#school is starting soon which means I actually am forced to leave the house

[ranvwoop]

I should make a cute mask but the sewing machine is NOT more afraid of me than I am of it

#vwoop.noises #school is starting soon which means I actually am forced to leave the house #My father used to steal disposable masks for me from work but idk if they still have them Pensive #I bought a sewing machine but idk how to work it. Threading it was a two day family activity

[bucky-in-paradise]

Head Banging Hottie

So I have had this fic idea bouncing around in my head since volume one came out and I finally decided to say fuck it and write it out so welcome to the Gareth’s next door neighbor fic no one asked for! I too have fallen down the Eddie Munson rabbit hole so I am happy to contribute to the fandom lol.

Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Word Count: 6.6k

Summary: You didn’t expect to make many friends moving to Hawkins midway into the semester of your senior year, but who could’ve guessed you’d make a whole pack of them, as well as something more?

Warnings: none, making out?

Moving to a new town multiple states away from the home you’ve always known would be hard on anyone, but the fact that you were now supposed to integrate yourself two months into the first school semester in such a tight knit community had you more anxious than ever. 

Supposedly, the move would build character and strengthen your social skills according to your mother who is the mastermind behind the idea to move to a smaller town anyways, which also had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she could no longer afford the mortgage on your home. Hawkins did sound like the kind of town that would be more affordable for a single mother and her only daughter, but you refused to see it in any sort of positive light. 

You knew this was in your mom's best interest to move out of the town consumed with so many memories of the life her and your dad lived through together, but realistically you also were leaving behind a life you knew you’d never get back. 

What annoyed you even more was the fact that on move in day, loud instrumental noises consumed the entirety of the cul-de-sac you now called home from an open garage door, forcing you to hear the sounds of rage and teen angst. 

A sigh left your mouth as your mom pulled the car up into the driveway of your new home, conveniently right next door to said open garage. She hopped out immediately, starting to unload the car while the movers unpacked the truck that followed behind you. 

Looking over your shoulder, you attempt to peer into the garage where the noise was coming from, but are unable to see too deep inside. Accepting your fate, you step out of the car and carry the small box that had ridden on your lap with you on your journey over to the house next door to get a closer look at the band inside. You stop in front of the garage door and flood with embarrassment as the drummer stops immediately at your presence, the others following behind soon after except for one head banding, long haired guitar player who seems oblivious to his bandmates and continues to bob his head along to his own melody. 

After a few more seconds of a delayed reaction, he too looks around at his friends in search of the newfound silence before turning his back to them and facing you. “Well, what do we have here?”

You blush immediately, turning back towards your house to see everyone gone, clearly inside moving things inside and leaving you entirely alone with these strangers. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt or anything. Just moving in next door,” with a nod of your head towards your new house, the guys all nod or ahh in understanding. “Heard the ruckus over here from down the street, so I wanted to see what exactly I’ll be subjected to for the next couple years,” you say with a small smile, hoping you are coming off friendly enough. 

The drummer in the back of the garage rises from his stool and walks over, reaching out his hand to shake before looking down and noticing a box in your arms, dropping his own right one. “No worries, we were just practicing for our gig in a couple weeks. I’m Gareth, the only member of the band that actually lives here,” he laughs out as he backs up to stand next to the long haired, head banger. 

The other two on the opposite side of the garage introduce themselves as well, but you’re still staring at said head banger waiting on his introduction. “And I’m Eddie, pleased to meet you,” he shoots a wink at you as he says it. Nodding your head at their introductions, you spit out your own name before looking back over at your house and spotting your mom heading out the front door. “I should probably get back over and, you know, help. It uh, it was nice to meet you all and keep up the good work, it was just starting to grow on me,” you shoot back at him.

With that, you turn around and begin to walk away with a small smile on your face. You release a breath of air, willing yourself not to turn around in the fear that they’d catch you looking. Once you get to the open trunk of the car, you attempt a sly glance over through the part in your hair, but whip your head back into the boxes filling up the boot of the car when you notice the boy named Eddie standing with his hands on his hips in front of the open garage, not even hiding his stare. After you pick up a second box on top of your previous one you’ve stupidly been holding this entire time, you turn back to Gareth’s open garage and watch as Eddie goes back in to set down his guitar before gathering the guys up and leading them over to your driveway. “Could you use a few extra pairs of hands? We may lack strength, but we exude endurance,” he winks at you again.

Blushing you nod your head and thank them, handing over your two boxes to Eddie before leading the other three into the back of the moving van. You turn your head over your shoulder to watch him enter your front door and get to work. Quickly, you and the four boys, alongside the movers and your mother unloaded the massive truck and by lunchtime, everything was inside waiting to be organized. You all gathered in the living room as your mom tipped the movers, sending them on their way. “Would you guys like to stay for lunch? We were talking about ordering some pizza on the way in and you guys definitely deserve a reward for all your hard work,” you laugh out as your mom returns from the driveway. “They can stay for pizza, right mom?”

“Of course! Thank you so much for lending a helping hand. I’ll go call up the pizza place we passed on our way in and order a few pizza’s. Three is enough for you boys right?”

Yes ma'am’s flew out of their mouths as you all watched her scurry into the kitchen to place the order. “So, are you going to be going to Hawkins High or that preppy private school the next town over?” Eddie asks you as he and the others all sit down on the plush carpeting along the floor. 

“Hawkins High on Monday morning. Not too excited about that one seeing as the semester has already started, but there is nothing I can do about that,” you shrug as you take a seat next to Eddie on the floor against your couch. “You know you guys can sit on the furniture right? It’s not brand new or anything.”

“Trust me, you don’t want our sweaty asses dirtying up your nice furniture,” Jeff laughs out, encouraging laughter from the other teens in the room. You join them before smiling towards your mom as she walks back into the room.

“I’m going to head up the stairs and unpack the towels and toiletries so I can have a quick shower. You’ll keep an eye out for the pizzas right, hun?”

“‘Course mom, we’re not going anywhere,” you smile at her as she turns and heads up the stairs to shower. You stand and stretch, your shirt rising with you just a smidge and you swear you can see Eddie checking you out as you do, the familiar blush rising back up your neck and to your cheeks. “You boys up for setting up the tv? We can put something on while we eat,” you say as you walk over the the box labeled VCR and Tapes. 

“Sure, hun,” Eddie smiles as he lets loose the pet name your mom spoke to you. You hide your face in the now open box and remove its contents while the guys all share a knowing look and huddle around the heavy brick that is your dinosaur tv. You stifle a laugh as they struggle to lift it into the open entertainment center and as soon as it touches down on the wooden surface, you reach around and plug in the power cord to turn everything on. 

“Awesome, thank you, seriously, for all your help,” you smile at them as you bring over the box of tapes. “So, since you guys did the bulk of the heavy lifting you should pick what we watch. The cable’s not setup yet, but we have tons of movies on VHS, so take your pick.” You hand over the box to Gareth and let them shuffle through the options before Eddie selected a very used and familiar tape. “Ahh a classic,” you smile before sliding it into the opening of your worn out VCR player. Right as the opening credits of Nightmare on Elm Street start rolling, the doorbell rings signaling the arrival of the pizzas. “I got it!” you yell out heading over to the front door after swiping your moms wallet off the island separating your living room and kitchen. 

After paying the teen holding your delicious smelling pizzas, you turn towards the guys and lay the boxes out of the floor and hand out the paper plates the delivery kid gave you. The movie passes all too quickly and by the time your mom comes waltzing down the stairs, the guys are standing and making their way out of the house. “Oh boys, you’re leaving already? Thank you again for all your help,” She says as she settles herself down on the floor and takes one of the few leftover slices of pepperoni. 

“Gotta head out Mrs. Y/L/N. Thank you again for the pizza,” Eddie smiles at her before turning it to you as the boys all wave and shuffle out the front door. “Thanks for the movie and the company. I guess we’ll see you Monday at school, huh?”

You smile back and nod, “absolutely, I’ll see you there. Think you could save the new girl a spot at lunch?” His smile drops slightly, but he is quick to turn it back on and nod before following his bandmates back out into the street. You watch confused by his sudden turn of emotions from the front door as the three boys pile into, what you assume to be, Eddie’s van while Gareth walks back into the garage, sending you a brief wave before he pulls the door down. 

You shut your front door, heading to the VCR and pushing the rewind button as your mom takes out a new movie for you to put it. You both settle into the couch as it begins, but your mind stays fixated on your new classmates, continuing to wonder about one in particular as you go about your day. 

________________________________________________________________

When your alarm goes off Monday morning, you groan shifting onto your side away from the sunlight peeking in through the slanted blinds. You force yourself out of bed and head into the bathroom to get ready before heading downstairs to find your mom making breakfast, the coffee pot already full and ready to help you start the day. You pour yourself a healthy mug before tucking some eggs and toast onto a plate for breakfast. It doesn’t take long before you’re out the door, grabbing your bike from the side of the house and taking off down the street towards Hawkins High. 

When you arrive, you’re embarrassingly early, so you make your way towards the main office to grab your schedule and get your locker combo. It takes a good amount of time hunting your locker down and getting the code right after four failed attempts, but once you’ve got some of your materials put away, you head over to the school library to see about getting any textbooks you may need now that you’ve secured your timetable. 

It’s mostly empty when you enter, a few students settled into tables focused on their own work, but you pay them no mind, heading straight for the librarian’s counter and requesting their help on where to find your books. By the time you leave, you’ve only got ten minutes to get to first period so you hustle towards the correct wing and locate your first class fairly easily. Upon entry, most students are already seated, leaving three empty seats towards the back. Before heading that way, you introduce yourself to your new English teacher and attempt to get caught up on what they have been going over the last few weeks. 

She’s nice enough and gives you an extra syllabus from her desk before directing you to a seat in the back. One of the three is now occupied by none other than Jeff and you smile as you settle into the seat next to him. You chat briefly until your teacher begins lecturing and you’re quick to take out a pen and notebook, scribbling everything she says down so you don’t have an even harder time catching up. 

Once class is over, you and Jeff walk out, comparing your schedules only to find that you have the one class together, but he reassures you by filling you in on the fact that you share three other classes with Eddie. You brush your hair behind your ears as a blush rises to your cheeks. Your next class you would finally see the head banging boy who consumed your every waking thought since you met him Saturday morning. Jeff nudged your arm and nodded his head towards your next class, the door propped open allowing you to see the boy in question sitting in the last row by the windows, head down doodling on his open notebook, seemingly lost in space. 

“See you at lunch!” Jeff shouts at you from down the hall. When had he left your side? You nod at him and enter the class shyly, going through the same routine and making your way up to your history teacher and introduce yourself, back facing the rows of seats. What you can’t see is Eddie’s head whip up the second you start to speak and stare a hole through your back. He studies your form, a soft smile taking over his face until he realizes how creepy he’s being and looks back down to attempt to quell the slight blush on his cheeks. 

When you turn back to face him and the still many empty seats filling the classroom, you don’t hesitate to select the one beside him and send him your warmest grin before unpacking your backpack’s contents onto your desk. “Hey Head banger, how are you this dreary Monday morning?”

He pulls his eyes away from your smile and attempts to focus on your bright eyes, but you had already caught him staring, forcing you to stifle an even bigger smile. God two full days in this town and you’ve already got a crush. “Mornin’ Y/N. Tired is how I am on this dreary Monday morning. What about you? Hawkins High all that you expected?” He props his arm up on his desk, his palm framing his right cheek as he gives you his full attention. 

“Ha, yeah it’s a dream isn’t it? Stunning architecture, can’t wait to see what kind of high-quality food they serve during lunch period. Brought a backup though just in case,” you lift your sack lunch from your pack while you speak. “Anyways, I’m just glad I’m not a total loser on my first day and actually have someone to talk to right off the bat.” Your textbook and notebook now lie open on your desk waiting to be used as more students begin to filter in, some whispering to one another as they sit, eyes locked on you and Eddie. 

“Don’t speak too soon, hun,” Eddie whispers before facing the front of the classroom and pulling his hair up into a low bun against the nape of his neck. You frown at him and start to ask what he meant by that, but before you can your teacher begins his morning speech then launches into lecture. You make a point not to forget it, though, as Eddie doesn’t even look your way once during the entire period, giving you ample time to side glance at him throughout the class. 

When the bell rings signaling the end of class, you turn towards him ready to ask if he wants to walk with you to your next class as you have it together, but he’s already packed up and standing from his desk shooting you a brief wave before rushing out the door and down the hall. One of the boys in the row ahead of you yells after him, “FREAK!” and you shake your head as you start to piece together why he might be avoiding you compared to your first introduction on Saturday. You follow out behind two cheerleaders overhearing their conversation. “God Munson is so weird,” the brunette with the ponytail utters loudly into the open hallway. You can only assume by Munson she means Eddie. 

“You’re telling me. That cult of his is full of freaks. New girl better watch out before she’s corrupted too,” they giggle as they make their way down the hall, looking over their shoulders at you before turning the corner. You stop in your tracks, nervous energy consuming you as you paint a mental picture in your head of the way these boys must be perceived by the other students at this school. You follow them slowly and make your way to your third period class, the last before your lunch break. You step inside third period trig and look for Eddie’s bunned brown hair, spotting him in the exact same corner seat he occupied in the previous classroom. You skip the introductions and head straight back towards him sitting down in the seat in front of him this time, turning your body in his direction and straightening your legs into the aisle in a stretch. 

“You gonna walk me to the cafeteria after this class or run off ahead of me again?” You shoot him a smile as you say it, hoping he doesn’t take offense to your question. He eyes you warily before looking around at his classmates questioningly.

“You have to have realized by now that talking to me is going to destroy any chance you have at making any friends?” He finally looks back at you with a smile on his face. 

“Why would I need any other friends now that I’ve met you and the other guys? Besides, you think I give a shit about those idiotic social constructs? Eddie, I’m the new girl, I’m already an eye sore so I think we can both agree I am probably better off hanging with you guys than some asshole jocks,” you tell him before turning in your seat to face the front of the room. He huffs out a laugh behind you and you look down to your bag and take out the necessary items for your math class. It feels like it drags on forever, especially since you don’t have any opportunity to glance secretly at the boy behind you without him catching you red handed. 

As soon as the bell rings, Eddie is up on his feet and half of you expects him to take off again as you shove your materials into your backpack, but he’s quick to swoop it off the floor and bow in front of you, extending his other hand out to you. You take it with a smile and let him lead you into the hall, pointedly ignoring all the open stares the two of you are getting as you go. He drops your hand as you chatter about your previous home and what it was like as he leads you to the lunchroom. Once you arrive, he rushes ahead of you to pull open the cafeteria door and usher you in, following just a step behind you. You turn to look at him after you have a moment to survey the open space, tables filled with prattling students. “C’mon, I’ll show you where the freaks sit,” he smiles, a full, genuine smile, as he says it. You trail behind him with a dopey smile as he leads you to a table full of teenage boys.

“Guys, this is Y/N. She’ll be eating lunch with us from now on,” Eddie says it with a touch of finality, as if no one should dare object to his statement and no shocker at all, no one did. His fellow bandmates eagerly share their greetings with you and turn to introduce the other boys sitting at the table. You’re quick to sit in the open chair next to Eddie’s left with Gareth on your other side and begin talking to Dustin, Mike and Lucas about how nervous they were on their first day too. Everyone is so warm and welcoming to you, you take a moment to recognize just how lucky you were to move in next door to Gareth Saturday morning. 

Dustin shakes you out of your thoughts by asking, “Y/N do you play D&D? You should totally join our club!” 

“Oh uh, I actually have never played before, but I would be interested in seeing how you guys play if none of you mind?” The group surrounds you with a chorus of yes’s and nods of encouragement while Eddie sits silently next to you. 

He nudged your arm while the others went back to their own conversations about character sheets and who you could be that would benefit the team best, forcing your attention to shit undividedly to him. “We can always meet after school if you want to help build you a character and go over some basics? I’ve got extensive knowledge on the subject, I’ll have you know, and the dungeon master really should be the one to teach you these things,” he finishes with a wink and you flush under his intense gaze as you soak up what he said.

“Ye-yeah actually that sounds wonderful. Maybe you could come over on Friday after school?” 

“Sorry, hun, Hellfire Club meets Friday’s, but we could go out for dinner after and I’ll divulge all the details to you then?” He looks at you hopefully, like you would ever turn him down.

“Absolutely, my treat since the all mighty dungeon master is willing to help a lowly, inexperienced player,” you smirk, beginning to open your lunch sack and pull out a sandwich and some chips. He laughs, reaching into his own lunch and snacking on some pretzels. “That all you brought?” 

“Yeah, woke up too late to make anything so I just grabbed the first thing I saw on the counter,” he shrugs like its no big deal.

“Here,” you tear your peanut butter and jelly in half, extending the larger half to him, “we can split mine.” He studies you for a moment before nodding with a smile and reaching under your thrust out arm and picking up the smaller half. He takes a quick bite before you can react and you bop his shoulder with your own and begin eating your own half. 

Lunch passes by quickly, as does the rest of the day and you’re grateful to be able to head home after your last class. Eddie trails behind you, continuing his earlier trend by carrying your backpack over his shoulder as you both make your way to the parking lot in front of campus. “I’m this way,” you point towards the bike rack as Eddie comes to a halt, watching you unlock your bike lock and pull it from the metal rack. 

“C’mon, hun, load that sucker up in the van and let me give you a lift home? I’m dropping Gareth and the guys off anyways,” he smiles, already heading over to his van and lifting the trunk door up. You follow along with your bike allowing him to help you load it up before climbing through the side door and plopping yourself down next to Gareth while Eddie starts the van. 

You all chat throughout the drive to your neighborhood and when you arrive, Eddie jumps out and rushes to the back, hauling your bike from the trunk and placing it on the sidewalk next to Gareth's house. “Thanks Eddie.” You grab the handlebars of the bike and say goodbye to the guys before turning and heading towards your own driveway, pausing to turn back and wave. Gareth has already disappeared inside his house, but Eddie remains watching your retreating figure and you shoot him a smile and wave before heading through the gate into your backyard and leaning your bike against the side of the house while you listen to the sounds of Eddie’s beat up van drive down the street. 

The rest of the week passes by very similar to your first day. Eddie continues to carry your backpack around school and by Friday afternoon, most of the school body has condemned you to the freaks table, but you couldn’t care less. As you’ve gotten to know the group, especially Eddie, you are reminded of your luck in moving here and suddenly don’t miss your old school all that much. They make you laugh and help guide you as you prepare for your first meeting with the Hellfire Club, continuing to make you feel welcomed and less nervous to jump into the fantasy world that is D&D. 

After school, you make your way to the theater room with the guys and watch as they begin to lay everything out and prepare themselves for the campaign. “You can sit next to me, Y/N!” Dustin shouts at you as you watch, moving to grab a chair from the stack against the wall. Smiling, you make your way towards him to help, but Eddie intercepts and pulls the chair from the freshman’s hands.

“Sorry Henderson, on her first day she’ll be sitting with the dungeon master,” Eddie smirks at you, carrying the chair up to the head of the table and setting it next to the grand throne. “You can take a seat next to me, hun. I’ll help give you pointers as we go on so that when you join the next campaign, you’ll have a better understanding of what is going on. It’ll make it easier to build your character tonight,” he winks. 

You blush, taking the seat next to him and nodding. You watch the boys follow suit, sitting and listening as Eddie begins his opening speech. For the next two hours, you study the map and board, enthralled at the detail and time that clearly went into making this game fun for everyone. Eddie whispers little tidbits of information as you go along and you follow intently during the course of the evening, releasing a long sigh when Eddie announces that the trial is over, leaving the boys on a hook that will pick back up the following Friday. They all groan as they begin to clean up the mess and re-stack the chairs. 

You help as best as you can and soon enough, you’re all walking out the school doors and to your respective vehicles. Once Eddie figured out you were biking to school, he made it a point to start picking you, and Gareth of course, up in the mornings, as well as dropping you both off after the school day was over. 

You wave goodbye to your new teammates and follow Eddie to his van, allowing him to open the passenger side door for you. Once he’s inside, he turns to look at you and asks, “so, you feel like diner food, Chinese, pizza again? What’re you in the mood for sweet cheeks?” 

“Hmmm diner food, a burger sounds fantastic right now. Oh and a milkshake!” Eddie laughs and turns on the ignition, pulling out of the school parking lot and heading into town.

“I could definitely fuck up a milkshake right now,” he says, smiling over at you before returning his focus to the road. “So what did you think of the game? Interested in officially joining the club?”

“I think so. I mean, it seems incredibly complicated and you’ll need to be patient with me for the next couple of months, but it does look fun. You’re really good by the way, at storytelling and everything.”

“Well thank you my fair maiden. We will go easy on you for your first campaign, don’t worry too much about that. Plus, everyone seems eager to help you along,” Eddie glances over at you before turning in the the car park of the diner. 

“Do I get one of those cool shirts now?” You nod your head towards Eddie’s torso proudly displaying the Hellfire logo he designed.

Eddie parks the van before hurrying to your door and opening it for you, providing his hand to help you out. “Absolutely, you can’t be a member without one.” You reach into the back to pull out your backpack and just as you go to sling it over your shoulder, Eddie steals it before sliding it onto his own. “Too slow, hun. Gotta be quicker than that.”

You shake your head at him and bump your shoulders together, forcing him to shuffle to the right. “You have no idea how quick I can be, Munson.” He pauses his stride and stares as you turn around and start to walk backwards towards the glowing lights of the diner. “C’mon, we gotta fuck up some milkshakes remember?” He fumbles out of his stupor and jogs to catch up with you, propping the door open with his shoulder and motioning you inside first. 

You both are greeted by an older waiter and follow him to a booth tucked away towards the back of the room. Eddie slides in first, setting your pack down next to him and you fold into the booth opposite him. The waiter slides the two of you some menus and retreats back to the kitchen. You both glance over your options, quickly deciding on the burger and a chocolate shake, you set your own down and study Eddie’s face as he surveys his own menu. 

His long hair covers most of his face, but you can’t look away from his stunning brown eyes as they begin to gloss over in deep concentration. “What’s got you so focused over there dungeon master?”

Eddie breaks from his thoughts and drops the menu onto the table top, folding his arms on top of each other and leaning in close to you. “I’m just trying to figure out when the best time to ask you whether or not this would be considered our first date or not would be. But I guess the cats out of the bag huh hun?” You blink at him in shock before leaning in on your own half of the table, fingers moving anxiously.

“Did you intend for this to be a date, Eddie?” 

“I mean I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything and I know you’re still new here so you probably want to explore other options, but I was worried that if you did you’d forget about us losers and-”

“Eddie, stop. I like you. As a friend and as something more too. If you want this to be a date, then so do I. Don’t downplay yourself, you’re incredible. You have done so much for me since I got here. I mean, hell, five minutes into meeting my mom and I you were getting the guys to help us settle into the house,” you reach across the table and grab his hand, resting it in your own two hands and twirling the ring on his right ring finger around. 

“Well as much as I love all the flattery, it was for selfish reasons I assure you. The second I saw you outside Gareth’s garage holding that box, I was head over heels sweetheart,” he says with a soft smile. 

You make to reply but before you can get anything out, the waiter returns to take your order. As you start to pull your hand from Eddies, he interlocks your fingers and orders for himself then looks at you. With you smile, you place your own order and watch as your waiter retreats towards the kitchen once again to put it in. You shift your focus back to the brown haired boy in front of you and ask, “so since this is officially a date, does that mean we can share milkshakes cause your oreo option is sounding pretty good now that you’ve ordered it”. 

Eddie laughs and reaches across the booth to tuck your hair behind your ear. “Of course, as long as you don’t drink all of it. I do not give you permission to fuck up my entire milkshake.” You laugh heartily, Eddie joining you soon after. You both talk the night away, food and drinks coming and going, your character fully built and developed. Before you know it, it’s after ten and the diner is getting ready to close for the evening. “C’mon, I’ll take you home, hun,” Eddie stands, pulling out his wallet as he goes. 

“Oh no you don’t head banger. I already told you I was paying on Monday, put that away,” you complain trying to reach for your backpack, but as always, he scoops it up and launches it onto his back, away from you. 

“This is a date isn’t it? I asked you first, so technically that means I’m the one paying. You can ask me on the next date and maybe then I’ll let you pay,” he says with a smirk and a wink. You give him a small frown and grumble that technically you had asked him before grabbing onto the hand not holding onto a twenty dollar bill and intertwine your fingers. He leads you up to the checkout counter and hands over the bill to your waiter, refusing his change as a tip and bidding him goodnight. You wave as well and head into the chilly evening air.

“Let’s get you inside the van and the heater blowing,” Eddie says, noticing your shivering body huddled against his side. You thank him as he opens your door for you and rub your hands up and down your arms as you wait for him to get the van started. Eddie starts the engine, wasting no time as he blasts the heater on and reverses out of the lot. As soon as you’re on the main road he continuously glances at you before focusing his eyes on the dark streets of Hawkins. 

“What?” you ask curiously.

“Hmm? Oh nothing, sorry. Just- can I hold your hand?”

You snort out a laugh, reaching between the center console and grasping the hand that was fidgeting with the driver’s armrest. You bring his hand into your lap and similar to in the diner, you twist his ring around his finger, admiring them as you do. “I like your rings,” you say quietly. 

He looks at you again, a faint blush rising up his neck as he clears his throat. “Thanks, um, my Uncle gave me a couple as birthday presents a couple years ago and I just started collecting more after that.” You smile at him warmly before relaxing completely into the seat, extremely happy with how the day turned out.

“They suit you,” you say with more confidence. 

“Thanks, hun.” 

As you head towards your house, you fall into easy conversation about the next campaign Eddie has planned for Hellfire and he reassures you that it won’t be too intense to allow you to get your bearings and survive past the initial fight. When you do eventually pull up to your house, neither of you move to get out of the car, just basking in a comfortable silence as Eddie turns off the engine and shifts his body to face you. “I had a really good time tonight, Eddie,” you whisper, not wanting to break the stillness that’s filled the air of the van.

“Me too, sweetheart. Think you’d maybe want to come to band practice tomorrow afternoon? I mean, I know it’s a lot of effort to make the journey to the garage next door, but I promise to make it worth your while?” Eddie smirks as he leans forward to tuck another strand of hair behind your ear. Instead of bringing his hand down, though, he continues to play gently with the ends of your hair, twirling them around his pointer finger then letting it drop. 

“If everyone’s cool with me barging in, then yeah I would love to watch more of that head banging action you’ve got going on,” you laugh. 

“I am pretty good at it aren’t I?”

“Oh yeah, think you’d be willing to give me some lessons?” 

Eddie makes a face like he’s thinking about it before saying, “sure, but my one on one lessons don’t just come free you know?”

“Well what would you like?” 

“How about another date with the beautiful maiden?” he asks with hopeful eyes, hand dropping from your hair and onto the armrest at your side. 

You lean forward into his space across the console, prompting him to meet you halfway. Your faces are only inches apart in the darkness of the van, but you can still clearly see his stunning eyes and pink cheeks. “I think that can be arranged,” you whisper softly. 

“Okay then, it’s a date.” Eddie leans in closer, bringing his left hand up to cup your cheek. “Could this head banger also be rewarded with a kiss fair maiden?” Nodding slowly, you turn your head to lay a soft kiss on his cheek before moving in and brushing your lips with his ever so gently. 

As Eddie goes to pull back, you surge forward placing both your hands on his neck and lock your lips with his. A groan rises from the back of his throat as he catches up with you, moving his soft, full lips against yours. What started as a light peck has now evolved into a full blown make out session as you bring your hands up into his thick, unruly hair. He moans softly when you give it a slight tug and brings his own hands to rest on your waist, gently pulling you closer towards him. As you’re about to move onto his lap, you hear your garage door start to open and rip yourself away from Eddie completely to see your mom standing in her nightgown and robe on your illuminated driveway. “Shit, I guess that’s my cue,” you say, reaching into the back and pulling out your pack. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Eddie asks as he pats his hair down and fidgets in his seat. You nod hurriedly before wrenching the door open. 

You glance at your mother who is very clearly watching you with her hands folded across her chest and decide, fuck it. You lean back over into Eddie's space and lay a sweet kiss on his parted lips, only giving him a few seconds to kiss back before crawling out the passenger door. “I’ll definitely see you tomorrow dungeon master,” you wink and shut the door. Eddie watches you transfixed as you bound up to your mother and turn to wave at him. He waves back at the both of you and watches as you pull her into the house. 

Once the garage door is securely shut does Eddie restart his engine and drive out of your cul-de-sac. 

For the next half hour, you're regaling your mom with tales of your afternoon with Hellfire and evening with Eddie and once again you think of just how lucky you are to have moved next to a band containing the hottest head banging boy you’ve ever seen.

#eddie munson x reader #stranger things #eddie munson #eddie my beloved #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson oneshot #joseph quinn #buckyinparadisemasterlist #hellfire club

[void-galaxy-shenanigans]

What is a Scapegoat? (toxic family roles)

...Because the last one was well-received so ¡let’s make a series & talk about every role! 🤷‍♂️

Why am I qualified to talk about this?: We researched the heck out of it because we became the scapegoat as soon as we stopped trying to please our family 24/7.

The basics: In toxic families, kids are forced to adhere to certain roles to keep the peace &/or keep themselves safe. Scapegoat is one role a kid may be forced into.

What is it?: In brief, a toxic family role. Kids (& sometimes adults) in toxic families are forced into roles by family members & may be punished for trying to leave their assigned role. You can have multiple roles depending on which family member assigned it (some examples — child is dad’s mascot but mom’s scapegoat; uncle is dad’s scapegoat but mom’s mascot; sibling is other sibling’s scapegoat but dad’s golden child). This is one role a member of a toxic family may end up in.

⚠️Warning (below the cut): mentions of ab*se, neglect, & trauma⚠️

Why would a kid end up in this role?:

The simple answer is that their family is toxic, abusive, &/or neglectful, & manipulative.

This is usually the person who spots cracks in the façade. This is the person who starts realizing their family is toxic & breaking out of their previous role (golden child, ghost/hungry child, mascot, etc.). Instead of actually fixing things, the family gaslights that this person is crazy, overreacting, their memories are wrong, & they’re ‘actually at fault’ for anything & everything that goes wrong. They get ‘thrown under the bus’ (/met) by their own family for just spotting toxic things & giving up on their previous role. They realize that they’ll never be “perfect” enough, quiet enough, strong enough.....enough for their family, and they give up. But this breaks the family system, so others will lash out.

~~~

On occasion, if no one broke the mold yet or the mold breaker has cut contact, this is simply whoever is the easiest target for blame, shame, gaslighting & abuse. That may mean a very young child, or a person who doesn’t go to every single family function, or the queer, disabled, &/or otherwise Other™ family member that stands out.

((This role may also be called the Troublemaker or Black Sheep.))

What does this role look like?:

- “lazy” / unproductive

- may be sleeping a lot

- likely has anxiety &/or depression

- actually talks about what’s going on to friends, teachers, or other people they think they can trust (those people might break their trust)

- loud, taking up a lot of space, attention seeking (all or part of the time)

- rolling eyes, arms crossed defensively, etc. around other people &/or around other family members

- lashing out at friends, family, etc.

- “acting out” at school, church, etc.

- fight or flight response more often than fawn or freeze

- self deprecating or jokes about their trauma &/or assumed lack of worth/value

- social isolation (being trapped in the house, or blamed for many bad things, or etc. so that no one would want to be around you)

- behind closed doors, the family may deny this person their needs &/or desires (as bad as denying food, & as small as denying a gift you asked for (but lashing out when you get it for yourself) - the point is ‘you’re not one of us so we don’t have to take care of you’)

- ‘¡I didn’t f*cking [whatever they’re being blamed for]!!” (either saying it, or thinking it, or it shows in body language / facial expressions)

- others blame this person for things beyond their control, &/or things that someone else did (‘someone moved the remote, it’s your fault now because I want someone to blame’)

- their supposed ‘crimes’ are likely exaggerated, dramatized, & unrealistic or even impossible

- eventually leaves the family system entirely (moves away, goes no contact, etc.)

~~~

What does this role feel like?:

- constant shame (I am bad/evil) & guilt (I did something bad)

- overwhelmed

- chronic fatigue (you’re always exhausted & sleepy no matter how much you rest)

- gets physically ill often (because trauma weakens the immune system, especially when you’re aware it’s trauma & not supposed to be normal / not supposed to happen)

- lashing out, then regretting it

- dissociation (reality isn’t real + I’m not real)

- desire to / dreaming of leaving the family behind

- guilt & shame that you want to leave the family

- anger. frustration. rage. (this kind of anger stems from pain & betrayal)

- emotional isolation (because the whole point of scapegoating someone is to cut them off from help & from other family members)

- failure. like you failed your family.

- “I don’t belong in my family” (because they’re constantly treating you like you don’t) &/or “I don’t belong in any family because I’d be [terrible/a burden/etc.]”

- negative voices in your head; self deprecating

- “infected” abandonment wound (as in, it’s amplified on a regular basis because of how you’re treated)

~~~

If you were also put in this role, you deserve better & I hurt with you. You can leave your family & cut contact, you can heal, & you’re allowed to (not that you need my permission, but I know it can be reassuring to hear/see someone say it anyway).

If your sibling is in this role, it’s not your fault (it’s your parents’/caretakers’/egg &/or sperm donor’s/donors’ fault). You may want to gently let them know you believe them & are there for them. Stand up for them if you’re feeling brave, &/or break out of the family system with them & stick by their side.

~Lucca (soother, protector) & Ace (protector)

#trauma #childhood trauma #scapegoat #scapegoated #scapegoating #toxic family role #toxic family #neglect #abuse #childhood abuse #psychological abuse #~Lucca #~Ace

[erscogadatabase]

13: The War of Ask Erik! and Erscoga

Date: 7-9-2019 IDST

Nalitie: *barges into Dukermin's actually existant house with Lisanarda* IT'S TIME!

Dukermin: It's 2:30 in the morning.

Nalitie: Oh yeah. Earth time and Erscoga time work differently... I was just over there having tea with.... Some people... and trying to clear our names. Because we're wanted.

Dukermin: Oh I never switched my clock over from daylight savings time. It's 3:30. Did you clear our names?

Nalitie: ... Well not exactly. We're safe at the school, from that time we barged in there, and a few of those people are chill with the fact that we OHNO *spidey senses are tingling* SHE'S HERE

Dukerin: It's SAM.

Sam: Uhhhhhh.

Nalitie: How did you even get into this house? I'm surprised, it took me forever to find it.

Sam: *shrugs* Good question.

Dukermin: There are so many doors that need opening and buttons that need to be pushed. You are a force that will be difficult to be reckoned with.

Lisanarda: *probably crying because it's 3:30 am and they want to be sleeping*

Sam: I'm so confused.

Dukermin: AHA Our plans our coming to fruition.

Nalitie: ^whispers* What's our plan again? I think all of our people are asleep who we might need in this...

Dukermin: Well, how about before we destroy each other we go out for tacos?

Nalitie: How about... BOGOF tacos?

Sam: Tacos sound good.

Dukermin: We can take the van.

Nalitie: *already running to the elevator* TO THE VAN!

Sam: *follows*

Dukermin: *already in the van*

Nalitie: *gets the elevator going, then presses the proper button for the proper floor*

(Soon everyone was in the van)

Nalitie: Guess who can drive legally on Earth now! ^starts van and drives to what looks like a run-down motel*

(The sign is falling apart. The motel part is crossed out and replaced with "BOGOF Tacos." You walk inside, and Homeless Henry is sitting at the front desk.)

Homeless Henry: Welcome to BOGOF Tacos, miss.

Dukermin: I forgot my wallet.

Homeless Henry: Don't worry! For Erscoga's best queen, I'm willing to give you our special deal: buy one get one free BOGOF tacos! That means you get 4 tacos for the price of one. *looks at Sam and Nalitie* But that deal is only extended to the nice queenly lady *wink*.

Dukermin: *wink* Sounds like a plan.

Sam: Do you guys have different currency here?

Nalitie: *reaches into her wallet, which is full of Earth Money (™)* Ujm *reaches into her pocket which is full of Meriloft moneY* Uh *reaches into other pocket, which is full of Ask Erik! Money* UH I'm broke.

Dukermin: I can pay in kindness.

Homeless Henry: *is interested*

Dukermin: How many compliments would it take to pay for our tacos?

Homeless Henry: Well, compliments won't make me un-homeless like money would, but anything yer willing to give me is fine by me :)

Dukermin: Alright! You have kind eyes that are the color of a warm summer day. You can make any outfit look like it belongs in 17 magazine. And finally, you slay.

Homeless Henry: *has been borrowing Papyrus's Dating Handbook and realizes that compliments are a positive step* *doesn't say anything though, but looks really pleased* Enjoy yer tacos, ladies.

Dukermin: Will do! *blows a kiss*

Homeless Henry: *literally melts*

Sam: That was... so weird.

Dukermin: Tacos are on me! Enjoy!

Nalitie: *assembles her own tacos because Homeless Henry was the waiter, too* *leaves to get a motel room to eat in*

Dukermin: *taco time* So wha'ts the game plan for this war situation?

Nalitie: CONFORMITY! To the rules of like reality.

Sam: You do realize I'm right here, and we're on opposite sides.

Nalitie: I never told you anything you didn't already know.

Dukermin: Wait how do wars work? We're supposed to like be taking land and stuff.

Sam: See, I declared war. But did I think this would actually happen? No.

Nalitie: Then you hath underestimated the power of Erscoga! We are a united country, and there will no longer be an imbalance in the Ask Erik! World! We're fixing your dimension by creating OUR dimension :)

Sam: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Can I just surrender now?

Nalitie: NAY! We only have two pages of document! This would be a most boring story to post to Wattpad!

Sam: *frowns* But I'm a one-man army. This isn't going to go well for me, and we both know 8th grade me was an idiot.

Dukermin: Hey look on the bright side! You'll have to figure something out.

Sam: But that's too much effoooooooooooooooort...

Nalitie: *eats some taco*

Dukermin: Alright, we'll battle for a while and see what's going on from there.

Nalitie: We need an excuse to show off our power cap.

Dukermin: Yeah we worked really hard it's time to flex. We could just show you all the crazy stuff we were going to do so we can prove how hopeless it is to fight us!

Nalitie: YOu just gotta pretend to be 8th grade you, is that so hard?

Sam: Really hard. You don't understand how hard that would be.

Nalitie: Go fish out your letter to self and imitate. *in a terrible Mettaton voice* Acting, darling!

Sam: I threw it out.

Dukermin: That was a good idea. Probably for the best.

Sam: I could just like... make it seem like I'm putting up a fight.

Nalitie: Indeed! But you're gonna have to go back to Ask Erik! And come back in a more dramatic fashion. That'll really be epic. Pretend we're organizing a movie or something.

Sam: *mumbles something about not knowing how to go back*

Nalitie: Get in the van. ... finish the taco first, in memory of Homeless Henry, and then get in the van. *eats taco* *gets in passenger side, furiously scrolling through the database on her phone*

Sam: *grabs two tacos and heads for the van*

Dukermin: I'm driving! *Snatches the keys and drives to GCL*

(Then they were at GCL)

Receptionist: Hello, welcome to Green Circle Labs!

Dukermin: Hello! We need one one-way ticket to Ask Erik, Business Class.

Receptionist: *frowns* That's... *sigh* Alright, may I see your identification, please!

Dukermin: *Hands over a white piece of paper with Queen Dukermin written on it and a smiley face*

Nalitie: *hands over the forged police badge from that time they went to Alcatraz*

Sam: *pulls out an ID*

Receptionist: *prints out a badge for Sam and lets her through, but makes Dukermin and Nalitie stay behind because Erscoga has a terrible government*

Sam: You do realize I don't know how I got here, too.

Nalitie: *yelling through the doorway* THAT's okay! I'll just *throws lunchbox*

Receptionist: *catches it* Don't do that, miss. We can't have unauthorized portal tech going through the main portal.

Dukermin: We seriously need to get like some crowns or something. Anyway.

Sam: But I need that!

Dukermin: Bro you're going to Ask Erik! Just do whatever you want.

Sam: *pauses* Oh yeah. *yeets self through portal*

Ask Erik! Citizen: *driving down the street when suddenly*

(A portal opens in Ask Erik! somewhere, idk)

Sam: *comes falling through, landing on the car and making a significant dent*

Citizen's child: *crying in the backseat*

Citizen: *gets out of the car* What the heck, lady???

Sam: Sorry! *slides off car, running towards her house* *runs inside, and immediately upstairs*

Log_Lady...'s stunt double: What are you doing?

Sam: Apparently a war? *shrugs*

Log_Lady's stunt double: Oh. *is out of dialogue because Log_Lady is a real person and that's weird to keep this going*

Sam: *goes on to grab Flaming Raging Poisoning Sword of Doom* *heads outside and works on figuring out how to get back*

(MEANWHILE :D)

Receptionist: *is still yelling at Nalitie and Dukermin*

Nalitie: *holds out a Lunchbox* Shall we?

Dukermin: To Lux! (puts on sunglasses) *yee*

(And so they were on Lux. But they really don't know where they are?)

Citizens of a place; *screaming and fleeing because SUDDEN PEOPLE!*

Dukermin: CITIZENS OF WHATEVER COUNTRY OF LUX WE'RE IN! WE ARE YOUR QUEENS AND A WAR IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN HERE SO UH YEAH

Citizens: *murmuring*

Guards/Law Enforcement: *are coming to see the scene* What is happening here?

Nalitie: *squinting and trying not to kill her vision* We landed in your country because an evil force is coming

Dukermin: *hands over backup sunglasses*

Guards: We cannot have war here! You expect to bring war to our country?

Dukermin: Suck it up buttercup. *Walks over to nice spot* We're gonna set up right here.

Nalitie: *goes over to Dukermin* *whispers* we could just go over to the wild lands where people won't get mad at and rebel against us. We don't want internal war.

Dukermin: Ugh Fine. CITIZENS IT IS YOUR LUCKY DAY WE WILl LEAVE YOU TO YOUR PEACE. *bye*

(And so they went to the Menards Land to await SAM. The Menards employees (and also Mr. B and Mr. T) stare confusedly out the windows at them.)

Dukermin: *c-es a scythe*

Nalitie: *pulls out her cereal shooter and some tea*

The Dog: *is also here and is probably 9 feet tall just cuz*

Sam: *comes floating through a portal, sword at her side, sunglasses on* Oh, we're having a sunglasses party? Cool.

Dukermin: Ah man we wore the same outfit one of us has to change.

Nalitie: *whispers* That's because I stole a bunch of clothes from her house. These are her sunglasses, technically.

Sam: So that's where all my clothes went??

Dukermin: IT IS TIME TO DO BATTLE!

Nalitie: AAAH! *shoots some stale, Off Brand! Chucky Larms at Sam*

Dukermin: Oh no my husband is missing this. *Walks off real quick to make a phone call*

Sam: *stops, and just watches Dukermin*

Nalitie: *still shooting stale cereal at Sam, hoping to knock off her sunglasses or something*

(Approximately 12 seconds later)

Mickey Mouse: I got a call from my clubhouse. Nice to meet you, SAM I'm Mickey and I have bombs i guess.

Sam: I forgot this was a thing. And now... I don't know if I'm scared or not.

Nalitie: WAIt hold on! *pulls out her phone to text Dukermin*

Sam: *groans*

Nalitie: *yells to Mickey* Welcome to the war!

Mickey: I'll be right over here give me a few seconds, you can continue with your fight tho :) *starts fashioning a bomb*

Dukermin: *climbs onto The Dog and charges*

Nalitie: *runs into a Menards to buy a bean bag toss game* *comes out with only the bean bags* *starts throwing them at Sam instead of shooting cereal at her* *probably misses if Sam is still floating*

Mickey: *runs around with a protractor singing about aiming*

(Previously in time because Dukermin and Candle Grandma cannot exist concurrently)

Papyrus: *on that same date with Candle Grandma as the last document in the Erscoga folder* *is giving Candle a tour of the Diamond Castle* DID YOU KNOW!!! ONCE THIS CASTLE WAS HIDDEN FROM EVERYONE BECAUSE OF AN EVIL LADY!

CG: Oh, look at this peculiar statue.

Papyrus: *SCREAMS* IT'S HER!!! THAT'S THE LADY FROM THE STORY!!!! SHE'S ALL STATUIFIED!!!

CG: Wow, this is very detailed work they did here.

Papyrus: SEE??? SHE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN THAT BAD! THEY MEMORIALIZED HER FOREVER AND EVER!!!!

Melody: *had been playing with the muses but came down to see what all the noise was* *is confused and startled* Oh! Hello....!

CG: Hello dear! I'm Candle Grandma and this is my special friend Papyrus!

Papyrus: THAT IS THE GGGREAT PAPYRUS! AND WHO MIGHT YOU BE, HUMAN?

Melody: My name is Melody; I'm one of the Muses her in the Diamond Castle. May I ask if you need anything from us?

Papyrus: *AAAAA!* YOU ARE A MUSE!!! OH!!!! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WAS IN THE MIRROR IN THE STORY THE QUEENLY HUMAN TOLD ME ABOUT!!!! I AM AVERY BIG FAN!!!!!!!!

CG: I'm a musician too!

Melody: Oh! Do you play an instrument or sing?

CG: Kinda both! Are you familiar with the Kazoo?

Melody: Oh! Yes, I am! I play the flute, and the other Muses play the guitar and lyre. Would you like to play together?

CG: It would be an honor! *starts playing "Old McDonald"*

Melody: *playing as well, adding some Intricate Harmonies ™  *

Other Muses: *are summoned* *also playing*

Papyrus: *singing loudly and enthusiastically, but not necessarily well*

CG: *as she plays she feels a slight SOULlial tug coming from somewhere in the room* *Sensing a SOULin distress. Candle Grandma frees it from its plight*

(Suddenly, the statue of Lydia and Slyder starts to crack and OH NO, IT'S HER)

Muses: *notice and are startled*

Papyrus: !!!!!

CG: Oh dear, maybe that wasn't the best course of action.

Lydia: *looking around, dazed and confused* *sees the Muses and goes to grab her flute, which is nonexistant* *is outnumbered and frightened*

Phaedra: *opens mouth to speak*

Lydia: *runs up the stairs towards idk bedrooms, looking for at least an apprentice's instrument to use and taint*

Papyrus: OH NO!!!!! *runs after her*

CG: *follows* Statue Lady, let's discuss this predicament!

Muses: *confused and conveniently drop out of plot*

Lydia: *is rummaging around in what used to be Melody's room before she became a muse* *looking for one of those whistles*

Papyrus: HUMAN! I INSIST THAT YOU STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!

CG: I think I know how to resolve this! *pulls out one of Dukermin's lunchboxes* *launches it at Lydia*

Lydia: *goes to Pluto*

Slyder: Mistress???!

Papyrus: CANDLE!!! YOU CAPTURED THE HUMAN!!!!

CG: Dinosaur, do you want to go too? *offers a lunchbox*

Slyder: *hears the Muses coming for him and Lydia* *jumps in*

Papyrus: QUICK!!! WE MUST GET BACK AND CAPTURE HER INTO MY SHED!!! THE QUEENLY HUMAN CANNOT KNOW THAT LYDIA IS THERE OR SHE'LL BE REALLY DISsapointed in me :(

CG: Let's be on our way then *back to Pluto*

(On Pluto, Slyder is having the time of his life because monsters are there. Lydia is confused and trying to find a nonexistent source of dark magic to power her flute.)

CG: Hmm, I know what you are looking for, and you can find it in this shed.

Lydia: *goes into the shed*

Slyder: *follows*

Papyrus: *slams the shed door* CANDLE!!! WE DID IT!!!!!!! :D!!!!! 

CG: Hooray! I'd say that was a successful date!

Lydia: *opening shed from inside*

Papyrus: OH NO!!! *slams door again and hammers boards over it* I FIXED IT! THERE IS NO WAY THIS WILL AFFECT US IN THE FUTURE!!!!

(AND NOW BACK TO THE PRESENT! YAY!)

Sam: *watches Nalitie try to hit her and fail*

Mickey Mouse: Dukermin, Nalitie, get ready!

Dukermin: *flips through Sylladex to equip proper gear*

Nalitie: ??? OH! *puts on a weird looking, branded set of goggles*

Mickey Mouse: 3..2..1.. Blast off! *bomb time*

*And then they were blasted onto Dunkel*

Mr. B + Mr. T: *screaming like small children because THERE'S A GIGANTIC EXPLOSION HAPPENING OUTSIDE OF THEIR MENARDS*

Nalitie: whee! Aah! *banana man noises*

Dukermin: *holding goggles on face*

(You are now on Dunkel, the planet of darkness. You see infinite black space in all directions. A small spotlight is shining in the sky, which is Lux, but it does not illuminate anything on the planet itself. The atmosphere is far too thick and dark, and the planet and its inhabitants absorb light.)

Sam: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh am I supposed to see anything?

Nalitie's voice: *coming from somewhere* NOpe. but we are :)

Dukermin: Yeehaw. *c-es a bow and starts attacking from somewhere*

Nalitie: *throws a grapefruit*

Sam: *runs in circles, screaming*

Trees: *are around*

Rocks: *are around*

Dunkel Rando: Eyyy I'm walking here!

Sam: *screams more*

Neirmkedu: *walks over* Oh, hello Dukermin. Who is your... friend?

Dukermin: This is our ENEMY for some reason!

Nalitie: BECause we are dramatic! *shooting cereal again*

Ominglai: *is there too* Please do not litter!!! *picking up cereal*

Nalitie: *guilty* *stops* sorry Ominglai. .... *awkward*

Dukermin: Okay we've won this particular battle CLEARLY.

Sam: *stops and shrugs*

Nalitie: ON TO PHASE 3!!!! *goes over and nets sam in a Lunchbox headed for .... *stops to text dukermin* PLUTO!!!!!!!* *follows*

Dukermin: *yee*

Nalitie: OW SUNLIGHT *momentarily crippled*

Dukermin: *rips off DunkelVision ™ * that was a mistake.

Papyrus: *runs over* HELLO QUEENLY HUMANS! WELCOME BACK TO OUR PLANET, WHICH IS COMPLETELY NORMAL LIKE IT ALWAYS IS!!!! WHO IS YOUR FRIEND?????

Sam: *screaming about how bright it is*

Dukermin: This is SAM, we've mentioned her before. The war is today!

Papyrus: OH!!!! OH NO!!!! OUR ENEMY IS IN ERSCOGA! GOOD THING SHE IS THE ONLY ENEMY HERE IN ERSCOGA TODAY AND IS NOT ACCOMPANIED BY ANYONE ELSE!

Sam: *nods slowly*

Dukermin: We MUST ASSEMBLE THE TROOPS *runs around screaming about war*

Papyrus: I WILL HELP YOU!!! *goes to the Best Western, where Undyne is currently staying*

Nalitie: *to Sam* Welcome to Pluto! You're in Monster Town right now! *points to Sans'n'Pap's house* That's Sans and Papyrus's house and their... shed? Which is *squints to read* out of order? Okay.... *continues listing places*

Sam: Gotcha.

Dukermin: And the last thing we'll show you is this tree here. We do not dig underneath this tree and if we happen to find something underneath this tree like say a box that says do not open we do not open it.

Nalitie: It's bad. Anyway: *prepares to fight*

Dukermin: I've been waiting to use this power!

*mushrooms begin to float from the ground and grow smexy legs and arms. They then charge at Sam and begin punching and kicking. They develop a black belt mastery in karate*

Sam: But now you're just making me want to dig up the box! *slashes at them with sword*

Nalitie: *puts yellow police tape around the tree* *pulls out her bag of cheese, which probably spoiled and moldy* *throws it to Dukermin*

Dukermin: What a treat!

*The cheese is broken into tiny pieces, the mold on it hardening. The hardened mold fits itself cleanly onto each mushroom man's head, they gain +2 AC with their tiny cheese hats, not that it does anything really but they are also very fancy hats*

Sam: *continues to fight the mushrooms*

*The mushrooms are slowly picked off because they are small and also mushrooms but they are doing their best*

Undyne: *appears, charging out of the best western at Papyrus's request* NGAAAAAH!!! I HEARD THERE WAS A WAR! WHERE IS THE WAR?

Gert: *has followed out into the streets* WHAT'S GOING ON? MY MOM SAID I SHOULD STAY INSIDE, BUT I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING! I LIKE YELLING!!!!

Dukermin: It's a war! We said it would eventually happen! UT ATTACK!

Nalitie: *is standing on the rock in the center of town* *pulls out .... THE CONCH* *blows into ... THE CONCH* *summons all of the monsters with ... THE CONCH*

Undertale Characters: *ATTACK!*

Sam: *screams and runs away* I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THIS!!!

Undertale Characters: *are just attacking air I guess*

Some attacks: *fly towards buildings, and more importantly, Papyrus's shed* *they blow a hole in the shed*

Papyrus: OH NO!!!! CANDLE!!! THE SHED HELP!!!! *blocks shed with body to avoid Nalitie seeing in and Lydia escaping*

Dukermin: *shifts into Candle* They cannot know! *chases Lydia*

Nalitie: *trying to calm the monsters down* She's gone! Don't be frightened!

Sam: *a few hundred feet away, watching all of this go down* NICE.

Nalitie: *turns to Dukermin to find her not there* ?????

Monsters: *accidentally destroying their own town*

Nalitie: STOP! WE GOTTA KEEP THE BEST WESTERN INTACT!!! *has lost ... THE CONCH in the chaos because ... THE CONCH is a symbol of logic, reason, and order, which is nonexistent in this scene*

Sam: *peacefully relaxing*

Lydia: *running around town trying to make everyone her slave*

Slyder: *flying arouuund* *getting hit*

Monsters: *OH NO SOMEONE ELSE* *attacking, but most of them are kids who don't know how to channel their magic properly*

Nalitie: *realizes she still has Lisanarda* *maternal instict kicks in* *runs awaaaay*

Candle Grandma: Papyrus, honey, I've gotta go, Dukermin is commanding control. *shifts into dukermin*

Dukermin: WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?? *spots Nalitie running away* Oh I guess this is our plan now. SAM WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON NOW

Nalitie: I PROPOSE AN INTERMISSION!!!! *throws a lunchbox aimed at Termata at Sam*

Dukermin: *teleports away to Termata, to Mackinac Island.

Sam: *goes through portal*

Nalitie: *follows*

(You are now on Mackinac Island. It is very busy with tourists, but compared to Pluto it is very peaceful. There are no cars, only horses. There's water. Island.)

Nalitie: *points* There's a really cool fudge and coffee shop over here if we wanna take a break.

Dukermin: A break sounds good. *Buys fudge*

Nalitie: *gets some fudge and also a glass of milk*

Sam: *also gets fudge*

Nalitie: *finds a table and sits* So, how's it going? It's been a while, let's catch up.

Dukermin: I bought a new dining table two weeks ago. It has a mahogany finish and I got it on clearance.

Nalitie: Oh, nice. Hey, do you have any need for a nice living room chair? I have one, but we need more space for Lisanarda and the Tobiases, so I gotta get rid of it.

Dukermin: I think my neighbors are in the market for one right now, I'll get you their number.

Nalitie: Oh, sweet. *sips milk* *remembers Lisanarda who are strapped to her* Oh yeah. *pulls out some bottles to feed Lisanarda* Maybe I should bring them back to my house. This war is getting pretty dangerous. They can have some playtime with Tobias and Tasha.

Sam: *pauses, and looks at Lisanarda* Waaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiit...

Nalitie: Oh yeah! I adopted some babies from the Infinite Void of Unwanted Characters and Deleted Timelines! *points at the one on her front* THis one is Lisa, *points to her back* and that's Leonarda

Sam: Those are... that was... oh my god.

Nalitie: Oh yeah! Oh... I'm gonna. Uh. *asks dukermin to teleport her back home*

Sam: *ultimate frowny face*

Nalitie: You abandoned them in a literal void of nonexistent things.

Sam: HIGH SCHOOL GOT IN THE WAY!!!

Nalitie: THAT'S WHY YOU TRY TO AVOID TEEN PREGNANCY!!!

Sam: THAT'S WHY WE PRETENDED IT NEVER HAPPENED!

Nalitie: THAT'S NOT HOW REALITY WORKS!!!!!!

Sam: THIS. IS. FICTIONAL.

Nalitie: ERSCOGA HAS RUUUULLLLLELSSS.

Sam: THERE WAS SO MUCH OF THE TIMELINE WE NEVER POSTED ANYWAYS, SO I DOUBT PEOPLE REMEMBER!

Nalitie: *throws a vial of LOGIC on Sam* *fishing for lunchbox*

Dukermin: So uhhh. Pretty good fudge.

Nalitie: Mackinac is known for it. There's so many places around this area, not just on Mackinac island! *forgets*

Sam: I even had names for them...

Nalitie: There's another place across the street which some people say is better, but I really like this place because it's softer and meltier fudge.

Sam: It was Jenna and Vivian...

Nalitie: *to Dukermin* Erscoga has laws, right? This whole thing about Lisanarda is canon? And unchangeable?

Dukermin: Those are the rules. Wrote them on a paper napkin myself.

Nalitie: Woah, not even a sock?

Dukermin: I store them in a sock.

Nalitie: Oh. We should probably get back to the war, lemme just stop at my house quick. *to Sam* wanna go wait for us on Coloria? Give you time to prepare like we had last time?

Sam: *nods slowly, still lost in thought*

Nalitie: cool. *leaves to go find a ferry because she left her lunchbox behind last time in the chaos*

Dukermin: I uh... guess I'll just chill here for a hot sec.

Nalitie: *eventually reaches home* *gives Lisa and Leonarda to Christine* *goes to the Inner World of Coloria* *calls Dukermin* Hey where are you?

Dukermin: On my way *teleports to Coloria*

Nalitie: *is startled because sudden Dukermin* Oh hey. *hangs up phone* We should find Rose. *walks towards the Main Government Building in the Inner World*

Sam: *wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

(The three arrive at the government building)

The Overmother: *is there* Oh! Hello Nalitie, Dukermin... and *notices Sam* *aaaaaah* Sam.

Sam: *screams because of that one time*

The Overmother: *walks towards Sam to hug her* Oh, my dear, it is so good to have you here again! Have you reconsidered my offer to rule..... ????

Sam: *RUNS AWAY* *hides behind the other two*

Overmother: *heart is broken* *sheds a single tear* Oh. I see. You haven't changed one bit, have you?

Sam: *to Nalitie* Is this the same one....?

Nalitie: *whispers* I think you broke her.

Sam: Oh now I feel bad. Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to. Just uhhhhh bad memories.

Overmother: *sigh* Well, luckily for you, I have a new successor. *looks to corner where a child is standing*

Sam: I meaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan I never said no, did I? Besides I don't know what you were going to ask, and I'd like to know.

Overmother: Perhaps not, but that does not change the fact that you continue to refuse my motherly love.

Sam: *goes over and gives her a hug*

(AND SO BAlance was restored to the galaxy!!! Yaaay! Happy times!!!)

Overmother: *is all better* Now then, what brings you to Coloria?

Sam: *big shrug* A war? I think? It's a horrible one. That's for sure.

Overmother: *gasp again* Oh my! That sounds awful? Who are you warring with, my dear? Perhaps I can help you!

Dukermin: We're all warring with each other.

Sam: Yeah. I guess. *mumbles something about just wanting to know that deal already*

Overmother: Does that mean... you are being attacked by Dukermin and Nalitie?

Sam: *nods*

Overmother: *turns hostile on Dukermin and Nalitie* I see. *nicely, to Sam* Would you like it if I helped get them to stop, dear?

Sam: Only if you finally say what you were going to before I screamed.

Overmother: ? I simply was asking if you would be interested in ruling Coloria after I am gone.

Sam: OH. Um... I don't... See why not?

Overmother: Wonderful! Then perhaps I will be able to send *looks at kid* Tobias (? Tasha?) back home!

Sam: Cool. I'm in it for the fancy clothes, honestly.

Overmother: Now then! *turns back to Nalitie and Dukermin* *iS GOING TO FIGHT*

Nalitie: *distressed noises*

Sam: WAIT. You don't have to actually fight them. They're chill.

Overmother: *seriously* You said they were attacking you in a war.

Sam: For maybe a page. Maybe. That's exaggerating.

Dukermin: Yeah honestly were just kinda flexing on each other.

Overmother: Still, you hurt my child!!! *gives them a slap on the wrist each*

Sam: Still don't understand how I'm your child but.

Dukermin: alright alright lets just battle for a bit then we'll all leave in peace

Nalitie: *whispers to Dukermin* Yeah but we gotta keep it pg or she'll come for us again. Lets go to the Coffee Shop. Got an idea.

Sam: Who will?

Dukermin: The three of us, we got places to go things to see *goes to coffee shop with nalitie*

Nalitie: *has ordered three bowls of chow chow relish and has set them out on a table, waiting for Sam*

Sam: *already there*

Nalitie: This is my great grandma's chow chow recipe. Whoever can down a bowl the fastest without magic wins this round. 321 go!

Dukermin: My IRL Self ate a pound of spaghetti noodles at Pepperfest in 2 minutes so come at me

Nalitie: *is already eating and finishing hers*

Sam: *pushes bowl away slowly*

Dukermi: oh we're starting okay. Whoops. *eats it*

Nalitie: *looks at Sam* I think we won. *eats Sam's bowl too*

Sam: *shrugs* I didn't care

Dukermin: Dope, alright, Meet me at Riewa! *teleports away* *hits a wall*  oh right *whips up three protective bubbles for space travel*

(AnD THen they timeskipped to Riewa because TIME!)

Flowey: *chilling and probably wilting/dying*

Dukermin: Hey Flowey!

Nalitie: *texting with Dukermin again*

Dukermin: *Sylladexs a jetpack and spacesuit* *puts it in a wooden box that would need to be broken to get into* *pops Sam's bubble with a spear* GO GO GO *uses protective bubble and McScoots ™  out of Riewa*

Nalitie: *is following dukermin because it's dukermin's magic*

Sam: What..............?

Nalitie: *idea* *to dukermin* Hey lets stop by my house real quick...

(timeskip, in which they go grab A Person)

Nalitie: *dumps Alternate Mettaton onto Riewa with Sam and Flowey* Have fun you crazy kids!

Dukermin: TEAM ERSCOGA FORVERRRR

Sam: But... I... uhh... *sits down on the ground*

Alternate Mettaton: *cursing at Nalitie and Dukermin*

Flowey: *dying, probably*

Sam: Can I go home?

Nalitie: *yelling* THIS IS YOUR HOME FOR NOW. YOU CAN GET OUT VIA That box and then go to GCL and you're free! :D!!!

Sam: Oh ok. *does just that*

Nalitie: That was fast. We're not even gone yet. Oh well :P

(The Glorious EEEEND!)

~•*•~

(Previous)

(Next)

(Table of Contents)

#story document #arc 1 #Erscoga #Ask Erik!

[cholay-bhature]

#18 Under Street Light

The first time I saw him he was studying under the street light. Before that, I knew him, but never knew him. But I knew him like he was in my class, but we never talked and I never noticed him. 

That night I remember very clearly as I did not want to go to the wedding but my father forced me to because she did not want to leave me alone at home because I was a young girl. And quiet attractive that I would not say but it was known in school and there were many boys after me so I guess.

But all in all, we were coming back sitting in the rickshaw at around 11 PM and then I saw him sitting under the street light. He had a pen and paper and he was studying.

It was the stuff that I only listened to in stories and movies. I never believed that people were actually studying under the street light. But watching him made me a little uneasy. I thought he was doing it to gain attention.

And that night, all night I thought how stupid that boy is, how narcissistic, and how attention seeking to do it.

If you want to study , you can stay at your house. There is literally no reason to go out and study under street lights now, unless you want to show off. The electricity is cheap, the bulbs are cheap and the table lamp is much cheaper.

I kept changing sides but was not able to sleep due to his cruelty that he was spreading on the world by pretending to be so poor that he cannot afford a lightbulb. How some people can have that kind of privilege that they can glamorize their poverty while others are just barely good enough to not fall in the poor club but not that good that they can do whatever they want. I have to study, and just because I have a room, it does not invalidate my efforts.

I increased the AC temperature and went out of my room to the kitchen to get a water bottle. It was really too hot this night. My mom and dad were sleeping in the bedroom, and my other two sisters were in their rooms. Maybe they both are talking to boys. Younger than me and still talking to boys. I can’t believe these girls.. Focusing on boys instead of their career. There are literally people out there studying on roads and these girls cannot even study in AC. I went to my room and then opened up my laptop to write. May be it will clear my head.

Even now writing it, I just don't get why anyone would like to show off such a thing which can be so easily rejected as fake. If you are trying to gain poor points, at least try to do something convincing.

Well what can we do. Poor people have advantages to say they are poor. Middle class cannot even clearly say we are poor, while we are worse than these poor people who can actually do something with their life. I mean all they have to grow. While we have to sustain ourselves, and ask anyone, growing is easier than stability.

Well see you soon.

—

I watched him in their school today and I noticed him. No donut he lives so down. He seems to be disappear wherever he is. He sits in the middle row in the class, which is the void. He dont talk to anyone. His clothes were tight, obviously. Shoes were old and he reeked of mud. Though I have not smelt him from near, I imagined it, which is good enough.

I think I am giving him too much thought.

—

Lol.. I cannot believe what happened today.

So I went to the movies. Actually I went to college, but it was boring so I went to the movies. Movie was boring so I started using Twitter. And what I found is the boy from the street light.

My classmates. His tweet was about asking for a laptop.

Basically:

My laptop is out of work and I have tried everything. As a student I cannot afford a laptop. I would be grateful if someone could give me their outdated one at low cost. I will do your coding work in return.

It was so amazing. Because I have several laptops. I also have some coding work. It is a perfect opportunity to show him his place. He might study as much as he likes under street lights, and think he is so good at studying despite all his terrible circumstances and all.. But here I am, helping him. Without me he will not be able to stand. 

So I messaged him.

Me: hey checked your tweet. You remember me !

He messaged me in a few minutes.

He: I don't remember you.. Sorry

Lol.. he is played hard to get but that was okay. I did not take it to heart.

Me: I was in your class.. 

He: Yes. Sorry I was not a very known person or known to many people.

Me: No worry, Do you still need a laptop?

He: yes.. It would be really helpful..

Me: cool.. Meet me at Zulfan at 9 Pm today..

He: Thanks great..

So I am going to meet him at Zulfan.. With laptop and coding work.

—

What the hell.. God is not fair.

This stupid boy is doing b tech from XYZ college.. 

What the hell.. He never went to coaching.. He just qualified the entrance without coaching.. 

Poor people do have all the luck in the world. I have to work so hard and still get into a private university.

And this one does not even study that hard.. And got the admission. God is cruel.

But okay, now he works for me. I gave him the laptop and coding work.. Moreover these government colleges are for laborers.. The private universities make the managers and entrepreneurs..

He will do it, he said..

The worst part is he does not want to meet again. I said let's meet again next week here.. And he was like I will send the code via email.

Some people say.. They think they are better than everyone else. I literally gave him the tool and now he is making excuses to never meet again. Thief trying to run away with my laptop.

Well no worry… I forced him to meet me next week and we will see.

—

Ofcourse how blinded I was.

Today he dropped another poor strategy on me. He said he had to work from 5-11 at the graveyard, that's why he cannot meet me next week at 9 PM.

Can you believe it?

Work at a graveyard. 

He told me that his father used to work at a graveyard and now he has been dead for 6 months. He has to work and clean graves. In return he gets some money and a place to live. 

The palace I have seen enough times. It is a room, and then there is a street light outside. Where he was studying that night.

I did not argued with him. I can't believe his story made me feel bad at the moment and I ended up paying for the Zulfan dinner. Though he never orders anything. I have to order on his behalf because he is too shy to order. Maybe it's the lack of confidence. I guess the waiter earns more than him. Grave cleaner lol. My sister's pocket money would be more than his monthly earnings.

Well, if my friends saw me meeting with him, my life would be over. But he is doing my codework and I am happy with the results.

But he cannot come next week. I said I will pay for his shift but he refused. Poor people and their pride with money.

I am also poor, but I will take the money anytime. But these are a different breed of poor.

Well this he talked a little bit and also told me he is doing some project on containerization concept.

Which I don't fully understand tbh. Maybe that's why he is talking about.. He likes to show me down.. Like see, with all your money, you are still not as informative as I. These poor take different kinds of revenge.

And I have never done anything bad to him. I gave him the laptop for free.

Let's wait for the next time.

—

Oh so mister computer is going to some tech conference.

He does not have money for the laptop but he is flying to a new city to talk about something he created.

I mean i would have taken back the laptop if he hadn't told me that the conference people are paying for the ticket and hotel and food. Wow what luck man.

Well, he is going and I am happy for him I guess. My laptop is in good hands.

Haha.. 

—

What… he brought a gift from the city..

A cup he got at the conference.. Like I don't have enough cups at my house. I can order as many cup with any kind of graphic on them.

But he got me one with Cloud written on it. Haha.. it was white color and good looking. 

These poor people keep sentimental value to these products. What I would do with this cup. It has no value to it.

But he was happy, so I didn't say anything and I accepted it. It is on my bed right now near the pillow. I have no idea where to put it so I am keeping it near me until I know what to do with it.

Obviously I am not taking it to the kitchen.. It's low quality and it will break in minutes.

My coding work is complete.. And I will meet up with him and take my laptop back next time.

—

The sheer bravery of this boy. He returned my laptop. 

I did not even asked it. He just came and said here is your laptop. Is it how you return the favor now days,.. By returning the gift.

See,, I was going to ask for it back,, and he was supposed to say let him use it a few more days.. And then i was supposed to say I am making as sacrifice.. But he came and said I can have it..

These tech conference people are giving him a new laptop and monthly money.

He is not working at the graveyard anymore. WOwo.. so now he has some money, he thinks he does not need favors for me.. Now my laptop is not good enough for him.

And over the top of it.. He asked me.. Me.. me.. To help him move his things to his new flat.. Fancy 1 bhk flat .. why calling it falt.call it a hut on the first floor man… I am sure it will not be bigger than my room.

I will show him.. I said yes. I will go and I will show his real value in front of me this time.. What he thinks he is better than me.. I have the cup ready.. I will throw it his stupid face and also throw the laptop at him.. We will see..

— 

I lost my marbles.. I am mad.. 

He was at his palace all packed.. Except something.. Though I wanted to throw the cup at his face.. He had the punch mark on his face already..

My college friends talked with him and usually picked a fight with him. I know these friends of mine. If they want to pick a fight they will.. Nothing can stop them.

So they broke his nose…

I am furious right now.. It is only my right to punch this boy.. How can the third party hit him.. They took my opportunity from me. 

This boy is really stupid.. I asked him to go complain .. and he asked me to whom.. Which is weird.. He can go to the police or someone.. But he just saw me and said nothing.

He is afraid of going to the police as he is afraid the kid will come again..

I used to think that when you don't have parents or anybody in your life, you become strong.. But this one turned out to be weak.. 

Then he thanked me for the laptop.. I took him to throw it.. But he took it and said thanks.. They broke his laptop too. So he is using mine again.. I don’t have any coding homework this time.. 

But I helped  him with moving… and I also have a key to his flat now.. He did not give me.. But I gave him a laptop and a key so I can take no big deal.. It was there and I said okay one key is mine and one is yours.. And he said okay.

Now I only have to deal with my friends.. I know their weaknesses and where to hit so I am not worried.. They will not hurt him again..

— 

Wifi here is good..

I am here at this boy's flat.. He is helping me with the college work of coding..

He really knows things.. The thing he has built I don't understand.. But he said it will make things easier for me once I understand the hard concept.. 

Poor man is so happy.. It's not always he gets to have such a good looking girl sitting in his flat.. I guess no one comes to his flat.. It's only him and his internet against the world. He might think himself as the genius of the century. Person who came all odyssey to create the tech that will revolutionize the industry.

What I see is a nerd sitting in his room.. Day in day out.. Taking calls from other nerds.. And not going anywhere.

The Time stops in his flat. Everything is there where I left it. Frankly speaking.. This place looks more like mine than his. Even on his desk, there is a headphone I gifted him.. Not actually gifted.. But I ordered one and did not like the sound so I gave it to him.. He was so happy thinking I got it for him. He uses them regularly.

Also I brought some culture to this place.. 

This poor boy got so lucky I can't believe… no parents.. Good college.. Good education.. Intelligent.. And me as a friend… he is unbeatable…

I am doing a favor to him by being his friend. He does not have any family and I am his family. Okay this is not my word.. He said something like this once when we were eating ice cream..

I said how I used to enjoy eating ice cream with my family when I was kid.. He said he never did that.. But he is doing it now.. He is eating ice cream with his family.

He said it to me..He considered me family.. I have no problem though.. So what if he is poor.. Every rich man must have a poor friend as a pet. .. I guess I don't mind.

But if he takes another step.. What if he sees me as a potential partner.. That would be a shock.. But he knows his place.. He is not worthy of me.

My parents will not say no.. it's only me who has to decide. But the boy never said it directly.. He does not have to.. He has no one in his life except me.. 

Let's see.. I must not forget I am better than him.

—

So today he took me to the Street Light and proposed to me.. He started with how he used to study here because he used to work all day and father used to sleep in the room and it is the only place he could study.

He respects the street light too much and give it the credit for his success. SUccess means a job to him. Ha ha..  He is stupid.. Poor people can become rich but their mentality never..

But he was too excited today.. And I could not say no.. so I said yes..  A wise person could have kissed me under the sunlight. But as proven he is not a bright bulb.

So I have to now figure out how to manage it all.

I cannot back down now.. It will be insulting to me. This boy has again played me.. With its silly story of poverty.. What is wrong with me is how I get in the trap.

But I can manage it all… 

Huh. .. this stupid street light, this stupid boy!

#short story #story #laptop

[nanomanwife]

you don't have to read all this really just a rant tbh

I lived in a 5 bedroom house with a large family, lots of siblings.  My father got a divorce from his first wife when I was very young and married his second wife when I was about 5.  My father had 3 girls and my step mom had a girl and a boy, together they had a girl and a boy.  My two younger siblings were born when I was about 7 and 8.  My younger brother and I did not get along and I would get into trouble a lot for hurting him even though he would antagonize me until I hit him and then he would tell on me.  I did a lot of things just to get my parents’ attention because I felt like they did not care about me and I just wanted them to love me.  I struggled a lot with depression because I did not have a lot of friends at school and was not allowed to go out anywhere except if my parents were with me.  My step sister was not very nice to me as a child and that didn’t help with my depression because whenever my parents were away she was in charge and she usually made me and my older sister stand in a corner while her and my oldest sister had fun together.  But now we have a good relationship so that’s good at least!  At school I was an outcast no one really liked me except for a few people so I grew to be mean to everyone who tried to get close to me therefore only making my classmates hate me more.  I created this sort of force field around myself that no one could penetrate so by the time I met the man I intended to marry I was already so damaged.  He didn’t see it and I liked that he didn’t know anything about who I was and so I became very attached to him and did not want to let him go.  Which led to us getting married the summer after I graduated high school.  We got an apartment together, we worked our jobs and we hung out, getting to know each other.   After about a year of marriage we had a beautiful baby boy and that is when my depression, anxiety, and panic disorder got worse.  My insomnia came back and not because the baby kept me up at night, because he slept really well.  I am not really certain why I had insomnia but some days I would stay awake until 8am unable to sleep and I would just lie there.  I would try several things to help me sleep with nothing helping me.  Soon I fell into a deep depression again and my husband had no sympathy towards me in fact I felt like he was making it worse because he would just tell me to stop acting like such a bitch and other things. After having our second child my husband started to be a little nicer to me and he would actually help with the kids sometimes so I thought it was going to get better but then he just went back to his old ways of verbally and even sometimes physically abusing me. I mostly stay with him because I don’t want to lose custody of my kids…well that’s what I tell myself anyway. I know that no judge in their right mind would side with him since I have physical evidence of his abuse towards me. I guess the real reason I stay is because I feel like I will never be able to find someone who truly loves me and will treat me and my kids the way that we should be treated. Honestly though maybe I deserve this because of how horrible I have been to everyone. My kids on the other hand deserve better since they never asked for any of this. I wish I could be strong enough to leave for them. I fear that I won’t even be able to leave until they are older and by that time they’ll probably be so damaged that it won’t even be worth leaving because it won’t make any difference. I know that makes me a really bad mom I wish that I could have seen the future and just not had any kids it was honestly such a selfish thing for me to do I just wanted someone to love me and instead of leaving my current partner and searching for a new partner I decided to just make some kids and have them as my companions. I wish that God had never given me any kids because I really don’t deserve to have them. I cry every night thinking about how they will have to grow up in this house and how I grew up and that I am doing the exact same thing to my kids by not leaving my husband.

[miraculouscontent]

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

#MC's Videos #category: episode summaries #category: salt #salt: adrien agreste #salt: chat noir #salt: alya cesaire #salt: nino lahiffe #video: critique #MC's Renders #render: persona #episode: Rocketear #((I would usually apologize for rambling but you guys seem to like it lol.)) #((I could still afford to trim down the summary probably and repeat myself/ramble a BIT less but yeah.)) #((I'm also feeling a little more comfortable this time around)) #((which might come off in my inflections.))

[fredshufflepuff]

— anon’s request: ok so since i too am a whore for angst. how about the reader and rafe having a summer thing as a kook (maybe she goes to the pogue school but is a kook) and once she goes back to school, they drift apart and rafe gets jealous of her spending her time with the pogues. then maybe he sees her again at mid summers all dressed up and remembers he still loves her. please break my heart with this, im in need of a cry and then maybe put it back together with some fluff at the end? please

— warnings: fem!reader, brief smut (skip if uncomfortable), asshole!rafe for a good chunk of the imagine, language, angst, fluff.

— word count: 2,166

IT all started when you bumped into rafe at the country club on figure eights.

you didn’t normally hang around that area, but you were hanging out with sarah that day—which meant eventually running into her brother.

she tried to keep you away from him, just because he had no filter and didn’t think twice before voicing his opinion, but sooner or later your interaction with the boy would happen.

“oh god” sarah mumbled causing you to raise your brows, a confused frown on your face as she signaled to look behind you.

you turned around not so subtle to see rafe cameron making his way down the grassy hill, a golf club in one hand and a can of beer in the other.

“hey little sis, when were you going to introduce me to your friend here?” the boy spoke, a small grin on his face at seeing her roll her eyes.

“i wasn’t planning on it, you know—considering how you’re an ass.”

a small giggle fell from your lips as rafe turned his attention back to you, the sides of his mouth curling slightly at your reaction.

“well since she won’t introduce me, i will” he said, his figure leaning over yours which was sat on the grass.

he tossed his most likely expressive golf club to the ground to extend his hand out to you, which you hesitated to take before slowly reaching for it.

“i’m rafe cameron.”

of course you knew who he was, everyone did.

“y/n y/l/n.”

YOU thought the interaction with sarah’s older brother was in the past, not having to see him again since you weren’t planning on going back to figure eight or the club any time soon.

but when you found yourself in his bed getting the absolute daylights fucked out of you, you knew right then and there that this wasn’t a one time thing.

“fuck rafe,” you moaned loudly, your head thrown back against the pillow as your eyes fell shut from the feeling.

he slide his cock in and out of your needy hole as you whimpered from under him, his toned body pressed against yours as you jolted from each thrust.

“m’gonna cum, flood this needy little fuck hole” he spat, his hand coming down to grab your face and force you to open your eyes.

“please, rafe. please fill me up” you begged, your little moans and pleads sending the boy over the edge.

as soon as he gave you permission to cum you didn’t hold back. it felt like your entire body had shut down as your head fell to the side.

rafe sent a rough thrust into your quivering body before emptying himself inside, making sure to keep himself as close as possible in order to not let any leak out.

“fuck,” he groaned in your ear, his body pressed against your small one as your hands came up to rest in his hair, pulling on it gently as his cum filled you up.

later that night you didn’t bother sneaking back out to your place, instead rafe suggested you actually stay—running you a hot bath before ordering take out.

it surprised you really, considering how you didn’t know what you guys were.

you both agreed to only be friends with benefits when this all started, but now you didn’t know if you wanted that or not.

you wanted something more with the blue eyed boy.

“what are we?” you asked while laying in his arms, the feeling of his breath trailing down your neck giving you comfort.

“friends with benefits.”

no hesitation was found in his voice. it was quick and sudden, just like your heart breaking.

“oh.”

you didn’t talk much with rafe after that night—leaving early in the morning to avoid further interaction.

rafe didn’t suspect anything though, knowing how busy you usually get with school and home life, but after that single day turned into almost a week, he knew something wasn’t right.

usually you’d be around the house or at the country club, but it felt like you were almost avoiding him.

when school started up that’s when things really started to hit for rafe. you were not only distancing yourself from him, but now you were hanging out with the pogues.

to him you had wiggled yourself into john b’s friend group, getting closer with everyone but mostly jj, the one pogue he despised more than the others.

it was the night of midsommars and you were preparing yourself to see rafe, your nerves seeming to skyrocket every time his name was mentioned.

“ARE you feeling okay, y/n/n? you’re all jittery” kie pointed out, her eyes locking with yours through the vanity mirror as you slowly brushed through your hair.

“i’m okay, kie— really. just nervous for tonight i guess” you shrugged, your response seeming convincing enough as she nodded.

“hey slow pokes! hurry up or we’re going to be late” jj called, pounding on the door making you and kie jump.

“fucking assholes” you mumbled.

MIDSOMMARS was something you always looked forward to.

the lights, the food, the beautiful dresses and people you got to meet—which was rare considering how almost everyone there were stuck up kooks who’s only personality trait was having money.

all except rafe.

he was different towards you, a lot different it was scary.

“jj, don’t get into any more fights, k?” kie sighed, licking the pad of her thumb before dragging it across his face—getting rid of the dirt that had formed there.

he didn’t say who specifically it was with—the fight—just claiming it was with some stupid kooks who didn’t know when to stop talking.

“yeah yeah” he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair before sending you both a small smile.

he picked up his tray and spun it on his finger before sending her a wink, a blush coming to kie’s face as she quickly looked away.

“soooo, you and jj....” you said, the girl’s eyes rolling as she playfully pushed you away.

“enough about me, what about you?”

“me?” you raised an eyebrow, “what about me?”

“don’t play dumb, y/n/n. i’ve seen you come back late with hickeys.”

you grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters walking by and took a long sip from it, your eyebrows twisting together— “this is good, you should try it.”

kie was about to protest until the music started to kick up again, your favorite song playing making you gasp.

you quickly placed the glass on an empty table before taking her hands and pulling her towards the dance floor.

“let’s dance!”

unknown to you—rafe had been watching you ever since you stepped foot into the venue.

IT was almost one in the morning when everyone had left, you and kie sitting at one of the empty tables while you waited for jj to finish up.

you hadn’t had that much to drink, but you could say you were a little tipsy.

“ready to go?” jj asked while throwing his arms around you both, a sarcastic grunt dropping from your lips at the sudden weight.

“we were about to leave yo-”

“well, well, well...if it isn’t the golden trio” a familiar voice spat, your head snapping to the side as your eyes fell on the devil himself.

rafe cameron and his little minions.

“if it isn’t daddy’s money, dumb, and dumber” kie snapped back—referring to topper and kelce who were standing on either side of him.

“put your dog on a leash maybank before we do it ourselves” rafe threatened, only causing jj to break from your side and lunge at the boy.

“jj, stop” you said, grabbing his arm as kie yanked him back, “he wants a reaction.”

“i didn’t see you there, y/n. so quiet and small, hard to notice you.”

which was obviously a lie. rafe noticed you the second he walked into the stupid party.

“what do you want, rafe? getting bored at the country club?” you asked, your lips dropping into a fake pout.

“actually the country club is entertaining, unlike some needy bitches who can’t satisfy my needs.”

your face dropped as kie gasped beside you—jj completely unaware of what was going on but still pissed at the way rafe was speaking to you.

rafe’s face dropped slightly at the realization of what he just said, nothing but lies falling from his mouth as his eyes filled with guilt.

“fuck you.”

YOU didn’t remember much after that. just the events taking place of jj trying to throw another punch at the boys before getting dragged away by kie.

the poor girl was trying to control her hot headed friend while the other was on the verge of tears.

but you refused to cry.

in front of rafe or not, you would not let yourself cry over him.

all you remember is crashing at john b’s house and waking up with a massive headache.

your legs were draped over kie’s as the two of you slept on john b’s bed, the boys taking the couch in the living room.

light from the outside peeked through the curtains as your eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness.

your phone laid next to you on the comforter as your hands dragged it closer.

what you weren’t expecting was a shitload of texts from rafe.

rafe cameron: i’m really sorry

[sent 1:34am]

rafe cameron: y/n

[sent 1:34am]

rafe cameron: i didn’t mean anything i said

[sent 1:36am]

rafe cameron: i was drunk and wasn’t thinking

[sent 1:40am]

rafe cameron: please hear me out

[sent 1:41am]

rafe cameron: meet me at our place

[sent 1:49am]

rafe cameron: 7:30am

[sent 1:51am]

you groaned loudly while reading his texts, the need to throwup swirling in your stomach as you tossed your phone to the side.

you ran your hands over your face as you thought on what to do, biting your bottom lip in the process as you stared at the wall in front of you.

after what felt like an hour of pondering, you let yourself slip off the bed and grab your hoodie that was thrown on the floor.

you were going to see him.

‘WHAT if she doesn’t show’ rafe thought to himself as he sat in the sand, his eyes locked on the waves crashing in front of him.

he was stupid last night.

the boy made a stupid mistake that he regretted deeply.

he just needs to show you how sorry he is.

“rafe.”

his head snapped in the direction of your voice, your figure standing a few feet from his as he then quickly stood up.

he dusted off his pants before nervously making eye contact, his throat suddenly drying up as he attempted to swallow what felt like a rock.

“y/n, i’m s-so so sorry for what i said yesterday. i-i didn’t mean any of it-”

“so what? i’m supposed to forgive you?” you cut off, raising an eyebrow as his mouth fell slightly, “what if it happens again?”

“i-it won’t! i swear it won’t. i was just drunk and jealous and really fucking stupid” he blabbered on, his hands shaking as he tried to defend himself.

“jealous?” you asked, your eyebrows furrowing together as he nodded his head shamefully.

“of you and that stupid pogue.”

“jj?!”

he seemed to visibly retract from your words, his eyes narrowing as he bit the inside of his cheek.

“yeah, him.”

“so you acted the way you did...because of jj?” you slowly asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared at you.

“i didn’t mean it, y/n...” he frowned, his face dropping slightly as you waited for him to continue, “please give me another chance, i’ll show you how sorry i am—how much you mean to me.”

it was quiet for a good minute as your thoughts swarmed your mind for a response.

“rafe...”

“y/n, please.”

another minute went by, the only sound coming from the waves crashing along the shore.

“fine.”

IT had been five months since you forgave rafe, and things were honestly going better than you had expected.

after that morning on the beach he took you out on a proper date—ending in him walking you back to your house and even stealing a kiss.

he even stopped starting fights with jj and the other pogues, wanting you to know that he was better than that.

“WHAT do you want to watch?” rafe asked while flipping through channels, one hand holding the remote while the other rested on the small of your back.

“m’not sure, you can pick.”

he hummed in response before clicking on some random channel, not really planning on watching it anyway.

he tossed the remote to the side before looking down at you, admiring your relaxed state with your arms wrapped tightly around his torso.

“you know i love you right?” he suddenly asked, his voice low and soft as he stared at you from above.

“why so gushy, rafe?” you teased, your own head angling up to see him better.

he was so beautiful.

“i’m not gushy,” he rolled his eyes, “i just wanted to remind you.”

you blushed at his words before nuzzling back into the crook of his neck, your lips kissing the delicate skin making him smile.

“i love you too, rafe.”

🏷rafe cameron taglist : @jordynsharum

a/n: could you tell i didn’t know how to end it

#rafe cameron x you #rafe cameron x y/n #rafe cameron x reader #rafe obx #obx rafe #rafe x you #rafe x y/n #rafe x reader #rafe cameron smut #rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron angst #rafe angst #rafe cameron

[harfanfare]

Pomegranate Rule || Idia Shroud x Reader

Obligatory pair work with someone you like very much on a school project and have a chance to fall for each other more? - cliché.

The difference with Idia was that he kidnapped his project partner.

Idia leaned out from behind the column, whispering words of encouragement and summoning up the plan of this meeting he compiled at yesterday’s evening. He practised this conversation all night in front of the mirror, but as soon as he gained confidence, he forgot the text and desperately searched for the next line in the script.

There was a faint blush on his pale cheeks. Not from the sun, not from the fatigue, but nervousness. He hadn't left his room for someone in a long time, and what he was about to do required from him new social skills...

…to ask you to be his project partner, that’s it.

Ortho stood right next to Idia, leaning out from behind his older brother's silhouette and shifting his gaze once at the courtyard, once at him.

Idia cuffed his fingers on the sleeves of the sweatshirt.

Ortho's presence helped him a lot to keep on the promise he made to himself: today he will actually talk to you not on the phone, but face-to-face and suggest that you could do Sir Crewel’s project together.

He knew that you didn’t have a pair, since Grim went off where he could bug Adeuce combo, and even if he didn’t, you two would be counted as one student. But, to at least make some progress, you were picking up leaves you suspected to be just right for the experiment.

With each bush, you were getting closer and closer to the column behind which Idia was hiding, and he knew that if he won’t hurry with his proposal, someone will enter the square, dispatch the last pieces of Idia's courage and disperse you, and take you away.

For example someone like Epel and Jack, who have just entered the courtyard using the entrance on the opposite side.

This coincidence seemed to Idia to be as unfortunate as if all the forces of the world wanted to stop him from what he was planning and yet to validate his theory that it was not worth ever leave his room. On the other hand, since he was already here, and it took him a good few dozen attempts to motivate himself, he could not lose this unstarted game.

Idia, in an act of desperation, rushed towards you, hoping that the first-graders would not notice you.

You both keel over into the bushes as Jack and Epel headed towards you.

"Jack Howl, Epel Felmier!" Ortho greeted them, distracting all possible attention from the bushes that had just been approached by two people, both unaware of what was going on. "How is your project going? What topic did you choose?”

"Ortho-kun! What are you doing here?” Epel replied, coming closer to the young Shroud.

As Ortho distracted them with a conversation, Idia had an intimidating thought: what would happen if they saw your two in the bushes? He was madly blushing at the scenarios that created in his head. He put his hand on your lips—he was afraid that you would say anything that would attract unwanted attention—he slipped with you through the empty corridors to the dorm of Ignihyde.

…He forgot to explain what he was doing, and it likely looked like him committing a crime, but nothing will happen if he explains everything in his room, right...?

You were able to ask Idia what was he doing, once he closed the doors. Till then, on every question you asked he hissed “Sheesh! Do you want us to be found?!” and “P-please! Let us get to headquarters where I will… explain the mission…”.

Soon enough, you found yourself in his room; electronics was the main source of light, and the screens glowed bright blue around them. Although you didn't see any exposed windows or lamps lit to illuminate the room, everything was clearly visible.

There was a mess there, a mixture of the cardboard disorder that prevails after moving a house and the chaos of a man whose constantly working on something, desk always cluttered with papers, pens and documents.

You were sure you would stand on some lost Lego block or pin if you put your foot behind the bed where Idia has set you down.

“So, Idia,” you started. “…What exactly I am doing in your room?”

"Uh, well...” he stuttered, trying to remember the speech from yesterday's practices. “I wish I would know what you're doing here... I mean- I know why I brought you here. I wanted to ask you something. Ask, yes.”

"Ask? About what?” you didn't mention that you can ask outside of your own room, and you wasn’t going to correct that.

Idia tried to explain the whole situation. He skipped the preparation process, his speeches and ideas, he didn’t even mention the project, so all he said was hard-to-understand, abstract justification from the current situation.

He said, at least, that he came up with the idea to take you somewhere further away, where there were no people, as first-grades entered the courtyard.

“So I'm here by accident?" you asked after listening to Idia, slightly cocking your head at the side. “I don't understand…”

“It was an accident. A bit,” he wanted to loudly groan at his helplessness but finally bit his tongue. “I didn't want you here. I mean, I wanted to, but I didn't plan on it. I mean- Aah, it’s so hard to explain!”

You waited in silence, only nodding, letting him take his time.

"Sorry, I just... I feel weird talking to you...” Idia admitted, lowering his head.

The definition of Idia’s "weirdness" was different from yours.

When you heard that he was calling you strange, you felt a pang in your heart. Really? After so many months of acquaintance and quite frequent texting on the phone, when finally there was one of those few moments when you could talk face-to-face, he says it's awkward?

The "weirdness" of that feeling in Idia was something he could not explain easily: the joy of talking to you, anxiety that he would say something wrong, an uncertainty that you would change your mind and stop talking to him, excitement because he knew how interesting person you are and the frustration for every accurate, teasing comment…

"Oh, I see," you tried not to sound depressing. "So let me leave.”

"No, wait, that's not what I meant..!”

Oh, no. Idia’ plan went downhill again.

Idia jumped to a drawer and started looking for something in it, digging through notebooks, cables and lost items.

“...Don't worry, Idia, we can end this conversation on the phone... or something.”

“No, no, no, wait, please!” discreetly took out a round metal box before he dashed to you, blocking the only way out, heavy equipment surrounding you that now seemed to be an impassable wall.

"Uh?"

He took the hard candy from the container he took from the shelf, though he did it so subtly, forcing himself to stare at you and keep your gaze from tearing away from him, so you couldn’t notice candy in his hand.

They were pomegranate drops that had been presented to him as a funny joke from a student who knew that a box, just like its contents, was enchanted by Vil's unique magic: whoever tasted them will not be able to move more than twenty meters from the place the fruit drop was eaten.

Haha, because you know, the members of Ignihyde don't go outside and won't even notice they were cursed.

Idia was sure that even Vil did not know that the candies had fallen into his hands.

"Huh? What are you-“

As soon as you opened your mouth, Idia pressed fruit drop up to your lips and covered them with his hand, in case you tried to spit it out. His movements became very mechanical and heavy, probably most of his muscles were strained. Because of that, you also couldn't push him away.

He only stepped out of your way you once swallowed the candy.

And so you were bound by a spell that you discovered the moment Idia let you towards the door. You stopped more than a meter from them, unable to even grasp the doorknob.

You swung your hand a few times as if not believing that none of your movements was moving you forward.

“Idia. I know we should talk, but by cutting me off from the door?”

Surprise with this solution, Idia's embarrassed smile, dripping sweat from the stress he felt, and a sudden dose of delicious sugar made you burst into laughter.

“This. Is. Great.” You accented each word, becoming more and more amused with each one as if you had just heard the best joke of the era. “Is it the fault of those drops?”

Idia, surprised by your reaction, finally relaxed. Your sudden, inexplicable outburst, hearty laugh calmed him down a lot. He even came to the conclusion that he really likes the way you laugh.

Ortho soon entered the room. You two shortened the story and explained that you probably have to stay here for the night.

"Oh, so nii-san finally asked you to do a project with him?"

“Project...?” you repeated. Then you turned your head to Idia and smirked at him. “So that was what it was for?”

He answered you with a shrug as if last day Idia didn’t have any thoughts screaming “Project!” and that followed by “[Name]!”.

However, Ortho said it for him.

Idia, of course, tried to stop him, but Ortho knew how much time his brother spent just planning to talk to you. A wave of shame flooded Idia as you listened to Ortho's words with interest. And maybe with a pinch of delight spilling over your heart—Idia did so much for you! You could feel the flush on your face and a smile spread across your lips every time you heard about Idia's efforts.

Soon after, after the excitement of this conversation had died down and you thanked Idia for his planning efforts, a package of cookies and biscuits was opened. You couldn't go to the cafeteria to eat anything, and even ordinary snacks from school vending machines taste better in pleasant company, right?

“We haven't had many opportunities to talk like that, have we?"

You took a sip of the warm tea Idia had made—it was incredibly bitter but chilled enough not to burn your tongue—and watched the screen where Idia was working.

He pushed himself away from writing some codes with some slowness, but he didn't look at you.

“You're right...”

After a pause, he started speaking again, this time in a whisper, but you heard him very clearly.

"I've always admired you, [Name]-shi..." he said, pressing his knees against his chest. “Talking to so many different people and solving their problems... I often find it tedious and self-righteous to interfere in the affairs of others, however…. Everything you do always ends well. I-I couldn't do that.”

“I should be saying it!” You said after a moment of silence as if you were processing words you completely didn't suspect him of. “You deal with electronics like a professional. Wait, you are the professional! How many programming languages have you already mastered? How many devices have you already created? You have a wonderful talent and... even your brother little is proof of it.”

You both looked at Ortho connected to specialized equipment. "CHARGING" was displayed on the screen, and by minutes the numbers were close to 100%.

Idia didn't smile at your words—instead he seemed incredibly focused. With each passing second, he had a more and more sincere expression of pleasant frustration, which was also reflected in his long hair behind which he tried to hide his face.

He couldn't even answer and just nodded.

"And... I have to confess to something," you began after another minute of pleasant silence, which you felt sorry to interrupt. "If you previously seemed quite average to me, maybe even a little pale-faced, now I know that you are special."

These words were already his limit. He couldn't take his eyes off you, forgot how to breathe, forgot how to blink, and his lungs refused to cooperate.

His heart crashed for good after your next words.

"So... if you please," you got up and smiled at him. “Idia Shroud, will you do me this honour and become my project partner?”

"The curse already faded.”

You could reach the door and go to the farthest corners of the room. You could leave.

The project has been completed. With the light help of Ortho, who also wanted to contribute to the project, by two in the morning, you finished doing experiments, writing out data, conclusions and completing them with graphic documentation.

And then you played games for the next three hours; each game was digital and very engaging—it wasn't for Ortho, you and Idia wouldn't fall asleep even for a minute. Even when you went to bed—and there was a whole five-minute debate about where you were going to sleep—you talked in whispers about everything and nothing until one of you fell asleep.

Even if the attachment to Vil's magic was gone, you couldn't deny that you became attached to a certain blue-haired boy who followed the last lines of your conclusions with his golden eyes.

It was really fun.

He and Ortho probably would have done this project faster, but the collaboration of the three—you, Ortho and Idia—seemed so pleasant that if he could, he would do it once again. Even if that meant another research about hyper-difficult projects Crewel liked to torture his students with.

"I will come again," you said as suddenly as if you were reading his mind. He flinched at those words, and your tone of voice changed to a more biting tone. “You don't have to kidnap me this time.”

"I d-didn't..." he tried to deny but was stuck on the next words. “...Really? Will you really come here?”

“Your charm bound me more than candy, I can promise you,” you gave him one last smile before you closed the door behind you and rushed through the corridor with a strange, blissful feeling, looking forward to your next project.

So did he.

#I liked writing it a lot hahah #Idia Shroud #Idia Shroud x reader #twst idia #twst idia shroud #twst idia shroud x reader #idia x reader #twst scenarios #twst imagines #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland idia

[coalitiongirl]

Fic Recs (under 300 edition)

So I wanted to get back to reading Swan Queen fic regularly, and I asked people to rec longfic that they'd read (not written) and loved that had fewer than 300 kudos! I haven’t read most of these, but I’ve collected them here so y’all can go through the list and discover some new fics with me! Please try to kudos and review every fic that you read! It means the world to the writers and will keep em writing, and then we all win. 😁

Atonement by SgtMac (M): With Regina's magical heart failing thanks to years of previous evil, Emma and Regina and Henry (and Granny!) set out to save her life by traveling to the Enchanted Forest and requesting help from ancient magical beings known as the Guardians. Given a mission as simple as it is impossible - to achieve atonement by creating peace - the ladies find themselves joining a rebellion and fighting for the very soul of the Enchanted Forest all while trying to help Regina to understand that the self-loathing and guilt which have driven most of her actions don't have to doom her chance for a new beginning or even, a chance to live and love again. A S4(ish) SQ love story set against the turmoil of war and the chaotic savagery of the old world.

Blood and Sand by cheshire6845 (E): A/U The Savior is a slave forced into the role of fighting as a gladiator for the House of Hearts. The odds are against her survival as she will have to win in the arena, navigate Cora's schemes, outlast a general's vengeance, and not be killed out of spite by the current House of Hearts Champion - Regina the Undefeated. This story follows the major plot points of Starz Spartacus with some twists along the way.

But what if there was no time by KizuRai (M): When she wakes up, it's dark. She can't move, she can't see, she can't feel and she can't hear. Where am I? She feels a forceful oppression, pressing her down, draining her of her energy and she's powerless to stop it. How did I get here? The question of here is relative, she's not even sure where here is. What happened? There must be some reason for being stuck here but her memory is fuzzy, like all her thoughts are being sifted through a filter. Who am I? She's not sure if she actually exists or she suddenly became sentient in the darkness.She hears a voice reverberating in the distance, it's distorted and quiet but she hears it all the same. It breaks the monotony of the silence. Someone's coming for her, they will get her out. She's just not sure she wants them to as the price might be too great.

Finding Home by evl_rgl (T): “I wanted to remember you so badly that I pulled back your cursed town just so that the memories would make sense. I needed you so badly that even when I had no memory of you, I still tried to find you.” Regina gave Emma and Henry memories of a happy life together before they fled Pan’s curse, leaving them with no memories of their lives in Storybrooke. However, when the memory spell shows signs of failing, threatening to rip apart the minds of both Emma and Henry, Regina makes a drastic choice to go back and fix it, understanding that it will mean living alone in a world where her son doesn’t know her. Was the spell really faulty, though? (swanqueen)

Five Flames by MariaComet (U): In the past, Emma Nolan disconnected from her peers in high school, preferring to keep to herself. In her sophomore year of high school, she decided to try and join the boy’s wrestling team because she was bored. She didn’t expect herself to become the champion of the most bullied kid in school or the secret best friend of the school queen. She also didn’t expect to join a club that would change her life. In the present, Emma is trying to cope with a humiliating loss in her martial arts career. She claims to be “training” but is stuck in limbo between wanting to retire and try again. She is isolated from her former best friend, Regina Mills, a local celebrity chef and the rest of her old friends. When one of them calls her with an idea to honor their deceased teacher, she is confronted with unresolved feelings and questions about how powerful love truly is.

A Glamour of Truth by PrincessCharming (T): After 2x10, Regina uses magic to show Emma the obvious truth. A tentative trust forms between them amid hilarious bickering. With Emma's help, Regina struggles to regain a place in her son's life... until Cora arrives, wanting her daughter back. Pieces of Regina's past emerge showing that the board was set long before the game started. The final battle begins soon.

His Dark Materials 'verse by MoonlitMidnight (M): A modern Alternate Universe in which Dæmons (the external physical manifestation of a person's 'inner self' that takes the form of an animal) are present. In which Emma and Regina have led slightly different lives and they make slightly different choices.

How Many Miles to Avalon? (WIP) by RavenOutlander (E): Regina would do anything to save Emma from the darkness and bring her back home safe and sound. Even put up with the two idiots, Captain Guyliner and a bunch of dwarves she decidedly wanted to drop off at the nearest exit. But in their search for Emma, they find that she might not need that much saving after all. Caught up in a search for the infamous Philosopher Stone, an all out war between DunBroch and Camelot, and ghosts from the past to haunt her every waking moment, Regina finds herself scrambling to keep her and her family's happy endings from falling apart.

The Hyperion by FrankenSpine (M): After wishing upon what she believes is a shooting star, Emma Swan finds herself aboard the Hyperion, the royal starship of an alien Queen from a faraway galaxy. She quickly learns of the tensions between the Queen's people and her own, but the Queen takes an interest in her and agrees to take her away from Earth forever. Adventure awaits. *(Loosely based on Guardians of the Galaxy with just a hint of Farscape)*

If Wishes Came True (It Would've Been You) by Angeii_K (M): After Regina films a guest appearance on her friend Neal’s popular show, he invites her to spend the weekend with him and his girlfriend. What she never expected was to actually like the woman. Sparks fly between the two, which results in them questioning everything and making choices they will later regret. 4 years later, they meet again in the most unexpected of ways. Now co-stars on the same show, they are forced to work through the emotions from their last encounter. What will happen next? Only time will tell.

The King Doesn’t Have To Know (WIP) by highheelsandchocolate (M): The White Knight had never seen anyone like her before: the Queen was nothing short of mesmerizing. Her possessive yet neglectful husband, however, was another thing entirely.

The Lich by Dangereaux (M): Gay disaster Emma, exasperated Regina, and a monster. A Halloween special.

Maybe if We Close Our Eyes we Can Reach the Stars by wellthizizdeprezzing (T): Emma is a lonely astronaut. Regina is an adventuring alien. Their paths cross leading them onto a journey of new discovery. Between galaxies and many miles of cold black space, despite not speaking the same language, they manage to fall for each other. An out of this world love story.

A prisoner long forgotten by sugarsweet_19 (M): ‘I wish I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood and as black as the wood of the window-frame. Soon after she had a little girl, who was as white as snow, with lips as red as blood and with her hair as black as the ebony of the window-frame. She was therefore called Snow-white.” This is how our story starts but how will it end?The evil queen as been locked up in a tower and forgotten that is until princess Emma looks for a place to hid from her parents after they tell her she has to marry Neal the son of the dark one.

Revenge of the Three Little Pigs by mskyo (M): Regina and Emma find themselves alone and looking for the rest of their party. The Evil Queen must face the consequences of her past actions. Will Emma come to her aid, or understand that justice must be served... *Some chapters have fairly graphic sex, and violence*

Things I Almost Remember by cheshire6845 (T): A/U Despite an oncoming war between the Dark and the Light, Emma and Regina are best friends growing up in the Enchanted Forest. When war does come, they find themselves on opposite sides. Regina will have to defy her mother to save Emma. Will Emma be able to save Regina when Cora curses her daughter to live in the Land without Magic?

What We Make (WIP) by DiazTuna (M): “My mother.” He says calmly. He’d known all along, she’s aware. But he’d known that today would be the day that would get this going. She wants to ask what it was like, to have woken up this morning, laced up his boots and walked into hell just knowing. “It’s programmed the cyborg to kill her. Before I have a chance to be born.” -In which the leader of the future sends his best soldier back to the past to save his mother from a killer cyborg. Terminator AU.

The Wrong Way by pcworth (M): Takes place right after Zelena steals Regina's heart. Zelena offers Regina a chance to go back in time with her and change both of their lives for the better. But what will be the price of that decision. Slow-burn to SwanQueen

zombie trash by 13pens (T): Zelena could have her brain and eat it, too. Fic operates on three premises 1. this takes place in any universe where zelena is a reformed asshole 2. zombies are a thing and exist iZombie style 3. i have NO chill

#swan queen #fic rec #ouat

[artsyhobi]

Cursed

Divine Gods!BTS x reader

series masterlist

Chapter one, Calico Cat.

characters: mortal!fem!reader, god of the moon!park jimin, god of the sun!jung hoseok, god of death and darkness!min yoongi, god of the four elements!kim namjoon, god of time!kim seokjin, god of nature and life!jeon jungkook, god of mischief!kim taehyung.

a/n: hello ! i hope you enjoy this first chapter, i actually took inspo from Goblin (which is a kdrama i absolutely loved ;;) and i'm sorry in advance for my poor writing, but english is not my first language ...

trigger warning: mentions of blood, violence and death, curse words.

tag-list: @greezenini, @fangirl125reader, @motherofbludgers

Min Yoongi sat on the throne, his legs elegantly crossed as he rested his forearms on the armrest. He slightly raised his left arm so that the tip of his index finger could lightly brush against his lower lip, his eyebrows mildly furrowed in a focused expression.

The black-haired man continued playing with his lip, then reached for something in the pocket of his silk pants and held the object in the palm of his hand: it was a vintage pocket watch entirely made out of gold, with a ruby located right at its center. The hands of the watch moved mechanically, producing a “tic” sound that resonated in his mind like an irritating echo.

Yoongi hated time. What was ironic, though, is that he had too much of it: he had an Eternity.

Yoongi glared at the antique object once more. A satisfied smirk appeared on the corner of his lips, depicting anything but an innocent smile. He stood up, adjusting his coat and grabbing his black bowler hat in a swift movement before taking some steps forward: as he walked, the dark throne room surrounding him became gradually more distant and, in a matter of seconds, the man was walking in the busy and snowy streets of Seoul. The snow crunched under the soles of his shoes, the snowflakes that landed on his coat immediately melted, and as he passed by, nobody seemed to notice his presence.

The street was crowded with people rushing to purchase the last Christmas presents, couples holding hands, and kids eating strawberry cotton candy. Disgusting, thought Yoongi as he curled his nose.

“One minute and thirty-three seconds.” He murmured to himself, turning into a deserted alley after checking the correct street name on a brick wall nearby. As he walked, the bright white snow became dirtier until there were just a few clusters of it on the side of the path. It started snowing heavier.

“Fifty-eight seconds.”

“I told you there were consequences!” A hoarse male voice shouted in the distance. Yoongi stopped hands into the pockets of his coat. “You’re a worthless bitch!”

There was a loud bang, followed by two others, and a feeble female voice asking for help. No one could hear her, and even if her cries reached someone’s ears, no one would help her since - according to Min Yoongi - humans were nothing but greedy mortal souls that enjoyed the sufferings of others. They were too occupied with spending their money on materialistic goods and developing toxic, violent, and possessive relationships. They were human beings but had no humanity left in their hearts.

He approached the poor woman laying on the ground, her hand resting on her stomach: blood was gushing out of her bullet wounds, dripping down in a pool of crimson absorbed by the snow. Tears streamed down her face as she whispered the same words over and over again, “Help me”.

He crouched down beside her and tilted his head, observing her like a detective inspected a victim. He knew that her time was up and that she was destined to die there, alone, desperately waiting for someone to find her.

“S-Sir…” She mumbled, some blood running down from the corner of her mouth. “P-please help me…” Her hand desperately clutched the hem of his coat, smearing it with her blood.

Yoongi sharply exhaled and rolled his eyes, turning his head to the side.

“Fancy seeing you follow me everywhere I go, Jungkook.” He stated, reluctantly standing up to face a man leaning against the brick wall, his arms crossed.

“Did you miss me?” Jungkook grinned.

He seemed almost like an angel since the clothes he wore were entirely white. His blond hair brushed against his shoulders, and a pair of long crystal earrings hung from his ears, sparkling as soon as they moved. Yoongi, on the contrary, was his polar opposite: his short wavy locks were as black as pitch, and although his eyes were a dull brown, they almost felt like looking into two holes, black as a night without stars.

“Seokjin sent me here to stop you from reaping her soul,” he affirmed, playing with the many rings he wore on his fingers, “It’s not her time yet.”

Yoongi scoffed, slightly amused at his statement. “Don’t you see the three holes on her stomach… Or do you need a magnifying glass? I am the one who decides if she dies today, not that Doctor Strange wannabe.” He took some steps toward him until his face was a few inches away from his, “I don’t take orders from a teenager.”

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows, the slight grin disappeared. “These are not my orders but his, and you know you must obey him.” He lightly shoved Yoongi’s shoulder without interrupting eye contact with him, trying to remain calm. He kneeled beside the woman and caressed her hair, a sad smile depicted on his pink lips, while Yoongi stared angrily at the two.

“Don’t even think about it, Jungkook, her soul is already mine.” He said through gritted teeth.

“It is, you’re right.” The blond whispered and delicately put his hand on the woman’s chest. “But not now, Yoongi, you will have to wait.”

“Wait!?” Yoongi exclaimed in disbelief, and then frantically ran a hand through his black locks, “This has to be a joke, is Taehyung with you?”

“He is not,” He responded as a gleam of light formed under the palm of his hand, turning brighter by the second, “I haven’t seen him in ages.” This time his tone was lower, and his expression had darkened. Yoongi nodded, having no interest in knowing what had happened between the two friends.

“I suppose you won’t tell me why Seokjin wants to spare her life.”

“He just told me to stop you, nothing more.”

Yoongi pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. “Lies,” he snarled, “you are his little obedient puppy, Jungkook, we all know it.”

Jungkook inhaled the sharp, cold air and smiled as the woman opened her dark eyes. “I’m not here to fight, Yoongi, so you can insult me how much you want.” The blond took the now conscious woman into his arms and glared directly at his former friend. “But nothing will change the fact that you’re on your own now.”

Yoongi turned around, ready to argue back, but there was no trace of Jungkook.

The black-haired man remained still as he watched the empty spot, sighing, a strange feeling at the pit of his stomach.

20 years later

“Chung-Ae, we’ve already talked about this!” You groaned in annoyance, sinking your face into your Pikachu plushie. “I’m happy here!”

Chung-Ae sat on the counter, her arms supporting her as she gave you a stern look. You peeked, escaping the protection of your plushie, noticing that she wore purple lenses - although her stare was as scary as it had always been -.

“You’re a twenty-two-year-old living in an old house, with your three cats, and working in a cat-café.” She emphasized the “and” as if working in such a wonderful place was something to be ashamed of.

“That’s the best life!” You exclaimed as you sat comfortably on your sofa. “I mean, why would I need to move to Seul with a bunch of horny people when I could just spend the rest of my life in peace?”

Chung-Ae sighed loudly.

“They’re not just a bunch of horny people. They are my friends.”

You parted your lips to respond, wanting to remind her about the last party you both had attended, but she cut you off.

“Y/N, you live alone in such an abandoned area, it’s dangerous; it even takes you more than an hour to reach the café.” She slid down from the counter and sat next to you, putting her hand on your shoulder. “Trust me, I know that you’re attached to this place, but it doesn’t work for you anymore.”

She was right, you loved that place. Your grandparent’s house was located in the countryside, in a small rural village that was scarcely populated. The few young people remaining had started moving to bigger cities such as Seul or Busan, but not you. You adored waking up to the sound of birds chirping in the morning and the gurgling of the river. You got used to being alone, and you didn’t mind it. You couldn’t understand why Chung-Ae tried to force you to move with her, but she was rather determined, and you knew she was going to insist.

“Chung-Ae,” you reached for her hand and squeezed it delicately, a small smile forming on your lips. “You know I can’t leave, I promised my mother I would take care of this house.”

“You have to stop living in the past, Y/N.” She firmly stated. “This house is falling apart, and so is your life. Moving to Seul with me is your best option.”

Her eyes stared into yours for a few seconds, and you felt unreasonably guilty. You knew how much she cared about you, and you were constantly giving her “no” as answers. She retracted her hand, reaching for her purse right beside her, before standing up. “You still have time to think about it. You know that, right?” Her hand was on the doorknob.

Your mind wanted to decline her offer, but your heart told you otherwise, so you just nodded.

“Take care, Y/N.” And with that, she closed the door behind her, leaving you alone once again.

You finally took a deep breath running your palms down your face in an exasperated manner. Chung-Ae was your childhood friend, and she had always been by your side. You had met her in elementary school: she was popular amongst your class since her father was a renowned lawyer who worked for big celebrities, but you - on the other hand - weren’t as popular. You weren’t a social butterfly and preferred spending your time playing with the stray cats in your neighborhood.

You stood up and walked toward the kitchen, deciding to make yourself a homemade chicken noodle soup. You put the ingredients on the counter and started to chop the carrots into strings. As you were about to grab something, you heard a strange noise coming from outside: you reminisced Chung-Ae’s words and felt a shiver run through your spine, but you shook your head, mentally reassuring yourself that it must have been a wild animal.

You grabbed the celery from the fridge, deciding that you would drink some strawberry milk while waiting for the soup to cook. However, when you closed it, you were taken aback by a calico cat sitting on the floor, right in front of you. Your eyes were wide open in surprise since your three cats were all black, and you crouched down. “Hello, little one,” you gently smiled as you observed the little creature staring at you with a pair of light blue eyes, “I wonder how you got in…”

You inspected the room looking for any open windows but soon discovered you had closed everything. When you turned your gaze back to the cat, it was gone. Puzzled, you stood back up, massaging your temples. Am I hallucinating? You asked yourself before resuming your dish.

After literally devouring your delicious meal and doing the dishes, you headed to your room, where you found the windows wide open. You didn’t remember leaving them like that, but you also didn’t mind the fresh breeze coming from outside. It was a quiet night of July, and the moon was shining vividly in the sky, its brightness being the only source of light in the room. As you approached your bed, you couldn’t help but notice the shape of a cat on the window ledge, but when you came near, it had mysteriously vanished.

"Okay, Y/N, you're probably tired." You told yourself while sitting on the bed. As you laid down, feeling the freshness of your newly washed sheets, you heard another sound and then a chorus of meows coming from the living room. You sighed, reluctantly standing up, wearing a hoodie before walking down the stairs.

"What is it, guys, did you hurt yourselves?" You asked as your three black cats, Luna, Mars, and Pluto, continued meowing toward the front door. You groaned, "Alright, I will check."

You weren't ready for what you were about to see: you expected nothing but pitch darkness or that calico cat that was apparently haunting you now. But as you opened the wooden door, you froze on the spot at the sight of a man leaning his arm on the doorframe.

Because of the darkness, you could only see his silver hair reflecting the moonlight and a pair of light blue eyes staring at you in curiosity.

"Hello, little one."

#bts ot7 x reader #bts series #kim taehyung x reader #bts imagine #bts x reader #bts fanfic #park jimin x reader #kim seokjin x reader #kim namjoon x reader #jeon jungkook x reader #jung hoseok x reader #min yoongi x reader

[titan-fodder]

Prima Vista Part II

[ previous ] 

Rating: E (explicit; mdni) Pairing: Mike Zacharias x fem!reader wc: ~ 10.2k

Warnings: specific character attributes (not appearance, mentioned favorite color, movie, etc.), oral, rough sex, multiple orgasms, Erwin is kind of annoying, semi-exhibitionism, too much testosterone  A/N: And, here we go again. Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the first part and told me about it. This one’s for y’all~

Mike immediately notices when you start to avoid him. You had already been doing it, but now it's to the point of ducking into buildings you have no business being in and walking a little too briskly when you catch sight of him somewhere on campus. You also won't get anywhere near the Pi Kappa Alpha house.

 And, he gets it. He fucked up that night. Or, he didn't fuck up, but he opened up. Too much. Showed that he was willing to be vulnerable, and you obviously had not liked that. 

 The first week of watching you duck and cover from afar isn't so bad. He's a little bummed, yeah, but he figures you'll come around, if not for him then at least for his dick. 

 But, one week turns to two, and Mike gets irritated, a little angry even. Because it's not like he did anything wrong. It's not like you haven't wanted it every time. 

 He doesn't know your class schedule exactly, but he does know when you get out of your 11 AM and have to cross the courtyard to your dorm. It's where Mike caught you last time when he was playing frisbee with Nile, and it's where he catches you now. 

 Your speed walking is no match for his normal stride, and he easily closes the distance between you two and grabs your wrist to tug you toward a more private area by the library. 

 "What the fu—what are you doing?" You spit, pulling yourself free. 

 "What are you doing?"

 "Trying to get to my fucking room to nap! Is that okay?" 

 Mike ignores it, glances over his shoulder to make sure no one is watching, then asks, "Why are you avoiding me?" 

 Scoffing, you mumble an unconvincing, "I haven't been avoiding you."

 "Bullshit."

 "I've just been busy, okay? Midterms are coming up, and I'm falling behind…" He can tell you're lying by the way you can't meet his eyes. "I need to focus."

 "Am I that big of a distraction?" 

 You don't miss a beat—"Yes," and your eyes widen at your own answer like you're surprised by it. 

 Mike raises his eyebrows, taken off guard, and you try to cover your tracks. "I mean, like, I don't have time to be fucking frat boys. And, I know you have the pick of the litter, so it's not like you'll go without." 

 He has to bite his tongue, a confession right on the tip of it—I pick you—but knows that's the last thing you want to hear. It's too early for thoughts like that anyway. You're too closed off, and he's too transparent. It's not like anything serious could work out anyway, and even if it could, he shouldn't tie himself down. 

 "I mean, yeah, but—"

 You hold a hand up, take a deep breath. "Look, I'll be honest with you. You seem like an okay guy, but you should find some other girl to do this with. I don't wanna be another notch on your bedpost—"

 "Then, don't be. We can just hang out."

 "Yeah, we tried that at the party and still ended up sleeping together."

 "We can make it a rule then." He's trying too hard, he knows, but he can't help it. "No fucking. I won't come onto you, and you won't come onto me."

 You snort and pick at the hem of your shirt, obviously not buying any of this. "Why do you wanna be friends so bad anyway? Is it the hard-to-get thing? Is it that I'm making it difficult?"

 "Maybe but not entirely."

 Why does he want to be your friend so badly? You haven't given him any real reason to. You can bond over nerd shit here and there, but other than that, you don't have a lot in common. 

 You just seem… Cool. Aloof. Like you don't give a shit about anyone or anything, and Mike never thought he'd find that attractive in a girl, but apparently he does. 

 "Just come over one more time. We can watch something again or—"

 "I'm not going into your room again!"

 "You don't have to," Mike says, speaking with his hands to emphasize his point. "We can stay in the living room. Totally public. Any of the guys could walk in."

 "Has that ever stopped any of you before?"

 Not a hundred percent of the time. Mike has definitely seen more of Erwin and Gelgar than he'd like, but he can tell a little white lie.

 "Yes." 

 You stare up at him, a skeptical look on your face, and then, "I'll see if I can pencil you in." 

 "Fuck yeah, I promise I'll show you a good time without, like, showing you a good time." 

 "Yeah, whatever." 

 You're unimpressed, turn to walk away, but Mike is feeling a little too triumphant, a little too bold, and catches you before you can get too far. 

 He premises, "Just to get it out of my system," then bends down and kisses you. Palms covering your cheeks, fingers curling around the back of your head kisses you. He uses both of his thumbs, just under your mouth, to part your lips so that he can slide his tongue past them, and you push at his chest half-heartedly, no real force to it as you let him lick into your mouth. 

 The first whimper that escapes you is what makes you break away, your hands stronger against him to shove him back, and Mike smirks when you glare at him. 

 "You're on thin fucking ice, Zacharias. Thin ice."

 "I'll keep it in mind."

 With that, you leave the little alcove the two of you were in, grumbling and cursing the whole way. Mike just watches the sway of your hips and licks his lips. 

 *

 You come over on a Saturday afternoon. Mike can tell you've tried to make yourself look not cute in loose, ripped jeans and a t-shirt, but it doesn't work. Mike still smiles, and you still roll your eyes at him before kicking your shoes off by the door. 

 "Okay, so what are we doing?" You ask, sitting two cushions away from him on the couch. 

 "I brought my Switch in here, so we have that…"

 "Oh, do you have the SNES games downloaded?" 

 "Dumb question. Of course I do."

 "Rude. Open that shit up."

 He does, and you demand to play Donkey Kong, which Mike has no problem with, but, "A please would be nice."

 You click your tongue, holding your hand out for the second tiny controller and tell him, "You don't get to hear me beg anymore."

 Mike feels his shorts tighten, but all he does is kick a foot over his thigh and warn you, "Best not test my self-control like that."

 "Is that a threat?" You laugh, toggling down to 'Two Player' on the screen and clicking it. 

 "Not a threat." He bobs his head to the theme music. "Just lettin’ you know."

 You get as far as Mine Cart Carnage together, but Mike ends up getting tossed from the cart, leaving you to take over as Diddy. He watches the way you move with your character, sitting up straighter, raising the controller to your chest, swaying one way then the next as if your body is tied directly to the game. 

 Erwin walks in a little while later when you're focused on Stop & Go Station. He sits down in a plush chair, phone in his hand that he ignores in favor of asking, "What are you guys doing out here? Shouldn't you be in Mike's room?"

 Mike glances at him, gives him a look and shakes his head, but you're much less subtle when you snap, "Can it, Smith," eyes never leaving the screen. 

 "Don't count on that," Mike snorts. "I think it’s physically impossible for him to keep his mouth shut for longer than four seconds." 

 "Wooow," Erwin drawls, thick eyebrows high in offense. "I'm supposed to be able to trust you, and now you're just talking shit right in front of me."

 "For some reason, I get the feeling your ego can't get bruised that easily," you muse out loud. 

 "I'll have you know I can be very sensitive," Erwin informs you matter-of-factly. "I have a heart. I have feelings. And, I've been told on multiple occasions that I'm more considerate than most men, so there."

 You laugh, a silly sound that gets stuck in your throat. "Oh, really? And how many of those women—'cause that's what they are, I'm sure—were left behind after they built you up like that, hm?"

 Biting both of his lips, Erwin sits back in his chair and crosses his arms. "I plead the fifth on that one."

 "Uh huh, that's what I thought."

 While you're fixated on the screen, Mike glances over at his friend, sees blue eyes shining as Erwin stares at you, a tell-tale smirk on his face. He's amused by you. Interested, even. 

 You stay for about an hour longer before going back to the dorms. As soon as the front door shuts, Mike swivels around and points a finger at Erwin, uttering a low, "Don't you dare," that makes the blond chuckle. 

 "Wouldn't dream of it."

 *

 You mostly hang out on weekends and only in small bursts. Alternating between movies and video games, it's a little hard to speak to one another, but Mike is still able to pry some information out of you and share more about himself. 

 You're majoring in geological and earth sciences while Mike is working toward a degree in environmental science— "Kinda weird we haven't run into each other before." 

 You played basketball for a year in high school before getting annoyed by the other girls. Mike, on the other hand, made some of his best friends on his old soccer team. 

 You had a ferret growing up and now you'll "Never get another pet again 'cause when he died, I died a little with him." (It's the first time Mike has ever seen tears in your eyes, but you blink them away at record speed). He tells you about the dogs his family has had and how the one at home with his parents now is actually his. (Her name's Scout, and I would take a bullet for her.") 

 Hitch is your best friend even though she irritates the shit out of you, and Mike says something similar about Erwin. "He's a good guy. He's just… Passionate about so many things. He gets obsessive. Drives me insane."

 "Obsessed with that pussyyy," you joke in a deep, stupid voice. 

 Mike snorts, "Perv," and keeps watching the movie that's playing. 

 And, speaking of movies, your favorite Disney film is The Fox and The Hound— "Good taste," while his is Lion King— "Classic." As far as other movies, though, the two of you spend half an hour arguing over which Mel Brooks is the best, end up having to agree to disagree (Young Frankenstein vs. High Anxiety).

 Your favorite color is green. Your favorite food is pizza (“What are you, twelve?”). Your favorite animal is the pangolin. They’re all little facts that Mike stores away, and by the end of the semester, he actually feels like he kind of knows you, and somehow, against all odds, you've managed to not hookup through it all. 

 That's not to say it hasn't been hard (that he hasn't been hard). Sometimes you come over in skin tight jeans or crop tops, outfits that accentuate your body in all the right ways, and Mike is pretty sure that you do it on purpose. 

 You're both careful not to drink too much at parties, aware of the likely consequences, but you hang around him enough to gain people's attention—jealous girls watching in disappointment, curious guys sizing you up. 

 Questions inevitably arise. You complain about Hitch pestering you for details that you will not give her, and he tells you how he has to keep brushing off his brothers. 

 "She doesn't, like, know we've had sex—would never fucking leave me alone if she did. But she and all her other little friends are so annoying about it."

 You're on the steps outside of the frat house, jackets zipped up, nursing steaming cups of cocoa you got from the nearby shop. 

 "So, what do you tell them?" Mike asks. 

 You shrug your shoulders. "That we're not fucking. Just friends. They don't believe me, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it, dammit."

 Mike laughs through his nose and takes another drink. "I mean, it's not a lie since we're not fucking and we are friends."

 You make a high pitched noise, doubtful, challenging. "Friends is a strong word."

 "Whatever." 

 He's used to you doing that now, denying him every chance you get even in a joking way. You've never once admitted to any type of feelings out loud, and he isn't sure why, some kind of avoidance behavior, but he won't complain because he knows you're at least a little fond of him. You wouldn't keep spending time with him if you weren't. 

 Deciding to change the subject, Mike prompts, "So, Erwin's party over the break," and you glance at him over your cup with interest. "You're coming, right?" 

 "I don't know. Isn't it at, like, his ranch house in bum fuck nowhere?" 

 "Kinda. It's only about a two hour drive from here, but it's definitely off the beaten path."

 "I'll have to see. Need to spend time with my mom while I can." 

 Understandable. He's looking forward to seeing his own parents (and Scout, of course). 

 The last game of the season is played and won, then finals pass after too many all-nighters and too much Red Bull. Mike actually sighs in relief when he slides into his white Wrangler, all packed up and ready to make the drive back to his house. 

 He sends one text before pulling out onto the main road—Be safe—and hopes he won't have to wait an entire month to see you again. 

*

 Staying with your mom is nice but always slightly depressing. The house is empty with just her in it, less lived in than ever before. You can tell exactly which spots she spends most of her time in—her office to work and the couch in front of the TV to wind down. 

 You sleep in your old bedroom, spend most evenings texting Hitch after your mom goes to bed, but a few conversations with Mike slip in too. He sends you several pictures of Scout—beautiful but always wearing one of those perpetual Boxer frowns—and in return, you send him pictures of the pretty betta your mother has in her office. It's the best you can do. 

 After a week of being in your hometown, you're ready to leave it again. It's not terrible or in a bad part of town. It's just… lacking. You'd never tell your mother this, but you have a feeling she knows. It's probably why she doesn't put up a fight when you tell her you're gonna run off for a couple days to attend Erwin's party. 

 "I promise I'll be back. It's just one night and then the drive back."

 Her tone is very serious when she tells you to stay out of trouble, but then she walks you out to your car and hugs you, watching and waving as you drive away. 

 You text Erwin on the way there to ask if it's okay to arrive early—like a few hours early cause I needed to get out of my house—and he replies enthusiastically.

 Absolutely! Mike and Levi are already here 😃

 You have no idea who this Levi is outside of hearing Erwin mention him a few times, but you very quickly find out when you get to the large but secluded house. You see Erwin's stupid (gorgeous) vintage Mustang parked in the gravel driveway as well as Mike's white Jeep and an unfamiliar, black Prius. 

 All three of them are on the porch occupying outdoor chairs that probably cost more than your fucking dorm expenses, but Mike and Erwin both stand when you make your way up the sidewalk. Staying seated, or really sprawled out with his hands behind his head, is a fairly small man (boy, maybe) with inky hair and sunglasses covering his eyes. He’s dressed much differently than the other two, ripped jeans, Doc Martens, and a striped long sleeved shirt under a short sleeved band tee. 

 “What in the e-boy fuck…” You mutter to yourself, nodding at the blonds and letting Mike take your backpack—not that you really have a choice considering your grip on it is no match for his. 

 “Was the drive okay?” He asks, swinging the bag over his shoulder and making it look incredibly small. 

 “Yeah. Once I hit the backroads I could start going, like, eighty-five, so that shaved some time off.”

 Mike snorts. “You sound like Erwin. Dude’s always speeding.”

 “Don’t fucking start with me. I was in the car with you when you almost hit a pedestrian on a crosswalk.”

 “We don’t talk about that.”

 Everyone follows Erwin inside the house. It’s just as nice as you thought it’d be, sprawling and open with wood floors, plush furniture, and rustic decorations. There are moose antlers mounted in one room and a god damned bear head in another. It makes you roll your eyes, but to say you’re unimpressed would be a flat out lie. 

 “Not everyone is staying the night, but I know you have to, so just pick an upstairs room,” Erwin tells you after the grand tour. “I can take you around on the golf cart once you settle in.”

 You see Mike roll his green eyes and amend, “We can take you around.” 

 “Yeah,” Erwin nods. “That’s what I meant.”

 Levi is making a face up at Erwin, furrowed brow, squinty eyes, and a little grimace. He hasn’t said more than two words to you since you’ve arrived (“I’m Levi.”), but he doesn’t seem like the chatterbox type, a little more standoffish, and you can’t blame him for that. 

 “Just in case you’re wondering, I’m in the middle room,” Mike tells you with a grin.

 “And why, pray tell, would I be wondering that?”

 He basically sings in his deep voice, “No reason,” then walks back downstairs with Erwin and Levi, leaving you to make yourself comfortable. 

 You take the bedroom at the far end of the hallway out of spite more than anything, but you figure the farther away you can be from Mike the better. After setting your things down and organizing deodorant, perfume, and every day jewelry on the dresser, you join the guys downstairs to find them huddling over the kitchen island talking about plans for the night. 

 “Should we get a keg? It won’t be that many people, but it might be easier to just pour from one,” Erwin thinks out loud. 

 “Don’t bother getting a keg if it’s gonna be the same shitty beer you guys have at Pike parties,” you chime in, hip checking Mike so that he’ll scoot over and allow you join their little meeting. 

 Levi lets out a little laugh, the most expressive you’ve seen him so far, while the other two pout at your criticism. 

 “Why don’t you pick the beer then?” Erwin prompts. “Since you have such refined tastes.” 

 Eyebrows lifting, you laugh. “Oh, we’ve got a smartass in the house tonight.” The blond smirks and dusts off his shoulders, making Mike groan in either annoyance or embarrassment. You can’t be sure which one. 

 “Fuck, is this what it’s always like between you three?” Levi asks, looking between all of you. “Just constant bickering?”

 “More or less.”

 “That seems exhausting.”

 “It is,” you confirm. “‘S’why I can only hang out with them in small doses.”

 “Ouch.”

 “Wounded.”

 “Anyway,” you let your head hang so that all they can see is your shoulders shaking as you giggle, and when you look back up, you make sure that the smile is mostly wiped from your face. “I’m not saying I’m some kind of beer expert, but I at least know that the shit you serve at parties is rancid.”

 “And yet, you always seem to forget,” Mike teases. “I always end up having to finish yours.”

 “You don’t have to. You choose to, you fucking alkie.”

 It’s hard to come to any sort of decision with the non-stop push and pull of the conversation, and eventually Levi just walks away to let the three of you work it out. Erwin orders a keg of Rolling Rock, says something about, “Dad won’t mind me splurging a little since I downsized this whole thing for him,” and you scoff at him. 

 He’s well aware of his privilege, talks about it in an ironic manner that’s both maddening and hilarious— “Father is going to let me take the yacht out this weekend,” and, “Oh, that’s not country club appropriate.” It makes you laugh every fucking time, but it also usually earns him a smack or two. 

 The next few hours are spent gathering party supplies and getting the house ready (as in moving some furniture around and hiding valuables). Erwin leaves to pick up the keg after assuring the vendor on the phone that he can drive to them and pay extra for the short notice. You don’t know how he manages it, but you assume his confidence has a lot to do with it.

 Only about twenty people are supposed to come, “An Erwin Smith exclusive,” Mike jokes with you as you stash a couple of vases in the kitchen cabinets. 

 “Oh, does that mean I’m special?” You play.

 “Absolutely.”

 There’s something churning in your gut as you move around downstairs with Mike and Levi, an omniscient feeling, like you know how the night will end, but you’re going to fight it every step of the way. You’ve made it this long without a slip-up, and you’re determined to make it one more night. 

 Erwin gets back with about three hours to spare. He and Mike disappear to change into what you assume to be their usual douche-y attire, and you and Levi sit alone in the large living room waiting quietly. 

 You’re surprised when he speaks first, stating, “You don’t seem the sorority type.”

 Turning, you try to make sense of it, respond, “Well, I’m not.” You’re almost offended that he’d even consider you were.

 “Then what are you doing hanging around with those frat boy fucks?”

 “Oh, that.” You sigh. “Uhh, my friend made me go to one of their parties, and I just… Made an impression, I guess.”

 “You fucked one of ‘em, didn’t you?” Levi is smirking, so sure of himself that you don’t really see the point in denying it.

 “Yeah.”

 “Rich boy or the giant?”

 You look over at him, defenses rising like they did your first night in the Pi Kappa Alpha house. “The fuck is it to you?”

 Holding his hands up, Levi chuckles, “Alright, alright, forget I asked.”

 You cross your arms over your chest, stare off as you wonder if it’s actually that hard to tell. You figured it would be obvious that you’re more comfortable with Mike than with Erwin, but you have been getting more used to the other brazen blond over the last few months, just like you’ve been getting a little more used to Nile and all the other brothers. You haven’t sucked any of their dicks, though. 

 “How’d you meet Erwin?” You try.

 You’re not surprised when Levi snarks, “The fuck is it to you?” 

 You can’t tell if the two of you are going to leave this ranch house as mortal enemies or as friends, but it’ll definitely be one of them. 

 “‘Cause you don’t seem the type to hang out with them either,” you tell him.

 It's definitely odd. He and Erwin have to go back some time to have been able to stick together through their college years and all of their superficial differences. 

 Levi admires the black polish on his nails then informs you in a bored tone, “We’ve been friends since we were kids, but it’s no big deal. Just can’t get rid of him.”

 The corner of his mouth turns upward, so he can’t be too heartbroken over it. You understand that, haven’t quite been able to shake your puppy-dog of a friend since the beginning of the semester, but you’re not as annoyed about it as you pretend to be. 

 “They certainly do get attached,” you hum.

 The two men in question join you once again, looking much more palatable in jeans and v-necks. Erwin has a button-down hanging open and rolled up to his elbows while Mike is wearing a black and white flannel in similar fashion. It’s the most casual they’ve been at a party, and you can’t help but joke, “Wow, look at you two. More human, less lizard people for once.”

 Erwin rolls his eyes while Mike mumbles a Doctor Who reference that makes you suck on the inside of your cheek to keep from grinning. 

 He’s got his charm turned on tonight, the kind that appeals to you, which will definitely pose a problem.

 People start arriving at around eight, some you recognize from the college, some you don’t who you assume to be some of Erwin’s older friends. Gelgar taps the keg within minutes of walking in then plays the role of bartender for the next ten minutes as everyone lines up for a drink. There’s liquor and mixers set up on the counter, and you consider just making your usual, but you figure you should have at least a little of the beer since you’re the one who fought for the more expensive brand. 

 When you get your cup, foam nearly overflowing past the rim, you take one sip only to cough it back up when Mike shows off his usual party trick—appearing out of thin air—and asks, “You gonna finish it this time?”

 You splutter as you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand then glare up at him. “I’m gonna try, but it’s gonna be pretty fuckin’ difficult if you keep making me spit up like a god damn baby.”

 He’s amused, light eyes dancing mischievously, and you know you’re in for a long night. 

 Erwin has a playlist filtering through the house’s sound system, a nice balance of several different genres playing at a bearable volume for the first time. Games start up in the kitchen, rage cage around the island, beer pong at the table, and while you’re content to just wallflower in the corner, Mike drags you into it. 

 “You’re just as bad as Hitch," you complain, but he isn't fazed, just plants you in an open spot at the island and stands right beside you. He's gonna regret doing that; rage cage is one of the only competitive games you're actually good at, but he'll find that out. 

 It's fast-paced, full of screaming and laughing, jumping and shoving. You get to slam your cup into Mike's on several occasions, drawing curses from him every time. 

 "Honestly, it's a little embarrassing," you ridicule with a smile. 

 He downs the small amount of beer in the cup he pulls, adds it to the stack, then challenges, "I'll show you embarrassing. Just wait." 

 You've had maybe two beers altogether, but it still sends a jolt down your spine. 

 The two of you play another couple of rounds, and Mike does seem to catch on a little more, but he eventually bows out and pulls you away with him. 

 More beer. Meandering around the party. It's pretty tame in comparison to all the Pike events you've attended, but the later it gets, the rowdier everyone becomes. Music gets turned up to dance. The keg stops being used for pouring and starts being used for stands. You have the absolute pleasure of watching Erwin hold Levi upside down as the smaller man chugs as much as he can. He beats Nile's record, raises his arms in victory as Erwin shakes him by the shoulders in excitement. 

 "They're pretty close, yeah?" 

 Mike looks down at you as you stand on your tip-toes to get closer to his ear as you speak. 

 He nods. "I don't really understand them, but yeah. They've been friends since, like, elementary school, I think."

 "No shit?"

 "No shit."

 You play beer pong against Gelgar and Nile, end up losing by quite a lot, and by the time you finish the remaining cups and another full drink, you're feeling good. Warm, happy, dangerously giggly. 

 Mike stands too close as you make your rounds to talk to people, many of them asking how the lacrosse season went. He puffs his chest a little, tries and fails to act modest, but instead of getting irritated like you usually do, you find yourself resting your cheek against his arm as you shake your head. You don't know if the action is to disagree with him or to get closer, but it makes Mike chuckle and shift so that he can wrap that arm around you and pull you to his chest instead. 

 He smells nice—woodsy with a sweet little bite. It makes your mouth water. You try to call back your determination from before, that readiness to fight and deny, but Mike's body is firm and massive and hot against yours, and he's also drunk and smiling sideways. His eyes are hazy and gorgeous when he peers down at you. His stubble has grown into that perfect length, the kind that feels incredible between your legs, and you can already see your hands tugging at his shaggy hair as he flips it from his face. 

 "You okay?" He rumbles, tongue darting out to lick his lips. 

 He knows. You know he knows. And, he knows that you know that— 

 Fuck. Stop. Just…

 "What do you think?" You're aware of what you're saying. The words make perfect sense. You just can't stop them from falling from your mouth is all. 

 "I don't know," Mike says, a playful lilt to his voice. "Why don't you tell me?" 

 You're not sure if he's asking for your consent or if he just wants to humiliate you by making you spell it out for him. 

 "I mean…" Your gaze travels from his face to his neck to his pecs and downward. "The semester is over."

 "It is," he agrees, hand moving from your waist to your hip. 

 "Don't really need to be, uh… What's the word…" You squeeze your eyes shut, splaying your fingers on his stomach. "Studious," you snap. "Don't need to be so studious on vacation."

 Mike very slowly starts walking backwards toward the staircase, holding you at arms length by both your hips now. 

 "No, you really don't." 

 Voice of reason fading away, you step around him but grab his hand, taking the stairs two by two until you're on the balcony that wraps above the living room. Once you slip into the closer room, yours, you lock the door. 

 Mike's mouth is familiar in its desperation—tastes like beer and want and him. He pulls his flannel off behind him by the sleeves just in time for you to start pushing his shirt up over his abs, in awe all over again at the muscle group. 

 It's really not fair. 

 You pause between kisses to strip, smiling and groaning whenever your lips meet again. You've missed it on some level—the heat, the fucking attraction you just can't shake. All the times you hung out with him, purposely keeping distance, avoiding flirting and touching and staring—you figured it would come to a head. You even guessed there was a good chance that it would be at this party. 

 But, that doesn't mean you're prepared when he throws you onto the bed, doesn't prepare you for the way he bites your lip and sucks on your neck and pinches your nipples until you moan his name and grind against him, and it certainly doesn't prepare you for the way he spreads your legs, runs his nose up the inside of your thigh, then drags his tongue over your slit. 

 "Fuck, Mike." 

 He groans, quick to slide the muscle into your pulsing cunt to taste you. His fingertips are digging into the fat of your thighs, keeping you still save for your trembling which makes the feeling of his mouth even more intense. You want to buck against his face, want to put out the fire raging inside of you by moving somehow, letting some of the energy out, but you can't. All you can do is lay there as Mike licks around your hole and nibbles at your clit and laps up your juices. 

 "Missed this fuckin' pussy," he breathes, sucking on one of your lips and then the other, pulling blood to the surface and making them puffy and sensitive. 

 You card fingers through his hair before fisting your hand in it and shoving his face further into your cunt, trying as hard as you fucking can to ride any part of him you can manage—his tongue, his nose, anything that will give you friction. 

 The sound he makes at your pathetic attempt is bestial, a low, throaty grunt as he rubs his chin up and down your slit, drenching himself in your slick and quickly overstimulating your swollen clit with his stubble. 

 "Oh fuck, oh fuck—"

 "You wanted it," he grits. "You pushed your sloppy little cunt right in my face, so now you've gotta take everything I give you." 

 You cry as he continues the motion, pussy drooling as the little bud starts to grow raw. "Mike, please, please…"

 "Gonna make sure you feel this tomorrow." He stops only to lean back down and suck your clit into his mouth. The tip of his tongue is soft in comparison to the coarse hair, but it still makes your hips twitch, and when he grazes his teeth over it, you squeal and kick. 

 It's so close to hurting, right on the edge, but it's that helplessness that has you steadily leaking on the bed. It's what makes it easy for Mike to push a finger into your clenching hole, pump a couple times, then slide another one in beside it. 

 Your climax is coiling in your gut, compressed like a spring and only getting tighter with every thrust of long, thick fingers and every measured flick of his tongue. 

 Gripping his hair again, you ride it out. Mike loosens his grip just enough to allow you to undulate in time with the waves that wash over you, and you moan loudly as he moves to flatten his tongue over your entrance so that you come on and against it. 

 He gives you some time to settle down, but you know he isn't done yet, and since you're not quite ready to take his cock in your sensitive pussy, you pull your legs from the sides of his head and crawl to lay with your head off the side of the bed. 

 Mike gets the picture immediately, and you hear a huff of air leave him all at once before he clambers off the mattress to position himself at the edge. You're a little too low, so he grabs all four pillows to shove under you, and as he does, you lavish his bobbing cock with kitten licks, going as far as sucking on his balls when he leans over you. 

 "Jesus fucking—" 

 You can feel the way they tighten, his cockhead dripping pre that lands just below the notch of your sternum. It isn't until he's thoroughly coated in spit that you stop and let him straighten, then open your mouth and relax your shoulders. 

 Mike is careful as he slides his tip past your lips, letting you adjust to the weight of his cock in your mouth before he pushes in a little further. Your eyes start watering as soon as he passes between your molars, making you stretch your jaw and drool from the corners of your mouth. 

 He pulls out then, taps his cockhead on your cheek, leaving a mix of precum and spit on your skin before lining himself up again and sliding back in. 

 He repeats the process a few times as if it'll actually get you used to his size, but it's just not possible. You gag and gurgle, slurp back drool when you're given the chance, and your entire body throbs when Mike tells you, "I'm gonna give you more now, okay? Wanna see your throat bulge with my cock."

 You moan around him, try to make the passage of your mouth and esophagus as straight as possible then let your eyes roll back as he slips into the tighter sleeve for a few seconds. Your toes dig into the bedspread, fingers clawing at the material as you fight back the panic that comes with not being able to breathe. 

 Mike pulls out panting, and you wish you could see his face, the look in his eyes, but you can't. All you can do is lap at his cock until he pushes it into your mouth again. 

 This time when he slips into your throat, he reaches down to press a hand to your neck, letting out a deep, disbelieving laugh as he feels the way his length moves in it. "Holy shit. I could—" he just barely gives you more, and your responding whine is completely muffled by him, "—Could come like this."

 The thought makes you tingle. Or maybe that's the lack of oxygen. You are feeling a little lightheaded. But the idea of him coming down your throat, right into your stomach, fuck, it makes your cunt pulse again. 

 Mike pulls out, and you suck in deep breaths, a little sob making your chest heave. Tears are streaming from your eyes, getting caught in your hair, and you have to wipe other various fluids from your face. 

 He helps you sit back up, rubs your shoulders and kisses the back of your neck as your heart rate returns to normal. As soon as he sees you relax, though, he's tugging you from the bed and bending you over it. 

 The scream that's pushed from you is hoarse as you're split open on his cock. Mike holds you by the hair, pulling your head back as he snaps his hips forward and back relentlessly. He slides in and out of you easily, but that doesn't mean he isn't stretching you to your breaking point. 

 You shake on the bed, thankful when he lets go of your head so that you can fall back to the mattress, crying and moaning all you want. 

 "Feel so good, baby," Mike groans. "So good."

 He punctuates it with a slap to your ass that causes you to squeeze him, and that only encourages him to repeat the action until both your cheeks are radiating heat and stinging from his hands. 

 He flips you like a doll, and you're finally able to see his face clearly as he stares down at you with a dropped jaw and heavy lids. You know you're a mess, fucked out and sloppy, but as he abuses your g-spot with the ridge of his cock, all you can do is grin drunkenly and let your eyes roll. 

 "So pretty when you smile," he praises. Fingers grip your chin, and when you're able to focus your gaze again you find Mike leaning over you, face level with yours. "Open your mouth for me." His tone is soft yet demanding, and you don't hesitate for a second as you do what you're told. 

 Mike pushes spit through his lips, letting it drip and stretch until it lands on your tongue. It makes you feel cheap and disgusting, but it doesn't stop you from squirting around him. 

 Devolving into nothing more than grunts and groans, Mike continues to fuck into you but straightens so that he can reach your clit better. He flicks it back and forth until your true orgasm hits you, and then he keeps going. 

 You cry out, squirm wildly beneath him, but all it results in is two fingers being shoved in your mouth. Stroking over the back of your tongue, more saliva pours from your mouth just like the slick that pours from your pussy while he toys with your clit. 

 You come again. And again. When Mike finally removes his hand from between your legs, you're nothing more than a puddle, moaning and crying for him. 

 Every orgasm has made your walls swell around him, his cock feeling longer and thicker than ever as he kisses your cervix with every thrust. That lightheaded sensation is back, white dots dancing around your eyes, and you just barely manage out his name, tapping in his forearm. 

 "Need… need…"

 "What do you need, babe?"

 Your arms curl up by your head, fingers moving and spasming as every one of your senses is overwhelmed.

  "Need you to—t-to—to come. Need you to c-come." 

 You've never had to tap out before, but you can't take him anymore. His size. His expression. His lack of fucking mercy.

 "Yeah?" He coos, but his cock is still dragging in and out of you. You nod, but Mike draws it out, asking, "Where do you want me to come?"

 "Don't… Care…"

 "You don't care?" He's still moving, fucking you absolutely stupid as he lists out, "Your face? Your tits?" He gropes your chest, pinching both nipples, and the fact that you don't even whimper must clue him into the fact that he's about to lose you. 

 Your mind is swimming, fading every time he pulls out only to be brought back online when he pushes back in. 

 "What about your pussy? Want me to come all over your pussy?" 

 You moan, the simplest part of your brain apparently finding that appealing, so after a few more thrusts, Mike pulls out entirely and jerks himself off until he covers your folds in hot cum. He gets some on your thighs, some on your pelvis, soaks your peaking clit so that you take in a stuttering breath. 

 His hand is between your legs again, fingertips spreading the viscous fluid around and dipping into your slit.

 Your eyes shoot open for the first time in God knows how long, a panicked, "M-Mike," tumbling from your lips, but he hushes you.

 "I'm not pushing it inside or anything. Just having fun."

 And, fuck, tonight is the night you learn how filthy he is. Mike spends a few solid minutes rubbing his seed over your puffy lips, fingers the raw tissue around your hole so that you leak for him, then uses it to massage your clit slowly and softly, pulling one last orgasm from you that makes fresh tears spring in your eyes. 

 You're going to be in a world of pain tomorrow, but you can't regret it—not when your legs continue to shake long after your climax, not when you can already feel that satisfying ache deep inside of you, not when Mike crawls to sit on the bed and lifts you into his arms. 

 "You okay?" He asks into your hair. 

 He's rubbing soothing circles on your stomach as you drift in and out. You know you need to shower, but you're so tired and so wrecked, you doubt you'll be able to stand for long enough to clean yourself. 

 "Did I hurt you?" 

 "Mm, little bit," you tell him honestly. You can actually feel his heart start to beat harder in his chest, so you reassure him, "Liked it, though."

 You think something like twenty minutes pass, but you can't be sure as you keep dozing. It's hard not to with Mike rubbing your stomach, his body rising and falling in rhythm with every breath he takes. 

 When your eyes open more than halfway, you begin to move, grimacing at the soreness between your legs as well as the mess. 

 "'m gonna hop in the shower," you announce. 

 Mike sits up too, stretches his arms and asks through a groan, "Want me to come with?"

 "You've done enough coming tonight," you snort. "But nah, I can clean myself on my own."

 His eyebrows furrow, but he doesn't say anything, just lets you get up and walk to the bathroom on shaky legs. 

 The hot water almost puts you back to sleep. You manage to rinse off where you need to, step back into the room fully expecting to see Mike passed out in your bed, but he's nowhere to be found. 

 As you crawl under the covers, you try to swallow the feeling of disappointment that's stuck in your throat. 

 *

Mike is up before almost everyone in the house the next morning, so he spends most of it trying to clean up alongside Levi, though he apparently isn't doing a very good job of it according to the smaller man. 

 "Jesus, have you ever mopped a floor in your life?" 

 "Oh, so we're just throwing everything in the same trash bag? No recycling? Your future kids will thank you for that, I'm sure."

 "No, there's no way I’m letting you wipe down the counters. Just move." 

 Levi is lucky Mike is as laid back as he is otherwise he would have thrown the little fuck into the koi pond behind the house a long time ago. 

 Erwin wakes up around nine and walks down looking a little rough, but Mike has definitely seen him in worse states. 

 "Thanks for cleaning up," he says, bent over the island and holding his head in his hands. "Pretty sure I would have thrown up if I'd tried. Several times."

 He tells the other two that pretty much everyone else started heading out at around three and that he has a list of party-goers he needs to text to make sure they made it home in one piece, "When I can actually fucking see straight."

 Naturally, the conversation turns to Mike. Erwin, with his cheek now pressed against the cool, granite countertop, smirks up at him and asks in a sly voice, "So, how was your night?' 

 Mike bites his lip to hide a smile, leans out of the kitchen to make sure you aren't stumbling down the stairs or traipsing about the house, then looks back to his friend and laughs, "Fucking mind-blowing, dude." He doesn't go into explicit detail—that's never been his style—but he does whisper about you taking him better than any other girl and that he's, "Addicted, dude. I genuinely think I am addicted to her pussy." 

 "Don't be fucking dramatic, Zacharias," you pop out behind him, slapping his back as you pass him to get to the fridge. He can see the ghost of a smile turning your lips up, but it's hard to feel satisfied at that when his own face is beet red. 

 Looking at Erwin, Mike throws his hands out by his side, mutters an incredulous, "Dude," that makes the other blond chuckle. 

 You grab a water bottle from the refrigerator, making Levi grumble, "Are none of you guys concerned about the planet? God damn."

 Standing between Mike and Erwin, you take a few gulps, all eyes on you until you swallow and question, "Can I help you?" Now that you're right next to him, Mike can hear a scratchiness to your voice, almost as if you're getting sick, but he knows better, knows exactly where it came from, and fuck if it doesn't make him twitch in his sweats. 

 "Have a good time at the party?" Erwin pries once again. 

 You look at him with a deadpan expression, then answer, "Seems like you already got the deets, so sure. I had a grand time."

 Mike isn't sure if you're being sarcastic about it just like you are everything else. You had just kind of left him hanging when you'd gone to shower. He hadn't thought too much into it even if he'd been a little bummed, but he thinks he understands. You just need more space than he does. 

 Or, it could have been that you hadn't enjoyed yourself. Oh god, what if you'd just been faking? What if you'd lied to him when he asked if he hurt you? What if you're in pain right now and just hiding it? 

 Mike zones out while you talk with Erwin and Levi about plans for the day, works himself into a nice little panic but is still able to hear you tell them you're just gonna head back to your mom's. 

 "You sure?" Erwin asks. "I know you only planned to stay one night, but you're more than welcome to hang out for longer. We’ll be here for at least another few days."

 Levi adds an, "Unfortunately," that earns him a hair ruffle he swats away. 

 "No, it's cool. I can't leave mom alone for the holiday or she'll start to think I don't like staying at the house."

 "You don't, though."

 "Yeah, but she doesn't have to know that."

 Mike stares after you as you take your water bottle and return upstairs, and it doesn't escape the notice of the other two men. 

 "You're so fuckin' whipped, man," Erwin teases. 

 Mike doesn't deny it, just holds up a middle finger. 

 Erwin isn't entirely wrong, though. Mike has been trying to deny it or play it off as nothing more than lust, but there's more to his feelings at this point. He tries not to be obvious around you, to keep his cards close to his chest because he knows you just want to keep things casual—barely even want that if he's being honest. 

 So he can hide it. He can pretend it isn't happening. In fact, Mike should be thankful that you only want sex (sometimes) because it leaves him to do whatever he wants. He could fuck other chicks left and right, and you wouldn't even bat an eyelash. That's a good thing, right? 

 That worry about last night still has him on edge, though, so before you can leave, Mike catches you in your room as you're packing up and closes the door. 

 He expects you to make some kind of comment about not being able to go again, but all you do is tilt your head to the side in a dangerously cute way. 

 "Hey, I, uh… I just wanted to make sure you felt okay after last night." 

 You blink at him, pause in folding your clothes, then show a wide, real grin. 

 "Yeah, I'm fine. Sore in various places—like, super sore—but I'm fine."

 Mike's mouth twists to hide his smirk, and he mumbles a low, "Sorry."

 "Don't ever apologize for your monster cock," you tell him, setting your shirt down on the mattress before pacing over to him. "Like, unless there's tearing of some sort, which there really shouldn't be since you're good at preparation, whoever you fuck should be okay. Sore but okay."

 His eyes go a little wide when you stop in front of him, looking up with an expression he's really never seen before—or maybe that you've never allowed him to see before—and the longer he stares, the more he realizes that you're god damn glowing. 

 Taking a chance, he finds your waist with his hands, inches just a little closer, then leans down when you stand on your toes and tug him by the shirt. 

 You taste like peppermint and already smell like the perfume you wear every day, the scent that has made Mike dizzy for the past few months. He moves a hand to your back to press your body into his, and when you take his bottom lip into your mouth, biting and sucking, he groans and pulls back before he can get too hard. 

 "What's all this? Why are you so perky this morning?" 

 "I get giddy after good sex," you say with a shrug. "Sue me."

 "That why you run away every time I fuck you?" He questions.

 You nod. "Couldn't run away this time, though."

 "I'm sure it's really bruising your pride, letting me see you all warm and gooey." 

 "I am not warm and gooey," you protest. "I was last night, but—"

 "Aw, gross, why'd you have to say it like that?" 

 You giggle—giggle—then remind him, "You're the one who felt the need to fucking fingerpaint."

 Mike vividly remembers the way your pussy looked covered in his cum, the way it felt to smear it and play with your swollen entrance and clit, and now… Now he is definitely hard again. 

 "Better stop before you end up on that bed again."

 Your eyes are dancing, tone mischievous when you respond, "Only if you're gentle."

 "Christ—"

 He's got you naked and spread on the mattress in less than thirty seconds, tongue buried in your cunt as he soothes every part of you he can reach. 

 It would be cruel to actually fuck you again. He knows you're probably a little more tender than you're letting on, so Mike settles for licking into you and flicking your clit, never using teeth as it swells in his mouth so that you pant and moan, and promise, "I can handle it, Mike, I can…"

 "I don't care if you can or can't. Just lemme do this."

 And, it's not like he hasn't pulled his cock from his pants, pumping it and coating his length in the pre-cum he drips at the mere sight of you.

 He can tell you're getting close when your thighs start to tense. You alternate between shifting your hips and going slack. It's the latter that you leak the most, pussy opening around his tongue only to clench a few seconds later. 

 "Just one finger, Mike, please, I want—I need something inside me, please, please," you moan. 

 Mike turns his face to kiss your thigh, sighing but giving in easily when he acquiesces, "Only one."

 The noise you make as he slides his middle finger into you is like music, high pitched and drawn out, with an awe one would sing hymns with. 

 "Yes, yes, yes, thank you, fuck, tha—"

 He understands why you wanted it so badly when he pulls it out and sees his finger coated in white, considers fucking you with it to the point of tears, but before he can, the door to the bedroom swings open and fucking Erwin walks in to ask, "Levi and I are going to the store—"

 “Jesus fuck, Erwin!" Mike swears. "A little busy here!"

 His friend is unfazed, but more importantly, you are too, arching your back, pulling Mike's hair to get him back where you want him, then moaning his name like you never have before as you come. 

 You tremble and take in stuttering breaths, and Mike does his best to hide your exposed pussy from prying eyes as he looks at Erwin and barks out a furious, "No, I don't need anything from the store. Get out."

 The blond shrugs and turns, walking out without shutting the door, and Mike swears he's gonna kill him. He's too bold and too entitled and now he's seen far too much of your body, and Mike doesn't like that. 

 "Did you come?" You ask in an airy voice. Mike guesses you could feel the rhythm of his hand on his cock, probably pushing his face harder against you with every pass. 

 "Uh, no. I don't know if you noticed, but Erwin walked in."

 "I noticed," you snort, sitting up on your elbows. "Why do you think I moaned your name like that?"

 "What?" It had seemed a little odd. Mike knows he's pretty good at oral, but you've never made a sound like that before. 

 "Fucker wanted to see what we were up to, I decided to show him. Now he knows how good you are."

 Mike stands, peers down at you skeptically and says, "You're being too nice to me today. It's freakin' me out a little."

 He doesn't think it's necessary to add that Erwin is already aware of his sexual prowess considering they definitely had a threesome with a rather adventurous girl back in freshman year. It's just not pertinent information. 

 "Soak it up, Zacharias. I'm sure the good mood will be gone by tomorrow."

 "Why, cause I won't be at your mom's to fuck you stupid every night?" His voice comes out cocky, but it's stifled by the way you squeal when he slaps a hand over your wet pussy.

 "I'm sensitive, you asshole!" You're smiling even as you whine. "And, here I was about to give you head to get you off."

 "I mean, you can still do that."

 You glare up at him the whole time you slide off the bed to your knees, warn, "Better hope I don't bite."

 *

 After you leave (and after making out against Mike’s Wrangler for a little too long), he goes back inside to find Erwin and Levi lounging in the den with a movie playing. He wastes no time in snapping his fingers at Erwin and commanding, "We're gonna talk."

 "Oh, are we?" Erwin doesn't even look away until Mike grabs the back of his shirt, and only then does he move from his spot. "Okay, okay, watch the wrinkles, bro."

 He follows Mike into the kitchen, out of earshot unless either of them raise their voices which… Could happen. 

 "What the fuck was that?" Mike hisses. 

 Erwin looks at him with big blue eyes and plays dumb, "What the fuck was what?" 

 Taking a deep breath through his nose, Mike makes sure his voice comes out low and steady, "Smith, I swear to God, it's been a long time since I've punched you, but you're fuckin' testing me, dude."

 Erwin smiles, face lighting up with what looks like excitement but could also be fury. 

 "Mike," he starts. "Don't tell me you're getting violent over a girl." His tone is patronizing, his eyebrows are high, and his grin is downright menacing. 

 "I haven't gotten violent yet," Mike grits. 

 "Hey, how was I to know what you two were doing up there?" 

 "It's not about you walking in, dude! It's about you just fucking standing there!"

 Erwin chuckles and blows him off, "Mike, I've seen your dick before. You've got nothing to worry about."

 "That's not what I'm worried about. You just, like, came in when she was in a vulnerable position, and that's fucked up."

 "She didn't seem to mind."

 Mike sucks his teeth, takes another grounding breath, then asks again, "Why? Why did you wait to leave?" 

 "You want me to be honest?" Erwin rolls his neck then his shoulders. Mike has seen him do that many times before lacrosse games to loosen up—to get ready for a fight. 

 Mike's fist clenches at his side. "Yeah, I do."

 "You've been making yourself crazy over this girl since the start of the semester, and I want to know why."

 "What do you mean?" Mike doesn't know why he asks, has a pretty good idea of what Erwin is alluding to. 

 The blond still dodges the question but in about the worst way possible. "It's not like you two are exclusive or anything."

 Mike feels the way his lungs fill to the point of burning, how his jaw clenches until his molars begin to ache under the pressure, and before he really knows what's happening, he's bowing up to his best friend. 

 Erwin matches him, only a couple inches shorter, chin tilted, that maddening light in his eyes. 

 "Walk away, Mike," he warns. "And, we can forget this little spat even happened."

 Mike peers down his nose at him, trying to rein in his emotions because Erwin is right. You two aren't exclusive. You don't want to be. You told him it was because you need to focus on school, but it could be that you want other options. 

 But fuck, Mike doesn't want Erwin to be one of them. He's stolen more than a few girls right from under Mike's nose with his stupid charm and stupid face and stupid money. He doesn't want you to fall prey to all of it too. 

 Mike doesn't even register the quiet footsteps padding into the kitchen, but Levi's smartass, "You guys about to kiss or somethin'?" definitely snaps him out of his head. 

 Stepping back, Mike resists the urge to punch the counter and break his fucking hand, then turns and strides out. 

 He's supposed to stay at the ranch house for a couple more days, but Mike needs to distance himself before he does something stupid. 

 When he comes back downstairs with his bag on his shoulder and his keys in his hand, Erwin seems to realize his error on at least some level and stands from his place on the couch. 

 "Mike, come on, I'm sor—"

 "Let me cool off, dude,” Mike snaps.

 Erwin shuts his mouth and sits back down, smart enough not to follow Mike outside.

[ next ]

#mike zacharias x reader #miche zacharias x reader #aot x reader #aot fanfic #mels prima vista #mels frat house

[knullanon]

invincible bullshit that i came up with 10 days ago i just forgot about it

ngaoevnbiaebiw its here @anxiousnerdwritings i hope you like it i got inspired by you to write this

words: 2196

warnings: past arguing, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ENTIRE SEASON 1, shooting, arguing, past manipulation

“Reports of who killed the Guardians of the globe are starting to surface, with our agents finding out about the supposed killer: we know they spared Omni-Man, killed the rest of the members, and then fled. We also know they are not from earth. Lots of people have speculated that Omni-Man is the one behind these killings, however, the government has ruled out that being a possibility, since there was no evidence of Omni-Man doing these actions. More at 7 tonight on-”

The program stopped playing as you saw a contact appear on the top of the screen, and reading it, you immediately perked up.

Swiping on the green button, you happily said, “Hey, Dad! What’cha need?”

You heard a chuckle from the other end, before he said, “Hey kiddo, how you holding up?”

“Nothing much going on here, you good over there?”

“Yup, mostly everything is fine. You know my work, they always have something for me to do.”

“Hopefully that clears up soon.”

“Yeah, hey, listen, where are you right now?”

Ugh, not this again. Your mood slightly dropped as you remembered a few years ago, when you first met Cecil. He wasn’t as good as he is now, and he would always be asking where you would be. Even in school. However, that was all in the past, since you were older, he now knew that you were responsible enough to do things on your own. At least, that’s what he wanted you to believe.

“Uh, well, I was just gonna go hang out with some friends and then go back home. Why?”

“Ok, listen to me very carefully: one of my guys is gonna pick you up near Bridgetown, ok? You’re gonna get a bracelet from them and then I’ll explain the rest here.”

What the fuck? “Oh, um, ok, when will they be there?”

“About 5 minutes. Be there soon, love you, bye.”

He hung up the phone quickly, which was extremely rare, even for him, since he would never show his love to you out publicly and you would feel weird if he even did. However, on the phone or in private he was a completely different person, having a great personality and he was an even better dad.

Well, he did say to hurry up, and 5 minutes. You checked the time and when you saw it was near 1. You strided your way towards the street he told you to meet on, and cheerfully thought of the ways to hang out with your friends after whatever he wanted to do. Maybe you could go to the mall? Maybe the food court? You’ve been meaning to try those damn milkshakes at that new bar everyone is talking about, but it was always so crowded. You never liked crowded places in the first place.

Suddenly, your phone rang again. This time, when you checked, it was your dad again. Strange. It was weird for him to call you twice in a row. He usually got to the point within a few sentences.

Picking up the phone, you said, “Hey dad-”

“________, listen to me. Get to someplace safe now. Get out of the road. Get out of the public. I don't care if you have to go inside someone else’s house, just get out of sight.”

Stopping in the middle of the road you let out some surprised stutters. “Wh- Dad, what are you talking about?”

“_______, please, just listen to me when I say this, you are in danger and you need to get out of there.”

“Why? What’s happening?”

You were shuffling around trying to find a good place to “hide” while your dad went into complete panic mode in his voice. “_______, find a place to hide, and whatever you do, get out of open space.”

You heard him speak to someone off the phone, before he cursed out loud. “I have to call you back, but someone will be there, wherever you are, ok? I… I love you.”

Before you could answer him, he hung up the phone. Anxiety was the only thing you could feel, as you looked around the desolate neighborhood. There was a reason why you chose this area over others: it was quiet and small. Not only that, but the only people who walked this way were people who were not fond of bigger crowds. In fact, you haven’t seen anyone go this way for a long time. You always wondered why, since it was the perfect way to get robbed. Of course, that would never happen, especially with all those lessons from your dad about self defense.

The street you were on had walls surrounding the sidewalk to prevent people from going into people's backyards, probably. They were too high up to climb, and they were concrete, so it wouldn’t be easy to just hop over and call it a day.

However, you were almost at the end of the street, and you knew there was a little patch of bushes and leaves that would provide the perfect cover. They were almost as tall as your dad, which always made you wonder who was watering them to be that big.

Pacing quickly towards the end of the street, and seeing no one in sight made you let out a sigh of relief. Either dad was overeating or something bad was happening, and you don’t know which would be worse. When Cec- dad overrated, it always got messy, no matter what it was about.

“Why were you out so long? I was about to send a team after you-”

“Cecil, it’s fine, I just had to talk to my-”

“Don’t call me Cecil, and don’t try to make excuses, tell me who you were with right now or I swear to god-”

You forgot the memory almost as soon as it came up, instead choosing to focus on getting to the brush where you could hide until C- Dad came to pick you up. Wherever he was. Actually, did he give you a time that he would be there?

You got a weird feeling that made you sprint towards the bushes and dive in, like there was someone behind you. You ignored it and forced your way on all fours, ignoring the cuts and scratches you were getting on your arms and legs.

There was almost a whooshing sound above you, and you wondered if your dad sent a fucking jet to get you. But that thought left your mind when you heard it right next to you, along with the sound of someone making a harsh landing onto the street. You were able to hear the little bits and pieces of concrete fly off the ground to hit the ground again.

You stayed completely still, leaning on your arms while your body was facing the street. You heard something shuffle, like moving fabric around, before a familiar voice hit your ears.

“Who’s there?” they- he said, and you were about to cry out of relief when you heard it. “Omni-Man?”

~~~~~

“Cecil, why do you think Nolan would go after ________?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Cecil didn’t look at Debbie, instead focusing on the map in front of him, wondering where Mark could’ve been.

“What reason would he have to go after them? I just- he wouldn’t just attack a child, would he?”

Cecil felt his head start to hurt. Goddamnit, why did Nolan want to go after you? You had nothing to do with anything, besides being Cecil’s daughter. … is that why he was after you? Just because you were related to Cecil?

No, Nolan wasn’t stupid. He knew you weren’t his biological daughter, Nolan knew Cecil took you from somewhere.

He probably thought you were just someone that he got for fun, which was the furthest from the truth. Cecil didn’t-

“Sir, we’ve found Mark Grayson, along with your daughter, not at the same locations, but-”

“Where is she?” Cecil didn’t try to hide his worry in his voice. It didn’t exactly help when the agent said, in a monotone voice, “She's with Omni-Man, sir.”

~~~~~

“________? What are you doing here?”

Peeking out from the bush, you saw Omni-Man walk up towards you and hold out his hand. You graciously took it, and helped yourself up. Even when you were standing at your full height, Omni-Man was way taller than you. Like, way taller. He could beat your dad within an inch of his life even with all of that combat stuff he learned over the years.

Of course he could, he’s Omni-Man dumbass. Ignoring the thought, you answered, “I’m, uh, busy.”

You saw him give a small smile. “You’re busy hiding in the bushes?”

“Yes.” you cursed internally for answering that so quickly like an idiot. You weren’t expecting him to let out a laugh. He continued while you stood there, confused as all hell.

Finally, he said, “You know, you’re a terrible liar.” You laughed along with him for a moment, before saying, “Yeah, I know.”

His face suddenly darkened, before he said, “So, why are you out here?”

The laughter in the air was gone now, only replaced by crushing silence as he waited for your answer. You felt yourself shrink under his scrutinizing gaze. He looked like he was judging you for just standing there. Well, he could’ve also been judging you because you were in a bush just 10 seconds earlier. After a few more seconds, you broke.

“C- Dad said to hide somewhere.”

“Aren’t you too old to be playing those games?”

“Yeah, I am, but apparently someone was gonna come and get me. He just said to get out of open space.”

You heard him mutter something under his breath, before he scratched the back of his head.

“Well, I can see why he would want that.”

“Really? Why?”

“A mob boss named Machine Head.” When you gave him a confused look, he elaborated, “Machine head was a guy who took down the new Guardians of the Globe along with… Mark. They thought they got him, but unfortunately they weren’t able to kill him.”

“How does that have anything with me?”

“... You’re Cecil’s daughter. Cecil was the one who found out about Machine Head. And took him down. Machine Head wants revenge against Cecil for ruining his plans, so he’s probably going to take it out on you.” When you still gave a surprised stare, he asked, “Do you really not have this happen often?”

“No, Dad keeps me inside alot…” your voice trailed off when you heard your phone ring, and picking it up, you saw it was your dad.

“Hello?”

“_________, I told you to get to somewhere safe!”

“I-I am! I’m with Nolan!”

“Hey, Cecil, don’t worry, I’m right here.” Nolan’s voice was filled with sarcasm, probably an old joke between the two. After all, they were both good friends to each other.

“No, you don’t understand, ______, listen to me-”

Suddenly you were grabbed by your arm, and dragged down. You were caught by Omni-Man before you hit the ground, though. Looking behind him, you saw two trucks coming towards you, along with multiple people in them, with weapons of all sorts.

You didn’t have time to ask who they were or what they wanted, as Omni-Man grabbed you and pulled out off the ground, and into the air. It took you a few moments, but you realized you were in the air. Flying.

Reaching for your phone in your pocket to call your dad back, you realized you must’ve dropped it. However, you weren’t about to waste your energy trying to get it back. Especially not when you were high above the ground. So you simply hung on for dear life as Omni-Man flew away from the shouting people in the cars.

~~~~~

“Where is she?”

“She went with Omni-Man, sir.”

Cecil stood there for a moment, wondering what the fuck happened. It was obvious now that Nolan had no intentions to harm you, but why would he take you and not tell you anything? Cecil wondered before something was handed to him. “We found this near where they took off, sir.”

It was your phone. Completely crushed to bits. “Omni-Man took it from her and crushed it without her knowledge, sir.”

“You started to shoot at her?! What the hell were you thinking!?”

The men stood there, completely still realizing their mistake. “We’re not kids playing at some game, this is real life. And now- I-” he really wanted to kill Nolan now. Debbie was going to become a widow, and he really didn’t care.

Walking up to the truck that was nearest to him, he opened the back and shuffled around, trying to find something, anything that would be of use.

Then he found his favorite gun. The only one he could actually hold himself without another person that stopped Omni-man.

Loading the ammunition, he walked over to Donald, who had a tablet in his hand. “Sir, we’ve found where they’re going.”

Looking at the area on the map, Cecil tapped his wrist watch, and said, “Good. Get the backup ready, and get Mark Grayson. Get Invincible.”

#yandere invincible #yandere nolan grayson #yandere cecil stedman #originally i was gonna put the invincible logo at the end but i didn't want to do that much work cuz im tired rn

[sparklysung]

✨OPEN CURTAINS PART III – h.r.j.✨

© sparklysung – 2021. all rights reserved. no reposts, modifications and/or translations allowed.

pairing – huang renjun x female!reader

genre – fluff, smut | non-idol!au, neighbours!au, strangers to lovers!au

warnings – blowjob, face fucking, penetration, nipple play, protected sex

word count – 5.346 words

summary – when the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of being with his cute neighbour shows up one day –thanks to his two best friends aka jaemin and jeno–, renjun just couldn’t let it slip. who would have thought the universe would finally side with him and let things happen?

note – the gif isn’t mine, i found it on google, so credits to the owner! it’s way longer than the previous parts but i hope you guys like it!

taglist – @junguwuuu, @prvncejxon, @jenotation​, @iwishihadabettername, @whomichelle 

part i ; part ii ; part iii

renjun didn’t know what to expect to happen next.

anyway, he started to leave the curtains in his room open, excited to see you again. don’t get him wrong, though, he did like seeing you put on a private show just for him to witness, but he looked forward more to you just being yourself.

he liked observing you, he enjoyed the way you looked so content doing your own thing. sometimes he got to see you while you read a book by your window, earphones plugged in and head bobbing to the rhythm of the song you were listening to. on other occasions, he caught you laughing at your phone while probably talking to your friends –he hoped they were just friends–, a warm feeling washing over his body from your cute reactions.

it was safe to say renjun was whipped for you and it wasn’t even a secret.

his two best friends, jaemin and jeno, knew of his interest in you since the beginning, as renjun had forced them countless times to listen to him talk about –or more like drool over– you. 

they were also the first ones to witness renjun suffer hopelessly for the impossibility of an us happening between you.

so it wasn’t a surprise renjun had told them about your dirty secret. at first, they didn’t believe him as it sounded way too much like a sex scene from a bad movie. but they soon concluded it was true one day when a small interaction between the two of you they had never seen before happened.

the three of them had been eating lunch in the school’s cafeteria while talking about random stuff and joking about renjun’s crush on you. coincidentally, almost as if they had summoned you, they saw you walk past their table and towards yours. all three eyes were set in your figure, following your every move as you tilted your head to the side, locking eyes with renjun. you sent him a flirty smile and a wink just to wind him up a bit, and you hit the jackpot when said boy choked on his drink and turned a deep shade of red.

you just walked away after, trying to contain your laugh. neither jaemin nor jeno knew who was more surprised, renjun or them. as soon as you were out of sight they turned their attention to him, mouths agape in shock, to see him coughing uncontrollably.

“did she just…” ignoring his struggling friend, jeno spoke, still shaken. “did she just flirt with you?” jaemin finished, equally shaken. renjun felt like his heart was about to exit his body through his mouth. 

you had never acknowledged his existence before outside of your filthy displays of skin and that one confrontation, never even sparing him a glance. and suddenly you were flirting with him in front of the whole school?

renjun’s heart beat fast, almost hurting his ribs from how hard it pounded against them.

what were you doing to him?

“i–i don’t know?”

“dude, she was clearly flirting.” both of his friends threw each other a knowing look before softly patting his shaky friend. “just shoot your shot, she’s obviously into you too.” jaemin pressed.

jaemin was tired of seeing renjun stress over a girl and not do anything about it. he couldn’t just stay still and watch, he had to do something if his best friend wasn’t going to.

so he decided to take matters into his own hands. 

and jeno was going to help him, obviously.

~.~.~.~

“okay, so, here’s the plan.”

jaemin and jeno sat cross-legged in front of each other on the latter’s bed. they had arranged an emergency meeting to make up a plan to get you and renjun together.

“we have to convince her to make the first move because, clearly, renjun isn’t going to. and i need you to do it for me.” jaemin looked as serious as ever, taking very seriously his job as renjun’s personal cupid.

“what? why me? why can’t you do it?” jeno questioned, confused, to which jaemin clicked his tongue in annoyance. “because you’re friendly and outgoing, at least more sociable than me, duh.” he furrowed his eyebrows as if he was stating the obvious. “also, no one can say no to that eye smile, literally nobody.”

“and how exactly am i supposed to approach her, what do you want me to tell her?”

“just tell her you’re one of renjun’s friends and ask her if she likes him. if she says yes, tell her renjun is a little shy and if she can, you know, ask him out on a date maybe or just make the first move. i don’t know, just whatever she can to make renjun confess so they can finally get together.” jaemin spoke confidently, feeling like a genius. he could already picture you two walking to school, hands clasped together and looking at each other with lovey-dovey eyes.

“and what if she says no?” jeno was still hesitant, not sure if the plan was going to work out or mess things further.

“she’s not gonna say no. from what i heard from him and witnessed that day at lunch, she likes him. or at least she’s interested in him.”

“ugh, fine, i’ll do it.” jaemin smiled triumphantly, punching his fist in the air. “but you owe me one, you’ll do my homework for a month.” now was jeno’s turn to smirk, jaemin’s smile quickly dropping.

“renjun better fucking take this opportunity and make the most out of it.” jaemin mumbled distastefully.

~.~.~.~

jeno’s eyes wandered around the hallways, back resting against the wall outside of your classroom, waiting for you to come by anytime soon and put the plan into motion.

jeno and you weren’t friends, not even classmates, but he had briefly talked to you a few times before, so he still felt a bit awkward about it.

after a few minutes of waiting, he saw you walk in his direction. before you could open the door to get inside the room, jeno spoke.

“hey! can i steal a few minutes of your time? i need to talk to you.” he smiled, eyes turning into crescent moons.

cute.

you nodded your head, making your way towards a less concurred place.

“sure, what do you need me for?” you quirked an eyebrow, curious to hear what he had to say.

“so… i’m friends with huang renjun, does it ring a bell?” he continued as you nodded for him to keep going, suddenly really interested in the conversation. “you see, i wanted to know if you were interested in him romantically? i mean, if you like him.” jeno bit the inside of his cheek, feeling slightly nervous.

“did he send you to ask me?”

“what? no. i just wanted to know since i was there when he almost died of asphyxia in the cafeteria a couple of days ago.” it was his time to arch his eyebrow in an almost teasing way.

“uhm, i may be,” you shrugged your shoulders, pretending to be unaffected and ready to leave for class.

“great! so, he’s a bit shy. he may or may not be scared to ask you out because he thinks you’ll reject him, so i was wondering if you could make the first move?”

you failed to contain your laugh, so you lightly slapped one of your hands to your lips to shut yourself up. jeno wasn’t sure what were you laughing at, so you, sensing his uneasiness, quickly explained yourself.

“i’m not laughing at him. actually, i think he’s really sweet. it’s just…” your hand dropped again to your side, tugging at the hem of your shirt. jeno noticed your hesitation. “are you sure this is going to work? i mean, i haven’t tried talking to him properly because i’m afraid he’s going to run away from me as soon as i approach him.”

“at least try, i’m begging you. jaemin and i are tired of hearing him cry over you.” the pleading tone in his voice made you feel a bit bad for them.

“fine, i’ll do it.” just as you spoke, the sound of the bell ringing made you both flinch, both turning to make your way to your respective classrooms.

“thanks! see you around.” jeno waved at you with a happy smile on his face before walking out of your sight.

you weren’t surprised, you had actually expected to be the one to take the first step. but what you didn’t really expect was for one of his friends to ask you to. it made you think they were aware of your existence and your complicated relationship with renjun.

it left you wondering how much they knew about it.

whether they were aware of everything or not, this was going to be interesting nonetheless.

~.~.~.~

the day after jeno’s request, you found yourself bored and alone in your house. your parents had once again left you to take care of work-related stuff.

what a surprise.

seeing you had a couple of hours before they came back, you decided to make good use of it and think of how you were going to get close enough to renjun to ask him out, or at least drop him more hints to show him your interest in him.

you looked out of your window, hoping he was home and in his room like usual. and he was. sat down on his desk, a focused renjun was quickly tying in his computer. he looked so comfy in his gray sweatpants that hugged his thighs oh so perfectly and oversized yellow hoodie that you would love to steal some time, so inviting for you to cuddle in his arms. you felt butterflies erupt in your stomach with the thought of it.

after a while, you decided to just ask him if you could come and hang out with him. that would give you an opportunity to talk to him. and by the looks of it, renjun’s parents weren’t home either, so you had plenty of time to think of ways to let him know you liked him without scaring him.

he must have felt you staring because he turned his head to take a glimpse of you, catching you already looking at him. his cheeks burned making your lips turn upwards. he smiled back, but it quickly changed into a look of pure confusion as you got up and exited your room.

soon enough you were outside of his house, waiting for him to let you in. his eyes opened widely when he heard a knock on his door, face contorting in an expression of utter panic. he stood frozen in place for a couple of seconds before coming back to his senses. he quickly threw things inside of his closet and under his bed to clean up a bit before running downstairs.

what were you doing there?

when he opened the door, he was panting heavily from shuffling around his room and running to you.

“hey, were you busy?” 

“uh… no!” renjun scratched the back of his head as he realized he had spoken too loudly, “i mean, no, i’m not busy at all.”

you nodded your head in understanding as he stood awkwardly, clueless like a lost puppy. you lifted your face up to look at him and something clicked in his head.

“oh shit, you wanna come in?” quietly cursing he moved to the side to let enough space for you to walk in. 

you just giggled, waiting for him to lead the way. he walked towards the stairs in silence with you trailing behind. when you reached the door that led to his room, he opened it and let you walk in first. you sat down on his bed while he retook his place on his desk.

anxiety was eating renjun up from the thoughts crowding his mind, the uncertainty of why you dropped by so suddenly made his stomach churn. 

“uhm, so, what brings you here?” he asked, playing with his hands while avoiding eye contact with you.

“i don’t know, i just thought we could hang out, you know? we never really spoke before, apart from that, and we’ve been neighbours for a couple of years.” you looked at him expectantly. you hoped he wouldn’t tell you to leave and let you stay for a bit more.

“ah, yeah, we can hang out… i’d like that,”

“great!”

it was no secret you were eager to spend time with him, you weren’t even discrete about it. even renjun could tell by the way you excitedly looked around his room while lightly bouncing on the mattress.

renjun couldn’t help but notice the way your hips moved as you bounced, completely unaware of his gaze. his mind drifted to the day when you brought that guy home with you, the way you pushed him on the bed and got on top, how you teased him by grinding against him and then rode him, your attention never leaving renjun.

he nibbled on his lip nervously, forcing himself to only focus on your face and not think too much about it. he could already feel blood rushing south as his sweatpants got tighter. he figured that his hoodie, a size or two too big for his body, could work in his favour, so he tugged on it to cover himself.

the boy’s attempt of hiding his growing boner didn’t go unnoticed by you as you abruptly stopped dead on your tracks to eye him meticulously to find the cause of his sudden fidgety behaviour.

“hey, are you alr-,” at first you didn’t see it, too worried thinking that you were making him uncomfortable, thoughts of better leaving him alone filled your head. 

and then, you noticed.

he had popped a boner out of nowhere.

“oh.” you stared at him blankly.

realizing you knew what was up with him, renjun shot up from his seat, face pale. “i-it’s not what it looks like, i swear!” the sudden change in the pitch of his voice surprised you. “i’m sorry, i’m really sorry, i didn’t mean to!” he cried out, desperately trying to convince you.

“renjun,” you stood up, taking a few steps forward, “relax.” with a soft push on his shoulders he fell down onto the chair once again.

“w-what?” you used your hands to push his knees open, making space for you to settle in between. “what are yo-,” a moan ripped out of his chest when your hand came up to cup his cock through his clothes.

“tell me to stop and i will.” you waited for him to answer, your other hand stroking his thigh gently.

“please, don’t stop.”

you quickly got your hands to work, palming him, squeezing from time to time. he tried to keep his mouth shut, teeth biting onto his tongue. you wanted to hear him, so you saw it as a challenge.

and you sure were going to win.

you placed open mouthed kisses on his clothed bulge, feeling him twitch against your lips. pushing his hoodie up to expose the skin of his abdomen, you licked a stripe before blowing air to the wet trail of saliva, making him flinch. his hips bucked under your hand as it never stopped stroking his shaft.

renjun was having a really hard time keeping still and quiet.

“can i?” you hooked your finger under the elastic of his sweats, asking for permission to expose his cock. he nodded as soon as you spoke, eager to feel you without the restriction of his clothes.

when you pushed the waistband of his pants below his hips, freeing him, you were stunned. the moment you caught him jerking off to you, you were able to see him and, in total honesty, you couldn’t deny it made you feel things. but up close the experience was completely different. nerves began rising inside renjun as you admired his dick for what felt like forever.

what if you didn’t like what you were seeing? what if you expected him to be bigger, or maybe longer? the blush on his cheeks only turned redder with every thought. he wanted to cover himself, skin burning with embarrassment.

just as renjun began to regret his whole life, you placed feather-light touches to his semi-hard cock. a gasp left his lips when your fingers wrapped themselves around the base, quickly hardening completely against the palm of your hand. you leaned closer, upper arms coming to rest on his thighs, as you opened your mouth, tongue poking out and giving his shaft a kitten lick.

renjun almost jolted his body forward.

he tried to calm down, letting out shaky breaths while his hands gripped the side of his desk. your touch felt better than he had imagined and he found himself enjoying your attention, dick twitching between your fingers with every flick of your tongue. you left a trail of saliva as the tip of your wet muscle traced the vein on the underside of it.

you pumped him a few times before taking the tip of his member inside your mouth, sucking softly. “oh, fuck,” the groan he let out encouraged you to keep going and made you hollow your cheeks harder. It took everything in him not to thrust into your warm mouth, frantic to feel more of you.

you could see his hands twitching, not wanting to force you into him and hurt you. so you took his hands and positioned them in your hair, allowing him to tug on it. renjun sighed in relief, running his fingers through your hair, taking it into a ponytail to guide you. little sighs of pleasure left his lips with every bob of your head. you liked the feeling of his hands tangled in your hair, so you hummed around his sensitive cock, making him buck his hips into your mouth. you gagged when he hit the back of your throat and renjun felt like he was about to cry. he threw his head back in bliss, breaths coming out ragged.

if he thought you felt good in his imagination, he was wrong. you felt godly in real life. 

you tried to relax your throat, keeping your head down, the tip of your nose against his neatly trimmed pubic hair. your hands massaged his thighs, sliding up to feel his toned stomach from time to time as you let him set his own pace.

after a while of you sucking him off, or more like him fucking your throat, he couldn’t take it anymore. he was certain that if you continued, he was going to cum and the fun would be over faster than it started.

“please, i need to feel you,” he whined, hands desperately tugging at your arms to bring you closer for a kiss, so you released him with a pop, wiping off the drool from your lips. “i wanna be inside of you.” you completely pulled his pants down so they were pooling around his ankles, before getting up. your knees were sore from kneeling on the hard floor of his room, but you paid no mind. as soon as he stepped out of them, you pulled him by his hand to his bed.

renjun stood in front of it, staring at you with hooded eyes as you sat on the edge. your index finger hooked in the waistband of your shorts and underwear, pulling them down your legs before throwing them on the floor. he let out a curse at the sight of the wet spot in the crotch of your panties. oh god, renjun swore there was nothing else he wanted more than to taste you. he would do anything to see you writhing under him, legs shaking and head thrown back into his pillows while screaming his name, as he ate you out like a starved man. 

but that would have to wait until next time.

he sure hoped this wasn’t a one-time thing, he prayed for it to be a next time.

“take it off,” you pouted pulling at the sleeve of his hoodie. he complied, quickly pulling the cloth off of his body as you laid on your back, legs opening wide for renjun to position himself in between. 

he swore he was seeing an angel, he almost pinched himself to make sure this was real and not a dirty trick his mind was playing on him. he looked at you with so much adoration, as if you were the most beautiful person in this world, it made your heart beat faster.

you extended your hands out to him and he took them in his, lovingly intertwining your fingers before you pulled him closer. as he settled on top of you, you tangled your legs around his hips to bring him closer, trying to eliminate the space between your bodies. this caught renjun by surprise, not expecting you to do that, so he almost crashed you under him. as his hips hit yours, the tip of his dick rubbed against your aching core, making the both of you moan at the friction.

“fuck, i want you so bad,” you whined, gyrating your hips to grind your dripping cunt up against his cock, “please, renjun, fuck me.” you caught his lower lip between your teeth, pulling on it, and he let out a groan at how hot this all was.

he still couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

you were finally going to be his.

kind of.

his mouth crashed into yours, tongues fighting for dominance and teeth clashing messily. a muffled moan escaped your lips when his hands slid under your shirt to grope your chest. a shocked gasp left him when he realized you weren’t wearing a bra. how didn’t he notice before?

he quickly composed himself and started playing with your breasts, squeezing them and pinching your nipples. your buds hardened in his fingers, back arched against his to get closer. he licked them, sucking and softly biting on them over your shirt. your pretty sounds were like music to his ear, only incentivising him to keep going.

renjun was fascinated by how reactive your body was to his touches. he wanted to explore every part of you to find all your sensitive spots and make you feel so good you wouldn’t be able to think straight.

your pussy clenched around nothing and the empty feeling reminded you of what you wanted before renjun distracted you with his skilled fingers.

“do you have a condom somewhere around here?” breaking away from his lips, you asked. it took him a moment to understand what you were asking him, and when he did, he quickly reached a hand for one of the drawers of his nightstand. “ah… yes, wait a second.” yanking it open, he pulled out a foil wrapper and tore it open. he rolled the condom on his cock and then got back on the bed.

meanwhile, you reached for the hem of your shirt, tugging on it to pull it over your head. the sight of your bare chest made his dick throb. “you’re so pretty,” he mumbled out loud, and by the nervous laugh he let out right after that, he wasn’t intending for you to hear him.

suddenly, you felt shy in front of his eyes. your cheeks felt hot, making you look down as you played with your fingers, a small smile on your lips. it wasn’t the first time a guy had complimented you, but coming from him made you feel different. renjun smiled sweetly at your bashful behaviour, “i mean it.”

he got back on top of you and positioned the head of his cock in your entrance, lightly pressing himself against you. he examined your face in search of a hint of hesitation, but couldn’t find any. you wanted to taste him again, so you pulled him down by the back of his neck, lips catching his in a heated kiss. your hands ran up and down his body, fingers sliding down his back, while one of his gripped your thigh.

after a brief make-out session, he wrapped his free hand around his hard cock, giving it a few pumps to prepare himself for what was coming. the tip had turned into a pretty shade of red that resembled a lollipop, and if you weren’t so desperate for him to fill you up, you would surely be putting it back in your mouth. you let out a moan when he slid it between your fold, gathering your juices and spreading them.

finally, he pushed in without breaking the kiss. as he got deeper into you, his dick stretched you out with a delicious burn at an almost painfully slow pace. he whimpered into your mouth when he had bottomed out, balls resting against your ass. his sounds made you clench around him, and with heavy breaths, renjun dug his nails into your skin.

his head was spinning; he needed a hot second to calm down or he would be shooting his load in no time. your walls hugged him so tightly, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to move inside of you, but he wasn’t planning on going anywhere either way. and you still had to get used to his size; even if just a couple of days ago you hooked up with daehyun, he was nothing compared to renjun. renjun was bigger, and the chemistry the two of you shared was undeniable, which made the intimate moment a lot more intense and meaningful. 

once you got used to the intrusion, you ran your hands to the small of his back to push him down into you. “you can move now,” breathy moans left your lips as he pulled out before thrusting back in.

he made you feel so full, cock dragging against your walls while leaving wet kisses along your neck. his lips sucked on the skin, teeth sinking and leaving pretty marks, before soothing the bruises with his tongue.

he fit perfectly inside of you, it felt like he belonged there. renjun quickly found your g-spot, the tip of his cock hitting the right places with every ram of his hips. the knot in your stomach rapidly tightening from the overwhelming pleasure he was giving you.

you let out a loud moan when one of his hands stumbled across your clit, your hips shot upward to meet his thrusts. a shiver ran down your spine making your back arch and push your chest against his, his mouth on your breasts once again.

it felt so good you almost couldn’t handle it. your walls tightened deliciously around him, making his eyes roll back and a whimper fall off his lips. 

“shit, please, do that again.” you did as you were told, clenching around him again as his fingers fastly circled around your throbbing clit. 

“i’m gonna… i’m gonna cum,” you felt him twitch inside of you, his thrusts becoming sloppy. he was near his end, both of you could feel it, and you weren’t far from it either.

after a particularly hard thrust of his hips, your climax washed over your body making your vision blurry. “oh my god, r-renjun,” your legs trembled as you screamed his name.

renjun’s thrusts didn’t falter, fucking you through your orgasm while chasing his. his fingers never stopped toying with your clit, pinching it and rubbing it quickly as your body squirmed under his.

your nails scratched his back, leaving red marks on it for him to remember you every time he looked in the mirror. your actions triggered his orgasms, seed shooting into the condom with a loud moan, the pounding of his hips slowly coming to a stop.

pants and heavy breaths could be heard all around the room, the strong smell of sex filling your senses and making you feel light-headed. he didn’t pull out immediately, he wanted to savour the feeling of your warm pussy hugging him tightly inside of you. 

when he did, he took off the condom, tying it and throwing it in the bin near his desk. taking tissues from his nightstand, he cleaned your thighs and core with delicacy before cleaning himself. as he tossed the dirty tissues to the trash, he pulled his sweatpants back on before looking around the room for his hoodie.

a huge smile formed on renjun’s lips when found you holding it. you slipped his hoodie on as well as your panties before throwing yourself back on his bed next to him. your body laid partially on top of his, your head rested on his bare chest, fingers tracing circles on the soft skin, and legs tangled with his. he hummed happily under you, closing his eyes to enjoy the moment. 

he knew he would eventually have to tell you how he felt.

he knew this would be his last chance before things changed and you either decided to leave his side or keep him.

so, mustering all the courage he could find, he concluded it was time to let you know.

he could feel the deafening beating of his heart and he hoped you wouldn’t be able to hear it, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves before finally speaking.

“well i… i’ve a crush on you since you moved in and always tried to talk to you, but it just wouldn’t work out. now that things have changed and we’ve gotten closer, kind of, i-i think i have stronger feelings for you and i figured i should let you know.” as he spoke quietly, nervously waiting for your response.

jaemin, jeno and you had underestimated renjun, none of you believed he would be able to confess without you pushing him into it.

but there he was, blurting out his feelings for you, holding his fragile heart in his hand and waiting for you to take care of it. 

“i know things usually happen in a different order, but i was wondering if i…” renjun’s ears turned a dark shade of red as his voice slightly cracked.

“can i… maybe take you out… i mean, as on a date?” his eyes flicked around nervously, looking everywhere but at you.

you giggled, finding his nervous state rather charming. excitement tickled your body from his proposal. you moved your head up to face him, eyes locking and a big smile adorning your face before smashing your lips together in a sweet kiss.

“i thought you’d never ask.” you said against his lips, butterflies blooming in his stomach. 

renjun laughed happily as you hugged him, chin resting on top of your head and your face buried in his chest.

after a moment of comfortable silence, you decided to tell him the meaning behind your unexpected visit.

“you know, jeno actually asked me to make the first move and ask you out. he said he and jaemin were tired of hearing you ‘cry over me’… his own words, not mine though!” renjun groaned embarrassed, making you chuckle.

he was going to murder both of them when he saw them.

“because you were too shy and apparently afraid of me rejecting you?” renjun turned his head away from you, his hand coming to cover his face.

did you really give off that vibe?

“did you really think i was going to straight up reject you?” even if you didn’t take it personally when jeno mentioned renjun’s fear of being rejected, hearing it from him made you feel a bit hurt.

“well, yeah?” seeing your pouty lips he quickly tried to explain, “i mean, i didn’t give the best first impression so i thought you thought of me as a creep. i didn’t think you’d even want me to come near you.”

you hummed, understanding his thought process. “but i guess i was wrong?”

“yeah, you were. you should thank both of them, they were the reason why i came here in the first place.”

maybe renjun wouldn’t murder either of them after all.

–lia:)

#nct dream #nct x reader #huang renjun #renjun smut #renjun #renjun scenarios #renjun imagines #nct smut #nct dream smut #nct u #nct #nct renjun

[itsallyscorner]

Ally!! could you write something from that video you reblogged of getting to know Tom before shooting a film with him! ♥️ You would write it so beautifully :) of course take care of yourself first but whenever you are ready!!

Thank you for requesting this love!!🥰 I was going to save it for last and do my requests in order, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about this request, so here I am! I hope you like it!!💜✨

💌.

Getting To Know You

This is long, I probably overdid it, but I hope you all enjoy!🥰

(GIF credits @thollandgifs )

You wander the halls of the studio, walking down long hallways, turning corners, and eyes scanning each sign on the doors of the rooms. You look back down to your phone, skimming through the email the costume department had sent you. Costume Design / Wardrobe — Room 220. Sighing, you glance at the door beside you, Production Design — Room 125. You mentally cursed at yourself for taking so long to get to the studio. You had just arrived in Cleveland, literally just that morning. After a lengthy flight to Cleveland, you were escorted to the house that you would be calling home for the next several months. There waiting for you was a rented car and the belongings that you had packed from home to be delivered to your rented house. Since the house was already decorated and furnished, there was no need in packing all your furniture from home, instead you shipped clothes you couldn’t fit in your luggage and other important belongings that would be difficult to bring onto a flight.

The moment you stepped foot into the house you didn’t bother looking around or going through the boxes that were stacked near the entrance. You made a quick trip to the kitchen, taking a bottle of water from the fridge and drinking a majority of it. The house was spacious but not a hassle to get around, you peaked into a few rooms until you found the bedroom. Removing your shoes, you pulled back the neatly tucked comforter and climbed into the soft bed. Your eyes were already drooping the moment your head hit the pillow. Before sleep can consume you, you turned on an alarm on your phone about an hour and a half prior to the time you were expected to be at the studio.

You were used to traveling to new places due to your job as an actress. Renting out homes and cars for months on end was nothing new to you. Neither was figuring out your way around the new state or country you were currently living in. Though Cleveland was different; you had a GPS to tell you directions to the studio but you were still getting lost, making wrong turns and taking wrong lanes on the highway. Stopping by Starbucks for an iced coffee and croissant to fill you up didn’t help, instead it added on to your reason being late.

You were still roaming the halls with your head tilted down to stare at your phone. The stress from being behind schedule mixed with your sleep deprivation created a headache to pound in your head. Suddenly, your shoulder harshly knocks into something. You yelp, apologies already spilling from your lips as you continue your rush to the costume department—wherever it was.

“(Y/n)?” A familiar voice with an accent asks. Your shoes come to a halt on the carpeted floors of the studio. Your head whips back to see the warm brown eyes you were once staring into during that audition how many months ago.

“Tom!” You exclaim making your way back to him. You were taken aback by his appearance. The last you saw him he was buffer and had a head full of soft dark brown curls. His body was thinner, cheeks a bit more sunken in, and his curls were long gone replaced with a buzzcut. Though you should’ve expected his change in appearance, you guys were playing heroin addicts for crying out loud. You had also been put on a diet in preparation for your role as Emily, loosing a fair amount of weight yourself.

“Hey, you’re here! I didn’t know you were in Cleveland already. How long have you been here?” He asks, arms pulling you in for a friendly hug. You happily accept the gesture, hugging him back.

“Umm, I actually just got here this morning.” You answer once you both pull away. His eyes widen for a second, “And they already called you in? For fittings right?”

“Yeah, I thought I’d have a day to settle in but we’ve got a tight schedule. Filming starts soon—like in a month and a half?” Though filming didn’t start till the next month or so, the Russo brothers wanted both you and Tom to be in Cleveland a month earlier. This was to help with pre production preparations. It was also used to help you and Tom do research for your roles in Cherry and to get to know each other.

Tom looks at the wall with a raised brow, “Uhh, something like that, yeah.” His eyes flicker back to you, “Where are you off to?”

“To wardrobe, but I can’t find the place and I’m already running late.” You sigh.

“Well, lucky for you, I just came from there. I’ll take you.” He offers, raising his elbow out for you. You smile at him, looping your arm around his and quietly thank him. He leads you to the wardrobe department and drops you off; exchanging a quick joke with the ladies and another hug for you before leaving.

You remember the day you met Tom. You were called back from your audition to do a chemistry read with the lead role of Cherry, who at the time you didn’t know was Tom. Your nerves were at a high that day. You’ve made it so far into the audition process that you hoped your anxiousness wouldn’t get the best of you and mess it up. As an actor, you were used to meeting new faces all the time, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have anxiety when it comes to meeting new people. Questions wracked your brain. What if you didn’t have chemistry with the lead role? What if you did have chemistry but the lead role was a dick? Does your breath smell good? Are your clothes too casual? What if you have to kiss the lead role? What kind of scene were you guys doing?

All your questions and feelings of uneasiness were thrown out the window the moment you saw Tom’s friendly face. He greeted you as if you were long time friends. That sweet smile of his made the tension in your body at ease, it was kind and warm, like it was his silent way of comforting you after picking up on your nerves. Tom was a force in the room, his cheerful and optimistic energy radiating off of him and onto the other people in the room. Maybe that’s why you felt so comfortable to be around him during the chemistry read.

He was very welcoming, taking it upon himself to spark a conversation with you while the casting directors and producers prepared themselves for your chemistry read. You remembered the way he naturally leaned closer to you, bending down a few times to hear you, his eyes remaining on yours while you conversed, the both of you aware of each other’s presence. You weren’t going to lie to yourself; Tom was attractive. He had gorgeous brown eyes that you could never get tired of looking into, a charming smile, and a beautiful personality. He was easy to get along with. The chemistry read ended with smiles from everyone in the room. You remember thinking to yourself, if you were going to be casted, you wouldn’t mind being casted alongside him. Weeks of sitting around and patiently waiting, you get a call from the Russos saying you were casted as Emily.

Fittings only took an hour tops, most of the clothes were bought since there was no need in designing fancy or sparkly costumes. Before leaving the studio building, you had a quick meeting with the Russos. It was mostly about the basic stuff, the run down of the schedule, the filming process, preparations, etc. By the time you were done at the studio, the sun had set and the night sky took over Cleveland. You stopped by a fast food chain for dinner and took it to go. You drive home, eat your food, and your night ends there.

The next time you saw Tom wasn’t that long from when you saw him at the studio. He called you days later, asking if you would like to join him at the VA. As someone who had no experience with drugs or were surrounded by people who faced addictions; drugs was a new territory for you. Of course, you’ve heard about it and learned the basics of it at school, but you’ve never had to act like a heroin addict. Until now.

You drive to the VA on an early Thursday morning, this time not getting lost on your way to your destination. The air was chilly, the sky dark and cloudy after braving a storm. You park your car and send a text off to Tom saying you’ve arrived. You meet up at the entrance of the VA. He was dressed in jeans, a sweatshirt, and sneakers. His attire similar to yours, which made you chuckle to yourself. He greets you with a hug, his arms brining you warmth from the cool air.

“Hey, love.” His voice was deep, still fresh from sleep. You smile fondly at him. Though you first met him a few months back, reuniting a few days ago, the boy’s been growing on you.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me.” The two of you remain outside, hesitant to enter the VA. It daunted both you and Tom to face the veterans inside. The VA was a sacred place for them, you didn’t want to overstep boundaries or offend anyone with questions for research. They’ve suffered from PTSD or were recovering from substance abuse, some of them just starting out their recovery. You did not know what to expect or hear once you step foot into the building.

Tom’s feet shift against the pavement, his hands shoved into his pockets, “Yeah, it’s no problem. I just thought that—you know, since we’re the only two playing heroin addicts in the movie, I thought we could do this together.”

You smile reassuringly at him, “No, I get it. I honestly appreciate it, Tom, thank you.” You look around the area. It was a quiet place, not too many cars parked in the parking lot, a few trees scattered, and the building had a tan almost bland colored exterior. Your eyes drift back to Tom’s, which were already on you.

You gesture to the building with your head, “You ready to go in?” Tom nervously breaths in eyeing the building. You catch on to his hesitancy and place your hand on his arm.

“Hey, you alright?”

“I’m fine. I’m just a bit nervous to talk to them, you know? I don’t want them to think I’m using their suffering as some kind of inspiration for this role.” He explains. You nod understanding, “Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel the same way, I don’t want to trespass on their privacy either. Wanna take a minute out here?”

“I think I’m good. How about you?” Tom composes himself. You flash him a tight smile nodding. Together, the two of you enter the VA, greeted by a receptionist who leads you both to a room.

You and Tom spend most of the day at the VA listening to the different stories of veterans who’ve suffered from PTSD and or substance/drug abuse. Some of them were very open and willing to share, telling you the hardships of their experience. Then there were those who were at the start of their recovery journey, a bit closed off, but were still willing to share nonetheless.

Tom watched as you listened to each veteran intently. Your eyes remained on them, your head nodding along, as you asked them questions or added some input to their stories. Unlike Tom, you seemed more composed and calmer than him. This was something he wasn’t used to, he wasn’t used to talking about drugs or military veterans and addiction. All of this talk was uncharted territory for him, it was dark and terrifying, something he never associated himself with. He was glad you agreed to come along because without you he wasn’t sure if he could do this all alone.

Tom would be lying if he said he didn’t feel some kind of attraction towards you. There was just some sense of comfort or tranquility that drew him to you. You had the brightest smile that lit up the room, sometimes he even found himself smiling because of it. He admired the way you greeted each veteran or former drug addict with a comforting smile and talked to them as if they were just a person, and not as someone who’s been suffering. You made the room feel like a safe space for them to share their experiences without feeling like they were being judged.

Tom was quiet for the most part, asking questions when he felt they were necessary or when something peaked his interest. He added a few comments here and there but for most of the time he listened. He listened to the horrifying and heartbreaking experiences of each veteran. There was a point in the interviews where it dawned on Tom that he was going to have to portray what these veterans went through. From the traumas of war, through the struggles of PTSD, to the excessive use of drugs and alcohol—Tom became reluctant in becoming Cherry. Was he really ready to become a heroin addict? Was he mentally prepared to shred himself and be in the mindset of something so ruinous?

From time to time you glanced over at Tom, checking if he was alright. At the start he was a bit fidgety, his leg bouncing and fingers fumbling with each other. His questions came out stuttered but by the middle of the interviews he grew comfortable in the room. Once in a while you would ask him how he was and he would answer with a small nod and an assuring smile. He then would reciprocate the question with a whisper leaning closer for only you to hear.

By the time the last veteran walked out, Tom felt a responsibility to give these people justice. To not only tell their stories and of other veterans around the world, but to bring awareness to the things that they’ve faced. Not only Tom felt that but so did you. These people have opened up to you guys about the darkest and lowest points in their lives, the best way you can both thank them would have to be by portraying your roles as accurate and realistic as possible.

There was a stillness in the room; it was quiet. The only sounds being heard was the ticking of the clock on the wall beside you and the distant sound of cars driving by. Tom was the first to speak, “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Your brows knitted together, put off by his random comment. “Why’s that?”

Tom shrugs, taking a breath in and turning in his seat to face you, “I couldn’t have done these interviews alone. From trying to make them feel comfortable and asking all these questions, I would’ve felt so overwhelmed. So, thank you.”

Your mouth curves into a small smile, “Give yourself some credit. I couldn’t have done this without you either. I can’t imagine doing these interviews alone, I wouldn’t be able to handle the intensity of all those stories by myself.”

Moments later the two of you finish your time at the VA. You walk towards your car, which was nearest to the building. “This is me.” You gesture to your car.

Tom nods in response. After all the stories he’s heard, he didn’t want to be alone. Sure, he has Harry back at his place, but it just wouldn’t be the same. He wouldn’t understand what was going through Tom’s head. Tom hesitates to ask you if you want to hang out, but after a quick mental argument against himself, he pushes himself to ask, “Um, what are you doing after this?”

You unlock your car and toss your bag into the passenger’s seat. “I’ll probably stop by Whole Foods or something. I need to fill up my fridge and pick up some stuff at Target that I might need.” You lean against the frame of your car. “Why?”

“Oh, I was gonna ask if you wanted to do something—it’s totally fine, since you’re busy and all.” Tom stutters out as he waved his hand at you. He was a bit disappointed that you were busy, besides not wanting to be by himself, he really wanted to spend time with you. You guys were friendly, but he wanted to get to know you more.

“Hey! If you want, you could come along? I could use the company.” You suggest, lips curving to a half smile. You gesture to his arms and jokingly say, “I could also use a pair of strong arms to help me.”

Tom bashfully chuckles, “I’d like that.” He turns to where his car was parked and motions to it over his shoulder. “I brought my car, so I guess I’ll just follow you there?”

“Yeah, I’ll just, I’ll text you the location.” You hold your phone up.

“Great, I’ll see you then.” Tom confirms and pulls you into a hug. You giggle at how affectionate he can be. You were gonna see him again in just a few minutes; the drive to Whole Foods wasn’t that long.

Tom parks his car besides yours in the Whole Foods parking lot. You both lock up your vehicles and make your way into the market. On the way, Tom grabs a shopping cart for you. You try to steal it away from him, but he insists on pushing the cart the entire time. You take out your list on your phone and navigate your way through the aisles of Whole Foods. While you throw things into the cart, you and Tom converse. The both of you share some basic information, like things about your hometowns, your families and friends, just the general stuff. You guys were talking about pets when you reached cereal aisle.

“I had a Yorkie when I was growing up, he was the sweetest little thing. He sadly passed because of a heart attack.” You reminisced as you scanned the shelves for your preferred cereal brand. Your hand held onto the cart that Tom pushed with his elbows, as he leaned his entire weight onto the cart.

Tom frowned at the mention of your dog, “I’m sorry.” You give him a look, wordlessly telling him that you were ok and have moved on. “So, did you get to bring Tessa to Cleveland?”

“Nope, she’s not too fond of flights, so I don’t put her through the struggle of getting on a plane.” You find your cereal and try to reach for it, “Aww, I would’ve wanted to meet her. From what you told me, she sounds like a sweetheart.”

Tom chuckles at you before coming from behind the cart and helping you get the cereal down. You look at him with a sheepish grin, “I had that, but thank you.”

Tom squints his eyes playfully at you, “Did you really? Because you looked like you were struggling a bit?”

“No, I was stretching.” You quip back eyes twinkling with amusement. You place the box in the cart and drag the cart. Tom chuckles returning to the front of the cart and pushes it. You look back at him, “You wanna have dinner at my place? I could make a pretty good pizza.”

“Is that so? I guess I might have to try it for myself, I’m in.” He agrees. The two of you finish up at Whole Foods. The cart was overflowing with brown bags when you and Tom walked back to your cars. Always the gentleman, Tom helps you put all your bags into your car’s trunk and even takes back the cart to the designated area that stored them. You split off into your separate cars and stop by Target before you go home. Going to Target with Tom was probably one of the most chaotic and hilarious things you’ve ever done. It took you about two hours in Target just to get what you were looking for. Most of the time in the store was you and Tom looking at children’s toys, making fun of weird costumes you found, and finding meaningless shit to buy because why not? You never thought Tom could be a dumbass until you saw him try to bounce a ball onto the floor and make it land onto his head.

“Tom, we’re gonna get in trouble.” You warn him, looking around to see if anyone were looking at you guys. You spot a camera a few feet away but it was nowhere close to you both.

“Don’t worry darling, we won’t. I got you, trust me.” He assures you as he gets himself into position. You shake your head at him while you sip on the coffee you got from Starbucks.

“Wait, so what are you doing again?” You ask.

“I’m going to try and get the ball on my head.” He answers clearly distracted. He digs his sneakers into the floor and prepares himself to bounce the ball. “You ready, darling?”

“No, but go ahead.”

It all happened so quick. Tom being the dumbass he was, underestimated the amount of force he put onto the ball. Instead of the ball bouncing a few feet into the air, it bounces into the next aisle and the next thing you both know you hear a *boing* and a baby crying. You and Tom look at each other with wide eyes. He rushes over to you and helps you maneuver the cart away from the sports section. You’re caged in by his arms, in between the cart and his chest as you both quietly giggle to yourselves.

“I think that’s our cue to leave.” You tell him through more fits of giggles.

The two of you are now in your rented house. You work together in the kitchen, working as a team to figure out the recipe for the pizza dough. Tom is beside you, looking over your shoulder while you both read through the Food Network recipe on your phone.

“Ok, we did all of that. So now we knead the dough, toss it into a bowl and let it rise. Then we could roll it in a little bit.” You read turning your phone off and looking at Tom. He nods and takes the dough out. You sprinkle flour onto your counter and onto the dough as Tom volunteers to knead the pizza dough.

Tom’s Spotify playlist plays lowly in the background. You were both quiet, basking in the comfortable atmosphere between the two of you. Weirdly enough, there was never an awkward moment with Tom. He could say the same thing for you.

You try to avoid the way his arms flex and how his veins pop out as he massages the dough. You glance at his buzzcut hair and ask, “Do you think your hair will grow back by the time you shoot Spider-Man three? Or are we going to have a bald Peter Parker?”

He stops his motions and looks at you shocked, “You’ve watched my Spider-Man movies?”

“Of course I have! I’m a big Marvel fan, my whole family actually is, especially my nephew. We love your version of Spidey—well except my dad and his brother, but besides them we love your version.” You explain. You see a smile twitch onto his lips as he continues his task.

“Wow, thanks. I never thought you’d watch my movies.” Through the warm lights of your kitchen, you see a blush spread onto his cheeks.

“What do you mean?”

Tom stops massaging the pizza dough and looks at you, “Well I’ve—wow this is embarrassing—but I’ve always kinda been a fan of your work. My brothers and I always watch your movies, and they never disappoint us. You’re just amazing! And now I get to work with you, and I’m not going to lie I’m still a bit starstruck, but it’s literally an honor to work with you.”

You look at him taken aback by his confession. You shake yourself out of your shock, “Well I guess that makes the two of us because you still make me a bit starstruck whenever I see you too.”

From that night on, you and Tom always hung out. Whether it be at your house or his, you both managed to spend the entire day together. Sometimes you’d both stay way too late at each other’s house, that you ended up having sleepovers. You guys would still have weekly visits to the VA, doing more research and meeting more veterans. To lighten the mood after, you and Tom would go to Target, get a bunch of junk food and knickknacks, then go to one of your places to watch a movie. The two of you have even explored Cleveland on your own with Harry tagging along once in a while. When Tom found out you were going to be living alone during the duration of filming, he offered that you could stay with him and Harry. Though you didn’t want to intrude on their privacy, both Holland brothers insisted that you live with them. You were still debating on their offer, but you were still spending most of your nights with them anyway.

It was one of those nights again but it was different. Today was the last free day you both had before filming began. It was different because you haven’t portrayed the deeply flawed characters you were both casted as. You and Tom spent the morning at the studio along with the Russos and the rest of the cast doing a table read of the entire movie. Reading and listening to the entire movie out loud made you anxious for the day to come. You were scared that not only you, but Tom, might go down a spiral of darkness throughout the process of this film. Cherry was something new for both of you. Neither of you have worked on a project as cataclysmic or dreadful as Cherry.

You were quitely sat on Tom’s couch staring at the sun setting through his windows. Tom was in the kitchen making the both of you cups of tea to warm you up from the harsh cool air of Cleveland. Harry was in his room, telling you and Tom that he was going to take a nap and to not worry about him. Tom watched you from the kitchen. The sun’s golden rays reflected on your skin, giving it a glow. Your brows were furrowed as you seemed to be deep in thought.

“Wanna sit on the patio and see the sunset from outside?” Tom comes up behind you with a half smile on his lips. You happily nod and take his hand to get off the couch. He slings his arm around you and hands you your jacket. He tells you to go out first and that he’ll meet you outside with the tea.

You sit on the steps of his patio, watching the sky change from shades of blue to a mix of orange, pink, and purple. You hear the door open and footsteps against the wood of the floors. You look up to see Tom holding two cups of tea with a fluffy blanket over his shoulder. A beanie was now on his head and a jumper was pulled over his shirt.

You thank him as he hands you your cup. Tom settles beside you, placing his cup on the steps and began to open up the blanket.

“Why do you have a blanket?” You ask him. He untangles the blanket and puts it over his shoulders, his arm wraps around you, pulling you flush against his side.

“To keep us warm.” He answers while he reaches for his cup. “I tried to find another blanket, but I think Harry took it.”

You brush his comment off, “It’s fine, I like this better.”

A peaceful silence lays upon the two of you as your eyes stare at the sky and your lips sip onto the cup. Tom’s arm remains around you as his fingers draw random patterns onto your arm. Tom was the first to break the silence.

“How do you feel about filming starting tomorrow?” He asks you quietly. Your eyes shift to the tea in your cup.

“Honestly? I’m a bit nervous, especially since we’re starting off with the heroin addiction parts. I don’t know how to feel about it.” You answer.

Tom hums, “I know what you mean. I’m pretty scared too.” Your eyes remove themselves from your cup to look up at Tom.

“Why are you scared?”

“I just—it scares me that all the acting and trying to be in the mindset of Nico might actually affect me. Like maybe by the end of this film, he’ll be a part of me.” He admits, his teeth gritting against each other. You look at him sympathetically. He was truly going through a war in his mind; just by the way he was glaring at the sky and how his fingers stopped drawing on your arm and instead gripped it. It was like he was looking for leverage to stop himself from falling down a loophole of possible outcomes of the end of this movie.

Your hand grasps his hand on your shoulder, catching his attention. His deep brown eyes connect with yours, “You’re not going to turn into Nico, Tom.”

“How do you know that? What if the more I act like him the more I turn into him? (Y/n), what if I get so lost into the character that I eventually loose myself in the process? What do I do when that happens?” He began to ramble, questions spilling from his tongue as he looked at you pleadingly.

You shake your head and squeeze his hand, “It’s not going to happen Tom. You wanna know how I know why?” Tom shakes his head.

“Because we’ll have each other’s backs. I’ll be there right beside you. If you ever feel like you’re spiraling down too deep as Nico, I’ll be there to get you out. You don’t have to go through all of that alone, Tom. I’ll be here for you, you could trust me.” You promise him. Tom’s mind seems to stop racing as his eyes gaze into yours. He finds nothing but honesty in them. You feel his hand fumble with yours before he interlocks them together.

“What if it gets really ugly?”

“You’re allowed to be vulnerable honey, especially around me, I won’t judge. I’ll still be there for you. ” You reassure him. You try to lighten up the mood by bumping your shoulder against his. “Plus, we’re actors, vulnerable is our middle name. How do you think Leo finally got an Oscar?” You joke. The frown on Tom’s face breaks as he stifles a laugh. You smile at the way the corners of his eyes crinkle, he was happy.

Your laughter dies down and you’re staring at him again, “But seriously, Tom. I’ll be here for you whether you like it or not, nobody should have to go through the mental capacity of a heroin addict by themselves.”

Tom nods, “Thank you. I can’t imagine anyone else in my corner but you while we film this. You’ve honestly been such a godsend and we haven’t even started filming yet. Thank you for being so understanding and patient with me.” He smiles fondly at you, pressing a kiss to your temple and pulling you into a hug. You hum in response and place your head in the crook of his neck, “You don’t have to thank me.”

Silence once again consumes the both of you. The birds chirp in the distance and the sky has now turned a dark purple. “You can count on me too. I’ll be there for you.” Tom whispers against your hair. You silently thank him, snuggling closer to his warm embrace. The fears of tomorrow slowly fade from your bodies as you watch the darkness consume the light in the sky.

#marvel #mcu #avengers #Tom Holland #Tom Holland x reader #tom holland imagines #tom holland one shot #tom holland drabble #tom holland headcanon #tom holland fanfiction #Cherry #ally’s request #Peter Parker #Peter Parker x reader #peter parker imagine #Tom Holland fluff

[nocherryblood]

Real quick: I wanna rant about the day I got my autism diagnosis.

To start off, when I entered the building, I felt uneasy from the offset. It was an extremely cramped little clinic, with a very... 'posh' and curt receptionist, who told us nothing about when we would be seen and just instructed us to "sit and wait". ...We 'sat and waited' for at least a good half-an-hour before the psychiatrist (?) suddenly appeared and called us over.

We followed him down the stairs (I'm pretty sure the building used to be an old house before it became a clinic), one of which had a huge hole in it and we had to skip over. It was practically two seconds away from falling apart.

The assessment room itself was pure white, completely silent, and filled with bright yellow lights that hurt your eyes. So, I was already very uncomfortable.

As soon as the guy starts speaking, I can tell this isn't going to go great. Now, I don't mean anything unkind by this, but... his accent was very thick, making it hard to understand his words. Then he told my mother to leave the room, and the assessment began.

...Okay, they seriously haven't updated these tests in years, have they? Right off the bat, you can tell these tests were made for a child.

They were things like: rearranging colourful foam shapes to create a picture, reading a storybook and making up the words, pointing to a kids' picture and identifying what the people in the picture are doing, and even things like LITERALLY BEING GIVEN BABY TOYS TO PLAY WITH SO THEY CAN "OBSERVE YOU PLAYING".

The only thing that was actually somewhat more adult-oriented was the questionnaire where they ask you how your social life is, and how school is going.

Even then, though, you're made to feel stupid. You're asked questions like "what is friendship?", "what is love?", etc. I remember reading back on my diagnosis papers afterwards, and they'd written something like "(name) has trouble understanding concept of love and friendships", when that's just completely untrue.

What the fuck am I supposed to answer with? I think I had answered something like "love is when two people form a special bond with/develop strong affection for each other. They find happiness in each other." I also gave some examples of how people who are in love might kiss or hug each other to show that love.

...So apparently, that means I don't understand love...? What the fuck was I mean to say then?

Another thing I hated is the way they took things completely out of context. I said to the guy that I often have a nervous smile when I see something that looks gross or squeamish. It's just my natural reaction, and many other people do it. So you know what HE interpreted that as?

This is paraphrased, but it was something like this: "(Name) has inappropriate reactions to certain situations. For example, they would smile when they see a cyclist get run over."

... WHAT. THE. FUCK.

I'm autistic, not psychotic. As soon as I read that line, I burst into tears. How do we go from "has a nervous smile when seeing something squeamish" to "enjoys watching people get murdered"!?

And remember, this document that has all this stuff written in it, is what future colleges/unis and employers would see when they look at my profile.

It makes me feel horrible.

And not only that, but by the end of the assessment, I told the guy about my OCD and how it affects my daily life. So, you know what he told me? "I don't think you have OCD, you're just autistic. I've done this for 12 years. Trust me, I know!"

...Sooooo, an entire family history of OCD + several other doctors and mental health professionals telling me I definitely DO have OCD is... not more reliable than your "superior" judgement? Yeah, I just wanna remind you that you've only known me for less than an hour.

By the end of the test, I was ready to just walk out and cry my eyes out. I was treated like a kid, patronised and made to feel stupid ON CAMERA (yes, they record the sessions), forced to sit in a room with a man who I couldn't hear and made me feel deeply uncomfortable, and told that I don't have OCD despite having all the evidence to suggest I do, therefore letting me know that the guy didn't believe a word of what I said and thought I was lying.

...So don't get me wrong, I'm glad I got my autism diagnosis, I just wish I didn't have to be ridiculed first to get it.

#autism #actually autistic #rant #aspergers #autism diagnosis #mental health