twisted wonderland one-shots (requests CLOSED! for now)

epel x male!reader

synopsis: reader is an asshole and so is epel, but the reader is also making sure epel doesn't do anything stupid on his quest to get swole. they fight and yell at each other and also flirt a lot??? enemies to lovers anyone

"Move, shortie," you say, brushing past Epel to reach another set of weights. Epel turns red at your nickname for him, also indignant at the fact that you're working with much more weight than he is—even though it's not a competition.

"Shut up, asshole!" Epel is glaring at you now, face burning at the fact that Vargas had paired the two of you together to spot each other and because you're pressing much, much more than he is.

His size and strength have always been touchy subjects which you love  to casually mention whenever you can. You love the way he gives you dirty little looks and raises his voice to intimidate you—he reminds you of a little mouse with the way he'll shout and stomp around whenever you poke some fun at him.

You set the weights on the rack above your head then lay down, lifting them up once more and lowering them until they nearly touch your chest. You're aware that Epel is doing a little more than just spotting; he's downright staring at you, watching with rapt eyes as you continue your set of reps, and when you finally swing your legs over the side of the bench, he blinks out of it, his scowl returning.

"Your turn. Try not to break something, yeah?" you say, removing your weights so Epel can put his on. You notice that he's going to press more than what you'd expected him to, and you don't know if he's showing off or not, but you decide not to comment on it.

Grumbling something to himself, he slides underneath the weight and lifts it, cautiously lowering it to his chest. You're mildly impressed by the amount of weight he's pressing...up until you realize that he can't push it off of himself. His face is slowly turning red again with how much effort he's putting into trying to lift the weight and trying to get air into his lungs again. You sigh.

"This is why we don't press more than we can handle, dumbass," you say, reaching down to help lift the weight back up to the rack.

As soon as Epel has been relieved of the weight, he whips around to face you, all pissed off again.

"I had that! I could've lifted that again!" he says. You raise an eyebrow, obviously not believing him.

"Epel, you would've crushed your neck if you'd tried to lift that. Get something lighter and we'll keep going."

"No! I'm going to try again!" he nearly shouts, and you sigh.

"Don't be stupid. All you'll do is hurt yourself. Look, if you won't listen, I can just carry you somewhere else so you don't pull some dumb shit like that again," you say. You're completely serious, but you know that it'll embarrass Epel if someone stronger than him actually carried him out  and...yeah, you're really not above that.

"Shut up and let me work out," says Epel, reaching for the weights that would absolutely wreck him again.

"Nope." Epel doesn't have time to react when you wrap an arm around his waist and lift him up, wrapping another arm around the backs of his legs to keep him in place. "I said I'd carry you somewhere else if you don't listen to me. I wasn't kidding."