was: ronaldrx | read PINNED, please

Cooper Abbott (Trap, 2024)

Doctor Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man 2, 2004)

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN characters

EWAN MCGREGOR characters

Roman Sionis/Black Mask (mostly the 2020 Birds of Prey version; but also the Red Hood and the Outlaws comic version; and the Batwoman season 2 version)

Markiplier EGOS

(movie!) Michael Afton

PAUL DANO characters

PEDRO PASCAL characters

9-1-1 (Lone Star)

Law and Order(: Special Victims Unit)

Our Flag Means Death

SLASHERS/Horror Characters

Star Wars

The Simpsons

What We Do in the Shadows (TV and Movie)

Sickrent Ship (Trainspotting/T2)

ZsaszMask Ship (Birds of Prey)

Throughout his life, Michael has always stayed in the shadows, not to be seen or heard. His father had made sure that Michael understood this early on. He's quickly gotten used to it. And in a way, he found comfort in it. Less pressure to fit in, less likely to be rejected, less expectations from others. After all, there was nothing to expect or miss when you didn't even know about its existence, when it was completely invisible to you.

It only ever hurt him when he noticed that this wasn't put on Vanessa, that she was allowed to be… well, to be. She was allowed to be seen and heard. She was allowed to make friends. Once, at least, when they were kids. Then, that incident happened, and Vanessa didn't have any friends afterwards, either. It was just them. But he could tell that she never really liked him. Was it because he resembled their father so much? Was it because he didn't try to fight him like she did? Was it that he actually admired their father, despite the pain he caused them?

When their father died, and Vanessa had been long gone, Michael was all alone for the first time in his life. Truly and utterly alone. Something inside of him broke that day, never to be fixed. He tried so hard to be okay with it, to enjoy being alone, to relish in being free. But that was the thing. He wasn't free. He was still in the shadows. Even in death, his father's shadow engulfed him in such a way that he couldn't catch the slightest glimpse of light. There was no enjoyment to finally understanding that he would never escape this Hell.

Michael has gotten so used to it all, to the shadows, the cold flames of his personal Hell, that he was almost blinded by the sudden light that struck him deeply when he met you.

Ever since he's gotten to know you, been allowed close to you, and to love you, Michael had to actively convince himself of his new reality. Because it was real. Because—after all this time—he found a way out of the darkness. Because you didn't look through him. Because you saw him, accepted him, loved him.

A tender kiss to his cheek brought Michael back to reality, where he was in his apartment, sitting on his bed with you beside him. He was probably staring at you again, while he's been lost in thought.

Smiling at you, Michael's hand found yours, fingers intertwined.

With your free hand, you closed the book you've been reading and put it on the bedside table. "Where did you run off to just now?" You tilted your head in curiosity.

"Thinking about how lucky I am to have you," Michael responded earnestly, feeling his face heat up with it. Being honest like that never got easier for him, he realised. It always felt like he was bearing his entire soul to you, and he was afraid that one day you might see a part of it that would turn you away from him forever.

A crooked, but incredibly warm, smile sat on your face upon hearing his words, "Yeah? What about it makes you feel lucky?"

"Everything," Michael began, but paused for a moment, chuckling softly when you playfully rolled your eyes at him, "You are like the sun itself. You make me feel warm—especially when you smile like you just did. You…" he sighed, struggling with the words that have been burning on his tongue for a while, "You let light into my world. I've always been surrounded by darkness. Until I met you. And suddenly there was light, too. Every time I look at you, that light only seems to become brighter."

Your eyes became wider and wider with each of his words. When he was done, you lowered your head, letting out a surprised little laugh that sounded suspiciously wet. Michael's heart sank. Shouldn't he have told you this? Was this the part of his soul that would scare you away, not by being too full of gruesome scars, but simply by being too much?

"Nobody has ever said something nice like that about me…" you whispered, then, after a few long moments of silence sat heavily between you and him. Looking back up at Michael, your smile was small and wobbly, but just as bright as before, if not brighter.

The tightness in Michael's chest unravelled, letting his heart soar, as warmth spread throughout. He pulled you close to him, gently nudging you to straddle his lap. His arms wrapped around your upper body. He leaned in to kiss your lips, just a light peck.

"I find it hard to believe that I'm the first one to see you like this, to experience the warm light you emit," Michael told you with a small, gentle smile of his own, "You've really never been told this before?"

With your hands resting on Michael's shoulders, you kneaded them gently, focusing your gaze on that, rather than his face. You shook your head slightly, "I wish," you scoffed softly, "but no. People have usually told me the exact opposite. Or, at the very least, insinuated that they couldn't love me fully because I was 'missing' something. You know. Not being a 'real' man and all that. According to them."

"Oh."

A wry chuckle sounded from you, "Yeah, oh."

It wasn't often that you talked about your experience as a trans person with him. In the beginning, you explained some things to him, ignorant as he had been, but once he had understood the basics, it didn't really come up anymore. He knew that you struggled with gender dysphoria, of course. He knew that intimately. But he didn't know, or understand, how your identity and the issues you have dealt with throughout your life have impacted your relationships with others.

"You know I don't see you as less of a real man than any other, right?" Michael wondered, feeling you knead his shoulders more intensely in response.

You nodded jerkily, "I know that," you stopped yourself, holding completely still, before letting your hands travel up Michael's shoulders to his neck and resting them on his cheeks, "I mean, I know that now. I tried to believe it before, but… I always expected you to eventually grow tired of me, or to realise that you're missing something in me, or that I'm simply not enough for you after all, or that—"

Quickly interrupting and silencing your onslaught of doubts, Michael pressed his lips firmly against yours, kissing you again and again, until you eventually reciprocated. He could feel your body relax against his, melting into him, making him smile into the kiss.

"You're perfect just the way you are," Michael murmured against your lips, kissing you between each sentence, "In my eyes, you're the most handsome man I've ever seen. There's so much to you that most people will never even know. And I consider myself lucky to be the one person, who gets to see and know you, all of you. I love your body. I love your mind. I love your heart, your soul," he paused, swallowing thickly, "I love you."

Neither of you have said that out loud to each other, until then.

Michael heard your breath stutter. He could feel your body tense under his hands, relaxing soon after when you let out a deep sigh, further melting into him.

"I love you, too," you whispered, "Thank you. For saying all those nice things. I don't know what to say now," you chuckled softly.

"You don't have to say anything," Michael told you with another kiss. He held you close, breathing in your scent, feeling your body against his, grounding him in reality, reminding him that he truly has gotten this lucky with you, and he would never stop reminding you of it, as well.