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pufflocks · 3 years

Note

Kuroo x bottom male reader, maybe readers riding him?

Summary: Honestly in my mind–, I believe if Kuroo had someone sitting on his cock I believe he would be so touchy. Touchy and impatient— Touching the readers curves and rubbing on his thighs until he couldn't take it anymore. ♡

"You- You are so fucking tight- ugh, I love it." -T.K ❣

Warnings: Slight degrading • Groping • Cum eating • Proof read • porn without plot

Cast: Bottom!M!Reader x Kuroo Tesuro //Kenma Kozumane//

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It was an alluring Friday. Volleyball club didn't have another practice until next week. Leaving an eventful evening afterschool for a certain couple.

"Phew I'm fuckin' exhausted-" Tetsurou exhaled stretching out his long limbs. Many people, according to Y/N would kill for his height. Yet he was always saying how much he hated it. Words only to tick his boyfriend off – which it did.

The rooster haired male slicked back his sweat covered hair. "Oi, kenma I'm gonna head out first since my oh so handsome boyfriend wanted me to take him home early." Kenma nodded quietly, chugging his water down quietly. He gathered his belongings along with the other members of the team.

'I wonder why he needs a chaperone to walk him home..' Kenma sighed. Shaking off the thought since it was not his business. Besides that he started picking up some stray volleyballs. Faster he does this the faster he gets home to play video games with his boyfriend.

You however, was just about to get out of your last period. Thinking about some random things to get out of the fact you and nekomas volleyball captain sending eachother lewd glances throughout the day. One action led to another throughout the day.

You sitting in the back of class softly giggling to yourself once while at your phone and blushing at other texts. Some texts were cute flirts like "I can't wait to see you" or "Coach is being extra angry. He needs pop a chocky milk" Leading to a raging tent in your pants in your last class period when he sent a slick nude of a boner he accumulated in the past hour. Ugh— The clock nearing 3 PM setting you slight edge in your seat.

BRING !

'Thankfully the teacher didn't see me with my phone.'

Sighing tremendously you snatched up your bag that had a cheesy volleyball sticker in nekomas colors with a big number '1' on it. Gifted by your yours truly, Tetsurou Kuroo aka rooster bf. A small nickname you gave him in your guys' first year.

You chuckled at your own humor as you bumped into someone the way out of your classroom.

"Ah-!" You failed to finish your small mental comedy show as your overly tall boyfriend encased you in a nearly bone crushing hug. Lovingly of course.

Your not so obvious erection slightly catching contact on his muscular thigh. "You scared me tetsu- Come on lets go." You grab hold of the mans hand in dire need to fix your lower situation, pronto. One think you hated about your boyfriend was how much of a tease he so unashamedly was.

You both agreed, over text to leave early to do it after class since he didn't have practice today.

"What's the rush doll ? You were just teasing me with that I wanna ride you BS over the phone." He snickered. Face automatically bloomed red as you scoffed in face. Pushy bastard he is.

"Yeah yeah. Come on before people see-" And before you knew it. Your boyfriend took one glace down south to notice you weren't lying. Your small cock pressing up against the unformed pants.

'Cute how eager he is~' he mentally mused.

He took this opportunity to just drag you to an already emptied classroom. The school seemed to empty out earlier on Fridays, you thought. Slowly coming back to your own senses you see just how peckish he really was. Air thickening. Your noticable shudders of arousal not going unnoticed.

"God,, I need you right now." No other words were conversed between you two as he eagerly ripped and tugged the cloth off your smaller frame. Canines slightly nipping at now heated skin and grabbing wherever his hands could easily roam. Sloppy kisses to your neck making you gasp and make your penis twitch in gratitude.

"Please tetsu.. I want it badly~" You moaned wantonly as he was gripping some belly fat lovingly. Tetsurou grinned as if he was a wolf in the night howling at the moon.

Grabbing a nearby chair, after he let you go with a small peck to your nose he sat down and shrugged off his trousers. Hard organ slapping on his lean stomach. The sight making you purr in the presence of this 'wolf'

'I can't wait to fucking ride him..'

The sight of his cock made you rub your legs together eagerly. A small "Hm..~" erupting from your throat. Oh god did it not only have girth and a red bulge of its head – His length and overall cock had been mesmerized in your small pink hole.

"Wanna ride you Tetsu.." you mewled already palming the hard on in your now very tight pants.

He pulled you closer and gripped your chin to make you look at him as he stroked his cock teasingly, "Wanna ride me dry and see if you can come undone or vise verse but you blow me ? Which is it sweetheart ?" Darting dark eyes your way as he audibly purred. Kind to not so kind kisses being placed to your collarbone making you shiver as his cold lips met your hot skin.

New hickies you never minded showing off, just as much as he never minded giving you to show off.

The choices were hanging heavy on your tongue, now realizing his question. Almost obediently, in one swift motion you got down your knees willingly let him unravel you with his slim eyes.

"Such a lucky ass man I am~"

Fuck you wanted him so bad.

"You gonna blow me my pretty Y/N ?" He said stroking your cheek as if you were the most rarest diamond from his thief heist. To him you were not only rare, but valuable beyond his mind.

Grasping hold of his member you lick up his shaft kissing here and there. Making quick work to get to the main course.

Tetsurou smiled. His pretty boy serving his cock like it was something holy. Before he knew it you started gulping down his length. Slobber dribbling at the creases of your mouth. Pretty eyes of yours making their ways to your rooster headed lover.

"Fuck-! Baby I'ma fuckin' cum-" He groaned, head flying backward as you got off hearing him announce he was gonna shoot down your throat. Swallowing every. Single. Drop.

"Shit.. You gonna take daddies cum baby ? Yeah ? Where you want it ? Tell me babes." He was tapping his cock against your now plump and messy lips as he stroked himself off to your filthy face. Fuck, he was using your face for his own pleasure. You wanted him to know how much you enjoyed this.

"Mm- I want it in my mouth!~ please stick your cock deep down my throat daddy!~" You whined pathetically stroking your own leaking cock and using your own arousal for lube. The lewd squlching noises invading your ears.

He snorted at your poor attempts at getting yourself off and opened your jaw enough to shove all the way in down your throat. Tears prickling and threatening to fall down your face. You let out small gags leading to moans from the action as he shot down your throat. You swallowed his seed successfully, sticking out your tongue to show you did.

"Such a pretty boy.. Fuck such pretty boy." Tetsurou praised as he wiped the tears you ignored from your puffy eyes. Also unnoticing the ringing one of your phones was doing. You didn't care though. "We ain't done yet though. Get your sweet ass up here my prince." You joyfully obliged as he helped you off your knees seeing they were red. He started rubbing small circles and kissing your bare shoulders. A way of saying sorry for making you be on yourknees for so long.

'So caring~' You groggily giggled to yourself due to your throat being slightly sore from your guys' previous actions. Damn he was rough this time. Does being found out really get him this riled up ?

He cocked an eyebrow, "What's wrong ? Did a do something silly ?" He wore his signature smirk. The one you loved and hated. A calming and goofy aura being replaced with the once heated lustful one. All you could do was giggle again and cup his face in the moment. Just enjoying him.

"You're just so caring with me and I love you for moments like these." You confessed. Heart beating erratically as he chuckled kissing your nose.

"I know. I'm a big ass softy for my boyfriend believe it or not." You rolled your eyes jokingly. You loved this man, but you also loved his cock which by the way, still hasn't gone soft yet.

Turning around in his lap you wrapped your arms and legs around his form as you whispered alluringly. "Let me do the work cuz my dick is aching now and I needa cum stupid bad." You smiled devilishly. He once again for the umpteenth time, chuckled at your words and throwing his hands up.

"No hands my prince. No hands." You nodded. Knowing full well he would lose it half way of your quote unquote dominance.

You slowly and steadily began inserting his member inside. God, the stretch you fucking waited for was heavenly. Making it all the more nearly impossible to not close your eyes in delight.

Sucking through his teeth your boyfriend let out a long "Fuuuck..~" as groaned instinctively grasping onto your hips. On a loose thread of keeping his promise of letting you in control.

"God, you're so fucking- huge-! Testu~" You whined already grinding the rest of length into your now gaping hole. The feeling all too familiar to your body. Soon beginning to bounce up and down with pure greed. Not giving the slightest flying fuck if someone were to see you through the small class window as you were rolling your eyes back in ecstasy like a expert porn star.

"You- You're so fucking tight.. Ugh- fuck I love it !~" He moaned out aggressively as your bouncing only quickened at his words slapping sounds got louder. "Who's fucking cock are you riding Y/N ?" He growled and huffed bear your neck. His breath tickling the hairs in the area.

Noticing he didn't get any answer to his no rhetorical question, Tesurou slapped your ass harshly leaving a delicious itchy feeling rupture in the spot his heavy hand slammed on. You lost it as an almost unbearable amount of pre ran down your cock.

"You- Ah!~ Fuck it's you Testu!~ Your cock- Ah-!~ is hitting me in all the right places oh my fucking god!-" You shrieked small little tears making their way down your ruined face.

'This slut is really egging me the fuck on today~' Tetsurou mentally grinned.

Not only did he like the words coming out of your mouth, but he lived for those damn tears of diamond racing out the corners of your eyes. "

"Fuck it. I'm pounding the shit out of this ass." He mumbled to himself as he snatched you off of his body as if it was completely nothing and pressed you forward on a desk, your perky nipples grazing the cold school furniture.

He took a second to adjust his angle until ramming into your prostate directly dead on as you let out a high pitched warble. Anyone could mistake your voice for a females out of context. "Fuck-! fuck- MM— FUCK YES~" you moaned as your cock swung heavily in between your legs as Tetsurou began deep stroking every corner inside you. The feelings making your mind go numb.

"Baby boy I'm finna blow my load~ Who the fuck is fucking your shit up right ? Huh ?~" Testu's snarled in your ear. Snatching you up by your neck up to his sweaty hard chest. Your bodies creating an almost unbearable heat between you both.

You whined in a needy voice as the feeling of your prostate getting hammered repeatedly. "YOU DADDY~ YOU YOU YOU~!!! GOD LEMME CUM FUUUCK—" His grip on your neck did not falter as his pace only got faster. Quickly gripping your slick penis and jerked you off all the while placing delectable light kisses around your bruised neck and shoulders. You were nearly seeing stars with overstimulation and his contrast of touch.

"That's exactly what I like to hear my amazing boy~" Tetsurou hips stuttered as you came hard, your eyes rolling back and drool sliding down your jaw. Coming straight after your release he gave one last deep push cumming deep down in your tight little ass. "Fuck babe..- Fuck-" He panted smiling lazily, grip already faltering around your neck. He never would forgive himself if he accidentally choked you to death.

Since you guys literally just fucked in a classroom, aftercare had to be done differently. Slowly laying his head on your shoulder, rubbing your hips and doing anything to ease any after pain off your body. Maybe you'll let him try out a cream he uses on himself after volleyball. Eases the joints and moisturizes your body.

Such a loving boyfriend you bad.

"I love you so damn stinkn' much Y/N.. God I'm so fucking lucky I swear." You chuckled, 'cause he always seemed to be so emotional after you guys had sex. You thought it was cute coming from him. "Let's get out of here cuz' we already stayed here for half an hour." You stated pushing the tall male off your body, much to his unpleasant dismay. He only hummed in response.

"Your house or mine ?" He questioned after pulling up his pants and tugging his extra volleyball shirt on. You stretched while yawning a bit. Sex is tiring.

"Yours. My parents will automatically smell the sex on me and no cologne can cover that." Giggling softly at your statement your boyfriend nodding in a agreement.

"Let's just hope they dont find out we once fucked in your living room-" You glared at him as he stopped, snickering at how cute his boyfriend looked after being roughed up.

"Let's go so we can cuddle now please." You softly pleaded as you tugged his shirt tiredly. You know the first thing you were gonna do when you got to his house was instantly plop smack on his oversized bed.

"Let's go my prince."

Bees are pretty..

Zenna, no.

#male reader #hq kuroo #kuroo x reader #kuroo x male reader #haikyuu x male reader #x reader #haikyuu smut #smut #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x you

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buckbarnesjames · 3 years

Text

Chapter Eight

Pairings: Bucky x reader

Warnings: Kind of angsty.

Word Count: 2053

A/N: That’s all of the old chapters updated now so I’ll offically be starting work on the rest of the series this week. Taglist is OPEN. Feedback is appreciated!

Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

The ring on your finger felt heavy as you stood next to Bucky, his arm in it’s usual spot around your waist, in front of your friends and his family. It had been his idea to throw an engagement party. Your stomach was churning and you felt sick, your brain was spinning with worry at how everyone was going to react. You take a sip of wine, to steel your nerves, as Bucky calls attention to the both of you. “Whilst we were away a few weeks ago, I asked the beautiful woman next to me a very important question” he starts and you can hear everyone in the room murmuring between themselves. “I asked her to marry me,” he continues and reaches for your hand, flashing the ring to everyone in the room. They all erupt into cheers, whilst Nat and Wanda rush forward from the crowd to gush over the ring and congratulate you - surprised you had been successful in hiding it from them for so long. For some reason, it does nothing to quell the nauseous feeling in your stomach. You swallow the lump in your throat and put a smile on your face,joining in with the celebrations.

“Is everything okay, doll?” Bucky asks later when Johnathan is driving you back to the apartment. You nod, rubbing your forehead. “Mhmm, I’m just feeling a little under the weather. I think it’s the stress from work,” you tell him, giving him a tense smile. It’s true that work had been much more stressful for you since Bucky had moved things around and created a new division, which you were now in charge of. You now worked with graduates of Stark’s business program who were looking for internships or permanent employment. “Why don’t you take the rest of the week off? I can get someone to cover for you,” he suggests and you shake him off with a wave of your hand, shutting down the conversation immediately. “I’ll have Elizabeth make you some chamomile tea when we get in, does that sound good?” Bucky says, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. You just nod in reply, your eyes dropping with exhaustion. Maybe you were working yourself too hard, but you weren’t going to slow down or take a break. You had heard some of the female staff whispering about you and how you had only gotten your promotion cause you were, quote unquote, fucking the boss and you were determined to prove them wrong.

The next week, you’re not feeling much better but try your best to ignore the nauseous feeling that seems to constantly be swirling in your stomach. You also spend a lot of your time trying to ignore the growing concern in Bucky’s eyes. He was worried about you and pushing for you to take a break which had resulted in a few arguments that you were sure the whole office had heard. You walked into your office - you no longer shared with Bucky, and at the moment, you were grateful for the space from- to find him standing at your desk. “Let’s not rehash the argument from earlier, James, please” you say to him softly, walking over to your desk and dropping a stack of files on it. “I’m not here to argue” he says holding his hands up in mock surrender.”You have a phone call in my office, they said it’s urgent” he says, concern spread across his face. You gesture for him to lead the way and follow him to his office.You immediately saunter over to his desk when you get there and pick up the office phone, “Y/F/N Y/L/N speaking.” Your blood runs cold at the voice on the end of the line. It’s your mother. “Y/N, darling! I just heard the wonderful news. You’re marrying James Barnes!” She gushes down the phone at you. You clench your jaw, willing away the tears that threatened to well in your eyes. It feels as if all your old wounds of rejection are reopening knowing that she hadn’t called to ask how you’d been doing the last few years or how proud she was of the career you’d made for yourself. “Yes, mother. I’m marrying James Barnes. Thank you for your congratulations but I have to go” you say, slamming the phone down on her. As you do , you briefly hear her shout “Wait, Y/N. We need to talk about your father. He’s…” As soon as the phone is placed back onto the receiver you let out a strangled cry. Bucky rushes over to you, enveloping you in a hug. You hug him back and sob into his chest for a moment,before suddenly pushing him away and reaching for the office bin. Bucky rubs your back and utters soothing words to you as you throw up. He hands you a tissue once you stop vomiting and you wipe your mouth.”I know. I’ll have Johnathan come and pick me up” yousay, putting a hand up to stop him as he opens his mouth to speak. You turn on your heels to leave his office before turning back to look at him. He’s sitting at his desk now, typing away at the computer. “Bucky” you say,getting his attention. He looks up at you, a soft smile on his face. “I’m sorry” you whisper, wrapping one arm around your waist and wiping away tears with your free hand. “Sorry for what, doll?” he asks, his eyebrows furrowed. He knew you’d been under a lot of stress lately and that blaming you wasn’t going to fix anything. “I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting lately” you admit. You knew you hadn’t been fair to him recently and had been shutting him out a little. “Don’t worry about it. I know things have been hard lately, for the both of us. Now...get yourself home and get some rest,okay?” You nod and head out of the office, texting Johnathan to pick you up.

Bucky comes home from work a few hours later and finds you hanging on to the toilet bowl for dear life,tears streaming down your face.”Y/N!” he gasps out and runs towards you, kneeling down. “What’s wrong?” he asks, the panic in his voice evident. He grabs hold of your face, his eyes raking over you at a rapid pace. “Bucky” you croak out, your voice raw from having thrown up several more times since you had gotten home.”Please don’t be mad” you whisper and his eyebrows furrow. “I think...I think I’m pregnant” you whisper and start crying again. “We haven’t exactly been careful about protection, Y/N” he chuckles softly, trying to break the tension. “So...you’re not mad” you sniffle and he wipes a stray tear from your cheek.”Why would I be mad?” he says, standing up and taking you with him. You just shrug at him, your gaze cast down to the floor. Bucky hooks a finger underneath your chin and brings your head up to look at him. “I’m not mad. I love you and having a family with you was always going to be on the cards...from the minute you agreed to marry me. It might be a little fast but we’ve never been ones to take our relationship slowly” Bucky’s obvious statement elicits a small chuck from you. “God, you’re so cute...even when you’re sick” he says before kissing your forehead and leading you to bed.

Bucky makes an appointment with the doctors for you and the next morning, you find yourself sitting in a waiting room with crisp white walls and dark furniture. You’re waiting for the results of the test that had been administered to you when you first arrived. There’s a clock on the wall ticking loudly and it makes your head pound and your stomach twist with anxiety. Bucky is sitting next to you and he reaches over to squeeze your hand.”Hey, it’ll be fine” he whispers soothingly. A few minutes later, a Korean woman dressed smartly with a lab coat thrown over her clothes enters the room.”Y/F/N Y/L/N?” she says and you and Bucky stand up slowly. “Come on in,” she ushers you through a door and into an office that’s decorated similarly to the waiting room with an examination table in the far right corner and a large desk in the middle of the room with a silver name plaque front and center, ‘Dr Helen Cho’. She takes a seat at the desk and gestures for you and Bucky to sit down. The room is tense with silence for a moment whilst Doctor Cho sifts through the papers on her desk. You glance at Bucky and he softly squeezes your hand and mouths ‘It’s gonna be okay. I love you’.

“The pregnancy test result came back negative” Doctor Cho says, offering you a gentle smile. “Your blood pressure is a little higher than normal which leads me to believe you’re experiencing stress induced vomiting. Our next step is looking at the lifestyle changes we can make to reduce your stress levels and I would…” Doctor Cho’s voice seems to slowly slip away as you try to process that you’re not pregnant. You try to sort through the emotions you’re feeling and the one that strikes you is your disappointment. You’d truly been prepared to hear that you were pregnant. “Thank you, Helen” Bucky’s voice interrupts your internal monologue. “We’ll make the changes you suggested immediately.” Bucky stands up and offers his hand to you. You take it and he helps you up from your chair. Everything around you is hazy as he walks you out of the office and back to the car.

You don’t say much the whole car ride home. In fact, you’re silent for most of the night, trapped in a daze. You can’t stop thinking about how disappointed you are. You’d never given any thought to having children before Bucky and now all you could imagine was getting married and settling down in a nice big house with the sound of children's feet running across the floor.

You’re lying in bed facing away from the door when Bucky comes to bed. He gently slips in next to you and wraps his arm around your waist pulling you closer. “Hey…” he softly whispers to you and it breaks your resolve and the flood gates open. Bucky holds you as you cry. He doesn’t say anything, he just smoothes his hand up and down your back. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying. We weren’t exactly planning on starting our family.” You say once you stop crying.You turn over to face him in the darkness and he moves to wipe the tears from your cheeks. “We could be,” Bucky whispers.”If you'd like to, we could start trying.” he continues as he wipes the remaining tears from your eyes. He leaves his hand on your cheek and you snuggle your face into it, pressing a kiss to his palm. “You’d want that?” you ask, unsure if this is what he truly wants or if he’s just trying to placate you. “With you? One hundred perfect. From the moment I saw you, I thought maybe you could be the one I finally find happiness with” he states firmly then kisses your forehead. “Okay, then we’ll start trying.” The affirmation is all Bucky needs before he’s pulling you on top of him and kissing you hard. “I don’t think Doctor Cho had this in mind when she said I had to relax” you say in between laughs. “It’s a scientific fact that an orgasm is a great way to release stress” Bucky cheekily answers you. You laugh and lean down to kiss him. You kiss each other lazily for a few moments before Bucky flips you over so he’s hovering above you. “We could start trying right this minute” he says as he kisses your neck. You laugh at him again until he kisses the spot on your neck that he knows drives you crazy, and then you’re sighing in pleasure.

As Bucky makes love to you, a smile graces your face and you think about your future together.

#The Arrangement #bucky x reader #ceo!bucky #bucky x reader series

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idiot-cheesehead-archenemy · 3 years

Text

Maybe it wasn’t written in the stars

Happy (belated) Holidays, @spoop-geist! You asked for “any kind of Danny angst” - I hope this qualifies.

Word count: 9642

CW: implied/referenced suicide

Tucker accepted the call almost immediately, as usual. His room was dark, his face illuminated only by the light of the phone screen.

“Danny, hey. You’re looking surprisingly happy.”

“What, me?” Danny’s smile widened. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Really, though - this is the first time I’ve seen you really smile since you’ve been in the hospital. What’s the occasion?”

Danny paused for effect, then said, “I told my parents.”

“Oh, wow. That’s …”

“You guys were right - if whatever’s making me sick is a ghost thing, they might be able to help. I didn’t want to risk being stuck here longer than I needed to be because I was too much of a coward to tell them.”

“Nobody thought you were a coward, man. Telling them took a lot of courage.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Danny laughed awkwardly. “I actually waited until right before visiting hours were over, so that the hospital staff would make them leave afterward. I was afraid they’d need some time to cool down, you know.”

“But I take it the conversation went well.”

“What gave it away?” he asked, grinning. “Yes! Yes, it went well. Tucker, you have no idea the relief I’m feeling. I want to cry. I cried already. I’m just … it still doesn’t feel real.”

“Congratulations? Is that the right mood?”

“I think that fits, yeah. Thanks.” Danny flopped back onto his pillow, careful not to pull on the tube connected to his oxygen mask. “It feels so good to be done with it.”

“Have you told Sam?”

“I’m going to as soon as I hang up.”

“You called me first? She’ll love that.”

Danny frowned. “I didn’t mean anything by it; you were just first in my recent contacts.”

“Sure, but she’s your girlfriend.”

“What? No she isn’t.”

“She is a girl, yes? And you’re dating her?”

“We went on a date. We’re not, like, officially a couple.”

“So, what, you’re courting her?”

“Yeah.” Tucker looked surprised. “Is that alright with you?”

“I just don’t understand why you’re so old-fashioned about relationships. Have you been overshadowed by a dead Victorian boy or something?”

“Cute, yeah, that must be it. Obviously I’m the one here who’s completely out of touch. You know, I don’t think the guy who thinks that two years is a generation is an authority on what is or isn’t old-fashioned.”

“It can be, depending on the context, and also that’s irrelevant, and also I think you should call Sam.”

“Okay, yes, I will.”

“And, you know, take care of yourself. And let me know if you need anything and all that. I wanna be here for you.”

“You’re always there for me, Tuck. And I will. Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

Danny hung up, found Sam’s name and hovered his finger over the “call” icon. She wouldn’t really be upset that he hadn’t called her first, right? He took a breath and tapped the button. A moment later, Sam’s face appeared, smiling. She’d taken her makeup off for the night, but Danny knew she probably wouldn’t be asleep for another couple of hours.

“Danny!”

“Hey.”

“What’s up? Any news?”

“No news about the, you know, but I do have good news of a more personal nature.”

“Oh?”

“I told my parents.”

Her jaw dropped, just a little. “That you’re Danny Phantom?”

“Yeah.”

“And everything’s good?”

“It really is. It was super emotional and admittedly I did say some stuff I wasn’t really planning on saying, and some of it was pretty mean, maybe justified but still mean, but they were totally understanding and apologetic - I mean, really, they apologized! They said they were wrong and they promised to change and that whole schtick. And it just felt -” his voice cracked slightly, and he suddenly felt his eyes stinging. He started blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay. “It felt really good, to hear them say all that. And to just have this off my shoulders.” No tears escaped his eyes, but he kept blinking to try to make the stinging go away. “Sorry.”

“You’re allowed to cry, Danny. It’s okay. Besides, I’m goth. Crying is, like, our favourite emotion.”

Danny chuckled. “I don’t think crying is an emotion.”

“It is in some cultures.”

“Okay.” He took a couple of deep breaths and checked his pulse oximeter - 91%, not too bad. “Well, yeah, that’s my news.”

“That’s really great, Danny. I’m really happy for you. And proud. I know how big this was.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it … it was nerve-wracking. But worth it.”

“Was Jazz with you?”

“Yeah, she’s been really leaning into the overprotective-big-sister role since she got back.” Danny cringed slightly as he remembered how she’d come into his hospital room for the first time and almost immediately started lecturing a nurse about the lack of natural sunlight Danny was getting. “I would have thought going to college might mellow her out, but she’s more the same than ever. Not that I’m complaining that she was with me when I talked to mom and dad. I don’t think I could have done it without someone I knew would have my back.”

“You know I or Tucker could have been there, right? We wouldn’t have minded.”

Oh, shit, should he have asked her to be there? Did she expect that because she was his quote-unquote girlfriend? “Well, it was kind of a family conversation.”

“Right, totally fair. Have you told Tucker, by the way?”

“Uh, yeah, I told him like a second ago, and then he made me hang up to tell you. He was afraid you’d be offended that I called him first.”

“Ha! Probably because he would have been offended if you’d called him second.”

Danny smiled. “Probably. I love him, but he is a tiny bit jealous sometimes.”

“Do you remember that time …”

“Ugh, no, I don’t, let’s not talk about it.”

“Sure thing. So you told your parents, they were cool, was that the end of the conversation?”

“They said they’re gonna set up their lab to try to figure out what’s wrong with me, working under the assumption that it has something to do with my ghost half. Not thrilled about the fact they’re probably going to need to take, you know, samples. But the alternative is worse, so.” He shrugged, then realized his shoulders weren’t in frame.

“I’ll keep praying, too. With the combined powers of modern science and the Almighty, I’m sure you’ll be out of there in no time.”

“Thanks.” There was a pause. He felt like he was supposed to say something else, but he didn’t know what.

“So, it’s a good thing you called, because my grandma and I were planning to bake some cookies for you, but I wanted to ask if I’m allowed to bring homemade stuff into the hospital. Oh, and my grandma wanted me to let you know that she’s praying for you, too.”

“Tell her thanks and I’m not sure about the food. I’ll ask the nurse next time they come in. Text me so I don’t forget.”

“Will do.” There was a pause again. Danny wondered how to tell the difference between an awkward pause and a regular pause. “Did you have any other pressing news to share?”

“I don’t think so. Things are pretty dull around here.”

“So you’ve said. Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, possibly with cookies.”

“Sounds good.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Sam disconnected, and the silence Danny was left in wasn’t really silent at all. The beeping of the heart monitor, the ticking of the wall clock, and the hiss of the oxygen tank were so much more noticeable when they were the only things to pay attention to. He thought, not for the first time since he’d been here, about the vacuum of space. No sound, just the gentle darkness enveloping him and the billions of stars to keep him company. They wouldn’t twinkle, they’d just be points of light, the photons having traveled uninterrupted for thousands of years just to reach his eyes. He wished he could see the stars now. He wished he could fall asleep every night and wake up every morning surrounded by stars. In a thousand lifetimes, he was sure he’d never get tired of the view.

***

Jazz stepped into the cramped hospital room holding two water bottles.

“I know you said soda,” she began, not even waiting for Danny to protest, “but that stuff has a lot of sodium, and I know I’m not a doctor, but you really need to stay hydrated, so I think you could stand to drink a water bottle now and then.” She held one of the bottles out, and he took it with as little hesitance as he could muster. It was cold, at least.

“Sure, I can do that. If it’ll make you feel better.”

“Well, I thought maybe you would do it for your own health, but I’ll take it.” Danny opened the bottle and took a few gulps as Jazz took a seat in the plastic chair beside his bed. “So, how are you feeling?”

Danny rolled his eyes; it was at least the dozenth time she’d asked the exact same question in the past two weeks. It would be fine if she would accept “okay” as an answer, but she always wanted more detail.

“About mom and dad, good but a little nervous. I’m glad they’re so accepting of Danny Phantom, but sometimes it feels like they care more about him than me, you know? It’s all they want to talk about.” Jazz nodded seriously, like she was being briefed on a military assignment. He almost wished he hadn’t said anything. “Bored, otherwise,” Danny continued with a shrug. He looked at the water bottle in his hand. “Slightly craving soda. But, you know, this is good, too.” He uncapped the bottle again and downed the rest. He knew if he waited until it was warm he just wouldn’t drink it.

“Have you talked to mom and dad about how you feel?”

“Well, no.”

“They won’t change if they don’t know there’s a problem.”

“I guess not. But I don’t want to start a fight, especially when it seems like everything is basically going well.”

“I can understand that, but you deserve better than ‘basically going well.’ You deserve to be happy, Danny.”

“Sure, but you don’t think there’s even a small chance that starting a fight about this would make me less happy in the long run?”

“It doesn’t have to be a fight. Mom and dad still love you, even if they aren’t always the best at showing it. They want you to be happy.”

Danny fiddled with the tube of his oxygen mask. “I know.” Of course he knew that. But he also knew that them loving him didn’t necessarily mean that he could get through to them. He’d thought he’d done that already, when they agreed to reconsider their all-ghosts-are-evil stance, but even the best-intentioned leopard could only change so many of its spots at once.

“Well, I hope you figure something out that works for you. In the meantime, I can try to help with the boredom, but not for too long, unfortunately. I have some readings I need to do before tomorrow.”

“Oh, I mean, you could go home if you need to do homework. I don’t want to distract you.” He didn’t want her to leave, of course, but he knew from experience this wasn’t the best environment for focusing on schoolwork, especially since she already had the added difficulty of not going to class because she was visiting him.

Jazz smiled faintly. “I was thinking I could do it here, if you don’t mind just sitting in silence with me for a while. And, hey, do you have any homework?” Danny’s slight wince apparently answered the question for him. “So why don’t you work on your homework and I’ll work on mine? We can be accountability buddies.”

“What’s that?”

“What, accountability buddies? It’s when two or more people agree to do something together and keep each other accountable for doing what they set out to do. A lot of people have accountability buddies for exercising - maybe that’s where the term is from, I’m not sure - but it works just as well for studying.”

“Leave it to you to take a thing that jocks do and make it a nerd thing.”

It was Jazz’s turn to roll her eyes. “Danny, I don’t know if anyone has informed you, but you are, in fact, also a nerd. I know a lot of people who would say you’re a heck of a lot nerdier than I am, actually.”

“I wasn’t …” He shook his head. “Whatever.”

“Oh, wait, was that a compliment? If it was, thank you, but I didn’t come up with the idea of having a buddy to keep you accountable for schoolwork. Really, that’s basically what a study group is.”

“Is it? I guess so. I’ve never been in a study group. Kinda thought they were just a plot device in movies and TV shows to get the cast together.”

“Well, they can certainly fill that role, too, but they are real, and they can be pretty cool.”

“You would think studying is cool.”

Jazz frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“That you think studying is cool?”

“That you don’t. Where is this too-cool-for-school attitude coming from?”

“It really doesn’t need to be that deep, Jazz. I was just teasing you. That’s a normal thing; it doesn’t mean I have some deep-seated mental issues.”

“Oh, trust me when I say that we all have some deep-seated mental issues, and denying that fact never helped anyone. For example, I think maybe you’re not doing as well in school as you want to, and you also think that studying is for losers. Do you think you’re going to get better at school while thinking that?”

“I never said that I think studying is for losers, and even if I did, how I do in school is based on, you know, the work I do, not how I feel about it.”

“But the work that you do is a behaviour, and behaviours are caused by - and cause - thoughts and feelings. It’s all connected. So if you want to change your behaviour, one of the best things you can do is identify the thoughts that are causing it. That’s basically how cognitive behavioural therapy works.”

“Ok, cool. And …?”

“And, if you want help with that, I can print off some worksheets for you.”

“Would that make you feel better?”

“Will you promise to at least read them? Proper CBT is a little bit labour intensive, and it’s really not the same experience working with just a book and not a therapist, but I think it could be useful for you to learn some of the language and techniques, even without committing to the whole process. It becomes another tool in your toolkit, if nothing else.”

“Another weapon in the arsenal against … bad mental health?”

Jazz hesitated a second before smiling and saying, “Exactly.”

“Then sure, I will do that, then. Who doesn’t love more weapons?”

“Yes, that does make me feel better.”

“Cool. Now, didn’t you say you had homework?”

“I believe we both did, if I’m remembering correctly.”

Danny glared ruefully at his backpack for a moment before he reached into it and pulled out a textbook and a binder. “Yeah, yeah, I’m doing it.”

***

“Hey, sweetie.”

Danny took out his headphones and sat up. “Hey, mom, long time no see.” He was joking, of course - she’d been here every day for the past month, except yesterday. But she frowned, and Danny wished he hadn’t said anything.

“I’m sorry - I wanted to come visit yesterday, but -”

“It’s okay, mom. I was just joking. You’re fine.” She smiled weakly, but her eyes still looked sad. Danny had a feeling his answering smile was not much more convincing. “So, what news?” She didn’t need to say anything - the way her face fell, losing even the shadow of happiness, was answer enough. But she spoke anyway.

“We’ve … ruled out a lot of things. So, we are making progress.” Danny didn’t think that was the way she thought of it. “But we still don’t know …” anything useful, Danny filled in mentally.

“You don’t know how to cure me.”

“Sweetie, I’m so sorry, but we have to keep our … chins up. We’ll get through this together.” Had she been about to say ‘keep our spirits up’? Was she trying to make a pun, and then thought better of it, or did she not realize it would sound like a pun until she’d already started talking? He thought about asking, but he didn’t want to accidentally upset her again. He kept doing that. Obviously this whole situation was a bummer, but over the past couple of weeks, it seemed that people always got sadder when he spoke to them. As if it wasn’t bad enough that his health was a burden on everyone, apparently he had a talent for saying the wrong thing. He smiled again, trying to make it look more genuine.

“I know we will. I know you and dad are kicking ass in the lab - you’re two of the smartest people I know. If anyone can do this, it’s you. I mean, it’s all of us, the Fentons, together. We don’t give up, right?” Why did that sound so unconvincing? His mom nodded.

“Of course we don’t. Speaking of which, your father and I are still trying to convince the doctors that we can take care of you at home, but they’re still pretty nervous, given how …” She glanced at Danny’s oxygen tank. “… how quickly things might deteriorate if something did happen.” Danny nodded. He’d only had one scare since the one that had landed him in the hospital in the first place, but he was certainly grateful for the ability to summon a nurse so quickly with the push of a button.

“I do get where they’re coming from, but also, it would be nice to go home.” He wondered what home would be like. Would they keep him in the lab, so they could run tests more easily? Would he be able to walk around the house? Would it feel like the nightmares where he was trapped down there, being experimented on? Or maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe he would be able to sleep in his bed, in his room, and everything would be almost normal except for the oxygen tank and the regular visits to the doctor.

Danny shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I trust the doctors to make the best decision. But, thanks for trying. And, you know, for … everything.”

She came to the side of the bed and crouched down, so her eyes were level with his, and she took his hands in hers. It was too close; Danny wanted to pull away. He didn’t know why. But he resisted the urge, and he met her gaze. “You know your father and I would do anything for you, Danny. And do it happily. We love you.”

“I know, mom. I love you too, and dad. You guys are the real superheroes.” He smirked at that last part, and it wasn’t even faked. It was just such a corny thing to say, he almost laughed. Especially since it wasn’t true at all.

“Aww, Danny.” She looked like she wanted to cry, and she leaned in for a hug, which Danny returned awkwardly, mostly because of the positioning, he told himself. “I love you so much,” she muttered into his shoulder. “You know that right?” She pulled back to look at his face again, and she stroked his hair. Danny smiled what he hoped was the right amount. “Your father and I love you, and we want nothing more than for you to be happy and healthy and safe.”

“Mom, if you’re trying to apologize again for trying to hunt me …” She was shaking her head. “Okay, good.”

She stood up, then leaned down again briefly to kiss the top of his head before going to sit in the chair against the wall. “So, how are other things? How’s school going? I hope your teachers are cutting you some slack.”

“Eh, not really, but it’s fine. I mean, I have plenty of time to do homework, and no distractions, so I’m actually keeping up pretty well. Better than before, I think.” He frowned. “I hope that doesn’t reveal some kind of uncomfortable truth about me.”

“I wonder if ...” she began, then she apparently thought about whether to say what she’d been thinking. A moment later, she said “You haven’t been ghost hunting, right? That must make a pretty big difference.”

“Yeah, I haven’t, that’s true.” He wished he could, but his grasp of duplication just wasn’t at that level, and he couldn’t exactly practice, now. “It is okay out there, right? I mean, you and dad are trying to figure out what’s up with me; you can’t also be out ghost-hunting all the time. And you banned Sam and Tucker from ghost-hunting alone, so you don’t have a lot of help, besides the red huntress, I guess. I’d hate to think … I don’t know. That the town was descending into chaos or something because I’m not there.”

“That’s sweet of you to worry. It’s also very in-character of you to feel like you’re holding all of Amity Park on your shoulders, but I can assure you that we’re managing to keep the chaos firmly at bay, even without you. It’s almost as if you don’t really need to push yourself to exhaustion. Like, maybe, you can actually relax and just be a teenager.”

“Hm. That’s one theory, I suppose.” He said it with a straight face, but then he cracked a smile, and his mom did too, and he was starting to feel like this whole conversation thing was going the way it was supposed to. In a more wistful voice, he said, “Still, it would be nice to go outside. See the stars, feel the wind in my hair, that sort of thing.”

“Well, when you get out of here, you’ll be able to do all that and also get your schoolwork done, since you won’t be out ghost-hunting until the sun rises anymore.”

“No, definitely not.” Not unless it was really important.

“Though, I’m curious about your grades … Do you feel mentally the same way you did before, like your mental capacity for doing schoolwork is the same, and your improvement is just because you have more time, or do you feel like your mental abilities are different now, so that the work feels easier? Does that make sense?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so. I think my mental abilities are the same, and the work still feels pretty hard … I guess math is easier, just because I’ve had time to catch up and read and watch stuff online that explains the parts I didn’t understand, so now I have that solid foundation to build on the new stuff we’re learning. But I don’t think everything is easier in general. I think it’s just time. I suppose I am sleeping better, and that’s supposed to be a big deal for attention span and stuff, but I don’t think I’ve noticed a huge difference.”

“And you haven’t been in ghost form at all since you’ve been in the hospital, right?”

Oh, of course. This was about him being half ghost. Everything was, nowadays, wasn’t it? “No, I haven’t. How could I transform when I’m hooked up to a heart monitor? I think someone might notice the sudden lack of a pulse.”

“Yes, I think that would be a cause for concern.” She said it with a joking tone and a half-smile, but Danny was having trouble matching the expression now. “And you don’t feel like staying in human form for this long has had any mental effects, deleterious or beneficial?”

“I don’t think so.” His voice was flat.

“Don’t you find that interesting?”

“I guess. Can we talk about something else?”

She looked disappointed. “Of course we can, if that’s what you want.”

“It’s just -” Danny stopped. He knew he should say something. He wanted to, even.

“What is it?”

“I don’t … like it … that …” He looked down at her feet. This was so much harder than it needed to be. “… it feels like you always want to talk about … my ghost half. I feel like every conversation always ends up there, and it makes me feel like you … I mean …” He was trying his hardest to do the whole ‘I-statements' thing, but gosh it was annoying. “It makes me feel … not … seen. Like you’re only seeing me as a half-ghost, now, instead of that being just one thing about me.”

“Oh, sweetie.” She walked back over to the bed, knelt beside it, and gave him another awkward hug. “Baby, I’m sorry. I thought you would want to talk about it. I didn’t want you to think it was something I was afraid of or judging you for. I wanted it to just be a normal thing to talk about, like school or friends. I’m so sorry that I did the opposite.” She pulled away from the hug, but left her hands on his shoulders as she met his eyes. “I promise I don’t see you any differently, Danny.”

Danny was very tempted to accept the apology and leave it there. But he didn’t think he’d be brave enough to broach the topic again, so whatever he wanted to say, he knew he’d better say it now. “But you do, though. I mean, I expected you to. I’m literally a ghost - that’s different. But when you ask me about ghost stuff, it’s never just … normal questions, like you would ask about school or friends. You always sound more like a scientist than a mom.” She looked hurt by that, and Danny immediately regretted his words. “I mean, I’m not trying to say you’re not being a good mom or anything like that, just … You do see me differently. You are a scientist, and I am a ghost, and that’s … I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

His mom appeared to be thinking about what he’d said. She looked upset, but he didn’t know whether it was about-to-start-crying upset or about-to-start-lecturing upset. Finally, she just said, “I don’t understand.”

“I mean … I don’t expect you to see me the same way, but I guess I don’t want you to treat me differently? Or, no, that’s not … I’m not saying I don’t want to talk about me being half ghost, because that is part of who I am and I do want to talk about it sometimes, but I’d rather, when we talked about it, that you would be more interested in, you know, me and how I’m feeling and stuff, instead of my … biology or psychology or whatever.”

“Danny, I’m trying to understand, but I thought that’s what I was doing. I thought I was asking you about your feelings and experiences. I do care about you as my son, not some science experiment.” She was definitely looking closer to about-to-start-crying upset, now, and Danny had to look away.

“Okay, well, sometimes it doesn’t feel that way, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just biased, but sometimes, a lot of the times, it feels more like you’re gathering data for a report instead of just talking to me.”

“I want to do better, but I’m not sure how.”

“Just … maybe let’s just stick to not talking about ghost stuff unless I bring it up first. Does that work?”

She nodded. “I can do that.”

“Thanks.”

“I love you, Danny.”

Danny leaned against her shoulder, and she responded by wrapping him up in her arms. The hug still felt awkward, but he didn’t really want to pull away.

“I love you too, mom.”

***

“I’m not sure I would’ve come back so quickly,” Valerie said. “It might be nice to get a vacation from all the high school bullshit.”

“Yeah, I’ll be honest, I somehow managed to forget how much of an outcast I was, and having tubes stuck in my face hasn’t helped, if you can believe it.” Danny looked idly around the cafeteria. Nobody was openly staring at him, but he saw a few people throw glances his way. He shook his head and turned back to Valerie. “But trust me, being stuck in a hospital room is no vacation.” Still, he wished he’d at least tried to convince the school he needed to stay home a while longer. Maybe he could have pulled it off.

Sam eyed the ambiguous meat that had slipped off Danny’s fork while he wasn’t paying attention. “You can’t tell me that the food wasn’t better, at least.”

“The hospital mostly just had prepackaged stuff, so, I guess that was better, but I kinda like getting different foods every day, even if they suck. Variety is the spice of … food, I guess.”

“I think spice is the spice of food.”

Danny didn’t reply - he’d just noticed someone walking purposefully toward their table, and he groaned. Sam and Valerie followed his gaze, and Valerie muttered,

“Not this again.”

Danny shot a look at her, and then at Sam, who shrugged as if to say, ‘I don’t know, either.’ Danny wanted to ask Valerie what she meant, but obviously that would have to wait.

“Fenton,” Wes began, a smile that could only be described as sarcastic plastered across his face, “it is so good to see you again. It’s been so quiet the past few weeks.”

“Oh, has it? Where did you go?”

“Oh, no, no I’ve been around. But it’s actually funny that you say that, because there is someone else who’s usually here who -”

“Just spit it out,” Sam said. “The faster you’re done, the sooner I don’t have to be talking to you anymore.”

Wes didn’t look at all phased, but of course he didn’t. If he was capable of being phased, he would have stopped bothering Danny and his friends years ago. Danny thought about telekinetically untying Wes’ shoelaces, but remembered that he had switched to slip-ons last semester precisely to avoid that.

“Fine. Nobody has seen Phantom since Fenton here was in the hospital. That is,” he said quickly, sensing that everyone at the table was getting ready to cut him off again, “until last night.” Oh, right. Danny had been so excited to see the stars again, he hadn’t even thought about being stealthy. “Apparently he was spotted over a park by multiple people. Danny, you got home from the hospital yesterday, right?”

“No, I’ve been here the whole time. I don’t know how you missed me.” Wes rolled his eyes. Sam smirked. Valerie was looking down at her food. She looked … uncomfortable. Embarrassed, maybe? What the heck had Wes said to her?

“Well, I’m just saying,” slogan of assholes everywhere, Danny thought, “that it’s an interesting coincidence.” He turned to Valerie, who was still avoiding eye contact with everyone. “Don’t you think it’s interesting, Valerie?”

Valerie’s expression went from awkward to pissed in no seconds flat. She glared at Wes, stabbing her fork in his direction as she spoke. “I think you need to back off. Nobody wants you here, nobody wants to talk to you, nobody gives a crap what you think. And, like you so nicely pointed out, Danny just got out of the hospital. You couldn’t leave him alone for twenty-four hours? Come on, man. Just leave.”

Wes raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’m -”

“She said leave, dude,” Sam snapped. “That means now.” Hands still raised, Wes backed away from the table without saying another word. Danny mentally reached out to form a small ecto-shield under Wes’ foot, causing him to slip and fall onto his ass to the laughter of the nearby tables.

Danny turned his attention back to Valerie, who was looking at the clock. They were about ten minutes into the period. “Hey, sorry about him,” Danny said. Valerie met his gaze, her expression somewhere between surprised and confused. “I wish I knew how to make him only harass me instead of everyone around me.”

“Oh, it’s … it’s fine, Wes is Wes, it’s not your fault.”

“He never, I don’t know, made you uncomfortable or anything, did he? I mean, more than just being his normal jerky self?”

“No,” she said, very quickly.

Danny shot a sideways glance at Sam, who had her eyes narrowed. She asked, “Are you okay? Do I need to kill Wes for you? I can make it happen, just say the word.”

“No. No, guys, I’m fine. It’s nothing like that. I just hate the way he treats Danny.” She didn’t look angry anymore, though. She just looked distracted. Her eyes kept moving around the room. “I mean, it’s ridiculous right? A ghost being part human? Who ever heard of something like that?” Danny did not laugh nervously, nor did he exchange a look with Sam. What he did was nod, which was obviously the least suspicious thing to do. “And I mean, it’s not like he has any evidence. Just, you know. Coincidences.” She dropped her eyes to her food, again.

“He claims to have coincidences,” Sam said. “But he has a pretty clear agenda. You can’t just trust everything he says.”

“Right. Right, yeah. How would I know whether Phantom was actually seen last night, or any time over the past six weeks? All I have is his word.”

Danny could see that Sam was about to say something else, but he spoke first.

“Val?”

She looked up. “Yeah?”

He could feel his heart trying to escape his ribcage, and he considered whether to give himself more oxygen. “Why don’t we just finish lunch and forget about Wes for now. And maybe later … if you want to … talk …” He shrugged. Valerie was quiet for a minute - or maybe a couple of seconds - then she smiled faintly.

“Can do. But, I don’t really need to talk. It’s okay.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. I mean, what is there to talk about? Some dumb kid and his dumb theories? I already forgot what he was saying.”

***

Danny awoke with a feeling of mild dread, as he usually did, and he did his best to dispel it by meditating, as he had recently started doing. He tried to just imagine himself floating through space. When his mind drifted, it was mostly to his parents. He wanted to believe they were making progress, but … he didn’t. After almost three months, they still seemed to be saying the same things, about how that last analysis had ruled certain things out, and how this new analysis would really give them something to work with, and so on. At least the doctors were honest about the fact that they didn’t know what to do.

Eventually he opened his eyes, blinking against the sunlight. It was Sunday. He vaguely remembered that Sunday used to be a chill day to relax and do whatever he wanted. At some point it had become a day to catch up on all the school he’d been neglecting all week due to ghost-hunting. Danny hadn’t been doing much by way of ghost hunting, since he’d gotten home from the hospital. (He got winded easily, even in ghost form. That seemed unfair, that he needed oxygen even as a ghost. But he supposed it was the trade-off for having access to some of his ghost powers even as a human.) Somehow, though, he’d still managed to neglect his homework all week, and now he had a draft of an English essay to write in a day. So apparently it was never the ghost stuff - he was just terrible at school. He was going to fail and never get into university and -

No, stop. Danny took a deep breath from his diaphragm. That was a cognitive distortion. Catastrophization or something? Overgeneralization? Either way, he had evidence it wasn’t true. Danny had been doing well this semester. He probably shouldn’t have waited so long to write this draft, but he did have his thesis and a few quotes picked out. He still had all day. He took a few more deep breaths before taking out his English binder and his laptop.

Tucker came by in the afternoon with some brownies.

“Is it good?” Tucker asked, excited.

“It’s great,” Danny said between bites, “Did you make these?”

“Yeah, it’s a new thing I’m trying. Turns out brownies are, like, really easy. And cake and cookies - you just mix a couple basic ingredients, throw in whatever else you want, and then cook, and now you have food.”

“Convenient.”

“Right? I can’t believe I’m only just now discovering this. Can you imagine being ten years old and knowing that desert was never more than an hour away, if you wanted it?”

“There might be a reason that knowledge was kept from us.”

“Adults and their conspiracies. So, what have you been up to?”

“Ugh.” Danny glanced at his laptop. “Right now, English essay.”

“You make it sound so exciting.”

“Well, it’s certainly got my heart rate up, since it needs to be done by tomorrow, for whatever that’s worth.”

“What are you writing about?”

“The Lord of the Flies as an indictment of toxic masculinity.”

“Sam’s idea?”

Danny made a face. “No. I can criticize society, too, you know.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Also, I’m a trans guy, so I feel like I’m pretty well within my wheelhouse, here.”

“Fair point. So it kinda sounds like you are actually enjoying writing it.”

“Eh, it’s not as interesting as I’m making it sound. It’s just finding quotes and then explaining how they show that the author believes such-and-such. Well, you know; you had English last semester.”

“Yeah, I guess I don’t remember it as a rigorous intellectual exercise. Speaking of rigorous intellectual exercises, though, you remember the robot I was telling you about?”

“The one you’re building? Sure.”

Tucker held up a finger, then fished his most recent project out of his bag and held it out for Danny to examine. Danny’s eyes widened the appropriate amount and Tucker grinned, satisfied, as Danny took it and turned it over. “That arm can grip everything from an egg to a bowling ball - the grip strength varies smoothly and it has a smart sensor that chooses the minimum effective strength. And it can choose whether to use the legs or the wheels - they’re tucked up underneath, there - based on the type of terrain, which it judges based on data from the gyroscope and the camera. Oh, do you wanna see the code?” Tucker took out his phone.

“Uh, you can show it to me, but I don’t think I’ll understand much of it.”

“I won’t get too detailed, I promise. I’m just really proud and I wanna show you what I did.”

“You should be. This is totally cool.” He looked at the robot again. “I wish I could do stuff like this.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“A lack of the knowledge of how to do it, for one thing.”

“So learn. What are you doing this summer?”

Tucker had him there. “Not much.”

“You should do a coding course. There are some really affordable, totally online ones that you can do from anywhere. I mean, there are some garbage ones, so do your research, but if you have even a little bit of interest, I absolutely recommend it. The future is written in code; if you can write code, you can write the future.”

Danny laughed. “That’s a pretty good tagline.”

“And it’s true, too.”

“Okay, I’ll look into it.” He typed a note on his phone that read ‘coding course for summer?’ “And I believe you were going to regale me with the story of how you taught this thing to tell different types of ground apart.”

***

Danny didn’t blink, and neither did Dr. Dufour. The doctor took a deep breath. Danny didn’t. Finally, the doctor said, “No. I’m not legally required to tell them.” Danny let out his breath.

“Then I don’t want you to.”

“Are you sure, Danny? I want you to really consider what the next few months are going to look like.”

“That’s what I’m doing. I don’t want it to look like … everyone mourning me while I’m still here. I just want it to be normal.”

“It might be easier for both you and them to find closure if you have more time to talk about and make peace with the situation.”

“I know.” Danny pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned his forehead against them. “I know. Maybe later … but not right now.”

***

“You can breathe, dad. I’m the one with the oxygen tank, remember?” Jack was still standing next to Danny, looking around, hands raised as if to grab some tool or press some button. But of course Danny had already adjusted his oxygen intake just like the nurse had shown him and Jack and Maddie how to do before Danny had been allowed to come home. Now his pulse oximeter was showing 93% - low for a normal person but pretty high for Danny. And Danny looked … well, a little bit paler and a little bit heavier than he had three months ago, but otherwise perfectly fine. Of course, he’d looked perfectly fine a few minutes ago, too, right before his blood oxygen had suddenly started dropping.

“You’re sure you’re okay? Is there anything else I can do?”

“I’m all good.”

“Do I need to bring you to the hospital?”

“No. Doctor Dufour says that I only need to come in outside of the tests and check-ups if something changes. This is … this is normal.” Danny looked so sad when he said that, it broke Jack’s heart. He just wanted Danny to be okay.

“It’s not normal, son. I promise, it won’t always be like this. We’ll fix it.”

Danny smiled a little. “I know you’re doing everything you can. The doctors are, too.”

“You can’t give up hope, son. We can do this.”

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean …” Danny, looking like he was lost in thought, turned to look out the window. “I just meant, this is normal for now. It’s nothing to worry about. That’s all.”

“You’re right, I’m not worried. You’re one of the strongest people I know. You’ll get through this.” Jack bent down to squeeze Danny in a bear hug.

“Dad, oxygen tubes.”

Jack let go quickly. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok.” He met Jack’s eyes and smiled. “I love you.”

Jack caught his breath. It wasn’t something Danny said often, and hearing it brought happy tears to Jack’s eyes. “I love you too, son.”

“Now, can we forget about this -” he gestured to his oxygen tank “- for a bit?”

“Already out of my mind,” Jack said, and Danny tried to hide a smirk. He sat back down in Danny’s desk chair, which complained under his weight but held him just fine. “What were you talking about before? Creation disks?” Danny smiled again, much bigger this time.

“Accretion disks, but I actually like ‘creation disks’ if you’re talking about the formation of stars. Or, it works for protoplanetary disks, too. But I was talking about quasars, which are kind of the opposite. You know how black holes form, right? Just as a quick summary, the fusion of light elements like helium releases energy …”

Jack listened as intently as he could. He’d been disappointed at first when Danny had told him he wanted to talk about things other than ghosts and ghost hunting - it had been something they could easily bond over, and Jack didn’t understand why Danny wouldn’t want that. It had felt like a rejection, like he was saying he didn’t want to bond with him, or even that he didn’t want to be like him. But when Jack saw how excited Danny got talking about this space stuff, he could tell this was a good thing, even if he didn’t understand it.

***

“ … not sure whether I should be making the posters out of something more durable, maybe laminating them. Obviously a lot of them are just going to get torn down, because, you know, people don’t like when the system that benefits them is called into question, so it might be kind of wasteful. On the other hand, I definitely don’t want them just getting wrecked if it rains or …” Sam stopped, realizing that Danny was somewhere else. It took him a few seconds to notice she wasn’t talking anymore.

“What? Sorry, did you ask me something?” Sam frowned. “Shit, I’m sorry, I just didn’t sleep well, and -”

“Danny.”

He looked nervous. “Sorry.”

“No, I’m not … Danny, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just tired.”

“Like you were ‘just tired’ every time your parents asked why you looked like shit after fighting a ghost?”

“No. Just regular tired.”

“You know you can talk to me.”

“I know.”

“What were you thinking about, just now?”

“Nothing. I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Just … nothing.”

He was obviously upset, and Sam had the feeling that he wanted to say something but was second-guessing himself. She didn’t know what to do about it, though. “Is there anything else you want to talk about? I was going on about my stuff for a while. What’s up in your world?”

Danny shrugged. “Nothing interesting. And I like hearing you talk.” He smiled. “I love you.”

“I think that’s the first time you’ve said that.”

“What? I say it all the time.”

“No, it was always ‘I love you too.’ This is the first time you said it first.”

“Oh, well …” He looked so uncomfortable. Maybe she shouldn’t have pointed it out. “It’s true, though. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Danny. All of you.”

He laughed nervously. “What … what is that supposed to mean?”

“It just means … you don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t want to. But if you do tell me … anything, it’ll be okay.”

“I …” Sam could see the mental back-and-forth. There was something he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure it was a good idea. “Do you promise not to get upset? I don’t mean mad at me, I mean … upset. In general.”

Sam did not think she could promise not to have any kind of negative emotional response, but she also badly wanted to know whatever it was he was afraid to say. “Okay. I promise.”

He took a deep breath, then another. He looked down at his pulse oximeter, and his eyes widened a little. It showed 89%. He took a few more deep breaths before he spoke. His eyes were firmly fixed on his sheets. “I’ve been wondering … what would happen … if I died.”

Oh, yeah. She could see how someone might find that upsetting. Danny peeked up at her. She had no idea what he saw on her face.

“I think my ghost half would still exist, or at least I don’t see why it wouldn’t, but would it still be partially human, or would I just be a full ghost, with all the full ghost powers? Would I feel like the same person? Would I have an obsession? Just stuff like that, you know. I’m not trying to be morbid or anything, but … that’s what’s been on my mind. I don’t want you to read too much into it, but you asked, so. Yeah.”

She could read too much into it, if she wanted to. But Sam would be the last person to believe that there was anything inherently wrong with being morbid. If Danny wanted to speculate about his own death, more power to him. And besides, she’d been wondering a lot of the same things.

“I appreciate you sharing that. And I promise I’m not upset.”

Danny’s shoulders dropped as he let go of the tension in them. “Thank you.”

“You’re not thinking about hurting yourself, right?”

“No!” He looked disturbed that she had even asked. “No, of course not.”

“I had to check. And you’re … okay? Generally?”

“Yeah, I am. Things have been going really well, lately.” For a moment, his eyes were focused on something far away, again. Then he met her eyes and smiled, and she smiled back.

***

When the temperature suddenly dropped in Wes’ bedroom, he knew exactly what it meant, even before he heard the familiar voice behind him.

“Hey, Wes.”

Wes spun around in his desk chair, trying to mentally chart a route from where he was sitting, past the ghost in the middle of the room, to his bed, where his small ecto-gun lay hidden under the pillow.

“Calm down, I’m not here to fight you.” Phantom - Fenton - was floating just above the floor in a casual pose, his hands at his sides. Wes eyed him with open suspicion.

“What do you want, Fenton?”

Fenton smiled a little. “If you can believe it, I want to apologize.”

Wes crossed his arms. “I can’t.”

Fenton nodded. “That’s fair. But I’m going to do it, anyway.” He lowered himself gently so he was standing on the floor, and then a ring of blinding white light appeared around his waist. Wes hit the floor, covering his head with his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself from whatever this was. There was no heat, no noise, no shockwave. The light faded after a second and Wes heard Fenton chuckling. He looked up to see Fenton - Holy Shit. Fenton, looking as human as he’d ever looked, standing where Phantom had just been. “What’s wrong, Wes? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Fenton chuckled again.

“You … you just … but … why?” Wes winced slightly at his incoherence.

“Why am I finally admitting it after all this time?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it matter?”

“Is this … the apology? You’re sorry for making everyone think I was crazy when I was right?”

“No, I think I was very justified in keeping this secret. But I probably wasn’t justified in tormenting you with my powers. Constantly tripping you, stealing your homework -”

“I knew it!” He could never tell any of his teachers that a ghost stole his homework, but what other explanation was there? And all those times he tripped over seemingly nothing … of course it had been Phantom. Wes had known, just as surely as he’d known that Phantom and Fenton were the same person, but it felt so good to have it finally confirmed. “Wait, did you pour water on my pants that one time to make it look like I peed?”

Fenton burst into laughter. Wes glared. “Oh man, I forgot that one. That was brutal.” Fenton wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “Yeah, I did. I’m sorry for that, too.”

“You don’t look very sorry.”

“I mean, it was funny. But -” He took a deep breath, then got a nervous look on his face and suddenly the white ring appeared again. Wes flinched and closed his eyes, then opened them to see Phantom standing there again. “Yes,” he said, looking more serious, now. “I am sorry. I never really tried talking to you. I just decided that, since you were trying to out me, you must be a bad person, and I was justified in messing with you however I wanted. But you’re probably not as bad a person as I think you are, and even if you are, that doesn’t make it ok for me to bully you like that.”

“So … you’re saying you’ll stop?”

Fenton smiled, but there was something about his eyes … it almost looked like he was about to start crying. Could ghosts cry? “Yeah. You don’t have to worry about me messing with you anymore.”

“Are you going to tell everyone that I was right?”

Phantom’s expression didn’t change. He just looked at Wes. After a few moments, he took a breath as if he was about to stay something, held it for a second, and then disappeared. Wes felt a soft rush of air and figured he was probably alone, again.

“... What the Hell was that about?”

***

“Hey, what’s up?” Danny’s voice was slightly muffled by what Jazz assumed was wind.

“Hey, not much. Are you outside? I can’t hear you very well.”

“Oh, sorry.” For a second there was just the sound of wind, then a static-y noise that made Jazz pull the phone away from her ear, then it was quiet. “Is this better?”

“Yeah. I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“No, I was just stargazing up on the roof. How are you? How are things?”

“Things are good. I’m enjoying all my classes this quarter, great profs. I’m taking a really interesting one about the effects of the environment on health, so things like how poverty affects the immune system, all through the lens of neurology, of course. It’ll probably be one of the harder classes that I’ve taken, but it’s really exciting stuff. We don’t even have a textbook; it’s all based on really recent research that the prof is collecting on the course website. So that’s fun. What about you? How are things?”

“Uhh … good, I guess. It’s close to finals, so, busy. No change in health.”

“Well, hang in there. You’ll get through it.”

“Thanks.”

“I actually wanted to talk about school. Not trying to stress you out or anything, but I just learned about a new program Stanford is going to be offering that’s aimed toward future astronauts.”

“Oh. Cool.”

Well, that certainly wasn’t the reaction Jazz had expected. He usually got so excited about anything related to becoming an astronaut. “Do you want to hear about it?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Was he okay? Should she ask? “... right, so, it’s not a separate degree, but if you’re in the aeronautics and astronautics undergraduate program, there’s going to be a specific class you take each year, with some kind of capstone project at the end, like a thesis I guess, uhm, and then when you finish there’s a special designation you get, which, basically it will look really good for any grad school applications. I can send you a link if you want, there aren’t too many details yet but I thought you’d be interested to know for when you start applying to colleges.”

“Uh, yeah, you can send that. I’ll take a look. Thanks.”

She should say something. He might be annoyed now, but she didn’t want to regret it later when she found out something was really wrong and she could have helped. “Danny, are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Aside from the obvious, I mean.”

“You said there’s been no change?”

“Yeah. Still sick, but getting by.”

“It’s just, you sound sort of down. Not to be presumptuous, but I thought you’d be excited that there’s a program that can bring you closer to being an astronaut.”

“Oh, yeah, well … it’s just, my grades, you know? I’m not sure about getting into Stanford, let alone a special program at Stanford.”

“Oh!” Of course it was about that. He’d been struggling to reconcile his current grades with his future plans since freshman year. “Well, I can’t promise anything, but you know I’ll help you with your application, right? And there’s still time to get some extracurriculars in to round things out, especially since you’re not spending as much time with ghost hunting these days. And, actually, you’re kind of working with mom and dad in the lab, now, right? So you’re getting a head start on a lot of engineering stuff - that might give you a leg-up.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I don’t mean to stress you out prematurely, but if you start thinking about your application now, I think you can have something really strong. Again, not making any promises, but I wouldn’t count yourself out just because you don’t have the highest grades. Lots of people have good grades, but the admissions officers will really care more about your experiences outside the classroom.”

“Okay, cool. That’s … something to think about, then. Sorry, it’s getting late here, so …”

“Right, right, I’ll let you go. It was good to talk to you.”

“Yeah, you too. … I love you.”

The line disconnected before Jazz could respond.

***

Maddie read the note first. She found it lying on top of Danny’s uncharacteristically well-made bed. There was no addressee or signature.

If things go according to plan, I’ll see you soon.

If not, know that I’m grateful to you for everything, and I’m sorry, and I love you.

***

Apparently, things didn’t go according to plan.

***

“... reported it to the police, but it doesn’t feel like they’re doing enough.” Jack was trying not to raise his voice. His hand that wasn't holding the phone was clenched into a fist. “I get that they’re busy, but he’s my son, and he’s missing, and I can't just -”

“You don’t need to explain yourself; I understand.”

Jack sighed. “Thanks. So, do you think there’s anything you can do?”

“I regret that my powers as mayor are quite limited in this regard, but I can assure you that I will dedicate all of the resources at my disposal, both public and private, to finding Daniel. Nothing is more important to me than assuring his safety.”

#danny phantom #holiday truce 2020 #christmas truce 2020 #phanfic #my writing #suicide cw #edit: some people said the ending didn't make sense and they were right so i changed it #i may eventually add the second chapter to give context but idk maybe it's not necessary #also i haven't written it yet #also i deleted the work on ao3 because it was stressing me out sorry #i just didn't want anyone to see it there marked as 1/2 chapters when i might not actually do a 2nd chapter

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skinks · 4 years

Note

first, that ficlet damn near gave me a heart attack because i live in alaska and for some reason seeing references to it in media that isn't vampires (who would die they would DIE in the weeks when you peer outside and think, ah what a lovely 8pm i still have my whole evening ahead of me but the clock says 2am when you look at it and your whole sense of reality crumbles around you) or like weird living off the land crabfishing lumberjack male fantasy. and ice truckers i guess.

2. anyway SECOND, eddie would love alaska. they could stay for a month and he could drag richie up a mountain every goddamn day and there would still be another mountain to climb at the end of it. one of said mountains has stairs just right there for those who don’t want to scramble up a mountainside like a wild child. there will be bears, not of eddie’s preferred variety but still pretty cool. richie can’t ride a moose because they’re creatures of pure anger, probably because they have to haul a

3. head full of bone around all the time, but he can collect novelty moose poop from every gift shop they visit. there are ornaments. earrings. cocktail swizzlers. some truly wild bastard made a set of dice. these are all real things. so is the quote unquote world’s largest chocolate fall, a chocolate waterfall that is comprised of thousands of pounds of what i can only assume is decades old recycled chocolate because you are strongly advised by the gift shop that features it to NOT taste the

4. taste the chocolate. the embolism eddie would have is worth the visit all on its own. this was really supposed to be about the eternal sunshine of alaska summers, which i think is the best part for any tourist who doesn't live here to suffer through the reality of having a sun that does not cooperate with the regular schedules of man

I love this so much holy shit. This was about the sea otters ficlet, right!!! I’m glad you enjoyed it, though I have to admit my only exposure to Alaska IS the vampire movie and nature docs. I live far enough north in Scotland that during high summer you can still see sunlight on the horizon at 2am, and I went to Iceland once in July when the sun never set, but that was surreal enough for just a week so I can’t imagine how bad it messes with your perception of time over a longer period.

I love this because I love thinking about them going on holiday together, all the hijinks that ensue. How quickly they’d go unhinged from the lack of nighttime 👀 I’m so glad to hear Eddie would like Alaska... he’d get so Into buying outdoor gear

He’s like, “Of course we need a personal locator beacon, Rich, what if we don’t have one and we get lost and die? We’ll feel pretty stupid I bet”

Richie: “I can SEE the parking lot from here”

Eddie: “Aw :(“

Richie: “I know you’re desperate to live out all the survivalist fantasies instilled in that sexy little sea otter scout body of yours by 20 years of corporate team-building weekends on manicured ranches in upstate New York—”

Eddie: “maybe :(“

Richie: “Okay, so what if I channel my stage fight training and control my fall to sprain my ankle just enough to necessitate your emergency bandaging skills?”

Eddie: “I would like that, thank you”

Anyway, thank you for this. Richie definitely pretends he’s gonna stick his head under the rancid chocolate fountain for the bit. He also gets novelty moose poop earrings for Bev and she wears them to New York Fashion Week

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floralseokjin · 5 years

Text

— crystallised 06 (m)

crystallised /ˈkrɪst(ə)lʌɪz/ (verb) make or become definite and clear

Six weeks, that’s all it takes to forget about the threesome you shared with your boyfriend, Yoongi, and your past... fuck buddy, Seokjin. After all, it’s no big deal. Yoongi and you are doing better than ever, there’s no reason to regret such a night shared. That is until you hear some gossip in the library one day, and then slowly, little by little, everything starts to fall apart... Can you begin to make sense out of all this confusion, or is it too late?

pairing; kim seokjin x reader genre/warnings; fluff, fluff and more fluff, smut in the form of dry humping, and did I already say fluff???? here, have some more words; 10,481

sequel to; memoirs of a mistake and lostmyhead

chapters; 01 ⤑ 02 ⤑ 03 ⤑ 04 ⤑ 05 ⤑ 06 ⤑ 07⤑ 08 ✓

Seokjin ended up staying the night. It was inevitable really. You weren’t letting him go after you’d only just got him back. Not like he wasn’t dropping enough hints though. Could stay like this forever, he’d murmured hot in your ear, your body smushed to his as you lied down on the sofa, watching Netflix again. Some things, you realised, wouldn’t change and actually, it turned out Seokjin and you had already practically been acting as a couple anyway. It was just now he had his arms around your middle, hands woven together and his mouth on your neck. Lips too. Yeah, the kissing fest was still happening. You wouldn’t be able to tell anyone a damn thing about what had happened in the last three episodes of The Vampire Diaries if they asked.

Spend the night didn’t really have a question mark after it. It was Sunday anyway, neither of you had work and just the thought of doing nothing all day with Seokjin seemed like pure bliss. Your plan had been to call Lina tonight and gush about everything, but you guessed that could wait until tomorrow night. You’d just have to evade her messages until then, because keeping information like this from your best friend was killing you, but also, maybe you weren’t ready for the “Oh, my God, it was all down to ME,” I told you so’s…

You got ready for bed in the bathroom one by one, almost giddy when Seokjin came out in just his t-shirt and boxers. Knees practically vibrating against one another as he got into bed next to you. His side. You were finally sharing your bed with him again, and then you were a tangle of limbs, his body glued into yours. His legs warm against yours, chest warm, body heat encasing you with the help of his arms. This was it. Pure bliss. How it was always supposed to be.

In the safety of your bed, surrounded by darkness it was easy for even more confessions to slip from Seokjin’s lips. There were funny ones. Thoughts that slipped into his head. Like how he’d been unreasonably jealous of every guy who’d checked you out at the gym. How your ass had looked quote, “fricking delectable,” unquote, with a side helping of bum squeeze to go with. “Been wanting to do that forever,” he sighed in complete and utter content. You giggled, revelling in it really. How could you not. It wasn’t like you hadn’t ogled him while he was squatting or doing press ups… He was very happy when you let that slip… It was cute to fill in the missing gaps, but there were also unhappy confessions too. Ones that made your heart pang with sadness.

Every time he’d pined for you. Not far from him, but still deeply out of reach. Like how he’d hated seeing you cry after your argument with Yoongi the night of that party. He was awkward and he didn’t know how to comfort you, but that was because he wanted nothing more than to tell you the truth. The truth about his feelings, and how he thought you should be with him not Yoongi. When he’d walked you home and you’d made to kiss him, (so he had realised) it took him everything not to give in. He knew you were upset, vulnerable and he didn’t want to take advantage of the moment. It wouldn’t be right, but the hug was the best sensation he’d felt in all his life. Then you’d turned up at his door after the breakup. Like some sign from the heavens above he was making a mistake with Jemma, and even if he could only have you as a friend, even if it hurt like crazy to hear you talk about Yoongi, it was okay. Because he had you in some kind of form. The best form. Just you.

With your glassy eyes, you both began to reminisce into the early hours of the morning. Muffling your laughter at some points because it got too loud and your neighbours would hate you.

“Was it just me, or when we went to watch Endgame did you get distracted remembering back to that time you gave me a hand job? It was the exact same screen room too.” He spoke into the darkness. Just when eyelids were getting heavy, legs still tangled together, your head on his chest.

“Oh, my god.”

“No. Not even in a perverted way. I thought of that as our unofficial first date for the longest time.” He was trying to be funny, but that was actually really cute. You’d held hands for the first time that night. You’d done so as a joke, teasing him. Actually, he’d been adamant it wasn’t a date, not a fan of your jesting. You understood why now. He was afraid you didn’t feel the same.

“I remember we held hands as we walked back to your car.”

“Mm. I liked that.” On cue you felt one of his hands find yours to slip them together, kissing the top of your head at the same time. You smiled to yourself. “Let me take you on an official first date.”

“Where do you have in mind?” The smile was still on your face, could hear it in your voice.

“Zoo.” He replied matter-of-factly.

“Zoo?”

“You pretty much stood me up last time.” Silence. The memory came back to you instantly. “–annd you don’t remember…” His tone was light, playing with you, but nope, you wouldn’t have it.

“No, wait!” You exclaimed, turning around in his arms to find his face. Your eyes had long adjusted to the dark, you could make out the greatly amused grin on his face easily. “I do remember! I just didn’t think you were serious.”

You hadn’t actually figured out what he was trying to do when he’d asked you out back then. You’d been too distracted anyway… Too excited for your date with Yoongi…

“So serious. So jealous. So sad.” That didn’t help either. He was messing around but it still made you feel all not good inside.

“Seokjiinn.” You whined.

He laughed, arms wrapping around your middle to squeeze you to him. “No, but I do really want to take you to the zoo on our first date.” He pecked your mouth, ridding the pout that had formed. “Let’s go Tuesday. We can skip class.”

“Oh,” you cocked an eyebrow. “You’re making me skip classes already. You’re a bad influence Kim Seokjin.”

“And what are you going to do about it?” He grinned, voice now a little croaky from lack of sleep. Sexy though.

You both did manage to get a few hours sleep in the end. Voices were sleepy, conversation waning off and then eyes were closed. You woke up first. Your body clock didn’t seem to realise when it hadn’t had eight hours sleep. So here you were wide awake on five. Seokjin was still dead to the world though. Hooked around you like some sort of monkey. You wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever, but you forgot the cost it came with. Excessive heat. Maybe you hadn’t woken up naturally… Anyway, somehow you wriggled free, Seokjin not even stirring as he rolled onto his back. You took a moment to study him. Cute in sleep, gigantic lips pouting naturally, forehead slightly creased, like he was dreaming of something serious. The events of the night before were truly sinking in. This was actually happening. You and him.

You didn’t want to wake him just yet. No. You had a better idea. You were sure you had the right ingredients to make pancakes. First, a quick detour to the bathroom to empty your bladder and brush your teeth – hair too. You knew you looked this unkempt in the morning, but Seokjin wasn’t used to it anymore. Silly of course, like he gave a shit. You tried to keep as quiet as possible when you started finding and weighing ingredients, aware that there were basically only four walls in this open apartment, if you didn’t count the bathroom. Which was just about hiding Seokjin out of view, the jutting wall part of your kitchen storage.

Distracted from mixing as you messaged with Lina back and forth, (she really did love bitching about this one coworker…), you nearly dropped your cell into the bowl when you read what she came out with next.

Lina (9:58am) So are we just gonna ignore the fact u probably fucked Seokjin last night? MAYBE you’re doing it right now Sorry my bad for interrupting

So much for evading her messages. Impossible, and now look.

You (9:58am) Wtf im making pancakes like i said …………. but yeh jin might be in my bed we didn’t bang tho we’re taking things slow 💖💘💗💕💞💓💝

Lina (9:59am) YOU BITCH WJY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME

You (9:59am) i was going to tell you last night :(but got distracted come over later???? i’ll text u

Lina (10:00am) So you actually made a move at the party?? I KNEW IT

Strange. You’d taken it as a given that she had. Especially with the very direct accusation… Or maybe she just knew Seokjin and you couldn’t keep up this ~friends~ bullshit for any longer. Someone would cave, especially after Brian’s party. A ticking time bomb but no one blew up after detonation. Thank God.

You (10:00am) 🤔🤭🤫😶

Lina (10:00am) YOU BETTER SEND HIM HIME TINIGHT I NEED to know the details Have fun being a sexy housewife making pancakes 😘

You (10:01am) hehe 🥰 << me rn

You were so preoccupied, you hadn’t heard Seokjin waking up, jumping a little when his arms wrapped around your middle, face nuzzling your neck as he hugged you from behind.

“Where did you go?” His voice was thick with sleep and whiney.

Putting your phone down, you tried to fight your smile, but nope, this was really happening, and it was better than you could have ever imagined. “I’m making breakfast.”

“I wanted to cuddle,” he whined again. Sounded cute. “Literally been dreaming about it forever. You’re evil.”

“Am not.” You laughed, twisting in his grip. “We cuddled all night.”

Facing him now, you wrapped your arms around his neck, an amused grin on your face. You didn’t think it was possible to cuddle all night, but hey, you’d been proved wrong. You should’ve known. Seokjin was as determined as ever. Only now softer. You liked soft. You liked him.

He squeezed your waist, a pout already formed. “I want more.”

“Patience, bitch,” you hummed softly, bemusing him for a second before he chuckled. You leaned up to kiss him. “Haven’t brushed my teeth,” he murmured.

You rolled your eyes. “Like I care.” There were some things you’d waited long enough for, even without realising, and you’d be damned if you didn’t take every opportunity you had to kiss him. One of you had brushed your teeth, that’s all that mattered.

It wasn’t a showy kiss, mostly slow and lazy. Definitely indulgent though. You almost clung to his bottom lip each time you grazed against it, feeling warmth whenever his breath shook. You felt warmth in the way his hands gripped you too. Safe but free in his hold. Giddy when one wrapped around the small of your back and his fingers grazed the top of your ass. It was exhilarating to feel him touch you so casually. A little tiny niggle of frustration too, because why hadn’t he been doing this from the beginning? You both were fools, but not anymore.

“What you making?” He murmured when you both parted, curious.

A hand slid around your hip as you turned your back to him again, picking up the wooden spoon in the bowl to begin to mix again. You gave him a tiny shrug. Not wanting to make a big deal. “Pancakes.”

He sighed like a king. “Spoiling me already.” Your tut in response choked out when he tapped your ass playfully, wondering off to nose through your cupboards. “Don’t burn them.”

He found what he was looking for. A box of cereal on the top shelf. “Seokjin,” you chided gently as he grabbed a bowl from the draining rack. “Cereal? Really?” No way could he have room for two breakfasts.

He grinned goofily. “Appetiser. The starter.”

You stared him down, practically calling his bluff, but nope, there he went, shaking the cereal into the bowl. Milk following. That’s when you laughed. You couldn’t help it. “You’re nuts.”

“Yeah, for you.”

You scoffed quietly at his comeback, a small smile on your face, unable to hide your happiness, and went back to mixing your pancakes. Yeah, it would take a little time getting used to that cheesiness. You needed to step up your game.

If you were joined at the hip before, it wasn’t nothing on you now. Not that dating changed much overall. If people had already thought you were together, that was only affirmed as you held hands around campus and kissed goodbye at the door of your next classes. Lina was super happy you’d finally admitted your feelings to one another. And not in a gloating way either. Like a piece of fan fiction, she said: The girl who tamed a fuckboy. Yikes, how basic. Sounded like something from Wattpad. You much preferred the trope “Two idiots finally realise their feelings for one another.” Fit you both perfectly.

Surprisingly, there were no I told you so’s from her, just a rare guilty look as she confessed she felt “kinda to blame.” Her distaste for Seokjin in the beginning may have hindered your view. You did after all keep your hook ups a secret for so long. But no, you reassured her, that was all on you. Despite the great sex, originally the idea of people knowing you’d given into Kim Seokjin was, how should you say, unappealing, but you’d soon (ish) seen how judgemental that was. If anyone was to blame for the delay, it was you. Not that you dwelled on that anymore.

It was the little things that made you vibrate at a high frequency. Sheer happiness just doing doing the most mundane things. Being able to land a kiss on Seokjin anytime you wanted. Binging so many shows it was probably unhealthy now, yet it didn’t matter with his arms wrapped around your waist. Lying in his bed watching him grow frustrated as he gamed at his desk. Taking him shopping with you and hearing him whine in complete and utter boredom… It all brought you joy. There was no awkwardness, no trying too hard. It just all came naturally. You worked perfectly like this.

The Pet names started. The first time was when you’d been in near tears on the zoo date. Hating the way the animals were all so far from home and trapped. Seokjin had felt beyond guilty, a distraught, panicked look on his face as he apologised for even thinking of taking you here as a first date. He even said sorry for being shit at comforting you, but as soon as the Baby, please don’t cry had rolled so casually from his tongue, so endearingly in fact, and gentle and soft, he’d done his job perfectly. It was your turn to comfort him. No matter what, your first date wasn’t a complete blow out. You got to feed a giraffe and watch the guy you were crazy about lose his shit over a cute little deer. All while skipping class… Couldn’t get much better than that.

And for someone who’d never been on a proper date before, Seokjin sure made up for it with you. You tried the fancy dinner route. Found out it wasn’t for you when you accidentally rubbed the eyeliner from your right eye. Seokjin thought about waiting until you realised, but inevitably couldn’t do it to you. Although you were sure it was because he couldn’t hold his laughter in. You both enjoyed simpler, less showy outings, and of course you planned stuff too. When you took him to the gig of one of your favourite groups you thought his head was going to explode. He complained his ears hurt all the way back home. You took the time to rinse him on his own music taste.

“It’s okay, next time Taylor Swift goes on tour I’ll get you tickets,” you teased. To which he scoffed.

“You seem to forget I work in a gym. I listen to whatever comes on the radio.”

Of course you had a comeback. Quick and witty, you were an unyielding duo. “You seem to forget earphones exist.”

You weren’t one for posting your life on social media. In fact, you didn’t really post on there much at all. Mainly because you sucked at aesthetically pleasing photos on Instagram and regretted every time you overshared on Twitter. And yes, by oversharing you meant an I’m tired after a full day of classes and a shift at work… Seokjin was little of the same, but the first time he uploaded a selfie of you two (a highly unflattering one at that, but hey ho) you may have melted… Made it all feel so real.

Caption: Me and my baby 🤧💞 80 likes

You: Yes! You’ve finally given in to that emoji life 🤗😍😭 Seokjin_Kim: Yes! You’ve finally learnt proper grammar (Capitalising correctly) 😘 itsholly: so cute!!! JungHobi: @Joon94 @San_deul That’s it guys… we’ve lost him to luuuv 🥺 hi_itsbri: Legit?! Congrats man! Seokjin_Kim: @hi_itsbri Legit! Much appreciated! Seokjin_Kim: @JungHobi So glad I’m free ^_^ Joon94: RUDE Joon94: @Seokjin_Kim San_deul: @Seokjin_Kim Nice try. You live with me

After that, it didn’t take you long to start double dating. Seokjin wasn’t brave enough to accompany any of your friends yet, despite Lina being adamant her and Jimin wanted to hang out, but you went plenty with Sandeul and his girlfriend. You favourite was the time you went to the VR arcade with them. You’d never laughed so much in you life—nor felt so scared! You also seemed to hang out with Hoseok, Namjoon and their girlfriends a lot, who preferred to stay in most of the time, eating take out or drinking some. It was on one of those occasions that Seokjin adorably got moody because you laughed at Hoseok too much…

“What’s up with you?” You asked, coming out from the bathroom to see Seokjin still sitting on your sofa with the same frown he’d had since you’d left Hoseok’s place.

“Nothing.”

You sighed and bounced into the seat next to him. “Are you in a sulk?” As if it wasn’t obvious.

He shook his head. “No.”

“Jiiin!” His name left your mouth in a whine as you pounced on him, climbing onto his lap. Despite his one word answers, he reached for you hips naturally. “You’ve been acting strange since the ride back to mine.” You paused to side eye him, sounding snippy yourself now. “Maybe you should’ve just gone home…”

“No,” he answered immediately, clinging to you tighter. “No. It’s nothing.” You raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. He hesitated. “Do you think Hoseok’s funnier than me?”

You stared at him for a moment, a bemused look on your face, because no, that couldn’t he it. Could it? How adorable. “What kind of question is that?”

“Is that a yes,” he pouted, dropping his hands from you. His jaw tightening.

“Not at all. It’s a reply of confusion.”

He sighed. “You’re delaying”

You had to laugh then. He was being ridiculous. Was he really self-conscious about it? Hoseok was a funny guy, he knew how to entertain, but it wasn’t something you took notice of much. You leaned in, making sure Seokjin was looking at you and spoke slowly. “No. I don’t think he’s funnier than you.”

It didn’t work. In fact, he averted your gaze to look down at the arm of the sofa. Pout in his voice. “You were laughing all night at him. Ignored me when I said something. I’m used to the guys brushing off my jokes and never laughing, but you…”

Wrong. You had not been ignoring him all night, but he sounded so dejected you really did think he believed it. You cupped his cheek. “I always laugh at your jokes.”

“Yeah, probably because you think you have to.” Voice a mumble, you rolled your eyes.

“Have I, or have I not always thought you were funny?” You’d been laughing because of Seokjin for as long as you’d known him. Even when you didn’t want to admit it. “You’re much funnier than Hoseok. Namjoon? No question. Never met someone so unfunny.”

Seokjin actually managed a little smile at that. Your lame attempt at being funny yourself.

“Yay. That’s what I want to see. A smile.” To emphasise, you pulled the corners of his mouth up with your thumbs.

“Get off,” he grumbled, but there was now a gigantic grin on his face. “I just need to make sure, y’know? My humour is all I have.”

You scoffed. “Shut up.”

“Okay, humour and face.”

You leaned in once more, tone sincere. “You have way more important qualities.”

“Great.” He sighed. Fairly dramatically. “Now you’re calling me unfunny and ugly?”

But mouth already open in argument, he was kissing you with an amused chuckle, not knowing you’d never let him forget the day he worried Hoseok was funnier than him…

After a few weeks the novelty of going outside wore off, and soon you were back to staying in. Sharing time between homes, although yours was the preferred, living alone and all. It got pretty domesticated some nights, cooking together, back hugging him as he cut onions because you complained it made you cry. When you said you binged TV too much, you weren’t playing. Somehow you’d completed The Vampire Diaries and were onto The Walking Dead now. Zombies made you a bit uneasy, but actually you found yourself getting quite into it. So into it you searched spoilers ahead of time, too guilty to tell Seokjin your secret. It turned out he was doing exactly the same thing behind your back… You’d both found out your favourite character was soon to die, and reading it had already emotionally broken you, so for now, binging was paused.

Not that you had much time these days. College was kicking up a notch. You had a final piece that needed to be finished by the beginning of February that was a large percentage of your grade this year and Seokjin seemed swamped with assignments and tests. Along with a part-time job, it was a struggle to find some time to spend together. And that’s how Seokjin convinced you to join the gym again. It was a hard no at first, but he put up a good argument… You could hang out together while he worked and you found not everything was completely body destroying there… You could keep up a worthy enough pace on the treadmill. Look somewhat passable on the elliptical… They were both also very great vantage points for some light viewing (perving) of your man… Squats really were invented for him. Just no one tell him that because he’d get a big head…

Caption: The only plus side of going to the gym 🏋🏻‍♂️🍑🤤🥵 43 likes

Linaa: GROSS Linaa: can you not publicise your weird kinks 🤮 You: @Linaa were you or were you not going on about Jimin’s booty two nights ago ???? You: @PJM tell your girlfriend to shut up PJM: Guys 😩😩 me and Jin really don’t deserve this Seokjin_Kim: WHEN DID YOU TAKE THIS?!

He may have seemed outraged but that wasn’t what he sounded like over text two minutes later…

Jin💞 (5:47pm) So I hear you have a thing for my butt ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“You know I can’t control myself,” you told him later on that night when he’d come over, pinching said butt as you hugged.

“Stoppp,” he whined, bottom lip jutting out but he didn’t sound very believable.

“What? I can take full advantage of butt squeezes now.” It wasn’t like he hadn’t been doing the same. You try getting to sleep with two hands cupped firmly around your ass. It got annoying after a while…

He shook his head slowly. Like he was disappointed. His arms still slung around your waist though and a small smirk itching its way across his mouth. “Twisted. Should’ve known… I still get nightmares.”

You met his eyes, a glint in them. You knew exactly what he was referring to. To avoid all the crude details, let’s just say an experiment might have occurred…to see how much pleasure one could derive from the prostrate gland… “Shut up. You’re the one who brought it up, so like, obviously you enjoyed it.” You moved in slowly as you spoke, looping your arms around his neck, a grin on your face.

He sighed your name quietly. “I’d enjoy anything if it was with you.” Dead romantic over some anal fingering. No sarcasm. It really was. You lips were centimetres apart. So close you could almost taste him, but then he pulled away abruptly. “But that’s besides the point. You obviously told Lina–mfphh!”

You couldn’t wait any longer. Kissing him was your favourite pastime, and well, there had been a lot of kissing this past month. Lots of cute kissing. Chaste or stolen. Soft and gentle. Slow. Fast. Lots of fast kissing. Messy and wet. Eager, sometimes impatient. Lots of heavy breathing, warm bodies and ruined underwear on your part… Although Seokjin had his fair share of problems in that area too. An overactive erection. Taking it slow didn’t mean you couldn’t kiss until you were overheating, grind until you were shaking… Grope until you were moaning.

You were straddling him on the couch doing just that when you heard a voice calling outside your door. Sounded like your mom but god, that would be the worst thing ever.

“Yoo-hoo! Are you in?”

Nooo. It really was your mom. Who needed a cold shower at a moment like this? You were pulling away from Seokjin immediately, hazy mind clearing like magic. No one wanted to be caught getting frisky by a parent. It had happened once a couple of years ago and you in no way wanted to relive that.

“My mom,” you groaned at Seokjin, answering the puzzlement on his face.

It quickly turned to panic. “Oh shit. What?” You nodded, quickly getting off him to make your way to the door. “Where are you going?” He panicked harder.

“To open the door.” You laughed. “Can’t leave her out there.”

He jumped up. “Hold on. Hold on. My dick”s half hard.” Luckily he did remember to keep his voice down, shoving a hand down his pants. “Shit. Try fully hard.”

“Hide it.” You hissed, not bothering to check what he was doing as you turned your back to him and ran for the door. He was a big boy (HA), he’d work it out…or not…

You took a deep breath, smoothing down your hair as you composed yourself and pulled it open. “Hello mother. You do realise most normal people ring the doorbell.”

“I did.” She sassed you right back. “You took too long.” Really? You must have missed that…too distracted. Oops. She walked inside, stopping when she saw Seokjin stood awkwardly by the coffee table. “Oh.”

You took a glance at him, eyes wide, like a rabbit caught in headlights. You mean, it could’ve been the erection, but also, this was the first time he was coming face to face with your mother. You’d been too flustered to realise that before you’d flown open the front door. Hadn’t had time to reassure and ease him. Poor guy.

“Mom, this is Seokjin.” You introduced, walking towards him for some moral support.

“I know who he is.” She smiled at you, before turning to him. “It’s so nice to meet you finally.” Ugh. That was right. You’d spent a lot of time talking about him these past few weeks. Mostly done subconsciously when you were still in the “friends” phase. Yeah. You didn’t think she bought it either… Especially when you told her you used to “be involved” in the past but things didn’t work out. What? You couldn’t call it hooking up could you… It was a nicer way of putting it. Sort of. She’d been eager to meet him for a while now, ever since you’d started dating. Probably why she’d shown up without notice…

“Hi.” Seokjin smiled. You moved closer to him. Reassuring him without touching him directly.

“Even more handsome than his photos.”

You groaned loudly. “Mom, you’re embarrassing him.” And you. For multiple reasons. Yes. She had made you show her pictures.

She shook her head. “Nonsense. What are you two up to then?”

She was looking at Seokjin when she asked so he really had no choice but to reply. “Uh… Uh, we were just… just hanging out.” The smile on his face didn’t look too natural. You nudged him. Hopefully enough to settle him.

“Seokjin had a late class so he’s only just come over. We were gonna watch some TV.” You helped instead.

“Oh. Sorry for interrupting.” Like hell she was. “You’re a business major, right?” Seokjin nodded, curious as to how she knew. Uh oh. “My daughter’s told me all about you.”

“She has?” He sounded surprised. Good surprised. Like a lot of gloating could come of it later surprised. And of course, even when he was still inwardly shitting himself, he turned it around, charming your mother expertly. “That makes me nervous.”

“Only nice things of course.” Your mother reassured. “She never shuts up about you.”

“Mom!” You exclaimed. This had been what you were dreading. You changed the subject real fast. “What are you doing here anyway?” It worked.

“Leftovers.” She replied, pulling out a plastic Tupperware box from her purse. “Your dad was cooking again and thought we were a family of ten.” You chuckled, taking the container from her. Classic. You were sure he’d always thought that. You mom took another look at both you and Seokjin, a smile on her face, before she spoke again. “Well, I’ll leave you both to it.” Seokjin couldn’t help himself and laughed at her choice of phrase. You elbowed him. Childish fucker.

“Thanks for the food, Mommy,” you smiled sweetly.

She laughed. “Oh, now you’re nice.”

“I’m always nice!”

“That’s what she tells me too,” Seokjin piped up, making your mother laugh.

“Nice meeting you Seokjin. Eat some too.” She told him, directing her head to the container. “Sorry for my husband’s cooking.”

He chuckled. “Nice meeting you too.”

You followed her to the door, nodding in agreement when she told you she’d see you soon. Like you said, life had been busy. You were spreading yourself thin, but not thin enough to go visits your parents.

“That went well,” Seokjin said as soon as you closed the door. He sounded relieved.

“It did.” You agreed, placing the leftovers on the kitchen counter before walking towards him.

“Didn’t have time to overthink too much. Which is odd considering I was hiding a terrified boner.” You chuckled, wrapping your arms around his neck. He reached for your waist. “It’s gone now, thank the lord.”

“You’ve been overthinking it?”

He nodded “Yeah. Meeting parents is a big deal.” That made you smile. Cute. “Thanks for talking about me so much though. It definitely worked in my favour.”

There it was. One simple gloat. He couldn’t help it. You pushed at his shoulder. “Shut up.”

“Okay, I’ll keep my ego down.” He laughed. “Whew. Meeting your mom, huh. It’s getting serious.”

“Giving you permission to back out now.” You rolled your eyes, but despite playing it cool you couldn’t help but feel giddy at his words. Serious with Seokjin. It was all you’d ever wanted.

He scoffed, leaning down to place a kiss on the tip of your nose. “Never. You’re stuck with me now.”

You tried suppressing your smile but failed. You managed to sound casual though. “Doesn’t seem like a bad thing.”

He smiled back and you hugged him to you. Couldn’t help it. He squeezed your middle as he pulled away to speak. “Maybe it’s time you met my parents soon?”

Oh boy. Serious it was.

Not surprisingly, Lina couldn’t comprehend the taking it slow aspect. She knew your history with one another. Heard a few stories she’d rather forget. The fact you were starting from the beginning again – well, you’d never really started from the beginning in the first place, but y’know… The fact you were waiting boggled Lina’s mind.

“I really did think you’d last a week holding out.” She said tonight, girly night in taking a turn with boy talk. Check you two out, couldn’t last an hour without talking about your men. What had you both become?

“Like how come you don’t have all this built up sexual tension going on? It’s a love story like no other. You both waited so long to get together, you should be tearing off each other’s clothes. Going at it animal style.”

“Oh, my god,” you laughed. “Okay, maybe too much wine for you.” You took her empty glass and placed it on the coffee table. She had never been able to handle wine. It turned her into a different person. Tonight, one who was very passionate about Seokjin and you, it seemed…

“It’s not that I don’t want to have sex with him.” You explained. “Of course I do. But…” You paused, face flushing a little. Maybe the wine was getting to you too. “I know when it finally happens, it’s going to be amazing. The waiting is only going to make it better.”

That made you both giggle, giddy from the wine and sex talk. Lina reached over for some chips, crunching loudly as she thought something over in that (drunk) head of hers. “Maybe he lost his dick in an accident in between?”

“He didn’t lose it in an accident!” You laughed. It was like you hadn’t gone into full detail about last night’s vigorous palming activities not half an hour ago. He still had his dick alright.

Lina shrugged, stuffing her face again. “Maybe he has stage fright…”

She really was determined to get an explanation. Jesus, who’d have thought she’d wanted you to have sex with Seokjin this much? “I don’t know, I find it cute,” you shrugged yourself. He definitely wasn’t suffering from a case of stage fright. He’d had a healthy case of Erection every time your tongue slipped into his mouth. “Romantic.” You mused. “It’ll happen when the time’s right. Until then, we’re building this whole other layer to our relationship.”

If truth be told, you’d never felt like this in a relationship. All the others seemed like a joke looking back. Even with Yoongi. You’d been searching for these feelings with the wrong guy. Too dumb to see you could have everything you’d ever wanted with Seokjin. You’d never felt this comfortable. This happy. He really was the other half of you. You didn’t care how cheesy that sounded. Even if maybe you wouldn’t admit it to him yet.

“Yet he hasn’t made it official…” Lina couldn’t help herself. Muttering under her breath but loud enough for you to hear.

“Will you stop,” you told her. She was also waiting “patiently” for Seokjin to put a label on it. You, not so much. At this point you knew you were both serious. You were in a relationship, just not technically confirmed, and that was okay. Even if you were yet to call him your boyfriend out loud. (Read: You really wanted to.)

“What?” She feigned ignorance.

“Being negative. Me and Seokjin are happy. Everything’s amazing.”

Lina couldn’t stop her smile then, seeing your grin. “I know. I like seeing you like this. I’m just… You know me, I’m suspicious of everything.”

“Suspicious when it comes to Seokjin.” You corrected lightly.

She laughed but didn’t deny. Baby steps. She’d gone from despising the poor guy to practically ordering you to make a move in a year, so it was definitely getting somewhere. You wouldn’t forget she’d referred to you both as a “love story like no other” in a hurry though… You wouldn’t let her forget either!

“Oh, by the way,” she began, changing the subject – kinda. “We haven’t had a chance to double date yet… My parents are out of town for the weekend. What do you think about this: Lina’s Fancy Dinner Party. Got a ring to it, right?”

“I’m shitting myself. I’m actually shitting myself.”

“Will you calm down,” you laughed, hooking your arm with Seokjin’s as you stood in the doorway to Lina’s parents’ house. “You’re going to have fun.”

He’d been dreading this night ever since you’d told him about it a couple of days ago. It wasn’t just Lina and Jimin now, she’d also invited Yumi and her boyfriend, Taeil. The impending doom was real and the whole Uber ride here had been pretty amusing. You’d never seen him so nervous. It was cute. He really, really wanted your friends to like him. Not that they didn’t already, but could you tell him? No! He wasn’t listening.

“Fun? I’m pretty sure all your friends hate me.” He muttered, before his eyes widened comically. “This isn’t some kind of satanic sacrifice, right?”

“You’ve seen too many horror movies,” you tutted. You glanced at him, sighing softly when you saw the pitiful look on his face. Despite the jokes he really was anxious over this. You unhooked your arms and rubbed his back before straightening the collar of his dress shirt. This was a fancy dinner party after all. There was a dress code, and you weren’t complaining. Seokjin looked hot all fancy like this.

“Only Lina had some… misjudged opinions on you, and it’s past tense for a reason.”

Seokjin pulled a face. He still wasn’t too sure about that, but the kiss you landed on his mouth seemed to help.

“They’re here!!” Interrupted by the clicking of the door and Lina’s loud voice, you broke apart. “Found them kissing on the doorstep!”

You rolled your eyes and clasped Seokjin’s hand, giving it a supportive squeeze. “We hadn’t even rung the doorbell yet. How did you know we were here?”

“Porch light.” She replied flatly, pointing at you both and stepping aside to let you in. “None of that once you get inside. This is a sophisticated dinner party.”

“Got you,” you nodded, walking into the lounge to find Yumi, Taeil and Jimin already sat around the coffee table. “Here I was thinking it was some type of orgy…”

“Now that sounds like a party,” Taeil cheered.

Everyone laughed at that – apart from Lina of course… and surprisingly Seokjin, who looked too scared to even think about joking around… Or perhaps he just didn’t want to piss Lina off. Suck up.

“Get a room you two,” Yumi teased, wiggling her eyebrows as she watched you and Seokjin from over her wine glass. The dinner had been a success – Lina could actually cook. Who knew? Not you because you ordered takeout every time you hung out – and swiftly after that you’d moved onto entertainment. In the form of drinking games. Seokjin had seemed to loosen up by then, actually beginning to enjoy himself without any nerves. He and Lina had a few conversations. He’d even made her laugh which you thought he got rather smug about… After a good old game of beer pong (which wasn’t very fancy at all) you quickly moved onto ‘Never have I ever”, which of course had turned the three of you girls into a cackling mess. Things were said, things were confessed, and you were sure the guys didn’t know how to handle the details.

Now it was getting late, you were all winding down, sipping on wine or beer. Lina and Yumi were sharing the sofa with Jimin and Taeil, and Jin and you were curled up on the love seat. Definitely a little drunk, giggling and flirting together. His hand casually up your dress a little as he stroked your thigh.

“Surprised they got out of one long enough to come here,” Taeil commented.

“What do you expect? It’s only been a few weeks. They’re fresh in the feels.” Yumi almost pouted, turning to her boyfriend. “Babe, do you remember when we were like that?”

“How long have you been together?” Seokjin asked, and you kissed him on the cheek, proud he was making conversation. You’d been hanging out with his friends so often now it was normal, so it made you happy to know the same was beginning to happen with yours.

Taeil grinned and got Yumi into a bear hug, rubbing his cheek into hers as he answered. “One year, one month and 8 days. Want me to add the hours, baby?”

“Shurrup,” she shook him off her, but she was grinning from ear to ear at his dramatic display.

“Hey, Lina. Will that be us one day,” Jimin teased, draping his arm around her shoulders.

She played nonchalant, sipping on her wine. “Possibly.” Jimin just laughed, greatly amused by his girlfriend’s antics. It was obvious to anyone that she had fallen for him hard. Despite her cool façade.

“You guys were together before though, right?” Taeil directed the conversation back to you and Seokjin.

Your eyes widened, unsure on how to answer. “Uh, kinda.” Little did he know that every single thing you’d both answered during ‘Never have I ever’ had been about one another. Poor innocent Taeil…

“Big history,” Lina explained, puffing out her cheeks as she exhaled. They were bright red. She was drunk. Could tell by the way she was keeping everything that came out of her mouth short.

“I was there when they first hooked up,” Yumi added excitedly. “Well, not actually there. I was at the party.” Valid correction. “I didn’t know until a few months later though.” A pause.

“Honestly though, it was such a shock. Who would have thought it?” She continued. You shifted a little uncomfortably. You were never good with attention. “You and Kim Seokjin. Mind blown. I always thought you’d rather take a vow of celibacy than get dicked down by. Kim. Seokjin.”

Okay. So everyone was drunk, and here you were feeling like you were sobering up now. The sound of Jin’s laughter beside you eased you a little. “Let’s quit with the full name talk.”

Everyone laughed bar Lina, who turned her head to Yumi. “That’s why she kept it to herself for so long. He was her dirty little secret.”

“Hardly,” you piped up. You got she was kidding around, but for some reason you felt defensive. “Just know what you guys are like.”

“Well I think it’s cute how you guys decided to give it a proper go,” Jimin smiled. “You’re good together.”

Before you could say thanks, Lina was butting in. “I didn’t say they weren’t good together. They are! All we have to do now is wait for Seokjin to pop the question…”

“Marriage?” Taeil asked uncertainly.

“No, you idiot,” she laughed. “Girlfriend! They haven’t made it official yet.” You felt Seokjin freeze beside you. You didn’t dare look at him. Lina was in deep shit when you got home. Wrath over text was a scary thing.

“Oh, well no rush,” Taeil shrugged. “It took me two months to ask Yumi to be mine.”

“That’s true. Remember?” Yumi directed at you and Lina. “I was getting pretty panicky.”

“Awh, I’m sorry babe.” Taeil apologised. You all wrinkled your noses as they kissed, thankfully distracting the conversation long enough for it to change.

Surprisingly thanks to Lina herself. It was her groan that did it, as she buried her head into Jimin’s shoulder. “My head hurts and I need to stack everything in the dishwasher.”

“Didn’t you say no more wine a few nights ago,” you chuckled, throwing a cushion at her. She yelped dramatically. When you put your hand down, Seokjin clasped it, entwining your fingers. You snuck a smile his way. Knowing he wasn’t too traumatised by the direction of tonight’s conversation relieved you.

“Yeah Lina. C’mon. Lightweight,” Jimin prodded her. “We can clean up everything in the morning.”

“Noo. I think I’m going to be hungover tomorrow.” She whined. “Can someone help?”

“I will,” Seokjin offered. Shocking you, and everyone else in the room while he was at it. “Maybe some water will help you too?”

“Lina doesn’t hate me,” Seokjin sang in the back of the Uber. En route to his place.

You were wrapped into him, warm, cosy and a little sleepy. You couldn’t wait to crash out in bed. “Oh?” This piqued your interest though. He just sounded so pleased.

“Uh huh,” he murmured, kissing the top of your head. “We talked while in kitchen.” Oh okay. So he had ulterior motives when he helped her load the dishwasher. “She’s just suspicious of me. I get it. I don’t have the best track record. I think I put her mind at ease though.” He squeezed you happily.

Even though you were curious about their conversation you didn’t pry. “She still embarrassed you in front of everyone though.” And you… She still wasn’t let off the hook regardless of how drunk she was.

“It’s fine,” he sighed. “She put my mind at ease too. Told me I was worried for no reason.”

You frowned. “Worried? About what?”

“Asking you something.” Your heart stilled. Oh shit. He squeezed you again, murmuring in your ear. “Wanna take this further. These last few weeks have been amazing, huh?” All you could do was nod. You were getting all hot, cheeks a rosy hue no doubt. Forgetting the Uber driver could probably hear everything despite Seokjin’s low voice. Not that you really cared.

“I already think of you as my girlfriend. Just too scared to call you it. In case I jinx things. In case you’re secretly sick of me already.”

You managed to give him a tiny scoff. Voice shaky. “As if.”

“So…” He whispered. “Will you do it? Be my girlfriend?”

You swallowed, composing yourself and glanced at him. “You’re really asking me in the back of an Uber?”

He grinned. “I spot a moment and I’m going for it. Lina’s orders.”

You laughed, cupping his face. “You know you don’t have to listen to her, right?”

“I know,” he nodded. “She was just right this time.”

You turned, resting the back of your head on his shoulder. “I’ll only be your girlfriend under one condition.”

“Hm?” He placed another kiss on the top of your head, both arms wrapped around your chest.

“You’ll be my boyfriend.”

He hummed in contemplation. “That doesn’t sound too bad. May have to think about it for a few hours or so though. Maybe a night–ooff.”

You cut him off with a whack to the chest, twisting around to face him again. “It’s a yes or else.”

He curled his tongue against his cheek. “That’s hot.” You waited patiently. “Of course it’s a yes.”

“Wait. Wait, wait,” Seokjin half panted, breaking away from your mouth. It was a wonder you’d made it as far as his bedroom, let alone his bed. As soon as the Uber had dropped you off, you were on one another. It had finally happened. You were Seokjin’s girlfriend. He was your boyfriend, and now everything was right with the world.

“Let me do something.” He reached for his phone in the back pocket of his pants, rolling off you to unlock it and start clicking away. “Check your phone.”

On cue it pinged, still in your purse which had been slung on the floor. You sat up and rushed for it curiously. Laughing along the way because what was he up to? You laughed even harder when you read the notification.

Kim Seokjin sent you a relationship request.

Facebook official, huh? Check you two out. He came up from behind you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders, his breathing still a little heavy. You had quite literally kissed his face off. “Was just gonna ask you like that but I thought it might me too lame.”

“Aw. That would’ve been cute.”

“Fuck,” he cursed, looking regretful. “Second guessing the Uber now.”

“Shush.” You murmured, leaning back to kiss him softly. “I liked that too.” You were sure the driver really appreciated the cringe fest too…

Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.

The noise from both your phones interrupted you this time. You begrudgingly pulled away, looking down at the screen.

Jung Hoseok commented on a post you were tagged in: HOLY SHIT Jung Hoseok commented on a post you were tagged in: IT’S HAPPENING IT’S HAPPENING IT’S HAPPENING Hwang Lina commented on a post you were tagged in: FINALLY thnk me later Seokjin 😘 Kim Namjoon commented on a post you were tagged in: marriage next 😉

Seokjin read them over your shoulder, laughing at your idiot friends as you groaned. “God. You’ll get scared away before we even start.”

He hugged you closer, kissing your cheek. “Not a chance in hell. Wanna elope?”

“Shut up,” you giggled. Despite your joking around, you didn’t think you’d ever been happier. You wanted to tell him that but then his mouth was on your earlobe. He knew that was your weakness. He was on his back and you were straddling him as soon as his tongue slipped inside the shell. If he wanted to make you all hot and bothered, a heads up would’ve been nice. You definitely weren’t tired anymore. Even more so feeling his hands drag up your thighs where your dress had ridden up. You viewed him from above, realising you must’ve tugged at his shirt a little too hard already. It was stretched around the collar, a button undone. He looked amazing. You tilted your head to the side. “Did I tell you how hot you look in a dress shirt?”

He paused to think. “Hm. You may have mentioned it a couple hundred times.” As he spoke he grabbed your butt, pulling you down to level with him. You giggled, letting him kiss your face like something possessed. He paused before he got to your mouth, murmuring sweetly. “You looked beautiful tonight.”

You pouted. “Don’t use big words to brag on my shitty vocabulary.”

He looked at you questioningly, amusement dancing in his eyes. Maybe you were still a little tipsy. That paired with the giddiness of tonight’s turn in events and it really felt like you were floating on a cloud of happiness. But it was really Seokjin’s body. Firm and large underneath you.

You really couldn’t get enough of his mouth. His taste. You think you’d kissed him way over a couple hundred times since you’d gotten (back) together. He argued and said it was more. You didn’t know, you had trouble keeping count. You couldn’t get enough of him. All perfect and pretty and amazing. He was yours. For real this time. Confirmed. Boyfriend. You smiled into his mouth at the thought again.

“What?” He chuckled, grin just as wide. He knew what. He felt it too.

“Tonight is the best night ever.”

“You’re drunk.”

“Am not.” You quipped. “You’re drunk.”

“Am not.” His lips were mashed with yours. “I’m just really fucking happy.”

You slipped your tongue into his mouth, not caring if you turned it sloppy. You wanted it to be messy. You wanted to just let yourself go. To give into every little feeling of pure joy you had in your body. It was wet and warm and sticky, and Seokjin’s hands were naughty. They slipped up your dress, over your ass, rubbing the flesh and pinged your thong with two of his fingers. Your stomach flipped. It wasn’t the first time he’d touched you like this in a while but it was the first time he’d been so blatant about it. The snap of elastic stayed ringing in your ears as you moaned. You uncontrollably rubbed against him. He grunted into your mouth and something throbbed.

You broke away from his mouth with a pop, sitting up on him wobbly. “You’re naughty, Kim Seokjin.” You scolded.

He just looked smug, a shit eating grin on his face. “Not anymore than you are.” Had you pulled at his hair without noticing? It looked a little wild. Regardless, you were getting distracted again. His hands still up your dress, gripping your ass as he rubbed you against his crotch. He was fully hard. You felt it strain against his pants and press into the pulsing between your legs.

“Mario is watching us,” he whispered. “Wants to be me.”

“Ew.” You wrinkled your nose. You’d forgotten all about that creepy figurine.

“Want me to turn him around?”

You shook your head. “He can watch.” If truth be told you couldn’t bear it if Seokjin got up right now, even if he was coming straight back. You circled harder into him, such a simple pleasure never feeling so good. Moisture grew and collected in your thong. Barely. You were a few minutes away from spoiling his dress pants. He held your weight as you leant back, letting you grind to your heart’s content.

“Does it feel good? Grinding on my dick like that?”

“Mhmm.” It was all a moan. Couldn’t think to do anything else. Such a simple way of words but it had you burning up. You’d missed what his mouth could do to you. You’d missed him like this. Memories came back, swarming the front of your mind. Clouding it. So when you felt gravity leave you, back landing on the mattress with a silent thud, you were momentarily stunned. Pinned down, wet and horny.

“What are you doing?” You gasped, which flew into a moan when you felt his crotch thrust into you.

He spread your legs, dress riding up even more, bunched up around your waist. “Protecting your modesty. Mario’s a pervert.” To give it to him, he really did want to sound causal, but his voice was strained, breathing hard and you rubbed against him shamelessly.

It was odd. You were beyond frustrated. Craving him like you never had before, but this became enough. Feeling him solid against your barely covered core, starting to thrust into you like he was actually fucking you. It was hot. It was working. It was enough. Just as pleasurable as his dick would be inside you.

Needy and raw. Messy and crude, but just so amazing. Pent up feelings finally getting their own way. You clung to him, wrapped your legs around him, rutted against him obscenely until you were a moaning, sweaty mess. Simulating sex desperately, because you needed him and wanted him any which way.

Seokjinnn,” you whined, unsticking yourself from his mouth to catch your breath. Back arching as he gripped your legs from behind the knee, thrusting forward hard.

He was panting, sweat collecting between his brow which was furrowed in effort. “C-can you cum like this?”

“Y-yeh,” you nodded eagerly. It was great you were on the same page. Sweet relief was close. It tingled through your body and curled your toes. You were so turned on you’d cum from anything right now. “Can you?”

“I think so,” he breathed into your cleavage. Mouth now distracted with kissing the tops of your breasts. Your nipples were painfully hard, desperate to be freed from the dress and desperate to feel his tongue. But not tonight. “Actually.” Seokjin knelt up, shaky hands undoing his fly and pushing his pants down to the middle of his thighs. His erection strained against the underwear and you throbbed at the sight.

“Now I can,” he grinned goofily. He moved closer, and you flattened one of your legs to the bed, letting him slide in between it and the one still folded at the knee. “I’m so hard,” he laughed breathlessly, a hand reaching down to grip his dick. You followed, unable to help yourself. Squeezing tightly. Greedily. “Fuck.” He sounded impatient and desperate, rushing to thrust into you once again. You moved your hand to his hip, holding it tightly as he held onto your knee, gaining leverage to begin rubbing into you hard. “This feels so good.” He astounded and you nodded wildly in agreement.

You were close. Not long left, and as soon as he began circling into your core, swollen and dripping by now surely, that was it. The final push. “Don’t stop.” You begged, reaching for him any way you could. “I’m g-onna… I really am…” You trailed off, laughing in disbelief.

“Yeah?”

You nodded again, words now failing you as the heat built up, body shuddering to its orgasm. Seokjin didn’t relent, circling harder as you came, until he couldn’t take it any longer and collapsed onto your body.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He was spent. Exhausted, sweaty and near orgasm himself. You shifted a little so he didn’t rub against the sensitivity still hot between your legs and let him finish off on the inside of your thigh. You could tell by how his body stiffened, a moan like grunt dragging from his throat. You moaned back, wrapping your arms around him tightly as he burrowed his behind your waist. You clung to one another, both masses of sweat. Heavy breathed and unable to talk for a little while.

It was Seokjin that came to first surprisingly. Despite practically dying to get you both to cum. He laughed into the crook of your neck, and you looked down at him curiously. He rolled off you a little. Hair stuck to his forehead. “Jesus fucking christ. Feel like a teenager just done humping my pillow.”

You raised an eyebrow. “You don’t do that anymore?”

His eyes widened. “You do?”

You nodded as you wriggled free from him fully and pulled down your dress. Your underwear clung to you. You felt extra sticky now that you’d cooled down. “It’s a valid form of masturbation.”

“Well, shit. You’ll have to show me sometime.”

You laughed, sitting up. Seokjin stayed lying down, looking up you with the softest look in his eyes. He was definitely exhausted from all the humping. “Shit. Sandeul isn’t here right?” You hadn’t thought about that before, severely distracted as you’d rushed into the apartment.

“I dunno. I can’t remember if his door was closed or not.” Jin rolled onto his back, shimmying his pants up. “Oh well. Not like he wasn’t used to it before. Won’t take him long to adjust again.” He shot you a smirk and you giggled. “Wanna shower or something?”

You groaned. It was too late to shower, and you were tired again, but there was no way you could stay like this. You jumped off the bed, grabbing your stuff that had a permanent home at his place already. “I’ll clean up quick and get ready for bed.”

“I’ll go after you.” He pulled a face, adjusting his crotch. “Bit gross.”

Laughing, you stopped beside him and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Wanna go first?”

“Nah. It’s fine.” He smiled. “I need a moment anyway. Whew.”

On your way out you paused by Mario, twisting him to face the wall. You winked in Seokjin’s direction. “For next time.”

You were tucked up in bed trying to stay awake on your phone when Seokjin came back from his shower. “Near naked?” Damn. What did you do to be gifted with such a sight. You’d seen him come out the shower a few times since you’d gotten together, towel slung around his waist, or watched him get dressed before you went out somewhere, but he hadn’t gone to bed in just his boxers. He better watch it, you’d jump his bones again.

“I’m so hot.” He moaned. Tell you about it. Although you didn’t think he meant that type of hot. “That was a bigger work out than the gym.”

“Not used to it anymore.” You teased, pulling up his side of the duvet so he could get in. As soon as he did you were attached to him, cuddling up. “You lied to me by the way,” you murmured, pulling away as you dragged your hand down his chest.

“Hm?” He looked confused.

“Remember you said you didn’t have abs anymore…”

He took a moment to think before he scoffed. “That was ages ago, but these are not abs regardless.”

“Are to.”

“Are not.” He tried to pull the comforter up, attempting to cover his body. “This is just normal. I mean, I can try and get them back for you?”

“Shut up,” you exclaimed. “Really, Seokjin?” You clung to his neck. “I don’t care about things like that. I like you any which way. I really like you.” You emphasised, placing a lingering kiss on his cheek.

“Get off,” he chuckled. You could feel his grin underneath your lips.

You buried your face in his neck instead, showering it with little kisses. “I think you’re hot, Hot, HOT anyway.”

He was laughing loudly now, grabbing your elbows to try and push you away. “Tickles,” he whined. “You’re crazy.” You sprung from him as soon as he began tickling under your armpits. Relenting instantly, head falling back into the pillows with a cry.

“I think you’re hot too,” he whispered, leaning over you, mouth now on your neck as one of his hands ran up your side, cupping your boob gently. “Grinding on me. Making me lose my shit. Only you could make me cum like that… In my fucking underwear.” You giggled, squirming under him as he growled and nibbled your earlobe. You were heating up again, a fool to his words. But of course your body had to betray you. A yawn escaped. You didn’t even know you’d been holding it in.

“You’re tired,” he commented, pulling back to push stray strands of hair away from your face.

“Mmm,” you admitted, eyes heavy and begging to be closed.

He kissed the tip of your nose. “Let’s go to sleep.”

There was no point arguing. Besides, it just felt too good being wrapped up in Seokjin’s arms once he’d flicked the lamp off. “Goodnight girlfriend,” he murmured in your ear, shaking you a little when you only hummed in response, half asleep. “Say it back.”

‘Goodnight girlfriend.”

“Nooo,” he whined, squeezing you.

You giggled, entwining your hand with his. You were just teasing. “Goodnight boyfriend.”

Written 2019. Reworked/Edited 2020 Please refrain from posting my work elsewhere. No translations allowed. © floralseokjin 2020

#seokjin smut #bts smut #jin smut #seokjin fic #bts fic #fic:crystallised #floralseokjin:writings

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buckthegrump · 5 years

Text

Where You Go - 3

After a run-in with some hitmen, you find yourself with a new protection detail.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Word Count: 1423

Warnings: gun stuff (but it ain’t what you think)

A/n: (Infinity War/ Endgame who?) if you want to be tagged please look at the link in my bio

“Good, Agent 99,” the agent told Y/n as she disarmed another adult more than twice her size.

Y/n looked up at Agent Melinda May who was training her. Y/n had been found by Coulson on the streets. When May found out she took the young orphan into her custody and started teaching her the basics in fighting.

Y/n had excelled at it and for that May was glad. It took a weight off May’s shoulders knowing that the young girl would be able to mostly defend herself if she were to find herself in trouble. Because despite her best efforts, Agent May was developing a soft spot for the young girl, so much so that Y/n had started calling her mom in when they were at home and May hadn’t done anything to stop it.

May was teaching her to not rely on weapons because there may come a day when she found herself in the middle of a fight without one. May said she wanted Y/n to be prepared for any situation.

There was a break in the drills as one of the leaders of SHEILD came into the gym and walked up to May and Y/n.

“Director Pierce,” May greeted him almost coldly.

He didn’t return the greeting. Pierce looked from May to Y/n then back to May.

“We have an assignment for her,” he said. May looked at him in horror.

Y/n looked at her guardian, even she knew that she was too young to go on a mission. She wasn’t even old enough to get into the academy yet. May looked back at her and Y/n could see the fear in her eyes.

“She’s too young,” May voiced. “What mission could you possibly have for her that an adult could not do?”

Pierce put his hands on his knees lowering his face to Y/n’s level. He had a smile on his face as he asked, “How would you like to go to a dance school?”

When Y/n woke it was still dark outside. Praying to a god that she didn’t believe in, she looked at the clock on her bedside table only to see that it was barely even 2:30 am. With a happy sigh, she put her head back on the pillow and fell back asleep.

Not two minutes later a loud crash came from across the hallway. She groaned and covered her head with her pillow before remembering who now lived across the hall from her and she sprang out of bed.

Without thinking, she walked towards the front door and grabbed the handle of something from her kitchen before opening her door and barging into Bucky’s place.

It took a minute for the scene in front of her to register. Bucky was standing in the middle of his kitchen pots and pans scattered across the floor. He was reaching up to grab something out of an open cabinet standing on his tippy toes. He looked at her frozen in his spot. Her brain didn’t have the capacity at that time to wonder why he hadn’t attacked her the moment she walked in the door unless he heard her door open.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Y/n asked lowering her makeshift weapon.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” He asked a little sheepishly.

“Yeah you woke me, you woke the whole fucking block,” she said in a rage and looked down at the pots and pans then back to the open cupboard. “Who the fuck puts pots and pans in an upper cabinet? Are you a fucking psychopath?”

“I was gonna make some soup,” he shrugged.

“I don’t get how someone who was trained to be stealthy could make so much noise at 2 am.”

“Why are you holding a bottle cleaner?” Bucky asked.

Y/n looked down at what she’d grabbed from her kitchen to find that in fact that she was holding a bottle brush. She pointed it at Bucky in a threatening manner, or as threatening as one could get with the dumbest weapon in the world.

“Fuck you, next time you can die,” she told him and walked away from him.

Not bothering to lock her door she fell back into her bed and drifted into a dreamless slumber.

This time when she woke up, the sun was shining through the windows. Luckily it was a Saturday morning and Y/n had no plans so she was perfectly content to lay in bed until she was good and ready to get up. And she would’ve if she hadn’t felt a presence in her room.

Y/n shot up pulling the knife from its spot under her pillow and pointed it at the intruder next to her bed.

Bucky was sitting in a chair that didn’t belong in her bedroom, glaring at her.

“What the fuck is your problem man?” She yawned lowering her weapon.

“You left your door unlocked and didn’t instantly notice when I broke into your house,” he deadpanned. “You can’t claim to be able to take care of yourself if I can break into your home so easily.”

“I will remind you that you woke me up at 2 am because you don’t know where pots and pans go in the kitchen,” she said. “Everyone knows they go on the bottom shelves so if you drop them they don’t make as much noise!”

“Get up, you need to learn self-defense.” Bucky got up and began to leave the room without the chair.

“Take the chair, you moron!” Y/n yelled after him but he left it there and she was too lazy to move it herself.

They were at the shooting range in the Avenger’s compound. The compound was almost completely empty except for maybe some straggling cleaning employees doing their job and Natasha who was watching from the observation room.

Bucky was standing in front of a table littered with guns. Y/n looked at the guns in disgust as the Sergeant explained everything there was to know about each one and which one she was most likely to come across and which one would be easiest for her to learn to use.

Y/n stopped paying attention three minutes in and was thinking about what the next thing she should have her students read. She was thinking something a bit more fun than making them read any of the quote/unquote classics because she personally found them to be incredibly boring.

Bucky clearly caught on to her zoning out during this particular training session and slammed his open palm on the table to get her attention. Y/n blinked her eyes and turned her attention back to Bucky who was yet again glaring at her.

“Do you ever make a face that isn’t a glare?” She asked before he even spoke a word. “You know that if you keep scowling like that you’ll get wrinkles. You should really smile more, you’d be so much prettier if you smiled.”

“Is your life a joke to you?”

“Yes,” Y/n said but he ignored her answer having more a rant to go on.

“Because we are risking our lives to make sure that you stay safe and I don’t know why we continued to bother if you’re just going to treat this all like some cosmic joke,” he said, “You need to learn to use a gun in case I’m not there to protect you.”

“I don’t like guns,” she stated simply.

“Doesn’t matter you need to learn how to use one,” he repeated.

Y/n stared at him for a moment before picking up the Glock 17, after disabling the safety she fired six shots at one of the targets hitting the bullseye every time. She turned back to Bucky, put the safety back on let the magazine slide out of the handle and removed the bullet from the camber all without missing a beat.

She set the parts of the gun back on the table and looked at a shocked Bucky.

“Just because I don’t like guns doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use a gun, Barnes. And if I need one, I’ll take one. But you will not convince me that I need to carry one at all times.”

Without another word Y/n turned and walked out of the shooting range not waiting for Bucky’s response.

“Nice going, Barnes,” Natasha muttered through the intercom. Bucky gave the redhead an unimpressed look.

#Bucky Barnes x Reader #Bucky Barnes Fic #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky imagine #bucky barnes imagine

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blue-bismuth · 4 years

Text

Case #0161210

i have been egged on to post this so! here’s what i consider my tma oc’s first real involvement with everything going on. it’s formatted like a statement but pretty much everything else i post here about them will be in my more traditional writing style

tws: mentions of trans/nbphobia, people acting uncanny, animal harm/death (no pets), kidnapping, cannibalism

EDIT: here’s the ao3 link if you wanna read it there!

-- -- --

Avery

You’re sure this isn’t too much of an inconvenience? I-I don’t have to talk about it. You probably still have more statements to get through.

Archivist

If you ask me that one more time, I won’t take statements from you ever again.

Avery

Christ, alright, I’ll stop. At least I won’t get in trouble, ‘cause I got everything assigned to me done already…

Archivist

Aren’t you fast.

Avery

It’s a blessing and a curse. Curse in that I get chewed out if I’m caught fucking around on the office computer.

Sorry, sorry, getting off topic. I’ll make the statement now.

Archivist

Statement of Avery Linwood, a finance worker in the Magnus Institute, regarding their time living in the rural town of Crestfallen, between the spring of 2014 and the summer of 2016. Statement taken direct from subject, December 10th, 2016. Statement begins.

Avery

Man, okay. So, as you can probably tell, I’m not from England. I was born and raised in America, Wisconsin to be specific. I graduated college in 2009 because I had to get 150 credits to qualify for CPA exams--although I guess in the end it did jack shit, ‘cause I only ended up staying in the U.S. for five years.

Archivist

Sorry, could you clarify what a CPA is?

Avery

Oh! I-it stands for Certified Public Accountant. It basically means that I can provide accounting services to the public alongside working for companies. And since I’m here now instead of my home state, I have to do continuing education if I wanna keep that license active. I guess it makes sense, but it’s still extra work, y’know?

Sorry, getting off topic again. I feel like that’s gonna be a theme for this statement.

Archivist

I’ve had my fair share of ramblers. I’m guilty of it too.

Avery

I mean, still. Anyway, that shit kinda drove me into the ground. I never managed to get enough money to rent a decent office space so I could be independent, and the closest I ever got to that was working in assurance services. I would’ve stayed in forensic accounting, but every office I was in had a terrible culture. One of my ex-bosses told me that I, quote unquote, “had too big of a rack” to be anything but a girl. So...yeah.

Archivist

And I assume this is why you left?

Avery

Pretty much. I wasn’t too keen on moving anywhere inside the U.S., everywhere was either too bigoted or too expensive or too crowded...you get the picture. I guess I just wanted something different, something where I didn’t need to sit in an office all day and handle people’s taxes or whatever. I’ve always loved those kinda video games where you move to some old farmhouse and clean it up, start taking care of crops and livestock, making friends with the townspeople...it was a form of escapism I could never really afford--honestly, unless you’re a big dairy farmer, you’re not gonna get anywhere stable in Wisconsin.

I don’t know how I found my way to Crestfallen. I think I saw a post on Tumblr about how, if you promise to restore an ancient castle--the ones that’re all over Europe--you can live in it for free, and there was a link to some website where you could register to do that. I guess it held more than castles, though, ‘cause I saw a section for old farmhouses. The one in Crestfallen was the cheapest, and apparently I would even get a financial reward from the mayor if I helped out enough. It was a moment of weakness, I guess.

I don’t tell my parents a whole lot of stuff anymore unless they ask, but I felt the need to tell them I was moving to a different country. They must’ve seen it as odd, but they knew I wasn’t doing too well in my...current line of work. They gave me their well wishes and I left for England.

I guess the first thing that tipped me off was getting there. I didn’t think anything of it, but when I told the bus driver--coach driver for you guys--where I was going, he seemed...surprised. He didn’t know the place at first, that it wasn’t even on his map. I pointed it out on my phone, and he said that the nearest stop was Billingham in County Durham. I said that was fine, that I could probably catch a taxi the rest of the way. I don’t know if he believed me, but either way, he accepted my ticket and I boarded. There wasn’t anything unusual about the ride up, and at the time, I just guessed he didn’t know because the town was so small.

When I finally arrived in Billingham, I managed to flag a taxi down and asked the driver to go to Crestfallen. He also seemed surprised, but it must’ve been for completely different reasons. Whatever they were, he shoved it down and told me it was going to be a fairly expensive taxi ride. That was fine by me, I had already converted all of my money to pounds anyway. So I loaded my luggage and got in the back.

Thankfully, he kept silent most of the way through. He told me when we were about five minutes away from the stop, and followed it up by telling me that if I wanted to turn back now, he wouldn’t charge me anything.

I realized what he meant: I had been paying attention to my book and not to the town itself, which was covered in a heavy fog. I hadn’t noticed any fog when I got to Billingham; the skies were clear all day. Maybe it was just foggy west of the bus route and Billingham--I wanted to get away from my old life so desperately that I was denying any possibility that my new life would be worse.

I shook my head and said that I was staying. The taxi driver laughed, a short, almost bitter laugh. Told me that I was gonna die in Crestfallen one way or another before he dropped me off. I paid him and took my luggage, still questioning what exactly he meant.

The odd thing was that, after I stepped off, the fog had lifted. I mean, the sky was still overcast, but I could see clearly. I was in this...little clearing, with a path that presumably led to the town, and another one apparently leading to the farm. A man was waiting in the clearing, and he approached me. Said he was the mayor, and that he wanted to show me to the farm.

I had already expected the farm to be a mess, honestly. I saw the pictures. There were scattered branches and stones throughout the farmland, wild grass growing everywhere...if there was even a previous owner, they must’ve left a long time ago. I wanted to ask the mayor, but he just ignored me. At the time, I thought he was just busy and that he had better things to do. He gave me a random bag of seeds and told me my tools were in the farmhouse. And then he just left.

I wish I could tell you more, but I just can’t remember a good chunk of my time there. My therapist is pretty sure it’s a symptom of my PTSD, which...if there’s even more traumatic memories my brain has blocked out, that’s scarier than anything I can remember.

Everything was just so uncanny. Most of the people always moved around like robots, their eyes glazed over, until I talked to them. And then they were all too perky. Even the people I were told were grumps acted like it. There were things that were superficially different about them, but they all acted so similarly, it felt like some sort of hive mind. I don’t know if that’s what was going on, and honestly, I don’t want to find out.

I say most of the people, because there were two I felt like I could trust. There was a huge lake on the outskirts of the town, and these two people lived on the beach. One of them lived in a small cabin, her name’s Odelia Stevens. She’s a writer, and she had gotten herself in the unfortunate situation where she couldn’t afford to move out, once she realized what was going on with the town. The second was an old fisherman living by the docks, his name was Langdon Averill. I’ll...get to why I say “is” for Odelia and “was” for Langdon later.

I think meeting them was the thing that kept me from falling into the town’s clutches. They were considered outcasts, and the town seemed to pretend like they didn’t exist. I never saw any of them go to the beach, and when one of them tried to talk to me after I left, they would tell me I just appeared out of nowhere.

I didn’t end up farming much. I would buy from the general store, at first, but when I harvested the crops, they were...god, I can’t think of the words. They were mangled and sickly, even though I knew the soil at least looked good. The seeds the mayor gave me, I think they were supposed to be parsnips, but the leaves were so shriveled, and the parsnips themselves were hard and spotted, and they were so small. When the mayor came to my farm to gather the harvest, I didn’t know whether or not to give...any of what I’d grown to him. But he saw them and he was overjoyed. He took one of those parsnips and bit right into it, dirt and spots and all. And he loved it! The only things that really prospered was food that I foraged from a nearby forest, and that became pretty much my entire diet. I took a sample of the soil from the farm; I have it with me if you want to keep it for testing or something.

Odelia and Langdon told me a lot about the other townsfolk, mostly so I wouldn’t outwardly freak out. I learned that they hate that the hard way--I once saw a child, couldn’t have been more than ten years old, shove a live robin down his throat and swallow it. I screamed, and the child’s mother descended on me, scratching me with her nails. Even though they were short, they were almost deadly sharp. I still have the scars on my cheek. She was screaming at me, over and over, screaming that he was just having a snack. It must’ve drawn the attention of the other townsfolk, because I could hear more voices yelling at me, telling me that I would be cooked in “his pot,” whatever that meant. Suddenly, the clock in the center of town rang and, like a reset button, they all stopped and went back to their usual activities. Thankfully, I had already met the two at the beach, and Langdon patched me up in his house.

I learned that they ate live birds a lot. They really seemed to like raw meat, flies or rotting be damned. I liked my meat, still do, but at least I cook it first. They would eat raw chicken and vomit in the streets afterwards. I never saw anyone die, funnily enough.

They had celebrations every so often. I hadn’t properly learned from Odelia and Langdon yet, so I went to the first one in the spring. I think it was something for Easter, but all they did was crack a bunch of eggs in this huge pot and take turns drinking spoonfuls from it. When I declined, I could feel that they wanted to attack me, but something prevented them from ending the celebration in bloodshed.

After that first spring, I spent a lot of my time at the beach and in the forest. The forest wasn’t completely free of the townsfolk, as one of them ran a ranch near the edge of that, but I needed it for food. Eventually, Langdon taught me how to fish--I couldn’t exactly subsist on wild leeks and berries forever. It was a nice way to pass the time.

By that first winter, though, things started to change. So long as snow covered the ground, the townsfolk would come in the night and write things in it. Sometimes I wouldn’t see them if the snow covered it up, but otherwise...it was always things about how I had betrayed their father, more references to his pot, that I would melt and cook while they feasted on my bones with said father. I wish I could remember more, Jon, I’m sorry.

Archivist

Do you remember anything else?

Avery

Well...sometime around the first fall, Odelia taught me how to make seeds out of the food and flowers I foraged. That was how I knew it wasn’t the soil that made the crops suffer, the seeds that I had made turned out fine--sometimes they were even better than what I had foraged. I ended up farming more for myself over anything, even though one of the points on that ad was that I had to be generous and donate some of my crops to the townspeople. I doubted it would make them happy, though. And I don’t really like hurting or killing people unless they’re actively attacking me or other innocent people; if my crops were going to poison the town, I didn’t want to risk anything. Chances are it would’ve just made them madder.

I tried to raise some chickens, though. Despite how much I didn’t want to interact with either of these people, I asked the carpenter to make a coop, and I got some chickens from the man running the ranch. By all accounts, they acted like normal chickens, and I tried to feed them good hay by harvesting the grass, but their eggs were still terrible: gray yolks, incredibly thin whites...I love scrambled eggs, but I could never use those. I eventually sold the chickens back to the ranch and had the coop taken down after a few months in the summer. I didn’t even want to try raising cows.

I wanted to leave so badly by the time that second winter rolled around. While Odelia and Langdon would often visit me and we would spend time on my farm or in the forest, by that time there was some odd force preventing them from leaving the beach. I witnessed it myself; anytime they would approach that border of trees separating the beach from the rest of the town, it was like they got...stuck. I don’t know if you play video games, but you know when you reach the border of the game map, and you just can’t go any further despite there not being anything physical stopping you? It looked like that. I could come and go as I pleased, but it was like...like the townspeople had rejected their existence so hard they couldn’t even penetrate the town they had constructed so carefully.

I think the final straw for the townspeople was late spring, the last year I was there. They had this sort of dance deep in the thick of the forest, apparently only accessible when the dance was going on. One of the men around my age there was the town doctor--which I doubt he was actually licensed to practice medicine, since I don’t even think he was thirty at the time--and he asked me to go to the dance. I’d never been asked before, in Crestfallen or in general, but I really didn’t want to go. I had no idea what kind of fucked up shit would happen there, and I didn’t want to find out. So I said no.

That night, just before I was about to go to bed, my door was broken down. I don’t remember how many people were there, but it was definitely the doctor and at least four other people. They descended on me like vultures, only instead of eating me they were savagely beating and kicking me. I was crying, and...sorry, hold on a second.

Archivist

Take your time.

Avery

[They nod, silently wiping tears away from their face]

Sorry, I...I have a bad habit of going nonverbal when I start crying. That, and I sound incomprehensible when I try to talk, and that’s especially bad considering you’re recording this. Anyway, I think one of them brought a bat down on my head, and I was knocked unconscious. I woke up the next morning in this weird white dress and a flower crown on my head. I could feel thorns on the stems threatening to pierce my already sensitive head. As my vision came into focus, I could see that my hands and feet were bound with rope. Actually, I wasn’t wearing anything but that dress, but when I tried to ask where my clothes had gone, I...I couldn’t make words with my mouth. Just a gentle sigh. It was a moment later that I saw the doctor holding my clothes, all neatly folded, approaching a blazing bonfire. Before I could even try to yell out, he threw them into the flames and turned towards me, watching me with cold infatuation as my clothes burned away.

Soon enough, the mayor approached me and grabbed my wrists, pulling me to the center of what looked to be the actual dancing part of the area. It was from here that I could see the whole field: the bonfire in the middle, separating what looked to be a buffet from the dancing. Various townspeople were milling around the buffet or looking at the bonfire, but when the mayor whistled, everyone turned to face me instantly.

They must’ve all known what would happen, because without a word or even a gesture from the mayor, the doctor stepped forward and grabbed my hands in his own. I tried to look at the ground, but the mayor held a hand under my chin so I would look my apparent dance partner in the eyes.

I hated every second of it. I was basically just getting tossed around, since I couldn’t move my feet. I could hear the townspeople chanting and playing instruments, but it wasn’t anything I could decipher. That or I just can’t remember, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. Slowly, more people joined in on the dance, although from the snippets I could see, their dance was totally different than whatever the doctor was doing to me.

It felt like hours, but the sun’s position hadn’t even moved in the sky when the dance was done and I was released. I didn’t get much time to relish it, though, because I was knocked unconscious again. When I woke up, it was night, and I was lying naked on top of my bed.

I knew at that point that I had to get out of there. But I didn’t want Odelia and Langdon to be trapped either. I needed to do something. God, I can’t believe I forgot to mention this, but the entire time I was there, I could never get a signal on my phone. And it wasn’t like I had run out of data or anything, I was on a by-the-gig plan at the time. At least I wasn’t wasting my money, but it still frustrated me. Most of my days after that dance were spent walking all around the town limits, trying in vain to even get one bar. I’d downloaded one of those rideshare apps forever ago, but I never used it, and I figured now would be the best time to see if anyone could show up. I didn’t have much faith, considering my previous experiences getting to Crestfallen, but dammit, I had to try. I did not want to die in this place, and I didn’t want Odelia or Langdon to either.

I know you’re probably wondering why I didn’t just walk the road back to where I came, but to be honest, I didn’t want the townspeople following me. None of them had cars, as far as I knew, maybe a motorcycle owned by one person, but I still feared that they could track us down anyway. Plus, I didn’t want to get turned around and end back up in Crestfallen again. So, I figured calling someone over would be the best solution. I really didn’t want to rope anyone else into this mess, but it had the highest chance of succeeding in my eyes. And well, I’m here right now.

I finally got two bars on May 31st. See, part of Crestfallen is on a huge hill, and on the peak of that there’s a train that comes through--no stops, unfortunately, and I never heard or saw one go by while I was living there. Either way, it was there that I finally found a signal. So, I told my plan to Odelia and Langdon: that as soon as I found a way to get them out of the beach and onto the single road that went out of Crestfallen, we were leaving. Langdon seemed more hopeless than Odelia, but they both eventually agreed.

As it turned out, Odelia was on her high school’s swim team, and she had kept that up. She found that, so long as she swam to where the river flowing through Crestfallen emptied into the lake and kept her body underwater the entire time, she could escape into the rest of the town. With the added bonus of this river emptying out in the forest, she and Langdon could have some secrecy coming up. Meanwhile, I could take their luggage beforehand and keep it at my house until they were ready to go.

They were ready June 7th. The three of us stood at the top of the hill, Odelia and Langdon soaked, while I got someone to pick us up. Once the ride was approved, we raced back down to my house to get our luggage and wait for our driver. Unfortunately, the rest of the town seemed to have picked up on our plan.

Five minutes before our driver got there, we could see a mob approaching us, and they had weapons. Crude ones, but I could see kitchen knives glinting in people’s hands, sharpened sticks and stones and bats. They didn’t want to just beat us up this time; they were either going to indoctrinate us or kill us.

Despite his age, Langdon was surprisingly good at defending us against the mob. While we were able to avoid things being thrown at us, and at a couple points we threw them back to keep individual members from attacking us, Langdon was actively keeping them away with his suitcase. Two minutes before our driver got here, he was able to wrestle a butcher’s knife from a woman’s hand--the same woman that clawed my face so long ago. It felt like slow motion, watching him throw the knife right in the center of the woman’s forehead.

As she collapsed into a heap, the mob paused. They looked at the dead woman, and their faces contorted into anger. One of them cried out, and the mob descended on him just as the driver pulled up. Langdon screamed at us to save ourselves, and Odelia pulled me into the car. As she told the driver to go as fast as she could, I watched helplessly as the mob tore chunks from Langdon, and he screamed in pain as they ate his flesh.

When the driver dropped us off at the bus station, I gave her a five star rating and a tip that basically doubled the cost of the ride. She didn’t sign up to see a man be cannibalized, so it was the least I could do for potentially traumatizing her.

As we waited, I asked Odelia if Langdon sacrificing himself was something he planned. She shook her head, but she did remember hearing him say that he would rather he die on this mission over either of us, his rationale being that he was just an old fisherman, that we had more potential than he did out in the rest of England. I don’t know if he was right, but I can’t exactly change the past.

When the bus drove up, we boarded. I ended up sleeping most of the way down, which gave Odelia the chance to rest her head on my shoulder. Even though it was on a bus, it was the most comfortable I slept in the longest time. She must’ve had family or something in Liverpool, since that was where she requested to be dropped off. At first, I didn’t really know where I wanted to go. I didn’t know what to do with myself anymore; all of my plans for the future had been dashed by Crestfallen. I ended up telling the bus driver to bring me to Greenwich, since it seemed far enough away from the center of London that I wouldn’t be overwhelmed. I applied for temporary housing there while I looked around for jobs to tide me over. It took about a month for me to get my own place, and as you probably know, I got a job here in August.

Archivist

That’s...certainly a lot. Do you have any way of contacting Odelia to perhaps get her perspective on Crestfallen?

Avery

I have her number, yeah. Though I’m not sure how willing she’d be to talk to you about it, considering whenever I’ve tried to bring up her time in Crestfallen, she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Archivist

Well, I suppose that’s understandable. As much as I would want to send someone up there to investigate, it would likely take a day at least, and if your claims are true, it would be very dangerous for--

Avery

What, you don’t believe me?

Archivist

You said yourself that you don’t remember a whole lot. But considering some of the...more horrific things you’ve told me about Crestfallen, I don’t want to think about what’s been blocked from your memory due to trauma.

Avery

I...I guess. I wouldn’t want anyone going out there either. Not without a weapon, and I doubt you can have those on public transportation.

Sorry. It’s just...wanting to tell someone about this was part of the reason why I applied to work at the Institute. Not all of it, but...I was kind of worried you wouldn’t believe me if I was some stranger. Although, I guess now’s not much better.

Archivist

[Sighs] Avery, I know I might act like I do, but I don’t hate you. I’m not around you enough to hate you.

Avery

I have a feeling you will if you get to know me better. It happens a lot. [Sighs, getting up from chair] Well, if that’s all you need from me, I should go.

Archivist

For now, yes. I’ll reach out if I need additional information.

Avery

Cool. [Footsteps, door opens then closes]

[CLICK]

Archivist

[CLICK]

Despite the...awkward ending to that statement, Avery has been surprisingly cooperative in regards to follow-up questions. They asked Odelia Stevens if she could come in and give a statement, but apparently her work schedule would make that difficult. However, Avery has arranged a video call with her and myself, so maybe she’ll be able to give us some more insight.

As it turns out, Crestfallen is a registered town in County Durham, despite there being very little information about...anything involving it, really. I don’t know how I could convince anyone to go there, even if they don’t know about it. I don’t think I could live with myself if I did that.

I really don’t know all that much about Avery, now that I think about it. As much as I don’t want to trust them, I’ve been trying to let my paranoia go. It’s strange, you’d think knowing them less would give me more reason to be paranoid about their intentions, but...quite the opposite, really. I don’t know what motivation they’d have for faking something on this scale, especially when their job is so removed from the more paranormal aspects of working here.

I just don’t know. And I don’t know if that’s a sign I should get to know them better, or keep them at arms’ length.

Recording ends.

[CLICK]

#the magnus archives #tma #tma oc #tma fic #idk if i'll post this on ao3 or not but we'll see #i might just for the extra validation

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whosmorales · 5 years

Text

Dance with me - Spider Noir x Reader

A/N: thanks so much for the request @halfshadows6 ! I honestly wanted to originally add this into my first one but I’m glad it’s getting a fic of it’s own! I don’t think I’ll make it all that linked to my first fic so anyone can read it without having to read the other one :)

Warnings: fluff? Swearing. Sexual jokes. Generally pg-13 language with a really fluffy story line.

It had to be at least 11 pm by now. Miles and Gwen were at their school all week, Peter B was visiting MJ, and Penni and Peter Porker always seemed to pass out by 9:00.

That left you and Peter Noir. You were working on a draft of an art project you and Miles planned on spray painting over the weekend, and he was observing. He seemed to be absolutely fascinated by your colored pencils and markers that you used.

At one point, you decided you might as well make conversation with him. You looked over your shoulder so your noses were almost touching, which he seemed to jump a little at. You smiled softly, trying to communicate to him that he could calm down now.

“Hey.” You said pleasantly, keeping your face close to his and keeping eye contact, but making sure to do it gently, not in an aggressive way that could startle him.

He gave you a silent smile and a wave, knowing that if he opened his mouth, he’d sputter out some word vomit. Your smile widened a little and you turned back around to your drawing.

It seemed out of nowhere to him when you asked. “Could you pass me my phone? I want to play some music.” But he complied, grabbing the phone on Aunt May’s wall and holding it out to you. You still had your back turned to him before he coughed to get your attention, then you turned around to see him intently holding the old telephone, waving it to you, dead serious.

You tried to hold in your laughter, which only resulted in a loud snort noise to come out of your nose before you were almost rolling on the floor laughing. You didn’t know why it was so funny to you, but the fact that you needed sleep desperately and the clock was almost at midnight now probably contributed to it.

“What?” He said, sounding genuinely confused, with a little bit of hurt in his voice. You quickly collected yourself and looked up at him again.

“No no no no no” you said, frantically waving your hands. “You’re fine. I’m just so tired that even Peter B’s dumb jokes would be comedy gold to me right now.”

His expression softened as he watched you snatch your phone off the counter.

“that’s a PHONE?” He exclaimed, causing you to giggle a little more.

“Yep. And I’m gonna play some music for us on it.” You grinned. “I’m thinking the Beatles, only about 30 years after you, you’d like them.”

That earned you a smile from him. He looked down for a second to clean his glasses, and he smiled at you again as he pushed them up his nose, though it was so subtle you hadn’t noticed.

You scrolled through YouTube before landing in twist and shout and grinned widely pressing play.

“Come on Mr. Monochrome! Dance with me!” You said as you twirled to the iconic song playing. He rolled his eyes playfully before grabbing your hand mid spin and pulling you towards him gently, spinning you under his arm. You giggled and glanced up at him, feeling yourself flush when you noticed the grin on his face.

That’s how your guys’ tradition started.

Every month you’d choose a new decade of music in no exact order, and you’d find different times during the month to dance to the music like idiots. Sure, Miles liked to tease you about it, but you’d remind him that he wasn’t exactly one to talk, considering a girl had to shave half her head because of his powers.

Fast forward to today. It was a Friday night, and it had to be past 12:00 by now, and you had chosen the 70s, one of your favorite musical decades. You sang bohemian rhapsody to yourself quietly while you scrolled through YouTube looking for a song, which caught Noirs attention.

“If I’m not back again this time tomorrow, carry on, carry on.” Your voice sang in a way that sounded absolutely angelic to him, causing him to basically melt on the spot.

“You uh- you have a really pretty voice Y/N” he stuttered awkwardly, which caught you off guard, since you hadn’t noticed him listening.

You grinned at him. “Thanks dude, I used to play at open mic nights, but I haven’t really gone since my spider woman duties took over my life. Not that I’m complaining or anything, I mean I love you guys.”

He cut you off. “Well you sound beautiful. What’s that song?” He looked like he’d heard an angel sing to him, and he felt like he had too.

You quickly clicked bohemian rhapsody on YouTube, since you were already searching for queen songs. You held your hand out to him, but it felt different than other times you guys danced together. You were almost like a middle school boy asking a girl to a school dance for the first time, shy and innocent. He placed his hand in yours, holding it for a few seconds before the song started.

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

You swing your arms around his neck when the slow piano started to play and swayed slowly, looking down and singing quietly. You were just wearing an old Spider-Man tee shirt and gray sweatpants, but to him you were a goddess.

As the guitar solo began, he broke the silence between you two by yawning softly. You made eye contact with him and gave him a cheesy smile. “Hey” You said, trying not to laugh as you did your best impression of Miles. He chuckled and smiled at you. You heard a couple piano keys before realizing where the song.

“Oh I fucking love this part!” You whisper shouted.

I see a little silhouetto of a man

Scaramouch Scaramouch will you do the fandango?

Thunder, bolts of lightning, very very frightening me

“Galileo!” You sung happily, in a high pitcher voice, which surprised Noir. He wore and expression that screamed I have no idea what the hell is going on but I’m far too tired to question it.

Before you knew it the song came to an end. You basically went through a quote unquote emotional roller coaster with Peter Noir, switching between totally platonic slow dancing, rocking out, or mumbling ‘nonsense’ as he’d call it.

You let out a long yawn and leaned into Noirs side, feeling his arm wrap around you and sinking into his touch.

“I’m gonna sleep on the couch, care to join me?” You muttered only half sarcastically. To your surprise he nodded before picking you up bridal style to walk you over there, making you burst into a fit of giggles while he just smiled tiredly. He set you down next to the couch and lie down on the couch, patting the bit of space next to him. You smiled weakly and grabbed a random blanket from the floor, practically throwing yourself on the couch, you felt Noir press a soft kiss to your forehead, and before you could realize what he’d done, he seemed to be knocked out.

The next morning, you woke up to whispers nearby you, but refused to open your eyes.

“Do you think they...you know?”

“Miles that’s disgusting! Plus they’re both fully clothed.”

“Yeah well they’re practically one person right now so excuse me if it’s a little surprising when those two are the first thing we see when we walk through the door!”

“Shhh she’s waking up dumbass!”

You instantly recognized the voices of Miles and Gwen and began to push yourself up from the couch. Except, it wasn’t the couch. You looked up to see Peter Noir, his glasses hanging from his hand slung over the side of the couch, the other hand around your waist, holding you close. His lips brushed your forehead when you looked up and he was snoring lightly.

“Hey Gweeeeen, hi Milessssss” You said as causually as you could, considering you were dropping Noir’s arm off of you and pushing yourself off his thick sweater.

You heard Miles mutter something to Gwen along the lines of “you owe me five bucks” that was responded to by an annoyed grunt while they both walked out.

A few minutes later, you watched Peter Noirs eyes flutter open. He looked so...peaceful. It felt so natural, spending the night in his arms. He pressed a quick kiss to your cheek, which you doubt he’d realized, because if he had it probably wouldn’t have felt so calm.

“So.” You said, feeling so comfortable that it was almost not awkward when he kissed your cheek. “Do you wanna listen to bohemian rhapsody again?”

#spider noir x reader #spider noir #spiderman imagine #spider noir imagine #spider man noir #sm:itsv #spiderman into the spiderverse

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practically-a-bat · 4 years

Text

Written scene #6

I promise I’ll write something less angsty at some point.

Background:

About a week ago, Lucien and their vampire friends got attacked, being harassed and exposed to the sun, leading to serious injuries. Lucien was the only one to recognize the attackers, them being people they go to school with, but they haven’t told anyone but Elijah, and refuse to tell him specifically who was there. After recovering from the physical damage, Lucien has come back to school.

Warnings: Mentions of fantasy discrimination, mentions of violence

All the students flooded slowly into the classroom, taking their seats, talking and laughing, getting their books out. Lucien, Elijah, and the rest of the band were among the last to enter. The classroom was crowded, so they were jammed in the doorway for a while.

Lucien took the moment to look around. They hadn’t even been gone for that long, but it felt strange to be back at school. The vampire support center was dark and quiet, and it was a rarity to have more than ten people at a time in the entire building. The vampire population of Lucien’s hometown was rather small.

But now they were at school. The lights were bright, people were loud, and there was a lot of them. The teacher didn’t even attempt silencing the class yet, and was instead getting her own laptop and materials out. When she noticed Lucien in the doorway, she smiled and nodded.

Lucien nodded back but quickly turned away to look at all the other students present.

Lucien’s eyes scanned the classroom. They weren’t sure why they were looking for them. Maybe Lucien hoped to show them that they hadn’t gotten to them. Or maybe they were hoping to not see them at all, and realize they were skipping class. Or maybe…

Lucien’s thoughts came to a halt when they spotted them.

They were talking loudly and laughing, taking up much more space than needed, acting like they owned the place. Just like always. There was nothing new there.

But now they looked different in Lucien’s eyes.

Their smug grins were no longer annoying. The obnoxiously loud laughter wasn’t irritating. The way they just were, rocking back in their chairs, keeping their bags on their desks, making other students squeeze themselves into tight spaces in order to give them more room, it was no longer something Lucien could just roll their eyes at and move on.

Now they were terrifying.

Lucien didn’t see their classmates anymore. They didn’t even see bullies.

They saw the people who laughed in their face as Lucien screamed in pain that those people had caused. They saw people who had attacked their best friends, beaten them down and mocked them.

Lucien didn’t see a classroom with a teacher and dozens of students. They saw the bright shining sun and the pavement they were lying on. They saw the ashes slowly forming from their skin.

Lucien stumbled backwards and dashed out of the classroom.

When the teacher tried to shout after them, Elijah turned around to realize Lucien had ran off. He glanced into the hallway and then turned to the teacher: ”I’ll go after them.”

Elijah stepped out into the dark hallway. The lights hadn’t turned on, for the motion detectors couldn’t see Lucien. When Elijah stepped forward to look around, the lights did turn on, and he saw that Lucien hadn’t gotten far.

They were at the end of the hallway, sitting on the stairs, head hanging low and shoulders hunched over. They didn’t notice Elijah approaching.

”Hey,” he said, causing Lucien to flinch.

When they saw that it was only Elijah, they relaxed a bit.

”What happened?” Elijah asked, sitting down next to Lucien.

They didn’t respond, or even look at Elijah. They only looked down at their shoes. Elijah saw that they were shaking, and he frowned.

”Lucy?”

”It, um…” Lucien began, fidgeting with their hands to try to stop them from shaking.

”It was, uh…” they held their breath, ”… them.”

Elijah furrowed his brows and looked back to the classroom they were supposed to be in right now.

”You mean… the people who attacked you?”

Lucien swallowed hard and nodded. They closed their eyes and sighed.

”I thought… I thought I was gonna be okay. That I’d… gotten over it. But, but then I just saw them and I… I…”

”Oh, come on, it’s okay,” Elijah whispered, pulling Lucien close to hold them in his arms. Lucien accepted and leaned their head on his shoulder.

”However long it takes for you to recover is normal and perfectly okay. You’re in no rush.”

Elijah squeezed Lucien tight in his arms.

”And besides, what you went through was… terrible. In a way that I don’t think I’ll ever really understand.”

Lucien’s eyes started watering, but they kept a straight face.

”I’d be pretty damn surprised if you’d have, quote unquote, ’gotten over it’ already.”

Lucien chuckled lightly and pressed their face against Elijah’s chest.

”Yeah, I guess…”

Lucien backed away from Elijah’s embrace and took deep breaths. Elijah smiled, but then sighed with a subtle frown.

”Lucy, I know it’s scary, but… you need to tell someone.”

Lucien blinked at Elijah with a blank expression.

”People shouldn’t do something like that and then just walk away like nothing happened. It’s not right, it’s not fair. Someone needs to know.”

Lucien shook their head: ”N-no, I can’t.”

”Why not?”

Lucien started shaking and stuttering again: ”No, no one would care anyway, and, and, if, if they did and they did get in trouble, they’d know I’m the one who ratted them out. Then, then they would come after me for revenge. I don’t know what they would do to me then, I don’t want to know, I-I don’t know if I would even-”

Elijah grabbed Lucien’s hand: ”Hey, woah, slow down… It’s okay.”

Lucien sighed: ”I’m sorry, I’m freaking out, I just… seeing them… was a… a lot…”

”You don’t need to be sorry,” Elijah said softly. Lucien took deep breaths and squeezed Elijah’s hand.

Elijah wondered for a moment and then looked Lucien in the eyes.

”We’ll figure something out together, okay?” he said.

Lucien looked up at Elijah and raised their eyebrows slightly.

”You don’t have to go through this alone. I’ll help you. And we’ll figure out how to solve this. Together.”

Lucien gave him a faint smile.

”We’re in this together?” he asked.

Lucien nodded: ”Yeah.”

Elijah bit his lips and sighed.

”Can you please tell me, who did it?”

Lucien’s smile fell. They lowered their gaze to the floor and started fidgeting with their hands again. They shook their head and turned back to look at Elijah. He waited, a reassuring look in his eyes, telling Lucien that he would carry the burden with them. It was tempting.

Lucien took a deep breath.

”Okay.”

Lucien whispered three names into Elijah’s ear, hesitating before uttering each one. Elijah took a comforting hold of their shaking hands and smiled.

”Thank you.”

He placed a kiss on Lucien’s cheek, making them smile a bit too.

”I’ll do the best I can to make sure they can’t hurt you again.”

Elijah looked at the clock and then the classroom they had abandoned.

”Do you think you can go back to class?”

”I-”

”Be honest.”

Lucien fell silent and looked Elijah in the eyes. They shook their head.

”No, not right now.”

Elijah nodded and stood up: ”I’ll go get our stuff and tell the teacher I’m taking you to the nurse.”

”Perfect,” Lucien said, letting out a chuckle.

Elijah blew them a kiss before entering the classroom to tell the teacher how awfully sick Lucien felt. Must be running a fever.

The only cure is kisses and cuddles. How unfortunate.

#out of character #writing

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quartetnightsshopau · 5 years

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Chapter 5

The day was almost upon them. After three delayed weeks of renovation, anticipation, and decoration, the shop would be opening tomorrow night.

After putting a selection of lingerie on the mannequins, Reiji looked wistfully out the window. He stared up at their new unlit sign as an unnamed feeling squeezed in his chest.

“Hey, are you done yet?” yelled Ranmaru, shaking Reiji from his daze.

“Sorry Ran-Ran, I was just thinking; What if nobody comes? I mean, was this really a good idea?”

“It’s too late to be asking those kinds of questions,” Ai says as he stacks vibrators on the topshelf.

“Yeah,” Ran says, lining up the leather goods. “We’ve invested too much time and money into this. Hell, Ai quit his job to do this. It’s definitely gonna take awhile to turn a profit from this, but, isn’t it better to do something you have some passion for then to have your soul sucked by a job you hate?”

“Wow, Ran-Ran. That was… really insightful.”

“Shut up,” he says throwing a wadded up blindfold in his direction.

”If you’re done with the lingerie, can you break down all the cardboard boxes to recycle?”

“Sure thing, Ai-Ai,” he says, finally peeling himself away from the window.

Later, when Reiji is locking up the shop, he asks, ”So, did Camus say if he would be here tomorrow?”

“Haven’t heard from him since yesterday,” Ran says, blowing smoke as he leans against Reiji’s green bug. “Said something about a french business.”

“He’s likely lining up his next job,” Ai says, leaning on the other side of the car.

As the sun began casting its first light, Reiji finished locking the shop.

They loaded in the car and drove back in stiff silence. Even though Ai had put blackout blinds in their apartment, Reiji barely slept a wink.

At six pm the next day, the three guys drove out to the shop, an unnamed unease sitting with all of them.

Once inside, Reiji stood by the window as Ran flipped the switches, illuminating the store and the new pink neon logo. Seeing that sign, he let out a small contented sigh and walked into the office.

He turned on the store speakers and started playing a selection of songs he chose one day when he couldn’t sleep. Reiji took the seat behind the register, just as Ai emerged from the break room with a cup of fresh coffee for him.

Ranmaru pulls his phone out of his pocket, dials a number, and walks into the office. A few moments pass and Ran returns, saying, ”Still no word from the quote unquote ‘manager’. Fucker could at least tell us if he’s showing up.”

Reiji stares into his cup as the clock chimes seven. He furrows his brow, downs the coffee, and focuses a gentle gaze on the window.

“It’s our first day. Someone is going to show up.”

Ai glances at Ran, who gives a shrug and disappears into the breakroom. Ai looks at the back of Reiji’s head, remembering the eagerness he had two days prior when they posted flyers all over town. He had wondered how an adult could have that much drive, but now he wondered where all that energy has gone.

“I’ll be in the office. Yell if you need anything.”

“Okay. Thanks Ai.”

And for the next few hours he sat there, listening to the soft upbeat music and watching the cars that pass the store drive into the dark night.

Midway through the night Ran went out and got hamburgers for everyone, but Reiji didn’t even eat a bite.

Finally, the clock rang in five and Reiji stood from his long sat position.

“Ai, I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Can you watch the store?”

“Sure,” he replied watching as the brunette slowly made his way to the toilet.

Once the lock clicked, a soft sob echoed in the tile room. Upon hearing Reiji’s sobs, Ai was concerned, but still wasn’t sure how to comfort Reiji, even after 9 years.

Then, the bell on front door chimed and the crying stopped.

A russell of paper towels could be heard, followed by a puffy-eyed Reiji emerging from the bathroom.

“Welcome,” he says in shaky voice in the direction of a man dressed in all black, with sunglasses and a scarf covering his face. The man says nothing, but in his hands he holds a fairly large plain white box.

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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chronicbatfictioner · 6 years

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A Real Boy - Chapter 8

It took the whole night, as Bruce mentioned, to explain the whole nine yards of their activities to Tim. The whole activity of battling magickal people and creature out to create disturbances - or simply acts of crime that would have garnered unwelcome attention to those with Magickal aptitude.

The research and explaining activities eventually concluded by a lavish dinner that Tim was sure would have required a good sized magickal aptitude to prepare and present and Alfred adamantly stated that he did not use magick to prepare said dinner. By the time they finished dinner, the clock showed 10 p.m., and Tim was seriously ready to curl up in one of the cozy couches and sleep. It was only his sheer stubbornness that kept denying that Bruce would have been right in saying he was in no shape to drive back home.

Jason, however, was not having any of his stubbornness. "Alfred has prepared a bedroom, this is the Wayne Manor that has more security than Fort Knox - literally and magickally; there are more food than I have ever seen in your fridge in the past week. Plus there's a library." he pointed the last one out decisively.

"You may stay here if you want..." Tim grumbled.

"We still haven't figured out how to defeat the Untitled." Jason insisted.

"My eyes refused to comprehend letters anymore. Even if we - I - chose to stay the night, I just simply don't English anymore." Tim retorted.

"I'll try not to summon the demon into your head while I read Latin stuff, no English needed."

"I'm... tremendously amused at the sight of Tim arguing with his familiar, and can't decide if I'm more amused at the argument, or at the fact that the familiar is winning." Dick stated.

"You argued with Zitka all the time, Dick; we just don't hear her answers... That, I can tell you both, is even more entertaining." Barbara quipped. "If you still wish to go home, Dick and I can take you; but I suppose leaving your car here would be a problem..."

"Yeah, it is." Tim pouted. Leaving the car would mean he would have no other mode of transportation to get it back. And since the Wayne Manor ground was out of the public transport lines, he simply didn't want to think of the few miles of walking that he would need to take when he should come back and retrieve his car.

"We don't generally go in and out solo, around here." Barbara added. "Day time, I'd go on my own, it's okay. Night time, especially since I hold the tiara and has no magick within me, I'd rather not risk it."

"The... dark side of the supernaturals don't tend to do well under the sun." Jason explained.

"So the lore did come from facts, after all." Bruce mused. Jason turned and looked at him contemplatively.

"All lores came from facts and truths, Bruce. It's just the matter of who's telling them and how many embellishments they would put into it." he remarked. "Even the story of Pinocchio." he added, smirking a little ruefully.

"Ah yes, Conner Kent; Clark's effigy." Bruce commented idly, and Tim glared warningly at Jason.

"Ugh, don't fret, Timmers. He already knew of your little band of misfits. I didn't say anything." Jason quipped, and then stretched like a cat across the couch he and Tim were sitting on.

"We're not misfits!" Tim protested. "--and you just did say something!" he snapped at Jason.

"No, you're not," Dick interjected. "But you forgot that your friends were relatives or wards of our friends, too..."

Tim groaned, remembering that while his friends - 'band of misfits' as Jason called them - had gotten together on their own as 'orphans', not all of them were literal orphans. Like Cassie, who actually shared the same father as Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman and Donna Troy. The former was known to have made allies with Bruce and Clark and a team called 'Justice League', while the latter was Dick's best friend and had made a team called 'Titans'. Bart Allen might have come from the future, but he was a direct descendant of Barry Allen - who had been in said team prior to his death. Conner, in all obviousness, has connections to Clark and live in Clark's parents' home in Kansas. Rachel, while never had a connection to Bruce, was a member of Dick's previous team before she decided that those in Titans were 'too old' for her 16-year-old self.

"Thanks, Jason, just like Conner had asked us not to do..." Tim groused under his breath.

"I personally was hoping that your coming here was an excuse to form alliance with us," Bruce said. Tim glared at him dubiously.

"We're not... we didn't do anything harmful." he said, hedging. "And no, that's not why I came. I came to let you know of Jason's warning."

"Not help us fight it, then?" Dick asked softly. "Your team has some of the most powerful magi in it, why not help us?"

"You cannot force them, Dick..." Barbara replied. "They need to make the decision for themselves - they're not sidekicks, like you were."

"Being a sidekick taught me a lot, Babs," Dick told her.

"Not being a sidekick also taught me a lot, Dick; and at the end of the day, I can manage fine on my own, yet chose to pick the bigger picture as I see fit." she reminded. "Don't let them bully you into doing anything you don't want to do, Tim. Not even if the bullying came from Jason." she added, glaring at Jason, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey, I'm only bullying him to stay the night so I can peruse the library." Jason offered. "I promise. That's all I wanted." he added when Tim directed what should have been a very effective death glare at him. Hey, said death-glare would have made Conner shriek in horror. Only on Jason, it seemed to be kind of useless. Tim wondered if his glare was defective, or if Jason felt like he was simply looking into a mirror when Tim glared at him.

After about three seconds of glare-off, Tim finally conceded. "Fine, we'll stay the night." Jason beamed. "But just this night. Tomorrow we get out of here at the crack of dawn, or I'm leaving you here!" he threatened. Jason's growled in indignation - Jason was not allowed to leave his Magi behind, but the Magi can make the familiar stay in one place, away from him.

Tim ignored him and turned to face Bruce. "As for my... friends, I can't and won't decide anything on their behalf. I will need to speak to them first and foremost, and that's not gonna happen until this weekend."

Bruce nodded slowly. "I understand."

"Wait, I'm not done. Whatever it is you think we're doing, we're not heroes, alright. We're just kids. We just needed a place that... where we can hang out and maybe help each other with our own problems; you know. We don't need... more problems." he asserted.

Bruce nodded again. "I understand," he repeated. "but I would prefer that you - of all people, considering that it was your familiar who brought in the news - know in advance of what you could be facing and how to face it. Jason might be able to show you books that show possible forms of threats; but you will need to know how to resolve them with the modern world in mind. You simply cannot barge in - no matter how strong you are - without considering other people." was the added warning.

"Oh, I know all about cellphone cams and CCTVs..." Tim started.

"What about the general public? The opinionated ones?" Dick asked. "The ones who talked about a bunch of kids who seemed like they're going to blow up that Drake Islet or make concoctions that would poison the entire Pacific?"

"They're just..." Tim froze. "How did you know of... he's just a jealous little wannabe magi who's not even a homo magi. I mean, he was like, a magician - the rabbit-out-of-a-hat kind of magician. He's..." he sighed. "You folks already know all these, don't you?" he concluded.

"Yes, I have some bots that would change the context of an online mention of you to something... well, more 'teen' activities than 'magi' activities. If things exploded, I'd change it to an experiment gone haywire - not demons being driven back to hell." Barbara admitted. "But if you want me to stop, I will."

"I think you can only ask her to stop when you're a legal adult." Dick told him. "But considering the things he'd said about you and your band of teenage alleged-'misfits', quote-unquote, you'll need to be more careful if you're to appear in public. I know how unpredictable the West Coast could be at times, but..." he shrugged. "...yeah, more careful is all I can say for now."

Tim inhaled slowly and exhaled just as slowly. If anyone asked, he would say he trusted Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon with his life - even before knowing that they had worked with his mom. But there were others he should put into consideration, i.e. his friends.

But then again, there were times where he had hoped he'd known what to do when an emergency should arise. Barbara was right, there were times where he and his friends had needed to appear within the city of San Francisco itself and show their magickal strength to repel things - usually small-timed demons - and make them go back to the hell they came from. Thus far, Tim and Rachel was able to keep cameras and the likes from capturing them - using a lot of reflective surfaces and Rachel's deep-black 'soul self', an astral projection of her soul.

But a few months ago, they had met a guy - probably about a few years older than Tim, who had accidentally unleashed some dark magick due to his ignorance of spells and hexes. Tim couldn't resist berating the guy's ears off, after they managed to contain the darkness. Since then, the guy seemed adamant to discredit them by all means. His photos - obviously - were wrecked and not view-able, but didn't stop him from reiterating the whole event in great detail.

Tim knew that if a non-magi should see the Photogram or Mugbuddy story, they might simply say the guy, Lonnie Machin, has a great skill for storytelling and cute imagination. But a magi who was up-to-date to the world of magick would have seen through the flowery description and noticed what was happening right away.

"I can't promise much," Tim finally decided, realizing that while the demons or random dark magick were virtually 'easy' to handle, it took all of their concentration and metaphorical firepower to handle those and keep themselves hidden from plain sight. The offer of alliance with one of the most powerful team of Magi in the world sounded incredibly enticing, yet a bit worrying. "I'll talk to my friends, and I'll try to present this idea as... unbiased as possible. I don't like the idea of you being... I mean, they don't know you and all. And you're all adults." he reasoned.

"That's fair. You don't want us to influence you too much that you'd lose your own independence and identity," Barbara elaborated. "He's got a point, Bruce," she continued. "They should figure it out as a team, not just because it's demanded of them. They may be young... but we've had this conversation before."

Bruce exhaled slowly, and eventually said, "alright. I shall trust your team's judgment, whatever they decide - whether or not they would ally themselves with JL. But I trust you that we shall never be foes, yes?"

"Yeeeah, as much as Jason said I don't have a sense of self-preservation, I'm not nuts enough to make enemies out of the most powerful team of Magis in the world." Tim rolled his eyes. "Besides, my mom trusted you with a lot of artifacts - oh yes, Bruce, I noticed the door knocker, some hinges, vases, ornaments that should've been placed in a museum. I wasn't sure at first, until I saw the tiara. I presumed she'd given you some of those..."

"...some, yes. Some I've acquired, really. I paid for the digs." Bruce smirked. His sigh brought on a wistfulness to his face that caught Tim a little off-guard. "Jan was... the best, Tim. I am honored to have known her. Her... insistence on doing the right thing could be unnerving at times. But she was more than just a worthy ally. She was a friend."

Tim nodded slowly. But he has made up his mind; he would not 'sell' the alliance, but rather present it to the gang as an opportunity to learn and grow.

His mind and brain, too, has made up something else. Before he realized it, he yawned wide.

"Oh dear," Alfred remarked. "for all of his magickal strength, gentlemen, Miss Gordon, young Master Drake here is still a young 'un, I perceive." he said. "Your chamber is ready, Master Tim, if you wish to turn in now." he offered.

"Yeah, I guess... I guess I will." Tim admitted. "Bruce, Dick, Barbara... thank you... at least for letting me know that my mom was-- wasn't..." he stopped as the lump in his throat started to make it impossible to speak without actually sobbing.

"Tim, it's we who should thank you, and she." Barbara replied, rolling closer to him and tugged his shirt sleeves. As he bent over, she placed a gentle kiss on his temple. "Sleep well, buddy. I'll stay in touch."

Tim just nodded, he couldn't find the words to say when Bruce squeezed his shoulder and Dick ruffled his hair. He definitely welcomed Jason's arm wrapping around his shoulders as Jason begged to be excused and steered him to follow Alfred.

It was only after he'd brushed his teeth and changed to a set of pajamas - his size, which is not too surprising considering Alfred; that he slumped onto the bed and wept. For the mother he had never known; for the hero who had protected more than just her son and husband; for the soul of Janet Drake, that should be set free, if Tim could find it in him to actually forget her.

Jason kept quiet and wrapped his arms around Tim in an embrace as he cried, until he fell asleep.

#Tim Drake #Jason Todd #Bruce Wayne #Dick Grayson #Barbara Gordon #Alfred Pennyworth #BatFam #no-capeAU #Magi!AU #JayTim

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unharmeddrudge · 6 years

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Staying Up Late

A short story for an RP I’m writing with a friend. Besides writing well, they’re also an amazing artist. I, being unable to draw, have opted to just write a lot. I also need to write more as practice. Thus, this. Nothing heavy, just a domestic fluff for fun.

For context: The Soyuzi are a race of Russian space lizard people. Vokachaian is a human ethnicity.

The house is quiet. The TV is off, it’s dark out, and no one has entered or left all day. A faint chill gives the house a temperature that makes blankets quite comfortable. The only significant sound comes from the mechanical clock on the wall.

“Drew, it’s almost eleven o’clock.”

“I know, I know, let me… let me just wrap this up. I’m almost done—you go to bed first.”

The half-Soyuzi eyes the translator carefully from a short distance, across the great peaks and valleys of books and papers surrounding the Vokachaian. He isn’t willing to tread that field just yet. It looks as though a printing shop had exploded, with the boy at its epicenter.

“You say that, but…”

“The longer you talk,” the Vokachaian snaps, refusing to look up from his book, “the longer this will take. Just go already.”

The corner of Sasha’s lips twitch irritably. “Fine. Ten minutes, hurry up,” he says, stomping off to the bedroom in a huff.

Lately, Drew had been pushing their regular ten o’clock schedule to unacceptable limits. He’d been too engrossed in the translation of some damn books, enough to make it feel like he was ignoring Sasha. As much as the half-Soyuzi enjoys watching Drew’s passions stir into a fever (especially at night, in bed), he knows all too well that this sort of behavior is a bad habit that only ends up with a sleep-deprived Vokachaian, and possibly also a sick one.

Sasha falls onto the bed. He can lie there as comfortably as he wants, but in the end, he just can’t fucking sleep. Not without him. The room is cold, as Drew always likes it, but it’s uncomfortable to be alone in. The still and quiet chill is so lonely. He stares at the ceiling for a while, complaining about Drew’s slightly workaholic tendencies, among his other faults. In it, though, he remembers some advice his sister-in-law once gave him.

“When he starts to work instead of sleeping, he’s probably upset about something,” Emily had said one night at the Yodrezhka family household having dinner. Drew had left briefly to buy dessert with his mother. “Trust me, I’ve seen it a thousand times. He did for a few days one time when the kids were bullying him at school, making him buy lunch for them.” She sat back, locking her fingers together and turning them outward to crack her knuckles. “Slept fine soon as I dealt with ‘em, heh.” She smiles, confidently throwing her hair back and examining her fingernails. “He’d done it another time when his last boyfriend broke up with him. He’d lent a book to the guy—never got it back, actually.”

Sasha listened amusedly to the bold young girl. He liked her style. “Huh. Yeah, I think word boy’s done that once or twice, I’m pretty sure. Thought he was just a workaholic.”

“Nah, that boy loves to sleep. There’s always something else. Something’ll be bothering him. Though, I guess work could bother him, too.”

“I see… Good to know, little tiger. But how will I… y’know, fix him?” Sasha grinned, waving a hand in the air.

“Well, look, he’s not one to share his problems so easily. I had my way, and it involved locking the room and playing Jamie Lockensteiner until he fessed up. He hated that stuff,” she smiled back.

“Oh, you’re a cruel sister. His music is terrible.”

“Hey, watch it. He was on the top 20 list in 3284, so obviously, you’re wrong,” she pointed threateningly at him. “Anyway, I suggest a slightly different tactic for you. If he ever gets like that: first, pull him outta work. I mean, really pull him out. Make him forget it exists for a moment. By, heh heh, you know—” She elbows the man suggestively, making a ring in one hand and poking the index finger of the other hand through, “—any means necessary… but just before you get down to the nitty-gritty—deny him! Surprise him with questions, make him talk. Hold your ground, and don’t give him anything until he spits it out.”

“I feel like you been reading too many—what’s it called—’doujinshi’ lately, Emily.”

“No, trust me on this! You just gotta surprise him, and be firm about it. Works one-hundred percent of the time. Promise.”

Sasha takes a moment to pause and thoughtfully reflect on Emily’s advice, formulating a plan. She’s a bit of a perv, but she definitely has some good ideas.

He looks at the clock. It’d been eleven minutes already. Man, he’d been lenient with his time. How nice is that? He gets up and walks down the hall.

The translator hasn’t budged. His brows are deeply furrowed, brown eyes staring into a book, probably puzzling over something esoteric and profound. Maybe.

It won’t be easy to transverse the defensive obstacle course of new and ancient documents surrounding the male. Sasha had once tried to simply trample over them—he’d certainly gotten over, but it left him with a distinct bruise on his face and a pain in his groin, as well as the option of sleeping on the couch. Best to avoid that tonight.

Taking a detour, Sasha enters their small kitchen. Coming up with a plan as he went along, he opens a cabinet, finding a large can of Kharzakyt beans.

Perfect.

Returning to his spot across the paper moat in the living room, the half-Soyuzi squats, facing Drew, who appears to be ignoring him. Shitty brat. Opening the can, Sasha picks a bean out, and tosses it.

Drew doesn’t flinch.

Huh. He’s really committed to this, is he?

Sasha tosses another bean. It hits the side of Drew’s face, then falls onto his book.

Drew blinks, brushes the bean away, and continues reading. He picks up a pen, takes a note on a notebook to his right.

Sasha narrows his eyes at the translator, stubborn with a vain and futile resistance. He’ll break that. He grabs a couple more beans and throws them at his target.

Drew pauses in his notetaking, expressionless, as if physically stunned. He looks up slowly at the offender with a displeasure. “...Are those Kharzakyt beans?” he asks quietly.

Sasha answers with a smug grin. “Yah. Gonna do something about it?”

Drew just looks at him for a long moment. Agitated, likely, under that suppressed exterior. That smug motherfucker has no power over me, he thinks. After a while, he shakes his head slowly, and looks back at his book.

It’s too late, though. Sasha’s got Drew caught like a rabbit in a trap. He tosses another handful of beans.

The translator tries not to react. The Kharzakyt beans are making a mess.

The man tosses another handful. And another.

They’re starting to cover the books. The floor around the boy is almost totally hidden.

Finally, with a maniacal smile, Sasha stands, and fucking spikes a handful.

Holy shit. It stings. At his wit’s end, the Vokachaian stands and lunges across the papers and books, missing the half-Soyuzi as he backpedals.

Joyfully, Sasha continues tossing beans at the other while retreating backwards down the hall to the bedroom while Drew clumsily chases after him.

“Who do you think you are, you scaley bastard? I’ll skin you into a fucking wallet!” Drew growls, continually failing to grab the man as he is lured into the bedroom.

Sasha’s thrill ends as he trips onto the bed, where Drew is finally able to jump and grab him.

Sitting on the Soyuzi’s legs, Drew grabs the man's shirt collar and pulls him up close to his face. “You are an enormous pain in the ass,” he hisses.

In contrast to the incensed raven-haired mess, the brunet is barely managing to contain his laughter. He leans forward, capturing the angry lips with his own. He brings a hand up to stroke those tense cheeks with the back of his knuckles. Drew's hands move down to the other's shoulders. They break, with Drew pouting and Sasha smiling. “Oh, kotyenok, you only have self to blame. You make it so fun to mess with you!”

The translator's grimace never softens, though his face surely reddens. “You're a fuckin’ bully.” He grabs the wrist of the hand touching his face, then proceeds to push Sasha down until he's flat on his back, making out with him along the way.

Sasha lets it happen for a while. He's cute when he's all feisty like this! And it feels good, to boot. He doesn't need to put any work in. Drew's hands run through the brunet's hair and over his chest, while Sasha's hands travel across his partner's back and touch his neck, slyly reminding the boy of the many marks there.

Drew is very intense. Very touchy. Feeling around a lot. Quick to take off clothes, but not willing to part lips for very long. He seems desperate. Frantic, even. Like he's still distracting himself. Just like when he was working.

Damn. He’s just replaced with his books with Sasha. It’s no good.

By now, Drew has managed to remove the half-Soyuzi’s shirt and unbutton his own. It would probably be best to stop him now.

Groaning internally, Sasha pulled Drew’s face off his own, sighing. The Vokachaian tries to continue, but ends up simply furrowing his eyes at the other, confused. Soon enough, the taller man grabs the shorter’s hands before flipping their positions around. Drew gets plopped onto his back, hands caught above his head, with Sasha between his legs, leaning over him.

“Okay, enough of that, Dryushka. Gotta talk,” he grumbles reluctantly. Personally, he’s not too happy about stopping, but he knows it’s the quote-unquote “Right Thing to Do.”

“Hey, what the—let go of me,” the Vokachaian whines, trying fruitlessly to free his hands and reach downwards. He’s way too weak, though.

“Come on, shortstack. Hold still. Let’s use our words, yeah?”

Drew stares in confusion at the other for a moment. “...H-huh? Fuck that, I don’t got anything to say. Take off your pants.”

“Not like that, word boy. “You have been skipping bed-time, and you look like you’re trying to ignore me. Is not okay. If something is the matter, you need to tell me.”

“Fuck you.”

“I think you have this backwards.”

“—Fuck me.”

“Right, but no.”

“I—ugh! Why are you so difficult?!” Drew squirms around a bit in another attempt to get free, before deciding to wrap his legs around Sasha’s hips. If he isn’t going to get free, his making the most of where he is right now. “What do you want from me?”

Oh, this cheeky bastard. He’s got some nerve. This is a rather precarious new adjustment, but Sasha isn’t letting up. “L-like… Like I said. I know something is bothering you—spit it out.”

Even in the cold darkness, the Vokachaian’s deepening flush is pretty obvious. “Wh-what? No, you’re… you’re mistaken. Misinterpreting. I’m fine. Let me go.”

Sasha just laughs. “No way. I don’t believe you. Ever heard of… ah… communication? We’re doing that. Now.” He punctuates himself with a prick on the neck with teeth. “So… How was day?”

Drew sucks in air through his teeth, turning away. He doesn’t have to answer a dumb question like this.

The brunet sighs against his partner’s neck. So much trouble. “I thought we’ already worked this whole ‘talking’ thing out.”

The captive Vokachaian doesn’t even squeak.

“Come on, kotyenok. At least look at me.”

He doesn’t budge.

It’s starting to get frustrating. They should be able to talk now! What could possibly be so troubling? So embarrassing?

“Say something, Drew. Honestly—there is no one else here, so whatever it is… you can tell me,” he coaxes in a firm, slightly impatient, yet reassuring voice. “Just tell me.”

Silence. Cold and hard silence with unhappy lips pressed firmly closed.

Sasha shakes his head. He might just have to give up. Can’t force anything.

“...’s stupid…”

“Huh?” The brunet’s eyes widen. The boy has spoken.

“I said it’s dumb… Don’t worry about it…” Drew still won’t look Sasha in the eye, but he’s certainly finding the blank darkness around them quite entertaining.

Sasha smiles once again, bringing their foreheads close together. “Why are you so embarrassed? If it bothers you so much, I have to care about it.”

“I told you it doesn’t matter.”

“It does!” Sasha exclaims, releasing Drew’s hands to embrace his torso. The freed hands end up on Sasha’s back. "You just don’t want to tell me because you’re afraid I’ll make fun of you.”

“Won’t you?” Drew mutters, looking wistfully out the window.

“I will. But it’ll be good for you.”

They lie like that for a while. It’s warm and comfortable, at least. The cold air lets them enjoy each other’s heat without getting all sweaty, though they still got sweaty for other reasons.

Finally, Drew sighs, looking down at the half-Soyuzi. “Alright, alright…” He looks very cute and flustered from this angle. “There was… a book at the convention last week. I wanted it, but I couldn’t afford it. Someone else took it… and… yeah.”

Sasha laughs quietly running a hand through the other’s messy black hair. “Oh, you poor, entitled brat, you. Now was that so hard?”

“It was, and my life has depreciated because of it,” he mutters, pouting. “This is why I didn’t care to tell you, you piece of shit.”

“Oh, but it meant so much to you! All week long… It’s okay Drew. I guess I feel sorry for you.” Sasha rises once more, giving Drew a kiss as a reward for his honesty and bravery. “And look, see—I’ll make you feel better.”

“As if. I’m not in the mood anymo-more—” Drew says before a shiver from Sasha’s touch cuts him off. “...Oh, h-holy shit, I guess I am.”

#writing #original #short story

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prettyoddfiction · 7 years

Text

Extra Sugar

Pairing: Fem!Reader x George Ryan Ross III

Request: Yeah! || Congrats on 100 followers!! I absolutely adore your writing, and was wondering if you weren't too backed up with requests if you could do another fluffy one with Ryan? There aren't enough with him in them. With the request, I was thinking maybe something along the lines of the reader living in the apartment above a coffee shop and Ryan's always down there playing his guitar and she loves his music and she finally gets to meet him one day and it's just fluffy (Sorry this was really long)

Warnings: SFW || cursing.

Masterlist: Here

This is such a cute request and I was in such a good mood while writing this one. I enjoyed it a lot. Also, sorry I’ve been on hiatus for so fucking long. My anxiety and depression have been kicking my ass lately. I hope this makes it a little better. Enjoy some Ryro fluff. xx

You lived in a small apartment above a small coffee shop and cafe on the most run down side of Chicago, Illinois. It was a cute spot to live, and wasn’t far from anywhere you would need to go. Especially with the fact that there were constantly taxis all over, willing to take you anywhere in the city. You were surprised with how cheap the rent was, but figured it was because the apartment was relatively small and there was a constant smell of coffee in your house, no matter how many apple scented candles you burned on a daily basis.

But that wasn’t the problem you had with living here. This paper wasn’t about to write itself. You knew that. The other twenty three students in your sociology class that had the same assignment knew that too. But yet here you were, two days before the due date and you were the only student that hadn’t turned it in yet. It’s not your fault that you worked five days a week full time and that you never had any peace and quiet at home.

The cafe below your apartment was always allowing start up musicians to come in and play. And the performers music choices ranged anywhere from piano covers of “Chasing Cars” by ‘Snow Patrol’, to brand new original songs that were nothing but screaming into a microphone and drum solos. You thought the cafe should have limited it to soft guitar, keyboard, and ukulele, but turning all the other musicians away would be considered rude. So they allowed almost anyone to play. Which was fine and dandy till you had a paper that was worth 75% of your semester grade due and had only got your name and the class name typed in the corner of the page.

But occasionally it was okay. Some times there would be this one musician that came in with his guitar and played songs that reminded you of ‘The Beatles.’ You had no idea what he looked like, or what his name was. All you knew was that he was by far your favorite and you hoped he would remain un-famed, just so he would continue to play in the cafe and give you a mini concert from the vent in your living room. Your favorite song of his was “Cape Town,” followed closely by “The Other Girl.” Two that he played each and every time he would come to the cafe. Sort of, fan favorites. And yes, you qualified yourself as a fan.

Thankfully, today was one of the days that he was here. His soothing voice made nice and calm background music as you typed away and wrote about breaking the social norm in everyday life.

Three and a half hours later, you heard the crowd cheering downstairs as you submitted your paper to the online course. It turned out worse than you would have wanted it to, but you didn't have time to go back and edit it a lot, nor did you really want to. Nor did you want to wait another day and then have something go wrong and you lose the paper the night before it’s due. So you clicked ‘turn in,’ got your digital receipt, and then shut your laptop.

Your eyes scanned to the clock on the wall and you knew that the cafe would be closing soon, and he would be ending his quote unquote setlist in a minute or two. This was probably his last song before he would start packing up. And something was telling you that you should go see who it was. But that wasn't the only reason you were headed downstairs. You really wanted a fall flavored drink. After all, it was the middle of October. After pulling on a hoodie over the tank top you had previously been wearing, and some fluffy socks because the owners knew you lived above them and didn't care whether or not you put on shoes to come grab a coffee, you grabbed a five dollar bill from your wallet and headed down the staircase, turning at the bottom and opening the glass door into the cafe. As you entered the rustic coffee shop, you smiled upon seeing that it was nearly empty and the boy was on the small stage, playing his guitar.

He gave off a puppy dog innocence. He was cute, that was for sure. There was a small stand in front of him that read ‘George Ryan Ross III: Acoustic Set.’ George. It didn’t really suit him, but you didn’t name him that. After watching him play about half a verse, you were entranced and didn’t move from your spot against the back wall until after the set when people started to leave and he began to pick up. That was when you went up to the counter and ordered. “Can I please get a small, pumpkin spice iced chai tea latte?” The total came out to about two dollars and twenty three cents, but you always left the change in the tip jar, just because the owners were always so nice to you. The lady working nodded and began making your drink.

Your eyes drifted back to the stage as you walked down towards the end of the counter to not be in the way of everyone in line. Sadly, the boy and his equipment were gone. The stage was clear and you couldn't help the frown on your face. You had actually wanted to say hello to ‘George’ and possibly talk to him about his music. But you were pulled from your thoughts when someone at the counter said they had two small iced pumpkin chai’s ready. You walked over and grabbed one of the cups, smiling as you brought the straw to your lips and sipped it, immediately swallowing the cool fall drink, but regretting it slightly. It was way too sweet.

That was when you noticed the little black ‘x’ written on the top of the cup. ‘X’ meant “extra” something. Whether it be extra caramel, extra vanilla, extra whipped cream. But in this case, it was easily-

“Extra sugar? I think that one’s mine...” A soft voice stated from beside you. You looked over and chuckled. George was standing next to you.

“Yeah, I think so too.” You both quickly pulled the straws from the cups and traded, putting your own straw in the drinks and smiling as you fixed your own orders. “Yeah, this one is definitely mine.”

“I agree. Sorry about that. I should probably look a little closer next time.” He chuckled, bringing his free hand up to scratch the back of his neck.

You nodded and smiled at him, “Yeah George. Maybe you should.”

“Please, everyone calls me Ryan.” Ryan. His middle name. It suited him way better than George did.

“Okay. Ryan. Don't you think that this is a sweet enough drink? Why add sugar?”

“Well, person who’s name I do not know-”

“Y/N.” You stated with a chuckle.

“Ah, Y/N. Well, Y/N, you see, you only live once. I prefer to enjoy each and every thing I consume. I see that you prefer to not wear shoes in public.” Immediately, you glanced down to your feet and giggled.

“Well Ryan, I do. I just don't wear them here because I’m too lazy to put shoes on. I live just upstairs, so there’s really no point in getting completely dressed to come down the stairs, around the banister, through the door, down the two foot long hallway, into the cafe, up to the counter, and then back out the door and upstairs when I get my drink. It’s a waste. So the owners let me come in here with just socks on.”

Ryan nodded and sipped his extra sugary sweet drink with a smile on his face. “Socks are cute. Especially fuzzy white ones with pink hearts on them.” He winked.

You rolled your eyes as he described your own socks to you. “Ha ha. Very funny. You know, I was gonna compliment your music but now, never mind. Have a nice night, George.” You smirked, sipping your drink and starting to walk towards the short hallway back to your apartment’s door.

“Y/N?” You turned back around to look at him after he said your name. “You like my music?”

“I do.”

“Maybe if you gave me your number, we could set up a day where I could come upstairs and play...?”

“Sure thing... George.”

He laughed slightly as you crossed back over to him and took his phone, putting your number in and agreeing that next Saturday he would be back and you would let him play you music in your living room.

#ryan ross #george ryan ross iii #ryan ross imagine #ryan ross fluff #ryan ross x reader #ryan x reader #p!atd #p!atd fluff #p!atd imagine #band #bands #band imagines #band imagine #emo trinity #emo trinity imagine #emo trinity fluff

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blackwatchbastard · 7 years

Text

Long Time No See

Rating: T Chapter(s): 1/1 Relationship(s): Gabriel Reyes/Jack Morrison Warnings: N/A Words: 3,335 Additional Tags: Sap and Fluff, Kissing, Established Relationship, Long Distance Pining, Soft Old Men

Summary: Neither of them ever really did enjoy the time apart. But it makes for some damn good reunions.

A/N: That good ol’ long distance pining and cute reunion shit I said I was going to do ages ago because of @mysadtwodads2

(ao3)

Another mission, another month apart. Jack felt the dread boiling in his gut the closer they got to the airport. Really, as far as Blackwatch assignments went this one was a cake walk. But he wasn’t worried about Gabriel being able to handle himself and his agents, he was more worried about what one would consider lesser issues.

“You’re going to be able to sleep alright, right?” he asked, one hand on the small of Gabriel’s back as they approached his gate.

Gabriel shrugged and leaned to kiss his temple, eyes on the message he was typing in his data pad. “No.” he replied casually, “You know how it is.”

Humming in agreement, Jack leaned against Gabriel’s side. When he finished his message Gabriel stuffed the pad in his hoodie pocket and turned his attention to the sulking man stuck to his side.

“You look how I feel.” he said, teasing, and ambled to a stop outside his gate to wrap his arms around Jack’s shoulders lazily. Jack pressed in and kissed the corner of his lips, feeling him smile under the gesture, and felt fingers winding into his hair.

“Must feel bad, then.”

“Terrible.” Gabriel confirmed. Then, “You have to remember how to smile while I’m gone, alright? No frightening the children with your moods.” Jack wrinkled his nose. “I mean it.”

“I’ll do my best.” Jack replied blandly.

Gabriel grinned and pressed a noisy kiss to his lips before heading for his plane. “All I ask.” he shot back playfully, “See you in October.”

Jack watched him go with a lump in his throat he couldn’t swallow and then headed home. He spent the next week or so wrapped up in a botched Overwatch mission, paperwork flying in and out of his office at breakneck paces, and by the time things slowed down he barely realized how little he and Gabriel had been able to speak. He managed to steal a rare day off and, after finagling around the time zone issue, set up a chance to talk properly that evening.

Gabriel looked exhausted on the feed. Thick bags under his eyes and laying in bed even though the international time clock told Jack it was near noon where he was. But he still smiled when he saw Jack; that sappy mellow thing he didn’t realize he was doing. If Jack’s desire for the ability to reach through the phone hadn’t been strong before it was then.

“You alright, babe?”

Gabriel bit back a yawn and said, “No,” because there was no sense in trying to fib his way out of it. The question was admittedly a bit of a trap.

“What do you need?”

“Sleep.” Another muffled yawn. “Jesse told me to lay down and do mission notes later because I was being quote ‘a cranky baby’ unquote.” He threw his voice a little to mimic McCree’s drawl and Jack snorted. “Haven’t made any progress yet.”

Jack watched him adjust his position irritably and hummed in consideration. When Gabriel settled down he asked, “Anything I can help with?”

“Come turn me into a human body pillow like you love to do and I’ll be asleep in minutes.”

“Second best option?” Jack ventured.

“You could try snoring?” Gabriel offered, “That helps.”

Jack snorted. “You make me sound like a wonderful bedmate, you know.”

Gabriel laughed and melted a little into his pillows. There was a moment of consideration, then he said, “Your voice helps.”

“So the sounds of gravel and smoker’s regrets is going to soothe you to sleep?” Jack teased. Gabriel just nodded and squeezed his eyes shut. “Alright, whatever floats your boat, sunshine.”

So he spent the next hour or so on the phone, chatting with Gabriel until he drifted off. Then a brief period after just watching him sleep (just to be sure he was out for good, of course, no sap there) before he finally forced himself to return to his evening.

The rest of the time apart drew on as slowly as one would expect. But they both did their best to stay busy between small chances to talk. And as soon as Jack had a time and date for Gabriel’s return flight he put in for the day off and glared down anyone who tried to argue against it. A few days later and he was headed for the airport.

The minute Jack rounded the corner and spotted Gabriel, lost in his data pad and dragging his luggage, his heart bloomed in his chest. Truthfully, he looked like a mess. Bags under his eyes, wrinkled old hoodie, sweats, ratty slip ons, and that ‘I slept on the window’ look to his beard.

Jack Morrison had never been more in love.

“Gabe!”

Gabriel dropped his arms and glanced around rapidly as soon as he registered his voice, eyes going wide. When his gaze fell on Jack’s he instantly broke into a grin. Like sunshine on flowers.

Jack stuck his arms out and Gabriel stuffed his data pad in his hoodie pocket before abandoning his suitcase and breaking into a run across the space between them. He dove into Jack’s arms and dissolved into laughter when Jack hoisted him off the ground and spun, face squished against his shoulder. His feet hadn’t even hit the floor before he was kissing Jack, one hand grabbing a handful of his hair to keep him in place.

They both sank as Jack set him on his feet again, Jack leaning into the kiss and grabbing handfuls of Gabriel’s hoodie. He pulled him as impossibly close as he could manage and hunched awkwardly as he tried to chase Gabriel’s mouth when he finally retreated for air.

“Easy, tiger,” Gabriel drawled when they finally broke apart, “act like you haven’t seen me in years.”

“Felt like years.” Jack mumbled, pressing his lips to Gabriel’s temple instead. Gabriel laughed and nudged his chest.

“Like that could happen. You’d die with me gone that long.”

“I would.” Jack didn’t even hesitate that reply. Instead, he ducked to press his face into the crook of Gabriel’s neck and breathed deeply. His shoulders went slack, tension leaving in waves, and he lingered a moment before he felt the other man shift with a faint chuckle.

“I can’t smell nice. Been hopping planes for the past 48 hours.”

“You hungry?” Jack asked, swapping subjects rapidly, “Tired?” Gabriel shrugged and Jack felt his fingers tease back into the hair on the nape of his neck. “Wanna go home?”

“Home sounds good.” Then, “Also, I’d go toe to toe with God for some good pad thai right now, if you can stop by the place we order from on the way.”

“I got it.” Jack said. He shifted, arms looping around Gabriel’s middle and hoisting him off the ground again–this time met with some protest. “I got it.”

Gabriel squirmed a bit but seemed to give in and swung his legs around Jack’s hips to keep from getting drug across the airport. Jack just did a quick loop to grab his suitcase, one hand squeezing at his thigh as they set off for the car.

“Clingy. Act like you missed me or something.” he teased when he felt Jack’s chin dig into his shoulder. But there wasn’t even a little bite to it–all pure adoration. Didn’t help that Gabriel was still combing absently at his air the whole time.

Jack just chuckled faintly and rolled his eyes. “Oh? What gave you that impression?” he asked.

He could feel Gabriel smiling when he pressed his lips to his cheek. Made the whole attempt at teasing hold even less water.

“Oh, just a hunch.”

They’d been apart for years. Years. The last thing either of them had in mind was splitting up when they finally got to be together again. Once they’d figured everything out and got to be in each other’s company it wasn’t on the radar.

But duty had a habit of calling when they wanted to hear it least. And as much as Gabriel had been annoyed about Sombra’s multiple messages that morning he couldn’t exactly deny her. He had promises to keep.

Jack saw him off at the helipad, toting one of his bags for him and wrapping a scarf around his neck while he tried to go over the details Sombra had sent and eat a bagel at the same time. They were both unhappy about it but it wasn’t expected to be that long.

“Sombra promised it’d be a week.” Gabriel reminded him when he caught Jack making those damn puppy eyes again. “One week, old man. You’ll survive.”

Jack tugged at the ends of his scarf and puffed out a sigh. Pointedly, he didn’t look at Gabriel this time when he asked, “You sure about that?”

“Yes, I am. You’ve survived worse.”

To punctuate his point, Gabriel took Jack’s chin in his hand and traced the scarring cutting through his lip. The response was a quick kiss to the pad of his thumb and another eyeful of those awful sad dog eyes.

“Not like I’m happy about this either, babe. She’s taking me to Russia again. Gonna freeze my damn ass off.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jack tugged at his scarf again, pulling him closer, and Gabriel got the message. He ducked in for a brief kiss and, based on the fact he probably tasted like cream cheese and the transport copter was starting up in the background and kicking up dust and his coat tails, it was best to keep it that way. Even if Jack pressed after him when they parted, kissing the corner of his mouth and his lower lip before finally slacking the hold on him.

“Be safe.”

“Yes, dear.”

“Call me when you can.”

“Of course, baby.”

“Don’t let Sombra get you into any trouble.”

Gabriel stole a glance over his shoulder. In the window, Sombra had smooshed her face up against the glass. When she caught him looking she mimed rubbing tears away with her fist and puckered her lower lip out dramatically. Gabriel briefly stashed his data pad inside Jack’s coat pocket to flip her off. Sombra responded by clutching her chest dramatically and dropping out of view in her seat.

“That’s my girl.” Gabriel hummed, turning his attention back to Jack with a grin plastered on his face. “We’ll be fine, promise. Just a little espionage. Just like old times. Cept this time instead of a cowboy and a ninja I’ve got little miss cyberpunk.”

“Not too late to invite the ninja or cowboy, you know.”

Gabriel scoffed and freed his tablet from Jack’s pocket (begrudgingly). “No thanks.” he said, taking his duffle bag from Jack and hiking it up high on his shoulder. “Those two, and everyone else, are all you guy’s job this week. Hope you and Ana got some sleep.”

“Winston helps sometimes.” Jack ventured, grinning faintly.

“He’s too soft on the punks.”

“One to talk.”

Gabriel held a finger up to his lips. “Hey, don’t give away my secret. I’m the fun dad.”

Jack laughed and leaned in, managing to steal one more kiss before Gabriel slumped his shoulders and headed for the transport. He made a point not to look back until he was already buckled in and stuck next to Sombra (who had already started blaring Selena through the speakers somehow). Because it was usually all he could do not to visibly sulk as badly as Jack did when they were together. He waved out the window, Jack wiggling his fingers after him, and sank back once they took off.

Once they were apart, however, it was all holds off. He tossed his scarf at Sombra halfway into the trip and kicked his seat back, arms folded over his chest and ear buds jammed in. Made it a bit hard to realize Sombra was talking to him until she leaned over his face and papped roughly at his chest.

“What?”

“You gonna pout the whole time, Gabo?”

“I’m not–”

“Were you and Morrison this joined at the hip when you were younger? Or is this a thing you grew into?”

“We–”

“Is my music not good enough for you, by the way? Gotta play your sad emo shit?”

Gabriel cut his eyes at her. “It’s 1980s rock…” The first full thought he’d managed to get out. Sombra scrunched up her nose.

“Older than grandpa music.”

“Selena is from literally almost the same time period.”

Sombra waved him off easily. “Yeah, but she’s a classic.” she countered.

They spent the rest of the flight making subtle snipes at each other’s music tastes and Gabriel almost managed to shove down that dull ache in his chest once they were to work on her little project. It was easy to focus elsewhere when they had things to do. But when they hit a safe house that night and Sombra passed out on the sleeper couch, leaving him alone with a pile of blankets and pillows but no too-warm super soldier to coil around him like the world’s weirdest starfish, it came back with a vengeance.

Gabriel didn’t know what time it was back with Jack. Probably late, or early. But it didn’t really matter, he knew he was going to call him anyway as soon as he opened his eyes after trying to squeeze them shut and force sleep. It was easier to just give in and roll over, grab his data pad and punch in a video call request for ‘call-sign: Soldier76’.

(Gabriel made a mental note to have Sombra hack it later and let him change the call-sign. Something more fitting like ‘Soldier Flatass’. But, knowing her, it’d end up being something like ‘Schnookums76’. Maybe he’d try his hand at it first.)

Jack answered on the third ring with a “Hey, sunshine.” He looked awake enough, coffee cup in the frame as he greeted Gabriel and fiddled with the pad a moment before propping it on something and sitting back slightly. Gabriel took in the background a little better; warm lighting, coffee cup, and wire furniture.

“You’re having breakfast?” he asked. Jack nodded and took a draw off his coffee.

“I made pancakes.” Jack drawled.

“Asshole.”

That summoned a laugh. Jack pressed two fingers to his lips and held them to the camera. Gabriel just stuck his tongue out and flopped back into his mess of bedding, tablet held above his head.

“Mission going well?” Jack asked.

Gabriel shrugged. “It’s been okay. Bit of a goose chase but eh. It’s Sombra.” Then, “I miss you.”

“That’s just because you’re cold.” Jack teased.

“Maybe. Take what you can get.”

The other man laughed and shook his head. He looked so warm and softened in the morning light. Gabriel felt his chest tighten some and tried to ignore it. Instead, he focused on the way Jack paused to take another sip of his coffee before speaking.

“I miss you too. Slept like shit.”

“Sombra says we’re too needy and that’s why we can’t sleep apart.” Gabriel offered, grinning faintly.

Jack scoffed loudly. “Don’t care. I’m too old to give a fuck about what it means when I can’t sleep without my partner.”

Gabriel muffled a laugh into his fist. “Same.”

Jack went to say something else but Gabriel accidentally cut him off with a loud yawn. Stretching, he flipped sideways and propped the data pad in his pillows. That whole display earned him a sympathetic little frown.

“Trouble sleeping, babe?”

“Mm.”

Jack hummed thoughtfully and propped his chin on his fist. After a moment of consideration, he asked, “What do you need me to do? Lullabies?” That one made Gabriel cringe and Jack chuckle. “Phone sex?”

“Nah.”

“Give it a few days and you’ll be harassing me at weird hours for it. I know you.” Gabriel rolled his eyes and Jack pushed on. “You can’t fool me. Just gotta hear it; I love you, Gabe, you feel so good, oh yeah, that’s–”

Gabriel flipped the tablet onto its face, hissing, and heard Jack let out a muffled laugh on the other end. When he finally flipped it back up he glared at the other man.

“No sex voice when Sombra is sleeping in the other room, asshole.”

Jack laughed again, fist stuffed against his mouth, but nodded. Took him a second to calm down before he could offer another suggestion.

“Want me to read for you?”

Gabriel hemmed and hawed and moment before finally nodding. So Jack grabbed a book off the shelf behind him (convenient for balcony relaxing) and set to work plugging through some trashy fantasy romance novel. Gabriel was asleep in no time. He woke up the next morning to a ‘good night’ text from Jack and Sombra cooking eggs in the tiny kitchenette.

By the time they headed back Gabriel felt like he was running on empty. He hadn’t slept half a shit the whole time, even with Jack’s dutiful reading, and every bit of him felt sore and tired and cold. It showed, clearly, considering Sombra even shoved his data pad at him on one occasion and told him to ‘have old man phone sex and stop being so pissy’ before leaving for the afternoon.

(They didn’t, though the thought crossed his mind. Instead, Gabriel listened to Jack go over repair reports while he fixed some tears in Sombra’s coat. Domestic bliss was all either of them ever really needed, it seemed.)

He spent the flight back bouncing his knee, much to Sombra’s loud annoyance, and staring out the window. The whole thing took too damn long. He couldn’t even really talk with Jack during the travel and it just made the whole focus even worse. If he could have at least bounced a few texts back and forth he might not have been so… insufferable.

Gabriel was out of his seat and onto the landing pad the second he could. His knee ached from the cold he’d been enduring, slowing him down a little, but the second he spotted Jack across the way he took off into a run anyway. Jack threw his arms out, grinning widely, and Gabriel collided with his chest a second later, legs swinging up to wrap around his waist in the embrace.

Unfortunately, the combination of momentum and Jack’s faulty joints made the approach a little more than either of them bargained for. Jack’s knees gave out and they dropped for the ground, both yelping and latching onto each other instinctively in their panic. There was a loud oof as Jack hit the ground and took most of Gabriel’s weight on top of him and Gabriel cringed as his knees banged against the hard asphalt ground but he sat up immediately to check Jack over. Dazed but unharmed, Jack blinked back up at him.

There was a pause, just briefly, then Jack said, “Act like you miss me or something.”

Gabriel blinked, then immediately dissolved into laughter and ducked down to squish his face against Jack’s chest. The other man laughed too, arms wrapping around Gabriel and pulling him down into a proper embrace, and for a while they just laid there laughing and hugging. Gabriel squirmed up enough to pepper Jack’s jaw line with kisses, still half crushed in his grasp, and felt all the angst and ice melting from his body with the warmth around him now.

Behind them, Gabriel heard Sombra snort loudly. “Saps.” she hissed, stepping past them headed for the base.

“Yeah, kinda,” Gabriel hummed, finally sitting up and awkwardly shuffling to his feet–pulling Jack along with him.

Jack leaned in and pressed a kiss to his temple, one arm swung around his shoulders. Gabriel tucked himself closer to Jack’s side and sighed contently.

“You missed me.” Jack said, teasingly sing-song in his tone.

Gabriel just rolled his eyes. “What ever gave you that idea?” he asked.

Jack bit back a laugh and shrugged. “Just a hunch.”

#reaper76 #morreyes #morreyeson #fly writes fics #positive feedback loop of soft r76 content #apologies if the coding breaks i had it set up so i could post on mobile but had to edit :v #so if there's no cut then like... shitty phone tumblr is why

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