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"because the ai generated gay sex cats killed my grandma, okay?"

Chapter Nine: Dark Cloud

The Ascension of Kas

Vampire/Kas!Eddie Munson x afab!Reader

summary: It’s been eight months since Vecna had won, leaving the group in despair with the aftermath. But you seem to be having it the worst with the hauntings of your boyfriend keeping you awake at night. But are the visions of Eddie only a dream, or is Vecna slowly showing that he is once again ready to finish what he’d started?based off these fanmade trailers (x) & (x)

warnings: death, blood, violence, gore, murder + other Stranger Things related themes.

words: 2.5k+ // The Ascension of Kas Masterlist // stranger things masterlist

You stared around the room looking at everyone as silence fell upon the group. Everyone was taking a moment to let the information you told sink in. The moment that Eddie left you home, the first person you called was Hopper. You didn't want to waste any more time knowing that it was limited.

"How can we trust what he told you?" Jonathan asked, being the first to speak and breaking the tense silence. "I-I mean we know that Vecna created him, or whatever, and controlling him. How can we be sure that Vecna didn't send him to you?"

"He didn't have that demonic look in his eyes," You spoke confidently, "He was Eddie again, my Eddie."

"I think whether it was Vecna or not, we should still take advantage of Eddie's information," Hopper spoke. "The only thing left is to devise a plan to take this fucker out."

"He's still weak if what we know is true," Joyce spoke "What if we took him out while he's doing the remote travel like before? It almost worked the first time. But maybe a second hit will finally take him out."

"That's not a bad idea. But how are we going get him in that state?" Nancy spoke, wrapping her arms around herself as she leaned forward.

"Eddie," You spoke up, "Vecna controls him to feed so that he pulls strength into the Hive Mind."

"What are we going to do? Stalk your boyfriend and wait for him to pick a victim?" Steve asked.

"We don't need to wait, we can give him a victim," You started and watched as a look crossed over Steve's face as the two of you stared off with one another.

"No. No, absolutely not." Steve spoke with his voice rising. "We're not doing that."

"You aren't making the choice for me, Steve." You rolled your eyes and suddenly felt hostile toward him. "I can be the bait."

The room erupted into chaos as everyone started to talk over one another. Every once voicing how they didn't want you to place yourself in danger. A feeling flared through you that you weren't sure if it was anger or a mix of fear. But to see everyone reject the idea of you drawing Eddie's attention to you.

"It's my decision! I am willing to do this. Vecna is already trying to use me for something," You spoke, causing everyone to halt and look at you. "...or...or using me to torture Eddie, either way, we already have an in."

"Vecna let you by chance that first time," Robin spoke, "Are we forgetting about Max right now in the hospital fighting for her life because of this Vecna creep?"

"We're going to be more prepared this time, also, he's weaker. Are we forgetting this part?" You exclaimed

"She has a point," Nancy spoke up, being the only one at your defense. "El can go into a sensory tank, find Vecna, and we end him. The plan we had last time we a good one, we just went in ill-prepared. But we are all together now."

"You want to feed her to that demon?" Steve spoke with anger still clear in his voice.

"I can draw him away and give enough time for El to end Vecna. Us killing him in the real world did nothing, only injured him. Vecna found a way to become stronger." You spoke, before turning your eyes to Hopper. "I can do this."

Hopper sighed deeply, moving to rub his hand over his beard. "How are sure that you want to do this?"

"Hopper!" Steve and Robin shouted at the same time, looking at him in shock.

Hopper held his hand out to them, a motion to silence their protests. But he kept his brown eyes on you, waiting for your response.

"I can do this," You spoke nodding your head, even as nerves moved through your body like electricity.

"Alright, this is what we're going to do," Hopper spoke, quickly laying out the plan. "Steve, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Y/N, you're going to head down to the Upside Down. That's where Eddie is and we're going to bring the fight to him. Y/N you draw his attention to you, but dear god, don't let him get you. We cannot lose another one of you."

You nodded your head before Hopper continued.

"Joyce, Will and Dustin will act as points of contact between the Upside Down and the rest of us." Hopper sighed "They'll also be the ones there to pull you out. That'll leave El, Mike, and I, we are going to make sure that nothing happens on El's end so that she can go under."

"So we're taking the fight to Vecna?" Dustin asked

"We're taking this son of a bitch down," Hopper nodded his head

~.~

"Are you seriously going to do this?" Steve asked, his voice harsh even in a whisper. "I mean...you're really going to use yourself as bait for Vecna."

"Steve...please..." You sighed heavily

"No," He shook his head, "I can't believe that you're going to do this. What if something goes wrong? What if you're hurt?"

"I-I don't know...I didn't think that far ahead. But I do know that we can sit back and wait for something to happen. Not if what Eddie said was true,"

"Eddie, right." Steve scoffed "We don't know if this is a trick that Vecna is using. He already tried to take you once before, h-how are we supposed to stop him if it happens again?"

Robin stepped forward, "We care about you, we're not...we can't imagine losing you."

You softened slightly and moved to the two of them. Instantly you stepped forward and wrapped your arms around your two friends, pulling them into a tight group hug. You felt both Steve and Robin's grips on you tighten the moment you stepped into their arms.

"I can't lose another friend," Steve's voice cracked slightly.

"You're not going to. I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure that doesn't happen,"

You stepped out of their arms, tears swimming in all your eyes, before giving Steve a small smile. He'd always felt like the brother you'd always wanted ever since the two of you became friends. And to see the fear in his eyes made your stomach clench for a moment.

~.~

The low rumblings of the world on the other side could be heard, the sky was red and violent more than before. Over the last few days, more of the Upside Down seemed to bleed into Hawkins. And with the multiple people coming up missing in the few days since you'd seen Eddie, something within you knew what was the cause.

You sighed heavily as you looked down to the gate that cracked through the center of City Hall. When the "earthquake" happened and the earth beneath Hawkins split, City Hall took the greatest hit with it being the center of the craters. Once again you were all strapped and geared to head down through into the Upside Down.

"Alright," Joyce spoke as she looked at the five of you, a nervous shaky breath passing through her lips. "Dustin and I will be here as the point of action between you and Hopper. The moment that something goes wrong, you need to get out of there. Understand?"

You all nodded your heads in agreement before Joyce's eyes landed on you. "And you...don't you dare do anything reckless?"

"I won't. Promise." You gave her a small smile for reassurance.

Dustin sent down the rope from before, dragging it over to a column and tying it tightly to the structure. Steve slid down first followed close behind by Nancy and Robin. Your stomach fluttered with nervous butterflies as you gripped tightly to the rope, before kicking off and sliding down. Your feet landed hard against the ground as you looked around to the Upside Down version of City Hall. The moment Jonathan followed down behind you, it was like that was the moment it finally hit you on what you were all about to do.

"Where do we think he'd be hiding?" Robin asked, double checking her rifle was loaded, "Trailer park?"

"That or Creel House, we know that's where Vecna likes to hide." You spoke up. "Maybe we should draw him away from where's he comfortable."

"You can stay downtown?" Jonathan asked

"It would give us better cover if anything went wrong, and we wouldn't have to run back here either. It would be us choosing a home base." Nancy agreed as she nodded her head.

You reached into your pocket and pulled out the switchblade that Hopper had passed off to you before you'd all left. "Let's get this over with,"

The five of you walked out of the decrepit City Hall and out into the Upside Down. There was a low and eerie noise that moved through the town. It was like a tornado was rumbling in the distance and ready to rip through everything.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked as he looked down at you, his hand gently on your shoulder. "We can turn back and think of something else."

"I'm sure," You spoke, before moving down through the streets.

Everyone took their places making sure to spread out slightly through the abandoned streets of Hawkins. You stood with Steve and Jonathan in front of you, with Nancy and Robin behind you both of them holding rifles tightly in their grasps. You clenched and unclenched your fist a few times before opening the palm up to expose it. With the blade tightly in your hand, you dragged the blade across the top of your skin. A painful hiss passed through your lips as the firey pain moved up through your arm.

A tense and eerie silence moved over the five of you as your blood dripped down your hand, through your fingers, and onto the floor beneath you.

"We sure that's gonna be enough blood to draw his attention?" Jonathan asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Or he's going to be hungry enough?" Robin followed up.

"I have a feeling this is going to be more than enough," Steve spoke, watching as your blood dropped down to the ground beneath your feet. "We don't need to go overboard with this."

Before anyone could say another word, a deep animalistic sound echoed from the woods only a few miles from downtown. That made your heart stop for a moment. Everyone's head swiveled around looking for the source of the noise but was not able to see anything. Soon enough the sound of large wings flapping through the wind was heard, and you knew immediately who it was.

"Guys," Robin whispered

"I can hear him," You whispered, closing the blade and sliding it into your back pocket. "Remember, no matter what...do not kill him. He's still Eddie."

"Even if he's ripping you to pieces?" Steve asked harshly as the sound grew closer.

"Do. Not. Hurt. Him." You spoke through clenched teeth.

A swift and fast motion catches your eyes, and when you all looked over, you saw him. Perched on the edge of the roof of the general store only a couple blocks down. His wings stretched out behind him and a part of you couldn't help but think of how beautiful he looked. His dark curls moved in the wind around his face adding to the dark beauty that he now exuded. But even with the few blocks between you, something in his stance, of how he glowered down at you all - this was no longer your Eddie.

This was the monster that Vecna had turned him into.

Everyone seemed to stiffen slightly as he shot up from the roof and landed on the streets before all of you. The dark bruise-like shadows were beneath his eyes with his eyes completely encased in darkness, the whites of his eyes gone. Your stomach churned as he growled with his fangs gleaming.

"Dustin, we've got him," Jonathan spoke into the walkie, his voice shaky with not only nerves but fear as he stared at Eddie.

"Copy that," His voice echoed through the speaker. It seemed hearing Dustin's voice caused Eddie's head to turn to the side slightly with recognition.

But just as Dustin's voice echoed out there was a calmness that settled over everything surrounding you all. It made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Before anyone could say a word, a familiar shriek echoed through the sky. It started off slow as one by one they started to appear, before soon, they filled the sky like a billowing cloud headed straight for you all.

Demobats.

"Run!" Steve screamed, everyone quickly moving, "Run!"

You broke off into a sprint and ran toward the City Hall, hearing as your friends ran around you. You weren't paying attention as your feet pounded against the concrete with your fear pushing your feet to move faster.

"YN!" Nacy screamed your name, causing you to turn over your shoulder.

Your breath halted in your throat as you watched the dark cloud made of the demobats span out over you all. You could see that you'd all split up. Jonathan and Nancy were closest to you, ducked behind a car that was left abandoned in the street and covered in vines. You could see Robin peeking out from behind a building with Steve across the street behind another.

In the middle of the bats, was Eddie, he quickly flew down closer to you. It was only a matter of seconds of Nancy calling your name before you felt his grip and you were soon lifted from the ground. A scream ripped from deep within your chest as he grabbed you.

"Y/N!" Steve's voice echoed back, fear ripping through his tone of voice. "Y/N!"

Everything happened quickly before you felt yourself being dropped to the forest floor. You screamed as you hit the forest floor, a pain shooting through your body, and tears quickly filling your eyes. You rolled for a short distance before stopping with your back hitting the side of a fallen tree. The pain moving through your body was firey and made you feel paralyzed.

You watched as Eddie landed in front of you, a sadistic smirk across his pale lips. You whimpered softly as you tried to move away, but it was like your body wasn't able to move.

"Did you really think that you were going to get away from me," Eddie spoke. But your brows pulled together tightly as you listened to his voice. Because it wasn't his voice, it was someone else's. "You don't think I don't see what you're trying to do?"

Eddie stopped right in front of you and moved to bend down in front of you.

"What a silly little game you and your friends like to play, can't realize and accept that you'd lost?"

You felt vile move up your throat as you realized who was in front of you. He might be using your boyfriend's body, but there wasn't a sign of him in front of you.

"Vecna," You whimper, causing his smirk to widen more.

So...that happened...please let me know your thoughts! I hope you're all still enjoying the story. Remember to support your fanfic writers by reblogging, liking, and commenting on their stories. It's a struggle here with Tumblr since there isn't an "algorithm" and only stories with the top notes sit on the tagged page.

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I do, in fact, have not ONE but TWO Polaroids of him tucked into my wallet.

My one and only<3

cozy up to this guy for the holidays

can you come collect your freak of a man please. He’s doing things

incendiary | 5 | bakugou x reader

pairing: Bakugou Katsuki / Fem Reader

length: 3.5k | 5th of 8 chapters

summary: When you accidentally go viral in defense of quirkless people, an extremist group puts a target on your back. Pro hero Dynamight is the last person you want watching it.

tags/warnings:  enemies to lovers, themes of discrimination (please see note in fic masterpost), canon typical violence, eventual smut, aged up characters

series masterlist

Almost overnight, things began to change.

Bakugou had apparently decided that ignoring you was off the table now, and he was there the next morning when you awoke, audibly puttering around the kitchen, making his usual ruckus of kitchenware sounds. You listened to him work, slowly blinking awake, trying not to think too hard about the events of last night.

He came back into the living room only a few minutes later, bearing two plates of western-style breakfast, piled high with fluffy mounds of scrambled eggs and perfectly golden potatoes. He shoved a plate in front of you like he’d already sensed that you were awake, then retreated back to the kitchen. He returned with two mugs of hot coffee that smelled heavenly–almost certainly fair trade and freshly ground.

He put one in front of you, then dropped down to his place on the opposite side of the coffee table, watching you scrabble out of the blankets with something like a smirk pressing at the corner of his mouth, as if he knew his food was the fire under your feet.

“New rule, brat,” he pronounced as you finally freed yourself, flinging yourself down at the table and seizing your utensils.

You couldn’t bring yourself to stop now that you were already in motion, so you fit an entire forkful of potato in your mouth, then looked at him questioningly.

The smirk on his mouth deepened. “Your little stunt yesterday attracted every quirk supremacist in a twenty mile radius to this neighborhood, so you’re gonna have to keep away from the windows until they fuck off.”

You inhaled wrong around your potato, the steam catching in your lungs, and you coughed a little. “What? Quirk supremacists—here?”

Bakugou took a slow sip of his coffee, and you tried not to notice the way his bare bicep flexed as he brought the mug to his mouth. He really needed to invest in shirts with sleeves. “Your little cashier friend from the convenience store apparently leaked video onto YouTube already. The attack’s made a couple of the morning news shows.”

Your stomach churned, and you let your fork clatter back to your plate. “They’ve found us?”

Bakugou’s scarlet gaze tracked your expression over the top of his mug. “Not yet. But people know you’re in the general area now. Genius Office is running ID on all the weirdos showing up around here to find out who they are and what the risk is. But until they know what we’re dealing with, you’re to keep away from the windows. And you’re not going outside again.”

You didn’t think you wanted to go outside again anyway, considering the events of last night. Not for a long while, anyway.

You would never tell him, but it was kind of a relief to have Bakugou in here with you, now, understanding the kinds of people you were up against. But that so sucked, not even being able to poke your nose out a window after weeks of already being cooped up.

You nodded resignedly. You took a sip of your own coffee, then had to suppress a shiver of delight. Definitely freshly ground, and definitely fancy.

“They haven’t seen Matsui, have they?” You asked.

Bakugou shook his head. His hair looked a little messier than yesterday, piecey with gel and slightly flattened on the side he must have slept on. “No. Nothing on Matsui yet.”

You picked up your fork again and went back to your breakfast, at least reassured by that fact.

“Any estimate on how much longer this is gonna go on for?” You asked.

Bakugou scrubbed a hand through that thick golden hair. You watched, strangely enraptured, as it sprang right back up again in wild tufts. “Not much if you keep luring them straight to where you are, princess.”

You frowned into your egg. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Bakugou’s socked foot poked into yours. “It’s a safehouse for a reason. There were ground rules for a reason.”

You scowled. “Yeah yeah, I get it now. Excuse me for never having been the target of a national witch hunt before.”

Bakugou smiled, a wicked, blade-sharp thing. He leaned across the table. “So you’re gonna be good for me now, brat?”

Your fork clattered against your plate, spattering egg everywhere. You jumped in surprise, registering belatedly that you’d dropped it.

“Good for—? Good—?” you spluttered.

If anything, Bakugou’s smile went wider. “Something wrong, princess?” His eyes were practically glowing as he spoke.

What the hell was he doing? It was one thing to stop giving you the cold shoulder and act friendlier in light of everything that had happened yesterday. It was one thing to make you dinner and breakfast and not loom over you while radiating disdain from every pore. But it was entirely another to do—to do—whatever the fuck that was!

You grasped your fork with suddenly numb fingers, pointedly looking away from him. “No.” You shoveled a large potato into your mouth as if to punctuate that statement.

Bakugou just watched you, too knowingly for your taste. “Uh huh,” he said.

You finished your meal at lightspeed, desperate to get away from Bakugou and whatever that had been just now. Bakugou ate more sedately, seeming like he was mulling something over between delicate bites of his breakfast. You did not care to find out what that was.

You brought your dish to the sink when you’d finished and washed it speedily, then beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom, standing in the shower for a long time. Then you crept back to your room and managed a little bit of homework after you’d dressed, though you were a little too unfocused for your liking.

When you checked your phone you found that messages had started to pile up again, with a litany of texts from Megumi crowning the stack.

MEGUMI ✨🍹🌴💕 girl you almost died are you okay 8:58 PM those douchebags omg 8:58 PM please tell me you’re okay i’m really worried about you 9:06 PM

And then, a couple hours later, in typical fashion:

MEGUMI ✨🍹🌴💕 that rescue was so hot though 12:09 AM the way dynamight was all rough with them and then all gentle with you 12:09 AM it’s okay if you’re dead i would have passed away too 12:10 AM

You reassured her that you were fine, then paused, staring at her later messages, mystified. What did she mean, the rescue had been so hot though?

As far as you remembered, Bakugou had come slamming in there, metaphorical guns blazing, and he’d hauled you out of there much the same way. You didn’t think there had been anything particularly sexy about getting your quirkless ass almost handed to you.

Curiosity prickling in your veins, you googled around for the video Bakugou had mentioned, wondering how it had looked so different to someone on the outside. You found an hours-old upload on YouTube entitled dynamight destroys 7-eleven shopfront to save internet legend drunk girl—a title you thought a little unfair considering you had not been drunk this time, even though that was apparently your internet moniker now.

The clip was shot from a vantage point above the register, and started with the back of your head as the two men from yesterday turned the corner and almost immediately began crowding you towards the register. You saw your own face in profile as you peered back at the cashier for help—his own face conveniently hidden from the video’s perspective—and then turned back and said something muted to the two men. The smaller one stepped towards you—you saw yourself take an alarmed step back.

And then, faster than you had remembered—Bakguou was shooting into the store, the glass windows shattering under the blow from the door as he threw it open.

He was just as much a presence on screen as he was in person, all violence and savage grace. You watched as he grabbed the smaller man’s hand and twisted it at a brutal angle, then produced quirk suppressors from where they had been belted under one pant leg, just above his boot. You hadn’t even noticed it, then, hadn’t even thought to question where the quirk suppressor had come from—but he’d been wearing sweatpants yesterday, a pair not unlike the ones he’d been wearing this morning at breakfast.

But he clearly was packing some kind of emergency supply—and you wondered if he was wearing it now, even clanking around in the kitchen.

Then you watched as Bakugou approached you, saw yourself stumble as he grabbed your shirt to pull you out. To your surprise, you could see sudden concern twisting his features, clear as day, and you watched with surprise as he leaned down to look you in the face, hands going under your elbows to support you.

You remembered that—but it had all been so fast, and the sight of his hands, so gentle on you after he’d been so rough with the two men, made something in your stomach shift strangely. He really did seem to be looking after your safety, like an actual certified, probably-not-quirkist pro hero. You watched as Bakugou said something to you, and pulled you up into his arms. You instantly cringed at how truly princess-like you looked—having to be escorted out of the store under someone else’s power.

Embarrassingly, the comments section under the clip seemed particularly focused on that aspect as well.

2:11 ok but the way his arms flexed when he lifted her????? hello?????? jghgl26 2 hours ago Reply [Thumbs Up] 600 [Thumbs Down]

how he’s gonna carry me over the threshold after our wedding dynadaddy’s girl 5 hours ago Reply [Thumbs Up] 1.1k [Thumbs Down]

THE LIFT!!!!! HOLY SHIT!!! HOW EASY IT WAS FOR HIM?? am i gregnant? am i pegnate?? how to know if pregonate????? Rika Abe 2 hours ago Reply [Thumbs Up] 1.7k [Thumbs Down]

A hunted energy creeped over you as you read through them, your skin tingling. It suddenly took everything you had in you to click out of the video and not rewind it to the part where Bakugou had first hefted you into his arms. It had not been that appealing. And there was absolutely no reason you needed to witness the events again, no reason at all.

Bakugou chose that exact moment to rap on your door, and you accidentally flung your phone across the room in surprise, scrambling upright on your bed.

“Uh—come in,” you said, trying to not sound flustered.

Bakugou had clearly showered too as his hair was still damp, and moisture still glittered in the divots of his arm muscles. You clamped down very tightly on the echo of pegnate?? Am i gregnant???? that was suddenly the only sound in your entire brain.

No no no no.

You would not let Megumi and some internet perverts get the best of you.

“Oi, you just gonna sit here all day?” Bakugou demanded.

You frowned up at him. “I have been doing homework, thank you very much,” you said defensively.

Bakugou made a show of surveying your bed which was pointedly empty of any textbooks or notepads. “Yeah, looks like you’re real hard at work, princess.”

“Well I was,” you said, but you could already tell Bakugou had made up his mind.

“It’s time to talk about your second new rule,” he pronounced smugly.

“Another one?” You asked, heart sinking.

That razor sharp smile cut into Bakugou’s mouth again. “Yeah. You’re learning how to cook actual fucking food.”

You paused and stared at him, mystified. “What,” you asked flatly.

“I told you I was sick of watching you eat garbage,” he said. You could almost taste the disdain, dripping off of him like butter off of the baked potato he had so despised. “I can’t keep you alive if you die of fucking scurvy.”

“I eat fruit!” You bit back defensively. “And potatoes are good for treating scurvy!”

Bakugou wasn’t listening, though. Before you knew what was happening, he’d already fisted his hand in the back of your shirt and was hauling you to your feet. You felt like a kitten being scruffed by its intimidatingly well-muscled mother.

“Bakugou–what the hell—?”

But you were already being herded into the kitchen, where Bakugou had apparently preemptively arranged the instruments of your torture—several knives, a grater, a variety of pots, a rainbow of vegetables, an apple, some chicken, and a knob of ginger. Behind it all you spotted several other types of herbs and spices, some flour, and chicken stock.

“You’re gonna make curry, princess,” he informed you imperiously.

Curry! Okay now curry you could kind of do. You peered around for the sauce mix, poking through the ingredients on the counter.

Bakugou watched you, scarlet eyes tracking you curiously. “What,” he asked, though it was barely phrased like a question.

“Where’s the packet?” you asked, not finding it among the things he’d laid out.

Two blonde eyebrows went up, and you swore you could almost see a vein pop in Bakugou’s forehead. He grabbed the counter beside your hip, leaning back in, and you definitely did not notice the definition in his bicep as he did so.

“Packet?” He demanded, in the tones of someone who’d just witnessed their entire family get massacred. “Packet?”

You watched his handsome face work through what had to be the five stages of grief. “If I fucking ever hear about a packet again I’ll sell you to Matsui myself,” he said.

He reached over and slammed a kitchen scale down in front of you, followed by several of the ingredients. “Now pay attention, brat, I’m not showing you this twice.”

You knew better than to argue.

Under Bakugou’s stern direction, a curry roux—a term you would not have been able to supply before he’d said it—came together quickly. He stationed you at the stove, stirring everything together for almost twenty minutes while he chopped vegetables in front of you, a rainbow of carrots, potatoes, onions, and some leftover asparagus and peppers he’d dug out of the fridge. Then he made you grate an apple and some ginger into a paste while he sliced the chicken in expert strokes, narrating everything in his gruff tones.

It was strangely hypnotic, watching Bakugou’s hands work. You’d not paid much attention before, but he had long fingers, almost elegant but for the various scars and calluses that littered his skin, evidence of his career pressed into his fair flesh. You watched his fingers bunch at the end of the knife, the swift, decisive sweep of his palm moving ingredients back and forth on the cutting board.

Your skin prickled with the memory of those hands on you in the hallway after you’d passed out, the image of how gently those hands had handled you in the convenience store, and you shook off the thought, the back of your neck weirdly warm.

They were just hands. And they were Bakugou’s hands, for that matter. Make one wrong move on the end of those hands and you’d get cooked, faster than the curry you were working on now.

Eventually Bakugou divided everything into two bowls, and shepherded you over to the coffee table.

“That’s real curry, princess,” he informed you haughtily as you sat down, blowing on the golden sauce. It shimmered under the living room lighting, curls of steam rising off of it in tempting twists.

If this was real curry, you never wanted to eat anything else. As with dinner and breakfast, it was perfect—expertly seasoned, everything evenly sliced and cooked just right. You hated how much you liked it, suppressing a pleased groan as you shoveled down spoonfuls.

“I hate you for how good this is,” you admitted to him.

A wicked smirk cut the corners of Bakugou’s mouth, and the sight of it raised a strange heat to your face. You shifted uncomfortably.

Whatever. It was probably just the spice in the curry.

After dinner you helped Bakugou wash up, and you were sent for a loop by how easy it was. There was still some kind of… tension… that you couldn’t quite put your finger on, and it wasn’t like he’d done a complete one-eighty in your esteem.

But knowing now that he hadn’t despised you for your quirklessness… hadn’t even actually despised you at all, really. It seemed like it had somehow flipped a switch inside of you. You’d told him that you’d needed more time to think on it, to come to terms with the things that he’d told you about himself. But really, with the air cleared so definitively, well—

You kind of thought maybe Bakugou wasn’t horrible after all.

You still wanted to bite him, actually–that hadn’t gone away–but you definitely didn’t think he was horrible.

The thought unnerved you.

When you were done you retreated to your room, still mulling that idea over, bemused at the idea that Bakugou wasn’t actually bad if you weren’t looking at him through the lens of your quirk supremacist glasses.

You managed a little bit more homework and cleaned up your notes from one of your previous lectures, shooting off a couple questions to one of your TAs. And that’s when you finally noticed it, an email from earlier this afternoon, sitting primly at the top of your inbox. It read: New Day Japan - Interview Request

You opened the email, interest piqued by the mention of one of the country’s most famous morning programs. What it said inside floored you.

Miss L/N, My name is Honda Ichika; I’m a producer here at New Day Japan. We’re airing a segment on the two quirkless anti-discrimination bills currently circulating in the National Diet, and we plan to cover your story in relation. We would love to interview as part of this segment. Specifically, we are hoping you can comment on: - Cultural barriers quirkless civilians face - Your specific experiences with respect to the events portrayed in your viral video and subsequent run-in last evening, as a microcosm of those cultural barriers, and -Your feelings on the efforts of the assembly to pass these anti-discrimination bills. The interview won’t exceed 15 minutes and will take place Thursday morning in our studio in Nakano (address to be provided upon acceptance). While I can’t offer questions ahead of time, I promise the questions will fall within the outline I mentioned above. The story, once completed, will run Friday morning. Please let us know by Sunday what your interest is. Cordially, Honda Ichika

You gaped, stunned by the idea that anyone wanted to interview you about anything.

New Day Japan was a hugely important morning news program that had been running for something like the last fifty years, and it was a massive platform for anyone looking to speak to the average citizen.

You didn’t know that you in particular had anything worthy of that massive platform, and you were squirreled away in a safehouse besides, having just almost eaten it at the hands of two random quirkist assholes just yesterday. So it was probably not a great idea to draw any more attention to yourself, and it wasn’t like you had some huge message you wanted to share at the cost of your safety.

So you closed your laptop instead of answering, pulling up twitter on your phone for something to distract you.

And yet, even as you scrolled, your mind was helplessly drawn back to the email like a magnet, catching on key points. A segment on the two quirkless anti-discrimination bills, the cultural barriers quirkless civilians face….

Please let us know by Sunday what your interest is.

You had two days to either put it out of your mind, or figure out why it was piquing your interest so much. You could give it more thought in the morning.

You wondered absently, as you drifted off to sleep, what Bakugou would make of it.

A green dress

MILES QUARITCH X READER

(Implied age gap, quaritch just being whipped, his team laughing at him for it)

The first time quaritch saw you, was at a banquet, held for hugh ranking military officials in their honor.

You were younger than most of the honored officials here, wearing a short little green dress, one that hugged your waist snugly, and little heels that did absolutely nothing other than exxentuate how much smaller you were than all the giant military men and women here. Not covered in tattoos, not almost 7 feet tall, not muscular like you worked out every day. It intrugued him, usually only the same type of people showed up to these events, people that were either required to go, or people that wanted to come to talk about themselves. You certainly werent at all like him.

You didnt seem like either of those people, you didnt necessarily look unhappy to be here, unlike those who were glued to their phones with a scowl, you were sitting with a pleasent smile, tucked in a corner of the room. But you also werent exactly social, it was obvious you knew nobody here, unlike those who were flaunting their medals and drinking like there was no tommorow, you just sat there in your little green dress and tiny heels, staring at the people around. On the occassion a man or a woman would try to get you to dance with them, but you would politely decline.

It confused him honestly, a pretty girl like you coming to an event like this, and not wanting to go home with someone. Even though quaritch was engaged in a conversation with his team, he couldnt peel his eyes off of you, couldnt stop trying to figure you out, figure out why you were. Figure out why he felt like he had to figure you out. It was so strange, he would try to come up and talk to you, puffing his chest out and standing up as tall as he could, but the second he would come even close, those eyes of yours, that dress, made him feel like a silly llittle schoolboy, and he would turn around.

How silly was that? Colonol miles quaritch, a man who had come back to earth for a few weeks for a series of parties in his honor , the guy who traveled space and invaded planets with a cold heart, the strongest fifty-something here was too shy to talk to a girl.

By the time he had finally mustered up the courage to go up to your table, your bag wasnt on the seat anymore, your chair was pushed in nice and neat, you had left before he even got the chance to say a word to you. The teasing from his team was endless. Lynel went as far as to call quaritch a little baby boy,

Lynel also happened to get punched in the face that night, by some coincidence.

----

The next time he saw you, you were wearing the same exact little green dress, and the same exact little black heels, this time you had your hair tied back though, but you were just as beautiful as last time. You still acted the same, sitting alone fiddling with the napkin at your table, watching and listening to the people around, refusing the occasional request to dance. Still catching the complete attention of the one and only Miles Quaritch.

Except this time, he wasnt going to chicken out. The second he saw you, he completely walked away from lynel and his squad, they all wolf whistled and hooted as he made his way along. Doing the same thing as last time, puffing out his chest and flexing, appearing as strong as he could. Miles quaritch was an attractive man, and he no doubt knew it, but still, the thought of you looking at him and seeing a weak old man, that made him feel sick. He wouldnt let you think that. You couldn’t.

He pulled out the chair next to you, settling himself down, leaning back and spreading his legs, towering over you even as he sat down. You payed no acknowledgement, seemingly lost in your own train of thought, your hands fiddled with the napkin, folding and pulling at the threads. Your eyes were fixed on one of the walls in the bright room, wide, staring. It was honestly adorable, you were completely zoned out, completely oblivious.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing at an event like this?” he spoke, placing his elbows on the table and setting a hand on top of the napkin, his words snapped you out of your trance. And you locked eyes with his, the colonels squad was hooting and screaming like madmen in the corner, he paid absolutely no attention to them. You stared at him for a moment, or more so stared up at him, pulling your hands away from the napkin, and unintentionally making his hand fall in your lap. Your dress was velvet, he hadnt realized.

“Hm?” you let out, staring at him with those eyes of yours. God you were so gorgeous, up close it was even better. And you looked even cuter with that confused look on your face, your voice was high pitched, laced with a little bit of that far away look you had just moments ago.

“I mean i would hate to assume, but you don't look like the type of crowd i would see here. Not many of us look like… you. “ he drawled in his southern accent, you tensed when he didnt make any move to take his hand out of your lap. Quaritch had to hold back the string of complements he wanted to give to you, not wanting to freak you out more, as you already looked like a deer in headlights.

“Oh- i-im not in the military. Im an intern- uh- in science. I’m just trying to get my masters right now- um. My boss wanted me to come in case he needed a ride home.” you spluttered, now understanding his question. Yes, quaritch scared you, being tall, wise, big, strong, heartless in a way that no man here was, obviously he was intimidating, especially since youd known how he felt about science. Safe to say colonel miles quaritch was not someone who went by the books. You, on the other hand, were the exact opposite. It wasnt your fault you could barely string out a sentence to the man, he was scary, even to some of the highest military officials. Let alone a little intern to a little company.

“A scientist huh? Whaddya study?” he finally retracted his hand, and you relaxed, only for him to give you a stare that pierced into the center of your heart, a gaze that confused you, made you feel strange. He let a smirk splay across his face, understanding what he was doing to you, all of his confidence came back to him when he saw the way you couldnt meet his gaze, instead looking down at your hands, and fiddling your thumbs.

“Oh- I work in software engineering- I help design technology that you guys use up there- like those masks.” You replied in a hushed tone, still staring down into your lap. He perked an eyebrow at you, still letting that smirk of his burn itself in your brain. The room around seemed to paying much more attention to the two of you than their own conversations, the only little scientist in the room having a conversation with miles quaritch.

“Well isnt that adorable? You must like it-” he continued in that teasing tone that very clearly made your cheeks heat up. You really couldnt tell if you wanted him to keep talking or if you wanted him to go away. It was decided for you though, when your boss, wearing a fitted black suit covered in medals and awards he won, placed his hand on your shoulder and squeezed a little too hard for quaritches liking, you let out a squeak in suprise.

“Time to leave, im getting tired. Get up and take me home.” The short little man kept his hand on your shoulder, and stared at quaritch, who was scowling at him for interrupting him. Nobody did that, he was especially annoyed that it was when he was talking to you, in fact if it werent for you here he wouldve punched the guy in the face. The man paid no respect to you, ordering you around like a little servant, and you just let him, bless your heart, it made quaritch want to stab him more than hes ever wanted to stab anybody.

“Yes sir. Uhm- bye.” you finally met the giant mans eyes for a split second, a vulnerable, almost scared look laced throughout, it was obvious, the man with his hand on your shoulder scared you, and you couldnt do anything about it.

“Bye sweetheart, see ya next time” And with a threatening stare sent to your boss from quaritch, you picked up your little green handbag, and pushed in your chair, walking away at your bosses tail. Your little heels clicked against the floor, and quaritch watched as your green dress disappeared in the crowd of people.

Fuck.

---

The last time quaritch saw you on earth, you were still wearing that same little green dress he had grown to look out for, yet again at another party, the final one he would be attending before returning to pandora. Except this time, he showed up early, and he wasnt letting you slip away, not like the other times.

Immediately upon seeing you, fiddling with the napkin again, a habit that he’d figured you’d picked up out of boredom, he took no time in walking away from lyle, cutting their conversation short, and pulling up a chair again, like last time. But he had a plan now, and he knew it wouldnt fail, it couldn’t.

“Theres my favorite software engineer. I don't think I introduced myself last time, it's Quaritch, Colonel Miles Quaritch.”

“Oh. Yeah, I know.” you softly spoke, placing the napkin down this time and actually meeting his gaze, you were short, and curt. You werent like this last time he spoke to you, you didnt give him a pleasant smile, You werent open and sweet like last time. You looked more like a scared child than a scientist with a phd. You had this look in your eyes, basically telling him to go away, like you would get in trouble if he didnt.

“Oh? I must be pretty popular for a girl like you to know about me. Got a reputation right?” he teased, letting that predator-like smile of his spread across his face, the man stared down at you waiting for you to reply. You just sat there, curling in upon yourself, trying to sink into the seat and disappear. He didnt know what was wrong, but you clearly were almost scared of speaking to him, and he didnt like it, not one bit.

“Uhm- sir. I’m not supposed to talk to you, please go away.” you looked back into your hands, further bending your posture, which only made you look smaller than you were, at least compared to how he saw you. THe more he looked at you, the more he noticed, That little green dress of yours was starting to wear down, the emerald green fading to grey, the shoulders stretching out slightly. Your words brought a frown across his already- naturally angry face.

“And why not?” Those words alone had your breath hitching, a sense of mild stress humming at the back of your brain, you could feel your bossses eyes on you.

“I-i don't know. My boss just told me not to.” You sent a glance to the fat man standing in a tight fitting black suit, the man was standing there, staring right back, a threatening glare set in his features. So thats what it was. Quaritch was already a violent man, being the one leading expiditions against the natives of pandora. And he certainly didnt think he could further his violence, but oh boy did he want to now.

“Well then, i’ll make this quick. I want you to work for me, cupcake.” He spoke, louder than the rest of the room, intentionally of course, he wasnt intending on making a scene at first. But now he wanted your boss to hear, he wanted your boss to know that he was the man you were leaving him for.

“Uh- what?” you barely spluttered out, eyes locked on your boss, or soon to be old boss. The thought alone of working for such a man scared you, sure, you didnt like your boss, not one bit, but he wasnt all bad, he sometimes let you go home for lunch, or if he didnt want his moring coffee he would let you have it. You didnt know colonel miles quaritch, yes, you knew of him, and what you knew of him wasnt good, he was cruel, killed so many, broken so much equipment. Payed no reguard for the world around him.

But.. he also seemed so nice. He asked you about your work, complimented you and what you did, called you pretty. So much nicer than your own boss had ever been. Would it really be all that bad? You already worked in a government job, but you were more of an assistant than a scientist, if you actually went to pandora you would be able to see so much more, do so much more. You could gain a title, an actual place.

“You wouldnt be an assistant anymore- and we sure got more science up there than youll ever see down here. Ill treat ya real nice, don't worry. So whaddya say?” he spoke, the country drawl behind his voice coming out, one that made you nervous. He placed a hand on your shoulder, forcing you to look up at him, you stayed silent, doing nothing but staring at him with those wide eyes of yours.

“Cmon, Ill pay you triple whatever he is, and all travel and housing is free. Ill even buy you a new little dress. “ His hand squeezed gently, and you couldnt help but think that the rumors about this man werent all true, he seemed so soft, so gentle. Not yelling at you, paying respect to your work, treating you like a person, not an object. Although the things he made you feel were strange, and confusing, what could be the worst that could happen.

Well, for starters, this could be a trick and you could die up there, or be abused, or working as a scientist for the military on another planet wouldnt turn out exactly how you wanted it to. You knew you should say no, say that you wanted to stay down here on earth, where it's safe, where it's quiet, where youre just an assistant, you knew you shouldnt, you knew you should say no, you knew that this was a bad idea. You HAD to say no, you have to.

“O-okay, Ill have to turn in my two weeks though- so i cant go very soon- and I have a cat so that might-”

“Don't worry darlin, ill get it all sorted out for you, just oack up all your pretty little things and ill do the rest.”

---

Quaritches sqad had known what quaritch felt about you, since the first time hed seen you and his eyes didnt leave the little woman in the little green dress and little black heels, none of them wouldve ever assumed a soft girl like you, a scientist no less, to be his type. But still, there you were, shyly staring at the man. None of them had ever seen quaritch look like he did right now, look like he actually wanted something, like he had to work for it.

Oh my god he looked like a lost puppy.

They all cackled at the man, giggling like toddlers when he came back all red like a little schoolboy. The same man that yelled at them day and night folding for some little intern? Unheard of. They were beyond shocked when they saw you again, and yet again, their boss approached you, shock turned to laughter and more drinks soon, and by the end of the night, so many theories had been made on you.

Maybe you were the daughter of someone important

Maybe you were rich

Maybe quaritch liked younger women

Maybe you were just sweet

You certainly looked the type

No matter how hard they tried to find the exact reason quaritch liked a soft little thing like you, they couldn’t place it. It suprised them to no end when he told them how he was taking you out on a date the last day he was staying on earth. Him? Taking a girl out? Unheard of. What’s next, a pretty little picnic with butterflies and rainbows?

Nope.

Something even more shocking.

“Team, meet our newest addition, y/n. We’re gonna treat her real nice right? “ the man had a hand placed on your shoulder in a protective stance, daring any single one of them to say anything that would make you uncomfortable. The team connected eyes, holding back small snickers at how possessive the colonel was acting. He didn’t even seem to realize it either.

“Ehm- yes. Hi, I’m y/n” oh god- everything about you was just the exact opposite of quaritch, soft, timid, almost spacy. Lynel locked eyes with his boss for a few seconds, a mischievous smirk splayed across his face.

“Of course we will, after all that trouble little miles over here had to go through to get you- wouldn’t want to-“ he begun teasing, but was promptly met with a boot to the face. The team giggled at Lynel gargling under quaritch foot, but he payed no mind. Placing a hand around your waist and sending a glare back to the group, all who were smirking and smiling like he’d said something stupid, quaritch begun walking, you in tow.

“Now, let me show you your new room,

Cupcake”

———————————————————————

Please leave any comment at all on what you think, just seeing those comments makes me happy, and don’t think I don’t read each one individually.

The way I know quaritch is literally a mass murderer but I don’t even care- like I didn’t know I had these issues until I started having these issues.

Not requested, just noticed a lack of quaritch content that appealed to me ( aka not smut) and wanted to make it a reality. Stilll, thank you so much for reading!

Anyway, have a great day! Bye!

navi

pt 1

"okay, okay, that's enough!"

you hissed in pain as roxto dabbed the paste of herbs on the red gash across your arm.

"i'm hardly even halfway, (name)." he deadpanned, pulling your arm closer to his body to resume his work. the medicine stung with every press, almost making you regret chasing after such a big fish past the reef.

"maybe if you had waited for aonung to catch up to you, you wouldn't be sitting here and whining like a baby."

"and let it get away? no thanks! you should thank me for the great feast we're going to have!" you gleamed, muttering a silent prayer to eywa as thanks for what she has provided.

"still, it was dangerous, you should've waited for the others." roxto emphasized, wrapping the fabric covering over your wound. you were competitive, you'd rather take the glory all for yourself than for aonung to have his name all over the achievement as the chief's son.

"but thank you," he added as he tapped your arm to signal he was finished. you smiled, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden.

"thank you, too, roxto."

the journey back to your marui was met with many greetings from the metkayina, many of them congratulating you on your big feat and asking if your arm was okay. you had almost reached there when tsireya stopped you, lo'ak trailing behind her.

"(name)!" she held your hands in hers, squealing in excitement.

"i heard what you did, that's so cool!" she gushed, your cheeks flushing at her compliment. more flooded out of her mouth before she quickly left in excitement to prepare for the night, leaving lo'ak with you.

"hey," he greeted, his arms slinking around your waist to pull you close. you nodded in response. your hands were on his chest, feeling his heartbeat underneath.

"what's 'reya talking about?"

reya.

your mood instantly dropped.

here we go again.

"got a big catch on my own," you mumbled. you slowly tried to wriggle out of his grasp in hopes of him not noticing your discomfort.

he laughed, "you?"

you frowned at his retort. it felt like he wouldn't believe you could pull off such a thing.

"yes. me. i've done it before, why would it be so unbelievable this time?"

his face contorted in surprise, he definitely wasn't expecting the tone of your voice.

"you did?"

"i told you.. the day we first hung out as a couple."

he didn't remember. he hardly remembered anything about you anyway. or was it that he didn't care to listen? his mind always seemed to wander off somewhere when you'd talk to him. maybe it was that, he was just occupied that day.

"oh, my bad."

that's all he ever says.

you rolled your eyes before muttering some lame excuse so you could leave. you've had it with everything. you didn't know what to feel anymore. a part of you felt like you deserved better, but another part of you kept making excuses for him to keep the picture-perfect image of your relationship intact.

at eclipse, you were sitting around the fire with your friends, and some other metkayina, as you enjoyed your catch for the day, getting flustered at exaggerated compliments from roxto.

"it's almost like eywa blessed specifically this fish! i promise you!"

"that's enough, roxto. you're embarrassing." you groaned before kicking some sand in his direction to shut him up.

"oh no need to feel so shy, (name) the great hunter, we all know of your great hunting feats." he teased. he elbowed you as a laugh escaped his lips at the sight of you covering your face.

however, it got you thinking.

great hunting feats.

was he exaggerating? or did he really know about your hunting stories? you don't even recall mentioning anything. it must've been during a fleeting moment when you two were exchanging small talk. roxto seemed to know a lot of things about you. both small and big, and you hardly remember telling him about them.

it was then that you realized, it wasn't only roxto who was like that. your friends remembered things about you, too. tsireya knows you like to talk to the ilu as you feed them, so she gives you space in order to make you feel comfortable to do so. neteyam knows which parts of the meat you like more, and therefore tries to save those parts for you. aonung knows what time of day you like to hunt, and when you absolutely hate going, which becomes evident when he only invites you around those times.

all your friends paid great attention to things you said, and you did the same for them, too. it's what made your bond with everyone so strong.

if your friends could do that, why couldn't lo'ak?

it's hours later when you see him again in the comfort of your marui. his eyes are casted downwards, mouth twisted in a frown.

"hey, why didn't you sit with me?" he broke the silence, voice barely above a whisper.

"didn't think you'd care." you replied indifferently, moving past him to stretch a little and get yourself some water.

"didn't think i'd— what is wrong with you? i always care."

he seemed angry, but you knew he was more upset than that. lo'ak would never get boiling mad with you. maybe that was another way he had of showing he loved you. but you'd rather he treat you like everyone else than how he'd treat you now. you'd rather he be more joyous like he was with others, more expressive, instead of treating you like his pastime.

"sure doesn't feel like it, lo'ak."

"what are you trying to say?"

"i'm saying i'm—" you hesitated.

do i really want this?

you're not so sure now. the thoughts always crept back, claiming you were overreacting and lo'ak was just like that. you just had to deal with it. but as you thought back to today, with how roxto cared for your wound, and your friends congratulated you, listened to you, while lo'ak didn't even ask about your injury, you decided you didn't want this anymore.

"i'm done with this. i'm done with us."

maybe you misunderstood. maybe you overlooked things. maybe he did love you. but it just wasn't in the way you wished he did.