Cheshire Jax design is peak!!

I dream to animate as good as the AU one day and to be a part of a project like that!

Happy Halloween!!

"Something feels off."

"Hm..."

"I can't put my paw on it..."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀܇ׅ𓂂ֹ⠀ׅ𝄄▓ֹׅ݀𝖼݀αֹ܉ׅ𝗅𝗅⠀ֹׅ݀♡𝗆ֹ݀܇ׅ𝖾⠀ֹׅ݀▒݀αֹׅ𝗀𝄰݀αׅ𝗂𝗇ֹ݀￮ ׅ𓈒 ֹ🖐🏻ׅ݀

IN WHICH… Johnny realizes chasing you isn’t just a game anymore, and you, a creature of riddles and vanishing acts, start lingering just a second too long to call it coincidence.

desc; johnny storm x reader, cheshire cat inspired reader, continuation, slowburn chaos, flirty tension, reality warping mischief, emotional curiosity, chaos meets something softer, teasing romance, wonderland vibes, rooftop confessions, unpredictable affection.

“You were never meant to stay, so why do you?”

word count; 791

📎 masterlist - part 1

⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔

For the first time since you appeared, you didn’t leave.

Not right away, at least.

Johnny noticed it before he said anything. He always did. The way your edges didn’t dissolve into smoke the second silence settled. The way your form stayed whole, perched beside him on the rooftop, legs swinging idly over the edge like you had nowhere else to be.

It was… new.

Suspiciously new.

“You’re staring,” you sang softly, not even looking at him.

Johnny leaned back on his hands, squinting at you. “You’re staying.”

A pause.

Then, slowly, your head tilted, that grin stretching just a little wider. “Am I?”

“You usually disappear by now,” he said. “Right about the part where things get… quiet.”

“Maybe I like quiet,” you hummed.

“Liar.”

That earned him a laugh, bright, sharp, curling around him like smoke. But it didn’t vanish with you this time. It lingered. You lingered.

Johnny felt something twist in his chest. He ignored it.

“You’re changing the rules,” he added.

You turned to him then, fully, eyes glowing faintly in the dark. “There were never rules, Johnny Storm. That’s what makes it fun.”

“Yeah?” he said, smirking a little. “Then what’s the goal?”

Your grin softened. Not gone, never gone, but… different.

“That depends,” you said quietly. “Are you trying to win?”

Johnny opened his mouth, ready with something clever, something easy, and stopped.

Because for once, you weren’t teasing.

You were watching him. Not like a game. Not like a puzzle.

Like you were trying to understand something.

“Maybe,” he said finally, voice lower than usual, “I don’t know what I’m playing for.”

That seemed to… interest you.

You shifted closer. Not vanishing. Not appearing somewhere else. Just… moving. Like a normal person would.

That alone should’ve been impossible.

“Then you’re doing it right,” you murmured.

Johnny huffed a quiet laugh. “That’s not reassuring.”

“It’s not meant to be.”

Your shoulder brushed his. Light. Accidental.

Except… it wasn’t.

Johnny stilled.

“You usually don’t do that either,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Stay still.”

You blinked at him. Once. Slowly.

Then, in a flicker of violet, you disappeared and reappeared much closer. Close enough that your knees touched his.

“I can,” you said softly.

Johnny’s breath caught, just for a second.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I’m noticing.”

Silence settled again. But it didn’t feel empty this time.

It felt… full.

You leaned back on your hands, looking up at the sky. “Do you ever get tired of burning?”

The question caught him off guard. “What?”

“Always being bright,” you clarified. “Always being seen. Always being… wanted.”

Johnny scoffed lightly. “Comes with the territory.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

He glanced at you. You weren’t smiling now. Not really.

And suddenly, this didn’t feel like a game anymore.

“…Sometimes,” he admitted.

Your eyes flickered.

“Sometimes it’s loud,” he went on. “All the time. People expect things. They see the flames before they see me.”

You were very still. Listening.

“And you?” he asked, nudging the conversation back toward you. “You ever get tired of disappearing?”

Your grin returned, but slower this time. Softer.

“I don’t disappear,” you said. “I just go where I’m not expected.”

“That sounds lonely.”

“It isn’t.”

A pause.

“…It doesn’t have to be,” Johnny said.

That made you look at him again. Really look.

Your form flickered faintly, like you weren’t sure if you wanted to stay solid or slip away into smoke.

“You’re strange,” you said.

Johnny laughed. “Pretty sure you lost the right to call anyone strange the second you showed up as a floating grin.”

You giggled at that, softer than before.

“Maybe,” you admitted. “But you’re strange in a different way.”

“Good strange or bad strange?”

You leaned closer. Slow. Deliberate. Your voice dropped into something quieter, almost thoughtful.

“…Dangerous strange.”

Johnny’s heart kicked.

“Dangerous?” he echoed. “That supposed to scare me?”

“It should.”

“Doesn’t.”

Your grin widened again, but there was something unsteady underneath it now. Something curious. Something… new.

“You’re not afraid of me at all, are you?”

Johnny shook his head. “Should I be?”

You didn’t answer right away.

Instead, you reached out, hesitant, for the first time since he’d met you, and brushed your fingers against his wrist.

Not a trick. Not a vanish. Not a tease.

Just a touch.

Warm. Real.

Johnny froze.

“You should be,” you whispered.

But you didn’t pull away.

And neither did he.

For once, there were no riddles. No disappearing acts. No laughter echoing into the night.

Just you.

Just him.

And the quiet realization that maybe this wasn’t a game anymore.

Or if it was…

Neither of you wanted it to end.

⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔