#gotta lay very.. very... Very still on the couch then maybe the dust will settle and the depression won't see me

[dreamlogic]

...

#apparently may is mental health awareness month? #yeah i am Quite Aware of my mental health so far this month depression is gnawing on my head like a chew toy #my lungs feel like they're full of soot tags and asbestos #and if i move or breathe too much i'll stir up the dust and just be smothered in apathetic miserable sludge #gotta lay very.. very... Very still on the couch then maybe the dust will settle and the depression won't see me #(it's a lie. the depression wants me to lay motionless for hours on end) #i've been trying to reach out to ppl to socialize & get me out of my head bc it helps #but depression is insisting i'm being manipulative and shallow for ~using my friends for emotional support~ or whatever #that's what friends are FOR dipshit leave me aloneeeeeeeeeeeeee #shit chat #depression blogging

[extremelyblackandwhite]

ascendance - 02

PAIRING: mob!bucky barnes x reader

WARNINGS: violence, dark themes, murder, bleeding, kidnapping, age gap (reader is 23, bucky is 37)

A/N: i am gonna try using the commas as dialogue markers for this work as i’ve gotten a few complaints about my love of the -, so i’m giving it a trial run. don’t be alarmed by it. hope you enjoy it xx

> NEXT CHAPTER | MASTERLIST

Her head was pounding and felt as if some unseen force was squeezing her skull, causing her head to hurt even further but she daren’t open her eyes. She could open them, she was conscious enough to know she could open then but she had them squeezed shut, afraid of what awaited her once she did so. From her senses, she knew she was laying against stone, cold stone and she could hear water drops falling onto the surface, still she daren’t open her eyes. This was all a nightmare, just a nightmare that she was going to wake up from in her very tiny, over expensive, way older New York flat in front of the weirdest scenery someone could have. 

The footsteps had her forcefully open her eyes as she scrambled backwards, back hitting a cold wall as her blurry eyes focused on the room. It was dark, almost like a basement yet she couldn’t exactly make it up. The beads of her dress had left marks on her skin yet somehow her wig was still in place. She didn’t know where she was and she hoped this was a really bad joke they played on newcomers. That’s it, a joke. It was just a joke, just hazing on the new kid. She’d gone through hazing a newcomer teasing in old companies, that’s just what it was. Don’t think of the worse, don’t of the worse. 

Along with the echoing water drops falling onto the stone floor underwear, echoes of sleeps from above the ceiling started to become the main sound. She curled into a ball, fingers digging into her own skin as she hoped to wake up from this nightmare-like situation she was in. Suddenly, voice and steps was all she could hear, the water drops being drown up by those sounds until the door slammed open.

“WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS BILLY, HUH” a thick bronx accent was now the only thing that filled the room and she daren’t  open her eyes, instead remaining scared on the floor. "DOES THIS FUCKING LOOK LIKE A 40 YEAR OLD WOMAN TO YOU?”

“I, I’m sorry, boss. She was in the dressing room and I thought it was her, I could see her face." she peaked her eyes open, still laying down on the floor, the same floor where four men stood looking down at her. She could barely make out all of their faces, probably a result of fear and adrenaline overpowering her brain yet she could make up one face. One face standing at the right end, with glossy eyes which appeared to be staring nowhere, was familiar to her. "It was a mistake, I’m sorry ... I ... I can go back.”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, BILLY?” the man who had been yelling before hand, pulled his hand over his own face. “Soldat.”

“He’s a kid, John.” the man who she had spoken with before but whose name she still didn’t know said in a low, tired voice. 

"A kid? Well, what the fuck are we gonna do with THAT FUCKING KID THEN?” the John person pointed at her and she almost stumbled back but her body couldn’t move. She knew she could move her body but she seemed paralysed. Her mind was rushing miles and miles an hour but her body was frozen into place. "Tommy, I expected better from you.”

"I thought he had the right chick.” said the man who still hadn’t spoken, shrugging. 

The mood seemed to shift with that sentence alone, the carelessness of it turning the room bitter and colder than it already was. John’s jaw tightened, constricted muscles as he looked over to the only familiar man in the room with decisive eyes. The man was almost mechanical, grabbing the revolver stuck to his hip in his right hand before his eyes settled on her. Her heart seemed to stop beating, waves of cold shivers washing all over her as she prepared herself for the worse. However, his gaze darted to the side and hers follow and then ... bang. A thump onto the floor followed by silence and as she looked back to where her gaze had been stuck so, she saw Tommy laid on the ground, gunshot to the head, blood staining his dirty blonde hair, the same blood which had slightly splattered onto her face which merely seemed to further paralyse her.

“Get rid of her. Last thing I need is another loose thread.” John took a handkerchief from his pocket, cleaning whatever blood had splattered onto him as if it were merely water and not the substance which had kept the man who now lied dead on the ground alive. 

“She might be valuable.” he still held his gun in hand, seemingly unbothered by what had just happened. What kind of monster does that? “She might know people”

“What do you do?” John turned to her, talking down as if she were a child. She looked around, not entirely sure if she could even manage to make any words come out of her mouth. Her gaze once against settled on the familiar man who mouthed something to her. Lie.

"L-lyric soprano.” she wasn’t lying per say but she knew no chorus girl was valuable and if she wasn’t valuable, her faith was laying on the ground. If she survives, maybe someone can find her, maybe she can run away.

"It’s the New York Opera. The police are gonna be insane running after her and we can use her as a get out of jail free card. Almost like an expensive painting” 

John looked her up and down, biting the inside of his cheek and pondering his options but Y/N couldn’t stare or even look at him. Her eyes were instead focused on the gun still being held by the unnamed man, the same gun which had any time could go off and while her hopeful side was willing to survive and get out, the other part of her wondered if it would be a kinder faith. 

"Fucking clean this up, Billy.” John sighed before leaving the the room.

She curled up, body shivering as she could wear the body being pulled up the stairs before the door was closed, leaving her alone in the room. Time went by slowly or at least it felt slow to her yet she couldn’t do anything, all she could do is be trapped in her own panic as what once felt like a start became a dead end. Even once she could get up to try and find any creaks and cracks, anything which would translate into an escape option, a sudden wave of disappointment, betrayal and hopelessness would bring her back down and almost pin her to the now blood stained ground. All she could do was look at the ceiling, silent tears rushing down her face and she was back to being paralysed on the ground, the beads of her costume pinching and bruising her skin.

The door opened a few times in a time space which she couldn’t really pinpoint yet she didn’t look at the door, she merely looked at the ceiling trying to imagine that she was somewhere else. Trying she imagine she was anywhere else, anywhere but else in the dark, by her self with dried tears in the corner of her eyes and cheeks, mixing with the dried blood on her cheeks she didn’t have the strength to wipe away while it was fresh. The paralysis soon enough was replaced by numbness as her body shut down, preferring to be asleep than awake as if she was going to wake up in her flat.

Bucky closed the door for what felt like the fifth time, eyeing the untouched sandwich and glass of water which had been laying there for the past 7 hours just a few meters away from where she was laying. He thought about telling her to eat, ordering her even but he guessed she had seen enough and been through enough. Wiping his hand off the dust from the basement, he climbed up the stairs to the main floor. He knew that path like the back of his hand, he’d been there enough times to know how to get there blindfolded. After all, they didn’t call that the burner room for no reason. 

“Damn cops won’t get off my back.” John complained as he saw him. “This is what happens when we leave loose ends. Should’ve killed him when I had the fucking chance.”

“They don’t have any evidence.”

“I’m sure when they come into my fucking house and see I have Jenny Lind locked in my basement they’ll love it” he scoffed. “You need to take her out of here before they come snooping.”

“It’s not my mess to clean.” Bucky leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Ain’t Billy the one with that house in the Hamptons? Ask him, it’s his mess.”

“You think I’m going to trust Billy with my get outta jail card? Fucking idiot can’t even distinguish between a 40 year old and a 20 year old.” he snickered. “You keep her. You gotta flat in Brooklyn, don’t cha? No one’s gonna be looking at you.”

“And wait am I supposed to do with her hm? Handcuff her to my couch and hope she doesn’t scream until whenever?”

“Weren’t you the one who wanted to spare her? I thought you’d learned your lesson from the last time you questioned me.” Bucky looked down at the floor, jaw locked, forehead muscles tense. “Thought so.”

Y/N woke up in a different place and while it was as dark as the basement, she knew it was somewhere else. She could feel herself moving but she herself wasn’t moving. She looked around, trying to look around for any indicators of her she was until she moved her hands up which came into contact with some sort of metal covered by a weird velvet like fabric. Was she in the trunk of a car? Her hand tried to look for the sign light to punch it out just like she had heard in school assemblies so, so many times yet as she finally found it, the car came to a very harsh stop. She held her breathe in, her ears registering footsteps which became louder and louder until the trunk of the car was pulled open. The harsh light hurt her eyes which she squeezed shut only to open them again. The same man from the dressing room stood over the trunk. She curled up against herself but he grabbed her bicep, easily lifting her from the trunk and onto the floor yet maintaining the grip on her bicep. 

She was in what looked like a garage, with green blueish lighting and while she could see a big closed door at the end, his grip on her bicep was a silent reminder for her not to try anything. Not only did he tower over her but she was almost sure he probably had a gun with him and she thought not to try. He led her to a lift, making sure she entered before he did. As the doors closed, that feeling of dread in her stomach mixed with the other one she had felt the very first time she saw him yet she daren’t look him in the eye. In all honesty, everything was blurry to her even as she walked into a small flat, the sound of the door behind closed and locked behind her being the only thing she really registered. 

The man walked up to his kitchen which was open concept with the living room and grabbed a bottle with amber liquid from the counter, pouring himself what she guessed was whiskey yet she wasn’t the most alcohol knowledgeable person, most of the times she couldn’t even drink milk, much less alcohol.

“You hungry?” he asked in an nonchalant tone as if she were merely a guest in this flat. Y/N looked behind her back to the door. “I would follow you if you tried it.”

“I ... I am not gonna tell anyone.” 

“It’s not my choice to make. You try to run and you’re successful and someone will just kill you. Your best choice is to stay put. They don’t like loose ends.” he downed whatever liquid was in the glass, putting it back on the counter. She remained there, not moving from the space between the door and the place where the kitchen began. The man sighed, grabbing a peach from a glass bowl on the counter and placing it just at the end, where it was closest to her. “Eat something, will you?”

“I don’t want to. Thank you.”

“There’s food in the fridge. Suit yourself.”

He left the room to enter one of the other rooms, leaving Y/N all alone in the middle of that room. Escape! Her mind yelled at her and she immediately moved back to the door, trying to push at the handle so it would open but the latched was locked shut. She turned around, looking for anything to jab the lock until she noticed the windows. Her most careful side would have told her not to do it but she had to. She had to escape, she couldn’t stay put. She had been working her whole life for that opportunity, working low paid jobs to pay for tuition at Julliard, not drinking, not dating, not having any lactose so her voice would be good enough, she couldn’t ... she just couldn’t lose that opportunity after putting her whole teenage years at stake just so she could have this opportunity. 

Y/N made her way to the window which led to a fire escape but was also locked. She looked over her shoulder to check if he had left the room before she pulled her arm back and to the front, her fist hitting the glass which cracked. She continued punching the glass with all the force she could manage despite the glass burying and cutting her skin until she had broken the window enough too climb out into the fire escape. As she prepared to put her leg over the cracked hole, two arms wrapped around her waist, pushing her back. She whimpered and moved around in the embrace, trying to get free. If only she could get free for a moment she could climb out, she could run away, she could go back to the opera house. 

“Stop.” he flushed her tighter to his chest, walking away from the window, away from her possibility of escaping. 

It didn’t take long for him to notice she was hurt, her blood falling onto his jacket as he pulled her further and further away. He brought her to the front of the sink, gloved hand lifting the tap up, making a constant stream of cold water come up. Through her constant fighting to get free he managed to get her hand under the water, shards of glass coming out onto the red stained water which whirled onto the drain. 

“Let me go.” he elbowed him in the chest but he continuously held her against the side of the sink, fingers rubbing against the top of her palm to unlodge the shards of glass of her skin. “I have to go, please let me go.”

“Calm down.”

“Stop.” she tried to wriggle her wrist off his hold. “I have to go.”

“I promise you that you will go. You stay put, you don’t try to run and in no time you’ll be back doing petty chores for divas.”

“Why should I trust you?” she looked at the sink filled with little shards of glass. 

“It’s either that or you’ll end up dead. What other choice do you have?” he stopped forcing her against the sink, leaning against the opposite corner. “Last thing I want is to lock you in a room. So what’s it gonna be?”

“You promise you’ll let me go?”

“You have my word.”

TAGLIST: @lookiamtrying @buckyswillows @blossomslibrary @juliesland @iloveshawnieboi @unmagically​ @red-head011​ 

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan/reader #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan/you #sebastian stan x y/n #sebastian stan/y/n #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan fanfic #mob boss sebastian stan #mob!sebastian stan #mafia!sebastian stan #mafia sebastian stan #bucky #bucky barnes #winter soldier x reader #winter soldier #bucky x reader #bucky/reader #bucky/you #bucky x you #bucky/y/n #bucky x y/n #bucky imagine #bucky fanfic #mob!bucky #mob boss!bucky #mafia!bucky #mafia bucky

[whump-a-la-mode]

I’m back here again😭 you can’t just leave it in suspense ahhhhh one more please ? Pretty please? Magician one of course ahaha

No worries! With how this one ends, I won’t be surprised to see you right back in here =￣ω￣=

I will make a masterlist for magician’s assistant eventually I promise. Last part is here.

CW//Haphephobia, mitts, collars, missing whumper, manhunts

Someone was touching them.

It was to that, terrifying, startling thought that Villain awoke the second time. It wasn’t that they weren’t used to being touched-- their status as a prisoner made their captors feel to have the right to lay their hands on them whenever they so wished. But that didn’t mean they had to like it.

And it didn’t mean they should be waking up to it, either.

There was no bleariness, this time, to the way their eyes shot open, their body jolting upwards. It was their hands-- their mitts-- that were being touched. Defensively, they drew their arms to their chest, eyes fixing upon their attacker.

To Villain’s surprise, Civilian looked just as startled as they.

That didn’t stop the villain from shaking, of course. They were already so vulnerable...

Without their collar, their cone, there was nothing to protect them. Just the mitts.

Tightly, they wrapped their arms around their chest. Supplying their own affection.

“So-Sorry, sorry about that.” Civilian sputtered, once they had recovered from their own shock.

Lips quivering far too much to allow speech, Villain’s gaze cast downwards.

“I didn’t realize you were going to wake up like that.” Seemingly realizing the extent of the situation, Civilian stood, backing away a few feet from the couch that served as the villain’s current residence. “I was just looking at your wounds. I figured it would be better cause you wouldn’t be scared and- Sorry.” Nervously, they chuckled. “Sorry about that. Really.”

Villain knew full well that a response was expected. Yet, as their fingertips dug deeper to the meat of their arms, they became aware that none was going to be produced. Not at the moment.

They wanted their collar they wanted their collar they wanted their collar they-

They looked up, meeting Civilian’s gaze. A pitied expression danced upon their countenance, yet, in their eyes, there was no such resemblance.

“Well.” The civilian rolled their shoulders back, taking a breath that displayed their insecurity more than anything else. “It’s been two hours, now. Just about. How are you feeling? I’m sure you’d like to rest a bit more, and you can, but... we’ve gotta talk first.”

Certainly, a deep fatigue had buried itself within Villain’s bones. Yet, presently, its profoundness made it irrelevant. Instead, the shock of their surprise awakening had dried their current exhaustion, leaving them with little but shakiness. 

So, in a way, they supposed they had slept well.

With considerable effort, a single sound allowed itself to slip from their pursed lips:

“Okay.”

“Great.” Civilian clapped their hands together. “Also, how are you feeling? Having some food should have helped flush that tranq from your system.”

At the very least, that was a true statement. The forced weariness the gas had imposed upon them had been, for the most part, banished, leaving behind only normal exhaustion.

“Better. I’m feeling better.”

“That’s good. Before you, um, woke up, I was just looking at your wounds. Do they hurt at all?”

Villain had almost forgotten about the bruises and cuts that had been adorned upon them during their escape from the Heroes’ HQ. Slamming into a wall as they had certainly hadn’t done them any favors, and neither had crashing through a glass door. They hadn’t observed their own wounds as of yet, but they could only assume the various throbbing patches along their body could be explained by their brief stint as the human equivalent of a piece of driftwood, washing through an angry river.

“A little bit.”

“Well, if you want, I can get you some Tylonel. You want some Tylonel?”

“No. No thank you.” They’d had more than enough drugs.

“Alright. Well... If you’re up for it.” They rubbed their thumb and forefinger together in a nervous gesture. “We need to talk. Me, you, and Spouse. Is that alright?”

The way they spoke, Villain couldn’t help but feel that there was little actual choice involved.

“Okay.”

“Great! Do you think you can walk? Or would you like a little help?”

“I can walk.”

With the effects of the tranquilizer worn off, their legs no longer felt like jelly. Though pins and needles swarmed them as they stood, they held strong. Civilian ghosted a hand over their shoulder, leading them from the living room and into an adjoining kitchen area. There they gestured for them to sit.

Spouse was already seated, rather silently, across from them. Once Villain settled, Civilian joined at their partner’s side.

As soon as they sat, they quickly swiped an item from the table’s surface-- a cellphone that, to Villain, appeared oddly familiar. Yet, they dismissed it, allowing their nerves to occupy their thoughts.

“You want to start, honey?” Civilian diverted to their partner, who nodded.

“Of course. I guess this is all still a little bit- Well, surprising is the least of it. To start from the beginning, I’m not sure how much you remember of meeting me. A pretty strange way to meet someone.” They giggled. “I was out walking Hydro along the riverside when I saw you, on the bank. It’s lucky that the tides threw you out when they did.

You didn’t want me to call emergency services-- I think you remember that part, probably. I understand why, now. I didn’t understand just how much the Heroes are involved in all that stuff. But, I couldn’t just leave you there. So, my partner being a doctor and all...”

“They carried you all the way home. Now, imagine my surprise!”

“We don’t exactly have much in the way of equipment, here, but you didn’t seem terribly hurt. Just out of it. It’s been... Maybe 24 hours since you escaped?”

“Pretty much exactly.”

“And, we know that you escaped.”

Villain couldn’t help but squirm in their seat.

“I’d heard of you before.” Spouse continued. “On the news. But last I heard you’d been captured. If you’d been in that river just a little longer... Or if someone else had found you...”

“They’re looking for you.” Civilian took over in a low pitch. “It’s all over the news, every channel, practically. All the info’s started to get mixed up, but they’re saying you’re dangerous.”

“We know you’re not.”

“Yes. But, that doesn’t mean that everyone else does. As far as they know, a dangerous villain has escaped, and could be anywhere, now. They say they can track you, based on the signature left behind by your powers.”

All the effort, just to bring them back.

To put them back on stage.

“But,” Civilian sighed. “We want to help you, Villain. As much as we can. But, our house isn’t going to be safe forever.”

They glanced to their partner, who returned the look. The two grasped hands.

“We have two options worked out.” Spouse murmured.

“Mhm.”

“The first one... You stay here for a little longer. One or two days, at the most. But any longer, and it won’t be safe. Then, you have to go. We have supplies you can take. Food, water, money. Though the last one...

We’re close enough to the border, and we have a car. We can take you across the line. But then, you can do whatever you want.”

There was a somber tone, to their voice, and an equally sorrowed pit developing in the depths of Villain’s stomach.

Left alone...

They couldn’t do whatever they wanted, because they didn’t want anything. Their aspirations before had been so simple. A bit more slop for dinner. Being left alone for a day. Not being struck.

Now...

They shivered at the thought.

“The other option.” Civilian took over. “Might be a little less daunting, though it’s your choice. This is all up to you.

The second option is... I have a lot of friends, you see. Friends with medical know-how, just like I do. They live all around the city. You could stay with each of them, for a few days. On a rotating cycle. That way, none of us would arouse suspicion. Then, you’ll have more time to think, and maybe... I don’t know. Rebuild.”

“Even if you want that, you can stay with us for another day, too.” Spouse added.

“Mhm.”

Then, all eyes were on Villain.

“So...” Civilian began. “What do you want?”

When was the last time they’d been asked that question?

“I-Um- I- I-”

“They might need some time, honey. Do you want some time to think, Villain?”

“Y-Yes. Please.”

“Okay.” Civilian sighed. “Think on it, okay? But, you need to choose by tomorrow.”

“O-Okay.”

Spouse looked upon them with a gaze that showed no faux pity.

“They’re stressed, honey. We’re stressing them out. Come on, Villain. Let’s go down something to calm down, okay?”

Just like Hero used to.

Though their idea of calming down was usually putting a hood over their head.

“Okay.” They dipped their head.

“You two have fun, then.” Civilian placed a faux smile upon their countenance. “I have some phone calls to make.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

“How about board games? Do you like board games?”

“Um... Maybe?” Villain bit their lower lip. “I can’t really move the pieces- If they’re tracking my powers...”

“I could take those mitts off for you?” Spouse suggested, cocking their head to the side.

“No! Um. No. Please don’t.”

“Okay. No worries. So, no board games.”

They closed the cupboard in which they had been riffling, pushing around boxes of weathered games. Stretching their legs, they stood, scanning a tabletop.

“Hm... What about a book? We have Lord of the Rings...”

A book? They hadn’t read in so long... Yet, the other villains had always teased them for being a bookworm. It hadn’t been since their childhood that they had read much in the way of high fantasy, but-

“Yes!”

“Oh, you liked that, huh?” Spouse smiled. “Books it is. Here you go.”

They handed Villain a thick novel, bound in weathered hardcover that had clearly seen many days since its last dusting. The villain gripped it in shaking fingers, glancing at the cover-

And throwing it to the ground.

Dogs don’t fucking read, idiot. Don’t look at that.

Hero’s voice stabbed at them, a strike of lightning in the back of their mind.

Dogs don’t read.

“Villain? You okay?”

“I- I- U- Uh-” They were hyperventilating. Oh, god, they were hyperventilating. “I can’t read?”

“Oh.” Spouse seemed surprised for a moment, before they nodded with understanding. “Well... How about I read to you?”

They’d really take that kind of time?

“You really mean it?”

“Sure! We have to wait for Civilian to get off the phone, anyways.”

Excitement consumed Villain as the two prepared for their storytime. They settled upon the couch, a blanket draped over the villain’s lap.

It was such a grand excitement, that they did not so much as notice the sound, bleeding from Civilian’s phone in the other room.

Had they been paying attention, they would have recognized Hero’s voice anywhere.

#magicians assistant #villain whumpee #whumblr #whump community #hero whumper #civilian caretaker

[quiverwingduck]

When you have a second-hand alter-ego, some identity crises are bound to crop up. When they do, it helps to have a Launchpad. 

(Includes minor descriptions of injuries.)

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27794749

Twitter Link:

    Darkwing Duck woke sometime around sun-up, judging by the severity of the beams of sunlight that squeezed through the cracks around the garage bay door to glare into his eyes. They highlighted the dust in the air that he’d been breathing in while he slept, and they did very, very little to warm the solid concrete he had passed out on. 

    He was laying face down on Launchpad’s floor, several feet between him and the couch he’d been borrowing ever since his last gig went up in flames. Launchpad slept on a platform above his little area, and that was about all the privacy he got these days. Except Launchpad wasn’t here now. If he was, Darkwing would hear the snores. If he was, he wouldn’t have left Darkwing on the floor all night. 

    Darkwing moved his arms to prop himself up, and there was an audible pop, a cacophony of grinding and scraping from somewhere within, and a debilitating stab of pain. It was jarring enough that even Darkwing “Get Back Up” Duck had to give pause. His whole body was sore and that made it hard to pinpoint any single injury, but if whatever it was wasn’t completely broken yet, putting pressure on it would certainly get it there.

He tested one arm and then the other, and used the one that hurt less to push himself up. Except as he shifted his leg, it happened again, and this time it was bad enough that his vision melted away and he collapsed. 

Above Launchpad’s couch, there hung one of several posters of Darkwing Duck. Jim Starling’s Darkwing Duck. The real, the original, the one he was meant to emulate. He was looking down on him. He was always looking down on him. It was only a piece of paper, but it was difficult to shake the notion that Jim Starling was seeing him fail. 

He held Jim’s artificial gaze until consciousness left him again. 

——

When Darkwing Duck woke again, it had tilted towards noon, and the air in the garage had grown warm and stale, and Launchpad was there, and he looked so upset, and there were voices outside, and the world came at Darkwing so fast the moment he opened his eyes that it dazed him. Launchpad was asking him questions that he couldn’t hear, much less answer. 

Launchpad’s arm slipped under Darkwing’s and hoisted him up off the floor with no effort at all. There was dried blood where he’d been laying. Darkwing had no idea where it had come from. There were any number of bad sensations to choose from. 

Launchpad’s voice faded in abruptly, like someone had cranked the volume on a stereo. “--McDee’s right outside, DW, you gotta be quiet!”

Darkwing hadn’t realized he’d been making noise, but as Launchpad jostled him, a prevailing pain shot up his leg and into his back, and he had to cut off a yelp by holding his own bill shut. 

Unable to walk, unable to process, and there stood Jim, watching him in all his shortcomings. 

Launchpad fell into what was rapidly becoming a familiar routine with him. Hide the costume. Clean up. Bandage wounds. Food, generally refused. At least a little water. Then sleep. Darkwing wanted sleep so badly. Whatever had just happened to him, it didn’t feel like rest. Exhaustion was still weighing on him, a cinderblock hung around his neck by a thin little string. It pulled him under again while Launchpad was stitching up a frighteningly deep, jagged gash across his abdomen. 

When he surfaced once more, Launchpad was still there. Darkwing had made it to the couch somehow, all stitched and bandaged and cozy under one of Launchpad’s big, heavy blankets. Launchpad was sitting next to the spot where Darkwing’s head was laid, on the one cushion he wasn’t taking up, sprawled out as he was. 

Darkwing woke facing the cushion, and the wall where Jim’s poster hung. He rolled over as quickly as his he could, pushing against fatigue and stiffening wounds, but Jim’s face was right there waiting for him on the TV screen, too. He hated the dread he felt. 

“Hey, LP,” he said, croaking. His throat was still full of garage floor grit and maybe a little blood. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Nah,” Launchpad said flippantly, pointing the remote outward to turn the volume down. “Mister McDee’s doing work around the house, and Della took the Sunchaser out.”

Darkwing grunted, shifting onto his back and shutting his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at Jim anymore, just for one minute. 

“You feeling better, DW?” Launchpad continued. Darkwing could feel him staring, and decided not to look back. 

“Sure, Launchpad. I’m fine. I am unflappable. I’m—”

“Darkwing Duck. I know.”

“I was gonna say the terror that flaps in the night.” 

Launchpad let out a sigh, and Darkwing felt a hand on his stomach. It wasn’t a tender touch. He could feel Launchpad pressing down on his abdomen, just hard enough that it would cause a reaction if something were wrong internally, and for all either of them knew something might be. Darkwing kept his eyes and his mouth shut and willed Launchpad not to notice him clench his teeth. 

Launchpad knew better by now than to suggest a doctor visit. Instead he said, “Go back to sleep, DW,” and his hand moved up to Darkwing’s hair. 

The next time Darkwing woke up, Launchpad hadn’t moved a muscle, but he had burned through about half of season two. He was currently on the episode where Darkwing Duck had been driven to hang up his cape, thanks to the machinations of Quackerjack. The breakfast sandwich that Launchpad had left out for him hours and hours prior was starting to stink up the garage even worse, old egg and mayonnaise and cheese. 

The only indication that Launchpad had moved recently was a water bottle pressed against Drake’s eye, still a little bit cold. It felt nice. He didn’t need to look to know that eye was swollen and bruised. 

Launchpad had Darkwing’s cape laid out over his lap, and was neatly and patiently running a needle through it, closing up yet another hole.

Darkwing sat up on his own for the first time since he had broken into the garage in the small, dark hours of morning and cracked that water bottle open, draining it in one swig. 

“Morning, DW,” Launchpad said, good-natured as ever, though Darkwing could see plainly that the sun had already begun to descend.

This time, Launchpad paused the show. Darkwing wished he hadn’t, now staring down the barrel of a freeze frame of Jim’s face looking straight back at him, an expression that was angry and judgmental, but somehow still wearing a wicked little smirk. 

Launchpad, clearly not noticing Darkwing’s chagrin, kept on talking. “Hey, did I ever ask you what you thought of the characterization with Quackerjack in season two? It felt odd, right? Like maybe—”

“Like maybe Paddywhack’s influence never fully went away? Yeah.” Darkwing smiled good-naturedly. He’d definitely had this conversation with Launchpad multiple times already in the few short weeks he’d been living here. There was a time in his life where he would have loved to talk circles about deep Darkwing Duck lore, but that time had passed, violently and without ceremony. 

Launchpad tilted his gaze Darkwing’s way. He didn’t look any less upset than he had when he’d first found Darkwing on the floor. “You feeling alright?” he asked again. This, too, was part of their routine. The smell of old breakfast turned Darkwing’s stomach. “Sixteen stitches, DW. That’s a lot of stitches. Any stitches is a bad number of stitches.” 

“Launchpad, I’m fine,” Darkwing replied, because he was supposed to. It was part of a script, for a role that was getting more and more difficult to step out of.

“You also might have a break this time.”

Launchpad pressed a finger against Darkwing’s left ankle, just one, and it lit up with fire. Darkwing’s eyes filled with water, and with no mask and wide, droopy hat brim to hide behind. 

“Quit poking me!” he snapped. “I said I’m fine!” The crushing guilt for being mean to Launchpad McQuack set in immediately, but Darkwing found that feeling bad just made him angrier. On the screen, Jim watched his outburst.

“This was your idea, LP! Remember? Remember ‘do it for Jim’, Launchpad?”

Launchpad clicked the power off, Jim’s face vanishing into a black screen that reflected their own instead, Darkwing scowling and Launchpad frowning, looking so sad in that bottomless and expansive way that he felt every emotion. Darkwing hesitated, beak hanging open in disbelief at himself. “I’m sorry,” he said right away, and he meant it. “I’m sorry. That was awful. I—I need to go.”

“Drake, no—” Launchpad started, but Darkwing snatched the cape away from him, thread and needle still hanging off of it, and moved to stand. He stopped immediately when his broken foot touched the floor, debilitated by the searing agony that started in his leg and burned all the way up into his brain. 

Launchpad, ever helpful even when someone was treating him like garbage, shot his arms out to give Darkwing something to lean on that wasn’t his injured leg. “I was gonna say that you won’t be able to walk,” Launchpad said dryly. 

Darkwing Duck stood, as best as he possibly could, and exhaled slowly, weighing his options. Night was settling in, and with it came a need, gnawing at him like Jim’s inescapable glare. “I have to patrol,” he said, knowing already that wasn’t the answer Launchpad wanted.

“On a broken foot?”

“I’ll call an Uberd.”

“An Uberd? Do I mean nothing to you?”

Launchpad griped, mirroring back the same overdramatic overacting that Darkwing himself was known for. He was trying to play, trying to lighten the mood, trying to trick him into calming down. 

Darkwing grumbled in frustration. The poster loomed over their heads, and he thought back on the day the studio caught fire. The day that Jim Starling finally snapped. The day that Launchpad McQuack nearly died right before his eyes, a split-second and a hair away from being caught up in the explosion, all because he’d wanted to help. 

Darkwing closed his eyes and tried to will the omnipresent vision of Jim Starling away. “I have to be out there. I have to do something. I…”

“Drake.”

It was the second time already that Launchpad had used his actual name, and somehow it stung worse than his ankle, or the stitches in his gut. Was the idea that he could actually become Darkwing Duck slipping away from Launchpad already?

Drake breathed in deep and tried to swallow his fears, but they remained, boiling over and spilling out of his mouth. “... If I stop moving, I start to think about Jim, and I… I can’t think about Jim.” 

Launchpad looked puzzled. His gaze turned up to the poster as if he was realizing for the first time in a long time that it was even there. 

Drake wished he could leave it at that and just stop talking, but that’s not what he did. “Jim died, Launchpad. He died because he hated me, and he hated me so much that he hurt innocent people over it. He hated me so much that he stopped being a hero. He hated me so much that it killed him.”

“DW—”

“Don’t.”

“Drake. Jim died saving us, remember?”

“No, he died saving you,” Drake said bitterly. “I was just in the way.”

“... Do you want me to take the poster down?” 

Drake balked. It had occurred to him, of course, but the thought of actually making Launchpad do it opened up a well of guilt. “No. No, no, I just—I should find someplace else to sleep, this is your space and—” Launchpad was already standing up and reaching for the poster, and without the support, Darkwing’s leg gave and he sank back down onto the cushions, grabbing uselessly at Launchpad’s sleeve. “No, LP, stop. Really.”

“It’s just a piece of paper, DW,” Launchpad said. He peeled it carefully off the wall, collecting sticky tack between his fingers, and rolled the paper up delicately in his hand, picture facing in. No longer a source of torment, just a white tube. He tucked it away behind some stacked crates serving as a table, or a dresser, or maybe just crates.

“But it’s… still important to you,” Drake said. “You shouldn’t have to take it down on my account.”

“The real Darkwing Duck’s crashing on my couch, that’s way more impressive than an old poster.”

The real Darkwing Duck. Drake sat with those words for awhile, staring unfocused at the empty spot on the wall. “... There is no real Darkwing Duck,” he said finally, dejected, throat tight. “I’m still just a dumb kid playing make-believe.” 

There was a heavy pause, neither of them daring to so much as shuffle their feet or breathe too loudly. Launchpad kept his eyes on the spot behind the crates where he had stored his Jim Starling poster, turned away just enough that Drake couldn’t read his expression. When Launchpad did turn back to him, he was grinning in a way Drake doubted he had been before.

“Hey, you wanna grab a burger?” Launchpad asked, as upbeat as ever.

Drake gave him a dumbfounded look, slowly processing what Launchpad was trying to do. Could it be so easy to just let the moment pass? Was it the right thing to do? Or was he just taking advantage? 

Launchpad’s expression fell a little as he waited for a response, and he adjusted his approach, cutting off a downward spiral that must have been apparent in Drake’s face.

“I love Darkwing Duck,” he said, speaking slowly, with carefully chosen words. “But… I’m worried about Drake Mallard. I haven’t seen much of him lately.”

“Thought I was—”

“You have to be both,” Launchpad said, speaking over Drake. “You are Darkwing Duck, and you are Drake. It’s not just a role you’re playing. It’s not separate. It’s part of you.”

Drake threw his arms up as if there were a physical onslaught he could block. He almost wished there were. That’s a situation he would know how to handle. 

“You gotta ask for help,” Launchpad went on, softer now. “I never said for you to do it all alone.”

Drake took in a deep breath. Relying on someone else still felt like failure, but it was easier to fall into without the weight of Jim Starling’s judgment hanging over him. “Okay, LP,” he said, exhaling. “I need your help.”

Launchpad brightened up instantaneously. It came so damn easy for him. Drake--Darkwing--wondered if he could hold onto that radiance somehow and let Launchpad drag him out of his rut. 

“We’re gonna get some burgers and fries,” Launchpad said decisively, already reaching for the keys to Scrooge’s green Jeep, “and we’re gonna spend a quiet night in, and tomorrow I’m gonna take you out on patrol, ‘cause that leg is not gonna heal in 24 hours.”

Launchpad was nice enough to not point out that a busted leg meant Darkwing would not be running down criminals for weeks to come, and Darkwing didn’t point it out either. He let Launchpad hoist him up and pile him into the car, the both of them carefully guarding his injuries.

---

The road that would take them into town spiraled several times around Killmotor Hill. Whenever Darkwing had to take this descent on foot, he typically scaled down the sides, sliding down rocky faces and trudging through bushes. It was just faster. This time, he got to sit comfortably in the passenger side, gazing out the window at the landscape and shorelines around them. 

Launchpad, evidently, was taking in the sights as well. He righted the car and himself a second after they nicked the guardrail, and Darkwing screamed a little louder than he was proud of.

“Whoops, sorry!” Launchpad shouted, jerking the wheel, but over Launchpad’s voice Darkwing could hear another one, muffled and tinny and jarringly familiar, coming from the glove compartment. Darkwing popped it open and pulled out a little Darkwing Duck bobblehead, looking thoroughly placid as he held it up to his own face.

“You are such a nerd,” he said, tapping the bobblehead so it would spit out the titular catchphrase. 

“Okay, Darkwing Duck,” Launchpad quipped right back. The two laughed at themselves and at each other, and something heavy in Drake’s ribcage dissipated. Drake put the toy on the dashboard instead of hiding it away again, and it felt okay.

Later, parked next to a burger joint where they sat pulling greasy fries out of a paper sack, Launchpad reached over and tapped the bobblehead again. “I looked for First Darkness merch, too,” he said. “There wasn’t much.”

“Yeah, they produced some to capitalize on the release, but I think even the bigwigs didn’t expect the movie to do very well. Feels weird to admit. Like, don’t get me wrong, I was over the moon to get the part, but I was thinking years in the future. I was thinking that there would be more releases to follow, maybe even a reboot of the show, and I’d… I’d be there, because I had to be. I’m Darkwing Duck.” 

He was Darkwing Duck. He’d wanted it all along, his whole life. He could never have become anything else, and the version of himself that had denied it just ten minutes prior felt like a different person. A stranger. 

Drake took a pause, holding a rapidly cooling french fry between his fingers because suddenly his stomach was too knotted to eat it. “I guess that’s all Jim wanted too, huh?”

“Jim… lost his way.”

“And what if I lose mine?”

Launchpad reached over. His hand completely dwarfed Drake’s, fingers curling inward around it, and slowly threading through Drake’s. Drake stopped breathing, something he prayed Launchpad didn’t notice as he worked the ulterior motive of sliding the french fry out of Drake’s grasp and stealing it away into his own mouth. 

“I get that you’re mixed up about Jim,” Launchpad said eventually, through chewing. “It was… scary. But it doesn’t have to take away what Darkwing Duck means to us, you know? I understand if you don’t wanna watch the show with me, but don’t give up on Darkwing Duck. He’s so much more than a TV character.”

Drake caught a hint of desperation, the tiniest hairline crack in Launchpad’s relentless glee. It gave him pause, observing as Launchpad upended the carton of fries into his mouth and chewed through a frown. 

“Okay, LP. I told you what Darkwing Duck is to me. What is he to you?”

A huge grin cracked across Launchpad’s face, and Drake sensed he’d made a mistake.

“He’s my hero, and he’s an inspiration, and he thinks he doesn’t snore at night but he definitely does.”

“Rude! Slanderous and rude!”

“Like the Sunchaser’s engine after I crashed into that dam.”

Drake stuck his tongue out, and Launchpad did the same, and then a silence fell over the car. One not too comfortable, Drake content to sit there and eat quietly in the company of his best friend, but acutely aware of the way Launchpad squirmed in his seat, trying in vain not to let more words spill from his mouth. 

“Darkwing Duck was my only friend when I needed one most.”

A cold stab in Drake’s gut, thinking back on beatings in the schoolyard, dented lunchbox, handmade cape torn from his shoulders, the ground rushing at him. Someone’s foot planted on his back to keep him down while others kicked and punched and spat. Blood and dirt and tears and lonely nights spent bandaging his knuckles while the television droned in the background. Telling himself that if Darkwing Duck could take the hits, then so could he.  

He wondered if Launchpad had ever endured the same. Poor, sweet, big-hearted Launchpad. 

    Drake shook the memories, and sighed dramatically, holding out his fries. Launchpad took the container from his hand without hesitation, and within seconds, they were gone. “As always, LP, you are right.” 

    “I am?” Launchpad said, an elated glimmer in his eyes. “So you’ll keep being Darkwing Duck and inspiring a new generation to stand strong and fight for what’s right?”

    “Well, yes,” Drake said, as he prodded a finger lightly against his abdomen and marveled at the searing pain that flared up. “But I meant about taking some time off… and maybe finding a doctor.” 

    “Oh!” Launchpad grabbed his burger, wedging it in his mouth before putting the keys in the ignition. He hit the gas hard, intending to speed off in what Drake imagined would have been a very cool fashion, but the car flew into reverse instead, and they were sent careening through a chain link fence, screaming.

#ducktales #darkwing duck #drake mallard #launchpad mcquack #drakepad #just some light early drakepad is all #my fics #i made that

[amazingmsme]

Lets See A Smile

AN: My first Hazbin fic! There’s not nearly enough fics for it so here I am! Had a blast writing it, hope y’all enjoy! Angel and Alastor have such a fun dynamic!

Angel sighed in relief as his shift finally came to an end. You'd think a hotel with virtually no patrons would make for an easy work day, but when one of those guests was none other than fucking Sir Pentious of all people, you might as well jump off the highest cliff in hell. He kicked open the door to the break room, eager to vent to his friends.

"You would not BELIEVE the day I had! Next time you need someone to deal with Sir Penis get someone else to do it 'cause there's no way I'm going back up there to pick up eggshells and 20 feet of snake skin," he exclaimed dramatically, eyes closed with an arm thrown over his face like a damsel. Alastor popped his head up from where he was laying on the couch.

"I will be sure to let Charlie know of your complaint," he said. Angel's eyes flew open as he pushed himself away from the wall. 

"What, you? Where's Charlie? Or Vaggie?" he asked, not too pleased to see the radio demon when he was expecting his gal pals.

"Don't you remember? Tonight is their anniversary!" Alastor said in a cheery tone. Angel crossed his first pair of arms and rested another hand on his hip.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that," he said dismissively. Alastor sat up fully now, resting his feet on the floor instead of taking up the whole couch. He tilted his head quizzically, taking in the other demon.

"What, you got some fuckin' problem?" Angel asked, noticing his intense stare. Alastor shook his head, looking away.

"Not at all Angel, but from the sounds of it, you do." Angel rolled his eyes.

"Yeah and he's on the third floor," he said with a huff. Alastor scooted over and patted the cushion next to him invitingly.

"Why don't you sit?" Angel's face lit up as he strolled over.

"Hey don't mind if I do," he said before plopping right in Alastor's lap. He blushed and faltered.

"Wha- Not on me!" he exclaimed and shoved him off. Angel Dust chuckled, settling into a proper seat.

"Sorry, you didn't specify," he smirked. Alastor glared at him with a small growl.

"You know damn well that's not what I meant." They fell into a slightly awkward silence. Alastor sat stiffly while Angel sprawled across the sofa, taking up most of the room and not seeming to care. Alastor liked to pride himself in his ability to read other people, and right now it was obvious that Angel was not himself. Oh sure he would try and act like his usual flamboyant and snarky self, but apparently their customer had really gotten under his skin. He didn't like seeing the other demon so upset. He tapped his fingers on his knees, letting out a low whistle that mixed with the smallest whine of microphone feedback.

"Soooo..." he started. Angel only raised a brow. "Would you care to talk about it?"

"Eh, not really. That slithery prick's already eaten up too much of my time," he dismissed. After a brief pause he let out a long suffering sigh, arching his back over the arm of the couch and just let himself hang there. This caused Alastor himself to sigh.

"Well you're obviously upset about it, and normally I'd dump you off on Charlie but she's not here right now, so you're stuck with me. And while I may not be very good at this, I would like to cheer you up. Is there, um, anything I could do to maybe help?" Angel raised himself up, a little skeptical.

"You serious?"

"Yes! After all you're never fully dressed without a smile! And you sir are lacking the appropriate attire," he justified.

"Yeah well, I'm a slut, so what do you expect?" he asked, though he allowed himself to relax a bit. "Can you, no ya know what, never mind," Angel stopped himself mid sentence. And was that a blush creeping up his face? Needless to say Alastor was intrigued.

"No do go on!" he encouraged. Angel waved a hand as if to brush him off.

"Naw you wouldn't like it."

"Nonsense! And if I don't like it, I'll just talk about it behind your back to Husk like a normal person," he admitted. Angel considered this and shrugged.

"Well at least you're honest. So, what I was gonna say was, uh, can I have a hug?" he asked sheepishly. He reached up and rubbed a hand behind his neck, "It's just I'm a little tired and upset, and I'm kinda used to it with Charlie around. Hehe, look at me, goin' soft..." he trailed off. Alastor- didn't really know what to say. So instead he just leaned back into the sofa and held out his arms. Angel broke into a shy grin and cuddled against him. Alastor rested his arms around him, not allowing himself to fully relax into the hug. Not yet at least. Affectionate touch was still kinda new for him. But he had to admit, it did feel nice. It gave him a warm kind of comfort he hadn't felt in forever, and he let himself sink into the feeling.

"Ya know what Al? You actually give pretty good hugs. Heh, better not let Charlie know, am I right?" he joked with a poke to his side. Alastor went completely rigid, his hold on Angel tightened ever so slightly. This didn't go unnoticed.

"Al, you okay there buddy? Didn't hurt ya, did I?" he asked. He doubted he could even hurt him if he tried, but he wanted to make sure.

"W-what? You hurt me? Oh please," he tried to play it off, hoping he would just drop it. But this is Angel Dust we're talking about, he's not one to simply "drop" things. Not to mention, he's had years of experience in his old line of work. He's learned all there is to know about the body and it's various reactions to touch. Which is why it only took him a second to figure out what had happened.

"If you're ticklish you coulda just said so, I woulda left you alone," he said casually. Alastor's jaw dropped in mild horror and shock, pushing the other demon away.

"I am no such thing!" he adamantly denied. Angel raised a brow, a sly smirk creeping onto his face.

"Oh please, big scary tough guy like you? Definitely ticklish," he said, watching Alastor's reactions from the corner of his eye. Despite his best efforts to keep it at bay, a blush rose to his cheeks. As Angel spoke, he let one of his hands wander closer to Alastor's side.

He was just about to snap at him, a sharp retort on the tip on his tongue, when Angel's hand connected with his side. He let out a startled noise, jerking away and snapped his head to look at Angel. The smile he gave the radio demon was completely predatory and feral. Alastor found himself scooting away.

"Now Angel, don't do anything you'll regret," he warned, but his voice wavered with nerves.

"Trust me, I ain't gonna regret this," he said, lunging forth and straddling a very shocked Alastor. He wasn't used to people not taking his threats seriously and was a bit stunned. He tried to grab Angel's hands to block him, but he countered by pinning his wrists with his first set of arms. He chuckled, wiggling his fingers above his stomach. Alastor struggled, trying to free himself.

"What's the matter? Forget I had these?" Angel asked. He emphasized his point by skittering his fingers all along his belly, making him burst into staticky giggles.

"Stohohop this ihihinstant!" Alastor demanded through his laughter. Angel Dust leaned forward, grinning widely. Alastor could see his own hysterical reflection shinning in Angel's eyes, so he looked away, too embarrassed to see the giggly mess he'd become.

"Nah, I don't really feel like it. Besides, I think this is the first time I've heard you laugh! I'm having way too much fun to stop!"

"Thahahat's nohot true! Ihihi laugh ahahall the time," he tried to speak through his manic giggles.

Angel shrugged, "Yeah but laughing at your own lame jokes don't count. Kinda pathetic actually." He added another pair of arms to the mix, reaching behind him to squeeze and scratch at his knees. Alastor drummed his legs on the couch, his laughter increasing in volume and pitch. Radio static mixed more frequently with his laugh, making Angel coo.

Dohohon't patronize mehehe!" Alastor cried.

"I'm not! But you gotta admit Al, your laugh is adorable," he teased, making his voice a higher pitch and using the same tone that he normally talks to Fat Nuggets with. He brought his third pair of arms up to squeeze at his sides, the second pair starting to crawl up his ribs as he sang.

"The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout." Though he thought it to be impossible, Alastor's laughter increased even more. "Down, came the rain and washed the spider out." He raked his knuckles down his ribs, making him arch his back with a cackle. As he finished the nursery rhyme, he let his fingers walk back up his ribs before attacking his exposed underarms.

Alastor squealed before his voice faded into the high pitched screech of a microphone. Angel jerked back in shock at the loud noise, covering his ears as he fell back on the couch. His eyes were squeezed shut as he fell into a giggle fit, clutching his stomach with his many arms. He brought a hand up to wipe away a few tears as Alastor recovered.

His breathing was already beginning to return to normal, but his face was still a burning crimson. Angel patted his leg comfortingly before he rose from the couch, stretching as he spoke.

"Oh man, that was fun. Never knew ya could laugh like that Smiles," he said, settling back onto the cushions. Because he was so tall, Alastor was taking up most of the space, causing Angel to huff and kick his legs with his boot. "Skooch over, you're takin' up the whole damn couch," he grumbled. Alastor finally sat up, seemingly recovered. His cheeks were still sporting a decent flush and he brushed himself off, trying to scrap together his remaining dignity by straightening his crumpled clothes. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"You have ten seconds," he stated calmly. Angel raised a brow.

"Ten seconds to do what?" he asked.

"Why, to run of course," Alastor stated as though it were obvious.

"Hell no, I ain't runnin'! I just got comfy," he said, gesturing to his already lounging position. Alastor shrugged, his residual smile widening into something more sinister.

"Very well, it is your funeral after all." Angel's eyebrows furrowed together, beginning to connect the dots. He opened his mouth to protest, only to be cut off.

"Nine."

Angel's eyes widened and he scrambled to get as far away from the radio demon as possible. In such a rush, his legs got tangled and he stumbled over himself before rushing out the door. Alastor was already down to six. He rushed down the hall and into the lobby, looking for cover. There was no way he could out run him, so his only chance was to hide. He only hesitated for a second before his eyes landed on the bar and he sprinted towards it.

Husk saw him coming and shook his head. "Oh hell no, you already used up all your points," he said casually. He jumped back with a hiss, fur standing on end when Angel made a move to dive over the bar.

"This ain't about that, you gotta hide me!" he pleaded, gripping onto his shirt. Husk shoved him off.

"What the hell did you get into now?" he asked, running a hand down his tired face.

"No time to explain, just go on about your business and act like I ain't here," he said, crouching down underneath the bar. "Oh and if Al asks, say you haven't seen me."

Husker's eyes widened, shaking his head. "Sorry, but I'm not covering for you. This is your mess, you deal with it. I don't wanna get caught in the cross hairs of whatever you did to piss him off," he said, trying to drag Angel Dust out from underneath the countertop. Angel cursed as he struggled to stay put, already forced halfway out. It was then that Alastor himself leisurely strolled into the lobby. His eyes fell on Angel, and he twirled his microphone stand gleefully.

"Oh Angel there you are!" he exclaimed. Angel let out a small scream before leaping back over the bar, much to Husk's annoyance. As he ran out of the room, he used two hands to flip Husk off.

"Wow thanks for bein' fucking useless!"

Husk cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled after him. "I'll be sure to remember that next time you ask for a drink!" He sighed in defeat, bending down to arrange the various glasses and bottles he had knocked over. Alastor came up and leaned against the bar.

"I'll take a glass of water real quick, if you don't mind," he said. Husk complied, filling it up with tap before sliding it over to him.

"The hell he do to you? Kid was so desperate to get away you'd think he was fleeing for his life." Upon hearing the question, Al's ear twitched, another blush dusting his cheeks as he looked away. Husk looked him up and down and spoke once more. "Then again maybe he is."

"Mm. If you'll excuse me Husker, I believe I must enact some well deserved revenge." The bar tender chuckled.

"Alright, but don't rough him up too much. Charlie'll have your head if you hurt him."

Alastor waved a hand lazily as he made his way in the direction that Angel ran off. "No need to worry, our friend shall be in good hands." He sent his shadow in search of the fleeing man, rolling up his sleeves in preparation. In his time alive, one of the things he adored most was the thrill of the chase. The adrenaline rush that came with hunting down his prey was nearly more enjoyable than the act of killing. Almost. But oh how he relished in the fear glistening in their eyes and their labored breath as they were inevitably trapped, watching as he closed in. He found he was eager to see that look in Angel's eyes, though for a completely different reason.

Angel was close to his room now. He had had a few close calls, turning down halls that suddenly lead to nowhere, catching the glimpse of a dark shadow from the corner of his eye. He knew Al was fucking with him, but he was determined to make it to safety. He was almost there; he could see his door at the end of the hall. He ran that much harder, only to find he wasn't getting any closer. He looked down at his legs that were running in place and felt dread sink to the bottom of his stomach. He heard a deep, staticky chuckle from behind and gasped, trying with all his might to get to his room.

"Oh c'mon!" he yelled out in an exasperated tone, looking over his shoulder only to see the grinning deer. He gave a small wave, tilting his head to the side. Whatever magic Alastor had him trapped with vanished, and he let out a victory cry as he threw himself at his door, opening it before slamming it shut and locking it behind him. He let out a deep sigh of relief, shoulders slacking as he leaned against the door. The wood felt cool against his cheek, and he smiled to himself, finally knowing he was safe.

A slow clap sounded from behind him, and his breath hitched and caught in his throat. He whirled around to see Alastor, sitting on his bed with a stupidly smug grin as he applauded.

"Splendid! You put on quite a good show I must say, but I'm afraid the previews are over." Angel reached for the knob, only it was locked by his own doing. He pressed his back against the wall, smiling sheepishly as the man stood and slowly made his way closer to him.

"Look, A-Al, no hard feelings, right? I won't tell a soul I swear! You got my word, I'm sorry," he tried to plead.

"Did you really think I'd let you get away without having my revenge?" he asked calmly. Angel shrugged.

"Well I mean, yeah. I mean- I was hoping for it," he corrected himself, rubbing a hand behind his neck with a chuckle. Alastor snapped his fingers, opening a portal in the floor. All of a sudden, tentacles reached out and grabbed Angel and forced him onto the bed, pinning all of his limbs.

He blinked in shock before smirking. "Can't say this isn't what I'm used to. Been in worse bondage situations than this, let me tell ya," he mused, trying to mask his growing fear with his usual flirtations. Alastor sat next to him on the bed and he tried to squirm away, not getting very far. Angel shrunk in on himself, feeling very exposed underneath Alastor's gaze, and not in the way he would've liked. He gulped and spoke. "So uh, I normally ask this question with a lot more enthusiasm, but- what are you gonna do to me?" he ventured to question.

Alastor answered gladly. "I would've thought you were smart enough to know but clearly I overestimated you." Angel let out a cry of protest only to be cut off.

"I'm sure you know the phrase "an eye for an eye,"" he said, casting a sly look his way. That alone made Angel's chest shake as he fought to force down his chuckles. He tugged at his bonds but they held strong, not allowing any leeway.

"Ahahal I'm sorry! I won't do it again, promise!" Alastor smirked and rested a hand on his stomach. Angel jerked at the touch, barely holding back a squeal.

"Oh I know you won't, but I have to make sure the lesson is ingrained in your thick skull so you won't even think about trying it again." He looked down at him, smirk growing as he drummed his fingers along his stomach.

"Nohohooo," Angel whined through his giggles, trying to suck in his stomach to get away from the touch.

"Laughing so soon? Oh this is going to be fun," Alastor practically growled through static. "So, are you willing to speed things along and tell me your worst spots? Or are you going to do this the hard way?"

Angel was already in deep, he knew he shouldn't say it but the guy gift wrapped a perfect chance for a dirty joke and gave it to him on a silver platter. He couldn't help himself. "Oh you know I like it hard," he all but purred. Alastor's eye twitched and he flicked an ear. Angel's flirtatious smirk quickly fell flat as he saw his life flash before his eyes.

"Nonono wait I take it back-"

"Too late Angel. I'm delighted to say that you just dug your second grave." He dug his claws into his stomach, grin growing as he watched him writhe underneath his touch. Angel bit his lip, trying to contain his titters. Maybe if he held out long enough, Alastor would grow bored and give up. Angel always was a dreamer.

"Hm, I wouldn't have thought you of all people would play hard to get," Alastor mused. Angel screwed his eyes shut biting his lip so hard he began to taste blood. "But you'll crack sooner or later," he said. Angel was wearing a loose t-shirt, so it was easy for him to slip his hand underneath. The reaction was instantaneous; he burst into frantic cackles, tugging on his wrists weakly. Alastor gave him a lazy, nonchalant smile. "See, I knew you'd come around!"

"Nohoho you cahahan't do this to mehehe," he cried out.

"Oh but I can! In fact, I'm doing it right now!" he said with a flourish, followed by a laugh track that could barely be heard over Angel's mirth. He let out an annoyed huff when the baggy shirt slid back down over his stomach due to his squirming. "Why don't we get this out of the way?" he asked. Before Angel could question him, he snapped his fingers leaving Angel's chest bare.

"Hey that was my favorite shirt you asshole!" Alastor didn't dignify that with a response. Well, not a verbal one anyways. The thin pink line trailing the middle of his stomach caught his eye, placing a single finger on the pattern. "Whoa hey, if ya wanted me to take my shihirt off all ya hahad to do was ask nicelyyyy," his voice raised in pitch when Alastor pressed down ever so slightly. Fuck this wasn't good, his pattern was way more sensitive and he really didn't need Al of all people to figure that out.

"By now you should know that I don't ask nicely," he said, a completely sinister look in his eyes. He drug his finger up along the pink line, making Angel arch his back with a squeal, much to his delight. His finger made its way back down the same path, and Angel shook his head back and forth, squirming in the tentacles' hold.

"Nohohot thehehere," he pleaded. Alastor hummed in thought.

"You see, when you say that it really makes me want to focus all my efforts on this exact spot," he teased.

"Bihihite mehehe!" They both froze, Alastor's grin stretching across his entire face. Angel realized his mistake and even though he knew it was futile, he kicked his legs out for purchase so he could scoot away. Alastor moved to straddle his waist, leaning in closer as sharp teeth glistened. "A-Al Ihihi didn't mean it like that! Oh shit, you're not gonna eat me, are ya?" Nervousness gave way to fear as he had no chance to escape.

"Why, what an excellent idea Angel Dust! I am a cannibal after all." He lunged forth, head diving towards his stomach. Angel screamed in terror which soon gave way to hysterical screams of laughter as Alastor nibbled and nuzzled against his stomach.

"Fuhuhuhuck it tihihickles so damn muhuhuch!" he yelled, trying to curl in on himself, but Alastor's magic held firm. He rose his head back up from the fluff, sputtering before picking a few hairs from his mouth. Angel gasped for breath during the break he knew wouldn't last long.

Alastor wiped his tongue on his sleeve to rid his mouth of any excess fluff. "Suddenly I've lost my appetite!"

"Greheat, so can you lehehet me gohoho?" Angel asked, fearing the answer. Alastor tapped his chin in thought, studying his form before answering.

"I suppose I could, but there's one spot left I want to try," Alastor said, eyes falling on his exposed hollows. Angel followed his gaze, eyes going wide with realization as an excited sort of panic flooded his body. Giggles bubbled out of his mouth that was stretched in an anxious smile, gold tooth gleaming.

"No please, anywhere but there," Angel begged, his efforts to escape doubling but still yielding the same results. Alastor smirked as he rested his hands right below his second pair of arms. Just doing that made him jerk and let out a small squeal. Alastor tilted his head, a devious look on his face.

"Oh Angel, you don't really get a say in the matter," he said, and then he attacked. He was completely lost to his laughter as Alastor scratched and skittered in his underarms, switching rapidly between them all to keep him a jumpy hysterical mess. He drilled his thumbs into the fur and kneaded around the sensitive area. He had to hold back his own chuckles once Angel started hiccuping amongst his cries of laughter. He finally granted him mercy, snapping his fingers and releasing his hold on the other demon. He sat beside him as Angel's giggles trailed off, interrupted every once in a while by another hiccup. Alastor notes that he hadn't moved at all, arms still raised and laying on the bed.

Angel glared up at him. "Damn you, you fuckin' prick. You're a fucki- fucking monster," he said, having to restart the word when another embarrassing hiccup broke up his speech. Alastor just smirked, narrowing his eyes.

"A tickle monster," he felt the need to correct. Angel groaned, a bright blush growing on his face. He covered his face with his lower set of hands, hoping that Alastor would at least be nice enough not to comment on it. "I hope it goes without saying that none of what happened is to leave this room," he threatened in a nicer tone, though it was a threat none the less. Angel sat up, waving a hand at him.

"Yeah yeah, trust me I don't want anyone else to know." Angel perked up, head snapping to look at Alastor. "Hey what'd you do with my shirt?" Alastor pointed around a pile of clothes in the corner, the soft pink shirt laying on top. He walked over, slipping it over his head. He noticed him staring at him, a smug, knowing look on his face. Angel narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

Alastor glanced down at his nails nonchalantly. "Nothing, just noticed something rather peculiar."  Angel flopped onto his bed, making him bounce with the mattress.

"Mind sharin' with the class?" he asked, even though he had a feeling he would regret it.

"I don't recall hearing you tell me to stop," he said with a sly smile. The curious grin on Angel's face immediately disappeared, cheeks heating up. He refused to meet his eyes as he struggled for a comeback.

"I- you- well- how could I, I was laughin' too hard!" he justified.

"You didn't seem to have any trouble saying other things," he beamed, holding up a hand when Angel grabbed a pillow and started beating him with it.

"Shut the hell up!"

"You like it!"

"SHUT UP!"

Alastor's static filled chuckles rang through the air. He even had the audacity to pinch his cheek before standing. "Glad to see you're feeling better. Laughter is the best medicine after all," he said.

Angel crossed his lower pair of arms, trying to hide his smile behind his hand. "Heh, I guess so."

Alastor was at the door, hand on the knob before he looked over his shoulder at Angel Dust. "Don't be shy to come find me if you ever need any more cheering up," he teased with a wink. Angel's face was practically on fire, and for once he didn't have a witty comeback. Alastor gave an amused huff before closing the door, leaving Angel alone to think about all that just happened.

#alastor #angel dust #husk #husker #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fic #hazbin hotel tickle fic #ticklish!alastor #ticklish!angel #ticklish!angel dust

[pbandjesse]

I feel like garbage right now. I just took some allergy meds and I hope it helps by the end of writing this. Because this sucks. I hate that I feel so shitty because today is a good day! It was my parents 35th wedding anniversary! And my dad's birthday!! I am so happy for them and love them so much. So I just gotta focus on those good things.

I think a lot of this is that I did not sleep well last night. I couldn't fall asleep for forever. I am determined to fix this though. So I still woke up at 8 when my alarm went off. I stayed in bed for a long while. But I would get up eventually.

I tried to be in a good mood. At least my hair looked nice. I tried to pull myself together and for the most part the first half of the day I did that.

I cleaned. I dusted. I vacuumed. I changed the kitty litter. I tried my best to be productive. I styled people for an hour. And I did some art.

I am very pleased with the art. After the failure of my bat print I was a little discouraged but I did one of sweetP sleeping at the window and I am just so pleased with it. I still had some issue with getting even pressure, but I know its because Im using a tiny little rolling pin. But I will get something better and Ill get more consisant results. But regardless I am really happy.

I had a good time carving. And stamping. It started getting to hot in here but I was in a good place emotionally.

But then I sort of lost steam and started getting really dizzy when I tried to do anything. I had eaten but it didn't make me feel much better. I was just not having fun.

But I would pull myself together and pull the camping stuff down. I said I was going to wait until Wednesday but I was so lost and without direction I needed to do something. So I pulled that down and sorted through everything. Its interesting because we are both camping and going to the beach. So that's a whole new animal and requires different things. But I think we have a good handle on it and I am pretty pleased with what we have. We only need a few more things. Mostly food and maybe actually figuring out a bike rack.

I would lay down for a bit. Got up to get the mail and was excited to have packages. Mom sent us things for the party. I put those away and would lay back down.

I would lay on the couch and then to the bed and then back. I didn't feel good and I cried a little. But I tried my best to just be okay. I do think the medication is finally helping. I took another bath and that made me feel a little bit better. But still. I wish I could just feel better.

Now though I am on the couch drinking some ice tea. And thinking about building my printing portfolio more. Maybe my new long term project is a book. Someone suggested that since Im illustrating poems already. And now I like the idea.

I hope tomorrow is better and productive. I have a few things I want to get at the art store. And hopefully I just feel more settled. I hope you all have a great night tonight. Take care of each other. Goodnight!

[lilteamushroom]

Karasuno Team x reader pt 2

(I never expected so many people to like and want a part 2! It’s so long but it’s a good one!)

Part one:

Warnings: swearing??

The RV started up and began to move, you snickered as Ukai yelled at Tanaka and Hinata to sit their asses down. You sat on a small couch near a window next to kiyoko (Pfft let me get my gay ass outta here) Kiyoko, Suga and you talked about how long your family has had the beach house.  “My family used to go to this beach house every summer when I was younger. But as I got older we stopped going as a family and now it sits with no one living in it.” You explained to them.  “Though don’t worry about bugs and dust being in the house, my mom said she sent out some cleaners to make sure the house was clean and was stocked with food for us.” You told them.  “I wish we could do something for your parents, for doing all of this for us.” Suga sighed. You smiled “Oh don’t worry, I think someone actually using the beach house makes her very happy.” you reassured Suga.  “(Y/N), I heard you work at Ukai’s store.” Asahi chimed in. That caught you off guard. You knew they would find out and to be honest you were surprised they didn’t figure it out sooner. “Oh yeah! Its a lot of fun working there. And since the coach is my boss, it makes scheduling around practice and games much easier.” You stutter a bit.  “Thats so cool! Do you get free stuff?” Nighinoya asked from across the table.  “No- I wish I did. That would be so nice.” You say as you think of how awesome it would be to get free soda pop and sweets.

The rest of the ride there, wasn’t too bad. You put on a movie, which the guys voted on fucking The Spongebob movie. what. the. fuck. Not only that but they cheered and were so invested in the movie.

Crackheads. They are all crackheads.

The RV finally came to a stop, you looked out the window to see the old beach house from your childhood. 

They all gasped, maybe a bit dramatically. “Are you sure we are at the right place?” Daichi asked. You nodded. “This is it my friends.” you say to them as you grab your bags from under the seat. Everyone nearly jumped off the bus, you swore you watched Tanaka jump out of the window of the RV.  They all followed you to the front door.  “Wow! Is that a boat?!” Hinata asked. You nodded your head. “We can take it out sometime this week, if you want.” you offered him, he nodded happily. You pulled out the small key that had a flower key chain on it. You unlocked the door and let them inside. They all looked around in amazement. “The main room is big enough for everyone to sleep in, besides the other rooms aren’t guest rooms, the last I checked they were remodeled into a gaming room, a movie room, and a lounge/hangout area.”  “ (Y/N)!!! WHAT THE HELL.” Tanaka nearly screamed.  “WHAT?!” You yelled at him, trying your best to match his vocal range to mock him.  “THis is so CoOL!” he shouted. Ukai clapped his hands, “Set your bags down, and go get your swimsuits on.” Ukai instructed everyone. “Yes Sir!” Everyone yelled as their excitement filled the room. You went to the bathroom and changed into green plaid trunks and a yellow swim shirt. You went out to find you were one of the first people changed, which never happened. You were confused. Where was everyone else? You found them wandering the vacation house. Well you found them in pairs, first you found Hinata and Kageyama in the kitchen, then you found Tsukishima, Tadashi in the game room, Daichi, Suga and Asahi were in the lounge room, Kiyoko, Ukai an Takeda were on the back porch all sitting in on the lawn chairs put out there, Tanaka and Nishinoya were examining the boat under the deck. 

Once they were all done exploring the house, everyone met up on the beach at the volleyball net.  They underestimated how hard it actually is to play volleyball in sand. They kept slipping and falling, soon they caught on that you weren’t falling??  “ (Y/N)! How do you stay on your feet?” Hinata asked you. You smirked. “You gotta kinda, dig your feet in the sand, instead of being ontop of the sand-” You dug your foot into the sand, “-You’ll be more grounded.” You showed them. They caught on, not many falling anymore, though many still fell on their asses which was super funny to you. Nishinoya being the libero, kept face planting and getting a mouth full of sand. “Man! It sucks trying to catch the ball without getting sand in my mouth!” Noya complained.  “Maybe its because you suck.” Tanaka snickered. “Shut up! You keep on not even hitting the ball!” Noya defended.  “All right lets take a break!” Ukai yelled out. “Coach, can we go swimming?!” Hinata begged with Noya and Tanaka giving Ukai puppy eyes. Ukai sighed then smiled at them.  “Yeah sure. We are here to take a break.” Ukai laughed. Hinata, Noya, Tanaka cheered as they sprinted to the shore. Asahi came up to you “Are you gonna get in the water?” He asked. You shrug “Maybe. I’m not a huge swimmer, though I love to collect sea shells.” You say to him. “That sounds fun! I’ll come with you to look for sea shells!” Suga offered “Me too.” Kiyoko chimed in. Many of the boys splashed each other and played chicken fight. You sat high above the others on Daichi’s shoulders while Hinata was sitting on Asahi’s shoulder. You held Hinata’s hands, trying to push the other off. In the end Hinata got the upper and and Y E E T E D you into the ocean.  Everyone laughed and took turns playing chicken. Hinata and Asahi were the ones champions against everyone else. 

- - - - - - -

Soon the sun was setting and everyone was getting settled in for the night. The sea shells you got were set nicely on the window seal above the sink. The who team was sleeping in one big dog pile in the living room, in the kick ass fort they had built.  You went to brush your teeth when Nishinoya caught up with you in the bathroom. “When do you plan on telling the others about... Your secret?” He asked.  “I am tomorrow night when we sit around the fire for smores. I am nervous you know? Can you try to understand how I feel?” You asked him as you took his hand in yours. Noya felt his cheeks heat up from the contact of your hand in his. He nodded. “I’ll try my best (y/n)!” He smiled. You gave him a grin back as you let go of his hand and opened the door to the bathroom and locked it behind you. 

Your reflection looked back at you. You took off your binder that had been on for 10+ hours. You read online that you should only have it on for 6-8 hours and you shouldn’t bind when working out... You were breaking many rules when it comes to binding but it was your only way to be on the team without anyone raising any eyebrows. You stretched your hands above your head letting your chest and ribs stretch and be free. You threw on a tank top, sweatpants and a big hoodie to hide your breast size.  After getting ready for bed you went back to the living room to find the team chatting and nearly laying on top of each other. You smirked and jumped onto the pile of boys in front of you.  “Woah! (y/n)!” Tadashi laughed.  “You guys make a good pillow.” You chuckled as you laid your head on Suga’s leg. It was uncomfortable so you leaned up and wiggled your way to a small spot between Tanaka and Hinata. They all were shoulder to shoulder.  Even though they are dorks, they are family. They make your life so much better. Were you ready to tell them about everything? Or at least your gender.  Everyone kept talking til Ukai came in the room and inhaled. “GO TO BED.” He yelled then shuffled back to the room nearby. You couldn’t help but snicker before laying your head on Tanaka’s shoulder as a pillow.  You starred at the ceiling before finally dozing off to sleep.

- - - - - - - -

In the morning, you woke up 2 hours before everyone else. You wanted to make bread from scratch for them. You remembered as a child you would wake up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked bread filling the house. You wanted to do the same for the boys who took you in and made you part of their family. 

Noya shook Hinata.

“Bro bro. Do you smell that?” Noya asked. It took Hinata a minute to get himself out of his sleepy state. He sniffed the air.

“It smells like a Kneaders cafe. Like on Monday when all of the bread was just barely baked.” Hinata noted. Tanaka woke up and instantly smelled baked goods. He sprung out of bed and dashed to the kitchen.

You smiled at him when he came into the room.

“Good morning Tanaka. How are you doing?” You ask him.

“Good! What is the smell??” He asked quickly. The oven went off as you grabbed the oven mitts.

“Well everyone has been working hard so I decided to bake you guys fresh bread.” You smiled lightly as blush marks spread across your cheeks.

Tanaka grinned. “That sounds awesome!”

“I’m going to go get the rest of the team up.” You say to him “I’ll come with you!” He said as he grabbed your hand. You stood there in shook from the contact of his hand in yours. The blush on your face reddened.

“That looks pretty gay” tsukishima said from behind you coming into the room. You pulled away from Tanaka.

“Your gay four eyes!” You huff at him as you walk past him. Tanaka boomed in laughter behind you. “Dumbass. Shit like that can hive me away.” You mutter to him.

“What?! Your gonna tell the team tonight anyway.” He scoffs. You dart a glare at him as you both enter the main room where everyone was. You opened the blinds, and turned on the light.

“I made a surprise for you guys. I’m gonna make breakfast.” You inform them. Asashi groaned as he sat up. He raised his hand

“I’ll help you with breakfast (y/n).” He said as he yawned. You grinned at him. “That would be great! Thank you!” You beam at him. “The rest of you better be up in 15 minutes!” You almost hell at them. But you held back from yelling at them because you choose not to be a dick.

For now.

It had been 20 minutes and Daichi, Suga and Tadashi were still not awake. You smirked at Noya. “Wanna help me get the others up?” You asked him. “Always!” He grinned. “What you plan on doing?” Ukai asked. You looked at your cup on the counter. “I have an idea.”

You, nishinoya, and Hinata all held a cup of water as you and the rest of the team walked down the hall to the main room where you guys slept. You held your cup over Daichi’s head. You looked down on him like he was your victim. Nishinoya stood over Tadashi and Hinata over Suga. You counted down in a whisper.

Splash

The 3 of them yelled out from the sudden contact of water. The rest of you were laughing so hard that tears were forming in your eyes.

“Oi! What was that for?!” Daichi yelled.

“You weren’t up for breakfast.” You say to him almost coldly.

They apologized and got up for the day. They all changed into their swim suits when you said that it was time to take the boat out.

Noya was nearly bouncing off the walls when you got the keys out for the boat. Luckily you knew how to drive the boat. Everyone piled in as you started it up making sure it had enough gas. You drove it out fairly far the turned the key to turn it off.

“Alright guys! You can jump in and swim!” You say happily. Many of them jump in when a few stayed behind because they didn’t want to swim.

“Yo! (Y/N)!! Get in here!” Tanaka yelled waving at you from the water.

“Yeah (y/n)! Join us!” Hinata begged. You shrugged and got up from the drivers seat. You ran then jumped off the side of the boat your arms lifted in the air, your legs kicking off the deck to boost you into the air. It felt like time slowed down. Like when you go to hit the ball during a game. How you always were inspired by your teammates to do your best during a game.

You came back to reality when you hit the cold but refreshing water. The guys laughed as you reached the surface of the water. These guys were your best friends. You would do anything for them. Going through so many practice days and games. You get close to them after going through so much.

Once it got later into the day you drove the boat back and parked it. Though most of the team stayed at the beach and swam.

Soon they are going to find out your secret. Your stomach turned and did flips as you thought about tonight. When you would have to tell them who you really are. You were scared. What if they don’t accept you? What if they kick you off of the team. The only reason you go to karasuno high is for volleyball. If you got kicked off you would most likely move back into your parents house. Would they feel betrayed that you cheated the system and lied to them so you could be on a team? All these questions came to your head in waves. You forgot where you were for a while until Noya swam over to you then dunked you under water.

“(Y/n)!” He whined.

“Pay attention to me” he huffed. You stared to splash the salty water at him. “Is this the attention you wanted?” You laughed as you continued to pretend water bend at him. You swam away from him to get to shore so you could think more, of course Nishinoya followed you like a lost puppy would. You eyed Tanaka then he came over.

“Come with me for a walk.” You say to them. They nodded and followed you, walking along the shore, where the water would come up and tickle your feet every so often.

“What’s wrong (y/n)?” Nishinoya asked you. Your lip trembled. You tried to find the words.

“Well, I’m scared. I get this same feeling before a game.” You confess, your hands twiddling each other. “Scared? Of what?” Tanaka asked.

“Of tonight. I’m scared I’ll get kicked off the team. Or everyone will treat me different. I’m still the same (y/n). Or I dont know if they’ll be angry with me for lying to them for so long. Maybe they won’t want to be my friend. If that happens I will have to go back to having no friends and-“ you got cut off by Nishinoya putting a hand on your shoulder. He smiled.

“It’s okay (y/n)” he said gently. Which was weird to you because he was usually so loud. Your hand touched your cheek which was wet from tears you didn’t even know you were crying. They both brought you into a small group hug. “It’s all good (y/n)!” Tanaka laughed. “We still want you on the team. And if idiots like us still want you then I’m sure the rest of the team will too!” Tanaka encouraged. You nodded, whipping your tears away. “Thanks guys. I’m not as nervous for tonight. Still nervous but not as anxious.” You laughed. They nodded in excitement. “You got this (y/n)!” Noya cheered. You smiled from their enthusiasm.

“Thank you guys. I think I’m ready.” You say to them. They walk back to the beach house and saw the other boys some how managed to start a fire in the fire pit without setting everything on fire. “There are s’more things in the house and hot dogs of you guys are hungry.” You offer to them. They nodded and yelled at the same time as they rushed inside to grab the stuff. Ukai helped you move large logs around the fire for them to sit at.

“You ready for tonight kid?” He asked you. You didnt answer right away.

“If I’m being honest, I’m nervous. Beyond nervous. I’m scared the team won’t like me anymore.” You confess to him. He walked over to you and ruffled your hair.

“Know thing these crazies, they will accept you. Your an amazing player, and a valued member of this team. For the past 7 months you have earned a special place on this team. No matter if you were a boy, girl, black white, tall, short, this team will love you for who you are.” He tapped your forehead when he said the last part. You held in tears, wanted to hug Ukai. He truely was the best coach. You nodded to him. “Thank you coach.” You say softly. The stamped of boys came back with the s’more things and hot dog stuff. You all ate food over the fire as the sun went down. Soon it was dark. Everyone was chatting then their conversations went quiet. You made eye contact with Noya and Tanaka. They nodded to you. You were ready. You stood up. “There is something I haven’t been totally honest with you guys.” You started out. “I love this team and everyone on it. But this might change how you see me and how you play volleyball with me.” They looked at you with curiosity and a bit of confusion. “I’m... I’m a girl. Biologically I was born a female.” You confessed to them. Some were confused, some were shocked, some didn’t change there expression. “I was planning on not saying anything, but two morons walked in on me changing.” You glared at Nishinoya and Tanaka. They gave you a dorky smile. You took a breath and continued.

“I’m worried that me being a female will change how you view me and how you play with me. Or treat me for that matter. I’m still the same (y/n). The same one who cried with you, played with you, won games with you. I’m sorry I never told you guys.” You said to them. You wanted to run and hide under the covers of your bed, expecting them to yell or be disappointed. But there was silence. The silence was almost as bad as yelling.

“It’s fine if your a girl (y/n). It’s not a bad thing but why didn’t you join the girls volleyball team with michimiya?” Daichi asked. You tugged at your shirt then let it go.

“That has a bit of a story behind it. Before I came to Karasuno I went to an academy for weathly kids. They had a volleyball team but all the girls on the team joined to show off the skin tight booty shorts and the small tank tops. I joined a team to play, to gain friends, to win and to learn. All I got there was girls in skimpy outfits. I could have tried the girls team here but I didn’t want to take the chance so a little arrangement with my mom, a haircut and a binder I was a different person at a new school where no one knew who I was.” You say to them. Asahi nodded. Some still looked confused.

“The only ones who knew were the coach, and until 2 weeks ago Nishinoya and Tanaka found out.” You say to them.

Tadashi raised his hand. “What’s a binder? Sorry I feel kinda dumb for asking.” He admitted. You put your hands up “it’s okay!” You say to him Tanaka jumped up.

“It’s a wrap that goes around her boobs!” He explained loudly. You karate chopped his head

“Sit down dummy.” You say almost harshly to him. “That’s the basics of it. I wrap it around my chest so then I am flatter. Then I wear a bigger jersey so then my chest doesn’t show.” You take a breath.

“I hid this because I was scared.” Tears were filling your eyes but you didn’t let them fall.

“I was scared you were going to see me different and kick me off the team.”

Don’t let the tears fall. Do not let the tears fall.

“I didn’t have many friends before coming to Karasuno. You all are my best friends. The best people I have ever met.”

Dammit. The tears streamed down your cheeks.

“Please still let me be part of the team.” You cried bending over and bowing to them. Daichi approached you. He put a hand on your shoulder and waited for you to look up at him. You looked up and met his eyes, who had tears swelling in them too.

“You will always be accepted on this team, (y/n).” He said to you pulling you into a hug. Tadashi came up and hugged the both of you. Then Tanaka and Nishinoya. Then Hinata and Kageyama. The others followed through.

“We don’t want you to leave the team (y/n)!” Hinata cried. “Yeah don’t leave us!” Kageyama snapped. “We want you to stay.” Suga softly said. They all chimed in on how they wanted you still on the team. You couldn’t hold it in anymore. You sobbed. Simple as that. All that emotion that you had been holding in? It was coming out right now. It was a good night. It ended well with your teammates accepting who you are. You were so happy.

Now the question is, who falls in love with you, or gets blushy when ever your around?

#karasuno x reader #hinata #tanaka #tadashi #nishinoya #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! #haikyuu ukai #tsukishima #asahi #sugawara

[nothingunrealistic]

59, tayston

59. “Is this okay?”

“If the mega-wide toilet paper roll is sixty-five inches long,” Winston says, speaking under the steady voice of the How It’s Made narrator, “and it’s cut into sixteen four-inch rolls, what happens to the extra inch?”

“Kerf loss.” Still focused on the screen, Taylor turns down the TV’s volume. “That saw blade’s easily a sixteenth of an inch wide. Sixteen rolls, sixteen cuts, and the extra inch is dust on the factory floor.”

Winston rolls that over in his mind. “Fifteen cuts. It’s a fencepost problem.”

“That’s true.” Taylor looks at him, deliberate, then smiles. They’d been absorbed in the show when Winston arrived, and he was content to watch with them, but contentment is nothing beside the delight of having Taylor’s pleased attention on him. “Good catch.”

They kiss him lightly. He kisses back, deeper. One of Taylor’s hands curls around Winston’s shoulder, tugging him closer; judging by the clattering on the coffee table, and the sudden background silence, the other’s busy with the remote.

Winston twists toward Taylor, setting a hand on their knee to balance himself as they keep kissing. Their back is against the sofa still, only turning their neck to reach him. He slides his hand up their thigh, and their fingers abruptly close around his. “Wait.”

“What’s up?”

Taylor bites at their lip briefly before answering, “I don’t want to go any further than this. Tonight.”

“Oh,” Winston says. Shit, shit, what was he thinking? “Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed —”

“It’s fine. You didn’t overstep.” They kiss him one more time, feather-light. “I’m just tired.”

“Should I head out?”

“No, I… I’d like you to stay, if you don’t object.” Taylor’s changed their grip on his hand when he wasn’t looking; their fingers are interlaced with his now. “Just to lie down, maybe.”

“Sure.” Winston looks at the couch under them both, a utilitarian thing straight out of Billionaire’s IKEA. “Here?”

“My room, I think.”

They cross the kitchen and climb the stairs hand in hand. When they get to Taylor’s bedroom, though, Taylor lets go of his hand and almost immediately falls down on the comforter with the vigor they usually reserve for when they’re pulling him along; they lie still for a few moments before noticing Winston still lingering in the doorway. “You’re allowed to come in, you know.”

“I know.” Does he sound defensive? “Actually, I’m a vampire.” He clambers onto the bed and settles next to Taylor, lying on his side. “You gotta invite me in.”

Taylor smiles and wraps an arm around his shoulders. “I hope you get permission before biting, too.”

“Always.” Winston shifts to lay his head on their chest and hugs them around the waist, one-armed. They’ve done this before, but only ever after sex rather than in its stead. It’s strange this way, but quiet and sweet and warm. (Literally, on that last, seeing as they’re both fully clothed.)

Some minutes pass in stillness. Taylor starts running their fingers through his hair, gentle yet steady. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah.” It’s “okay” like a Junior’s cheesecake is “okay,” so damn good that calling it “okay” amounts to slander. Winston almost wants to tell them that he’d do this for them too, but they don’t have hair. Well, they do, but it’s always so short, and Winston stroking their bare head wouldn’t be soothing. Or maybe it is, he’s never asked. And if his hands are cold, which they usually are, it’d be even worse. Like that Ice Bucket Challenge thing. He hasn’t thought about that in years.

He’s probably going to fall asleep here, and soon.

“Does your head ever get cold?”

Taylor pauses in stroking his hair. “Hmm?” He doubts they’re dialed all the way in either.

“Does your head ever get cold?” Winston repeats. “You know. No hair. New York City. Going outside. Michelin star recipe for frostbitten ears.”

A soft laugh, barely more than an exhale. “Are you familiar with the concept of hats?” Taylor says, light and fond. “They’re very common.”

“I’ve never seen you wear a hat,” Winston says. “Or even a coat with a hood on it. Not that I don’t dig the pea coats, but they don’t cover anything from the neck up.”

“That’s what I have you for.” The hair stroking resumes. “To provide hoodies when my head gets cold.”

Winston closes his eyes. “Mystery solved. Dupin was a very inferior fellow.”

“And Lecoq was a miserable bungler,” Taylor replies, perfectly mock-incensed, eliciting one last laugh from Winston before he stops thinking about anything at all.

#inbox #cockbiteproductions #billions #taylor mason #winston billions #tayston #sometimes i write #kind of all over the place with this one but that's billions for you!

[ontheoddoccasioniwritestuff]

Goodnight, Aaron (Aaron Hotchner x OC) Chapter 4

Summary: With Hotch’s blessing, Sebastian begins to assimilate into the Hotchner household. 

Tagging: @sunlight-moonrise, @clean-bands-dirty-stories, @genevievedarcygranger, and @davidrossi-ismydad

Chapter 3 // Masterlist // AO3 Link // Chapter 5

Dropping Jack off at school proved to be the easiest thing in Sebastian’s day, despite not waking up past ten o’clock for the past few weeks.

Packing his possessions only took two hours in comparison to the literal hellscape that was the cleaning up. His tiny bedsit hid plenty of nooks and crannies that hoarded dust and grime. On his hands and knees, Sebastian scrubbed away with anti-bac spray and wipes in hopes that he would get his deposit back.

He really fucking hated cleaning. It always took him way too long. Probably because he got putting on a video for background noise – it had to be something he found interesting to help pass the time but not so interesting that he would be pulled into watching it. A fine wire to walk and Sebastian had terrible balance to match his attitude. There was also the fact that he would often put off cleaning with the excuse of doing it all in one big go.

Past Sebastian was a bitch and Present Sebastian was suffering because of it

After a quick lunch of his leftovers, he lay back on the floor and dialled for his best friend. She picked up after three rings and he whined loudly to her.

“Bellamy, help me. I’m drowning in used wipes in my shitty shitty bedsit.”

“Hmm, delicious,” and Bellamy hung up.

Sebastian didn’t bother ringing up to see if she’d appear in the room. He decided that he would find out if she was on her way or not in the next hour.

Turns out it only took twenty minutes for Bellamy to push the front door open with the tip of her wedges.

“Why’d you call me to help you clean? Sexist pig,” and she swung her leg over his head.

Sebastian didn’t bother trying to dodge, letting the air shoot past his ear, a few stray hairs fluttering in Bellamy’s wake, “Because Klaus would make more mess, and I love your scintillating company – did you bring anything?”

“I got me coffee and you Haribo’s.”

Just another reminder as to how all that kerfuffle with his work visa was worth it.

He clasped his hands together as if in prayer, “I adore you; I owe you my life.”

With a grin, Bellamy tossed the packet his way, “Give me a cloth and tell me about your new boss then.”

Another thing Bellamy brought was the tunes. She was mumbling lyrics as she scrubbed away at the skirting board, Sebastian harmonising in terrible ways. The tasks didn’t get completed much quicker, but it was much more entertaining for Sebastian. Who knew what Bellamy was up to before this, she didn’t tell him.

Bellamy tossed a bag into the garbage can and peered in despite the smell, “Somehow still better than my flat.”

“When are you moving out by the way?”

“Who knows, maybe I’ll move into your bedsit.”

“Don’t, landlord’s a prick.” And Sebastian looked over his shoulder, a belated measure

“Still better than mine.”

Bellamy stayed right up until all the belongings were crushed into Sebastian’s car and the door was locked by them for the final time. It was a very unemotional time when Sebastian tossed the keys through the letterbox, and they left down the murky stairwell together.

To say Jack enjoyed the sight of all Sebastian’s bags pilled together in the backseats was an understatement. The drive back, he was more elated by the tracks leaking from Sebastian’s stereo. His chatter on the drive back about the games in the playground filled the time, and Sebastian was drawn into the world of spies Jack had created.

The energy dipped when Jack and Sebastian had to carry all of Sebastian’s belongings inside. The lift worked, thank God, but Sebastian was still weighed down with his bags for life. Plus Jack could only carry so much. He was only somewhat eager to drag Sebastian’s wheelie suitcase down the corridors. And even less so was Jack to get on with his homework once the car was clear of baggage.

Sebastian sneaked a sly glance at Hotch’s list of Jack’s preferred snacks before he made up some apple slices with peanut butter. Gotta trick the kids into eating their five-a-day.

Somehow, after that snack break, Jack transformed his mood into “very understanding” about doing his science work - especially for an eleven-year-old. He listened to Sebastian’s reason, one he wished he’d thought about and listened to when he was Jack’s age, was heard.

The Lego break was greatly appreciated too. Especially since it was coupled with the front door opening at quarter to seven to reveal Hotch.

“Hi, Daddy!” Jack trotted over and hugged his middle.

“You’re home early,” Sebastian cheered from the kitchen counter.

“On time for once,” Hotch set his stuff on the side, and his gun into the drawer swiftly after. “Don’t expect it to happen often.” Then, as Jack went back to the dinner table, Hotch knelt down and removed a second gun from an ankle holster. Sebastian didn’t comment. He must have just missed that last time.

“What you doing, buddy?” Hotch joined Jack at the table, subbing in where Sebastian left off. He brought his own pile of paperwork with him. But it stayed in his briefcase.

“Math.”

“Let’s have a look.”

Sebastian’s cooking playlist continued with its lyricless songs. But it was turned it way down and Sebastian felt more self-consciousness about each song still coming up. Towards the final seconds, he would hover over the skip button before deciding that it wouldn’t be so bad if it continued.

One of Sebastian’s favourite songs came on, but he had very little time to enjoy it.

When Jack heard that it was playing, he bounced on his little butt with excitement, “Sebastian wants to get married to this song!”

Looking between Jack and Hotch, who was looking expectantly for an answer with a little grin, Sebastian noticed his jaw was slack and promptly shut it.

“I would like to have my first dance to this song,” He explained, a little slower than Jack who continued:

“We listened to it in the car! But he doesn’t like a bit in the middle so he’s going to change it.”

Sebastian bit his cheek and got back to stirring the cabbage around in the saucepan in a triangle.

“Is this it?” Hotch tapped his pen against the homework, “The part you don’t like?”

“Not yet,” Sebastian replied, “There’s a change from three to four beats per bar in a sec first.”

And, as if he wanted to make things even worse for himself, Sebastian began to wave out the time signature with the fork he’d been using in the saucepan. Hotch and Jack watched the movement the movement change from a triangle to a lightning bolt as the song shifted into its denouement.

“So maybe I’d have to get it edited,” Sebastian finished, his voice fading out the more he spoke.

He didn’t point it out when they reached the moment of upbeat, just before the closing bars that didn’t fit with the traditional wedding idea. Who knows? Maybe he’d be unconventional if he got married, jam out with his significant other on the dance floor.

But he wasn’t about to discuss that with Hotch - or continue it with Jack for that matter. And he didn’t look up from his cooking until it was done and ready to be served.

Hotch ate with them, sat beside Jack while Sebastian was opposite. Jack gave an enthused rehashing of this spy game’s narrative beats. His fork was his baton as he orchestrated a rich tapestry of how he and his friends crept about the playground together. Interjecting appropriately, Hotch offered him tips of the trade, like some hand signals to use while sneaking underneath the windows of the classroom.

“Did you move in alright?” He suddenly addressed Sebastian.

Prayed none of his food was stuck in his teeth, Sebastian replied, “Yeah thanks, I’ll probably be unpacking for some of tomorrow though.”

Jack helped Sebastian load the dishwasher after dinner while Hotch disappeared into his office. It didn’t go unmissed, the way Jack’s behaviour slumped as soon as his father turned to walk away from him.

However, when Hotch reappeared sans suit jacket and tie, Sebastian bit back his laughter. Not because he thought the sight was funny, but he was just so pleased for Jack as the two began setting up a film. It was such a beautiful event to watch unfold from the kitchen table, where Sebastian was flying his Minecraft avatar about the server in search of something to do. He wanted to ring his mum, but by the power of time-zones, he was rendered incapable. So instead he punched a tree until it fell.

“Sebastian! Are you going to watch with us?” Jack said, his neck craning as far as he could go to look at his nanny while he pulled the puppy eyes on him.

“Um,” Sebastian threw a glance at the horrendous clock tower besides Bellamy’s mansion, “I’m gonna work for a bit, sorry Jack.”

The puppy dog eyes grew wider – how that was possible, Sebastian didn’t know – but Jack accepted the answer with relative grace and settled with Hotch on the couch, his legs buried beneath a blanket.

Sebastian decided to start building, something productive. But the further he got into his project, the further he wanted to jump into the ocean because of how ugly everything he made turned out to be. The booming opening titles of a Star Wars film brought him back to the apartment, where Hotch was retrieving something from the fridge, barely giving Sebastian just enough time to switch tabs to his email before he walked behind him.

But then he stopped beside him and spoke under his breath, “You live here too now. You don’t have to worry about bothering us.”

“Ah, I don’t wanna encroach on your time with Jack. And I was just gonna go to the shops. You want owt?” It all came tumbling out of Sebastian’s mouth pretty quick.

“‘Out’?” Hotch repeated.

“Owt, anything, it’s slang for anything.”

“Oh, no thank you. We’re all set,” and he held up the chocolate bar in his hand with a little smile. Sebastian’s stomach tensed but he returned the smile and closed his laptop lid, off to his room to get his rucksack.

Hotch’s arm rested around Jack on the back of sofa. They took turns breaking a square off the chocolate bar, Jack occasionally going for another between

“It makes sense that ‘owt’ is ‘anything’, if ‘nowt’ is ‘nothing’,” Hotch remarked, his head falling back on the couch to look at Sebastian. He shot him back a single finger gun.

“Now you’re getting it.”

“You don’t have to keep your shoes by the door either.”

“Oh, your poor carpets,” Sebastian let out a laugh at his oh-so-very-lame comment, making eye contact with the dress shoes that rested beside Hotch’s feet in pewter grey socks on the floor.

The shop was only a ten-minute walk away and he knew what he wanted. Sebastian still looped around the aisles as if he did not know where his next minute would be spent on this mortal coil. Eventually he settled on a slice of banoffee pie from the bakery. He answered the phone at the till, not so subtly bringing up the subject of their Minecraft time to Bellamy on the other end:

“Have you been on the server yet?”

“No, I’m marking some homework. Why? You wanna hop on tonight?”

“Ah, I’m gonna wait until Jack is off to bed first.”

“I’ll keep you posted on how the little buggers do with their homework.” And there was a clink of a glass in the background, “But I’m telling you, if I read one more ‘Curly’s wife’s nails are red because red means danger’.”

“Make it a drinking game! Don’t, don’t do that.”

Sebastian just missed the rain on his walk back. Thankfully so because his hoodie wouldn’t provide much protection for himself or for his pie. Upon re-entering the apartment, he was greeted by Jack and Jack alone.

“You alright, bud? Where’s ya Dad?”

“He had to get the phone.”

Speak of the devil, Hotch returned to the sitting room with his tie neat in place and suit jacket returned on his back. As he collected his belongings from his safe, he caught sight of Sebastian, “I gotta go to the office, shouldn’t be more than a few hours.”

He kissed the top of Jack’s head and nodded goodbye at Sebastian before leaving. It was then Sebastian saw that the movie was paused and Jack was eating the last square of chocolate.

“Do you want to finish the film, or wait until your dad comes back?”

“Finish it, please,” Jack drooled a little and Sebastian grabbed a tissue to mop it up.

He poked away at the pie before eating it. The pair watched in quietude before Sebastian remembered the last of his snacks at the bottom of his bag.

“You want a Haribo?”

They went through the usual routine: the Millennium Falcon speeding away with the gang barely intact before the credits rolled, teeth brushing, Sebastian reading Where The Wild Things Are until Jack was dozing off and not fighting his nanny easing him lower into his pillows.

The ugly-as-hell clock tower was demolished in favour of making a little paddock for the cows. Bellamy joined the server and insisted on an extension to their little home.

When he realised how dark his room had gotten, Sebastian checked the time.

11:03.

He closed the lid of his laptop. Then he lay down on his bed with his eyes open and listened. Just his breathing and the beating of his heart were heard, slow and steady for Lord knows how long.

Then the front door creaked.

Footsteps padded across the floor, and the hall light snapped on. A shadow beneath the door passed by. He heard Hotch go into Jack’s room. Then the light went out again and a bedroom door closed.

Sebastian turned over and closed his eyes, now that he was ready to sleep.

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner x oc #aaron hotchner fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds fanfic #my writing #wc: 2k+ #r: male #series #goodnight aaron

[shaydeoffical]

Bright as a Diamond. Hitoshi Shinsou x Fem Reader: Chapter Three

Summary: When (Y/N)’s co-worker decided to send a picture of her making a diamond to the paper, her life was over. Gemstone based quirks weren’t all that rare, but being able to make a diamond put a target on her back. After years of hiding in the city, it’s time to hide in the countryside with her Uncle Shota Aizawa and his more than ‘roommate’ Hizashi Yamada. With the promise of training her to be self-sufficient, she’s ready to learn.

Settled

Chapter Four: 

https://ambershaydeoffical.tumblr.com/post/611717748218904576/bright-as-a-diamond-hitoshi-shinsou-x-fem-reader

Chapter Two: 

https://ambershaydeoffical.tumblr.com/post/190831750029/bright-as-a-diamond-hitoshi-shinsou-x-fem-reader

   Just as the day before, I woke up to screams. Again I didn’t hesitate and busted out of my room, spiriting to where Hizashi was rattling the house. This time a few pictures had shattered, and I had run right through the danger zone.

   Busting open the door, I saw the spider from before, and Hizashi atop the bed. Jumping up with him, I kept my eye trained on the eight-legged eyesore. Hizashi started screaming again when it jumped on the bedpost, and I covered my ears in pain.

   “We just gotta jump again,” I reasoned, trying to speak over him. I noticed the sheets were turning red,  blood oozing from my feet. “Hizashi, stop it.” I sunk lower into the bed, grabbing a pillow to cover my ears.

   When Hizashi took a breath, I covered his mouth and stopped the racket. “We are getting out of here, no- fuck fuck-“ When Hizashi shifted, I lost balance and tumbled into the floor by the spider. A flip flop clad foot squashed it before it came any closer to Hizashi or me.

   “What are you two doing?” Shinsou was half asleep. He removed his foot, and I could see the body twitching. My vision blurred, and bile tried to crawl up my throat.

   “Shota was supposed to kill it yesterday,” Hizashi whined, then looked at his bed.

   It was then I realized I didn’t have a bra on and covered my chest with a fallen pillow.  Having a spider in the same room was bad enough without feeling so exposed. It didn’t help that Shinsou was staring down at me like I was an idiot.

   “Am I bleeding?” Hizashi looked himself over.

   “(y/n) is,” Shinsou stiffened, looking at the puddle forming at my feet. What a jerk, acting all weirded out over my blood. Like he’s never seen blood before. Pfht.

   “My baby.” Hizashi flew from the bed and kneeled on the floor. “I caused this.”  

   “No I just- I just knocked over a glass on the way to your room. It’s fine.” I comforted him, running my fingers through his hair. “It’s just a little glass.”

   “I’ll get the first aid kit.” Shinsou hurried out of the room. Good riddance.

   “Can we get out of here?” I asked, ogling the carcass beside me.

   “Sure, hold on.” Hizashi helped me up and supported me as I walked on my toes.

   Once on the sofa, I kept the pillow tight to my chest and waited for the medical kit. It was sat on the coffee table, followed by Shinsou toting a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

   “I can get it,” I took my foot in my lap, but his pale hand took it from me and stretched it out.

   “It looks deep. Just let me.” He asked me a question as he probed the area. “Do you want to remember having glass dug out of your foot?” It was an odd question.

   “Not really, I’d rather not. But I can-“

   The shock of having glass removed with a spider encounter had knocked my ass out. Not only was it midafternoon now, but I had missed breakfast. Both of my feet were wrapped in gauze and propped above my heart. A blanket had been tossed over me and tucked in, and my pillow was under my head.

   “Shota, Hizashi?” I called sitting up, head spinning. It hadn’t been a very restful nap, but it had lasted long enough for the pain to dull.

   “They went out for breakfast.” Perking up and peering over the couch, Shinsou was in black shorts and a loose t-shirt. Did he stay the night? “It’s just us. How insufferable.”  He turned back to the kitchen.

   “It’s no cakewalk for me either,” I huffed, standing abruptly and yelping. That’s right, my feet were cut to hell and back.

   “You forget already?” He peered back into the living room, spatula in his hand. That damned smirk… I’m going to get so strong he’s gonna regret ever knowing me.

   “Of course not,” I quipped, crossing my arms and using the blanket to cover my chest. “Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to make breakfast.” Turning my nose up, I tiptoed past him and saw that he was done cooking his meal.

   “Don’t let me get in the way, Kitten.” He took the chair I had sat at for dinner the night before, working on his omelets.

   Cracking my neck, I started the rice cooker, mixed a few pieces of fish in with veggies. It wasn’t a secret I couldn’t cook to save my life, but I wasn’t about to let this flop in front of Shinsou. Minutes passed, meticulously eyeing my food, and turning it every so often. It hadn’t changed color yet, but I knew it took time. Still, I kept vigilant eye over the meal.

   “This is painful to watch.” Shinsou snuck up on me and reached around my waist, turning the stove on. All the color drained from my face, and then he plugged the rice cooker into the wall.

   Words failed me. So instead, I just put my head down and kept working. I figured the prick would push on teasing me, but he went back to his meal, getting a fresh cup of coffee.

   What a prick, I could have figured that out. Maybe I wanted to coat it all with oil before starting it up. Or I was waiting till he was gone form the table? Why was he watching me anyway? God, he was so- just.    

   Burnt fish filled the air, and when I glanced back down at my meal, it was scorched. “Oh crap,” I mumbled, pulling it off the stove and pouring it onto my plate. My fish fell apart, my vegies were shriveled and charred.  I checked the rice, it was soggy.  When I looked back, Shinsou was still at the table, going through his phone.

   Glowering, I took my plate, and juggled a glace of water, sitting on the opposite end of the table. Chin held high, I sat like a lady and brought the first bite of wet rice to my lips. I was waiting for Shinsou to say something. Insults had to be rattling in his head, surely he’d say something.

   Popping a piece of fish into my mouth, I swallowed without much thought and started to choke.  Playing it cool, I scoffed. Nothing came up. I could feel the bone sliding down the back of my throat, and I coughed harder, catching the dumb assess attention.

   “You’re turning red,” Shinsou stated, jogging to my side of the table. I held my hand up to keep him away. Hacking my lungs out, I gave up on playing it cool. Napkin in hand, I finally hacked up the bone. Drool rolling down my lips. If this wasn’t embarrassing, I don’t know what would be.

   “I’m good, just a bone,” I sighed, pushing my plate aside and laying my head on the table. “What a shit morning.”

   “If you say so,” he took my plate and his to the kitchen, and I heard the tap turn on. Why would he be doing my dishes? Did he plan to brag to Shota later about how helpful he is? Or how incompetent I am?

   Setting aside my worries, I realized that I still didn’t’ have a bra on, and my blanket had fallen during my coughing fit. My face burned as I darted down the hall, ignoring his calls of curiosity as I skidded into my room. We didn’t wear shoes in the home, so I put on some thick socks, and noticed my training outfit had been washed and put back in the box. I slide it under my bed and put on a pair of yoga pants and a loose coral tee shirt. I tied the bottom of the shirt into a knot, then pulled the top part of my hair up onto my head and to the side. Rocking an 80’s vibe.  

   Deciding to work on the boxes I had to unpack. I tripped onto my bicycle. Sure, I hadn’t ridden in years, but I was going to need a way to get to work. I was lucky that the jewelry store I worked for had serval smaller branches. Of course, I wouldn’t be designing rings anymore, but acting as a retailer. It would put a little money in my pocket and give me a reason to get out of the house during the week. Plus, since I would have daytime hours, I could focus on studying at the store.

   My bike was mostly together, so I just put it aside and sat it against the wall. A sad smile graced my lips. The last time I had ridden my bike, it was with dad. He had taken me down a beautiful trail just before sunrise. He told me that one day when I was older, we would do a sunset ride. He taught me the importance of chasing after mundane but beautiful things.  

   “(y/n), the world is full of diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. People spend their entire life trying to accumulate as much as they can, but this. The sunrise is just as beautiful, free, fleeting, and accessible to all. Don’t be blinded by material things, my love. Find your own sunrise, and don’t let it go.”

   I didn’t know what he meant back then. But now that I know I have his quirk…I understand. Making a small ruby in my skin, it came out in my palm, splitting the skin before sealing it back tight. The stone was perfect in every way. Flawless. Gripping my hand around it, I crushed it to dust with my quirk and walked over to a jar that was sitting by my futon. I piled the dust in with the rest and sighed. Even if I didn’t like my quirk, I had to keep it in tip-top shape. Practice was key.    

   My stomach growled, and I felt the trauma in my throat. I didn’t have to like it, but I needed to eat something. Trudging out of my room, I had a clear path to the kitchen. Sneaking through quickly, I made it to the fruit bowl and plucked an apple from the dish. Munching happily, I made quick timing getting to the core.  Shuffling in the other room alerted me to Shinsou.

   The purple-haired ass was in a get-up similar to Shota’s hero costume. Only with his scarf, he had on a mask of some sort. It reminded me of Hizashi’s amplifier. He was by the door, doing up his shoes before heading to work, I presumed.

   He left without a word, and I scoffed. Of course, he wouldn’t announce his departure. Shinsou was a senseless scoundrel. I had no clue what Shota saw in him, hell maybe uncle Sho made him like that. But it didn’t matter, I hopefully wouldn’t be seeing him again anytime soon.

   Hizashi was the only one that returned, toting several boxes and a mattress. It was my furniture. We spent the next few hours trying to assemble all the pieces.  

   “Um, put peg C into board X, then connect to port D, making sure that the front of board X faces peg N.” I read the instructions aloud, it was the third time we had tried to put my desk together. The bed was reasonably straightforward. Just a metal sleigh bed with a decorative sticker for the top panel. The nightstand had been a pain, but after two attempts, it was sturdy enough to call done. The desk, on the other hand, was taking forever.

   “(y/n), which is piece X?” his blonde hair was dragging the floor, his head bobbing as he forced pieces together.

   “Umm, it looks like peg G but with another connector point.” I fumbled through the leaflet, finding the picture of the piece.

   “I think I used that for the drawer.” He opened the door, and even I could see the random peg hanging out the top. Hizashi held his breath, and shut the door, laying back on the ground.

   “We know what makes you go speechless.” Uncle Sho leaned against the open bedroom door, take out in hand.

   “We’ve been at this for hours. He stopped screaming after we finished the bedside table.” I reported, focusing on the diagram, trying to rework how we could change out the piece without taking it all apart.

   “Let’s eat, and I’ll help afterward.”

   “Really?” We both perked up, stars falling from our eyes.

   “Yes, the foods getting cold. Come on.” Instead of going to the kitchen, he passed our meals and sat on the floor with us. He took the manual from my hand and began to go through the steps.  

   “This has been more exhausting than my biology homework,” I grumbled, twirling noodles around my chopsticks and shoving them into my mouth.      

   “How are classes going? You’re closer to the university, now, right?” Hizashi passed me a packet of soy sauce, and I nodded.

   “Yea, I’m doing well. Nothing too crazy so far, but classes did just start back. I could take in-person classes now, but I think I’m going to play that by ear.” Shota raised his brow, then turned the page, taking a bite of his meal without looking down.

   “You’re smart. I always knew that I was going to be Hero, so I never thought about furthering my education. Now I’m teaching, I’ve earned a few certificates, but I really admire your gumption to get your hero license and your degree.”

   Forcing a bite down my dry throat, I nodded. “Yea, I got that using mom’s coal quirk. Even then, I was being secretive…” I forced a bitter smile. “But I wasn’t cut out of hero cloth. It was just an option at my school, and I got it for the experience. Mom said agencies are more likely to hire someone with a hero license for personal protection. It’s why I got a job at a jewelry store. They liked I was allowed to do security work.”

   “I never thought of it like that,” Hizashi nodded, “that’s a solid plan. Where do you get your brains from.”

   “My side clearly,” Shota hummed, sipping his tea.

   “Yea, my dad is a total airhead.” I laughed before my stomach flipped. “Or he was. But he was really creative like he created designs for watch companies and car interiors. What mom made up for in smarts, Dad made up in fun. They balanced each other out for sure.”

   “Your father was a great man.” Shota agreed with me.

   “He sounds it,” Hizashi perked up the tone. “Now, how about that desk.”

   “Yea, you got it worked out Sho?”

   Another three hours and the room was all set. Shota had figured out that we had to completely reassemble the desk, but the second time went faster.  Then we all pitched in, dusted, mopped, and organized my room. All the furniture was a peachy white, and all the bedding and curtains were a soft lavender and blue mix, with pops of pink. My clothes were tucked into the closet, and the boxes in the garage outside for when I had to move out.

   “Hey I have a little surprise,” Hizashi came in holding a stereo. “It’s my old boombox, I figure you could annoy Shota with it.”

   “Oh, thank you.” He sat it on my nightstand and patted the top.

   “This brought me a lot of joy as a child, I hope you can get some good use out of it.” Hizashi sauntered to the door. “Dinner will ready in a few. Just hang out till then. Maybe explore a bit.”  

   “Okay, I will.” I glanced outside, Hisoka the cat was bathing on my window sill. Taking this as an excellent opportunity to introduce myself, I slipped on a sweater and tiptoed to the front door.

   Once my shoes were on, my feet didn’t hurt nearly as bad, so I was able to jog to the window.  Hisoka gave me a curious glance, tucking his tail to the side to get a better look at me. His fur a beautiful grey color, nice and sleek, with big green eyes, like a wisp of smoke in the night.

   “Meow mo mow,” I mimicked a cat, closing my eyes and putting my hand out. I read once that cats saw eye contact as a direct threat. Hisoka let a long mewl, then I could grasp his slick fur. Grinning like a fool, I contently listened to his verbal displays of pleasure as my hands slide all over his little body.  

   “(y/n), dinner!” Hizashi used his quirk to catch my attention, and Hisoka ran off into the forest.

   “Next time, little buddy.” I smiled, standing up. “Coming.”

#my hero academia #hitoshi shinso x reader #shinsou hitoshi #erasermic #slow burn #bright as a diamond #ambershaydeoffical #enemy to friends to lover #hate to love #eraser family #encourage me to update because depression is real my dudes

[ericsonclan]

Nature’s Bounty

Summary: Minnie finds Renata hard at work getting Christmas photos of their baby.

Word Count: 1284

Read on A03: 

“Ren?” Minnie called, searching for her wife throughout the house. She’d just gotten back from a gig that had lasted overnight and wanted to see her, but Renata hadn’t come bounding to the door as she usually did whenever Minnie got home. Maybe she was busy taking care of Timothy? The baby room had been empty though. Still searching, Minnie made her way to the living room. There she found what she was searching for but not what she expected at all.

“That’s it, Timmy! Smile for Mommy!” Renata cooed, waving a rattle while holding her phone in her other hand. Their infant son lay on the floor in his diaper, looking rather lost as his hands clumsily reached for the snow surrounding him. Springs of holly, ivy and mistletoe lay scattered round the display as well as a red and gold ribbon tying the entire scene together.

“Ren, what in the world are you doing?” Minnie cried, running forward and plucking Timothy from the ground, careful to cradle his head. “Exposing Timothy to snow in just his diaper? He could get sick!”

“It’s fake snow,” Renata shrugged, dusting a bit off of her sweater. “No danger,”

“He could eat it! He could choke or get food poisoning or any number of things!” Minnie bounced her son in her arms worriedly. He seemed fine with the new arrangement, calmly drooling upon her shoulder.

“Babe, chill. I was with him the whole time, every second. He hasn’t eaten anything weird,”

“But having him pose with only his diaper on – he could get a chill!”

Renata chuckled. “In case you haven’t noticed, I cranked the heat up to 80 in here. Timmy’s fine. If anything, he’s overheating,”

Minnie’s eyes widened at that statement. Worriedly she placed a hand upon her son’s forehead, gazing into his eyes for some sort of sign of anything that might be wrong.

Timothy replied by spitting up on her.

“Aww, did Timmy make a mess?” Renata said in her baby voicing, booping her son on the nose before plucking him out of his mother’s arms. “C’mon, let’s get both of you cleaned up. Then I can show you all the pics I got of the different sets,”

“There was more than one set?”

“Oh, you haven’t even seen the half of it yet!”

Minnie followed her wife to the baby room, feeling rather torn about her outburst. On one hand she knew she was being silly for worrying about every little thing when it came to Timothy. On the other, she wished Renata wouldn’t be so carefree with their infant son at times either. It was hard to tell who was in the wrong here; maybe no one was. Minnie sometimes felt like she was experiencing the effects of post pregnancy brain even though Renata had been the one to carry Timothy.

“OK, Timmy, just a quick wipey wipe and then we’ll get you changed,” Renata chirped. She grabbed some wet wipes and began to clean off their child. Minnie came over, hovering protectively. Renata smiled up at her wife, placing a quick peck on her cheek. “See? Good as new. Now we’ll just slip him into his onesie…” she paused, sticking out her tongue as she gently tried to wrangle their son’s limbs into a snowflake print onesie, “And voila! “Our very own precious snowflake,” She pressed a kiss to Timothy’s cheek before happily wiggling her nose against his. Timothy waved his hands, grabbing at his mother’s face in interest.

“Sorry I overreacted,” Minnie murmured, a sheepish pout settling on her lips. She could see now that Timothy was perfectly fine.

“Nah, it’s not a big deal. Now c’mere. We gotta get you out of that pukey sweater,” Renata pulled at the hem of Minnie’s sweater, a mischievous smile on her face as she began to lift it up.

A blush settled on Minnie’s cheeks. “Not in front of the baby…”

“What, you think he cares? Hey, Timmy!” Renata called, looking over at their baby. “Would you care if I undressed your foxy mama right here and now? What’s that? No?”

“Ren,” Minnie chuckled in protest, helping remove her sweater but tugging her undershirt into place, “We can do that later,”

Now it was Renata’s turn to pout. “Ok then. So what else did you have in mind?”

“Right now I just want to hold Timothy and you and relax. Maybe look at those pictures you were talking about,”

“Right! The pictures!” Renata’s eyes brightened with excitement. “Lemme grab my phone! I’ll meet you back in the living room!”

Minnie chuckled as she watched her wife run out of the room. There was never a dull moment with her. Turning to pick up her son, Minnie cradled him close to her heart, humming softly as she carried him out of the room. Renata was sitting on the couch, practically bouncing in excitement as she waited for Minnie to come over. When Minnie had situated herself, she pounced beside her wife, sneaking one arm around her as she held out the phone to scroll through the photos.

“So I decided to start classic to bring out that Thanksgiving cheer. I call this series ‘Nature’s Bounty’,” In the pictures, Timothy lay half in and half out of a massive cornucopia with various fruits and gourds scattered around him. A little paper Pilgrim hat was atop his head and he was dressed in a surprisingly somber all-black onesie. Minnie couldn’t help but smile as she watched her son’s expressions range from confused to giggling to bored in each of the pictures Renata showed. Currently he had found entertainment in her fist, drooling and slightly chewing on it as his mothers looked through his photoshoot.

“Next is the ‘Turkey Time’ series. Now tell me that isn’t a face you don’t just want to ‘gobble’ up!” These pictures featured Timothy in a miniature turkey costume complete with a hood and a full set of plush turkey feathers surrounding his bum. Renata had propped him up for these photos, something that concerned Minnie who was always hyper aware of the frailty of their baby’s neck, but he seemed to look comfortable in all of the photos. “That shoot had a sudden and tragic end in the form of a massive diaper leak. But after he was cleaned up and had taken his nap, Timmy was rarin’ to go again. Isn’t that right, little man?” Renata smiled at her son, tugging playfully at his toes. Timothy wriggled and gurgled in response.

Minnie smiled, enjoying the rapport between her wife and infant son. “These are quite the photos, Ren. If it weren’t for the dance studio, I’d suggest you take this up professionally,”

“Oh, pshaw, it’s nothing as good as that,” Renata waved a hand dismissively before continuing to scroll through the photos. “This is all for fun. It was a test run for when Sophie comes over and we do a group photo shoot with Timmy and Raylan,”

Minnie quirked an eyebrow. “You got Sophie in on this too?”

“She and I split the cost of all the costumes! Just you wait until you see Raylan and Timmy dressed up as a gingerbread man and snowman together. The squee factor will be unbelievable!”

“Mm, I bet,” There were certainly going to be some wild stories from that photo shoot. Minnie didn’t doubt that.

Renata rested her head against her wife’s shoulder, continuing to show off all the pictures she’d taken that day. Minnie listened happily, occasionally placing a kiss upon her wife’s forehead or Timothy’s as the slideshow continued. She really was a lucky woman having such a beautiful family. She wouldn’t want it any other way.

#fanfic #twdg #twdg christmas #twdg minnie #twdg renata #twdg timothy #twdg minata

[morepokemonimagines]

Finally Ready

Ya know what? Fuck it! This has been on my mind FOREVER now, and I need to get it out. I will be making this Piers x OC, and nobody can stop me! I know some people find Canon x OC stuff to be kinda cringe, but I honestly don’t care. Also, I don’t want to keep using “his girlfriend” and whatnot as a placeholder like I did in Fade In because that is kinda dehumanizing, and as a female, I’m not about that. Her name is Dahlia Westwood, and she’s very new to the world of relationships because past trauma has made her have trust issues that never allowed her to get that close with anyone before. She’s 19 (almost 20) and Piers is 24. This is going to be a NSFW oneshot about their first time doing the do and she will be a virgin in this because, again, trust issues. No, she is not based off of myself. Totally different life, different age group, different personality. The most “me” thing in here will be some personal experiences, because there are a lot of misconceptions out there about losing your virginity that I personally found to be untrue and they’re honestly annoying; I don’t want to perpetuate them. I hope ya’ll will give it a chance since I really did work hard on it, but it’s fine if you don’t want to. I’m trying to get Piers’ accent down (may have gone a little overboard with it since he seems to say “to” normal, but “ta” just seems to fit him better), but since I’m not from that part of the world, I don’t know if I’m doing it right. Feedback is appreciated especially on that. Also, let me know of any spelling or grammar errors so I can fix them.

He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t driving him crazy. He knew what he was in for when he asked Dahlia to be his girlfriend since they had become close friends beforehand and she had divulged information about her life prior to coming to Galar, but that didn’t make it any easier. They’ve been together for nearly half a year at this point, and he’s been taking things slow for her since he knows she’s never really been in a romantic relationship before; Hell, she’d never really made human friends until Marnie, that Hop kid, Victor, and Victoria. She’s well behind the curve when it comes to social things, so he doesn’t want to push things too far too fast. That being said, a man’s got needs. He outright refuses to seek relief in another while in a relationship with Dahlia; she’s got enough reason to distrust people as it is, and him cheating would likely do irreparable damage. Plus, he just wasn’t that kind of guy. He’s been taking care of the problem himself all this time, but he would really like to take their relationship to that next level. He wants to make her feel good and introduce her to a level of intimacy he knows she’ll enjoy. Not to mention that her unintentionally cute and sexy behavior has him chomping at the bit, but he’s not sure how to initiate it without freaking her out since she’s such a shy little thing.

Tonight, they were having a movie night, just the two of them. Marnie was staying in Postwick because she was having a sleep over with Victoria, meaning they had the whole flat to themselves. They were laying on the couch with him behind her snuggling her close and burying his nose in her jet-black hair; she always had such nice smelling hair... As the night went on, he found himself paying less and less attention to the movie, and paying more and more attention to his lovely girlfriend. Her commentary on the movie, her adorable giggles, her breathing, just everything about her. It wasn’t log before he felt his pants getting uncomfortably tight and his face blushed beet red. He tried to move his hips away from her rear as much as the couch would allow, but there wasn’t much room to work with. He was contemplating making an excuse to run to the bathroom so he could deal with the problem, but then she just had to readjust herself and press right into him. Being as starved for attention other than his own as he was, he couldn’t help but let out a pleasured gasp at the feeling. He slapped his hand over his mouth as quickly as he could, but it was far too late; she had heard him and she was now a lot tenser in his grasp than she had been just a second ago.

“Shit!” He thought. He was completely mortified at his slip in control. Even more than that, he was worried he had made her feel uncomfortable.

“P-Piers?” She stammered as she turned her head so her violet eyes met his light blue ones, her cheeks dusted red as well.

“Y-yeah?” He gulped, hoping by some miracle that she didn’t realize what just happened.

“U-ummm... Well...” Her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red that was beginning to spread to her ears and down her neck as she broke eye contact.

He sighed in defeat. “Yeah, I know. Sorry ‘bout that. You was just bein’ so cute an’ all... I’m real sorry, love. I din’t mean ta do that, I swear.”

“I-it’s nothing to be sorry about... I should be the one apologizing...” She said softly. “I know it must be hard for you. Going so slow, that is...”

“It’s fine, love, really.” He said as he took her chin in hand and made her look him in the eye again. “All that matters to me is makin’ sure yer comfortable. There ain’t no need ta rush nothin’; I can be patient.”

Dahlia looked off to the side and chewed her bottom lip like she always does when she’s nervous. He was about to say something to try and put her at ease, but then she did something that shocked him. She turned herself around completely so her whole body was facing him and pressed her lips to his. It’s rare enough for her to initiate a kiss as it is, but the way she was pressing herself against him was something entirely new. His eyes went wide for a moment before they slipped shut with a groan as his arms snaked around her waist again to pull her even closer to him. She wove her finger’s in his hair, which he had left down for the day, and licked his bottom lip to ask for entrance. This level of boldness was totally out of character for her, but damn if it wasn’t hot as hell. He opened his mouth for her and she dove right in. It was still obvious that she wasn’t very experienced in this, but she was certainly improving. Not one to let her have all the fun, Piers started fighting her for dominance in the kiss, but the way she was kneading his scalp made it hard for him to get the upper-hand.

Eventually, the need for oxygen became too great to ignore and they broke apart. A string of saliva connected them momentarily as they stared into each other’s eyes and gasped for air.

“Where’d that come from?” Piers asked, still breathing heavily.

“I... I think I’m ready...” She said, her face flushing just about as red as his own.

“You think?” He questioned. “Lia, I don’t want ya pushin’ yerself for my sake! It really is fine! I can take care of this m’self no problem!”

The younger girl just shook her head and pecked him on the nose. “It’s okay... I-I want to.”

“Then how come yer shakin’ like a leaf?” He countered, feeling her body tremble against his.

“I-I’m just nervous is all!” She assured. “Maybe a little scared, but it’s gotta happen sometime, right?”

“It doesn’t gotta be right now though.” He said, removing her hands from his hair and holding them in his. “I want ya ta like this. I want ya ta be sure yer comfortable with it. Let’s talk ‘bout this first, ‘kay? What’re ya scared of?”

The girl gulped and looked away again. “W-well... Nobody’s seen me naked before... It’s a bit embarrassing... And... And what if I’m not actually as attractive looking as you think?”

The older man gave her a soft smile and kissed her knuckles. “Yer seriously worried ‘bout that? Dahlia, I don’t love ya for yer looks, though they’re certainly nice; I love ya for you, darlin’. Even so, I betcha look absolutely stunnin’; ya already do in my opinion.”

Dahlia smiled and looked at him again. “Thank you. I know, but I can’t help but be nervous about it...”

“That’s alright. Is there anythin’ else yer scared of?” He asked.

“Well... I heard it hurts the first time around...” She said, her voice getting a little shaky again. “If it does, then I want you to be the one to do it, but I’m still scared...”

“That’s a bunch’a rubbish, love! It don’t have ta hurt!” Piers assured. “Damn old bats spreadin’ lies to scare the youngins inta stayin’ in line. Then again, them old prudes prolly think foreplay’s a sin er somethin’, so maybe it did hurt for ‘em. Either way, it don’t have ta hurt much at all if the bloke yer with knows what he’s doin’.”

Dahlia smiled and nuzzled her cheek against the back of his hand. “I trust you. Please, I really do think I’m ready.”

“If yer sure about this, we’ll give it a shot.” He said with a loving smile. “But, ya gotta promise you’ll tell me if ya want me ta stop, ‘kay? No pushin’ yerself past what yer comfortable with, got it?”

The girl nodded and he shook his head “Not good enough, love. I need ya ta promise.”

“I promise.” She assured.

“Alright then.” He said with a nod. “Let’s get ta my room then. It’ll be more comfortable than this ol’ couch.”

“Okay.” The girl said as she got up from the couch.

Piers stood up after her and led her by the hand to his bedroom. He locked the door out of habit, but quickly unlocked it after realizing what he did. He didn’t want the girl to feel trapped, and he knew Marnie wouldn’t be home, so it was safe to leave it unlocked. He let go of her hand and contemplated turning on the main light for the room but figured she’d be more comfortable with a dimmer light source this time around, so he settled for turning on his bedside lamp instead before turning to face his blushing girlfriend.

“Right, first things first; the jumper’s gotta go.” He said, tugging slightly at the hem of her black pull-over hoodie, asking for permission to remove it.

Dahlia nodded and raised her arms over her head as he pulled the garment up so that it could be more easily removed. Piers smiled as she stood there in her favorite band t-shirt, some Unovan band, and her faded black skinny jeans. It’s not common for even him to see her without her hoodie on. She said she feels safer when she wears it; even made enough of a stink about it that she was allowed to wear on over her Gym Challenger uniform so long as it had her number and the Gym Challenge logo printed on the back.

“Good!” Piers said and then gave her a peck on the forehead. “Now, get yerself comfy on the bed. Middle’s best so we’ll have plenty a’ room.”

Dahlia nodded again and climbed onto the middle of the bed. She got herself situated on the pillows and looked toward Piers. Her face flushed beet red when she saw that he had already removed his own shirt. She’d seen him without a shirt before since he does like to lounge around at home without one sometimes, but this context was very different. She found herself shamelessly staring at his bare chest. Skinny as he was, he still has some muscle definition, and the dim lighting was exaggerating the lines that defined where one ab muscle ended and another began, adding a little extra definition to them. He’s not covered in tattoos like one would envision when she says that her boyfriend is a rockstar, not that she’d care wither way, but he does have a few. On his upper-right arm, he has his old Gym Challenger number, 061, and on the left side of his rib cage, he has Marnie’s name and birth date; he said that she was the first girl to ever steal his heart, so he wanted her name close to it, but having it right over his heart just didn’t look quite how he wanted and he ended up putting it there instead; Dahlia thought it was the cutest thing ever. Both tattoos were in simple black ink, no colors, and they stood out against his pale skin; they looked good on him.

Piers chuckled smugly “Like what ya see?”

Dahlia pouted and looked away as her blush spread down her neck again. Piers laughed and climbed his way over her, situating himself between her legs, so he could peck her cheek. She was so cute sometimes when she isn’t even trying to be.

“Don’t be embarrassed, love. I’m glad you do.”  He said as he took her chin in hand made her look at him. “Yer still sure about this, yeah?”

“Yeah.” She confirmed with a shy nod.

“Well then,” he said as he started to lean in, “where were we?”

Not long after their lips connected, the kiss turned hungry and desperate. He’d been wanting this for so long that he was practically starving for it! He tangled one of his hands in her long hair while the other was frantically kneading their hip and his tongue was ravaging her mouth. At some point, he ended up rutting against her, causing her to moan into the kiss as she tangled both of her hands into his hair and tugged slightly. Eventually, he broke away from her mouth and she re-positioned her hands onto his shoulders as he peppered kisses along her jaw. He tugged her hair slightly to indicate that he wanted her to turn her head to the side and she complied with a breathy gasp. With better access granted, he went strait for her neck. He left kisses and licks at first, but those quickly evolved into nips and hickies. He knew he probably should have asked before leaving marks like that, but after all this time, he was going to allow himself this one instance of selfishness. Besides, if the way Dahlia was moaning and craning her neck so he could have even better access was anything to go by, it certainly seemed like she didn’t mind one bit. As he did this, his hands ran up and down her stomach under her shirt, brushing against the cups of her bra here and there. The feeling was strange and made Dahlia squirm a bit because it tickled, but she had no intention of stopping him.

Once he was satisfied with his work, Piers tugged at the bottom of her shirt. “Is it alright if I take this off?”

Dahlia was panting slightly with her head still turned to the side when she nodded and slowly sat up so it would be easier for him to remove her shirt.

Once the piece of clothing was gone, Piers bent down and kissed her collarbone before asking her if it would be okay for him to touch her. She gave a breathy but shy “yes”, so he started massaging her breasts over her bra and squeezing slightly every now and then. Dahlia eyes slipped shut and she put her arms behind her to support herself as she let out little gasps and moans from the feeling of it all. Those little gasps and moans got noticeably louder when his hands slipped under her bra so he could touch her directly, skin against skin. He’d been with both men and women before, but one thing he always loved about being with a woman was how soft their breasts were; he would never get used to it. It was like squeezing the best stress ball ever. After a moment of just kneading and massaging the soft mounds of flesh and not getting any signs from the girl that would indicate he crossed the line, he brought his thumbs and forefingers up to pinch and toy with her rapidly hardening nipples, causing the girl to cry out with a throaty moan. He continued to work like this for a little while and then decided she was worked up enough to be more receptive to the next step.

“Do ya mind if I take this off now?” He asked while nibbling on her earlobe and toying with her buds.

“Y-yeah.” She responded with a gulp of nervousness.

With permission granted, he reached behind her and unclipped her bra with relative ease. Once it was unclipped, he pushed on her upper stomach lightly as a silent instruction for her to lay down. Once she did this, he pulled the garment off of her. He got a quick glimpse of her bare chest before she instinctively brought her hands up to cover herself. He quickly snatched her hands up with his own and brought one up to his lips to lay a sweet kiss on the back of it.

“Now, now. We’ll have none of that, love.” He said in a gentle yet scolding manner. “Unless you’ve changed yer mind, that is.”

Dahlia turned her head to the side and started chewing on her bottom lip again, her face red as ever. “N-NO! I-I’m just embarrassed is all...”

“Ya ain’t got nothin’ to be embarrassed of, love.” He assured as he tilted her head back to look at him. “Yer stunnin’, just as I thought ya would be. I promise.”

He watched the tension in her shoulders relax then let go of her hands, allowing them to rest beside her before getting to work. He kissed her again, soft and sweet before licking her bottom lip to ask her to open up for him again. This kiss was a lot slower than the last but no less passionate as his tongue explored her mouth at a much more leisurely pace, rubbing against her own in an attempt to coax her into reciprocating; it didn’t take much coaxing. As their lips were locked, Piers’ hands made their way to her breasts again where they began to toy with them once more, causing her to moan and sigh into the kiss.  

He broke away after a minute or so and kissed along her jawline again before making his way down her neck again. He stopped to nip and suck at the spots that made her the most vocal the last time he did this before making his way lower. Once he was at her breasts, he nipped at the top of her right one before moving that hand out of the way and letting his mouth take its place. He licked her perky bud a few times and felt her shiver at the feeling before engulfing it with his mouth and giving it a good suck. Dahlia let out the most delicious moan yet when he did that and threaded her hands into his hair again. While he continued his ministrations on her right breast, his left hand continued to knead and tweak the other while his right hand made its way down to unbutton and unzip her pants. He then switched sides and used his free had to unbuckle his belt before unbuttoning and unzipping his own pants. Though he was still confined, the little bit of breathing room doing that allowed gave him instant relief for his throbbing member.

Once he was satisfied, Piers lifted his head from his partner’s chest and admired his work. She was breathing heavily with her cheeks dusted red and her eyes half lidded and dazed like she had been drugged with pure unadulterated desire. The side of her neck and her chest were littered with love bites that would surely be visible for days to come. He lifted his lower body from hers and tugged on the hem of her pants, ready to move on.

“These are next, if yer ready.” He said, hoping to the Distortion World and back that she wouldn’t back out now when they were so close.

Dahlia nodded and lifted her hips enough to make it easier for him to pull her jeans off of her. He slowly worked the obstructing fabric down her leg before removing them completely.

He smirked when he noticed the already well-formed wet spot on the front of her panties. “So wet already, Lia? Naughty, naughty.”

“Sh-shut up!” Dahlia snapped and looked away in embarrassment.

Piers chuckled at her adorable reaction and started rubbing her through the soaked fabric, causing her to trow her head back in a moan and arch her back.

“Ta think ya were so nervous before and see how turned on ya are now; it really gets me goin’, ya know?” He said in a husky tone and he leaned over her and started nipping her neck again whilst continuing to rub her sensitive bud over her panties. “Won’t be long now before yer ready for me. I can’t even put into words how excited I am to finally have ya all ta m’self. Yer so sexy I could hardly contain m’self. There were so may times I just wanted to throw ya on the nearest surface an’ have my way with ya. I bet ya’d like that now, huh?”

Dahlia moaned and grinded her hips into his hand in an attempt to get more of the wonderful feeling he was giving her.

“Use your words, love.” Piers said as he took her earlobe between his teeth and tugged slightly.

“Y-yes!” She cried out and arched her back more.

“’Yes’ what, love? Ya need ta be more specific.” He teased.

“Yes, I’d like that!” She whined. “I want it! I need it! I need you!”

“There’s a good girl.” He said as he kissed her lips and his other hand started making its way down her body, tugging at her panties once it got there. “I’m gonna get ya ready, but I need ta take these off now, ‘kay?”

“O-okay...” Dahlia said with another gulp as she lifted her hips again so he could remove the last barrier between herself and his hungry gaze.

He pulled her panties down to just above her ankles and she kicked them all the way off. He sat back on his knees and took in the sight of her, finally fully bared to him. She was gorgeous.

“So beautiful...” He breathed. “I don’t get why ya were ever nervous about me thinkin’ ya weren’t attractive, Lia. Ya look amazin’!”

The girl moaned slightly, just his compliments alone were hitting her right between the legs and making her even wetter.

“I’ll make ya feel real good, love. Bring yer knees up.” He instructed.

She complied, yielding to his demands without a hint of hesitation now.

He pecked her lips again before he started kissing and nipping his way down; down her neck, past her breasts, and down her stomach as he wrapped his arms around her thighs to hold them apart. She turned the reddest she had ever been when she realized what he was doing and snapped her head down to look at him. He looked her dead in the eyes as he nipped and sucked on her inner-thighs.

“W-what are you doing!?” She asked even though she knew full well what his intentions were.

“You’ll see.” He said with a devious smirk.

Before she had a chance to protest or hind her face in embarrassment, he dove in, taking her sensitive bundle of nerves into his mouth and sucking. She practically screamed out as she threw her head back and arched her back. Her hands clamped down on his hair, but she wasn’t sure if it was to push him off or pull him closer, so her pleasure addled brain just settled on tugging on his silky locks. He moaned at the feeling as he kept sucking on her clit, sending vibrations through her that had her seeing stars. He kept one arm wrapped around her thigh while the other unwound itself and started rubbing her inner thigh. Once he released his hold on her leg, her free thigh pressed itself as close to the side of his head as it could manage. He had to push the other one a little further away so his head had room to move as he released her clit and moved lower. Before she could complain, his dexterous fingers took over working on her sensitive nub while his tongue found its way inside of her core, causing her to cry out even louder than before as he eagerly lapped up her fluids. Within moments she was a moaning mess as her legs began to tremble. He lightly pinched her clit between his fingers, and that was the end of her.

“Piiiiiiiers!” She screamed out and accidentally pulled at his hair as her orgasm came crashing down on her and her mind seemed to malfunction, going completely numb to everything but the pleasure he was giving her. Sure, she’d touched herself before, but this was totally different and so much better.

Piers stayed where he was, catching as much of her juices in his mouth as he could and drinking them down like a fine wine. He moaned into her as he did this and the vibrations from it made her orgasm last just that tiny bit longer.

When she was done, Piers removed her now slack hands so he could lift his head and used the back of his hand to wipe the excess juices off of his chin. He sat up and looked at her blissed out state and decided it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her body still trembled slightly from the aftershocks of her pleasure, her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried desperately to catch her breath, her neck and chest were littered with love bites and her eyes looked like her mind was a million miles away. He sat there and watched her until she came to. Once she’d snapped out of her daze, he captured her mouth in another passionate kiss. She’d thought that tasting herself would disgust her, but it actually turned her on even more if that were even possible.

He pulled away from the kiss and rested his forehead against hers so that he could look her in the eyes. “Arceus, I love ya so much... Yer perfect...”

“You’re not too bad yourself.” She responded with a breathy giggle before biting her bottom lip again. “U-umm... Do you want me to...? I’ve never don’t it before, so I don’t think I’ll be any good, but-”

Piers cut her off with a quick peck and smiled down at her. “Maybe some other time, love. While I would like that a lot, this is all about you this time around.”

“Well, that hardly seems fair...” The girl stated.

Piers chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Thanks fer bein’ concerned about me, but I’ll get mine soon enough. Now, I got one more thing I wanna do ta get ya ready, ‘kay?”

Dahlia gave him a questioning look. What more could he possibly need to do!?

Realizing what she must be thinking, Piers decided to explain his actions.

“What I just did was more ta relax ya than anything else.” He said. “Figured if I got ya ta cum, ya’d be less nervous an’ all that. Plus, it’d make this next bit easier.”

“Okay, what’s next then?” She asked.

“I wanna stretch ya out a bit.” He explained. “Yer prolly not used ta havin’ more than yer girly things up there. Stretchin’ ya out a bit before getting right inta it’ll make the change less... Drastic? Ya alright with me doin’ that?”

Dahlia nodded and waited to see what he’d do next.

Piers kissed her again while his hand made its way down her body to her dripping core. He spent a little time rubbing the sensitive bundle of nerve above her opening, causing her to mewl and squirm into the kiss, before working one of his long fingers inside of her. She tensed for a split second at the new feeling, but quickly relaxed again as his middle finger stroked her inner-walls and his thumb rubbed her clit. She moaned into the kiss as her breathing picked up speed along with his strokes. He added a second finger and she gasped and tensed up again, but this time for longer.

“Ya gotta relax, love.” He instructed. “Ya keep tensin’ up like that and it’ll only make it feel worse. Just take a deep breath an’  relax.”

The girl did as he instructed and it did make things feel better.

“Yeah, just like that. Good girl.” He praised as he started scissoring his fingers inside of her while continuing to rub her clit with his thumb, causing her to start making little moans and mewls again.

Once he felt he had stretched her enough, he switched from scissoring his fingers inside of her to curling them upward as he rubbed them against her inner-walls. He had a look of concentration on his face while he did this, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle or something. Dahlia was going to ask him what he was doing, but whatever he was looking for, he must have found it because a jolt of pleasure shot from the spot he just touched and spread through her whole body, causing her to gasp and then moan loudly as her back arched again and her hands dug into the sheets below her.

Piers smirked as he continued to rub and press on that spot while continuing to rub her clit with his thumb. “There it is. Hey, Lia, I heard ya talkin’ ta Sonia about gettin’ that birth control implant thing in yer arm like she did; did ya ever end up doin’ it?”

Dahlia didn’t even seem to hear him through the haze of pleasure because she didn’t answer him; she just kept moaning and squirming.

“If ya can’t answer me like this, then I’m gonna have ta stop so ya can. I need ta know this before we go any further.” He threatened.

Dahlia seemed to hear that loud and clear because her response was loud and frantic. “Y-yes! I-I did! Justbeforethechampionchip!Don’tstop!”

The last bit was all mashed together as she got closer and closer to the edge, but it was good enough for him since he got the information he needed.

It wasn’t long after he started doing that before Dahlia came undone again, screaming as her body tensed and shook before going slack as she tried to catch her breath. Knowing that this was probably the most relaxed she could be, he decided to move swiftly. He crawled off of her whilst she attempted to gather herself, and in one swift and fluid motion, he removed both his pants and boxers and climbed back on top of her, nestling between her legs again.

“Ya sure ya wanna take this all the way?” He asked, just wanting to get one more confirmation before he took her.

The girl nodded in the affirmative, but that wasn’t good enough for him.

“I wanna hear ya say it, love.” He said as he pecked her repeatedly on the mouth, nose and cheeks. “I wanna make sure this is really okay with ya.”

“Y-yes, Piers... I-I do.” She replied, looking him in the eyes.

Piers nodded and reached down between them to help guide himself into her. She winced and tensed slightly at the pressure that came from the head of his cock pressing against her opening, 

“Shh... It’s okay, darlin’.’’ Piers soothed. “Ya gotta relax; it’ll be over soon... Deep breaths... It’s okay.”

Dahlia did as he said and did her best to relax as he started pressing into her again. 

Suddenly, she let out a strangled gasp as he pushed his way past her opening and sheathed the first few inches inside of her. She certainly understood why it was called “popping your cherry” now, because the sensation was very much akin to some kind of pop. The pain wasn’t what she thought it wold be though; a sharp pinch for a fraction of a second, but that was it. Honestly, the worst part was the slight burning sensation from having her insides stretched so much, but even that wasn’t all that bad. It was just uncomfortable, but nothing more.

“Y-ya alright?” Piers asked sweetly, halting his movement until he got the go-ahead, though clearly struggling with himself to do so.

“Y-yeah, I’m good.” Dahlia responded. “It’s a little uncomfortable, but I can handle it.”

“That’ll go away soon enough.” He assured. “I’m gonna get in all the way, then ya tell me when ta start movin’.”

The girl nodded and gasped again as the man above her pushed himself the rest of the way inside of her, filling her in ways she never knew were possible. The feeling of it made him let out a long, throaty moan before resting his forehead on hers again, his long hair slipping off of his shoulders and forming a curtain around them. Being inside of her felt even better than he could have imagined, and the sound of him moaning like that was better than anything Dahlia could have imagined. He was breathing just as heavily as she was as he stilled himself within her. He knew he wasn’t going to last long this time around, but who could really blame him after all this time? He would just have to get her there quick for the sake of his pride, but that shouldn’t be too hard considering how sensitive she had been up to this point.

They stayed there, panting and staring into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever, but was, in reality, likely no more than a few minutes. The intimacy of it made Dahlia’s heart feel like it were about to burst; she really did adore this man. She locked her lips with his again and buried her fingers in his hair before shifting her hips to indicate that he could move. This time it was Piers’ turn to moan into their kiss as he braced himself on one arm beside her head while the other reached down so he could grip her hip for leverage.

He started slow at first. Even though she had given him permission to move, he was worried about hurting her. He did everything he could to keep her from experiencing any unnecessary pain, but that’s not going to stop him from being careful, even if the slow pace was driving him up the wall.

“P-Piers!” Dahlia moaned as she pulled away for air. “M-more! P-Please!”

While saying this, she started moving her hips with his as she wrapped her legs around his lower back for leverage, trying to get more of the amazing feeling she was getting from their union. Her movements caused her to tug on his hair slightly as she moved, and he loved it.

Spurred on by her needy voice and her tugging on his hair, he started to pick up the pace. His heavy panting turned into pleasured moans that mingled with hers to make the most wondrous chorus either had ever heard; her higher pitched voice contrasting his in the most delightful way. He buried his head in the crook of her neck as he began working faster and faster, pulling out further and further each time and slamming back in with more and more force. His hot breath on her neck added another delicious sensation into the mix, and Dahlia started practically shrieking with pleasure. Her inhibitions had long since abandoned her, and his were nowhere to be found at this point either. All that mattered was this moment and the pleasure it was giving them.

“I-I fucking love ya!” He rasped into her neck. “I fucking love ya so much! Arceus, ya feel so good!”

“Ah! L-Love y-you -AH! TOOOOOOO!” Was all she could get out before her world went white as the strongest orgasm she’d ever had tore her mind apart.

“AH! THAT’S IT, LOVE!” He shouted as he rutted into her as fast as he could “THERE’S A GOOD GIRL! CUM FOR ME! AHHHHH!”

With that, he reached his end, slamming into her one last time and holding her as close as possible as he filled her with his release; the warmth of it and the knowledge of what it was would have been enough to make her cum again if she weren’t so exhausted. 

Piers’ body shook as he collapsed on top of his equally shaky partner. If his mind were working right now, he’d be worried about putting all of his weight on her like this, but that wasn’t the case at the moment. Dahlia didn’t seem to mind though as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through his hair as she shivered and panted. It took all he had for Piers not to fall directly to sleep with her doing that.

Knowing that he would fall asleep if he didn’t move, he groaned as he withdrew from her heat and rolled off to the side to finish catching his breath. Dahlia didn’t seem to be holding up much better. He watched as her eyes would flutter shut before she jolted herself awake again and repeated. He was tempted to just give into sleep and leave the clean-up for the morning, but he knew what could happen if he did that, so he fought the urge and begrudgingly sat up.

“Come on, darlin’.” He said, nudging her to pull her back into wakefulness. “We gotta get ya cleaned up.”

“Don’t wanna...” She whined sleepily.

“Trust me, neither do I.” He said as he slowly slipped his legs off of the bed and pulled himself to his feet. “But, I don’t want ya getting a UTI or somethin’ because we decided to be lazy.”

Dahlia looked at him in confusion.

“I swear to Arceus, the sex education in Unova must be just as bad as bad as what we have here. Of all the things for them to skip, I’ll never understand why they picked this one.” Piers sighed as he scooped up the younger female and started stumbling toward the bathroom. “Ya might get a urinary tract infection if ya don’t get cleaned up properly after a good ol’ romp in the sheets. Blokes can too, but it’s not as common as it is with you lot.”

“Oh....” Dahlia said, embarrassed at her lack of knowledge. “I-I din’t know...”

“Most don’t.” He said, setting her down on the toilet and fetching some clean rags. “Only reason I know is ‘cause I had to tell Marnie ‘bout the ‘Delibirds an’ the Combees.’ I wanted ta be sure I did it right, so I read up on it quite a bit. I was pretty surprised at how much I didn’t know myself at that time.”

Piers handed Dahlia one of the rags after getting it wet at the sink and used the other to clean himself off. He tossed the rag in the hamper once he was done and headed out of the bathroom.

He looked over his shoulder back at Dahlia. “Yer gonna wanna pee before heading back to bed; ‘parently it helps. I’m gonna fetch us somethin’ to drink.”

As he passed by the bed, he noticed a decent sized red stain on his bed sheets; he winced at the sight of it. He knew there was a chance Dahlia would bleed when he took her virginity, but he was really hoping she wouldn’t. He didn’t care that his sheets were stained, those could be replaced if need be; he just felt bad about making her bleed. He knew that he did everything he could and that a lot of it was up to her own anatomy, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he had hurt her more than she had let on. 

Since he had to pass by the laundry room on the way to the kitchen, he figured he might as well try and get the stain out of the sheet before it had a chance to set in.  He sighed and removed the fitted sheet from the bed before pulling a new one out of his closet and getting it put in place. On his way to the kitchen, the threw the soiled bedding into the washing machine and started the wash cycle. Once that was done, he continued on to the kitchen where he got two water bottles from the refrigerator and then sleepily stumbled back to his bedroom.

Dahlia was already curled up in the blankets on her side of the bed, trying not to nod off. Piers sat down on his side of the bed and offered her one of the bottles, which she happily took. She twisted the cap off and quickly gulped down about half of the bottle. Piers slowly slipped his water and stared at the wall in thought. Noticing this, Dahlia set her bottle on the nightstand before scooting over to him so she could wrap her arms around his waist and nuzzle into his bare shoulder.

“What’s the matter?” She questioned.

“Nothing.” Piers assured, ruffling the girl’s hair. “How was it for you?”

“It was wonderful!” She said as she began laying soft kisses on his skin. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long for that. I was nervous for no reason.”

Piers shifted his legs onto the bed and turned to face his girlfriend with a smile. “If I said it once, I said it a thousand times; there ain’t nothin’ to apologize for, love. I wanted to be sure you were ready, so I wasn’t in any hurry.”

“ I really do appreciate that.” She said as one of her hands found his and intertwined her fingers with his. “Something’s bothering you though. What is it?”

The older man sighed and layed on his side, pulling the girl close to him and nuzzling into her hair. “I need ya ta be honest with me, love. No sugar coatin’ nothin’ just ta make me feel better. Did I hurt you?”

Dahlia looked up into his eyes and shook her head. “Not at all. I mean, there was a sharp pinch for a second, but that wasn’t bad. It was a little uncomfortable after that, like I said, but that was it. Why?”

“Well, I noticed some blood on the bed where ya were layin’. I was worried.” He admitted.

“Yeah... I noticed some blood on my leg when I was cleaning up...” She said, looking down in shame and biting her bottom lip. “Sorry about that... I probably ruined your sheet, and there’s probably going to be a stain on your mattress now...”

Piers gently took her chin in hand and made her look up at him again. He gave her one of the most loving looks she had ever seen before giving her a soft kiss.

“It’s not yer fault, love.” He said. “There was a chance of it happening. I was hopin’ ta avoid it if I could, but sometimes there’s just nothin’ that can be done. So long as I didn’t hurt ya, that’s all that matters.

Dahlia smiled and snuggled into his chest. “I love you.”

Piers pulled the blankets over himself and snuggled rested his head on top of hers. “I love ya too, darlin’.”

From there, it wasn’t long before they both drifted off in each other’s arms.

-----------------

Marnie returned to the flat around noon the next day to find it unusually quiet. Typically, Dahlia would be up by now and there was almost always a pokemon or two running about the place, but there was none of that today. She called out, but got no reply either. She shut the front door behind her and hugged Morpeko close as she cautiously made her way further into the flat. 

She called out again as she approached her brother’s room in hopes of getting somebody’s attention, but still got nothing. She noticed that the door to Piers’ room was slightly ajar, which was unlike him since he liked his privacy. When she got to the door, she pushed it open a bit more and peered inside the dark room. Once she realized what she was looking at, she blushed and quietly closed the door before making her way to her room. Though both of the adults  had been mostly covered by blankets, it was pretty obvious that they were naked because a fair amount of Dahlia’s back and Piers’ shoulders were visible. Marnie might be young, but she had gotten “the talk”, so it didn’t take much for her to put together just what went on while she was away. 

#piers #piers pokemon #piers swsh #piers sword and shield #oc #piers x oc #gym leader piers #shameless #spicy #spicy stuff #this took longer than it should have #shoehorned in some education

[thealternateuniverse]

EST (Part 1)

word count: 2204

WARNINGS: Drugs and Language 

Please bear with my typographical and grammatical errors. 

"Hello Colson, it's nice to see you again. How are you?" Dr. Martin greeted but my mind is somewhere.

"Colson?" She waved her hand and that's when I am cut off from my train of thoughts. "Sorry. I'm....good." She gave me a troubled smile.   Dr. Martin is my therapist and will be my only therapist. She's Pete's therapist when he was in rehab and he recommended me when I came to realization that I need to get my shit together. I was hesitant at first cause she is a female but Pete convince me to try trust another female aside from Ashleigh and other close girls from my circle. Dr. Martin was patient since the start, she understand how fucked up I am. I've  been trying to get help but after one session I give up. "So what happened?" She look at her charts. Our sessions were smooth. She got me to trust her and I've never felt relief than ever. "I.....well I tried being sober for a day. No alcohol, weed, coccaine, just cigarettes." I tried. But the day felt long without my poisons. "Okay, how did you feel?" I spaced out for a moment. "It was horrible. It felt like a year but it wasn't so bad. I felt myself " Dr. Martin nodded. "Uhuh. I know it's hard to get out from those habits Colson, but take it slow, the process is not overnight. For example, make a list of those habits and cross one out if you haven't done or take one in a day." I really wanted to be better so I'll give it a try though I can't live without those sometimes. "Okay. Next how about you? I mean you? Not your habits." Me? How am I really? "I......don't know doc, yesterday when I was sober I realized how lonely I was. All I want is a someone who understands me. Sees me as Colson not MGK. Someone who stays despite how fucked up I am. Listens to me when I rant. Takes care of me when I'm sick, holds my hand when I'm fighting my demons, tells me about her day. And loves me unconditionally." I sighed. Fuck this mommy issues. Dr. Martin put down the chart she's holding. "You know what, I remeber the nun said to me before. We are so focused and fixed to what we want  that we didn't realize it was already given to us but in a different package. Anyways, that's all for now. I'll see you on thursday." I shake hands with Dr. Martin and left her clinic. What does she mean by that? I shrug it off.

I got home with groceries. It's me being sober cause I realized I don't have anything in my fridge but booze. "Colson, where have you---ohh." Ashleigh was shock to see me holding a bunch of grocery bags. "Uhm need a little help Ash." Ashleigh helped me with some, putting all the bags on the kitchen counter. "I can't believe this." She mumbled but I heard. "What? Is it bad? I don't have anything in my fridge." Ashleigh shook her head in disbelief. "Whatever. Okay, I already arranged your schedule the whole off tour is yours and then I booked a trip to Germany. We're all having a break." I look at her intently. Ashleigh's been my manager for almost 10 years and I couldn't be who am I right now if she didn't let me stay in their home. "Thanks Ash. You're the best." I hug her she hugs me back. "Colson, you're creeping me out. Are you dying?" I laughed. As in laugh hard. "No....oh my god. I'm just sober." Ashleigh smiled in relief. "This is me saying thank you for staying." A tear dropped fron the corner of her eye, she wiped it off and slaps my arm. "Stop it. Of course I know how fucked up you are and you can be. We're family here." I hug her again and we begin to put the items in place.

--------- "Ash. It's okay, I'll do it." Ash is everywhere with her phone calling everyone to cancel my appearance in redfest.

"Dude. You can't even get up. It's your health that matters." Slim scolded me. All of the EST family are here.

"I feel better now. We didn't travel overseas just to cancel." I force myself to get up. When I can manage they all nodded. Ash is on her phone again.

"Dude. Are you sure?" Rook taps my shoulder. "God damn it, it's just sore throat and fever." But it's not just sore throat and fever. It's my body reacting without drugs. I am tempted to take some line of coke but I remember I'm clean for 3 days. "Rest dude. We still have 3 hours, don't worry about everything we got it." Slim patted my back. "Thanks." I slept the whole afternoon and Nicole my PA woke me up when its. "Na ah. Chill, don't get up yet. There's plenty of time." Nicole is a very efficient assistant of mine, she's the longest assistant I had so far plus we don't have that sexual tension unlike my past assistants. She's nice and chill so we don't have a problem getting along, she's more like a sister to me.  "I'm fine, I feel better now."  She just shook her head. "Ashleigh strictly told me to take care of you while they take care of everything. So chill." She left the room and comes back later with a tray. "And you need to eat stubborn ass or you won't have energy for later." The tray contains a mac n' cheese, fajita and a soup.  "I'll eat, now go away."  She didn't budge and stayed on her place. Whatever, I let her be and I feasted on my food. The food tastes bland, maybe because I'm sick but I force myself to eat. Nicole played mother hen and took care of me, she even gave me an energy drink.  "Drink this, instead of snorting some angel dust later." I uttered thanks and drink the drink. I feel better afterwards but I'm still sick and I think I'm going to puke. "Okay time for your make over." I got up from bed and went to backstage to change, the show is starting at 8 so I make it all quick. Everyone's busy in the backstage since it's not just me but Noah, Thugger and the others are also here too. "Kells! You okay now?" Noah went to me and greeted me with our handshake. "I feel like shit but I'm good."

The show started and Thugger hyped the crowd, thank god he's here and the crew or I'll be damned. Noah appeared also after Thugger and then it's my turn.

The show was hard and I almost forgot I'm not feeling well. I ran backstage after the encore, hyperventilating and nauseous, Rook ran after me and help me through the way. One of the crew placed an oxygen mask while I'm half running to the comfort room. I relaxed my breathing before removing the mask and puke my guts out.

"That's nasty." Rook commented but I just flip him off. I puke all the contents I ate in dinner and everything is yellow. Drei massaged my back while I puke and I couldn't thank him enough for that.  "God damn you Colson and your stubborn ass." I really wanted to lay on my bed. I feel  sicker every minute.   "Kells. I got you." Didn't knew Noah followed us here. She has towel already and some wipes. She helped me clean my self and wrapped the towel around me. I'm half naked by the way. "Where the fuck is Nicole, you aren't supposed to be here." Noah just rolled her eyes. "Shut it. Just be glad a lot of people cares for you." Everyone went to an after party that night while me I chose to stay in my bed and sleep.

---

"Colson! Thank god you answered!" Halsey called the next morning. I feel better now. "What? Are you scolding me too?" I can imagine her rolling her eyes. "Of course! You should take care of your self! And I know you're stubborn and won't listen so I won't make anymore fuss about it. Anyways I'm in Australia with Evan. And guess what???? We're official!" I giggled at her enthusiasm, it's good to hear and see that she's happy with him. "Oh really? That's good to hear. We'll see each other when we're in LA. I'm happy for you Ash. Really." My past with Ashley/ Halsey was rough at the start, we're good now though and that's how look for each other telling about our days. "Okay when are you coming back?" We're on our flight to LA now. "Well we've check in already. I'll text you when I'm at the states." Our flight's being called and everyone settled already. "Okay cool. Bye." The flight from Dubai to LA took 16 hours and I realized I hated flights.

-----

We arrived at LA at 12 noon the next day, everyone was exhausted and went to their own places. I was left alone in my house. I just lay there on my couch thinking of what happened these past few days when my doorbell rang. For sure it's just Slim or Rook forgetting something. They have their own keys so I don't know why they use the doorbell. "I swear to god Rook if you're just going to ann--" I opened the door but no one is outside. I shrugged it off, maybe someone from the neighborhood just messing around. I'm about to close the door when someone popped out from nowhere. "Hi....hi oh my god wait." A girl maybe around 9 or 10? I dunno she's tall for 9 or 10, maybe 11? "Hello. Uh sorry can't entertain fans right now. I'm not in the mood. Does your parents know you're here?" Tsk young fans can be agressive sometimes. This is not the first time.

"Uhm no. Actually one of my parent lives here. " I look around if her parent's house is just around. "Uh from what block?"  I asked again. The kid might be selling girls' scout cookies. "Right in this house. Hi dad." She lunged me with a hug. "I'm Casie by the way I'm your daughter." She said happily. I pulled her away from me. "Hey dude. I don't know who your parents are but I'm sure it's not me. " I laughed awkwardly. This kid is crazy, no one pops out of nowhere proclaiming they're my child. Man I should get used to this. The kid pull something out from her bag. An envelope.

"What's this?" I asked when she hand it to me.  "That's the proof that I am your kid." She shrug as if it's not a big deal. I open the paper and read all it's content searching for any discrepancy to prove she is not my kid. But there's nothing, it was stated in the document that I am the father. How the hell could this happened?  "Is this a prank? Am I in some tv show or what?" I asked and scanned the area if there's any camera hidden. You gotta be serious, this ain't funny.  "Do I look like I'm kidding? Okay, my mom is Emma she's from Cleveland and you two met at a Blink 182 song concert. Then poof! You had me."

Emma?? Wait what the fuck? Emma? As in Emma Cannon? "Shi----Shoot. Get inside kid." I let her in before someone sees or hear us. "Wait here and eat that." I offered her the pizza we brought home. I went to the kitchen to call Ashleigh. "Ashleigh! Oh my god I know we're all tired but what I will tell you will make your tiredness go away." I heard a baby's cry on the background, must be Ashton. "What is it kells? It's better be important." Ash sounds like she just woke up from a nap. "I have a kid. A daughter." Silence.  

"What the fuck is that a joke? You called just for that?" I can tell she's pissed off but I am not joking right now. "I am not joking Ash. A kid showed up with documents, plus she's claiming Emma to be her mother." I heard her sigh. "Are you sure it's not some fan? Or a prank? Are the documents legal?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm stupid but I'm not dumb. So get your ass here and tell the others." I hang up before she can answer. I went back to the living room and the kid is still sitting there. "How did you got here?" I asked.  

"Does your mother know you're here? And how old are you?" I met Emma 11 years ago so this kid must be around 10. "I'm 10, my school is just around here in LA, I'm in a boarding school by the way." She didn't answer my question but that explains why she's in LA. Why the hell Emma let her in a boarding school? She's just 10. "Mum visits me weekly, so no worries." Damn now I have a kid.

#machine gun kelly #machine gunner #colson baker #est #slim #rook #bazexx #ashleigh #casie baker #kells #hotel diablo #redfest #estxx #mgkfanfic #mgk imagine #mgk

[savemefromanepicoftimewasted]

Growing Up Too Fast

Sam Wilson X OFC Bucky Barnes X Reader Steve Rogers X OFC Time slipped by without anyone noticing, before anyone knew, it was suddenly midnight, the kids still all awake. a/n:this is going to be the final fic to this series, I’m sad to say!

10 Years Later

It felt strange, knowing that the kids were all teenagers already, where had my little babies gone?  I mean, it was too bad, even if sometimes Becca, or Sammy refused to acknowledge both Y/N and I if we had to pick them up from school.  We wanted to give them a normal life, where people didn’t go after them because I was there dad.

“Your uncle said he’s bringing the kids over to stay so him and Aunt Krista can go on a little vacation, you’ll be on your best behavior, right?” I glanced between Sammy, and Becca, raising a brow when they ignored me.

Y/N shook her head, wiping down the mess that had accumulated on the counter.

“You know, I can text Uncle Tony and have him turn off those devices for the next month.” Becca nearly slammed down her phone, her attention on me suddenly.

“Sorry dad, I was texting Rosie.” Oh, well I guess that wasn’t so bad. “Still, your mom and I said no phones at the table.” Sammy put his phone down before Y/N could grab it from him.

The kids would be here soon, and if I wanted to make sure the house didn’t look like a dump, I’d have to help Y/N clean up.

“They’re here!” Becca jumped up from her seat, running outside to greet Cap, and Grant who’d jumped out of the car.

Rosie was laughing at the two pups that had managed to wrangle Becca down onto the ground, smothering her with kisses.  Rosie plopped down beside her, playing with Grant’s ears as Cap laid down on Becca.  Sammy headed outside to greet Steve, Krista, and Haley.  

“He definitely has a crush on that girl, it’s so obvious.” Y/N wrapped her arms around my waist, running the tips of her fingers along my left arm.

“Trust me, I know.” I shook my head, heading outside to help Steve.

The kids were all talking, too fast for any of us to really figure out what they were saying, maybe it was for the best that no one bothered to ask.  

“Hey, thanks for offering to watch the kids.” I shook my head, it really wasn’t a big deal.

“You did it for Y/N and I when we went on vacation, it’s the least I could do for you guys.” Krista called over the two pups, showering them in kisses as the kids all headed inside.

It was late enough that everyone had at least eaten dinner already, but early enough where we could spend some time before everyone had to head off to bed.

Cap followed behind Steve as he headed inside, placing down the kids bags by the door.

“Be good for Uncle Bucky and Aunt Y/N, you guys hear me?” Steve had put on his best Captain America face, how it still worked on the twins, I wasn’t sure.

“Okay dad, have fun with mom.” They all said their goodbyes, giving hugs and kisses to cheeks before Steve and Krista headed off.

The living room was silent for a few moments, before Becca and Rosie broke the silence by announcing they were heading up to her room to hang out and talk.  Sammy, and Aj plopped down onto the couch, Haley following suit.

“You guys don’t have to feel awkward here, just want you to know that.” Haley and Aj both looked up, it was weird looking at the kids I’d held as babies so long ago.

“We know Uncle Buck, it’s why dad wanted us to hang out so much when we were younger.” When the hell had they gotten so smart?

“Oh, right.” I nodded towards Aj and headed into the kitchen.

Y/N sighed to herself, plopping down onto the couch and letting Cap jump up so he could cuddle with her.  Even though Becca was fifteen, and Sammy was fourteen, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with four teenagers, and a soon to be preteen.  They were on summer vacation, so they weren’t missing any school, but it was still going to be weird.

“Sam said he’s gonna bring Ella by with Anna tomorrow, we were gonna head out and do some grocery shopping.” I swear, that’s what they bonded over the most.

“That’s fine hun, tell him to bring over their swimsuits so we can go swimming.” She was silent, but I wouldn’t doubt that she was sending a text to let Anna know.

The house seemed to settle after a few minutes, the girls upstairs were giggling at whatever was on their phones, while the boys, and Haley, were watching tv with Y/N.  It was nice, peaceful in a way that it usually wasn’t.  That was due to the two teenagers that liked to make Y/N and I more stressed than we ever needed to be.

I plopped down beside Y/N on the couch, reaching over to pat Cap’s head as he relaxed on the plush cushions.

“He’s getting old, just like his dad.” Cap barely lifted his head, deep brown eyes staring over Y/N to where I was.

“Steve’s had him for what, almost sixteen years?  He’s gonna get old eventually.” It was strange looking at the dog that had brought Steve and his wife together, the very dog that helped get me during my own panic attacks.

No, now’s not the time to get upset over the thought of Cap getting old, think of all the good memories you’ve made with him.  Steve’s his owner, the person who helped raise him into the dog he is today.

“Are you nervous about giving your press conference on Friday?” Y/N leaned over, resting her head against my shoulder.

“A little, not everyday I get to tell everyone I’m retiring from being an Avenger.” Tony had set us up with a bank account, to ensure we’d still be able to get paid even after stepping down.

“You’re gonna do great.” She smiled softly, pressing a kiss to my jaw.

Sammy groaned, covering his face with both hands.

“Hey, your moms trying to be supportive, don’t act like a little shit.” That got a giggle out of Haley, and Aj both.

“You guys don’t need to be macking it on the couch, we have guests.” Sammy gestured to Aj, and Haley, even throwing a look towards Grant who’d made himself comfortable on the floor.

I couldn’t stop the snort that slipped through, covering my mouth to try and prevent from waking both Cap, and Grant.  Y/N simply rolled her eyes, patting my thigh gently before getting comfortable once more.

Time slipped by without anyone noticing, before anyone knew, it was suddenly midnight, the kids still all awake.

“Alright guys, time for bed.” I helped Y/N off the couch, nudging Cap off and pushing him towards the dog bed Steve had left.

“You said Uncle Sam’s coming over, right?” Sammy looked almost hopeful, it was kind of adorable. “Yeah, he’s bringing over Ella too.” Now wasn’t the time to be discussing tomorrow’s plans.

Sammy all but ran up to his room, Haley and Aj heading up to the guest room they would be using to sleep for the rest of the night.  Y/N wrapped her arm around my waist, pulling us into the room so she could change, and lay down.

“You’re amazing for doing this for them hun, most people would never agree to watch their best friends teenage kids for a week.” I merely shrugged, pulling out a pair of sweatpants to change into.

“He did it for us, it’s the least we could do for them.  And plus, his kids are really well behaved.” When I turned back around, Y/N had her arms crossed, a smirk playing at her lips.

“You’re just a softie and don’t want to admit it.” Y/N changed into her pajamas, laying down in the bed.

I blushed softly, pulling off my shirt and jeans, and pulling on the sweats that Y/N had gotten me as a gift for our anniversary.  They were some of the best pants I’d gotten, and I wasn’t about to tell anyone where she’d gotten them.  I slipped in beside Y/N, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her flush to my chest.

“I love you, so much.” Y/N’s cheeks were dusted in a light pink, a small smile on her face.

“Don’t gotta sweet talk me Buck, you already got me.” I couldn’t help but scoff.

“Babe, even if I already got ya, I’m still gonna do what it takes to make sure you’re happy.” That caused her cheeks to darken even further.  It was beautiful.

She didn’t say much of anything, choosing to curl up in my arms before falling asleep.  I’d do anything I could to protect her, and our kids.

~~~ “Dad!  Mom says it’s time for breakfast.” Who the hell was yelling at me?  And why the hell was the sun so bright?

I rolled onto my back, groaning at the tightness of my muscles for a second before it dissipated, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“What time is it?” I glanced over at the clock, noticing that it was nearly ten thirty.

That was definitely the latest I’d slept in years, normally I was the one getting up and getting everything ready for the day.  Did I give off a vibe to Y/N?  Or was she using her mother’s intuition to figure out how tired I really was?

“I’m coming.” I pushed out of the bed, heading down to where everyone else was.

The smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes fill the air enticingly.  Y/N was definitely the better cook out of the two of us, but I never forced her to make dinner when she was exhausted.  It takes two to make a family, which means equal effort on both sides.

“Smells great babe, how come you didn’t wake me though?” I stepped over to where she was, wrapping my arms around her waist.

“You were sleeping like the dead, figured you could’ve used a few more minutes of sleep.” Oh, well that wasn’t so bad I guess.

The kids were all eating, and even the dogs had already eaten.  Man, I really did miss a lot this morning.  Well, Sam would be here any minute, and I needed to eat before they got here.

“Go ahead and eat, Sammy’s gonna make sure the pools clean before you guys go in it today.” That was nice of him to do.

I made myself a plate, plopping down at the table and digging in, the pancakes were fluffy, and the bacon just on the right side of too crispy.  It was the perfect breakfast to dig into before Sam and his entourage arrived.

Becca was raising an eyebrow at me, while both Haley, and Rosie were giggling to themselves.  What was so funny?

“Is it really necessary that you’re sitting at the table shirtless dad?” I glanced down at my naked chest.  That’s right, I’d forgone a shirt when Y/N and I had gone to bed. “They’re gonna see it anyway when we go swimming, and besides, the scars are barely visible anymore.” Becca rolled her eyes, finishing off her eggs, and orange juice with a sigh.

And I was right, Sam showed up right as I’d finished eating my breakfast, little Ella running behind in her bathing suit and sundress.  She looked absolutely adorable, and it reminded me of when my kids were young.

“Man, do you always have to show off your abs?” Sam gestured to my naked chest and stomach with his hand, Anna, his wife, laughed as she stepped over to Y/N. “I don’t sleep with a shirt on Sam, it gets way too hot if I do.” He'd known that too, because Steve was the same way.

He rolled his eyes, heading into the backyard where all the kids, and the dogs were, heading down to the pool with Ella.

“Anna and I are heading out, so try not to kill Sam before we get back please?” Y/N bent down, her lips pressing against my own in a chaste kiss.

“I’ll try, but no promises babe.” Anna laughed once more before dragging Y/N out of the house.

I headed down to our bedroom, changing into a pair of my own swim trunks before going outside to where the pool was.  The weather was a little humid for what I normally liked, but it meant the pool wouldn’t be ice cold.  The kids were already swimming around, Sam holding onto Ella as he lazily floated.

“Man, I’m gonna end up living in your pool during the summer, I swear.” Sam propped Ella up a little more, so that her body was half in, half out.

“That how Becca is, especially whenever Steve and Krista come over with the kids.” I stepped over to the stairs, stepping into the pool slowly.

The water was warm, almost like lukewarm bathwater, but it felt nice compared to the sticky air that surrounded us.  Maybe Y/N could ask Steve and Krista if they wanted to come over after they got back, have a barbecue with everyone.

“Was it difficult?  Retiring I mean?” I’d gone over the pros and cons a million and one times, but the nerves always got to me.

“It was weird at first, not getting called into action if something was ever going on, but when Anna told me she was pregnant I knew that being retired was the better option, never looked back.” That made me wonder how Y/N felt whenever I’d gotten called away on a mission, back when the kids were young.

“Steve’s been telling me to retire for the last ten years, I was just so afraid of something bad happening after I’d stepped down that I couldn’t help myself.” Sam nodded, swimming over to where I was waist deep.

The kids were all splashing, both dogs running back and forth at the deeper end to try and figure out what they were doing.  It was a nice scene to watch, to know that my family was going to be safe, no matter who was an Avenger.

“I’m doing my press conference on Friday, mostly because Steve’s coming back on Thursday and I’d hoped he could help give some advice on what not to say.” I’d gotten into arguments with people online, especially when they’d try to degrade either Steve, or my name. 

“Don’t swear, that’s the biggest one he’ll tell you.  And, don’t slouch.” I looked over to Sam, raising a brow curiously.

He simply shrugged, but then again, he’d already had to do this on his own before.

The rest of the day was spent in the pool, until everyone complained that they’d gotten pruney and it was time to get out and get some food.  Y/N was back with Anna, putting away the groceries as five kids ran inside to eat.  Sam was still holding Ella, who’d managed to fall asleep while wading around.

“Thank you for having us over, and letting Anna do some shopping on her own.” Sam smiled over at the woman he’d called his wife.

She was everything he ever needed in a woman, and she definitely didn’t take shit from anyone either.  Steve had approved of her within a few minutes of greeting her, and Y/N and I weren’t too far behind.  She fit right into the little family we’d made, bringing in a little girl for Sam to protect for the rest of his days.

“No need to thank me Sam, it’s what friends are for.” I smiled at him, waving as Anna opened the car to where Ella’s booster seat sat.

“I expect to see you at her sixth birthday next week.” Sam pointed an accusing finger at me as he headed over to Anna.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, you know that.” Anna took the sleeping child from his arms, setting her into the seat and buckling her in before getting into the car herself.

I waved em off, waiting until their car was much too far away to see before heading back inside to sit down and eat dinner.  Y/N had offered to cook once more, claiming that she wanted to since we had exerted all our energy while swimming.

“Babe, you know I can do that, right?” She gave me a ‘you better sit down before I make you’ type of look, that meant business.

“I want to do this Buck, so go and relax for now.” I nodded at her, plopping down at the table before she brought out the wooden spoon.

She’d only ever had to use it once before, and that was when she had been pregnant with Becca and I refused to listen.  Never again.

I watched as she cooked, entranced with the way she looked so beautiful in doing something that seemed so mundane.  It was just spaghetti night, nothing too fancy, and yet she made it look so effortless.

“What’s everyone want to drink?” Y/N had her head in the fridge, looking at the assortment we now had.

The kids all yelled out the same thing, which was hilarious in of itself, I preferred to just drink water with dinner, she knew that.  Once everything was done, and mixed together, Y/N handed out the drinks and set the bowl of spaghetti on the table.  Everyone scooped out their amount, putting parmesan cheese on top, and digging in happily.

“You make it just like mom does, it’s so good.” Rosie practically melted in her chair, a content sigh echoing in the air.

“I actually taught your mom how to make this when we were younger, especially when we were living on our own and could barely afford bread for the week.” Y/N scooped up a big bite for herself, eating contently.

She’d told me about her past years ago, wanting to get my mind off the way things hadn’t been so positive for myself.  I liked hearing the stories though, it was adorable knowing that the woman who gave birth to my two children, had once been utterly terrified of needles.

“Dad tries to get mom to talk about her past, but then she feels bad because of what dad went through.” I glanced over to Y/N, staying quiet to not cause issue at the table.

“It’s understandable though, he didn’t grow up like your mother or Aunt Y/N, he grew up in a time where we were going through the depression, and couldn’t even afford bread for a month.  If it’s really bothering her, just have her talk to your aunt, she’ll help her out.” Y/N blushed for a moment, finishing off her plate.

No one else brought up conversation after that, though it didn’t feel awkward, which was a nice surprise.  Nothing worse than upsetting your nieces and nephew when they still had to stay at your house.  There wouldn’t be bad news to relate to Steve, or Krista when they got back home.

~~~ It felt as if I’d blinked, and Friday was upon us, staring us in the face almost angrily, even though I wanted to deny that it was actually angry.  Tony had sent over a suit for me to wear, it wasn’t anything flashy, which was nice for a change, but it meant I needed to change and head to the compound.

“You’ll do just fine, we’ll be waiting for you.” Y/N finished tying the knot of my tie before sliding it up to rest at the base of my throat.

Steve and Krista weren’t back from their vacation, so he’d unfortunately miss the press conference.  The kids were happy to go with though, be a little support group when I finished telling the world I was done fighting.

The drive over was nerve wracking, enough to nearly make me sick.  Y/N held my hand the entire time, fingers laced with my own.  The kids were all quiet, talking amongst themselves about something they were all into at the moment.

The compound loomed over us like a black cloud, the amount of news vans sitting outside brought another wave of fear over me.  What if I did manage to screw all of this up?  What would happen then?

Tony was standing outside, away from where everyone could see him so he could show us the way inside.  Y/N parked and got out, waiting until all five kids were out before stepping around to where I was waiting for her.

“Ready to do this?” Tony stepped over, patting my bicep gently before walking back inside.  It was obvious that everyone was sectioned off into a room, unable to see us just yet.

“Nervous, not gonna deny that.” I turned to look at Y/N, who was smiling happily, stepping back to give Tony and I some room.

The reporters were talking softly, though the volume was still too loud to calm my nerves that were currently racing.  Tony walked out first, stopping right next to the podium that I would have to stand in front of, and give my speech.  I took a slow deep breath, and walked out after him.  The cameras were flashing, people yelling out my name to try and get my attention, but I was only here for one thing.

“Thank you all for coming here today, but we’re not here to discuss anything about me, today it’s about my good friend, and fellow Avenger, James Barnes.” Tony stepped away from the podium entirely, letting me step up.

It almost felt as if the world were spinning as I glanced out at everyone, noticing a few familiar faces from watching the news occasionally.  Though, there was one face at the very back I recognized immediately.  Steve was smiling, trying to hide under the baseball cap he had on.  Of course.

“Thank you, Tony.  I’m here today to announce my retirement from the Avengers.  I’ve been working side by side with them for almost sixteen years, and my time has come to an end.  I’ve met some amazing people on the way, and helped save thousands of lives, but now is the time for myself, and my family,” I took a breath, feeling tears well up.

“I thank you for coming out today, and for your support for what we’ve done over the years.  Thank you.” I stepped down and glanced over to Tony, before heading out to where Y/N and everyone else were.

 As I suspected, Krista was standing with Rosie, Aj, and Haley.  She looked the happiest I’d seen in years, so maybe the vacation was long overdue.

“The speech was perfect Buck, told you everything would be fine.” Y/N patted my cheek gently, pressing her lips to my own.

“Thank you hun, I was nearly sweating bullets standing up there.” Steve stepped out of the room, ensuring no one saw him leave.

“Bout time you retired, old man.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“You’re only a year younger than me punk, watch what you say to me.” Krista laughed, pulling the kids over to where we were.

It felt amazing to watch the family I’d made stand together happily, my two kids standing with Steve and his wife, their three kids laughing together.  This was how life was meant to be, and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

#steve rogers #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers fics #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fandom #steve rogers and his dog #steve rogers au #steve rogers series #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers imagine #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fics #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes fandom #sam wilson #marvel #avengers #avengers au #marvel au

[missfay49]

Secret Santa 2019: fan fic

Preface: this excerpt is from a story I’m working on with the Sides in a fantasy setting with the working title of, “Right Time, Wrong Vision”.  They did not all grow up together.  Creativity never split in twain.  Team Survival consists of Deceit the Charlatan, Virgil the elf Rogue, and Wrath the Monk.  Team Dreamers is Romulus the Conjurer, Patton the lizardfolk Healer, and Logan the Inventor.

Content Warnings: battle, violence, explosions, injury, blood, crying, gore, body horror, sympathetic Deceit, singular Creativity, buried creature, deformed creatures, burns, cursing, conjured creature death, hurt/no comfort

Ships: none, all relationships are platonic

Set-up: Romulus is an owl aarakocra seer who has convinced everyone that he is blind, a common stereotype among seers.  His unusual-looking eyes helped to sell it, but that lie is about to be revealed…

Story below the cut vvv

Bonus: Mood Board!

               We’re losing the war.  Virgil squinted, glancing around the battlefield and tallying the chaos.  Bricks were still sliding in miniature avalanches down the side of the building hit by the last explosion.  Bystanders ran through the streets, ducking behind awnings and door frames only to burst out again to run to the next house.  

There was Deceit, trying to guide a few terrified people around the more dangerous bits of terrain. Virgil called over the debris.  

“Do you see him?”

Deceit shook his head, turning to look farther down the street and pointing.  Wrath was two blocks down, throwing another of the crime syndicate’s mercenaries through a window.  A shrill scream followed and a woman dragging her child leapt out the door together. Wrath’s face turned to embarrassment and he waved awkwardly at them before moving on to the next merc, who promptly squeaked in a very undignified manner and fled.  The trio regrouped.  

“Literally, your one job was to keep track of the bad guy,” Virgil accused Deceit.  The three of them stood in the middle of the home’s small garden as the dust settled.

“Well, I literally am not as fast as a horse-drawn carriage, so-”

“Where’s your horse-”

“Kindly go fu-”  

“Heeeeey!” A familiar shout interrupted their bickering.

“Do you guys need heeeelp?” Just down a side street, Patton was running toward them, waving a dark leather bag in the air with one scaley-green arm.  Logan jogged behind, trying to keep up but sorely out of shape and weighed down by a lumpy package on his back.  Bits of glinting metal stuck out in several directions.

“What are they doing here?”  Virgil hissed.  “It’s too dangerous!”  Wrath just shrugged, smiling.  Virgil raised his voice to reach them, only just then spotting that infernal blind seer even farther back, meandering through the wreckage.

“Get out of the road!”  He started running to meet them, the others close behind.  As if on cue, movement on the rooftops caught his eye.  Robes… a blue light… that’s-  He drew in a breath and leaned into a full sprint.  He could feel electricity building in the air.

~~~

Logan watched as the rogue dashing full speed right at them glanced up.  Following Virgil’s line of sight, he spotted the danger above them. He jerked his head back to Patton who was happily clambering over a large rock, oblivious.  

Virgil was still paces away.  Too far.  Suddenly full of energy, Logan took two more bounding steps and dove over the boulder, tackling Patton and throwing them both to the ground as a crackling sound was joined by strange words chanting in the breeze.  

~~~

Seeing the pair fall into a pile of rubble ahead of him, Virgil slowed and turned to the others. Deceit slammed into him, not expecting the change.  Virgil grabbed his shoulders, shouting-  

“We need cover, now!”  Wrath scooped them both up and kept running, veering toward a gap under a slab of concrete, but-

The last thing Virgil saw was Romulus, still some twenty feet away.  He faced them head-on, unmoving, eyes like circles.  With a blink, the owl dropped to the ground and slammed both taloned hands on the cobbles.  The earth began to shake and churn, adding its own roar to the crackling just as a flash of light blinded them all.

~~~

Darkness.  

Romulus found himself laying in the street.  Fatigue hit like a truck and he blinked the dust out of his eyes.  A metal cylinder with knobs protruding at right angles stared back at him, water gushing out three sides.

“Oh, no.”

Artificial rain fell.  He looked up at the building where the attacker had stood.  Or, he would have if that building were still up there.  Now, it was all around them in pieces, wood timbers cracked and leaning out of the structure like spears.  Something large must have hit it.  Or, many smaller somethings...

In fact, unnamed items were still pouring out of the ground, covering the area around them. The angle pointed them to where the roof had once been, but they were quickly losing the energy needed to go that high.  They fell back to the earth.  In seconds, the stream came to a stop and all was quiet.  

Gravel flying, a hand shot straight up.  Wrath was climbing out of the rubble, then reaching back to drag Virgil and Deceit out after him. A little dinged up, but nothing too bad. From their shelter, Logan cautiously lifted his head followed by Patton asking, “Is it safe?”  

Logan wordlessly helped Patton to his feet, getting their balance on the uneven terrain together. His bag had ripped and the equipment for the prosthetics scattered.  He didn’t notice it, everyone’s safety was more important.  There was a loud ringing in his ears.  

While Deceit was preoccupied in a futile effort to remove all dust from his clothing, Virgil tried to find something that looked familiar to get his bearings on.  But nothing here looked familiar.

Where once there had been a residential side street of dirt and cobbles, was now completely littered with stuff.  Several of the items were charred and smoking.  Pillows of all shapes and sizes and colors, a few chairs, whole couches even! Maybe they had come from inside the building, but they all seemed too… new.

There were even things he had never seen before.  Like, what was that discus-shaped contraption and why did it have so many metal legs?  

But most fascinating were the cubes.  There was no better word for them; they were perfect cubes, strewn about at random.  They must have been heavy.  Where other items tumbled down the side of the rubble, they stayed put and let the debris flow around them.  Moving images flashed across each side.  Virgil moved closer, watching one cube carefully as images of the attacker flashed across it over and over.  Could he still be near?

A muffled sound below him made Virgil jump.  Leaning back in, he could hear scraping within the rubble.  

“Wrath, gimme a hand.”  The pair starting digging and the sounds immediately got louder.  Deceit picked his way over to peer between their shoulders.  A few painfully long seconds of digging revealed a struggling arm covered in a dull black shirt-sleeve.  Deceit squinted as Wrath hurried to get the person out.  

“Wha…” Virgil breathed out, pulling away from the hole.  

“What is it?” Deceit didn’t register that Virgil never responded, catching sight of the thing as he moved out of the way.  Wrath had uncovered another arm, smaller and just under the first.  A third even smaller arm, this time without so much as an elbow.  The body they were attached to was covered in blood. A pure white rib cage existed partially outside of the body, as if it had grown that way.  The person struggled to free themselves.  

With one more helpful push from Wrath, the person reared up, falling backward onto the debris. Deceit stumbled back with a gasp. Even Wrath stood up, but Virgil appeared to be frozen in place.  Dirty-blonde hair straggled over a burnt, soot-covered scalp.  It gurgled up at them, features melting into each other.  

“Patton, he-aarGH!” Deceit turned to get the healer but stopped short.  Another deformed creature laid between them, moving toward Deceit.  Familiar green scales were its only recognizable trait.  Bones were just a memory for this one, as it inched worm-like across the cobbles and left a dark trail in its wake.  

~~~

Hearing a scream, Romulus pulled himself up.  Deceit and Patton were staring at something on the ground.  

“Oh, don’t- don’t touch that. Hang on!"  

He made to move closer to see, but a groan gave him pause.  Cowering behind another cube, an orange and yellow pattern swirled on a hidden creature.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he whispered as he crouched by the being, putting both hands on one psychedelic limb and willing the creation back into the realm of nightmares.  It mewled, drawing Patton’s attention just before it vanished into the earth.

“Wait!  We can fix it, you said-” Patton cried out to the seer.

"Sorry!”  Romulus interrupted him.  Just gotta take care of this real quick.”

Deceit looked between them, speechless for once, then back to the monstrosity on the ground.  His thoughts seemed to move in slow motion.  The creatures… they’re dressed like us.

Behind him, Virgil continued to stare transfixed at the being crawling out of the rubble.  Wrath had stopped digging and, seeing the reaction his oldest friend was having to it, he stood up and started tugging on Virgil’s arm to pull him up.  The rogue seemed to shake off the stupor then but refused to get up.  His eyes remained locked on the creature.

Patton pulled out of Logan’s grip and chased after Romulus, begging him.  

“You said you wouldn’t do it again!  You said you wouldn’t!  You can’t kill them!  I can help them, heal them!”  He tried to grab the seer, but the man threw him off. 

“They shouldn’t even exist! I-” Romulus stood still for only a moment.  It was enough time for Patton to see the fear on his face.  Romulus raced away to the nearest abomination.  

"Stop it..." Patton cried again, softly this time.  He'd come to a stop, squeezing his eyes shut and just standing in the debris.  The rain from that… thing was slowly soaking through his clothes.  He put both his hands over his mouth and his whole body shook.  A chill ran through him.

"Don’t look!"  Romulus pushed himself in front of Patton, trying to shield him from what getting ‘rid’ of it would look like.  He knelt and put a hand on the thing.  The creation screeched as it sank out of existence.

Deceit blinked.

"How... did you know we were looking at it?"  He asked over the sobs still coming from Patton, over the gasps escaping the seer.  Patton blinked up at Deceit through his claws, then back to Romulus’ shuddering back, confused.  

"Uh-" Romulus’ speckled eyes darted around.  He dramatically turned to face very definitively not in Deceit's direction, brow furrowed.  Something dripped from his talons.  "I saw it in a vision, of course!"  

His voice was trembling.  Tears rolled off his cheek feathers.  His head twitched this way and that, almost as if...

"No, you didn't," Deceit said.  A strangled sound escaped Romulus as he finally spotted the creation half buried in front of Virgil struggling to crawl through the debris.  

"Just a second, dear, " he called back to Deceit, running over to disapparate the pitiful thing.

Patton was muttering to himself, the same thing over and over.  "You can't.  You can't.  You just-"

"You're looking at it right now!"  Deceit shouted.  "You're looking at things!"  

"Aaagh, I'm-" Romulus sniffled, "kinda busy here, Dee." Again, he glanced around the chaos, falling to his knees beside the creation.  He reached out both hands.  "Maybe we can, hhhng-"

A sob cut him off.  He choked, trying to hold in another as he pushed gently on the creation, pushing it out of reality.  This one was sticky.  It looked up at him with too many eyes.  

Wrath stared at each of them in turn, then back at the ground where Virgil continued to grasp fistfuls of rocks.  A low whine was coming out of him.

Logan was still just standing there taking in his surroundings, hands stretched out like another earthquake might strike at any moment.  What was Deceit yelling?  Were they still in danger?  He felt something warm at his hip.  Pulling aside his jacket, the fabric caught on something.  He looked down and saw one of the steel rods from his kit sticking at a rather unexpected angle out of his right side just above the belt.  A dark circle was spreading across the material around it.  

“Oops,” he gasped softly.  No one heard him.

“I'm sorry,” cried Romulus. Tears fell into the mud where the last creation had been.  His talons pressed hard on the ground, and he leaned down until his face touched the stone, shaking.  He whispered into it.  

“I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry.”

~~~

Sneak Preview:

               Virgil placed another stick on the fire and leaned back.  The rest of the party was dotted around the campfire, fast-asleep deep in their various accoutrements.

               “One o-clock and aaall’s weeell,” he sang quietly to himself into the clear night.  His breath made a tiny cloud of vapor in the chill.

With a deep breath, Romulus awoke, eyes fluttering open on some instinct.  Virgil hadn't realized he'd been staring at the man while he waited out his shift.  He tilted his head, whispering.

"Another nightmare?"

"A vision," Romulus murmured, or thought he did.  "I dreamt of a goddess.  She wept for centuries, and cast herself upon the Rock, dying so she could try again." His words tumbled out haphazardly, galaxy eyes wide and searching, as if he could still see it all in his mind.  “The pieces fell from the sky, they… where did they go?”  

Virgil tried to keep the skepticism from showing up in his voice.  

"Huh.  Okay, well... try to get some rest.  We've still got days of travel left to..."  He trailed off.  Further explanation was apparently unnecessary as Romulus gave the smallest of quick nods and burrowed back into the blankets without another word.

~~~

Virgil recalled that night now, as relentless winds swirled through the mountains, pelting them with hail and debris.  Logan and Deceit were taking shelter beneath a tree, leaves already ripped away, the whole thing threatening to uproot.  Wrath hung on to Patton’s petite lizard frame, little claws digging into his arm; he’d nearly been carried away by the sudden storm.

Virgil, eyes locked on the dangerous sky, shouted over the gale, "You never said "VISION"!"  

#the team names are arbitrary and just how I categorize them in my head #everyone is human unless stated otherwise #right time wrong vision #sanders sides au #secret santa 2019 #violence tw #gore tw #injury tw #body horror tw #sympathetic deceit #singular creativity #cursing tw #creature death #death tw #angst tw #buried tw #burns tw

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Thirty-Nine: Cinnamon ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Mikoto ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

“So, uh...what’s your favorite thing to make?”

Back in Home Ec once again, Sasuke’s bored out of his mind. The day before was a mini school festival, and given all the rush and preparing leading up to it, their teacher has decided it appropriate to give the class a day off from all of their sewing, baking, and other activities they used to make some money for more supplies for class.

And given that all of the underclassmen girls still seem terrified of him for...whatever reason, Sasuke falls back to the usual company of his fellow senior, Hinata.

She’s taking the time to casually knit something she was unable to finish before the craft sale. Pale blue wool dances over her needles, done almost subconsciously. “Um...can you be more specific?”

“I guess out of all the things we do here.”

She considers that with a hum. “...well, I really like knitting,” is her first answer, given with a laugh given her current project. “It’s...soothing in how repetitive it is. I can just sit and get a little lost in it. Um…” Nibbling her lip in thought, she looks around as though trying to pick out things from their surroundings. “I like to bake, too...almost anything, r-really. But my favorite are cinnamon rolls.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhm! They’re just so…!” Hinata beams to herself, cheeks going a light shade of pink at a happy memory. “When they’re warm, and the icing is still gooey, and the middle is all fluffy...it’s the best…!”

In spite of himself, Sasuke grins as she describes it. There’s something really...endearing about how into it she is. Clearly it makes her as happy as she looks. “Y’know, I’m not big on sweets...but I might have to try some sometime.”

“Oh, I could make you some! But...it’s quite the process...and you have to eat them warm. They’re so much better.”

“What about it takes so long?”

“Well, you have to put the dough together and knead it, and since it has yeast in it, it has to r-rise. That takes a while. Then you roll it out, and put the filling in...roll it up...and cut the rolls. Then it has to rise again -”

“Whoa, really?”

“Mhm! And then you finally bake it!” Hinata can’t help a soft giggle. “So all in all, in takes a few hours, start to finish. You have to be d-dedicated to it! So...it’s obviously a little, um...too long to do in class. And since exams are coming up, I...won’t have time to stay after school. I need to study.”

“Yeah, me too…” In spite of himself, Sasuke finds he’s rather disappointed. He has an idea, but...he’s not sure if it’s...appropriate. Sure, he talks to her every day in this class, but...he’s not sure if he constitutes as a friend. Trying to appear nonchalant, he offers, “Maybe on a weekend sometime?”

Looking up, Hinata blinks. “Well...the school is closed then...unless there’s an event on. But...I doubt the classroom would be open…”

...she didn't take the hint. Drat. “Uh…” How to say this without sounding too forward... “My mom’s got a pretty nice kitchen. I could...get the ingredients sometime, and we could...make them there…?”

...another blink. “...oh!” Embarrassed at not realizing what he meant, she laughs, going a bit pink. “I...s-sure! She wouldn’t mind…?”

“Nah. I bet she’d be psyched, actually.” His older brother cooks like a maniac whenever he’s home, but...well, besides a few things he’s tried since starting this silly class, Sasuke’s still not an avid cook or baker.

...and he can just imagine his mother’s face at him bringing a girl home. He’s never brought a girl over. Ever.

It’ll be amusing.

“I’ll tell her you’re giving me lessons. She’s been pretty jazzed about me taking this class. Bet she’ll be happy to see me in the kitchen.”

“Oh, good! And...I guess that would technically be true. Um...sure! Just let me know when you...want to try it?”

“Sure. Uh...got a list of what I’d need?”

“Yeah, I’ll dig out my favorite recipe when I get home. Um…” Still blushed, she asks, “Do you want me to...text it to you?”

“Good idea. Here…” They exchange numbers, Hinata promising to send him the list and a rundown of the recipe as the bell rings.

“I’ll let you know when I’m free.”

“Okay! Bye.”

Huh...he’s actually really excited about this…

A weekend passes without any word - Itachi makes a surprise visit home, so Sasuke deems it a bit more critical than baking. But when Friday arrives without any signs of anything else popping up, he decides to ask if she’s free.

“Yeah, I can make it! You’ve got everything we need?”

“Yup.” He’s only double checked like five times.

“Okay - any, um...particular time I should be there?”

“I tend to kinda sleep in...maybe early afternoon just to be safe?”

“You sleep that late?” she teases.

Sasuke can’t help a pout. “No. I just mean so no one feels rushed.”

Giggling into the cuff of her sweater, Hinata shakes her head. “I know, I know. That sounds good! I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”

“Got it.”

Saturday morning, Sasuke’s in a tizzy. He volunteered to do dishes the night before after dinner, making sure the kitchen is spotless. Not that Mikoto runs a messy house. He just...wants to make a good impression. Whatever’s left from breakfast he fervently tidies up.

His mother notices, perking a brow. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve got a cooking lesson.”

That catches her attention. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Friend from Home Ec’s gonna teach me how to make cinnamon rolls.”

Mikoto perks up another hair. “Is that so...? Who’s the friend?”

“Her name’s Hinata.”

At the word ‘her’, his mother’s eyes go round, her mouth in a small matching ‘o’. After a blink, she calmly replies. “...I see. Well...I was going to work on my flowerbeds, but...if you need any help, let me know!”

“Will do.”

Once she’s out of sight, he breaks into quiet snickers.

Priceless.

His phone buzzes at about twelve-thirty, and she estimates a twenty minute bike ride. Setting up for her arrival, he’s just putting the finishing touches to his lineup of ingredients when the doorbell rings.

“Hey.”

“Hi! Um...w-where should I put my bike?”

“We can put it in the garage.” They might live in a nice enough neighborhood, but...well, better safe than sorry. Once her ride is tucked away, Sasuke leads the way in. “So, ready to see me fail miserably at baking?”

“Oh, you won’t! I’ll do most of the work, anyway. You can watch if you don’t want to do any steps.”

“I gotta give at least some of it a try.”

Hinata starts walking him through the steps (after complimenting his prep work), showing him how to activate the yeast. “See the foam?”

“Whoa, cool.”

Next they mix the rest of the dough, adding the yeast mixture and beating it until it goes smooth.

“Okay, now we need to knead it.”

Sprinkling flour on a marble slab Mikoto often uses in her baking, Hinata shows Sasuke her technique before letting him try. It takes a few turns, but eventually he gets the hang of it, Hinata occasionally dusting more flour when necessary and checking the consistency.

“That seems good! Now, it has to rise.”

“For how long?”

“An hour.”

Covering the bowl they set it in, they leave it in the warm kitchen before...turning to each other

“Um…” Hinata smiles sheepishly. “Anything you want to...do?”

“...we could, uh...watch a movie or something.”

“S-sure!”

He lets her pick, not knowing most of what his parents have bought and hoarded over the years. He could load up Netflix, but...he’s feeling lazy. Hinata, too, seems a bit unsure and picks one at random. Some newer James Bond movie he’s never seen before. They both settle on the couch and just...sit and watch, a timer set on Sasuke’s phone.

And of course it goes off during a tense fight scene, making them both jump. “Oh!”

Migrating back to the kitchen, they remove the cover and find the dough’s grown!

“Dang!”

“It’s supposed to do that!”

Mixing cinnamon and sugar, Hinata watches as Sasuke carefully rolls out the dough into a long rectangle, then brushes it with butter.

“Very good!”

They both sprinkle the mixture, and each help roll the whole thing up.

“...I think we might need two pans,” Hinata laughs. Carefully, she cuts the long roll into pieces, laying them in a thin layer of syrup along the bottom of the pans.

Then it’s back to rising.

Retreating to their movie, the pair watch in a far more comfortable silence than before. Neither notice as Mikoto wanders in for a drink of water, peeking at the two over the couch with a sly smile (and doing the same to their rising rolls).

Movie ending a bit before the timer, they find the dough big enough anyway. Once the oven heats, in go both pans, and then it’s time to wait one last time. Hinata sits on a stool, Sasuke leaned atop the counter opposite her.

“You were right - your mom does have an awesome kitchen,” Hinata admits sheepishly.

“Yeah...I need to use it more. Guess it’s a good thing I’m taking this class. Learning how, bit by bit.”

“Mhm!”

After a small pause, Sasuke decides to admit, “And I got to make a friend out of it, too.”

Jolting a hair, Hinata goes pink as the timer goes off. “I’ll...I-I’ll get them out!”

They look...amazing.

But they’re not quite finished yet. Hinata whips up the icing, and dribbles it over the buns while they’re still hot. “...okay. Time for the final step.”

“...which is?”

“Eating them!”

Sasuke fetches plates and forks, and Hinata dishes them up. She’s right: they look gooey and fluffy.

“Well...here goes.” Tearing off a hunk, Sasuke gives it one last glance before popping it in his mouth.

She watches, seemingly not aware of her intense expression.

To torture her, Sasuke chews slowly, exaggerating a thoughtful look. He will admit...these are pretty damn good. And he doesn’t ordinarily like sweet foods.

“...well?!”

He just gives a thumbs up, still chewing, almost choking as she gives a little cheer.

...that was cute.

They continue eating, sparing another roll as Mikoto joins them. Her own test goes just as well. “You must share your recipe with me!” she insists to Hinata, who sheepishly nods.

Together the pair clean up, doing the dishes and wiping down the counters. Sasuke refuses to let her leave without taking one of the pans.

“Trust me dear, we don’t need them all here!” Mikoto laughs.

“But then I’ll eat them all…” Hinata mumbles, going pink as her companions laugh.

With that...they reach an impasse.

“I’ll, um...I-I’ll bring the pan to school on Monday!”

“Yeah, sure. No rush.”

“I...I had a lot of fun.”

“Yeah...me too.”

...silence.

Nibbling her lip, Hinata carefully stores the pan into her bag, which she slings on her back before retrieving her bike. “I...guess I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

Looking a little torn, Hinata hesitates before taking off. A hand waves back over her shoulder.

He waves back.

And...can’t help but feel a little lonely.

...maybe he’ll go have another roll.

     More Home Ec AU! Ahhh I really like this one, it's so fluffy and pure xD      Hinata finally gets to make her cinnamon rolls. And Sasuke gets to help! And inch a little closer to realizing that Hinata is TOTALLY girlfriend material.      I think Mikoto approves x3      Buuut on that note, I'ma call it a night~ Thanks for reading!

#sasuhina #hyūga hinata #uchiha sasuke #uchiha mikoto #best years of your life [ au ] #365daysofsasuhina