#they probably didn’t but I’m not unconvinced that in a moment of weakness

[gunitnekoh]

I’m NOT unconvinced that Blitzø hate-fucked LooLoo Land Robofizz

#they probably didn’t but I’m not unconvinced that in a moment of weakness #blitz and robofizz fucked #maybe #helluva boss blitzo #helluva boss blitzfizz #helluva boss #robofizz

[daisynik7]

A Bento for Kento

Chapter 5: The Rules

Pairing: Nanami x f!reader

Word Count: ~4.0k

cw: Nanami angst (this poor man needs love), language

Summary: Gojo offers Nanami words of wisdom. You fry some chicken. Ren has something up his sleeve.

Notes: This chapter’s bento inspired by this: Karaage Bento. Links to the recipes for the rice balls and tamagoyaki are also included there! Reblogs, likes, and/or comments are super appreciated, thank you!

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Friday’s note has Nanami momentarily stunned.

That can be arranged ;) Happy Friday, Nanami.

He re-reads it again and again until he comes to a conclusion: This is flirting. Not playful, pretend flirting. It’s real, tangible, right-there-in-his-face. Her offer to make him a ham and cheese sandwich every day is already suggestive. The winky face seals the deal. Where does he go from here?

Nanami is not an inexperienced man by any means. When he was a stockbroker, he went on his fair share of dates. It was easier meeting people in that type of environment. It was stable.

Since changing his career, he swore to himself that he wouldn’t get married while he was still a Jujutsu Sorcerer. This job is dangerous. He puts himself at risk during every mission and he’s willing to do so. Why would he share a life with someone when he treats his own so expendably? He has convinced himself that in order to live this way, he has to be alone. For his sake and that of others. To protect his heart and prevent heartbreak.

Because that’s how the life of a Jujutsu Sorcerer will end. Heartbreak.

He doesn’t date, because why bother? He can’t risk meeting someone and falling in love when there’s still that slim chance he will die on the job. He won’t allow himself to experience happiness, affection, or love from anyone because he doesn’t deserve it. He’s made his choice. Now he must accept the consequences. This is how it has to be. He’s harsh on himself because if he’s not, he’ll give in to moments of weakness. 

Moments of weakness, like this. 

It’s right there in front of him, and he can’t do anything about it. He won’t. He shouldn’t. He has to end it here before it begins. That’s the only way to move forward.

Kento Nanami is a grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. Kento Nanami is a professional. Kento Nanami is a serious adult. Kento Nanami is alone.  

This is the way it has to be.

He pockets the note and eats his sandwich in silence. After he’s done, he closes the bento box and hands it over to Ren.

He does not write a note.

~~~

You stare at the empty Hello Kitty container, cheeks burning with embarrassment. You really screwed it up this time, thinking you could get away with being cheeky and cute. He didn’t even bother to respond, probably convinced you’re a grade A creep.

Why’d you have to include that winky face? What adult women passes notes to a man with a winky face on it? You’ve never met this guy! And now you’ll probably never meet because he’s already put a restraining order against you. By midnight tonight, you’ll be arrested for harassment. Great.

As your thoughts escalate to a ridiculous scale, Ren microwaves the popcorn in preparation for your Friday movie night. “Hey sis, are you okay? You’ve been standing there and staring at Hello Kitty for a while now.”

You turn towards him with a smile. “I’m all good! Just thinking about…work.”

It’s an unconvincing lie. Everybody knows you never think about work once it’s the weekend.

“Work? C’mon, what is this really about?” He takes the bag of popcorn from the microwave and opens it, letting some steam escape before tossing a few pieces into his mouth.

You contemplate what you want to tell him. Should you be honest? He’s been so open with you; it wouldn’t be fair to lie to him.

On the other hand, he’s a teenager, your younger brother. Why in the world would he be interested in any of this?

You make a split-second decision to tell him the truth. Basically, you explain to him that ever since you learned that his mentor has been eating the other box, you started to leave personalized notes for him, teetering on the flirtatious side. You recite each note said and Nanami’s responses. Then, you inform him about your latest message and how he didn’t respond.

You end your little rant with, “So what do you think?”

Ren’s face, which was amused at first, is now contorted into a grimace. He has since stopped eating popcorn and is clutching his stomach, like he’s in pain.

Concerned, you urge, “Ren, say something.”

After a few more moments, he yells, “Ewwwwwww!” You’re startled by his outburst, but you continue to listen.

“If I knew that you were going to flirt with my mentor, I would have never told you about the bentos! Gross.” He fakes a gagging reaction.

“C’mon, you’re overreacting!”

He ignores your comment. “And if I knew that he was going to flirt back, I definitely wouldn’t have given him the bento to begin with! Freakin’ gross.”

You rack your brain, processing what he said. “So, you think he was flirting back?”

His face goes back to normal, rolling his eyes. “I mean, I’ve only known the dude for a month, but I can tell you this. He would not send you a smiley face if it didn’t mean something. I mean, Gojo told me that he never uses emojis. Like, ever.” 

Ren strokes his chin, as if contemplating, then continues. “Also, he’s been acting weird all week. Maybe he didn’t know what to do about your little love letters to him.” He fakes a gag again.

You hunch over in defeat. “So I creeped him out. God, I’m such a loser.” It was all supposed to be playful and fun. But now you took it too far and ruined it. 

Ren walks towards you and puts his hands on your shoulders. “Hey, you’re not a loser. Maybe he’s not used to women flirting with him and he didn’t know how to react?”

“Please, I’ve seen his picture. I’m sure lots of women flirt with him.”

Ren’s jaw drops. “Wait…how…? How have you seen his picture?”

“I did a search on him when you were still not telling me about Jujutsu High! I needed to make sure this guy wasn��t a cult leader!”

“So you Googled my teacher, and you think he’s…hot?!” Ren takes his hands off you to cover his ears. “I can’t listen to this anymore; this is too much.”

“Ugh, I shouldn’t have brought this up! You’re only making me feel worse!” You bury your face in your hands, wishing this whole scenario is some strange nightmare you could wake up from.  

“Hey, I didn’t ask you to flirt with my teacher!”

You ponder for a minute before declaring, “You know what? Let’s forget this whole thing happened. It’s not like I ever have to meet him. We’ll all move on, and I won’t send him anymore notes.”

You can’t tell if he’s concerned or still disgusted. After a little while, he finally speaks. “For what it’s worth, you wouldn’t like him anyways. He’s so serious and boring! He’d probably take you to a bookstore as a date.”

That actually sounds fun, you want to say. But instead, you just laugh.

Aware that Ren has had enough of this odd conversation, you start your movie night without bringing it up again. While your brother watches, you stare at the TV, lost in thought.

There was never any reason to meet Nanami. That’s why you were so bold with your little notes. But you still can’t help but wonder what he’s like in person. Is he as serious as Ren describes him to be? Is he as handsome in person as he is in that picture? Does he really love bread that much?

Now, given the circumstances, there’s no way you’d ever want to show your face to him.

~~~

Nanami feels like shit.

Gojo convinced him to go for drinks Friday and Saturday night. Then again for brunch on Sunday. Now he’s paying the price Monday morning.

Ironically, Gojo hates alcohol, but still likes going out. A typical night for them involves Nanami consuming liquor while Gojo indulges in all the mocktails he can handle.

To be fair, he didn’t resist his friend’s invitation. Drinking meant he could temporarily forget about the loneliness that is his life.

He groans into his hands as he realizes how dramatic he’s being. Why is he thinking like this all of a sudden? His life has always been this way. Why is he questioning it now?

As he continues to grumble in bed, he flashes back to his conversation with Gojo on Saturday night.

They went to a bar after dinner. After Nanami’s fourth beer, Gojo said, “Hey, I didn’t want to bring it up before, but I will now. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You seem grumpier than you usually do.”

“Stop over analyzing. I’m fine.”

“Nanamin, just let it all out. I can tell you have something on your mind.”

He blames the alcohol and Gojo’s persistence. He decided to ask Gojo, “Are you happy?”

“Yes, because you’re paying tonight.”

“No, you idiot. I’m asking if you’re happy with your life.”

“Of course, I’m livin' my best life, baby!”

“But are you happy being a Jujutsu Sorcerer?”

Gojo paused for a moment, then replied, “Yeah, I am.”

“Do you ever get lonely? Not being able to date?”

Nanami could tell that Gojo was taken aback by this question. “Huh? Who said I can’t date? Was it Utahime? She’s always been so possessive of me, that wily minx…”

“What? No. I meant that we’re not supposed to date as Jujutsu Sorcerers.”

“Who says that? The hell, Nanamin? What kind of fucked up rules do you live by? No wonder you’re so grumpy all the time, you need to get laid!”

Gojo ordered another round of beers for Nanami at this point and two Shirley Temples for himself. Then he asked, “Why do you think Jujutsu sorcerers can’t date?”

“Because we shouldn’t drag anyone else into our lifestyle. It isn’t fair.”

“Fair? We risk our lives every day to make this world a safer place. We deserve to be happy. Who knows how long we have in this life? It wouldn’t be fair to us if we deny ourselves of being happy or being in love. What’s the difference between us and firefighters who also risk their lives every day? What makes Jujutsu sorcerers any less deserving of living a full life?”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“Nanamin, we already do all the right things in this world. Why should we suffer because of it? Why are you letting yourself suffer because of some unwritten rule you have? If you like someone, go for it! Why deprive yourself? It’s depressing.”

At this point, Gojo downed his drink and started ranting on about his will-they-won’t-they relationship with Utahime. Nanami pretended to listen as he consumed three more beers that evening while he contemplated what Gojo said.

Their conversation wasn’t mentioned the following day at brunch, which Nanami was thankful for. He’s had two nights now to let Gojo’s words sink in. He lies in bed, reflecting.

Nanami hates admitting it, but maybe Gojo is right.

Today is the last week of Ren’s lessons, which means it’s the final round of bento boxes. Could this be his only chance to connect with her? He wants to meet her, to see what she’s like in person. Does she have that same smile? Is she as sweet as Ren describes her to be?

Even if Nanami continues to follow these “fucked up rules”, as Gojo bluntly stated, meeting new people isn’t prohibited. Nanami is simply curious about the woman behind the bento.

It’s curiosity, that’s all it is.

At least, that’s what Nanami is telling himself.

~~~

It’s the last week of lessons for Ren. You decide to make this week’s bento special: Chicken karaage, tuna mayo rice balls, and tamagoyaki. A feast for your younger brother.

And for Nanami too, but you’ve been trying to keep him off your mind all weekend.

You eat breakfast with Ren that morning after preparing both lunches. “Have you heard anything about getting into Jujutsu High?” you ask him as you both eat cereal.

“Nope, not yet. I’m going on missions today and Wednesday. Friday, Nanami is going to do some sort of final review. I guess from there, the committee decides on my fate.”

“Well, good luck. And be careful on those missions. Do you have a weapon?”

“Not yet, but Nanami and Gojo are bringing a couple of items for me to try today.”

“Gojo is the guy who recruited you?”

“Yep. He’s the one who wears a blindfold all the time. He’s cool,” Ren comments, taking a bite. He gazes at you and smiles. “It’s nice talking to you about this. I felt like I had to hide it from you before.”

You smile back. “I’m glad you told me. Even though most of it goes over my head.”

“You’re catching on pretty quick though! I’m just happy I can talk about this openly with you. It’s nice. It makes me feel normal.”

“Well, I’ll always be here if you ever need to talk. When you start living on campus at Jujutsu High, I’m always a phone call away.”

Saying it out loud makes it real. Ren will be moving soon, assuming he gets into the school. While you’re proud of him, you can’t help but be sad about him leaving. This summer has been a great one because of him. You’re not ready for it to be over.

You’re not ready to be alone again.

~~~

Nanami arrives to the office earlier than usual to wait for Gojo to bring the weapons. They are going on a small mission where Ren will practice exorcising a low-grade curse. Gojo agreed to bring some cursed tools for Ren and to also tag along on the mission.

“Nanamin! Good morning!” Gojo exclaims as he lays down a box of weapons on one of the desks.

Nanami simply grunts and takes a sip of his coffee.

Gojo smirks and asks, “Heh, still hungover?”

“Let’s just wait for Ren in silence. I’m not in the mood for your antics today.”

Gojo looks at him curiously. “Is it because of the booze or because of our conversation Saturday night?”

Nanami glares at him, remaining silent.

With his hands up in surrender, Gojo retreats. “Okay, okay, I’ll take the hint. Just answer me one question: Who’s the girl you’re pining for?”

Nanami ignores him again.

“Is it Ren’s sister?”

At this, he chokes on his coffee, spilling it over his tie.

Gojo grabs a handful of napkins on Nanami’s desk and starts helping him wipe up the mess. “Shit, sorry Nanamin. I was just teasing you. I didn’t think I’d actually be right…” He adds that last part under his breath.

After cleaning up, Nanami asks, “How…?”

Gojo smirks. “Lucky guess. I found out from Ren that those bento boxes are made by his sister. And everyone knows the way to your heart is through food.” He leans against the wall with his arms crossed. “So, are you dating her? What’s she like?”

Nanami hesitates, turning his head away, embarrassed.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t met her yet? Dude, how can you be pining over a woman you haven’t even metyet?!”

“I’m not pining over her. It’s not like that. I want to thank her properly. For the food.”

“And those little notes?”

“How do you know about that?” Nanami asks, scandalized.

Gojo points to his own face. “Six Eyes, man. Never fails. Also, Ren showed me his note when you were visiting Jujutsu High, so I figured you were getting some love too.” There’s that shit-eating grin again. 

“You really are awful, you know that?” Nanami slouches against his desk and sighs.

“Is this why you were freaking out on Saturday? Nanamin, it’s not wrong to meet new people and make new friends. Surely, there’s nothing in your dumb rules against that.” Once again, Gojo is right. Nanami hates it when he’s right.

He glances at his watch, then at the box of weapons. “Ren will be arriving soon, so let’s put these on display.”

“Got it. Just one more thing.” Gojo gets his phone and points the camera towards Nanami. He hears the distinct ping of the recording button.

“Tell me I’m right. I know you’re thinking it. I just need to hear you say it so I can record it and never forget.”

“You really are the worst, you know that?”

~~~

Gojo and Nanami go through the variety of weapons as Ren inspects each one carefully. They range from daggers, double edged swords, katanas, spears, and the oddest of them all, a skateboard. Specifically, a long board.

Ren spends a while studying the long board. “Why did you include this one, Gojo?”

He smiles. “Remember the first time I met you? You were trying to take on a curse using your skateboard. Long boards are bigger and faster, making them more dangerous.”

“I can use this as a weapon?”

“Well, it’s been infused with cursed energy, so technically, yes. Also, to be frank, I spent a long time looking for this, so I will be disappointed if you don’t use it.”

Ren smiles wide, holding onto it with both hands. “This is awesome.”

Lunchtime comes and Gojo leaves to grab a quick snack before heading out for their mission. Ren rummages through his backpack for the bentos.

Nanami is excited for this week’s meal to be revealed, then he remembers Friday. He never replied to her message from last week. He wonders what her note will say today.

“Whoa, this is heavy today! She spent all morning preparing a bunch of different stuff. It’s going to be a feast for our last week!” Ren exclaims as he hands over the box to Nanami.

“Whatever it is, I know it’ll be delicious. Your sister is a wonderful cook.” He clears his throat. Was that weird to say? Ren gives him a look but doesn’t respond.

At his desk, Nanami opens the container, excited to see the food and the note. As always, it’s glorious. Chicken karaage fried to perfection, large onigiri with a filling that is sure to be delicious, and tamagoyaki that resembles golden pillows. He inspects the cover of the bento box, turning Hello Kitty over twice, then a third time. He searches the sides of the bento. Then, he lifts the box up to look underneath.

Nothing.

Nanami can spot Ren from the corner of his eye, observing him with an uneasy expression.

Maybe it’s hidden underneath the food. He inhales his meal, stuffing pieces of chicken and egg into his mouth, with bites of rice in between.  He finishes in record time only to find that the entire box is completely empty. There is still no note.

His heart sinks. What does he expect? He didn’t respond to her. He focuses on the empty bento, disappointed, sighing loudly.

“Are you looking for something?” Ren’s voice startles him. 

“Huh?”

“Are you looking for something?” Ren repeats. He’s not sure if he’s imagining it, but is there a tinge of venom in his voice?

“I, uh…No. The food is delicious. Thank you.”

Ren scoffs. “Well, it’s not like I made it. My sister did. You should be thanking her.”

Nanami is not familiar with the current tone his student is using. Is he upset?

“Well, then, please tell your sister thank you.”

Ren gets up abruptly and turns his back towards him. “Tell her yourself.” He starts walking towards the door. Nanami hears him mumbling about getting a drink from the breakroom as he leaves. To his surprise, he hears him mutter “ungrateful bastard” in the hallway.

He and Ren have always gotten along well. This sudden outburst throws Nanami for a loop. Does his student know something that he himself is not aware of? He watches the door until Ren comes back. He’s not sure exactly what to say, but he starts apologizing. “Nakamura. I’m–”

“I’m sorry,” Ren interrupts. “For my outburst. I guess I’m just feeling nervous for today’s mission. There’s no reason to take it out on you. I’m sorry.” He gazes down at his shoes as he speaks.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry too.” Nanami isn’t quite sure what he’s apologizing for, but he does feel sorry.

Gojo walks in and for once, Nanami is grateful for his intrusion. “Are we ready to go?” 

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Ren grabs the long board from the table, avoiding Nanami’s gaze. They all exit together, Ren in leading as the two adults trail from behind.

“What’s going on? I sense tension,” Gojo whispers to Nanami.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Ren suddenly turns around and yells, “I have no idea where I’m going! Someone else go up front!”

Gojo and Nanami chuckle as they catch up to him.

~~~

“Karaage isn’t as good when it’s not fresh,” Ren mentions.

“Hey, beggars can’t be choosers, you little punk.” You are treating a cut on Ren’s cheek. He sucks in a breath when you apply the ointment.

He arrived a few minutes earlier, fresh out of exorcising a curse in his first mission. He is mostly unscathed, except for the gash on his face. You put a bandage, smoothing it over the wound. “There. Better.”

“Thanks.” He runs his fingers over his battle scar, proud. “I kicked that curse’s ass!” He summarizes the details of his mission as you listen attentively, impressed by how he used a long board to defeat the curse. His mentor’s name is mentioned a few times, as expected. You still can’t help being a little embarrassed about last week’s fiasco. It’s time to move on. Nanami clearly doesn’t care; he’s carrying on with his life as usual.  

“Going back to the karaage. I have an idea. Maybe Wednesday, you can fry it up right before lunch and then delivery them to the office.”

“What? That’s so extra, why would I do that?”

“I’m just saying! Karaage is way better when it’s fresh out of the fryer!”

You eye him suspiciously. What is he up to?

“Also, maybe you can meet Nanami too.”

There it is.

“Why are you bringing this up? We promised we would move on from this!”

“Listen! I gave it some thought, and I don’t think it’s so bad if you and Nanami date. It might actually be great. I give you my blessing.”

“Okay, first of all, we are not going to date. Second, I don’t need blessing in any of this! I told you; we are going to forget and move on.”

“C’mon! Maybe if you date him, he won’t be so stuck up all the time! You could mellow him out, y’know?”

“You are really being a punk right now, booger.”

Waving you off, he continues, “Anyways, you have a chance to meet him on Wednesday. Just fry up the chicken around lunch time and hand delivery the bentos! Then you can meet him.”

“I’ll go ahead and fry up your karaage and deliver them to you. But I will not step foot in that building. I’ve humiliated myself enough.”

“Fine, but I have a feeling you’ll end up meeting him anyways.”

“And why do you say that?”

“Because you think he’s hot,” Ren teases, smirking.

“Seriously, I will burn all of your karaage if you keep talking like that!” Ren laughs as you give him a hard poke on his shoulder.

“Can you at least think about it? He’s been a big help throughout this whole process. It’s important to me that you meet him. You don’t even have to stay long! Just say hi! That’s it.” He gazes at you with those puppy dog eyes.

You tilt your head back against the chair and groan, staring at the ceiling. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

“Yay!”

You roll your eyes at him as gets up from the table to give you a quick hug. “Maybe he has something he wants to say to you,” he suggests, walking towards his bedroom.

“Wait, what do you mean?” you yell back to him. But he shuts his door before you can get an answer.

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Taglist: @liliorsstuff-blog @st-444-rgirl @hughugh20 @lucyrocks86 @bloompompom @vampyra-needs-food @extrasugafree @deepcloudspyhairdo @invisible-mori @justnamuaf @syynnaaah @unknownspecies @goldencattto @maqqiekwon @batafuraikisu @pxppetmxster @jesstuff @27th01

#nanami kento #kento nanami #nanami kento x reader #nanami x you #nanami x reader #nanami x y/n #jujutsu kaisen nanami #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk x you #jujutsu kaisen x reader #a bento for kento #jjk nanami #jjk fluff #nanami fluff

[aangelichaos]

Heating Pad

Summary: Joel helps you feel better while you're on your period

Rating: G

Word count: 0.6K

Warnings: Age gap (Reader is in her early 40s, Joel is in his early 50s), sorta hurt/comfort

A/N: I’m on my period rn and I’ve been ✨suffering✨ and it’s also my bday so I’m writing this little drabble because I deserve it. I just KNOW Joel knows how to deal with this stuff, given he was a single dad raising a girl and then basically became Ellie’s dad. Also I accidentally posted this on my alt initially so it's there too ig. Oops lol

You can’t remember the last time you’ve been in so much pain.

Period cramps usually aren’t this bad for you. Obviously they still hurt, but it’s never anything that some medicine can’t fix. This, though? This is an entirely new level of pain. Nothing has been able to help so far- not painkillers, not your heating pad, not the tea Ellie so helpfully made for you. You groan, holding your waist and curling further into yourself, hoping that it will somehow ease the pain.

“…Sweetheart?”

You look up to see Joel standing in the doorway. You give him a weak, pained smile that probably looks more like a grimace. “Hey, Joel.”

He walks toward you, sitting on the edge of your bed and running his hand along your back. “That time of the month, huh?”

You nod. “I’ll be okay, don’t worry about it.” As soon as the words leave your mouth, a wave of pain washes over you. You wince, sucking in a breath, and look up at Joel. He looks completely unconvinced, worry evident on his face. “Really, Joel. I’ll be fine. It’s just cramps.”

“Honey, I don’t care if it’s just cramps, I’m not leaving your side until you feel better, okay?” he says, laying down next to you. “Do you honestly think I’m just going to leave you here while you’re clearly in pain? Come on, you know better than that.” He smiles, wrapping an arm around your waist.

You laugh a bit at that, burying your head in his shoulder. “I know.. I just don’t want to make you worry when you don’t need to.”

He kisses your forehead. “I know, baby. But you gotta understand that I want to be there for you when you’re hurtin’. I just wanna help you feel better.” He brings your hand to his mouth, pressing his lips to it. “How can I help?”

You sigh. “I don’t fucking know, Joel. I’ve tried everything I could think of, but they won’t go away.” You pull him closer, holding him against you in hopes that maybe his warmth will help with the pain.

“Oh, honey…” he whispers as he rubs your back soothingly. “You’re gonna be okay, I promise.” He pauses for a moment, and you can practically see the gears turning in his head. “Has anything at least been able to help? Make the pain a bit more bearable?”

“The heating pad, I guess?” You shrug. “Didn’t do much, but it worked better than anything else I tried.” You grimace as pain overcomes you again.

“Well, where is it? Even if it doesn’t do much, you should at least have it with you.” You gesture vaguely to the floor, and he spots it next to the bed. “Here, doll.” He hands it to you. “Lay back, don’t curl up like that. I know you want to, but it won’t help.” He plugs in the heating pad. “Where’s it hurt, your waist?”

You nod. “Joel, you don’t gotta do all this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Gotta take care of my favorite lady.” He puts his hand over the heating pad, adding slight pressure. “Oh, you poor thing, can’t imagine how much it hurts.” He leans in and kisses you softly. “Anything else I can do for you, angel?”

You shake your head. “You’ve done more than enough, sweetheart.” You cup his cheek with your hand. “You’re too good to me.”

He smiles, putting his hand over yours. “Just givin’ you what you deserve.”

You pull him towards you, hugging him tightly. “Thank you…”

He hugs you back, squeezing you against him. “No problem, hun.”

Even though cramps are still wracking your body, you’ve never felt so at peace as you lay wrapped in Joel’s arms.

#joel miller x reader #joel x reader #joel miller #fanfiction #tlou #tlou fanfiction #the last of us #period comfort #i love this man #i just want to kiss him #no beta we die like my childhood innocence

[geordikisser]

thinking about porter, missing porter.

i just imagine one day porter is injured on treasures door step on day, and unknowingly enough, they end up at lovelys house for help due to them being childhood friends. id like to think treasure is keeping the fact that porter is a vampire to lovely & vincent [ spoiler alert: vincent & lovely already know porters a vampire obviously,, ] but lovely doesn’t know that !

not canon behavior in the slightest don’t behead me

lovely: treasure? wyd here? OH MY GOD—

treasure: please lovely you gotta help!

vincent: whats all this racket? OH.

porter, barely hanging by a thread: ughh,,,

treasure: please lovely! idk how to do first aid!!! :-(

lovely & vincent: ,,,

lovely: so ,,, how’d this happen ?,,, where’d you find him ,,

treasure: he came onto my doorstep weak! he was covered in injuries and at first, i thought it was foreplay— ,,

vincent, slightly disgusted: freak ass foreplay ,,

treasure: but then he fell into my arms and i realized he was actually hurt & came to me for help! :-(,,

lovely: wow. ok uhm ,, don’t worry, we’ll help him! he’ll be brand new when you see him again

treasure: wdym again?

vincent: give us a moment ,,, treasure.

treasure nods as they step out the room

vincent: im not aiding this freak.

lovely: vincent cmon!! your healing magic is better than mine!

vincent, grimaced: god can you believe they thought this was foreplay ,,, they gotta be into some freak shit, lovely ,,,

lovely: god don’t get me started, literally felt my heart fall to my ass when they said that.

vincent: porter being a masochist doesn’t surprise me though tbh, it just justifies the reason he acts the way he did way before now

lovely, giggling: vincent!

vincent: what!? i’m not below kink shaming!!!

lovely: jesus that’s not what i—,, ok,,

vincent: you think treasure was the human he wanted to bring to the summit?

lovely: no, i mean probably not anyway, treasure doesn’t believe in this stuff. i don’t even think they know about my situation

vincent: really? they must be real stupid then if they met porter & haven’t pointed a thing supernatural about him yet

lovely, mad: boy? get to healing since you wanna talk like that >:-(

vincent: ugh. fine.

treasure, wakes up: ,,, mmh, porter?

porter: treasure ,,? where are we ,,

treasure; a super close friend of mine! don’t worry— they don’t know your secret. we are safe here

porter, feeling unsettled: ,,, treasure. who is this friend of yours,,,

treasure: my childhood bestfriend! darlin’ & their boyfriend vincent.

vincent: hello porter.

porter: wow. this is just my luck.

treasure: and don’t worry! i didn’t tell them your seeecreeet

lovely: uhm what

porter, awed: you poor thing d’aww,,, thank you though, treasure.

vincent: what happened porter. who roughened you up?

porter: i stumbled across the wrong crowd, that’s all i’ll say,,,

lovely: treasure, you got to be having body if you can carry porter from your house to ours tho lowkey

treasure: what?

vincent: i was thinking the same thing lowkey, porter is a hunk of meat ill say

porter: that a compliment, vinny?

vincent: a hunk of meat. that’s easy to cut and tear apart.

porter: oh don’t put such a fantasy in my head infront of your partner mr. solaire!

vincent: jesus— porter, don’t piss me off in my own house,,,

lovely: i’m unconvinced that he pulled them for some reason.

treasure: we should all go on a double date sometime! that would be lots of fun!! i didn’t know you two knew each-other :-3

porter: what do you say, you two? you don’t want to break my poor sweet treasures heart do you,,?

lovely, winced: eeermm yeah treasure,,, social cues were never your thing ,,,

vincent: sure.

lovely & porter in disbelief.

treasure: awesome! maybe a lunch date? :-D

porter: uhm treasure ,,, maybe dinner, how’s that?

treasure: oh yes—!! i nearly forgot. erm. maybe the farish house? they have good mediterranean food!!

vincent, smirking: we can discuss this later when your partner isn’t in agony, yes?

porter looks horrified (didn’t think vincent would say yes.)

#redacted asmr #redacted audios #redacted vincent #redacted lovely #redacted porter #redacted treasure #imagine #gender neutral reader

[regulatedstrawberry]

Preview of Reaching New Heights: A Tails Adventure Chapter 10

Chapter 10 / The Prologue

Espio woke up a little later than normal, having to fight himself to get out of bed. He typically strived to wake up at sunrise, an attempt to maintain some discipline in his routine, but the events of last night put a dent in his sleep cycle. 

Still, he freshened up in the bathroom, relieved to be awake before Charmy, avoiding the kid’s nasty habit of leaving toothpaste residue in the sink. After washing the grogginess from his face, the chameleon walked down the hallway towards the living room and kitchen, waking up to the smell of freshly cooked breakfast.

“Good morning, Vector,” Espio greeted, making his way to the table. Breakfast was laid out neatly, with two sets of scrambled eggs and toast fresh and ready, and a third plate decorated only with crumbs. “You woke up and made breakfast?”

“Eh, couldn’t sleep that well,” Vector shrugged, pouring coffee into a mug that read ‘I went to the Emerald Coast and all I got was this stupid mug’. “Figured I might as well. Feel free to dig in.” 

“I see. Thank you, it looks great,” Espio nodded appreciatively, reaching for the toast. 

“You got it.” Vector made his way to the table, placing the full coffee mug next to Espio’s plate. He sat down in front of the empty plate, reaching for his almost empty mug of tepid coffee. 

“Did you stay up last night?” The chameleon asked, studying Vector’s behavior carefully. 

“Eh… Kinda, yeah,” Vector admitted. “I mean, I’m still tryna wrap my brain around alla that stuff Amy talked about,” he shrugged. “But more about how we’re gonna approach this. I looked back at your notes– Honestly, I think we’re gonna need all hands on deck.”

Espio raised a brow, swallowing a bite of his eggs. “So you decided on telling Charmy?”

“Yeah, I think we should,” Vector shrugged. “I mean, I know what you’re thinking, but it’ll be uh - a good teaching moment,” he explained, the words coming to him as he gestured with his coffee mug. “Show him the ropes of the biz. He won’t learn if we don’t teach him, right?”

Espio was picking up what he was putting down, washing down his bite with some coffee. Still, he looked at Vector skeptically. “Are you sure?”

Vector set the mug down, reaching for his empty plate. “Listen, we might not be able to completely guarantee client confidentiality, but she called the Team Chaotix company line. We’re not Team Chaotix if it’s not all three of us,” he said, standing up to bring his plate to the sink.

“I guess,” Espio nodded, unconvinced, but seeing the reasoning. He knit his brow as he ate another bite of his eggs.

“Oh come on, Espio! It’ll be fine,” Vector reassured, offering an easygoing smile. “I’ll keep an eye on him. You trust me, right?”

Espio couldn’t help but let a weak smile show. “Sure,” he shrugged.

“I knew you’d come around.” Vector looked up from the sink, over at the entrance to the hallway across the room. “Speaking of Charmy, is that kid still sleeping or what?”

“He ate the last pack of Emerald Bites last night when no one was looking,” Espio said absently, taking a sip of his coffee. “He probably stayed up late.”

“Sheesh, I didn’t even have any,” Vector huffed, annoyed at what was expected behavior. He looked back towards the hallway. “Charmy! Breakfast is ready!”

He waited for a response, but heard nothing. Grumbling, he shook his head and made his way towards the hallway. “I’m gonna go wake him up.” 

“Have fun,” Espio said nonchalantly, cheersing the air with his coffee mug before returning to his breakfast.

The crocodile made his way to Charmy’s room door, looking at it in annoyance. 

“Hey kid! Rise and shine!” Vector said loudly, rapping his knuckles against the door. He waited a moment, but heard nothing but silence.

“He must’ve went to bed late. Seriously kid, ya gotta stop eating all that sugar before bed,” the crocodile grumbled, beginning to turn the door handle. “Hey, your breakfast is getting–” 

Espio, who was relaxing with his morning cup of coffee, jumped from his chair at the sound of a shrill scream, his coffee spilling onto the table and floor. Immediately, he began to run towards the room. “Vector?”

“He’s GONE!” Vector exclaimed from within the room. “Charmy’s gone!”

“What?!” 

He stepped into the room to see Vector standing bewildered in front of a wide open window. A cool breeze blew the curtains, the sound of a crayon rolling across the old wooden floor. No Charmy Bee in sight. 

Vector walked towards the window, wishfully hoping to see any clue of Charmy outside. “He just– He ran away?! Why?”

Espio, meanwhile, began scanning the room for clues. He looked over at the empty, unmade bed, with the blanket half-dragging against the floor, spotting a piece of folded paper tucked between the pillow. 

He took the paper and opened it, sighing deeply as he began to read the note. “Vector, look,” he called, extending the paper over to the crocodile.  

“Lemme see this,” Vector huffed, snatching the note from Espio’s hand. He held the paper back, squinting at the page. Once he could read it, he cringed as he looked at the poorly scrawled note, written in glitter crayon: 

DeeR Veckir  SPO If U R Reebng dis, I M gong 2 fin Tallz all bye my self! I will bee good D tektiv.  TEEN K OT TIX  Charmy

Vector pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, before turning to face the chameleon. 

“We gotta put this kid in school.”

Chapter 10 / The Prologue

#team chaotix #espio the chameleon #vector the crocodile #charmy bee #sonic the hedgehog #sonic frontiers #sonic fanfiction #reaching new heights fic #strawberry talks

[with-love-from-hell]

Recovery

Commission by @fickleminder

Character prominently featured: Satan

F!Mc, written under the name Kirana and she/her pronouns are used. Descriptors for this Mc are also used (e.g. hair color, mentions of blushing/skin tone indicators)

Genre: Hurt/comfort, fluff

Context for the fic request here and here. TLDR: this is written in the aftermath of a kidnapping. 

WC: ~6k

CW: Kidnapping, depictions of various trauma responses (e.g. insomnia, nightmares/night terrors, flashbacks, panic attacks, anxiety, mild restrictive eating, dissociation), some depictions of blood/gore

Want to commission me? Information on commissions can be found here

The moisture in the air is hanging thick- making it difficult to take a solid breath. It’s hot- hotter than the hell that she had become so accustomed to- no...this was different.  The intense humidity causes sticky beads of sweat to trickle down her brow as she squirms, trying desperately to evade whatever force was pinning her to the ground. Unlike last time, she is able to see and hear what’s going on around her- and while she initially thought that would be better, dear god its somehow worse. She can move around somewhat, but the attempts to wriggle herself flee from her invisible binds get her nowhere.  

...why was this happening again??

In the midst of her desperate squirming, a distant growl and the sounds of scuttering across the dark room put a newly formed fear into Kirana’s chest. Her movements falter as she stared into the darkness around her. Imprinted scents of the rancid smell of the beast’s breathe against her face manifested, causing her to gag. It was the worst smell she had ever encountered by far, and was made 10 times worse when it mingled with the scent of iron from her own blood... 

And the blood...Oh, there was so much blood...

As the movements draw near, Kirana’s attempts became more panicked, more desperate. The moment she saw the beast’s jaw unhinge in the dark- somehow appearing directly above her in mere seconds- she let out a horrified scream that could probably be heard throughout the entirety of the Devildom. The terror in that moment seeping through every inch of her as she felt the searing pain of 1000 suns scorch her body.

...

Kirana bolted upright in bed, finally able to jolt her body back to reality. Her chest heaved with every uneven breath, trying desperately to savor each one- as if she’d never breathe again. Then came the nausea, the pounding headache, the unstoppable tears. She gripped herself tightly as the horror-stricken cries pushed forth, the only sound coming through her slightly parted lips being soft whimpers and stuttered breaths. She tried desperately to reassure herself it was just a dream, but the efforts seemed fruitless as the horrific images continued plaguing her mind.

“Kirana?” 

A deep voice through the door echoed through her head. At first, it almost sounded distorted, taking on a quality much like that of her kidnapper. It took a minute to process that source as her brain came down from the panic, but upon realizing it was Lucifer, she breathed a sign of relief. 

When she didn’t respond verbally, the eldest brother let himself into her room. Through the door, she could see the worried faces of the other 6 brothers, each trying to steal a peak into the room to ensure she was okay. She locked eyes briefly with Satan, noticing the pained expression on his face before the door closed off her view of him. 

Why was he looking at me like that? 

“Are you alright?” Lucifer sat on the edge of Kirana’s bed, searching her eyes for signs she was in pain. 

There was no doubt he had heard her screaming from the awful nightmare, but Kirana tried to play it off as just a fluke. She gave him a weak smile, that was very much unconvincing of her well-being. “Y-yeah. I’m fine.” 

In reality, Kirana was everything but fine. It was in her nature to be more passive and try to brush past upsetting things. Hell, she did it with most of the brothers during the first few months she had lived here. But since everything had calmed down and there wasn’t much left to be worried about, she really didn’t want them to thing anything was really wrong with her. 

Lucifer lifted an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Its okay to still be disturbed by what happened, you know. It’s only been a couple of days.” 

She didn’t really want to discuss the dream with him, or any of the brothers, for that matter. But more than that, she didn’t want to worry anyone. Kirana tried her best to form a more convincing smile, waving Lucifer’s concern off like she was batting away a fly. “Really, It’s fine. I’m fine. Just a bad dream, is all.” 

Lucifer paused for a moment, staring at her. Kirana’s reasoning sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that rather than him. After a minute of tense silence and Kirana’s aversion of eye contact, he shook his head. “We want to be here for you as much as we can be. We’re all worried about you- especially Satan. Please don’t shut us out if you’re struggling.” 

Wait...especially Satan...? What did he mean by that...?

Kirana nodded. “I’ll let you guys know if I need anything, but really...I’m fine. I promise!” 

He was still not convinced, but also didn’t feel any value in pressing her any further.  “Very well, I’ll leave you to rest then.” 

Lucifer stood and approached the door once more. Before he opened the door though, he glanced back over his shoulder. “Just remember that you do not have to be the sole proprietor of this burden. We want to help when we can.” 

Kirana winced and gave a small nod. As he opened the door, Kirana noticed that the other brothers (spare for Satan) had backed away from the door. His glistening emerald eyes stared into hers from the hallway, as if trying to communicate something to her. Just as she thought she was able to get a read on the silent message he was trying to convey, the connection was lost once again when Lucifer closed the door. After a moment of quiet murmuring, she heard bodies shuffling and the shadows cast underneath her door moved out of view. 

Kirana flopped back down onto her pillow with an exasperated sigh. There was no way she was going to get more sleep tonight, so staring at the ceiling for a bit would have to do until she figured out something to do with her time. Her mind wandered to what Lucifer had said about Satan, and she found herself pondering why on earth the eldest brother singled him out. Sure, he was the closest brother to her, and he was the one who came to her side during the events proceeding the kidnapping...

But what else to that is there? 

Well...not that it was a particularly bad thing that he was extra concerned, I suppose. 

Kirana shook her head. Wait, what am I thinking! The last thing I want is for him to fixate on whether or not I’m okay!

Or...maybe he’s concerned because he knows I like him. 

Maybe...maybe he likes me back?!

No, no...don’t be ridiculous.  That’s impossible!

A soft cough pulled her attention back to the light flooding in from under her door and away from the internal battle her thoughts were fighting.  She noticed one shadow still remained. Faintly, the scent of parchment and ink drifted into her nostrils, providing her with an odd sense of calm. 

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

“Kiraaanaaa...” Asmo cooed in his quietest sing-song voice, trying to gently jostle the human awake without drawing the attention of the others in the classroom. “Hey, Kirana! Wake up, sleepy!”

She groaned, reluctantly opening her eyes. Kirana didn’t even remember falling asleep, but given the professor was still going on and on endlessly with their mundane lecture, it was natural that she would- especially given all she had been through. Besides, even if she hadn’t been kidnapped, falling asleep in Devildom History wasn’t completely unheard of. Even Mammon was passed out at his table a few feet away from how dry the lecture was. 

Kirana rubbed her bloodshot eyes, trying desperately to wake herself up. Her voice was raspy with sleep as she spoke. “Urgh...What did I miss?” 

Asmo giggled. “Not much. Honestly, I wasn’t paying attention. I was too busy looking at your cute sleeping face!” 

Kirana flushed, looking down at her drool-covered notebook. “Seriously, Asmo...” 

He giggled in response, continuing to stare at her face as he bounced his foot atop his other leg. “You know dear, it’s unlike you to fall asleep during class... and you seem to be much more sluggish than usual...Are you getting enough sleep? If you want, I could-”

“I’m fine, Asmo.” Kirana interrupted him, maybe a little too sternly. “No need to worry.” 

Asmo’s shoulders slumped slightly, but he let it go.

Kirana attempted to process the blurry lines on the chalkboard where the professor had been writing important notes about the Celestial War, but the words seemed to run together and she couldn’t make sense of it. After a minute of trying desperately to focus, Kirana instead decided to look about the room. If the lecture couldn’t keep her awake, she would have to find something else to look at that would, or else she would never hear the end of it from Lucifer...or so she was convinced. 

While she had accommodations for her classes and was slowly eased back in to RAD work, she found herself worried of becoming a disappointment. Sure, the events of that day were rough, but it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t work herself through! The extra help was nice, but part of her felt like taking it was proving how weak she was, and that’s not something she was willing to accept- even if the extra support would have saved her a lot of grief...especially considering she hadn’t gotten more than 2 hours of sleep per night for the past 10 days.  Lucifer even encouraged her repeatedly to accept the help, but she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it was a test of will. She could power through if she just tried hard enough...

Right..?

Kirana yawned, feeling the exhaustion creep steadily within her once more. Her eyelids began to droop, and soon enough she was fast asleep again with her head resting in her palm. Asmo continued trying to jostle her awake when he noticed her drifting off, but she couldn’t muster the strength to be up for more than a few minutes. Obviously, no information from the lecture stuck with her.

Satan looked on from a table toward the back of the room. The concern he felt for Kirana was ever-growing, and he wondered desperately how he could help her. Her fatigue in class was so out-of-character, as she was always very studious and wanted to make a good impression on Lucifer and Diavolo. While he admired her intelligence, he knew that the incident could very well disrupt her studies. But now...she was just so different. What had made Kirana who she was had been slipping before his eyes ever since she returned from the attack- and it’s not like he could even blame her for it. 

Satan himself found his own sanity slowly dwindling as he obsessed over his guilt. He blamed himself for her kidnapping and all of the trauma that came with it, and he was sure she felt the same. He had convinced himself in hindsight that everything that happened was preventable, despite the fact that in reality, it was all truly just simple mindlessness that could have befallen anyone- particularly given the fact that Kirana had been able to hold her own in the Devildom without incident prior to this. 

The urge he felt to protect her after this only increased, and he felt a burning desire to confess to her his attraction, but he figured this would be the worst time to do it. He feared that if his love couldn’t fix the damage done by Kirana’s assailant...then maybe nothing could. Regardless though, he had to do something. He couldn’t just sit back anymore while Kirana wasted away- body, mind, and soul. Her gaunt-looking face, exhausted eyes, pale complexion, and trembling extremities told him he needed to act sooner rather than later. Perhaps tonight would be his opportunity to finally help in his own way. 

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

The same musty room engulfed her in darkness. 

The same rancid breath produced bouts of nausea in the pit of her stomach. 

The same crushing binds cut off her access to oxygen and crushed her rib-cage.

The same situation continued its grotesque and endlessly simulation in her slumber until she finally jerked awake. 4 times tonight already. Fortunately, Kirana had become quieter in her stirring from the nightmares, so the brothers weren’t bothered in the wee morning hours in which their rest was the most plentiful. She hated putting them out of their well-needed rest, given they all had such important duties as Student Council Officers. She always felt so guilty when they looked at her with those somber, pitiful eyes. 

She tried to gain control of her labored breaths, crying softly to herself. When would the nightmares end? All she wanted was some peace. But even in the most restful state she had, the image of her captor’s maw closing around her neck still plagued her mind. 

She shuddered. Maybe scrolling through Devilgram will take my mind off things. 

Kirana rolled onto her stomach and scrolled through her phone mindlessly for what felt like hours, but time seemed to pass at a snails pace. Another symptom of the attack perhaps? Time seemed to almost exist as an illusion to her, even in waking hours. Classes dragged on, and on, and on with seemingly no end as she fought back sleep, and the sleepless nights seemed to last for centuries. 

Each mealtime with the brothers seemed to be the same every day- the same arguments and conversations, the same feelings of exhaustion and emptiness, and the same bland-tasting food.  Ugh...the food. It didn’t matter what was made or who made it, the food didn’t even really seem to have any taste anymore either, so her appetite had dwindled to nearly non-existent. Even Satan making her favorite meal couldn’t bring the excitement of the new and enticing foods in the Devildom back. It all just tasted like...sand? or maybe dirt?

Or maybe it just tasted like nothing. Just as she felt inside.  

Kirana turned over on her side, clutching a pillow to her chest and fighting back another crying spell- the frequency of which also becoming more commonplace as the days dragged on. With each passing hour, she felt more and more volatile in her emotions- becoming irritable at the slightest of inconveniences, and becoming inconsolable over something as simple as spilt milk. Her usual laid-back demeanor had shifted to one of high alert, never letting her guard down enough to be truly genuine with anyone- even with the 7 demons she had come to know and love throughout her time in Devildom. 

Even the little help that she did accept had only done minor damage control. The soft orange light of the lamp given to her by Asmo on her bedside table helped her escape the darkness of her room, but it couldn’t shield her from the darkness that occurred when she closed her eyes. The pendant of protection Satan gave her was always around her neck, but she sometimes wondered if it did truly work given how jumpy she always felt wherever she went. The brother’s distractions helped a little until they became less of a distraction and more of a tool to fuel her dissociation. She began to wonder if this is all there was after the attack, the thoughts sending her into a spiral of hopelessness until the ping of her phone going off interrupted her thoughts. 

Satan:  Is everything okay? 

Kirana:  Huh..?

Satan:  I walked by your room and saw the light on under the door.

Satan:  I assumed you were awake, which is rare for you this time of night. 

Kirana:  Oh, haha. I’m fine. I’ll fall asleep eventually. It was just a bad dream that woke me.

Satan: A bad dream?

Kirana:  Oh, haha. Yeah, they happen sometimes. Not to worry though, I’m okay. 

Kirana:  Anyways, What are you doing awake and roaming?

Satan:  I’m making some tea. Would you like to join me since you can’t seem to sleep? 

Kirana:  It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m okay, thank you for the offer though. 

Satan:  Are you sure?

Kirana: Yeah, it’s not super unusual for me since...uh...

Kirana:  Well, you know.

Kirana watched as the “typing” indicator appeared, and then disappeared numerous times. Anxiety built up in her stomach at the prospect of Satan replying with something very judgmental or dismissive. However, thoughts are pushed away when a knock at her bedroom door makes Kirana nearly jump out of her skin. 

“AH! Uhh-” She tries to settle the high-pitched volume in her voice. “W-who’s there?” 

The door creaks open to reveal a very concerned looking Satan, holding two tea cups with his left index and ring finger. “May I come in? I apologize if I startled you.” 

Kirana nods hesitantly, watching closely as Satan maneuvered carefully into her bedroom. He approaches her bed, sitting on the foot of it after resting one of the tea cups on the night stand next to her.

“I know you said you didn’t care for any tea, but I made you some anyway. It’s supposed to help with sleep.” He commented, taking a nervous sip from his own cup. “I...I know that’s something that’s been difficult for you lately.”

Kirana pulls in her bottom lip and nods, turning her gaze away to stare at the vaguely purple liquid in the small cup. It’s quiet for a moment as Satan remains planted on the edge of the bed, and Kirana leans against the headboard, knees pulled up to her chest. 

Satan clears his throat after a moment, deciding to just go for what he wanted to say rather than overthinking his words or beating around them. “I worry about you, you know.” 

Kirana perks up, attention now fully on the blonde demon before her. A light blush dusts his cheeks as he stares at the tea in his hand, the sweet image producing a small flutter in Kirana’s heart.

“Pardon?” 

Satan snaps his eyes attention up to meet hers, no hesitation evident in his reply. “I worry about you. All the time...Ever since you were kidnapped you’ve been...well...different I guess. And it makes sense as to why you would be. The whole thing was pretty messed up...”

Satan takes a breath, searching her eyes for any signs that she had something to say. Instead, she stared past him, seemingly not wanting to acknowledge what he was saying. He knew Kirana could give Lucifer a run for his money in terms of stubbornness, so perhaps he needed to try a different approach.

“Uh- I know you haven’t talked to anyone about what happened really, but...maybe...you should? You know I’m always here to lend an ear...right?” 

Kirana bites the inside of her cheek and shrugs. She was unsure of how to feel with how candid Satan was being. He had seemingly been avoiding her for the past week or so, so why was he offering to talk now? As if reading her thoughts, Satan continued. 

“I’m not going to push you if you don’t want to...I just...I’ve observed what holding it in has been doing to you, and...and honestly, it scares me.” He pauses. “Perhaps that’s why I’ve been more distant than usual, but I don’t...I don’t want to be. I know you want to do this on your own, and I want to try to respect that, but...I worry that my negligence will result in losing you again.” 

“Again?” Kirana furrowed her brow.. “what do you mean by that?” 

“I...I...” Satan squeezes the cup tighter as his hands begin to tremble. The steaming liquid sloshes around, droplets splashing off the rim and onto his lap as he fought back tears. “It’s all my fault. If I had been there...If I had just paid more attention...” 

Kirana nearly gasped as his assertion. She was now wide awake and her attention now fully on Satan as she leans forward toward him. “What? No! No, it’s not your fault!” 

He shook his head. “It’s true. I was supposed to walk you home. If I had been there, none of this would have happened. I neglected you, and it resulted in something terrible. So, I do understand if you don’t want to talk to me about it, but if you would- please talk to somebody...” 

“Satan, I don’t blame you at all.” Kirana moves her hand so that it lightly grazes his forearm.

Satan shrugged. “Perhaps you should.”

“You’re being stupid.” Kirana scolds, scooting closer to the middle-born so that she could sit side-by-side next to him. 

“Excuse me?” 

Kirana sighs, playing with the ends of her hair. “Look, it was a shitty situation. And clearly it’s still impacting me more than I’d like it to, but...I’m safe now. And you’re the one to thank for that.” 

Satan stared, unblinking at his tea. His silence offered an indication that he still wasn’t convinced. 

Kirana dropped her hair, instead moving to ground herself by gripping her thighs. “Do you even know how relieved I was when I realized it was you who was with me? When I was able to smell you near?” 

He brought his gaze back up to Kirana, puzzled by her words. “Uh...smelled me..?” 

“...Ummm...” Kirana blushes, immediately realizing she should have maybe picked a better choice in words to avoid sounding weird. She sighs, deciding push on. “Well...yeah. I mean...Gah, this is kind of embarrassing, but...I wasn’t able to see or hear, so I could only rely on my sense of smell, and...uh...” 

 At her pause, Satan looked at her with wide, shimmering eyes. “Please...do go on.” 

“Well...you smelled like...I dunno...Ink and old paper.” She paused, feeling her face heat up further in embarrassment. She looks down to the floor as she continues to speak. “It wasn’t really that I realized it was you right away. Like, I was able to figure it out, but I just...I somehow knew the scent meant I was going to be safe.” 

There’s a pause of silence between the two. Satan ponders over her words for a moment, searching for their meaning. Kirana hesitates before continuing. 

“Anyway...I wont just sit here and let you blame yourself for that. You always make me feel comfortable and safe and...and...I’m glad it was you.” 

“Kirana, I-” 

“I’m not finished.” She glances back up at Satan, finding a bit more courage to say what was on her mind. She noticed him staring at her with mist in his eyes, completely unprepared for her bold words. “When I was...or, well- When I thought I was going to- you know...die...All I could think about was you. I was so scared, and thinking about you was the only thing that made me bear through it all...but, I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to see you again...to tell you...”

Kirana pauses, unsure of how to finish her statement. The confidence she felt begins to dwindle upon realizing that she is pouring her heart out to someone who may not reflect the same emotions. 

Satan inches closer so that their legs touch. “Tell me...what?” 

Kirana feels her face go completely red, bringing her hands up to shield it from view. “Come on, don’t make me say it...isn’t it obvious by now??” 

Satan lets out a soft chuckle as he nudges her hand with his pinky. “Perhaps not as much as you’d suspected...But I can assure you, I share the sentiment.” 

Kirana feels her heart stop and she whips her head up to stare at him. “H-huh?!” 

He pauses for a moment, thinking over his words. “Let me put it this way, Kirana. I haven’t felt fear often in my life, and I do not typically get ‘scared’ of...well, anything really...But never in my life did I feel so much terror as the night you went missing- when I realized something wasn’t right; that you could be in danger; that the state of your being fell on me and I...I could be too late to save you. I was practically sick to my stomach when I realized I had never confessed how I feel about you, and that the opportunity may have been missed...I didn’t want to have to hold onto that anymore.”

He stares into Kirana’s eyes, ensuring the deepest of meaning is held within the deep green orbs. He then takes her hand in his. Kirana holds her breath, unsure of how to even react to such an unexpected confession. 

“I need to tell you now...that I-” Satan swallows hard, nerves suddenly reemerging. “I-I’m desperately in love with you. and I have been for quite some time.” 

Kirana stares at him in near disbelief, unsure of how to respond. After a moment of silence, Satan’s nervousness emerges, wanting some sort of validation that she felt the same. 

“Can I assume you return my feelings?” He searched her eyes for signs of doubt, but saw none. 

“I- yes. Of course” Kirana smiled. Her eyes went glossy as she tried to hold back tears, not wanting to feel further embarrassment by the rollercoaster of emotions she was experiencing. “I love you too Satan...you’re the only one I want.”

Satan felt a wave of relief was over his body. He squeezed Kirana’s hand a bit tighter, feeling a giddy sense of joy come over him. Though, he didn’t forget why he had come to her room in the first place. 

“Well, now that this is out of the way...should I let you get back to sleep? I’m sure the effects of the tea are kicking in already.” 

Kirana bit her lip, looking sheepishly down at the floor. “Actually...Could I maybe stay the night in your room? It would be nice to have someone there...if I have another nightmare.” 

Satan beamed, pleased to see she was finally asking for help. Before he could attempt to reply though, Kirana’s anxiety got the better of her as she blurted out a cushion statement before his words were even out. “I-it’s okay if you don’t want me to. I don’t want to burden you or anything so-” 

Before she could continue, Satan brought a hand up to cup Kirana’s face. Slowly- as if leaving room for her to pull away- he gave her a chaste kiss. As he pulled away, he noticed her face was bright red, eyes wide with an emotion he couldn’t quite place. 

Kirana felt her heart melt the minute her lips met his. Her flustered state only increased, making her stomach feel nearly overwhelmed with butterflies. 

“You’re more than welcome to join me.” Satan cooed, brushing a strand of hair out of Kirana’s face. “You don’t even have to ask.” 

The pair walked hand-in-hand up to Satan’s bedroom. He was slightly embarrassed by the state of it, knowing he would have at least taken the pile of books off of his bed if he knew Kirana would be accompanying him tonight. Instead he threw them off the bed in a huff, gesturing to Kirana to lay down while he grab some more tea for the two of them. 

Something about being surrounded by the smell of old books and dim candle light, and being snuggled up under a large, soft quilt suddenly made Kirana feel a bit more drowsy. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment, only to be woken soon after by the door to Satan’s bedroom opening and closing. Satan approached the bed as she squinted at him through tired, heavy eyelids. 

He let out a soft chuckle at the way Kirana looked, bundled in the quilt so snuggly. “Here you are. Are you comfortable?”

She nodded sleepily in response, taking another sip of the tea that Satan had handed to her. “Yes, I do. I feel very safe. Thank you.” 

Satan hummed. “I’ll always keep you safe, Kitten.” 

Kirana choked on her tea, coughing and sputtering from the shock at being called the sudden (adorable) pet name. Her face reddened once more as she tried to find words to reply. “Wha- I...Kitten!?” 

Satan’s lips lifted into a coy smirk. “Do you not like me calling you that?” 

“N-NO!” Kirana shook her head, changing her words to seem less excited. “I mean...I- I don’t mind it.”

The smirk on Satan’s face only grew the more flustered she became. How cute. 

Satan cleared a space next to the bed, giving Kirana the entire space. He assumed she wouldn’t want him right next to her- or at least she’d be too embarrassed to say that’s what she did want. Regardless, he figured he’d spare her from feeling even more flustered...at least for tonight. 

Just before he was about to curl up in the space though, Kirana’s voice stopped him. “S-Satan?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Could you...ah- could you read to me?” 

Satan’s eyes shifted up to look at her. Kirana’s ability to surprise him really left him feeling underprepared. 

“I know it’s silly...but...” She paused, trying to find the words to say. After a short moment, she let out a nervous laugh, feeling ridiculous for making such a request. “It’s just hard to sleep without background noise...and-” 

“Of course I will.” Satan interrupted, not wanting Kirana to go into a self-deprecating spiral. “Just let me find a book.” 

Satan disappears behind a bookshelf, re-emerging with a thin novel. Kirana scooches over to make room on the bed- much to Satan’s surprise- and he nestles in next to her. She rests her head on his chest as he wraps his arm around her, stroking her bare shoulder underneath the sleeve of her shirt. 

“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” 

Kirana nods, humming in confirmation. She nuzzles into him further, tightening the blanket around her body as he begins to read. Within a few minutes, soft snores could be heard coming from Kirana as she breathed evenly against him. Satan continued to read until he could barely keep his own eyes open. He closes the book, leaving it on the windowsill near his bed before shuffling his and Kirana’s bodies to a lying-position on the bed. As if instinctually, Kirana wraps her arms around his midsection, clinging to him like a koala. He smiles warmly, placing a soft kiss to her head before finally succumbing to sleep. 

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

From then on, there wasn’t a night she wasn’t found in Satan’s room, or he in Kirana’s room. The two became nearly inseparable, relying on each other as Kirana continued to try to heal from the trauma of the kidnapping. With each reassured moment that she was safe in Satan’s arms, she became more and more like her old self again. The nightmares dwindled to a very infrequent occurrence, the anxiety lessened, and her appetite returned, allowing her to begin re-engaging with everyone around her in a meaningful way. 

Satan was almost shocked at how easy it was for Kirana to make friends with other demons after he took steps in aiding her healing. Though, he did notice she only really engaged with them when he was at her side. There was a carefulness still evident in her actions, and he wondered any sort of absence of his hawk-like protection wasn’t contributing to that at least somewhat. Regardless, he saw it better to remain cautious about the others outside his family rather than leave it up to fate. 

No one was taking her from him again...not without a fight. 

When Lucifer mentioned that the exchange program was ending and Kirana had to return to the human world...of course, he was devastated. 

“I demand you talk to Diavolo and let her stay.” “At the very least, can’t I accompany her back?” “Only two of us can call her per week?! That’s completely unfair!” 

All of his arguments fell on deaf ears, and soon enough, it was time to say goodbye. It was awkward- and sad- to have to give Kirana back to to the realm in which she belonged, but he was able to do so (though not without an extreme reluctance). The first two weeks were obviously the hardest for both Satan and Kirana. Despite texting her daily, he couldn’t wait for his turn to call her at the end of the second week- an arrangement he was able to work through with Lucifer after many harsh words flown from each other’s mouths at who would be the brother to call her first. 

“Heyy Satan.” Kirana giggled into the phone as she picked up the line, seeing the caller ID light up with a picture of him covered in 5 different cats, smiling wide right at her.

He smiled, feeling his heart race at the excitement in her voice. “Hey yourself. How are you doing, Kitten?” 

Satan heard Kirana squeak from the other line, and chuckled to himself at how she still became flustered by the pet name, even after they had been together for a few months. After regaining her composure some, she spoke. 

“I’m doing okay, I think. The first few days were really hard.” She pauses. “I’m getting some more help here. I started talking to some professionals...anyway, even though it sucks a bit that I don’t have you here to help, I’m learning how to do some things on my own so I don’t burden you too much.” 

“You’re not a burden to me, Kitten.” 

Another squeak was heard through the line. “Stop teasing me!” 

Satan laughed. “Stop being so easy to tease.” 

The pair laughed for a moment, before a somber wave of silence encapsulated the phone call. Satan’s heart felt heavy in knowing the next time he would be able to hear Kirana’s sweet voice was not until at least 3 weeks from now. He knew she felt it too, given the soft sniffles coming from her end of the line. 

Satan cleared his throat, trying to find a way to guide the conversation back to a happier place. He couldn’t really think of anything, but the sound of Kirana’s soft voice made him relax some. 

"I...I miss you, you know.” 

Satan could practically hear her blush through the phone. His own cheeks reddened as he cooed the sentiment back. “I miss you too. More than you probably even realize...” 

"You can’t just one up me like that!” Kirana huffed. “No, I miss you more.” 

Satan chuckled. “Well, I’m not about to argue with you on that. Let’s just say we’re both hopelessly missing each other.” 

After another brief laugh, The conversation goes on for hours, until the moon lifts brightly in the sky and the spring peeper frogs and crickets sing their evening melody, lulling Kirana into a state of sleepiness that she finally was able to not feel dread about...but that also meant she would have to stop the conversation in order to rest her weary head. 

“I should probably go...I have a busy day tomorrow.” 

Satan groaned. “I was worried you were about to say that.”

“I’m sorry...” She sighed, feeling bad about having to hang up. 

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Satan stretched out, now realizing how long he had been in the same position, but time seemed to go so quickly when he it was with her. “You need your rest.” 

“I wish I could just be back there with you instead.” 

Satan hummed. “Me too, Kitten.”

“Hey!” Kirana squeaked into the phone. “What did I say about teasing!” 

Satan chuckled. “You’re adorable.” 

She huffed into the phone, clearly exaggerating to try to tease him back. 

“and...you’re all mine, right?” Satan bit his lip, wondering how his words will be received.

 She giggled, but he could also hear sniffling from her end of the call. “Yes, of course, you meanie. All yours.” 

The phone call ended with exchanged “I love you”s and, while the passage of time seemed unbearable, they continued on the distanced love that was cultivated despite enormous hardship. That is, until the day the portal opened above the student council meeting by Solomon- when Kirana fell right back into Satan’s lap- and they could pick back up exactly where they left off. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#obey me commission #commission #Obey Me! #Obey me swd #shall we date: Obey me #obey me fic #obm fic #obm #obey me satan #obm satan #f!mc #f!reader #obey me f!reader #obm f!reader #obm f!mc #obey me f!mc #obey me satan x f!reader #obey me satan x f!mc #obey me mc #obm mc #obm satan x f!reader #obm satan x f!mc

[bradsmindbrain]

I know youve had some similar prompts before but could we get more early on Jack and Ted friendship pretty please?

Phases

Summary: Ted and Jack talk after Jack’s first transformation since their initial meeting.

TW: Vague and brief mention of body horror

Ted sat on a log outside his hut as the sun began to rise above the trees that covered the Everglades in shade. Last night had been a full moon, the very first one since he first met Jack, as a matter of fact. Speaking of, his friend was currently curled up on his bed inside the hut, presumably human once again. He remembered what he and Jack had planned out just a few days ago for tonight, Jack would come here, into the Everglades as a means to make sure no one would be hurt by the wolf, and he had agreed to keep an eye on him while the wolf was out.

Initially, he was worried Jack would see him as a threat, maybe even fear him, and just like that the first friend he had in a long time would be reduced to cinders by his touch. But curiously enough, that didn’t happen. Jack seemed docile, even content with his presence. To his surprise, he didn’t even hunt everything in sight like Jack told him he might. Instead, he simply prowled the strip of land that his hit was situated on, obviously curious. He simply sniffed and looked around, occasionally coming close to him with his tongue out. He was reminded of the bobcats and coyotes that occasionally came near the hut, obviously fascinated by the being that lived there.

Eventually, Jack had laid down and curled up, prompting him to take his friend’s animalistic form inside and place him on the bed. It was nice to know that even when his friend was not himself, he still didn’t see him as a threat. And so he came out here, and waited for Jack to wake up.

About half an hour later, he heard movement inside his hut, it seemed like Jack had woken up. A part of him felt bad that he hadn’t gotten anything ready for Jack when he emerged, he had seen Jack’s transformation and it… didn’t look pleasant, to say the absolute least. Watching Jack’s features elongate and sharpen was quite unnerving, to say nothing of the howls of pain that quickly changed into the growls of a wild animal. 

He heard the piece of bark covering his hut’s entrance move, and he turned to watch Jack emerge from his abode. He was trembling, shaking so violently it seemed like he’d been left out in the cold for hours despite the relatively comfortable heat of the Everglades. It took a bit with his shaky, small steps, but eventually Jack took a seat beside him. Jack wore the green cardigan that he had helped him remove last night, but his pants were in tatters towards the ankles, a detail he had noticed after he transformed. He supposed all of the wolf’s running had gotten Jack’s pants caught on some branches and brambles.

Jack looked at him shakily, “Buenos días.”

He gave his friend a concerned growl.

Jack nodded, “Si, I’m alright. What about you? Did I hurt you?”

He grumbled out a response.

His friend gave a weak smile, “Dios mío, that’s a relief.”

He looked at Jack’s shaky hands, pointing to them with a concerned grumble. 

“These?” Jack said, raising his hands, “They’re fine, it’s no big deal, mi amigo.”

He gave an unconvinced grunt before following with an inquisitive groan.

Jack shook his head, “Thanks for asking, but I don’t need anything.” He nodded, and for a moment, the two of them sat in silence until Jack spoke again, “So what did the wolf do?”

He raised a hand up under his head, pressing the back of his index finger into what qualifies as his chin. After a moment, he grumbled out an explanation to Jack about what he did last night.

Jack gave a small grin, “I suppose that’s nice to know.” 

He took another look at Jack’s trembling form, grumbling to change the subject.

Jack looked at him, giving a weak grin, “I suppose you’re right, I’m not feeling all that great. Staying here for a bit longer is probably a good idea.”

He nodded, tendrils shifting to attempt a smile. It was nice having Jack here. It had been so long since he had someone to talk to, someone to laugh with, someone who didn’t see him as a monster. And for that reason, Jack deserved to have the favor returned. Jack Russell was his best friend, and he’d do anything for him.

#werewolf by night #wwbn #wbn #jack russell #ted sallis #man thing #marvel #mcu #russallis #my stuff #prompts #tw: body horror

[gariley]

Recently started talking again to a guy who ghosted me about a month and half ago. I reached out in a desperate moment of weakness and was shocked when he responded a few days later. We’ve chatted like normal the past few days and I don’t know how to feel. I don’t want to get my hopes up that maybe he’s still into me because even though he’s been texting, he hasn’t asked to hang out. And while I was the one who initiated us seeing each other most times, I’m trying really hard not to push this and almost trying to force him to ask. I just don’t want to jinx anything. I’m also afraid to mention it to my friends because they hate him for ghosting me and making me feel like shit.

On that note, I know I should probably hate him too. But I think the ghosting truly came out of nowhere. It never made any sense to me because things seemed really great the last time we were together and then it just stopped. There was no closure. If things had been shitty, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But they weren’t. However, we never had the conversation of like “what is this? what are we doing?” which really needed to happen. We had been seeing each other for over a month, texted almost every day since meeting, but never clarified if we were exclusive, if we were dating, if we were friends with benefits, nothing. And around the time he ghosted was when I was starting to feel like we needed to establish whatever this was. And any answer would have been fine with me, I just needed to know where he stood. And then he disappeared.

And I haven’t been able to get him off my mind since it happened. I dated someone else about 6 months ago and I’d been able to move on from him. But he explained why things were ending, explained I hadn’t done anything wrong (I would have wanted to know if I had, honesty can hurt but I’d rather know) and while that sucked, having a reason that made sense allowed me to move on. I haven’t been able to move on from this most recent guy. I’ve tried! I got myself back on bumble, tried to find someone else but I haven’t been able to land a date or even a hookup. I chalked it up to just wanting closure, which I do. But when I told a friend that I had started texting him again and how I knew I had missed him but I didn’t realize how much and it was so nice just talking to him again even though I didn’t know if it would last, my friend’s reaction was “That’s sweet. It sounds like you love him.” And that threw me. I responded “No I don’t love him. I can’t. I can’t fall for him because he’s not good for me.” I continued with an explanation of how much I enjoyed being with him but I don’t know what’s going to happen and it was very unconvincing.

Do I think I’m in love with him? No. Do I like him? Absolutely. And it’s one of those “this shouldn’t work but it works” things. But I just needed to get this all out somewhere. I don’t know what will happen. I’d love to actually hang out with him and sleep with him again but I’m trying to be cautious and not push him or rush into anything. And that’s really fucking hard for me. But we’ll see if it lasts.

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 3

Chapter 1     Chapter 2

Monday morning came both too soon and too distant for Marinette’s taste.  She looked up at the dark, intimidating Wayne Enterprises building as she and Max walked past it on their way to the cafe and swallowed hard.  She should have figured she would have to pass by the Wayne Enterprises building at some point, but she still wasn’t ready to see the dominating building so close.  They were a few blocks away and she still had to crane her neck to see the top.

Of course M. Fox would want to meet near his office.  He was already being beyond considerate having the meeting outside of the office building, expecting him to meet far away from his work was excessive.  She could stomach it.  It was just a building.  This meeting was important.  This was Max’s chance to wow M. Fox and get an amazing position.  She took a deep breath and continued forward despite it feeling like wading through increasingly deep water the closer they got to the WE building.

Max touched Marinette’s forearm to gain her attention.  She nearly jumped at his touch but quickly covered with an embarrassed smile and inquisitive hum.  “Are you okay?”

Marinette glanced toward the WE building but quickly looked back to him with an unconvincing smile.  “Yeah, it’s fine,” she tried to assure him.  Judging by the frown forming on his lips, he was unassured.

“Is there anything I should know?” Max asked uncertainly.

“Nothing of consequence,” Mari promised with a weak smile.

Max adjusted his glasses nervously and darted his eyes between Marinette and the sidewalk ahead of them a few times, trying to work up the courage to ask the question on his mind.  “Marinette,” he started slowly.  “You didn’t do anything illegal for the plan.  Did you?”

Marinette whipped her head toward him wide eyed. “What?”

Max cringed under her gaze.  “I just… you’re a very devoted friend and…”  He sighed and looked away.  “I just need to know if we need to worry about the Waynes coming after us.  I’d like to be prepared.”

Marinette's dour expression turned giddy as she started laughing joyfully.  After a minute, she wiped away a tear that had started to form in the corner of her eyes and fixed Max with a sincere look.  “No.  I didn't. None of us did.  I would have, but no laws were broken in the making or execution of this plan.”  She grinned and looped her arm through his, pulling him forward with a lighter step than before.  “I just presented your work to M. Fox and he was extremely impressed.  Come on, the cafe is just around the corner.”

Max gave her an unimpressed look.  “Are you sure?  Because I’m pretty sure I may have violated a few laws tracking down the call you had me trace last week.”

Marinette suddenly froze, her smile becoming significantly weaker.  “That wasn’t part of the plan.  That was a separate quest,” she tried to joke.

“And it just so happened to be M. Wayne’s phone number.”  His skepticism was clear in his voice even if he was too polite to call her out directly.

“It wasn’t part of the plan, really,” she promised quietly.  “That was… It had nothing to do with getting you a job.”

Max opened his mouth to ask another question but was interrupted by Marinette’s phone ringing.  Marinette pulled it out and rolled her eyes at Alya’s name lighting it up.  She hit the button to ignore it with a shrug.  “She’s probably really excited to see how your meeting went and didn’t convert the time correctly,” she laughed to Max.

Max smiled and nodded in agreement.  He opened his mouth to comment but Marinette’s phone started ringing again.  She furrowed her brow at it this time and groaned.  “Very excited,” she grumbled, hitting the ignore button again.

Max opened his mouth again but again was interrupted but this time by his phone and Marinette’s phone.  He pulled it out and looked at it.  “Nino?”

“What the Hell, Alya,” Marinette grumbled.  She was about to hit the accept button so she could yell at Alya to leave them alone but got interrupted by a loud cry right in front of her.

“Hey, it’s you!”

Marinette and Max looked at each other with matching confused looks.  The man that had said it pulled out his phone and switched on a recording device.  “Do you have any comment on the story in today’s paper?” the man, likely a reporter Marinette decided, demanded, shoving his phone in her face so violently, it would have hit her if she hadn’t jerked her face back in time.

Marinette stared at the man for a few seconds, her face scrunching in confusion before quickly smoothing over into an impassive mask. “I haven’t seen the paper this morning. So no, no comment on a story I know nothing about.”

She tried to push past the reporter only for him to move immediately into her path.  She looked around as more people joined, not reporters, she didn’t think, just people interested in finding out what was going on, rather than helping them.  The reporter pushed further in front of her, refusing to let her pass.  He held the day’s Gotham Gazette in front of her face.  Marinette had to back away in order to actually be able to read the headline.

She had to consciously force her eyes to stop from widening in front of the audience.  She forced her breathing to slow as her eyes scanned the headline and picture.  Across the top of the page in bold, block font was the headline ‘More than One New Wayne Introduced’ above a picture of her and Adrien speaking with Bruce Wayne. She glanced at the caption below the picture, her nose wrinkling in annoyance at the words.  “Newly discovered Wayne, Marinette Cheng Wayne introduces fiancé Adrien Agreste to her father, Bruce Wayne.”

Max gasped at the headline and cocked his head to the side in confusion.  He looked between it and Marinette a few times.  He opened his mouth to comment on how ludicrous it was but decided to defer to however Marinette wanted to handle it.  Instead, he gripped her arm in an attempt to show support and looked around them, calculating different plans to get them out of the crowd.

Marinette took a calming breath and looked back at the reporter with a cool gaze.  “You couldn’t even be bothered to get the names of the people involved correct.  I have little interest in reading the rest, which is likely as poorly researched.  Now if you will excuse me, I have an appointment to get to.”  

She tried to move around the reporter but he stepped in front of her, only centimeters between them as he did, and leaned closer to her.  “Why haven’t we heard of you before Ms. Cheng?  Embarrassed about your family’s history with crime in our city,” he cocked his head to the side and gave her a vicious grinned.  “Or was it your family that was embarrassed about you?”

Marinette bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood and glared at the man.  “It sounds like you are insinuating the Waynes are associated with crime in Gotham. Surely you didn’t mean to insinuate such a thing, right?  Such as slanderous comment,” she tutted in a condescending tone.  “I’m sure whatever publication you’re working for would not appreciate such a careless, defamatory, negligent comment.”

The man puffed out his cheeks, which were quickly becoming red with anger.  He tensed his body.  Marinette tensed hers in response.  What he intended to do exactly, she’d never know because just at that moment, the man froze as a hand settled hard on his shoulder.  “I can assure you that is exactly the kind of allegation Mr. Wayne and Wayne Enterprises would both pursue legal action over.  Now, I believe the young lady said she had an appointment,” Lucius Fox said with a cutting smile.

The reporter scowled at Lucius, but backed away. The crowd of people around parted at his presence.  Marinette shot him a grateful smile.  “Ms. Dupain Cheng, Mr. Kante,” Lucius nodded to them both.  “Are you ready?”

Marinette and Max nodded and moved toward the café ahead of him.  The host led them to a spot toward the back where they could have some privacy.  Marinette touched Max’s shoulder.  She gave him a concerned look.  Max’s eyes darted forward to Lucius and back to Marinette. He nodded then jerked his head toward her.  The smile she plastered on was even less convincing than her earlier one, but Max pretended like it wasn’t.  He leaned closer to her, speaking quietly enough that nobody could hear him.  “You should let Adrien and Alya know.”

Marinette sucked in a breath and looked toward her phone warily.  It was still ringing and chiming nonstop.  She turned it off and leaned closer to Max.  “Markov, can you text Alya and Adrien and let them know we’re all okay but I turned off my phone for a while.  If they need me they can text you or Max and we plan on returning to the hotel immediately after this meeting.  If you both are okay with that.”  Max nodded and lifted the flap for his messenger bag to reveal Markov sitting atop her folded up gala dress.  Markov looked between the two of them and gave Marinette a resolute nod.

“Thank you, Markov,” Marinette whispered, trusting his sensitive sensors to hear her.

When they arrived at the table, Lucius waited for the host to retreat before looking over to Marinette with a concerned look. “Did you need a break for a few minutes or to call anyone?”

Marinette gave him a tight, strained smile and shook her head.  “No, thank you.  I’ll be fine.”  She would make it through this.  She wasn’t going to cry.  She could wallow in self-recriminations later.  Right now, she needed to focus on making sure Max was given his shot.

Lucius nodded and looked down at the menu the waitress brought over.  After a few minutes of silence he glanced over to Marinette.  “Always something going on in Gotham.”  If Marinette didn’t know better she would think his tone was apologetic.

“Certainly has been full of surprises,” she stated instead, focusing on the menu.

“Certainly puts certain interactions at the gala a new perspective,” he observed carefully, keeping his eyes on his own menu.

Marinette’s focus sharpened on the menu in her hands. Her jaw tensed and her lips thinned. “I’m sure you will understand, M. Fox, when I say my private life is not something I care to discuss with people I do not know well.”

Lucius nodded.  “I do.”  He looked over the menu for a few seconds, keeping his face buried in the menu, he lifted his eyes to observe Max, noting his stiff posture.  His eyes were darting over to Marinette every so often and worrying his lip.  “You understand you could have just gotten him a position.  One phone call is all it would have taken.  You didn't need to go through all of this.”  His eyes flicked over to Marinette as he spoke.

Marinette met his eyes, a fierce set to them.  “He doesn't need somebody to get him a position,” she snapped.  “He's brilliant. He just needed somebody to see him.  He just needed an even playing field to shine. He didn’t need me calling in favors.  He’s earned the attention he gets.”

Lucius stared at her for a few seconds, analyzing her before finally coming to a decision.  He set his menu down and nodded curtly.  “No, he does not need help.  His work speaks for itself.  I spent the weekend researching you, Mr. Kante, and I have to say, you are an impressive young man.  You are exactly the kind of talent we seek out.  The fact that we didn’t speaks to the utter failure that our recruiting staff has been.  And I must apologize for what happened to you.  We will be reviewing Mr. Rabler’s actions since he was employed by us to properly deal with any other incidents such as yours.”

Max nodded, adjusting his glasses with a satisfied smile.  He was saved from trying to come up with a response when the waitress came back to take their orders.  There was a brief lull after the waitress left, Max and Marinette both uncertain where to push the discussion next and waiting for M. Fox to drive the conversation.

“Now, if I did my research correctly,” Lucius started with a secretive smile, “then I expect you have someone else with you.” He looked pointedly at Max’s bag.

Max’s smile turned sheepish and he opened his bag to let Markov come out.  “This is Markov.  I was hoping he would be able to work with me.”

“Of course,” Lucius nodded in agreement.  “It is nice to meet you, Markov.”

Markov zipped up higher in excitement.  “It is very exciting to meet you, M. Fox.  I have found very exciting information about you and Wayne Enterprises.”

Lucius chuckled.  “That is good to hear.  We will have no issue with Markov working with you, but we have added several sections to your contract to cover what Markov is allowed to do and what he isn’t. We have a lot of sensitive material, as I’m sure you are aware.  We are quite paranoid about protecting it.  We have also come up with a contract for Markov, but legal says we have to add sections to your contract as well since legally, Markov is not considered his own entity.”

Marinette beamed at Lucius and squeezed Max’s hand under the table, never more certain than at that moment that Max was going to be taken care of.  Max pretended to adjust his glasses so he could wipe at his eyes.  He looked over to Markov to gauge his response.  Seeing the weepy eye display, Max smiled and looked back at Lucius.  “Thank you, M. Fox for your consideration.  It means a lot to us both.”

Lucius gave him a soft smile and looked over to Marinette.  “We also have a contract for you, Ms. Dupain Cheng.  I had legal draw it up yesterday.  Not excited to work on a Sunday,” he shrugged guiltily, “but we gave them a lot of compensation for their time.  I drew it up before I knew of any other… associations so Mr. Wayne may want to modify it, but it is there if you are interested.  We will need a designer for the project, someone with intricate knowledge of fabrics and a demonstrated ability to work with them. Given your involvement thus far and your work on the dress for the gala, you seemed like the natural choice.”

Marinette looked down and took a breath.  She looked over to Max to see how he was faring. He gave her a supportive smile and nodded to her.  “As I said before, that is kind of you to offer but I have other plans that do not involve Wayne Enterprises.  And my ‘involvement’ thus far has been getting your attention.  It would likely be better for the project if you continued without me.”

“That is not strictly accurate,” Markov spoke up.

Max nodded in agreement.  “Your help was invaluable, Marinette.  Not only your insight into different characteristics in different fabrics and how changes affected the elements of the fabric, but also the different approaches to problem solving.  I could not have done this without you,” Max stated earnestly. He turned to Lucius.  “She worked with me to explain tensile strength and different weaves and how that would affect how the fabric appears and what you can do with it.”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she looked over to Lucius quickly.  “He’s being modest.  He did the work.  He came up with the formulas.  He…”

She was interrupted by the arrival of the waitress with their food.  Lucius waited for the waitress to leave before he sent her a soft smile.  “I understand collaboration, Ms. Dupain Cheng. Mr. Kante’s words don’t make me doubt his work.  If anything, it confirms my faith in him.  I also researched you this weekend, Ms. Dupain Cheng.  You are quite talented.  Your designs are elegant and bold and you personally have always gone out of your way to help your community.  Those are all ideals Wayne Enterprises strives for.  Along with what Mr. Kante said, you should know, I’ll be pursuing you and it has absolutely nothing to do with your…. With Mr. Wayne.”

Marinette looked down to her plate with a blush and nodded.  “Thank you, M. Fox.  I will consider it, but…” she furrowed her brow in frustration, not knowing how to say what she was thinking and not knowing if she should even if she could.

“You have time to consider it, Ms. Dupain Cheng. But for now, we should eat.  The food here is extremely good.” Marinette’s shoulders relaxed and she sent him another grateful smile.  She looked over to Max and Markov and smiled before taking a bite of her breakfast.  “Now, Mr. Kante, I would love to hear more about your invention, unless you would prefer to wait until the contract is signed.”  Max smiled excitedly at Lucius and pulled out the dress as he described the process for working on the fabric while Marinette and Markov looked on proudly.

Chapter 4

Tags:

@maribat-bdbwm @jayjayspixiepop @redscarlet95 @alice-hazelwood @deathssilentapproach-blog @unoriginalmess @alyssadeliv @emotionalsupportginger @frieddonutsweets @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @toodaloo-kangaroo 

#maribat #bio!dad bruce #bio dad bruce wayne #roynette #Even the Losers #mbdbwm2021 #prompt - identities

[amitlee]

Open Doors

Summary: Tommy should really consider closing his door.

Warnings: This is a tickle fic that has swearing.

This is all platonic!

———————————————————————

“Copy and...paste. Oh a full quizlet, lets fucking go!” Tommy muttered to himself, searching the answers for his homework.

Now, normally he would just read through the articles he had been assigned and answer the questions paired with them. But he was tired and history can get very, very boring.

So there he was, laying face down on his bed and facing away from the door, which was wide open. He continued clicking between the tab with answers and his own worksheet for a good 10 minutes and was about a third of the way done when a voice spoke from behind, startling him.

“Tommy” Came the questioning yet knowing voice. Tommy spun his head around to see Phil standing a meter behind him, he’d leaned down slightly to get a better look at Tommy’s screen and be sure he was seeing right.

“Phil! What’s up?” Play it cool, play it cool. He could probably weasel his way out of this one. He’d never been caught cheating, well- bending the rules, before. However, Phil had always been good at keeping him motivated to do his schooling be it reward or persuasion.

Phil chose to ignore the question and took a step forward, “What are you doing, mate?” He asked although he already knew the answer.

“Me? Oh I’m just doing some studying. You know, being a scholar and all.” Tommy answered somewhat honestly, hoping the slight twist of his words wasn’t too noticeable. He kept his tone light and threw jokes in as an attempt to convey his usual confidence. He switched his tab from the quizlet with answers back to his assigned article when Phil took a step closer.

Phil smiled, it was funny how Tommy was such an unconvincing liar and yet a decent actor. Phil knew what Tommy was up to and he didn’t blame him, it seemed neither of them were interested in history. This didn’t mean that he was going to let him off the hook though. “Oh hey hey! No need to click off so fast bud.” He let Tommy dig his own grave with his words.

“Sorry, I clicked off of it and now I can’t find it, no need to worry though. You know, I should really get back to-“ Tommy was cut off.

“Here, let me help.” Phil interrupted the boy and moved to sit beside him, now almost leaning over him completely. Phil pretended to search, massively overacting to build the playful atmosphere. “Awww, I can’t find it Toms. Sorry mate.”

Tommy blinked at the sudden close contact and tried to control his grin at the silliness. “That’s what I said, but it’s alright Phil.” He assured the man, now more confused at where this was going.

Phil put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder and let a sympathetic look overtake his features. “No need to look so sad, let me see what I can do.” He dropped the false sympathy in exchange for a sly smile and began skittering Tommy’s ribs.

Tommy yelped and tried to clamp his arms to his sides as giggles escaped passed his lips. However, they were the only thing propping him up and he found himself faced with shoving his face into the bed or taking his punishment. He decided to hide his face in the blanket as Phil soon began cooing at him.

“Phihil, I sahahaid I’m fihihine!” He whined, muffled by the sheets.

Phil let his hands wander further up towards the boy’s upper ribs, sporadically dipping into his underarms to get a screech or two. He easily got past the weak defenses and stepped up his teasing a bit.

“I’m fine! I’m fine Phil!” He mocked Tommy in a high pitch voice. “You won’t be when I’m done with you, that’s for sure.” He light heartedly threatened, knowing the promise of more to come would get a rise out of the boy.

Whines now pierced the light laughter as Tommy tried to drown out the words being spewed at him. He thrashed from side to side when the evil fingers dug into his hollows, his volume increasing. He tried to keep some form of coherency as he was taken apart piece by piece, he didn’t want it to stop just yet so he opted to do a little provoking. “IHIHi dohont sohOHOUnd like thahat you ohohold asS-SHIHIHIT!”

Phil didn’t take lightly to the provoking, especially since Tommy had brought this upon himself in the first place. He moved his hands down quickly and without warning, dug into his hips. He used his pointer fingers to dig into the cluster of nerves near the front of the bones on each side and used the rest of his hands to hold the boy in place.

Hiccups now intermingled with the boisterous laughter as the sweet spot was targeted. Curse Phil and knowing Tommy’s spots like the back of his hand. Tommy gathered the strength to flip onto his back in an attempt to better fight off his playful attacker. This plan backfired almost immediately. Phil raised his shirt and blew a large raspberry right above Tommy’s belly button.

“PLEHEHEASE! PHIHIHIL-“

Phil knew he had a better advantage in the new position Tommy had foolishly put himself in. However, he also knew that the boy wouldn’t be able to take much more and so he decided on a grand finale. He gave an exaggerated evil laugh, similar to a Disney villain, took another breath, and dove back down to blow a series of raspberries on Tommy’s stomach. He scratched at the sides on his stomach whilst still administering the treatment. He ran out of breath soon enough and settled for nibbling around the area, dodging flying hands when they came too close to actually making contact.

Tommy was relived when he finally caught both of Phil’s hands, stopping them in their tracks. This was short lived as Phil blew a final raspberry, this time not staying in one area but moving his head as he dished it out. Tommy let go of his hands and curled up in the fetal position, wrapping his arms around his torso.

Phil chuckled and pulled away completely. He let him rest for a moment before moving a hand to card through his hair in the most relaxing manner.

After originally flinching at the incoming hand, Tommy relaxed into the gesture and uncurled his body. He let out the remaining giggles he had before closing his eyes and melting, school could wait until the buzzing after effects wore off.

“Take a rest bud, you definitely deserve it after that.” Phil assured and took his free hand to rub away the left over tingles on his stomach. He chuckled again when Tommy’s smile reappeared and he set his hands next to Phil’s, half expecting him to start up again. “Relax mate, I’m done for now.”

That was the last thing Tommy heard before tipping over the edge of sleep.

——————

——————

Wilbur was walking down the corridor with a mug of hot chocolate in hand. He was bored out of his mind but in a good mood nonetheless. As he passed the youngest member’s room, he heard a familiar toon being gently sang out.

“I’m looking for a window to another world-“

His eyes lit up and his heart filled with warmth so strong he had to take a second to cope with it. Tommy had a way of being able to melt Will down to his very core. He crept up to the door sitting ajar and stood in it’s frame.

“What’cha singing Tommyboy?” He asked with the teasing tone he saved for times like this.

Tommy jumped a foot in the air and clutched his heart dramatically, making a face mixed with shock and mild embarrassment.

“Nothing, just some weird song I heard. Kinda shit.” He said with mocking confidence. His cockiness soon retreated when he saw Will’s eyes darken as he stepped past the threshold.

“I don’t know, sounded like a good one to me. Maybe you could sing it again?” He set his mug on Tommy’s desk, where the boy sat, and stood looming behind his chair.

Tommy strained his neck trying to look at Will once he felt his presence so close. “Absolutely not.”

“No no, you definitely should. Maybe I could gets some tips before releasing it, you never know.” Will continued to play it up even though he knew Tommy wouldn’t full heartedly sing in front of him. “Why don’t I help you out some hmm?”

With that, he spidered his fingers right where the shoulders meet the neck to get him to scrunch up. This made it much easier for him to sneak his hands under Tommy’s arms and tickle there instead.

Tommy gasped and let out small huffs at the spot Will had chosen, unknowingly falling right into the trap by trying to crush the offending hands between his shoulder and head. “Yohou’re so duhuHUMB-“ He trailed off at the change in spots as he was overcome with laughter.

“Those aren’t the lyrics, try again!” He playfully encouraged his friend and picked up some speed. “Maybe this’ll help motivate you.”

Tommy felt himself relax into the sensations, torturous as they were. He had been editing for the past 2 and a half hours and could use a distraction. While he was caught in his thoughts, he forgot to answer Wilbur.

“Not answering are we?” He tsked with a grin. He didn’t mind that Tommy wasn’t talking, he knew that he was enjoying himself and besides, he liked his laughter just as well as his witty comebacks.

His thoughts were sliced through by Wilbur’s words. Tommy shook his head, now hiding his face in his hands. He could feel his blush and there was no doubt the content look on his face wouldn’t go unnoticed.

At the head shake, Will chuckled. He lifted one of his hands, keeping the other scratching away at the boy’s underarm. “Ok tough guy.” He said before dropping his now free hand to squeeze Tommy’s knee. Will knew it was unfair to target two weak points at the same time, but he also knew Tommy had a high tolerance.

Tommy’s laughter increased as did his squirming. He ended up hitting the underside of his desk with his knee so hard that it knocked over the full mug. Thankfully it missed anything important, but clattered to the floor anyways, spilling the liquid and making quite the noise.

Both boys gasped and looked to the mess.

“Tommy!”

“Will!”

They both exclaimed each other’s names at the same time accusingly. Now looking at each other in shock.

“Boys...” Came Phil’s voice from the living room. “What happened? Actually, never mind, I’m coming.” There were foot steps quickly approaching as both boys shared a look of ‘oh shit’.

“Again?” Phil exclaimed once he’d seen what happened, his words clearly expressing his disbelief.

Wilbur and Tommy exchanged another look. “SCATTER!” Will yelled out as they both ran past Phil.

——————

——————

Tommy admired himself in the mirror. ‘I should really get one of these capes and definitely a crown too’, he thought to himself as he admired his complexion adorned with Technoblade’s signature outfit.

“We could always get you your own you know, so you don’t keep takin’ mine.” Speak of the devil.

Tommy acted unfazed as he turned to face the regal man. He put on his best American accent and tried becoming stoic to imitate Techno. “Bow before me, fool. This is my outfit now, sorry not sorry.” Tommy said smugly, dropping the accent after the first few words.

Techno brought a hand to his chin and gave Tommy an interested look. “Oh really? My apologies, your Majesty. But in my defense, you’re wearing it all wrong.”

Tommy’s eyes widened, he turned back around to the mirror to give it another look. “Really?” He asked, now looking at Techno from the mirror.

Techno hid his mischievous grin, he had Tommy right where he wanted him. “Oh yes, it goes more like this-“ he grabbed the bottom on the cape and threw it over Tommy’s head.

Tommy let out a laugh at the antics. “No, no. I really don’t think it’s supposed to go like thihihis, stohohop it!”

Once he had plunged Tommy into darkness, he put his plan in action. Roughly scratching to be felt through the thick fabric. He began scratching at his ribs and drifted towards the lower parts of his sides, now switching to squeezes and swift pokes.

“Ihihi’m royal Techno! Yohohou won’t gehehet away with this!” He exclaimed, knees going weak but continuing to hold him up.

Techno let himself freely smile, seeing there was no one to see. He moved down a little to squeeze now at the boy’s hips. He used a tactic he’d seen Phil use a few times. Using his pointer, middle finger, and thumb to squeeze at the muscles. He knew from experience that it was nearly deadly.

“But you see, that’s where you’re wrong.” He leaned so he could whisper in Tommy’s ear, “I always win.” He said, ceasing his previous tickling to vibrate all of his fingers into the sides of Tommy’s stomach.

Tommy’s reaction was instantaneous, he curled in on himself as hysterical giggles poured out. He knew this was one of Techno’s favorite spots to get him, mostly because of the childish laughter it produced. It was a very flustering spot despite not being one of his worst.

Techno caught him before he could completely crumble to the ground. “Woah there Little Prince, take it easy.” He chuckled and took off the crown and cape, setting them to the side.

“Bihig Prince. Like the Fresh Prihince of Bel-Air but better.” Tommy rambled as after giggles still rampaged him.

“My mistake.” Techno said as he walked Tommy over to his bed so they could regain some composure.

And if a week later there was a flowing cape and a golden crown wrapped in pink paper on Tommy’s bed, well it’s good as canon.

———————————————————————

Ok so I either have Covid or a cold but either way I’m feeling significantly less swag. Also I miss you guys omg 💕

#mcyt tickle #mcyt tickle fic #tickle fic #ticklecommunity #philza minecraft #philza #lee!tommyinnit #lee!tommy #ler!phil #ler!philzaminecraft #SBItickle #ler!wilbur #Ler!will #ler!technoblade #ler!techno

[quickspinner]

Oops - Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | AO3

(See part 1 for summary and warnings)

Marinette was having a hard time keeping her mind on girls’ night. Rose and Juleka had just signed a new lease to move in together in the coming month, and it should have been exciting, but somehow she just couldn’t get into the discussions about decor and whose couch they should keep and how many dishes they really needed.

Marinette had other things on her mind. 

Her phone buzzed in her hand and she glanced at the others quickly before turning it over. 

Sorry, babe, I’ve got a gig that day. Wish I could.

Marinette bit her lip, trying not to be upset. She started to type a reply, when another set of messages came in. 

You could come if you want We could go home together after Just go easy on the drinks this time ;)

Marinette giggled, but sent back You sure? I won’t be in the way?

I’d want you there even if you were. You’re small, we can stick you in an instrument case if we need to

Marinette laughed aloud at that. 

Should I dress up? she typed.

Anything you wear looks good on my floor. Do what makes you happy 

Marinette pressed her legs together, bouncing her knees, and then sent, before she could rethink it, Doing you makes me happy.

There was a long pause before his next message, and then it was just an address and a time, followed by Can’t wait to see you Friday . And Saturday morning. Don’t make lunch plans. 

Marinette gave a little squeal, hiding her face in her hands. 

All of the girls were looking at her with varying expressions. Juleka and Alix looked amused, Rose excited, and Mylène just looked happy for her. 

Alya was looking at her with a slow spreading grin. “Well weeeeell,” she drawled, leaning on the counter between them. “Let me guess. Setting up your next booty call with your new boytoy?”

There was enough truth in that to make Marinette blush deeply. Alya cackled. 

“Details, girl,” she said, slapping the counter. “You’ve been doing this guy for weeks now, what’s the story? He must be good to still put that dopey look on your face after all this time.”

“What—n-no!” Marinette spluttered, looking at the rest of the girls. Juleka was rolling her eyes while Rose and Mylène covered giggles. Alix had that same amused expression as she shook her head slightly. “I’m not gonna talk about that,” Marinette insisted. “It’s none of your business!” 

“Come on, Mari, spill,” Alya said, leaning forward again. “It can’t be that embarrassing. Does he fuck you up against a wall with all your clothes on and call you a naughty girl?” 

Marinette choked, and Alya laughed. 

“Oh, Marinette, you’re such an innocent,” she chortled, sitting back with a smirk like she had gained some kind of victory. 

Marinette’s face burned with both shame and...anger. How dare Alya dismiss her just like that? Like they were still silly teenagers and Marinette couldn’t even talk to a guy, let alone take him home and—suddenly she realized she was tired of Alya’s patronizing, and on top of that, she felt insulted on Luka’s behalf. Taking a breath, Marinette straightened her shoulders and put on the best air of nonchalance she could manage despite her red face. “He probably would, if I asked him to,” she said airily. “But he really likes to take his time for that part.” Summoning up every ounce of the boldness Luka inspired in her, she blurted, “If he wants to make me come fast and hard, he uses his hands.” 

The entire room went silent as they all stared at her. Pretending like she didn’t feel like she was going to throw up from nerves and embarrassment any second, Marinette added dreamily, “He has amazing hands.” 

Alya raised her eyebrows, clearly amused and at least half disbelieving. “Not his tongue?” 

“He’s a great kisser,” Marinette smiled, deliberately misunderstanding. Alya grinned wolfishly. 

“No, girl, I mean when he e—“

“Oh, he’s great with his mouth on me too,” Marinette interrupted, eyes widening innocently. “It’s just, when he uses his hands, he can still use his voice. Mm, he has such a sexy voice.” The shudder that went through her was entirely real. “It makes me so…” she couldn’t quite bring herself to say it, and took a sip of her wine instead.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I can’t believe that you like this guy dirty-talking you,” Alya accused, narrowing her eyes as she set her cup down with a slam. “Little miss sweetness and light. You can’t even handle it when we talk about fucking.”

Marinette shrugged as if she was completely indifferent to what Alya believed. “You don’t say it like he does,” she commented, and took another sip of her drink, staring off into the distance as if she’d completely forgotten Alya was there. She was stretching the truth a bit, she knew. It wasn’t dirty talk, not really, not the way Alya was thinking. Luka didn’t have to be filthy to work her up; he could recite phone listings in that hot, growling voice, and it would be enough to put her over the edge, so when he told her she was beautiful, that he loved the way she smelled or tasted or felt or sounded, or asked what she wanted, or suggested something he wanted her to do for him, or panted out how close he was…

She shivered again. 

Alya didn’t need to know that though. Marinette flicked her eyes around the others, a little nervous about their reactions. Mylène was smiling, Juleka was smirking, and Rose had her hands clasped together and was practically vibrating with excitement. Alix was snickering behind her hand.

“Aw, did Marinette just shatter all your illusions, Alya?” Alix laughed. “You just can’t handle that your oh-so-innocent bestie has a hot side piece.”

Marinette frowned. “Can you have a side piece if you don’t have a...a main piece?”

Alix patted her shoulder. “You can be your own main piece.” 

“Marinette,” Alya said, putting her drink down, suddenly serious. “This isn’t like you. Just who is this guy, anyway? Does he even have a day job?” 

“Yes,” Marinette frowned. “He’s a teacher.” It wasn’t a lie; Luka did teach private music lessons in addition to his performance work, but with Alya giving her that judgemental look, Marinette didn’t intend to give her any details. 

“Ooh, hot for teacher, nice.” Alix reached over and, though feeling a little foolish, Marinette met her high five, but Alya looked unconvinced.

“Well, just be careful,” Alya cautioned her. “You’re still on the rebound—” Am I? Marinette found herself wondering. It didn’t feel like it, actually, when she thought about it. “—and I know you’re feeling pretty vulnerable right now and I don’t want this guy taking advantage of you. If you wanna have fun with him, whatever, but be careful what you tell him and don’t loan him any money.” She sighed. “And especially, don’t fall in love with him. He’s a good time, and that’s it, and he’ll only break your heart if you start wanting more.” 

Marinette just stared at her, mouth hanging open slightly, as Alya turned away. There was a tense moment and then Rose piped up, “All right, are we ready for the movie? Let’s get started!” The girls all murmured agreement and began moving toward the living room.

Marinette put her drink down, 

“Hey,” Alix said, leaning over her shoulder. “Alya’s just trying to look out for you. She didn’t mean it how it sounded, you know that. If you say this guy is cool, I believe you, but it never hurts to watch out for yourself, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Marinette managed a weak smile. “I get it. Sure.” 

***

Marinette was having a shit day. One of her underlings had screwed up at work, which meant, to the bosses, that Marinette screwed up, and then she had to smile and take in the teeth from her bosses while soothing her horrified intern and trying to deal with the problems he’d caused. She’d complained about it to Alya when she got home, and stupidly, she’d mentioned that knowing she had a date with Luka tonight was the only thing that got her through the day. That earned her another well-intentioned condescending talking-to about being careful and not getting invested in something that was clearly only temporary. “I know you, Marinette,” Alya insisted. “He’ll say something sweet just trying to get you naked and you’ll get infatuated and start planning your whole future while the whole time he’s got one foot out the door.” Nino, who’d showed up to pick up Alya in the middle of it, had grudgingly sided with Alya over the whole thing. 

“It’s not really like you, Nette,” Nino said with an uncomfortable shrug. “I mean, I don’t want to be all judgy and weird. I just…well, you’ve...” He’d trailed off and hustled Alya out the door when he saw tears in Marinette’s eyes, leaving her at least with the dignity of breaking down in private. 

She flopped over the arm of the couch and sobbed until her phone beeped a reminder at her. Luka , she thought, touching her swollen face. She couldn’t go out like this. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to anymore. She just wanted to crawl into bed and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.

But she had this date, and…

Alya’s words flooded back and fresh tears fell down her face. Maybe Luka wouldn’t care if she canceled. Maybe…maybe she shouldn’t be feeling so sick about that thought. Maybe Alya was right and she was on the road to another heartbreak. Luka had never said anything, after that first day, about wanting anything more. They weren’t always having sex when they were together, they did other things, but they did always end up in bed eventually. But that didn’t mean anything! Right? Maybe—Marinette sighed. Maybe she didn’t need anything else to spiral about tonight, thanks so much, Alya. Why wasn’t she allowed to just have fun without Alya telling her what was best for her? She enjoyed spending time with Luka, and yeah, he made it clear he enjoyed all the... intimate things they did, but that didn’t mean— 

Focus , she reminded herself, wiping her eyes again. She still had a date tonight that she was in no condition to go to, and if she didn’t call soon Luka would already be on his way to meet her. 

She took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself and called him.

“Hey, beautiful, what’s up?” Luka asked, his smooth voice light and cheerful.

“Hi,” Marinette squeaked, and then gulped down a sob. Shit, she should have texted, she sounded awful.

Luka’s tone shifted immediately. “What’s wrong?” he asked. 

“N-nothing major, I just...I had a really bad day and...I don’t think I’m up for our date tonight. I’m so sorry, I know it’s really last minute, I hope you haven’t left yet, I just—” She caught a tear on her hand and wiped it away, trying not to sniffle into the phone.

“Of course it’s okay,” Luka said, his voice low and soft. “Don’t force yourself, it’s fine. Do you want to talk about it?” 

“No,” Marinette choked, her throat tightening again. 

“Okay. Well, how about if I grab some takeout and bring you dinner? I can pick up something for your roommate too if you like.”

“Oh, you don’t—you don’t have to do that. Alya’s out with her boyfriend, I’m not sure she’s even coming back tonight. I mean, you don’t have to pick up anything at all, I can just scrounge something, I'll be fine, I think we have some...some ramen or something I can make…I’m not very hungry right now anyway.” Ugh, she was a babbling idiot, why hadn’t she just texted him.

“Late lunch?”

“No…” Marinette frowned, trying to think. “I don’t think I ate lunch.”

“Thought so,” Luka chuckled. 

“B-but—I—“

“I don’t have to stay if you’d rather be alone,” Luka told her, his voice so full of sympathy that she wanted to cry all over again. “But at least let me bring you something to eat. It’s not like I had other plans. What’s your favorite food to cry into?” His tone turned teasing. “I can at least bring you some real ramen instead of the instant stuff, if that’s really what you want.” 

Marinette bit her lip, picturing for a moment the congee she used to get at the shop by her old office. She loved it, because it reminded her of her mother’s, but she hadn’t had in in ages because they didn’t deliver to this part of town, and—

“Anything you want,” Luka told her softly. “Come on, what are you thinking about?” 

“It’s out of your way,” Marinette said, shifting on her couch. “I...give me just a second, I’ll think of something, um…” 

“Marinette,” Luka said, a touch of amusement in his voice. “Just tell me what you want. I’m all over this town for gigs all the time, a few extra subway stops won’t kill me.” 

She told him, and gave him directions. 

“Okay. I’ll go pick it up and be there as soon as I can. You take a nice long bath or a shower, or at least wash your face, okay? Get comfortable for a night in.”

Marinette smiled a little at his prescription, and whispered, “Okay.” She sat there a few minutes longer after they hung up, trying to gather enough caring to get up and do as he suggested. Finally she made it up off the couch, and drifted into the bathroom.

She cried more in the shower, but she did feel better after standing in the hot water, which at least relieved some of the stiffness and stinging of her face and eyes, and helped her breathe easier. She sat on her bed wrapped in her towel for a long moment, feeling limp and languid, but if she was sitting here naked when Luka showed up, he’d probably think she wanted some other kind of comforting, and she just wasn’t sure she felt like it tonight. She dug out one of her more modest nightgowns, made of thin, soft fabric that fell to her calves, with wide straps and a shallow scoop neck that covered most of her chest. It was still pretty, because Marinette liked pretty things, but it wasn’t seductive or anything like that. 

Not that she was in any condition to seduce anybody, she thought, as she pressed her fingers below her aching eyes. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to let Luka come over. Would it hurt his feelings if she made him leave the food at the door?

Marinette had almost decided to do just that when she heard him knock. She paused with her hand on the doorknob, and then sighed. Well, if her puffy, blotchy face and stuffed up nose grossed him out and he didn’t want to see her anymore, then at least that would be one less thing for Alya to bitch at her about, she thought as she opened the door.

Luka’s expression shifted from concern to sympathy as soon as she came into view. “Aw, come here,” he said, reaching for her as he stepped inside. Marinette let him wrap his arm around her and leaned into him as he squeezed her. He kept her under his arm as he walked to the table, where he put the bag of food down and then turned to embrace her fully, folding her in a tight hug, as he swayed slightly and rubbed her back. It felt amazing, actually, and Marinette pressed her face into his chest, inhaling his scent and enjoying the firm feel of him, warm and solid. 

“You want to eat at the table or somewhere else?” he asked. 

“Couch?” she mumbled into his chest, and he steered her over to it. 

“Sit down then, and I’ll get it all ready.”

He brought her the bowl a few minutes later, sitting down next to her as he made sure she had a grip on it before he let go. “Do you want me to go?” he asked, tucking a damp lock of hair back from her face. “Or would you rather have some company? I won’t be offended, if you’d rather be alone.” 

Marinette looked up at him and opened her mouth, and then changed her mind, looking down with a blush. “Actually some company sounds nice,” she mumbled. 

Luka smiled, and leaned forward to kiss her temple gently. “Let me grab my food then.”

When he returned with his plate, he sat next to Marinette and put his arm around her shoulders. Marinette cuddled against his side, tucking her feet under herself. She admired the ease with which Luka balanced his plate on his knee as he ate, but then from some of the stories he’d told her she supposed he was probably used to eating in weird places

The congee felt good on her raw throat, and she ate almost the whole bowl before she sighed and set it on the coffee table to snuggle more firmly against Luka’s side. He’d already finished, and he put both arms around her. She told him a little bit about her day, leaving out the details of the argument with Alya, and Luka made sympathetic noises and kissed her forehead. 

Alya’s wrong about him , Marinette thought, tucking her face against his neck. He’d never treat anyone the way she thinks, even if it was only physical. He’s too sweet. And I don’t...I don’t think that’s what this is. I think...maybe he really meant what he said at the cafe. Maybe he still does. She took a shaky breath, and Luka’s face turned a little closer to hers, so she knew he was listening.

Marinette chickened out. “Could we...maybe get in bed and watch a movie?” 

“Sure, I’d love that.” Luka smiled. “What’s your favorite thing to watch when you feel crappy?”

Marinette blushed. “You’ll laugh.”

Luka grinned. “So what if I do? If you like it, that’s all that matters. Be selfish tonight, Marinette.” 

Luka followed her to her bedroom, and his eyebrows shot up when she produced a dusty old DVD with a picture of a bus on it. “Speed?” he said, sitting on the bed, and then bit his lip. He held up a finger, turned away from Marinette, and buried his face in her pillow as he laughed. Marinette grabbed her other pillow and whacked him with it. 

“I told you you’d laugh,” she pouted as Luka pushed himself up and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I love Keanu Reeves.” 

“Give it here, and get comfy,” he told her, getting up. Marinette gave him the movie, and he put it in as she tossed the blanket back to the bottom of the bed and got under the sheet. Then she had an internal panic attack as Luka kicked off his shoes and socks and shimmied off his jeans. Oh, maybe she should have—but he’d never have been comfortable if she made him stay dressed, and it didn’t mean they were going to…Stupid, they could have stayed on the couch, why did she invite him to bed?

Barely thinking, Marinette caught the hem of his shirt just before he went to pull it off. “Can you...leave it on?” she asked, and blushed when he looked at her quizzically. “I really like cuddling with you but I...I just—”

“Just?” Luka asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Never mind, it’s stupid,” Marinette sighed, letting go, and feeling like an idiot. “You should be comfortable.

“So should you,” Luka said, sitting back down on the bed. “I can wear a shirt if you want, it’s no big deal.” He reached over and smoothed back her hair—now mostly dry, thankfully. “Is something wrong? You know you can tell me if I ever make you uncomfortable.” 

Oh, she was the worst. He was so kind to her and she was the worst , and how could she admit anything like this to him? Marinette hung her head, and told a truth that wasn’t the truth. “I just...don’t like it when our skin sticks together,” she confessed, and then put her hands over her face. “I’m so sorry. Forget I said anything. I’m being stupid.”

“I’m not forgetting anything,” Luka laughed, sliding under the sheet beside her. “Why are you acting like you did something wrong?” 

“It’s...not very romantic,” Marinette sighed, wrinkling her nose. 

Luka rolled his eyes. “I’d rather you be comfortable than preserve some imaginary aesthetic that no one but us would even be aware of. I don’t mind wearing my shirt or keeping the sheet pulled up if it makes you more comfortable.” He slid down a bit, and stretched his arm out towards her.  Marinette snuggled up next to him again, and sighed contentedly as she rested her cheek against his chest, glad that he wore a soft, slightly worn t-shirt instead of a crisp dress shirt. 

“Comfy now?” he asked, his hand sliding up to massage the back of her neck. 

“Mm,” she agreed, and leaned into his touch with a hum. Eventually they slithered down to lay flat in the bed, Luka curling against her back with his head on her pillow, murmuring sly comments about the movie every now and then that made Marinette giggle, and occasionally reach back to elbow him when she thought he was getting too far out of line. No one, she told him, dissed Keanu in her bed. 

“Yes ma’am,” he agreed, laughing into her hair before he kissed the top of her head. Marinette smiled. 

It was nice, having him snuggled up against her, his teasing voice in her ear, and Marinette’s mood was lifting with each passing moment. She found herself focusing on his broad hand resting on his stomach, his breath tickling the back of her neck, and the warmth of him behind her, the brush of his chest against her back when he breathed. Heat began to pool low in her belly, and her breathing quickened. She pressed back a little, just enough that her back was resting against her chest now, and Luka nuzzled her neck, placing a little kiss below her ear before settling again. Marinette sighed, annoyed with herself. Here she had been worried about giving him the wrong idea, but now that she was comfortable and relaxed, she was starting to change her mind. 

Marinette sniffed experimentally, and found she was breathing much better. She shifted slightly, biting her lip, and then rolled over to face Luka. He blinked at her a little sleepily, and then he smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t revoke my bed privileges. I’m really comfortable right now,” he murmured. “You look like you’re feeling better.” . 

“I am,” she said, and wiggled a little closer, her body already warming at the thought of his touch. She leaned up and kissed him, and any hesitation she’d still been feeling vanished at the soft feel of his mouth against hers. It seemed to wake Luka up too, because his hand went to her face and he returned her kiss with equal enthusiasm. Marinette caught hold of his shirt, and tugged him closer when he would have leaned back. “Can I be selfish, Luka?” she breathed, and felt him shudder as she kissed him again. “Even after all you’ve done for me? Can I ask for more?”

“Always,” he rumbled, rolling up onto his elbow to follow her as she kept tugging on his collar, wiggling to get beneath him. She gasped as he pressed against her, and arched her body up into his, suddenly feeling desperate. Had he been turned on this whole time and said nothing? Alya is so wrong about him. 

“Comfortable , huh?” she teased, and Luka grinned sheepishly.

“I was,” he defended, “Mostly. I can ignore it when I have to, and you didn’t seem like you were up for much.” He kissed her softly.  

“I wasn’t,” she admitted, and then rolled her hips up into him. Luka groaned, his forehead dropping to her shoulder as he grabbed at her hip, and her own eyes closed in pleasure. “I am now,” she sighed. “Please, Luka.” She shivered as she felt the fabric of her nightgown bunch under his big hands, the hem sliding up her calves and over her knees. 

Alya was wrong about him, Marinette was sure, looking up into his eyes as he bent down to kiss her gently, but thoroughly. He only broke the kiss when he finally found the hem of the nightgown. “Can I take my shirt off now?” he asked teasingly as he dragged the nightgown up over her head. Marinette made a muffled sound. “What?” he laughed, but his laugh cut off when she pressed her hips up into him again. 

“I said, yes please,” she told him smugly as he reached back for his collar.  

Marinette settled her arms around his neck and pulled him down into her, eager now for the press of his skin against hers. Luka’s hands carded into her hair, tipping her face to the perfect angle as his mouth descended on hers again. She spared one fleeting thought fr Alya’s warnings before she gave herself up to the moment.

Alya is wrong about Luka...but she might be right about me. Maybe I am falling in love with him. 

***

The movie menu screen had been playing for a while when Luka finally picked up the remote and turned the tv off. “I’m going to grab a drink,” Luka said, kissing Marinette’s jaw. “You want something?” 

“Yes, please,” Marinette sighed. “I don’t think I can move yet.” 

Luka chuckled and kissed her again. “Be right back.” 

Grinning to himself, Luka stopped to pull his boxers and jeans on and made his way to the refrigerator, leaning down to find the water bottles he knew were tucked into the back for him. He’d gotten picky about water on the road, so Marinette, thoughtful as always, kept a few bottles of his favorite brand for him. He grabbed one and cracked it open, taking a long gulp, and then bent to reach in and grab the filter pitcher to make a glass for Marinette. 

“Excuse me?”

Luka jumped and straightened, and turned around to find a woman standing in the apartment doorway, lit from the hall behind. She had one hand on her hip and the other on the doorknob, where a set of keys was still hanging. 

“Hey,” he said, shutting the refrigerator door. “You must be Alya. I’m Luka. I’m Marinette’s—ah—” He’d almost said boyfriend, but he wasn’t, technically, and he suddenly realized he had no idea what word to use. “Friend,” he finally finished lamely, acutely aware of how the word hung between them as he stood there half-naked and disheveled. He lifted the water bottle to his lips again, still parched. “Sorry, we didn’t realize you were coming home tonight.” 

He turned to get a glass from the cabinet, and felt Alya’s eyes on him as he poured the water for Marinette and put the pitcher back. He glanced up and, as he suspected, the look she was giving him was not one of appreciation. Luka had seen that look before and knew that she was seeing the dye and the piercings and the tattoos and not much else. He waited for her to say something, but when she didn’t seem inclined to, he shrugged. “Well, it’s nice to meet you,” he said quickly, and then made his way past her and back to Marinette’s room. “I’ll let Marinette know you’re home.” 

He shut Marinette’s bedroom door behind him, blowing out a breath, and then looked at the bed. 

He forgot about Alya for a moment when his eyes fell on Marinette, looking relaxed and blissfully happy, one lovely shoulder and her feet peeking out of the sheet she had tucked around herself. He could still see the marks of her earlier breakdown on her face, but she looked at peace now. 

If he hadn’t already been sure he loved her, he didn’t think anything on earth would have saved him from falling in that moment. 

Luka brought the water over and set it on her nightstand, then leaned over her to set his on the other one. Marinette smiled dreamily up at him, and he bent down and kissed her gently. She smiled against his lips.

“Your mouth is cold,” she told him, and giggled. 

“Yours is hot,” he teased, kissing her again, a little deeper. Then he sighed. “Your, um...your roommate is home,” he told her, half-regretting it as Marinette stiffened instantly. “I kind of ran into her in the kitchen.”

Marinette bit her lip, looking up at him as a blush lit her face. “Oops,” she murmured, and then giggled in a way that said maybe she wasn’t all that sorry. Laughing, Luka all but tackled her, pressing her back into the pillows as he kissed her messily, moving his lips to her neck and collarbone when she tried to squirm away from him. 

“What was that for?” Marinette giggled, pushing lightly at his chest until he propped himself up on his arms. 

“You are criminally hot,” he told her, smirking when the red tinting her cheeks darkened. “Especially when you blush.” Always when she blushed, but especially now, looking so ravished and yet so sweetly pretty, shy and shameless at the same time. 

He leaned down and kissed her again, more gently, and she hummed against him, kissing him twice more when he would have pulled away. 

When she finally let him sit back, he asked, “Do you want me to leave?” 

“No,” she said with determination, slipping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him back down into another kiss. “Come get back in bed with me.” 

Not at all unwilling, Luka shimmied out of his pants and crawled over her, slipping under the sheet and tucking it around his front before laying an arm down in invitation. Marinette shifted over to him, and Luka shivered when she moved the sheet away from between them. Instead of settling her head down on his shoulder, she kissed his chest, and his neck, and pressed herself up against him. “I don’t think you’re as done as you led me to believe,” she whispered with a teasing smile. 

“Well not anymore.” Luka grinned up at her, shifting onto his back in answer to the press of his hands on her shoulders. “Feel like scandalizing your roommate?”

“Believe me, it’s her turn,” Marinette huffed, climbing on top of him, and looking up at her pretty face with smiling lips bruised from his kisses, haloed by mussed black hair he couldn’t wait to tangle his hands in again, Luka promptly forgot anyone else even existed. 

Later, he was nearly asleep, curled around Marinette with the sheet tucked between them, when she whispered, “Luka?”

“Hmm?” he blinked his eyes open, though he couldn’t see much. He felt her tense, though, and moved a hand to her arm, rubbing his thumb along her skin. 

“I think I’m falling for you,” she finally said, the sentence half a sigh as the air rushed out of her. 

Luka froze for an instant, completely awake now, and he felt Marinette flinch and tense. Quickly he pressed his lips to the back of her neck, and slid his arm around her waist. “Let me know when you’re sure,” he murmured against her skin. “I’m waiting at the bottom to catch you.” 

He felt her sigh and relax, and then she rolled, scooting up close against him and pillowing her head on his shoulder. Luka held her, rubbing her back softly, and turned his head to bury his face in the pillow to keep himself from screaming. 

On his way out in the morning, Luka gave Alya a broad grin and a two-fingered salute.

***

“Girls, we have a problem,” Alya announced, plopping into a chair and slamming her to-go cup down on the table.

“Good morning to you too, Alya,” Alix muttered, face propped on her fist. “What the hell is it that you needed to talk to us about this early?”

“I met Marinette’s boytoy last night.”

Blank stares from around the table. Alya sighed. “The one night stand? The guy she’s been fucking every night she had free for the last month and more?” 

Alix raised her eyebrows. “Still not seeing the point. So Marinette’s getting laid. A lot. Good for her. Wasn’t it your idea for her to get back out there in the first place?” 

Alya slapped the table. “That’s just it! She’s not out there! She’s hung up on this dude and my point is that this isn’t like Marinette. You know she can’t just do random hookups. This has been going on for a month straight and you know she’s going to catch feelings, if she hasn’t already. And that guy, he—he’s not Marinette’s type . He’s got tattoos and piercings and dyed hair and his clothes are practically rags!” 

“Sounds hot,” Alix observed, and Alya rolled her eyes. 

“It’s not Marinette , and he’s definitely not the type who’s looking to settle down with one girl. He’s going to fuck her until she starts wanting more and then he’s going to break her heart. If we’re lucky. If we’re not, he’ll string her along with a bunch of promises, probably cheating on her the whole time, and then really break her heart. This isn’t the kind of relationship Marinette wants!” She waved her hands around for emphasis. “Marinette wants a house and a picket fence and a—a hamster. She needs husband material .” 

“It does seem like Marinette wouldn’t be satisfied with a purely physical relationship,” Mylène said hesitantly. “But are you sure this man is no good? What if he does like Marinette?” 

“They could totally fall in love! Opposites attract, you know!” Rose added, hooking her arm through Juleka’s with a giggle. “Maybe all Marinette needs is somebody a little bit different to take her mind off...you know. Him .” 

“Rose, there’s different and then there’s different, ” Alya sighed. “Some different is okay, but picking up punk guys in nightclubs is a little extreme, don’t you think?”

“Mkay,” Alix sighed. “Even supposing we agreed with you, and I’m not saying we do, what would we even do about it?” 

“What we need is a distraction,” Alya said, tapping a finger on the table as her brow furrowed in thought. “Someone who can get her mind off of her fuckbuddy and back to thinking about kids and hamsters.” 

For a moment the girls sat in silence. 

“Well,” Juleka said slowly, as heads turned toward her. “There’s my brother, I suppose. He just got back into town a couple months ago.”

“Oh, that’s true!” Rose exclaimed, laying a finger alongside her cheek as she thought. ���Ooh, that could work, Juleka. I mean, if Marinette and this guy are in love, then she’ll just be making a new friend, right? And if Alya’s right, then there’s no harm in just introducing Marinette to someone else.”

Juleka shrugged. “Hard to say with him though, whether he’ll be into Marinette. He’ll either get bored or fall hard. He likes creative types—“

“That’s definitely Marinette,” Alix said dully.

“People who are honest—transparent, even.”

Alix snorted. “Also Marinette.”

Juleka was looking even more thoughtful. “People who don’t back down, who think outside the box...yeah, we could try it.” She shrugged. “Don’t know what Marinette’ll think of him, though.”

“He is very handsome,” Rose pointed out. “Not much like— you know , but that might work in our favor after everything. He looks a little bit like Keanu Reeves, and you know Marinette loves him.” 

Juleka snorted. “He wishes he looked like Keanu Reeves.”

“They have the same vibe,” Rose defended. 

Juleka just shook her head. “Well, if Marinette’s into ink and piercings and the whole bad boy look right now, it shouldn’t be a problem, anyway. Dumbass looks like the rough type but he’s a total teddy bear. Best of both worlds, I guess.” 

“Okay, I’ve heard enough,” Alya declared, clapping her hands. “Plan A. Juleka and Rose are throwing a housewarming party.”

“We are?” chorused Rose and Juleka.

“We’ll invite Marinette, Juleka’s brother will be there, we get them together, and they hit it off, and she kicks her loser booty call to the curb. Problem solved.” Alya nodded firmly. 

Alix dropped her head onto her arms. “What’s plan B?” she mumbled. “Seems like this whole plan could fall apart if they end up not liking each other.”

Alya waved a hand dismissively. “We’ll figure that out after we see how this one goes. I’ll have thought of something before the party.”  

***

“This is a pleasant surprise,” Marinette said, tucking the phone between her shoulder and ear as she folded her laundry. “I didn’t expect to hear from you today. I thought you had plans tonight.” 

“I do,” Luka replied. “I just have a few minutes and I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?” Marinette frowned. “What?”

“Well, I had a very interesting conversation with my sister today,” Luka told her, and she could hear amusement in his voice. “She invited me to a party later this week. Said there’s a friend of hers she’d like me to meet. Thought we might hit it off .”

“O-oh,” Marinette managed, dropping the shirt she held. “Really?” Insecurity flooded up and threatened to drown her. Aside from that one late night conversation, they hadn’t really revisited their relationship status. She hadn’t had the courage to bring it up again. If Luka wanted to meet someone else, he was still technically free to do so, but...but she’d thought...

“Yeah, maybe you know her,” Luka laughed. “She’s in your field, after all. Some hot-shot, up and coming designer named Marinette Dupain-Cheng .” 

“Oh. Oh. ” Marinette’s eyes widened, and then she frowned. “Wait, do I know your sister?”

“Well, that’s what I called to find out.” Luka snorted softly. “Know a Juleka Couffaine by any chance?” 

“Juleka?” Marinette shrieked. “You’re related to—how did I not know that? Why didn’t she ever say anything? Why didn’t you?” She racked her brains, thinking back. 

“Mm, generally we’ve been busy not saying other things. Gotta say Jules hasn’t exactly been on my mind when we’re together.” His low chuckle made Marinette blush. 

“Right.” Marinette blushed. “And I suppose I never mentioned your name to her, and Alya just calls you—” She stopped, embarrassed.

“What?” Luka asked, humor in his voice.

“My, um...boytoy.” Luka laughed uproariously, and Marinette began to giggle again. “Or sometimes things that aren’t quite so nice. She thinks you’re not good for me. Because...because of how we met, and all. Um.” She took a breath, hesitating, but then remembered that awful feeling just moments ago when it seemed like the floor had dropped out from under her, and decided it was time to put everything on the table. “She thinks you’re just in it for the sex, and I’m going to get invested and end up getting hurt.” 

“Oh, I see.” Luka drawled. “As if I haven’t been head over heels for you since the moment I saw you.” Marinette blushed, and bit her lip, but Luka went on before she could say anything. “I get it. Sounds to me like your roommate’s trying to set you up with someone who’ll take care of you. Get you away from that sex-crazed loser that’s seduced her poor little innocent bestie.” 

Marinette buried her face, phone and all, into the throw pillow next to her and giggled until her sides hurt and she was gasping.

“Are you done?” Luka asked, still sounding amused, when the giggling finally subsided. “Or do I need to send someone over there to administer oxygen?” 

“I’m fine,” Marinette snickered. “Listen, Luka, my friends are having a party next week and I’ve got this weird feeling they’re trying to set me up. Will you come be my date to Juleka’s party? Maybe—“ She steeled herself and took the plunge. “Maybe if I introduce them to my boyfriend , they’ll back off.

There was a moment of silence. Marinette forgot to breathe.

“I’m going to need you to say that again when we’re in the same room,” Luka said, voice deliciously deep and husky, “So I can kiss you properly. Can you come over?”

Air rushed out of her. “Aren’t you busy tonight?” she asked, and smiled at the sound of his laugh. 

“Not anymore.” 

“Are you sure?” she teased. “I thought you had plans.” 

“Consider them cancelled,” Luka told her, “Get your gorgeous ass over here.” 

She did, and after she had said it again, after the kissing and the other soft words, after the more-than-kissing, they cuddled close, happy, sated, and basking in their newly upgraded relationship. Marinette felt Luka stir and prop himself on his elbow.

“You know,” he said, his breath washing across her cheek. “I’m thinking about this party the girls are planning.”

“Do you still want to go?” Marinette asked, reaching up 

“Absolutely,” he said, and then his voice dropped, making her shiver slightly as he nuzzled her ear. “But why don’t we make things a little interesting.”  He whispered his plan in Marinette’s ear, and she began to giggle. 

***

Juleka sighed as she looked at their new apartment, cleaned and decorated without a scrap of cardboard left in the place, and gazed with exasperated fondness on all the little finger sandwiches and appetizers Rose had spent all day making. Luka had better appreciate this, she thought, as she pasted on a smile and started letting in the guests that began to arrive in ones and twos. Well, at least Rose was happy. Any excuse to bust out the glitter and craft paper and try out all these super cute recipes she found on Pinterest.

Juleka was genuinely happy to see Luka, though, when he finally knocked on the door. Her schedule had been packed lately, which was great from a career standpoint, but she hadn’t seen as much of him as she wanted to since he’d come back from his travels. She felt a little guilty that it had taken Alya’s plotting to get her to make room on her schedule to see him. 

Well, hopefully she was about to make up for it.

“Hey, Jules,” he said, kissing her cheek and then Rose’s. “Congratulations on the new place.” 

“Thanks,” Juleka half-smiled, all the admission she was willing to make that she was glad to see him. She was pleased to note that he’d listened to her admonishments and dressed up. He looked nice, in a black dress shirt open at the collar and jeans that were mostly intact. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing the tattoos on his arms, and the dye in his hair was bright and fresh. Good. Maybe he had half a shot with Marinette, if he didn’t open up his big mouth and screw it up. 

“We’re so glad you could make it, Luka!” Rose squealed, throwing her arms around his neck. Then she drew back with a dismayed expression. “Oh, but she’s not here yet.”

Luka shrugged. “That’s okay, I’m in no hurry. I meant to tell you, I’ve...actually been seeing someone, to be honest.” He had the grace to look sheepish, and winced at the way Juleka’s eyes widened.

“What?” she asked sharply, and then smacked his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Luka shrugged, and Juleka’s heart sank at the stupid grin that spread over his face. “We weren’t really official until just a few days ago. After we talked about this. I don’t think I’ve put my guitar down since then except to pee, so…I kinda forgot.” 

“Gross,” Juleka muttered out of habit. 

“Oh,” cooed Rose, clasping her hands together, before grabbing Juleka’s arm and shaking her lightly. “Ohhh, he looks so happy!”

“I am happy,” Luka grinned. “Really, really happy. She’s amazing, I’ve never met anyone like her. It’s maybe too soon to say it, but...this could be it, you know?”

Juleka felt a little sick. She hadn’t realized she was so invested in setting up Luka and Marinette, but the crushing disappointment she now felt said she was. She liked Marinette a lot, and she loved Luka more than almost anyone else in the world, and the more she considered the idea of them together, the more she thought it could work. Even though she had told herself (and Rose) not to get her hopes up, she absolutely had. 

But Luka was practically glowing, so Juleka swallowed the sick feeling and told him she was happy for him. And she was, really. She had to be happy about anything that made him smile like that. As much as she would have liked to have Marinette for a sister, she wanted Luka’s happiness over all. 

She wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Alya, though. Focus. Luka was looking at her with a little hopeful half-smile on his face and Rose would kill her if she crushed his enthusiasm.

“Well, when you’re sure we won’t scare her off, bring her to dinner.” Juleka punched his arm lightly. “I have to meet the lunatic who would date you.” 

“Sure, sounds good. So, is there a tour?” Luka asked with a grin, and Rose bounced on her toes before grabbing onto his arm and tugging him further into the apartment. She gave Juleka one commiserating glance behind his back before she began introducing him to the small gathering of friends in their modest living room. 

Juleka sighed and stationed herself back by the door to head off Alya when she came in and warn her. 

The next person to show up, though, was Marinette, which was a bit surprising. She was supposed to be coming with Alya, and she wasn’t nearly as late as she usually was. Juleka felt like pouting as she looked over Marinette. She was dressed up too, in a chocolate brown dress that hugged her figure nicely to the waist, covered with a sheer lace overlay that ran up over her neck and shoulders. The skirt hung to her knees in sheer layers edged in scallops of pink lace that were piled thick enough to cover everything important, but thin enough to tease. Her hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders, and she was smiling so cheerfully, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. She’d have been the perfect bait if the trap hadn’t already been sprung. Dammit, Luka , Juleka thought grumpily. You’re missing out, dumbass . 

“I brought cookies!” Marinette said breathlessly, holding up a cellophane-wrapped platter. “You can keep the plate, I got it for you.” 

Juleka mumbled her thanks, smiling at the combination of cookies shaped like roses and black bats on a platter that matched their new dishes. “Thanks, Marinette. That’s really thoughtful.”

“Of course,” Marinette grinned, bobbing on her toes a little. “I’m so excited for you guys!”

She looked so genuinely excited that Juleka had to smile. “Most everybody is here already,” Juleka told her, waving her on into the apartment. “Rose is in the back showing some people around, but she’ll be back up in a minute. Wine?” 

“Please,” Marinette said gratefully, and Juleka poured her a glass. “You did a great job of blending your styles, it looks so pretty in here, but, you know. Juleka pretty and not just Rose pretty. I really like what you did with the curtains—” 

Juleka let her ramble on, glancing at the clock now and again. Alya and Alix were due any minute and she had to head Alya off before she did anything...pushy. Luka didn’t like pushy. Marinette drifted into the living room to chat with some other friends—and damn, the front of that dress might be all sweetness and light but the back was really sexy. “Damn it, Luka,” Juleka muttered with a frustrated sigh. “This girl better be fucking incredible.”  

Luka was just following Rose back from the spare bedroom the girls were turning into a combination craft/music room, when he caught sight of Marinette chatting with a few other people in the living room.

Rose saw her almost at the same time, and gave a little squeal. “Marinette, you made it!” 

Marinette came to hug her, and Luka waited while they exchanged pleasantries, trying to keep his cool so he didn’t give anything away. Finally Rose remembered he was there and turned to him, tugging Marinette forward a little. 

“Oh, Marinette, this is Juleka’s brother Luka!” Rose chirped. “Luka, this is Marinette, the friend we were telling you about.” 

For a moment, they just looked at each other. Just long enough to give Rose pause. Then...

“Hi,” Luka said, grinning down at her. 

“Hi,” Marinette murmured, smiling up at him. 

 “You look good enough to eat,” he told her, settling a hand on her hip and tugging her closer. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rose’s eyes widen and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

“Is that a promise?” Marinette winked, and the tremble in her voice said she was about to laugh too. 

He bent down and she pushed up and they met in a passionate kiss. Her arms went around his neck (she remembered just in time not to dump her wine down his back) and his hands found her back—which was mostly bare, he realized as he felt warm skin under his hands. The noise he made wasn’t very dignified but it would only add to the show; he slid his hands down her back and onto her ass. Just to really sell it, naturally. No doubt she was kneading his chest and shoulders for the same reason. 

Damn, she even tasted like chocolate, the little minx. He’d be willing to bet she did that on purpose.

Beside them, Rose practically had to stuff both fists in her mouth to keep herself from screaming. She looked around and grabbed Mylène’s arm, shaking her as Rose hopped up and down. 

“Rose, what is—oooohhh,” Mylène’s eyes went round as Rose spun her around to face the kissing couple. Rose leaned down and began to hiss excitedly into her ear. “Wait, slow down— what? ” Mylène slapped her own hands over her mouth and looked at Rose. 

“ I know!!” Rose whisper-squealed, reaching up to tug at her short hair with both hands. Both of them looked towards the door, where they could see Juleka letting in Alya and Alix.

“Marinette gave us the slip,” Alya said, rolling her eyes. “Something about needing to pick up a card or some nonsense. She’s looking good, though, which is a good thing for us, right? She’s got this cute little brown dress with pink and she looks like a chocolate strawberry macaroon.” 

“Wait till you see the back,” Alix grinned. “Just these two lace panels that meet between her shoulderblades and the rest is bare. Seriously hot. I’m totally begging her to make...” She trailed off as she looked at Juleka’s face. Juleka sighed.   

“Listen, Alya, I need to tell you—” Juleka began, but Alya interrupted her, her face scrunching up as she looked at something over Juleka’s shoulder.  

“Oh you’re kidding me, I can’t believe she brought him. What is she thinking?” Alya demanded, grabbing Juleka’s arm. “How could you let him in?” Juleka raised her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, Alix had leaned around them to see what Alya was looking at.

“What now?” Alix grumbled. 

“Marinette brought her boytoy,” Alya spat, frustrated. “I can’t believe her.” Juleka nearly laughed at the irony until connections started snapping together in her head. With a feeling of dawning horror, she paused and turned slowly to look behind her, just in time to see her brother sticking his tongue down her friend’s throat. I’ll kill him , she thought. “No wonder she didn’t give me any pushback when I suggested she dress up a little,” Alya muttered, but Juleka barely heard her. 

“Nice,” Alix said, still leaning around Juleka to see, eyebrows raising in appreciation. Then she frowned. “Hold on, isn’t that—” 

At the same time, Juleka blurted “Wait,” and Alix broke off as both she and Alya turned to look at Juleka, who had gone pale. “ That ’ s the guy Marinette went home with? The guy she’s been banging every chance she got since—”  A look of horror crossed her face. “That’s who she’s been telling us—oh, gross. ” She put a hand over her mouth, sure she was about to vomit. “Oh my God, I don’t know what I did to deserve this but I deeply regret whatever it was.” 

“Never mind all that, we have to find a way to get him out of here before your brother shows up,” Alya hissed. 

Juleka groaned and put her face in her hands. 

Alix began to laugh. “I do feel sorry for you,” she told Juleka. “I really do. I definitely wouldn’t want to know any of that about my brother.” She paused, and made a face, turning slightly green. “Oh God, did not need that mental image, and mine’s not even real.” 

“I’m gonna hurl,” Juleka mumbled. “I can’t believe I have to live with this knowledge.”

Across the room, Marinette broke their kiss long enough to ask, breathlessly, “Think they got the point?” Luka glanced up and began to laugh into her hair as she nibbled his collarbone. 

“Juleka’s face is priceless right now.” He dropped his head and licked her neck, before moving his face up to whisper in her ear. “If we don’t get out of here right now I’m going to bust a gut and ruin everything.” 

“Then by all means, let’s go,” she giggled. “Tell me the next time they look over.” 

Luka glanced up. “Now.” 

Marinette slipped her hand between his legs and squeezed, making him jump with a “whoa.” 

“Sorry. Too much?” Marinette whispered. 

“Not if we’re leaving right now,” he grinned back, and let Marinette take his hand, giving him her best bedroom eyes as she backed towards the door, tugging him along. He didn’t even have to feign the dopey look on his face as he stared back at her. As they passed the knot of her friends, all staring saucer-eyed at them, she waved at them.

“Thanks for inviting me, Juleka! Sorry I have to bow out early, but um...I have something to take care of,” Marinette giggled, handing her wine glass to Alix as she kept towing Luka towards the door. He smirked at Juleka and winked.

“I’ll text you about dinner,” he called over his shoulder, laughing, and then grabbed Marinette’s ass just before they stepped out of the door.

“Holy fuck,” Alix muttered, still gaping at the door. “Was that really Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” She began to laugh. “I am so fucking proud.” 

“This isn’t funny!” Alya hissed. “This is a disaster!” 

“Oh, it’s hilarious,” Alix gasped, barely able to breathe, and Rose and Mylène nodded, both giggling. Rose squealed, bouncing on her toes. 

“This is amazing, I can’t believe it, it’s like fate or something—”

“I’m not sure that’s how fate works.” Mylène was trying to hold in her laughter for Alya’s sake. “But they certainly seem happy together.” 

Juleka, still looking a little green, put her hand on Alya’s shoulder before Alya could retort. “Look, it’s fine. You don’t have to worry about her. Luka’s the only person on the planet who’s a bigger sap than Marinette. If he’s into her, he’s all in.” Remembering the way Luka had been glowing when he’d talked about his new girl—when he talked about Marinette —she managed a tiny smile despite her nausea. If Luka got his way maybe she’d have Marinette for a sister-in-law after all. 

It was wiped away a second later as Alix guffawed, “Oh, she loves him being all in,” and Juleka groaned. 

“I need alcohol now ,” she grumbled. “I am going to give him so much shit in the wedding speech to make up for this.”

***

Outside, Luka and Marinette got to the elevators, and then collapsed against the wall in a brief fit of giggles.

“That was brilliant,” Marinette laughed, squeezing Luka’s arm. “I’m so embarrassed but it was so worth it, did you see Alya’s face?” 

“Juleka’s gonna kill me,” Luka chortled. “I can’t wait. Come here.” He pulled her close and kissed her, softer and more carefully than he had inside, and Marinette hummed with pleasure. Not that she hadn’t been enjoying their sloppy makeout, but this was more Luka’s style, and since she loved Luka, she—Marinette paused, and pulled back to look at him, biting her lip as he blinked and smiled softly at whatever he saw in her face. Marinette took a breath.

“I love you,” she said, keeping her eyes on his, though her pulse hammered in her veins. She hadn’t thought his eyes could get any softer, but he looked at her as if she was the greatest treasure in the world as he cupped her cheek and laid a soft kiss on her lips.  

“I love you too,” he said roughly, and gathered her up in his arms, squeezing her tight, lifting her off her feet as he squeezed her hard. 

Marinette giggled into his shoulder. “Poor Alya,” she muttered. “So wrong and so right at the same time.” She pulled back and kissed him again. “Take me home, before someone catches us making out in the hallway.” 

“Too late, dudes.” 

They both looked up, and Marinette’s mouth fell open as she saw Nino stepping out of the elevator with a pained expression. “Does the phrase get a room mean anything to you guys?” 

“Oh,” Marinette ducked her head sheepishly. “Sorry, Nino. By the way, this is Luka. He’s...Juleka’s brother?” 

Nino blinked, and then groaned. “Oh, shit.” 

Marinette giggled. “We’re um...we’re leaving now. Uh...Alya might be a teensie bit—” She held up her pinched fingers. “...stressed?” 

Nino rolled his eyes, but reached back to catch the elevator door for them before it closed. “Guess I’m on damage control,” he sighed, but with a grin. “Come on, get out of here.”  Needing no further encouragement, Marinette pulled Luka into the elevator. “Bring him to dinner or something next time,” Nino called as he let the door close. “We can’t keep meeting like this.” 

In the elevator, Luka and Marinette looked at each other. “Oops,” she whispered, and they both broke down laughing. Luka hugged her close, and Marinette sighed. “You know,” she mused. “As far as mistakes go…” She smiled up at him. “You’re the best one I ever made.” 

#quickspins #oops #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #alya salt #depending on your sensitivity level #nsfwish fic #one night stand to lovers #pro lukamari #i'll never not know you

[katiea03]

hellu! a friend led me to your account and i wanted to req smth right away! i'm a girl who loves hurt comfort so can you do smth with tsukki and kenma where reader doesn't like sitting on their lap or getting carried because she doesn't want to squish them?? thanks bby ❤

❣︎Reader Scared To Sit On Their Lap❣︎

Thx you sm for the request! This one hit home as this is lowkey a insecurity I have but I had a lot of fun writing it! 👁👅👁

❣︎Warnings❣︎: Weight,suggestive

���︎Genre❣︎: Hurt/comfort, lil fluff

❣︎Featuring❣︎: Tsukishima, Kenma, Oikawa

❣︎A/N❣︎: This is my first official request and I’m really excited how it came out! I/ve never written a scenero or hurt/comfort before but i really liked it! I threw Oikawa in with the other two because of how perceptive he really is. I feel like people forget how smart Oikawa is so he gets a lil love. Am I really starting to become an Oikawa simp maybeeee ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Probably for the first time ever, Tsukishima Kei was clingy. You were hanging out at his place after school as you usually did but today you couldn’t help but notice how tightly Tsuki held onto your hand, or how he would use your head as a resting place for his more often. You obviously weren’t opposed, just surprised by his sudden change in character.

You looked through the kitchen for snacks when Tsukishima hugs you from behind. You jump a little and turn in his arms to see him with his signature smirk that made your knees weak “What’s gotten into you today?”

He looked at you amused “What do you mean?”

He rests his hands on your hips , “You’ve been very touchy that’s all.”

“You don’t like it?” He looks as if he’s about to pull away. You pull him in quickly before he has a chance to pull away. Resting your head on his chest,

“I never said that. I think it's really nice.” You take in the fresh scent of his hoodie.

“Oh yea?” There’s a faint smugness to his words that you recognized instantly

“Yea.” And before you knew it, you felt yourself being lifted up. Panic rushed through you and you tried your best to squirm out of his grasp,

“Put me down! Please just put me down.” Tsukishima could sense the gravity in your voice and put you on the kitchen counter.

“What’s wrong Y/n.” He could see the uneasy look on your face and wondered what he did wrong. You stood silent, not making eye contact with him.

“Babe what is it… did I hurt you?” You remained quiet. Tsuki didn’t want to push you to say anything you didn’t want to, but he was concerned.

“If you don’t want to say anything that okay bu-“

“I’m worried I’ll break you…” Your voice came out shallow. Tsuki almost laughed, not because what you said was funny, but because of how ridiculous the notion was, “What do you mean?”

Still not being able to look at him, you croak out, “I’m scared I’m too heavy for you.” At this point you’re trying to hold back tears. You’re weight has always been such a huge insecurity for you, and truly having to admit it was almost embarrassing.

Tsuki cups your cheek, forcing you to look at him. He had no idea you felt this way, and he wasn’t too sure what to say so the kitchen was almost awkwardly silent. You were about to pull your face away when he tells you,

“Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now?” You snap your head to look directly at him. That wasn’t the type of response you were expecting.

“I love you, and no matter what size you are that won’t change. But no, you won’t break me, I’m almost 6’4.”

You choke out a laugh and wipe the tears that brimmed at your eyes,

“Yea but Kei, you’re built like praying mantises!” Tsuki poked you before throwing you over his shoulder and carried you to the living room. You shrieked kicking your legs as genuine laughter escaped your lip.

This would be the first night you would be spending the night at Kenma’s place. He’s spent countless nights at yours but you finally asked to spend the night at his.

Stepping out of the shower, hair wet, and wearing one of his hoodies, you go to look for him. Along the way you inspected his apartment more. There was nothing too special about it, it wasn’t the neatest by any means but you could tell he tidied up a bit before you came. You passed by his living room and saw only a couple photos. He didn’t look too enthusiastic in them but a small smile laced your face seeing him with his friends and family.

You quietly make your way down the hall to his gaming room, and with a soft knock, you creak open the door. Kenma was intensely staring at his computer screen with his huge gaming headset on with his hair messily pulled back. He couldn’t hear you come in but he sensed your presence and turned his head to you.

He softly smiled at you and slid off one side of his headset to hear you properly.

You walked behind his chair and peered at the screen , “So what are you playing right now?” Kenma focuses back on the game and mumbles, “ Rainbow…”

A minute or two goes by of you just wanting his hands rush across the keyboard. His face stayed as neutral as ever, the only indication of stress was the tiny crease that bunched in between his eyebrows. He wins another game and takes off his headset while waiting for the next round to start. He pulled your hand around to sit you into his lap but you backed up and settled on sitting on the arm of his chair. He could see how uncomfortable you were and peered up at you.

“What’s wrong?” You sat a little straighter, “Nothings wrong Kozu.”

He looks up at you unconvinced, “Y/n”

You crossed your arms and try putting on your best face. Unfortunately for you, Kenma knew them all.

“Tell me, what is it?” He took one of your hands in his, softly rubbing his thumb over your palms. You searched his face for any way out of this inevitable conversation you landed in, but to no avail. You sighed and stared intently at the screen in front of you.

“What if I’m too heavy?” What you asked didn’t process in his head for a moment. But when it did, he instantly pulled you into his lap without warning. You go to stand up but he wraps his arms around you, holding you down. You hide your face in his polyester t-shirt feeling extremely self-conscious. You slowly feel yourself calm down and you get yourself more comfy on his lap.

“See you aren’t too heavy.” Kenma is a man of very few words, but as he ran his fingers through your wet hair, you couldn’t have felt more safe and loved.

The next match started and as he slid on his headset (only one ear had it on), you stayed there watching him play. You felt yourself doze off in probably the most comfortable position you had ever been in.

Oikawa was going on about another ridiculous alien conspiracy documentary and was begging to watch it for tonight’s Friday movie marathon. He already had his ‘stylish’ purple alien socks along with his even more ‘trendy’ neon green space martian shirt (according to him of course!). He was already comfy on the worn down couch he owned with tons of blankets.

You come out from the kitchen wearing a big t-shirt of his with the popcorn and set it on the coffee table.

“Oh my beautiful Y/n, what would I do without you?” He sits up on the couch with his head in his hands.

“Probably starve and die.” Oikawa opens the blanket waiting for you to cuddle on the couch with him,

“Rude, but you’re probably right.” He pats at his lap and you come closer to the couch, nervously taking a seat next to him rather than sitting on his lap. You turn on the couch looking for the remote when Oikawa outbursts,

“Ummm excuse me?” He has a hand on his heart with an exasperated look on his face.

You turn to him pretending to be clueless but as you play with your fingers, Oikawa knew something was wrong.

“Shawty, is my lap not good enough for you?” He puts on his best fuck boy face to try and make you laugh- and it usually did, but not this time. He drops the act and pulls your leg onto his.

“Spill, what’s going on?”

Not a sound comes from your lips and you just continue to look down at your lap.

With an extra dramatic sigh he wipes fake tears from his eyes, “ If you're not gonna say anything, I’m gonna have to assume you have terminal cancer.”

You shoot up with wide eyes,

“No!” With that Oikawa throws his head back laughing and you can’t help but laugh too. Eventually the laughter dies down and Oikawa has his serious face again.

“So are you gonna tell me what’s going on now?”

It’s quiet for another moment before you actually speak, “I don’t really wanna talk about it babe.” Of course, Oikawa wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

He takes both of your hands in his and kisses them both gently.

“Y’know you can tell me anything.” He was genuinely a little hurt that you felt like you couldn’t talk to him about whatever it was.

“Yeah I know, it's just-I .” You took a deep breath as you felt the tears sting your eyes. Oikawa waited patiently,

“I just feel like I’m too heavy for stuff like that.” Small tears began to stream down your cheek, but Oikawa wiped them away before they could fall too far.

Oikawa’s heart broke wiping away your tears. He had no idea you were dealing with this. He feels the tiniest bit of futile guilt. Despite it not being his fault, he wishes he could’ve done something to make you feel better about yourself. He kisses the top of your head before telling you,

“You are beautiful exactly the way you are, and I’m gonna prove it to you. I promise you.”

You feel your face go warm at his promise to you as he easily lifts you onto his lap. He pulls you into a deep kiss, and as your lips connect you feel the worry and anxiety melt from your body. His kisses trail to your collarbone and the collar of his shirt falls down one side of your shoulder. He leaves a sweet kiss on the edge of your shoulder,

“I don’t care if it takes all night baby.”

He looks up at you with such adoration, you know what he was saying was true. The way he looked at you made you feel beautiful inside and out.

Oikawa was true to his word, and made sure to worship you like you deserved.

#fluff #haikyuu!! #haikyū!! #x y/n #haikyuu fandom #haikyuu imagines #anime #tsukishima imagine #tsukishima fluff #tsukishima scenarios #hq tsukishima kei #kenma imagine #kenma fluff #kenma scenario #hq kenma #oikawa imagine #oikawa fluff #oikawa scenarios #hq oikawa #hq anime #hq boys #hq #tsukishima x reader #kenma x reader #oikawa x reader #tsukishima x you #kenma x you #oikawa x you #hq fluff #hq hurt/comfort

[topazy]

Silent bloom

Parings: Finn Collins/reader Bellamy Blake/reader

Warnings: Mentions of blood

Chapter: 1.13

Distance was all that mattered. You run through the forest, leaves and branches reaching out to grab you, tearing at your skin and clothes. You weren’t stopping for anything, and sure as hell weren’t going to stop to look behind.

Seeing the night sky was the only assurance that you were still alive, but despite that, there was no help for the sick feeling inside your stomach. The mud and grit had become enmeshed with raw pink flesh and was spotted with blood. You had no idea where you were heading.

Looking over the gates at camp, you spotted some white flowers growing. They were beautiful and pure. You had picked a few and decided to place them on Wells' grave. You weren’t overly close to him when he was alive, but you still felt guilty for not being able to save him that night. If you had gone looking for him sooner, or screamed for help, he might have had a chance to survive. Taking care of his grave was your way of apologising. Octavia had offered to go with you, but you insisted on being alone.

As you made your way back towards the gates of camp, a rustling noise from behind caught your attention. You turned to see two men in hazmat suits crouching close by. They were watching your campmates through binoculars. Gulping down, you slowly started to back away, hoping they wouldn’t notice. But they did.

You tumbled over a branch that caused you to land on the ground with a thump and before you had the chance to move again, men in hazmat suits grabbed you. Your kicks and screams did nothing to aid your escape. You weren’t strong enough to fight them off. The feeling of something sharp pricking at your neck made you scream out for help weakly as the dizziness caused your vision to start blurring.

Suddenly, the man let go and he fell to the ground. The second body quickly hit the ground after. You tried to crawl away from them, not being strong enough to stand, but you didn’t make it far. An older looking woman walked forward and glanced down at you. Her face was covered in black kohl, and she was wearing tribal clothes that were decorated with fresh blood. She was a grounder, and she wasn’t alone.

—

"It’s not safe out here."

You turn around to see Bellamy standing behind you, with an unamused expression on his face. Not that you judged him. He had almost died twice in the last few hours.

"It’s not safe anywhere," you pointed out.

Clarke and Finn returned with grounders not far behind. Monty was still missing. Murphy had terrorised the camp, and now Raven was possibly dying, and Connor was dead.

"Your shift is over. You should get some rest." With a sigh, you accepted Bellamy’s hand, as he helped you down from the ledge you were standing on. You couldn’t help but stare. Even in the night, you could see the bruises around Bellamy’s neck. Without thinking, you reached out and ran your fingers across the dark mark. He flinched only for a moment before leaning into your touch. His gaze fell from your face down to your bandaged thigh, "Does it hurt?"

"No... Well yeah, but it’s getting better." You stepped back from him, "How is your neck?"

"Never better." You snorted at the bluntness of his answer. Something else was playing on his mind. Bellamy tensed again before he spoke. "Octavia told me about you and Finn arguing, a-"

"It won’t happen again. We have bigger issues to focus on."

"I was going to ask if you were okay." You didn’t know what to say. It had never occurred to you that Bellamy would have cared, especially when grounders could attack at any moment. "O never went into detail, but she said it got nasty."

"I would never have taken Bellamy Blake for a gossip," you teased.

Bellamy smirked at your comment, "you're one of the best gunners we’ve got Daisy, but you are useless if you're distracted. I don’t want you to miss a kill shot because of a distraction."

He was right, the argument was a distraction. You only cared deeply about a few people, and in the blink of an eye, you had lost Monty and Finn. You let out a deep sigh, "there’s nothing to tell... how far away do you think the grounders are?"

Bellamy clenched his jaw. You assumed he wasn’t happy that you were avoiding the question, but this wasn’t the time to open those wounds. "They won’t be far," he must have sensed you were unconvinced because he probed you some more. "You’ve been staring outside these gates for hours without flinching. What’s going on?"

"I just... I don’t get it. They only followed Clarke and Finn so far, then they stopped. I’m just trying to figure out why."

"To get reinforcements."

"Maybe," you paused before continuing. "From what we know, grounders don’t give up without a fight. They aren’t afraid of dying. Hell, the bomb at the bridge didn’t stop them. I think something else made them turn back."

"I really hope you're wrong."

—

You opened your eyes to the noise of yelling around you. It had all just been a bad dream. Groaning, you tried to sit up and realised you couldn’t. You had been chained to the bed.

"I’m glad kom see yu laik awake skai raunon."

You turn your head and see the grounder from the forest standing by the doorway. "I... I’m sorry, I don’t understand."

A younger looking girl stepped forward, and translated. "She’s glad to see you are awake."

For what reason would a grounder want you awake? You suddenly noticed the chains attached to your wrists. The memory of Murphy telling you what the grounders did to him played on your mind. You instantly curled your fingers into the palm of your hands.

"Why?" You were embarrassed by the weakness in your own voice.

"We saved you."

You looked between the young girl and the older woman who hadn’t taken her eyes off you. It was true they were probably still alive, "thank you."

"Mochof," the older grounder said before placing a bucket of water down next to you. "Mochof is thank you in our language. My name is Zelda, and this is Ada."

"I’m Daisy." You eyed Zelda suspiciously as she poured a powder into the water before offering the bucket to you. "What did you just put in it?"

"It has healing properties. It will pull any poison from your wounds out."

"Why would you waste your medicine on me?"

Ada took the bucket from Zelda and placed it in front of you, "because we want peace."

You accepted the ragged looking clothes from the young girl and began washing your neck, before moving to your ankles. There was no point in refusing, you had no weapon and physically wouldn’t be able to fight them off with restricted movement. The stinging sensation in your wounds was unlike anything you’d ever experienced before. Soon after, an overwhelming heaviness takes over you.

—

You opened your eyes again to find you were still in the same hut as before, except now it was only lit by a small flame that was next to the chair Ada was sleeping in. You wonder how long you’ve been asleep. The night's cool air made goosebumps appear on your skin, which caused you to notice your lack of clothes. Your trousers were gone.

"I cut them off to change your wound."

Her voice took you by surprise, as you hadn’t realized she was awake. You looked at Ada and noticed she now had war paint on her face that matched Zelda’s. "Who was screaming earlier?"

"They were just reapers."

You tried to rack your brain for any clues about them, but your mind went blank. "What are reapers?"

"Men who are no longer men." Ada stood up and walked towards the ‘bed’ you were still chained to, "You have an interesting collection of scars, Daisy."

You scoffed at the comment, "so I’ve heard."

"Did you get them in battle?"

As Ada moved in the dimly lit room, you noticed the three large scars on her left shoulder. They looked deep and raw. "No, most of them were caused by accidents. How did you get yours?"

"A wild animal," she paused for a minute before continuing. "I have water and food to share if you’d like some."

It amazed you the way you had been treated by the two grounders, considering the stories you had heard. Her offer reminded you of the night you had your wristband removed so you could give Charlotte more food. The memory caused a lump to form in the back of your throat. "Only if you have enough to share."

—

After eating in silence, Ada offered to look at the rest of your wounds to make sure they weren’t infected. You couldn’t decide if she was genuinely kind or trying to lure you into a false sense of security, regardless you accepted her offer.

As Ada cleaned a couple of scratches on the back of your neck, you cleared your throat. "So... what are you and Zelda planning on doing with me? I’m guessing I won’t be free to walk any time I want."

It surprised you when Ada let out a small laugh, "That is the plan."

"Now I’m really confused. You kidnapped me to clean me up, feed me, then let me leave?"

"We saved, not kidnapped," you helped your chained wrists up. "We aren’t stupid. You could have woken up and tried to kill us."

"Good point, but I still don’t understand why. Our people are at war."

Ada sighed before rummaging around in a different part of the room. "We have a common enemy, the mountain men."

"The men in hazmat suits?" She nodded, and it started to make sense. "What are they doing?"

"For a long time, people have been going missing. Many of us believe if we work together we can stop them."

Her comment surprised you, "Does your commander think so?"

"Not yet, but if your people understand we aren’t savages, then maybe they will be willing to fight with us."

You couldn't help but laugh, not because the situation was funny, but because two grounders had saved you from mountain men, then chained you to a bed, but still showed you nothing but kindness. And now they want to use you to help end a war. "How many of your people think this?"

"Enough of them. Do you think your people would do the same?"

You knew Octavia would be accepting of grounders wanting peace. Finn and Clarke would be the same. The problem would be convincing the rest of the delinquents, but you were sure Bellamy would convince them once you explained. God, you hoped you got the chance to see them all again. You let out a deep sigh. The last thing you wanted to do was lie. "I hope they will. They might not listen to me, but I know somebody they would blindly follow."

"I’m going to find Zelda. I brought you this in case you get a cold."

"Thank you," you called after her before throwing the blanket over your legs.

After she left, you laid back down as questions kept swirling around in your head, but you’d have time to ask them in the morning. The last thought you had before falling back asleep was if Monty had been taken by grounders, or mountain men.

—

The door to the hut suddenly burst open and a blood-soaked Ada entered. It had been at least a couple of days since you last saw her. Luckily, she had left enough food and water for you, as well as loosening your chains slightly.

"What happened?" Ada said nothing but unchained you before throwing clothes down beside you, "Are you hurt?"

"Hurry and put them on."

As you pulled your new trousers on, you froze when a gunshot went off in the distance. You turned to face Ada, who was staring emotionless outside the open door. You leaned closer to her and whispered, "What’s going on?"

"Skaikru didn’t want peace. I can’t help you anymore."

"Wait?" You said it a little too loudly as Ada made her way to the door, causing her to turn and frown. "You need to tell me what happened. I can still talk to-"

"It’s too late," she snarled. "Zelda is dead. The war has already begun. Jus drein jus daun, blood must have blood."

You stared at her not knowing what to say. You finished getting dressed in an awkward silence as Ada kept guard. The last few days had felt like a dream you couldn’t wake up from. At any moment, you’d wake up in camp and the dream would become nothing but a distant memory.

"You will need this," Ada handed you a blade. "Be careful, the poison the mouton men gave you can last for days. Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim Daisy kom Skaikru."

"I hope we meet again."

—

Days of not walking properly had taken their toll on your body as you kept stumbling while walking up the steep hill. You ducked down low when you heard voices getting closer. Crawling closer to get a better look, you froze when multiple gunshots fired close by.

You stayed in the same spot until you heard the familiar voice of Clarke. You slowly struggled to your feet and began walking to the top. The thought of yelling did occur to you, but you were dressed like a grounder, and would be alerting god knows who to your location. The pain radiating through your body made you want to give up, but you needed to push forward. You needed to know if your friends were safe. Finally, a head of blonde hair came into view, along with thick dark hair. A wave of relief washed over you knowing that Bellamy was safe.

You thought it was strange that neither of them were moving forward as you stumbled towards them. Clarke placed a hand over her mouth and spun to face the other way, the same time you fell to your knees. "Daisy!"

She rushed over towards you, while Bellamy stood stunned for a moment. He quickly snapped out of it. Clarke moved to the side as Bellamy knelt down in front of you. He brushed strands of hair out of your face, "I thought you were dead."

"Ditto," the expression on Bellamy’s face worried you. "So what have I missed Blake?"

Bellamy held the same worried expression as you got back to your feet and walked towards where he stood a moment ago. Nothing could have ever prepared you to see a pile of dead bodies. The sight made you feel sick. Finn and Murphy came into view. Both of them noticed you at the same time. Murphy shook his head as Finn stepped towards you with an almost insane look on his face.

You stumbled backwards and a pair of hands caught you before you fell. Bellamy held onto you tightly as you backed away from the scene in front of you.

Finn suddenly appeared directly in front of you, saying, "I found you.”

Season one

#the 100 #bellamy blake #Finn Collins #bellamy blake/reader #finn collins/reader #the 100 fandom #the 100 fanfiction #the 100 imagine #bellamy blake/you #bellamy blake x reader #bellamy the 100 #bellamy blake imagine #bellamy blake x oc #finn collins x oc #finn collins imagine #grounders #slow romance #slow burn #clarke griffin #John Murphy #OC grounders

[crimeronan]

Can you explain the appeal of Julian Blackthorn? This is a genuine question because I read the books and came away utterly bored by him and unconvinced of his moral greyness as opposed to like, Adam Parrish’s. He seemed so one dimensional to me but I want to know if I’m Wrong TM considering I tend to be very very biased toward my favourite characters and bored by the rest, and my favourites were Mark and Kieran. So maybe I just didn’t pay him enough attention??

it’s been a while since i wrote any earnest tsc meta but cringe culture is dead and the chance to infodump about my julian thoughts has me vibrating where i’m sitting so.  yes okay.

technical stuff

(aka: things pertaining to How The Story Is Constructed)

cassandra clare’s characterization has become much stronger just in general since she first began writing the series like twenty years ago

perhaps most importantly: the more recent stuff i’ve read from her has involved characters who actually grow, change, and learn from their past mistakes 

rather than repeating the same stupid decisions over and over again

and over and over and over some more

seriously take a shot every time someone in tmi miscommunicates or self-destructs in ways They Have Learned Not To Do for no real reason. u will die of alcohol poisoning

in tda this shines ESPECIALLY with the evolution of mark, kieran, and cristina’s relationship, but that’s a separate post

clare’s trademark is also the angsty traumatized jerkass love interest with a secret heart of gold

the woman is almost singlehandedly responsible for draco in leather pants and the proliferation of this kind of character type in fandom and teen lit. this isn’t a criticism it’s me marveling at how if you commit hard enough to a single trope you truly can change the world.  follow your dreams

sad jackass with a heart of gold isn’t an Inherently Problematic Character Type

but poorly done it can lead to relationship dynamics in which one partner is constantly being hurt by and then forgiving the other despite them making no real effort to change, because they are narratively absolved due to being sad

(there’s a lot of this with earlier jace content.  in some ways i think will was later created specifically to be a same-archetype protagonist who actually does get called on his shit and grow. that’s also another post)

also if all of your sexy male love interests are tortured jackasses with a heart of gold then people start calling you a one-trick pony

enter julian blackthorn!

from the very start everything about him is designed to be the INVERSE of the heart of gold jackass.  which immediately makes him interesting just from a meta perspective

(mark and kieran are also both alternate angles on this time-honored archetype.  mark gets the heart of gold and kieran gets the jackass and then they’re both much more deeply messy than that.  yet another post)

julian is kind, self-sacrificing, empathetic, artistic, emotionally supportive, responsible, and favored by old grannies everywhere

so a completely nonthreatening milquetoast guy, right

immediately forgettable if you’re only here for the dramatic conflicts and shithead antics of clare’s other protags

except that he is A Mess

and that he has structured his priorities very carefully, and they are as selfless as you expect from The Hero (TM) but they are also Not Heroic (TM) and they do not align with the moral framework The Hero (TM) is supposed to use

moral ambiguity in characters always exists in relation to their narratives imo. you mention adam parrish - trc’s narrative already mucks around in different ethical shades of gray, and adam falls on the canon scale about where julian does on his canon scale.  both more willing than the average pov character to do the ruthless thing or make the fucked-up choice if the ends justify the means; both with an intensely strong sense of internal priorities that they adhere to at all costs, both so unbelievably fucking down for murder; etc

i do think there are ways julian’s choices could have been pushed even further, but considering the number of readers who hate his guts already, i can see why clare opted not to go for the most controversial possible conflicts

so we’re flipping the narrative

instead of seeing this angsty bad boy and peeling back the layers of his trauma to find his heart of gold, we’re seeing the put-together selfless family man and peeling back the layers of his Responsibility Mask to expose the rotting husk underneath

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

THAT IS FUN AS FUCK

then when julian DOES lash out in hurtful, uncontrolled ways, he has significantly more narrative justification for it than most of clare’s protagonists (will elaborate in characterization thoughts)

julian is also interesting as fuck because of how his struggles allow for a more in-depth look at the failings of shadowhunter society, something that’s also sorely lacking in clare’s earlier work

his apparent amorality is simply the result of him making pragmatic and impossible choices because he has been faced with fucked-up ethical dilemmas since age 12 Because Society Has Failed Him

which opens the door for narrative exploration of how and why he’s been failed so badly & what needs to change

i also love that he has such a coldly calculated way of analyzing situations and allowing harm to occur when need be, bc a lot of clare’s early protagonists have such a bad case of Rush In And Get Myself Killed Because I’ve Got Feelings About Impulsive Heroism syndrome that i wanna push them in front of a truck

probably there’s other meta narrative stuff i could say but i’m stopping myself and moving on to character analysis

characterization stuff

(aka: reasons why i’m also attached to him in a vacuum)

i don’t read him as one-dimensional at all tbh

u may feel the narrative pushes “ruthless julian blackthorn” too much without delivering enough actual ruthless julian But i don’t think that’s the same as having only one dimension

from the get-go, the big question centered on julian is always “how far are you willing to go?” and the narrative pushes the stakes slowly higher and higher to continuously test julian’s “the price is always justified” mindset

he has a far more layered and realistic response to trauma than clare’s early protagonists - trauma affects every single aspect of his personality and how he conducts himself, and the effects vary depending on the circumstances

his conviction that he has to be the perfect parent to his siblings because they will fall apart if they see him show weakness??  rooted in how he feels like he’s fallen apart since losing the stable adult support he once relied upon

his willingness to hurt semi-innocent people, commit coldblooded murder, manipulate people using political leverage, allow harm to befall any stranger if it protects his family??  rooted in how he has already had to ask himself how much he’s willing to sacrifice, and how his family is his only source of stability when the world has never done Shit for him

his conviction that he has a darker heart than anyone else because he killed his possessed father, even though intellectually he knows he was saving his brother’s life??  rooted in having no means of processing this trauma and being unable to voice his feelings for fear of backlash from a deeply non-understanding society

the way he represses every single negative emotion he ever has, to the point where emma - his actual literal magic soulmate who can feel his emotions - is startled to find him hurting or angry??  once again all about how he has to be the perfect father or he’s failed completely

the way his anger is so totally disproportionate to different situations and the way his negative emotions can only come out in completely uncontrolled breaks??  all that repression baybey.  this kid has not processed a single bad feeling in five years.  every single real grievance and petty annoyance has been festering indefinitely inside him like a slowly spreading infection

julian’s arc involves him needing to get thru being his worst self to actually start to heal

as in, he has to actually learn to acknowledge his feelings, take care of himself, lean on his family, and let other people take some responsibility

he also has to learn that in his quest to be the perfect emotionally controlled authority figure, he has not actually learned how to control or deal with his emotions. like. At Fucking All. good god

the narrative setup is also about asking “how far are you willing to go?” until the answer is finally “not this far.  not this far”

and once he reaches that point, he has to reevaluate everything about how he weighs his priorities and morals and plans, etc

(i also like that emma has a perpendicular arc in which she’s always the one tempering julian and telling him “no we can’t go that far” until she’s willing to do something horrific that he absolutely won’t and HE has to stop HER. very sexy)

it’s also just really nice to have a character who’s learned to relate so well to literally every single member of his family while still having a very detached ruthless interior consciousness. i have similar feelings about how adam teaches himself to love people, but with julian it’s spelled out more explicitly in canon & it’s a more central character theme

i’m sure i’m also forgetting stuff here but this post is long enough so i’m gonna say good enough

and like i said in the tags on my other post, there are things i’d personally write differently if it were my story - plot points i’d shift, character contrasts i’d up, themes i’d explore differently, pacing i’d adjust, etc.  i have plenty of ways i could be nitpicky and editorial about the effectiveness of julian’s arc.  but i also don’t feel like writing them out at the moment & none of my critiques on effectiveness have an impact on the core appeal of his character 2 me.  he’s so fucking good

#replies #tsc #tda #julian blackthorn #meta #long post #ungodly long post. #shadowhunters #Anonymous

[blush-and-books]

For the celebration ask: canonverse, comfort, confession, flower

Also, congrats on almost or actually reaching 1.5k ❤️

Thank you so much for this ask, my darling!! I kinda went off. not healthy when i have so many of these to do but oh well. i had a very vivid idea so thank you!!!!!

So, maybe it was one of those days for Julie. 

They had become more and more few and far between since the boys came into her life, but occasionally, her brain couldn’t help it. Her mood would be soured for no reason besides the fact that she missed her mother, and sometimes it wasn’t even that -- she just wanted to cry with no purpose behind it. It was pent up emotion that needed to be let out, and anything from a sympathetic look from Flynn to Tia bringing her hot cocoa with whipped cream (Julie hates whipped cream) would set her off into a sobbing frenzy. 

The band had yet to see her like this until today. 

They could all tell that something was up since that morning -- especially Luke -- when Julie came in the garage to say goodbye before school, and could barely look any of them in the eyes. 

“Hey,” Luke pulled away a little quicker than usual, reaching up to cup her face in his hands. “You okay?”

Pathetically, she nodded. “Just tired,” her unconvincing voice reported. 

But he still saw the tears in her eyes as she grabbed her backpack and turned away. 

After that, it became his personal mission to find a way to cheer her up when she came home. He knew that she wouldn’t want him making a big deal about her mood or going out of his way to be disgustingly sweet to her. Julie Molina does not want to be coddled.

Luke can, however, make her smile. 

He toils over what he can do for her that won’t make her punch him in the face and run -- he decides, eventually, on getting her some flowers, and setting up some of her favorite music on the garage stereo, and covering the couch in blankets and pillows for her to crawl into when she gets back from school. 

(Yes, she could technically go to her bed, but if he can get her to stay in the garage then thats where he wants her.)

He even goes through the trouble of sneaking her favorite cookies from the pantry without Ray noticing the pack floating out of the house. 

Everything is pretty easy to set up except for the flowers. He wants to get her dahlias, but he wants to get her more -- like the big bouquets that have five kinds of flowers and weigh a few pounds. It isn’t until he has teleported between grocery stores and farmer’s markets that Luke realizes trying to sneakily swipe a bouquet and poof away before anyone notices will cause the kind of chaos that Julie hates. 

So he settles on finding some nice local gardens instead. 

He’s as gentle as he can be as he rips some of the foliage from the ground and different pots, finding dahlias and lilies and hydrangeas and honeysuckle and tulips. As soon as Luke returns to the Molina house, he washes them off with the hose in the back, and ties them together to make a bouquet with a stray shoelace from one of Alex’s old pairs of shoes.

Soon enough, it’s almost 3, and Julie should be home from school at any moment. 

Luke falls into a panic as he hears the car pull up -- Reggie and Alex left because they didn’t want to overwhelm her with too much attention, and Luke doesn’t know if Julie will even come by the garage if she’s been having such a bad day-

But one of the garage doors opens, and he is gripping the bouquet with an iron fist, and Julie’s hunched frame enters the space with a solemn look. 

When she notices him, and the music playing and the flowers in his hands and the comfy setup on the couch, her lip trembles. 

“He- Hey, Boss,” Luke tries to greet her, terrified that he has seriously made her day worse. “I- I- I just thought you might need to relax today, so I wanted the place to be ready  by the time you got home, and t- th- th- the flowers were just something I thought you might-”

Julie bursts into tears that she seems to have been holding in all day. She’s so distraught that her backpack is still weighing down her shoulders as she lifts her hands to wipe her tears, and Luke charges towards her with the flowers in hand to slide the straps off of her shoulders and pull her into a hug. The backpack hits the floor with a thud. 

“I’m sorry,” Luke mumbles, half-heartbroken, into her hair. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to make you smile. I didn’t mean to upset you, I’m-”

“I’m sorry,” the girl in his arms sobs into his chest. Her broken voice cracks Luke’s heart and he somehow attempts to hold her closer, feeling his own tears well as she shakes against him. “I’m sorry. It isn’t you, I’ve just felt so bad all day, and I’ve been so close to crying, and now I come home and you’re trying to make me feel better and-”

Her own cries cut her off. All Luke can think to do is softly shush her and run his right hand over her hair, as if it can help. He doesn’t know what will help -- he just knows he wants her to stop crying. 

“I’m not upset that you did this, I just- When I feel like this, any little thing, good or bad, will get me to cry. You literally could have smiled at me and I might have reacted the same way. It’s just so sweet, and sometimes I love you so much it hurts. Thank you for doing this.”

As desperately as he wants to immediately question her on the fact that she just told him she loves him so much that it hurts, he can tell now is definitely not the time to deep-dive into that. 

So he lays a kiss on the side of her head, and the soothing motions of his right hand continue. “Well, that makes two of us. I love you so much that all I thought about all day was making you happy again. I didn’t know what to do.”

Julie lets out a shaky exhale into his chest, followed by a sniffle. 

“You did everything perfectly,” she croaks as she lifts her head and slightly pulls away from him. His left arm comes in between them with the bouquet of flowers, and Julie looks down at them with a weak smile. “Where did you get these? Whose shoelace is this?”

“You have some very generous neighbors,” he vaguely explains. “And… Alex’s. So you should probably get those in a vase so I can put the shoelace back before he gets home.”

In any other situation, she would probably yell at him about the flower thing. But he only sees her smile wider as she takes them from his possession, and looks down at them like they are a precious heirloom. “Okay,” she nods, wiping her eyes. “I will.”

“And then when you get back, we can do whatever you feel like.”

Julie eyes the comfy arrangement on the couch behind him, and the pack of cookies on the coffee table.

“Like cuddle and nap and eat?”

He notices that she finally looks relieved. Not perfectly happy and sunshiney -- but like she’s getting there. To maybe even score a laugh, he darts over to the couch and leaps onto it, toppling some of the pillows. “For as long as you want, Boss! I’ll be waiting.”

After a few minutes, she’s back; speedwalking over to the couch and crawling under the blankets and into his arms like she has been programmed to do so. 

“Thank you,” she whimpers into his neck as she rests her eyes shut. The notion of being thanked is so ridiculous to him, because-- Because there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her. 

“I’d do anything for you, Julie. You know that.”

The hum he feels against his collar bone is all that he needs to know she is finally content, after a long day of searching for peace.

#jatp #jatp fanfic #juke #juke fanfic

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Just wanted to swing by and say how much I love your blog! It's rare to get such a grounded, adult perspective on ST. Even rarer for Byler. Blogs run by younger fans are often too modern in their expectations - I've seen people claim Byler will openly date or even marry. In the 80s! And there's a lot of tumblrspeak about "disaster gays" and "smol beans" that just makes me uncomfortable. Maybe I'm too old for it but it feels fetishizing and demeaning of the characters. You're much more respectful

“ I appreciate that would be a divisive thing to post, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you being the adult in the room. You know what you're talking about, and it shows. Even the way you go back and forth on how canon Byler will be matches my own feelings and is refreshingly honest, in a landscape that demands people pick a side and pretend to know it all. It's an annoying feature of Tumblr and I like that you resist it and just give your honest opinions in the moment.” I don’t know if these two Asks are from the same person, but they’re similar and came in around the same time, so I figure I’ll respond to both together.

First, thank you. I appreciate that I can bring a different perspective to the fandom and that you enjoy it.

I make no attempt to be “the adult in the room,” but I do try to be an adult in the room. I feel like everyone has a perspective to bring to the discussion. Some may be, hm, more superficial than others, but I don’t think that makes those posts any less valid, per se. Still, I can see where you’re coming from. I’m not going to condemn the younger fans, as I probably would have been somewhat similar were I still that age, but I would be lying if I said there weren’t posts that I found frustrating and/or counterproductive.

To address concerns specific to the first post, I’ll say that the attitudes of younger Byler fans reflects a modern acceptance of gay teens. I can’t say that I get on board with the terminology, but I can see some nuance behind it. Sometimes it might be minimizing the characters into tropes, but other times it might also be a sort of identification with the characters. If it helps people explore themselves or the world of LGBT identity, then I’m all for it.

At the very least, I don’t think most of those people are trying to be disrespectful. They really don’t have a good understanding of what it would be like to be gay back then, but I see that as a good thing. When I stop to think about it, I feel pretty good seeing that people are so comfortable talking about gay teens that they’ll use such casual language about it. Yeah, it does seem like they don’t take the issues seriously, but that means there’s an opportunity for learning that I hope they’ll take.

Byler may not openly date or marry in the “present” time of the show, but I find it nice that younger fans see it as normal enough to think so. I think older fans such as myself should take that as a point of contrast that tells us that even if Mike and Will would have to be together in secret, the modern climate would allow the writers to show us. Besides, there could always be a epilogue.

Regarding the second post, I think the stubbornness (for lack of a better term) of many people online comes from the fact that we tend to create our own echo chambers. We use tags and join communities to largely target an audience that we think will support us. Dissenting views become less and less common, which results in an echo chamber that serves to reinforce itself. I’m not directing that at any person in particular, rather it’s an observation of social media itself. I actually think Tumblr is a bit better with alternative ideas than, say, Twitter or Reddit.

Still, I think there’s room for improvement. There’s always room for improvement. People can get carried away with criticism or take things too personally, or there can be a combination of the two. We need to be able to disagree without it being personal. I know that I’ve personally adjusted my opinions on many Stranger Things theories based on the thoughts of others here. I thought I was right, but someone else’s take just made more sense and had more support. It didn’t mean that I was stupid, or that the other person was an ass.

I’ve been on the wrong side of it before, though. One time, for example, I pressed someone too hard for more and more support for their theories to the point that they became frustrated with me. I meant no offense, but I still had to accept that I was being a problem, even if I didn’t mean to be. I was simply unconvinced and was hoping they had more to reassure me, but I did a poor job of getting that across. I apologized, and I think we’re still cool, but it was a reminder to me that I can offend without meaning to, and that still warrants an apology and being more careful with my words.

I know some people think changing opinions is a sign of weakness, but I see it as a strength. It’s a sign of intelligence and humility to be able to acknowledge that you’re wrong about something. I started out early on feeling that Byler should be canon, but probably wouldn’t be. Over time, however, through analyzing the show and discussing it with others, I grew to be more confident in it. People were able to show me evidence that I just would not have been aware of had I not come to Tumblr. I’m not the type of person to watch and rewatch scenes to pick them apart or spot the tiniest details, but those who can do that allowed me to use my own skills to get into the psychology of the show.

I think we all have something to add to the conversation if we’re willing to listen in return. I appreciate being called an adult in the room, but I think we all could be if that just means being mindful of one’s words and how they affect others.

#stranger things #byler #online discourse