#awkward situations

Crime Alley is too quiet.

Jason doesn’t like that.

It’s the kind of quiet that means people are watching. Waiting. Holding their breath.

For him.

Or—

Jason’s grip tightens on his helmet.

—for the idiot currently standing in the middle of the street, arguing with a broken vending machine.

“…I know you have snacks in there,” the guy says, jabbing a finger at the glass. “Don’t play with me. I can hear them.”

Jason stares.

That’s him.

Danny Fenton.

The so-called “civilian.”

The one who’s been getting shot at for weeks and somehow not dying.

The one Crime Alley refuses to talk about.

The one everyone’s protecting.

The one wearing—

Jason squints.

—is that a NASA hoodie?

Jason has questions.

A lot of questions.

None of them include whatever the hell this is.

“Turn around.”

The words cut clean through the alley.

Danny freezes.

Slowly—slowly—he turns.

His eyes flick up.

Take in the helmet. The stance. The guns.

Recognition flashes.

“Oh,” Danny says.

Beat.

“…crap.”

Jason steps forward, boots heavy against pavement.

“Name.”

Danny blinks.

“Uh… Danny?”

“Last name.”

“…Fenton?”

Jason tilts his head.

Like he’s cataloguing.

Weighing.

Deciding.

“Funny,” he says flatly. “That’s not what people call you around here.”

Danny frowns.

“…What do people call me?”

Jason raises a gun.

Not firing.

Just—there.

A statement.

“Red Hood.”

Danny stares.

Then laughs.

Actually laughs.

“Okay—no. No, that’s—that’s funny. Good joke. Solid delivery. Little threatening, but—”

“I’m not joking.”

Danny stops.

The smile drops.

“…you’re serious.”

Jason doesn’t move.

“Why are you using my name.”

There’s a beat.

A long one.

Danny looks at him.

Then points at himself.

“…your name?”

Jason cocks the gun.

“Don’t play dumb.”

“I’m not playing—what are you talking about??”

“The name. The territory. The pattern.”

Jason steps closer.

“You show up when I do. You take the same fights. You protect the same people.”

Another step.

“You shoot like me.”

Danny looks deeply offended.

“Okay first of all—rude. I shoot better than you, I just don’t brag about it.”

Jason pauses.

That was not the response he expected.

“…you what.”

Danny waves a hand.

“That’s not the point! What do you mean your name?? I’ve never called myself Red Hood in my life!”

Jason goes very still.

“…you expect me to believe that.”

“Yes?? Because it’s true??”

Danny gestures wildly.

“I don’t even have a name thing! I just—exist!”

“That’s not how this works.”

“Well it should be!”

Jason lowers the gun a fraction.

Not enough to be safe.

Enough to be thinking.

“…then why are people treating you like you are.”

Danny opens his mouth.

Closes it.

“…okay, see, that’s been bothering me too.”

Jason stares.

Danny throws his hands up.

“I thought it was, like, a ghost thing! You know—wrong place, wrong time, spooky vibes, maybe I accidentally offended a cult—”

“You’re being targeted by assassins.”

“I noticed!”

“They’re not using anti-meta weapons.”

“I NOTICED THAT TOO!”

Danny points at him accusingly.

“That’s the weird part! Where’s the theme?? Where’s the consistency?? If you’re gonna try to kill me, at least commit to the aesthetic!”

Jason blinks.

Once.

“…the aesthetic.”

“Yes!”

Danny paces now, animated.

“I’m used to ghosts, okay? There’s rules. Drama. Personal vendettas. These guys? Just—bang bang, die. No personality!”

Jason is… re-evaluating.

Everything.

“…you’re telling me,” he says slowly, “you’re not Red Hood.”

“Yes!”

“And you don’t know why people think you are.”

“YES.”

“And you don’t know why you’re being targeted.”

“EXACTLY.”

Jason studies him.

Hard.

The stance.

The breathing.

The eyes.

No flinch.

No fear.

Just frustration.

“…you got shot yesterday,” Jason says.

Danny shrugs.

“Yeah, and? I got better.”

Jason’s grip tightens.

“You what.”

“I mean, not like—” Danny gestures vaguely. “—better better. Just, you know. Walked it off.”

“You walked off a bullet wound.”

“Yeah?”

“…how.”

Danny freezes.

Oh.

Oh no.

“…uh.”

Jason steps forward.

Slow.

Dangerous.

“Explain.”

Danny smiles.

Badly.

“Well! You see! Funny story—”

A shot rings out.

Both of them move.

Jason turns, firing twice—precise, controlled.

Danny—

vanishes.

Not ducks.

Not dodges.

Gone.

Jason whips back around.

Nothing.

Then—

“Behind you.”

Jason spins—

Danny’s there.

Completely fine.

No blood.

No wound.

No anything.

Jason stares.

“…you didn’t move.”

“I did.”

“You disappeared.”

Danny winces.

“…define disappeared.”

Jason raises the gun again.

Slower this time.

More careful.

More certain.

“You’re not human.”

Danny exhales.

“…okay, wow, rude.”

“Answer the question.”

Danny hesitates.

Looks at the gun.

Looks at Jason.

Then—

“…I mean,” he says carefully, “define human.”

Jason goes very, very still.

Somewhere in the distance, another gunshot echoes.

Neither of them reacts.

Because suddenly—

Relationship: John Wick x Female Reader

Fandom: John Wick

Warnings: John’s POV, attempted attack, slight force, self loathing, more fear, crying, non-con touching(not explicit), reader needs a hug, John is kind of delusional, John is depressed

Notes:

I made a really cool title banner for this story, but the gif was too big to put on here (T-T) so its just a regular boring pic. Oh well, it still looks cool. Anyway, thank you for the lovely support! Super happy people are liking this. Comments and reblogs are much appreciated :D

Also, I am aware I repeat things. I have a bad habit of doing that, and I am really trying not to. So, apologies if you see repeated stuff or info.

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Part 3

Seeing the dark grey Pit Bull did not seem to brighten John’s mood. His steps felt heavy as he walked down the spiral staircase and onto the main floor of his large, fancy home. The weight on his shoulders grew heavier as time passed. What the hell am I doing? he constantly asked himself. Yet, he didn’t seem to take any action to relieve himself of that burden.

John’s gaze landed on his slightly trembling hands, and he stared at them as if there were blood on them. Technically, there were years and years of blood on his hands from his grueling job, which he had now retired from. But now, all he could see was innocent blood. Although he hadn’t killed the woman and never would, his guilt lingered as if her blood were staining his hands. He had taken her without her consent, robbing her of her life. Her love for books, her love for talking to people—now he had her isolated, all for himself.

John reminded himself that he needed this; it was the only way for him to feel satisfied and to fill the void in his heart that Helen had left behind. Y/N was the only person who brought him peace of mind and warmth.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he tore his gaze away from his hands and looked down at his new puppy. As soon as their eyes met, the puppy seemed happy—happy for the attention, happy to see his owner. If only Y/N responded that way.

She will soon enough.

“Hey, boy.” John slowly kneels down, grimacing slightly at his sore body and aching wounds, and rests his hand on the pit bull's head to pet him. “You’re a good boy, huh?” he says, as if the dog could respond.

After giving his dog a few minutes of attention, he pushes himself back up to his feet and straightens his black vest. It has been a few hours since he arrived home, and he figures it’s best to change into something more comfortable.

Deku Enchanted by s_the_queen

Just like every other day, Izuku mumbled up a storm and about fifteen minutes later (a drastic increase from the measly three minutes he would have gotten in their first year), Katsuki turned to him and snapped. "Shut the fuck up nerd! I can barely hear myself think!"

And Izuku's jaw practically sealed itself shut. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open his mouth to speak. Thankfully, he wasn't called on during the lesson, but that didn't mean he hadn't tried to participate. He just couldn't.

—or—

Took my kid to the playground. I followed her as she wandered over to two other moms with their kids. They were chatting and obviously knew each other. I looked at one mom and recognized her. We both did kind of a double take (both wearing sunglasses, if that's relevant), and then I remembered we'd been in kiddie swimming lessons together, some months back.

I smiled and said hi and she smiled back, so I figured she recognized me, too. I said something about how I knew she looked familiar and was about to mention swimming lessons, but she walked away and continued chatting with her friend. They stood nearby (maybe 15 feet away) and ignored me completely. So I just paid attention to my kid as she played.

Eventually the other moms wandered off with their kids, but a bit later we were all in close proximity again. I didn't try to engage again and they continued chatting and ignoring me.

Now I come to you, denizens of the social media site full of people who over-analyze social situations.

So, I have a fic inspired by @icsek's Pursuit, and this scene will not leave my mind...

"An hour later found him with the company of an attractive man in his early thirties named Cody. He was the same height as Ben, but a lot more built with sleeves tight around muscled arms, and a haircut that suggested a military background. As they talked, he learned Cody was in fact still active military on leave visiting one of his seven brothers that lived nearby. Cody was exactly the type of man he preferred: attractive, intelligent, and temporary" (Pursuit, Chapter 4).

Well, Anakin's in the military, too, in my AU. In fact, Cody's finally managed to get more than one brother in the same place for once, and his honorary sister, too. Anakin's an honorary Fett because she's best friends with all of Cody's brothers, and she was dating Rex at one point (they split up because they were more like siblings than love interests- it got weird. Rex might still carry a torch for her, but he respects and cares for her far too much to keep pushing).

So imagine this- Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi goes out to a bar to find someone to hook up with for the night so that he can distract himself from the very attractive USMC Captain that is his current housemate and student and (he thinks) isn't interested in him like that. He sleeps with Cody, and thinks nothing of it... until that weekend (it may or may not be the next day), where he'd forgotten that Anakin had offhandedly told him that a few of her USNA classmates are coming over the house to catch up while they were all on leave from whatever branch they were in. He's cool with it, though, and gets to know the people that Anakin's been sharing stories about.

...And then Cody shows up, and Anakin is looking between them like "do you two know each other?" and Obi-Wan blurts out "Biblically" at the same time that Cody says "we met in a bar" and Anakin looks vaguely distressed, but is like "okay, I didn't know you were into each other, but you do you" (respectfully, of course) and walks away. Cody and Obi-Wan stand there awkwardly for a few moments, while Fives makes some jibes at them and Rex looks at Obi-Wan with a considering look.

But Anakin finds Cody later and asks him if he really wants a relationship with Ben, now that he knows it could be something other than a one-night stand. Anakin's loyal enough to her friends that she'd immediately back down, no questions asked, because that's what bro-code is. Cody, who knows Anakin well enough to realize that Anakin's into Obi-Wan too, is like "nah, I was just looking for a one-night stand, something temporary, and I was under the impression that he was, too." Because that's exactly what it was.

Afterwards, Cody finds Obi-Wan to clear the air and gives him the "hurt her and I'll kill you" speech with regards to Anakin while Anakin goes to check on the horses or something, and Obi-Wan suddenly finds himself getting the shovel talk from all the Fett brothers, and he knows that they'll follow through (He does not want to piss off the many highly trained servicemen currently occupying his house). Obi-Wan protests that Anakin's not into him, and all the Fetts just look at him with raised eyebrows and tell him that she's definitely interested- she did just ask Cody whether she should back down or not, after all- she just hasn't figured herself out enough yet to make a move, and he better wait until she does, or he will find himself regretting it. And then Anakin comes back and all the men act like nothing's happened, but she finds that Obi-Wan is throwing her furtive glances now, but she ignores it.

Hope of New Beginnings

Rating: Gen

Fandom: Tolkien’s Silmarillion

Characters: Maeglin, Mahtan, Rog

WARNINGS: none

–

Maeglin is working in the forge of Mahtan, learning his craft anew. Will the introduction of another Lord of Gondolin break this tentative peace he's made for himself?