#but also my friend group has an inside joke that blonde boys either grow into brunette men or blonde women

[nsheetee]

One Foot in the Golden Life

Pairing: rich kid!renjun x caddie!reader Genre: rich kid AU, university au, romance, slight angst, mature content Length: 9.7k Summary: this is the story of a boy who is constantly pushed down by his father, a girl who just wants to not live paycheck to paycheck, and how they met on a golf course.  Warnings/Details: includes mentions of other NCT members, female reader, swearing, inaccurate depiction of golf, acts of sexual harassment towards the reader, mature content (unprotected sex, coming inside, oral [female receiving])

a/n: a big thank you to @insomni-writing​ for beta reading this ♡ also, if you are a minor, please beware that there is mature content in this fic!

You thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work at the most well-known country club in the state, but really the only thing your job brought you was perpetual cold to your hands and feet, and entangled your simple life with one of the youngest and richest bachelors at your university.

The only place on top of Mt. Carla is the Augusta Country Club, and it is a sight to see by the regular people who gaze up at it from the city below, like mortals looking up into the Gods’ chamber. The first time you went up the mountain for your job interview at the club, you got lost and were almost late. Thankfully, you didn’t crash your car on the winding roads, and got the job as well.

The Augusta Country Club is equipped with the largest and most expensive golf course in the region, but also has Michilin approved restaurants and the finest saunas and gym equipment any CEO could ask for. Those are usually the type of people that have club memberships: CEO’s, congress men and women, top-notch lawyers, and maybe the odd business owner that made it big enough to afford the price tag.

When you took up the job as a caddie, you had an idea of what you were getting yourself into. You’ve only been working for a month, but there are already a few regular golf players that prefer you as their caddie, which in your book is a success considering the type of high profile people that come to relax here.

However, today is different.

You can sense it when Kara and Mina, your coworkers who have been working here for a year longer than you, walk towards you and your friend, Lia, before your shift today. Mina has a small stack of info cards in her hands and they both hold smug smiles on their faces. The info cards have everything a caddie needs to know about who they’ll be working for that shift, and by the looks of it, today’s game will have a good match up.

“I’m going to be Mr. Huang’s son’s caddie. Don’t even fight me on this, you know I’ll win.” Kara states boldly as the two girls stop in front of you, snatching an info card out of Mina’s hand when she holds them up like she’s playing a card game, flashing the photos and names on the cards at you.

“I call dibs on Mr. Lee’s son.” Mina hums, not even bothering to keep up the act that they just want to be good caddies. “You two can have the old men.” She smiles tightly, shoving the other two info cards into Lia’s grasp and turning on her heel to walk away with Kara.

Considering you don’t even know what they’re talking about, you have no right to be mad at them. There is more confusion clouding your mind than anger at their rudeness. However, Lia does not share the same sentiment.

“I’ll shove these info cards up their-” Lia fumes, her volume rising as the sentence went on, and you quickly pulled her out of ear shot, around a corner by the bathrooms. “-stuck up two faced asses!”

“Lia…” You mutter, her wording making you shake your head at how unstable her temper is, “They’ve been working here for a lot longer than we have, just let them have those clients. Either way, what’s it to you?”

“What’s it to me? ___, they’re talking about Lee Jeno and Huang Renjun. I know I told you about them before.” Lia states like she expects you to have those two names tattooed on the front lobe of your brain already.

“I think I remember them…. They go to our University, right?” You try to regurgitate your friend’s rambles from months ago out of your head.

“Yeah, business department.” She sighs dreamily, as if the business department is the sexiest thing on campus. “This might be our only chance to shoot our shot.” You can’t help but grimace a bit.

“It can be your chance to shoot your shot. Leave me out of this.” You randomly grab an info card out of Lia’s hands, turning it around to see Mr. Huang Lijun’s photo staring back at you. You send Lia one last look, walking around her to go change in the dressing rooms.

“Aw, you’re no fun.” You hear her whine, her footsteps echo through the hallway as she comes up behind you. She almost knocks you into the wall from how forcefully she grabs onto your arm and swings it back and forth like you’re two little kids on your way to the playground.

“Maybe we can shoot our shot at the old men?” You and Lia stop walking, turning to face each other for a moment of silence. You blink at each other as if you’re both considering it, before erupting into laughter at the ridiculous thought and continue walking down the hallway.

You and Lia constantly joke around about finding rich sugar daddies at work to pay for your college tuition, but both of you know you’ll never actually commit to the idea fully. Neither of you will admit it, but you both know you don’t have the guts to do something like that.

By the time you, Lia, and your other coworkers change into uniform and gather your supplies for the Lee vs. Huang game, it’s already 10am. The air is crisp and cool, the signs of fall creep along your skin and taint the deep green trees in light oranges and yellows.

Despite the chill, you and your coworkers still wear skirts, long sleeve v-necks, and puffy vests; the only thing keeping your feet warm is a pair of short white socks and tennis shoes. You don’t mind the chill knowing that once the game starts you’ll be moving around enough to get warm. You stop thinking about your cold toes as soon as the door of the country club opens and the Lees and Huangs walk out.

The first time you lay eyes on Huang Renjun, you think your heart might stop.

You know it’s him because he walks close to his father as they make their way to where you’re standing by the golf carts. He has obviously dyed blonde color, his dark roots proof of that; it’s neatly gelled back in an effortless way with the light wind blowing a few of the locks gently as if an angel is personally moving them for him. His white jacket and black pants are slim and look like they cost more than all of your college textbooks this semester. He walks with his head high, his pretty, pink lips set in a straight line, and his almond eyes gentle.

Okay, so... maybe you understand the hype now.

“Good evening, ladies.” Mr. Lee announces, looking at you and your coworkers. You all politely introduce yourself and state who you’ll be caddying for.

Huang Lijun isn’t as tall as his son, but he looks to be more lively than Renjun, even at his age. He has a permanent smile on his lips and you can feel a friendly demeanor radiating from him when you approach.  

“Good Morning, sir. Let me take those off of your hands.” You politely grab the bag of clubs from him, feeling shy as his gaze doesn’t leave your face the entire time.

“You’re new here, right? I feel like I would remember you if I saw you before.” You’re surprised when he suddenly pinches your cheek, and he laughs at your shocked face. An unsettled feeling plants itself at the bottom of your stomach at the unwarranted touch.

“I’ve only been working here for a month, sir.”

“I think I’ll be coming around here more often, then.” He winks at you and turns to go sit in the front seat of the golf cart. You can’t help but let the feeling at the bottom of your stomach grow at how the older man looks at you. You definitely misjudged his “friendly” demeanor. Your eyes can’t help but glance at Renjun, who’s standing a few feet away from the whole interaction. He gives you a blank stare before turning and following his father.

In the past few weeks, you had gotten many lustful smiles and lewd gazes at your bare legs, but also many dollars in tips just in one morning by letting those smiles and gazes happen. The need to make ends meet justifies it all, and the cash you earn at the end of every shift only fuels this need.

The ride from the club’s main building to the first hole is short, so you quickly recompose yourself. You still have a job to do— a job you’re being paid lots of money for. You believe in your strong will to put up with whatever antics Mr. Huang pulls for the next few hours. Upon arrival at the first hole, you pull the bag of golf clubs out of the cart and follow in Mr. Huang’s quick footsteps, suddenly feeling sweaty from the exercise you’re getting by carrying these heavy clubs. When your group reaches the first hole, you set the bag down on the ground and press your hand over your face, but Mr. Huang’s voice startles you.

“Woah, there.” You jump and face him. “Those clubs cost more than my car, and unlike my car, they don’t deserve to be on the ground, darling.”

“Yes, sir. I apologize.” You smile shyly and pick up the clubs from the ground, your shoulders already straining to keep them up. ‘They weigh as much as a car,’ you huff.

This is going to be a long game.

“You kids can clean the carts today,” Mina suddenly throws a keychain at Lia’s face, she barely catches it before it hits her, “I have plans.”

“Me, too.” Kara quickly says, following after Mina as they both walk away. The game ended right at lunchtime (the Lees won) and now you and your coworkers are back at the club. It’s supposed to be everyone’s job to clean the golf carts after they’ve been used, but it looks like today it’ll just be you and Lia… Maybe.

“___, please. I’m going to be late to the cafe, my boss there is already mad at me.” Lia turns to you and begs with her hands clasped in front of her chest, eyes pleading and feet bouncing. You sigh; you’re hungry and your muscles are sore, and all you want to do is go home as quickly as you can. Still, you roll your eyes and take the golf cart keys from her, making her face crack open into a smile as she hugs you quickly.

“I’ll bring you coffee on Monday!” She screams at you as she practically runs away, leaving you with two golf carts to clean. You sluggishly begin, crawling into the cart the Huangs were sitting in when you find a small notebook laying on one of the seats. Picking it up to examine it, you find out it’s your university’s yearly planner, a book that everyone gets at the beginning of every academic year. Along the binder reads “Huang Renjun” and your eyes widen, immediately looking up to glance at the direction that Renjun walked off to a while ago.

Your legs move quickly through the corridors of the club, moving past changing rooms, saunas, and bathrooms, the planner tightly clutched in your hand. Your head is on a swivel and your lower lip is stuck between your teeth, until you hear a door open and slam shut behind you, making you turn your head to catch Renjun walking out of a changing room.

“Mr. Huang!” You call out.. Renjun freezes at the name, spinning on his heel to see you walking towards him.

“Sorry to disturb you, but you left your planner on the golf cart.” You hold it out for him, but he doesn’t take it.

“How do you know it’s a planner? Did you look through it?” You blink at him, stunned, and then glance down at the notebook. You’re surprised by the sudden questions and at the same time annoyed that Renjun accused you of snooping through his things so quickly. The image you had of him earlier, graceful, classy, and attractive, slips out of your mind as he stares down at you. However, this is the first time he’s directly talking to you, and you can’t help the spark that ignites in your belly from the roughness in his voice. It’s higher-pitched, but unpolished and jagged as he speaks with you.

“No. I go to the same University. I have the same one.” You explain. Renjun’s stare turns into shock.

“Really? Which department?”

“Fine Arts. I study Studio Art.” At first you think that you’re seeing things, but after blinking, you can guarantee that Renjun has jealousy painted on his face. It’s so sour that he looks away, trying to preoccupy his hands by fiddling with his bag. “So, are you going to take this, or…?”

“Yeah,” The bitterness drips from his tone, but you have a feeling it’s not directed at you, “Thank you for returning it.” He finally accepts it and turns to his bag, taking out his wallet. The cards inside look thick and heavy; memberships to places you’ll never step foot in and credit cards with limits you could never even imagine. Your pride tells you that you don’t need anything he could give you, so you silently turn around and walk away.

Renjun shuffles through some crisp 10’s and 20’s, but when he looks up to give you the tip, you’re already down the hallway and halfway out the door. You have golf carts to clean.

The next time you see Renjun is a week after the last game. The chilly weather remains, along with the useless uniform you have to wear, but this time around you’re not Mr. Huang’s caddie, you’re Renjun’s.

Kara walks next to you with Mr. Huang’s heavy golf clubs, her lips straight and head turned away from you to show her annoyance at how the caddie match up situation went this week. You’re sure to get an earful about this for at least the next few days, but you kind of like this revenge that fate dealt Kara. Either way, it’s not like there’s anything you can do about the match up. Renjun requested you to be his caddie this week, and you weren’t going to risk your bosses being angry with you by denying the request.

“Driver.” Renjun’s voice pulls you into the game. You pull out the correct golf club and put it into his awaiting hand, your fingertips brushing with his. “Aren’t you cold?” The words shock you, considering they’re the first words Renjun spoke to you today other than commands for golf clubs.

“I-I’m fine, Mr. Huang.” You respond promptly.

“Don’t call me that.” His tone is icy, and he quickly realizes how unnecessary it is to bite at you like that, “Just call me Renjun.” His father walks back from his shot, looking very smug. Renjun’s face is calm as he trades spots with his father and prepares for his first swing of the day, correcting his posture and loosening his limbs.

You remember the first time you saw him, how elegant and poised he looked. Your cold hands break into a sweat as your chest heats up from the quick beating of your heart. Renjun has only been icy and accusing towards you so far, yet you still feel warm while thinking about him. There has to be something wrong with you.

“Doesn’t my son look like he knows what he’s doing?” Mr. Huang asks from beside you, a small, unnerving smile on his lips.

“Yes, sir.” You reply back with your own, more innocent, smile.

“I taught him everything he knows about golf…. And women.” Mr. Huang leans into you, turning his chest to face you so that his breath is hitting your cheek. You can’t help but swallow to relieve your dry and cold throat, keeping your eyes forward as Renjun swings his club back and forth a bit in preparation.

“Yes, sir.” The only thought on your mind is to stop this man from stepping closer.

“Is that the only thing you can say?”

Renjun swings his arm back, breathing in as he keeps his eyes on the small white ball and his hopes in the green before him. Mr. Huang’s right hand is warm on your waist, but you would give anything to freeze right now.

A sharp crack ripples through the air as Renjun hits the golf ball and sends it flying into the golf course. His eyes are not where the ball lands, but instead on where his father touches you.

Renjun’s mom died when he was not even three days old.

He never got to meet her— to lay on her chest and hold her finger with his whole hand. He’ll never know what advice she would’ve given him when he got his first girlfriend, and he’ll never know how she would’ve reacted to him crashing his first car when he was 17. He only knows that his mom would’ve been there for him through all of that, unlike his father, who was not.

Renjun has had “mothers” through his life; three, to be exact. The first was when he was 5 years old, and she quickly asked for a divorce after Renjun’s dad went on a three month business trip and she didn’t hear from him the whole time. The second “mother” was a bit more mature than the first and with a lot more time on her hands. She wanted to shape 9 year old Renjun into a perfect student, which was something Renjun’s father appreciated, but still divorced her for “being too strong-headed.” Renjun only met his third mother twice when he was 13: once at the wedding and the second time at her funeral. He didn’t ask any questions, he wasn’t very interested in the first place.

These were the type of people Renjun spent his life around, but they really weren’t his mothers. The only similarity he had with those women was his father, and he treated them as poorly as he treated Renjun. That’s why when Renjun looks at you, cowering away from the very man who is his only link to family, he feels sick.

When is his dad going to stop being a fucking predator? How young does he want his next conquest to be? Will Renjun’s next mom be the same age as him? Something swirls in the pit of his stomach when he watches his father and it takes a moment for him to figure out what it is: jealousy. He’s not sure why he’s feeling jealous over someone he just met last week, but the feeling engulfs his whole chest and it burns him to his spot.

Renjun doesn’t even notice that he swung his golf club or that the golf ball went somewhere far into the green, probably an overshot. He only sees you, afraid of the man touching you but not stepping away. Why aren’t you stepping away?

“Nice job, Renjun.” His best friend, Jeno, claps a hand on his back as he steps up, hitting Renjun back into reality and forcing him to walk towards you. As Renjun approaches, his father slyly takes his hand away, and Renjun notices how you let out a relieved sigh. Giving you back his driver, Renjun strategically stands between you and his father, pretending to watch Jeno swing.

“Good job… Renjun.” You whisper, unsure about calling him by his first name so informally.

“Thank you.” Renjun sends a side glance to his father to see the displeased look on his face. “How was that, Dad?” Renjun hopes that maybe he can remind his father of why he’s here (to win against the Lees this week, not to feel up a girl 30 years younger than him) but in this moment, his father is acting like a 5 year old in the middle of a silent tantrum, not a 50 year old who runs the most successful construction company in the country.

“I’ve taught you better than that.” Renjun is sure they’re not talking about golf anymore, the authoritative tone in his father’s voice sends a lightning bolt of surprise and slight fear down Renjun’s back. He hates how he gets scared, he hates how his father can control him. The fury churns in the pit of his stomach as he accepts his father’s words with a bow of his head.

One day, Renjun swears he won’t submit anymore.

After the game ended with the Lees winning once again, you, Lia, and your other coworkers convene at the golf carts after the clients leave to change inside the club.

“You ladies know the drill.” Kara throws both sets of golf cart keys at you before walking off with Mina. You push Lia towards the entrance of the building before she even has a chance to turn around and open her mouth.

“You should get to the cafe before your boss throws another fit.” Lia turns back to face you, her jaw slightly slack and her eyes shining.

“You’re seriously the best. I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, just give me a few extra shots in my coffee on Monday.” Lia laughs at that, grabbing your face between her two small, manicured hands and kissing you on each cheek before hopping off inside. You can’t help but be amused at her antics, turning to the golf carts in front of you to start cleaning.

“They make you clean the carts by yourself?” The voice startles you, not because you weren’t expecting it but because it’s Renjun’s. You turn your head over your shoulder, he’s standing just a few feet away still in his golfing gear from earlier.

“Uh, not usually, no. But my coworkers haven’t been happy with me lately.” You explain, fully turning to him and crossing your arms over your chest to tuck your cold hands into your sides.

“The ones who have been working here for a while?” You nod as an answer, and Renjun nods back in understanding, shoving his hands in his pants pockets. “They’ve been trying to get with me and my best friend for a while...” Renjun trails off when he sees your eyebrows raise at the comment, “... But that’s not what I came here to talk about.”

“Oh? What are you here for?” The conversation has gotten too informal for a worker and their client to be having, but you kind of like talking to Renjun in this casual setting.

“I realized that the past few times we’ve talked I’ve been such a dick.” He laughs lightly as he remembers, “I wanted to apologize for that. I wasn’t in a good mood last week and this morning, and I ended up pushing it on you.”

Renjun feels lots of emotions when it comes to you, despite only having this one proper conversation with you. He feels envy towards you for being able to study something that he desperately wants to. He feels guilt when he remembers how quickly he made you into a thief when you were only trying to return his belongings, and he feels so many other secondary and tertiary emotions in between. His head is full when he looks at you. He finally feels like he’s thinking about something, not just doing the same day to day motions in a constant cycle of ‘when will this end?’

“You’re apologizing?” You ask, stunned when he nods his head in confirmation. Sincere apologies are important to you. You believe there are not enough of them in this world anymore, and his gentle almond eyes are too wholehearted and warm for you in this cold weather. Your heart feels full looking at him, and you curse at yourself in your head for being swayed like this.

“I also have a question… You mentioned you’re majoring in Studio Art and I was wondering if, maybe, you could let me into one of the studios after a class this week? I’ve been needing a quiet place to work since my house has been busy lately.” One of the hands that was in Renjun’s pocket moves to matte down his sideburns while he glances at his shoes. “Was that too forward? Sorry, I just know that you can’t get into a studio without a passcode and you’re the only person I know who’s in Studio Art.” Renjun explains after you stare for a while, blinking at him.

“You’re an artist?” You finally ask, Renjun giving you a weak ‘yeah’ in response. A part of you wants to say no, that it’ll be weird to do something like this for him when you’ve only known him for less than 2 weeks and up until this point, you’ve only been in a worker-client relationship. However, you’re curious about what he’s like outside of this setting, especially what he’s like when his father has no possibility of appearing, since that seems to be the factor that turns his mood up or down.

“Sure. Come by studio 3 after 6pm on Wednesday and I’ll let you in, but... I heard Mr. Lee already scheduled a game for next weekend?” Renjun nods, “Then in return, you can win that game. It’s embarrassing always being on the losing team.” You smile playfully at the end to let him know you’re only joking.

“Deal.” Renjun sends a smile back of the same caliber, holding out a hand to shake with yours. If you thought you were affected by Renjun’s nice presence, his hand in yours sends you into another realm. His touch is warm from staying indoors and from keeping his hands in his pockets, and they contrast to your cold skin. He sucks in a breath through his teeth when your hands connect, turning your hand in his grip to look at your knuckles. “Are you sure you’re not cold? Your hands are freezing.”

“I’ll be okay. I just don’t have any good gloves to wear while working.” He huffs, small traces of white smoke leaves his mouth as he digs through his pockets.

“Wear these.” He replaces his hand in yours with a pair of his own gloves, “Your hands are precious, they shouldn’t be freezing.” Before Renjun can get embarrassed by his own words, he shoves his hands back into his pockets and turns on his heel, walking away, “I’ll see you on Wednesday!”

A knock on the studio doors shakes you away from staring at your painting, making you turn to look at who it is. Renjun peaks through the small window and waves when you make eye contact. You get up to open the door, almost forgetting that today is the day you agreed to let Renjun into your studio.

… Okay, that’s a lie. You definitely remembered that you’re supposed to meet Renjun, but you keep trying to convince yourself that you’re not excited about seeing him outside of that stuffy country club.

“Hey, sorry if I startled you.” Is the first thing he says when you open the door. He’s dressed in slacks, a dress shirt with a sweater over it, and a long coat over that. His nose and cheeks are slightly red from the rough wind outside and his supplies are clutched to his chest.

“Oh, you’re fine. I was just deep in thought.” Something about the studio makes both of you speak in hushed tones. No one else is here, but you feel the need to maintain the peace and quiet the room naturally holds. You and Renjun make your way to where you’re set up, he puts his things down on an easel to your left and takes off his coat, watching you from his peripheral vision.

Those uniforms they make you wear at work are just for show, Renjun knows that well, but that doesn’t stop him from appreciating you in the tight vest and little skirt. However right now, he likes your laid back look consisting of loose jeans and a layered shirt, he thinks it matches you.

“I was going to leave when you got here, but I think I’ll just finish this and head out.” You comment, aimlessly waving at your project.

“Please, stay as long as you need to. This is your studio, I don’t want to kick you out.” He laughs and licks his bottom lip. It’s breathtaking how innocent and nice his smile looks on his face. His eyes scrunch together to form laugh lines and his cheeks rise, he truly looks pretty when he smiles. You think this is the first time you’ve seen him like this.

You mumble back with a mixture of words that probably didn’t make sense and turn back to your work, leaving the room to continue with its peacefulness and quiet. However, Renjun’s presence next to you is too big to ignore. There are so many things you want to know about him and you have no excuse as to why you’re so curious.

“How about a game while we work?” You suggest.

“Sure… How about 20 questions?” It’s like he read your mind, so you smile and nod at his idea.

“You can go first.” You suggest.

“Okay, uh… Why do you work at a golf course if you’re majoring in Studio Art? Shouldn’t you be working at a, I don’t know, museum?” The question catches you off guard and Renjun notices how you stop painting, your brush and your hand floating in the air as you think, “Oh, sorry, is that too personal?”

“No, no… It’s just, normally, the first question people ask in a game of 20 questions is something like ‘what’s your favorite color’ or ‘what’s your sign’.” Renjun lets out a choked and embarrassed laugh, ducking his head down to look away from you. You can tell he’s about to change his question, so you quickly go back to painting and speak before he can.

“I did apply to work at several museums. I didn’t get any jobs, so I had to look elsewhere and Augusta was hiring. I know it’s not very fitting, but it makes good money and rich people know my name, even if it’s for just a few hours.” Renjun nods at your answer as if he could ever understand the idea of being poor, but the insight into your decision brings a fact to light that Renjun wasn’t 100% aware of before: you’re not like him, you need money.

“Don’t you hate the way people look at you there?” The words tumble out of Renjun’s lips faster than he can process the weight they carry. He turns to face you with guilt pooling in his eyes and his mouth opening and closing to find some words to correct the situation.

“No, I don’t like it.” You surprise him with your quick response, “But people like you don’t understand what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, to have to worry about how to pay the bills every month for years on end, always on your toes about money. I bet you think I’m cheap and—”

“No.” Renjun cuts you off promptly before you can continue, “Don’t make me into a jerk. I’m not like that. But the fact that that is the first thing you thought of worries me.” Your eyes widen at that, prompting him to elaborate. “Doesn’t that mean that’s how you think of yourself? Maybe not on the outside, but subconsciously. Sure, I won’t ever be able to understand how you live, but I wish you would not look at yourself as cheap and think of yourself as… beautiful.” Renjun lets the last words linger on his tongue, saying it quietly as if to not startle you.

You stare at him, your paintbrush resting in your hand and your back slouched as you watch him watch you. This is not the type of conversation you thought you’d be having with Renjun tonight, but you have to admit he makes a point. Eventually, you turn to your painting and stare at it some more, making Renjun turn and continue his own work.

“Ah, I asked two questions in a row.” He suddenly breaks the tense atmosphere, making you sigh as you remember you’re just playing a game, “You can ask two questions.”

He allows and relaxes when he sees you go back to painting.

“If you like to draw, why are you a business major?” Now it’s Renjun’s turn to freeze. Maybe if he did ask what your favorite color was he wouldn’t have had to endure this question from you, but he feels like he should answer it since it’s of equal weight to the one he asked you.

“It wasn’t my choice. I will most likely take my father’s place in his company and I need to at least know the basics before that happens.” You nod slowly. He looks so calm when he’s focused on drawing, but it’s not the same calm that you see on his face when he’s playing golf. You turn away before you get caught staring.

“Is that why your mood always changes when your dad is around?”

“Is it that obvious…” He trails off and you nod, “I can’t believe I’m about to say this out loud, but… It’s like everytime I’m around him, or at his office, or at home, my mind goes blank. I don’t feel like talking or thinking at all.” As he speaks, he sets down his utensils and turns to you, making continuous eye contact as he explains. You find yourself feeling comfortable at how easily he’s talking to you about such a deep subject.

“It sounds like… you’re angry.” You turned to face him now too, your paintbrush settled onto your canvas and your full attention on him, “My dad is like that. He gets so angry sometimes that he’s calm. No yelling or fighting, just silence. That’s how I know I messed up when he gets like that.” You nod, remembering all the times he’s been calmly mad at you.

“I don’t know… It’s confusing to me.” He straightens his back and stares at your foot as it moves around aimlessly. “What do I do?” He asks into the air, as if his pencil would suddenly start talking to him like a therapist.

“Just do what makes you happy.” Renjun’s glance over at you makes a smile pull at your lips, “I know it’s easier said than done. But you already know what it is that’ll make you happy, and that’s half of the battle. Why bottle it up?”

Renjun doesn’t know how he’ll ever get the courage to tell his father these things, but the way you’re looking at him as if he can do anything, he starts to feel tingles of confidence trickle into him.

“Oh, and why did you pick me to be your caddie this past weekend?”

“Well…” Renjun plays with his pencil. What is he supposed to say? He doesn’t want you to carry around his father’s heavy golf clubs? He doesn’t like the way his father touches you and gets jealous over it for some unknown reason? Yeah, he’s not going to say.

“Just because… I wanted you next to me.” The way he says it makes it sound so simple and true, but your heart drops to your stomach and springs back up going at 100 miles per hour. You can barely stop your hand from shaking as you pick up your brush, and it’s almost like you can’t see in front of you from the thrill of his words.

“Hey,” Renjun suddenly drops his pencil and turns to you, looking a bit confused and slightly upset, “Didn’t you ask three questions?”

“We’re letting the Lees win again today.” Renjun is in the middle of pulling up the zipper of his jacket when his father drops the news. Renjun’s footsteps stutter slightly at his father’s words and he stops walking next to the older man.

“Again?” He asks as he already thinks up an apology to tell you later when he loses.

“Yes, I need Mr. Lee to be happy when I bring up the new contract to him later in the sauna.” Renjun sighs and continues to walk next to his father. It’s the next weekend, and the third Lee vs. Huang game is starting in just a few minutes.

Renjun won’t lie, purposefully losing to his best friend and his dad every week is not the greatest stroke to Renjun’s ego, especially since Jeno won’t let it down around his other friends.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Lijun swivels on his heel to look at his son, “Have you been requesting for ___ to be your caddie?”

The questions stuns Renjun, making it hard to answer so his father takes it as a yes.

“Well stop it. Dad wants to have some fun.” He claps a hand on Renjun’s back and  smiles. In the past, Renjun would’ve just rolled his eyes and let his father do whatever he wants, but this time his blood boils. He feels true anger when his father struts away with the intentions of doing whatever he wants to someone Renjun cares about. He can barely move his feet after the old man, his mind cloudy as everyone makes it to the golf carts.

“Let’s have a good game today, Mr. Huang, don’t make it too easy to beat you.” Mr. Lee jokes around and the two old men laugh as they settle into their own golf carts. Renjun walks up to his cart and you wave to him, the white gloves he gave you last week snugly on your hands. Renjun thinks his anger is what spurs him into doing what he does next.

He steps close to you, leaning into your ear and wrapping his hand around your covered ones with his thumb rubbing on your exposed wrist, “Keep these on for me, babe. I don’t want you to be cold.”

The amount of jaws that drops after Renjun’s words makes him bite down his smirk and slide into the front seat of the golf cart, pretending to not see the daggers his father is  throwing at him with his eyes.

Your heart beats so quickly and loudly you’re sure Kara can hear it next to you if she wasn’t busy huffing about what Renjun just did. Sitting in the back seat of the golf cart, you watch the back of Renjun’s head on the way to the first hole. What got into Renjun? Why did he all of a sudden call you ‘babe’ and get so close? Not that you’re opposed to it, you’re just shocked.

The game begins once you reach the first hole, and the Huang’s put up a good fight throughout the entire game, keeping the Lees on their toes and the score sheet even. Everytime Renjun comes back from a shot, you smile at him and tell him good job, which earns you a pat on the back from him that warms you up from the inside out.

Renjun can tell his father is getting more and more annoyed with him; how Renjun is keeping you as far from his father as he possibly can, the gentle touches on your waist that you welcome wholeheartedly compared to the ones Mr. Huang would lay on you before. He likes how angry his father gets, especially knowing that he can’t do anything about it right now. Not to mention, you seem to be enjoying Renjun’s attention, which just adds to his confidence.

Now, your group arrives at the last hole of the game. The Lees step up and swing, setting their total score to 357. All Renjun and his father have to do is move the ball around a bit more to get their score to be higher and the Lees will win the game. Mr. Huang is up first, acting clumsy so that the ball doesn’t make it into the hole and brings the game to Renjun.

As he sets up his posture, his hands suddenly go stiff. This shot is so easy to make, he has made this exact hole several times. He breathes in and out deeply, deciding on if he should throw the game like his father said he should, or give his one last ‘fuck you’ to his Dad.

He glances at you and makes eye contact; you nod your head and smile a bit as if to say ‘go ahead, we all know you can do this.’ Renjun then grips his golf club and swings it back to effortlessly hit the golf ball, rolling it along the green and perfectly into the hole.

You and the other caddies clap for the perfectly executed shot and Jeno and his father come up to Renjun to shake hands. They don’t look upset, instead they look pretty happy for Renjun. However, Renjun’s father is deathly silent, not even congratulating Renjun on his win. Renjun wasn’t expecting a whole ceremony for him, but it does feel nice to put his father down a peg or two today, and that’s the thought that fills Renjun’s head as everyone rides back to the country club.

While getting out of the golf cart, Renjun attempts to turn back to you but is promptly pulled away by the back of his jacket by his father. Renjun yelps and pulls away, but that doesn’t stop Lijun from grabbing onto his son’s arm instead and pulling him inside.

“What was that? I specifically told you to lose the game and you did the exact opposite. How am I supposed to talk to Mr. Lee now?” Renjun’s father fumes, his low voice belting out into the corridor and making some of the passing staff turn their heads.

“That’s not my problem.” Renjun shrugs and his father stops shaking, stepping closer to his son.

“Excuse me?” He asks with menace dripping from his tongue.

“I said, that’s not my problem.” Renjun is fired up. He doesn’t see a way out of this now, no way his behavior is being excused, so might as well go all in.

“You did it for that caddie, ___, right?” His father squints his eyes and turns his head slightly. When Renjun doesn’t answer, Lijun laughs in his face, “It looks like I’m right.”

“What?” Renjun asks dumbly.

“It’s okay. You’re just a boy and you can make some mistakes over a girl, we’ve all been there once or twice.” Lijun fixes Renjun’s jacket and pats his shoulder, his angry disposition turning passive. “Besides, you can’t do much for that girl anyway. Is a ball in a hole really all she deserves?”

“I won the game because I could. I won it because that’s what I wanted.” Renjun states, his blood beginning to boil once again when his father says he doesn’t deserve you. What is he thinking? Does he actually think he has a chance with you? He can keep dreaming.

“We can’t always do whatever we want. There are consequences we have to face for doing whatever we want. Are you ready to face the consequences?” At the question, Renjun is reminded about the words you told him Wednesday night.

‘Just do what makes you happy,’ Those simple words are so hard to turn into reality. Renjun wants to be happy so bad. He wants to be away from this man and he wants to be closer to you. The consequences? Sure, he’ll deal with it all if it means he can stop living in the personal hell his father set up for him. Renjun pushes his father away a bit and steps out of the trap his father pushed him into, making Lijun’s eyes widen.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Renjun says and turns around, walking back towards the exit of the building.

“Hey, where are you going?” His father shouts after him.

“To do the thing that I want to do the most.” He yells back and walks around the corner, out of sight from his father. Renjun practically runs through the hallways to get back outside and run to you, but you surprise him by greeting him by the saunas. He stops in his steps and you smile as you walk up to him.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you that you did really well today. I know I said I wanted you to win last week, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” You laugh.

“Thanks.” Renjun simply says, afraid of what else could come out if he keeps talking.

“Oh, I also want to give you these back.” You dig out Renjun’s gloves from your pocket, holding them out. This is it. This is the moment Renjun will start to do whatever makes him happy, whatever he wants.

And what he wants right now is you.

He quickly takes the gloves and then tightly grips the wrist of your outstretched hand, leading you down the hallway and around some corner. He hears you exclaim a small ‘woah’ but you let him guide you into a sauna, the door closing tightly behind both of you.

There’s no one else in the room, just the stuffy steam that floats in the small space between you two. Renjun has a tight grip on the gloves you gave back to him and his other hand runs through his hair and messes up the perfect form it held.

“Tell me to stop.” He demands, looking straight into your eyes.

“What?”

“Tell me to stop right now.” He takes a step forward, his eyes full to the brim with lust and his hands shaking with how much he’s holding himself together. You’ve barely been in the room for a minute, but your clothes are already sticking to you from the intense heat.

“I don’t understand,” You reply back as he keeps moving toward you. You take small steps back in return, “I don’t know what I’m stopping you from.” Half of you is playing dumb right now; you know what Renjun wants from you just by the look in his eyes. The other half just wants to hear him say it himself

“I’ll fuck you the way you deserve. Right here, right now.” Renjun’s voice is too angelic to say such nasty words, but he growls them out like he’s a tainted angel. You’re pressed against the wooden wall of the sauna now, Renjun just a step away. You lean into him slightly and rip the gloves out of his hand to throw them to the side.

“Do it.”

It’s all the permission Renjun needs to feverishly connect his lips to yours.

The action is so sudden, you don’t remember how Renjun got close to you so quickly. Despite his forcefulness before, his lips melt into you like chocolate melting over a fire, so hot and delicious that you just want more. His hands hold the sides of your face, pushing back your hair and his body pushing you back into the wall.

He sucks on your bottom lip, softly biting afterwards and making you let out a whimper, and then a moan when his thigh pushes between your legs and further presses you against the wall. Amidst the kissing, you find the zipper of his expensive jacket, unzip it, and pull the piece of clothing off. Afterwards, you pull his shirt off and break the kiss while you’re at it.

“I’ve been thinking about you in this skirt since….” Renjun hums at the thought, his hand sliding up your bare thighs and under your skirt, then he grips your ass and brings your core down onto his thigh, the friction enough to have you letting out a strangled moan.

“Since the day I first saw you.” He finally whispers and connects your lips once again. His hand on your ass doesn’t move, his other hand is placed on your waist as he helps you ride the rough material of his pants. Renjun can only watch your reactions; the way your head lolls back into the wall and your eyes screw shut, holding onto Renjun’s shoulders tight enough he’s sure there will be marks afterwards.

“Fuck— Renjun, don’t stop, please.” He’s mesmerized, absolutely addicted to how you look and sound right now, and it’s all because of him. The thought spurs him along, he removes your jacket and you blindly help him in removing your top and bra. You must look like a mess right now, especially since you’re coming close to your climax just by Renjun’s touch and his thigh. Not to mention the sweat dripping down both of you, a glistening sheen coating your skin that makes Renjun let out a low growl before he leans down and takes one of your nipples in his mouth.

He sucks and swirls his tongue, and you can’t help but moan his name again, digging your fingers into his blonde hair and tugging. Renjun moves from your chest downward, not letting an inch of your stomach and hips go past him without a kiss and a nibble, leaving you breathing heavily. He makes his way down to his knees and folds your skirt up, glancing at  you from his position.

“You don’t wear anything under here except your panties?” You nod, your head stuttering as Renjun applies pressure with his thumb over your slick hole, a wet spot already there to greet him.

“You’re so fucking dirty, baby.” He groans and leans in to swipe his tongue over your center making you shake as a response. He slides your underwear down and throws it somewhere to the side, catching the sigh of your arousal dripping down your thigh. His intense stare makes you shake him, embarrassment crawling over you at how he’s not reacting.

“Are you shy?” You whine, not really answering his question. “You don’t need to be. You’re beautiful.” The softness from his voice contradicts his more dominating tone from before, but you don’t have time to think about it before he dives in. You sigh in content when the pressure in between your hips caused by Renjun turns into pure pleasure. His tongue laps at your essence and his lips suck on your clit, you can tell he’s trying to find what exactly will make you tick.

When Renjun slides a finger into your hole unexpectedly, you jump and whimper a bit but the feeling of him sliding in and out along with his tongue circling and sucking on your clit makes a knot form in the pit of your stomach, tightening up your muscles and making your eyes roll back.

“Right there. Oh my god, right there…” You keep repeating, praying that Renjun treats you good and let’s you come. He adds another finger and you gasp, starting to move your hips in rhythm to his hand, holding onto his shoulders for more stability. He glances up at you, watching your eyes screw shut and your tits bounce as you use his hand to get yourself off. Renjun hums against you, and you can almost feel the ecstasy of coming undone, until Renjun pulls away. You groan, feeling like crying when your orgasm fades.

“Hey..” You whine, pouting when Renjun stands back up and licks your juices off of his lips. He has some on his chin and you bring your hand up to wipe it away, Renjun stopping your hand and kissing the wetness away, then kissing up your arm and to your shoulder, up your neck and to your ear. He tugs at your earlobe, licking the skin under it and biting some more, his hands sliding up your waist at playing with your nipples, pinching a little to get whimpers out of you and making your hips buck up, ready to continue where Renjun left you at.

That’s when you feel the hardness in his pants; it must be painful. That’s why you understand his next words, whispered into the shell of your ear between kisses: “You’re not coming until I’m in you, got it?”

You nod quickly, attaching your hands to Renjun’s zipper and button, undoing them and sliding down his pants.

“But, you’re gonna need to do something for me…” He says, helping you pull down his boxers, watching his angry, red length swing out. You gasp, feeling a bit bad that you just left Renjun like this to eat you out, but you’re sure you can make up to him now.

“What is it? I’ll do it.” Your hands run over Renjun’s sweaty shoulders, moving away some longer hair in the back of his head that’s sticking against his neck.

“You’re gonna have to yell my name. I need you to let everyone know who’s doing this to you— who’s making you feel good, okay?” Your breath gets caught in your throat as the words tumble out of his lips. He tilts his voice higher at the end of every phrase to make him sound innocent, but you’re not fooled.

“There’s people outside…” You mumble back, sending a glance at the door. You know there are several staff and customers walking along the hallways outside. What will they think if they hear you screaming Renjun’s name? Not to talk about what will happen to your job.

Those thoughts melt away when Renjun’s dick slides between your folds slowly, making you turn your gaze back to him and hold on tight as he lubricates himself over your wetness, holding onto your hips so that you don’t move and take anymore than what he’s giving you.

“That’s exactly why I want you to scream. Can you do that for me?” He asks and you nod frantically, doing almost anything to get his dick inside you. You’re not sure what’s going to happen once you step out of this room, but at least you know Renjun is going to give you the best fuck you’ve had in a while, and you know it’ll be worth it for what’s to come after all this.

“Finally…” You moan when Renjun’s length disappears into you inch by inch, going slow as to not hurt you. He sucks in a breath through his teeth as he bottoms out, picking up your thigh to hang it over his hip and wrapping his other arm around your waist to keep you close. You hold onto him, adjusting as he kisses your lips sweetly and carefully, and waits to move his throbbing cock through your velvety walls.

“Go, Renjun, move….” You whisper, and he looks at you confused.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you.” He asks, cocking his head.

“Please, move.” You say louder, but he shakes his head and purses his lips as if he still can’t understand.

“I said, fuck me, Renjun. Please, can you fuck me already?” You all but scream out, your voice almost cracking at how whiny you sound. No doubt, if someone passed by outside they would’ve heard you. The thought makes you tense up, but it feels so good to be able to yell out what you want.

“Your wish, baby.” Renjun mutters before he starts rocking into you. You both groan at the sensation, Renjun’s hips speeding up as he gains more momentum. His lips don’t leave yours, kissing you into oblivion while his dick stuffs you. He has you against the wall, his hips powering away and you don’t dare to disturb him, realizing he’s burning all of his anger away as well.

“Yes, Renjun, fuck me just like that…'' You moan loudly to spur him on, now not really caring about who’s outside or who hears you, just wanting Renjun to know you love how rough he’s going. He presses you higher up the wall and pulls your legs apart more, hitting a new angle that literally makes you scream out, tears mixing with the sweat on your face as he relentlessly pumps into you.

There are so many things going on at the same time. Your hard nipples and soft breasts rubbing against Renjun’s chest, making goosebumps rise on his arms. Your hot and sweaty bodies are basically sliding against each other. The clapping of his hips against yours no doubt attracts attention from outside along with your screams and Renjun’s grunts continuously get louder as you both get closer to the climax.

“I’m gonna come… Renjun, come in me…” You’re already fucked out, the words barely leaving your lips coherently, but Renjun understands and moves his finger down to find your clit, circling his thumb fast and steady, just like everything else he’s doing.

“C’mon come on my cock, babe. Let it out, I wanna hear it.” And just like that, you unwind and scream his name as your orgasm washes over and takes control, making you claw onto any part of Renjun that you can reach. Renjun feels your walls deliciously convulse around him and with a few more sloppy thrusts, he comes into you and fills you up, staying wrapped up in you as you both calm down.

Renjun presses small kisses wherever he feels like as your breathing settles down, his softness and the caring way he rubs at your sides and hips where he was holding so hard that you’re sure to have bruises makes you smile hazily.

“___… I don’t regret any of this.” He whispers into your skin, leaning back to look at you properly. “Do you?”

“No.” You answer truthfully, making his eyes shine and you both smile dumbly, your sticking bodies relaxing. The happy moment doesn’t last long before there’s a knock on the door to the sauna. You and Renjun stiffen up as you glance at the door, waiting for whoever it is to announce themselves.

“Renjun? Son?” Your heart drops to your stomach and you cover your mouth at the voice of Renjun’s father on the other side of the door, but when you turn to Renjun, he doesn’t seem bothered. He sends a smile at you and moves some hair from your face before answering.

“Occupied, go somewhere else. We’re busy.”

#renjun #renjun fluff #nct dream au #nct smut #nct dream smut #huang renjun #renjun smut #nct fluff #nct dream fluff #renjun au #nct au #renjun x reader #nct dream #nct #renjun scenarios #renjun imagines #renjun fic #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct fics #nct dream imagines #nct dream scenarios #nct dream fic #00 line #dreamies

[velvetcloxds]

MUTUAL ATTRACTION| S.B.

Pairing: Sirius Black x Plus Size Fem!Reader

Word count: 2800 words.

Warnings: Bullying, negative body image, negative comments about body, mentions overweight/plus size reader being bullied, degrading nickname for reader

Summary: Reader doesn't believe that Sirius Black truly likes her, thinking that his interest in her is part of some joke to embarrass her for being a plus sized girl. Sirius finds out why she feels this way and attempts to convince her otherwise.

A/N: This is completely self-indulgent, so feel free to scroll past it if it's not for you. Mxx.

“Shove off, Sirius,” Y/n mumbles, the words meeting the ears of a rather confused Sirius Black as he treads out of the classroom behind her. He scoffs lightly as he falls into step next to her.

“Why are you always so mean to me, love?” He muses with a light tone, lightly brushing her shoulder with his own. “Truly, if you continue on like this, I may just think that you don’t like me and give up,” He notes, earning a side glare from her as the pair slip past some first years rushing towards the class they just exited.

“How close are we to that happening?” She questions quickly, pausing briefly at a pileup by the stairs. “Just a general timeframe for the sake of my sanity?”

“I think I could hold out a bit longer,” He confirms, and she shakes her head with a soft sigh.

“You’re that committed to this ploy?” She asks him softly, the crowd starting to move again as a professor guides students into the right directions.

“What ploy?” Sirius asks, brow raised as he stares down at the girl.

“This ploy,” Y/n explains, gripping her books in her one arm as she gestures between her and Sirius. “Convincing me that the great Hogwarts player has somehow decided to court me,” She further explains, rolling her eyes at the boy who holds a confused stare. “I’ve been at this school for six years, Sirius. I’ve outlived all of the pranks, all of the bullying and all of the weight jokes, even this one specifically. And though, to be honest, you’ve held up much longer than the other bastards at this school, it still won’t work.”

“There seems to be a rather large miscommunication happening here, love,” Sirius defends, just barely catching a glance of Y/n’s glare before she starts walking away. ‘I’m not trying to prank you, Y/n. There is no ploy,” He announces as he starts following her. She scoffs. “I like you, is that honestly so hard to believe?” He questions carefully, a hand delicately gripping her elbow to keep her from stepping into her next class. She extends a shy glance at the gentle gesture before carefully pulling away.

“Yes,” She notes plainly, not even sparing Sirius the briefest look before disappearing into the steady stream of students heading to potions.

Sirius lingered for a mere moment before walking to the Gryffindor common room in a haze, shutting the door behind him in a rush as he waited to be acknowledged by James and Remus, currently studying for their DADA quiz.

“She doesn’t like me,” Sirius announces as he falls onto his bed, his friends looking up from their work as he does.

“Who?” James questions, shoving his textbook to the side at the newfound excuse from studying.

“Y/n,” Sirius clarifies and lifts his head to look at his dark-haired friend. “I don’t get it, I’ve been a complete gentleman,” He notes and both James and Remus scoff playfully, locking eyes to share a knowing look. “What was that?” He asks, lifting himself to lean back against his headboard. “What was that look?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Remus answers, also sliding his textbook close, folding his arms over his chest.

“I think what Remus means to say, is that you are the furthest thing from a gentleman poor Y/n will find,” James offers with a sly smirk and Remus looks down to hide a small smirk tugging at his lips as well.

“I’m offended,” Sirius muses with furrowed brows. “Utterly scarred by your insinuation,” He adds with mock hurt and shakes his head when the boys laugh in reply. “Besides, it’s not my adventures with the girls that worries her, I think it’s my adventures with you bunch that’s making her question me.”

“I don’t blame her.” Remus says as he refocuses his attention on his books. “We aren’t exactly the posterchildren for antibullying.”

“Why does that matter?” James asks before Sirius could and Remus sighs, lifting his gaze once again to explain.

“You’ve been practically stalking this girl for a month now and you’re telling me you haven’t noticed how she steers clear of Lucius Malfoy and his friends,” Remus shakes his head. “He has been bothering her for years.”

“That bastard,” Sirius mumbles and drags a hand through his hair. “Why?”

“Well take your pick, she’s a Hufflepuff and a muggleborn and as of lately, he’s been enjoying pointing out that she’s a plus size girl in a sea of smaller girls.” Remus explains which earns a slow nod from James who is now realizing how obvious Y/n’s misfortune has been.

“Wait, you’ve noticed this too?” Sirius asks with a pointed glare at James. “Why haven’t anyone said something to me?”

“Hey, it’s not our fault you’re this oblivious.” James points out and Remus nods slightly.

“Well, bloody hell, I don’t blame her either,” Sirius sighs softly, sinking back onto the bed again. “She probably thinks that I’m just another asshole taking a turn to make her life horrible.”

“Well, do you really like her?” Remus asks to which Sirius nods quickly, hair falling around his head as he moves against the bed. “Then prove her wrong.”

With Remus’ words echoing in his head, Sirius makes his way to the class he left Y/n at, a slight skip in his step due to his newfound knowledge and his plan to not only prove his intentions are pure, but to put an end to her struggle.

“Watch out,” A voice whispers behind him and he pauses, looking back to see his friends stumbling after him.

“What are you doing?” Sirius questions, pulling a hand through his hair as the boys still in front of him.

“Helping,” James explains, patting the raven-haired boy on his shoulder as Remus joins him in leading Sirius on his mission.

Y/n was unaware of the three boys heading towards her current classroom, she was however very much aware of the blonde boy that was in the same class with her at the very moment. Lucius whispered something to the boy at his side, his eyes never leaving hers as a soft laugh echoed from the group surrounding him. He musters a sly smirk as he moves to wave at her slowly. Y/n looks down at her textbook, hand shaking slightly as she adds another ingredient into her cauldron, stepping back just in case an unexpected reaction follows.

“Are you okay?” Lily Evans asks from her side. Y/n tilts her head when she hears the sincere question coming from a girl that may as well be a stranger. She nods slowly.

“I’m fine,” She replies too quickly, Lily stepping closer towards her just as another fit of laughter echoes from Lucius’ side of the classroom, a slight frown tilts into Lily’s lips as she watches the scene unfold, Y/n seeming to grow more anxious as Professor Slughorn announces the end of the class.

“Do you want me to walk out with you?” She asks, settling a hand on Y/n’s shoulder causing her to tense under her touch. Y/n frowns, closing her textbook as she turns to Lily.

“I’m fine,” Y/n repeats her earlier statement, managing a small smile before walking to the door and out of the class in a hurry, her books tightly pressed against her chest as she hears a group of determined footsteps following her, not even noticing the curious gaze of Sirius Black as she passes him in a rush. She pauses for a mere second to consider her route before turning the corner that leads her to the Hufflepuff common room, knowing that even if Lucius does catch up with her, he won’t be able to follow her inside.

“Y/n…” Lucius muses, his mocking tone slicing at her nerves as the hall around her starts to clear, her pace picking up as her heart beats in her throat.

“Where are you going, Piggy.” Another voice chimes in, laughs filling the air as a result of the comment. Y/n tightens her grip on her books and takes in a shaky breath, considering hiding in a cupboard or classroom, trying her luck in finding the room of requirements, but a sharp hand pulling her back empties her head of plans and thoughts, panic shivering though her body as her books drop to the ground in a loud thud.

“He asked you a question,” Lucius notes as he breathes into her neck, pulling her hands behind her back to keep her from running. “Answer him,” Lucius demands, not needing to raise his voice, the closeness of his body against hers fulfilling his flare for fear.

“To the common room,” Y/n admits, voice controlled as she looks at the ground, slightly struggling against his hold.

“Trying to skip out on our daily meetings?” One of his friends ask and Lucius smiles against her ear.

“Pity,” Is all he says as he loosens his grip, throwing her to the ground next to her books where she shuffles back towards the wall, desperately looking around for an escape, the boys making sure to surround her in a way that she couldn’t identify a single one. Lucius removes his wand from his robe, smiling as he points it directly as her, eyes dark as he considers which spell to begin with.

“Step away from her,” A voice commands and Y/n’s eyes shoot up, meeting the beautiful pair of brown ones first before she carefully rakes her gaze over the other two boys standing next to him, wands in their hands. “Now!” Sirius adds coldly the sharp shout filling the entire atmosphere. Y/n flinches at the guttural laugh dripping from Lucius lips. He looks from the girl on the floor to the boys in front of him and grins.

“How sweet,” He notes, bending down slowly where he reaches forward and settles a strong hold on Y/n’s chin, forcing her to keep still as his fingers pinch into her skin. “Defending her honour,” He laughs again. “You’re a few years too late, Black.”

“I know,” Sirius admits, voice forced as he tries to control himself. “But you’re done,” He steps forwards, paying no mind to Lucius’ friends turning to point their wands at him instead. “You’re done hurting her and scaring her, you’re done trying to dim that light,” He pauses briefly as he stills but inches from Lucius’ face, his eyes meeting with Y/n’s for a second as he shakes his head at the soft tears that roll down her cheeks before looking at Lucius. “I will not leave her side, not for a second.”

“But if he does, she’ll have us,” Remus declares from behind him and James nods in agreement. “And Lily and Peter and Marlene and every other person that we know will have her back.” He adds and steps closer to Y/n as well, James moving with him as they shove past Lucius’ friends and still next to Sirius.

“Get her,” James instructs, and Lucius moves aside, grinning still as he mockingly lifts his hands in surrender, his friends doing the same. Sirius wastes no time as he moves towards her, hands carefully latching onto her shoulders as he gently guides her to her feet, removing one hand to gather her books. Y/n avoids the boy’s gaze, numbly wiping at her cheeks to remove evidence of briefly cascading tears as she stumbles slightly.

“Go,” Sirius demands calmly, hands sliding down to the small of Y/n’s back as he faces Lucius, his cold tone earning a surprised reaction from everyone. “And spread the word too, Y/n is under the protection of the marauders, if you cross her, you cross us,” He notes simply, Lucius’ friends nodding quickly before collecting themselves and scurrying away. Only Lucius pauses as he extends another sly smile towards the girl in question.

“Very well,” He comments lightly and shrugs. “I’ll see you around, little Piggy,” He offers with a wink before walking away, Y/n’s hands nimbly grabbing hold of Sirius’ arm to keep him from going after him.

“Are you okay?” Remus questions when he meets the girl’s gaze, she nods slowly in reply.

“You guys didn’t have to do that,” She notes, reluctantly stepping away from Sirius and taking her books from his hold. She shakes her head. “I appreciate it, I truly do. But all you’ve done is shift his attention and tactics to you,” She explains and the boys nod, small smiles tugging at their lips as they look at Sirius who hasn’t removes his gaze from her for even a second.

“We know,” James confirms and shrugs. “But you’re important to him, which makes you important to us,” The dark-haired boy states plainly before tapping Remus’ shoulder, silently inviting him to leave.

“Thank you,” Y/n almost whispers, loud enough for the boys to hear though as they leave her and Sirius with kind smiles and gentle shrugs.

“I didn’t know,” Sirius informs her not missing a beat. “I’m an idiot for not noticing, but I swear I didn’t know.”

“I know,” She sighs, shyly looking down to her feet as his gaze intensifies on her face. “I also know that you’re not like Lucius Malfoy, despite your questionable activities with those friends of yours.”

“I wish I could’ve put a stop to it sooner,”

“It wasn’t your place to do so,” She notes and then shakes her head when she realizes how forward it sounded. “I meant that I could’ve done it myself. I know the spells and to be honest if that didn’t work, I could have just sat on the boy,” She jokes lightly, expecting Sirius to smile only to be met with a rather misplaced frown.

“You thought you deserved it?” He asks after a lingering second and she nods. “It that why you refuse to believe that I truly like you?” She nods again, slower this time, eyes back on the floor as an embarrassed tint of rose meets her cheeks.

“I don’t like myself very much, Sirius Black and I’d be damned if I tried to pretend that anyone could like any part of me when I can’t even do so myself,” She moves her hands to fiddle with the corners of her books. “There’s a lot not to like, is all, and I mean that literally,” She gestures to her body. “There’s a lot,” Sirius scoffs, tilting his heads as he looks down at the girl in front of him, quite unused to this level of honestly.

“You are a phenomenal girl, Y/n,” He notes honestly and moves a hand to her arm, fingers sliding down over her robe to intertwine with hers. “I can’t possibly explain to you what I see when I look at you, but you clearly need some enlightenment," He smiles softly. "I see the dimple on your right cheek when you laugh at Dumbledore’s comments, I see those worn-out band shirts that you wear when you’re studying in the library after everyone has left, I see that little twinkle in your eyes when someone asks you for help with their work, I see how excited you get when they have croissants at breakfast and I see how fragile you look when you’re staring up at the candles in the dining hall alone. I see you, more than you see yourself maybe, but I have yet to see a single thing that hasn’t made me completely and utterly mad about you, Y/n.” Sirius' voice is almost a whisper, his adoring tone causing a bashful smile to sink into the girl’s lips as he waits for her eyes to meet his.

“You like me,” She notes softly, more to herself than to him as she looks down to where his thumb is moving rhythmically across her hand, the movement causing shivers to tickle through her body.

“I like you,” Sirius clarifies, other hand lifting to the crook of her neck, delicately shifting the hair away from his fingers to caress her skin, keeping her in place so she doesn’t look away again. “And I’ll like you enough for the both of us for now, but I will not let another day pass without reminding you just how relentlessly extraordinary I find your very existence,” She smiles, nodding almost mindlessly as she steps forward, not quite ready to kiss the boy just yet, but yearning for the softest touch as leans into him, her books against his chest as his hands remain where there are, only shifting to be sure she’s comfortable against him. She smiles into his shirt, allowing the sweet sensation to consume her when he places a delicate kiss to the top of her head.

“I like you too, Sirius Black,” She announces carefully, tugging numbly on the hand that is folded around hers. “I like you too.”

Hi there, more of my work can be found on Wattpad under @mjoubertt. Mxx.

Masterlist 

#sirius black x reader #sirius black imagine #sirius orion black #sirius x reader #sirius black #hogwarts x reader #marauders x reader #marauders fluff #marauders imagine #plus size reader #sirius x plus size reader #x plus size reader

[titan-fodder]

Prima Vista Part III

[ previous ]

Rating: E (explicit; mdni) Pairing: Mike Zacharias x fem!reader

Warnings: a lot of feelings, handcuffs, testosterone, quite a bit of sex, one surprise kiss (cause Erwin is a privileged dick), parents, domesticity A/N: I apparently did not write an author’s note for this originally, but uh, this is one of my favorite sections of the whole fic, so. 

Mike uses the rest of the break to relax, to get his head on straight so that when he gets back on campus he won’t be overbearing. He knows that’s the last thing you want from him.

 You text back and forth a few times a day, but most of it is dumb shit, and the conversation dies off pretty quickly—either Mike not knowing how to respond or you just growing bored. 

 He busies himself by spending time with his parents and playing with Scout who eats up all the attention. Family comes over for Christmas, and his mom and aunt get into an argument. It’s nothing new.

 He’s happy to get back to the school and back in classes just to stimulate his brain. More than that, he’s happy to see you again. Even if it means the two of you go back to friend-only status. 

 Things are awkward between him and Erwin, though. It isn’t the first time they’ve had a hiccup in their friendship, but this one has really rubbed Mike the wrong way. Erwin tries to apologize a few more times, but every time he does, all Mike can manage is an unconvincing, “It’s fine,” which the other man obviously doesn’t buy. 

 He tries not to be possessive when you start coming to the house again, but it’s fucking hard whenever he has to watch you and Erwin talk and joke around. Mike figured you’d be at least a little annoyed that he’d just walked in on the two of you like that, but you act like it never happened.

 Eventually, Mike has to ask about it, just can’t help himself. “Aren’t you, like, even a little mad that he did that? Don’t you think it was fucked up?”

 You’re sitting on Mike’s bed, a controller in your hand as you play Mario Kart, sound a little distracted when you respond, “I mean, yeah, it was fucked up, but I never really expected anything more from him.”

 “What do you mean?”

 You look at him from the corner of your eyes before staring at the screen again. “Erwin is a cocky motherfucker. I’ve seen the way he gets the girls on campus, probably thinks he can charm all of them which means he probably thinks he’s entitled to all of them. Us.”

 “Are you calling him a predator?”

 You shrug your shoulders. “I don’t think he’d ever, like, rape anyone. He at least has enough class and common sense not to do that. But I think… He doesn’t care who he goes after. Single girls, girls in relationships, happy girls, damaged girls. He just has a one track mind when it comes to sex. That’s what I’ve gathered anyway.”

 Laying back on his bed, Mike laces his fingers behind his head and thinks on what you’ve said. “That just sounds like a drawn out way of saying he’s a flirt.”

 “A massive flirt. Without any real care about whose feelings he hurts in the process.”

 “Sounds about right.”

 “I don’t appreciate it,” you sigh, “But he’s your best friend, so I’m willing to put up with some shit from him.”

 “Even him perving on you?”

 “Not the first time it’s happened to me, probably won’t be the last. He’s curious, I can tell.”

 Mike snorts and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, he is.”

 You stay quiet for several seconds, toggling over to another track on the game, then ask, “That make you uncomfortable?”

 Blinking up at the ceiling, Mike wonders what the right answer to this is. He doesn’t want to scare you away, but he doubts he’ll be able to act as aloof as you do. 

 “A little.”

 You hum, nodding in a thoughtful manner before suggesting, “I think we can keep hooking up through this semester.”

 Mike sits up on his elbow, looks at you with high eyebrows. “Wait, really?” He sounds too excited, he knows.

 “Yeah. I have mostly easy classes, or really, I have interesting ones which makes studying for them easier. Plus, it might teach Erwin a lesson.”

 He falls back flat, scoffing. “I don’t want you to fuck me to prove a point to Erwin. I want you to fuck me because you want to.”

 The game music stops when you pause it, and then you’re straddling Mike, hands on his chest as you smirk at him. 

 “Don’t let this go to your head, Zacharias, but no one has ever fucked me the way you do.”

 Mike tries not to grin, triumph blooming inside of him, and he grips your hips a little too tightly. “Oh, that’s definitely going to my head.” 

 You grind your covered pussy over his denim-clad cock, and Mike feels all his blood flow south.

 Laughing, you lean down to ghost your lips over his and murmur, “Both heads, apparently.”

 That day, the two of you start a routine that leaves Mike falling harder and harder with every passing day.

 *

 “Come on, please just be my date,” Mike begs, thinks about getting to his knees if it’ll help convince you.

 “Why?” You ask, looking up from your textbook.

 You and Mike are sitting in the library—you studying, him bothering you. “I’m honestly so tired of parties at this point.

 “It’s not like the big parties we throw, though,” he tells you. “It’s just the brothers and their girlfriends.”

 “That makes it even worse,” you push one little laugh through your nose. “What makes you think I wanna spend an entire night with a bunch of frat boys and their matching sorority girls?”

 Mike rolls his eyes. “They’re not all sorority girls, just like, eighty-five percent of them.”

 Your head lolls, an expression that reads nothing but apathy aimed at Mike, and he gives you a hopeful smile and adds, “On the bright side, we get to stay together all night…?”

 “Oh god, it's a cuff party, isn't it?" 

 All he can do at this point is beg because the more he explains it, the more he realizes how not appealing this is to you. “Please.”

 Sitting back in your chair, you cross your arms over your chest and puff your cheeks out as you exhale heavily. “What’s in it for me?”

 Fuck yes. Half the battle is won. 

 “Uhh,” obviously sex is the first thing that comes to Mike’s mind, so the first offer he makes is, “I’ll go down on you ‘til you cry.”

 You snort. “Try again.”

 “Fuck you ‘til you pass out?”

 “Jesus—why do you want to hurt me? Try again. Third time’s a charm.”

 Mike brainstorms for a solid thirty seconds, thinks about what you’ve mentioned to him over the past couple of weeks, sex and school and—

 “I’ll help you study for your geochemistry exam.”

 You finally look interested. “I’d actually really appreciate that. You took the course?”

 “Yeah, environmental geochemistry was sort of my jam last year. Final grade was a ninety-seven.”

 “Holy shit.”

 Mike shoots you a satisfied smile, but before you can tell him to wipe it from his face, he asks, “So, you’re in?”

 “I guess.”

 This is how you both end up in the frat house handcuffed together. No one seems to be surprised at the fact that you’ve come with him, all the brothers used to you hanging around the frat house.

 Most couples are walking around holding hands just because it takes some of the pressure off of everyone's wrists, but Mike doesn't dare try it with you. Too cute. Too comfortable. 

 These types of get togethers are Mike's favorite, though, always more relaxed than the open parties. There’s still drinking and music, but the energy is different since it’s a tighter knit group. 

 It takes about an hour for Erwin and his date to approach the two of you, fingers laced together, drinks in their free hands. 

 “Looking good,” Erwin greets with a smile. "Very… trapped." 

 “Yeah, you too,” Mike says, trying to ignore the subtext of Erwin's comment.  

 Blue eyes flick to you, and you’re questioned, “How’d he end up talking you into this?”

 You don’t miss a beat as you reply cooly, “Bribed me with sex and study help.”

 “Ah, of course he did.”

 Mike’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything, just reaches his pinky out to link with yours, a subtle claim. When you rest your head on his arm, he looks down at you and smirks. 

 “Anyway,” Erwin pushes on. “You remember Maddie, don’t you?”

 Mike lies, “Yeah. How are you?”

 The girl’s voice reminds him of who she is, “Well. How are you, Mike?” It’s a little high pitched and nasally with a northern accent. He especially remembers what she sounded like moaning for Erwin through the wall, obnoxious but Mike can’t really judge since he’s subjected the rest of the house to the same thing once or twice (or a dozen times) before.  

 “Glad to hear it.”

 The group stands together for a few more awkward seconds before Erwin clears his throat and asks his date, “Another drink?” then makes his exit. 

 “You have got to get over this grudge, dude,” you take your head from his shoulder, and Mike immediately misses the warmth. “Like, it’s cute that you’re trying to defend my honor or whatever, but it’s time to move on. You guys are friends. Just talk it out.”

 He sucks his teeth, almost tells you about the way he and Erwin had nearly thrown punches at the ranch house, the way the blond had basically admitted to wanting to try you out, but Mike decides against it, doesn’t want to talk too much shit only to end up making up with him.

 “Guys don’t really talk it out. We usually fight it out.”

 “That’s fucking primitive. You should learn to communicate like mature humans.”

 “Probably,” Mike hums. “But not right now.”

 Being connected to each other means every activity is a partner activity. The most interesting is playing beer pong against Nile and his on-again off-again girlfriend, Marie, house rule for the night being whoever is throwing has to use their cuffed hand. It’s like a twisted three-legged race and requires an amount of teamwork and coordination Mike has never had to deal with before. 

 It’s also the first time he manages to beat Nile. Mike had no doubt that the other man would have crushed you by himself, but it turns out the actual couple does not work together very well. All their shots are clumsy, and Nile gets frustrated right off the bat which only makes things worse. Meanwhile, you and Mike come up with a strategy after the first terrible throw and use it for the rest of the game. 

 You’re both challenged by a few other teams and end up winning every time which has Mike feeling smug about the victories and giddy at how in-tune the two of you are. Gelgar even tells you both, “You guys are good together,” which makes Mike cough as you wave him off.

 You drink a little more, converse a little more, and then—as always—end up in Mike’s bedroom. 

 “You want me to get the key and take these off?” He asks between kisses.

 You smile into him, let out a little laugh and play, “You don’t think it’d be kinda fun to fuck with ‘em on?”

 “It’ll be harder,” Mike snorts. “But, we can. Won’t be able to take shirts off, though.”

 “Good thing we just need to take our pants off.”

 It’s clumsy and silly, and you both tug in opposite directions more than a few times. Mike laces his fingers with yours when he goes down on you, relishing in the way you arch off his bed and squeeze his hand. On the floor, you give him head in the same fashion, and fuck, Mike can hardly focus on you sucking him off while your fingers are woven together, even if it is just for the sake of convenience. 

 He fucks you from behind that night, your face buried in his pillow as he’s buried in you. Both of your arms are stretched behind your back, held at the wrists by Mike’s much, much larger hand. He uses his free one to grip your hip, pushing and pulling you on his cock to his heart’s desire. 

 You’re so pretty, damp with sweat and moaning his name when your head is turned only to shove it back into his pillow when he makes you scream. Your dripping cunt opens up for him perfectly, making Mike feel more inebriated than alcohol ever could, but as his balls tighten and that warmth spreads in his gut, he has a single moment of clarity, assess the position he has you in and pants, “Shit, I can’t pull out.” Not without ripping your god damn arm out of socket or fracturing his dick. 

 “Mmm—fuck, just come inside, come inside me, Mike.”

 That alone makes him lose it, shooting a fucking copious amount of cum into your pussy, so much that it drips from your hole and runs down your thighs. 

 “Fucking C-Christ,” he laughs a little hysterically, gathering thick white and slipping it back inside you. Transfixed by the way his added finger pushes more of his cum out of you, he asks in a daze, “You on birth control?”

 “Yeah,” you answer in a breathy voice.

 Mike hums. “Good. Just gonna sit here for a while then.”

 You let out a whimper that turns to a whine when he rubs his slick finger over your clit. Twitching around him, you tease, “F-finger painting again?”

 He chuckles, “You know it.” 

 Honestly, if he could cover you in cum, he would—admire your body painted in white strings, watch it drip down your ribs and thighs. If Mike hadn’t just gotten off, he would be hard again at the mere thought, but for now his focus is rubbing your little clit. Still face down, you spread your legs more and more, and Mike has to curl over you, breathing heavily on your neck as you wriggle and buck, overstimulating him as he keeps his cock nestled inside of you.

 He groans just as loud as you do as you start pulsing around him, pussy clenching in a way that actually pulls a few more drops of cum from Mike, then you both pant for a little while until Mike straightens up and pulls you with him, your back to his chest as you hang your head. 

 “You good?” He questions, brushing his lips over your neck as lightly as possible.

 “Yeah,” you tell him. “Just… Full.”

 Mike’s body heats all over again as he rests his forehead on your uppermost vertebrae. “Can’t just say stuff like that,” he warns, sinking his teeth into your shoulder.

 “Hmm.” He can see the little smile on your face without even looking up. “You did offer to fuck me until I pass out.”

 “I have a refractory period, you know.”

 You glance over your shoulder, and now Mike gets a good look at your smirk and twinkling eyes. “I can wait.”

 Both of you emerge from the room in the early hours of the morning, still stuck together as you quietly make your way downstairs to find the key to the handcuffs. You’re wearing a pair of Mike’s gym shorts, the mesh falling far past your knees and barely staying up around your waist. He knows you’re still messy and can tell by the way you’re walking that you’re sore, but he has every intention of cleaning you up and taking care of all your aches and pains in the shower. 

 *

It’s party after god damn party with classes and studying and fucking in between. You have never had this much sex in your life, but you’re not complaining. It takes the edge off, and Mike isn’t the worst company. Far from it, actually. The more you get to know him, the more he falls into what you think is his real personality. 

 The brash frat boy is a front, you come to find out, a mask to fit in with everyone else, one he wears very well. 

 But, when it’s just the two of you in his room playing video games or watching TV, he actually relaxes, gets quieter and much more reflective. The pastels and khakis and Hawaiian shirts stay hung up in his closet, both of you lounging in t-shirts and joggers more often than not.

 He more or less tutors you in geochemistry, and between that and all the nerd shit in his room, you realize… Mike is kind of extremely smart. And, it’s kind of extremely hot.

 “I still don’t understand why you hide it,” you tell him one afternoon as you watch him play Ocarina of Time. 

 He shrugs, green eyes wide and focused on the screen, gives you the same answer he did last semester when you’d asked a similar question: “People are more interested in other things.”

 “So you adopted the obnoxious frat boy persona?”

 “I guess. It makes the college experience a lot easier.”

 You cock your head to the side, genuinely curious when you ask, “Doesn’t it wear you out? Seems like you’re just an introvert in hiding.”

 Mike laughs, pauses the game, and looks at you. “It used to. Some days it still does. But, it’s easier than taking shit from the guys.”

 Squinting at him, you mumble, “I will beat up anyone who gives you shit about being a nerd.”

 It makes him laugh. Loudly. And, you see a certain curiosity glimmering in his eyes, unasked questions—probably something along the lines of when you started caring and getting protective over him. 

 You’re not. Not exactly. You just don’t like the idea of anyone giving him a hard time. 

 “No offense, babe, but I don’t know how much damage you could inflict on anyone. You’re, like, two feet tall.”

 You straighten up, chest puffing up as you pull your fists up to your chin and rock back and forth like a Street Fighter character. “You wanna fuckin’ go, Zacharias? I’ll show you how much damage I can inflict.”

 He grins in that boyish way that always makes you look away. It’s too cute and too charming and makes you feel too many things. 

 Mike hangs his long legs over the side of the bed and pulls you on top of him with no problem whatsoever. You’re eye level with him now, heart beating too fast as you hold his shoulders, eyes flicking to his lips. 

 “We can go if you want. We can do whatever you want.”

 He has feelings for you. You know he does, can see it in his eyes, can feel it in the way he fucks you, and you really should cut things off, but… You don’t want to. He’s the most tolerable person you’ve met on campus, much less annoying than Hitch. You have things in common and joke around until you’re both rolling in laughter. And, of course, the sex is incredible. 

 It’s just casual, you keep telling yourself. Mike is smart enough not to push things. He knows better, knows you’ll just turn him down, and though it’s hard to admit, that wouldn’t just hurt him; it’d hurt you too.

 In his lap now, you don’t encourage him to take things further, mostly because you’re still sore from the night before, and he understands that. Instead, you lock your arms around his neck and change the subject to something that’s still bothering you even after several weeks.

 “Have you and Erwin made up yet?”

 Mike makes a face, answers, “Not exactly.”

 “The hell does that mean?”

 “It means we’re talking a little more, but it’s always short conversations and the problem still hasn’t been addressed.”

 You let out a little, “Ugh,” then state, “You guys are impossible.”

 It really doesn’t make sense that he’s so upset about it, especially since you’ve gotten over it. It was a shitty thing for Erwin to do—walking in like that—but you don’t think it’s anything to end a friendship over.

 And, with that thought in mind, you spend the rest of the afternoon devising a plan. It’s not in your nature to meddle, but it seems, in this case, you’re gonna have to.

 *

 Mike is in his fancy ecology class when you walk into the Pike house, nodding at everyone in the den as you step further inside. You learned a few months ago that it’s much safer to keep your shoes on, less jarring to step on a sticky floor the first years didn’t do a good job cleaning. 

 Nile is reclining sideways on the couch with Marie between his legs, an action movie playing on the ridiculously big TV mounted on the wall. 

 “Is Erwin here?” You ask.

 Nile looks at you with a frown, one that’s completely warranted since you’ve literally never asked this before. 

 “Uh, yeah.” He points up at the ceiling. “In his room.”

 “Cool, thanks.”

 “You know which one it is?”

 Squeezing one eye shut, you’re honest when you tell him, “I think so.”

 The way Marie is quick to pipe up, “Second furthest to the left, right next to the bathroom,” is very amusing, especially when Nile clicks his tongue, clearly irritated.

 You make your way upstairs, following Marie’s directions, then take a deep breath before knocking on Erwin’s door, clueless as to what his lock code might be.

 It takes a few seconds, but the door opens, revealing a very tired-looking Erwin. His eyes widen a bit when he sees you, craning his neck back like he’s shocked that you’re standing outside of his room. That’s fair.

 “Uh, hey?”

 “Hey,” you greet shortly. “Can we talk for a sec?”

 Erwin blinks a few times then steps to the side, murmuring, “Yeah, of course.”

 His space is very different from Mike’s, more organized, framed pictures, bed completely made. Even his desk is clean, papers and books all stacked neatly on one side of his open laptop.

 “Studying?” You question.

 “Yeah. Would you like to sit down?” His voice is deep—not as deep as Mike’s—and always so proper, like he spent his childhood in country clubs (he did). 

 “Not really,” you answer without any hesitation.

 Unsurprisingly, Erwin leans against his desk instead of taking a seat himself, arms on either side, fingers hanging off the edge of the polished wood. It makes the muscles in his forearms become more prominent, veins popping against his skin. You have to give it to him, it’s a good move. 

 “So, what’s going on?”

 Running your tongue over your teeth, you recall what you planned to say—cut to the chase, stay firm, don’t get caught up in any of his tricks. 

 “You need to make up with Mike.”

 Erwin immediately snorts. “You don’t think I’ve tried?”

 “Half-assed apologies aren’t gonna work, dude. Actually sit down with him and hash things out.”

 “Yeeeah,” he drawls. “That didn’t work very well the first time.”

 “Maybe try again? You guys are, like, best friends.”

 “Levi is my best friend,” Erwin corrects, “And, I’m pretty sure that you’re Mike’s at this point.”

 “Don’t say that.”

 “It’s true,” he smirks.

 You wave him off, getting back to your original point. “At the very least, you guys should make up just because you have to live in the same house.”

 Erwin crosses his arms over his chest, blue eyes deviating upward as if he’s thinking hard. You doubt he is.

 “So, you’re not mad about what happened?” He asks after a few seconds. 

 You're blunt when you respond, “It was a shitty thing to do. Wouldn’t advise trying it with anyone else, but honestly, I’m not super surprised you’d pull something like that.”

 His facial expression turns to one of true offense, blond eyebrows furrowing enough for a little wrinkle to form between them. “Excuse me?”

 You take a step toward him, almost jab a finger in his chest but resist. “No no no. You don’t get to be pissed. You’re the one who fucked up here. I’m just telling you the truth.”

 Eyes narrowing, he pushes himself off the desk, standing to his full height to loom over you. It’s obviously an intimidation tactic, one he’s probably used before on many people, and it makes your blood boil. 

 In a futile attempt to make yourself look bigger, you straighten your spine and tilt your head to look up at him, lips pursed, eyes narrow. You remember what Mike said about you being too small to hurt anyone, but you can be scrappy. You’re not above slapping a face or kneeing someone in the balls. 

 Erwin peers down at you, jaw setting for a moment as he really studies you, then breaks into an infuriating smile. 

 “You’re cute, you know that?” He moves to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, but you swat his hand away. 

 “Jesus, what is wrong with you?”

 This close to him, seeing the way he acts behind closed doors, you wonder how Mike ever even got close with him. They’re so incredibly different. For the last semester and a half, you've only known Erwin as Mike's somewhat obnoxious, spoiled friend. Now, it seems he's showing his true colors.

 “Nothing’s wrong. In fact, I’m feeling pretty great right now.”

 Oh, you wanna hit him. You wanna hit him so badly, but honestly, Erwin kind of seems like the type to call the fucking police if you did. 

 “You don’t have any reason whatsoever to be feeling good.”

 He’s still grinning, eyes bright and wide as his pupils dilate. 

 Are you calling him a predator?

 He sure looks like one now, a lion with his sights set on an antelope, and as you stare at him, it dawns on you that this was a bad idea. 

 “You know what? Nevermind,” you shake your head. “You don’t deserve to be Mike’s friend anyway.”

 The laugh that pours from his lips is not at all humorous. His voice drops when he challenges, “You think so?”

 You need to leave, need to get out of here before this argument goes any further, but as you make a move toward the closed door, he slides in front of you. You shouldn’t have walked so far into his room.

 “Erwin,” you grit through your teeth. “Don’t do this.”

 “Just tell me—because I need to know—” he breathes, still staring down at you with that unnerving gaze. “What does Mike have that you like so much?”

 Both your hands flex by your sides. There are so many ways to answer this question, all of which will evoke a different response. 

 But being who you are, you speak before you think, spitting the first thing that comes to mind: "You want me to make you a list, Smith? 'Cause I sure fucking can."

 He makes a little circle with his hand, a 'go on' motion, and prompts, "Please, enlighten me."

 And, so you do. 

 "Warmth, sincerity, class, depth, understanding—"

 "So, it isn't just about the sex," he cuts you off, sounding more sure than curious. 

 You pinch the bridge of your nose, tired of these god damn frat boys and their obsession with getting their dicks wet.  

 "I mean, it started out that way—not that it's any of your business."

 "I can give you more, you know. Satisfy you better—"

 "Please shut the fuck up," you beg, getting madder by the second. The confidence, the entitlement, is making you sick. 

 "You don't believe me?" He steps toward you again, and you back up. 

 "No, I don't." Because how could he? Whether it's stimulating conversation or sex, there's no way Erwin could compare. 

 And now you realize just how much you appreciate Mike. 

 Erwin is closing the distance between you, moving slowly but purposefully. "This is how it started with you and him, right? You made him chase you?" 

 "Get out of my way," you demand, trying to shoulder past him—

 And, you should have seen it coming, should have been prepared for the way he grabs you, strong hand closing around your upper arm to pull you to his body. Thick fingers tangle in your hair to pull your head back, face tilted up, and all you can really do is shove at his chest with your free hand, growling in your throat as Erwin crushes his lips against yours. 

 Adrenaline courses through your body. You try to shake the hand on your head, try to jerk your arm from his grip, but he's too fucking strong, and it terrifies you. 

 Your voice is muffled as you plead, "Er—mmf—shtp—"

 You lift your hand higher and manage to hit him just beside his eye with the side of your palm, and it makes him break the "kiss" (you refuse to actually call it that).

 He breathes a heavy, "Just let me—"

 "No." You push his chest again, and he lets go of your arm. Quickly wiping your mouth with the back of your hand, you tell him, "You're a shitty friend and a little fucked in the head, but you're not low enough to force yourself on someone," you pant, shaking with nerves and rage, "So don't."

 Hopefully, you're not giving him too much credit. Despite the overflowing fury and fear, you still think there's a little hope for him. Not with you, of course, just in general.

 He stares at you, expression changing from confusion to understanding to regret, and before you know it, he's scrubbing his hands down his face and muttering, "Fuck, I'm sorry. You're right I—I got carried away. I've been jealous of Mike and curious and—"

 "Why?" You blurt because you do not get it. "Both of you are, like, top athletes and in a fraternity, could get literally anyone you wanted, so what is it? Is it because I'm a nobody? Because you're bored of the sorority girls? Am I the one chick on your list you haven't screwed?" 

 "I… I don't know. You just—"

 "Is it because Mike has a toy he doesn't wanna share?"

 "Maybe." Erwin is frowning again, like he's stumped. He doesn't even know what he's feeling. It's honestly a little pathetic. 

 "Well, pick someone else. I know you have Maddie wrapped around your finger, so take advantage of that or whatever. Just leave me out of it."

 Ocean eyes are wide and troubled. He really does look remorseful, but that doesn't change what he just fucking did. God, you're disgusted. And a little hurt. 

 "Don't ever try that shit on me again—or anyone else—'cause I swear to God, I will break your fucking nose."

 "Yeah, okay," he nods.

 You go to walk past him again, voice loud and unforgiving when you tell him, "Move," and then you're out of his room, slamming the door, and getting as far from Pike house as possible.

 That did not go the way you had planned it to, but you should have been ready for the worst case scenario. That's on you, you guess. 

 Because Erwin Smith may not be a predator by definition, but he's certainly something—something you want to stay away from. 

*

"Why are you acting weird?" Mike's voice pulls you from your empty head, and you take your eyes off the loose string of your hoodie—his hoodie—and look up at him. 

 "What are you talking about? 'm not acting weird."

 He moves from his place at the edge of his bed and crawls to prop himself up next to you on his pillows. 

 "Uh, yeah you are. Have been for the past week or so."

 He isn't wrong. You've kept to yourself a little more since your "conversation" with Erwin. It had just been so uncomfortable and jarring, and you don't want to tell Mike because you know he'll just get pissed all over again which would be very annoying since he and Erwin finally made up. Just like you wanted them to. 

 Except now you know Erwin a little better, and you're not sure you want him having any more influence over Mike. 

 Rubbing your face, you shrug and easily lie, "I've just been tired."

 And, of course, Mike is too smart for that. 

 "Tired? That's the go-to answer for anyone who actually feels shitty."

 "I mean, yeah, but I'm actually tired in this case." It isn't a complete lie considering how fucking late he kept you up last night. 

 Mike hums. "Wanna take a nap before the party?" 

 The acid in your stomach churns. The party. The one you do not have any desire to go to. The one that will push you over the ledge of annoyance and into the realm of genuine discomfort. You don't want to go. You don't want to hang out. You don't want to see Erwin. 

 Sliding your legs under the covers, you lay down in Mike's bed, turning on your side so that your back is facing him. You've told him on numerous occasions that you don't have any interest in certain events, but he always talks you into going to them anyway. So, what'll be different this time? You're just gonna end up downstairs huddled in a corner refusing to drink as your eyes scan over everyone, ready to make a quick exit if you have to. 

 Mike settles in closer behind you, the heat of his chest pouring across your back, and you can feel the pillow dip when he rests his head on it. He waits for a while before letting his arm fall over your waist. It makes you squeeze your eyes shut, makes something crawl into your throat, trying to scratch its way out. 

 "I really don't wanna go tonight," you murmur.

 You expect some form of protest, a convincing argument in the form of a well thought out fucking speech while he kisses down the back of your neck, but instead, a low rumble of, "Okay," spills from his mouth, and you hate how it makes you feel—how grateful you are for him. 

 He's getting to know you. Has gotten to know you after spending so much time together. He can read your ups and downs now, can tell when you're joking or serious, take the hint when you want him with a single look (that one might be the most irritating), but it just goes to show how perceptive he is, how much of himself he's been hiding while in college. 

 The shallow jock you thought you knew is no comparison for this. 

 "Spring break's coming up," he speaks into your hair, inhaling deeply and whispering to himself, "Citrus kills me," like you can't hear him. 

 You pretend not to because it's soft and personal and would probably make him adorably self-conscious, and you can't deal with Mike blushing. 

  "Yeah, it is. Couple more weeks." 

 "What're your plans?" 

 You shrug against him, trying not to get too wrapped up in the way his body feels over yours, longer legs tangling between yours, his draped hand nearly covering your entire stomach, his stubble scratching your neck and cheek. 

 When did you get this close? When did you decide it was okay to be this intimate? This is what couples do. This is comfort. 

 And, you didn't think you needed it, but fuck—

 "Nothing, really. Go see Mom, I guess."

 "Come stay with me," he says quickly. "Just for a few days."

 You wriggle to turn on your back and frown up at him as a myriad of questions fill your mind. 

 Mike takes a deep breath, somehow reading every one of them. 

 "I know that sounds like a 'come meet my parents' thing, but I promise it's not. I just thought it'd be cool to hang out not at school and not at a party. Plus," he shows a broad grin. "You can meet Scout."

 "Mm, tempting," you laugh. "I do like dogs."

 "And, you'll love her! She's so sweet and so goofy and—"

 "I'll think about it," you stop him. 

 Mike bites his lip, looking hopeful, but tries to play it off with a, "Okay, cool," then leans down to kiss you as if you've already said yes. 

 Honestly, you have, just not out loud. He had you at 'hanging out'. 

 *

Studying sucks. Midterms suck. Avoiding parties, however, does not suck. Mike still goes to most of them, kind of has to considering they're usually thrown at the PKA house, but sometimes he just shows his face then comes to your dorm. You try to convince him to stay, hang out with his friends, but he usually just shrugs and digs through your stash of movies until he finds something he wants to watch. 

 It's fine with you, makes passing geochem a lot fucking easier, but it also means little sleep and a perpetual soreness between your legs. 

 You just… Can't get enough of each other. And, you think that's how it's always been since that first party. Afterward, you had denied him in the courtyard and then broke as soon as he got into your room to get his stupid shirt. Denied him at the bar then broke as soon as he leaned over you at the pool table. Denied him at the after-game party and broke after… Seeing his room? Watching movies? Acting like friends for the first time? Whatever it is, you're always falling into bed together, some kind of unstoppable force against your obviously very movable object. 

 It's something you think about too much now, always somewhere in the back of your head. At this point, you should probably just be with him, don't know who you're kidding with that lie about focusing on school (your grades have never been better actually), but you're scared. That's really what's been hard to admit to yourself, not the fact that you're attracted to him or the fact that your irritation has bloomed into genuine fondness and admiration. It's that's you're fucking terrified. You can feel it in your bones. 

 Don't get too attached because people leave. All the time. People let you down. People disappoint. 

 You don't want Mike to disappoint you, so you won't give him the chance to. 

 Of course, all of that is easier said than done as you look over at him in the Wrangler, one huge hand pn the wheel as his other arm hangs out of the open window, catching the wind that batters against it like he's trying to push back. You hate it when he does that, too many horror stories of car crashes that end in traumatic amputations, but it's one of Mike's strange simple pleasures, makes him grin as if it's his head hanging out instead. At his core, Mike Zacharias is just a huge fucking puppy dog. 

 A dubstep song from too long ago is blasting through his speakers, the vibrations hitting you square in the chest as you bounce your leg and bob your head. It's beautiful outside, winter's bite melting away into sunny springtime days. Some of them still bring a chill to the air, but it doesn't matter since you basically live in one of Mike's hoodies, dark green with the school's lacrosse logo stamped in the middle. It's faded and worn out and far too big on you, but it's quite possibly the most comfortable article of clothing you've acquired. 

 The drive to his parents' house is a good three hours, but between the playlist he's made (stellar, not that you'd admit it), the road games you play, and the road head you give him ("Oh, Jesus Christ, this isn't safe—this isn't safe—fuck—") you make it there in one piece and in good spirits, though you have take a few drinks of the soda you got at the convenience store to wash the residue of cum out of your mouth before meeting his god damn family. 

 He grabs both your bags from the backseat, slinging them over his shoulders, then starts up the path to a… surprisingly small home. It isn't a shack by any means, but after what you saw of Erwin's stupid ranch house and some of the pictures and stories Nile and Gelgar have subjected you to, you just kind of figured all of them had ridiculous amounts of money. 

 Then again, you know Mike got a full ride to college with a sports scholarship, and he rarely talks about his family and their lifestyle aside from Scout and little tales from his childhood—trips to the zoo, the one time he rode a dirt bike and broke his collarbone, he and his dad rescuing an injured bunny from the park. 

 You should've known back then that you'd get in too deep. 

 The small garden that lines the house is well-kempt and full of blooming flowers, and the porch is home to a wire table and matching chairs with an unsavory gnome sitting on top.  

 "What in the world…"

 Mike doesn't even glance to see what you're looking at, just opens the screen door and informs you, "That's Leonidas," so casually that it makes you snort and push him into his own house. 

 It opens up to a living room, long couch, recliner, coffee table and all. A TV sits right in the middle of a beige entertainment center, DVDs stacked on one side, blu-ray discs on the other. It smells clean—like the lemon wipes you use in your dorm—but even stronger than that is the smell of food. 

 "Must already be cooking," Mike muses, then calls out in a different fucking language that has you turning to him in confusion. 

 Before you can ask about it, a plump woman a couple inches taller than you comes rushing out of what you assume to be the kitchen. Her graying hair is tied into a loose bun, cheeks rosy from the heat, and she's still in her apron and a single oven mitt. 

 "Miche, γλυκό μου αγόρι!" 

 She stops in front of him and reaches up to grab his face, peppering it with little kisses and babbling words you do not understand in the slightest. 

 Mike is laughing, speaking to her in the same fashion, possibly answering questions or defending himself judging by the way he holds his hands up. You think you have an inkling about why when his mother turns to you, puts her hands on your shoulders to look at you, then pulls you into a tight hug. 

 You squeeze her right back, rocking to and fro as she does, then look up at Mike from the corner of your eyes in a panic. 

 What do you do, what is happening, what hasn't he told you? 

 It’s about this time that a large dog runs into the room and actually jumps into Mike’s arms. He grunts as he hoists Scout up, nuzzling into her beautiful coat as she tries to lick his face.

 "Mamá, let her get settled first," Mike laughs from where he’s getting attacked. His mother lets go of you, but it’s only for Mike to set the dog back down, and Scout takes the opportunity to sniff and paw at you. “Be nice,” he warns her, pulling you in front of him and pushing you toward the hallway.

 That need to snoop around is ever present as you enter his room, but the much more pressing issue is, "You could've prepared me, ya' know. Given me a little heads up that you're…"

 "Greek?" He snorts, wiping his face with the bottom of his shirt. "My last name is Zacharias. That's a pretty good indicator."

 "I—..." You pause, pout, then mumble, "I'm not a genealogy expert."

 "Obviously not."

 He dumps the bags on his bed, a queen size, thank god, because he had told you last week they didn't have a guest room (and had seemed pretty happy about it at the time). 

 "I'll get mom and dad to speak in English for the next few days." 

 "I mean," you shake your head. "It's their house. I don't wanna intrude on that. Let 'em do what they're most comfortable with."

 He steps over to you, makes his classic move of staring down at you and smoothing his hand over your hair to make you tilt your head up. "That's sweet, but I know they're dying to talk with you, so actually being able to understand what they’re saying is kinda necessary."

 Humming, you stand on your tip-toes just as he begins to stoop lower. Before you can meet in a kiss, though, you smirk, "And, just why do they wanna get to know me, Miche? Is that a secret Greek name too?”

 He licks his lips, voice husky when he replies, "I've mentioned you a few times--”

 “Uh huh,” you smirk, too close for him to actually see.

 “And no, I think it’s Hebrew or something.” 

 You snicker before your mouths meet, breaths grow heavy, and the only time you break apart is so that you can look him in his light eyes and tell him, "By the way, the whole speaking a different language thing you can do?" He grunts, encouraging you to continue. "Very hot."

 You feel him smile against you, a self-satisfied, "Yeah?" making you burn against him. 

 "Yeah."

 It's hard to leave the room, but you both know you have to, hoping neither of you look too kiss-swollen when you walk back into the living room, and when Mike's mom is no longer there, he brings you to the kitchen instead. 

 "Smells good," he tells her, leaning over the stove and taking a whiff of the prepared dish that’s been set on top--stuffed tomatoes and peppers that make your mouth water.

 She says something, and Mike lets her finish before asking, "Can we speak in English while she's here? It's kinda hard to add to a conversation when you, like, don't know what's being said."

 "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She immediately gushes, turning to you with a worried look. Her accent is thick and charming, but she doesn't ever stutter, clearly fluent, just more comfortable in her apparently native language. "I just get so caught up when my Miche comes home, I—"

 And, she's hugging you again. 

 "I'm Maia! Christopher—Miche's father—should be home soon."

 You rub Maia's back until she lets go and turns back to the stove, but even as she does, she's asking you, "How is school? What are you studying? Miche's told me very few things."

 He shouldn't have told you anything at all, you want to say. 

 "Um, it's good. I'm an earth sciences major, geology specifically, so Mike—uh—Miche's been helping me study a lot."

 He leans down to speak so only you can hear, "Not necessary to call me that. She's gonna know who you're talking about when you say Mike."

 Not that you'll tell him, but you kind of like the way 'Miche' feels, the way it rolls from your lips to the back of your mouth, and for just one second, you think about how you'd like to moan it in his ear. 

 "So, uh," you shake your head in an attempt to get it back on straight. "Yeah, it's going good, I think."

 "It is nice that you study together," Maia hums, slicing into the dish to portion it out. "Miche probably enjoys the break from his fraternity life." 

 Mike makes an unsure noise, but you grin and lean on the counter, eyes shining as you look at the middle-aged woman, "You know, speaking of that, I need to know what he was like before the whole frat thing 'cause—"

 "Uhh, we don't need to talk about that," Mike quickly cuts you off. 

 Maia, however, catches your eye and winks, a silent promise that she'll fill you in later. 

 Mike sees it, whines a dramatic, "Mamá, please."

 You laugh, glancing over at him with a devious smile that makes him roll his eyes and grumble something. 

 The creak of a door opening followed by the sound of a screen slamming back against the frame signals the arrival of Mike's father. It takes him a couple minutes to join everyone in the kitchen, probably taking the time to get more comfortable after what you assume to be a long day. 

 When he does walk in, once styled hair fallen out of place, top two buttons of his shirt undone, you see exactly where Mike gets most of his looks. He may have gotten his fucking mane from his mother, but he definitely got his height and his eyes from his father. 

 "Oh!" He stops short when he sees you, looks at his wife, then at you, then at Mike. "Is this the girl?" 

 "Dad!" 

 Both of his parents snicker as he turns to you, pleading more than telling, "Just ignore them, they don't know what they're talking about."

 You don't pay him any mind, join in on the fun when you lift an eyebrow and tease, "Am I, Mike? Am I the girl?"

 "Oh my god, this is gonna be a nightmare," he groans, the tips of his ears growing red. Still, he tries to put on a stern face as he points at his parents, speaks in beautiful, rolling words that are beyond you, then turns his flashing gaze to you and commands, "And you, don't encourage them."

 "Mm, no promises." You stick the tip of your tongue between your teeth and wink at his mom the way she had at you earlier. 

 All of you sit at an actual table for dinner, something you haven't done in at least a decade, as you talk and laugh between bites of food. Scout is laying underneath, waiting for someone to drop a piece of food, and every once in a while, you feel her wet nose nudge against your calf.

 Maia and Chris are very kind and very funny, and it isn't just because they pick on their son all the time. Chris talks about his day in the office, complaining about coworkers the same way Mike complains about his brothers—"I just don't understand why you would eat sardines in the break room! Someone explain it to me!" Maia tells everyone about the three hour phone call with her mother—"My god that woman can talk. Every time we said goodbye, she would just start on something new!"

 "Explains where you get it from," Chris says with a chuckle. 

 Maia scoffs then stabs a piece of his food with her fork, eating it with purpose as her husband watches. 

 You lean over to Mike and murmur, "They're cute. I like 'em."

 He grunts. "That makes one of us."

 Sucking your teeth, you mimic his mother's actions and dig your fork into the meat of his pepper, stealing a bite and scraping your teeth over the utensil in a way you know drives him crazy. 

 You immediately regret it when you realize how big the piece is, filling your mouth so that it's hard to chew, and you grab a napkin to cover yourself while Mike snorts and smugly says, "Yeah, bet you feel real smart right now. How does thievery taste?" 

 Shoving his arm, you manage to swallow down enough of the food to talk and tell him, "Tastes delicious."

 When you look back across the table, you find Maia and Chris staring at you and Mike with shining eyes and matching grins. 

*

You get along well with Mike's parents. A little too well in his opinion. There are a couple mornings you wake up earlier than he does and share coffee with his mother. He'll walk in to hear her sharing terrible stories about how, "He was such a sensitive little boy," and, "I miss the days he and his friends would spend afternoons here playing their little games."

 She even breaks out the photo albums one evening after dinner, leaving Mike mortified as you laugh and 'aww' at the pictures of past birthdays, Boy Scout outings, and the horrors of middle and high school. 

 "Look how cute you are with braces!"

 "Please stop."

 "All dressed up for Easter, oh my god, are those bunny ears?" 

 "Mom made me."

 "You were so skinny. What happened?" 

 "Are you calling me fat?" 

 "No, I'm calling you buff. Dummy."

 Less embarrassing are the long walks the two of you take with Scout (who also loves you, of course). She stays close to your hip as you wander around the park, only leaving your side when you throw her favorite ball. At the house, she noses at you until you shift to let her lay either at your feet or on the couch with her big head in your lap. 

 It's the cutest fucking thing Mike has ever seen, and he hates it because he can't do anything about it. He can't tell you how much he likes seeing you walk around in his house. He can't tell you how much joy it brings him to hear your laugh ring out alongside his parents'. He can't tell you how much he loves seeing you slide into his old bed in nothing but one of his shirts, making yourself comfortable against his chest and weaving your legs between his. 

 He can't tell you, but he can do his best to show you. 

 Late at night when his parents are asleep, when the buzzing TV is the only thing lighting the room, Mike moves inside of you with deep, slow thrusts. He hikes your legs up to lock around his waist or pulls you up against himself if he's taking you from behind. No matter the position, it leaves you clawing at him, breathing heavily, jaw dropping open in a silent scream. 

 You feel so good, so tight around him even after he gets you ready for his cock. Your silken walls squeeze and milk him, pulling every drop of cum from him to soak into you. Fuck, he's so glad you're letting him do that now, fill you up until you can't take any more, until white is dribbling from your messy pussy. The way you look at him all fucked out is intoxicating, eyes droopy, smile lazy, body twitching with aftershocks as he sucks on your neck and kisses down your shoulders. 

 You have to know. You have to. Mike knows his feelings are written all over his face when he looks at you, may as well be carved into his skin. The words are on the tip of his tongue every night, but he muffles them with kisses, with burying his face between your legs, with sinking his teeth into your soft flesh. 

 He can't say it because saying it makes it real. Saying it will make it hurt more. 

 So Mike keeps his mouth shut, watches you every day as you converse with his parents and play with Scout. You poke around his bedroom in your usual nosy fashion, finding the rest of his Magic cards, old D&D books and privacy screens. The dusty record player he'd inherited from his grandfather interests you above all else, vinyls stacked around it, some old, some new, and as you flip through them now, cross-legged on the floor and swimming in his hoodie, you tell him the little things you talked about with his mom earlier in the day. 

 "She showed me your baby teeth," you say with a snort. "Why do parents keep those? My mom did too."

 "Black Magic, obviously," Mike says seriously, but when you glance up at him, he chuckles. "I don't know, babe. It's fuckin' weird, though."

 You grin and look back down at The Alan Parsons Project vinyl in your lap. You're quiet for a moment, but when you do speak up, it's in a quiet voice. "I'm pretty sure they think I'm your girlfriend."

 Mike cringes on the bed, shutting his eyes and sighing. "Yeah, that's probably 'cause I told them you were." 

 "What?" You turn your whole body to face him, eyes wide and incredulous. 

 Sitting up, Mike holds his hands out and questions, "What was I supposed to tell them? Hey, mom and dad, I'm bringing home this girl I fuck at school all the time."

 "We don't just fuck," you scoff. "You could've said friend or… Study buddy."

 "Study buddies with benefits," he lets out a humorless laugh. "How many of those study sessions end with your mouth around my cock?" 

 "That's beside the point." You stand up and walk over to the bed, hands on your hips as you glare at him in an unconvincing manner. You're not actually upset, Mike realizes. A little annoyed maybe but more surprised than anything. "The point is they expect us to do couple-y things."

 "We do do couple-y things." Mike reminds you, rolling his eyes when you snicker and murmur 'ha, do do'. "Oh my god, you're a dork."

 "So are you. And, a dumb one. What happens when they find out we're not actually together? Are we gonna have to stage a break up somewhere down the line?" 

 "Stop worrying about it," Mike tries, reaching out for one of your arms to pull you on top of him. You must be very used to straddling him at this point. It seems like you're in his lap more often than you're not these days, even if the two of you are just talking. "Just chill and fake it for a little while longer."

 You pout, glancing to the wall for a second before you mutter, "Might be tough. I've never had to fake anything for you before."

 Mike groans and traces his fingers up your sides, stopping at your shoulders and using them to guide you closer to him. With your face only millimeters from his, he barely even has to whisper when he presses, "Fake it just this once."

 You nod, lips brushing his, and from there you both devolve into sloppy kisses and desperate hands. As always.

[ next ]

#mike zacharias x reader #miche zacharias x reader #aot x reader #aot fanfic #snk x reader #mels prima vista

[frosted-night]

Do you have any headcanons for cast as humans? I mean as a human au. (If this is too big of an ask thats fine)

BOY DO I

Let me just get my tome out n read y'all the lore I've made for no reason.

Jack

Left home after graduating to join a caravan and traveled across the country. He came back home after his parent's sudden deaths. He didn't want to leave his brother to deal with the estate by himself.

He still has his van from his adventures and he wants to paint it again to symbolize his new phase in life. It still has living accomdations inside it and Jack has little desire to change it.

He has a few tattoos, such as a hurricane symbol on his neck and a snowflake above one of his ankles. Jack also has a few ear piercings he did himself and he's surprisingly good at it.

If Jack isn't driving he travels by longboard. He had a skater boy phase but it payed off since he can still do a few tricks here and there.

(Sometimes I see human Jack either as cis or trans. It depends on how im feeling. A trans Human Jack post will be seperate from this one)

He's a skilled forager and grower since he had to do that as his years as a nomad. Jack wouldn't claim he's as skilled as Aster but he can be a runner up behind him.

Jack never had a solid relationship on the road. It was very fleeting feelings but he didn't seem to mind. Settling back down at his hometown had reawakened some buried feelings though.

He's fairly well known in his hometown for being a mischievous bastard in his teen years and his past with playing on the local hockey team.

Jack would describe his aesthetic as a love child of punk and free spirited hippie lifestyle.

He has unmedicated adhd

He's 6 or 7 years older than his younger brother Manny and it can make their relationship a bit strained. These days they are trying to mend it while taking care of their parent's old home.

His hair was originally brown but he bleaches it and dyes it white these days.

Manny (Mim)

He's one of the youngest in his friend group, beating Tooth by a few months.

Manny is the 2nd shortest, Sandy being the shortest.

Jack leaving home wasn't easy for him and after a while Manny fell out of contact. He regrets it to this very day but never stopped thinking about his big brother.

He has Thalassophobia, a fear shared with Jack, and Pitch teases him endlessly about it.

He's a natural blonde and his mom used to tell him that he got it from his dad's side of the family. Manny has yet to meet any of his extended family for some reason.

Cleaning out his parents house of their things was one of the hardest parts for him and would have been impossible if his friends didn't help him. (Jack coming home really changed the game too.)

He was a fairly average kid but had a streak of being kind of mean in school. It lasted until high school but he still carries that silver tongue between his teeth.

Tooth jokes about how often Manny visits the local aquarium and he deflects any guesses she makes. North knows Manny is crushing hard on a employee there and has a code word for the guy, "Ocean Man". Aster hums the song whenever he feels like he can poke fun of Manny.

His occupation is working at a pre-school/daycare. He's shockingly amazing with children and has considered a teaching position there but he has yet to decide on it.

Manny has been called a "night owl" by all his friends since his productivity increases when the sun goes down. Thats usually the time he gets to work on all the cleaning he's missed.

He currently lives in his childhood home with his brother. Thankfully their home was paid off by their parents so they just split the bills, but they have considered getting a roomie to help with the expenses.

His dream is to have any kind of a pool in his backyard but he has to wait til the finances balance themselves out.

Pitch

Was the newest person in the group before Jack joined. He's also one of the oldest.

His occupation is a horror novel writer and lives off of coffee even when hes not crunching to meet deadlines.

Pitch fights with insomnia but Sandy convinced him to start taking medication to help him sleep. He got kind of sick hearing Pitch make quick meals at 3am and tripping over his cat.

He has a cat named Onyx and he has that backpack with a window on it that he can put Onyx in. Onyx likes it very much and if she knows hes leaving somewhere she sits by the backpack and stares at him.

Halloween is when he's at his strongest. If he feels like it, he competes with North on who has the best decorations. Jack gave Pitch the idea of using dry ice and its a feature he brings back every other year or so.

He's one of the tallest people in the group, only coming a few inches shorter than North. Contrary to people asking him, he was never into basket ball and was was in the military for a period of time.

Pitch was living a hermit life until he was adopted into the group. With his wife long deceased and freshly dumped, he softly considers it a saving grace that everyone accepted him.

Katherine

An aspiring writer, she currently works at the neighborhood library. She finds it really relaxing since its sat right by a river bed.

She tries not to bug Pitch too much but on occassion she asks him to beta read her works. His criticism and tips energize her to get her works out there ten fold. Kat really wants to write fantasy, a little romance and a lot of kid's books.

Her favorite task at work is reading to kids. Shes an animated storyteller and the kids eat her antics up.

She was great friends with Jack when they were growing up but she followed his antics on a few of his accounts online.

She listens to a lot of rock music and punk pop due to North's influence when she was growing up. He's taken to her to her first concert and she treasures the merch and memories.

She gets around by bike because she hasn't gotten her lisence yet but North gives her lessons on the weekends. Kat's become a local cryptid because everyone has seen her whiz past on her bike at least once though.

A child(Jamie) she read to got her into cryptids and now she eats up any lore she can. They like to infodump on each other when they have the time.

This is post is long enough golly gosh. If y'all are interested i can post the others but for now take these samples. (The Hockey player Jack hc n ex military Pitch hc were influenced by a lovely fic written by my friends over at @bunnimew. Their fic is Surviving On Twinkies And Hope and i highly reccomend it)

#rise of the guardians #guardians of childhood #rotgoc #jackson overland frost #jack frost #jack frost rotg #man in the moon #man in the moon rotg #mim #mim rotg #pitch black rotg #pitch black #katherine shalazar #katherine rotg #headcanons #human au #heehee the ocean man thing is an inside joke

[cjtheghost-14]

After All These Years - Leo Valdez x Reader

Requests: None

Notes: For my first fanfiction I knew I had to do something for my favorite character in the world, Leo Valdez!

Summary: Years ago when you ran away from your dysfunctional family, you met Leo Valdez and quickly fell in love. But, it was not to be. You were torn apart from each other and theres a part of you that never recovered. Years later you live at Camp Half-Blood, being best friends with the legendary Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. When Percy goes missing the hole Leo left only grows, and when 3 mysterious demigods appear you are suspicious. But then you see Leo. 

Warnings:  Mental Abuse, Swearing, Angst,Depression, Dysfunctional Families, and tons of Fluff.

       Your boots hit the leaf ridden ground silently. Your heart pounding through your chest as you reposition your back pack on your shoulders. You take one last look at your old beaten down and paint chipped house before directing your attention to the path ahead of you. It was pitch black outside, save for the porch light leaking into the darkness beyond. You didn’t know what kind of creatures dwelled in the forest in front of you, but at this point it didn’t matter. After so many years of almost unbearable mental abuse from your (mortal parent), you were finally running away. The only destination in your mind was away. Away from this house of horrors. Away into the great beyond. It was edging into late fall now so you made sure to wear a coat, and pack a few spares too, along with rations, money, and water. You had to refrain from swiping your (mortal parents)’s credit card too, as those cards can be easily tracked. If theres one thing you didn’t want, it would be to come back to this house. 

You take one last deep breath, sucking in the cold night air, before suddenly sprinting away into the woods. Your feet crunch down on the dead leaves as you run. The farther away from the house you get the better you feel, so you speed up, darting through the trees in the dark. A soft laugh escapes your lips. It’s a sound you haven't heard yourself make in years, but the feeling is exhilarating. You laugh again, this time louder. The laughter fills your veins with pure bliss. It’s the happiest you’ve ever been. 

At least, until your boot snags on a tree root, sending you flying forward into the darkness. You put your hands in front of your face, bracing yourself for impact. You hit the ground hard, skidding through the fallen leaves. Then suddenly the ground isn’t there anymore. Your arms fly out and grab a root, sticking out of the cold earth. You look around and realize you're hanging out over a sinkhole. A strangled cry rips through your lungs as you see how deep it goes. The sensible thing to do is calm down and climb out, but your limbs are numb from the cold and the terror. Tears well up in your eyes as your life flashes before you. Your (mortal parent) always blamed you for your (godly parent) leaving, and made it known to the world. You never had a normal life, or a good one for that matter.

 Your hand starts slipping on the root but you're too distracted to notice. Then your cold fingers finally slip off of the root, but before you can fall you feel a warm hand wrap around your wrist. They pull you up and over the ledge of the sinkhole. You immediately stand up and stumble away from the edge, ensuring your safety. Then your eyes drift over to your savior, who’s holding a battery powered lantern that lights up the surrounding area. It’s a Latino boy your age, wearing a grease smeared army jacket. He has wild unruly black curly hair, pointed ears, warm brown eyes, and a mischievous grin creeping up onto his face.  

“That would have been quite the fall, huh?” He says.

“Yeah, I saw my life flash before my eyes.” You say, jokingly making a grimace. 

He chuckles and you smile at his reaction. You had always hid your pain behind humor, and it was an excellent strategy. It was also a plus to make others laugh when you could never yourself. 

“That bad? I can relate, that’s why I’m running away for the…” He trails off, silently counting before saying, “Third time, I think? I’m pretty much an expert by now. Now, what is a cutie like you doing out here?”

You blush slightly and reply with, “Same as you, running away. Except this is my first time.”

“Well…” He says, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “Since this is your first time and all, how about we stick together? I could show you the ropes.”

You think about it for a moment. Although, what is there to really think about? He seems trustworthy, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s incredibly handsome. “You know what? Let’s do it.”

His eyes widen, “W-woah, really? I didn’t really expect you to say yes.” Then his face splits into a giant grin, “My names Leo Valdez, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m (Y/N) (L/N).”

“Well, let me lead you to my campsite, mi princesa.” At that he takes your hand and starts to lead you through the dark forest. 

***

It had been a few weeks since you had met Leo Valdez, and those weeks had been the best weeks of your life. You had become best friends with him fairly quickly. He was just so funny, cute, and selfless. He had opened up to you about his past and his mother and in turn you opened up to him about your past. At this point he knew more about you than even your (mortal parent). You had to admit, you were falling in love with him. 

You were planning on telling him tonight, huddling around your nightly campfire. Your thoughts were interrupted by Leo finally getting the fire started and sitting next to you on the ground. You lean your head on his shoulder and he wraps his arms around you. The days were progressively getting colder and you two needed to keep warm so cuddling turned into a habit.  

“Hey, Leo?” You ask timidly.

“Yeah, mi princesa?” He responds. 

Leo had started using that name for you constantly. You secretly liked it, but every time he called you that you would simply say ‘stuff it, Valdez’. It was like a inside joke, and you loved it. You’ve never had a relationship like that with someone.

“I-I think I love you.” You say, deciding not to beat around the bush.

He immediately grabs your shoulders and spins you around to look at him. “(Y/N) please tell me this is one of your stupid ass jokes.” 

You scoff, “My jokes are better than yours, asshole.”

“So this really isn’t a joke?” He whispers.

You smile softly, “Not a joke.”

“I love you too.” He says.

He starts to lean down but freezes when sirens start. A group of policemen run into the clearing and yell, “There they are! It’s the runaways!” Before you can even get up off of the ground they pull you and Leo by your arms, leading you to separate squad cars. Your eyes widen as you yell, “Leo!”

Leo struggles against the policeman, but to no avail. “(Y/N)! I’ll find you! Don’t worry, I’ll got to the ends of the earth to fi-” He’s cut off when he’s thrown into he back of a police car. 

“Leo!” You yell again before your thrown into a police car yourself.

Years Later

You sit alone under a tree in Camp Half-Blood, mulling over your thoughts and memories as you stare off into space. You weren’t a fan of being left alone with your thoughts, but your best friend Percy was missing and Annabeth was out looking for him, leaving you by yourself. Your thoughts immediately wander back to Leo, making tears well up in your eyes. Leo still hasn’t found you and you haven't found him, and it was eating you up from the inside out. To this day you haven't had a bond with anyone like you had one with Leo. Sure, you helped save the world with Percy and Annabeth but it wasn't the same.

  After you were pulled apart from Leo, you where sent back to your (mortal parent) and the mental abuse only got worse. It wasn’t until a satyr told you that you were a demigod and took you to Camp Half-Blood that you were finally safe. But as the years went by you developed depression, missing Leo with everything you had. You only occasionally smiled at Percy being an idiot, but that was it. These past few months you've barely talked to anyone though. If missing Leo wasn’t enough, now Percy is missing and Annabeth is hysterical. You could barely keep on going. 

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of screaming. Your head snaps up as you see a chariot sailing through the sky. No, not sailing...falling. Your eyes widen as you realize it’s Annabeth’s chariot. You jump to your feet as you see it crash into the pond. You immediately sprint down to the crash site where others had already gathered.  

Annabeth is standing there soaking wet and looking frustrated while 3 other figures climb out of the pond. You slow down as you watch each of them emerge from the water. First is a girl, with feathers braided into her hair. Next is a boy with blonde hair that honestly looks...really bland. Your heart stops as you see the next person climb out.  It’s a Latino boy your age, wearing a grease smeared army jacket. He has wild unruly black curly hair, pointed ears and warm brown eyes. It’s Leo. Your Leo.

You audibly gasp, making heads turn to look at you. “Leo?!”

Leo scans the crowd, looking a little confused until his eyes land on you. His eyes widen, “(Y/N)?!”

Then you both simultaneously sprint towards each other, knocking over anyone in your way. Leo slows down as he draws closer but you speed up, slamming into him and knocking him over on to the grass. You start sobbing as you look into Leo’s eyes, which tears are welling up in too. 

“I can’t believe it’s you...” Leo whispers.

“I can’t believe it’s you either...Leo, I’ve missed you so much!” You say. Seeing Leo made it feel like a giant burden was lifted of off your shoulders. Seeing him made you feel complete. 

“I looked for you,” He says. “I ran away again and tried to find you but I couldn’t. (Y/N), I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We’re together again that’s all that matters.” You say, smiling softly. 

He stares at you lovingly, his eyes drifting down to your lips. Then he kisses you. The feeling was something you’ve never experienced but it felt so right. You kiss back eagerly, running your hands through his curly hair. A series of Awwws sound throughout the camp. You pull back and smile. Leo is blushing like mad but smiles back. 

“Wait, this is the Leo?” Annabeth asks. 

You had told Annabeth all about Leo, but now you were regretting it. A bright red blush creeps up onto your face. 

“He’s kinda scrawny.” She comments.

You and Leo look at each other. A smirk appears on your face. “She’s gotta point there Valdez.”

A mischievous grin appears on his face. “At least I don’t tell stupid ass jokes, mi princesa.”

#leo valdez x reader #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #rick riordan #leo valdez #leo valdez x #fanfiction #pjo #fandom

[danicarosaline]

Favourite Mistake

𝙹𝙹 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Summary: JJ is fully aware he is being unfaithful to his lover but the connection he has with you is too great to pass up. You both know your actions are wrong and the situation won’t end well but in the moment, it still doesn’t matter.

Warnings: cheating, angst, swear words, a little SMUT

A/N: no i do NOT condone cheating but this is based off the song ‘Favourite Mistake’ by Giveon im obsessed with his songs and i was in a writing mood so i made this😭

(𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚒 𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍!!)

Are you on your way?

Are you coming soon to me?

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

JJ’s head snaps up at the sound of his girlfriend’s voice, twisting his body towards where she stood, beside the hammock, and smiling at her sweetly while she bends down to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Sure babe, what time ya coming again?”

The redhead rolls her eyes playfully and shoves the blond further into the hammock, creating it to sway gently. JJ only laughs with a shake of his head. “You already know JJ, the same time I come by as always” she says and carries on towards her car to head off for the night.

JJ calls out to her, asking again what time she’ll be coming around the chateau tomorrow and the girl answers cheerfully, seemingly excited to see him again and it does anything but make his heart swell at the thought.

“12:30 pm JJ, c’mon!”

Instead, it made him thrilled to know that his girlfriend won’t be expected in the early morning’s of tomorrow. It means that he had enough time to sneak you out of the chateau before she arrives or when John B does.

As soon as the car disappears from his sight, and he makes sure that John B won’t be coming back home anytime soon, he sends you a quick text. A simple emoji that only you and him know the true meaning behind it.

Is my secret safe?

Safe with just you and me

We can't leave a trace

This is my favorite mistake

It was at a kegger where he met you, where he met you properly shall I say. You were the kook princess of Figure Eight, the perfect daughter and the perfect friend to Rafe and Topper.

You were not like the other kook girls JJ came across, you were funny, genuine and not at all a stuck up kook. Even if your choice of crowd was Rafe Cameron, JJ just couldn’t help but be drawn to you.

You were once good friends with Sarah but ever since she chose the pogues over all the kook parties, and you, you were left with no other than Rafe and Topper taking Sarah’s place as your best friend and Kelce as your beer pong buddy.

You were broken when Sarah left but you kinda understood her. She fell in love and who were you to be upset over that? Who were you to get in the way of her happiness?

When you met JJ, it was at a kegger and you were wandering off towards the waters to get away from all the alcohol and drugs, to get away from the kooks you called your besties. Nothing personal though, you just got tired of staring at Rafe snort a line for the second time in a row.

So that's what led you in that moment with JJ, your back laid flat against the sand and he tipsy stumbled upon your almost napping figure. You drunkenly invited him down to come lay with you and he complied.

He talked about how he’s been with his current girlfriend for almost a whole year now, Cher was her name. You knew Cher because Sarah and the redhead had beef during Sophomore year.

You talked about how much you were missing Sarah and asked JJ if she’s ever mentioned you to any of the pogues. He replied with a nod of his head, telling you that she mentions you here and there with a sad smile on her face.

You liked JJ, he was funny, charming and so down to earth. You wanted to stay close with him because being close to JJ means that maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to be with Sarah again.

That was the original plan you had in mind. To get closer to Maybank and become one of his good friends to get to Sarah but things took a completely different turn.

You hovering above him, lips connected in a heated kiss that none of you could pull away from. You had asked about Cher and how she would feel about all this. The blond responded by cupping your face in his hands and pulled you back onto his lips. Nonchalantly ignoring your concerns.

That was how the secret arrangement began.

We both know it's wrong

But you're still coming over

JJ moves his kisses from your lips to your jawline then makes his way to your chest to worship each breast with his mouth, leaving small hickies on one side while his hand fondles the other.

The small whimpers that left your lips had him moaning against your sensitive buds, grinding himself against the bed to ease the growing hard on in his sweats.

He slowly marks a trail of kisses down your abdomen, nipping on your hip bones lightly before coming face to face with your womanhood. JJ doesn’t waste any time and dives right in, parting the lips with his tongue and your back arches in pleasure at the warm feeling of him pushing it inside of you as you play with his golden tresses between your fingers.

You moaned his name over and over again and it made him weak in the knees. Not even Cher can give him that kind of feeling. The way JJ had you unraveling beneath him gave him butterflies he never felt with Cher, and it was the way you smiled at him so sweetly that made his heart swell in the most beautiful of ways.

Even when you're gone

The feelings just grow stronger

Should leave it alone

But you're still getting closer

We both know it's wrong

Can't keep this for long

JJ lays exhausted in his bed that morning, with you long gone and leaving no trace of you ever being there. He knew sneaking around with you was fucking wrong and with every kiss you left on his skin made his stomach churn but it was quickly replaced by lust, by passion he no longer felt with Cher.

The guilt dissolves and is replaced by excitement of the thought of getting caught and also not getting caught at all.

JJ is one talented actor for keeping up this facade of faithfulness for months on end and it was only a matter of time before you both actually do get caught, either by one of his friends, your friends or even by his girlfriend.

But even so, he shrugs the thought away and makes the most of it before it all comes to a complete end.

Deep down JJ truly believes that he loves Cher but is it considered love when you're sleeping around with someone else? Will you call it love when the thought of someone else on top of you gets you off?

Knowing that your partner is at home, putting all their trust in you and loving you wholeheartedly while your inside of someone else?

JJ would not call that love and yet, he claims he loves Cher anyway.

I'm getting impatient

Look at what you do to me

Our secret's safe so you're my favorite mistake

That's why we gotta keep it on the low

Girl at home but she don't need to know

The kegger was in full swing, bodies mingling together as the some 09’s r&b music filled the night sky and teens were drinking their worries away. JJ was currently drinking his worries away.

Cher is settled under his right arm, a beer in hand and laughing at a joke you shared to the group. She compliments your humour and you thank her kindly, hugging her as you do as if you weren’t backstabbing her by sleeping with her boyfriend.

His hand grips his own beer tightly as he stares at you with a look that only you know the meaning of. Those baby blue eyes gazing at you so intently had you swallowing a lump that formed in your throat and you ignore the way JJ is looking at you right now. The others being utterly oblivious at the growing tension between you and the blond.

Look in my eyes

Can you find the lies?

Do you feel alive?

Look in my eyes

Do you mind the lies?

Once your eyes landed on the boy who held your heart you almost fell apart. JJ gave you his signature smile, making your heart melt and all you wanted to do was lean in and capture his lips with yours but you knew better than to do that.

Not when the pogues were around. Not when Sarah was right next to you and most definitely not when Cher was literally right fucking there, fiddling with the rings on his fingers as she pecks his cheek affectionately.

You weren’t the type to get jealous but at this very moment, you felt your blood boil at the sight. You didn’t even have the right to feel that way. After all, he already belonged to someone else.

“You guys wanna play never have i ever?” Cher suggests sloppily and the others nimbly nodded, your brows furrow a little and you purse your lips in thought.

You never thoroughly enjoyed playing the game because of the embarrassing memories that came with it but you nod nonetheless. Wanting to get to know the pogues better and maybe get Sarah fully back into your life, which is starting to go well for you right now by the way.

“Sounds like fun, shall i go first?” Pope offers, a teasing grin plastered on his face whilst he rubs his hands together in a mock of villainy that made you and Sarah snort while the boys and Kie groan in internal pain, cringing at their best friend.

“Oh god Pope, you come up with the weirdest things-“

“No it’s fine i'll go first! Okay now five fingers up people!” Cher cuts off Kie by talking over her in an unusually loud manner for a quiet girl like herself.

Sarah raises her eyebrows at you and Kie, her mouth quivering up into a funny smile and the both of you shrug your shoulders simultaneously at Cher’s odd behaviour.

“Okay hmm, where shall i start?” Cher pretends to think, placing a finger on her chin sarcastically and at this point, you and the girls are fully aware of the drunken state of Cher. You three glance at each other one last time before laughing at the redhead’s ridiculousness.

“Oh i got it! Never have I ever cheated on my partner!”

You and JJ froze.

The words that left Cher’s lips caught you both off guard and at first you thought she was just playing the game and she hasn’t caught onto you and JJ yet, but the bitter expression on her face and the way her eyebrows furrowed had you second guessing.

Her brown glaring eyes fixated on JJ for a minute before finally landing on you. It made your heart drop. She knew.

The others were unaware of the sudden stiffness in the air, only making things more awkward between you, JJ and Cher. “Like, never have i ever cheated on my partner for more than four months, continuously!” Cher continues bitterly. You kept your head low whilst JJ looked anywhere but you.

“Four months? That seems awfully specific Cher!” John B jokes, letting out a boyish laugh and the sudden jab to his waist caused him to jolt in his place, almost falling off the log and turning his head towards Kie, who was looking between the three of you and connecting the dots.

Sarah was the second to apprehend the situation and she turns her head to you, the look on her face is pleading for you to deny whatever Cher was saying but when you stayed silent, her eyes widened in realisation and shock.

“Y/n you slept with JJ!?”

At that, Cher abruptly stands up, throwing her half empty bottle onto the sand and storms off. JJ quickly followed in her footsteps. “Cher! please i-“

Cher swiftly turns around and pushes JJ on the chest, making him stumble back and almost lose his footing at the forceful shove.

“No JJ fuck you! And fuck you too L/n! I hope you both rot in hell! Honestly, how dare you cheat on me JJ and with miss goody-goody here?! Seriously?!”

Her yells gained the attention of a few bystanders close by. It made you feel small and weak at the judging gazes that have fallen on your shaking figure. No doubt that your reputation as the perfect kook princess is longer yours to hold. When JJ moves forward to follow Cher, you grab a hold of his forearm, halting him in his tracks.

He doesn’t turn around to face you though, as he stares off after Cher and waits patiently for you to speak. Who is he supposed to choose? Why was this hard for him?

“JJ..”

Your voice was hoarse and it caused his eyes to flutter shut. His shoulders slumping and he sighs. He has to choose now and quickly. You wrap your arms around his middle and press your head against his back, breathing in his musky cologne that you grew to love so much. You have him now. He’s yours, or so you thought.

He wriggles out of your touch, forcing your arms off of him gently and begins to walk away towards where Cher’s figure was last seen. He angles his neck to look at you, bright blue eyes welling up with tears as he mouths a ‘sorry.’

JJ made his choice that night. Was it the right one?

#jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #jj outer banks #fanfiction #jj maybank fanfic #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank imagine #jj x reader #jj x y/n #jj x you #angst #fanfic angst #jj maybank outerbanks #outerbanks #outer banks imagines #rudy pankow #rudy pankow x reader #rudy pankow imagines #rudy pankow angst

[bestie-enthusiast]

Chapter 1: Prologue

This is the Prologue to my PTA! Dad! Zemo fanfiction. It is the second of 11 chapters.

The Previous Chapter is for Character Introductions, if you want a more gentle introduction into this au, go check it out.

Fic summary: After the untimely death of both his wife and father due to a bombing, Baron Helmut Zemo takes his son and immigrates to America. He does not expect to find a family nor a romantic partner, and he especially does not expect to find the ability to heal. To grieve.

And yet, here we are.

This is a story about connections, growing, healing and mourning the past while still appreciating the future and all it has to offer.

Lenght: 1428 Words

If this interests you, keep reading!

“Are you ready, Carl?” Zemo asked his son, using their native tongue. He wanted his son to grow up knowing the history of their family, despite the fact that their country had been wiped off the map in all ways but physical. Carl was already fluent in Sokovian of course, as well as English and French, but he did not want his son to get rusty just because they were no longer living in Sokovia.

“Yes, papa!” His son responded excitedly, standing impatiently at the door while his father put his shoes on. He was starting at his new, American, school today. Even though he was sad to leave his home and old school, his new home was very big and exciting, and papa had told him that his new school would be “just fine.”

“Alright, come now schatz.” His father opened the door and gently took his hand. Carl eagerly skipped along the sidewalk as they walked to his new school. He was wearing his new clothes, and papa had said he looked like a gentleman. His papa was also wearing new clothes, he had a fancy coat with fur.

They eventually made it to his new school and Carl paused, looking at his father with uncertainty.

“Do not worry, my liebling. It is only for some hours and then you can come home.” His father reassured him, and Carl warily stepped into the school grounds. He continued walking, eventually finding a group of children playing hopscotch. They let him join, and soon enough he had entirely forgotten about his nervousness.

Zemo stared at his son, smiling slightly with relief when Carl found some children to play with. He was glad that Carl was able to find some children to join. The two children looked like brothers.

“Are you new to the neighborhood?” He heard someone ask beside him. He looked over, seeing a snarky faced woman. She had clearly dyed her hair a horrible blonde, and had a rather obvious fake tan.

“Ah, yes. We have just recently moved here.” He replied with a smile. It was difficult to take his eyes off of his son, but it would be more polite to look at the woman while they conversed, so he managed. He noticed her assessing his outfit and his smile grew a little more tense.

“Are you the one that bought that great big house over… oh whats the street name…” Zemo’s smile grew strained but he reluctantly prattled off the name. “Oh yes that's it! Me and my husband had been planning on buying it, you know but-” Zemo tuned her out, still politely nodding and making eye contact, but not really processing what she was saying.

“Carol!” Another voice shouted out, this time a kind looking woman. She bore a resemblance to the two boys his son was playing with, so perhaps she was their mother. Either way, she earned some respect from him, after all she was getting him out of this dreadfully boorish conversation.

The lady who he had been talking to scoffed under her breath, making him frown. How horribly impolite. “What do you want, Sarah?” She asked rudely, scowling deeply at the other women. Zemo was confused, this other lady, named Sarah apparently, appeared very kind.

“I just wanted to let you know that Hunter is throwing another fit.” Sarah responded, her once sweet smile turning a more sickly sweet, the smile of a woman who knew she had won. The rude woman, Carol, stomped off in a huff, over in the direction where a crying child was throwing themself around on the ground. Zemo grimaced slightly, some people should not have children. He turned to Sarah, giving her a slight smile.

“Hello,” He greeted, eyes flickering over to Carl briefly. He was still playing with the two boys. They had moved onto a different game, he noticed.

“Hey! Sorry about the intrusion, not that you looked like you were enjoying the conversation much.” Zemo let out a little chuckle, that was accurate.

“It is water under the bridge. You are correct, I was not all that interested in what she had to say. I apologise if this is impolite, but are those two boys yours?” He asked, pointing at the brothers that appeared to be teaching Carl some sort of game.

“Yeah, they are. Is that your kid with them then?” She asked back, and Zemo nodded. Carl seemed to be having fun, that was all that mattered. The loud bell suddenly rang, making him flinch slightly. He could see Carl jump in surprise, but he got over it quickly and rushed into line with his new friends.

“That’s a rather loud bell.” He commented quietly, waving to Carl as he went inside. There was a rather attractive man holding one of the doors open for the kids. That was one of the teachers, if he was remembering correctly. Mr. Barnes, although he went by Mr. Bucky, or more simply Bucky. Zemo licked his lips slightly, missing the beginning of Sarah’s reply.

“-get used to it. But considering how old your kid is, I’m assuming you’re not from around here?” Zemo shook his head, both in response and to clear it.

“Ah, no. My son and I recently immigrated from Sokovia.” He explained, watching as the last of the children trailed into the building. He took a deep breath and turned back to Sarah, who was already looking at him with a peculiar expression on her face.

“Sokovia?”

“Sokovia. It is a small European country located close to Serbia.” Sarah nodded and held out her hand. He gave it a firm shake, and gave her another small smile.

“Well, it was certainly nice meeting you, Mister…”

“Zemo. And you as well Miss...:”

“Wilson.” She obliged with a laugh, waving him goodbye as she started to walk down the sidewalk. Zemo spent a moment longer looking at the school, before starting his own walk home. He lived a fair distance away from the school, close enough that he could still walk with Carl on days with kind weather. On other days with worse weather? Well Oeznik could drive them.

As soon as he arrived home he jumped into his work day. Many things around the estate needed sorting out, and he was also sorting out all of his income and income sources. The day went by very quickly, and soon enough he was telling Oeznik to prepare the car so that he could pick Carl up. He flawlessly parked along the sidewalk and began the short walk over to the school.

The school day had yet to end, but he had spotted Sarah, so he made his way over to wait with her.

“Hello again, Ms. Wilson.” He greeted, giving her a slight smile.

Sarah looked at him and smiled back, hers much brighter than his. “Well, hello stranger.” She joked, hiding her smile when he once again flinched at the loud bell.

“It is so unnecessarily loud,” he complained under his breath. Sharon laughed and turned towards the school, prompting Zemo to do so as well. It took him a moment, but he soon located Carl, who was also with Sharon’s two sons. He waved and Carl waved back, weaving through the students and parents milling around. Zemo bent down and scooped him up, giving him a tight hug before setting him back down. He could see Sarah looking at him out of the corner of her eye as she greeted her own two kids.

“You really love him, huh?” She said quietly, looking at Carl as he gestured wildly in the conversation he had started with Sarah’s two boys.

“He is my everything.” Zemo replied, just as quietly, staring at his precious son. He suddenly cleared his throat, startling Sarah slightly. He would not start to cry like some of the other parents, he was a baron, nothing more, nothing less. “I will be seeing you tomorrow, yes Ms. Wilson?” He asked.

“Yes of course, and you can just call me Sarah.” She replied, giving him a soft smile. He returned it and gently rubbed Carl’s back, telling him it was time to go. Carl eagerly followed him to the car. It wasn’t the most fancy or expensive car he owned by far, but it was luxurious and comfortable. Once he had made sure that Carl was safely buckled, and started to drive home.

Carl told him all about his day, and for the first time in a long while, Zemo allowed himself to completely relax.

Tagging: @morganbritton132 (who provided the idea for this fic) and @i-ll-be-the-moon (who is very nice and wanted to read it <3)

#pta dad zemo #pta au #tfatws #zemo #helmut zemo #baron zemo #fatws #fanfiction #james barnes #bucky #bucky barnes #tfatws fanfiction #fanfic #no powers au #au #au fanfiction #no powers #sarah wilson #oc #ofc #carl zemo #aj and cass #fluff #angst #hurt/comfort #cuteness #grief #mourning

[liliesoftherain]

Bittersweet Findings, in that Order

A/N: WOW I’m sorry this took forever, school started back up and I’m already so swamped on the first day??? Like pls, stop. I don’t want to . At least I got to finish this! I’m so happy ughjfoivfihviowuh, I didn’t get to edit this so I’m sorry for any mistakes(All my writing has mistakes in it cause I don’t edit hard enough just post, whoops) But enjoy!! I hope you guys like the fluffy part two(: (AND THE CRAPPY BATTLE SCENE AIFAPIHVPI)

Pairing: Izuku Midoriya x Reader

20. “Wait a minute... Are you jealous?”

Part One

Izuku Midoriya!: Part 2

As soon as Jiro had slammed the door you felt nauseous. If it wasn’t bad enough everyone would believe you were crushing on the blonde, your actual crush had heard everything. Izuku had heard everything, and well you were honestly scared. As far as you were able to tell, there didn’t seem to be much of a reaction on his end. The thought of him not caring had your heart squeezing painfully in your chest. You already knew deep down that you probably wouldn’t have much of a shot with one of the top three students of U.A. You were always hopeful, of course, but you never really thought it would go anywhere.

But that didn’t mean it hurt any less when you found out it wasn’t ever going to go anywhere.

Besides being in pain, you now also had to deal with the stresses of Bakugou. His emotions were always out on display, yet everyone who disagrees just doesn’t know where to look. His eyes may be intimidating at first glance, and that’s why everyone chose to look away. But if you stayed to look longer, you could clearly see everything he couldn’t convey into words out on the table. His emotions tonight however, when you locked eyes, caused such confusion in your mind. His eyes almost looked, dare you say, disappointed. 

You wanted to believe it was due to the fact he didn’t like you, but that didn’t seem to be it. His disappointment was stemmed for another reason entirely and you couldn’t quite understand why. You knew the only way to solve it would be to just face him, and talk to him straight up. Even if it will be awkward, it’d be better to get the truth out to him now versus losing him in the sense of friendship and family. You were sure it would all blow over and no one would think twice about it once the school week began.

It was only Friday, and unfortunately you doubted you’d see much of Bakugou until then, just because he is awkward himself and most likely doesn’t know how to confront you about the ‘feelings’ you have. Which, you don’t.

Towards him anyways.

You thoughts were drifting off towards Izuku once more until Mina cleared her throat, desperate to break the tension that flooded the room.

“I swear, boys are such pigs. Listening in on a girls sleepover, don’t they have anything better to do.”

“Guess not,” Settling back on the floor, Jiro then wrapped herself in a blanket with her cheeks blazing, “I’m going to kill him when I see him next..”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine-” Momo glanced at you, “For the both of you. I’m sorry, we wouldn’t have said anything if we knew Bakugou was outside.”

“Yeah, at least dumbass probably didn’t realize who I was talking about, if he heard me that is.” Jiro sighed.

“Well it’s not that big of a deal because I don’t like Bakugou.” You shrugged.

“You don’t? I was so sure.” Mina grumbled, a hand on her chin as she began to think out loud-reminding you of the boy you truly liked.

Your chest tightened and you felt your face fall, the worried looks of the two on the ground confirmed it as they asked what was wrong.

“It’s just.. He was out there. He didn’t seem to care-I mean..” You huffed, annoyed at the pressure that began to build behind your eyes.

You didn’t want to cry, there was no reason to. He was just some silly crush, just another classmate, just Izuku.

But that was the thing, he was Izuku.

Izuku was everything you hoped to be and more. Strong, caring, enthusiastic, brave. He was an amazing hero, and you had no doubts that one day he will become the number one. He may not be a pro yet but he sure as hell had the guts to be. 

“Wait if you don’t like Bakugou who’s he?” 

“...Midoriya.” 

The girls jaws dropped and the sight drew a tiny laugh from you.

“Babes you like Midoriya?” Mina slapped her hands over her cheeks, reminding you of that famous painting.

“Yea, I do.”

“It’s just, we didn’t expect that honestly.” 

“You just don’t seem the type to like someone like him.” Kyoka rubbed her neck.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You frowned.

“Nothing bad, I just meant that you two don’t really hang out too much. I’ve always seen you around Bakugou and Kirishima, I just never pictured you ‘d like Midoriya cause well-”

“He doesn’t seem like your type.” Mina cut her off, hoping she wouldn’t upset you.

You couldn’t be upset because you understood their questions, you really didn’t hang out with Izuku much. But that didn’t mean you didn’t like to hang out with him. You just got too nervous to ask to hang out more, when he didn’t seem to want to.

“I get it. It’s hard to talk to someone when they don’t want to talk to you back.” You sniffed, and didn’t even realize you were beginning to cry.

“Oh hun,” Mina wrapped her arms around you, “Midoriya looks up to you a lot!”

“Really? Why would he look up to me?”

“It’s true! Midoriya-kun is always talking about you and how he admires your strength, your battle tactics, and how smart you are!” Momo smiled, hoping to help sooth your worries.

Your tears were slow, maybe a tear here and there, but it was still more than anyone has ever seen you cry. You tried not to, you were too afraid to show such a raw emotion. Unlike Izuku, how was he so brave?

“Just because he ‘admires’ me, doesn’t mean he likes me. I’m sure he has no romantic feelings towards me whatsoever.”

“If he doesn’t like you then he’s tripping, who wouldn’t like you?”

“Exactly, Midoriya may not love anything as much as he loves AllMight-” That made the group laugh, “But that doesn’t mean he can’t like anyone else, meaning you.”

The hums of agreement were enough to stop your tears, and agree with them in hopes they would stop talking about it.

While you were thankful they were trying to reassure you, you really didn’t want to keep thinking about it.

You all agreed shortly after that going to bed would seem like the best option now, after the whole thing you guys felt pretty worn out. Making yourself comfortable on the bed next to Mina, you wished the two on the makeshift bed next to you a goodnight before everyone quickly nodded off. 

Except you, you were finding it hard to fall asleep as you recall the events that happened over and over again in your head. It was hard, trying to convince yourself that Izuku could actually care about you in that sense. But you couldn’t, there was no way someone as talented as him could look up to you like they said, let alone like you in any other way than a classmate. No way someone as talented as him could feel that way, someone so positive, well-collected, and just outright outstanding. 

You couldn’t hold a candle to someone like him.

These thoughts continued to plague your mind until you were too exhausted to think, finally falling into a sleepless slumber as your body felt cold and numb, even under all the blankets.

The entire weekend went by without seeing either boy, and it only caused your anxiety to grow. Was Bakugou ignoring you now? He really must have thought you had a crush on him, and you wished he would just talk to you so any awkwardness between the both of you would be over and done with. You just wanted things to go back to normal, which you hope would be easy enough if Bakugou would quit running away from you and let you talk.

When Monday rolled around you knew it was your chance to finally talk to the kid and tell him it was all a big misunderstanding. You headed to class early, hoping to catch him there since he was always the first in class. Thankfully you were right as always, walking into the classroom the only other person inside was Bakugou.

“Hey Bakugou, morning.” You greeted, walking over to his desk. 

His eyes immediately snapped up to stare at you, his body going rigid the closer you got. He was silent, and the longer it stretched the more irritated you got.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to not greet someone back?”

“Look, (l/n)-”

“I don’t like you, stop being weird already!” You huffed at how uncharacteristic he was being. 

You were taken aback by the look of surprise on his face, his eyes opening wide and mouth parted. It was funny to see such a look on his face so you snorted in amusement as your irritation wore off, effectively snapping him out of his daze. His face took on one you were used to seeing, narrowed eyes burning in annoyance and mouth set in a scowl.

“What?”

“The girls were teasing, and they just assumed it was you. So I’m sorry to say I don’t have those kinds of feelings for you, I hope your heart isn’t crushed too badly.” You joked.

“Shitty girl,” Bakugou ran a hand down his face and let out a deep sigh, “Don’t be such a pushover and tell them to shut the fuck up then.”

“You’re telling me not to be a pushover? What about you, quit being such a pervert. What were you doing out there anyways, peeping tom.”

“Oi watch it,” He clicked his tongue, shoulders relaxing as he leaned back in his chair, “no one was peeping at nothin’, and I sure as hell wouldn’t do some dumb shit like that. I was there to watch someone get their ass beat. Which was disappointing by the way, you losers didn’t do shit.”

“Well wait for sparring later today, I’ll make sure some ass gets kicked for your sake.”

A smile fell onto you face as a lazy smirk rose on his, and you felt peace fall over you. This was how it was supposed to be, friendly and natural. No one was avoiding anyone, no awkward atmosphere. Friends and nothing more.

The door opening caused you to look back, only for your peaceful air to disappear as you caught sight of curly locks. You watched his eyes dart away as he took his seat, and you felt your body grow cold like how it every time you thought about him. 

Izuku swore he didn’t know how many times his heart could break, it must have been hitting double digits by now. As soon as he opened the door, he saw you looking at Bakugou who had some stupid smirk on his face. You two looked awfully chummy, you must have gotten together or something. The thought of you two together felt like a knife piercing his heart. 

Along with the pain, some unknown feeling sparked up and it had him confused as well as angry. His eyes narrowed and he quickly turned his head away, heading to his seat. He ignored the sensation of your eyes on his back as he sat down, the rest of the students trickling in which acted as a great distraction. He was exhausted, not finding it easy to sleep lately. While he hadn’t cried again since that night, it didn’t mean the pain he felt was any less. The earlier feeling was now gone as he struggled to pay attention in class, listening to the normal general ed lectures until it was time for the hero training. 

You were dismissed to put on your training uniforms then head out to the training grounds. Aizawa-sensei had met you there, giving the instructions of today’s session.

“It’s just regular one-on-one combat. Quirks allowed this time, but keep it in check. I don’t want to deal with it if you go overboard, so don’t force my hand to stop you. Got it? Good. Use this to immobilize your opponent. Here are the partners..”

You were handed white tape and made to select a piece of paper that had a match number your partner would share. You were paired with Ochaco, and she smiled brightly as you were the first team to spar. 

You didn’t mind her, she was a lovely girl, but it was the fact she was so close to Izuku that had you a little wary of her. She admitted to you girls once that she used to have a big crush on Izuku throughout the first year of school, so how could you not be? It was a bit daunting overall, she was in the position you wanted to be in when it came to the boy. You wanted to be able to hang out with him more often and not have it be a weird occurrence to do so.

You both took your place across from each other and waited for the signal, jumping into action once it was given. As long as you didn’t let Uraraka touch you with her hands, you would be okay. So as soon as she lunged, you willed your body to jump away from her as you landed off towards the side. You played this cat and mouse for a bit, making sure to not get hit by any rocks she had happened to find and use as ammunition. 

You managed to snag an opening and quickly knocked her off of her balance, pinning her to the ground on her front and quickly securing the tape around her wrists. Aizawa-sensei called it you win, and as the good sportsman you are, helped Uraraka up apologized for the rough landing. She laughed it off, saying it was an incentive to work harder to hope to catch you off guard and win next time.

Your eyes automatically searched for Izuku, as they always did, and much to your disappointment he wasn’t looking at you. He would normally give you a giant grin and a thumbs up, telling you his thoughts on the match once he had the chance to talk to you.

But now his gaze wasn’t nearly as happy as you remembered it to be, his brows were pinched and his normal smile was now pulled tight. His gaze was focused, heated one would say, staring straight at his own opponent. You missed his smile, you hadn’t seen it in a while. You were also curious as to why he ignored you all weekend and today, was he perhaps embarrassed about getting caught?

That had to be it, Izuku did get easily flustered or embarrassed, it might take him a bit before he could talk to you again. Which you didn’t like, but if that’s what he needed than you would be more than willing to give him that. Besides, he didn’t owe you anything. 

It’s not as if you were dating, he didn’t even like you for goodness sake.

You turned away from the boy, hoping no one saw the hurt that flashed across your face. You turned your attention to focus on the remaining matches, getting a weird feeling when Izuku and Bakugou walked up to take their own places after a couple of battles.

Izuku felt his body heat up when Aizawa called him to his own spar, his partner already waiting. Green meeting red in a heated gaze, Izuku felt that unfamiliar emotions from early come back tenfold. What was just a spark is now a flame, burning hot. Once the signal to begin was announced, the rational thoughts left. All Izuku could focus on was the way his heart hurt, the way his chest burned, and the discontented eyes that stared right at him.

What did Bakugou have to be dissatisfied about? He had you didn’t he? He’s always been one step ahead of him, Izuku knew this. Since they were kids, it was always Bakugou. Bakugou in the lead, Bakugou with the quirk, the friends, the power, the strength. Why now, after so much work, why is Bakugou still so far ahead of him? 

Midoriya and Bakugou dodged each other's blows swing after swing, the quirks not even being used at the moment. It was an even match for the most part, until Izuku saw Katsuki’s eyes flicker over towards the crowd, then back towards Izuku with a smirk and whispered;

“Wait a minute… Are you jealous? You should be.”

That’s when the last bit of self restraint snapped. 

The fire now a blazing inferno as his teeth ground together harshly, allowing more than a bit of his quirk to seep into his hand as his fist made contact with Katsuki’s cheek. His head snapped to the side as he was unable to block or move, even countering seemed out of reach as the boy staggered back, clearly not expecting such a hard punch. Bakugou’s eyes hardened in anger as he finally began to use his own quirk, explosions going off to propel him forward with more speed and more strength. 

Shouting and grunting was all that was heard from the two, besides the harsh sound of skin on skin. The two were going all out, and what surprised you the most wasn’t the look on Bakugou’s face, but how Izuku held the exact same look on his own. It was different to see him with such a smoldering look, as if he were upset at Bakugou for some reason. Which didn’t make sense to you, because while they weren’t the best of friends, Izuku was hardly-if ever-truly angry at Katsuki. You wondered if there was something that happened between the two of them to cause this type of behavior.

You gasped as you felt the intensity of their powers radiating off of them, it has been a while since you’ve seen Izuku battle with such a ferocity up close. You didn’t have the same work studies, so you hardly ever battled together on the field unless you were teamed up for one reason or another. So when you heard his loud cry, and saw energy coming off of his arm in large waves, you couldn’t help but worry. What was he doing battling so hard? 

What was he trying to prove?

Izuku had everything to prove, he knew it. Even if he wasn’t sure why he did, he knew he had to. It was some instinct, some deep down feeling that once lay dormant had sprung to life and was gnawing at him till he listened. Well, he knew what that feeling was now he supposed, it was what Katsuki said-

He was jealous.

But he had to listen to it, to show that he was the better man, to show that he was worthy, that he wasn’t just some crybaby. That he too was a man, worthy of-

Well, worthy of you.

As quickly as he let his power spike did it drop, the power coursing through him ceasing as his closed fist still struck against his opponents jaw, just with less vigor. He felt Katsuki’s clenched hand strike his cheek harshly, yet no stinging explosion followed. 

Both boys fell over from the force, and knew that they weren’t the ones to deactivate their quirks. 

You looked over to the left and saw your teacher with glowing eyes, a hard stare on his tired face. He must’ve known things wouldn’t have ended well if he allowed the fight to continue.

“Were you two even trying to trap the other, what’s gotten into you. I thought you both overcame this age old spat and were getting along better. I’m disappointed. Get out of here and get cleaned up, now.”

Aizawa didn’t let his quirk drop until the two were walking away, in the opposite directions. One towards the locker room, and the other towards the bathrooms. He just sighed at the sight, clearly annoyed at having to stop the match. 

“Next group, let’s go.”

Izuku’s hand banged against the locker door as he slammed it shut. Breathing heavy as he tried to still his racing heart, the pain in his body not registering as his adrenaline was way too high to allow it. It was an odd feeling, knowing you were in pain but unable to feel anything more than anger coursing through your veins. Was this how Katsuki always felt.

The thought of the boy alone sent another spike of jealousy through him, causing him to bite his lip as he glared at the ground.

“That was intense, are you okay?”

His head snapped up to meet your eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.

“(l-l/n)? What are you-”

“I asked Aizawa-sensei if I could check up on you, you guys were going at it pretty rough.” You said softly, not caring you were in the boys locker room.

While Izuku wanted to be thrilled at the idea you were worried about him, he couldn’t bring his body to cooperate. 

“Why do you care?”

You were stunned, the annoyance on his face and in his voice catching you off guard. You were unsure of what you did to him, was he mad at you? 

Izuku? Mad?

“Midoriya why wouldn’t I care about you? You’re my friend.” You swallowed your hurt at the word.

Little did you know Izuku did too.

“Friend, right.” He scoffed. 

Izuku wanted to kick himself for speaking so rudely to you, but at the same time wanted nothing more than for you to go away.

You were a constant reminder after all, a reminder that he’d never be good enough. 

Never be enough.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You crossed your arms over your chest defensively, growing aggravated.

“Listen, shouldn’t you be with Bakugou.” He copied your stance, also turning his head away from you.

His eyes were narrowed, and eyebrows drawn together with a pout on his face. You thought he almost looked cute, if it weren’t for the snarky tone he was using. Plus, when did he start calling him Bakugou? Even after all this time, he never failed to call him Kaachan.

“Bakugou? Why would I be with Bakugou-”

“Oh cut the crap,” He let out a frustrated cry, hands weaving through his hair, “Look I get it, he’s better than me. That’s what you think-that’s what everyone thinks! I was probably overthinking it, I know I was. Why would you ever like me in the first place. God, I’m such an idiot! To think I’d ever have a chance with you! I want to be mad at you, but I can’t! It wasn’t your fault I got so attached, so into you, but you keep coming into my life and I can’t just forget you! Whether it’s a study session, a spar, a friendly mall trip! I hate it all, because all I do is feel these good-for-nothing butterflies and-and these stupid feelings!.. Just please, leave me alone…” He cried.

The tears in his eyes made him feel even more angry, as he desperately tried to wipe them away.

“I-I know I’ll never be what you want. It’s not me and I’ll be okay with it but I can’t, h-have you here constantly reminding me! I, I just can’t-” A sob escaped his mouth, “It hurts, because I’m just proving to you how inadequate I am.. How worthless, how stupid, hopeless, lousy I am and I-”

Your body froze at his confession, and you weren’t sure what to do. Sure, this is what you’ve wanted for a while now, but at what cost? The boy you were in love with was standing in front of your, crying his heart out, pouring out his insecurities. You reached a hand towards him only to have him back away from it.

“I’m never going to be as good as him. I’ll never be as strong, I’ll never have what it takes. I’m not that outgoing, I know I’m shy, and I’m okay with myself.. I don’t want to change who I am, but hearing you don’t like the type of person I am hurts (y/n), can’t you see what you’re doing to me?” Watery green eyes bore into your own.

“Izuku I don’t like Bakugou.”

“Don’t lie to me, why-why would you-”

“Izuku,” You grabbed his face, being wary of the bruise that was forming on his right cheekbone, “I like you. I always have. You are stronger and braver than anyone I know. I don’t know why you’d think I’d believe otherwise.. You’re so headstrong in battle, you are exactly how I want to be as a hero, and you don’t even need to try! You’re caring, compassionate, forgiving, loving, sweet, yet so brave, tough, unyielding, strong-willed, Izuku. You’re the most assertive person I have ever met… And, well you know how I feel about assertive people.” 

You were whispering, tears in your own eyes but a smile on your lips nonetheless. It was beautiful to see his eyes widen with tears other than sadness, his frown softened into an unbelieving grin, to see such a lovestruck expression on his face.

A blush quickly formed underneath your hands, stutters spilling from his lips to form sentences.

“I-I, uh, you re-really mean that? You-er-you’re not lying t-to me?”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

“U-uh well.. Never.. But Kaachan was being-”

“Never. That’s right, plus when is Bakugou ever nice? He probably said whatever to make you angry, you know how he likes to egg you on. Don’t worry, I’ll kick his ass later,” You took a deep breath as you blurted out your next words, “I’m in love with you, Izuku Midoriya. Full on, unconditional love. And I don’t care if it’s too early because that’s how I feel. And while this may be crossing a line, I know that I will follow you anywhere, because I have the utmost faith in your abilities, in you. I love you, and I want to be with you. If you’ll have me.”

Your own blush spread across your face, growing more nervous the longer he took to answer. You began to retract your hands away from his face when his own slapped over yours, causing you to yelp in surprise.

“I-I-I LOVE YOU TOO AND W-WANT YOU TO BE MY G-G-G-GIRLFRIEND!” His eyes were squeezed shut, his entire body now red from embarrassment. 

Your laugh made him crack one eye open, and he felt all his worries and fears fade. Gosh, how were you so beautiful? 

“I would love to be your girlfriend Izuku, even if you are a big baby.” 

He looked offended at your words, playfully clicking his tongue.

“Great cause uh, you don’t have the choice of saying no!” His chest puffed out, eyes set firm as he stared at you with an intense look.

“Oh?” You rose an eyebrow, watching as his strong-guy demeanor fell in an instant.

“N-no of course you can say no, um, i-if you really wanted to..”

“I don’t. You know, everything I said was true. I like you for who you are, not who you think I like. I need you to be you, and no one else. Baby and all.”

He bit his lip nervously, looking into your eyes as he squeezed your hands in his, bringing them down from his face to rest in between you both.

“I can do that.”

“I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Hearing those words Izuku knew;

He was a crybaby.

But he was your crybaby, and that’s all that mattered to him.

#bnha #bnha x reader #bnha izuku #bnha izuku midoriya #bnha izuku midoriya x reader #bnha izuku x reader #bnha midoriya #bnha midoriya izuku #bnha midoriya x reader #midoriya izuku #izuku x reader #izuku midoriya x reader #mha izuku midoriya x reader #bittersweet #bittersweet findings #part 2 #bittersweet part 2 #mha x reader #mha

[rocksandrobots]

Of Rocks and Robots Ch. 21 - Fishing Trip

"So what do you wanna do this weekend?" Hiro asked Varian.

The other boy only shrugged his shoulders as he had no idea.

It was Friday and they were both walking home from school while trying to make plans for the weekend. All of their other friends were either away or busy due to Father's Day coming up. Fred was going to accompany his dad on a mission. Gogo was driving down to her father's for a few days. Wasabi had bought plane tickets to fly back to his hometown of Seattle. Karmi went back upstate for the weekend with her parents, and Megan was still grounded, but had a full day planned to butter up her dad. Even Honey Lemon was going home to spend time with her abuelo.

This left Varian feeling a little awkward. In Corona they had a Guardians Day, which was meant for both parents or caretakers in general, but for Varian it was always a day for just him and his dad to spend time together. One of the few times in the year when his father wouldn't work in the field, or go to market, or have business at court.

Varian knew precisely what a day like Father's Day meant and how special time spent with the man who raised you could be. He envied his friends, but mostly, knowing this would be the second year without his dad pained him.

In a way, he was thankful that Hiro shared his delima. Though he certainly wouldn't have wished his predicament upon anyone, it was still somewhat comforting to know that he wasn't alone.

They were a less than a block away from the Lucky Cat, still discussing things to do, when a sleek car pulled to a stop beside them. The window rolled down to reveal a man with blonde hair, a large nose, and a wide smile. He was wearing a plaid shirt and a tan floppy hat.

"Hey Hiro! Go grab your overnight bag and some sunscreen!" He joyously ordered. "Your new brother, cousin, thingy too. We're going fishing!"

Varian could only look on confused, he didn't know this man nor why he wanted to him and Hiro to go on a fishing trip with him. However, Hiro apparently did know him and was also apparently not onboard with this idea at all. He stood with his mouth a gape with a look of horror in his eyes.

After processing this terrible news, Hiro could only sputter out, "But.. but why?"

The man in the vehicle began to offhandedly list his reasons. "Because fishing by oneself isn't any fun unless there's someone else around to show off to. Because I had an awful childhood, whose own father would never take fishing, and now I'm living vicariously through you. Also, you're still my intern and for the rest of the year, I still own you."

The man flashed another wide grin and Varian began to put the pieces together. This must be Krei. Owner of Krei Tech, the man in charge of the portals that brought him here, and also Hiro's boss. Though, this new revelation did nothing to stem the confusion in his mind. He couldn't for life of him see why he was being invited along on the trip nor did he understand Hiro's objections.

"But...but...b, but…" Hiro suttered desperately trying to think of way out of going.

"No buts! I've already talk with your aunt and got her permission, reserved the campsite, and I even bought you both fishing poles!" Still grinning, he reached down beside him and lifted the new poles up for Hiro and Varian to see.

Hiro let out a wordless half groan, half whine in defeat, before turning around and slumping towards the cafe. Varian blinked and looked back and forth between the two of them unsure what to do. Krei waved to him cheerfully, clearly excited for the upcoming trip, and Varian numbly waved back before deciding to follow Hiro and pack his own bag.

                                               ----------------------------

Varian found himself enjoying the fishing trip more than he had expected. The first day was spent mainly getting there and setting up the campsite. The second day was spent fishing, exploring, and just taking in the scenery.

Varian had been allowed to bring Ruddiger along, as Hiro had also brought Baymax. His pet was overjoyed to be back in his natural environment and Varian had to admit that he felt more at home here in the great outdoors than in the crowded streets of San Fansokyo. The big city was fascinating but he'd always be a simple farm boy at heart.

Krei felt much the same way. The businessman hadn't been raised in the countryside the way Varian had, but he had a great love of camping, fishing, and being out in nature. His passion stemmed from childhood summers spent on vacation at something called 'summer camp'.

Varian found he got along with older man well. They spent the ride up chatting about science and it's more practical applications, spent the trip sharing wilderness tips, and fishing out in Krei's boat. Fishing had never been Varian's favorite activity, but he now found a new sense of nostalgia for it and the praise Krei would send his way whenever he caught one helped to fuel his enjoyment of the sport even more. Plus he got a chance to show off his cooking skills after they had cleaned their catch. Not the most pleasant task ever, but Varian could stomach it much better than butchering other kinds of meat.

Hiro however did not enjoy fishing, or camping, or anything to do with the outdoors really. The other teen mostly sulked the whole trip. When he wasn't busy gagging at the worms used for bait or getting scared by the unfamiliar sounds of the local wildlife that is. Mainly he stuck close to Baymax and the tent, bored out his mind and annoyed he had been forced to come long. Varian's enthusiasm only aggravated him further and, if he was being honest with himself, he was a little jealous by how easy things came to the other boy. He'd spent half a year trying to get on Krei's good side and impress him, while Varian had managed it in mere minutes of meeting the CEO.

The only time Hiro came out of his grumpy shell was at night, when they built a campfire and roasted marshmallows. Varian had never had smores before, but they were tasty, if also sticky and a little too sweet. Ruddiger however went nuts over the fluffy sweets and had to be kept from stealing the whole bag of them. Hiro didn't really care one way or the other about the traditional treat, but was more than eager to share ghost stories with the rest of the group. Gleefully recalling with gory detail about the spirit of an ax murderer who apparently stalked the woods. Perhaps it was a little vindictive of him, to try his best and scare the other teen, but Hiro couldn't help filling a little thrill whenever Varian gave a little jump or clutched his pet raccoon even tighter in comfort.

Keri was only amused by the story. He'd heard similar ones growing up at camp. He laughed at the end of Hiro's tale.

"Ha! Kids are still telling that one? Let me tell you a real horror story."

It was about tax audits.

Both boys could only shrug at each other.

"I do not understand the purpose of a 'ghost story'." Baymax observed.

"It's suppose to be for fun." Hiro informed him.

"I see; an adrenaline rush within a safe and controlled environment can be considered a pleasant feeling for some people. However I do not understand how taxes figure into that."

"Uuuuh, neither do we." Hiro admitted, "but I guess fear is subjective. Do you have any stories to share, Varian?"

Varian had to rack his brain on that one. His own life was more of a horror story then most ghost tales he knew, but he didn't want to devel into that. Instead he told a folk legend that his dad had once told him. It had been an old story from his home country; a parable about a rich man who was so greedy that he hoarded a well from the poor townspeople during a drought. Forcing them to pay him tribute lest they die of thirst, but he made the mistake of refusing water to a witch and so was cursed to become a vampire. To spend an eternity in thirst himself and to be forever alone, because he could no longer get close to other people without risking harm to them.

"And so a leader must care for his people, son," he remembered his father instructing him at the end of the tale, "He must share and give back to the community. He who sacrifices love for his fellow man in exchanged for selfish possessions, forfeits his right to live among mankind and to even be called a 'man' himself."

If only his father's words had been true. If real life had been as simple as stories, then Corona would have sided with him and not the evil king who kept the wondrous healing flower hidden away and who turned his back upon people need. But Varian conveniently left out this more personal anecdote.

"Wow." Hiro said flatly. "That's deep."

He wasn't used to horror stories having explicit morals attached to them and didn't know how else to respond. The tale hadn't been scary so much as eerie with an unnerving ending. Unlike his serial killer story, it wasn't anything you could be afraid of happening to you, yet questioning your place in the world was somehow more off putting than simple dismemberment.

The mood was broken however, by Ruddiger stealing Hiro's marshmallow off his roasting stick. It turned out to be last one as Krei had spent the majority of Varian's story battling the gluttonous raccoon over their food stores.

"I know racoons aren't 'mankind', but does this mean he's doomed to be a marshmallow vampire now?" Hiro joked as Varian got onto his pet.

"I don't know. Your robot looks like a walking marshmallow though." Varian shot back good naturedly.

Now out of food, save for leftover fish, they all decided to tuck in for the night.

                                              ----------------------------

Hiro hated the woods. He hated how unfamiliar everything was, how inconvenient it was, and most of all he hated how gross it was. He woke up irritated and sore from sleeping on the thin sleeping bag inside the tent. He couldn't find anything decent to eat for breakfast. He never stopped grumbling while he was forced to use the bathroom outside. To make an awful morning even worst, he couldn't shake the feeling of being stalked as strange animals hooted and howled. One bush in particular shook right when he pasted it. He nearly jumped out of skin when Ruddiger pop out of it holding the last of the fish in its mouth.

He groaned as he watched the raccoon scurry away and climb up a tree a little ways off from the campsite. He didn't much care for the creature, or for wild animals in general, but he knew how important the pet was to Varian and so had tried to be polite about having it around. Still Hiro's patience was wearing thin. The walking bottomless pit had eaten practically everything in the camp.

Hiro reluctantly followed after, debating if it was worth trying to get the fish back. Probably not, he didn't even like the taste of fish all that much to begin with. He stopped in surprise when an apple core fell from tree and nearly hit him. He looked up and found Varian sitting in one of the top branches, raccoon by his side, and reaching up to pick another apple off the tree.

The other teen paused when he saw Hiro. "Hey! Morning! You wanna an apple for breakfast?"

Hiro's stomach growled in response but all he actually said was, "How did you get up there?"

Varian laughed, "Climbed up here. How else you do think? Fly?"

Hiro looked up at him blankly. It was an obvious answer, of course, and he felt silly for having asked it.  

"Come on up!" Varian encouraged. "There's plenty of apples to go around."

"I..I can't." Hiro admitted sheepishly.

"Why not?"

"I don't know how to climb a tree." He mumbled.

Varian looked surprised by this revelation and before Hiro could do anything else, the other boy quickly climbed back down to join him.

“You never climb a tree before?”

‘Well, I did once, with Baymax’s help.” He rubbed the back of his neck self consciously.  

“It’s not like there’s a whole lot of trees in San Fransokyo to climb.”

“Oh, well, it’s easy. Here, I’ll show you. Just put your foot there, in that knot, and place your hand here on this bump in the bark.” Varian instructed, helping Hiro find the footholds. “Now you see that groove up here, place your other foot there, and as you hoist yourself up grab that lowest branch with your other hand, like climbing a really uneven ladder.”

Hiro did so, though not without some struggling, but eventually he pulled himself up onto the lowest branch.      

“Great!” Varian cheered and followed after with practiced ease. “The hardest parts done. Now all you gotta do is swing up the rest of the branches, like so.”

Varian took off, showing Hiro the best way to navigate the tree top. Hiro followed him, mimicking the other boys actions. With great effort he hauled himself up onto the final branch and heaved a ‘wooooph’ in relief of having made it up.

His sigh quickly turned to awe though when he caught sight of the view. The early morning sun sparkled on the lake. Further out a misty fog was beginning to disperse and you could see the opposite shoreline reflected in the water like glass. Beyond that giant redwoods poked out of the canopy of trees and way, way off in the distance you just about make out the tips of blue mountains.

“Woah.” He breathed. Hiro had to admit, you didn’t get scenery like this in the city.

‘Here.” Varian handed him an apple. It was smaller than the ones you’d buy in the store, with pink and yellow skin. Hiro tentatively took a bite. It was crunchy and very tart, but edible. Not to mention it was practically the only food they had left in the camp, so Hiro wound up eating it all and started in on a second one.

“So, where did you learn to climb?” Hiro asked taking another large bite of the wild fruit.

“Oh, I’ve been climbing trees since I could walk.” Varian laughed. “We owned an apple orchard along with the farm. Also the forest is right next to my village.”

Ruddiger joined them, procuring his own apple and sitting right on Varian’s lap to enjoy his meal. Varian scratched his pet’s ear.

“Does he ever get full?” Hiro asked.

“Nope.” Varian replied, and then they both broke into giggles.

Once the laughter had subsided Hiro commented, “I guess that’s why you’re so good at this outdoors stuff. This is the first time I ever been fishing, and with any luck, it’ll be my last.”

“My dad taught me.” Varian quitely confessed. “He’d take me on trips like this sometimes. Try to teach me how to hunt and fish. The fishing is a lot better than the hunting, let me tell you. I never could fire an arrow right and I can’t stand the sight of blood.” He cringed as if recalling a gruesome memory. “But, I guess he was just looking out for me. He taught me the skills he had to live on to survive. Apparently there were no farms where he grew up, the land was always baren. I guess that’s why he prefered gardening to being a knight.”

“Wait, your dad was an actual for real knight?”

Varian nodded, “Yeah, I found his armor after...after the accident. Along with a bunch of other important stuff he never told me about.” He added bitterly.

Hiro didn’t know how to respond to that. So he stayed quiet and let Varian dictate the conversation.

“Anyways, it worked. The fishing did come in handy. I had to do a lot of that, when.. when I was on my own.” He worked his jaw as he mulled over that last confession, his eyes gazing out to into the distance, clearly not seeing the breathtaking view before them.

Hiro’s heart dropped. He had a vague idea of what happened to Varian, but this was the first time it really hit home just how messed up the other’s teen’s life had been before now. He could empathize with losing a loved one, but he had always had his aunt and his friends to depend upon. If nothing else to be there and take of him as he sank into depression. But Varian had to do everything for himself, even while battling that same depression. The idea of having to catch or scavenge for your own food on top caring for you ill father was a nightmare that Hiro could barely comprehend. A nightmare that only somehow got worse.

“Fortunately, there’s a river that runs through my village, and I could set up lines overnight and just go check them in the morning, and we had food stored up for winter. Like oats, bacon, dried peas, that sort of thing. That is, until spring rolled around and the king's guards run me out of my house.” He said irritably.”Then I just had to forage or steal to survive.”

“Be...because you stole medicine?” Hiro asked disquietly. He couldn’t imagine a world so cruel and yet to his surprise the story got even worse.

“Oh no, this was before I stole the flower.” Varian said matter of factly and Hiro just stared at him in horror. Varian heaved a heavy sigh and went on to explain. “My father was the only other person who knew about the sundrop. The king kept it hidden from everyone. I guess when he found out that my dad, was, was ‘gone’, he decided to try and remove me from the picture, so as to keep his secret safe. He made a bunch of false charges about me ‘attacking the princess’ so that no one would believe me when I asked for help or told them the truth about the flower. Then he sent his elite guard to arrest me and I had to run.”

Varian gave a little shrug and added, “I guess after that, ‘treason’ didn’t seem like that big of deal. I mean they were going to throw me in jail either way, and not many people leave those dungeons alive.”

Hiro could barely process what was being told to him. He didn’t know what to say. His stomach churned and his breath shallowed. Varian’s past was far scarier than any ghost story.

Then suddenly he felt guilty. He’d been so caught up in his own grief and his own struggles with readjusting, that he hadn’t actually stopped to think about things from Varian’s perspective. He had thus far grinned and bared the discomfort of having his life turned upside down, because, well because that's what he thought he needed to do in order to be a mature decent person. And while that was true in part, it never occurred to him that this move was yet another upset in Varian’s life, in a long, long string of seemingly never ending upsets.  

Hiro found himself so easily annoyed by the other teen, yet he really had no right to be. Varian was readjusting to whole new culture and way of life in addition to struggling with his grief and trauma. So what if he cooked weird food sometimes, didn’t always know the appropriate conduct to certain situations, or was so super confident in nearly everything he did that it made Hiro self conscious and a little jealous at times. Deep down, Varian was suffering through something that no one in Hiro’s little corner of the globe could fully understand, and the least that Hiro could do was try to be a little more patient and a little more open about letting Varian into his life.

“You know,” Hiro slowly said, trying to ease the conversation and offer a little understanding, “I never really knew my dad. I was just four when he and my mom died. It was always Tadashi who taught me things, like how to ride a bike or how to hotwire a robot. Though he never taught me to climb to tree, so I guess that’s one I owe you.”

He smiled encouragingly at Varian, who nervously returned it. Once again Varian wasn’t used to praise or acknowledgement that he anything ‘right’.

“Maybe, you could teach me more outdoorsy stuff.” Hiro offered. “And I can teach you more about more modern stuff, like how to play Mind Smith II Turbo .”

“That..that’s that video game you like, isn’t it?” Varian asked as he tried to remember what Hiro even talking about.

“Yeah!” and with that Hiro eagerly launched into a detailed description of the game.

Soon the boys were interrupted by Krei emerging from the tent. He stretched sore back and tried to reheat the leftover instant coffee he’d brought. He then promptly spit it back out in disgust. The boys tried their best to suppress their snickers. Keri spotted them anyways.

“How ‘bout we pack it up and go get tacos instead?” He asked them.

“Yeeesss!” Yelled Hiro, who was more than ready to go.

“Sounds great!” Agreed Varian. “We’ll be right down!”

Keri went back in the tent to start packing and Ruddigger scurried down after him, hoping to maybe steal another treat from the camp.

Varian stood up and started to also make his way down when Hiro’s voice stopped him.

“Ummm...Sooo how do you get down exactly?”

                                              ----------------------------

The day ended with a trip to Yaki Taco and a huge feast of fast food nachos and deep fried burritos. Rudiger was once again confined to his carrying cage, but was allowed a cup of some cheese sauce to snack on. Baymax was let out of his charger case to kept an eye on the mischievous raccoon. All agreed it was actually the best part of the camping trip.

“Say, ‘cheese’.” The robot said, as he took a photograph with his internal camera.  

The three guys sing songed the the word even as actual cheese dripped off the burritos they held in their hands, plastering on dopey grins for the camera. Then a few more pictures with silly faces to complete the set.

“Fantastic!” Krei said. “I want copies for the office.”

“Why?” Hiro asked.

“So if any clients come in I show off ‘my family’ to them instead just the photo of my mother. I love the woman but she doesn’t necessarily impress the image of ‘family friendly company’.”

“I knew there was a catch.” Hiro scoffed.

Keri looked wounded. “Hey, I told you, my employees are my family.”

Hiro rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help giving a little smile at that. He knew Krei well enough by now to know that, underneath his seemingly conviving self-serving self, he had a heart, and he wouldn’t have invited Hiro and Varian along if he didn’t care.

“Aunt Cass put you up to this, didn’t she?” He prodded.

“I’m sworn to secrecy.” Krei insisted and they gave Hiro a knowing wink. Then more seriously he said, “I know what it’s like not having your dad around on Father’s Day. So, I figured, why not a fishing trip? It’s better than being stuck at home while your father’s away on a business trip to Tahiti that weekend.”

Hiro raised in eyebrow. Keri had a tendency of oversharing at times.  

“Buuut, enough about me. Who wants dessert!?”

#big hero 6 #varian #Hiro Hamada #tangled #ruddiger #krei #BH6 the series #tts #rta #tangled the series

[alarians-history-and-lore]

Violet fire (Flashback)

A group of young Alarian guys, just past their mid twenties, walked together. A wild redhead, a calm looking blond with glasses, and a wild white haired, freckled one.

They talked of science and engineering, all being from the same class together. Wyrran was going on about thermal systems, when Tan'l, the redhead, nudged him.

"Hey. Wyrr. Don't look now, but I think you have a pair of eyes on you." He snickered, poining across the hallway to an absolutely beautiful young woman with a few of her own friends.

She had soft purple eyes and a fluff of slightly blue hair, and she was looking right at him.

Wyrran felt a blush creep up him and shoved Tan'l. "Hey, come on! She's not interested in me. Shut your mouth."

The blond, Keyto, snorted. "Pfff. Come on. She's been eyeing you for weeks. Heard she's really, really firey. Lowkey a little crazy."

Wyrran shook his head. "Ain't got time for girls. Besides. No one's interested in a nerd like me."

He huffed and started walking on, the two others giving each other a look and shaking their heads.

Dense.

--

"Hey."

Wyrran looked up from his book and notes, staring right into a pair of intense purple eyes.

"Hey nerd."

Wyrran tried not to be irritated at the interruption, staring up at her. "Um, yes? I'm studying."

The girl gave him a slightly offended huff, closing his book.

"Hey!"

"C'mon there, egghead. Come out of the pages a while. I want to talk to you." She grinned. "Too busy?"

"Pff. Quit teasing. Girls don't talk to me. Besides. I'm busy." Wyrran huffed, waiting for her to remove her hand from the book so he could find his page.

"I'm talking to you, dummy. Now. I have something to say. You gonna listen or not?"

Wyrran stared up at her lovely royally purple eyes, rolling his diamond ones. "Fine. Make it quick."

Emyyan Tayo was not known for a relaxed or shy disposition. She leaned in, staring him right in the eyes, intense.

"I want to court you." She said firmly.

Wyrran stared at her for a long moment, then started laughing softly. "Me? Come on."

"Yes, Ryfon. You. I. want. You." Emyyan gave him a wild grin. "Now. I'm gonna ask you on a first date, okay?" Emyyan poked him in the shoulder. "The nice little shop near the school, I would like a meal there. I'll pay if you're a coward."

Wyrran was stunned when he realized she was serious."W-what? You... me?? Us??" He blurted out, sputtering.

"See you there tomorrow at lunch." Emyyan grinned, walking away with a flick of her hair.

Wyrran just sat there, watching her walk away. Absolutely stunned.

"What---"

A date? Him? But he wasn't even good looking or charming or buff! All the things that a lady like her would go for in a partner. Him?

She must be playing a joke on him.

--

He sat there, sitting across from her, those intense purple eyes staring right into his soul.

He'd barely touched his food, she'd finished hers.

"So." Emyyan said calmly. "What do you study, eh nerd?"

"Engineering and astronomy. Space-" He stuttered. "Spaceship design."

"Oh. Booooring." She huffed. "Heh. Should have expected that, though. You're boring for such a cute guy."

Wyrran just blinked at her. He couldn't believe the prettiest and most straightforward, firey, absolutely beautiful girl in the entire school had picked him to court.

"I'm studying genetics and experimental stuff. The dangerous new frontiers." Emyyan said proudly. "Stuff like core experiments. You should see the inside of one when its sliced in half."

Wyrran uneasily chuckled, hand going to his core. He wouldn't have the guts to mess with those like that.

"S-sliced...?"

"Yeah. The inside is really neat, like... like... here." She grabbed a pencil and a napkin and drew a large circle. "That's the hard shell." She drew a smaller circle in the middle, and then a bunch of squiggly lines connecting the two. "That's it's heart in the centre, where all the light comes from, where its... brain is. Sorta. And these wiggly bits are the connections between. And then the roots, the conduits grow out from there." She drew some lines out. "We also do tests with them... like with frequencies and stuff. And see how they react to different things. We put one in an animal!" She squeaked excitedly.

Wyrran blinked nervously. She intimidated him. His hand stayed over his heart, an uneasy feeling coming from his core. As if it didn't like the thought of being sliced in half.

"Wow. That's... crazy!" He told her, remembering to try and take another bite of food.

"Sure is. But I'm into it." Emyyan refused to stop staring at him. "Kind of fun."

"Isn't that sort of stuff... frowned upon?" He took a drink.

"Pff. Sort of. But it's a necessary field of science to make progress. I know a lot about cores, space boy." Emyyan grinned. "Did you know they can absolutely grow in nonbiological places?" She leaned forward onto the table. "They can grow with simulated heartbeats. All they need is a steady thing to grow on to. We got one to grow inside a tube." She giggled excitedly.

Wyrran felt more and more uneasy, losing appetite.

"Cores are- are alive! I feel like that would count as- torture." He murmured.

"They- come on. They don't think, dummy." Emyyan snorted. "Sure, they echo the feelings and soul of the one that made them, and the instincts that guide them, but they're not... alive alive. No more really than a tree."

"My mom says plants can have feelings." Wyrran informed her. "She grows all sorts of plants. And she's real good at it, too."

"I'm sure she is." Emyyan said softly, still staring into his eyes.

"Why do you keep... looking at me like that?" Wyrran asked, nervous.

"Because you're hot." Emyyan said frankly. "Very hot."

Wyrran went red as a tomato, freckles vanishing into his blush. "I'm- I'm what??"

"Hot as a gasfire. Smokin." She grinned. "I love your eyes."

Wyrran swallowed, feeling frozen under her gaze.

"So, do you accept my courtship, Ryfon?"

"HhhhhhhhhhhhhhHhh-"

"That's not an answer, really. But I'll take it as a yes." She reached forward and gave him a small touch on the head. "You're my boyfriend now, okay?"

"HHHHHhh-"

"Nice. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Wyrrie!" Emyyan stood up and payed for their food, skipping off happily.

Wyrran sat there staring into space for the next hours.

--

Wyrran was practicing his swordfighting in his yard, slicing at and dodging an imaginary opponent, trying to be as light on his feet as possible.

He'd always had a knack for it. His mother was a bit more of a bow and arrow kind of gal, but the first weapon he'd ever summoned had been his sword. And ever since, he'd been determined to learn everything with it. Become as one as he could with it.

He was gracefully dancing about with it, panting slightly with the sensation of light going up his arm.

Every time one of the tiny living particles that made it up died, another would move to take its place in the sword. A steady flow from the centre of him.

Sure made him feel alive.

He'd gone on dozens of dates with Emy, and he was finally comfortable with her. She was straightforward and firey. A little bit nuts. Impulsive.

She had a softer side to her, but it was rarely seen. Emyyan was absolutely infatuated with him, he could see that.

Love was growing in him for her constantly, but goodness, she was... a lot to handle.

"Hey, Wyrrie!" He jumped at the pet name, turning to see that she'd climbed the fence around his mom's house, and was sitting in her tree. "Nice moves! Think you'd be that good in a bed?" She laughed loudly, jumping out of the tree and walking over to him.

He couldn't help but wonder what weapon she was good with. He stared as she approached, red coming to his face at her... suggestion.

"Dunno." He shrugged. "How's it going, Em?" He asked.

"Very good. You practicing, hmm?" Em put a finger on the edge of the sword, running a finger down it with a flirtatious look in her eyes. "Wanna spar with me, Wy?"

Now this was something he could beat her at, surely. He was pretty good with his sword. The late twenties Wyrran gave her a grin.

"You're on."

"Cool. One thing first." Emyyan leaned in, hand on his sword. "I wanna add in a wager. I win... we finish our courtship. Thzkehz. We bond." She grinned.

Wyrran went red, eyes widening. "Hh??! Already? We've only been... dating for about two years! You want to-"

"What, not confident with your fancy butter knife? Think you can't beat a girl?" Emy teased, running her hand on the blade to the point where it cut her a little. She hummed softly, looking down at the cut on her hand, blood beginning to leak from it.

Wyrran just stared into those amethyst eyes, and then nodded. "Fine. I'll show you what I'm made of, Em. Get ready for a fight." He got into his fighting stance, ready.

Emyyan bunched her cut hand into a fist, light zipping up into it, causing a confident and fast heal. She smiled and wiggled it, barely fazed by the blood. "Challenge has been accepted, then. I'll try not to hurt you."

She held out her hands and summoned a long pole, blades on either side of it, getting into her own stance. She stared him right in the eyes. "You go first, Wyrrie."

He stared at her for a moment, and then went in for a slice, dancing light on his feet. She blocked the blow with her pole, spinning it to block his sword and catching him on his arm with a blade. He winced and backed up immediately, pulling up a shield. She went for him, stabbing with one end of the pole for him. He brought up the sword to block it, moving to hit her with the shield.

She stopped her shield with his hand and kicked him in one of his legs, immediately hitting him with a blunt edge of her pole.

Wyrran hissed in pain and went for a second sword instead of the shield.

They fought back and forth for a while, dancing here and there around the yard, using everything and anything as a part of it. It got pretty intense, and Wyrran had several slices in his shirt, a few of which were bleeding.

He'd only actually hit her twice.

He was panting when she ran for him again, and he took a deep breath, deciding to use something else he was practicing. As she ran at him, he focused energy through his whole body... and just barely managed to teleport. She let out a surprised yelp when he disappeared from in front of her. He hadn't have gone far.

She turned around to see him slicing for her, trying to get a hit off so he could knock her over and win.

She disappeared before he could touch her and a heartbeat later he was on the ground, and she stuck the end of the pole just brushing against the core connection on his spine, where it hit his nervous system.

A spot that if sliced would be very bad. And was considered a little dangerous to be putting weapons near.

He shuddered, swords vanishing. "Em! Holy-"

She pushed it slightly, just slightly into his back, not enough to even go through the skin, but enough that he cried out slightly.

"I win. That means I win."

Wyrran held still, actually terrified. He'd agreed to this. And now...

He swallowed heavily, still frozen under her.

Wyrran had to marry her completely. The act of binding their souls together.

"You fold, Wyrrie?" She asked, voice triumphant. "I've been waiting for this. I wanted you the moment I saw you. Now. Get up." She nudged the spot again, getting a distressed squeak from him, before stepping off of him and letting her pole go.

It took him a moment to recover physically from that poke, standing shakily up. He wasn't ready for this. Courting was one thing... bondage?

Terrified wasn't even close to the feeling in his chest.

He looked over at her, a hand over his slightly shaken, distressed core.

He could feel it shivering inside him from that poke. He gripped at his chest, staring up at her eyes from where he stood, half crouched. "Em... I don't know if-"

Emyyan took a step forward, putting a hand on his chin and forcing him to look up at her.

"Not going back on our wager, are you, Ryfon?" She asked, a serious look in her eyes. "That'd be pretty dishonest of you." She sounded hurt.

Wyrran was just a scared young man, staring into her eyes. Could he say no? He could, right? It was his choice too. He could.

But he... had agreed.

"N-no. We had a deal. You win, we bind."

He couldn't tear his eyes from her.

She smiled warmly. "Oh, wonderful. I can't wait. Shall we?"

"Wh- what about your family's permission? The ceremony?" He sputtered. "Now?"

Emyyan shook her head. "As if I respect my deadbeat of a dad enough to ask his permission to marry the man I love. Besides. We just fought. And I won. That was the ceremony, as far as I'm concerned. I'm ready, Wyrrie." She pulled him in and kissed him.

Eito, she was hot. And sassy.

Wyrran chuckled a little, even if this filled him with butterflies. He was... well, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious.

He let her drag him away into the house, knowing his mom wasn't home right now.

This... this was it.

The woman he was going to spend his life with.

Wyrran would give his all for her.

--

"Are you working on that dumb spaceship again?" Wyrran looked up from his sketches and design ideas to see Emyyan there, an annoyed look on her face.

He ducked a little. "Uh... yes?" He gave her a small smile. "I told you Em, it's my dream. To fly."

She rolled her eyes and sat across from him. "Huh. Well. I think you should get your head out of the stars, hun. And focus on this. We're married. Remember?"

Wyrran blinked at her. "I- I know. But... I can't help it. The stars call to me. Always have." He held up the sketch he'd made of an egg shaped ship. "See? It's going to have....probably three engines. And... plenty of room for a whole family, when we start one up. I mean, not that we haven't been trying, anyway. But once it happens. We can all fly together!"

Emyyan looked annoyed. "I don't want to leave. I like it just fine on the ground." She huffed. "I don't want to go careening through the empty void. There's nothing but danger and terror and empty, vast, boring wastes out there. What even is so exciting?"

"Adventure. Intrigue. It's beautiful out there... and I promise I'll show you the beauty." Wyrran assured her gently.

Emyyan stared at the sketch in his hands, dubious at best. "Huh. Well. Besides that, there's something I want to tell you. Get over here, babe."

Wyrran nodded and walked over to her, and she stood, grabbing his hands. Their eyes met.

He blushed, staring warmly at her. A year and a half ago now, they'd binded. Sealed it. He adored her.

He leaned in and gave her a kiss, and she giggled.

Emyyan leaned forward, staring intently into his eyes. She pressed both his hands against her lower body. "We've been trying... hard. And we did it. Finally. I started... I started feeling it a little while ago. I'm at the very least a month or so in."

Her eyes widened, filled with excitement and warmth.

"I'm with child, Wyrran." She said it warmly, eyes staring into his soul.

Wyrran's jaw dropped open. He stared at her in disbelief, hands pressing softly against her for a moment, and then he felt a little lightheaded when it hit him.

"Hhhh???" He made confused and startled noises, and then stumbled back a bit. "You're- you're- Ohhhhh. Oh boy. Oh-" He had to lean against the wall, trying not to fall over. "Oh. Oh Ralin. Oh boy."

"Don't hyperventilate, dear." She giggled, watching him sort of fold into himself. "Breathe, okay?"

He started laughing breathily, weakly. "Oh my gosh I'm going to- I'm going to be a dad! I'm a father! I--- ohhh my head." Wyrran looked up at her, standing there. "Em... you feel okay? No... no hiccups yet?"

"I got a few this morning. That's when I decided to tell you." She smiled. "You know what this means? It means we have to stay."

He blinked, confused. "Huh?"

"We have to stay on Alar. You wouldn't seriously take a little baby to space." She said it like it was certain.

Wyrran straightened slightly, even still feeling lightheaded. "Well, by the time we get the ship built and ready, the little one would be more than old enough. I'm only just starting build-" He paused.

"You've-- you've started?" Emyyan sounded ticked. "Are you kidding me?" She stomped a foot. "Wyrran! I said I don't want to go to space! I said you choose it or me!"

Wyrran shrunk under her gaze. He'd started work on the ship without telling her a month into their marriage, actually. He had several designs in mind... but had pretty much narrowed down what he wanted at that point. "Uhhhh... Emmie?"

"Don't you Emmie me. Where is it. Where are you hiding that stupid metal death machine?" She glared. "I'll have some people come and scrap it."

"No! Why would you do that? It's- it's my life's dream and you know it!" Wyrran yelled back. "Don't, please! I- I'm working so hard on this because... even if I don't fly with you, I still want to go some day! Please, Em, don't take it away from me. Please." The joy of the moment was ruined, replaced by indignation.

He so rarely fought back about anything, but this... this was something he was serious about.

"Wyrr. It's time to let the dream go. It's just not for us. This is what you need to focus on." Her hand went over her belly. She wasn't even showing yet. The little one was still so small... He stared down and then back up at her. "Like I said. Choose that-" She gestured to the drawings of space and machines and ships. "Or this." She gestured to herself. "Because I am not going to space. You have about ten months to think about it." Emyyan turned and walked off, still mift at him.

"Oh boy." Wyrran whispered to himself, half collapsing against the wall.

What would mom do?

He... he was going to be a father.

That scared him.

--

He winced as the door slammed practically in his face. He opened it again and watched her leave, not even looking back at him.

She was leaving to live at her old place.

The yelling, the screaming, she'd thrown things at him.

He blamed it half on the hormones, really.

"I hate your stupid ship! And I hate you! And- and- and I hate this child!" She had yelled. "You're stubborn and stupid and I can't believe I ever fell in love with you! I don't want anything to do with you ever again, Wyrran Ryfon!"

And that was it.

She just left. He watched her from the door, tears streaming down his cheeks. He'd messed it all up. He'd ruined it. She would never forgive him after this, for sure.

Rubbing at the spot on his face where she had slapped him... hard, he closed the door and moved to sit down at the table.

Why was it... so hard...?

He curled in on himself, crying. He'd clean up the mess later.

--

The letter came only a week later.

He had to force himself to open it. It was addressed from Emyyan Tayo. Not Ryfon.

He sighed and settled in his chair to read it.

To whom it concerns:

Yes, Wyrran, that means you,

As far as I'm concerned, we are no longer bonded. No longer married. From now on, we live apart as strangers. You are not to talk to me. Or approach me. Understand? I do NOT want you. Knowing you, you'll be blaming yourself for this.

Good.

It is your fault.

Now, as for our unborn child.

I do not want it.

As soon as it is born, it's yours. I no longer care about it, about you, about your stupid dream. You refused to let it go when I pleaded, begged. I just wanted a life with you. And you couldn't even give me that.

So in nine months, it will be the last time I expect to ever interact with you.

They give you the kid.

You leave.

Never, ever try and come after me.

I'll-

There were some scribbles on that part. They ran down a couple lines, as if she'd changed her mind a few times.

Just don't. I can't take it.

Be at the healing centre when they call you. I'll have that taken care of so I never have to worry about any of it again.

Goodbye.

- Emyyan Tayo

And that was all that he had left of her.

Wyrran put the letter down, hands shaking.

He was sobbing.

He'd ruined his whole chance with her, and for a stupid ship.

He summoned his sword and drove it into the table with a frustrated curse, the wood splintering.

Wyrran immediately regretted it. That was the table he'd grown up at.

He let out a distressd, long wail and collapsed back into the chair, curling in on himself, shaking with anger and fear and... and brokenness.

He was a stupid fool.

And he had only one thing left.

This child.

He would...

Wyrran would give his all for that child.

All he had left in him.

#wyrran ryfon #emyyan teyo #tan'l #keyto #backstory #flashback #tfl #pain #agony #hnnnnnnhghn #non rp

[thatbloodymuggle]

The One With the Love Potion

Beauty and the Beast 4/?

masterlist

-

"They weren't kidding when they said they'd be loading work on us in preparation for our O.W.L's. I've never had more to do in my entire life," Marlene groaned whilst banging her head on the library table.

The librarian, Madam Pince, gave the group of Gryffindor girls a warning look to which Lily held Marlene back from injuring herself further. "Oh, come on," the ginger sighed, "It's all about time management. We just need to work more efficiently."

Edie had been resting her head on the table on top of her History of Magic essay. Her eyelids had almost completely shut when Marlene's ruckus forced them open again. She begrudgingly pulled herself off the table, "You know, she's right, Lily. Slughorn has got us writing one foot on the many uses of dragon blood, Baggott expects us to fill out our moon charts for the next month by tomorrow, and don't even get me started on Binns. Two feet on the goblin wars! I'm not going to have any parchment left by Halloween, at this rate," Edie ranted. She had never been more overwhelmed with her work, and they were only about a week into the school year.

"Dropping out doesn't sound like such a bad idea," Alice grumbled.

"Neither does a Dreadful. Or a Troll," Mary added, to which Alice, Edie, and Marlene all nodded in agreement.

Lily rolled her eyes at her friends' behavior, although she couldn't help but feel bad for them. "No more of this moping around. What you all need, is a study schedule. We're all making one right now. Pull out a clean roll of parchment," she instructed, sounding too much like Professor McGonagall for Edie's liking. But nevertheless, all four girls followed her and lazily got out a fresh roll and prepared their quills.

"Now make a chart with all seven days of this coming week as the columns and the time by the hour as the rows," Lily spoke while drawing one herself. Her friends did as she instructed. "And lastly you're going to write in each block of time what you'll work on during that hour, and make sure to leave one open for dinner. Also space out some free blocks here and there to give yourself a break."

Lily was completely in her element as she wrote quickly on her schedule. The rest of the girls worked silently as they thought through what they had to do this week. One by one, the Gryffindors finished and set down their quills with a sigh. Edie, Marlene, Alice, and Mary still wore faces of stress, while Lily beamed back at them. "I've been making a schedule for my work for years now, and it's never failed me. Just trust the process and don't deviate from your goals," she chirped.

"No guarantees," Edie grumbled, although Lily pretended she hadn't heard her. The blonde observed her friends' tortured faces as they attempted to get back to work. She tried to add to her essay, but was unable to find anything else to write about the Goblin Wars. Too restless to get back to working, Edie huffed and slammed her quill on the table. "I physically can't do any more work right now. Anyone fancy an early dinner?"

Marlene, Alice, and Mary immediately shot up in unison. "I thought you'd never ask," Marlene sighed blissfully. Lily giggled at her friends, and the five didn't hesitate to pack up their things to exit the library. The corridors and moving staircases were a breath of fresh air after being cooped up in the rather drab room for hours on a Sunday.

"You dare challenge Sir Cadogan? Back, you scurvy braggarts, draw, you knaves!" the tumultuous voice of Sir Cadogan, Edie's least favorite painting in the castle, filled the hallway.

"Oh, shut up, won't you?" the blonde grumbled, while her friends took to ignoring the armor-clad man in his frame.

The Gryffindor girls walked with an extra bounce in their step to the Great Hall, relieved to be taking a break from their work. When they finally approached the last staircase leading down to the entrance, Marlene and Edie shot each other a knowing smirk. Before Lily could warn them, the two blondes hopped onto the railing on either side. They slid down the lengthy staircase, giggling the whole way down before gracefully landing at the bottom. They beamed up at Lily, Alice, and Mary who laughed at their antics. Feeling much better than before, the five girls sauntered into the Great Hall with matching grins.

The smell of roasted chicken and pork pies made Edie's mouth water and stomach grumble. She  didn't hesitate to slid into a seat and immediately start piling an obscene amount of food onto her plate. The girls ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes, mouths too full to hold a conversation.

Edie was so engulfed in the steaming hot potatoes on her plate, she didn't even notice the group of pranksters a few seats away from the girls.

"What's that?" Remus narrowed his eyes at a smug Sirius Black and James Potter.

Sirius twirled a small, glass vial between his fingers and shrugged, "oh, you know, just some harmless fun" James and Peter giggled knowingly like little school girls.

Remus snatched the potion from his Sirius's hands and examined the liquid inside. It was a pinkish-pearl color, and based on the giddiness of his friends, he had a sneaking suspicion of what was inside. Still glaring at the three boys, he cautiously unscrewed the top and raised the vial to his nose.

An irresistible sensation immediately wafted into his nostrils, and he felt his mind going cloudy. The sensation was one like he'd never experienced before. The smell of roses, chardonnay, frost, cold air and-

Remus's eyes widened and he immediately snapped out of his trance upon the realization of who the scent belonged to. His face reddened and the boys howled in laughter at his reaction. Remus desperately tried to fight past the obvious blush and shot his friends a hard look, "What the hell do you think you're doing with this? Do you have any idea how dangerous amortentia can be? It's one of the strongest potions in the world. If you made it wrong-"

"Well that's the beauty of it, Moony, isn't it? We didn't make it. Slughorn did," James grinned deviously.

Remus groaned and let his head fall against the table, clattering the surrounding plates. He really didn't expect any better out of his friends, and last year it wouldn't have bothered him as much. But this year Dumbledore had entrusted him with being a Prefect in hopes of bettering his friends' behavior. So he couldn't help but feel guilty covering their antics-- especially when there were so many of them.

"Do you realize how much trouble you could get in if you got caught stealing from a teacher?" Remus grumbled at the boys, pulling his head back up from the table.

"Well we were careful, obviously. Used the invisibility cloak and everything. Even if he realizes it's missing, he'll probably just think he misplaced it," Sirius reassured his annoyed friend.

"Yea, and it's essential to Operation Moodie," Peter added with a full mouth of baked chicken.

Remus's eyes widened at this. "No. Absolutely not. You are not using that on Edie. Besides, if you want it to work I'd have to be the one pouring it. I refuse," the lanky boy ranted. His blush was long gone now.

Sirius rolled his eyes at how worked-up his friend was getting, "We're not gonna make her drink it. Just watch. Trust the process," Sirius smirked at a furious Remus Lupin. James snatched the vial back and dumped it in a glass of water and slid it over to Peter. Peter gripped the glass and moved over to where the group of Gryffindor girls were sitting, right next to Edie. Remus's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he had no choice but to watch the scene before him unfold.

Edie was laughing at a joke Mary had said she'd heard from a Hufflepuff boy about Professor Dumbledore's beard when she felt a presence beside her. She glanced to her left at a (seemingly) bashful Peter Pettigrew who tapped the table nervously.

"Well hello, Peter, what brings you over here?" Edie smiled kindly at the awkward boy. She glanced past him to catch sight of the rest of his gang, who appeared to be engaged in conversation.

"I was just wondering if I could join you all. James and Sirius were making fun of my grade on the Goblin War essay, and I felt like moving," the boy mumbled sheepishly, successfully masking the plan under his sleeve.

The five girls shot him a sympathetic look, "Of course," Lily chirped. "I'll give James a talking to later. That's completely uncalled for." The ginger proceeded to glare at the glasses-clad boy a few seats away down the table, who didn't meet her eye.

Mary repeated her joke for Peter to hear, sending the group of Gryffindors into another fit of giggles. Peter laughed along, and brought the glass of water up to his lips. Just as he was about to drink it, he scrunched up his nose in confusion.

"Huh, this definitely isn't water. Smells like someone must have spiked it," Peter hummed with wide eyes full of false confusion.

Edie frowned at this, immediately averting her eyes to his Sirius, James, and Remus, who conveniently turned their watchful eyes. "Let me see that," Edie grumbled and snatched the glass away from Peter. She didn't hesitate to raise the liquid to her nose to see if she could smell what James and Sirius had inevitably put inside. Peter slid back over to his friends just as the blonde began to fall under the trance just as Remus had.

The sensation hit Edie like a truck. It was so sweet, so enchanting. Like nothing she'd ever felt before. She felt her mind go cloudy as she tried to decipher the scents.

"What's it smell like, Edie?" Marlene tried to stifle a giggle upon realizing what it was, based on the love-struck look on Edie's face.

"Hmm," the Rosier girl sighed blissfully. "Smells like melted chocolate, redwood, old books, earl grey tea..." Edie trailed off and both the girls and boys leaned closer in anticipation, with the exception of one scar-covered boy. "Smells like, smells like... smells like Rem-"

The growing volume of giggles and sudden realization of what she was about to say caused Edie to snap out of the trance immediately. Her eyes widened in shock and she felt the heat rapidly creeping up her neck and face. Her girl friends were giggling more than they had all day; even Lily was invested. And the girls didn't even compare to the Peter, James, and Sirius, who had nearly fallen out of their seats in laughter.

Edie's embarrassment quickly transformed into anger as she stomped over to the bumbling baboons with the glass of cursed amortentia water in her hand. She didn't hesitate to dump the full glass of liquid over the heads of Sirius and James, who were clearly the ringleaders in this all. The blonde avoided eye-contact with the boy she knew was sitting on the other side of the table at all costs and stomped back to her original seat.

James and Sirius didn't seem to mind being drenched with water, and decided to take their sweet time before finally settling down. Edie sunk into her seat next to Alice who pat her shoulder reassuringly while trying to stifle a giggle. The blonde shoved a large bite of treacle tart into her mouth to avoid conversation as her girl friends settled down for her sake. Thankfully, Lily brought them back to normal conversation, allowing Edie to recover from the embarrassment; though the incident would most definitely be brought up later. Edie sipped her tea quietly and avoided the urge to sneak a glance at the equally embarrassed boy a few seats down.

Remus unknowingly mimicked Edie's actions, sipping his tea silently and fighting the urge to sneak a glance at her. While he felt bad that Edie had fallen victim to one of his friends' pranks, he was grateful that she didn't know what he had smelled.

Remus didn't know what to think at all. Edie was attracted to him? Well, attraction is merely a physical thing. And there's nothing wrong with finding your friend objectively attractive. Physical attraction is far from emotion. This was what Remus settled on, and at that turned his attention back to whatever his friends were talking about. But he couldn't avoid the odd feeling gripping his chest.

The noise level in the Great Hall was beginning to die down and students were returning to their dorms. Edie did not hesitate to shoot up from her seat when the rest of her friends announced they were ready to go. She lead the group of Gryffindors out of the hall and up the staircases in a brisk walk. She didn't need to turn around to see the four identical smirks behind her.

"Password?" the Fat Lady hummed, not looking up from her nails she was intently examining.

"Wattlebird," Edie grumbled, trying to get inside as quickly as possible.

"Hm, come again? Missed that," the woman in the portrait still wouldn't spare a glance at Edie or her friends.

"Wattlebird, now let us in," the blonde spoke harshly through gritted teeth.

The Fat Lady cocked an eyebrow, "Well there's no need to be rude, now is there?" She still refused to look up at the girls, but swung open anyways. Edie heard a rushed 'thank you' from Lily behind her, but continued her march up the stairs to their dormitory. She hoped the girls would sit by the fireplace like usual, but wasn't surprised to hear them running up the steps behind her excitedly.

Edie had barely made it to her bed and stuffed her face in her pillow when Marlene's squealing filled the room, "Edith Lillian Rosier! Have you finally admitted your love for Remus Lupin?"

The tortured girl let out a grunt as she felt an added weight jumping up and down on her bed. Edie peeped one eye open to see all of her friends had gathered around her bed with expectant grins. She yelped as Marlene sat on her, and forced her to turn around.

"Oh come off it, Marlene! There's nothing to discuss," Edie cried and covered her face with her arms in despair.

All four girls simultaneously scoffed various protests.

"Yeah right!"

"As if!"

"You wish!"

Edie shook her head violently. Alice rolled her eyes at the blonde's stubbornness, "Edie, Amortentia never lies. It reminds you of the things you find most attractive, and all of the things you listed just so happen to belong to Rem-"

Edie uncovered her face with a sigh, "I do NOT like Remus, okay? Not as more than a friend. All we'll ever be is friends. End of story. Goodbye, the end."

This seemed to quiet her friends, but she could tell they still weren't convinced from their half-hearted shrugs and resting smirks. "Whatever you say," Lily hummed. "But when you come to your senses, we'll be here to say we told you so." The girls returned to their respective beds, still stifling giggles.

The incident passed and the girls sat in their beds finishing up the list bit of work they hadn't gotten to earlier. One by one, they finished with a yawn and collected their things to get ready for bed. Edie had never felt more relieved than when she scrawled the last word of her History of Magic essay on the lengthy piece of parchment. With a large weight lifted off her shoulders, she changed into her pajamas and readied herself for bed gleefully. The atmosphere of the dorm was a comfortable silence as the stress from earlier hadn't carried over. Exhausted from the long day, Edie felt herself slipping into sleep before Mary even turned the lights off.

As the blonde began to lose consciousness, the sensation from earlier swirled in her mind. She longed to have another small sniff of the amortentia. Edie had never encountered a more intoxicating fragrance. Each time she tried to relive those five seconds of bliss, a pair of chocolate brown eyes would accompany them, despite Edie's desperate attempts at pushing him out of her mind. The fact she'd smelled Remus merely meant she found him objectively attractive. And there's absolutely nothing out of the ordinary with finding your friends attractive; Marlene is objectively attractive, and so is Sirius (but only if you really squint), Edie thought. Besides, just because what she smelled just so happened to be similar to Remus doesn't mean that he had smelled Edie too. At this last thought, Edie drifted out of consciousness and into a deep sleep. So deep that she wasn't waken by her mangled cat, Piggy, making himself at home on her pillow at the top of her head. The only noise to be heard in the Gryffindor 5th Year Girls' Dormitory was the purring of Piggy and the soft snores of Lily Evans.

The following morning was a bit of a blur. Edie could already tell by the time she had left breakfast to head for her classes that it would be one of those going-through-the-motions type of days. Her coffee was blander than normal, and she couldn't remember whether or not she had packed a quill in her bag.

Edie mindlessly followed her girl friends at least three paces behind. The high-pitched giggles of lively First and Second Years were but a muffled noise, as if she were underwater. Even the sky was a dull grey, and the sun was hidden from sight. Her legs moved with a mind of their own as Edie felt herself slipping from reality and drifting into the clouded world inside her own mind. She thought of the chapter she had read in her Astronomy book last night about the correlation between birthdays and the position of the moon. And with the moon, she thought of Dumbledore's half-mooned spectacles. A particular thought was itching at the back of her brain, but she ignored it. Instead, she thought of her brother, who was still yet to show his face since arriving. This particular thought dampened her mood even further. Sure, they didn't particularly converse much at school, but a simple "Hello" would be nice, even if it was just-

Edie was abruptly pulled from her thoughts by the feeling of her body crashing into another, and a sharp, menacing voice, "Watch we're you're going!"

The blonde felt as if she'd just woken up as her eyes shot up to meet the cold, obsidian ones of a very displeased Severus Snape. The Slytherin boy walked swiftly past before she could get a word out, making sure to bump her shoulder. With a quick shake of her head, she brought herself back to reality; completely, this time. She looked ahead for her friends, but she'd fallen so far behind they were no longer in sight. With a huff, she continued her trek up the never-ending staircase alone. Just as she took her first step, Edie was surprised for the second time that morning.

"What the hell was that?"

She yelped at the shrill voice mere inches away from her ear. Her head turned to meet the inquisitive eyes of Sirius Black. His goons lurked behind him with matching expressions.

With a roll of her eyes, Edie grumbled, "I was just daydreaming again. Bumped into Severus. My fault." She started up the stairs without waiting for the boys behind her.

"Doesn't mean he needs to be a slimy git about it," Sirius shot back with a tone of pure dislike

James, Remus, and Peter had caught up the two at this point. "Well Padfoot, that's just the thing. He can't help because that's what he is-- a slimy git!" James clapped his arm around his friend's shoulders with a mockingly blissful sigh. Peter laughed as if he'd just made the funniest joke in the world. Edie's eyes shot to Remus, who wore a matching expression of indifference. She was about to roll her eyes at the childish boys again, when confusion took over her instead.

"Padfoot? Since when do you go by Padfoot? I've known you for fifteen years, Sirius Black, and never once have you referred to yourself by Padfoot!" Edie cinched her brows together and glanced up at her taller friend. He merely shot her his infamous, unbothered smirk.

"Well, you see-"

Sirius, James, and Remus's eyes simultaneously widened as Peter began to speak.

"Oh, well looks like we've arrived. Better hurry into class, wouldn't want to be late for Transfiguration, would we? Favorite class of the day!" James effectively cut off Peter who was clearly about to say something the others didn't want her hearing. The four boys scurried into the classroom they had arrived at. Edie restrained herself from shouting after them, as Professor McGonagall stood a mere few yards away.

"Miss Rosier, do you plan on coming in, or will you attend class standing in the doorway?" Professor McGonagall's voice cut through the air. With one last sigh, Edie forced herself to enter the room and took the empty seat beside Marlene. The four boys conveniently sat a few rows ahead so she couldn't get their attention.

These boys were certainly up to something, and whatever it was, Edie was hellbent on finding out.

#Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter imagine #harry potter imagines #hogwarts #Remus Lupin #remus #remus lupin fanfiction #remus lupin fanfic #remus lupin smut #Marauders #marauders era #marauders headcanon #marauders smut #marauders preference #marauders imagine #Sirius Black #sirius black smut #James Potter #james potter imagine #sirius black imagine

[forever-more-never-again]

Scales and Scars (Part Six)

Aizawa-Yamada [Y/n] - Given quirks through experimentation, thus their quirks are ‘Artificial’ and not considered ‘true’ quirks

First Quirk: Shadow Manipulation

Uses: Shadow manipulation allows the user to travel almost like teleportation from shadow to shadow by ‘sensing’ the shadows around the user. User is able to control the shadows and form objects. User can change the density of shadows. user also has excellent night vision.

Drawbacks: User experiences flashes of coldness from the presence of shadows, and if holds onto a shadow for too long will begin to develop frost bite.

Second Quirk: Dragon Shift

Uses: User can shift into a dragon, varying in size, and breath fire when in Dragon Form. It is a full shift, and user can not half-shift. Impressive strength in Dragon Form. Excellent vision and sense of smell. Large talons and teeth can break through almost any material.

Drawbacks: User cannot form coherent/rational thoughts while in dragon form and reverts to an animilistic and bloodthirsty mindset.

a/n:Second Quirk Revealed! And Part One of the Battle trail Arc!

Word Count: 2093

Pairings: Eraserhead(AIzawa) X PresentMic(Hizashi), Reader X Class1A (Will have multiple endings for pairings)

Warnings: violence against robots

Prologue / Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five

Masterlist

Growing up with two pro heros as parents, you knew a lot of the other heroes in the city. And that worked at UA, but that didn’t mean you weren't surprised by some of the ideas that Nezu thought of. 

“What do you mean All Might will be teaching our heroics class?” Your chopsticks were frozen halfway to your mouth as you gaped at your dad across from the table where you were eating dinner.

His expression never changing, your dad took a bite of his katsudon before replying, “What I just said. Nezu hired the Oaf, I can’t do anything about it besides voice my displeasure about having him work at UA.”

Your Pa smiled at his husband, “I think it will be better than you think Kitten!” You faked gagged at the pet name, “He is the number one hero for a reason!”

Shota glared, “He is loud and obnoxious and has no concept of what it’s like to teach a bunch of teenagers Hizashi.”

You nodded along. You had never met All Might, and didn’t hold the same idolization that a lot of other kids your age did. You just never saw the point. Sure he was the number one hero, but he didn’t do anything more than the other heroes, and honestly underground heroes did more than he did.

So the next day, you walked into class, knowing that there would be screaming way to early to be allowed.

“Why do you look like someone killed your cats?”

Whipping around, you shot a glare so sharp that Iida noticeably shrank back and swallowed hard.

Hissing with Shinso, you both spoke in unison, “Never joke about killing Cats.”

Tokoyami hummed, “It’s weird how you both manage to do that anytime cats are mentioned.”

Again you and Shinso spoke together, “That’s because cats are amazing.”

Sharing a look, both you and Shinso broke out in quiet laughter.

Finally answering Iida, whispering softly so that your other friends and classmates wouldn’t overhear, “I’m upset because I know what’s going to happen today in class and I am not fond of it.”

Iida nodded once. He was the only one in class who knew who your parents were. It was kinda hard not to when his older brother were your parents friends and they would come over all the time when you were both younger.

Taking your seat, you looked to the front of the class. And narrowed your eyes. Broccoli head, Midoriya, was chattering with infinity girl. Which wouldn’t be an issue, if you didn’t notice how tense Explosion boy was and the slight smoke that was coming off his desk where his fists were clenched.

Before you could say anything, the door slammed open and everyone screamed as All Might walked in, “I AM HERE WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

You had to swallow a snort. If that’s how All Might thought normal people entered, you had to question who he hung out with.

You caught snippets of your classmates whispered shouts.

“That his Silver Age costume!”

“All Might is teaching here!?”

“The number one Hero!”

“Of course, only the best for UA!”

All Might smiled broadly standing at the podium and when the class finally quieted down, he whipped out a board with the words ‘Battle Training’ on it.

“It’s time to put you budding heroes to the test!” A wall slides out showing a bunch of numbered silver cases. “These are your costumes made with your suggestions in mind! Change and meet at BattleGrounds B!”

Waiting for the rush of students to slow, you made your way to your case, apprehensive.

You had spent days designing your costume. Taking both of your parents advice in, and your aunt’s. Though Nemuri’s advice was a little too risque for your tastes.

In the changing room, you smiled at your friends obvious excitement.

Ducking into a bathroom stall, you took a deep breath. And then opened your case.

“Oh my god.” A breath of air left you in a rush. It was perfect.

A Black bodysuit with Gold detailing around your wrists, ankles, neck, waist, and thighs, and a Black mask that felt like a second skin over your eyes with Gold loops around your ears holding it in place. And the Black combat boots with Gold Soles. 

A note fluttered out from the bottom of the case as you finished putting the suit on.

‘Hi there! I designed this Baby and I hope you like it! The suit is made from a tough yet flexible material! Your request was a little tricky! But The gold detailing is actually a smart mechanism! So when you ‘Shift’ It will retract the black so that it doesn't tear away and the gold itself will stretch around your body in the designated locations on the suit. Any upgrades or questions just come to the support Class and ask for me!

Sincerely,

Hatsume Mei!’

Your heart rate sped up a little, knowing that one more person out there knew about your second quirk. Fearing that they might talk about it, share it with others.

You had disavowed using it, but your Dad had made a good point when designing your costume, what if something happened and the shift was triggered? You didn’t want to end up naked at the scene of a fight.

The feeling of disgust and shame lingered though. Dragon Shift. The quirk that had gained you the nickname Useless Monster from the villains that had you for years. The Quirk you hated with your entire being because it was true. It was a monster Quirk, A villains quirk.

To change into a giant, black scaled, fire breathing dragon that could topple cities and burn people alive...it wasn’t something you wanted to be associated with.

But it was a quirk that the villain’s scientist had concocted for their leader. That had been injected into you. For you to harness and use so that when Sensei took it away for himself he already had it mastered.

Swallowing down your bile, you finished getting dressed and ran out from the locker room, everyone already gone.

Squinting past the bright sunlight, coming out from the tunnel leading to battleground B, your eyes widened as you took in everyone's costumes.

“Damn [Y/n]...You look, uh, good.” Turning your head, you saw Shinso standing by you, his hand rubbing the nape of his neck.

You smiled at him, “Your costume looks good too!” And it did.

He wore a black tracksuit that you knew was inspired by Eraserhead, which had you internally laughing your head off. He had a voice changer and wraps around his arms. 

“Ah! Yamada! You’ve been hiding this body from us!” Your vision was suddenly invaded by Pink as Ashido jumped onto you, her arms wrapping around your neck.

Laughing self-consciously, you pried the affectionate girl off of you in time to see almost every guy in the class flush a light pink and turn away.

“Alright Ya bunch of Zygotes! Battle Training! Today we will be doing indoor battles, Heroes Versus Villains! There will be a nuclear bomb inside the building that the Villains must defend. Winners are decided by the Heroes capturing the Villains, touching the Bomb, or the Villains capturing the Heroes or running down the clock! You will have fifteen minutes once the heroes enter! Now, I’ll be drawing groups! Get ready!”

Everyone passed around pieces of paper with letters on it. Once everyone had a letter, All Might reached into two boxes, one labeled heroes, the other Villains.

“Alright! First up! Group B Will be the Heroes and Group D will be the Villains!”

Everyone checked their letters, and you breathed a sigh of relief that you were not in either. 

Glancing around, you saw the four people who would start off the training.

Walking up to Midoriya, you nudged his shoulder knocking him out of his dazed state.

Smiling, “Hey Midoriya! Your costume is super cute! Kinda like a bunny!” Your eyes squinted as you flashed a blinding smile, tilting your head.

Midoriya flushed a deep red and his eyes looked at the ground, “Yo-you look...look good t-too Yamada!”

Giving him a thumbs up, you left him to strategize as Uraraka came over.

As you walked behind the class to go to the viewing room, you passed the angry blonde. Bakugou, you reminded yourself.

You stopped next to him for a moment. He turned, a snarl on his face.

“What do you want Shitty girl!?”

You frowned at him, but had to focus to make sure you didn’t look at his body. His costume showcased his assets really well and you didn’t need him to know that you liked it.

“Just wanted to wish you luck Baka-gou.” 

Walking away before he could react, you smirked as you heard him scream and yell back at you, “I don’t need your luck! I’ll be number one!”

Once in the viewing area, you gravitated towards Tokoyami and Shinso who stood near the back.

Gaining a nod from the cloaked avian teen and a lazy grin from the purplinette, you put your attention to the giant two screens on the wall across from you.

The fight was nothing like you expected it to be. Half the time you were holding your breath in worry for the Broccoli boy, and the others you were snarling at blonde explosion kid.

Though you couldn’t deny the energy in their fight and how your blood began to race in anticipation for your own fight.

The first fight ended with Midoriya being carted off to recovery girl and Bakugou being silent.

No one else seemed to see it, or find it odd. But you could. You caught his eyes before he looked away once he entered the viewing room, that second was all you needed to know that he was suffering through a panic attack.

Slipping unnoticed, you tugged the silent boy into a hallway.

He ripped his arm out of your grasp and glared at you, but it lacked the usual heat.

His body was trembling, but you could tell he was trying to restrain them.

“What do you want Shitty Girl?” His voice was more subdued too.

Knowing he wouldn’t react well to pity, you simply shrug your shoulders and glanced down the hallway, not making eye contact. From the corner of your eye you saw him relax a touch.

“Thought you would like a breather after that intense fight.”

He made a tsking noise with his tongue and folded his arms across his chest, his gauntlets off after the fight.

“I’m fucking fine alright. I don’t need your fucking help or pity!”

At that you turned your gaze back to him and your eyes clashed with swirling red lava, “I’m not fucking pitying you!”

Your crass language seemed to startle him for a moment, as if he thought you wouldn’t curse.

Taking a deep breathe, you frowned at him, “I know a thing or two about panic attacks, alright asshole.”

He opened his mouth, his eyes hardening and you saw his hands clenched against his arms.

You interrupted him before he could utter a word, your arms coming up to cage him against the wall, “And don’t you dare say you don’t have panic attacks! You were fucking panicking after Midoriya’s stupid stunt back there! No one else noticed! But me! And you will listen to me and you will fucking take my help because No one helped me through my first panic attack and it fucked me up! Okay!?”

Your rant ended, and you finally noticed the position the both of you were in.

Your body was almost pressed up against his, his arms resting on your hips, them having moved in shock when you had lunged forward.

Your hands were flat on the wall beside his head, your breath ruffling his hair.

Bakugou’s cheeks were dusted with a light pink and his eyes were looking past you to the opposite wall.

Jumping back as if electrocuted, you decided not to mention it. Dusting off your catsuit like nothing had happened, you turned away to head back into the viewing room.

Right before opening the door, you turned your head slightly and spoke over your shoulder to the silent teen, “It’s not weak to ask for help, Bakugou. I wish I had asked for help sooner…”

And with that you went back to the rest of the class just in time to watch Todoroki freeze the entire building.

FOREVER Taglist:

@sxph-t​ @mialeelavellan​ @rainydaysrnevergrey​ @platonic-plots​ @sociallyawkwardcircus-freak-hi​ @queenbbarnes​ @mythixmagic​ @chas-z​ @thefridgeismybestie​ @strangersstranger​ @princess-evans-addict​ @rororo06​ @timelordhunterandmysterysolver​ @xxxtwilightaxelxxx 

Scales and Scars (BNHA) Taglist:

@trash1ty​ @darkfaethedestroyer​ @foxinaforestofstars​ @axolotl-of-evil​ @inumorph​

#my hero academia #my hero academia x reader #my hero academy fanfiction #my hero fanfic #katsuki bakugou #bnha bakugou #bakugou x reader #shinsou hitoshi #shinsou x reader #bnha shinsou #Kirishima Eijirou #kirishima x reader #mha kirishima #tokoyami #fumikage tokoyami #tokoyami x reader #mha tokoyami #aizawa sensei #aizawa shouta #bnha aizawa #mha aizawa #aizawa x present mic #bnha todoroki #todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto #reader insert #tag list #please give credit #please give feedback #rose writes

[pfenniged]

 tagged by @anathenma WOO GIRL <3

rules: tag 10 followers you want to get to know better

name: Lauren

gender: Female

star sign: Virgo Sun || Leo Moon || Leo Ascendent, which basically means I have the usually quiet reserved personality of an analytical, organised virgo on the fact of things, am usually the goofy, chill friend amongst my friends, and don’t like to take anyone’s shit, but if I am disrespected, I’m a sensitive six foot flower and withdraw from the world until I can get over it. xD I don’t like conflict.

height: 183cm/6 feet 

age: 27 (YIKES XD)

wallpaper on my phone: (I had to check XD) A calendar of May 2020 stylistically arranged around ribbons

house: Slytherin

ever crush on a teacher: Both my parents and my uncle are teachers and consequently I knew every teacher in my school as actual human people and not ‘crushes’ growing up. So no. XD

coolest halloween costume: I went as the Starbucks logo one year when I was eight, a gigantic Lady Luck die one year with a top hat covered in poker chips and cards. I had some good ones I made: I was creative as fuck when I was 9-11 especially, and I had to be, because I was already around 5′7 and people assumed I was just some weirdo dressing up to get candy (Hearing ‘AREN’T YOU A LITTLE OLD TO BE TRICK OR TREATING’ at eleven CRUSHED me XD)

Favorite 90s tv show: 

Okay. So there’s one’s I watched actually as a child of the 90s, and ones that were just always ON in the 90s that I ended up watching. It’s debatable whether these are actually good NOW. XD

That being said, the background ones were Saved By the Bell (ZACH MORRIS IS TRAAAAassssh~~), Boy Meets World, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond.

As a kid, I loved the Aladdin Animated Series, The Hercules Animated Series, CHIP AND DALE RESCUE RANGERS (Which didn’t really hold up sadly but still has the best theme song of all time, fight me), and Timon and Pumbaa.

One I rarely caught but really liked was All That, The Wonder Years, Sabrina the Teenage Witch- occasionally Fresh Prince.

Out of all of these, I still have a super fond spot for Saved By the Bell, especially with the ‘Zach Morris is Trash’ series on Youtube (Seriously, go watch it. It’s fucking hilarious and basically breaks down how much of a serial killer in the making Zach Morris is XD). The clothing is ridiculous and no one really dressed like that in the early 90s outside of commercials and TV (unfortunately). Maybe one shoddy item out of the bunch. Meanwhile Saved by the Bell is like LETS PUT IT ALL ON. XD It was terrible once they got to college, but it was stupid and fun and made me feel ‘cool’ watching it because I was like three and being like, “YEAH, IT’S BRIGHT AND THESE PEOPLE ARE COOL AND I CAN FOLLOW THE PLOT. I’M MATURE.” XD It’s literally still the only one of these I actively watch now in the form of Zach Morris is Trash, so I’ll go with it. xD

Last kiss: Never had a consensual kiss. Make of that what you will. xD

Have you ever been stood up: Nope.

Favourite pair of shoes: 

I have terrible plantar fasciitis from sports, so I’m a shoe snob, and have to have properly fitting/constructed shoes. It depends on what I’m doing in them, really. I got a pair of trail running shoes for trail running during COVID, but they’re not the most aesthetically pleasing. I’d say the best mixture between comfort and style are either a good ol’pair of black ankle boots with a slight heel (so I can be 6′2 and intimidate people with my height muhahahaha), or more practically on a day to day basis, I have a pair of Reeboks that are 90s-styled with pastel pink and blue triangles on the side. They’re pretty dope. xD

have you ever been to vegas: No, but my parents have. Basically, they said you tire of shopping after two days, and then you’re just stuck inside hotels and shopping malls there. If you’re not a gambler, drinker, or have a ton of money to splash out on stage shows, I don’t think it’s particularly worth going.

favorite fruit: Mango or raspberry, but they’re super-expensive in the land of Maple Syrup so I usually don’t get them any other way other than frozen in smoothies.

Favourite book:

 I could never choose a favourite book. It’s literally like choosing between children. It’s my microcosmic version of Sophie’s Choice. xD Tasteless joke aside, it’d honestly depend on the occasion. There’s a huge difference between entertainment reading, literary exploits, and educating yourself through books as a whole. 

My ‘plane’ book (which I’m terrible at flying, so that was a joke), as in, an easy, fun, instantly rereadable read to read on the plane when I used to have super long fifteen hour flights to Australia, was always Mario Puzo’s ‘The Godfather,’ because I also had a huge crush on Michael Corleone. 

But it’s also not the ‘best’ book and literally spends an inordinate and honestly disturbing amount of time on the fact that this poor woman in the story (which thankfully in the film, it gets cut down), but the bridesmaid Sonny Corleone has sex with, and how you see his wife indicating his ‘size’?

THAT’S LITERALLY AN ENTIRE SUBPLOT OF THIS BROAD’S STORY I SHIT YOU NOT BECAUSE NOTHING IS ‘BIG’ ENOUGH FOR HER AFTER HIM AND THEN YOU FIND OUT SHE HAS A MEDICAL CONDITION AND GOOD FOR HER SHE’S ABLE TO FIND LOVE AGAIN BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MARIO PUZO XD IT WAS A LOT OKAY.

(Footnote: I also suffered through his horrific sequels because I love Michael Corleone and will take him in any form he comes in, even horrifically written Sicilian backhill exploits that were never told to us in the original book and were clearly just written because Puzo needed another pay check but I digress.)

Horrific subplots aside, I really enjoy The Godfather for its sheer pulpiness. The book is essentially what Andrew Lloyd Weber is to musicals. xD (Yes, I come with musical theatre burns. Fight me.)

In terms of a piece of literature that I think is amazingly well done? Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, or Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Stupidest thing you ever done: 

Um, maybe when I was at Cambridge I tried to dye my roots to match the rest of my ‘blonde’ hair at the time, and it turned out bright orange? And because it’s Cambridge, they had this super-strict attendance policy, so I was literally trying not to hyperventilate because it was running close to class (which was across campus) and I was trying to find some way to remedy my hair without it falling out/ someone asking about it. So, I grabbed a toque-cap-thing despite it being literally one of the hottest summer on record in the UK (It was like 35 degrees, it was MENTAL), and had to sprint to class all the way on the other side of campus from my college dodging dodgy tourist groups blocking the sidewalk while I went. Then when I sat down inside, I had to be weirdly rude and wear my hat inside the lecture hall even though the professor was looking at me (it was a specialised program in German Literature) like, “Are you going to take that shit off?” xD THEN I tried to dye it back to brown, and it literally looked like mud mixed with a runny egg had exploded on the top of my head; it was AWFUL. XD So FINALLY I did my research and found a salon, but by THAT point I had done 250 pounds worth of damage to my hair (WHICH IS LIKE 400 DOLLARS CANADIAN AT THE TIME), and I almost had a heart attack and thanked my lucky stars that I had money put away so I could give my parents the ‘parent price’ when they asked why they hadn’t seen me on FaceTime or Skype for like, three weeks, and I replaced my face with a photo of John Cleese from Fawlty Towers, which they tease me about to this day. xD

The other dumbest thing I ever said was when I was so desperate for friends in grade six when I moved to a new school (and because being American was ‘cool’ at the time, apparently), I told everyone I was a dual citizen because my mother LITERALLY GAVE BIRTH TO ME ON THE BORDER CROSSING WHAT. XD And bless this poor bespectacled girl named Mara (who was actually a little class friend of mine), who just said timidly in the back, “That’s not how citizenship works.” xD It basically came out of attempting to be cool and failing, but I’m still SO embarrassed about THAT one that I’d never admit it to ANYONE besides shouting it out into the Tumblr black hole. xD I’m still embarrassed to THIS DAY.

All time favorite shows: 

 I’ll go for the original run of The Twilight Zone, which has some schmaltzy episodes (I’m really not a fan of any of the episodes entirely dedicated to the Space Race or the weird cowboy fanaticism of the fifties/ sixties, or anything that’s overtly like “ALIENS DID IT SO THERE”), but I LOVE their psychological horror episodes or Dystopian episodes. It’s when Rod Serling’s writing and narrative voice is the strongest and most prophetic, and the twists are usually the best. Other shows have tries to imitate it, or reboot it, but I really think the original, due to Rod Serling’s unmatchable voice, in every sense of the word. There’s lists of some of the greatest episodes, but I remember LOVING the episode ‘A Stop at Willoughby.’ The twist literally made me clap my hands in horror and delight, it was amazing. xD

Other than that? Off the top of my head, Mad Men and Band of Brothers, even though I haven’t rewatched either in ages.

last movie you saw in theaters: 

Oh God, before all THIS hit? Probably Rise of Skywalker. I get agoraphobic and itchy if a movie theatre is too busy, and we only have really pokey sort of ones nearby that you’re guaranteed to see someone you went to high school with (terrible), so now that I can properly drive I go out to the big redneck theatre out in the boonies. I miss living in Montreal though, because when you live in a big city like that downtown (and can actually afford to live there), you could see blockbuster movies at like ten in the morning. xD Which would be AMAZING because I’d go to see any of the early Avengers/Marvel movies when they opened, the day of opening, and it was literally me, one old man who fell asleep halfway through and sat near the back, and maybe an elderly couple on a morning date to the movies. xD I get really annoyed with obnoxious movie-goers, and I’m really picky about just being completely absorbed in the movie, so I tend not to go unless I’m guaranteed that space. 

tagging: Anyone who wishes to tag me back so I can learn about them <3

#meme #well god this was embarrassing #still hope you found something of interest in there though xD #personal #I indented the longer answers so this was somewhat cohesive

[wolfie-dragon-rider]

Grey Stains, chapter 2

Hey everyone, here's chapter 2 of Grey Stains. Our first glimpse of Hogwarts, and backstory for Astrid! I hope you enjoy it! I will also update my masterpost with this story, so if you want to find chapter 1, look there or check my ‘grey stains’ tag.

One thing I would like to address here are the side characters. Pretty much all side characters like professors and classmates, are lifted from other franchises that I enjoy. However, you shouldn't feel obligated to know all (or any) of them to understand my story. They're simply there to add some color to the scenes, and because I think having Hiro and Rayla is more interesting and easy to remember for you, the reader, than Ravenclaw OC #1 and Gryffindor OC #2. So if you don't know a character in the story, I hope the context explains enough about them. If you do know the character, I hope you enjoy some of the in-jokes I put in. After this chapter their presence should be less overwhelming, as the story will focus more on Hiccup and Astrid proper. 

 --------------------------------

"And we're here, with fifteen minutes to spare! Those Muggle 'taxis' are faster than I thought!" Astrid's uncle Finn said as he led the way into King's Cross Station. It was filled with people, and the loud announcements and screeching of the trains made Astrid's head hurt. Her owl, a yellow-blue bird with the powers of a Blast-ended Skrew who she named Stormfly, screeched loudly, and she hoped none of the Muggles would notice the puff of smoke coming out of Stormfly's beak.

"I keep telling you, the Muggles are smarter than you assume, but you never believe me!" Aunt Erika said. They kept bickering about transportation as they walked onto platform 9. Astrid recognized a man standing there, despite him wearing Muggle clothes. It was Mr. Cruz, one of the aurors working with her uncle. He was subtly guiding wizard families towards the column dividing platforms 9 and 10.

Finn and Erika stopped their argument to greet him, and a minute later they got the signal to go. Astrid looked at the solid brick wall in front of her, and she suddenly felt scared. No, no, she can't be scared. She's gonna be a proud Gryffindor, she has to be brave! So she gritted her teeth and ran right after her guardians.

Although she may have closed her eyes before reaching the wall. There was a brief sensation of her moving through what felt like liquid, but then the sounds warped and changed. The Muggle talk and modern trains vanished, replaced by the sounds of magic and the hissing of a steam engine.

"Alright girl, are you ready? Oh, you grew up so quickly! Don't be afraid to send us letters, okay? It's normal to feel a bit lonely at first! But I'm sure you'll make lots of friends!" Erika said, rubbing her cheek.

"Thanks, Aunt Erika. I'll try," she said as Finn took her suitcase and lifted it onto the train. Astrid wanted to protest, say that she could do it herself. But before she could open her mouth he turned to her with that look that meant he was going to say something important. He kneeled, putting himself a little below her eye level, but she still felt small.

"Astrid… I'm sorry your parents couldn't be here to see you off. Or your sister. But I know that your mom and dad and Celia would be so, so proud of you. And so is your brother Max, even if he couldn't make it to London because of his work. And we are so proud of you too. You know, after the Battle… there was so much destruction. So much death, and it felt so hopeless. But we took you in, and in you we saw hope. That war ended because people like your parents and your siblings stood up and fought against evil. They fought to give you a better world to grow up in. And I know you'll work to fight the evils of your time. It's different now, you know. Less open. Don't forget that some people still have those… evil beliefs, even if they won't say it out loud. But I know you'll do the right thing. You're strong," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

Astrid tried to look him in the eye, but she felt tears appear, and she dropped her head trying to hide it. She wasn't so sure if Max was proud of her. They had barely spoken in years. He was abroad, studying Healing in Italy, and rarely replied to letters. She rarely felt like sending him letters either. They had never been super close, Astrid had liked her sister Celia more back when she was alive, and six months after the Battle of Hogwarts Max had left Britain, finishing his NEWTs at Beauxbatons and traveling Europe ever since.

As she looked around, seeing parents hugging their children, siblings teasing each other, laughing together, she wanted to shout that it wasn't fair. Her family had been torn apart by Death Eaters, and these people were all perfectly fine?

But no, she couldn't do that. Like Uncle Finn always said, she should be grateful she has what she has. Entire families had been slaughtered, Muggleborns tortured until they were left permanently insane at St. Mungo's, babies killed and turned into Inferi and other monsters. Her pain was nothing compared to that.

So she forced herself to smile and nod.

"I'll fight for the light, Uncle Finn. Like you taught me! I'll be a brave Gryffindor like you and Dad and Celia! Not to mention Harry Potter and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger!"

"Alright, little lion, just remember it's okay if you end up in another house. Of course, I know you want to end up in Gryffindor like your heroes. Just remember the other houses did great things too. Hell, your brother was a Slytherin and he fought alongside Neville Longbottom for the entire battle!" Aunt Erika said, and Astrid rolled her eyes.

"I know, Auntie! Doesn't mean they're not dorks," she said. Behind her aunt and uncle she could see the boy from the wand shop walk past, with his messy brown hair and expensive robes. A bald man with two prosthetic limbs walked alongside him. His father? They didn't look related. Something about the boy made her nervous. When she saw him at Ollivander's, waving wand after wand with no effect, she had thought he might be a squib. But if he was going to Hogwarts he should be magical, right?

After some goodbyes and awkward hugs Astrid boarded the train. She walked through the corridor, checking for any empty cabins but not finding any. Eventually she found one with three girls of her age, and decided she might as well get started on making friends.

"Hello!" she said, trying to seem confident as she opened the door and pulled her suitcase inside. The white-haired girl turned to her, revealing strange purple markings under her eyes.

"Hi, I'm Rayla, and these are Merida and Pidge. Merida and I already knew each other, we grew up in the same town," the girl said in a thick Scottish accent, gesturing to two girls who both had their own style of wild hair. Merida had a wild mane of curly bright red hair, while Pidge had short dirty blonde hair that stuck out in all directions and looked like she cut it herself.

"I'm Astrid," she said, sitting down next to Pidge.

They easily got to talking, and Astrid learned that Rayla's family situation was similar to hers: Her parents had gone missing during the war, and she was raised by a family friend called Runaan. Pidge was Muggleborn, but her brother Matt was magical too, and was currently a Ravenclaw prefect. Merida was from a very old wizarding house, and her father lost a leg fighting evil creatures in the war.

"So what do you think you'll be when you grow up? My parents keep trying to push me into politics, that I'll have to keep managing our ancient house, but I say sod that!" Merida said, her accent even thicker than Rayla's.

"Probably inventing. I'm good at figuring out tech and stuff. I'm curious if I can use magic in Muggle computers," Pidge said. Astrid wasn't sure what she was talking about. Before she could ask, Rayla spoke up.

"This is probably weird, but Runaan is part of an elite group of aurors, and he kind of expects me to join him. Not sure if I want to, though," she said, rolling her eyes.

"My uncle is an auror too. That's what I always expected to be. Never really considered anything else. I want to fight evil like my family did," Astrid said, trying not to think about how often Uncle Finn had come home with dead eyes after another raid. Those were evenings he wouldn't say a word. He'd just grab a bottle of firewhiskey and slowly empty it while listening to old songs on the radio.

"I'll stick to making weapons for you, I guess. Way safer than being on the frontlines," Pidge chuckled, adjusting her round glasses. Astrid wondered if she knew they looked just like Harry Potter's glasses.

--------------------------------

"Come on, Gobber! Aren't I supposed to make friends? Meet people? Doesn't Dad always say networking is important?" Hiccup exclaimed, gesturing at the locked door of their cabin.

"Your father gave me strict instructions not to let you out of my sight until you're safe at Hogwarts. He may not be my direct boss, but you know I can't ignore an order from him! He's got influence! That curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position is finally gone, and I'll be damned if I lose the job anyway because you can't stay put for a few hours!" Gobber shouted, pointing at Hiccup with his prosthetic hand.

"What does he think is gonna happen? Death Eaters kidnapping me? People angry about his policies attacking me? What even for? My dad is the most apolitical politician ever, he doesn't care about any ideology. All he cares about is slaying dragons," Hiccup said, looking out the window at London disappearing behind them.

"Oh, don't play dumb. You know what this is about. Stoick is worried that the Red Death will attack the train. I figured that you of all people should understand that," Gobber said, digging in his bag with his good hand.

"You know I don't live my life cowering in fear of dragons every moment, right? My dad may be obsessed, but I'm not. It's ridiculous. Like that Red Death would actually attack us," Hiccup said, looking up at the cloudy sky. Could dragons be hiding up there?

"Hey, I agree that Stoick is paranoid about dragons, but he's not wrong about the Red Death. It has killed fourteen muggles and three mages in the past year. Despite nearly all the Department of Magical Creatures' resources being devoted to hunting it, it has eluded your father for years," Gobber said as he pulled a chess set from his bag. Hiccup looked away from the window just in time to see the man take his wand out and placing it on the bench beside him.

"I just… He's always locked me up at home in fear of it, and I figured that now that I get to go to Hogwarts I'd finally be… free. But he's still locking me up," Hiccup muttered, glancing at his own wand. According to the eighth wandmaker they had visited this summer, in Beijing, it was the best wand money could buy. Hiccup had tried thousands of wands in shops all over the world, and none had chosen him, so Stoick had bought him this. Maybe at Hogwarts he'd learn how to use it.

"Oh, don't think like that. It's just until we reach the castle. You'll be safe there, and I won't have to babysit you anymore," Gobber chuckled, and Hiccup tried to smile. "Now, since we're stuck together we might as well pass the time with some chess!" the man said, laying the board on the table as the pieces jumped out of the box, taking their positions with loud boasts and battlecries.

They played for a while. Gobber won the first game, and they took a break when a nice lady knocked on the door to ask if they wanted any candy. Gobber bought a large brick of chocolate for them both. The sugar seemed to make Hiccup more alert, and he easily won the next three games.

"Looks like you'll be a Ravenclaw with those brains. What house would you like to be in?" Gobber asked as his broken black pieces put themselves back together with loud groans and whimpers. Hiccup shrugged.

"Haven't really thought about it. I guess everyone always says Gryffindor, but I'm not so sure. Maybe Slytherin, to piss off Dad," he said as his king and queen led his white pieces back onto the field.

"Honestly I think he'd be more disappointed if you ended up a Hufflepuff. He often complains they're 'too nice' and 'care too much about dangerous creatures'," Gobber said. "But with the way you're slaughtering me, I don't think you're nice enough for that."

--------------------------------

As he climbed out of the rickety boat Hiccup didn't feel like Hogwarts was a very magical place. It was raining, and the summer warmth was blown away by a cold wind.

"Why did we have to go all the way to London for the train if Hogwarts is right next door? And now a boat! I hate water!" a Scottish voice from the next boat said, and Hiccup looked over to see a white-haired girl looking sick as she jumped onto land. Her robes were simple and sturdy compared to his gilded silk robes that did nothing to keep him warm.

"Such weird boats. Ours back home are much sturdier!" a girl with long brown hair said as she climbed out beside Hiccup. "I'm Katara, by the way. Katara Waters."

"I'm Hiccup," he said loudly to be heard over the howling wind. They hadn't had much of a chance to speak during the boat ride.

"Alright, head inside now, let's hurry!" Gobber shouted, helping a black-haired girl out of one of the boats. She looked very annoyed, and when Hiccup looked closer he noticed her eyes were blank and milky. For a second the dragon's eyes from that day in Gringotts flashed in his mind. Katara waved her wand and did a strange movement with her other hand, and the rain above them was diverted, like she was holding a large umbrella. Hiccup gladly took the opportunity to look away from the blind girl and focus on something else.

"You can do that already?" he asked, fingers rolling over his own wand on his belt.

"It's magic from my tribe, I learned it from my gran-gran," she said, continuing the odd spell.

"I thought Hagrid was supposed to guide the first-years?" one of the boys asked as the last of the boats docked, water splashing over the side as its occupants jumped out.

"Hagrid retired years ago, he moved to France. I'm the groundskeeper now," Gobber said, before casting a charm that lit up a muddy path. The group hobbled along for a few minutes until they reached the front gates of the castle. Gobber waved his wand, and the gate opened. They gladly ran inside, slipping and sliding on the tiles. They barely had time to appreciate the enormous hall with its marble stairs before a familiar voice spoke up.

"Ah, you're here. Welcome, first-years, to Hogwarts!" a tall woman with grey hair said. Hiccup recognized her from one of his dad's ministry parties.

"I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts and Transfiguration teacher," she continued as the kids gathered around the enormous marble stairs she was standing on. Once they were all lined up she talked a bit about how houses worked, and that they should obey the rules. Hiccup's mind wandered, and with it his eyes. Next to him was Hiro, the boy from the wand shop, who looked as bored as him. Next to Hiro was a bald boy with arrow-shaped tattoos on his head and arms. Despite his strange appearance he looked giddy and excited. And at the far end he saw Astrid. She suddenly noticed him staring and frowned, and he quickly dropped his gaze.

"Now, let us enter the Great Hall so you can be Sorted!" McGonagall finished her speech, before passing through the line of first-years to a large door to their right.

Although he had heard stories and read books about this hall, he still gasped at the sight of it. The ceiling reflected the storm clouds outside, though no rain fell on the floating candles and tables filled with precious silverware. Hundreds of students dressed in similar black robes sat along the 4 tables, and they all looked at him and the other first-years entering. At the far end was the staff table on the raised platform. He could see Gobber near the center of it, giving him a quick wave with his prosthetic hand. He tried to smile back, though it was hard when his stomach churned at the sight of the tattered old hat sitting on a tiny old chair.

The blind girl was the only one not gasping at the amazing room. Instead she just kept walking forward alongside McGonagall, leading the other first-years towards the Sorting Hat.

Eventually they were all crowded near the chair with the hat, and it began to sing. Some of the Muggleborns gasped and looked fearful at first, but the hat quickly reassured them as it explained its purpose and the characteristics of the four houses.

"Alright, when I call your name, step forward, sit on the chair, and I'll put the hat on you. It will then sort you into your House. Firstly… Avatar, Aang!" McGonagall said, lifting the hat with one hand, a scroll in her other. The bald boy with tattoos he noticed earlier stepped forward with light steps and sat down, and McGonagall lowered the hat over the large blue arrow on his forehead.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" it shouted barely a second later. The boy jumped up, higher than Hiccup knew someone could jump, and ran over to the table that had exploded with applause.

"Beifong, Toph!" The blind girl stepped forward, somehow noticing the small step between them and the chair, and sitting down without help. Hiccup wondered how she did that.

The hat was quiet for a minute as Toph grimaced, before eventually announcing "GRYFFINDOR!"

Butterfly, Star!"

"That's me, that's me! Hi, Mr. Hat! Ooh, ooh, are you going to look into my mind? That's soooo cool!" a girl with heart-shaped cheek marks and blonde hair past her knees screamed as she ran forward, knocking over several first-years with surprising strength. She had an enormous grin as the Hat was placed over her head, hiding her wide eyes from the room.

For a second the grin lowered, before returning full-force. She nodded wildly, making McGonagall reach out her hand to steady the hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it suddenly boomed. The table next to them applauded loudly as the girl took off the hat and ran to her new house.

The sorting went on like that for a while, and Hiccup had trouble keeping track of all the names. There was a small commotion at the Ravenclaw table when Pidge Gunderson was called forward and sorted there, but it was quickly shushed.

Hiccup didn't recognize any of the kids that were sorted until "Hamada, Hiro" was sorted into Ravenclaw. Hiccup frowned at that. Wasn't he supposed to be before Hamada, since he's a Haddock? He was about to raise his hand when "Hofferson, Astrid" was announced, and at the sight of the fierce blonde walking forward with resolute steps he forgot what he was thinking about.

The hat was quiet for a very long time, at least five minutes, during which Astrid balled her hands into tighter and tighter fists. Even with her eyes hidden by the hat's brim she was clearly angry.

'GRYFFINDOR!" the hat eventually shouted, and she didn't even wait for McGonagall to lift the hat. Astrid jumped to her feet and tossed it to the chair, before stomping to the applauding table.

Hiccup's musings on what Astrid could be angry about were interrupted by McGonagall scraping her throat and announcing the next name.

"Horrendous, Hiccup!"

The tension that had filled the room at Astrid's anger snapped in the form of collective laughter.

"That's his actual name?"

"Don't know what's worse, the first or last name!"

"Wow, I feel sorry for the house that gets that one!"

"What were his parents thinking?"

Hiccup could feel his cheeks heat up in shame as he slowly stepped forward.

"That's not my last name! It's Haddock! Horrendous is my middle name!" he shouted, trying to be heard over the laughter which only increased at his words.

McGonagall narrowed her eyes as she checked her scroll again.

"You are- SILENCE!" The one word instantly stopped all the laughter in the hall. "You are listed as Horrendous in our records-" Snickers and soft laughs again echoed through the room, though they quickly stopped when she glared.

"We'll figure this out later. Either way, Mr. Hiccup, step forward and be Sorted."

He slowly nodded, feeling the stare of every person in the room on him, and sat down on the chair. Then the hat slid over his eyes, and it was suddenly completely silent.

...Until a raspy voice whispered in his ear.

"Who do we have here? Mistaken identity? Someone messing with the records? Well, let me tell you, you do belong here at Hogwarts, even if your wand doesn't work and someone got confused about your name. But where to put you?"

Hiccup jerked away from the voice and opened his mouth to ask how the hat knew all of this, but before he could even draw a breath the voice whispered in his other ear.

"Don't bother talking out loud, this is all in your head. No need for anyone else to hear this. Now, where oh where shall you go? A kind heart, loyal and forgiving. Not too lazy either. You'd make a decent Hufflepuff. But on the other hand, what a brain! Eager to learn, and I can see a spark of genius in you. You could have new perspectives. Maybe Ravenclaw?"

Hiccup's thoughts raced as he awaited the hat's verdict. A sweatdrop slid over his forehead. The presence gave him a headache.

"You're obviously not a Slytherin, you don't have a deceitful or ambitious bone in your body. Brave though, even if you don't know it yet. A good sense of right and wrong, and deep inside there's fighting spirit. What glorious cause would bring that out? You could be a great hero, you know, and Gryffindor would lead you to glory. All the kids these days want to be in the house of the amazing Harry Potter and his friends, but you could truly follow their path," it said, and Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut.

He was about to agree. Gryffindor was the house of the heroes, the good guys, the house that would please his father, the house the girl who made him feel all funny and light went to.

But then he remembered three Gryffindors on the back of a dragon. Three Gryffindors who everyone called heroes. Gryffindors who let a dragon run amok and kill his mother.

If that was heroism, Hiccup didn't think he wanted it.

"Oh, what's this? Now this is interesting. You might be the first kid I've seen in 7 years who doesn't worship those three. The complete opposite of that previous… never mind that, I'm not supposed to talk about other Sortings. Anyway, this is an interesting form of bravery in itself! But in your case, I think you'd better go to… RAVENCLAW!"

The hat was pulled from Hiccup's head, and the sounds of the Great Hall returned. There was muted clapping from the Ravenclaw table, not nearly as much as for the other students, while the other tables looked relieved. He awkwardly walked to the Ravenclaws, stumbling on the small step, though he managed to avoid falling on his face. He quickly sat down next to Hiro as McGonagall called forth "Jorgenson, Scott" and attention diverted away from him. A girl with round glasses and short hair reached out her hand across the table to him.

"Hey there. I'm Pidge Gunderson. Well, my brother here would say I'm Katie Holt, but that's not what the official records say now, do they Matt?" she said, pointing to a boy several years older, with similar hair and glasses who was sitting next to her. Hiccup awkwardly took her hand and shook it.

"How did you even hack the records here to change your name?! They're all in parchment! It's not like they have computers or internet!" Matt shouted, though he silenced himself when the hat proclaimed "SLYTHERIN" and "Katolis, Callum" was called forward.

"Oh, I have my ways. Still, you owe me 50 quid," Pidge (or was it Katie?) said, snickering. Hiccup wasn't sure how to respond to the bickering siblings.

"Fine, but I still don't understand why you did it. This will come back to bite you eventually," Matt said, rolling his eyes and digging in his pockets, pulling out a few bills of muggle money.

"Let me guess how you did it… You intercepted the communications between the ministry and Hogwarts, probably via Floo," Hiro said, and Pidge chuckled before nodding.

"Yup. Just had to figure out a charm to modify the ink inside the envelope."

"Oh man, I can see you two are already becoming partners in crime. What did I tell you, Tadashi? Hopeless. Our siblings are supervillains in the making!" Matt called out to a tall boy several seats down. He started to reply when the hat shouted "RAVENCLAW" and a boy with messy brown hair and a thick book on a belt slung around his shoulder walked over to sit next to Pidge.

"Hi, I'm Callum. Muggleborn, but my dad is high in muggle government so he already knew about magic," the boy introduced himself. Pidge quickly introduced herself, explaining that she and Matt were Muggleborn as well.

"I'm half-blood. Muggle mother, wizard father. They both died when I was 3," Hiro said, and Hiccup turned to look at him. Murdered by Death Eaters?

Hiro must have noticed the question in his eyes. "No, nothing to do with the war. Broom-flying accident. Dumb stuff like that still happens during wartime," he said lightly, though something in his face fell anyway. Down the table Tadashi frowned.

"My mom died during the war too," Hiccup said, looking down.

"May I ask what happened?" Matt asked softly. Hiccup sighed.

"A dragon killed her," he simply said, not in the mood to explain the role of Harry Potter in it.

"I'm sorry," Callum said, just as the hat announced another Ravenclaw. Hiccup moved to clap loudly, grateful for the distraction. A boy with black hair with faint blue streaks sat down next to Hiccup.

"Hey there, I'm Varian! I'm from a little village in Wales called Old Corona. Muggleborn, hoping to figure out how magic fits into physics and chemistry!" he said, lifting a hand covered by a huge lab glove to shake Pidge's hand.

Hiro, Pidge, and Varian immediately started an animated discussion of muggle science, and Hiccup couldn't help but feel left out somehow. He caught Callum's gaze, and they shared a chuckle at their housemates.

"I'm more an artist than a scientist myself," Callum said, and Hiccup nodded, before turning to watch the rest of the sorting. Not many kids were left. He noticed Katara, the girl from the boat who could direct the rain, waiting next to… someone with purple hair and pointed ears. Hiccup wasn't really sure if the person was a boy or a girl.

"Vaarsuvius!" McGonagall called, and they stepped forward.

"Finally. You strange cranial accessory, let us purvey the different possibilities of social company I shall have to compete with in my quest for Ultimate Arcane Power!" they said loudly before putting the hat on.

"That one sure looks like to hear his own voice," Callum chuckled, and Hiccup had to agree.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Hiccup wasn't surprised after Vaarsuvius' declaration, and joined the rest of his house in applause.

Welcome, fellow wizards and other arcane casters! My name is Vaarsuvius, from the ancient village of Ivyleaf on the Western Continent! Former apprentice of Aarindarius, who also moved here to Albion to teach the noble art of Arithmancy!" they said as they sat down next to Callum.

"If it's okay, I'll just call you 'V'," Pidge said. Vaarsuvius simply shrugged at that.

"So you're from America? Me and my brother are as well, but we moved here because my aunt could set up a cafe in Hogsmeade," Hiro said as Katara was sorted into Gryffindor. Realizing the Sorting was over, all conversations ended.

An old grumpy looking man took the chair and hat away, and McGonagall moved to the center where it had stood.

"Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts! The usual rules still apply, but I must announce an extra rule coming from the Ministry of Magic via our groundskeeper and professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Gobber Belch: Due to the increased threat coming from the so-called Red Death dragon, students are no longer permitted to walk the grounds after dark. I must remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden because of its many dangers, dangers which have increased in recent years. Do not be foolish and risk your life in there. There's plenty of excitement in the castle itself," McGonagall spoke. There was some nervous chuckling here and there, but overall people seemed very uncomfortable with this warning. Was this that unusual?

As far as Hiccup knew, his father had announced more warnings and declarations and rules about the Red Death every year since its first appearance 5 years ago. Maybe they hadn't reached Hogwarts until now.

"But let us not be saddened by such dark thoughts on such a happy evening. A great feast has been prepared, so let us enjoy it!" With those words, piles of food appeared on the golden plates, and the scientists finally stopped their discussion on perpetual motion in order to eat.

A flash of light flickered on the walls, and Hiccup looked up to see lightning strike across the enchanted ceiling. For a fraction of a second he thought he could see the shadow of a dragon inside a cloud, but then it was gone, and he shook his head and forced himself to focus on eating mashed potatoes and deciphering Vaarsuvius' long-winded speeches.

--------------------------------

"This portrait is the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. We have a password, which currently is 'Primum non nocere'. Please do not share this password with anyone from another house. While we encourage friendships between houses, you should be meeting in shared spaces like the library, the grounds, the great hall, or unused classrooms. There are some plans for a 'common common room', but it will likely take a while for that to happen," a prefect explained to Astrid and the other first-year Gryffindors.

Astrid didn't feel the need to be friends with other houses for now. Of the three girls she met on the train, two had joined her in Gryffindor, and it wasn't like she had bonded much with Pidge.

The portrait of the fat lady swung open, revealing a chamber filled with poofy armchairs, thick rugs, and wooden tables.

"Ugh, carpeting. I prefer solid wooden or stone floors, they're much less fuzzy to see through," Toph, the blind girl, said, and Astrid noticed for the first time she was barefoot.

"Up here are the dorms. Left for the boys, right for the girls. No mingling. You'll keep the same dorm for the 7 years you are here. You got lucky, you get the closest ones, so you don't have to climb another six flights of stairs. These are also the dorms Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and the other heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts used during their time here, so you can feel a bit closer to their glory, I suppose. Your belongings have already been delivered to your dorms. Owls are in the Owlery, you can visit them after class. Breakfast is between 8 and 9 AM. It is your own responsibility to be on time, but perhaps you can work out a system with your roommates to wake up and go down together," the prefect said, gesturing at two open doors through which she could see steep stairs.

"I expect all of you to bring glory to yourselves and to Gryffindor. This means doing well in class, going the extra mile for more points, but also by helping students who are struggling, whether they are in this house or not. True chivalry doesn't look at someone's colors. That is all for now. I advise you to go to sleep quickly, as you have a long day ahead tomorrow. Any questions?"

At the reminder of sleep Astrid yawned. She hadn't had much sleep last night, too excited to go here, and she desperately wanted to catch up.

However, Rayla didn't seem to agree.

"I heard there's a dueling club or something? How can we join?" she asked.

"There is, though it's rare that it accepts first-years. You'll have to talk to Professor Flitwick, he runs it. If he's impressed with your performance in his Charms class, he might let you join. Once in, you get to compete with your fellow duelists for the highest rank. If you want to become an auror a good duelist rank helps you a lot," the prefect explained, and Astrid woke up at that.

If she wanted to be good at dueling she needed to be rested, however. So she led the way up the girl's stairs and into the first room labeled "First-years". In there she easily found her suitcase on the bed closest to the window, and laid down. She was tempted to fall asleep like that, but she forced herself to unpack her pajamas and toothbrush as the other girls walked in.

"Ooh, ooh, this looks nice! Can I have this bed, can I? Do you think I can make an extra closet?" Star Butterfly was as loud and energetic as she had been the entire evening.

"I don't think we're allowed to modify anything, Star. But you can take that bed. Toph, how about you take this one near the door, that way you don't have to walk through our stuff when you get up," Katara said, making Toph scoff.

"I can handle myself, Sugar Queen," she muttered, but still took the suggested bed. The two had gotten off to a bad start when Katara offered to help her eat and Toph responded by magically shifting the table to make food fly into her face.

"Can you two stop bickering so we can sleep?" Merida groaned.

"Fine," Toph said, and Astrid figured it was a good thing the blind girl couldn't see Katara roll her eyes.

"How do we wake up on time tomorrow?" Rayla asked, digging through her own bags.

"I can set an alarm with my wand!" Star said, showing off her strange wand. She tapped it, and with a cloud of pink smoke the round top part suddenly had a clock face.

"What kind of wand even is that?" Merida asked, lifting her own simple wooden one.

"It's the Butterfly wand! Has been in my family foreeeeveeeeeer!" Star said, dragging out the last word as she fiddled with the clock.

After that they prepared for bed mostly in silence, taking turns in the bathroom before crawling under the covers. Despite the summer heat, it was quite cool. Astrid wondered if it was because they were so high up, or if the temperature was controlled by magic.

Despite her heavy eyes, Astrid couldn't fall asleep, even though the curtains on her bed muffled Star's and Toph's snores. She had hoped she could sleep easier here. Back in her little room at Uncle Finn's she never slept well. Every time she'd open her eyes in the dark room, it was like that night over seven years ago, when Aunt Erika woke her to tell her Daddy and Celia were dead.

But this place was different. She shouldn't still be bothered by those childish memories! Still, her annoyance didn't help her fall asleep, and after an hour of staring at the red curtains she finally sat up and grabbed her suitcase, searching for some little notebooks.

Her sister's diaries. Celia started a new one every year, leaving the old ones at their house, where Astrid found them when they moved everything to Uncle Finn's house. As always when she opened them, Astrid wondered if her sister would have been okay with her reading them, but she could never resist. Apart from her letters this was all she had left of her. Maybe if she reread how her brave sister handled her first night at Hogwarts she could handle it as well.

So she found the diary from Celia's first year, and opened it to the first page.

September 1st

Dear Diary, I'm at Hogwarts! It's incredible here. It's so big! I got sorted into Gryffindor, Harry Potter's house! He wasn't at the table, though. Apparently he got really sick from the dementors on the train!

Oh right, I forgot to tell you, the train was stopped by dementors looking for Sirius Black! It was so scary, they made me feel all cold and empty. Jackie, who got sorted into Gryffindor with me, had to cry. Still, the feast made me feel much better, there was so much food!

I got to meet all my new housemates too! There's Jackie, and Chang, and some other girl whose name I forgot, and Dennis. Dennis' brother is also in Gryffindor. They're both Muggleborns. They're different than I expected. I always thought they'd be much dumber! But they were funny, and I can't wait for my classes tomorrow! I should go to sleep now, I think Jackie is getting annoyed at my writing at night.

The entry reminded Astrid that she had it easy compared to her sister. She didn't have to deal with Dementors! With that thought she finally fell asleep, still holding the diary.

#grey stains #httyd #fanfic #hogwarts #hiccup #astrid

[sincewereahoe]

a star spangled banner

Hello friends. 

I’ve decided to rework these and post them with OC. I still really love some of the stuff I previously wrote and would love to work on them. Feedback and comments always helped moved me along with that, so it would be great to have that again. If not it’s gucci. If you still like this stuff please support. Yanno the drill, as do I which means I probably won’t get any but yolo.

Also, all the people who get heated over this story...

eat cake bitch. 

To Sam a black tie affair was more like a strangulation. He hated ties, and hated this bowtie even more, but that was the required protocol for such an event. However, there was something Sam hated more than bowties, and that was being disrespectful. So he wore the black bow tie and tugged at it every few minutes.

“Mr. O’Bray you are seated here.”

Sam took his place at the large circle table that was decorated with crystal and picked up his name card. Placing it down he check those seated next to him, wondering if he knew any of their names.

There was someone named Christopher, who he had never heard of before. Then he checked to his right.

Theadora Rose Simpson.

He’d never heard of her either.

Getting comfortable in his seat he played with his cufflinks when the guy who was Christopher sat down, and told Sam to call him Chris. He was a middle aged fellow, blonde hair that was slightly over gelled, but even Sam felt inferior with how good looking he was. Sam quickly found out he was with a congressman from a state he’d already forgotten but all Sam cared about was that it was a blue state.

They chatted for a bit making small talk as the room and tabled filled up when suddenly he felt someone on his right. Looking up his heart shattered.

Dressed in all black, she was sleek and elegant. Her hair smoothed and pinned on one side the other free, her lips draped with a strong red colour. To Sam she was pinnacle of classic dark American beauty.  

“Yes, Michael. We will have to do dinner soon.” She smiled politely as she gave a wave to the person she was saying goodbye to.

Snapping his mouth shut, Sam turned down and looked at his glass of liquor, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he reached for it.  As he continued to keep his eyes away he still could see out of the corner of his eye as she sat down, smoothing out her slim fitting dress and placing her little bag to the side.

“Hello,” she said to everyone at the table that was within speaking distance.

The person on her right quickly engaged in conversation and Sam was thankful because that meant he might have some time to prep himself for the impending interaction.

Wrong.

“Hello,” she smiled, extending her hand while exposing perfectly white teeth behind the matte lip. Quickly he took it and gave a nod as if she was royalty and returned a version of a greeting.

“I’m Theadora.”

“Sam O’Bray.”  

When he said his name he felt so average. Internally he cursed his mother for not giving him a more impressive name.

“Ah Christopher,” she smiled as her eyes drifted. “So good to see you again.”

Both of them exchanged a few words but then there was a chime at the front of large chandelier hung room, and everyone turned. Sam was turning over his chair to look when Theadora leaned in closely, speaking low because the room was already quite.

“I think they are punishing you by putting you in that chair.”

“Huh?” Sam said regretfully, because she was so perfect and all he could do was make grunts in reply. She smiled.

“Your neck. Be careful not to look over too much, you’ll be stiff tomorrow if you do.”

“Oh,” he breathed before she smiled and then turned to look with everyone else. He knew he was supposed to turn right away too but he just couldn’t help himself. He just had to take her in a little longer before he did, his eyes sparkling at her with caution and a juvenile amount of interest.

The next hour was filled with long speeches by people that Sam really didn’t know, but the one thing he knew was that they all were far more important than him. Not to mention, Theadora looked so absorbed and entertained by what was going on up front that he couldn’t help but want to be interested too. As if somehow that would make him more, interesting? Intelligent? Desirable? 

He hadn’t had thoughts like this in so long. He knew that paying attention wouldn’t be how she would grow interested him. 

Occasionally she would make a joke and Christopher would laugh and Sam gave his fake laugh that he’d perfected over the years. He didn’t understand the context of anything she said so he had to seem like he got the inside joke too even though he didn’t at all.

Sam couldn’t help but notice, however, when they all stood for most prominent man in the room to enter that Theadora turned and glanced at Christopher. The look wasn’t an obvious look, because Sam was still trying to figure if she hated him too.  

Finally all the long speeches followed by hollow clapping ended and everyone turned to their dinner plate as waiters came and placed their food. Everyone ate and drank at the table and Sam felt very out of his element.

“Oh boy,” suddenly Theadora said leaning to him, “we’ve alienated you from the conversation.”

She turned up to Christopher, whom Sam had slowly caught on had a very good relationship with Theadora, and looked for support. Christopher smiled and jumped in.

“We tend to do that.”

“Well,” Theadora said patting her lap before reaching for her tumbler, “what do you do Sam? You aren’t newly elected are you? I feel I should have kissed your ass more if you were?”

Sam laughed uncomfortably. Wishing he could have said he was newly elected to make himself seem more important. 

“Ah, no I’m just a reporter at T.I.M.E.”

“Oh,” she breathed, reaching for her wine, “I really should have been kissing ass then.”

Her and Chris laughed.

‘I’m not that kind of reporter,” Shawn quickly clarified. “I do more photography than anything. I’m pretty new to the gig too. So I don’t have much important to throw around.”

“How did you get a job there?”

“Ah well, I was free lancing at TIME magazine. I wasn’t really doing much but I always was trying to get in and do something worthy. Just waiting for my little break. I managed to be at the right place and right time, with my camera of course.” 

She was listening deeply with her hand under her chin, but softly smiled to let him know she was listening before he turned away again to the group to speak. 

“I managed to be inside the protest last June. I got some pretty cool shots, and showed them to my manager and he knew right away someone should see them. It happened pretty fast but the following issue a couple of my pictures were in the article.”

There was a couple hums of impressment around the table, and Sam waved his hands.

“It really wasn’t much and I was on a temporary contract at first, but it was my small little break, and since then they’ve had me out doing a lot more. Slowly falling into political stuff? So I guess that’s how I ended up here.”

Someone across the table then jumped in speaking to Sam. At first Sam was careful, listening and trying to absorb everything he was saying but then no question came and he realized his limelight within the conversation had been hijacked towards someone else. 

When the  attention had no longer been on Sam for quite some time he felt Theadora lean in, making sure not to be rude.

“So you’re still at TIME then?” Her eyes were twinkling again but the look on her face was amused, as she conveyed she didn’t care for the person rudely taking over Sam’s moment and boasting about themselves at the other end of the table. She instigated their own little secret conversation on their side of the table.

“Ah, yes. They gave me a position. Nothing big, but it was really nice to be offically hired.”

“That really amazing Sam. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll have to get a copy of that issue. I’d love to see what you did.”

Sam perked up, way too overeager. Not because of his print issue, but because she wanted it. “Would you like one? I can get you one. I swear I have probably twenty copies sitting in my apartment. I got really excited every time I saw it on a stand and I just had to pick one up every time I saw one on the street. Which is a lot in New York, like a lot.”

She laughed. “I would love to have one.”

Suddenly someone at the front of the room took a microphone and the conversation was forced to be over, but Sam looked over to say one last thing.

“I’ll send you one.”

Giving a soft smile as their eyes connected she mouth the words ‘thank you’ before turning to the speaker.

Once dinner was over the official dance began and soft jazz began to play from the band on stage. Sam continued to remain at his table to talk as did Christopher, but most importantly Theadora too.

Throughout the night, through the last few speeches, Sam had been catching her eyes on him. The first few times she looked away quickly and smiled, trying to pass it off as just a glance and not stare, but after the fourth time she stopped. 

Instead she just softly smiled before looking down and nervously fiddling with something. Sometimes it was her dress, other times the jewelry on her wrist, or her hair, but every time she did Sam felt himself drawing to her. The low elegant candlelight romanized the room

Or maybe he was just crazy? The idea she would be looking at him in any capacity other than the person sitting next to her at dinner seemed one fabricated from his own desire, rather than reality.

As conversations at the table kept going he cared less and less if he was wrong.

They were in the middle of another one of Christopher's wild stories when someone approached from the back. The voice was deep.

“Theadora.”

For whatever reason Sam felt as if he has watched Theadora tense up. “Todd.”

“Would you like to dance?”

She looked up and smiled. “I’d love to.”

Sam couldn’t help admire how pretty she was, even as he felt a pang of jealousy that he hadn’t thought of asking her to dance first.

Trailing off she linked arms with the man to the dance floor. Sam watched on for a few moments.

“Not going to ask anyone to dance?” Christopher asked.

Sam shrugged. “I wouldn’t even know who? What about you?”

Christopher shrugged too. “I don’t really feel the need anymore? You do this long enough and you realize every single one of those dances are nothing more than a negotiation.”

“Oh?”

Christopher tipped his glass to Theadora as she turned like grace around the room. “I bet you more than anything Todd is talking her ear off about the CTRA Bill we will be voting on next week. Trying to swing her vote, or confirm it. I never know with her.”

“Oh?” Sam said again, wishing he’d at least brushed up on something before coming tonight. Christopher caught on.

“This is all gibberish to you isn’t it.”

Sam gave an uncomfortable laugh. “Pretty much, yeah. I wish I knew more. I feel really out of place.”

Christopher gave a warm and understanding smile. “Ah don’t worry. You’re been the best company we’ve had in a long while. Problem is we don’t even know how to have conversations outside of work. That’s our fault.”

Sam smiled.

“Well don’t worry if you don’t understand. You’ll see by the end of the night.”

They exchanged a look and smile before he looked back to Theadora only allowing himself to watch her chatting and smiling as she looked up at Todd before it became too weird.

Sam then realized he still didn’t know exactly what Theadora did. It was obvious she was political member, but a young one so what could she possibly be voting on? He wanted to find out but without looking like an idiot. He knew he could probably pull out his phone but he worried about someone seeing over his shoulder. He said if he didn’t figure it out within the hour he would sneak off to the bathroom.

Chris and Sam eventually joined another conversation at the table before the dance was over and she returned.

“What are you three jabbering on about?” Theadora suddenly said as she pulled up a chair and sitting down so close she was almost on Sam’s shoulder with the angle.

“Phones” Sam said softly as Chris and someone else he’d already forgotten.

“Phones?” She laughed. “Of course. They finally let us use something other than Blackberry. Who is team who?”

“Well Chris is team iPhone and he is an android.”

“Ah, of course Android.”

“So I take it you’re iPhone.” Shawn asked and immediately she scoffed. 

“Oh no. I can’t handle that little SE they allowed. S6 is far superior. Bigger screen too.”

Sam peered down. “Bigger screen? Can you even hold it in those tiny hands?”

She laughed as she held them out and examined them. They too were flawless. 

“And what does your big hands use then?”

Sam chuckled as he held up his large iPhone, latest model. She shook her head at him in a playful before the argument between the two across from them picked up. Her eyes went large at how silly they were being by yelling over something so trivial.

“Only grown men with nothing better to do would fight over this.”

Sam was about to make a comment but he noticed a new figure creating a shadow over her shoulder. He looked up which caused her to do the same.

“Theadora.”

“Anderson.”

And then with a few more words she was standing up for another dance, and that’s what happened for the rest of the night. 

It became musical chairs for her. She would come back after the dance and would sit down only for a few moments before another white man, way too cocky, or way too old was asking her to dance.

It reached the point Sam would watch her being approached on her way back to the table, unable to even make back and sit down. By that point Sam knew it was useless to even bother.

“Wow that Bill C3C or whatever must be really pressing tonight.” Sam commented as him and Chris sat again alone at the table. Chris laughed

“Ahh, well as much as it is pressing, that’s not the reason they surround her like vultures?”

Sam laughed. “Chris you gotta know I don’t understand your vague observations anymore.”

Chris gave threw his head back and nodded. “Okay, okay, fair enough. Okay, well not to be crass, but… look at her.” Chris turned and as did Sam, even if he didn’t need to. He knew how stunning she was.

“Now, add that with being the youngest woman in congress.”

Sam nodded slowly finally getting his answer on what she did. It shocked him because congress was huge, and rare - extremely rare with how young she looked. He got it now.

“Smart, beautiful, successful,  in power- ”

“Single.” Chris added.

“Single?”

“Oh yeah,” he laughed almost with a tone of mocking. “ Why do you think they circle her like vultures? I hate to say it because she’s so much more than it, but they only look at her as a cute thing they can flirt with. She plays the game well, but trust me she knows they would use and toss her, the married ones in particular for obvious reasons. She knows, and that’s why she plays the game the best because they think she’s the same sorority girl from college they played with.” He paused firmly. “She’s not.”

“She’s serious about this. The most serious person in this entire room, and that includes that disgrace of a man up front.”

Sam turned to watch as Chris admired her from afar. His words flowing absentmindedly from an honest daze, almost as if Chris had forgotten he was speaking out loud.

“All those stupid men, passing her off like she’s nothing but a hot piece of ass. Fucking fools dancing with Lady Lazarus. What did Sylvia say? Eat men like air. She will that’s for sure, she was bred for it.” He paused for a few moments, still lost in his own thoughts. “She’s already something, but one day she’s really going to be something.”

Sam listened intensely before Chris turned and looked him dead in the eye. 

“That woman is going to be president one day.” 

Sam didn’t answer and he didn’t have to as Chris turned away to look again. “And I think it’s going to be sooner than anyone thinks.”

Sam waited to answer, the topic so intense that there wasn’t any doubt even though the light daze of alcohol he was skimming along. “You think?”

“Oh yes.”

“I don’t doubt you, but why do you think?”

Chris smiled before reaching for his drink. “Because even I would want to vote for her.”

Sam’s brow furrowed together, confused. “Would? Why wouldn’t you?”

There was a small pause and for some reason, the tension in the air was suddenly thick. A rush of anxiety, for no logical reason it came through Sam’s whole body. He felt whatever was about to be said wasn’t something he wasn’t ready for, and the smirk on Chris’s lips only added to the feeling.

“Because she’s a fucking Republican, Sam.”

[haztory]

hurricane. (teenager!frank castle x reader)

A/N: okay so this was originally one of the dialogue prompts but i decided to make this a au one-shot if that’s alright with everybody. its a bit all over the place and messy but i’ll just say that that’s my writing style lololol. please send in requests if y’all would like.

request: hi! i love your writing! can you do “i said i love you” and “quit it or i’ll bite” with frank castle? thank you very much! 

(thanks for loving my writing sweetcheeks. makes me feel fuzzy inside, also sorry it took so long)

It was an unspoken rule between you and Frank to never disclose the details of your relationship to those who asked. There was never any specific reason for it—it’s not like you and Frank had anything to hide—it was just…an unspoken pact between you two.

When people came up to you two during lunch and asked the same old question of “Are you guys dating? Or just really good friends?”, they always received the same answer:

“Yes.”

It became a game after a while. How many people could you guys confuse today? Who’s the next one to ask?

You understood why everyone asked. You and Frank were way too close to just be considered best friends, and whether that is due to the sheer amount of years you and Frank have been friends or because there’s a chemistry you have with him that runs deeper than blood, you’re not entirely sure on.

The only thing anyone really knows, is that if you want (Y/N) (L/N), you won’t get her without her bodyguard Frank Castle, and if you want Frank Castle, you won’t get him without his life advisor (Y/N) (L/N).

You guys come in a pair. There’s no use in trying to separate the two of you.

You and Frank have been best friends since you were six when you moved into the house right next-door to him. You didn’t know anyone and he was a shy boy who didn’t have many friends.

“A match made in heaven.” proclaimed your mothers. (Your mothers already planned the wedding.)

There wasn’t a day you two didn’t spend together, whether riding your bikes to the stream near your houses to playing some sport in your front yards to watching his mother’s extensive collection of movies at his house to camping in his backyard. Even when you were sick, he was always there to sail the storm with you.

The majority of your youth days were spent together and as puberty hit, that bond only grew stronger. When your only other friends seemed to split apart from you and follow boys and Frank’s “no bullshit” mentality strengthened, it only made sense that the two of you would draw to each other like magnets.

That was when the rumors started. In junior high, when people began to notice how Frank would always wait for you at lunch and you would always take him home after school; When people began to notice that when they run into you outside of school, Frank was always by your side; When people began to notice that a majority of the stories you told only involved Frank.

So, yes, you understand why everyone asks, because in all honesty, you and Frank choose to not do anything to quell the rumors. In fact, you knowingly add more fuel to ever growing fire.

He was your date to junior prom (and is your current date to the senior one) and when you both showed up with matching outfits everyone literally “awed” at the sight of you; For your sixteenth birthday, he gave you a necklace with his name engraved on it that you have yet to take off; Your Instagram is filled with pictures of him with very cryptic captions that borderline romantic and to anyone not paying attention, would seem like you guys are an item.

There was even a time where everyone thought you were married. You and Frank had shown up to school one day with gold bands on your left hands and never said anything until someone pointed them out. People asked relentlessly, but you never confirmed nor denied.

That happened over a year ago, but you’re pretty sure some people still think you’re married. (I mean, you guys practically are. You argue like a married couple, you love like a married couple, so really it wouldn’t be a shocker.)

For god’s sake, even the teachers think you guys are a thing! It’s drawn the attention of the entire school for some reason without you and Frank having to move a muscle.

It gets annoying sometimes, but you’ve gotten used to it.

Besides, even you can admit it: You and Frank are a hella cute couple.

It’s Wednesday, meaning your school has an hour lunch block and you’re sitting at your usual round table with your usual friend group of Curtis Hoyle, Karen Page and David Lieberman.  

You sit with your right leg thrown over Frank’s lap, stealing a couple of stale fries from his lunch tray as he sits with his left arm thrown over the back of your chair and his right arm gently stroking your leg on his lap. There’s a large smile on your face from Curtis’ wild antics, and the sight of it puts a smile on Frank’s.

(It’s kind of hard for it not to. Everything you do puts a smile on Frank’s face.)

“I’m just sayin’ man!” Curtis laughs from his seat in front of you, throwing his hands up in mock surrender as everyone at the table watches, “She was ogling you the whole period! Natalie Rushman was makin’ goo-goo eyes at you during Fury’s lecture!”

Frank waves his hand in the air, scoffing and throwing his head to the side with a smile on his face, “Yeah, yeah. Whatever, man!”

Curtis points an accusing finger at Frank, slamming his elbow down on the table and staring at him with intense eyes, making everyone at your table laugh.

“I ain’t making this shit up! Listen, if you ain’t gettin’ on that, I will. Make your move now or I’m swooping in.”

Frank shakes his head at Curtis, moving his hand to his tray of fries and smacking yours away so he could grab three before plopping all of them into his mouth. His voice is muffled as he speaks, “Go ‘head.”

He rubs the crumbs on his hands on his jeans while looking down at you on his left and giving you a warm smile, “I already got what I need.”

Your three friends all groan at the comment, rolling their eyes and muttering to themselves. You give Frank a loving stare, gently pinching his cheek and giggling before feeding him another stale and cold fry.

Karen, who was seated between David and Curtis, places her forearms against the lunch table and stares at you and Frank, “When are you both going to come to terms with reality and realize that you are in love with each other?”

She tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and you give her a faux innocent look, furrowing your eyebrows and tilting your head to the side.

“What do you mean? We’ve already picked out the names of our kids. There’s nothing we really have to come to terms with,” You put a fry in your mouth and chew contentedly.

Karen’s mouth drops slightly, the corners of her lips slightly pulling back as she darts her eyes from Frank’s satisfied smirk to your innocent one. She huffs out a laugh and runs her hand through her hair, slowly shaking her head, “I don’t know if that was a joke or not.”

David takes a sip from his carton of chocolate milk, raising one eyebrow up and glancing at Karen, “Who knows at this point?”

Frank places his hand on the back of your neck, gently dragging his fingertips across the skin there. You shy your body away from the touch, letting out a whine.

“Quit it or I’ll bite.” You try and give him a threatening stare which only makes him smirk in response.

(And it’s one of those lopsided ones that makes him look so charming and sexy and it’s no surprise that every girl that meets Frank has a crush on him.)

“Make me.”

“Y’know what Castle— “

“Alright, look.” Curtis draws the attention back to himself, “The sexual tension is too much. As your closest friends, we deserve a right to know—” his eyes dart from Frank to you, pausing for dramatic effect.

“—are you guys gonna fuck?”

Karen smacks her hand against Curtis’ shoulder while David laughs loudly, throwing his head back and releasing the sound to the ceiling. Even the loud chatter of the surrounding students couldn’t drown out the volume of his laughter. Curtis grips his arm in pain, rubbing it and staring at Karen with a hurt look.

Frank looks back at you, a smile on his face that mirrors your own. Frank enjoys watching people twist and turn to find out the details of your relationships and you are nothing but complacent in his pleasure. You don’t really care what people think or what they want to know, but whatever makes Frank happy.

You turn your head and look at Curtis’ expectant eyes, gracefully shrugging your shoulders, “That’s on a need to know basis.”

Curtis throws himself back into his seat in frustration, earning a giggle from Karen as he mutters to himself, “Yeah, yeah, and I don’t need to know. Pfft, I don’t even know why I ask.”

David suddenly puts down his carton of milk, looking at you with wide eyes, “Hey! Are we still on for that trip after graduation?”

The trip in question, was the annual camping trip you and your family take from New York to Connecticut after school ends. The drive only took a day or two with few pit stops at restaurants or to see some sights, but it would take you to a beach house your family owned during the summer. You would spend the two weeks at the house either going to the beach or driving to some other place near the coast.

The house was special to you. It was where you and your siblings grew up, and was where the extended family would get together for the summer to just enjoy each other’s company. It was where you and Frank had accidentally kissed, and was where your platonic relationship with Frank suddenly became more.

(Although, no one else knew that.)

The house was where you felt, for the first time in your life, truly beautiful, with Frank’s large hands exploring your body underneath the moon in the crashing waves of the beach. The house was where Frank placed his lips on yours and told you how special you were to him. The house was where Frank placed his head on top of your stomach in the sand while you ran your hand through his hair, and told you how he had never felt things the way he felt with you. The house was where you realized your feelings for Frank, were no longer one-sided. The house was where you realized that Frank was the only one for you, and will only ever be the one for you.

The house was more than just a house: it was a haven that you could escape to when things got rough; It was your sanctuary, your little bubble of good things. It was home.

You were excited to share your home with your closest friends, showing them—but never telling—why this place was so special to you, one last time.

You nod your head at David, giving him a wide smile, “Oh, yeah! We’ve already rented the campers and everything.”

“You got room for one more? Sarah and I were talking about it and she seems interested.”

“Sure. I’m pretty sure there is enough space.”

“You guys coming?” You point your finger over to Karen and Curtis, who both eagerly nod their heads, smiles playing out on their faces.

“When are we leaving?” Karen asks, dragging her fork across her empty Tupperware container.

“Three days after graduation. We’ll be gone for two weeks, I think? I have to double check. But Frank and I are taking one of the large campers, so you and Sarah could bunk with us.”

Your three friends’ faces drop, the smiles slowly disappearing at your statement. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

Did they all have something to do during that time? That’s going to pose a problem seeing as you and your parents have already placed down the deposit for the campers.

“What?” You ask them, looking from each of their faces and finding that Karen and David nervously looked from Frank to you while Curtis stared straight at him. You turn your head upwards, looking at Frank who stared at each of them with a hard look and a clench in his jaw.

He doesn’t even look at you.

A slight panic starts to creep into your soul, your gut feeling telling you that something is wrong, which is pretty obvious. Your stomach is slowly sinking to the bottom of your body and your breathing is starting to pick up. The loud volume of the lunchroom seems to drown out, your mind focusing in on only the people in front of you.

Curtis maintains strong eye contact with Frank, giving him an equally hard stare. His voice drops a couple of octaves, “You didn’t tell her?”

“Not now, Curtis,” Frank grits out, his eyes narrowing at his friend.

“Tell me what?” You hurriedly interject, removing your leg from Frank’s lap and sitting forward at the table. You look from Curtis’ sympathetic look to you, to Frank’s averting eyes.

No one says anything.

Karen and David fidget in their seat, clearing their throats and fiddling with themselves at the sudden awkwardness that encompassed the table. The panic is now in full motion and the desperation that accompanies it is disorienting. There is something not being said, and the fact that it involves Frank makes the situation that much worse.

You can handle Curtis or David hiding something from you, even Karen, but not Frank. Frank always tells you everything right away, no questions asked. If he’s hiding something, it means that it’s going to hurt. You start to mentally prepare yourself for whatever it is.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” You try to keep your voice steady as you address the table, but the crack in your voice betrays your efforts. Everyone can see and hear the desperation in your voice, and they can only look in sympathy.

It’s not their place to say it, but Frank’s silence is pushing them on.

He can barely look at you, keeping his eyes straight ahead. He knows if he looks at you then his resolve would come crashing down. He wanted to tell you at a better time. Not in a school lunchroom with everyone watching.

“Frank?” you plead, looking at the side of his face, watching him take a deep swallow that moves his Adam’s apple while softly shaking his head at Curtis.

You turn your head to Curtis. He slowly tears his eyes away from Frank, meeting your worried eyes.

“Curtis?” You gently ask.

Curtis has been friends with Frank for a long ass time, and the things shared between the two of them were meant to only stay between the two of them. But when you’re staring at him like the world depended on it, with every emotion clear on your face, Curtis was finding it hard to maintain the pact.

He takes a glance to his friends seated beside him, who gives him a questioning glance, wondering if he really was going to be the one to say it. He sees David give a small nod of his head. He turns his head over to Frank, and he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place again.

If there was desperation in your eyes, he doesn’t want to know what’s in Frank’s. Frank stares at him with a look of anger and need, despairingly pleading to not say what was on his mind.

Curtis sighs and drops his head. Frank’s gonna kill him.

“Frank enlisted for the Marines,” Curtis tells you, head down and his gaze trained on his folded hands, “He gets shipped out a week after graduation.”

Time seems to stop when Curtis utters those horrible words.

Enlisted? The Marines?

Frank never told you anything about the military. He never told you that he was planning to enlist, he’s never even told you he liked the military. But all of a sudden, he’s decided he wants to be involved when there is a literal fucking war happening?

Frank was smart to not have told you because there is no way in hell you would ever let him sign up. There is no way in hell you are going to let him go.

Your heart feels as though it’s been ripped out of your body and heavy weights have been placed onto your shoulders. You can barely breathe. There seems to be a hundred different thoughts running through your head, and yet none at the same time.

The room is spinning and you need something to grab onto, but your anchor feels a hundred yards away. Frank is sitting right next to you but you already feel like he’s been shipped out overseas and out of your reach, out of the safety of your arms.

You want to cry, you want to scream, you want to hit him, but your body is frozen.

You slowly lean back into the hard, plastic seat at your lunch table, unable to meet the eyes of everyone around you.

He’s going to war.

Nobody goes to war and comes back the same. You’ve taken AP Psychology; you know what happens to the brain during that kind of trauma.

He didn’t even tell you. He’s leaving in less than three weeks and he didn’t even tell you. He told everyone else, but you. You wonder who else knows.

Do his teachers know? Do other students in his classes know. Does Natalie Rushman know? Has everyone known this entire time and have just been hiding it from you, putting on fake smiles and laughs in front of you while they hide the dark, life-altering truth behind your back?

The dread that filled your body is slowly being replaced with a blinding rage that numbs you from head to toe. Your fingers are clenching into a fist so tight, that your nails are making crescent indents on your palms and your teeth are grinding too hard for it to be healthy.

The stares from your friends go unnoticed by you. They can see the change in your body and all they can do it glance at one another.

“(Y/N)?” Karen gently calls to you. Your head snaps up, your narrowed eyes meeting her gentle ones and you are suddenly brought back to reality. Your friends look at you with curiosity and you know you only have one option.

You grab the backpack by your feet and stand up from the table, leaving your plate behind alongside your friends, quickly making your way out of the lunchroom despite the thirty minutes still left of lunch.

You don’t know where you’re going, you just know you have to leave.

The table sits in silence, unsure of what to do with the residing feelings of anger at the table. Frank’s elbows are propped up on the table, his hands folding and unfolding methodically before their eyes. They can see the muscles in his forearms tense and un-tense with the occasional vein popping out. His blood is pulsing and he can feel a powerful headache coming on.

“Y’ever think that maybe–” Frank spits out, his voice deep and gritty as he stares to the side of the lunchroom, “—just maybe, I was waiting for the right time to tell her? Hmm?”

Curtis keeps a strong hold on his gaze, his eyes and voice unwavering at Frank’s threatening tone, “The right time to tell her was when you signed up, Frank.”

“That ain’t for you to decide.”

“Telling her a day before leave is a shitty move. She deserves better than that.”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about— “

“Man, just shut the hell up and go find her. Tell her you love her before you lose her.”

Frank shuts up, his mouth closing and his retort dying in his throat. He looks over to Karen and David, who both give him a nod in agreement to Curtis’ statement.

Now, Frank doesn’t care much for David’s opinion, because as much as he might like the guy, David has had his own problems in relationships and whatnot. Frank is never eager to get David’s opinion on a situation, but either way he’ll find out what the guy thinks since the man is so adamant on sharing it whether anyone asked or not.

But, Karen is a different story. Frank trusts Karen with his life if necessary. She keeps her secrets and stays true to her words, guiding Frank in times when you couldn’t. She’s gentle and sweet and caring, only wanting the best for others. He values her opinion, always going to her first for help—not counting you, of course. She’s a close friend to him and an even closer one to you.

So, when Frank sees Karen nod her head at him, silently encouraging him to fix his error, he goes. He follows the direction you left in, not caring that he left his trash on the table or his backpack or anything necessary for his next class; He only cares about you.

You had no other place to go but the library.

You couldn’t leave campus and you weren’t about to go to a teacher’s class and have to explain the reason why tears were falling down your face.

The library is the only place where you could successfully hide and not be found.

Unless of course the person searching for you is Frank Castle, who is not only a master in the game of hide-and-seek, but also knows you too well. He finds you with your back against the shelf of Sci-Fi books and your body angled away from the entrance to the area, furiously wiping away the tears running down your face.

He can only stare.

He’s only ever seen you cry three times: Once when your dog died, another while watching ‘Marley and Me’ and then when his dog died. All three, dog related.

So, seeing you cry—no, sob—at his own doings, is heartbreaking. He wants to reach out and touch you, but he can’t bring himself to hurt you even more. He slowly sits himself down in front of you, leaning against the adjacent book shelf and watching you cry.

His presence only makes you cry harder.

He’s the only person you want to see, and yet he’s the last person you want to see. You want him to hold you and comfort you but he’s the reason for your pain. Funny how the world works.

You both sit in silence for a while, listening to your sobs slowly die down before you stare blankly at the wall, your bodies barely touching but the heat still transferring between you two.

Your legs are stretched out over the carpet, your dirty mint green converse almost touching his black boots. A sudden wave of tired washes over you, and you would love nothing more than a nap, until you realize that you still have the rest of the school day to get through.

A bell rings out throughout the school, signaling that lunch has fifteen minutes left.

You don’t know why, but you slowly bring your head to look over at the cause of your pain, who was already staring intently at you. His body seems to perk up at your acknowledgment of him, but slowly sinks down once he sees your red and swollen eyes.

(Frank feels awful for thinking it, but you’ve never looked more beautiful.)

You feel empty, like someone opened your body and stole every though and emotion from you. You have nothing else to give, other than your empty body. A piece of your happiness has been stolen, and you’re never going to get it back.

“You haven’t even left yet, and I already miss you.” The words his Frank like a train and despite the close proximity, he feels like you’re an ocean away. Your tone sounds deflated, and your voice raw and it’s then he realizes just how much he has damaged you within the span of fifteen minutes.

He didn’t realize he had that much power.

(He doesn’t want it.)

You let out a shaky breath and scratch your nose gently and sniffling, “’M not letting you go.”

He sighs, “(Y/N)—“

“No! ‘M not. I don’t care if-if that’s illegal or whatever, but you’re not going. Not over there—Not without me.” You violently shake your head at him, repeatedly licking your lips and stuttering, just trying to get your thoughts in order.

“You’re not going over there— “

“Then neither are you!”

“I have to— “

“No you don’t! You can stay—with me. Where it’s safe. We can-we can do what we always said, y’know? We can get an apartment in the city and-and live together and get some shitty ass jobs and— “

You didn’t realize Frank had gotten closer to you because suddenly he’s holding your face in his hands and you’re staring deep into his brown eyes and you can feel yourself getting lost in the stormy sea. The hurricane of tears is flooding your eyes again and you hold onto Frank’s wrists to try and anchor yourself down.

He places his forehead against yours, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths of your scent.

Vanilla and jasmine.

Always vanilla and jasmine.

Frank hears you mumble something, something that he hopes was real but was too clouded for him to actually decipher.

“What?” He asks you, his eyes opening to meet yours.

You take a deep breath, “I said I love you.”

Imaginary fireworks explode in Frank’s head and a warm feeling floods his body. He’s on cloud nine, and only acting on impulse, but he knows it was the right choice when he brings your lips to his.

Your lips work in sync, taking each other in and holding one another like it was the last time. You wrap your arms around Frank’s neck and he brings your body into his lap, his hands running up and down your figure before settling on your hips.

The kiss is needy and desperate, and if it were possible you were never separate from him. It wasn’t the first time you’ve ever kissed Frank, but this one was certainly the best.

You both separate reluctantly, your foreheads still touching and you both breathe out, your breaths mingling with one another.

In the eye of the hurricane, everything seems to come into perspective. All choices, all statements, all actions seem purposeful. It’s an incredibly humbling experience. It’s when you find that every insurmountable problem, has a solution; Every confusing detail, comes into focus; Every miniscule item, shows its massive weight.

It’s where Frank realizes he can’t live without you.

It’s where Frank realizes, you are the only one he needs.

In this whirlwind of emotions, Frank find his single moment of clarity and a decision presents itself. A decision he doesn’t regret, a decision that only made sense to him.

“Marry me.”

And in your moment, you realized that there was only one clear answer.

“Yes.”

He’s your eye of the hurricane. You’ll endure any storm if it means he’s there.

And you won’t regret a single moment.

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