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#i called a company today in the city i'm moving to that seemed kinda like they were apt locators
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why the fuck are apartment locators not a thing in every state i feel like i'm going crazy
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sinkingtime · 1 year
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Remaking the DCU 2: Now with facts!
If you haven't read my first DCU post, well I cannot blame you, it was long. Still, today won't make sense. I've just done the research for all the things I said I didn't wanna look up at the time.
It has also given me ideas for future stuff, which I will post at some later time; and a few corrections to the original post, which I'm having here.
At the end I have a question of the "does this make me bigoted" kind. I'm serious, I want to hear some opinions. Nonetheless, if you'd rather not interact with that, just stop reading after the bullet points.
The company Steel worked for was "AmerTek Industries". It reappears in relation to him sometimes, and was used in some of the Arkham games, but otherwise doesn't have anything.
He originally lived in Metropolis, later on moved to Washington, the real city. My movie could be in either: I would prefer to have a mix of real and fictional cities, but since the fictional ones need sets, there'll always be someone that recognizes something. You could always say it's like the Tower of Tokyo, an intentional reproduction of an existing landmark, but there's only so many times you can pull that excuse. On the other hand, I'm not filming for real, so it doesn't matter. Metropolis it is.
There's actually a "Jinx" in the comics. She's a sorceress from India, her gimmick is that she needs to touch the ground to do magic. Presumably any part of her body would work, but it seems to mostly be an excuse to draw her barefoot. Much as I may appreciate that, I'm keeping the purple one, thanks.
This movie is in the fictional Coast City. In the comic it was destroyed by Mongul, that should be the name of the "demon lord" she thinks the cult is summoning, or of the head cultist.
Because the other Jinx was indian but mine isn't, that made me look at indian heroes. I pick "Freak", with the power to control her hair, like Golden Darkness from To-Love Ru and Medusa from Inhumans, but her hair is black. Someone needs to make a crossover with women with that power in all possible hair colours.
Anyways, Freak is primarily a member of the Doom Patrol, which is a super team composed of people who are commonly ostracized as a result of their powers; sometimes they are credited with inspiring the X-men. We don't need them. Her power is due to an alien and she struggles to control it; I'd ditch the former but keep the later. Her name is Ava, no surname i can find.
Naturally, this means Coast City ends in India after the teleport. I couldn't find any fictional cities there, so just somewhere away from the ocean.
If there's the after-credits about the Wayne Foundation fixing the city, everybody always calls it just that aloud, but I want a view of some document or newspaper showing that it's formally the "Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation".
Turns out the Wonder Twins are aliens. I'll actually go ahead and remove that, mine are just randomly powered humans. Superman and Pink Lantern fill my quota for "aliens hiding among humanity", not counting the secret civilizations.
For my original flying paramedic, both names are kinda taken, but also technically not? Curious coincidence.
"Streak" was the Flash-type from the Justice League (cartoon) episode where they travel to an imaginary world created by a dying psychic child.
There is no "Stripe" but there is a "S.T.R.I.P.E.", a giant robot piloted by Patrick Dugan, who is Stargirl's stepdad and sidekick. I actually knew that dude, he's in the show and even uses the robot sometimes; I just didn't remember the robot's name.
I also learned there is a third season of Stargirl, gotta watch that sometime.
Anyways, I pick "Streak". They clearly chose the name for the same reason I had, it sounds fast. He was clearly based on an older version of Flash, Jay Garrick I would guess, so I will go full circle: my character was inspired in-universe by the Flash in the League, made her costume similar to him. I even would like a scene, if there's screentime, where he looks at her and tells her he wishes he could also fly; maybe sincerely, maybe intentionally after seeing she's looking sad.
This probably means she's from his city, Central City, though we may also pull the doubly-fictional Seaboard City from the episode. I would like to name her after that Streak's civilian name, but he didn't have one.
King Shark is from Hawaii, so we may get a scene set there, as the heroes talk about their heroic exploits. He's sometimes descended from some vaguely mystical people, but it's probably safe to remove that. Everything else I can find about him is extremely villainous, so I was already disregarding all that.
Turns out "Static Shock" was just the name of the cartoon, the character and most versions of the comic are just "Static". I've been using both exchangeably. Sorry.
His real name is Virgil Hawkins, named after a real-life lawyer who was banned from law school on account of racism, and whose struggle against that was ultimately important in making things better. It's actually pretty heartwarming, I encourage you to read on him. For now the point is that, if Static gets teased in Justice League, it should be under his civilian name.
As I thought, the time of Robin's death was not established in BvS; the director said in an interview that he intended it to have been 10 years earlier. Good enough for me, just push Pink Lantern's timeline back those two years.
He also confirmed it's supposed to be Dick Grayson that died, but I had suspected as much and didn't care before; that's an intentional change.
Stargirl's city is called Blue Valley, in Nebraska. A previous Flash (Wally West) was also from that city, our Flash (Barry Allen) may know of it because of that.
Livewire's name is Leslie Willis.
Military ranks are a mess, changing all over time and space. I found multiple mentions of "Sergeant" being either the highest level that doesn't have subordinates or the lowest that does. So that's my choice for Supergirl, people can just assume she had leadership experience. Maybe we can even suggest it would have been true, had her future not been so heavily depopulated.
Matrix Supergirl was "an artificial lifeform", not nanobots, though I retconned that away either way. I was right that she was from a pocket universe, though it doesn't seem to have been artificially created. Most of her life is as I remembered from Death and Return, shortly after she fused with an angel and I stop caring.
For the Static movie, their powers are from the police using an untested, not-yet-approved experimental tear gas to suppress the gang fight (peaceful protest in my version). I had thought they'd just shot something they shouldn't and spilled chemicals over them. This is absolutely worth bringing over.
Now that I know his name matters, I want that to be referenced. He would have been named after the historical figure in-universe. I'm thinking a teacher guesses it's a Divina Commedia reference, and he gets up and explains.
For villains, the most interesting one is Francis Stone alias Hot-Streak, a stereotypically hot-headed pyromancer. That's definitely our cop turned superhero wannabe turned main villain.
Second most interesting was Ivan Evans alias Ebon, who can teleport through shadows and vaguely control them. If the spin-off is not (Poison) Ivy, it should be this guy.
They also have someone with blades made of light. Nothing special about him except I'm pretty sure he and Ebon are here to rip off marvel's Cloak & Dagger.
He operates out of Dakota City, as far as I can figure out the real one. That's good enough, but I do have one unsolved case of arson later; may be worth moving this all to Gotham City just to suggest that it was Hot-Streak.
Diana doesn't have as many aliases as I expected; it seems she didn't get into as many shenanigans as Superman during the Golden Age because she was too busy doing BDSM. Seriously, did you know he was the first Nightwing?
Of the aliases she's had, most of them are explicitly about her femininity; which makes perfect sense, it's just a bit inconvenient right now. I did find one mention of "Knight Eternal", but no citation or context; the only other Knight Eternal I found on DC is just an immortal who's good with swords. That's basically a lesser Wonder Woman already, hardly someone she'd usurp. I'm inclined to believe that mention was fake.
So I realized I'd been a fool. The people of the eighties will know her masked alter-ego as "The Prince". Barbara will then be "The Duke". Have their clothes be shakesperean-style, and the masks be masquerade ball masks, rather than the zorro-style thing I was imagining but didn't actually mention.
Cheetah, and specifically the Barbara Ann (surname varies) version, did indeed derive her powers from a magical artifact: a dagger she cut herself with as part of the ritual. I'm keeping my brooch but using that to rework a few things. The first time she takes it, instead of experiencing any magic, she accidentally cuts her hand. She checks the brooch but there's no blood on it, she's relieved; the audience hopefully thinks she should have been more curious about that. The initial sensory overload comes whlie she's driving home, after having stayed late at work (so Diana already went "home"), the Prince saves her from accidentally driving into the river. Since Diana later claimed they were together at the time, that means they were driving somewhere after-hours; add that to the list of things their coworkers mention innocently that make her sweat bullets.
Since she has a car now, the noise that wakes her after first putting away (but not formally Forsaking) the brooch was her own alarm. Yes I checked and they did have car alarms in '84. In the morning she finds it gone, but since she's magic now, she just runs to work. That makes Diana suspicious, she checks on the brooch but it's there and she doesn't think Barbara could have hidden it so quickly, so she just figures all that excercise was good for her friend. Also, her second round of patrols is no longer random, she's specifically hunting down her (recently expensively repaired) car, and its thief.
Turns out the Smithsonian Institute where they work is just a few blocks from the Potomac River, in Washington. So that's where she buries her friend at the end, at the bank of the river. Probably the same spot where she saved her earlier. Also, she says something like "I'm sorry it wasn't meant to be".
Turns out Rick Flag has a single "g". My bad. Nothing of interest about him, just a career soldier who ends up entangled with supers.
There's two Hawkmen. One is an alien cop, one is a human with an ancient magical and/or superscience wing pack. Also sometimes they are secretly the same, or got fused, or one was a cover for the other; this guy is convoluted. Anyways, for my version he's definitely the human, Carter Hall, either just happens to have wings or found the magic wing belt. Doesn't really matter.
Because the ex-cop from Static is now a pyrokinetic, we don't need Diablo anymore. Instead, Black Manta needs to be in Task Force X. I absolutely forgot that he had survived Aquaman. He's definitely the one with the mission to find something worth stealing, specifically picked for his existing experience with the stuff; Rick Flag knew nothing about that. He's perfect!
Supergirl's real name, so to speak, is alpha-charlie-two-five-two-alpha-charlie-two-four-seven-sierra-one-six-sierra-victor-tango-one, being the first appearances of Supergirl in general, the Legion of Superheroes and Matrix Supergirl, and the Superman vs Terminator elseworld, for fun.
Indeed it was Kara Zor-El that was a member of the Legion, though I was wrong about it being simultaneous; there's some real-life stuff, but basically she got demoted from her own comics to Superman's family to a large super-team. Anyways, I pretty much knew that it wasn't Matrix, that's an intentional change on my part.
The city she operates in is National City. So this character has two bad names associated with it. Whatever, we keep it.
I couldn't find much in the way of an actual supporting cast for her new neighbour in the end; she mostly didn't keep up her civilian identities, it seems. I could pull someone from the CW show, but instead I'm choosing her strained friend and ex-roommate from Red Daugther of Krypton (and presumably earlier), Siobhan Smythe.
Siobhan is also Silver Banshee, who has a sonic attack that also vaguely drains life, and she speaks all languages, or all languages of people she's touched, or something. I like that last power, makes me want to find an excuse to bring her back actually. For her actual scene she's just an easter egg though; maybe she wears a t-shirt for a band called "The Silver Banshees", which I checked and doesn't seem to exist; but probably not, I expect her name is weird enough to make people look it up.
Punchline is much newer than I assumed, invented during COVID. I couldn't find any info on romantic attachments or orientation for her, save for her fixation on Joker. So let's play it safe and say she doesn't hook up with Harley. She'll have to wait for Ivy I guess.
Superman's heroic montage in BvS is shorter than I'd expected. The "hands" part actually starts with him bringing a kid from a burning building; that can just be Harley arriving with the food, maybe she burned the oven or maybe we ignore that part. There's also a bit where he saves people from a flooded city, or more accurately poses dramatically in front of them with the implication that he may save them soon-ish; that's just a cat stuck in a pool, on one of those floating cushion things, she's standing at the edge judging the jump. Finally he saved a part of an exploding rocket, presumably the part that contains the astronauts; I've no idea what to do with that, the rocket isn't important, but it has to be something she'd logically carry like he was carrying the rocket piece. And it's all intercut with various news people explaining to us what Superman means to the world (because his movie didn't), so that's replaced with her therapist explaining to her how much better she seems to be doing, how proud she should be and what hopes he has for her going forward.
As mentioned, the burned beauty shop should be implied to be ex-officer Stone, from Static (unless he died in Task Force X). If that movie was moved to Gotham that's enough, if it wasn't then he had some sort of "tell" we can see in the forensic report, which they don't understand.
Looking up Chloe Sullivan reminded me her actress got involved with some bad stuff. Reminder that I like the character, not the real person. Also, don't look that up in front of children. Anyways, there isn't anything in particular about the character that I didn't remember or would like to add.
I had forgotten that Lobo is in Red Daugther of Krypton! I thought it started with the Silver Banshee fight, but actually he starts it by provoking her and then leading her to Earth when he regrets it, in hopes she has friends who can calm her down. This doesn't matter, I changed him enough and my Red Daugther is completely different, it's just a funny coincidence.
His species is called "Czarnian". So yes, Supergirl knows that, she calls him out from the bar entrance like that.
DC doesn't have a Prime Directive. Understandable. I would steal the name from Star Trek, but it's just "General Order One", not useful. The vulcans allegedly have or had a similar rule named after one "Savar", though I think that's in a novel; the only other Savar I found was a minor New Generation character, who presumably was named after the historical one, possibly retroactively. May be worth stealing his name for the one Supergirl doesn't pronounce right, but maybe we just drop that particular bit.
not!Starfire's name is Koriand'r, her planet is Tamaran, and her people are tamaranians. Also found out she uses an human name, Kory Anders. I'm keeping the "Star" hint/red herring, but she may be Star Anderson in reference. We probably wouldn't get to see that, though.
Since Coast City ended up in India, they will go straight west from the Sahara, before starting getting side-tracked by tourist stuff. Since they will pass by Alaska after all, this may be the opportunity to court that sweet, sweet Chinese propaganda money.
Found some Legion-era swearwords, most useful seems "Grife". May be worth going back to add it to Supergirl somewhere.
The first movie I couldn't fill in before will be Freak. I don't have an actual plot, but I like her power, and her city was recently tremendously disrupted, even if the foreigners have all gone back by now. Also may want to establish an excuse for why Lobo and Supergirl found Coast City fully abandoned; utilities don't work of course, but you'd expect squatters. Other than that, don't actually bring in the Doom Patrol (since she joined the League), but do check their members and common enemies for names and rough personalities for others in the cast; though nobody else should have powers, except maybe the bad guy.
The poster for Freak may change depending on what the actual plot would be, but for now I'm picturing an ornate hair comb, multiple teeth broken.
As I remembered, the video of Cyborg in Justice League (canon) was ambiguous. I now assume it was on purpose; if market research showed they should make a Cyborg movie, they wanted the liberty to give him a living father or a dead one. So for my imaginary franchise, I'm officially declaring that Bruce totally sent Diana a video of that poor dude dying. He hasn't flirted in over a decade, ok? He's rusty.
Jonah Hex unfortunately was no mage of any kind, he's just called that. He was a cowboy, from a series of western comics that DC apparently had at the beginning (or possibly before it was DC, I'm not even touching the legalese there). So I should probably check for another sorcerous character to be the mentor, there are several characters who no I like "Hex and Jinx" too much. Instead we get a mention somewhere that his great-great-something-father was adopted by a native chief, and that's enough.
No meaningful love life for Leslie Willis and no real positive relationships for King Shark, not that I expected either. Make up something.
Now that my Streak is related to Flash, "former Flash" wins out over "Starman". Probably should be Jay Garrick, though Wally West would bring Stargirl into the "people who know this dude" club.
Static's predecessor in the activist group may be named after someone from the real Virgil Hawkins' life, though not him since Static has taken that. Otherwise, Richard Osgood Foley, his friend who eventually became a gadgets-type superhero, though obviously not in my version.
Didn't even look up anything for Supergirl's brother, he was always made up, and it's not like he'll have the opportunity to tell us his name (serial).
Jonah now has a cut in his hand, which bothers him and may vaguely hinder his spellcasting. Right after Martian Manhunter announces that the possessed are fully aware of all that's going on, he apologizes to his host for having done that, then remembers he saw it so he knows why (so that he doesn't tell us), then he gets the idea to try and sèance himself. This plus the change I made to Wonder Women above is our foreshadowing for Cheetah.
Another mention of National City, Supergirl's adopted home base.
A few other mentions of Koriand'r's name, through the finale of Rebirth.
Nightwing's city is Blüdhaven. I'm giving myself two half credits for this one.
At the end of Supergirl and Wonder Woman's argument, she should hesitate at least a little before bringing up the "brother" thing. I should have used ellipsis and lowercase there.
Livewire sometimes got her powers from electricity filtered through Superman's body, and sometimes she always had minor ones that she intentionally overcharged when she went evil. What I'd really like is for her to dig up Static's corpse and somehow graft his powers to herself, possibly introducing a character or group that does that. Unfortunately, that corpse was last seen on the Moon, and it makes sense they just left him there; pretty good tombstone. So I don't know. Minor powers all along would have made her more than an easter egg, I don't like that. A less ridiculous (and Superman-less) version of the first one is probably best.
There was actually a male Cheetah, Sebastián Ballesteros. Basically nothing of his characterization is useful, mine is just a normal guy, but I'm definitely giving him the name.
Various missing mentions of Princess Koriand'r and Ruler/Castle/City/Planet/Empire Tamaran through Red, I'm not even going to pretend to have considered trying to list them individually.
As I researched the seven Lantern Corps, I was struck by just how much the others are built around the Green. I knew this, because historically Green came first and the others have been retrofitted around it, but it's still ridiculous. I'm changing them a lot, this part will be long.
The central point is that none of them are evil; individual Lanterns may be (and in fact I should probably start coming up with some) but the magic itself is just dumb emotion, looking at the world and going "look at all those nails!". It's possibly even slightly on the side of good, since I established Tests roughly around the idea of using the emotion responsibly; naturally the other colours get some too.
Green is Will, which is mostly ridiculous. Willpower is not an emotion, you can tell this is the "Protagonists" colour. I'm changing that to "Determination", as in the feeling that you must, independent of whether you can. The Test is then to show that what you have is not empty words nor mindless repetition: the magic will stop you from achieving a goal you are trying for. This is the most overt Test of them all, some candidates may actually see the green energy stopping their fists. You pass by trying to achieve your original goal in another way, or at least trying to find such a way; or as always, by some dramatic gesture that shows you will do either, so long as the emotion is genuine on your part.
The corrupted Green Test would revive people who died in trying something important, whose quests may allegedly tempt you from your own. As always, as judged by you, then those close to you, spreading outward socially.
Green tentacles are thin pyramids, and don't bend nearly as much as the others. They are the least nimble of all the colours.
Yellow is Fear, and it's also weird. You'd expect it to be for those who are afraid, but it's more for those who are scary. Stupid asymmetric emotions. I'm keeping that though; the legitimate use of fear is to react to legitimate danger, so the emotion in my Yellow is the instinct-to-warn-others (though it's still widely known as "fear"). The Test is to show your warning is both legitimate and a good reaction; the candidate will be given visions of a future they would dearly avoid but are powerless to do so, except by bringing the warning to those who could; you pass by making an honest effort to so convince them, independent of actual results. Cassandra would have been a Yellow.
Yellow Test visions (and other pre- and post-cognition) are less often illegal thank Pink's far-sight/psychological profiling; since the victim(s) and perpetrator(s) may never have overlapped in time, and indeed may be separated beyond any reasonable statute of limitations, few jurisdictions even bother and most that do have a huge amount of caveats and bylaws.
Because all Yellow Lanterns have foreseen disaster, some believe the Light engineers those situations, though this is false.
Because "powerless" is relative and world-ending threats are relatively rare, this colour recruits primarily among the downtrodden, the oppressed and the disadvantaged, whatever those may be in any given society. It is also the colour with the greatest proportion of children.
The corrupted Yellow Test will return people who are feared, be it for themselves or for the warnings they brought. It's also the easiest test to fail automatically, since many candidates were never aware of their upcoming disaster until their first vision, which in this case they would not receive.
Yellow tentacles are apparently evaporating all the time, though this is purely cosmetic; it doesn't affect the "hitbox", and you cannot inhale the emmisions.
Orange is Greed, since "green" was taken. In the comics there was actually only one Orange Lantern, who would raise a zombie army with proxy powers, I'm ditching all that obviously. The legitimate use of greed, of hoarding stuff, is to prepare for eventuality; like for Reds, the Test will manifest the default ring at the beginning, not the end; but at a distance, or under lock and key, or otherwise where the candidate can aqcuire it but not trivially; to a candidate that is currently in the middle of preparations for an important reason. You pass by deciding to take it, if your reason is that it is the best way to achieve your goal; and fail if you ignore it or if you take it for itself and forget your earlier quest. This includes if you neglect the ring for the sake of securing a resource legitimately more useful; the Light will never acknowledge that such resources could exist.
The corrupted Orange Test will return people who are useful, by whatever metric each summoner has in mind. It is probably the easiest corrupted Test to succeed at, since at least one person has most likely been selected to aid in the original quest, and procuring their help does count as attempting to seize the power of the Orange Lantern. Though it will then ironically unsummon that person and technically waste any effort spent.
Orange tentacles split into three smaller ones at the end. They require more practice to use, but a Lantern who has put in the work counts among the most nimble among all the Corps.
Blue is Hope, and it's the one I like least. I was really hoping one of them would be "pride" or "shame". Oh well. Hope is for holding you when you cannot act, so you may be ready when the time is right. The Test will then grant the candidate one miracle, repair whatever situation was threatening to crush the candidate's hopes, sometimes in ways beyond the power of actual Blue Lanterns to replicate. You pass the test by taking action, in a way that previously, allegedly, the situation was preventing you from; you fail by finding another excuse for inaction. The initial gift is not undone even if you fail, though.
The corrupted Blue Test will return people who died waiting for better times, or after having their chance taken away. Everybody else is receiving a second chance now, what will you do?
Blue tentacles are the longest, curling around the Lantern's body and spiralling outwards. They are actually incapable of straightening them fully.
Indigo is Compassion, the impulse to help and protect others. The illegitimate use of compassion is when it self-sacrifices beyond need. This is at the end of She-Ra, "You're worth more than what you can give to other people". The candidate will be in the process of helping others, and will be empowered to do so beyond their normal ability but not all of the way; the Test is to turn back, to take care of yourself even at the expense of available innocents; but still with the intention to go back and help once it is safe to do so, if there is still need. Most who fail this test do so by dying.
The corrupted Indigo Test will return those who were in great need, whom their summoner tried to help, "the one I couldn't save". Again the candidate is being tempted to stretch too thin, or else turn their back on others for good.
Seriously Adora would have failed so many times. I love that show, you should watch it.
The Indigo tentacles are covered in spikes. Those are sharp, but not nearly as much as they seem.
I also have an amendment to the literal "ring" part. Most candidates have a default ring created when they earn the power (or start being considered, for non-corrupted Red and Orange Tests), but if there's an available piece of clothing/jewelry/whatever that has significance, in a way resonant to the colour, then that may be empowered instead. With the additional caveat that the relevant item for an Orange candidate must not already be within easy reach, for the Test to proceed. That was the case for Dick Grayson, it's a coincidence that it was already a ring; he may have ended up a Lantern with a ring of a different colour, which almost makes me wish I'd done that instead now that I mention it.
This also means that nobody actually inherits Lantern magic; there won't be characters conveniently finding a dying pilot, the magic searches galaxy-wide and doesn't even have a strict personnel quota, but waxes and wanes over the ages. So the rings of dead Lanterns, those that are formally Forsaken, and any failed Reds and Oranges all fly away, to a location in Lantern Space, where they float around each other but eventually vanish into nothing. (If the magic had been transferred to another item, it flies away as pure magic, it won't steal your clothes nor seek the original default ring.) This is the origin of the common myth that they fly out in search of a new host.
That is also the reason Lantern Space is where it is; they, and those who would be interested in them, have over the aeons naturally congregated there by following rings, or reports of them; eventually meeting more of each other and building towns and so on.
Also by "Lantern Space" I mean the area they claim for their pseudo-nation, not any dimensional distortion stuff. Do I have to specify that? Oh well. Back to the plot.
In the scene where Supergirl searches for Nightwing, add Harley Quinn to the crowd. I didn't realize until rereading but she should absolutely join the League.
When she's insulting all the colours of the rainbow, I don't have pithy wording right now, but Oranges are stupid/easily surprised, Blues are lazy, and Indigos are heartless/pitiless.
Koriand'r's elder sister is Komand'r. She's much more villainous than I remembered, again mostly knowing her from the Teen Titans cartoon.
When I wrote Koriand'r's hypothetical corrupted test I established that she got a custom one, but didn't for Supergirl. That should be a general rule, it's all broadly in line with what I said above and the two originals, but appropriate to each candidate. Supergirl was trying to destroy death itself, so she would have returned killers, and specifically killers who someone despises because of their killing.
I couldn't find any fictional DC cities in Mexico or Canada, and also learned the most populated in the west is not Mexico City, but São Paulo, Brazil. So that's now where Koriand'r first landed. She definitely speaks Portuguese, may have the accent.
The Teen Titan's city is Jump City, on the west coast of the States. So she didn't simply cross the frontier after fleeing São Paulo. Let's say she flew up into space, took a lap around the sun against the Earth's travel, and happened to land there.
For the Jokerz poster, there isn't a cover like I was thinking actually. I'm picturing four faces equally spread on a square, against black, partially illuminated so we only see the right half of each, or slightly over half. It seems I mixed up the covers of With the Beatles and Let it be. So, just imagine as I described, it was never important that it be a Beatles reference.
For Red Daughter of Tomorrow, I meant the cover of the first Twilight book. I never knew the movies used generic "look at our actors" posters instead.
And with that I remind you that next comes the potentially-but-hopefully-not offensive question. Thank you if you have honest feedback, and I quite understand if you left already.
So, as I consider what may come after Red Daughter of Tomorrow, I find that I want to pull multiverse shenanigans already. I MAY be a hack.
And as I look at what I wrote and what characters may come from other universes, I realize I want Supergirl's friend, the second time traveller from the Legion, to become Power Girl.
Is that ok? Given the one-off joke that first originated the character. Is that insensitive? Relatable? Something else I can't think of? Somebody please get back to me on that.
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Cupbearer (Eren/Reader)
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Part III
Part I
Part II
Part IV (in progress)
Warnings: MINORS DO NOT INTERACT (im watching you, if you see this, begone!), vampire!eren, hunter!reader, fem!reader, smut, some amount of predator/prey dynamics but only kinda?? there is also a significant age difference but only cos eren is immortal and all that jazz. we're all adults here. there will eventually be smut.... and do i really need to say that there's gonna be blood in a vampire fic?
Description: A story of falling in love in 4 parts.
Eren is a bad man (well, a bad Creature) who has done bad things. When he meets the great-great-great granddaughter of one of his former friends in his favorite blood bar, however, he thinks it might not matter so much what happened in the past, so long as he can make the future something worth living to see.
Ao3 link here
After that night, it became increasingly hard for (Y/N) to leave, and for Eren to let her do so.
Something between them had changed. There were moments— when Eren would press feather-light kisses against her forehead, when he would casually leave a cup of her favorite tea where she would find it— where (Y/N) felt as though her heart might burst. It was all the little things that baffled her, all the ways in which he seemed to understand exactly how she felt; it was as though he knew her more than she knew herself. On the mornings that she would wake in his bed, sleepy and sticky and wholly content, (Y/N) wondered what it would be like to have this life forever.
Other days— on days like today— she was reminded exactly why that could never be, and it broke her heart.
Today, they had planned a romantic dinner in the park, an evening under the stars. It was supposed to be something special, a little getaway just for the two of them; they had wanted to leave as soon as (Y/N) was relieved from her patrol, so Eren had moved her things to his place, hoping that they could leave together from there for their evening alone.
In and of itself, that was fine… but when (Y/N) came in, covered head-to-toe in viscous Creature blood, Eren was furious.
“And you call me a monster,” he growled, looking her up and down with hate in his eyes. “I can’t believe you.”
He stood from his seat on the sofa, and (Y/N) began to back away, still wary from the fight she had narrowly escaped from unscathed. Her every instinct told her that she should run, fire a round of silver bullets into his chest, but she steeled herself, doing neither.
“It’s not my fault— they were attacking a civilian,” she told him as he stalked towards her, his face twisted into a horrific scowl. “I tried to stop them— tried to find out what was going on— but then they came at me with their claws, and I was left with no choice.”
“There is always a choice,” he snarled, and it was then that anger filled (Y/N) from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head. "They were probably terrified of you— how could you possibly blame them for lashing out?"
(Y/N) grit her teeth.
“This, from the man who thought genocide was his only option to the same problem?”
Eren made a low, warning sound in the back of his throat, but (Y/N) pressed on.
“You would rather me have died?” she demanded, stepping into his space. “Would it have pleased you more for my body to bleed out on the pavement, ripped to shreds by an aggressive werewolf? Would you even care, or would you just find the next blood bag and move on with your life?”
“Maybe so,” he shot back, “Then I wouldn’t have to deal with your insufferable mouth.”
That stung— but if there was one thing (Y/N) knew how to do, it was to strike back twice as hard as she had been struck.
“Fine then,” she said, turning on her heel. “I won’t bother you any longer. I’ll go out and find someone who actually wants my company, someone who’ll fuck me good and proper over the counter at some hole-in-the-wall bar over on Easy Street, someone younger, with a nicer cock and less fucking baggage— ”
She didn’t get to finish the sentence, or even walk a single step further— Eren grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to him, his fist painfully tight against her scalp.
“Wanna say that again, to my face?” he asked, tilting her head back.
“I’ll go find someone else to fuck me,” she spat, struggling in vain against him. “I’ll spread my legs for the next available schmuck in the closest bar I can find, so you can hear me scream his name and not yours.”
It was a low blow, to threaten a vampire’s claim on something they had previously assumed had belonged to them, but (Y/N) didn’t care. She had almost died today, and she’d be damned if she was going to take shit from anyone about what she had to do to survive. If Eren wanted a fight, she would damn sure give him one.
“Like hell you will,” he told her, pulling her head back so that she had to strain to remain standing. “You’re mine. Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood— you are my Companion.”
"I belong to no one!"
Those words ripped from her throat and echoed throughout the empty house, and it was then that Eren stopped, looking at her with calculation in his gaze.
"You're right," he said, releasing her hair. "No mortal can serve two masters, lest they love one and despise the other; an archaic religious concept, but an accurate one nonetheless. You've made it abundantly clear where your loyalty lies. I was a fool for thinking otherwise."
(Y/N) began to tremble. "Eren, what are you saying?"
"I release you from our pact," he replied coldly, his eyes so dull and lifeless that it sent a chill down her spine. "No longer are you bound to be my wine-press— I free you from me."
"Eren—"
"Go," he commanded, and (Y/N) felt terribly, horribly empty.
Once, he would have told her to come freely, go safely, and leave something of the happiness she brought him; now, he gave her a cold dismissal, and it frightened her more than she was willing to admit. Still, she went, feeling hollow and used, and she didn't bother to shut the door behind her as she turned to walk home, weary from the day and sick from fighting.
***
Armin had lived for a very long time, but even so, he had yet to meet anyone so foul of temper as Eren when the Hunger was on him.
"Eren, you have to feed."
The vampire, as ill in health as in temper, glared weakly at him. "I'm not hungry."
"But you are Hungry, and don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. Look, if this is about that girl—"
"I told you not to speak of her!"
Ah, so it was about her. By the looks of him, it had been two weeks since Eren had fed; Armin would bet that he hadn't seen her in the same amount of time.
"If I need to, I'll drag her here to make up with you myself," said Armin testily, "I refuse to watch my best friend starve himself because he refuses to feed on anyone else."
"You will not touch her."
Armin rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything further. He just patted Eren's arm in farewell and set about finding the little lady who was the root cause of his current consternation.
It took longer than Armin had anticipated to find the young woman who had, for all intents and purposes, completely unraveled Eren's composure; her scent, while thick and memorable in Eren's apartment, was hard to track otherwise. Armin spent two hours just wandering the city while trying to catch a breath of it here or there, and when he finally did manage to catch a whiff of her scent and follow it to her, he understood exactly why it had been so hard to track her down.
The girl was a Hunter, of all things.
When Armin found her, she was knee-deep in sewage, her knife embedded to the hilt in the skull of what appeared to be some species of winged reptile. Armin, having been a tad desperate and not actually having been expecting to find anything when he lifted the lid to the man-hole on 32nd and Main, was surprised to say the least— and when (Y/N) ripped her knife free and readjusted her stance into a defensive one directed at him, his surprise turned to intrigue.
“Er, hello there,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I don’t suppose you’ll take my word for it that I just want to chat, will you?”
Curiously, the words gave the woman pause. She relaxed her stance ever-so-slightly, and then her eyes lit up with recognition.
“Armin Arlert?” she queried, craning her neck up to see him. “Is that you?”
This one grows curiouser and curiouser, he thought, but responded affirmatively.
“Can you give me a bit, then?” she asked, kicking the corpse of the Creature she’d just killed. “I’m not exactly fit for company. Perhaps we could meet later for a discussion over tea?”
“I’m afraid it’s urgent,” he said as she knelt to decapitate her prey— likely for proof of victory. “I think you know why I’m here, so you understand that time is of the essence.”
She didn’t look up at him as she replied.
“If this is about Eren, then I don’t have time to talk.”
Her tone was hard, bitter, and matter-of-fact, and it reminded Armin so much of Jean that it hurt… but just like Jean, Armin would bet that she could be won over by appealing to her inherent sense of human decency
“He’s suffering (Y/N),” he said, awkwardly crouching above the manhole so that she could better see the truth written in his eyes. “He won’t feed.”
“That’s hardly my problem.”
And oh, how well Armin knew that state of mind. If there was one thing Eren Jaeger knew how to do, it was push away the people who loved him most. Armin had dealt with that particularly lovely quirk of his for centuries, and it never got easier to deal with no matter how much time passed. If anything, it got more difficult the older they both got.
“When you’re the solution to a problem, you become a part of it whether you like it or not,” Armin replied, patient and understanding. “He cares for you.”
(Y/N) looked up at him then, fury in her eyes.
“He hurt me.”
Armin shrugged. “He hurts everyone he cares about. It’s just who he is. Nothing comes for free— least of all the love and loyalty of someone as old and as powerful as Eren.”
“Your heart may be toughened to his meanness,” she told him, the head of the creature she’d slain in her hands, “But mine is not, and I don’t like him well enough to willfully remain for him to use as an emotional punching bag.”
At that, Armin couldn’t help but let loose a wry grin.
“No,” he said, “I should think not; but I do think you love him well enough to make sure he doesn’t starve himself to death because he can’t have you.”
(Y/N) was silent for a long moment, then she crossed her arms.
“I won’t come crawling to him. He’s going to have to come to me.”
Armin grimaced. He wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
“Is that at all negotiable?”
(Y/N) shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
Well, there was nothing for it.
“And you will let him feed if he comes to you?”
(Y/N) thought, then nodded. “If he proves himself deserving.”
Armin couldn't help himself; he laughed. Eren might have met his match in this one.
"Very well. I'll work my magic, and you work yours."
She nodded and bade him farewell, but before Armin left, he paused.
"Hey, (Y/N)?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
With that, he left her, ready to take Eren by the ear and throw him at her if he had to.
***
(Y/N)'s heart was racing as she opened the door, knowing good and well who would be behind it.
After her little talk with Armin— and the near heart attack he had given her in the process— she had called in to Zeke and told him she needed to go home to deal with an emergency. A replacement for her patrols had been sent, and she had come home to wash the grim from her skin, making herself as presentable as possible with the time she had. (Y/N) was worried, so worried, that the filth she had been wading in earlier would have left a lingering stench, or even that it had affected the taste of her; she had scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin was raw, hoping to erase every last remnant of her day from her skin…but as it turned out, she needn't have bothered.
Two, three, four hours later, and Eren hadn't shown— it was only now, right at the six hour mark, that he had decided to come to her.
Needless to say, (Y/N) was… less than pleased, but when she opened the door to find Eren pale and drawn, with dark circles beneath his eyes, her heart softened ever-so-slightly. It seemed that Armin was right; he had been suffering.
"You look like shit," she told him quietly, opening her door widely to let him in.
"I assure you, I feel worse," Eren grumbled, but stepped in as she closed the door behind him.
For a long, awkward moment, they just looked at each other, silent and unsure. It was unsettling how unlike himself Eren seemed; he was almost soft when he looked at her, and (Y/N) didn't know how to feel about it. Eventually, though, like two opposite ends of a magnet, they were drawn together, and Eren brushed a piece of hair back from her face.
"Hi," he said, his voice low and rough. (Y/N) caught his hand in hers before it could fall from her hair, and she pressed it against her chest, keeping it trapped there, touching the skin above her beating heart.
"Hey."
They watched each other a moment more before the dam broke between them, and they both spoke at once.
"I'm sorry."
A shared grin, a shy laugh— and then (Y/N) said what they both were thinking.
"You need to feed first, and talk later," she told him, her hand still clasped in his. "You're not off the hook, but I doubt we can have any real conversation with you like this."
Eren nodded gratefully, tugging at her wrist— his usual biting spot— but (Y/N) shook her head, indicating her neck. The thickest, richest blood, she knew, would come from there; and if there was ever a time to be generous with the placement of Eren's bite, she figured that it would be now.
The worst of it was over quickly. There was a brief sting at the intrusion of razor-sharp fangs, and then the vaguely uncomfortable feeling of having something poking down into places that decidedly should not be poked at all, but then (Y/N) quickly eased into the rhythm of the act, focusing wholly on the way Eren's lips felt against her skin. In a few moments, she would become pleasantly light-headed, and then Eren would pull away and look at her like she'd hung the stars. Oh, how she'd missed that look! (Y/N) found herself longing for it even before she quite realized it.
And then, without warning, a vision came, and (Y/N) was swept into another world entirely.
The evening sky rolled endlessly out towards the horizon; it seemed to go on forever, sparkling with more stars than (Y/N) had ever seen before. The full moon was so bright that it cast the whole world in what seemed like silver sunlight, and (Y/N) wondered how anyone could sleep on a night such as this. It was far too beautiful an experience to miss.
Alongside her— alongside Eren, through whose eyes she saw the world— strode Armin and two older-looking cadets who she recognized from previous memories as Reiner and Berthold. Eren was feeling anxious over something, and Reiner and Berthold were… well, they were kind. Reiner especially seemed to be like an older brother, and Eren admired him.
"You'll do just fine tomorrow," said Reiner, placing a large, warm hand on Eren's shoulder. "I'm certain of it."
The memory ended, and (Y/N) came back to herself as Eren's tongue laved over the wounds his fangs had left in her neck, sealing them.
"See anything?" he asked, his breath warm against her skin, and (Y/N) nodded.
"You loved them, too," she said softly, remembering the fondness Eren had felt as though it had been her own. "You loved the Hunters that tried to take everything from you, and— and I think they loved you, too."
Eren pulled away from her, and it was then that she saw the tears shining in his eyes.
"Yes," he replied, his voice broken. "We were children. How could we not love each other as God intended? Hate was never in our nature; it was an inheritance that we couldn't escape."
He paused for a moment, then spoke again.
"I'm sorry I hurt you," he told her, cupping her cheek in his hand. "I lost my temper. I forget— I forget that you're not them."
And (Y/N) understood. She understood that no matter how many centuries passed, there would be wounds that just wouldn't heal for Eren. He would lash out at things that wouldn't make sense to anyone who hadn't experienced the horrors of war as he had. Suddenly, she felt petty for having lashed out as she had, and guilt threatened to rise up and choke her.
"You're forgiven," she replied, leaning into his touch. "It takes two to tango— I shouldn't have baited you like I did. I knew how badly that would hurt you, and that's exactly why I said it."
At that, Eren cracked a grin.
"I expect nothing less from a Kirschtein. Your grandfather would have punched me square in the jaw— and as big as that bastard got when we were older, he probably would have put me on my ass."
(Y/N) couldn't help but laugh, and Eren joined her, their combined joy swelling until there was nothing else in the world but their happiness.
How they started kissing, neither one of them would be able to say afterwards, but in the grand scheme of things, it hardly mattered. Their love was too large to contain, too much to hold back— and it was love, (Y/N) realized, though she hadn't quite put words to it yet. She loved Eren Jaeger, a Creature, a monster, as much as her grandfather before her had and more. She loved him with a desperation that felt like being knocked over by an ocean wave and plunged into depths where her feet no longer touched the sand. She loved him more than she had ever loved anyone before.
And, as he placed her gently on her bed that was barely big enough for two, divesting himself of his shirt above her, (Y/N) thought that maybe she didn't mind it so much as long as he loved her in return.
"I missed you," said Eren, dropping kisses by her ear as he unhooked her bra. "I missed this."
"Me too," she gasped as his mouth wandered to her nipple, her hands fisting in his hair. "Oh, God, I missed you too."
The time for words was soon gone, however; Eren's sinful, sinful mouth traveled lower and lower until he was kissing at the insides of her thighs, parting them to access what lay between, and (Y/N) threw her head back as he spread her open with his hands and sucked brazenly at her clit.
How long he spent there, worshipping her sex, (Y/N) had no idea; all she knew was that she came once from his mouth on her and a second time from his fingers inside her, and when he finally, mercifully withdrew, she was broken down to the simplest parts of herself; there was nothing left but an affection so deep that it threatened to overtake her if she didn't let it out, and she did the only thing she knew to do to release the overwhelming pressure that was building in her chest as Eren pushed his big, veiny cock into her.
She told him what she should have said a long time ago.
"Oh, Eren," she gasped as his cockhead shoved deep inside her. "I love you."
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Eren went unnaturally still. He looked at her with pupils blown wide inside emerald eyes, and his fangs slightly distended; in any other situation, (Y/N) might have laughed at how surprised he seemed, but it seemed as though she were frozen in time, unable to do anything but stare earnestly up at them, hoping he understood how much she cared for him.
"You… what?"
"I love you," she repeated, her body moving without her permission to roll her hips up into him, moving his cock even further inside her. "Please, Eren, I need—"
He cut her off with a forceful, bruising kiss, and his hips started making slow, deep thrusts inside her, her legs hiked up over his shoulders.
"Again," he said against her lips."Say it again."
"I love you."
Another thrust or two, a hand circling her wounded throat.
"Again."
"I love you, Eren."
"Again."
This time, it was only a whisper.
"I love you," she said, and Eren began fucking her in earnest.
"You are so fucking beautiful," he told her as he thrust hard and deep inside her. "You're every man's dream, a nirvana the damned such as myself were never meant to reach. (Y/N), you are everything, and I—"
He seemed to choke on the words, and (Y/N) kissed him as he tried to regain his composure.
"I don't deserve you," he said, shaking with the force of their passion. "I don't deserve your love."
It's not about deserving, she wanted to say, It never was, but then she was coming again, her climax contracting her walls around her lover, and it was all she could do to remain conscious as Eren fucked her relentlessly through it all, chasing his own high.
It was only later, after a shower and something to eat that they finally spoke again. They were back in bed, and Eren's arm was wrapped around her, as though he were afraid to let her go for even a moment; truthfully, (Y/N) thought he was asleep, but then his breath tickled her ear as he said,
"I love you, angel."
And that, (Y/N) thought, had been worth it all, in the end.
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sagemusesoutloud · 3 years
Text
Anti-Romantic, Part 1
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(credit to the original owner of the image)
Character | Jaehyun x reader Genre | nonidol!au, Mutual Pining, Slowburn, Fluff WordCount | 3.6 K Author'sNote | lmaoooo the fact that I intended this to be a oneshot type of thing oops. Wellllll, I tried. Most likely to be a two part series, but we'll see.
This is part of a series I intend to call "If Songs were Fics" and this particular one was loosely inspired by TXT's Anti-Romantic bc I'm obsessed. I hope you enjoy reading as much I enjoyed writing it!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
I don't know who loves me
And I don't care, It's a waste anyways
A romantic feeling, Kinda scares me
“Any plans for you birthday next week?”
Jaehyun shakes his head at you, “no, not yet, don’t you have that date with that barista?”
“I’m not sure, he’s been acting weird over text lately. Might not be worth it,” you shrug your shoulders. “Besides, it’s your birthday! You only get one of those a year, we should plan something.”
You were on your way to the gym, a ritual you and Jaehyun had ever since you both found out you worked for the same company. You had been childhood friends, but ended up losing touch since you went to separate universities.
It was a nice surprise to see a friendly face on the first day of orientation and throughout the duration of your training for the next six weeks. Although you were both from different departments, you enjoyed taking your lunch breaks together and sharing small gossip about your old class-mates.
“ugh, don’t remind me,” he let’s out a long sigh, “every year, it seems like my family won’t stop pestering me about starting a family.”
“What’s so wrong about that?”
“Nothing, just not for me. Or at least not yet. I don’t think I’m the type to settle down,” he shrugs again as if it were no big deal.
You gasp, “how could you say that? I’ve seen your insta account. It’s got your cousin’s kids all over it!” You stop to take a good look at him as he holds the door of the gym open for you. “Back in school too, you used to tutor those elementary kids for volunteering hours. Even when you didn’t need them. You’ve always liked kids.”
“That’s different…”
“Right. Totally different things. Got it,” you roll your eyes. This wasn’t the first time he mentioned not wanting to settle down. At first, you had thought it was because he liked ‘keeping his options open’ like back in high-school. Or, not that you knew for sure, but if the rumors were true then it meant he slept his way around. Apparently, he never slept with someone twice and despite the cold shoulder the other party would get, all you had ever heard were praises. Not that you paid that much attention or anything.
You and Jaehyun had the same circle of friends, but despite that, he had never made any advances towards you. You’d be lying if that didn’t bother you at least once or twice. You just assumed that he didn’t want to make the friendship awkward or mess with the friend dynamics of your group. Which was why your crush on him in junior high ended as soon as you got to high-school.
You ended up going on dates with other people, but nothing that kept your interest. Nothing that compared to how you felt around him. Not that he seemed to think the same, so you tried your best to stay the good friend you always have been. You didn’t want to push something he clearly didn’t want; not that it didn’t hurt any less. Throughout the years it’s become bearable, at least. Almost like a painful habit.
You check in and head to the locker rooms to change. His nonchalance about the subject had always puzzled you. You’d seen first hand how all the female coworkers seemed to sway their hips as they walked by him, how some would pop a blouse button more than usual when around him, and you swore no one else was getting that much help throughout training more than him. He was handsome and a gentleman, that much was painfully obvious.
You meet him outside by the water fountain, “ready for warm-up?” he guides your way to the treadmills.
“When’s the last time you dated?”
You would have laughed if you weren’t so shocked to see him trip from the corner of your eye. “why the sudden curiosity?” He finally responds.
“Not sudden, I’d always wondered.” You defended. “You’re good looking and you’re very…I mean, you live on your own and have your own car. You have good relations with your family AND you’re good with kids. So, what is it?” You hadn’t realized how troubling you thought it all was. But now that you started digging you couldn’t stop.
“I just—” you pause, “it doesn’t make sense.”
You hear him chuckle, “you might wanna slow down before you pull something.” You look down and realize that your pace had gone from a relaxed jog to a borderline run during your rant. Maybe this wasn’t the best time to psychoanalyze your only friend in the city.
“Well, I just don’t know how to let people in. It’s just that.” He finally responds. “I love kids, but I don’t know or think I’d be a good partner.” He slows down before stopping, ending the conversation. He waves you off with an easy smile as you stay running.
Huh, maybe you pushed him too far. Your eyes can’t help but follow him around the gym.
Sweet and bitter chocolate, The taste at the end is always the same
Like the saddest movies, Only tears in my eyes
Your hands were sweaty the entire morning, anticipating your lunch time. It was his birthday today, and while you hadn’t made any concrete plans you ended up agreeing to go over to his place after work. Your gym bag was ready with snacks and comfy clothes to stay over. You remembered him saying he was excited to watch that new Marvel movie that had recently come out so you had bought it online to stream it at his place as a surprise. But what had you nervous was the small heart shaped box sitting in your purse. You didn’t know what possessed you to buy it but you had immediately thought of Jae when you passed by it at the mall. You remember vaguely mentioning that it was a special occasion to the sales lady (as in, his birthday), but she must have thought it was your significant other rather than friend because she changed the box to the red velvet shaped one while giving you a wink. In her defense, you could have protested but…why didn’t you?
You hear a knock on your door, “hey little miss sunshine.” Ah, Nakamoto, this couldn’t be good news. He was only sickly sweet to you when he needed a favor.
“What do you want?” you deadpan. He only laughs as he makes himself comfortable in your office. “Well, nothing in particular. Can’t stop by and see how you’re doing?” he feigns hurt.
“Right—the last time you ‘came by’ you left me working over-time through the weekend,” You sigh, “so what is it this time? Missed meeting? Late proposal?” To be fair, your supervisor WAS overworked sometimes. And since you were the only worker under him, it was normal for him to sometimes share some of the load with you.
He smiles at you, “nope. Just have a proposal for you. I know you’ve been working hard these past few months and I’ve been really impressed by your work ethic.” He stands and moves closer to your desk, “And I thought some sort of reward was in order, as well as celebration.” Ok, now you’re confused. You were ok with the reward part, it usually came in the form of a gift card to your favorite coffee shop, but celebration?
“Why would we celebrate? Did I miss something?”
“Not yet, but I did recommend you to the partner position with me. And I wanted to be the first to tell you that the boss approved it earlier today. So, what do ya say? Dinner on me?” he extends his hand out to you and wiggles his eyebrows playfully.
Oh.
Shit! You were hoping this would happen eventually, moving up from the entry-level position you had. But you had never thought it would be this fast. “Oh my gosh, are you serious?” You give him your hand and he shakes it in mock salute.
“Of course, some people will come by to move your computer to the office next to mine. You start Monday!” he winks, “So, wanna go to that new rooftop restaurant? This is a once in a life-time ticket, so you best say yes.”
But your dinner with Jae…He’ll understand, right? He has to. It’s not like he seemed that excited about it anyway. And you could always spend the day together tomorrow, too. It would be pretty rude to turn down Yuta after he pulled some strings for you…
You smile at him, “Thank you Mr. Nakamoto, I won’t let you down as a partner. Yeah, dinner sounds great. Wanna meet there?”
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You sit down on the small table, now nervous for other reasons.
Jae sits opposite of you, a small smile on his face. “Hey you,” he greets.
“hey…” you start, “I hate to change plans so suddenly, but…” crap, you feel really shitty. But you really were between a rock and a hard place.
“everything ok?”
“yeah, no. I actually just got promoted,” you start.
“You did? That’s awesome! So fast, too. Wow—but shouldn’t you be more enthusiastic about it?” he chuckles.
“I am, just—my old supervisor wanted to go to dinner to celebrate. And I don’t think I could say no after helping me out like that.”
“I mean, did you want to skip it or?” Now he’s confused.
“Well, he wanted to go out tonight since I start Monday and today’s Friday…I don’t think I can come over tonight,” you explain.
Realization crosses his features before he gives a small smile. “Don’t worry about it, you’re fine. And he’s treating you! You don’t know when the next time he offers might be,” he continues, “we can celebrate another day anyway.”
“Are you sure?” now you feel like shit.
“Of course I’m sure.”
For the rest of the lunch, a thick silence settles before he excuses himself back to work.
Jaehyun knew this was coming. Nothing ever went his way; it’s why he kept everyone at a distance from his heart. But he was weak when it came to you. This game of push and pull was bound to keep happening, and it only brought him that all familiar foul taste in his mouth.
I know, that sweet love song, Those words of promise
When you turn around, It's just an unfamiliar someone
It was why he decided to go else-where for university, instead of joining you and some of your friends to the one closest to home. He chose to go across the globe—far, far away from the curse of you.
It had started on a windy day, back when you were 4 and new to the town he grew up in. Jaehyun didn’t want to leave his mother’s arms, he didn’t like the thought of being with strangers until later in the day even if his mom promised that she would be back. A little girl with jean overalls like his came up to him and his mom, “why are you crying?”
“I am not!” he sniffed. He didn’t need to make new friends like his mom was trying to tell him. All he needed was to go back home. You took out something from your pocket and showed it to him, “look, my mom said I could give one to my first friend. She said it was sharing. Want one?”
In her little palm, were two kiss chocolates. “You’re not my friend,” he grumbled, “I don’t know your name.” At that, you giggled, “I’m Y/N!” you took his hand and placed a chocolate there, “there, now we’re officially friends.”
“See, Jae? You can spend some time with Y/N and have fun. Before you know it, I’ll be back,” she promised.
“Yeah, Jae! Come play blocks with me, and then we can try the coloring.” You held his hand as you led him deeper into the classroom. Just like that, Jae began to feel a little warmth in his chest. He didn’t mind that his favorite thing to do was play tag outside or that he wasn’t really good at coloring inside lines yet. But that didn’t matter to him. As long as he had this one friend around, he was content.
Sorry I'm an anti-romantic, I want to run far away
My heart that already chases after you, Blazes up as a small flame
Looking back at it now, it was a little funny. All it took to let you in back then was a simple chocolate kiss and your little sticky hand in his leading the way. You were always larger than life to him, sometimes he forgot that you were just as human as him.
As you two continued to grow, nothing seemed to change your friendship. But he knew that the depth of his feelings wasn’t mutual. It was in the way that you brought a lot different people together and decided to call it your family. Another of your friends, Jungwoo, liked to joke that you collected introverts for fun. To Jaehyun, it was more likely that you just didn’t see the fun in leaving people out. You were charming and passionate. Traits he wished he had. Your empathetic nature and gentle disposition were all that Jaehyun needed, even if he wasn’t the only recipient.
Once you guys started to hit puberty, things started to feel rocky. Jaehyun couldn’t help but physically distance himself from you, his ears were always red-hot. You had always been pretty to Jaehyun, but you were starting to become really beautiful. And if the boy’s locker rooms’ talk were anything to go by, then other people were definitely starting to realize “what a great catch” you were.
It really pissed him off. Who were they to say things as if all you were was a piece of meat? It disgusted him. But what disgusted him more was the fact that sometimes, he couldn’t help but also feel the way your body felt in his when you hugged in greeting. He hated the way his body reacted to everything you did.
He first messed around with a senior girl back when he was a sophomore, Sooyoung. She was leaving and he couldn’t take it anymore. Your boyfriend was a piece of trash and he was tired of hearing the way he would share what Jae considered to be intimate moments that had no business being public. But you seemed so happy… that next game, Jae stole the ball from him and scored on his own. Even if it cost him a three hour lecture from the coach, he would do it again. Fuck being a team, that guy was an asshole.
What he hadn’t planned on was liking messing around. He would never admit it, but the reason he couldn’t commit was because he couldn’t get rid of that small grain of hope that glowed in his chest every time you stared at him longer than would be deemed normal. It wasn’t often, but he knew he wasn’t seeing things. So, he succumbed to the cycle of push-and-pull that you guys had going on.
Jaehyun wasn’t blind, he knew that your work definitely spoke of your professionalism, but he’s also seen the way Nakamoto stared after you. Of the way his hand would often touch your waist when walking together. Even now, as he hears you apologize through the phone again as you get ready for your “date” with him he can’t help this heart feel heavy with anger. Anger at himself, for letting you slip away once more. He usually hopes for nothing but the best for you, but this time, he wishes you had an awful dinner.
Sorry I'm an anti-romantic, I don't believe in romance
I'm afraid that after burning my whole heart, It will only leave behind ashes
Throughout the entire dinner, you can’t seem to get Jae out of your mind. It keeps you from enjoying the delicious food, keeps you from keeping your usual banter with Nakamoto.
You’re about to call it a night and thank Nakamoto for inviting you out when he beats you to it, “damn, I was hoping this might be a good break from the usual overtime we do, but something tells me your mind has been elsewhere,” he offers good naturedly, “I know it’s valentine’s, so maybe this is why we feel so awkward, right?”.
You grimace a bit at that, “ah—I’m sorry. I really am grateful for the way you look after me in the company and I’m also thankful for this lovely dinner,” you stop a bit, afraid you might offend him, “I agreed to come out tonight, so no need to feel awkward.” You offer a smile.
“Alright then. I guess you already have your sights on someone?” he prods. Should you be honest? There was no rule against dating outside your department, and you were pretty sure your new boss’s wife also worked within the company. “…I do. But I’m pretty sure they don’t feel the same way. It’s been so long since we’ve known each other. Surely if something were to have happened, it would have by now.” You were loosening up, definitely the wine’s fault.
Nakamoto sighs at that, “damn, and here I thought I could woo you after this,” he winks jokingly but you laugh him off. You knew he didn’t care for you that way. “I really hope you’re talking about the guy you always eat lunch with. I swear everyone thought you guys were married when you were released from training.”
“What?! No, I—we’ve been friends since we were children—”
“Aha! So it was him then,” he smirks. “Good.”
You groan, “Please, no.”
“What, it’s not him? You sure about that?”
“I will neither confirm nor deny that statement,” you groan. Why were you discussing your love life? You push the wine away and take a sip of your water.
“Hmm. That’s too bad. Could have sworn that guy was after you.” He stands up. “But fine, I’ll stop prodding.”
You sigh in relief—“for now.” You groan. “What do you even mean by that? You don’t even know him. Or me, or at least personally at least.”
“Mmm, I don’t have to. Some things you just know. Like how he wishes I was six feet under every time we run across him at work,” he sobers up at that. “He seemed like a cool dude, but his glare isn’t too friendly. I don’t know how you fell for that.”
You scoff, “just because someone has a resting bitch face doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.”
You both make your way to the underground parking. “You’re right, it just makes them unapproachable. Is that why you won’t confess?” His genuine tone rubs you the wrong way, you don’t need be given false hope.
“Stop it, you said you would drop it,” you frown, “Anyways, thank you for the food boss—”
“—not your boss anymore. Just call me Yuta, we’re partners now.”
“Aren’t you two years older than me?”
“And?”
You shrug at that, “well, thanks Yuta. For the food, not for the interrogation.” He chuckles at that, nodding while pulling out his car keys. “see you Monday!” he waves you off.
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You sigh as you get home. It wasn’t as late as you thought it was, only a few minutes past nine. You really wanted to see him. Would he be busy?
You fish out your phone and dial his number before chickening out.
“Hello?”
“Jae! It’s me. Are you busy right now?” your heartbeat is pounding so loud, you’re scared he could hear it on the other end. “Right now?” you hear shuffling on the other end, “no, I was just reading that book Jungwoo sent me. Might have dozed off a bit into it but don’t tell him I said that,” he chuckles.
“Why, is everything ok? It’s still early, did you end dinner that fast?”
“Oh, Yuta and I called it a night pretty early. Too many couples were out and about and it got a bit awkward,” you explained.
“Yuta?”
“Ah, yes. Yuta Nakamoto, but now that we’re associates, he said it would be better to address him less formally.” You waive him off, “actually, I was wondering—if it’s not too late, can I still come over? If not, that’s cool. We can still hang out tomorrow, but your birthday is today and I thought—”
He laughs at your rambles, “of course you can come over, you know you don’t have to ask. How many times have I told you that?”
“Ok, ok. Just checking,” you still had your comfy change of clothes in your car, so you opt to save those for tomorrow and change into something causal for tonight.
“Do you want me to go get you? We can get ice cream on the way, hopefully they don’t close early.”
“Sounds like a plan then,” curse your heart for melting at everything he says.
“Alright, give me 15 and I’ll be there.” He hangs up.
You look at your bag, resting on your sofa and you sigh. The entire night, it’s almost as if you could feel the weight of his gift weighing it down. Yuta is known for being very observant, it’s why he was so good at his job. Closing deals and making contracts in advertisement. Would he be right about this? You know you desperately wish he was, but is it worth risking your best friend?
EndNote | Woooow, that was a longass ride. Let me know if you liked it or if there are other typos I missed! Or just to let me know what you thought, that would be much appreciated. I'm thinking of finishing it by Sunday 6/13, so hopefully the next part is up by then. Until then!
Here's Part 2!
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morelikesin · 3 years
Text
You Know You're Cute, Right?
ANOTHER APEX FIC BECAUSE I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF SKNDLWKDM,, this time I wrote differently than how I normally do - it consists of quick snippets of a day-in-the-life type thing, featuring Mirage-Octane-Bloodhound-Caustic as a polycule 💕 Huge inspo from this song (as well as included in the fic)✨
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Take this as a late Christmas-early New Years gift ✨ Super fluffy and casual type work, with a heavy dash of romanticism because I'll be damned if I'm not a romantic. Fic under the cut 💕💕
"You call your cat sweetheart? 'Zander-"
"Not a word."
Elliott suppressed a snort. That cheeky little smile he had when he found an opening for playful jabs was always so irritating - the kind of irritating that made the scientist want to kiss it right off of him.
"I think it's cute," Octavio hummed, leaning back into the sofa with his arms crossed behind his head. "That means you're cute. Que lindo."
The way Alexander scoffed an "Octavio" would've been more intimidating had it not been for the big, sleepy cat he cradled in his arms. She stretched her big fluffy paws, made a squeak as she yawned, and buried her head into the man's chest.
Blóð smiled.
"Vhatever helps you sleep at night, elskan."
It was incredibly late. The last time they had checked the clock wasn't that long ago, and apparently it was supposed to be sometime around 4 in the morning. It didn't feel that way at all.
They knew it'd kick their ass in the morning - getting so little sleep.
Well, Octavio might be fine. But Elliott had made it a habit to wake up at 8, Blóð still hadn't made much progress on getting more sleep to begin with, Alexander had his internal clock waking him at 7, and they all had somewhere to be at 9. This entire night was probably a huge mistake. They normally try to get to sleep by 2, but admittedly, they may or may not have a bad practice of keeping each other awake for company's sake.
And now that an entirely new subject was brought up after Alexander had rather adoringly picked up Bear, his senior cat, and called her "sweetheart," the prospect of playfully pestering him about his soft spot was all too enticing to go to sleep just yet.
"You've never even called us sweetheart," Octavio began. "You save it for her?"
There was a brief pause. Alexander had kept petting her back paw with his thumb, as his eyes remained averted until he sighed. "It...is something I've grown accustomed to for her, yes."
Elliott made a pleased hum. "Well isn't that just adorable," he teased before leaning over and petting Bear across her back - fur unbelievably soft.
It started as a joke a while ago - the way they noticed how Bear could make anyone sleepy just by looking at her - her cozy looking fur, her sweet little face, her ability to get comfortable and sleep virtually anywhere - but over time the joke had increased its humour when the idea became seemingly true. Alexander occasionally would mention how he'd sometimes stop working at his desk late at night because Bear was sleeping in his lap, and turn in a few hours early compared to his usual 2 in the morning bed time. This was deemed an exaggeration until the three others experienced it for themselves.
This happened to be one of those magical sleepy-Bear moments, as made evident by how Blóð made a quiet yawn shortly after leaning over to give Bear a loving scritch under her chin.
Octavio staved off a matching yawn. He rubbed at his eyes, began to stand, and nodded to Alexander's bed. "We should probably try and get some sleep."
-
The sun coming in through the blinds was a rude awakening. Elliott instinctually raised an arm to cover his eyes - making a soft groan in annoyance at the bright rays somehow coming through at a perfect angle to hit him in the face. Turning, he lowered his arm and began to sit up slowly as to not wake up the sleeping Octavio who had his arm wrapped around his waist.
Elliott sighed, and leaned down to give him a kiss on the temple. He lingered for a moment before sitting up again and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
He noticed a weight on his legs, and looked to see a peacefully sleeping Bear curled up in a ball. As he went to pet her head, his eyes glanced up to see Blóð sitting in Alexander's desk chair - hands busy sewing a thick-fur item. From the time spent with the hunter, Elliott had picked up on the types of hides they'd hunt and use - this one appearing to be rabbit fur. What they were making, though, wasn't clear yet.
Elliott's voice came deeper, and a bit more throaty in post-sleep fashion, "Morning."
Blóð briefly looked up, gave a gentle smile, and proceeded to look back down to continue their work. "Góðan morgin. How did you sl'leep?"
"Pretty good, considering." He took in a deep breath, and stretched his arms out in front of him. He rested his hands in his lap as he went to speak again, "When did you wake up?"
"Before Alexander, but not by long."
Elliott frowned slightly. Blóð took notice when they looked back up to gauge his reaction. They made an effort to ease his concerns.
"I'm sure Octavio will get me to take a nap vith him later today," they assured, "don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Elliott made a small hum indicating reluctant agreement. "...Alright. Just promise me to keep doin' what you're doin' - trying t'get more sleep, I mean."
"I promise, ástin."
If Elliott was a sucker for anything, it'd be terms of endearment - especially when they're used so casually. Having all four of them be big on using said terms made for an eternally happy Witt.
"Beloved, right?"
Blóð hummed, "Yes. Closest tr'ranslation I can equate to it." They briefly stopped their handiwork in the wake of a smile they couldn't seem to get rid of. "I'm touched you remembered."
Elliott smirked and made a quiet laugh, turning his head to find the time on the side table clock - 8:21 AM - before looking back over. "I try my best. Making it a goal to learn as much as I can from you and Octavio."
"We find it very sweet," Blóð assured, letting it be known that Octavio and they had seemingly discussed the language efforts before. "Alexander said as much, that you and he were doing so."
"Think I can speak for him when I say that we love learning it. Speaking of him...?"
"He's downstairs."
Elliott made a quiet "Ah." As much as it pained him to do so, he gently lifted Bear and set her on a free spot of the blanket so he could get up - her being left generally unfazed, besides her slightly annoyed tail wag in being moved from her spot.
With Octavio being so small, Elliott could easily leave the bed without disturbing him too much, albeit moving his arm so it wasn't draped across his body anymore. He stretched, walked over to Blóð, and gestured for a kiss. They hummed, seemingly still in their work, but Elliott knew they were keen - the hunter picking up the hint and looking up so their lips could gently meet.
"Que lindo, mis amores."
The two of them made a small hum in surprise before pulling away from one another with a blush. Blóð was smiling to themself shyly, while Elliott made a small chortle and flirted with the newly-awakened Octavio, wearing his darling little smirk.
"Welcome to join us."
Octavio laughed - the sound half-purr, half-grain. "I'd love to. Watching is only so much fun."
He started to rise, stretching his arms upwards and making a groan before reaching over the bed to grab his prosthetics and put them on. Standing, shaking his legs to help himself wake up, he made a small yawn before walking around the bed and giving a kiss to each partner - looking satisfied with himself.
"Big guy downstairs?"
Blóð nodded.
Elliott and Octavio made a mutual decision to go see him - the latter turning around before they headed out the bedroom door to question Blóð. "You comin' down?"
They shook their head, hands busy sewing the fur item again. "I will soon. I von't be long in finishing this."
Octavio nodded, and proceeded to take Elliott's hand as they went downstairs.
-
Dr. Somers and Alexander seemed to be having a chat when the two made it to the kitchen, their hands busy with mugs of black coffee all the while. Elliott could never understand how people drank their coffee so bitter, much less Octavio.
Dr. Somers was the first to notice the two, as she was facing the stairs leaning against the counter. Giving a small wave and giving a nod to Alexander, she drank from her mug and gave them a minute to exchange expected affections - something she learned the polycule are incredibly prone to do, despite several joking complaints about PDA from the others.
Octavio quipped with a laugh between his words as Elliott and Alexander exchanged a coffee-flavored kiss, "Not even creamer, 'Zander?"
The man bore an amused hum. "Black coffee actually tastes like coffee. You may as well drink candy if you add so much sugar to it."
"You sound old."
"No avoiding that, I'm afraid." He gestured for a kiss, to which Octavio happily gave, before drinking from his mug again. "How did you sleep?"
"Great!"
Elliott gave a "Ditto" in response, though he followed it up with a fitting yawn and a "Wish I slept some more, though."
The statement was seconded by the way Alexander made a soft hum in agreement, and thirded by Octavio and his rightly timed yawn.
Dr. Somers waited a few quiet moments before stepping forward and piping into the conversation. "It'll just be a few stores we stop by, darlin's. Doubt we'll be out that long."
"That's still gonna' be so long," Octavio complained, his voice coming as a whine.
It was common knowledge that Octavio wasn't exactly big on shopping. Elliott, however, could spend all day doing it. If they had to disagree on anything, it'd be how long they were out for things - Alexander and Blóð keeping things relatively frustration-free during a shopping trip, though Blóð would always get antsy to go home if they stayed out longer than a few hours out in a city.
"It'll be fine, babe," Elliott assured the man while rubbing his back. "It's kinda'- kinda' just mainly food shopping, isn't it? You like doing that."
"Aren't we going to the pet store after, though?"
Elliott rose a brow, "'Tavio, are you complaining about that?"
Octavio snorted and began walking to the fridge - grabbing a Bang from inside and popping the can open. "No, para nada - prefer that to everything else, even food."
Mary laughed at that, shaking her head before taking a gulp of coffee and making her way to the living room. Before she left, though, she spoke with her back still facing them, "Oh, remind me t'grab a level while we're out -  puttin' up a shelf an' think I lost the one I had."
"Lucky for you, I'm the best at reminding people of things," Elliott half-joked. Mary laughed again and took her leave with a "Thanks."
Being left alone in the kitchen, the three stood in comfortable silence for a few moments. Alexander prompted a question shortly thereafter;
"Is Blóð still upstairs?"
"Yeah," Octavio began, "Think they were working on something - dijo no tardará mucho. I can go see them if-"
The stairs creaked a bit as someone walked down the stairs, causing Octavio to cut himself off as he turned to see who it was. In seeing so, he sighed damn near dreamily and softened his gaze a bit - Elliott and Alexander softening all the same.
Pulling their past-the-waist long black hair behind their jewelry-adorned ear, they rounded the last stair and looked up to see their partners - smiling warmly and lowering their hands to fold their arms. The coyote jaw necklace (that Octavio had gifted them this past holiday, knowing they loved real animal items), that rest against their lower chest rose slightly with every breath, as quaint a detail it was to notice. Not a day goes by do any of them not love seeing their pretty face.
And Elliott made sure to tell them that.
"Not a day goes by do we not love seeing your pretty face."
Blóð bore a chuckle and rolled their eyes, though it didn't mask the rosy blush the comment gave them. "I should say the same for you, ástin."
They unfolded their arms and looked back to the three. They couldn't suppress the amused hum they made in seeing that the three were still checking them out - becoming more flushed and brushing their hair behind their ear again, looking away with a shy smile.
They always looked at each other with such warmth. They got playful tease about it from the others, especially Alexander given he was quite brooding to most things, but the gazes never subsided. They'd like to say they were subtle about it - but everyone else would vote against it. And it'd be true.
They were obvious about it. So sticky-sweet obvious - embraces and hand holding and gazes and kisses and all. They didn't mind.
-
By 10 till 9, mostly everyone was ready - save for Loba, Renee, and Elliott, who always took a while to clean up to their own high standards. Elliott called from upstairs whether he should wear his orange body mist or his cologne, and with the majority vote leaning towards cologne today - well, he must please the people.
With Renee in tow, Elliott had finally come from upstairs. He looked handsome as ever, however, wearing a black turtleneck and an orange, knee length open-front sweater. His hair looked meticulously tended to, tossed to the opposite side of his pierced right ear and framing his face well.
The cologne served him wonders, too, with Blóð and Alexander taking a clear liking to it.
Octavio walked down the stairs with a pep in his step - smoothing back his hair as best he could just so it could partly fall into his face once again. Swinging around the corner, he spotted his partners and proceeded to greet Blóð and Elliott with a firm smack on their behinds. They were startled, sure, but Elliott only looked down to give Octavio a laugh and a smack of his own, while Blóð merely scoffed in jest.
Octavio bit his lip. "Don't you all look good? Eres tan sexy," he gave a wink while unabashedly checking them out. Blóð was always so pretty, even when showing their strength in the games or when they hunted or chopped wood (Octavio could go on for days about that), Elliott was always so charming and confident (even if his suave attempts happened to fail, they were all the more charming), and the rolled-sleeve button up that was unbuttoned just enough to show collarbone and brief chest on Alexander was something Octavio (and the other two, admittedly) would store in the memory bank for personal satisfaction.
"¿Qué hubo?"
"Just talkin' about whatever." Elliott adjusted the cuffs of his orange jacket sleeves, rolling them up his forearm a bit. He took notice of Octavio's outfit. "You gonna' be alright out there? You know I love you in your crop tops, but-"
Octavio made a "Pshhh" and scrunched his nose up a bit in response to that, cutting him off. "I'll be fine, bebé. Can't be that cold outside, can it?"
Alexander seemed to check his phone for confirmation on that. "Sixty degrees."
Elliott did find the temperature better than he had anticipated, but still swiveled his head back to Octavio with brows furrowed in concern.
"You don't even have a jacket."
"I can grab one before we go."
Elliott seemed satisfied by that and left the discussion there.
Loba came downstairs, holding the car keys and jangling them as her other hand brushed her hair past her shoulder. "Any takers on being driver?"
Alexander motioned her to give the keys to him, to which she happily did - she was a great driver, but happened to not be particularly fond of doing so, rather liking going on drives as a passenger.
Octavio quickly claimed shotgun.
Before they left, Blóð gave Octavio the fur item they'd been sewing earlier - the latter finding that it was a soft rabbit fur coat. The delight in his face was all Blóð needed to feel assured that he liked it, and helped him put it on. It was a little big, and just how Octavio liked his sweaters and coats. To all of their agreement, he looked rather stylish in it.
-
They were out for most of the afternoon, starting with a two hour Costco trip (that Octavio nearly made his partners carry him for), several smaller shops in between just to browse, a liquor store to buy champagne and sauvignon to celebrate New Years tonight (along with sparkling juice for Octavio who nay drank alcohol), and a hardware store mainly for Mary to pick up that level Elliott reminded her of. By 4:30, their last store of the day was the pet store - everyone individually needing one thing or another.
When they got inside, Elliott asked his partners if they could accompany him for a minute - guiding them to the aquarium section and proposing something.
"Pick one of these guys that you like," Elliott gestured to the wall of individually kept male betta fish, of all sorts of colors and sizes. "You remember those 5 gallon tanks I got a while back? Thought I'd use 'em, and thought a' you guys."
Like Blóð was simply an animal person, and how Octavio and Alexander were cat people, Elliott was partial towards fish. The two large tanks he manages in the living room are rather serene, and despite Renee's concerns, the fish kept there seem to love the foot traffic of everyone coming through.
"One collectively, or-?"
Elliott shook his head, politely cutting Alexander off, "Three total. Was thinking you all pick one, and I set their tanks up in my room. I-I thought it was a cute idea, I dunno'-"
"It's sweet, actually," Alexander softly spoke.
"Think so?"
Blóð made a content hum - leaning down a bit and surveying the curious little fish to see which one stood out to them. "Incr'redibly, my love."
Octavio's approval was nonverbal, made of him apparently finding which one he wanted immediately and picking up the container the little guy was kept in. He looked to Elliott with stars in his eyes and a grin, "Can we name them?"
Elliott chortled and waved his hand dismissively, "I enco- en- enco- implore you to."
"Octavio Dos."
His answer was so quick the others couldn't help but bear a laugh.
And by the time everyone was at checkout, there was definite fawning over the three new additions to Elliott's personal tanks - Ljón, the cream-colored, fiesty little thing that had fins flowing long behind him that Blóð adored, Violet, the red, pink, and white dumbo betta that was adorably curious much to Alexander's affection, and the deep-red colored Octavio Dos.
-
On the way home, it was decided to just grab something to eat on the way - near everyone could cook, but the idea of standing around in the kitchen to cook for fifteen people was lost.
Natalie passed the aux cord to Octavio, who was just taking his coat off for the ride home. He looked a little beyond himself.
"You trust me with the music? Wow - what'd they put in these fries?"
Natalie held off on a laugh while she tried to finish chewing, though her smile was tell enough on her amusement. "I actually like your music taste."
Makoa requested simply, "Nothing too dirty though, please, Silva."
"Me? Liking dirty music?" Octavio snorted, "You know me so well. How about flirty music?"
The man chortled. "That works, brotha'."
Octavio hooked the cord to his phone, and swiped his screen for a few moments before stopping on something. He looked hesitant, briefly, and pressed his screen. He set his phone down and put his hand on Alexander's, their arms both resting on the armrest.
The song sounded so dreamy. When the intro became a little more recognizable, before the lyrics, Loba made a snort from the back.
"You like this song?"
Octavio feigned offense, looking back to her with a "Of course I like this song!"
He shook his head and laughed softly - looking over to Blóð, who sat behind Alexander, he sang over the song and moved his hand from Alexander to cup their face.
"You're so uwu," his voice came sweet and a bit grainy, moving his hand from their cheek to their chin. Blóð practically giggled - blushing and leaning forward into his touch.
"You make me wanna' do," Octavio took his hand away and gave them a wink, "Naughty things to you - all these things to you, you."
Elliott joined the flirt-singing, joining Octavio in the chorus while they oh-so shamelessly wooed their other two partners (and each other, mind you). The others would've said a joke about it, but Ajay was busy holding Natalie's hand and cuddling up to her, while Anita was busy running her hand through Loba's hair and speaking quietly amongst themselves. The others didn't have the heart to interrupt their moment.
Besides, the song was catchy.
"You know you're cute, right?" Octavio sung in Alexander's direction, who shook his head. Still, he wore a soft smile and kept his hand reached over to rub Octavio's thigh.
Elliott leaned over to the side behind Octavio's seat, Blóð matching the movement from the opposite side, and wrapped an arm around the hunter's waist. He continued the phrase with a cocky smile, "Cute as a button-"
Then the two sang together, "Undoing the buttons and pushing your buttons, I just wanna' get you right-"
It was a red light, and so Alexander took the opportunity to lean over and kiss Octavio - lingering for a moment or two before pulling away and focusing back on the road just in time for the light to turn green.
Octavio's heart was a puddle.
Blóð reached a free hand across the armrest to drape his hand over the one Alexander had over Octavio's leg, their fingers soft and gentle in the way they caressed the back of both their hands. Elliott went to continue singing the song, but Octavio stole a kiss much to his surprise. He hummed, and just before they pulled away, Elliott opened his eyes and let his gaze linger at the man driving.
The glimpse of one another was quick, but just as warm as everything else, and left Elliott with a bigger smile than previously.
Octavio pulled up his leg that wasn't currently the resting place of Alexander's and Blóð's, resting his arm on his knee.
He was so lucky.
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-
And finally by 6, everyone was tuckered out - ready to take some personal time alone before reconvening later tonight for celebrations. Putting groceries away, Elliott setting up the bettas (as well as having a bit of an audience while doing so), and having a pre-celebratory drink from the sauvignon left the group in need of a quick sit-down. They found themselves just comfortable in the living room, along with Bear and Octavio's cat, Octave, sleeping on one of the couches. Rightly, this was the couch the four of them decided to occupy.
Renee crossed her legs, her black-painted nails running over the leather of her knee-high boots. "Any plans before tonight?"
"Oh?" Tae Joon began, "I thought we were just going to be alone before- ah, ten tonight?"
"I'm just wondering if that was the time we could agree on."
Octavio gave a nod. "Should work for me, at least. I plan on getting blasted, hah."
There was a heavy silence - his other partners looking rather surprised and, especially Blóð, flushed upon hearing that.
Elliott cleared his throat. "Come again?"
Anita snorted at his wording. Elliott gave a quick "Not- not what I meant, uh-"
Renee shrugged, wearing a look painfully smug. "I mean...a bit too much information, but I'm sure that'll go well."
Alexander cleared his throat.
Octavio, despite his nature to immediately take things dirty, just now got what the issue was. And did he find it hilarious.
Through a series of snorts and laughs, he reiterated what he meant; "If I meant I was gonna' get pounded, I would just say that-"
Blóð, Elliott, and Alexander made a simultaneous "Octavio-!"
He kept laughing, shaking his head, "I meant- like, I'm gonna' smoke a joint. Ay, Dios mío - but hey, if that other option is on the table-"
There was another simultaneous "Octavio!" and it seemed to get him to stop talking and simply laugh. He and the others found this absolutely hilarious, leaving his partners to be lost for words and red in the face.
Octavio snorted, and dared to entertain a final joke.
"Like a refreshment."
"What?" Loba narrowed her eyes, leaning forward in interest in what he could possibly say right now.
"Y'know," Octavio snickered, "Quickie's like a refreshment. And there's four of us - heh, call that a concession stand."
Loba couldn't hold the shocked, boisterous laugh she made hearing that - no one really could.
There was a silence after the laughter died down. It was broken when Ajay snorted, though.
"Stop encouraging him-!" Elliott near scrambled to say, but was cut short when Ajay gave him a laugh and a 'look.'
"I know the one flirting wit' 'im all day isn't telling me t' not encourage him. Don't act like you don't like this."
Elliott quickly bit his tongue and raised his hands in the air.
"Touché."
Another small bout of quiet settled.
Loba snorted.
Octavio looked at her, and when their eyes met, they both snorted, and had to turn away to not outright laugh.
Given the situation, a little fun was wanted out of it. Of course, trivia about one another was a frequent, and a favourite, activity amongst themselves. If they all had any one exact thing in common, it'd be that they were all unabashedly nosy.
Loba uncrossed, then recrossed, her legs as she sat up a little. "Truth or dare without the dare, anyone?"
"I think that's a thing called 'having a conversation,'" Anita jokingly mocked.
"Then let's have one." Loba hummed, "I actually had a question for you," she pointed a nude-shade manicured finger towards Dr. Nox, who looked suddenly surprised.
"What is it?"
The woman leaned forward a bit, cusping her hand around her face as if she was telling a secret - the hand facing no one, ultimately defeating the purpose - and talking somewhat low but audible for everyone to still hear.
"Be honest. Is that sweetheart thing true, or was Octavio being dramatic?"
"Oh my god."
His exasperated expression made his partners in particular so delightfully entertained - Octavio especially, laughing and giving a shrug as he left the man to answer the question for himself. He must've mentioned it to them when they were at a store earlier today.
"The people are waiting," Ajay chimed in. It earned the approval of Loba, as told by the way she looked smug about someone else prodding it.
Alexander lifted his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose in thought, and when he couldn't stave the answer off any longer he was brought to the doorstep of needing to say something.
With hesitation, he sighed. "True enough that she responds to it as well as her actual name."
As if on cue, right after he finished speaking and everyone was ready to pull the expected "big guy soft for a cat" card, Bear shifted her position from simply lying beside him to lying on her side and pressing her face against his upper leg. Despite it all, the instinct to lower a hand and pet her big sweet face was lost not in the man.
The onslaught of "Aww!"s would've been anticipated.
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bonelesswords · 5 years
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a study of souls | alex høgh andersen au
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Chapter one: Hi, June.
-synopsis -chapter two
Warnings: Language, sexual content, mentions and using of drugs, mentions of a toxic relationships, grammar mistakes (english is not my first language)
Note: This is the first chapter!! It's kinda short but only for now. btw all this introduction is for you to understand the story 😁 tell me what you think hehe. 
  The summer in which everyone forgot my name, was over, the only ones who seemed to remember it were my brother and my grandmother, who called almost every day while I was on vacation to ask how I was. It was my grandma's idea to send me to the other side of the world, thinking that New York could heal a broken heart. I had said that no, that it didn't work like that, that she could send me to Japan, to a desert island, but the only thing I needed to stop thinking about my heart and how broken it was, was time. But she insisted, because she has been stubborn her whole life and she wasn't going to stop now; she sent me to New York, to the house of a friend that she had met in i-don't-know-where, don't-know-when. Who had presented me to his grandson because my grandma had told her in detail how the last person I had fallen in love with, had broken my heart.
I went and I came back, my heart didn't hurt like when I got on the plane, but it still hurt, and the pain scares me.
I would like to say that yes, that grandma was right, and that my heart actually healed after that trip. That I wasn't going to have to deal with insecurities again. I would like to move on with my life as if a man didn't rip a piece of my soul; but it isn't like that.
It still scares me, even if William left to never return, to never see my face again.
I'm afraid of waking up and see his face among the white sheets, laying on my pillow. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, unable to move or speak, but I can see him sitting at the end of my bed, looking at me sideways and whispering that I must not forget him. Until after a few minutes, when I manage to move again, he disappears as if he had never been there.
Forgetting everything that happened is not as easy as throwing away a box with all the memories, it's like burning the box and that it appears every time on your doorstep .
William left and he's not going to come back. I'm sure that there's not a single drop of love for him in my body, but he left me a thousand of insecurities and he took my pride with him. He left me every bad memory, and how they torment during the night, reminding me how he played with me.
So I asked Rory, my brother, and grandma, for time. They didn't understand anything that night that I arrived home crying, they still don't understand everything fully, but they took care of me, and they were there with me every time I couldn't hold the tears anymore. I need time to assimilate things better: I had met William, a man older than me. I liked him and he lied to me saying he liked me too. When his lie went too far he got scared and left. He made sure not to see me anymore not even on the streets. He hurt me way more times that I had said out loud, in places that I still don't know how to describe.
I don't feel sad because he left, I feel sad for what he made with me after that.
But summer ended and autumn began in the city where I was born. In any moment I would get back to the university and perhaps I would make a friend.
It's already dark when I return home, the floor is wet from the rain that fell in the afternoon. The street lights up with orange lights and my nose is red from the cold. The only thing that I hear are the footsteps of my boots against the pavement and distant voices that come from inside of the houses. It's Friday and I feel it on the tip of my nose, when the air brings the smell of the dinner of the last house on the block; mine.
I know that Rory is inside with grandma, since I came back from New York he doesn't do anything else but staying at the house that I share with grandma for dinner, I also know that he feels slightly guilty for getting away from me lately. During our whole lives, ever since mom decided to leave us in charge of grandma, we had always hold on to each other, because we were the only thing we had left. And suddenly, after a long time, he didn't call like he used to anymore, he stopped visiting us like before. He is trying to get things back to the way they were.
When I step on the house, the warmth of the place embraces me, inviting me to take off my coat and my red sweater. From the living room I can hear the drawers opening and closing, the plates crashing and the voice of my grandma. I went inside to the kitchen, where Rory is sitting on a stool, his mouth is full of crumbs and a piece of bread is caught between his teeth. He looks as pale as ever, with messy black hair. Dressed in black from head to toe, he wears the same combat boots as me. Grandma looks at me and smiles in the only way she does when she sees one of her grandchildren.
The three of us sat at the dining table, talking about the day, work  and trivial things.
"The lady who lives two blocks from here stayed twenty minutes talking to me this afternoon." I comment "She told me all the gossip. I don't know why she told them to me, if it is because she has no friend or something, I mean, if she has no friends, how does she know everything?"
"Maybe because she does have friends, but she thinks you don't" Rory replies, shrugging his shoulders. I look at him with narrowed eyes as he takes the fork with food to his mouth. He caught me off guard.
"That's a lie, all my friends are on vacation, they don't come back until the university starts," I explain, for the thousandth time this summer. My friends at the university are not even friends, maybe I have the number of someone because from time to time I ask for the homework, we get along, but nothing else. I wasn't going to admit it out loud.
"Anyway" interrumped grandma "Rory has already told me that he's not staying to drink tea after dinner because he has plans with friends, I guess that we are you and me again, June. You and me and maybe a movie on netflix."
The two of them are mocking me, and suddenly, it makes sense. Both are pushing me to come out tonight. It's true that I don't   have any friends, and the old women that I talk to everyday while I work on the bakery aren't exactly the best company. They know that since William, I'm completely alone except for them.
"Well, I understand, I bother when I stay all day in this house. Maybe I want to stay here with grandma, watching movies until she falls asleep at ten. Unless that you, Rory, have other plans for me"
"It's the birthday of one of my friends, we are going to the pub, you come with me, you meet my friends and maybe you get along with them. I'll take you only if you don't talk about what the old lady told you today and if you drink at least two beers" He tells me and I share glances with grandma, as if I had fifteen and had to ask for permission to go out a friday night.
"I'm twenty one for something, right? To drink at least two beers with my brother. I'll go, but with two conditions" He nods with a smile, while grandma listens to the conversation with amusement."First, there must be at least one girl besides me. Second, if it's necessary, I can talk about politics"
"Don't worry June, that's the two things that i love. Girls and politics"
-
I haven't gone out at night in a long time and the only thing I do while sitting in the passenger seat in my brother's car is thinking if I had dressed well. What a silly thing, I think. I'm wearing light blue jeans and a dark black polo shirt under a yellow sweater. I realize how badly I combine the colors when I look at the yellow converse that I'm wearing
"So... are you friends.. friendly?" I ask and he laughs.
"That's a dumb question"
"And whose birthday is it?"
"Jack's" He says "You dont know him, I met him at the bar a while ago, Alex is the bar owner, along with his brother, his brother is more owner than him, but they both manage it. I'm not very close to Luke, Alex's brother, but he's nice. Jack is twenty four today."
"And what are you going to give him?" he points to the glove box, which is in front of my knees, I open it and I see a fat envelope, I take it out. "What is it?"
"A special edition of his favorite Batman movie, he's going to lose his shit, I'm sure"
I laugh and leave the bag in my lap and I stay silent, the only thing we hear in the car is the radio. It is the only station that doesn't put me in a bad mood and I only listen to it when I'm in Rory's car.
Rory parked on the street in front of the place, which had wooden chairs and tables outside and a row of lights under the roof that covered them. There were a few people outside and a lot inside. I looked at the ceiling of the place, in bright letters it said DUST.
My brother opened the door making sound a bell over our heads, almost inaudible due to the voices of all the people inside the bar. It was hot inside, putting our cheeks red immediately, the same tables that were outside were located all over the place and in the back were four U-shaped couchs with round tables in the middle. The lights of the place were all orange, making the atmosphere warmer than it already was. My brother took my hand and guided me to the back, in the other he had his friend's birthday present.
They all shouted things that I didn't understand when they saw my brother. I was behind him.
"Happy birthday, lad" he said to the guy who was at the end of the couch, a brown haired guy with a lot of tattoos on the arms, hands and some of them in his neck. He smiled at Rory and thanked him. "This is for you" my brother said and gave him his gift.
"What is it?" he asked, examining the paper bag."
"Open it, you idiot" said a redhead girl who was next to him, and for a second, everyone was silent. I felt like a statue in that moment.
Jack broke the paper and when he saw what was inside, his face lighted up and he looked at Rory with bright eyes. "No way, man"
"Nothing can top my gift now" Jack got up to hug him and thanked him again, putting him in a backpack he had on the floor. Rory turned to see me and I raised his eyebrows, indicating that he had forgotten about me for a second.
"Oh, right guys, this is June, my little sister. I brought her today because if she spends another friday night at home she is going to become an old lady. I hope that's not a problem" I looked at them, waving my hand. They smiled.
"That's not a problem" Jack announced "Any sister of Rory is sister of mine" He said and smiled at me, I smiled back. Then Rory brought two chairs to the table and we joined the round.
Everyone started talking animatedly; the round was made up of two guys and three girls. Jack, at the end of the couch, Julia the redhead who called him idiot before was next to him. On her right side was, who had introduced herself, Evangeline, a very pretty brown-eyed brunette, I had stared at her for a few seconds when she told me her name because of how beautiful she was. It seemed like she had just returned from the beach, but it was autumn and the shine of her skin was natural. I wish I could look like that without trying, she didn't seem like she was trying. Beside her, it was Travis, a skinny gray-eyed boy, as pale as paper, who was talking a lot and followed all of Jack's jokes, even though he was almost at the other end of the couch. Next to Travis, was Helena, a platinum blonde with red lips, who hadn't stopped talking with Rory since we arrived. And Rory hadn't stopped talking with her neither. I know when my brother likes someone, he behaves just like high school but I didn't say anything, and I didn't dare to make any jokes about it
Suddenly, a chair is dragged right next to me, in the middle of me and Jack, who was asking me about university with Julia. A man drops into the wooden chair and starts talking.
"I told Matthew that anything that this table orders it's on me. That's my birthday gift." He said with a strange accent to Jack, he turned to me and his blue eyes clashed with mine. Jack thanked him, and I didn't know what to say. Mainly because he had a black eye and several cuts around his face, like on the eyebrow and on his lower lip. I tried to hide my surprise, but he had already noticed. He stared at me, waiting for me to say something, but I didn't.
"Hi Alex" Rory speaks, making his eyes go towards my brother "This is June, my sister, I'm taking her out for a walk"
"Hi Ronald, we are going to take care of her here" He joked and then, looked at me again. "Hi, June, I'm Alex" He gives me a wide smile, almost amused. I instantly realized that despite his bruised face, he was handsome. But like all the boys sitted at the table, like Travis or Jack, but he was handsome anyway, and he has beautiful eyes. He doens't look like the kind of guy I see at university parties surrounded by lots of people, but he looks like the kind of guy the girls turn to see in the hallway.
"Hi Alex" I said, trying to smile at him.
"How old are you, June?" Alex asks.
"Twenty one" He nods, ready to make another question,  His brown hair seems freshly cut and his skin looks slightly tanned, which makes his eyes look bluer than they surely are.
"So why aren't you drinking anything, June?" It catches my attention how he repeats my name several times, as if he were getting used to the sound in his tongue.
I shrug without saying anything. He smiles sideways at me while shaking his head, then stretches his arm behind my back to reach Rory's head, hitting him with the palm of his hand.
"Go get your sister a fucking beer" Rory growled and looked at him annoyed when Alex interrupted their conversation.
"Language." Julia scolds and Alex rolls his eyes amused.
"She can go by herself" Rory replied, I did not say anything.
"Don't be an idiot" he scolded him again and my brother got up from the chair, sighing and going towards the bar.
"I can get my own beer" I said to Alex, he looked at me raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, you look like someone who can get their own beer, June" he says with the same smile on his face "But Matthew, the barman, doesn't know you and he won't believe you if you say you are with Jack"
"I don't look like someone who would be with Jack?" I say trying to sound offended. Of course I didn't look like someone who was friends with Jack, I looked like someone who stayed to watch a movie on Netflix with grandma on a friday night.
"You look like someone who would be with me" He says and winks at me. Automatically starts a conversation with Jack, and Julia talks about the university again. I'm sure i'm  as red as a tomato.
taglist: (if you want to be in the taglist let me know) 
@youbloodymadgenius 
GIFs not mine, found it on pinterest. 
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iwritethat · 5 years
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Jason Todd: German Shepherd
A/N: Dog Plan 2/?, how could I not write one for Jason???
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He had issues. You were god damn sure of it.
Obviously you loved your treasured German Shepherd to pieces and you were 99% certain that Zeus would die for you but that does not mean he wasn't subject to experimentation before you adopted him as a puppy. It was Gotham, that theory was completely liable considering his peculiar sparkling emerald irises.
The dog had a biazzarre habit of sneaking out the fire escape on some nights but always made his return a couple of hours later ready to snuggle up with you. His scent was usually that of gunpowder and cigarettes - again, in Gotham most places smelt like that but you couldn't help but wonder what your partner got up to on his escapades. Regardless, you brought a collar engraved with your address as a precaution. Although once the adventurous canine disappeared for longer than 2 days you began to worry, he was basically your comrade who seemingly understood every word you said so when the door knocked at 3am you skidded over in your hoodie with hopeful eyes.
"Uh hey, I believe this belongs to y- Sun!" The mysterious stranger didn't manage to finish before Zeus hauled his oversized paws over your shoulders nuzzling his nose against your hair on his hind legs, it was a struggle to hold the massive bundle of fluff so much so that you staggered back a little before fussing him in return. A pulsation of shock sprinted through your veins upon recognising his company and the twin guns situated on his thighs but he did just return your dog...
"Thanks for bringing this giant doofus back, I see you've already gotten attached though." You observed expectantly, Zeus standing by your side to stare at the Red Hood who shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Old habit, I've encountered him quite a bit on the streets - at first he went by 'Dog' but eventually I named him Sun Tzu. Then he suddenly shows up with a collar around his neck but I'm glad he has a good home."
"Yeah, Zeus always struck me as a weirdo who apparently sneaks out to play vigilante sidekick but I always pick the odd ones I guess. And Sun Tzu... as in the Art of War?" The man did a double take, he didn't expect you to know who that was.
"He's actually quite useful out there. And that's the one, have you read it?"
"No, but I'd like to. I guess you've got to go save the city but thank you again Red Hood." You waved him off, Zeus with a bark and you'd thought that would be the end of it.
.
Of course it wasn't, Zeus would continue to disappear no doubt on the streets with his apparent 'partner' - they were a deranged reformation of Batman and Robin much to your amusement. Only now you awoke to find an Art of War hardback on your bed rather than a toy with Zeus franticly wagging his tail. Suspiciously, eyeing your dog as you did so, you opened the book to find a scruffy note inside.
'Hopefully Sun Zeus got this to you, thought you'd like it. - Red'
Oh God...
Once you'd read the book, you sat contemplating a reply on your piece of card since you had no paper at this particular time - Zeus laid beside your leg, head resting on your thigh with a bored expression.
'Thanks, it's an incredible book. I'm not sure if I can ask how you are but has the crime world been busy? Gotten any cool cases? I suppose I shouldn't ask that either, well it was a pleasure meeting you the other night and you seem pretty badass but thanks again for taking the time to return my boy. -(Y/n)'
You visually winced as your hands began mimicking your thoughts knowing you were binning this version, with a sigh you stood to find a new piece of card as you couldn't ask a stranger that - let alone the Red Hood. What were you supposed to say anyway? You returned to your couch, clear card inches from your canines nose - you had no idea where he'd obtained the piece but didn't complain, writing a new message before slipping into the book for Zeus to return.
'Thank you for the book, stay safe out in this hellhole. - (Y/n)'
It was no more than a few days until you received a reply neatly tucked into your joyful canines collar despite the torn edges.
'I thought people threw away discarded notes, not write on the back but I'm glad you did it. It's Gotham, of course it's been busy and 'cool cases'? No (Y/n), definitely not. The pleasure was all mine by the way. - Red'
.
The exchanges continued for quite some time, your dog acting as your very own personal messenger, occasionally you'd send over books or on one instance you'd received a bouquet of flowers, of course you'd sent some back to which your correspondent found amusing. Regretfully over the passing 3 months you'd only encountered him under a few circumstances, mostly brought together by the antics of your shared companion but none the less you grew rather fond of each other.
You’d conversed as he sat on your widow ledge after you’d practically forced him to drink a coffee before disappearing back into the depths of Gotham, listening to the latest tale he threw your way. Then you have ran into him and Zeus during a midnight shopping run, the two opting to walk you home that night. It was difficult not to grow close to the man when you see him at least twice a week as well as the letters he continued to write despite already exchanged numbers.
.
Tonight you'd ventured to Big Belly burger, opting for a takeout after an exhausting day but were not expecting the cashiers joyful reaction.
"Ah hello you beautiful boy!"
You gave her a sceptical glance, pausing at the counter before noticing her kind smile was actually directed toward your dog - who shouldn't be inside but alas chose to follow you in anyway.
Zeus wagged his tail at the familiar welcoming, the woman walking around the counter to pet him much to your confusion, you were hungry after all but due to the happiness both parties displayed you saw no harm in waiting 5 minutes more.
"Where's your handsome owner? Can't be far behind no?" A pink hue settled on her cheeks, whoever this supposed master was apparently captured her romantic interest, regardless Zeus moved to sit by your side, leaning against your leg before releasing a bark.
"Dork." You tutted, tousling his ear.
The woman politely smiled, seemingly understanding the gesture but you didn't miss the flash of disappointment in her eyes.
"Ah you brought his lovely partner with you today hm? Well now the flowers make sense, you are a lucky one, I didn’t think men like that existed. I'll prepare his usual and what would you like this evening?" Her cheery attitude returned as she began preparing your alleged lover's signature order much to your quiet protest. Suspicion overwhelmed you by wondering what other companions your dog had - Zeus trotted over to the exit as the bell rang signifying a person entering/leaving the diner.
"Hey Sun. You waiting for me or somethin'?" Immediately your eyes widened, the familiar nickname of your canine and the way he spoke making your heart race.
However you didn't want to make your presence known, having assumed the Red Hood wouldn't be dressed as such - not if the waitress was so flawed by him. Although credit due, he already had a stunning body in his vigilante attire...
This was the man your dog trusted every night - the one who wrote you letters and had a beautiful way with words. The one who had the waitress before you blushing like a school girl by his mere presence alone. With a careless sigh, you directed your attention to the two only stopping a few away - the scene bringing an admiring smirk to your face, the very attractive ravenette knelt before your companion both talking an fussing him like they were the best of friends, which you supposed they were after all of their adventures.
The male shot a quick glance to the person they were supposedly holding up, once recognising you he hesitated before standing and moving to speak. That is, before you cut him off.
"Don't worry babe, I got yours too. Sit and eat with me?" Your tone was casual as if you’d both done this many times before, like you hadn’t just laid eyes on him, yet it held an underlying demand as you held the paper bag out toward him.
It wasn't exactly a choice, regardless of how effortless fabricating a relationship was between the two of you. He immediately collaborated with your intentions, knowing that there must be a reason for you to act this way.
"Always doll, I've got some news for you anyway." He must've understood that you deducted who he was, and so guided you to the nearest table with Zeus following.
.
"So..." The man awkwardly started, unsure of how to go about the situation and truthfully neither did you but addressed the main question hanging in the air.
"Before you ask it was Zeus, no one calls him Sun except his partner in crime and there's also how happy he was to see you, I knew straight away."
"Hah, can't believe he betrayed me like this. But I'm kinda glad (Y/n), although was the pet name thing really necessary?" Was his reply as he began eating much like you had, the atmosphere became more casual with your shared amusement thanks to Zeus' previous antics.
"Firstly Red, you started it ages ago. Secondly, I don't know your real name and finally, the cashier thinks we're together thanks to our 'shared ownership' of Zeus. Rather disappointing actually, the lady does seem fond of you." Of course you'd defended yourself, the position you'd put yourselves in was somewhat embarrassing but all you think of at the time.
"All valid points I admit, and I've noticed but hey, if we're together I guess she can move on. And it's Jason by the way, Jason Todd."
"Jason... It's not how I expected to find out your identity but I'm not complaining, you've got good taste in fast food."
"Yeah, honestly this isn't how I'd imagined things to go either." He shook his head, shy smile on his face almost as if he was embarrassed to admit it.
"How so?"
"I would've preferred to tell you that I'm a vigilante at least a few dates in, not the best starting point is it?"
"No but it’s definitely interesting. How about this be our first date and we can go from there? It's a proper thank you for bringing my fluffball back home." Zeus released an obnoxious whine at the nickname from his place on the floor beside the table where he'd chose to lie down as Jason laughed but agreed none the less.
"Since you've so kindly paid for this one (Y/n), the next date is on me."
"I've just found out you're a gun wielding crimelord - what makes you think there's going to be a next one?"
Upon hearing your playful tone Zeus immediately sat up, barked as if making an argument whilst wagging his tail and looking between the two of you proudly. Jason smirked, gesturing toward Zeus as he answered.
"He does."
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Note
Hello! I was wondering if you could do a Jun scenario where he comforts you after having bad anxiety about school. I'm starting a small med course about being a nurse's assistant and I'm having really bad anxiety about it. Thank you! Have a great day! 😊
- winter break is finally over and you’re about to start a new semester- but you’re not exactly the most excited for it- you spent all break relaxing back at home and keeping your mind off of school but now that it’s back in like two days…. you could feel your panic rising- you’re afraid of the workload because you KNOW you have to keep your grades up, you KNOW you have to do well- you fear that your courses are too difficult for you to complete- you’re lying on your bed in your dorm room hoping to sleep away the stress but you keep tossing and turning because the thought is haunting you- but before you could even get a wink of sleep, your roommate barges into the room with her bf and they’re just looking at you like…. oh you’re back- your roommate then goes up to you and tells you “uhhh my bf and i really want to catch up on this tv show so is it all right if we watch here??”- you say “can’t you watch somewhere else? i kinda want to get some sleep” but she continues to beg you because her bf’s roommate already has someone over, there’s nowhere else they could go, etc- and honestly you’re like ok i know you’re not planning on actually watching a show…. you nasties- so you just get up and shove a few things in your bag and say “ugh fine. you HAVE to be done by eleven though because i’m not returning any later than that”- and she just nods happily and agrees “right!! 11pm got it”- you exit your room and walk all the way to the library hoping to keep your mind off of things by reading a book maybe, only to discover that it’s…. closed- you just stare at the place in complete shock because REALLY?? WHY IS IT CLOSED- you decide to call up one of your friends if you could stay at their place for the night but as you search for your phone you realize you left it charging on your nightstand and well it’s too late to go get it now- so you walk around the school hoping it would keep your mind off things but the silence is unbearable and you’re trapped inside your own negative thoughts- you decide to just sit on the floor of an empty hallway and you curl up into a ball, breathing in and out to calm yourself down- you want to stop worrying over something that didn’t even happen yet but…. you can’t seem to get your mind off of it- your thoughts are suddenly interrupted when someone yells “there you are!!”- when you look up, you see your bf junhui looking down at you with a smirk on his face- you say “jun?? i thought you were coming tomorrow”- and he says “and i thought you’d be a little more happy to see me ahahah”- you know you should be happy to see him but atm… you just can’t bring yourself to smile- he crouches down in front of you and says “i was looking all over the place for you. i texted you thousands of times, why didn’t you answer me??”- you say “I forgot my phone in my room and i can’t go back in there because my roommate has her bf over…”- junhui leans in closer and says “well?? where’s my kiss??” he puckers up his lips but you just push him away- “not now, jun.”- “why not? just a little kiss.”- “i’m not really in the mood—”- “come on, just a peck—”- “I SAID NOT NOW!!”- your scream echoes throughout the hall and junhui just stares at you with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape- you feel your eyes tear up and you cover your face in shame after yelling at him- there’s a moment of silence when junhui says “…what… what’s wrong?”- you don’t answer, so junhui moves your hands away from your face and makes you look him in the eye- you quietly say “i’m sorry for yelling at you I’m just…. so worried about the new sem. i’ve been stressing ever since i got my schedule. and it doesn’t help that my roommate pretty much kicked me out for the night….”- junhui wipes away a tear you didn’t even notice fell and gets up on his feet- he holds out his hand and smiles down at you saying “come on”- you look up at him with a confused expression on your face and he nudges his hand towards you saying “come on, let’s go”- you ask “go where?” and he says “anywhere. let’s just go out for a few minutes”- “but jun i’m not really—”- “let’s go.”- you sigh and grab his hand because there’s no way he’s going to let you say no- he helps you back on your feet, and after you do, you both leave campus and start walking in the direction of the city- while walking, he says “the city’s a lot more beautiful at night. when was the last time you went there?”- honestly you can’t even remember because you’ve been stuck at school studying for exams and working on assignments the past sem, and you spent all break in your hometown- so when you both make it to the busy streets of the shopping district…. it’s like seeing it for the first time- the shops, the street food, the lights- it’s all so beautiful- junhui grins when he sees your facial expression and he says “come on, you must be hungry. i know this REALLY good Chinese restaurant down the street and the food tastes just like what they sell back in my hometown”- so you both go to the resto and the food is DELICIOUS, you both eat so much while junhui makes a bunch of jokes to make you laugh- after dinner, you both go to little shops and take couple pictures at photobooths- they’re embarrassing but they’re really cute, and you and junhui get two each- you’re a bit offended though because on the picture you both agreed to make a silly face in, junhui still looks freaking handsome and you’re just like “…jun why are you like this”- you both walk around the area holding hands and just enjoying each other’s company and he even buys you a cute red ribbon from a street vendor- the street vendor is a cute little old lady and she says “you guys are such a lovely couple”- you’re waiting for junhui to make a greasy comment but he instead just smiles at the vendor and says “thank you very much! we hope you have a good night” and he bows politely- this surprises you a bit but you just smile as you both leave- and after deciding to head back by 11pm, junhui takes you all over the city and you’re both just enjoying your spontaneous date- you both start heading back by around 10:30pm because junhui felt like you wanted to get some rest after being stressed these past few days and he’s just really thoughtful ok- you both walk to your dorm room and you both just linger in front of the door to say your goodbyes- he smiles and says “i hope you feel better now.” and you nod your head saying “thanks jun.”- he leans in and just when you’re expecting a kiss on the lips like always…. he kisses your forehead instead- when he pulls away, he just ruffles your hair and leaves, and you watch your bf walk down the hallway before disappearing around the corner to get to his dorm room- junhui may be greasy but he KNOWS when you’d rather have gentle and comforting affection instead which explains why he wasn’t as loud and flirty today- you enter your dorm room to find your roommate fast asleep (you’re surprised their bf actually obeyed and left before midnight)- you plop onto your bed but before you go to sleep, you take off the ribbon junhui bought you as well as the pictures you and junhui took together and you smile happily as you stare at them- and while doing so, you realize…- you don’t feel as stressed anymore
good luck on your med course, dear!! ^^ thank you for your request!!
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