#My pitch for cap 4

[gglitch1dd]

The Contract Pt 3

Context: When you broke up with Katsuki, you thought it was the end for you. No marriage. No family. No white picket fence. You had spent so much time on Katsuki and now it all just fell to the wind. But what if a certain green haired hero offered you a contract, offered you the dream life of security and happiness all for the small price of being his wife? Love wasn’t in the plan but maybe it was in the fine print.

Basically: Reader dumps Katsuki and goes for Izuku.

Main Pairing: Midoriya Izuku x Reader

<Masterlist> <PART 1> <PART 2> <PART 4>

Warning: Money money money, ATTEMPTED MURDER, the power of an Asain mom's slipper, jealousy is a disease. "Okaasan" means "mother" in Japanese.

“So you must be Mrs Midoriya?”

You smiled gently as you offered her your hand, shaking it firmly with a gentle laugh. “Not yet. Midoriya is my soon to be surname.” You told the real estate agent.

 It had been around two months since you and Midoriya had signed everything off and were in a contract of convenience. You had both agreed that it would be good to start fresh, to move in together while everything else- including the wedding- was being sorted. Right now you were apartment hunting and trying to do your best to find the ideal apartment for the both of you.

You stood in the private lounge of the luxury apartment building, where you had been waiting on the Real Estate Agent to appear. Ms Hanako stood proudly in stilettos and a professional skirt with a buttoned up white shirt. She smiled over at you. “Will Mr Midoriya be joining us?” She asked you.

You nodded your head. “Yes, he’s just running a little late but he said he should be here in a minute.” You informed her. Midoriya had a meeting in the last ten minutes that he said he had to go to but he promised that he would be here with you for viewing apartments today, even going as far as to clear his schedule for the rest of the day. “We apologise about that, he gets caught up in work a lot.” You weren’t lying. Midoriya was known to be quite the workaholic. He wasn’t Number One hero for no reason after all.

She shook her head with a chuckle as she lifted up her tablet to her face. “No, no it’s fine. I see here that the two of you didn’t specify a budget that you’re working with.” She said her face scrunched up a bit in confusion before looking up at you.

You furrowed your eyebrows as well, remembering that the two of you had discussed it. “Oh… that’s a mistake on our part.” You told her honestly. “We agreed on-”

“Sorry, I’m late.” Walking into the lounge was Midoriya as he took off his cap and ruffled his hair again. You turned towards him with a bright smile, Ms. Hanako’s eyes growing large at the sight of the Number One hero of the country. Midoriya adjusted the watch around his wrist before taking place next to you. “There was a lot more traffic than I thought there would be down Main.” He reported before putting a hand on the small of your back, looking down at you with a smirk mixed with a smile. “Sorry about that, my love.” He moved to place a kiss on your forehead. “Didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”

You smiled up at him with a soft chuckle. “It’s fine, honey, you’re just on time.” You moved a curl out of his face, before turning back to the still shocked real estate agent.

Midoriya smiled customarily, a smile he normally used in public appearances. He nodded his head. “You must be Miss Hanako, our real estate agent?” He asked, looking at you for confirmation.

Quickly she straightened up and bowed at the waist before him. “Mr. Deku.” She let out, her voice slightly higher pitched than she was before. “I didn’t know you were my client, I would have-”

“No, please, it's alright.” Midoriya quickly dismissed it with a chuckle. “Call me Midoriya, I’m off the clock right now.” He told her. She looked up from her bow and straightened up, nodding her head trying not to combust in front of him.

You giggled softly, finding it rather amusing. “She told me that we didn’t specify our range that we were going with.” You told him motioning towards the dark-haired woman in front of the both of you.

That peaked his interest as his eyebrows raised. Then almost like a lightbulb going on, it hit him. “Right…” He let out with a snap of his fingers. “Sorry, I forgot to fill it in when booking for the consultation.” He said with a bow of the head. “My apologies.” You felt his hand snake around you, putting his hand on your hip as he kept you to his side. You felt heat rise up your neck but you stayed as relaxed as possible to not rouse suspicion. Midoriya kept his eyes on Ms. Hanako. “How does 10 sound?”

“Million?”

“Billion Yen.” She let out a squeak at the change in zeros. You turned to look up at him, shocked knowing that wasn’t the price you both agreed upon. He then racked through his head trying to think of converting it. “How much is that? 10 million dollars? I don’t know, somewhere there.” He waved his hand off. “I’m not sure, let’s not put a price on it. If we like it, I’ll buy it.” He dismissed.

You gave him a tense smile as you nudged him slightly. “Honey…” You gave him a pointed look, it was still a bit weird calling him by his first name which is why you rather called him by nicknames instead. Not that you couldn’t call him by his given name, he encouraged it, but you were trying to get used to it on the down low first. “Isn’t that a bit much?” You asked him. “I thought we agreed on just a little less than half that price.”

“Yah but…” He turned to look down at you with a tilt of his head and a smirk. “I want to spoil my fiancé.” He reminded you. You felt a blush go to your face. “Besides, we’re buying, not renting. This isn’t like a yearly expense thing. I don’t mind spending that much.” He told you honestly. He turned back to Ms. Hanako who still seemed shocked. “So is that okay with you?”

She was frozen for a moment glancing at you before looking back at Midoriya. She nodded her head with a quick smile. “Of course, I know just the right apartments for you guys.” She assured with a smile, before motioning with one hand for the both of you to follow her. You did as she was saying, maintaining a close proximity with her as she led you two towards the elevator. “As you both know, we pride ourselves in the safety and privacy of all our residents here. Being near the centre of the city really helps commuting to and from work or any other activities here and the city. We do have many other proheroes and their families that live in our buildings as well.” She notified the both of you, scanning her hand before the elevator opened. You moved into the elevator with her as she pushed the second highest floor. “We actually had Proheroes Dynamight and Red Riot move in just a year ago.” She informed the both of you proudly, making you tighten your grip on your purse. Suddenly, you weren’t feeling so sure about living here.

You felt Midoriya move his hand off of your side and clasping your hand that was closest to him. His large hand encased your smaller one, rubbing your knuckles with his thumb lightly as to try and calm you down and relax at the news that was just told. You tightened your hold on him, squeezing his hand in gratitude. He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Oh yes.” She nodded her head. “Of course, for privacy reasons, I can’t disclose where or which of our buildings they live in but yes.” Midoriya hummed, making a mental note to find out later.

The elevator dinged after a while and Ms Hanako stepped out into the hallway. “We have two apartments on this floor, both designed similarly in making.” She walked over to the door on the left. With a swipe of one of the cards she had with her, she motioned for the both of you to enter.

You looked around with wide eyes at the prestigiousness of the penthouse. The windows were huge with flawless glass panes that let in sunlight perfectly. You looked to your right at the spacious open floor plan. You noticed a second floor above you. Midoriya looked around with a raised eyebrow. “It’s like a slightly larger version of my apartment.” You heard him mutter to himself which only made you choke back a snort.

Ms. Hanako motioned around the apartment with a smile. “This is a two-floor apartment with three bedrooms, 5 bathrooms (three being in-suites), including a study, laundry room, pantry and balcony. Stands at around 6 million.” She stated as she led you through the apartment itself. You looked around with wide eyes, liking the look of it. She took you upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms before turning to the both of you. “These are one of our best apartments for ready and growing families.” She hinted with a wink.

You glanced over to Midoriya who looked over to you. He smirked over at you putting his hands on his hips. “Well, isn’t that great news, sweetheart.” He asked you, dripping in amusement as he kept his green eyes on you. He then motioned to Ms. Hanako. “We’ve been thinking of having kids.” He said with a proud smile on his face.

“Somewhere in the future.” You interjected with a tense smile.

Ms. Hanako's smile broadened as she clasped her hands together. “That’s wonderful!”

“I know, right?”

You gave Midoriya a pointed look when Ms. Hanako looked away from the both of you. He gave you a thumbs up in agreement, making you roll your eyes. After she led you around, she allowed the two of you to roam by yourselves for a moment. The process repeated as she took you to see two other apartments. After a long day of looking at apartments and shopping, you both ended back at your apartment.

Most of your items were already in boxes, sold or ready to be moved out. While the both of you looked for an apartment, you decided you would move in with Midoriya in the meantime. Midoriya grabbed another slice of pizza out of the box with a hum and a smile.

You shook your head in amusement as you leaned against the counter. “You know, for someone who boasts healthy living, I’ve nearly never seen someone who eats as much as you.” You pointed out motioning to him with the same hand that you held your soda can in.

Midoriya flicked his gaze up at you. He shrugged before motioning to himself. “I’m a big man.” He pointed out to you making you chuckle. “I’ve got to eat a lot. Stock up on calories I’ll burn later. All this muscle doesn’t sustain itself.” He nodded his head, almost proud of his reasoning towards you.

You raised an eyebrow. “Muscles or fat?” He looked at you with a gasp and a hand to his chest, deeply offended, making you laugh. There was a knock at your door. You kicked yourself off the counter and made your way out of the kitchen to the door. “Don’t finish the pizza.”

“Well I don’t feel so inclined to listen to you anymore.” He spoke filled with pettiness making you laugh.

You opened the door without checking through the peephole. “Hello- oh.” You froze as you saw who stood in front of you.

Bakugou stood with his hands in front of him. The blond prohero opened his mouth to speak but seemed just as frozen as you. His crimson eyes were stuck on you and your being, feeling choked up and without any words to say. His eyes… they were something you loved so dearly about him and yet as you looked into them now face to face you felt as if they were suffocating you. His tall demeanour seemed to soften at the sight of you. He cleared his throat straightening up in front of you.

“Y/N, I… I know you probably don’t want me in the kids' life but I promise you I will do everything in my power to be the best parent to it.” He told you. Your eyes widened once you registered what you were saying. He thought over what he had just said. “Them.” He corrected himself. “Whatever they are.”

You blinked once. Twice. Three times. “Uh… Katsuki, what are you talking about?” You asked him with a tilt of his head.

Bakugou swallowed down hard as he motioned towards you. “Your… your kid. Our kid.”

“Our kid?” You asked, motioning between you and him. He nodded his head affirmingly. You almost would have found him cute if you were still together and you weren’t mad enough to slam the door in his face. You let out a breath as you leaned against the doorway, your arms folded as you stared at him. Bakugou willed himself to only look you in the eyes, knowing that indulging in the want to look over your figure would only make this situation worse. “Katsuki, I don’t have a kid.”

At first, you saw the wheels turning in his head. His face fell at the statement as he stood in the hallway with wide eyes for a moment. “You don’t?”

You shook your head. “No. I don’t know about you,” You stated, motioning over to him. “especially with all your choices during our relationship,” You saw him close his eyes with a deep sigh as he looked away from you for a moment. “But I don’t have any children that I know of.”

“The kid that was-”

“With me when the building caught on fire? My friends. Not mine. So if we’re done here, I’m hungry.” You turned to go back into your apartment, moving to close the door, however you heard an odd thud when you did. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked down to see Bakugou’s black boots blocking your door from closing. You opened the door more, looking at him heavily annoyed. “Katsuki, please leave.”

“Y/N, please.” He let out lowly as he put a hand to your doorway as if that would have stopped you from slamming the door in his face. He hesitated for a second but you saw his face fall, he looked down to the floor for a moment before looking up at you again. “I know I fucked up, big time. I know it feels as though I’ve wasted your time and you want nothing to do with me.”

“You’re wrong, I don’t feel Katsuki. I know you wasted my time.” You pointed out with furrowed eyebrows. “You cheated on me.”

Bakugou swallowed down hard but nodded his head. That was something that took you a bit by surprise. “I did. I did cheat and I’m sorry. Please, all I ever wanted was for you, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known,” He motioned to you, your expression dropped as you looked away from him. “to be with me.” You opened your mouth. “Yes, I know what you’re going to say but Eijiro loves you too. You know how much he loves you. Don’t act as if you were oblivious to it.”

You frowned, tightening your grip on your door handle. “I wasn’t oblivious to it, Katsuki, I just didn’t act on it. I respected you enough not to.” You pointed out. You let out a drained sigh as you moved to massage your eyebrows. “I’m tired, Katsuki. Please leave.”

“Y/N wait-”

“Hey, Y/N, sorry to bother you but is it okay if I order another pizza?” You heard Midoriya chirp in behind you as walked into the hallway, being able to be seen by Bakugou. He had his phone in hand as he stared down at the screen. “Cause I really couldn’t resist eating that last sli-” He looked up and his eyes caught on the blond. He perked up. “Oh…” He slowly made his way to stand behind you. “Hey Kacchan.” He greeted.

Bakugou looked at the green haired hero in disbelief. His eyebrows furrowed as his face scrunched up almost in a mix of disbelief and also disgust. “Deku? The fuck you doing here?” He asked motioning to you.

Midoriya motioned back to the kitchen innocently. “Eating pizza.” He said simply. Bakugou gave him a pointed look in annoyance, showing that he wasn’t buying that. Midoriya took a step closer to you, coming up right behind- you making you let out a breath. He moved to encase your hand around the door handle, silently taking control of the situation. You looked down at his large scarred hands that were over yours, so much bigger and experienced than yours and yet held nothing but affirmative action behind them. “What are you doing here, Kacchan?” He asked with a tilt of his head as he furrowed his own eyebrows.

Bakugou let out a breath. He motioned to you. “I’m here to talk to YN.”

Midoriya looked down to you, his expression automatically easing as he looked down at you. “Are you done speaking to him?” You wordlessly nodded your head. He smiled. “Great.” He looked up at Bakugou. “Looks like she’s done talking to you. Goodbye, Kacchan.”

 Once again, Bakugou stopped the door from being closed in his face. Midoriya glanced down at Bakugou’s hand that was on the door and then looked back at the blond. You saw his expression darken at the action, a serious frown on his face. “Now hold on, Deku. I’m not here for you, I’m here for her. Now why don’t you mind your own fucking business and go back to eating your pizza.” Bakugou let out with a scowl.

Midoriya didn’t answer for a moment, just staring at the blond for a moment. He stepped out of the way. “You know what, come in for a second.” He said with a serious look on his face. You looked up at him wondering what the hell he was on about. Midoriya however, didn’t look at you as he allowed Bakugou through.

The blond put on a smug smirk on his face as he stepped past you and Midoriya into your apartment. Midoriya closed the door behind him, keeping his eyes on Bakugou. He was silent as he followed Bakugou. “Now, do you mind, Deku. I’ve gotta talk to-” Suddenly dark green tendril wrapped themselves around Bakugou restraining the blond hero. His eyes widened. “THE FUCK YOU DOING!” Bakugou shouted at Midoriya who had a rather emotionless expression on his face as he stared at the blond. You watched as Blackwhip had itself wrapped around Bakugou. Midoriya walked over to Bakugou, picking him up effortlessly. You watched silently as Midoriya marched over to your balcony, opening the sliding door. Immediately you felt your heart drop out of your chest as you watched with wide eyes. “DEKU! YOU SLIMEY FUCK! LET GO OF ME!” Bakugou shouted as his hands flexed at his sides trying to hurt Midoriya to force him to let go of him.

Midoriya marched onto your balcony. Without looking at Bakugou, he threw the blond off your balcony. You gasped as you slapped a hand over your mouth. Midoriya dusted his hands, blackwhip no longer activated as he marched back inside, closing the sliding door. He looked over to you with a smile. “So I can order another pizza right?” He asked you horrifyingly casually as he walked back into your kitchen.

Your heart was thumping in your chest as you looked back at your balcony. You were hoping maybe by some odd miracle maybe you were just delusional but you knew you weren’t. You glanced over to Midoriya, watching as he picked up his phone and started placing another order for pizza.

Noticing your silence, Midoriya looked up at you. He waved his hand down. “Don’t worry, he’s fine.” He stated casually as he shrugged. “It’s not the first time this has happened. It’s rather therapeutic, heals my inner child.” He told you as he tapped another button.

You motioned to your balcony. “What if you killed him!” You shouted.

“Oh I wish.” Midoriya looked up at you with a nod. “He can save himself. His quirk is good for doing that.” He motioned over to the side. “Actually…” He faced the screen of his phone towards you. He lifted up three fingers. Then two. Then one. Suddenly his phone started ringing, KACCHAN. Midoriya swiped accept as he answered the call. “Yes?”

“DEKU, I’M GOING TO FUCKING-”

Midoriya hung up the phone. He looked back at you with a smile. “You see, he’s fine. So what pizza do you want?” You stood in disbelief as you looked at him. You just blinked at him trying to grapple with what just happened. Midoriya looked at you. “I guess that’s a margarita.”

You sat next to Midoriya as the limo moved forward, today was the first time that the two of you would be seen at a press event together. It was another hero gala with a bunch of champagne, awards and slow dancing to make the elitists happy. It was a big deal coming in here as the fiancé to the Number One hero, having to stay by his side as he talked to big figure names like the Prime Minister, the Minister of Safety, the President of the Hero Commission and other board members. It was a serious occasion.

In light of the occasion you were dressed to match. You wore an emerald green dress that hugged your figure before falling naturally down around you causing a bit of a train around. Your sleeves were puffed and came to your elbows but made the look seem sexy without too much skin and underneath all that, red bottoms that Midoriya had gifted you. You let out a breath as you sat with your hands on your lap.

Midoriya let out a chuckle. You looked over to him and his smug self. You looked him up and down suspiciously which only increased the green haired man’s amusement. “And what are you giggling at?”

Midoriya shrugged, he sat in all black but his tie and waistcoat were the same luscious green as your dress and his hair. He adjusted the chain connecting his collar to his breast pocket. “You’re nervous.”

“Aren’t you?”

 He shook his head denying it with a small frown. You both would be last to enter the hall as it was customary for the Number One. It only built up the suspense you had. “No. Not really.” You looked down at your lap for a moment trying to get a grip of yourself as your stomach twisted into knots. You swallowed down hard as you tried to focus on your lap, you didn’t notice much of what Midoriya was doing. He slowly took your hands, rubbing over your knuckles gently as he put your hands together encased in his. He gave you a smile, a soft and endearing one. “We’re doing this together, okay. That’s why I’m not nervous. I’m not alone and neither are you.” He reminded you. “You and I are going to walk out of this limo, and pose like we are the hottest couple to ever set foot in Japan-” You couldn’t help but smile and scoff at that, making Midoriya’s smile widen. “-Cause we are, and enter that hall like the world is waiting for us- because it is. We are here together.”

You smiled softly at his words. It was an odd thing about Midoriya that also made him an amazing hero. It was how humble and kind he was. When it came to his words, he could say the most inspirational things to lift one up all with a smile on his face. You tightened your hold on him. “Thank you…” You told him honestly. You hesitated but smiled. “I-Izuku.”

You saw his demeanour soften at you calling him by his given name. “Of course...” He leaned closer to you with a slight smirk on his face. “Future Mrs. Midoriya.” You rolled your eyes as you nudged him, only making him laugh. “Talking about that, you did get all the invitations printed and sent digitalised, right?” He asked.

You nodded your head. “Yes, they are all just waiting for the end of the evening and then they’ll be in people’s inboxes. I’m also going for my dress appointment next week.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? Can I come?”

“No!” You said laughing.

His face dropped in disappointment as he frowned. “Why?” He whined, his mouth in a slight pout as he looked at you very seriously.

“Why?” You asked confused but still laughing. “Cause you can’t see me in the dress before the wedding day. It’s bad luck.” He grumbled at that, only making you laugh some more.

 The limo finally came to a stop and you finally heard the loud shouting of the media, preparing for you and Midoriya to exit out of the limo. He looked over at you and you at him. He took your hand and raised it to his lips with a smile, kissing your knuckles. “Let's go take over Japan for a night.” He smirked. You couldn’t help but stifle a short giggle. 

The door was opened for Midoriya and the moment he came into view, instantly the cameras started flashing. It was borderline assaulting with how much the flashes were going off and yet he already had his camera smile ready as he stepped outside of the limo. He straightened up his jacket for a moment before offering a hand to you. You took his hand and stepped out onto the red carpet. You smiled up at him, a lovesick smile as he led you down the carpet.

The both of you stopped to take some pictures, Midoriya only smiling at the press for a moment before looking down at you and keeping your eyes on you. You glanced up at him before giggling and moving your head to nudge him slightly. “You shouldn’t be smiling at me.” You told him, looking up at him with a gentle smile on my face.

Midoriya shrugged. “Why not?” He stated, motioning forward for the both of you to head over to the paparazzi to answer one or two questions before moving forward. He looked up at the sea of photographers and instantly they were all shouting his hero name. It was borderline overwhelming. He stepped forward to one of the reporters and there was an instant hush over them to hear the question and his answer.

“ProHero Deku, we’d like to congratulate you on spending the last five consecutive years as the Number One hero of Japan. It’s absolutely outstanding!”

Midoriya pulled on a sharp smirk on his face. “Thank you, it’s still surreal to me. It still feels like that first year, whenever people would call for the Number One hero, I would always be looking for him.” His comment caused you all to laugh as more questions came flying.

“Is Miss L/N your date for tonight?”

Midoriya looked down at you, squeezing your hand as he gave you a look that made you feel as though you were the only thing worth looking at in the world. You didn’t know how he did it. How with just one look that he was doing, he could make you feel so speechless. “Well… as my fiancé, I would be worried if I didn’t bring her as my date.” That one answer brought an uproar of more questions.

“How long have you been together!”

“When did you get engaged?”

“How does it feel like to be in a relationship with the Number One hero, Miss L/N?”

You chuckled as you leaned forward to answer. “It’s an absolute dream. He’s…” You let out a sigh as you looked up at him. His green eyes are always staying on you. “He’s such a pillar of strength to me and I honestly feel so lucky every day. He’s an absolute sweetheart.”

Midoriya raised a hand indicating that the two of you were done answering questions. However, calls for a kiss started to sound, making a flustered look go to your face. Midoriya seemed more amused by it than anything else. He looked down at you with a smirk, making you face him. “What do you say? Should we give the people what they want?”

You shrugged. “Whatever you want…” You stated as he pulled you in against his chest your face close to his as you looked up at him, moving your left hand onto the side of his face, making sure the engagement ring was in sight. “Izuku.” You whispered. “Mr. Number One Hero.” You smirked, being unable to help yourself.

Unprecedentedly he let out a low groan as he pulled you in for a kiss. In that moment everything felt like it stopped as you felt your heart stop too. It was warm and soft and yet eager as he kissed you. It was also over all too soon for your liking and immediately you hid your face from view in embarrassment for a moment as you heard in chuckle. However, you felt underneath your right hand, his heart was thumping out of his chest, racing almost as if it would burst out.

With a wave from the both of you, you joined hands as you made your way towards a waiting hallway before entering the hall. The background of people buzzed around you, making sure that everything was perfect. They adjusted Midoriya’s white signature cape on his shoulders, as well as your dress at the bottom to make sure that there was the perfect entrance for the both of you. You moved to hold onto his arm rather than his hand.

“You’re gonna make us cause scandals, Izuku.” You whispered up to him.

He kept facing forward, a perfect profile as he smirked, pushing a dimple to his freckled cheek. He chuckled, putting a hand over your own, giving it a squeeze. “Good.”

“Announcing his excellency, the Number One ProHero of Japan, ranked Number Three in Asia, ProHero: Deku, along with his fiancé, Miss L/N.”

At that the doors opened revealing the decorated hall to the both of you. Midoriya led the both of you forward, his cape flowing behind him as he walked with you next to him. He had a resting smirk on his face as he walked forward. It was like he knew the presence he carried, the power he had as he walked forward. His eyes seemed to almost hide everything and yet show what you could only assume was all to you. Dangerous poisonous green eyes that would swallow anyone up with a single glance. You tightened your hold on him as you stayed at his side, smiling at other ProHeroes that were nearby.

Midoriya led the both of you around, greeting a various number of highly important people, some you had only been able to see on TV alone. You smiled and acted nice and pretty. You were much more than a pretty face and luckily there was a lot of attention on this new pairing that was you and Midoriya, so you didn’t have to act like just Arm Candy. However, even as you went around the hall you could feel a particular set of crimson eyes on you, it was like they were drilling a hole into you.

You only looked at him when it was time to get seated in order for the event to start. That’s when you saw the furious gaze of Bakugou Katsuki on both you and your fiancé. Bakugou sat in his seat, a silent rage about him as he watched the both of you make your way forward. His gaze of almost disgust and yet also disappointment felt like a weight on your throat. Feeling almost sick at the pressure his gaze had on you, you flicked your gaze to Kirishima. Kirishima looked between you and Midoriya almost as if he could hardly believe it- and yet the moment his eyes met yours, he looked down away from you.

It was only then when he left your gaze did you snap yourself back to reality. You raised your head as you kept to Midoriya’s side. You finally reached the table. He pulled out your seat first, motioning for you to sit down. You smiled as you sat down, him pushing in your chair and then him sitting down himself. There was no time to communicate with the people at your table as immediately the event began.

The event started with acknowledging some retired heroes now turned alumni, and all that they had done for the hero community. Then there were some long service awards going in intervals of five years, which lasted a bit longer than you thought it would. During the whole time you tried to focus on the event and Midoriya sitting next to you as well as Mina who sat next to you. However, it was hard when you felt Bakugou’s eyes on you most of the time. You tried to ignore him as best as you could.

Finally, it was almost time for the break with only one more award to be handed out before the rest of the evening would be mingling, some dancing and dinner.

“We’ve come to that part of the night where we have to celebrate our top hero of the country,” Hawks spoke from the top of the stage, being MC for the night just like  he was for most hero events. You turned to look at Midoriya who tried his best not to get flustered at it all, still an element of humbleness to him. “We’d like to acknowledge and award our Number One Hero, ProHero: Deku, the hero of peace and justice for all he has accomplished for not only the five consistent years of being Number one, but for all the efforts he has accomplished for the hero community. From the privacy of Hero only hospitals, greater access to the legislative system in terms of cases and more supportive laws for self defence and quirk usage, Deku has done much for the hero community and this nation. And for that I’d like to call the Number One to the stage.” He stepped to the side clapping his hands as an assistant brought a clear crystal award onto stage for Midoriya.

You clapped along with the rest of the hall. Midoriya stood up, putting a hand up to acknowledge everyone around him. He turned to you before leaving, making sure to give you a peck to your lips. You reminded yourself to keep your expression up to not look as shocked as you were as you watched him leave and go up onto stage. Midoriya climbed up the stairs up to the stage, giving Hawks a hug making the blond’s eyes widen for a moment before letting out a laugh.

Midoriya accepted the award before being ushered to stand at the mic (which was luckily adjusted to his height.) He looked around at the hall for a moment, letting out a breath. “Everything I’ve ever done was to achieve my dreams to become a hero and I am unbelievably lucky to have been able to achieve that. Now, because I know that we,” He motioned at the hall, “all know that I could stand up here and talk us into the next era, I’m gonna try and keep things short. I have to thank first and foremost, my mentor, All Might.” Midoriya paused for a moment, swallowing hard at the mention of the older hero that had passed just two years ago. He lowered his head for a moment before forcing a smile on his face. “I also need to thank all my friends, teachers, fellow heroes, every single worker at Deku Agency and most certainly…” His eyes moved to you despite the bright lights on him. It was almost as if he could find you even in the darkness of the crowd. You smiled at him. “My fiancé, Y/N.” His freckled cheeks pushed up to a beautiful smile. “I don’t think these past few years would have been as vivid and beautiful without you in them and for that, I am forever grateful for you. Thank you.” He bowed his head to everyone, moving back with a wave as he was escorted to the wings away from the spotlight.

“For the time we’ve all been waiting for… Dinner.” Hawks spoke with a huge grin.

The lights of the hall increased some more allowing you to all see much easily. You let out a breath as you turned to straighten yourself out and turn to the rest of the table. You noticed very quickly that a lot of them were staring at you. You looked around at everyone for a moment before picking up your champagne glass.

“THAT RING!” Mina took your glass out of your hands and took your left hand into her own. She inspected the green sapphire engagement surrounded by diamonds. Her eyes widened as she looked down at it with awe. “It’s so pretty! Where did he get it?”

You chuckled as you shrugged. “I actually don’t know, I never thought to ask.”

“How come?” You heard the gruff voice of your ex-boyfriend disturb your conversation. He looked at you with a horrible scrutinising gaze.

You looked over at Bakugou but to his surprise you had forced a smile to your face. “I got swept up in the proposal, I didn’t really didn’t think about it. It was just…” You sighed as you turned to face Mina with a sweet smile. “He had decorated the entire penthouse with flowers and balloons, had all the lights off and had lanterns and fairy lights everywhere-”

“WAIT!” Denki shot out of his chair to move to crouch near you and Mina to hear all the details. “I have to know. You kept this from me and now I expect to know every detail.” He stated, glaring up at you with a pointed look.

You chuckled. “We didn’t want to be in the spotlight and it kinda just-”

“Took us by surprise.” You turned to look up at Midoriya who approached the table once again.

Your smile broadened. “Congratulations, Izuku. You deserve it.” You reached over and took a hold of his hand.

Midoriya hummed with a smirk on his face. He leaned down. “Thank you, my love.” He hummed out, moving his hand to your neck. He tilted your head up to meet his, keeping a possessive hold on your neck. You felt time freeze for a moment as you felt something stir in the pit of your stomach, knotting up and aching for a second. You knew the feeling all too well, but yet you hadn’t felt it in a long time.

You chuckled into the kiss. “For a hero, you know little self-control.” You spoke against his lips.

He smirked, moving back with a shrug, sitting down in his seat. “You can’t blame me, when it comes to you.” He faced back to everybody else, keeping a hand on your thigh. He lifted up his glass of champagne to his lips, taking a much needed sip before his eyes landed on Bakugou. He smiled. “Kacchan, I actually need you to come over to my place soon, I’ve gotta ask you something.”

Bakugou was in no mood to talk to Midoriya nor interact with the green haired hero. Hell, his whole event was ruined by this farce that was happening in front of him. You? In love with Midoriya? You had got to be shitting him. After all that the two of you had been through together, how much you knew about Midoriya and him, and yet here you were sitting next to Midoriya with an engagement ring on his finger. It made the blond feel so angry that he felt borderline sick. Kirishima glanced at the blond, he put a hand on Bakugou’s thigh trying to calm him down.

Bakugou took a sip of his own champagne, putting down the glass aggressively. “Why don’t you just ask it right fucking now?” He shrugged in his black suit. He leaned back. “Since you seem so filled with surprises today, Deku.”

“Katsuki.” Kirishima reminded him quietly to behave.

Midoriya seemed to hesitate. “Are you sure? It’s a pretty private thing Kacchan. I don’t want to put you on the spot-”

“Just spit it out you damn fucking-”

“Would you be my best man?”

The whole table went silent at the question. You tried to keep a calm face as you internally were smacking Midoriya on the back side of the head for such a question. You weren’t sure what he was thinking of, doing this. Denki’s mouth was in a straight line as he too didn’t pull a joke, finding the tension too heavy. Everyone looked at Bakugou. Even Shoto, although seemingly very quiet and sticking to spectating, watching expectantly.

The blond didn’t seem to move for the second, processing Midoriya’s question. He tilted his head, his hands balling up the table cloth and smoke coming out of his palms. “What?”

Midoriya smiled gently. “Will you be my best man?” He looked down for a moment, almost bashful but he then looked at Bakugou as if he was being genuine. “I’ve known you all my life, Kacchan. You’re like a brother that I greatly dislike but a brother none the less. You have done so much for me. You’ve followed me to UA, we’ve worked countless times together, hell, you are even the reason why I can marry the love of my life.” Midoriya glanced at you. You knew what he was doing. It was buried deep in those poisonous green of his eyes. He was riling up Bakugou and it was damn working, almost too well. If Bakugou could look more murderous, he could. “I feel like it is only right as my childhood friend, that I ask you if you want to be my best man at my wedding to Y/N.”

At first Bakugou was silent as he dropped his head trying to will himself not to cross the table and murder Midoriya right before his very eyes. He dragged a hand down his face before you started hearing soft chuckles. You raised an eyebrow as Bakugou slowly started to laugh. Soon the blond was down right hysterical as he put a hand to his head as he laughed. You glanced at Midoriya, wondering if this was him officially breaking the blond, however he didn’t look away, he stayed looking at Bakugou.

Bakugou let out a sigh as he wiped tears from his eyes. He looked over at Midoriya nodding his head. He motioned to the green haired man in front of him. “Fuck you.” Without a second thought, Bakugou stood up from his chair and left the table. Bakugou didn’t look at you as he turned his back on all of you and walked away to God knows where.

Immediately Kirishima stood up to go and follow Bakugou. “Katsuki!” He turned back to the whole lot of you. He bowed his head to Midoriya. “I’m sorry about him, Midoriya and-” It was almost as if your name got caught in his throat. “And Y/N.” He quickly apologised as he went racing off to go follow Bakugou. Now that you were watching it away from being obligated to follow Bakugou’s side, you realised just how tiring it was sometimes.

“Midoriya.” Midoriya turned to his right to look at Todoroki who was looking at him as stoic as ever. He had his silky mismatched hair cascading down his shoulders, but a few strands were tied up behind him. He tilted his head to the side. “May I be your best man?” He asked shamelessly, making Sero snort in amusement.

Midoriya nodded his head with a genuine smile on his face, dimples appearing on his cheeks. “Don’t worry, Shoto, I knew he was going to say no. I was going to ask you but thank you. I would love it if you were my best man.” He chuckled in amusement as he made sure that Todoroki knew that he had the position. Todoroki nodded his head, glad that he had gotten himself in as Midoriya’s best man.

“Obviously, I’m going to be the flower girl.” Denki stated as he motioned to himself with pride. You rolled your eyes but chuckled.

“How dare you hide this from your mother!”

“OW! OKAASAN!”

You watched in pure amusement as the tall, large Number One hero, Midoriya Izuku, was being attacked by a white slipper by a woman half his size. Midoriya Inko, who you found out would be your future mother-in-law. She had a furious expression on her face as she swatted her son with her slipper, pulling on his ear so that he couldn’t escape her fury. Midoriya was forced to bend in an awkward position in order to accompany how short she was.

“You didn’t think to tell me that you were getting married!” She chastised as she slapped her slipper against his shoulder. The short round woman frowned up at her son, clearly offended at being left out of the loop.

A beautiful golden retriever scampered into the hallway where you all were. She barked up in happiness at seeing Midoriya however she went over to you, sniffing at your body. You smiled as you crouched down, putting a hand to her head as you pat her behind the ears. She sat down obediently with her mouth open as she panted. You checked her nametag. “Mighty Molly”, you read. She was a beautiful dog and really well trained.

Midoriya let out a small yelp. He furrowed his eyebrows as he sent his mother a glare. “I already told you, Ma. It’s more like an arrangement than me withholding information from you- Will you stop!” He let out annoyed at the constant slipper attacking his shoulder. You knew that if Midoriya really wanted to, he could have easily stopped Inko. He could have easily disarmed the very threatening woman and won the little battle between them, but you knew he wouldn’t do that. He seemed too much of a Mama’s boy to do so.

She let out a huff as she folded her arms and put her slipper back down on the ground. “Arranged or not, this is the person who will take your name and become part of the family.” She reminded him with a pointed look. She slipped her sock covered foot into the slipper and turned to you. She smiled up at you as if she had not just assaulted her son in front of you. “Welcome my dear, I hope you like pork Katsudon!” She let out chirply as she motioned for you to follow her to sit down at the table.

You chuckled and followed her, paying no mind to her grumbling son behind the two of you in the hallway of her apartment. “Thank you and I do.” You told her as she motioned for you to sit. You sat down at the table, happily with a smile for dinner that she had prepared for the two of you. “You have a lovely home, Mrs. Midoriya.”

“Thank you. Izuku grew up here.” She informed you. “And please, don't go by Mrs. Just call me Mama Midoriya if you want, it's what most of Izuku’s friends call me. Or Inko, that’s just fine too, dear.” You raised your eyebrows in surprise. You had heard that Midoriya didn’t grow up as privileged as his fellow former classmates and it made a lot of sense to you. As much as he knew he had money now, he wasn’t as flashy with it as your ex was or some of his classmates. She quickly snapped her fingers at her son. “Izuku, come sit down.” She ordered. Midoriya pulled out the chair opposite where you sat but he pulled out a chair for his mother as well. He moved without being asked to grab two bowls of katsudon, laying them down in front of you and one for his mother. Inko facial expression softened and so he sat down without complaint. She turned to you. “So… I heard that the two of you met through Katsuki.” She started.

You nodded your head. “Yes, in an essence.” You watched Mighty Molly position herself beside Inko, lying down on the ground.

Midoriya scoffed as he placed his own bowl at his place and sat down. “Ma, you don’t have to act oblivious.” He points out, putting his hands together. You all said thank you for the food and you could start eating. Midoriya picked up his chopsticks and looked at you. “She knows that you and Kacchan were together.”

You looked over to Inko. She gave you a tense smile making you giggle. She sighed as her shoulders relaxed. “I’m sorry, my dear but everybody knows.” She told you, nodding her head. “However, when I was talking to Mitsuki,” You paused at the mention of Bakugou’s mother. “She always talked about how happy you made Katsuki and how much he tried to make you happy. Honestly, she had been pressuring him to propose right before you two-” She paused as she noticed your slight frown. You swallowed hard hearing that.

It was hard not to think about. It was hard not to think about having to apologise to his parents as to why you had broken up with their son and having to omit the truth. It was hard hearing all about how much of an amazing couple the two of you were only for it to have ended in shambles, ended with the two of you away and split up from one another. It was hard learning that Mitsuki was pressuring him to propose to you when you had called it off.

It wasn’t your fault.

Inko softened, her face apologetic. “I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to…”

You shook your head forcing a smile to your face. “No, it’s okay.” You let out a bit of a forced laugh. “Mitsuki reminds me a whole lot of her son. The two are more often than not, very much at odds, despite being so similar.” You pointed out.

Midoriya nodded his head in agreement, mouth full of delicious Katsudon as he did so. Inko agreed with a giggle. “Honestly, I don’t know how Masaru manages both of them.” She stated amusedly. You agreed as well, tasting her food. You perked up at the taste of the meal. You looked up at Midoriya who was basically devouring the bowl in front of him. You smiled at the sight. You understood why he loved it so much if this was how his mother cooked it for him. Inko looked between you and her son. She smiled dearly. “I hope you know that my son…” She started softly as she looked down at her own meal for a moment before looking at you. “He’s a good man.” She nodded her head with a smile. “I know he’ll treat you well. He does get really busy sometimes and I often get worried for him, but he does everything wholeheartedly. I don’t know what made you say yes to him,” Midoriya gave his mother an offended look that she ignored. “but I am glad to see that he has someone, even if the two of you have nothing romantic going on. I just pray that you’ll be good to each other. I was worried he would die a rake.”

Midoriya paused for a moment, finally stopping his inhalation of food. “Excuse me, ma, but I’d like to remind you that I am ranked the top eligible bachelor in Japan.” He reminded her. “Well… I was ranked before the whole fiancé thing.”

She turned her head to him sharply with a pointed look on her face. “Most eligible bachelor and yet you could only have a long-term relationship by having it arranged.” She threw back at him.

You snorted as you covered your mouth at what she had said to her son. Midoriya opened his mouth but quickly closes his mouth and his eyes at the same time, holding his tongue. No doubt he was gonna say something that would probably get him kicked out of the apartment. You shook your head, not surprised one bit.

You let out a sigh and looked over to Inko. You gave her a genuine smile as you sat up straight. “Mama Midoriya,” You started as you took her attention towards you. “I won’t lie and say that the reasons your son and I decided to get together weren’t selfish in some sort of way, as any contract is. It was to get something out of it… but, I can promise you know that when I signed it, I took my new role as your son’s future wife very seriously.” You looked at her straight-faced, as transparent as you could be. Inko smiled in relief and continued to listen. “I don’t believe in forever. Not anymore. However, I do believe in commitment and communication. I promise to you that I’ll do my best to be a good wife to your son and care for him in a way that would never have you feel as though he isn’t being taken care of in whatever capacity he allows of me. You’re a good mother and you raised a good son. I am honoured to be welcomed into the household that you built, ma’am.”

Inko was looking at you with a wobbly smile as big fat Midoriya tears lined her eyes. She looked to her son with the same brink of emotions as she did to you. Midoriya let out a soft chuckle. “Are you okay, ma?” She nodded with some crippled whimpers, covering her face, but you already saw the rivers start to flow from her eyes. Midoriya put down his chopsticks and put a hand to her back. “Ma, don’t cry. You’re gonna make me cry.” He told her. “We don’t need Mrs. Fujita complaining about flooding again.”  

“B-b-but Izuku…” She let out with a soft whine as she sniffled.

Midoriya eased, just before he could get up he saw you take out a tissue from your bag and get up yourself. You crouched near Inko, handing her a tissue with a smile on your face. He paused for a second before easing at the sight. Although your action had good intentions, Inko only started crying harder which you found adorable. She shared a lot of similarities with her son now that you thought about it.

After dinner (and seconds from your fiancé), you had learnt a lot from Inko. For starters she had given you the recipe to her katsudon which was a must have apparently. Then you also found out the story behind the golden retriever. Mighty Molly was a service dog, specifically a mobility assistance dog for All Might. So far she did a lot around the apartment even though being off duty since All Might died. The Midoriyas had decided to keep her and just adopt her as a regular dog, even though her services were not needed anymore- and ever since then she had been living with Inko.

Inko was also not very shy of trying to embarrass her son at every waking moment. She had a photo album waiting to show you all the naked baby photos of Midoriya and him in his All Might onesie. Midoriya refused to be part of such antics and decided to wash dishes and save himself the shame. She told you all about how much of a troublesome teen he was when he entered UA and all the apparent lovers he had (which Midoriya was shocked to know of some he was sure he had hidden from her).

The two of you also talked about the wedding preparations. You talked about the flowers, the venue, the food and the cake tasting that the two of you still had to go do. You also told her a bit about your dress (which you tried to keep as minimalistic as possible due to Midoriya’s big ears). Midoriya and you had already agreed about a lot of the things on the wedding and one of the things Midoriya didn’t mind was the vision you had. He wanted to make the day as memorable and happy for you as possible, so he didn’t mind most things. The only real hard definite want that he had was that he wanted to wear a white suit. Which you thought was perfect.

The absolute best thing about Inko was how easily she adapted to the image you were thinking about and quickly she pitched in ideas you hadn’t even thought of. To say that you should have just hired her as your wedding planner would be an understatement, but she was more than happy to be on board and make sure that everything would run smoothly on the day of your wedding.

“Okay Izuku, you make sure you don’t eat all of this okay. Y/N deserves to eat my cooking too, so no hogging.” She reminded him as she handed him a picnic bag filled with containers of food.

Midoriya chuckled and nodded his head. “Yes, Ma.”

She let out a nod with a hum before turning to you. She gave you a gentle hug which you happily reciprocated. “You take well now dear. I’ll see you soon. You make sure if he does anything stupid, you just use your slipper on him. It works like a charm.”

You chuckled. “Of course, thank you again Mama Midoriya.” You stated.

Midoriya took your hand and motioned a wave to her. “Bye ma! Bye Molly!”

“Bye Izuku!” She waved, Molly giving him a bark from inside.

You followed Midoriya towards the staircase, heading down them back towards the ground. You looked up at him with a gentle smile, sticking close to him as the chilly hair nipped at your skin. “Your mother is nice.” You told him honestly.

He looked at you for a moment. He grinned. “I’m glad you think so. She really seems to like you.” He informed you. “Although if you hear your name circling around some old ladies Facebook group, don’t worry. She’s probably just bragging about how great her future in-law is.” He shrugged as he said it nonchalantly, making you laugh.

“I’m glad I got mama’s approval then. I don’t need to be swarmed by old ladies. I already have the paparazzi to deal with.” You joked.

He let out a sigh. “They’re all vultures, honestly.” He stated truthfully with a shake of his head.

The two of you finally made it to the bottom. It was dark at the bottom but it wasn’t a long trek towards the car. You couldn’t wait to get back to the apartment, bundle up and snuggle on the couch with Midoriya’s rabbit, Angelica Nina. She was a really good cuddle buddy now that you had effectively integrated yourself into her life.

“Y/N…” You turned to look at Midoriya. He didn’t have a particular emotion on his face. “I know I work a lot and I’m probably still going to be busy until the wedding but please tell me if you ever feel like I’m disappearing.” He didn’t look at you but he seemed to have a worried expression on his face. “I don’t want to make you feel as though I don’t have time for you or I’m not taking you seriously. Please just snap me out of it and I’ll-”

“Izuku, you’re the Number One hero.” You let out interrupting him. “I know how serious you take your job and just how much you sacrifice to keep it. Believe me, if there’s anyone who understands how draining and how much attention a hero’s work needs from you, it's me. So please, don’t ever feel bad about having to focus on it sometimes.” You told him honestly, knowing how much heroes needed partners who understood how demanding the job was and could be. You hesitated for a moment. “But…” You took a chance and tightened your hold around his warm hand. “Thank you.” You spoke softly as you kept your head facing forward, ignoring the heat to your face. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He glanced down at you. He smiled, encasing your hand in his own.

-Glitch1d

Taglist: @cillshot@stxrrielle@doomedengineer@chims-kookies@fabii275 @tiniewife

#mha x y/n #bakugou x reader #bnha #bakugou angst #bakugou x reader angst #midoriya x reader #izuku midoriya x reader #izuku x reader #mha #bakugou x kirishima #deku x reader #mha deku #tw: attempted murder #izuku rizzdoriya

[sirenologyyy]

MODERN ATWOW BAND HEADCANONS !

✹ summary : in which i'm slowly crawling back to my avatar hyperfixation and i decided to make a band au!except I'm right (or not take this with a grain of salt hehe) and I frl can't see them playing any other roles

✹ author's note : let this not flop in eywa we pray 🙏 and yes, Daisy Jones and the Six is my favorite book, how did you guess?

✹ warnings : mentions of bleeding, scabs, swearing obv

It all started one balmy afternoon when Lo'ak and Spider were blowing off their biochemistry homework lying down on the floor staring at the cieling fan undeviatingly oscillate above them. Then, Lo'ak suddenly sits up from his spot causing Spider to look at him.

"What's up?" Asked Spider.

Lo'ak looks at him, a newfound determination in his wide eyes. "Dude, what if we start a band."

Spider frowns. "A band?"

"No, but hear me out for a second." says Lo'ak bristling in his spot as Spider sits up.

Although wary, Spider hums. "Alright."

"Think about it, school's almost over, we barely know anybody in this town, are we seriously gunna hangout in the beach all summer trying to make friends?"

Spider chuckles. "I think I'm missing the point where that's a bad idea."

"Spider, come on bro- look at us, we're losers alright? We're practically throwaway fish to the kids at school- but if we start a band, who knows how many people'll wanna be a part of it, we'll score a couple of life long friends AND it'll be our one solid excuse not to be at home" Lo'ak's riposte was proving to make sense, with a toothy smile to cap it off, but of course Spider- considering he was two years Lo'ak's senior had to pop his bubble with the pragmatic pin of reality.

"I don't know dude, it sounds kinda lame." Spider replies hesitantly, propping himself up by his elbows. "We've been trying to start a band since 7th grade, we always end up calling it quits on the 3rd week."

"This time it'll be different."

Spider scoffs. "Uh-huh? How "

Lo'ak nudges his right shoulder upwards. "We'll ask Neteyam to help."

Spider shoots him yet another look. "If he doesn't want to help?"

"We make do," Lo'ak shrugs. "What's wrong with a two man band?"

"Almost everything." Spider snorts.

★ lo'ak ──────── electric guitar

when they used to live back in high camp, he found an old silvertone in their attic that used to belong to jake during his marine days along with scores of 70's rock bands' songs on yellowing paper fraying at the edges and folds.

He spent 3 months learning a song with 4 chords by ear and performed it at the school talent show

When he got into 6th grade he did not only beg, for an electric guitar he GROVELED. He suddenly wanted to do all the chores in the house, he suddenly got C's instead of D's in tests, it was terrifying because who the hell WAS this and what did they do to the real Lo'ak???

Jake and Neytiri didn't give him one until he was 13. Jake just picked him up from school one day and all of a sudden just asked: you wanna get that electric guitar?

LO'AK WAS OVER THE GODDAMN MOON.

got a classic red stratocaster.

The first song he ever learned to play on the guitar was buddy holly by weezer...

Come on you guys what were you expecting

likes picking at his finger scabs and does it until neteyam or tsireya tells him off.

has multiple guitar picks but always uses this specific one he made into a necklace and wears it everywhere.

THEN PROCEEDS TO LOSE SAID GUITAR PICKS

tuk keeps hiding them around the house waiting for lo'ak to lose his mind.

he can play any song by ear, just watch.

plays around with riffs more often than not.

★ neteyam ──────── back up vocalist / lyricist

never even wanted to join the band but was bullied into joining (kiri joined when he said he wouldn't just to spite him)

has perfect pitch (are we surprised though)

YOU'D SNEEZE AND BITCH ASS CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT NOTE IT'S AT.

uses it to nitpick Lo'ak when he's straying from the original pitch.

lo'ak will then threaten to cave his face in with his capo.

his favorite artists are frank ocean and kendrick lamar.

no one in his entire school woulda guessed he could sing. Nobody.

was made to sing in family events... (iykyk)

loves musicals. his favorite's Hamilton...

Jake and Neytiri took him to see Hamilton once in New York when he was 11, he's never been the same since.

HAS MAJOR FUCKING STAGE FRIGHT I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. HE WILL NOT GO ON STAGE UNTIL YOU SMACK HIM IN THE HEAD SO HARD HIS BRAIN RESETS AND SUDDENLY HAS THE BALLS TO FACE THE AUDIENCE.

Once he's out there though he totally changes, he gets more confident, when he's really feeling it then his braids start flying everywhere... it's becoming an issue really, he might take someone's eye out with how solid his hair beads are...

hurled his guts out one time before they had to perform at the end of year school fair.

★ kiri ──────── pianist

there are always four types of gays. English Teacher Gays, Art Teacher Gays, History Teacher Gays, and Music Teacher Gays.

Kiri was definitely the last one.

lo'ak got her a shirt that says "key master" with her face horribly photoshopped onto the keys of a piano.

she burned it the night she got it.

til this day lo'ak never knew what happened to it.

Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko in the DJATS live action? Brain chemistry = altered

Stevie Nick's and Lindsey Buckingham's performance of Silver Spring in Fleetwood Mac's Reunion concern in 1997? = Roman Empire.

was in the school choir and would play the piano in their choir director's stead.

has been playing the piano for 9 years but always gets confused when asked to play a flat or a sharp (it takes her 4 tries to figure out where C minor is)

her favorite piece to play is over the waves by juventino rosas.

when she wants to show jake a new piece she's been working on, by the first minute he's out like a fucking light. SHE'S JUST THAT GOOD.

also when she wants to play a piece with too many chords she never wanted to play it in the first place.

once she messes up she's definitely one of those people who spams the keys.

one time when she was playing a piece her fingers cramped mid-song and she freaked out.

★ spider ──────── drums

his dad's military friends taught him how to play the drums.

lo'ak dared him he couldn't do a drumroll for an hour.

spider did it in two and a half but stopped cuz he got hungry LMAO.

impresses kiri with various drumstick spins, it dosen't impress her.

practically worshipped that one vine of those two kids.

was definitely one of those kids that played with overturned pots and pans and pretended it was a drum set (it annoyed the hell outta norm)

once lost his drum sticks and used chopsticks (ps. they weren't the same)

scribbled their band logo on his bass drum and was very proud of it.

INSISTED they would call themselves "the seven skxawngs"

nobody listened to him.

when they held auditions for their drummer he went "You guys know I can play the drums right?"

has never watched whiplash.

uploads drum covers on his tiktok account with 70 followers.

makes dumb jokes if the others can't figure out a certain chord or note he'd go "guys maybe it's at H!"

the most chillest person in the band though frl.

somehow always manages to pull??? The amount of game this man has solely just because he's the drummer is wild.

they once performed at an event with 50 people and Spider was wearing addidas slides the entire time and nobody noticed.

★ tsireya ──────── main vocals/lyricist

When I tell you this kid can SING SHE CAN SING.

frl the real life ariel I swear evrrytime she opens her mouth everyone's wishing on her downfall because she's such a talented singer, her vibratro is so measured, her runs are so clean, she's just so UGHHHH.

is such a theatre kid oh Lord.

was made to sing at family events too (it's practically a canon event atp guys.)

has a special journal where she writes her song lyrics that she takes with her everywhere (give her 5 minutes and she can write a song with just her hand as paper and eyeliner as a pen.)

joined in singing competitions when she was a kid and when she was 10 joined a televised singing competition and managed to make it to the semi-finals.

it's why she's the lead singer of the band anyway.

she always has pearls threaded into her hair every time they perform and it's been her signature look ever since.

her voice is fucking angelic ya'll istg.

is a soprano. enough said.

is amazing at reading sheet music.

she and neteyam wrote 3 original songs that the band performs everytime they get a gig.

aside from singing she can play piano and violin too.

she's a fucking wordsmith too like she's so eloquent and knows all these big words and she's good at expressing her pent up emotions through songwriting.

the literal it girl. Everyone in their band gained more popularity ever since they opened for a popular band from L.A. but everyone in their high-school knows her name. Everyone.

her vocal control is amazing.

she really knows how to liven up a crowd.

★ aonung ──────── rhythm guitar

has been playing guitar since he was 7.

took up guitaring because his dad introduced him and tsireya to playing instruments at a young age.

collects guitar straps.

neteyam's always on his ass about if what he's playing sounds right or not (50% of the time he's not)

it isn't practice without neteyam and aonung almost throwing hands at least thrice.

almost always smokes while practicing.

oddly enough only has one guitar pick and he hasn't lost it yet unlike lo'ak who buys new guitar picks every other month.

obsessed with black nailpolish, you won't see him go on stage without black nails istg.

he didn't even audition for the band. He was just always there at the Sully residence to pick Tsireya up from practice until one day Tsireya told him to come inside the house, when he did he finds out they needed someone for rhythm guitar and that Tsireya let it slip that Aonung knew how to play.

he's been a part of the band ever since.

he's just incredibly good with his fingers, enough said.

after the first time they performed their first gig at some girl's house party, he, rotxo, and lo'ak got high on the rooftop of Aonung's house (yk until Lo'ak slipped and started dangling from the gutters and fell into the pool)

his outfits always eat every time they perform.

james hetfield the goat.

always experimenting with new riffs and runs and adds them to the songs mid-performance and without any warning (just to piss neteyam off)

★ rotxo ──────── bass guitar

the glue and heart of the band frl.

the sweetest basist you'll ever meet.

his family actually owns a popular guitar shop in Awa'atlu, he first started playing the guitar at the ripe age of 5.

Bro is a prodigy but dosen't want to admit it.

aonung bought his first guitar at rotxo's family's shop, they hit it off ever since.

Always brings his baked goods to practices (then kiri devours the entire tray when you aren't looking)

actually fucked up his audition for the band but then Lo'ak found him sobbing in a janitors closet and gave him a second shot at an audition with just Lo'ak and Spider and he was able to redeem himself.

(really only auditioned cuz he played bass, they were finding a bassist, and not because kiri sully was their pianist)

is an introvert but he's so fucking funny that you wouldn't suspect it.

can perform riffs in his sleep (no he actually does though it freaks aonung out when he spends the night in his place.)

kiri made him a resin guitar pick with fragments of coral from the beach when they had their first date.

has a "maturing is realizing bass is the superior instrument" tshirt.

one time wore finger condoms so his scabs wouldn't re-open and bleed all over his guitar 😔

loves playing deftones on the bass.

has chronic "guitar face"

#avatar the way of water #atwow fanfiction #avatar modern au #metkayina #omatikaya #kiri #lo'ak #rotxo #tsireya #neteyam #band au #modern atwow band headcanons #avatar #neteyam x reader #aonung x reader #avatar x reader #avatar x y/n #avatar x human reader #avatar modern band au #neteyam sully #jake sully

[f10werfae]

Chris Evans Dad Scenarios #5

pairing: Dad!Chris Evans x Mom!Reader

summary: EVEN MORE adventures of Chris taking on one of his best roles yet, a father

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4

- Requests are open!

Likes, Comments and Re-blogs are appreciated♥️

Chris Evans Masterlist🌟

Full Masterlist ✨

Taglist Form💫

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Dad!Chris Gets hella jealous at the game

(Y/n's P.O.V)

The loving cool spring air was refreshing especially while watching my 5 (and 3/4, it counts) year old run after the ball with all his might, his tiny legs carrying him from one end of the pitch to the other. Leo was definitely a little ball of joy, his excited laughs and shouts being 'awed' by the other moms on the team. All of us standing per usual at the fence closest to the pitch, cameras out constantly at the ready.

The dads had made it their thing to bring camping chairs and just sit back a bit behind us. Usually bringing juice boxes or bottles of water to the game, with the occasional barbecue going on. I sighed feeling a slight kick to my stomach, baby girl always gets active when we’re at football, almost as if she’s here to support her big brother. I rubbed over the soft cotton fabric of my white maternity dress, thumps following my hands wherever they went.

“Ya alright Y/n, you look like you’re boutta pop” Janice commented looking at me with a smile on her face, she had become one of my closest friends ever since our sons started playing for the same soccer team.

“I know right? But i’m only 8 months along, so 1 more to go, hopefully she doesn’t come too early”

(Chris' P.O.V)

Sitting in my camping chair I couldn’t help admire my wife standing a few metres in front of me, her hair flowing freely, her face glowing and her hand cupping the bottom of her bump. God she just looks ethereal right now.

She turned her head back round to me, only for me to send her a wink causing her face to go all red and blushy.

“Hey Chris man, not to burst your bubble or anythin' but that guy from the other team keeps eyein' up Y/n”

Anthony whispered, his head indirectly nodding towards a random dad from the opposing team. His eyes very obviously trained onto my wife, his buddies slapping his back laughing as they waved their hands to imitate slapping someones ass.

“The fahk?” I whispered, Y/n oblivious to what was going on decided to walk back towards me, with her famous penguin waddle. A gorgeous smile gracing her lips as I offered her my water bottle without a word.

Spreading my legs a bit I patted my thigh,

“C'mon babe, sit right here. Know baby bub has got you all tired out”

(Y/n's P.O.V)

Looking at my husband’s handsome ass face, how could I even say no? Sitting down onto his lap I leant back into his chest, Chris now taking off his baseball cap to put it onto my head, the smell of his woody cologne overtaking my senses in the best way possible.

“Leo is playin so well out there baby, he’s definitely our kid” I joked leaning my head onto Chris' shoulder, my eyes closing peacefully

(Chris’ P.O.V)

“Oh baby he’s an Evans, course he’s talented” I laughed rubbing my hand up and down her back, feeling her physically relax into my touch.

Turning over to look at the random dad from earlier, I now could see him stealing multiple glances, clearly not happy at what he was having to see. Smiling fake at him, I watched him scoff and shake his head before facing the pitch again. Damn I knew my wife was beautiful but I did not sign up for this.

“What a bastard”

“What was that Chrissy?”

“Nothin babe, you just relax yeah?”

A few seconds later the referee blew her whistle signifying the end of the match, all the kids screaming and rushing to their parents. I watched out for Leo, his vibrant red soccer uniform coming closer towards us. His wild tufts of hair and big eyes became more visible, his toothy smile brightening up everything else around him

“DADDY DID YA SEE ME KICK THE BALL” He said excitedly, his arms waving about the place trying to show the way he kicked the ball about.

“Ya kiddin? Of course I did. You scored the first goal like the Evans you are” I said scoffing at his statement, feeling Y/n shift slightly in my arms, a small smile on her face as she ruffled Leo's hair and brought him into her arms between my legs. All of us now embracing lazily in this camp chair.

- Chris' little girl is growing up

(Y/n's P.O.V)

“Dada I wanna mawry Peter pan” I heard my daughter Eleanore swoon, her eyes glued to the T.V as the red headed cartoon flew about on the screen. Her giggles making me smile as she cuddled into Chris' chest, his lips pursing as he looked on disapprovingly.

“No boyfriends till you’re 40” He said coldly, Eleanore instantly whining and jumping out of his arms, walking towards me on the other sofa, cuddling into my chest hiding her face

“Wha- hey baby, you really gonna leave daddy over here without his baby?” Chris whined jokingly, clutching his heart dramatically dying.

“Mama I can mawry Peter pan right?” She asked looking up at me with her doe eyes, gosh how could I say no to them. Nodding at her I smoothed down her crazy hair, seeing Chris shake his head laughing in the background

“See dada, mama said I can”

She replied sassily blowing a raspberry towards Chris, her face instantly falling when Chris stuck his tongue out to fake die, Eleanore clambering to get off the sofa and run to her daddy.

“Dada wake up, me no wanna mawry Peter anymore” She whimpered cupping his face with her small hands, Chris opening one eye “really?”

“Mhm I stay wif you and mama forever” She said latching on around his neck, Chris chuckling picking her up and turning off the T.V,

“Hey where you going with our daughter?”

“She deserves a cookie after that answer bub”

- Daddy duty calls

(Y/n's P.O.V)

“babe where’s Elliana” I heard Chris ask coming out to the back yard, where I sat with my juice and new novel. The beautiful summer sun casting down enough warmth that I was able to wear a sports bra and shorts.

“Our baby is over there” I laughed nodding to the other side of the porch where Elliana's baby mat was.

It was too warm today so all she had on was a diaper, something she took advantage of, so she was wreaking havoc everywhere she went knowing she had nothing to get dirty.

I looked over to see her using Dodger as a back rest as she leant on him, holding up her own bottle as she drank away, her other hand reaching up for Chris’

“Aww pumpkin are you relaxin with Dodger and momma?” Chris asked sweetly sitting down beside them on the soft play mat, our soft curled bundle of joy tottered away from Dodger and decided to collapse onto Chris' lap.

“Baba?” Elliana asked holding up her now empty bottle, her eyes widened naturally with a small pout on her lips.

“N' here I thought you wanted to cuddle with dada” Chris scoffed setting Elliana back down by Dodger, heading inside along with her now empty bottle. A small laugh leaving me at my daughter's antics.

“Oh baby you are so smart, got daddy wrapped round your lil finger” I cooed getting up and picking up Elliana, her arms holding onto me as I put her onto my hip.

“You wanna sit with mama?” I asked watching her nod, her attention clearly on all the birds currently singing away on the trees in our yard. Her curious eyes darting all over the place as I sat her down beside me on the swinging porch bench, her body leaning onto mine as the both of us were basically laying down.

“One baba per request” Chris sighed coming out to hand Elliana her bottle, his hands resting on his hips watching her take her first sip.

“Is that good enough for you little lady?”

“Mhm baba dada” Elliana said passing her bottle back to her daddy, Chris then scooped up the little thing and put her to lay in his arms; his hands holding up the bottle for her as she drank away. Her little hands holding onto Chris' fingers,

“She really has me wrapped around her finger doesn’t she” Chris whispered out, Elliana's eyes slowly lidding closed

“Mhm she has Dodger the same way too, she’s a clever little girl. Gets it from me of course” I laughed brushing my hand through my husband’s hair, his head leaning on my shoulder, Elliana peacefully asleep in his arms despite it only being 2pm.

- Stepdad Chris comes to the rescue

(Y/n's P.O.V)

Today was the first day of the fall fair, so as tradition our little family was going to its opening. With little 6 month James strapped to my chest, we walked around the fair filled with rides, food and kids. My 6 year old Leanne held onto my hands shyly, she was exactly like me, introverted to the core.

My husband Chris on the other hand musta been on a sugar high, buzzing about the fair like a kid at a toy store.

I met Chris a few years ago when he came into the hospital I worked at, and it just went on from there. Leanne was 2 at the time so she basically grew up around him, her biological father not being in the picture. Although I did know she struggled a bit when we decided to relocate to Boston, something Chris and I had discussed for a while.

“Ya aright baby?” I asked swinging Leanne and I's hands back and forth, slowly following Chris when he moved from stall to stall.

“Mhm i’m ok mommy” Her quiet voice said, a small smile resting on my face as she squeezed onto my hand tighter. Chris finally stopped at a darts table, a selection of ginormous toys surround and hanging on the table, Leanne's eyes sparkling at them making me giggle.

“What about this one hey?” Chris asked looking at us

“I wanna big monkey daddy” Leanne said pointing up at the huge pink fluffy gorilla hanging by the other prizes, this was one of the few times she’d ever asked Chris for anything; any other time he’d just get it for her without her even asking.

“Alright baby, daddy’s gonna get it for ya” He said handing over money to the attendant, grasping the darts tightly and hitting every single balloon perfectly, looks like his practice at home really came in handy.

“That pink gorilla please” Chris said smiling smugly, watching on as the man took it down and handed it straight to Leanne, the massive thing was practically double her size.

(2 Weeks Later)

“Babe we gotta get her back on pillows” Chris whispered as we peeked into Leanne's room, she has started to use the gorilla as a portable bed. Over the week she had also put on a captain America shirt on it, a secret between us is that this is her way of keeping Chris around even when he is away.

———

Taglist Tags (Form is up there^^): @patzammit @pandaxnienke @sairsei @madebylilly @bxdbxtxh15 @tojisbabymommy @dumb-fawkin-bitch @vrittivsanghavi @chrisevansdaughter @kimhtoo17 @itsaylayay1213 @evanstanwhore @mrspeacem1nusone @thereisa8ella @seren-a-ity

#romance #chris evans imagine #chris evans x reader #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans #chris evans oneshot

[calx-bdo]

muichiro but make him a roblox player

muichiro x you btw

"FUCK I FELL OFF THE GODDAMN LEDGE AGAIN?!!"

Your high pitched scream flooded Muichiro's ears through his headset.

"Jesus...calm down dude. It's not that hard."

Yea, not that hard. Thanks Muichiro, who is so pleasantly at level 50. You, however, was still stuck on level 38.

"Tokito, how did you even pass this level? This..this hell."

You mumbled, eyebrows knitted in concentration.

"It's not even that bad. You're just weak for real. Like, how did you even get past stage 35? I'm surprised you got past it with the amount of whining you did. Wait until you get to stage 42. That's where the REAL hell is. No cap, for real."

A beat of silence. Two beats.

"Fuck you, Muichiro." You spat into your mic. You were already struggling in this stage, what does he mean there's worse ones up ahead!! Sure, it's a little embarrassing for a 14 year old to be stuck on Speedrun 4 on Roblox, but what the fuck is the ice cream stage!!! Are you kidding me?!?! Is the game's creator trying to send you to an early grave?!

"Dude. You still there? Nah don't tell me you're still stuck there.." Muichiro clicked his mouse to check the player list. And there you are, @sonicrealfan11 on Roblox - still at 38.

"BROO you have the BIGGEST skill issue I have EVER seen. DUDEE LOLLL. HOW ARE YOU STILL THERE?! THAT'S CRAZY NO WAY LMAO!!"

'Well, okay, fuck you Muichiro. I thought you were supposed to be my boyfriend or whatever!!' You thought.

Suddenly, there was a knock on your door. You removed your headphones and walked towards it, opening the knob slowly.

"Hey. Your struggle really kinda pissed me off since we're weren't on the same stage and I couldn't see you fail through my screen. So, I'm here to help you beat it."

Muichiro's nonchalant voice rang out.

"Oh thanks man!"

You had no idea how to reply so you just blurted this out.

1 grueling hour later and many trips to your room, Muichiro and you finally managed to beat Speedrun 4.

a/n: this is just projecting FUCK YOU ICE CREAM STAGE

#yingyue'snovels #demon slayer #demonslayer x reader #demon slayer x you #demon slayer x reader #demon slayer fluff #demon slayer fanfic #demon slayer fandom #demon slayer fics #muichiro x reader #kimetsu no yaiba #kny x you #kny x y/n #kny muichiro #kimetsu muichiro #muichiro tokito #muichiro #muichiro x y/n #muichiro x oc #muichiro x you #muichiro fluff #tokito x reader #tokito x you #roblox #i fuckign hated speedrun 4

[flamingskull28]

3 paced back in forth in front of her usual seat in Alterna, the extra chilly air nor the aches caused by lack of sleep did little to deter this.

"4... she..she hasn't called or texted in weeks.. She's never missed a call not even at night." The squid sisters listed to the rambling of their captain, she was rarely so chatty or scared so they weren't going to brush this aside.

"Come on, remember she went with Off the Hook and 8 right? She's fine Cap.." Callie couldn't help but grimace seeing 3's worry for their girlfriend.

"Yeah weeks ago! We haven't heard from them either! Plus don't you remember you and have of Splatsville being unresponsive for a few days?!" 3 kicked the box they usually sat on then cluched their foot from the pain. She looked at Callie and Marie's blank states and sighed "Sorry... I'm just worried... I miss 4." Her voice whined almost patheticly as she spoke.

"We understand, don't worry okay? How about this, we go out looking for-" Marie was cut off by the high pitch yell of a nearby kettle, the one to enter Alterna specifically.

3 shot up to look over, the longing feeling in hee chest being pushed away by joy as she saw 4 standing there. The girl took a second to get her barring then spied 3 and dashed forth without hesitating. "3!"

3 was almost knocked over by the hug, which she returned tightly. "4... I missed you..." 3 spoke muffled into 4's shoulder.

"I.. missed you too 3." 4 pulled away from the hug and 3 let out a gasp seeing their face up close.

Marks of an electric burn were etched into her face. Her eyes seemed to be the leading point for this.

"What happened to you!?" 3 grabbed 4's head. Behind them Callie and Maire gasped as well.

4 was silent and fixed her gaze to the floor. 3 bit her lip, this seemed all to familiar...

"I.. think I can explain." Marina had appeared to, but hadn't been noticed. 3 glared up at Marina, stareing daggers into their soul at the idea she was responsible. Marina cleared her throat nervously.

"Well.. as you know I wanted 4's help with my Memverse project, it was meant to help the sanitized gain their memory's back.. but a Rouge AI was born from the wish for an unchanging world of the engineers that helped me... the AI know as order trapped me, Pearl 8 and 4 in the simulation. Since 4 was meant to be security for the spiral, order controled 4 used them as a sort of boss to keep 8 from stopping them... 8 manged to beat them a few times. I think that might've caused her real life headset to overload slightly and... burn 4 slightly."

4 stayed quiet as Marina explained, pulling herself closer to 3 who held them tighter in response.

"4 is..is. this true?"

She nodded. 3 felt a flurry of emotions hit her, rage, grief and slight relief that 4 was okay. Part of her wanted to stomp Marinas head in but.. she knew it wasn't their fault. It had always been one of 3's nightmares that 4 would be controlled as she was, being by an AI made it worse. She'd make sure that thing paid but for now...

"4 I was you to listen to me, I'm here for you. You are your own person and no one is going to take that from you okay? I promise." 3 spoke the words she wished were told to her. She also gave her signature glare at the others signaling them to leave which they did quickly.

"I..." 4 paused, the liquid from her tears soaking into 3's sleeve "I love you... please... stay with me for a while..." 3 squeezed her tighter.

"I love you too, and I won't be going anywhere... just like you did for me..." the two sat their unmoving. That was okay with 3, she wouldn't let 4 go through this hell alone.

#splatoon #agent 4 #agent 3 #agent 12 #splatoon 2 #callie and marie #Marina #new squidbeak splatoon #agent 4 side order #side order #parallel canon #angst #trama

[obxone]

Assumptions (Part 4)

Rewritten/Edited. ~2.3k words

Master Page

The Island Club is your destination for the day as you fill in for a friend that is out sick with strep throat, likely caught by one of the kids you are overseeing on the beach. Shading the sun from your eyes with your hand, you giggle as the preteen boys play a fierce game of volleyball, nearly taking each other out while trying to show off for the cluster of girls watching them.

“Well, look who it is,” Rafe’s voice calls from behind you, and you turn to see him walking toward you. Kelce and Topper stand on the golf course a few meters back. Both smirking at you as Rafe gets closer and closer. You look him over, white and blue striped polo, pressed khaki shorts, white cap, and golf shoes that probably cost more than your car. His golf club rests up against his shoulder as he strolls toward you.

“I’m working,” you respond once he is close enough, and you turn back to watch the kids. “Something you might try.”

“Right,” he scoffs before looking at you. His gaze drags over you in your Island Club summer camp uniform that consists of tempo shorts and a t-shirt that reads Summer Haven. His eyebrows scrunch together. “Working?”

You crack a smile before looking at the sand beneath your feet. “Summer Haven.”

“You work at Summer Haven too?”

“As a fill-in when they are short-staffed.”

He chuckles. “Didn’t see that coming.”

You shrug. “I like kids, and it lets me hang out in air conditioning or on the beach while getting paid.” You turn your face to look at him. “You should join the staff.”

“Right,” he snorts. “I don’t like kids.”

“Not surprised in the least.”

He shakes his head at you while trying to hide his smile. “That is an insult I know it.”

“Oh, it is,” you agree. “You probably barely tolerated Wheezie when she was younger.”

He shakes his head before knocking his elbow against yours. “Why are you being mean to me?”

“You started it,” you mutter, crossing your arms over your waist.

“How?”

“By existing.”

“You are so funny,” he mocks before his hand is on your waist, guiding you closer. Your shoulder brushes his chest as he stares down at you. His expensive cologne masks the scent of sunscreen that still lingers on you. The heat of his touch burns through the cotton of your t-shirt, and you are aware of how this could look. You open your mouth, but he beats you to it. “When we were kids, they said when someone was mean to you it meant they had a crush on you.”

You roll your eyes. “So you crush on all the pogues?”

“Touché,” he mutters, a smile toying at his lips. His fingers squeeze against you like you are his lifeline.

“Is that your boyfriend?!” One of the twelve old girls asks loudly, smirking at you and Rafe.

“Breezy has a boyfriend!” Her companion cheers.

You laugh, shaking your head and pressing your hand against Rafe’s chest to create space between you.

“Who the hell is Breezy?” Rafe questions.

You laugh more, resting your hand on his arm as you try to calm yourself. He shakes his head, fighting a smile at your amusement.

“I’m Breezy, it is my summer camp name,” you offer before squeezing his arm. “Because I make their days easy breezy.”

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbles, shaking his head as he looks down at his shoes. “You are so corny.”

You sigh before shoving him away from you playfully. “I didn’t pick it, Mr. Cameron. They did.” You gesture to your group of kids, all gaping at you and Rafe now. A few make kissing motions and noises while some stare. “You should go before they start posting us on Instagram.”

“All right,” he says, his hand skimming your back. “Find you later?”

“Maybe,” you tease. “Bye, Rafe.”

“Bye, Baby.”

The growing cluster of girls all share a high-pitched shriek, and you blush before shaking your head at him and mouthing asshole at him. He laughs, you smile a little before he goes back to playing golf, and you try to distract the others.

— — — —

Day camp ends, and you are ready to change into regular clothes after signing the last kid out. You close the now-empty event room where the staff and children camp out during pickup hours to see Rafe coming down the hall.

“Rafe Cameron,” you smile at him, leaning back against the door.

“Beautiful.”

“Oh my god,” you mutter, and he laughs before his hands rest against the door on either side of you, effectively caging you.

“Ready for our date?”

“Will you ever let that go?” You ask.

He shakes his head. “No.”

You frown at him before patting his chest. “I have to go.”

“The Wreck?”

“No. Meeting my mom for dinner.”

He lowers his arm to let you pass, but as soon as you try, he snags you by your waist, dragging you back. “Can I come, Breezy?”

“Rafe…”

He smirks before pressing his forehead to yours. “I’ll behave.”

“I bet you would,” you whisper while pushing your hands to his chest. “But no, I have not seen my mom all week, and she is not exactly your biggest fan with all the fighting and beating the crap out of my friends.”

He frowns. “Your mom knows about that?”

“Who do you think patches JJ up half the time?”

“Fuck,” he exhales, and you smile weakly.

“Thank you for offering,” you whisper before pressing your lips to his cheek. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

He lets you go, and you walk away, only glancing back once to see him observing you. His hand raked through his hair, a small smile on his face.

— — — —

It has been a week of no Rafe sighting. Part of you wishes he has gotten the message and moved on to some pretty kook girl, but another part of you is disappointed at the thought of him being deterred so easily. That part of you causes you a little anxiety. You could not possibly be falling for Rafe Cameron's charm. There is no possibility of it happening.

Tonight is a pogue night at the Boneyard. Another kegger. You laugh as Peeler tells you a story about another pogue and a fishing net incident at the docks. She animates his face, and you can not help but laugh a little louder. However, that fades out when her face shifts to one of annoyance after her gaze drifts to something over your shoulder.

You turn to see the Death Squad together, solo cups in hand and near the fire. Kelce and Topper’s attention is elsewhere, but Rafe is staring at you. His gaze flickers to Peeler and then back to you. Your heart races a little, and your hand tightens around your cup. He is here, and his attention is still on you. Good or bad? You are not sure yet.

“What does the Kook Prince want?” She asks.

“No clue,” you respond before touching her arm. “I should find the others. Thanks for the story. That was great.”

“Anytime.” She grins before giving you a hug. “I miss hanging out with you.”

“We’ll do it again soon,” you promise before leaving her to go in the opposite direction of Rafe. You spot Kie and Pope in the distance, along with JJ and a tourist making out by the water. John B is nowhere in sight.

“Hey,” Rafe calls, you stop and turn to look at him as he advances through the clusters of people to get to you. His free hand locates yours. His touch is a whisper across your wrist and forearm. “I’ve missed you. How are you?”

“I’m good,” you respond, looking around to see if anyone has noticed the kook and pogue together. “You?”

He shrugs. “I’m glad I came. It’s been a week since Summer Haven.”

“I know.”

He purses his lips. “Why?”

“I told you I was busy.”

He frowns, shifting on his feet a little. “Are you avoiding me again?”

“No.” You whisper before meeting his gaze again. “I worked a few extra shifts at The Wreck to cover my car repair, and then I found a new book series.”

Humor lights up his eyes, his bottom lip caught between his teeth for a moment before exhaling. “Can we go talk somewhere?”

“I don’t think so, Rafe.”

“Why not?”

You frown. The desire to touch Rafe consumes you, but you reframe even though he has not stopped touching you. His fingers brush over your wrist and forearm consistently.

“You know why.”

The annoyance surfaces on his face before he leans in. His lips are next to your ear. “Is this because of your friends?”

You inhale sharply when his lips brush against your jaw before going back to your ear. Your mind clouds from his touch and cologne as it seems to wrap around you like a blanket.

“Because I can keep a secret.”

“Rafe,” your voice quivers, and your hand presses to his chest, trying to push him back a few inches so you can think. “That…”

“Please.”

Your eyes flutter close as his hand moves from your arm to your waist. His touch burns through the linen dress you are wearing. You tip your face towards his. Your body betrays you as it attempts to give in to him.

“I can’t,” you hear yourself say before you pull away from him and take a step back. His touch falls away, and he groans. “Sorry, Rafe.”

You leave him where he stands before pushing through the crowd towards the parking lot after you hand your still half-full beer to an already tipsy tourist who takes it with glee. You do not notice that he has followed. His legs are longer than yours as he closes the distance between you within seconds. He pulls you to a stop with his hand on your wrist, and you turn to look at him. Eyes wide in surprise.

“What are you-?”

But your words are silenced by him and his soft lips on yours. His hands cup your face as he kisses you. You stand frozen for a moment, your brain short-circuiting before you snap to attention and kiss him back. Your hands trail up his arms and down to his abdomen. Your fingers tangle in the cotton material when his tongue brushes against your lip. The kiss deepens, and he groans, his fingers intertwining through your hair, and the other hand remains on your face. His thumb brushes back and forth over your cheek, and it sends sparks of heat across your face.

Once the kiss ends, you step back, your chest rising and falling rapidly for air, and from the electricity in the kiss. Rafe's eyes cloud with desire as he stares at you. His arms are down by his side as he waits for a verbal reprimand or a request for more.

You shake your head, trying to clear your mind as you brace your hands against your stomach to quiet the butterflies from within.

“Please tell me this is some sick joke!”

You turn to see Kie, Pope, and JJ all gawking at you. Kie looks on in anger, but the other two watch with eyes wide from shock. Your swollen lips part in surprise before you turn back to Rafe, whose demeanor has pivoted to the one you know all too well.

“He kissed me.”

“She kissed me back,” he says simply. “She was not exactly pushing me away was she?”

“Rafe!” You scold, and he chuckles.

“What Baby?”

“Baby?!” JJ asks, his face screwing up in disdain. “What the hell is that?”

“Nothing,” you say as you shift closer to them. The awareness of how this looks sets in. They had seen you on the beach with him, they saw you walk away, and Rafe had followed, and now you are in a dimly lit parking lot, hidden amongst the vehicles kissing. “Kie, he followed me out here, and he kissed me.”

“I saw him follow you, which is why we came after you,” she says glancing at Pope and JJ, who both nod in unison. "We were worried."

“She asked me to kiss her,” Rafe’s tone is casual, and you turn to glare at him. His hands are in his pockets as he leans back against an SUV. “I wanted to in front of everyone, but she asked me to meet her here to keep the secret.”

“He’s lying,” you whisper, turning back to your friends. “I swear.”

JJ looks at you as Pope and Kie seem to share a silent conversation.

“J,” you say. “Please believe me.”

“I do,” he responds, shifting to stand between you and Rafe. His blue eyes are like fire as he glares at Rafe, his jaw clenched in anger before his next words rock your world. “I heard him a few weeks ago at the Island Club, he made a bet with Kelce and Topper.”

“A bet?!” Kiara's attention snaps to the current conversation shift.

He looks away from you to Rafe. “He bet them that he could get her to fuck him by the end of the summer for $5k. $10k if she did before the Midsummer party."

“Holy shit,” Pope mumbles. Kiara's jaw drops in shock at JJ's confession.

“Are you kidding me?” You question, your voice hollow, and look at Rafe. His face is expressionless as he stares back at you. Your hands ball into fists so tight, your nails dig into the soft skin of your palms. “A fucking bet!”

He shrugs. Cold emotionless kook prince Rafe Cameron emerges and it makes your heart ache. “So?”

“Oh my god, I’m going to be sick.” You try to focus on your breathing as Kie touches your back in comfort. “Get me out of here, now, please?”

“Come on,” she urges you towards her car. “We’ll go to my house.”

You nod, closing your eyes for a moment. Rafe calls your name, but you ignore him knowing that JJ will not let him near you. You do not meet his gaze again or even have the urge to look at him as the butterflies that had previously fluttered in your stomach evaporate. Your stomach twists as you leave the Boneyard behind, and you try to concentrate on your surroundings instead of the turmoil raging inside you at the idea of being played by Rafe Cameron.

Part V

#outer banks #obx #rafe cameron #outer banks rafe cameron #obx rafe cameron #rafe cameron x reader

[angelicyouth]

Underwater

⇢ pairing: platonic!main 4 + butters x reader

⇢ genre: mental illness ; vampire AU

⇢ synopsis: ❝You were always careful with keeping it a secret—well, you were until you just didn't care enough to have it hidden anymore.❞

⇢ warning(s): self harm ; attempted suicide

⇢ [AO3 link]

i’m in no way trying to romanticize mental illness, prompt someone into a negative headspace, or make light of any mental health issues—this was written as an outlet for my emotions if you are not in a good place then please reach out to someone because i promise that people care more than you think they do; my messages are always open if you’d like to talk

When you wake up, it’s with a sharp gasp as the thundering sound of your heartbeat overtakes the senses in your ears. It’s too loud as you strain to hear the faint noise of steady footsteps get gradually closer, your feet scrambling to kick the metal of your razor blade underneath the cold porcelain of the bathtub.

The fluorescent glint of the sliding object catches the sliver of sunshine pouring in from the glass panel of the window, letting you know that it comes to a stop just behind the clawfoot of the strikingly white structure—not fully hidden but just enough in your last minute haste. Your hands violently tremble as you rush to pull down the coarse material of your jacket over your arms, the stinging sensation overwhelming as it touches the fresh scars running jaggedly against soft skin.

You’re thankful for the dark attire you decided to adorn today as the black color of your jacket hides the deep crimson steadily spreading across your sleeves.

Hardly biting down onto your lower lip in an attempt to silence the wail of anguish threatening to sound out of your mouth from the burning cuts, the plastic cap from the bottle of bleach clatters against the tiled floor as you pour the pungent liquid down the tub. Your chest quickly heaves up and down in anxiety when you see that there’s still an inch of blood left inside of it, your mind desperately willing for the metallic-smelling substance to drain quicker.

Painfully dropping all of your weight onto your knees, you roughly grab onto the sponge lining the bathroom shelves to frantically scrub along the inner lining of the stained porcelain as the too-loud sound of shampoo bottles clatter against the floor. Before anything can get accomplished, however, the wood of the room’s door gets harshly slammed open.

“N/N!” Kenny chirps out loud, a delighted expression on his face despite the intrusion.

“Ken! I—uh.” Your mind painfully lags in panic at the prospect of being caught before you fully process the situation. “Get the fuck out! Holy shit, can’t a girl have some peace?! What if I was shitting in here!”

With unnatural reflexes, the blonde dodges the bar of soap that you violently throw at his lithe body before the object makes contact with hardened plaster and creates an indent in the wall. He cheerily whistles as mirthful ceruleans inspects the damage, a shiteating smirk adorning his handsome face at the error of your actions.

Like clockwork, a shrill voice is predictably quick to admonish the sound of chaos in the household. “Y/N!”

You wince as you hear the thundering footsteps that follow the entrance of Kyle as he unceremoniously pushes past Kenny, Stan lazily following behind the redhead with his arms leisurely crossed behind his head to watch the source of entertainment unfold. “How many fucking times do I need to tell all of you shitheads to stop fucking—”

“Woah. Is that blood..?” Stan takes a step forward to curiously peer closer to the bathtub, your smaller body defensively moving in a futile attempt to block the ravenette’s wandering eyes.

“What the fuck, N/N.” The curly-haired teen says, his disbelieving eyes firmly staring you down in a deadpan yet non-verbal question.

“What? Don’t fucking look at me like that!” You bark out loud, your eyes darting to the side in avoidance as your voice climbs in pitch from panic. “I was playing with my food—so what?”

“... In the fucking bathtub?” Stan’s voice is similarily deadpan with indication that your reasoning was one of the most stupidest fucking thing he’s ever heard in his life (and he’s lived a long time).

It’s quiet as you don’t answer his question, your eyes stubbornly glued to the corner of the tiled floor in avoidance before Kyle heaves out a tired sigh. “Okay… Okay. We uh–”

He clenches his eyes shut, his long fingers coming up to soothe the space between his eyes that are painfully furrowed as he takes a minute to gather his thoughts. “We’re going to feed. Let’s go.”

“I’m not hungry.” You lowly mumble and it’s a terrible fucking lie—you feel dangerously woozy from the amount of blood loss because you’re now able to fill the bathtub twice before you faint.

“Yeah, and I’m a fucking dumbass.” Kenny sarcastically says as he rolls his eyes, your mouth automatically parting to say that he is before he continues. “Come on, N/N—quit bullshitting. Your eyes are as red as virgin Kyle’s blushing face when a girl so much as breathes the same fucking air as him.”

“Fuck you!”

You internally curse as your eyes quickly dart to seek the bathroom’s mirror hanging over the sink, your irises painted in a vivid red to indicate hunger. Unlike popular belief, the dead can see their reflections which unfortunately showcases the deep purple casting shadows underneath your tired eyes.

And while you’re not successful in deflecting a night out with the guys to find some food when you begrudgingly follow them out of the house, you’re successful in diverting their attention over your actions in the bathroom.

・ ─ ・ ⋯ ・ ─ ⊹ ♡₊˚๑

Your back rests against the wall from your seated position inside of the bathtub, your legs dangling out from the side but not quite touching the tiled floor. The cool porcelain grounds you to the moment as your slightly parted lips slowly brings out small puffs of air, the numbing feeling overtaking your body making all of your thoughts and worry dissipate into the room like your breath.

You feel like you’re submerged underwater wherein your senses are disoriented despite the heightened abilities your kind grants you. Everything feels muffled—like background noise as all the things surrounding you moves in slow motion and aren’t urgent enough to capture your attention.

It’s like the feeling you get when Kenny supplies the group with an abundance of alcohol or drugs except it’s amplified tenfold because while your body is physically present, your mind is lightyears away. Sometimes when it gets like this, you wonder to yourself: am I living in a fever dream? Or is this real life and I’m just moving on autopilot—with no control over my body as it automatically goes through the familiar motions of everyday life from years of living?

The seconds go by agonizingly slow and sometimes not at all when you check the time. Hours could have passed by and it would have been no different to what mere minutes feel like as your unfocused eyes stare at the wall on the other side of the bathroom.

A piercing scream—no, a shout of anguish is what your disconnected mind belatedly registers before your head slowly turns to locate the source of the noise. You see Kenny first before you see Kyle and then Stan. Mustering up all of your strength to bring your shaky head higher you see the rest: Cartman underneath the door frame and Butters as he worriedly hovers nearby—everyone.

The image of you strikes everyone all at once, your body lying limp and prone in the bathtub with ashen skin and a blue tint to your lips. They think you're submerged inside a mixture of water until closer inspection reveals itself to be a deep, vivid crimson of purely concentrated blood.

Dangling over the edge of what was once a pure white porcelain tub is a limp hand, a slowly growing puddle laying underneath your fingertips and tainting the tiled floors of the bathroom. It’s like a painting—a still life as you stay hauntingly still and eerily quiet.

You register someone hauling your body out, multiple hands rushing to lay your body flat on the ground before someone pushes all of their body weight onto your mutilated wrists to apply pressure in an attempt to halt the onslaught of crimson. Hysterical sobs and panicked directions get frantically called out, voices shrill and close to breaking from the raw throats creating a cacophony of noise that ruins the tranquility of the once quiet room.

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“Don’t wipe off the blood or it won’t clot as well, you fucking idiot!”

“I didn’t know! How the fuck am I supposed to know?!”

Your name gets repeatedly called out like it’s a voice recording stuck in a loop—your eyes dazed and vision blurred as your hand weakly lifts up to drag your bloody fingertips against the salty wetness on someone’s smooth and already wet cheeks. Deep within your mind, you try to bring yourself to care that you’ve been found like this but all that comes up is hollow emptiness.

Voice slurring, your already unfocused vision gets overcome by the black dots dancing along your peripherals before the darkness overcomes you. 

“Relax—I’m not going to kill myself.”

Believe me, I know that I couldn’t if I tried because I already have.

・ ─ ・ ⋯ ・ ─ ⊹ ♡₊˚๑

You were always incredibly careful—only cutting when no one was at home because it would have been suspicious if you kept yourself locked away for a long period of time. The boys and you were extremely close, one of them never too far away and always having someone by your side.

You absolutely hated it: how you’d lie and do just about anything within your abilities to keep it a secret. The way you’d triple check to see if the lock was properly in place or that no one had sent a text indicating they had a reason to suddenly barge in before you started.

Coming to, you’re not quite sure why you’re surprised to see all of the guys crammed inside of your bedroom at the Victorian mansion you all take residence in. Cartman and Stan have always complained that it was embarrassingly cliché during the modernity of the 20th century whereas Kenny often whines that chicks didn’t dig the vintage look because it made him look like a serial killer when he attempted to bring them home.

It’s quiet, but your face is blank as they all wait for you to speak. 

“What the fuck did you do to have your scars last this long..?” Kyle whispers, voice almost silent as his finger softly trails down along the raised vertical lines adorning your forearms.

There was a mixture of vertical and horizontal lines—vertical because it goes along the veins and horizontal because there was a possibility of cutting through a tendon. It was more difficult for your body to regenerate when this occurred.

Your eyebrows crease as you petulantly rip your arm away, taking note of the already faded pink color that the cuts have taken up. “Fuck off, I dont want to—”

“Y/N.” Stan firmly grasps your wrists, his emotionless face steely as he forces you to stop hiding and the deep baritone of his voice sounding very tight—no, controlled. 

Biting your bottom lip at all of the unwavering stares boring down onto your already vulnerable form, Butters’ wet voice slightly wobbles in a desperate attempt to understand. “What did you do…?”

It’s quiet but stiff for a few stilted moments and even when you finally speak up, your whisper is close to non-existent. “I had to re-open them a lot.”

Sharp breaths that almost sound like sobs resound throughout the vicinity of the room as Kenny takes a shaky step back from the foot of your bed, the implication of your words paralyzing everyone with sorrow and anguish. The regenerative abilities you’re all granted works hard but it seems your razor has been working impossibly harder in contrast.

No one speaks until there's a long, slow inhale. Butters' voice is now bordering on hysterical, stricken with tears and a failure to accept the situation. “Why did you do it..?”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorr—” 

“Y/N.” Kyle is quick to cut off your rushed apologies, “We’re not—none of us are angry with you, love. We just want to know why you did it. Help us understand, please. We can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on.”

“Have you ever tried to stop? Or thought about stopping?” Butters' knuckles are rubbed raw as he anxiously presses them together, denial heavily coating his almost manic voice.

“It’s not that simple, Butters.” Kyle’s voice is strained in thinly veiled control, his stilted words coming out of clenched teeth before his throat shifts to swallow.

“Why not?! Stop and you’ll be better—we could help you get better, N/N.”

“Butters!” Stan loudly barks out, his tightly clenched fists shaking by his sides in concealed desperation for the blonde to just stop as the skin on his knuckles becomes stark white from the pressure he exerts.

Stubbornly, Butters’ desperate pleas continue. “No! She hasn’t even tried! She can get better! She wouldn’t just let this tear us apart—“

Your nose sniffs once, a very tired sigh leaving your body when Stan takes a threatening step towards the hysterical blonde before you distantly explain. “Fucking stop! I don’t know, okay?”

“Wh—”

“I’m not sad. I actually get jealous of the people that get upset from certain events because they at least have some kind of stressor.” A laugh escapes from your raw bitten lips but it’s devoid of amusement and hollow.

Your hands are tightly clenched into fists as you shakily bring them up to tiredly scrub at your face, futilely stopping the steady stream of tears leaking out of your already swollen eyes. “Why don’t I have a clear trigger, Ky? How come there isn’t a reason or a cause to my feelings? Why am I so sick?”

Everyone feels helpless as they watch you break, the words once overfilling their bodies with question and confusion suddenly gone in the wake of your desperate question.

“Is there something wrong with me?” You sob out, your teeth applying pressure as they bite down onto your already raw lips to silence your vocal anguish.

“Oh, baby.” Kenny clumsily pushes his way towards your side on the bed, his arms firmly wrapping around your trembling form to bring your body into his comforting embrace.

A pained cry gets cut off as he gently brings your sticky face against the column of his neck, your hands quickly finding purchase at the soft material of the shirt adorning his lithe frame. You want to feel the reassurance of the blondes' physical touch but you can’t help but to yearn for the attribution of warmth that was so painstakingly absent from your bodies.

“I know that I’m not but I just wanted to feel human again.” You hiccup against the expanse of skin that your face nuzzles into, Kenny’s grip tightening around your waist as he seamlessly hauls your smaller body onto his lap.

“I’m not… I’m not going to apologize for turning you, N/N. You were fucking dying right in front of me, I couldn’t just leave you to bleed out on the fucking streets.” Stan’s voice is stubbornly quick to defend his actions but his body is rigid as the doubt starts to slowly creep through as he watches your curled up form. 

“I wish you did.” You softly whisper into Kenny’s safe solace, your words not meant to be heard but they are anyway as everyone helplessly finds themselves at a loss.

“Don’t—Don’t fucking say that!” The blonde frantically yells, his arms pressing your smaller form impossibly closer to his shaking body.

Like you would simply disappear if he lost sight of you again.

And you don’t say anything, because you can’t lie.

“Wh—Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!” Kyle yells, his voice interrupting what sounded like someone going through the drawers of your furniture.

Cartman ignores him as his hands busy themselves in continuing his search through your things. He doesn’t speak up until he throws a few pill bottles onto the silk linen of your bed, the orange plastic noticeably empty.

“Six bottles of sleep aid that could triple as a goddamn horse tranquilizer are fucking missing.” His arms are crossed as he vehemently spits out, his tone admonishing the others for not paying closer attention to their beloved member of the group.

“… Fuck.” Stan mutters out, a ghostly pallor to his already dead skin as he wonders how he missed all of this happening.

How he let it get this far.

“There’s only two left.” You drowsily mumble against Kenny, his lips gently pressed against the soft locks of hair adorning the crown of your head as he holds onto you. “Tried seven times already and—“

“Okay!” Kyle loudly interrupts, his trembling hand coming up to delicately caress his forehead as he takes a shaky seat at the foot of your bed. “… Okay.”

He feels like he’s actually going to vomit.

“Fuck!” Stan seemingly explodes, his tightly clenched fist flying into one of your bookshelves. The whole entire structure falls apart at his touch, violently tossing books onto the floor and releasing a smattering of wooden splinters that are quick to follow.

“Fuck! Fuck!” His feet roughly connect with a standing floor lamp next, shattering the item against the wall as it noisily fizzles out until the room is only cast in the soft glow of your bedside table’s light.

Butters is quick to restrain the raging ravenette, sobs spilling through his mouth as he attempts to stop further destruction. The two clumsily sink to the floor, Stan abruptly losing the fight in his body as his head begins to dizzily swim at further proof of this shocking discovery.

It was overwhelming because it now felt like he was the one that couldn’t breathe, like he was the one now drowning.

a/n: i'd like to think that in this universe, team craig are werewolves with one of them being reader's love interest!! let me know if any of you would be interested in reading that :)

#south park #south park x reader #stan marsh x reader #kenny mccormick x reader #kyle broflovski x reader #eric cartman x reader #butters stotch x reader #stan marsh #kenny mccormick #kyle broflovski #eric cartman #butters stotch #south park fanfiction #lalawrites

[beautifulbuckys]

Can’t Stay Away (Part 5)

PART 4

George Weasley x Reader

Summary: The holiday season brings out the best and worst in everyone. It also causes feelings to surface, much to the Potter siblings surprise. 

Warnings: A tiny bit of swearing, heated arguing, real talk between harry and reader. 

Christmas time was chaotic.

The weeks before Winter Holiday was a mess. Many final exams were floating around, stressing many older students out. One day, when Fred and I were walking to the Quidditch Pitch, we saw Oliver Wood crying and ripping up his potions marks. 

Yet, the holiday cheer seemed to cancel out the school-wide panic attack. The leaf garlands were now replaced with shiny tinsel. The bright colors hilariously contrasted the stone and brick in the Hogwarts castle was constructed with. The holographic green and red popped against the bland backgrounds. Many of the pumpkins used to decorate were turned into pies and other meals for us to enjoy. Now enchanted snowmen took their place. These snowmen were like the castle ghosts, they managed to conjure up their own looks and personalities. A few weeks ago, one tried to flirt with Ginny. 

“Aye, firehead,” A voice boomed behind us. It had this thick New York accent, one I’ve heard in American muggle movies Harry and I had watched. 

Both Ginny and I turn around, looking into the area. It’s abnormal to hear a New York accent in Scotland, sure, but it’s even more abnormal to see nothing around us. There wasn’t anyone in our eye line so we shrugged our shoulders, guessing it was someone messing with us.

“I’m down here,” The voice boomed again. It was one of the snowmen. He was around Ginny’s hip. He wore a tan vest, the buttons almost popping because of the nature of his body. He sported an undershirt too, his thin twig arms showing through the sleeves. The snowman also had a checkered golfers cap on. It sat on his frozen head like it was glued on. Professor McGonagall really outdid herself. “I’m lookin’ to ask you on a date, gorgeous.”

As politely as she could, Ginny denied the request. We continued walking to class, where she giggled as she wrote a letter to Molly updating her on the eventful life she lived. 

My favorite part about the holiday decorations though? The house wreaths. Every year, each house’s student committee put together wreaths representing the respective houses. Professor Flitwick judged this competition previously. Although it’s a newer competition, it gets seriously heated. Last year, the head of the Slytherin house committee and the head of the Ravenclaw committee got into a fist fight during their Alchemy class. It was discussed to disqualify them. However, Flitwick argued for them and said they were just so excited for Christmas that they couldn’t contain themselves. Hufflepuff ended up winning. 

Due to the big blowout last year, the stakes are high. Hufflepuff was hoping to begin a winning streak. Ravenclaw had won about 3 times in a row before Hufflepuff took the crown. So now those houses have an unspoken rivalry. 

“Bloody hell George, did you see those two 7th years in front of us? I thought the Ravenclaw girl was going to slam her plate on the Hufflepuff’s head,” Ron shouted over the loud volume of the dining hall. It was busy here this morning, many students got breakfast as their only meal of the day before studying until the sun was down. 

George nodded, “Christ, it was terrifying. I think she was gripping her plate so hard her knuckles were turning white. All over some stupid wreaths!” He exclaimed as he sat down next to Ginny, across from me. 

I frown, “Hey! I like those wreaths,”

“Of course you do,” George rolled his eyes. Something about the tone of his voice got under my skin. Why on Earth did this boy have such an attitude at 7:30 in the morning? I could talk to Snape and he’d be in a better mood. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

George shrugged. “What it’s supposed to mean is of course someone like you likes some stupid Christmas wreath competition. It’s not that serious. I just find it tomfoolery, and that’s coming from me.”

I can’t help but scoff. Is he serious?

“Someone like me? God, Weasley. You’re such a pretentious ass it’s not even funny,” I slammed the crimson napkin that was positioned on my lap on the table. Shoving myself up from the bench, I stormed out of the Great Hall. I pray no other students heard the argument. Although it was too loud in there, I doubt anyone far away from where we were sitting heard. Unbeknownst to me, Harry got up and followed me into the corridor. 

“Hey,” Harry grabbed my shoulder once we were out of sight. He turned me around to face him. His green eyes looked directly into mine, his jaw was clenched. “What’s going on with you and George? Be honest. One second he’s grabbing you hard enough to give bruises? But then the next you’re both walking together and whispering.”

“Nothing is going on, Harry,”

“Bullshit! I know when something is up. I’m the Prince of something being up. I’m not an idiot. Do you like him?” Harry was speaking lowly, yet urgently. It was just above a whisper, yet his tone was tense and cutthroat. 

“No,” I whisper, staring at the ground. It’s a lovely ground, truly. The wear and tear of the stone shone through, cracks littering the ancient rock.

Harry’s hand returned to his side. “I said be honest,”

Harry reciprocates my sigh, but heavier. “Listen, I don’t care what happens between you two. I do, but I know I can trust you to advocate for yourself with this stuff. I was you to be happy. You’ve stuck by my side our entire childhood. You’ve advocated for me during tough times even if I didn’t know about it. You’ve defended me when times get difficult. I want this for you. You deserve someone else in your corner. If it’s George, I say go for it. I see the way you both look at each other. I know he’s done some messed up stuff but if you hold onto that resentment it’ll only rot the good personality you have.”

“What if I did?” I asked, my eyes finally returning to his. “What if I did, Harry? I don’t know what’s up. That’s honesty, not me dodging the question. One second he’s unbearable to be around and a big wise guy. But when we’re alone, he’s actually not terrible.”

“Alone?”

“Not,” I sigh, “Not like that. Whenever we’re with the group he just like gravitates towards me.” 

I have no words. I just grab Harry and hold him tight. 

No matter the time or the place, we’re at each other's defense. Since we were younger, I’ve been on the clock protecting Harry from all I could. Sure, I’ve failed. A lot. Shit still happens and there is still evil in the world. Yet the sun still rises and classes resume at the pace they always do. We’re all each other has. 

“You’re my favorite brother,” I mutter into Harry’s shoulder. The tears that sat in my eyes began to fall, wetting the charcoal robes he was wearing. 

Harry chuckles, “I’m your only brother.”

As the holiday break inched closer, so did everyone to losing their minds. Many, many students began pulling all-nighters in the library. So much so, in fact, that Dumbledore banned sleeping in the library. In response to the ban, people began just checking out the books and doing it in their common rooms. Even Ron, one of the more laid-back Weasleys, was waking up late due to the fact he studied until the sun rose. Many of the students in my History of Magic class, including George, had bloodshot eyes. 

George was actually slumped over his desk, drooling onto his textbooks when I walked into the Gryffindor common room. Harry had requested a small snack, as he was cooped up in his dormitory studying as well. I had to pull a few stings with a Haywood girl, a family familiar with the Hufflepuff house. Much as the Weasleys were with Gryffindor. All I managed to get him was a banana and some regular crackers, which I suppose was better than nothing. 

Silently, I tip-toed up the steps into the boys' dorms. Technically, I’m not allowed to walk up the steps due to the fact I’m not a boy, Fred and George had actually taught me a way to step without the staircase detecting me. 

I quietly knocked on the door, to which there was no reply. I shrug, deciding to open up anyways. If I see anything I shouldn’t, that’s on me. 

As I open up the door, I see the most adorable sight. Ron and Harry were sprawled out on a bed, books scattered everywhere. Ron had a Potions textbook opened up on his chest, however, he was out cold. Harry laid flat on his stomach. In his hand, he helped a Herbology book above if where his head lay. There were a few scrolls laid out on the floor. Some had writing, others didn’t. I stepped over the academic mess and placed Harry’s snack on his bedside table. 

“Night boys,” I laughed. 

The day exams were over, it was like a breath of fresh air. Many bloodshot eyes and sluggish walks transformed into bright smiles and happy laughs. It hinted that Christmas was near. Christmas used to be my least favorite holiday. Along with Harry. We never got presents. We sat and watched Dudley open all his. When we finally went to the Weasley’s full time, it became one of my favorites. Although the Weasley’s weren’t exactly rich, they tried. Everyone got presents. Nobody was ever left behind. Even if it was just one present. It never went unappreciated by the Weasley’s. Ginny loved making handmade gifts. When she found out about the necklace incident with George, she made me a gorgeous butterfly necklace. Fred and George love gifting their pranks. Ron usually just gifts snacks. Yet, I loved it. Harry loved it. It wasn’t just about the gifts to us. 

It was the family. 

Christmas Eve was charming. Despite the Weasley home always having a charm, tonight was something special.

The entire family sat around the fireplace after dinner. Everyone’s stomachs were full of Christmas ham and mashed potatoes. Ginny tested out a recipe from a Muggle cookbook with the carrots from our garden. The general vibe of the house was high. It was Weasley tradition to pick out 1 gift you made or purchased and gift it to whoever it belongs to. 

“A magician never shares his secret, Gin,” 

Ginny received a silk headband from George. A bright smile struck her face like lightning. She ran over to George and enveloped him in the tightest hug I’d ever seen.

“Thank you thank you thank you! How-how did you afford this? Where is it from? I love it!” Ginny tightened her grip on her brother. A large smile also found its way onto George’s face. Both laughed, Molly aweing at the display of affection in front of her. 

Ron gifted Percy a large bag of only chocolate frogs. Despite Percy’s stuck-up attitude, he loved candy. He accepted the gift with a soft thank you. Although he thought nobody noticed, I watched him quietly dig into the bag and shove the chocolate into his mouth. Arthur got Fred a small, muggle child, chemistry set. It was a gag gift, sure. It didn’t go unappreciated by Fred though.

“Woah! Dad, this is so cool. I’m totally using this in potions to make fun of Snape,” Fred giggled.

Molly smacked Arthur with some tissue paper she had in her hand from the gift she had opened. “Don’t encourage the boys Arthur!”

Fred chuckled, leaning into my ear. “I see some howlers in our future,”

Slowly, the family dwindled down. Ron and Harry ran upstairs to go play with the model Hogwarts Express that Molly had gifted Ron. They didn’t even say good night. Percy hobbled up the stairs not too soon after, mumbling something about a stomach ache. Arthur and Molly decided to use the time to stuff some last-minute gifts underneath the tree before heading off to bed. 

Ginny was laying down on the couch, with her head in my lap. I found my hands playing with her hair. It was soft, and the deepest red out of the family. It was long and incredibly fun to braid. Fred was seated next to me, having a soft conversation with George who was seated in the floor. His back was leaning on the base of the arm of the couch. His red hair was messy, and the dancing flames of the fire pit lit his face gorgeously. 

Ginny looked up at me, “I can’t believe this is your like 5th Christmas with us. You’re so old,” She whined. I pulled a small strand of her hair playfully with a smug smile on my face. 

“I know, I’m basically old enough to be your Grandmother. Your brothers aged me tremendously,” I giggled. The twins heard the comment and voiced their disagreement with a fake offended whine. Ginny laughed, closing her eyes.

Ginny yawned, turning so she was now facing the fireplace, her ear now on my thigh. “Tell me about it!”

As Fred and George spoke, Ginny dozed off into a slumber. The heat of the fire was comforting and warm. Perfect conditions to nap, I can’t blame her. There were a few moments where the girl let out a soft snore. It filled the gaps where Fred and George’s conversation didn’t take up all the silence. 

“G’nite, Potter girl,” Fred whispered, softly nudging my shoulder. “I’m off to bed, want me to carry Ginny up?”

I shook my head, bidding Fred a good night. It left me, a sleeping Ginny, and George remaining. Normally, I’d be uncomfortable. Past me would be. I’d be filled with an angry feeling, always ready to let out a wise quip. However, the uncomfortable feeling I was left with now was one of…butterflies? After Harry and I’s talk, I got to thinking. I realized he was right. I’ve devoted so much of my time to ensuring Harry’s happiness that I was too wrapped up in being miserable. I let one mistake sour what could be a flourishing friendship. Or a possible relationship.

“Happy Christmas, George,” I blurted. The soft crackling of the wood in the fire was enough noise for me. I don’t know why I needed to add more noise. 

He looked up from where he was positioned. He cracked a smile, looking me up and down. “Happy Christmas to you too. Is she awake?” I noticed I was still playing with Ginny’s hair, twisting it in between my fingers.

“No,”

George got up from where he was seated on the floor. As he turned to face me, the kitchen light highlighted the dusted red on his cheeks. The couch was close to the fire. The heat caused some redness, funny. The baby blue pajamas he wore looked too comfy. Like if I wore them I’d die from comfiness or something. 

“Can I be honest?” I ask.

George chuckles nervously, “I’d hope so.”

I nod, “I had this talk with Harry. About resentment and being happy, and…us. I used to hate you. I used to carry this anger whenever I saw you but, now? It’s just, melted away. I want to be happy.”

“I’m sick of pretending to hate you,”

“Pretending?” George asks, furrowing his brows. He takes Fred’s seat next to me, while Ginny continues to sleep.

“Yeah?”

“I want you.”

George stares at me for a second. He must think I’m playing some cruel joke on him. Pranking him like he has to me so many times before. Before I can even think. Before I can convince myself to do otherwise. I grab George’s jaw and pull it towards me, locking our lips. His lips were cracked, but somehow felt so right against mine. Time could’ve stopped and it wound’t have mattered. Whatever was going on, and wherever this goes; I don’t care. This is the only feeling I want for the rest of time.

It wasn’t a long kiss. But it communicated just how I felt to George.

“I want this too,”

If I had paid any attention to the stairs to my right, I would’ve seen two shadows casting down the stairway. 

“Tis the season?” Harry held out his fist.

Fred smiled. “Tis the season,” He bumped Harry’s fist, and the pair quickly returned their room so they weren’t caught. Not that they had anything to worry about.

______________________________________________________________

taglist:

@v0id-sp1rit​

#george weasley #george wealsey x reader #george weasley fanfic #george weasley oneshot #george weasley x reader #george weasley x reader series #potter!reader #harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #weasley #fred weasley #fred weasly x reader #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley oneshot #fred weasley fanfic #weasley twins #ron weasley

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Ch2 (JJK, KNJ)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+) whole fic, this chapter PG-13 (I guess)

Warnings: some swearing in this chapter, nothing explicit

Word Count: 3.8k

Summary: Unfortunately, you have developed a massive crush on your new boss. Even more unfortunately, your equally attractive coworker is also harboring massive crush on your boss. AKA Jungkook and reader both pine for big, sexy brain Namjoon. 

A/N: Aaand here she is! Chapter 2! It took me a while to finalize this draft, mostly because I was on a trip with my bff, but also because I was, well, procrastinating. I don't do well without a deadline, so I'm going to try to post a chapter every week on Saturday until the fic is done! Look out for Chapter 3 in a week :)

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6

Your newest client sits across a large conference room table from you, Namjoon, and Jungkook, flanked by two impossibly large bodyguards holding equally tiny dogs. She’s one of the most popular singer-songwriters of the moment.

An indie artist filed a lawsuit claiming that your client copied lyrics verbatim and stole the melody from a song of his after attending an intimate showcase. To your ears, the songs sound vaguely similar, but you’re no music expert. 

In the press though, the indie artist has spun it as a David and Goliath story. The court of public opinion is firmly on his side already. 

“It’s a bullshit case,” says your client, rolling her eyes. “There’s only so many ways you can string the words ‘I,’ ‘love,’ ‘you,’ ‘so,’ and ‘much’ together in a song. And everyone knows that all modern pop songs have the same four chord progressions anyway.” 

Namjoon nods, taking notes on his legal pad. “We’ll take the case, but there’s no guarantee the judge is going to rule in our favor. These plagiarism cases can be very unpredictable.” 

“Right, but you guys are the best right?” She takes one of the fluffy dogs into her lap and starts petting it. The dog makes direct eye contact with you as it starts to pant.  

Namjoon lets out a little laugh. “We are, but we’re not miracle workers. We can’t guarantee a win even in the simplest case. But we do guarantee our best with some of the best lawyers in the field.” 

He caps this off with a little smile, one that makes his eyes look kind and his dimples pop. 

The songwriter melts a little and she honest-to-god starts twirling her hair around her finger.

“Well, if it looks like we’re not going to win the case, I’m not above settling with this guy.” 

You look over at Jungkook in confusion. She was adamant that she wouldn’t settle at the top of the meeting. He mouths back, The Namjoon Effect.

Ah. Yes. You can relate.  

“Understood.” Namjoon gives her another smile as he closes his legal pad. “And unless there’s anything else you would like for us to take into consideration…?” 

“I think that’s it.” 

She gives him a coy smile as he gestures her out of the conference room. "Thank you so much for your time."

Namjoon turns to you and Jungkook once she's gone down the hallway.

“Right. What’s our angle?” 

You and Jungkook look at each other in surprise. High profile cases usually go to Namjoon and you assumed this one would too.

You only ever play the “What’s our angle?” game when the case will go to one of the junior associates. The game is simple. Whoever has the best pitch gets the case. It's a brilliant move on Namjoon's part, really. It taps into you and Jungkook's natural competition and it makes you think out of the box to win cases. You’re keeping an informal tally in the back of your planner and so far, it’s an even split. 

This time, Jungkook beats you to the draw. “We still have contacts in the music industry who can be expert witnesses. With these two songs, it’ll come down to the specific instrumentation, composition, and lyrical flow.” 

You can feel the case slipping through your fingers — you haven’t been at Bang & Associates long enough to have a long list of contacts yet and Jungkook minored in music composition in college. He has all the advantage here and he knows it. He smiles, like he’s already gotten lead on the case. 

You shake your head anyway and speak up. 

“That’s an important component to the case, definitely, but it’s not the determining factor. There’s been an increase in these types of cases, with two high-profile cases in just the last six moths and countless others that flew under the radar, and the trend I’ve seen is that the outcome depends on precedent and how IP laws fit around the specific musical particularities.” 

Jungkook clenches his jaw, his tongue playing with his lip ring. Both of you wait while Namjoon deliberates. It’s all part of the game, one that Namjoon takes seriously. He considers every facet and it takes him unbearable minutes to make a decision. You've learned to not second-guess your pitches and to be comfortable in the silence.

This time, though, you don’t have long to wait. He nods and points at you. “Good thinking. You’re taking lead on this case. Jungkook, I want you on support. Normally, I’d take this case, but I have the class-action suit on my plate, and I can’t spare Jimin or Hoseok. Bring me your complete plan by COB tomorrow. Send me a calendar invite for a time that works for both of you.” 

You want to grin and do a little victory dance, but you nod instead, in a way that you hope looks level-headed. 

“Will do. Thanks, boss.” 

Namjoon's eyebrow twitches at the title and he gives you a look you can't fully parse. He leaves the conference room with a strange two finger salute.

Jungkook gives you a disgruntled look as soon as Namjoon is out of sight. You give him a smug grin in return. This is the second case in a row you've won, and you can officially tally yourself ahead by one.

“Congrats, I guess,” he says as he goes to leave.

You reach out a hand to stop him, your fingers brushing his sleeve. He looks down at your hand like it offends him and all his ancestors before him. He's sulking again.

“Do you have any meetings now?” It's impossible to deal with him when he's like this, but you have a quick turnaround on this case, so it leaves you no choice.

“Nothing on the schedule,” he says.

“Let’s meet now, then. Come to my office.” 

He follows you and sits in one your guest chairs, slumping down, spreading his legs long and wide. One of his legs bounces up and down. He doesn’t meet your eyes.

You lean back against your desk instead of sitting behind it. 

“Given you’re the music expert here, what’s your opinion on the songs? Do you think we have a good chance of winning? Just based on the songs themselves.” 

He shrugs. “Right now, it’s a toss-up. I’ll have to take a closer listen to really be able to say. But I have a couple of friends in the music industry who we’ve used before as expert witnesses. They’ll break it down to the nitty gritty.” 

“Great, get me those names and the specifics of how they can help with the case by the end of the day. Contact them if you can to see if they're willing to be our witnesses. I’ll take a closer look at the caselaw and the suit itself and get the memo for Namjoon together tomorrow morning. Unless you can think of something from the precedent perspective?” 

“Seems like you’ve got that part covered.” His tongue pokes out into his cheek, still not looking at you.

“Okay, then. I think that’s it. Maybe we can chat tomorrow before lunch to make sure we have all the bases covered.” 

He doesn’t respond, just gives you the barest of nods and gets up to head towards the door. 

“Jeon.” 

He turns in your doorway to look back at you. You’re still leaning against your desk, arms crossed. He takes you in, his eyes trailing from your heels all the way up to meet your eyes. Your breath hitches as his expression shifts to something darker. Hungrier.  

“Should I let you win next time so I don’t have to deal with you acting like a whiny little baby?” 

He huffs out a little laugh and rolls his eyes. The look from a second ago is gone. 

“If you did, I’d call Area 51 to make sure there was no extraterrestrial activity in the area because you’d for sure be an alien in disguise.” 

He leaves, the sound of his soft chuckle trailing behind him. It takes a second for your breath to return to normal. 

You and Jungkook go to court after a couple weeks of trying to negotiate a settlement, armed with files, documents and expert opinions. Namjoon takes time from his class-action suit to supervise. 

The case drags on for a week. Photographers swarm the court. They snap a picture of you, Namjoon, and Jungkook on the way to the courtroom the third day and the picture goes viral. It’s the first time any of your cases have been in the public eye like this. Even though you’re the defense, the internet goes crazy, with endless “Mommy? Sorry, Mommy? Sorry? Daddy?” memes. 

Whenever you’re in the office, you get playful comments from your coworkers. Jimin swears he didn’t mean to include the firm-wide distribution list in his email to the PR team about the photo. You don’t believe him, but you can’t really be too mad at him. 

It’s one of the best pictures you’ve ever seen of yourself. The three of you look like a promo picture for a legal drama on cable TV, with you in the middle, holding your own between your stupid-hot coworkers. 

Jungkook looks like a federal agent, his all-black suit fitted in the right places. He carries a shiny leather briefcase and the glimpse of the tattoos on the hand holding the briefcase is primarily what has the internet in shambles. 

Namjoon, in a navy suit and tie, looks like the hottest politician you’ve ever seen. His brown hair sweeps away from his face, lethal in wire-frame glasses. 

“Damn, girl, you look hot.” Your best friend, Nina, looks at the photo on her phone. You’re at brunch at your favorite cafe the weekend after the trial ends. “Aren’t you glad I convinced you to get that suit?” 

The court ruled in your favor, and your client — graciously — didn’t counter-sue the independent artist. Instead, she offered to have him feature on her latest single, so the royalties can cover the legal fees that he’s now responsible for paying. 

You’re sitting in the patio, an umbrella shading you from the unseasonably hot late fall sun. The rickety patio table groans under the weight of poached eggs, bacon, smoked salmon, fruit, and the best pancakes in the city. The mimosas go down easy. Life is good.

“I was running on so little sleep that day. The suit was really the saving grace.” 

You bought it on a whim on a semi-drunk post-brunch shopping trip with Nina a few weeks before you joined Bang & Associates. You balked at the price, but Nina reminded you of the massive pay increase you were about to get, and you caved. The suit fits you perfectly, with the skirt hugging in all the right places and the cropped suit jacket adding the illusion of height to your frame. You feel invincible every time you wear it. 

It’s thanks to Nina that you’re breaking out of the boring black and grey suits. She’s a local fashion influencer and runs a trendy boutique in the artsy part of town. 

“Nah, girl. The suit is the added bonus. It’s you in that photo totally rocking it.” 

“I wanna get that framed.” 

Nina laughs and clinks her glass against yours. You’re both a little drunk on mimosas and sunshine. “I’ll do it for Christmas.” 

You’re pleasantly buzzed when your post-meal lattes come out. Nina chokes as she goes to take a sip, her eyes wide. 

“Is that…” 

She doesn’t need to finish her sentence. You follow her gaze and thankfully, your cup is firmly on the table because you would have otherwise snorted coffee out of your nose. 

A sweaty and glistening Namjoon and Jungkook cross the wooden patio to go inside the cafe. They must have been running in the park across the street because they're dressed in exercise clothes, both in sleeveless tops and shorts that leave little to the imagination.

Namjoon is practically glowing. His shirt clings to his chest, outlining muscle you didn’t know existed until this moment. He runs a hand through his sweaty hair as they walk across the patio, biceps flexing. 

Your mouth hangs open. Muscle definition, on top of everything else?

Jungkook’s tattoos are on full display. You’ve seen part of them before, when he rolls his sleeves up at work, but you had no idea he had a full sleeve, bold and colorful. His sweaty hair sticks to his face, the waves even more pronounced. 

The spell breaks as soon as they disappear into the cafe. You and Nina exhale at the same time. 

“That’s indecent,” you breathe. 

“Holy mother of God,” she mutters. “How do you get any work done around the office?”

“They’re usually not prancing around half-naked.”

“I want to put my hands on their chests and squeeze.” She puts her hands out and makes grabby hands. 

You let out a squeak and swat her across the table. “Nina! Why would you put that image in my head? How am I going to get through meetings? I’m not gonna be able to look them in the eye.” 

“I would ask why you haven’t slept with them yet, but I know you’re too proper to shit where you eat.” She shakes her head. “College you would have been all over that.” 

“Namjoon is practically a monk,” you say morosely.

Nina chokes on her coffee again. “Oh my god, you actually like him.” 

A tiny, pitiful wail escapes you. “I mean, you just saw him, Neen. He looks like that and he’s nice and smart. It’s like if a man like Namjoon exists, he ruins all other men, really.” 

“What about e-boy?” 

You snort. “He’s cute, but he’s in l—“ 

“Cute?” Your friend looks at you incredulously. “That’s the understatement of the year. I want that man to pin me against the wall and — shit. They’re coming this way. Quick. Pretend we’re talking about my shop.” 

You swallow your coffee nervously. “Um. Tell me about the clothes you set aside for me?” 

“Oh!” She perks up, eyes shining. “Remind me to send you pictures. I just got the most gorgeous dress that would be great for your holiday party!” 

“Already? It’s not even November yet.” 

Nina rolls her eyes. “Your firm’s holiday party is the event in the law world. I’m not even in law and I’ve known about it since grad school.” 

You hear your name called, and your heart rate picks up. Your coworkers walk towards your table with iced coffees in their hands. From what you know about their usual coffee orders, Namjoon’s is an iced americano and Jungkook’s is some ungodly sweet concoction involving every syrup they have available. They look less flushed now coming out of the air conditioned cafe. 

“Come here often?” 

You roll your eyes. “Terrible line, Jeon. Working out?”

“Yeah, I live a couple blocks down and Namjoon wanted a running buddy today.”

“Sunshine is good for your health,” says Namjoon. “God knows we don’t get nearly enough when we’re in the office.” 

You wouldn’t know it from the way his skin glows golden in the sun.

“Oh, we must be neighbors,” you say to Jungkook before you get stuck ogling Namjoon’s exposed skin. “I’m a few blocks that way too.” 

You can feel Nina’s eyes boring hole in your skull. “By the way, this is my best friend Nina. Nina, this is Namjoon and Jungkook. Namjoon’s my boss, and Jungkook is the other junior litigation associate.” 

“Oh yeah, I thought I recognized you,” says Nina.

“The picture?” asks Jungkook. 

“The picture,” you confirm. “I kind of want to get it framed so I can show my grandchildren someday.” You put on an old lady voice. “‘Look kids, granny used to be a hotshot lawyer.’”

A thrum of satisfaction runs through you when they laugh at your joke. Namjoon’s eyes push up into half-moons and Jungkook’s nose scrunches in the most adorable way.

“Anyway, we won’t keep you.” Namjoon places a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder and steers him toward the exit. Jungkook inhales at the contact, and his cheeks redden a shade. You wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t watching him. “Have a great rest of your weekend.” 

“Enjoy the sunshine,” you say with a wave. 

“See you at work!” Jungkook calls over his shoulder. 

As soon as they’re out of view, you and Nina slump over. 

“Enjoy the sunshine? Really?” You bury your face in your hands. 

Nina pickup her coffee cup and puts it back down without taking a sip. “Why doesn’t my boyfriend have dimples. Why do I even have a stupid boyfriend?” 

The following week, you find the photo framed on your desk, wrapped in a simple ribbon.

So you can show your future grandchildren, reads the note. There’s no signature. 

It can only be one of two people and you decide not to say anything to either of them, you just simply put the picture up in one of the empty spots on your bookshelf. You don’t want to know how you would feel if you knew for certain who gifted it to you, and what it would mean for those hypothetical and very unprofessional feelings you definitely aren’t feeling already. 

That doesn’t stop you from tucking the note in the back pocket of your planner anyway. Just in case. 

A few weeks later, you’re wading your way through a series of ownership bylaws for the city’s pro basketball team. You lost the “What’s our angle?” game, and the case went to Jungkook. He actually fist-pumped in victory when he got lead. This means you’ve been sitting on at your desk for the past week, with fuzzy slippers and yellow-light glasses on as you scroll through endless PDF’s to find your client an out from ownership without having to pay a massive fine. 

A knock on your office door breaks your concentration. It takes your eyes a second to focus on something further than your computer screen. Namjoon leans against the doorjamb, coat on.

“Had lunch yet?” 

“No, I was going to wait until after our meeting.” Your computer pings helpfully with a calendar reminder and your stomach follows up with a growl. Breakfast consisted of a sad piece of toast and a latte too many hours ago, and you were too nervous for your performance review to even think about a snack. 

Namjoon chuckles. “Let’s do this over lunch, then. I’m starving, too.” 

You draw your coat around you when you step out of the office. The temperature has dropped decidedly in the past few days. No more sunny autumn days, just the impending chill of a snow-filled winter. You wrap your arms around your stomach in the pretext of warding off the chill.

In reality, you stomach is doing flips, and you don’t know if it’s because you’re hungry or because you’re nervous for your performance review. Objectively, you know you’re doing well. You’re efficient and ruthless in court, but when it comes to performance reviews, you’ve been blindsided before.

It’s almost inevitable that you end up at Cat’s Pajamas. It’s close to the office, they serve delicious food, and the owner, a slim, quiet man named Yoongi, is a longtime friend of Namjoon’s. You’re in there at least once a week, whether for a client meeting or just as an excuse to get out of the office for lunch. Whenever you’re there with your coworkers, you get a little treat sent from the kitchen, usually one of the cookies that Jin, Yoongi’s business partner, makes fresh every morning.

Yoongi stands at the host stand and greets Namjoon with a handshake. 

"Just you two today?" he asks, eyes flitting between you and Namjoon.

Namjoon nods. “How’s business?”

“I think your firm is keeping us afloat,” says Yoongi with a serious face. You think he’s joking.

He leads you to the back of the restaurant. It’s unusually crowded today, with office workers sheltering from the first cold snap of the season. 

Namjoon gestures for you to go first. You don’t know if it’s your imagination, but as you walk through the restaurant, you think you feel a whisper of a touch against your upper back, fingertips gently guiding you through the maze of tables. A shiver runs down your back, and you keep your eyes forward as you walk. You don't look back to confirm.

You're off balance already, and knowing that Namjoon is the type to guide you with a gentle touch would tip you over into the deep end.

Yoongi seats you in your usual booth. This probably means good things for your review, you tell yourself. The booth is secluded enough, but if there was anything serious to discuss, you would hope your boss would have the sense to have this meeting behind closed doors. You place your orders as you sit.

Namjoon takes out a paper form from his briefcase when Yoongi walks away. You must look worried because he gives you a reassuring smile. 

“Just an HR form to document the performance review. It’s dreadfully overdue, but it’s my fault, and I apologize for that. This was supposed to be your three-month review, but we're now at what, five months?"

He makes a face and starts filling out the top of the form. Your heartbeat speeds up and you play with the hem of the tablecloth under the table. Does that face mean good things or bad things? 

He looks up at you with a smile. Good things? 

“Unless you have anything to bring up with me, this is going to be quick. So far, I’m pleased with the work that you’re doing for the firm. Even though you’ve only been with us for a few months, you’ve integrated excellently with the rest of the team. Everyone has nothing but great things to say about working with you, so we can mark all these boxes as exceptional…”

You let out a sigh of relief as he concentrates on ticking boxes and filling out comments. All the tension you had stored up in your shoulders releases as you get the verbal confirmation that your performance has been up to par. 

“And I think that’s it. Anything you want to say to me on the record?” 

An image of Nina making grabby hands rises unbidden, and you have to fight to keep a straight face. 

“I don’t think so. I’ve been happy working here. The work is rewarding and I like your management style. I appreciate that you let us junior associates take ownership of our work and empower us to make our own decisions and mistakes.” 

“Ah, that’s too kind,” he says with a bashful smile, waving away your comments. “I’m glad you’re enjoying your time here." He pauses. "Is that all? No HR complaints to be filed against Jimin?” 

You laugh and shake your head.

“If anything does come up, you know my door is always open.” He looks at you with a serious look. “And I mean that. If you ever need to talk about anything, you can come to me.”

“I appreciate that, boss.” 

His expression flickers at the title, but he gives you a wide smile as he lifts his water glass in a toast. “Then, here’s to a successful working relationship and more wins in court.” 

You clink your glass against his, unable to stop the grin that spreads across your face. 

Lunch arrives soon after and you spend the rest of the hour chatting about an exhibit you both attended at the modern art museum. You get the sense that’s where his passion lies by the way he lights up when he talks about the artist’s specific choice of material for her sculptures and what that conveys about her underlying message on global warming. He makes you promise that you’ll go to the artist’s pop-up exhibit during the Christmas markets. 

You're amazed that he has time for anything outside of work. You barely do, and he’s at the office just as much as you are these days. 

It strikes you that this is the first time you've sat down with Namjoon for a one-on-one meal. Every other time has been a client meeting or after-work drinks with the team. The conversation flows easily and you feel like you could keep talking to him forever.

By the end of the meal, your cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and your heart hurts a little because why did you have to meet Namjoon at this stage in your life? You excuse yourself to the restroom, but head to the host stand instead to pay the bill. 

Yoongi waves you off before you can say anything, not even looking up from what he’s writing. “Namjoon’s already paid for it. You’re all good.”

“Oh.” You’re elbow deep in your bag searching for your wallet.

“You know, he’ll never say anything because he’s your boss and all, so you’ll have to make the first move.” 

“Excuse me?”

You freeze before you can extricate yourself from your bag. Is it your imagination, or did he really say what you think he said? You don't know, your heartbeat is so loud in your ears.

“Excuse me?”

He looks up from his notebook, eyebrow raised, looking at you like you’re an idiot. You can feel the tips of your ears turning red. “It’s obvious he likes you. I've seen the way he looks at you whenever you're all in here. And you like him, if I’m not reading you wrong. All of his coworkers are head over heels for him. So you have to make the first move unless you want to be in this—“ he gestures vaguely at you “— forever. He’s a brilliant lawyer, but an idiot when it comes to relationships.” 

“I’m really not sure what you mean.” Your voice comes out in a squeak. You clear your throat and change the subject. “Where’s the restroom?” 

“I think you’ve been here enough times to know where the restroom is.” 

You can't even come up with a retort, you just walk away, cheeks flaming. If Yoongi can tell, everyone probably can.

And yes, you do know exactly where the restroom is.

A/N: Ok my friends! Remember when I said it was slow burn? Fun things should start to happen next chapter 👀 Again, I don't know anything about The Law, so if you do and you see something wrong in this fic, no you didn't, it's my fictional universe and yes this is how the The Law works in my fantasy land thank you. This is the energy I'm bringing to this fic and all my writing, so... yeah, I’d love feedback if you have any, but feel no obligation. Hope you like it ~

©sowoozoo-7 2023

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else.

#jungkook x you #namjoon x you #jungkook x reader #namjoon x reader #bts fic #junkook fanfic #namjoon fanfic #fic: love lust & litigation

[artzychic27]

The Billy Numerous Baseball scene from Teen Titans Go with DC AU!Brecken?

*One bright afternoon, Brecken makes his way onto an empty baseball field. He steps up to the pitcher’s mound and puts on a cap*

Brecken: Alright, ya’ll! Who’s up for a game?! *He multiplies himself*

Brecken’s clones: Yes, sir, I could play!

Brecken 1: Alright, let’s pick teams! *He clones himself again*

Brecken 2: Only if I can pick first. *Walks by a row of clones* Hoo doggy, this is rough!… I’ll take Brecken!

Brecken 3: Yeehaw!

Brecken 1: Hey! I was gonna pick Brecken! *Scans over the row* I’ll take Brecken!

Brecken 4: Whoo!

*After forming their team, that just leaves one Brecken, who disappointedly makes his way over to one side*

Brecken 12: Shoot, I always get picked last!

*Brecken multiplies himself once more to fill the stands with at least five hundred clones, and one of them takes up the role of the announcer*

Brecken 13: *Into a microphone* Looks like it’s gonna be a bea-utiful day for a ball game!

Brecken 14: *Making his way through the aisles with bags of peanuts* Peanuts! Get yer peanuts here! *Clones himself*

Brecken 15: Hot dogs! Hot dogs here! Hot and fresh just like they got back home and made with some kind of meat! No one knows, but we ain’t complainin’!

*Down in the diamond, Brecken 1 pitches the ball, and it zips right past Brecken 2*

Brecken 3: Stee-rike three! You’re outta here!

Brecken 4: Out?! How was that a stee-rike?! He missed by a mile!

Brecken 3: You try’na tell me how to do my job, boy?! *Kicks dirt at him*

Brecken 4: You get your dirt away from me! *Kicks dirt at him*

Brecken 3 I’ve had enough! You are out of here!

Breckens in the stands: Boooo!

*The game resumes as Brecken 1 prepares to pitch again with Brecken 5 up to bat*

Brecken 13: Here’s the wind up and the pitch… *Brecken 1 pitches, and Brecken 5 swings* Back, back, back, back, back! And it’s gone! Outta the park! Home run!

Breckens in the stands: Whoo!

@msweebyness @imsparky2002

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #mlb ocs #dc comics #billy numerous #teen titans #ask me stuff #answered ask #mlb au #hive five #dc villains

[erisismywaifu25]

Free Until Dawn

Before we start, a few bullet point facts to get out of the way:

•Jake and Bella are the same age (Bella is still older) and Seth and A.J. are a year younger than them

•In this Twilight fanfic universe, vamps and wolves who were changed before they turned 18 continue to age until they reach 18 cause I said so

•Jasper served in the Union

•My idioms or comparisons may suck but sometimes the only way for me to get a point across is to be extremely descriptive

•This story follows both the movies and books and may switch between the book’s timeline and the movies

•Proofread but not perfect

Also this story is Seth Clearwater x OC (?) Cullen based on my friend who requested this slow-burn fic, cause there are almost no Seth fanfics (the disrespect😤✊🏻). All chapters are named after Florence+the Machine songs cause me and my bestie love her stuff.

Word count: 9491

Without further ado…Chapter 4 of Shake It Out

——————————

     “You going to play fair this time?” Alice asked as she stretch her left arm across her chest while standing at second base.

     Emmett scoffed, twisting his back only a few away from Alice, “I always play fair.” The striped baseball cap was secured by him for emphasis.

     As it thundered around them, seven out of the eight vampires were currently preparing for a game of baseball patiently, on some parts, awaiting Bella and Edward’s arrival following the Cullen's official introduction to her. Lucky for Bella, she was about to witness a sacred tradition in the Cullen household that started years before A.J. was around. It was something each vastly different personality could enjoy and gave each of them a chance to use their physically enhanced abilities to their full capacity. 

     Nine days after A.J. joined the rest of her family in Forks, Edward decided a baseball game was just what A.J. needed. The idea for a baseball game to ease A.J. into the new family dynamic, came to Edward after he caught A.J. reminiscing about a game-saving catch from her human years. Later that day, he approached Carlisle and proposed a game the next time it stormed, and naturally, Carlisle and everyone else eagerly agreed. So on the ninth day, when the forecast called for a thunderstorm and delivered, the Cullens played a heated baseball game. 

     During A.J.’s first game of baseball with the Cullens, the newborn broke out from the remainder of the barrier she had built up after her transformation. Being a part of the winning team, with star pitcher Alice, definitely aided A.J. in feeling like her old self. Easily the last ‘strike’ of her barrier, especially since striving to win and typically doing so, had encapsulated her human years. Along with the fun on that day, Emmett saw an opportunity to ensure he would always be on the winning team and jumped on the bandwagon; claiming the title ‘A.J.’s Coach’ after witnessing her skilled third-basemen skills.  

     “Nu-uh,” Alice exclaimed and placed her hands on dark leggings, “You totally lied about that ‘foul ball’.”

     “I didn’t lie about the foul ball you hit.” the younger of the two Cullens smirked, “Ain’t nothing to be ashamed of, Alice. You’re just a crappy hitter.”

     Alice gasped and smacked his shoulder, “At least I can pitch without taking someone’s head out!” she defended herself.

     Emmett snickered before a smug smirk crept onto his alabaster skin, “Can’t help it, Wonderland. I’m jacked like Hercules!” he kissed both of his biceps after flexing underneath his navy blue tracksuit.

     “Alright, alright, alright,” Jasper called out as he strutted towards the bickering siblings, “No fraternizing with the enemy.” 

     The Texan placed a hand upon Alice’s narrow shoulders which dawned a white baseball vest, and gently guided her away from Emmett with a baseball bat in his other hand.

     By first base, a groan came from Rosalie that was bending down by the waist and holding her calves to stretch. The couple and Emmett, who were conglomerating near home base, turned their attention to her.

     “You’ve watched ‘Dazed and Confused’ too many times.” the tall blonde gracefully swung her torso up to stand straight.

     “No such thang’, Rosie.” A.J. quipped while flashing next to Rosalie with a moderately sized pink boom box in her sleeve-covered arms, “We Texans support each other.”

     A.J. met eyes with Jasper’s, a mischievous glint in both their eyes to match their smirks. A silent conversation transpired between the Texans, much to the others' despair before they both resumed what they had been doing.

      The youngest Hale gave Rosalie a friendly pat on the back and clicked her tongue before jogging off toward the right side of home plate where Esme and Carlisle were chatting. Her black backpack bounced off of her back as the wind pushed against the buttoned pinstripe shirt, which was similar to Carlisle’s, which was tucked into her black leggings. On her feet was a pair of hot pink socks that peeked out of the same dusty white sneakers she always wore when participating in any outdoor activity - provided an extra bounce to her step. 

     A ‘bleh’ left A.J. when Carlisle and Esme shared a sweet kiss just as she walked past them. 

     “I think I feel my teeth rottin’.” the girl swiped her tongue across her top set of teeth.

     The lovers parted with a chortle from each and turned their attention to their youngest child. 

     “You know, Angel,” Esme sang as A.J. set the boom box down after kneeling a few feet away from them, “You might find yourself falling for someone like your father and I have for each other.” 

     A.J. shook her head as four of her siblings snapped their attention to their conversation.

     “Absolutely not,” Emmett commented with a small frown.

     Alice rolled her eyes at the overprotective brute, “Dating is normal and healthy; especially for developing teenagers.” she spoke with her arms crossed.

     Rosalie stared at Alice, “She’s going to have to wait, regardless, Alice. There aren’t exactly sixteen-year-old vampires roaming around here, and we don’t need another reason for the Volturi to be on our backs.”

      The Cullens stilled. Faces dropping, bodies tensing, and minds swirling with guilt. The words Rosalie were the same as they always were; spitting out insults or malign words aimed towards Edward and Bella’s relationship. Though, this time, her words held a different meaning for the group. Reminding them all A.J. couldn’t have what they wanted her to; what they all wished she could.

     A normal life.

     Having been changed at the youngest age of fifteen in the Olympic Coven, she had even less time to have lived as a human. Too quickly was she thrown into this world; too quickly had she been forced out of the other. They all knew she loved her family dearly, and they shared the sentiment, but they were aware of her desire to ‘be’ a teenager again; to live a normal adolescence. They desired the same for her. Rosalie most of all. Despite a few apprehensions about A.J. dating, the choice being stripped from her makes it a bit harder to play the role of an ‘overprotective and gruff’ family member.

     A.J., having her back turned to the brooding vampires, knew what they were all thinking and could feel the tension in the atmosphere. She often thinks of the same thing - she craves it. Not necessarily romance, but at least the choice to.  More often than not, she chooses not to share her thoughts on it, except for a few times when Edward caught her thinking about it or her and Rosalie’s late-night talks. Unfortunately, ignoring them only made the thoughts and desires stronger. The fact of the underlying doom of immortality is that every choice you’d thought you’d gain - every decision you’d thought you’d get to make twice, gets ripped away from you in a few short moments.

     A.J. shook her shoulders as if a chill ran over her, and unzipped the small compartment on the front of her backpack once she set it in front of her. 

     “Listen,” she broke the silence as she pulled out a CD case with four men sitting around a table on the cover, “they’d have to be a very special person for me to consider datin’ - I mean, I’m hot…and got standards.”

     Her unspoken mission of raising the mood was a success as a plethora of smiles, and an eye roll or two made its way around.

     “Oh no! Guys, where’d the sky go?” Emmett feigned a look of fear as he peered up at the sky with a hand as a shield, “Oh, never mind, it’s just A.J.’s big-ass head.”

     A.J.’s mouth dropped at her brother's words just as she finished placing the CD in the correct compartment, and twisted her torso while in a squatted position.

     Rosalie sent a glare toward Emmett before saying, “There’s nothing wrong with confidence.” her eyes softened when she turned to A.J. from afar.

     

     “It’s hot on you, babe,” Emmett explained, his body language matching his whiny tone, “Not on A.J.”

     A.J. snorted, along with Alice, and the other Cullens gave Emmett a look of confusion at his choice of words.

     “I sure hope it’s not hot on me,” A.J. spoke with a flabbergasted tone as she fumbled with buttons on her boombox.

     Emmett physically faltered, “I-I-you guys know I didn’t mean it like that.”

     Jasper quirked an eyebrow up, “Oh, really, dearest brother? Then by all means, please elaborate your eloquent words.” he spoke with one hand still on Alice’s shoulder and the other twirling the metal bat.

     Emmett frowned, “I was trying to compliment my wife and insult A.J. at the same time, which proved to be more difficult than expected.”

     “Seems you really are only brawn.” Jasper teased further, an almost sinister smirk across his face.

     “Hey!” Rosalie barked out with a harsh expression, “I may be on your team, but I won’t hesitate to hurt you.”

     Emmett’s demeanor changed instantly to smugness at Rosalie coming to his defense. The smirk on Jasper’s face didn’t move, instead, it seemed to grow wider at Rosalie’s threat; as if he were daring her to touch him. He dropped his arm from Alice’s shoulders and dipped it into his pocket.

     “I’d like to see you try, yank.” the Texan leaned back as he pointed the baseball bat at her.

     At the sight of Rosalie beginning to stomp forward, Carlisle thought it best to speak up.

     “Rose,” the eldest vampire warned, arm tucked under his wife’s white jacket and around her waist.

     The irritated blonde’s head snapped toward Carlisle’s so fast it was a miracle it didn’t break.

     “What?” She spat, annoyed at Jasper and Carlisle.

     Carlisle gave her one of his hopeful smiles, “Let’s try to have a nice day.”

     “That goes for you too, Jasper,” Esme paused before switching her gaze to a smug Emmett, “And you.”

     “W-what-I,” Emmett fumbled over his words, “I’m a victim of defamation! I’m innocent here.”

     Jasper lowered the bat to the ground and settled his weight on it.

     “Yer’ ‘bout as innocent-,”

     A.J. drowned out the bickering behind her, engrossed in her boom box and getting it to work. The recurring problem, which she insisted was easily fixable and did not require a new one, was that the CD she put in would spin for a few seconds before coming to a stop. She grew more agitated as she repeated the process of taking the CD out, exhaling on it as she would on a cold window, gently wiping it off on her black leggings, then placing it back in the compartment, and pressing play - only to have to repeat the process. After another failed attempt, A.J. took an unsatisfying deep breath before forcefully exhaling through her nose. 

     “Shit.” A.J. huffed to herself, thankful no one could hear her over the bickering.

     “Ya know, ever since the fall of New Year’s Eve of ‘08, my boom box ain’t never played the same.” A.J. thought aloud to anyone who would listen.

     Rosalie was heading up the field and across to A.J.’s side instantaneously; always being willing to help her baby sister. It helped that she was the most skilled mechanic out of the Cullen Coven; her confidence in cars crossed over to most things technical…except t.v.s, though she was always looking to expand her knowledge. In her own time.

     “Did you put fresh batteries in?” Rosalie inquired once she reached A.J.

     A.J. observed Rosalie squatting down next to her, out of her peripheral vision.

     “Yes, I put fresh batteries in,” A.J. snarked out without thinking.

     The tone she used earned the young vampire a warning look from Rosalie, who stared her sister down. A.J. shut her eyes and turned away for a moment, before returning her gaze to Rosalie.

     “Sorry, that w’n’t directed at you,” she earnestly apologized, “This damn thang’ is pissin’ me off.” she gestured vigorously at the malfunctioning boombox with pinched brows.

     Rosalie ushered a ‘thank you’ in response before examining the portable stereo further.

     As the two Hale girls inspected the boombox and the other Cullens chatted amongst themselves, a silver jeep pulled toward the wide-open field. Its wheels tracked through the soft ground, leaving a muddy trail behind it and on the black tires. 

     Esme and Alice both grinned excitedly at the arrival of the new couple and Carlisle smiled softly, not outwardly matching their level of excitement. Emmett and Jasper were too busy misconducting themselves to turn their attention to the car as it was pulled into park a bit away from the others. From beside her, A.J. felt Rosalie tense up. Well aware of Rosalie’s opinion on all of this, she knew her attitude could turn fast and possibly ruin what was supposed to be some family fun time. 

     Esme and Carlisle shared a look before both turning back to give Rosalie an encouraging smile. Rosalie, who held the look of distaste she always held when Bella was in mind, gave them nothing promising in return. With a cheesy grin and painfully raised eyebrows, A.J. shot her parents a double thumbs up. The couple chuckled at her behavior and returned her thumbs up and smile, at a lesser volume. 

     The eldest Hale sister turned her attention to A.J. after observing Carlisle and Esme’s reactions, to find her sister still in the over-the-top position. In a blink, the newborn now sat with a dramatized frown and slowly raised her left hand to rest on her no-longer beating heart. Her head shook in a defeated manner, in hope that her big sister would crack a smile at her ludicrous behavior. Fortunately for A.J., in a move so minuscule only the trained eye would notice, the right corner of Rosalie's lips raised ever so slightly. Victoriously, A.J. beamed; savoring the lightened presence and softened gaze of her bitter sister.

     During this transaction, Edward stepped out of the driver's side door and walked around the silver Jeep he arrived in. His gaunt hand opened the passenger-side door, and out stepped Bella in a rugged, brown jacket with her brown hair in a ponytail covered by a baseball cap that mimicked Emmett’s, only being worn the right way around. Her shoulders were hunched as she was within herself in a way that completely contradicted the way Edward delved into himself; usually. Today, however, Edward seemed more withdrawn than usual. Previous teasing didn’t aid in reducing his nerves at all, and the fact of the constant threat this brought to Bella and his family, well, it added up.

     The couple shared the same social awkwardness, but Bella carried herself in a way that lacked confidence and made her appear fragile. Whereas during most occasions for Edward, he exuded confidence, some even say arrogance; at least that’s what A.J. had heard from her sibling's school gossip and teasing. For the unusual pair, however, it seemed to work quite well for them.

    While A.J. observed her brother and his new girlfriend, Rosalie had found what she believed to be ‘the sweet spot’ on the pink boom box. With a loud ‘thump’ that nearly made A.J. jump out of her skin and attracted the others' attention, the CD in it began spinning fast. A.J. beamed at her sister, who she considered a hero at the moment, and flicked her head between the boom box and her at a lightning-fast speed. A.J. excitedly placed her index finger onto the ‘play’ atop the boom box and pressed it without hesitation. Music blared from the speakers, bass instantly filling the chests of the two vampires who sat in front of it.

     “WHOO!” A.J. cheered and fell back onto her butt.

     Emmett thrust his fist into the air, “HELL YEAH!” he yelled.

     “YEAH!” Jasper joined with a playfully stern face and copied Emmett’s action with the bat.

     From an awkward angle, the ecstatic newborn wrapped her strong arms around Rosalie’s midsection, nearly toppling the elder Hale over. 

     “Thank you!” the girl squealed while Rosalie gained her balance back.

     Rosalie smiled brightly as she hugged A.J. back, “No problem, just stop letting people touch your stuff.”

     “I tried to stop Emmett from recreating that scene from ‘Say Anything’.” Edward called out from the Jeep where he and Bella just finished a conversation.

     “Aw, come on,” Emmett whined with a smile, “It was Valentine's Day! I had to do something for my babe. After 72 years together, you gotta’ keep it fresh.”

     The burly Cullen winked at Rosalie, who didn’t spare a glance at her husband, leaving him dejected as she marched her way to Carlisle who was only a few feet away from her. Carlisle had retrieved the second baseball bat from a long white and blue that also contained extra gloves and umpire gear and was resting his weight upon it. He greeted Rosalie with a close-lipped smile and opened his mouth to ask her but was quickly stopped by her palm flying up in front of him as she stomped by.

     A.J. could feel the anger radiating off of her sister, even without a special power and her being across the field now. She knew it was a miracle for Rosalie to even be here, with her previous plan of leaving to avoid the game and Bella all together. Without a doubt, A.J. knew it would get better once the game started, the others thought so as well, especially since her demeanor was quite bright beforehand the new couple arrived.

     “So that’s how you’ve managed to keep her.” Edward teased Emmett as he and Bella reached home plate.

     Emmett flashed next to Edward, causing Bella to jump, and wrapped a thick arm around his brother’s shoulders, which were covered by a button-up baseball jersey.

    Edward gave the younger vampire a look, already knowing what he was about to say. 

     “Emmett, that’s revolting,” Edward grimaced and pulled himself from Emmett’s grip.

     “What?” Emmett furrowed his dark brows, “I was just gonna remind you that I’m not the one who thought sparkling was a dealbreaker.” he decided to keep his previous thought to himself.

     A few of the Cullen ‘children’ laughed at Emmett’s remark, despite it being at Edward’s expense. His joke, as expected, did not sit well with Edward who was glaring at his brother.

    A.J. glanced up at Jasper messing with a baseball bat, “Oo! That’s awkward.” 

     The girl sucked a breath through her bunny-like teeth while beginning to read through the tracklist on the back of her CD case.

     A half-hearted grin slowly spread its way onto Edward’s face and his right flew up to swipe his mouth.

     “You know, Emmett,” his arm was now around Emmett’s shoulders, “I think you're just scared of your team losing.”

     “Not unless you plan on throwing the game,” Emmett smirked with crossed arms.

     Edward’s shit-eating look was stolen by Emmett. His head snapped over to Esme, asking a silent question, but easily found the answer by using his gift.

     “Rosalie and Alice wanted to be on a team this time,” Esme explained nonetheless while grabbing umpire gear out of the baseball bag, “We’re team ‘Wonder Woman’!”

     Edward furrowed his brows, “Jasper’s on your team.” His inquiry was disguised as a statement.

     “It’s an honor to be on a team named after comics’  finest heroine,” Jasper answered for himself as he practiced his batting stance to the side of Carlisle and Rosalie.

     Edward looked to Emmett, “And we are…MVP?” a look of dissatisfaction was on his face.

     “I was vouchin’ fer the Cheetahs, personally,” A.J. spoke up, “You know, Wonder Woman’s nemesis and all.” she clicked the skip button at the top of the boom box.

     Esme smiled at her children’s banter and pushed her way toward Bella with a black baseball glove and chest protector. Bella met her gaze with a close-lipped smile and hesitantly took the glove when the Cullen matriarch extended it to her.

     “Glad you’re here,” Esme wrapped an arm around Bella, “We need an umpire,” she stated while leading the girl to home base.

     Emmett waltzed past them, “She thinks we cheat.” he continued heading down the field.

     “I know you cheat.” Esme taunted as Emmett tossed a baseball between his hands.

     A.J. tsked, “Y’all love to say that ‘cause our team happens to always win.” she goaded while placing her ‘Muse’ CD back into the small compartment of her backpack.

     “What about last time,” Rosalie asked with a sarcastic tone from her spot near second base.

     Bella glanced at the brooding woman, “What happened last time?” she switched her gaze to Esme as they parked themselves at home base. 

     “Here, slip your jacket off for a moment, sweetie,” Esme instructed kindly, “Last time we all played, which was…,”

     “March 30,” Alice answered from the pitcher’s mound.

     Esme thanked Alice with a smile, “Thank you. Anyway, Carlisle continuously struck out during the first inning, resulting in team ‘VIP’ having five fewer runs than team ‘Great Batsy’.” 

     During her explanation, Esme slipped the black chest protector over Bella’s neck. 

     “Crying, Bella,” A.J. scooted her bottom to face Bella, “I was cryin’ and I don’t even have tears.”

     Carlisle smiled sheepishly, “In my defense, I had a lot on my mind.”

     A.J. didn’t miss the subtle embarrassment that showed on Edward’s face nor the looks her siblings gave him.

     “No excuse, sir,” A.J. threw a finger up, “We’re winners, and I expect ya ta act like it!” 

     Her behavior earned a chuckle from Carlisle and an exclamation of agreement from Emmett. 

     As this went on. Esme adjusted the chest guard causing Bella to blink at the sudden movement but eventually helped Esme settle it on her torso. Once it was resting on her shoulders, Edward snaked behind Bella and adjusted the straps across her upper back. Esme then stepped away to give the new lovers some space. Her pallid face held a warm expression at the sight of the ‘son’ she had grown most fond of, finally finding happiness in love. 

     The sweet moment was soon ruined as Bella was jerked back by the force Edward unconsciously used. A crease formed between Esme’s dark eyebrows as she frowned at the  uncomfortable scene in front of her. She sent a small smile; whether it was a warning to be mindful or encouragement was unknown; and stepped away from the couple to help the others in setting up.

     “Sorry,” Edward’s hands faltered on the straps, “Last time I did this was back when A.J. had first joined us.” he secured the chest guard on Bella’s back.

     Bella nodded, still holding her brown jacket on her arm. The sleeves of her white shirt twisted as Edward’s hand snaked around her to lift the brown jacket off of her right arm.

     “It’s okay,” she swallowed as Edward prepared her coat to assist it on, “How long ago was that?”

     “Why does it matter?” Rosalie snarked out with crossed arms and a hip popped out.

     Edward paused in helping Bella put her jacket back on to give a warning look to the blonde.

     Carlisle’s lips pressed into a straight line, “Rose,” he warned.

     Bella looked back at Edward before back at Rosalie.

     “It doesn’t, I was just curious.” Bella answered honestly.

     “And it’s a perfectly valid question,” A.J. spoke up.

     Rosalie’s eye roll could practically be heard by the others.

     A.J. briefly glanced back at those behind her, “If we’re goin’ off the day I actually moved here, then…,” she trailed off while calculating.

     “A.J.’s lived here since last August.” Carlisle answered for her.

     Bella nodded as she consecutively pushed her arms through the sleeves of her jacket as Edward finished helping her by hiking the coat up until it was entirely back on. 

     “It’s a little tight,” Bella stated with tight lips as she rolled her shoulders.

     The jacket she wore barely fit over the padding of the chest guard thrown onto her. Her arm movement was restricted, but she supposed it was better to have stiff arms than a shattered sternum. 

     Loud guitar suddenly blared from A.J.’s boombox, the owner of it now swaggering over to home plate. She snatched up a black glove lined with hot pink from the gear bag on her way over.

     “Sorry, Bella-rella,” A.J. approached the uncomfortable human, “It’s either have no protection ‘gainst my lethal pitches and get soaked down to your knickers, or have protection from such pitches buuut still get soaked - ‘cause-uh-do you smell that?”

     A.J. threw her arm around Bella’s padded shoulders and thoroughly inhaled with her nose pointed toward the sky. 

     “It’s gon’ rain.” A.J. rasped out while gradually lowering her head.

     Emmett grinned from over by third base, “It’s gon rain!” he repeated.

     “IT’S GON’ RAIN!” A.J. shouted before patting Bella on the back and jogging to the pitcher's mound.

     Esme chuckled next to Carlisle before turning to her husband.

     Her hands pressed his chest, “Alright, enough chitter-chatter, Bella didn’t come here to talk. Let’s play some baseball!” 

     Esme patted Carlisle’s chest, signaling him and the remaining Cullens not in place, to assume their positions on the field.

     A.J. eyed Alice as she approached the pitcher’s mound, “You’re gonna’ have to move.” A.J. jutted her left thumb toward home plate.

     Alice furrowed her brows, “And why is that?”

     Rosalie frowned as Carlisle her way, “Yeah, why is that? The team I’m on lost last time.”

     “We know,” Emmett stated, “We decided, however, that we wanna play the field first… and so A.J. can pitch first.”

     Rosalie rolled her topaz eyes once again while Alice agreed to their decision and they both jogged back to home plate. The remaining two members of team ‘Wonder Woman’ had yet to move from their previous spots at home plate and waited for the others to get into position.

     “Keep an eye on Emmett, alright,” Edward spoke into Bella’s ear with a smile.

     Emmett frowned, “Hey, we’re on the same team!” 

     His fist slammed into his gloved left hand, clearly itching for the game to start.

     “That doesn’t change your track record.” Edward retorted after flashing over to second base as Carlisle jogged to first.

     With the baseball gripped tightly in her right hand, A.J. swung her arm toward Jasper at home plate, who was also preparing.

     “Careful, Eddie,” A.J. warned, “Might start ta’ think you're a snitch.”

     Edward chortled, “How can one be a snitch in baseball?”

     A.J. craned her neck to look at him, “Uh, I don’t know, mind reader.” she squinted suspiciously at him.

     Emmett glanced between before a look of realization spread across his pallid face.

      “Ohhh, yeah, I see what you’re gettin’ at, Aje,” Emmett smirked while eyeing Edward, “You’re gonna listen to our team's thoughts and then sabotage us.”

     Edward paused and blinked, words escaping him. One weakness he would never admit, even if he was being tortured, is the effect Emmett and A.J. have to completely and utterly bamboozle him. Once the shock of Emmett’s accusation wore off, Edward peeled his eyes open and met Bella’s brown ones. She held an amused expression, her eyes asking a question Edward couldn’t hear. He sent her a silent shrug as an answer whilst A.J. and Emmett continued their rant.

     “Alright,” Carlisle’s call silenced Emmett and A.J., “I’m sure Edward is not planning a betrayal, and even if he was-,”

     “Which I’m not.” Edward chimed in.

     “I know,” Carlisle spoke in his mind with an apologetic look, “Even if he was, I think we’d still manage to win. Even without Rose on our team.” 

     A smug smile spread across Carlisle’s lips, as a chorus of ‘Oo’s’ blended with the breeze that blew his striped scarf.

     “Let’s go then,” A.J. spun on her heel to face home plate, “Jasper.” she nodded.

     Jasper nodded back, preparing his stance.

     “Angel.” he smiled at her, eyes filled with determination.

     In an instant, A.J. propelled her right arm forward. The ball flew from her hand and headed straight to Jasper. The bat he held swung out and away from his shoulder, his torso and legs twisting to enhance the force he hit with. With a loud crack of thunder, the ball collided with the bat and launched high into the sky. Unfortunately for Jasper, the ball headed into the air directly above A.J., who leaped up what seemed like five-hundred feet to Bella, and caught the ball with ease in her gloved hand. A.J. landed on her feet with a thud, sufficiently stopping Jasper from running just as he dropped the bat.

     Bella glanced up at Esme from her squatted position a little ways behind Jasper as laughs or winces echoed through the air. The speed at which the Cullens play made it difficult for her to decipher anything, let alone the baseball knowledge she lacked. She briefly wished she would’ve paid more attention to her step-father’s career now. Answering her silent question, Esme nodded to her with a grimace.

     “Out.” Bella called.

     “Oh-ho-ho, Mr. Whitlock,” A.J. called in a nasally British accent, “How it seems your strategy has grown weak.” her smile grew at the sound of Emmett’s snicker.

     Alice watched as her husband tracked back to join her and Rosalie on the sidelines, frown on his face but posture still perfect. Jasper handed her the bat as he passed her and continued until he was next to Rosalie.

     “It’s okay, Jazzy,” Alice cooed, “It was only your first bat.” she gave him an assuring smile as she approached the plate.

     A.J. grinned at Alice as the older vampire settled into batting position. A strike of lightning in the distance lit the grey sky and was quickly followed by a deafening crack of thunder. Bella jumped in her skin at the unexpected volume which only heightened her stress levels. Having noticed the jump, Esme raised a hand that had been resting on her knee and placed it on Bella’s padded shoulder. She gave the girl a squeeze and a gentle smile as Bella craned her neck to meet Esme’s gaze.

     “Hey, batta’-batta’, hey, batta’-batta’, swang~,” A.J. mimicked exuberantly swinging an imaginary bat.

    A smile spread onto Alice’s face upon hearing the song, “I got ta just do my thang~.” she happily sang back.

     “Enough singing,” Emmett yelled, “Get on with the game!” he eagerly threw his fist into his gloved hand.

     A.J. frowned as she twisted her head back, “Let us enjoy ourselves!”

     “Clearly someone can’t dance.” Alice smirked teasingly still in her batting stance.

     Emmett’s hands paused with an almost offended look on his face. Those spectating were either watching thoroughly entertained, or less than amused and wanting to continue with this close game.

     “Oh, I can dance,” Emmett answered nonchalantly, “Tell ‘em, babe.”

     Thunder cracked around them as all eyes zoned in on Rosalie, awaiting an answer.  A smile slowly grew on her diamond-like jaw as if a pleasant memory was filling her mind.

     “Oh, he can dance,” her declaration rewarded her a wink from her doting husband.

     A.J. stuck her tongue out, “Bleh,” she faked a gag as her torso rag-dolled.

     Esme chuckled at her reaction from her hunched-over position behind Bella.

      “Alright, ‘nough talk, let’s get back to the game.” Esme clapped her hands together right as it thundered.

     Carlisle nodded at his wife, “Impeccable timing.” he smiled at her.

     She quirked a short eyebrow up at him with a smirk, “Thank you.” 

     Returning her attention back to the game, A.J. peered up at the sky as if she was waiting for something. Her eyes fluttered shut as she forcefully inhaled for an exaggerated amount of time. Bella furrowed her brows at A.J.’s action, briefly glancing up at Esme again. 

     “She’s waiting for the thunder,” Esme answered without taking her eyes off the scene in front of her.

     “She technically don’t have to,” Jasper chimed in, “As long as we’re playing during a storm, we don’t have to wait for a ‘loud sound’.”

     A.J. lowered her head, “I like the dramatics. Sue me!”

     Before Bella could blink, the ball was flying at Alice. With another loud crack of both thunder and the bat and ball colliding, Alice dropped the bat and dashed toward first base. The ball flew past A.J.’s left side and headed to Emmett who immediately jumped into action. He shot into the air, left arm extended above him, with the ball directed at him. As Alice reached first base, the ball grazed the top of Emmett’s gloved hand and continued into the forest behind them. 

     Edward darted back into the forest as Alice approached second base. His topaz eyes bounced rapidly around the trees and brush until he spotted the baseball. Edward then snatched the ball off the ground and threw it to Emmett through the trees, who was anticipating the throw. Emmett hurled his body to the left and roughly landed at third base when Alice stepped on it.

     A chorus of ‘whoos’ and hollers sounded from home plate as Alice bounced victoriously on third base. Emmett scoffed as he rolled onto his knees before hopping up while Edward came flashing back from the woods. 

     “Lucky shot,” Emmett commented as he stood next to Alice.

     Alice looked up at him with a smug look, “That was pure skill, Emmett.”

     “Damn right it was,” Jasper called out with his arms crossed.

     The Cullens continued an epic game of baseball, one that was far too fast for the human eye to properly view. Bella struggled to see anything but the aftermath chatter and positions after the end of a run. Thankfully for her sake, Esme or another member of team ‘Wonder Woman’ was there to help her with the calls; disregarding Rosalie. 

     The Cullens had made it to the third inning, in record time thanks to their enhanced abilities. Team ’MVP’ was currently three runs ahead of team ‘Wonder Woman’. Jasper had redeemed himself and hit a home run, Alice was currently at second base, Esme resided by Bella and awaited her turn, and Rosalie was currently up to bat. Team ‘MVP’ were positioned the same way as before and eager to continue.

     “You ready?” A.J. nodded at her sister as they both readied themselves.

     Rosalie crouched into position, “As ever.”

     A.J. drew back her right arm before swinging it forward and putting her weight on her front leg. The baseball flew toward Rosalie before another crack echoed through the field and throughout the surrounding forest. Rosalie dropped the bat, pushed off of home plate, and sprinted down the field. The baseball was heading between second and third base, where Edward and Emmett were positioned on either base. 

     Alice sprinted past Edward and Emmett who were distracted by the fast-approaching ball. As the pixie-like vampire passed by third base and Rosalie reached first, Emmett and Edward jumped simultaneously with their arms outstretched and ready to catch the ball. Unfortunately, the duo collided with each other in a loud ‘thwack’ and the two members of team ‘Wonder Woman’ managed to reach home plate. The women secured two more runs for their team and caused a total wipeout for the opposite team that resulted in Edward and Emmett splayed out on the grass and the baseball deep in the forest.

     Alice skidded to stop a few feet away from home plate and Rosalie followed by sliding across the grass and onto home plate. Amidst the cheers of the successful team, Jasper ran to Alice and picked her up into a spinning hug; squeals of laughter leaving the victorious woman. With a grin, Esme extended her arm down to Rosalie who grabbed it with a smirk and hopped up. 

     “That’s how we do it!” Esme high-fived Rosalie once she was standing.

     Bella nodded from her squatted position, “Yeah, that was a good play.” 

     Rosalie glared down at the girl, “You couldn’t even see it.” she spat.

     Esme’s smile turned to a frown, “Rose.” she warned.

     “What? It’s true.” Rosalie defended.

     “Well, I mean, she’s right,” Bella said, “I-I couldn’t see it, but-,”

     “Alright, how ‘bout we turn our attention to the real issue ‘ere,” A.J. interrupted the three, “Which is betrayal!”

     A.J. thrust her finger in the direction of a chuckling Emmett and Edward who had just stood up.

     Edward, having already heard what she was about to say, ceased his laughter.

     “A.J., are you really pushing this?” Edward groaned.

     A.J. fought back a smile, “Oh, yes, indeed I am pushin’ this, traitor!”

     Emmett stared at Edward, “Oh, yeah. It is a bit strange that the mind reader Edward didn’t read in my mind that I was gonna jump for the ball.” a smirk spread across his short jaw.

     “Exactly!” A.J. eagerly agreed with a stomp, “He sabotaged us so the loser team would have a chance!”

     Rosalie crossed her arms, “I think we have a chance regardless of Edward’s treachery.”

     “I’m-I am not a traitor. I did not even think of reading anyone’s mind, because I was focused on the game.” Edward let out a flabbergasted laugh.

     Emmett adjusted his stance and crossed his arms.

     “Exactly what a traitor would say,” Emmett stated.

     

     Edward’s tongue darted across his pristine white teeth as he grinned in annoyance, “I think the only one you should be accusing of ’treachery’ is Alice.”

     A smirk spread across Edward’s lips at his words. 

     “What!” Alice’s hands fell onto her hips.

     Her eyebrows knitted together underneath her navy blue cap at the sudden accusation. A crack of thunder sounded around them as if Alice herself conjured it up with her voice. The babbling duo, Emmett and A.J., observed Alice before staring at Edward and then meeting each other’s gaze. Skeptical looks were painted upon their pale faces as the wind picked up around them. The rest of the Cullens and Bella were left awaiting their next move, wondering if Edward’s distraction worked or not.

     The accusing pair busted out in chuckles and giggles, ripping Edward’s hopeful look off of his face. 

     Emmett turned his head to a dejected Edward.

     “Alice wouldn’t have the time to see our moves,” Emmett stated matter-of-factly.

     A.J. nodded, “Yeah, plus, she ain’t on our team.”

     Emmett and A.J. smirked at each other as if they just deduced the most abstruse mystery in history. A snort could be heard coming from Hale ‘twins’ by home plate, though that did nothing to deter the growing confidence of A.J. and Emmett.

     Edward chuckled out in confusion, eyes darting around those who stood throughout the field. His mouth opened and closed, struggling between the option of a logical defense or leaving the whole ordeal to rest. Staying silent seemed like the best option, considering logic fell upon deaf ears when it came to Emmett and A.J., but ultimately Edward decided to play the ‘call on the parent’ card.

     “Carlisle,” Edward pleaded to the man who was standing near first base.

     Edward motioned to his ‘attackers’, hoping the wise man’s words would bring some sense to the situation. Carlisle looked upon his son with tight lips and one hand over the other resting in front of his body. A glint of amusement shone in Carlisle’s golden eyes from the scene he silently observed, much to Edward’s dismay. 

     “Emmett, A.J.,” Carlisle spoke, “Edward isn’t a traitor-,”

     The wind picked up around them and quieted Carlisle as a fog emerged from the enclosing forest. A gasp fell from Alice’s lips while her arms fell from her hips to her sides. Her eyes had seemingly glazed over, hinting at the vision she was having. As if in slow motion, Edward stared at her before peering over at the forest behind them just as Alice’s vision ended. The rest of the Olympic Coven’s eyes turned toward the forest, whether it be from their own acute hearing or sensing the seriousness of Alice’s vision.

     “Stop!” Alice yelled desperately as it thundered around them.

     Edward was across the field and next to Bella at a moment's notice, the rest similarly hustling about. With her eyes still peering past the bare trees, A.J. felt an arm grip her left bicep tightly. Her eyes flicked over to see Emmett pulling her toward the rest of their family, Carlisle on her other side. Their eyes held a look of worry as they flashed over together.

     A.J. flickered her gaze between them as they joined the rest at home plate, to which Edward was pulling Bella toward the Jeep as Alice spoke quickly. A.J. stared at her family with knitted brows, clearly missing a vital piece of information, though she heard words of getting Bella out of here and nomadic vampires hearing their baseball game. 

    “Nomad vampires?”

 ��   Panic fell upon A.J., concentrated in her chest, as memories filled her mind. She swore she could feel teeth tearing into her skin again, the excruciatingly slow loss of blood, her vision blurring, the taste of iron mixed with mud cutting off her breathing; choking her as water filled her lungs. Squeezing her eyes shut,  A.J. attempted to combat the rising terror with logical thoughts.

     “I’m a vampire now too.”

     “They can’t hurt me.”

     “I ain’t food anymore.”

     “They might be vegans like us.”

     “No, they ain’t. They’re the ‘predator’ on the news.”

     Unfortunately for her, the thoughts weren’t anything but a mere hindrance, to what she knew was illogical fear. 

     “It is illogical, right?” A.J. questioned herself amidst the chaos growing around her and the sudden absence of music.

     Before she could freak herself out more, a wave of peace washed over her and drowned out the fear in her chest. A moment after, two hands came to rest on her shoulders, which she deduced to be Jasper’s as everyone else was in her line of sight.

     Her head snapped up, the bottom of her messy braided pigtails bouncing with the movement. A.J. was met with an assuring smile from Jasper, who squeezed her strong shoulders.

     “Everythang’s gonna be alright.” Jasper reassured her as he guided her to stand in the back with Bella.

     A.J.’s pigtails bounced again as she nodded furiously, “Yeah, I know.”

     With another squeeze and a close-lipped smile, Jasper parted from his sister and hurried over to Emmett who stood waiting at the far right end of the line of vampires.

     “Get your hair down.” Edward ordered Bella with a pinched expression.

     Bella momentarily froze and stared at Edward with a bewildered look, before hesitantly pulling the hair tie from her mousy brown hair. 

     Rosalie turned around with a scowl, “Like that’ll help, I can smell her from across the field.”

     With one last look, Rosalie turned back to face the oncoming threat with the others. Carlisle moved to stand tall in the front as everyone else gathered around. They formed a ‘wall’ in front of Bella, her being the obvious vulnerable human here, and A.J. as she had been pushed to the back by Jasper. 

     “I shouldn’t have brought you here, I’m so sorry,” Edward shook his head as Bella pressed him for an answer, “Just be quiet and stand behind me.”

     Bella clung to Edward’s side as he stepped toward the others but stayed just behind them with Bella. The youngest Cullen moved to Bella’s other side, matching the body language of her family. Past the line her family created in front of the three, A.J.’s copper eyes fell upon three figures emerging from the woods. 

     In the front, passing through the growing fog, was a dark-skinned man with long locks, an orange leather jacket atop his bare torso, and a pair of dark, lined pants. To his right, was a woman with curly ginger hair and a long fur shawl that blew in the wind as they tracked forward; a confident smirk carved into her alabaster skin added to her alluring appearance. Lastly, the most menacing of them all was a man who stood to the left of them; his blonde hair was pulled into a low ponytail that enhanced his dark, hooded eyes. The one characteristic that united them was the piercing ruby color of their eyes, which reminded A.J. of her own a couple of months ago.

     The young vampire hurriedly untucked her pinstripe jersey from her leggings all the while keeping her eyes trained ahead. With her enhanced speed, she threw open the buttons of her shirt, leaving her with just a baby blue tank top adorning her torso.

     “Here,” A.J. spoke to Bella, snapping the girl out of her frozen state.

     The human turned her head to face the newborn vampire and her eyes followed consecutively. Her gaze fell upon A.J.’s worried face as the taller of the two threw her jersey around Bella and placed it on her shoulders. Bella briefly unlatched herself from Edward for the jersey to encase her shoulders and arms.

     A.J. adjusted the jersey on Bella, “It’s not much, but I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t wash it last time we played so it’s…oh shit.” 

     A.J.’s ramblings were cut short as the trio of vampires was now standing still a few feet away from the group. With her enhanced hearing, she heard Bella’s heartbeat pick up next to her and prayed that the oncoming threat wouldn’t notice amidst the storm.

      The frontman raised his right hand in a fluid motion, and in it was the homerun ball Rosalie hit. His pristine teeth contrasted against his dark skin as he flashed an inviting smile. A.J. couldn’t help but appreciate his good looks despite the tense situation. His shorter stature and medium build were carried casually, in a way that let you know he was confident and felt no need to compensate. The exposed torso revealed by his unbuttoned green-tinted vest and jacket showcased his toned upper body. He was undeniably tantalizing and attractive, though A.J. supposed that’s what made him dangerous.

     “I believe this belongs to you,” The vampire remarked before flicking his wrist and sending the ball toward Carlisle.

     Carlisle caught it with ease, an unreadable expression on his face. 

     “Thank you.” a friendly smile appeared on Carlisle’s face.

     A.J. shifted her weight before stepping over to stand next to Esme. Sensing her daughter moving next to her, Esme instinctively reached for the girl’s bicep before snaking her arm around A.J.’s. and pulling her close. Esme flicked her eyes to A.J.’s arm upon meeting bare skin, curious as to what happened to her jersey. In response, she received a simple smile and her daughter’s cold left hand on hers.

     “I am Laurant,” the stranger spoke again, “And this is Victoria and James.”

     A.J.’s gaze lingered on Victoria, her voluminous curls framing her soft features. Her presence intrigued the young vampire more and more as she studied her face and body language. It was almost feline, the way she moved, her minuscule movements were elegant and smooth. Once again, it was clear how her looks could be a weapon.

     James, however, did nothing but frighten A.J. Everything about the vampire screamed dangerous and to stay away. He, unlike his coven-mates, did possess the same alluring appearance or body language. The ways his eyes seemed to stare into your soul along with his tall stature reminded A.J. of the tales of Slender Man she’d heard some classmates talk about before she was turned. His weapon, without a doubt, was intimidation.

     “I’m Carlisle,” the Cullen patriarch gestured to the others standing beside him, “This is my family.”

     

     “I like your shawl,” A.J. spoke and nodded to the one draped around Victoria.

     Instantly, she felt all eyes on her and Esme pull her tighter to her side. The girl shrugged it off, thinking to herself that flattery is usually the best way to smooth things out. 

     Victoria eyed A.J., taking in her appearance having paid more attention to everyone else.

     “Thank you,” Victoria smiled, “I like your top. It’s a good color on you.” her words seemingly rolled off of her tongue.

     A.J. returned the smile, “I know, right.” she let out a stiff chuckle.

     Flattery certainly worked for herself as her apprehensive mood lessened from the compliment.

     “Yes, well, I’m afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us.” Carlisle brought the attention back to him.

     Laurant’s dark eyebrows raised as his ruby eyes widen ever so slightly.

     “Our apologies,” he spoke earnestly, “We did not realize the territory had been claimed.”

     His apology seemed almost empathetic according to A.J.’s ears. Regardless of whether or not she had been swayed by his being, she almost took his apology to heart if it had not been for the guard she desperately held onto.

     Carlisle nodded, “We maintain a permanent residence nearby.”

     Laurant twisted his neck to face James who was peering past Carlisle and Esme at Edward. A.J. unconsciously hardened her eyes in anticipation of what the nomad may do, having a hard time relaxing in his menacing presence. She feared what he may attempt to do to her family and wondered just how capable his coven could be against the Cullens.

     “Really?” Laurant’s smooth voice held a tone of disbelief, “Well we won’t be a problem anymore. We were just passing through” His gaze returned to Carlisle.

     

    “The humans were tracking us, but we led them east,” Victoria announced, “You should be safe,” she spoke the last part in a hushed tone as she leaned her head forward for emphasis.

     Carlisle nodded, “Excellent.”

     A.J. caught the reluctant smile on her father’s face. It was one she’d seen him use on a woman who had struck up a conversation with him on one of A.J.’s earlier excursions to ease her back into society. She recalled the woman’s tone being rather flirty as she rang them up at the register.

     Laurant glanced around at the Cullens.

     “So,” he pressed, “Could you use three extra players?”

     One by one the Cullen’s eyes fell upon Carlisle, awaiting his response. His gaze never left Laurant as he silently considered the best option.

     Laurant smiled, “Oh, come on, just one game.”

     Carlisle let out a quick sigh before smiling, “Sure, why not. A few of us were leaving - you can take their place.”

      A.J. crane her neck to glance back at Edward and Bella. Edward’s hardened gaze seemed almost frightened as he glared ahead at James. The fear on his face didn’t come from a fear of his own well-being but Bella’s. A.J. knew that was the only thing on his mind, getting Bella away from here and keeping her safe. 

     “Why didn’t you just flash her to the car? You had time.” A.J. thought to Edward who only briefly spared her a glance.

     Deciding to let it be, A.J.’s eyes moved to Bella who stood with her mouth slightly agape and still clung to Edward. The young vampire knew the human’s fear well and sympathized with her, especially since it was unknown how long Bella would be forced to endure this.

     “We’ll bat first.”

     A.J.’s turned around in time to see Carlisle toss the ball to Laurant, but Victoria flashed her pale hand up in time to catch it.

     “I’m the one with a wicked curve ball.” The smirk permanently edged into Victoria’s face grew wider.

     The atmosphere grew lighter at her remark as the Cullen's spirit slowly returned.

     “Oh, well I think we can handle that.” Jasper egged her on which earned a confident smirk from Emmett and A.J.

     Laurant sang out an ‘oh’ at the banter, body swaying with anticipation as he clapped.

     A.J. leaned her torso forward, “I’m a bit of’a star pitcher myself.” she eyed Victoria with a smile while Esme began to pull her toward the others as they retreated back.

     “We shall see,” Victoria spoke as both she and Laurant spun around to head down the field.

     Though his coven-mates were moving to prepare for the expected game, James stayed stationary with his animalistic gaze set on Edward and Bella. His head tilted to the side as he further inspected his ‘prey’, but Bella kept her gaze set on Edward. Her arm was wrapped around his as she waited for him to move though he stayed in an intimidation contest with James. Finally and with one last look, James turned on his heel and began to find his spot on the field. Bella let herself breathe as they were almost off the hook, but she relaxed too soon. Just as she and Edward began turning, the wind blew against their backs which pushed her scent straight toward James. 

     James’s neck twisted as he inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering shut as he faced the couple again.

     He exhaled and smiled, “You brought a snack.” 

     The predatory vampire lunged forward in a hunched manner, ready to pounce on his prey. Edward pushed Bella back and jumped to action as well, all but A.J. following suit, including James’s coven-mates. The young vampire swiped her jersey off of Bella’s shoulders and swiftly threw it on as she moved to stand in front of Bella. The girl’s copper eyes glared at the trio in front of them, her fear manifesting into courage. She and Bella suddenly stumbled back as Esme pushed A.J. farther away from danger. Perhaps that was where her courage came from; an unconscious understanding that her family wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her.

     “A human,” Laurant questioned as the tension grew.

    “The girl’s with us.” Carlisle stated with a calm voice, “I think it’s best if you leave.” his eyes stayed trained on James.

     Laurant nodded, “I can see the game is over. We’ll go now.” he held his palms open and facing the ground as he slowly backed away.

     Once again, James lingered, this time with Victoria by his side, who seemed eager to kill for him. Laurant glanced at James questioningly, his patience running thin for such antics.

     “James.” Laurant called out.

     With a growl and one last look, James’s posture straightened as he turned away from the Cullens. Victoria followed with a hiss and joined James to which they wrapped an arm around each other and stalked away. Laurant led them as he walked backward before gradually spinning around to walk straight.

     A.J. watched as Edward slowly raised from his hunched state, deep in thought…or what she assumed was James’s.

     “Get Bella out of here.” Carlisle ushered as he placed a hand on Edward’s shoulder, “Go.”

     The eldest Cullen then pushed Edward back toward where Bella and A.J. resided. A.J. quickly flashed to the side and gave her brother an encouraging smile to which she received a nod. As Edward rushed Bella to the jeep, the Cullens quickly gathered what they had come here  with.

      “W-wait, what ‘appens now?” A.J. asked as Carlisle wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed his right hand protectively on her other.

     “We go home.” Carlisle answered and began to lead her away in the direction of home.

     A.J. stared at him as the others caught up with them, “Then what?”

     Carlisle looked down and gave his daughter a close-lipped smile as Esme flashed to her other side.

     “Let’s just get home first.” he told her.

     A.J. nodded and turned her gaze forward before stopping dead in her tracks and craning her neck to look around Carlisle.

     “Wait, my stuff!” she called out.

     “Don’t worry, we got it.” Rosalie answered as she slugged A.J.’s backpack around her shoulders and Emmett cradled the girl’s boom box.

     A.J. nodded again, “Thank you.” she let her gaze fall forward.

     The girl bit her tongue in anticipation of what was going to happen. The courage she had gained left her once she heard the wheels of the silver Jeep skid away in the mud. Dread replaced it as the primary emotion in most of the vampires present. Her thoughts were far too jumbled and rapid for her to calm herself down as Carlisle began to pick up speed. One thing that remained clear in her mind as she started to run, was her family staying safe. Though, she had no clue how she'd do it.

#twilight #bella swan #edward cullen #seth clearwater #twilight fandom #carlise cullen #emmett cullen #fanfic #jacob black #twilight fanfiction #alice cullen #esme cullen #jasper hale #rosalie cullen #rosalie hale #seth clearwater imagine #seth clearwater x reader #seth clearwater fanfic #twilight imagine #twilight fanfic #Spotify

[angelofthenight]

Cardigans in August Pt.6

(Bruce Yamada x Reader x Vance Hopper)

Summary: During the summer after a fight, (Y/n) cheats on Bruce with Vance. When school starts again Vance thinks he finally has (Y/n) until she tries to win Bruce back.

Warnings: Social anxiety, Swearing, Make up fluff, Kissing, Bruce and (Y/n) get a happy ending

Word Count: 2.0k (sorry it’s so short)

Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7

“Chase two boys, lose the one”

“Slept next to him, but I dreamt of you all summer long”

“'Cause you weren't mine to lose”

You stood at Bruce’s doorstep just staring at the closed door. For the whole week as you planned it, you talked yourself up so much and felt confident about the whole thing. But now that you were actually here in the flesh, reality began to actually sink along with spiking nerves. There was no more daydreaming about what happens, if you mess up with the wrong words you can’t just restart.

You had the mind to just turn tail and make a run for it but a single thought made your feet glued to the ground and your hand lifted up for the doorbell. The only thing you wanted to do was make it up to him. You missed him so much. You wanted him back so much. You could barely listen to your favorite songs anymore because they all had a tumultuous memory attached.

You couldn't listen to "Hey Lover" without remembering you and Bruce romantically yet goofily dancing in your room as it played on the stereo. You couldn't listen to "SOS" without remembering you and Bruce rubbing the tips of your noses together as you happily danced in the crowd of stoned hippies at the Abba concert. You couldn't listen to "Tiny Dancer" without remembering you drunkenly crying to a giggling Bruce about how good the song was.

You couldn't listen to "American Woman" without remembering the first time Bruce made his first baseball home run as that song played in the background and after he made it to home base he ran over to put his cap on you before giving you a big kiss. You couldn't listen to "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" without remembering you and Bruce singing it in karaoke. And you couldn't even listen to "Wouldn’t it be Nice" without remembering when you got your first car and you took Bruce for a test drive as that song came on the radio.

You wanted to make more of those memories with Bruce. You wanted Bruce back more than you've ever wanted anything ever.

So you pressed on the doorbell. You were only given about 3-5 seconds of mental preparation before the door swung open to reveal one of Bruce’s baseball teammates.

You spotted some people lean to the side to look at you from inside and you could almost feel yourself sweat. The teammate narrowed his eyes at you and squinted in suspicion. “Uh… Bruce!” He called out before stepping off to the side, as if to avoid collateral damage.

You felt a jolt of nerves spring up in your gut as you searched him out among the public, who you were trying to pretend weren’t there to ease your discomfort. Bruce came walking into your field of vision from the other side of the room, some people stepping to the side so they weren’t in the way, and went wide-eyed.

A hush came over the party crowd, obviously very intrigued by this change in the night as well. With nothing to do with your free hands, you wrung them, twisting them shyly and wrinkling the hem of your shirt in the process.

"I h-have s-s-ssomething to say..." Your voice wavered, quiet yet high-pitched. "T-to Bruce..." Bruce’s mouth fell open.

"I want... I miss... um..." You resisted squeezing your eyes shut, trying to just focus on the feelings you were trying to convey. 'Oh god! This was a horrible idea!' You began to babble, hoping your emotions would float up in your words somewhere. They found you at the very least. In your string of mumbled sentences you made out several synonyms of wanting him to hear out your apology.

If Bruce hadn't been so elated by the sweet sentiment, this would have been excruciating to watch. Even so, many of his friends cringed from second-hand embarrassment.

Bruce began making his way through the living room towards you and by the look on his face, your heart sank and you already began to feel downtrodden at your failed attempt to win him back. Once he reached you, instead of slamming the door in your face or telling you to go fuck yourself, he grabbed your hand and closed the door behind him. He walked down the steps and led you by the hand to his backyard for privacy. He stopped at the bench near his mom’s garden and took a seat, blankly staring up at you until you sat down with him.

You stared at his moonlit gaze for a second longer than you intended before you took a deep breath. “Bruce, I can’t tell you enough about how much I regret being an unthankful idiot over the summer. But please trust me when I say that everything with him, it was just a summer thing. It meant nothing to me. Even if I did feel anything, it’s left in the summer.” Bruce faintly nodded, like he was saying “yeah sure”. Your frown sulked when he looked to the ground instead of at you. So you continued.

“And I’m sorry for not knowing why you were upset about the dance. But I understand now. You trusted me and believed I trusted you. I got so caught up in my own insecurities that when I saw you with another girl my mind just blew it completely out of proportion, even when I knew she was just a friend. You always trusted me, even when I wasn't even sure what I was doing, you still trusted me. I never realized until now how much I took that for granted. And I completely betrayed that trust. I’ve been treating you so unfairly that I don’t even blame you for being mad at me. Just like when I pushed you away at the dance and then blamed you for my own selfishness.” You said, finally realizing in that moment why he was so upset after the dance and why he kept saying you “didn’t get it”. But now you finally did. “You always treated our relationship not as 50/50, but as 100/100. And I barely even gave you 50. And I’m sorry that I ever treated you less than that.”

Bruce’s hands gripped his knees as his expression grew sadder and sadder by each word you spoke, like it hurt how true he felt your words to be; everything he was upset about finally being recognized by you. You noticed this and placed a soft hand atop of his and you placed your other hand lovingly on his cheek to turn his face towards you, your thumb caressing his soft cheek as you looked at him with deep love and painful yearning laced in your orbs.

“Bruce, I love you. Like, so much more than you’ll ever know. And I don’t wanna lose you. I don’t want to lose you just because I was a greedy idiot. I ruined the best thing that has ever happened to me, I ruined the thing that made me the happiest. I hurt the best person I have ever met. I’m sorry. For… everything. I’m sorry for my own inability to talk to you about my own insecurities in our relationship. Sometimes I’m just so lost in my own selfishness and immaturity that I don’t know what I want and it ends up hurting people. If you forgive me enough to trust me again and give me a second chance, I promise I’ll never take you for granted again and never walk all over your feelings again. I promise I’ll stop working against you instead of with you, you’re my teammate, not my enemy. I promise I will prioritize your happiness properly this time. And I promise I’ll communicate better and be more self-aware.”

Bruce felt like he was going to melt under your touch and emotional gaze as his eyes grew glossy. They were birthed from a bittersweet feeling because you were saying everything he wanted to hear you say and understanding everything he wanted you to understand, which made it extremely difficult for him to remain vigilant.

Your own tears began to blur your eyes as your voice wavered. “I wanna kiss you in my car under a streetlight again. And this time, I promise I’ll kiss you right. And I’ll never let you go again. You’re my other half, you complete me. You have always been my number one. Always. You have always been the one I wanted more than anything. Even as I slept next to him, I could only dream of you all summer long. I'm only 17, I don't know anything. But I do know that I miss you. I know that I love you. I know that what we have is real and true. I know that I would rip off my own arm if you asked me to.”

A silence passed between the two of you like a gust of wind.

“So do it.” He said plainly, his features stone faced with seriousness. You hummed as a puzzled but concerned response. “Prove your love for me and rip your arm off.” He insisted with a serious disposition.

Another gust of silence passed, more awkward than the first as you glanced at your arm. A small smile spread across Bruce’s lips. “I’m kidding.” He said with a small laugh. “I forgive you, (Y/n).” He took both your hands to cradle them fondly in his own. “I still love you.” Your eyes lit up like the 4th of July, making him grin goofily. “Even if you act like a greedy idiot.” He added, using your own self-proclaimed insult.

Your heart slightly skipped a beat. 'Yeah, I deserved that...' You returned his smile sentimentally and laughed with him, a single happy tear creeping out of the corner of your eye. Bruce thought back to when you said that you knew that what you two had was true and swirls of warm hope began to invade his stomach. He threw one leg over to the other side of the bench to scoot closer to you, you copying. “So… you think we have…” he coyly hesitated like he was embarrassed to say it but scared to jinx it once verbalizing it, “true love too?”

You smiled earnestly and admiringly as you squeezed his hands. “I do.” Bruce felt those swirls swarm up to his previously empty chest, filling it up with life and color again. The thing he doubted and cried about in the dead of night being reassured and coaxed again. He’d be a liar if he said there wasn’t a part of him that wanted to just give you one full-deserving slap across your face for putting him through the most anguishing pain he’s ever felt. But after all that happened and how much he genuinely missed you, his impetuous affection and the enslaving love he felt for you began to get the better of him.

So he firmly pressed his chest against yours and swiftly buried his fingers in your hair as he left his other one still touching your hands. Then he swooped his lips down onto yours, both of your pent up emotions expressing themselves through the movement of your lips. The tender and emotionally driven kiss slowly patched Bruce’s broken heart back together. He felt welcome, warm and appreciated.

You smiled into the kiss as passionate relief washed your nerves away and you were ever-so thankful that you hadn't been too late.

#Spotify #vance hopper imagine #Bruce yamada imagine #the black phone imagine #vance hopper x reader #bruce yamada x reader #the black phone x reader #vance hopper #bruce yamada #the black phone #folklore love triangle #love triangle #taylor swift #Betty #august #cardigan

[onlyhereforthestories]

Distance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder (Fridolina Rolfo x Reader)

Now I never thought about writing for Rolfo but I promised @cneasai I'd try so here you are! A ficlet for Rolfo

You were excited, your season had just finished for arsenal women and while all your club mates were headed off on holiday you were headed home. That home being Barcelona, where the love of your life was playing in her last game of her season. Fridolina Rolfo had won your heart 3 years ago when she and the rest of the Sweden national team had beaten your English team in the world cup third place match.

She had been the first player to come pic you up after the final whistle had blown and had claimed that someone as pretty and talented as you couldn’t be this sad. You had taken her hand and congratulated her on her win before going to help the rest of your teammates.

A few months later she had messaged you on Instagram when it had been announced you’d be joining Fc Barcelona from Lyon. You had thanked her profusely and claimed you were excited to see her in the champions league final that year, unfortunately you matched up in the semi-finals with her Wolfsburg team coming out on top. She was again the first to pick you up that day and let you cry to her that night over the anguish of losing another important game. You returned the favour after Lyon beat them in the final. A final you were able to go watch.

You spent that off season in Sweden visiting her and that was the year your relationship became official. Your time with Barca didn’t last long, you headed back to England just two years after becoming a Barca player, a fact that still saddens Frido as you could be playing together right now if that wasn’t the case. Fast forward a couple years and you get back to now, the Arsenal girls getting on one plane to go off on holiday and you getting on another to go see your love play her final game of the domestic season. She did still have a very important cup final to play.

You touched down on Spanish soil and headed straight for the taxi rank, you needed to be quick if you were going to make it to the game in time. In the taxi you pulled your Rolfo 16 jersey on and sat back for some much needed rest.

Once arriving the Johan Cruff stadium you pulled your ticket up on your phone as you pulled the cap over your head, you wanted to surprise your girl at the end of the game. You were happy to sit and watch the girls go unbeaten for the whole domestic season, winning the last game 4-0, Rolfo getting an assist.

You were stand with the other fans when the girls were doing their rounds of the stadium. “Fridolin aim your biggest fan please sign my jersey.” Frido’s head whipped up as soon as you spoke.

“Y/n?” The questioning tone told you she wasn’t believing what she was hearing or seeing for that matter.

“Hey baby.” You were being dragged over the railings and onto the pitch before you could even say congratulations.

“You’re actually here. Oh my god I’ve missed you.” Frido leaned down and placed a firm but pg kiss onto your lips, you had never publicly reviled your relationship but you had both said you weren’t hiding it.

You both pulled away with smiles on your faces. “Couldn’t miss my girls unbeaten domestic run now could I.” you pulled her into another sweet kiss before she dragged you to meet her teammates.

You spent the night celebrating the Barca girls before you went home and celebrated just your girl just the two of you.

#woso imagine #woso x reader #woso imagines #fridolina rolfo #fridolina rolfo imagine #ficlet

[darkmacadamien]

Whumptober 2023, No. 4: "You in there?"

“Bruv, I dare you to drink it,” Isaac says, pointing to the crystal decanter containing a mysterious purple liquid sitting on Coach Beard’s desk.

Jamie scoffs. “Fuck off, man. I ain’t got a clue what’s in there. What if it kills me?”

“Then we will remember you fondly, Jamie Tartt,” Dani proclaims.

Jamie pretends to think about it for a moment, then rolls his eyes. “Uh, nah. Still ain’t doing it.”

“Okay then, boy-o,” Colin interjects, “how about this— I double dare you to drink it.”

“Oooh,” the whole team choruses.

“You cannot turn down a double dare, my friend,” Sam says. Colin and Isaac nod in agreement, the fucking traitors.

“That ain’t fucking fair,” Jamie protests. “Why’re you picking on me, anyway? Richard’s the one with the iron stomach.”

“You were standing closest to me. Sorry, bruv,” Isaac apologizes, though he don’t sound very sorry.

“Philistines,” Jamie grumbles, but he picks up the fancy glass anyway. Unfortunately, Sam is correct: you can’t just not do a double dare. It’s practically one of the Ten Commandments, or something.

Jamie pops the cap on the bottle and gives the contents a cursory sniff. It smells cloyingly sweet, like those shitty perfume samples you get from magazines. “I think this might be alcohol,” Jamie says, running the bottle under his nose again. The scent is so strong it makes saliva well up in his mouth.

“All the more reason for you to drink it,” Jan Maas points out.

“Mate, you know I’m a lightweight. Roy will literally fucking kill me if I show up to training drunk.”

“Sorry,” Colin says, faux sympathetically, “but rules are rules.” He claps Jamie on the shoulder. “Drink up.”

Jamie sighs but concedes the point, and downs the shimmering purple liquid in one quick swallow. It tastes surprisingly light, like green tea, with hints of earthy spices, but it goes down like liquid fucking fire.

It’s worse than the highest-proof alcohol Jamie’s ever had, which had nearly made him vomit from one sip (there’s a reason he drinks vanilla vodka, for fuck’s sake).

Jamie chokes on the aftertaste, coughing and spluttering like he’s drowning. “Water,” he croaks, and a bottle is immediately thrust into his hands. Jamie guzzles it down, but it does nothing to soothe his burning throat.

A strange warmth begins emanating from his stomach where the liquid had settled like a ton of bricks. Jamie clutches at it, suddenly feeling faint.

“Something don’t feel right,” Jamie says.

Then he explodes into a large cloud of purple dust.

“Shit,” Isaac says grimly, when the dust settles. “I think we killed him.”

Where Jamie had once been standing, a figure lies crumpled on the ground.

“Jamie,” Dani cries, diving towards his friend and turning him over. When he catches sight of Jamie’s face, Dani jumps back like he’s been shocked. “Ay, Dios mío,” he shouts, crossing himself.

Colin puts his finger firmly on his nose, and says, “I am not explaining this to Roy,” because there, lying on the ground, is an unconscious child-size version of Jamie Tartt.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Isaac goes to find Ted, because Dani has devolved into hysterics and Ted is the least likely to start shouting and make things worse.

“Watch him,” Isaac orders Colin, pointing at child-Jamie, who’s still (blessedly) unconscious. Then he leaves Sam in charge. “Whatever you do, do not let Roy or Coach Beard into this room. If Roy starts threatening to punch dicks, call Keeley.”

Sam nods grimly. “I understand, Captain.”

“You’re a brave man,” Isaac tells him, and then he’s off.

It doesn’t take long to find Ted; he’s where he usually is at this hour, which means he’s riding around the pitch on the lawnmower.

“Coach! Coach, we have an emergency!” Isaac shouts, waving him down. Ted shifts the lawnmower into gear and rides over at an excruciatingly slow pace. Five minutes later, he’s pulling over in front of Isaac and killing the engine. “What’s up, buttercup?” he chirps.

“It’s Jamie,” Isaac says. “He drank the magic purple stuff on Beard’s desk and now he’s a kid.”

“Well,” Ted says, blinking slowly, “I must admit, I’m a little confused. Do you mean kid, as in…?”

“A child. Like, a youngster, or whatever they say in America. He can’t be any older than thirteen.”

“Oh, wow,” Ted says. “I think this might be a little above my paygrade. You said he drank something off of Coach’s desk, right? Sounds like we need to track him down and see what he has to say about all this.”

“Wait,” Isaac barks. “Won’t he be mad that we messed with his stuff?”

“I’d say it’s probably his fault for not putting a ‘No Touch’ sticker on it, wouldn’t you?”

Isaac shrugs. Fair enough.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

“It’ll wear off in about twenty-four hours,” Beard tells the team, standing ominously over Jamie’s unconscious body.

“And there won’t be any weird side effects?” Isaac asks.

“Nope,” Beard says. “Once he switches back, he’ll be exactly the same as before.”

The team lets a collective sigh of relief.

“Why’d you even have something like that laying around, Coach?” Isaac asks.

“I didn’t,” Coach Beard says. “Jane must have snuck in and left it for me.” He sounds properly charmed by it, the bastard.

Out in the hallway, Roy passes by the dressing room and then promptly turns around once he realizes the entire team is gathered inside, still fully kitted out. “Oi, what’s this? Are we having a fucking party or some shit?”

The team moves in unison to hide Jamie’s unconscious body. “Nothing unusual is going on here, Coach,” Sam says, sounding like he’s reading directly from a script.

Roy shifts, widening his stance and squaring his shoulders, looking as if he’s rearing up for a fight. “I didn’t say I thought something unusual was going on,” he says evenly. “Out with it, then. What the fuck is going on here?”

When everyone remains stubbornly silent, Roy sighs, sounding put-upon. “Okay, let’s try this again— either someone speaks up, or I start punching dicks.”

The team parts like the Red Sea. Roy’s eyes immediately snap to Jamie’s unconscious figure. “Is that Tartt?” he asks. He walks over and pokes him with his foot.

Isaac clocks the exact moment Roy realizes that Jamie is about a foot shorter than he’s supposed to be.

“What in the ever-loving FUCK have you muppets—”

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Roy reams the entire dressing room out for a good ten minutes. Not even Coach Beard and Lasso are spared, which in other circumstances might’ve been comical, but mostly it was just terrifying.

So terrifying, in fact, that no one notices a tiny Jamie Tartt come to consciousness and sneak out of the changing room.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Thirteen-year-old Jamie Tartt has no idea what to think when he wakes up in a strange dressing room with a much-older-than-he-remembers Roy Kent ripping into a team that he vaguely recognizes as AFC Richmond (although the kits look a little different than he remembers, too).

Jamie spares a thought to wonder why he’s lying on the ground, and then another to wonder how in the fuck he got here, because last time he checked, Richmond was hours away from Manchester.

The last thing Jamie remembers is his dad knocking him around the head, which might explain why he was unconscious, but past that, all semblance of sense goes right out the fucking window.

So, Jamie starts devising a plan to get the fuck out of there, ‘cause even though he was basically Roy Kent’s biggest fan, watching the man have a bitch-fit in person was much scarier than it was on TV.

And also, maybe, he’s just a little afraid that Roy Kent might start yelling at him, too. So, Jamie plays unconscious for a few moments longer, opening his eyes just a tick so it looks like they’re still closed, and scopes the room out, noting the nearest exit. Jamie maps out the quickest route to get the hell out of there, which doesn’t take long ‘cause Jamie happens to have a lot of practice escaping precarious situations.

Roy Kent has the team (and what looks like two coaches, what the fuck is that about?) cowering with their backs turned, so Jamie rolls over, shifts into a crouch, and creeps out of the room, real light on his feet. The moment he hits the hallway, Jamie sprints for the exit.

Well, he tries to, but a wave of dizziness sends him careening into the wall. His vision blacks about for a moment, and when Jamie comes to again, he’s half-sprawled on the floor.

Apparently, he’s in much worse shape than he thought.

Further down the hallway, the doors to the entrance fling open, and a tall blonde woman comes strutting in, heading straight towards Jamie. She hasn’t spotted him yet, but he’ll be impossible to miss once she looks up from her phone, so Jamie makes a dive for the nearest storage closet. There ain’t no way he’s making it past her without getting caught, and for some reason, she scares Jamie more than The Roy Kent, so it really ain’t worth risking it.

He clicks the door quietly behind himself, plunging the tiny room into darkness, and turns the lock. His jumping pulse thrums just below the surface of his skin. It’s much quieter in here; the only things that Jamie can hear are his own labored panting and the muted sound of the scary woman’s heels clicking past the storage closet and down the hallway.

Jamie presses his ear against the door and sighs in relief when the footsteps finally fade into silence. He leans back, slouching against a set of metal shelves.

Now that he has a moment to catch his fucking breath, Jamie does the exact opposite and starts panicking. He has no fucking clue how he’s going to get back to Manchester, but the first, most obvious step is to find a phone and call his mummy, ‘cause she always knows what to do, ‘cept Jamie doesn’t have a fucking phone on him, and after a cursory check of his pockets, he finds he don’t have any change on him, either, so a payphone is out, too.

The only person he knows in this entire building is Roy fucking Kent, but the thought of getting yelled at by him makes Jamie literally want to throw up, like. And Roy Kent had seemed pretty angry, and Roy Kent is the type of guy to yell at the sun if it shines too bright, so. Roy Kent is probably out, too, unless Jamie wants to send himself into early cardiac arrest, or whatever.

Jamie seems to be doing a pretty good job of inducing a heart attack all by himself, though, if the pain in his chest is anything to go by. It’s just— he can’t fucking breathe, and his head is on fucking fire, so Jamie reaches back to touch the crown of his head, where the pain is emanating, and his fingers come back wet. He can’t fucking see anything ‘cause the room is pitch black, so he sticks a finger in his mouth, and yeah. That’s the taste of iron, which means the sticky viscous liquid coating his fingers is blood. Jamie is bleeding.

Fuck.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

It takes approximately five minutes after Roy stops yelling for everyone to realize that Jamie had somehow disappeared, and then another five minutes after that to organize a cohesive search party (mainly because Roy had started yelling again and it had taken Isaac, Colin, and Jan Mass to calm him down). They trample out of the room like a herd of elephants, each player heading to a different part of the complex to search. Ted hangs back for a second, long enough to catch his breath. Thinking about a tiny version of Jamie Tartt (hardly older than his own son) wandering around alone and confused makes his chest feel tight.

Hell, even thinking about adult-Jamie getting upset is enough to raise Ted’s pulse or make his breathing go all staccato-like.

Down the hallway, Ted can hear Roy and the rest of the team shouting for Jamie at the top of their lungs. Ted forces himself to relax; Jamie can’t have gotten far, and with twenty-some people looking for him, it’s unlikely that he’ll stay lost for long.

Then Ted notices that there’s blood on the floor, and his heart drops into his stomach.

It might not be Jamie’s blood, Ted rationalizes. They’d just wrapped up practice, after all, and scraped elbows and knees practically come with the territory. It could just as easily be Zoreaux’s, who had taken a nasty dive in the goal today. Or Sam’s, who could’ve re-opened the wound on his hand from when he’d helped out at his restaurant the other day. What Ted’s trying to say is: the blood could be literally anyone’s.

But somehow, Ted knows it Jamie’s. It sticks in his mind like caramel in your teeth when you eat a Snickers bar.

It’s not even that much, either. But Ted worries.

So, he follows the trail of blood out into the hallway, stepping around it carefully so it doesn’t get on his shoes, until it leaves him standing in front of a supply closet just a skip away from the locker room.

Not far, indeed.

Ted gently knocks on the door. “Jamie, kiddo? You in there?”

It’s silent for a long moment; long enough that Ted considers trying the handle, but then, he hears rustling behind the door.

“How th’fuck d’you know my name?” Jamie spits.

Ted sighs silently in relief. Target acquired. Now, for some damage control.

“Ouch,” Ted jokes. “You sound about as angry as a trampled-on copperhead, which I would know, because I’ve stepped on one before. Luckily for the both of us, I know a thing or two about venomous snakes. Now, I bet you’re real confused right now, but that question is going to need a lot of explaining and it might be easier if we have this little chat face-to-face, if you get my meaning.”

There’s the telltale snick of the lock disengaging, and then the door swings open, revealing Jamie, brandishing a broom like a weapon. A thin line of blood is trickling down the side of his neck, saturating the collar of his shirt.

God, but he looks so young, with lanky arms and legs that he hasn’t quite grown into. His face is still soft with baby fat, and his hair is longer than Ted’s ever seen it, falling over his forehead in dark waves.

“I only opened the door ‘cause I can’t understand you with that stupid American accent,” Jamie says. “Try anything funny and you’ll regret it, swear down.”

“Whoa there, buddy, I ain’t gonna hurt you. Why don’t we set that broom down, huh?” Ted suggests, holding his hands out placatingly.

Jamie doesn’t move— in fact, he tights his grip on the handle, staring at Ted distrustfully.

“Or not— hey, I can work with that. You ever see that movie Alice in Wonderland?”

Jamie’s face twists up in confusion. “Mate, what the fuck are you on about?”

“Nevermind,” Ted says, waving dismissively. “I don’t know why I started with that. Bad metaphor. Anyway, long story short, you used to be an adult, but then adult-you drank a magic potion that turned you back into a kid.”

“Oi,” Jamie barks. “M’not a fucking kid.”

“My mistake,” Ted concedes. “A distinguished young gentleman.”

Jamie looks at him with thinly veiled disgust, but at least he sets the broom down. “Are all Americans this fucking weird?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Ted says. “Anyway, older-Jamie currently plays in the Premier League for AFC Richmond, and so that’s how I know your name.”

“AFC Richmond?” Jamie asks, miming a gagging noise. “Jesus, why? Did they get rid of Man City, or something?”

“Oh, no, Manchester City is still a thing,” Ted assures him. “You had your reasons for coming here instead, though. We can get into that later, but first I think we ought to get that bump on the back of your head looked at.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Jamie says. “Hey, uh, was that really Roy Kent in the changing room?”

There’s a curious inflection in Jamie’s voice when he says Roy’s name— like he normally adds the in front of it, like The Roy Kent. “Uh oh,” Ted says. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a fanboy.”

“No,” Jamie bluffs, in the way that all teenage boys do when you accuse them of having a special interest. His cheeks flush immediately, though, giving him away. “Well, I mean, I’ll watch his matches if they come on the TV, but like. It’s football, you know? Of course, I’m gonna fucking watch it.”

When Ted fails to say anything, Jamie coughs awkwardly. “I mean, like, he’s a pretty good player. Objectively, or whatever. Like, that’s what I’ve heard other people say.”

“Mhmm,” Ted agrees, struggling to hide his grin.

Jamie sighs, giving up the façade altogether. “Actually— yeah, I’m kind of his biggest fan. I have a poster of ‘im and everything. Do you think he’d sign something for me?”

“Buddy,” Ted says, “if you come and see the doctor with me, I’ll get him to sign whatever you want.”

“You can do that?” Jamie asks. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Who, little old me? I’m the coach around these parts, but you—” Ted points to Jamie, “—can call me Ted.”

“Holy shit, you’re the gaffer?” Jamie says, disbelieving. “Man, football has changed.”

“Hm, yeah. So, what do you say? We got a deal?”

“Yeah, okay,” Jamie says, still looking a little shell-shocked.

“Awesome!” Ted shouts, pumping his fist. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Patching Jamie up doesn’t take long; he sits on the treatment table and follows the doctor’s instructions obediently. The cut doesn’t need stitches, luckily, but it still needs to be cleaned and bandaged. In the meantime, Ted unlocks his phone and shoots Roy a text:

Found Jamie. He’s fine, send everyone home

And then, remembering his deal with Jamie:

You mind stopping by the treatment room on your way out?

Roy likes the message but otherwise doesn’t respond.

He arrives a couple of minutes later, just as the doctor is putting the final touches on the bandages wrapped around Jamie’s head. “It’s a little bruised, so I’d recommend icing it when you get home,” the doctor tells Ted. “He’s also got a concussion, but you don’t need me to explain how that works, so I’m heading out. Have a good day, everyone. And for the record, this is so weird.” Then she packs up her supplies and leaves.

“What the fuck am I doing here?” Roy asks.

“Jamie wanted to ask you something,” Ted tells him, looking at Jamie entreatingly.

“Traitor,” Jamie hisses. “You said you’d ask him.”

“Don’t twist my words, young man,” Ted says firmly. “I said I’d make him do it if he told you no.”

“Oi, nobody is making me do anything,” Roy interrupts. “Hypothetically, though, what am I supposed to be doing?”

Ted continues to look at Jamie pointedly, who averts his gaze and scuffs the toe of his shoe on the floor. He mumbles something, low and quiet.

“Fucking what?” Roy barks.

Jamie snaps his head up, glaring at Roy furiously. “I said, can I please have your autograph?”

“Well, fuck, why didn’t you just say so,” Roy says, whipping a pen out of his pocket. “What am I signing?”

Jamie’s face shifts from anger to surprise, like he didn’t think he’d get this far. “Uh, I don’t know. I ain’t go anything on me,” he says sheepishly.

“How about this?” Ted suggests, holding up an old receipt he’d dug out from one of his pockets. Roy shrugs and gestures for it, and then spreads it flat on his thigh so he can sign it. “How’d you hit your head, anyway? Run into a fucking wall or something?” Roy asks casually, uncapping the pen.

“Roughing about with me mates,” Jamie replies instantly, and Roy’s hand freezes. It’s eerie, Ted thinks, how practiced that response sounds. The worst part is, it’s actually a pretty decent excuse, and it probably would’ve worked on anyone else, but after two years with Jamie, Ted is pretty familiar with his nervous tics, and one of them is the way he runs a thumb along his eyebrow when he’s lying. Which he is currently doing, the offending appendage still picking absentmindedly at the thin hair along his brow.

And if Ted picked up on it, then Roy, who spends practically every hour of the day with Jamie, absolutely noticed it.

“Wanna try that again?” Roy asks evenly, finishing his signature.

“Eh?” Jamie asks.

“You fuck with your eyebrows when you’re lying,” Roy says. “You’re doing it right now, which means you just lied straight to my fucking face.”

Jamie snatches his hand away from his forehead like he’s been burned. “How the fuck do you know that?” he asks.

“I’m your best fucking friend, you muppet,” Roy bites back. “I know lots of things about you. For example, I know that your dad’s a fucking deadbeat, who doesn’t deserve you, and I also know he likes to knock you about, so I’m willing to bet everything that I own that he’s the reason you’re bleeding out the back of your head right now. Am I wrong?”

“You don’t know shit about me,” Jamie hisses. “I don’t know what adult-me told you, but he’s fucking lying. About all of it!”

“He didn’t have to tell me shit, because I saw it with my own two eyes,” Roy roars back. “That’s how I know it was your fucking dad, because you only fucking lie for him!”

“So what if it was? It doesn’t fucking matter, man! Why are you making such a big deal about it?” Jamie shouts back, and then immediately bursts into tears.

Roy sighs, like the sight of tears is enough to immediately drain the fight out of him. Ted finds it amazing, how quickly these two can wind each other up and then let it all go. “It does matter, Jamie, because you don’t deserve to be treated like that,” Roy says quietly, and then wraps Jamie up in a hug.

“This is fucking humiliating,” Jamie sobs into Roy’s shoulder. “You’re like, my hero. I’m not supposed to be crying, I had so many questions I wanted to ask, and—”

“Stop,” Roy commands. “Look, we’ll go get ice cream or something, and then you can ask all the stupid fucking questions you want.”

Jamie leans back, still sniffling. “Really?”

“Yes, you little prick,” Roy says fondly. If Ted were a romantic, he might call his tone fond. “Come on then, up you get,” he says and helps Jamie off the table.

“Lasso, you’re with us,” he barks when Ted fails to follow them down the hallway. Ted scurries to catch up.

“Ope, my bad. Looks like I misread the situation there, fellows. I thought this was just gonna be a Roy-and-Jamie event—”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Yup.”

(And if the next day, after Jamie turns back, he hangs the signed receipt up in his locker, nobody says a word.)

(Also, nobody touches anything on Beard’s desk, magic potion or otherwise, ever again.)

#whumptober 2023 #no. 4 #“you in there?” #ted lasso #fic #referenced child abuse #jamie tartt #roy kent #afc richmond #sad jamie tartt #hurt jamie tartt #age regression #de aging #hurt/comfort #angst #happy ending #Jamie Tartt is literally Roy Kent's biggest fan

[doorbloggr]

The Pikmin Series

Thursday 23/2/23

Media Recommendations #45

I've been in a really compulsive mood lately. I'm pretty sure I have some form of mild ADHD, but lack the initiative to actual go and confirm this. To me, this means joy in the completion of small tasks, and a low attention span. And although I've been waiting almost a decade for the next game, I feel the series that best scratches this itch is Pikmin.

Pikmin is one of my favourite series of all time, and lately, news of Pikmin 4 has me more hyped than news of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. So in today's article, I wanna discuss what I love about Pikmin, and also just compare the different games in the series.

The Pitch

The Pikmin Games are classified as Real Time Strategy Games, but comparing them to other RTS's like Age of Empires is folly. Instead of large scale conflict on a huge scale, the Pikmin Games have you follow one guy with an army behind him, and while you can have several groups doing tasks at a time, you must physically approach each soldier to interact with them.

You control a space Captain of a tiny alien species who has landed on PNF-404, a planet of lush greens, and strange monsters. Each game has different reasons for your protagonist to be there, but essentially you are tasked with collecting things and bringing them back to your ship in order to leave the planet and go home. But you cannot do this alone. Amongst the various scary creatures that dwarf the player character, there are the Pikmin, small plant/animal hybrids that follow your every command. It is up to you to direct the Pikmin into defeating enemies and carrying your quarry home, while avoiding all the obstacles that get in your way.

The Gameplay Loop

Your Pikmin army is a fragile, but determined species that can easily die but also easily multiply. Defeated enemies or resources called Pellets can be carried by the Pikmin to their mothership, a structure called the onion, and when it absorbs nutrients, it spits out new Pikmin. Having more Pikmin is crucial because bigger items require more Pikmin to carry.

As an example, Pellets have numbers on their top that indicate how many Pikmin require to carry them. A "1" Pellet can be carried by 1 Pikmin, but a 5 Pellet requires 5 Pikmin. Small enemies might require 3 Pikmin, most larger intimidating enemies require at least 10, and if you defeat a boss, that could require at least 20. But the more Pikmin you have, the more they can carry, and this will produce more Pikmin. It is a positive feedback loop. But there is a cap. All Pikmin games allow no more than 100 Pikmin in the field at a time, but spare Pikmin can rest in the Onion, and be summoned to strengthen your ranks if others die.

In Pikmin, there is only so much you can do in a day, and this is typically between 13 and 18 minutes depending on the game and difficulty. At the start of each day, you will have to summon Pikmin from their onion to start work, and at the end of the day, you must bring them back to home base. Any Pikmin idle in the field when the day ends are left to die. Due to the ferocity of nocturnal life, the protagonist and the Pikmin's Onion leave the Earth's surface during night and take refuge in low orbit. So you must make sure you finish any tasks well before the final countdown, or risk losing tens of Pikmin who are not accounted for.

Each game has a different limit to the number of days you have to finish the game, but I will get into these differences later in this post. Depending on the state of your Pikmin army, some days may be more productive in terms of working on your main objective, while others might be spend just building up your army after a major loss. It is a balancing act.

The World

As a lover of Scifi, particularly Speculative Biology, the Pikmin series really tickles my fancy. The game's setting, PNF-404, is in fact planet Earth in the far off future. The continents have changed positions, and the climate is overall more lush and moist. But we only ever see the world at a micro-scale. This provides a unique take on speculative evolution.

When we think of how animals will evolve into the future, most popular culture focuses on megafauna, but when your player character is 2 centimetres tall, the most common type of threat will be creepycrawlies. There's quite a deep taxonomic web of genetic families with high biodiversity and adaptation radiation. The Bulborb or "Grubdog" family has about 10 unique subspecies in Pikmin 2 alone.

Starting in Pikmin 2, the Captains document each species of enemy in the Piklopedia, giving each a binomial scientific name and a general description. I've spent many hours just reading through these entries and observing the critters.

Beyond what has become of the world, we can also explore what used to be of the world. Leftovers from human civilisation, such as bricks, garden beds, and ceramic tiles form obstacles to exploration. Recognisable earthly fruit such as cherries, strawberries, and watermelons litter the forest floor. Knick knacks and junk such as AAA batteries, bottle caps, and NES cartridges can be dug up and collected. This is a world that was once lived in by humans, and like fossils, their impact is left to be found by future explorers.

Comparison of Games in the Series

At the time of writing, there are 3 main Pikmin games, with a fourth coming out later this year (thank goodness, it's been sooo long). Despite the same world and gameplay loop; grow pikmin, defeat enemies to grow more pikmin, collect thing to get to new areas and get new pikmin; each game tasks the player with a vastly different objective and restrictions on game time. Therefore, there can arise disagreements in which game provides the best experience.

In Pikmin 1, Olimar's ship accidentally crashes down to Earth and smashes to pieces. He cannot breath Earth's atmosphere, and his suit will only keep him alive for 30 days. He must spend these 30 days collecting as many parts of his ship as he can, so he has the capacity to leave Earth's orbit and warp back home. There are 30 ship parts to collect, but careful planning means you can easily get multiple pieces a day, and only 25 pieces are required. This game can feel very stressful with this looming time limit, but it is very unachievable to complete the game a few days early.

Pikmin 2 has Olimar and coworker Louie returning to PNF-404 on a treasure hunting mission. Their freight company is almost bankrupt, but junk from Earth can be sold on their home planet, Hocotate, for a fortune. There is no limit on how many days you need to spend on the distant planet, and you reach the first ending when you pay off the 10'000 poko debt. In addition, this is the only game in the series to feature Caves, underground sublevels of exploration. No time passes between entering and exiting a dungeon, but you can not go back to recruit more pikmin until you leave. Most of the game's treasure is found in dungeons.

In Pikmin 3, you take control of three spacemen from the planet Koppai, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie. Their planet is running out of food, and in their journey to find food on other planets, the three land on Earth. The three are tasked with collecting fruit, taking the seeds to grow back on Koppai, and the juice from the fruit are converted into rations for the three to continue their stay. There are 66 fruit to collect, and a few different endings depending on how many are collected.

In my opinion, Pikmin 3 achieves the best balance of time limit to challenge. Unlike Pikmin 1, there is not a hard deadline. 1 jar of juice means one day's rations. Different fruit will fill different amounts of juice; 20 grapes are needed to fill a jar, a cherry might only fill half a jar, while a watermelon can fill 3 jars on its own. Since there is a limited amount of fruit in the game, you can run out of new ones to find, but this gives the player upward of 50 days to beat the game. So unlike Pikmin 2, the time limit is not infinite, but actively pursuing the objective gives you more time.

Caves are an interesting way to pump extra challenge and content into a limited overworld, but since each floor is randomly generated, they are less deliberately complex and interesting than they could be. Pikmin 2 does offer the most main story content, and although I would like Dungeons in the next Pikmin game, I would like them better designed.

Conclusion

I am carefully optimistic for the next Pikmin game. These games scratch a mental itch no other series I've played can, and although I'm not a fan of games blatantly ripping unique concepts, it really sucks there's no "Pikmin-likes", because I would really love more of this type of game.

If you read this far, thankyou so much, this was really long. If you know any games that come close to replicating Pikmin's gameplay loop, please let me know in the notes. Also tell me what you want from Pikmin 4, I'm pretty damn excited for it.

#blog #blogpost #media recommendations #pikmin #pikmin 2 #pikmin 3 #videogame recommendations

[bengiyo]

Stay by My Side Ep 4 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Bu Xia figured out that if he's touching Jiang Chi he won't hear ghosts. He begins to find ways to stay near Jiang Chi, and primarily succeeds in making Jiang Chi think he has a crush on him. This is unfortunate for Bu Xia, because Jiang Chi is clearly gay. Now, Bu Xia needs them both on the basketball team together.

I'm with Jiang Chi. I would also want to hear the full truth in this recruitment pitch from the boy who keeps touching me.

Episode 4: Deadlock - Who Gets Hurt

Oh it seems these ghosts know he can hear them and they're messy!

I'm going to have to cheer on gay love on the streets like this.

According to the materials? Jiang Chi, what have you been reading?

Wound tending, my beloved.

Jiang Chi is so funny. He doesn't entirely get what's going on, but the chaotic cute boy might be into him.

I had forgotten about all the voyeurism and people shipping them.

It is kind of amusing that Bu Xia is inadvertently jealous of himself right now.

Oh hey Bu Xia has a NASA pin.

Red and blue helmets. I can feel the color gays waking up now.

Oh, gross. Can we not encourage speculation on tops and bottoms??

I love how this chaotic little show has become the way I cap off Fridays now.

#stay by my side #taiwanese bl #bl series #Ben watches