip thoughtfully, Ikkaku replied, “Yeah, I can see your point.”

“Dare I ask your opinion on the matter?”

“I’d do Zoro, but if he’s as dumb as you say, he’d probably have no clue what to do with an amazingly sexy woman like me. Probably isn’t all the interested in girls.”

“Seeing as he’s the only guy who didn’t spy on me in the baths, I’d say that’s a fair assessment.”

She sighed dramatically. “Such a tragic waste—a guy that good looking, but so utterly clueless. As for Straw Hat, I think you’re right. He’s sweet as pie, but not the kind of guy who’d push you up against a wall and ravish you. Unlike my captain—”

“Jewelry Bonney! Would you do her?!” Nami cut in, desperate to keep the subject off Law for just a little while longer.

Ikkaku laughed. “In a heartbeat! That chick’s wild, so I can imagine she’d be up for a good time. How about you?”

“You know, I think I’m on board with that, assuming she doesn’t stop halfway through to grab a snack.”

“Yeah, the only eating I’d want her to do is eating me out!” Ikkaku cackled before her mocha eyes took on a devious gleam. “I already gave you my answer, but I’m curious about yours—would you fuck Drake?”

“Didn’t you just say Law has dibs?”

“If it’s you—and he gets to watch—I think he’d be ok with it.”

Maybe it was the chance to indulge in real girl-talk without fear of their crewmates eavesdropping, but Nami felt almost giddy. Sure, talking about sex was still embarrassing, but Ikkaku gossiped about it so easily that it was hard not to get drawn in. Or maybe she was still a little aroused from her evening with Law, and she needed to let off some steam.

Taking a deep breath, Nami admitted, “I mean, before yesterday I’d say no—too stuffy and intimidating. But now…”

“He and Law got you all hot and bothered, huh?”

“I honest to god have never been so terrified and horny at the same time. Drake looked…feral.”

Blushing, Nami gave her the details of their encounter. How he’d helped her through her panic attack and been such a shy gentleman, at least until he’d decided to abduct her. How, when Law had been egging him on with his lecherous comments and groping, Drake had gone from hostile to interested, particularly when asked to help teach the wayward Cat Thief obedience. How, despite the bloodlust in the air and the bad reaction to the birth control, she’d found her panties had been completely soaked through after the encounter.

Honestly, she’d never expected to be turned on by a man like X Drake, but now she was sure he’d be the star in at least a few fantasies. After all, it had been pretty hot imagining him with Law. In her mind, the pair went together nicely; Law was cool and collected but eager to tease, while Drake seemed like the sort who’d start off shy, but morph into a hungry beast when pushed too far. Now, put an eager, orange-haired navigator in the middle…

When Nami was finished, Ikkaku blinked owlishly. “Wow. Ok, I know I’ve been trying to get you with Law, but if you really don’t want to date the Boss, I’d be happy to play wing-woman and set you up with Drake.”

Shaken out of her daydream, Nami gaped at her. “He tried to take me hostage!”

“Which could lead to some pretty intense sexytimes. I mean, handcuffs and dominance are a classic for a reason.”

“He’s at least a decade older than me!”

“On the Grand Line, age is just a number, and older men have their charms.”

“He could barely look at me when I took off the jumpsuit!”

“And yet you just admitted that, when Law basically put you on display, that shyness practically melted away.” Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Ikkaku leaned forward until she was barely an inch from her blushing friend. “Oh, come on; indulge me! You’re supposed to be a woman who can bring a man to his knees with a smile and empty his wallet with a wink. Are you saying you couldn’t seduce X Drake?”

Nami nibbled on her lip as her thighs clenched, warmth from the alcohol and fantasizing settling low in her belly. Oh, what was the harm, right? It was way safer to talk about Drake than Law; the chances of seeing him again were slim to none.

“Fine, I’ll play your game, but this,” she pointed between them erratically, “stays between us, got it?”

“You have my solemn oath as a Heart Pirate that if I so much as whisper any of your dirty fantasies to someone else, I’ll tattoo ‘traitor’ across my forehead in bright red letters.”

Pleased with Ikkaku’s sincerity, Nami leaned forward. “So, given how shy he is, I figure he’d need a little coaxing, right? But if the way he pretty much refused to look at me when I stripped down is anything to go by, I’d have to go slowly and start off dressed pretty conservatively.” A wicked thought entered her mind. “I’d dress up as a Marine or something—maybe something like Hina’s outfit. A nice, tailored suit that still hugs me in all the right ways.”

“Oooo, nice. Be sure to accessories with some sexy high-heeled boots.”

“Damn straight. Then, I’d pull every subtle trick I can think of—suck on a popsicle, ‘accidentally’ brush up against him, engage him in conversation just full of double-entendres, offer to help him ‘relax’ if he’s been having a stressful day—basically, drive him crazy wondering if I even realize how sexual I’m being.”

The shameless engineer sniggered. “Damn, girl, playing the innocent seductress card, huh?”

“Well, yeah. A shy guy like him needs to be pushed to the breaking point until he finally just snaps and pins me to the nearest flat surface.”

“You may be just as sadistic as Law.”

Red-faced but pleased with herself, Nami giggled. She was just glad Ikkaku didn’t ask her to elaborate any further—she was feeling surprisingly turned on. She made a mental note to grab a shower before bed; either a cold one, or a long, hot one where she could indulge in her fantasies a little longer. If that dildo her evil roommate had given her was water-proof, she might settle on the latter. “Hey, you asked. So, any other sexual conquests you wanna share? Who else has seen past the motor oil and canvas and been blessed by the goddess Ikkaku?”

“Honey, my sexual conquests would put those books of yours to shame. I once made a guy cum so hard he literally blacked out.”

Impressed though she was, Nami found herself momentarily distracted. It had to be a trick of the light, but Ikkaku’s eyes looked almost blue.

“You ok?” the woman in question asked.

Nami shook her head, positive she’d just been seeing things. “Yeah, fine. The blue light’s just getting to be a little much.”

At that moment, Mandōreku stopped by, studying their half-finished drinks. “You ladies want me to freshen these up?”

“Actually, can you get my friend a glass of water?” Ikkaku asked.

“Water? You sure?”

The Heart pirate frowned at his failure to immediately comply. “Yeah. Water. You know, the stuff people drink to keep from getting dehydrated? You do have that, right?”

“Well, yeah, but it’ll have to wait until I’m done making the cocktails for those girls over there,” he replied cagily, pointing to a pair of women currently making out like they could only breath air stolen from their partner’s lungs.

“I think they can wait,” Ikkaku said blandly, eyes narrowing when he ignored her and went to check on another customer who was practically laying across the bar, clearly having had too much to drink.

Turning to Nami, she gave her a gentle nudge. “Why don’t you hit the ladies’ room and splash some water on your face? You’re looking a little flushed, girl. I’ll make sure there’s a glass of water waiting for you when you get back.”

Part of her wanted to insist she was fine, but when she shifted, her thighs rubbed together and a shocking jolt of arousal shot up her spine. Maybe a quick trip to the bathroom wasn’t such a bad idea…

As she got to her feet, Nami stumbled, ankles wobbling slightly as she made her way to the bathroom. Something seemed…off. She was having a hard time focusing. It was almost like being drunk, but that couldn’t be the case.

“Be back in a few minutes,” she told Ikkaku, though her voice sounded husky and distant to her own ears.

Her friend nodded absently, her eyes having strayed back over to their bartender, who was busy preparing another round of martinis. “Uh huh.”

High-heeled feet clumsy and numb, Nami slowly made her way across the club. It was almost disorienting to step inside the bathroom, with its regular lighting and distinct lack of blue, but she could hardly bring herself to care. At the moment, she was half-tempted to slip into one of the stalls and pull off her dress for a while—she was feeling hot and bothered, and her clingy dress rubbing against her sensitized skin wasn’t helping matters. It was different from how she’d felt in the jumpsuit, though—her warmed flesh wasn’t desperate for cold air and freedom, but for more heat and rough touches and contact with another person’s smooth skin.

For a minute, she imagined Law cornering her in the bathroom, caging her against the wall and slowly peeling off her dress, hands and mouth caressing every inch of skin he exposed, staring up at her with those piercing gold eyes. She may have been fantasizing about Drake earlier, but she knew that when it came to her own satisfaction, the Surgeon of Death was the real man for the job. When she was this ready and willing, she didn’t have time to carefully seduce a shy former Marine—she needed a hot and sexy bastard like Law who knew a golden opportunity when it fell in his lap.

Clutching the sides of the lone sink, Nami steadied herself, even though her knees felt weak and wobbly. What the hell was going on? She couldn’t be drunk! Sure, she’d had two bottles of champagne and the Sour Sunrise at Ruby 8, plus multiple Hypnotiques, but she’d drunk entire taverns dry without so much as a hiccup! And even on the rare occasion she had been more than a little tipsy, she’d never been a horny drunk! But right now, all she wanted was to slip her nimble fingers between her slick thighs and play with herself, or better yet, hunt down a certain captain and ride him like a prized stallion.

Gods, what she wouldn’t give to be back at Ruby 8 with Law. They could close those velvet curtains to the booth, she’d climb on his lap, and he could lick champagne off her cleavage while she ground her throbbing clit against his hard cock…

To her right, there was a groan and one of the women from the large group stumbled out a stall, collapsed to the floor and curled up into a fetal position, hand buried under her skirt as she twitched and spasmed. Nami stared at her, mind sluggishly processing that she didn’t seem to be in pain—her face was flushed and she was panting, but her blue eyes were rolled back in extasy.

The woman wasn’t hurt—she was in the midst of an intense orgasm.

Ikkaku’s advice popped into her head, and tearing her eyes away from the cumming burnette, Nami turned on the tap. Cold water was quickly splashed on her face, the shock allowing her to focus just a little bit more on her surroundings. Her head felt like it was stuffed with lead cotton, but despite the fuzzy weight she forced herself to look in the mirror, gasping in shock as she caught sight of her eyes.

Brown irises had been overtaken by an unnatural, bright blue.

The same blue as Hypnotique.

The sight cleared the rest of the drunken haze from her mind, and cold dread replaced the heat that had settled in her belly. She turned to the orgasming girl, and though the irises were barely visible, Nami could see they also had the same vibrant blue tint.

A horrible thought bubbled up, and she staggered back to the bar as quickly as she could, only to find that, throughout the club, more women were beginning to collapse to the floor with shuddering moans. Only Ikkaku seemed to be upright, though that was at least partially because she was currently being pinned to the edge of the bar by Mandōreku, the bartender’s large hands holding back her balled fists. There was a smoking gun on the floor, probably the tough engineer’s, but it appeared the only thing she’d managed to hit were the glass bottles.

Nami didn’t have time to think—she grabbed a half-empty martini glass and flung it at the bartender’s unsuspecting back, mentally cheering when it shattered between the shoulder blades, startling him enough that his hold on Ikkaku loosened enough for her to kick him in the stomach.

“You cowardly son of a bitch!” Ikkaku snarled, reaching behind the bar to grab the neck of one of the Vodka bottles, just barely missing Mandōreku when she tried to slam it into his face. “The fuck did you put in our drinks?”

“A lovely little drug called ‘uranos’, Miss Heart Pirate,” came a sneering voice from the door.

Nami spun on her heel, fear freezing her veins as Jinzo strolled through the door flanked by his massive bodyguards. Two of them blocked the entrance, rifles in hand and determined glares on their faces.

Taking advantage of the distraction the black market broker’s arrival granted him, Mandōreku grabbed Ikkaku’s arm and twisted it painfully around her back, wrapping his other beefy arm around her throat, panting as she struggled helplessly, “Good timing, Mr. Jinzo. As you can see, your investment is already paying off.”

Jinzo gave a pleased, yellow-toothed smile that sent a shiver down Nami’s spine as his gaze landed on the orange-haired pirate. “I must say, outrageous as your prices are, I can’t argue with your results. Seems your special drink was a real hit. And you even caught me the wretched Cat Thief.”

“Happy to be of service,” the bartender replied, nodding to the rest of the waiters. Immediately, the set aside their trays of drinks and began gathering up the barely conscious customers, carelessly tossing them onto the couches or into a heap by the bar. “Think this’ll be enough girls for your new brothel?”

“For now, but I’m sure I’ll call on you for a new batch once these expire.”

“What the fuck did you do to us?” Nami asked, grabbing a table to steady herself, the adrenaline and danger of the situation barely holding back the unwilling wave of arousal that tried to wash over her. She chanced a glance at Ikkaku, whose face was flushed with pain and pleasure even as she weakly tried to wiggle out of her captor’s arms.

Jinzo seemed amused at Nami’s determination to keep her head clear despite suffering from the effects of whatever she’d been dosed with. “Oh, just a special concoction that induces inebriation and doubles as a rather powerful aphrodisiac. You see, I’m opening up a new brothel, but renovations and paying off stupid pirates mean I’m short on the necessary funds to pay employees. So, I contracted Mandōreku here to open up this little club for a special Ladies’ Night to ‘recruit’ my first batch of whores.”

“You have the money to pay for a fake club, but not to hire legit employees?” Nami groaned, forcing herself to stay focused and not give in to the pleasant haze that was trying to creep back into her mind. Staring at the sleazy man’s terrible teeth helped—they were gross and crooked, just like his business practices.

“For what I spent on this whole façade, I’ll recoup the costs in no time. You see, once a woman succumbs to its effects, she’s completely addicted to physical pleasure. So I can cut back on unnecessary things like employee salaries because they’ll have no interest in money—just a single-minded drive for getting fucked.”

“Captain…won’t let…away with this,” Ikkaku panted, weakly clawing at her captor’s arm.

Jinzo scoffed. “Please, as if someone like Trafalgar Law gives a shit about either of you. By the time he realizes you’re gone, you’ll both be nothing but sex-addicted, mindless whores. Maybe I’ll let him buy one of you back, though I doubt you’ll be good for anything but pleasuring the crew.”

“Don’t forget our deal, Jinzo,” Mandōreku cut in. “I get to keep one chick for myself, and I’m choosing this one,” he stated, twisting Ikkaku’s arm a little tighter. “Feisty bitches like her tend to last longer, after all.”

“Yes, yes, she’s all yours. And since I’ve got the chance to make the famous Cat Thief my star attraction, well, I guess Trafalgar won’t be getting either of you back after all,” the thin man snickered, eyes locking onto Nami. “You cost me a lot of money yesterday, bitch, so it’s a good thing men will be lining up around the block for the chance say they nailed Cat Thief Nami.”

Unfortunately for the black market mogul, Ikkaku and Nami weren’t going to let that happen. The navigator quickly drew her Clima-Tact, blasting a heavy gust of wind at Jinzo and the two armed guards by the door. Meanwhile, Ikkaku bashed her head back against Mandōreku’s face; there was a sickening crack as his nose crumpled against the Heart Pirate’s skull. With her captor’s grip sufficiently loosened, she pulled away enough to slam her heel into his groin, forcing him to fully release her. Leaping forward, she grabbed her discarded gun from the floor, shooting the two thugs right between the eyes before they could recover from Nami’s attack.

“Nami, run!” she shouted, spinning around to slam the heavy hilt of the empty pistol into Mandōreku’s sternum, putting him down for the count.

“Not without you!” the thief shot back, using more wind to launch a few of the glass tables at the waiters to keep them from stepping in. The drug made her legs feel cumbersome and unsteady, taking away some of her natural agility and making real combat difficult, but her determination to not be made a sex slave at least kept her head clear.

“I’m right behind you,” Ikkaku assured, though it was undercut by the way she stumbled as a stray thug took a swing at her. Most of the men in the club weren’t armed, having not expected much of a fight from a bunch of incapacitated women, but this one had been smarter than most, grabbing a shard of glass to use as an improvised knife. He managed to get in a lucky hit and slash Ikkaku across her ribs, the deep cut immediately pouring blood down her silver dress.

“Damn it, don’t damage the merchandise,” Jinzo shouted. Nami dimly realized that was why the guards weren’t shooting at them, and why the waiters were so lightly armed—they wanted the girls alive and with minimal injuries to clean up. Wounded whores probably wouldn’t go for much, and if Jinzo was being so stingy with money, he wouldn’t want to waste his cash on medical expenses.

Using her opponent’s momentum against him, Ikkaku managed to knock the heavy thug head-first into the marble bar, putting him down for the count. “Nami, get out and find Law!”

Nami refused to leave her friend, though. Turning quickly, the navigator blasted Jinzo and his goons with another gust of wind, a storm of bottles, broken tables, and martini glasses shattering in their faces. Taking advantage of the distraction, the pair of women dashed out the door, with Ikkaku pausing just long enough to grab the two dead guards’ rifles.

Unfortunately, that burst of energy didn’t last long, especially for the injured Heart Pirate, and they were forced to duck into a dark side-alley only a block away. “Nami…” she panted, crumpling to the ground, “find Law.”

“I said—”

“Find him and bring him back,” she wheezed. “It’s not a deep cut, but aphrodisiacs stimulate blood flow, so if I keep running, I risk bleeding out.”

“Fuck,” Nami whimpered.

Forcing herself up into a kneeling position, Ikkaku rested the muzzle of one of the stolen rifles on a trashcan. “I’ll hide here; pick off any sons of bitches that try to follow you. But you need to get Law now.”

“But the drug—”

“The longer we stand around talking, the more blood I lose and the less clear your head’s going to be. Now go!”

Though she hated to leave her friend to potentially fend off a bunch of vicious thugs by herself, Nami knew she was right—they needed Law, since he could remove the drug from their systems, fix Ikkaku up, and slice Jinzo and his men to bits. Casting her Mirage Tempo to render herself invisible, the navigator sprinted through the winding alleys back towards Ruby 8, silently praying Law was still there. How long had it even been since she’d left? An hour? Two?

A helpless whimper bubbled up in her throat as Nami darted down another foggy street. Could she not go one day on Grimm without some drug fucking with her system?! What was worse was that the longer she ran, the harder it became to think. The aphrodisiac’s effects were becoming more pronounced, from the way heat pooled in her lower belly as her thighs rubbed together to the delicious way the soft material of her dress slid over her sensitive skin.

The cool air wasn’t quite as effective at clearing her head this time—if anything, it just made her nipples pebble harder, and the slight breeze against her exposed flesh reminded her far too much of the way Law would let his breath tickle her neck and ears.

She needed to find him. Law could rescue Ikkaku. Could remove the drug from her system. Could cure the ache inside her with those wicked lips and dexterous hands—

Collapsing against a brick wall, she slapped herself in hopes of knocking that thought from her head. She couldn’t let the drug distract her from her mission! She needed to get to Ruby 8 and find Law so he…

Whatever plan she’d been formulating vanished from her head the second she heard a deep, smooth voice in the distance. “It should be a couple blocks away. Haiko-ya says Jinzo’s new brothel is slated to open in a few days—let’s see if we can get a sneak peek and draw him out for a chat.”

“We aiming to kill, Captain?” Jean Bart’s voice asked.

“No. Capture him unharmed if possible. I’d hate for Drake-ya to think I have no faith in his torture abilities.”

Despite the cruel words, Nami nearly cried in relief as Law strolled around the corner, the other Heart Pirates in tow. Focus solely on the dangerous captain, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his chest and pressing her trembling figure flush against him.

Law stumbled back a few steps, clearly unprepared for an assault from the invisible woman, and Nami felt his muscles tense as he activated his Room. “What the fuck—”

God, even though he was pissed and ready to attack her, his voice was like molten honey. “Law,” she murmured breathily, clinging to his blazer and breathing in his spicy cologne. The masculine scent made her mouth water.

“Nami-ya?” he asked, awkwardly patting where he presumed her head was. “What are you doing wandering around Grimm’s back alleys alone for? Again?” he growled.

The way his chest rumbled with every word enticed her to slip her hands inside the jacket to run her palms across the taut muscles. “I was looking for you,” she cooed breathily, mind fogged with lust. He sounded so mad. Was he going to punish her? Spank her for being a bad girl and disobeying his orders?

“Why are you invisible?”

“And where’s Ikkaku?” Penguin chimed in, brow furrowing beneath his hat in concern.

Why was she invisible? Law needed to see her to touch her, right? He’d want to see her hot and aching for him; see that she needed him so badly. Absently, she dropped the Mirage Tempo before shifting her focus to undoing the buttons of Law’s shirt. She wanted to see those tattoos up close, to trace them with her tongue—

Firm hands grabbed her wrists, yanking them away from her prize. “Nami-ya, what the fuck are you doing?” Law snapped. “Are you drunk? Where’s Ikkaku?”

Why was he asking about another woman? Did he secretly have a thing for Ikkaku?

…wait, she was planning on telling him about Ikkaku, though. Something about her being with someone…

“Ikkaku’s waiting for…a man,” she moaned, eyelids lowered as she pushed herself onto her tiptoes to brush a kiss across the exposed skin of his throat. Her mind was fuzzy, the anxiousness she’d been feeling hard to hold onto when the man she wanted was right there.

“We need more information than ‘a man’, Nami,” Penguin groused, subtly shifting closer, ready to pull her off his captain if needed. All the Heart Pirates knew Law could handle himself against one slight woman, especially since her intent was clearly more amorous than murderous, but they also knew her behavior was far from normal.

Law, for his part, softly groaned as Nami teasingly swiped her tongue across the dip of his exposed collarbone. “Nami-ya, your timing for this really couldn’t be worse.”

“Don’t you want me, Law-kun?” she mewled, pressing her soft breasts to his chest as she rolled her hips against his hardening cock. Really, he’d been teasing her for nearly three months! If it had all been some kind of joke and he left her wanting now, she was sure she’d go mad!

“Obviously, but right now—” Law cut himself off as he finally got a good look at her eyes. Releasing one of her wrists to grab her chin, he peered down into the electric blue orbs. “Fuck. She’s taken uranos.”

Shachi’s eyes widened behind his sunglasses. “Shit, Boss, you’ve gotta get it out of her!”

“Wait, did Ikkaku take it, too?” Penguin asked, grabbing Nami’s shoulder. “Nami, did she—”

Moaning, Nami leaned into the touch. His hand wasn’t as satisfyingly rough as Law’s, but it still felt so good to be touched…

Her euphoria was broken as she was unceremoniously jerked away, both of her wrists captured by one of Law’s large hands and yanked above her head. He took special care to hold her away from his body, basically dangling in front of him, leaving her nothing to rub herself against for stimulus. Needy and impatient, she jerked and writhed in his clutches, legs flailing to try and hook around his hips, but he clumsily dodged, determined to keep the thief at arm’s length.

“Nami-ya, I’m not letting you go until you tell me where my engineer is.”

“Please~” she whimpered, thrashing about, desperately trying to get any kind of stimulation. Her panties were soaked through and her breasts demanded to be touched. She imagined the hand restraining her was replaced with handcuffs—that way, he’d still have her exposed and helpless, but he’d be free to run his hot palms down her sides, caressing and squeezing her luscious curves as he got down on his knees and showed her what that wicked mouth of his could do to her dripping cunt.

“Law, we don’t have time to play around! You know that stuff’s addictive! If Ikkaku—”

A harsh glare from the captain cut off Penguin’s complaints. “I know, idiot. We’ll find her.” Turning back to the captive thief, he studied her intently, though there was an anxious edge to his normally confident tone. “Nami-ya, I know you’re stronger than this. If Ikkaku’s in trouble, I need you to tell me.”

“She’s…” she trailed off, having the hardest time concentrating on anything other than the way his gold eyes shone in the dim light of the alley.

“Focus, Nami-ya. She wouldn’t have let you wander around alone. Is Ikkaku in danger?”

Though the salacious fog encasing her brain was thick, Law’s words and the sudden memory of her friend bleeding but ready to snipe down the men who’d attacked them managed to poke the smallest holes through, allowing her enough clarity to groan, “Drugged…Jinzo.”

“I’m going to make that bastard suffer,” Law growled. “Where are they?”

But the self-control the navigator had regained was washed away by a hot wave of lust. God, Law sounded so fucking hot when he was mad. So powerful and dangerous. She wanted him to throw her down and growl like that in her ear while he took her roughly, make her beg and scream while he pinned her to the wall, telling her all the dirty things he planned to do with her.

“Tell me where she is, damn it!” he snapped, shaking her slightly.

Her only response was to bite her lip and moan shamelessly as she arched her back, thrusting out her chest in hopes of enticing him to lean in and wrap his lips around one of the straining peaks.

Realizing his orders weren’t getting him anywhere, Law changed tactics. Carefully, he pulled her in but left just enough space between their bodies so she still couldn’t get the contact she was obviously desperate for. “Nami-ya,” he purred in her ear, hot lips tauntingly brushing against the sensitive cartilage, “tell me where Ikkaku is and I’ll give you exactly what you need.”

That was an offer her aching body couldn’t refuse. “Venus…cl-club…three blocks west…please…”

“Thank you, Nami-ya,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around her waist as he finally released her wrists. Eagerly, Nami buried her fingers in his thick hair and yanked him down for an intense, desperate kiss, moaning in relief as his lips slanted across hers. The pleasure was short-lived, however, as a sharp jolt to the back of her neck made her body go limp and black creep into her vision.

As unconsciousness overwhelmed her, she felt Law’s lips part from hers just enough to whisper, “Sorry about this, Nami-ya, but it’s for your own good…”

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