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cuffmeinblack · 1 year

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Tingles and tantrums

Part 3 of Out of bounds - ao3 link for all parts

Garreth Weasley x f!reader

Tags: explicit | fluff | smut | jealousy | blowjobs | unprotected sex 5.5k words Summary: Your second date doesn't go quite as planned, but Garreth insists you make the most of it past curfew. A/n: Have a little jealousy from various angles. Could probably still be read standalone without the other chapters.

Being Garreth Weasley’s girlfriend was about as gloriously easy as you’d expected. Once he’d overcome the awkwardness of not quite knowing what he was doing (and acknowledging that neither did you), your relationship settled back to comfortable familiarity with a whole host of added benefits.

You’d already discovered his romantic inclinations when he twirled you around Hogsmeade and brought you to a heavenly meadow at sunset, but Garreth was both thoughtful and attentive. He wasn’t one for bestowing expensive gifts, instead choosing to smother you with affection and his absolutely undivided attention, which you eagerly lapped up.

As you readied yourself for the day, tucking your shirt into your skirt and forgoing your robe altogether, your mind drifted back to the previous afternoon’s stolen kisses in between lessons. Whilst you spent most of your days together, each night you retreated to your separate dormitories with a slight hint of regret. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to cuddle up to Garreth in his bed—in fact you’d love nothing more—but you preferred not to submit yourself to the school’s penchant for idle gossip. At least, not yet.

Heaving your bag onto the bed, you gazed inside; it was laden with supplies, textbooks galore, half of which you didn’t need for the day’s lessons. As you started pulling them out, something caught your eye—brightly coloured and now unfortunately broken. You stared at the lollipop at the bottom of your bag, barely able to contain your giggle. How had you forgotten about this? Granted, the end of your date with Garreth had been eventful to say the least, but the tongue-tingling lollipop certainly warranted some attention.

Bag lighter and lollipop stowed, you bounded down the stairs into the common room and caught sight of Garreth’s flowing copper locks leaning against the back of a sofa—he had a scrap of parchment in his hand and was deep in thought. His mind didn’t ever appear to slow, constantly turning over ideas even before breakfast.

“Garreth,” you nudged his ribs, breaking his trance before immediately pulling him by his tie to meet your lips.

The arm holding the paper immediately dropped to his side, taken off guard by your enthusiastic kiss for a moment before he melted, a gentle hum into your mouth and fingers sliding around your waist. He held you tightly, soft lips brushing yours with the taste of mint on his tongue and a delicious scent of lavender in his hair. It had been a long ten hours without him.

“Hello, darling,” he said with a grin as you came up for air.

The term of endearment had so far never failed to make your heart flutter.

“Good morning,” you smiled back. “I have something in my bag…”

Your news was cut short by the arrival of Leander, who greeted you both with a tired yawn. Your fellow Gryffindor and friend was probably one of the only people who had failed to predict yours and Garreth’s involvement—when Garreth had told him about your dinnertime escapades to retrieve his notes, he’d stared open-mouthed and disbelieving at the pair of you. To say he was less than enthusiastic about the idea would be an understatement, and he frequently lamented being what he termed to be a ‘third wheel’.

In this case, he was absolutely right.

“Morning, Leander. Not sleep well?” you asked.

“No, as a matter of fact. Might need you to brew me some dreamless sleep,” he directed towards Garreth.

“Of course, I can whip you up a batch later,” he said, before catching your tiny frown. “Erm, well, maybe tomorrow. We have a date planned.”

“Oh don’t bother, I’ll buy one from J. Pippin’s,” he huffed, heading towards the portrait hole.

You and Garreth looked at each other, exchanging confused looks and shrugs before following his towering form into the corridor. Leander barely fit through the portrait hole, his coiffed hair brushing the stone wall above him. There was little point trying to keep up with his long strides, so instead you fell into a comfortable walk with your hand clasped in Garreth's.

“Remember on our first date, I bought a lollipop?” you asked in hushed tones.

“From Honeydukes? I think so…”

“Well, it’s of the…,” you leaned in to whisper in his ear, “...tongue-tingling variety.”

“Oh? Oh, I see,” Garreth said, finally catching up on your lewd thoughts as you wiggled your eyebrows suggestively.

He broke into a grin, absolutely giddy at the thought already.

“When did you plan to, erm…"

“We have a free period later…," you suggested, already wondering how you'd be getting through the morning's Herbology lesson.

You'd never seen Garreth so happy as he practically skipped the rest of the way to breakfast, annoying Leander to no end by dropping subtle hints about what a great day it would be, that he was positively tingling with excitement. You tried hard to stifle your laughs as your classmates looked at the two of you in bafflement, eventually deciding they simply didn't want to know.

After a hearty breakfast, you headed off to the greenhouses for your first lesson of the day. Double Herbology was usually enjoyable, having time to chat whilst getting your hands muddy unless you were unfortunately repotting the shrivelled little Mandrakes. Today involved tending to the tentacular, who were in dire need of a prune. You were so involved in not getting injured that you barely registered the appearance of a certain Slytherin at your side.

"You ought to buy a new pair of gloves, those are looking a little tatty," he muttered in your ear.

"There's nothing wrong with these," you replied.

"Where's your guard dog? Or puppy, rather," he continued, joining you with your pruning with a furtive look at Professor Garlick.

"If you mean Garreth, he's just gone to get some new secateurs from the other greenhouse."

"I don't like it."

You have him a disparaging look, almost losing the grip you had on the branch. That would have been unfortunate. You decided to feign ignorance, though you knew he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut about Garreth; it was a miracle he'd managed to hold off on this lecture for a whole week. Probably due to Ominis' influence.

"And why ever not? He's my best friend."

Sebastian simply shrugged; though you knew exactly why he didn't like the situation, you didn't want to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging his interest in you. You weren't able to go down that rabbit hole, particularly when you were grappling with a venomous plant hell-bent on making you its next meal. By the time Garreth returned, his usually jovial expression was painfully neutral as he joined you at the bench, casting a cursory glance over at Sebastian before getting stuck into the plant.

Whilst they'd never been bosom buddies, Sebastian and Garreth had always been civil, sometimes even bordering on friendly, so the sudden coldness between the pair was uncomfortable. Your eyes flicked between them and your task with growing annoyance as the small talk became stilted; you were thankful when Professor Garlick called an end to the class, shoving your tools away and leaving without a word to either of them.

Garreth caught up to you in the corridor, concern etched on his gorgeous, stupid freckled face, pulling you to the side with a firm grip on your arm.

"Are you cross with me?" he asked, glittering green eyes searching yours.

"I am, because you're both making this really bloody awkward."

"I'm sorry."

Your peripheral vision caught a chestnut head as Sebastian walked past with his usual swagger, looking back over his shoulder with a satisfied smirk. Arse. Garreth noticed too, his eyebrows knitting into a frown.

"Was he the one you…you know. Before me?"

With a deep sigh, you crossed your arms defensively, not enjoying having this conversation in the middle of the corridor.

"Yes, he was."

"Right…," he nodded.

You weren't sure who he'd have preferred it to be; perhaps anyone but Sebastian. He looked crestfallen, the expression churning your stomach as you gripped his limp hand.

"Garreth…"

"Why him? Why not me?"

"We were just friends, and you never said anything…and you said you were with someone before me, too."

"Yes, but it wasn't someone you know."

The thought had bothered you, but it wasn't worth thinking about. Knowing that it was likely some pretty girl from the village where his family lived made it somehow easier to bear.

"Are we seriously arguing about this? It was only a couple of times, and…"

"A couple?"

You rolled your eyes, which was the wrong thing to do as Garreth's body tensed; a rare indication that he was irritated. Wrapping your arms around his waist, you rested your head on his shoulder, embracing him tightly with a sigh. Garreth wasn't the stubborn sort, encircling your body in his arms and pulling you tightly against him. The movement and noise around you seemed to melt away as you swayed gently on the spot, a wordless apology between you.

"You've nothing to worry about, I promise," you said, kissing the tip of his nose.

"No, I believe you, I'm sorry. I never thought I'd be the jealous type, to be honest," he replied bashfully.

"Want to skip lunch?"

"Skip…lunch?"

The thought of missing out on food wasn't the least bit desirable, but his lips turned up into a mischievous grin as he caught your flirtatious gaze. You had every intention of showing him exactly why he shouldn't be jealous of your Slytherin friend, dragging him into the nearest unoccupied classroom with great urgency.

Garreth looked like Christmas had come early as he promptly pinned you against the wall, moaning into a deep kiss that left you breathless. His hands gripped your waist as yours flew to his hair, tugging and mussing as they went. He no longer tasted of the mint toothpaste, instead of the little snack of chocolate he'd pulled from his bag during Herbology. The sweet kisses and his wandering hands had you limp and pliable in his arms, and the soft moan of his name that escaped you caused an eager twitch inside his trousers.

Leaning back against the wall to get a better view of his flushed face, you ground your hips into his straining erection, revelling in the low growl and intense stare it elicited.

"Pass me my bag."

Garreth did as he was asked, immediately rifling through the contents to find the broken lollipop. Ripping open the wrapper, there was still a sizeable chunk left on the stick, which you promptly put into your mouth with a teasing swipe of your tongue.

"Fuck," Garreth muttered, freeing himself from his trousers as you continued to suck and lick the lollipop, never taking your eyes off of him.

You guided him against the wall and made him watch the display, sure to add your own moans as your hand wrapped around his thick cock as you finished the sweet. The tingle on your tongue was intense; a cold sort of prickling which reminded you of the popping candy you’d had on your very first date. The thought made you smile as you dropped to your knees, running the flat of your tongue all the way up his shaft.

"Oh sh-shit…that feels fucking good. Incredible. Oh-," Garreth stuttered.

The sugary sweet didn't entirely mask his taste, and the first drop of his salty precum had you moaning against his head as you enveloped him completely. Your scalp burned as his fingers wrapped in your hair, taking your time to swirl your tingling tongue around the tip. Fuck lunch, you could happily gorge yourself on his cock all day.

You'd barely started a rhythm before Garreth's thighs started to shake beneath your spare hand, and you ran your fingers over the firm muscle to grip his arse. Giving him a cheeky squeeze, you took his length into your mouth deeper and deeper until his stuttering turned to a whimper. His cock twitched and you pulled back, letting his release flood your mouth with a satisfied groan. Pulses of cum came thick and fast until your lips and chin were coated from the overspill, and you gulped every last drop down dutifully, gazing up at him with adoring eyes.

Garreth was breathless, pink and appeared to have lost his speech as he gasped for air. His fingers loosened on your hair as he met your eyes, using his thumb to wipe the stray dribbles from your lips, pushing them back into your mouth with a smirk. He was so fucking delicious, and you vowed to buy an armful of those lollipops the next time you were in Hogsmeade.

Skipping lunch had been a terrible idea. By the time dinner came around and you’d grown sick of the various snacks you both had stashed, you were the first into the great hall and sat fidgeting at the table as you waited for the food to appear. The meal could have been your most hated dish (liver and onions) and you still would have wolfed it down. Thankfully, the house elves had prepared a delicious game pie with mountains of roasted vegetables and syrup pudding for dessert.

You sat side by side in silence as you ate, almost choking on a large piece of meat with the enthusiasm of your eating. Leander and Natty had settled opposite you, engaged in conversation before they both caught sight of the gluttonous display.

“You both…alright there?” Leander asked with a quirked eyebrow as he scooped vegetables onto his own plate.

Garreth was already going back for seconds, mouth still stuffed and nodding at your friend. Natty was somewhere between amused and disgusted but that didn’t seem to deter him.

“We missed lunch. Absolutely starving,” you replied.

“Oh yes, why was that exactly?” Natty asked with a knowing glint in her eye.

“No reason, we er…wanted to catch up on some work.”

Leander huffed at the obvious lie but didn’t press you. You hoped he’d soon get used to the idea of you and Garreth being together, for all of your sakes. Perhaps a day out with your various friends was in order to show that you were, in fact, capable of holding a friendship at the same time as your romantic involvement with Garreth. For now, though, you had a date to attend; once Garreth had stopped eating. His plate was almost licked clean by the time he’d finished with a great sigh.

“You’d better not fall asleep on me,” you teased, looking at his contented expression and lazy eyes.

“No chance,” he grinned.

“You still haven’t told me what we’re doing. Is it inside or outside the castle?”

“Inside, in a way,” he said cryptically.

Inside, but…not entirely? A balcony, perhaps? The answer became obvious once you crossed the bridge to the astronomy wing, taking the stairs two at a time up the tallest tower. Up and up you went; the climb took a while, but was well worth it as you emerged onto the main observation deck and gazed over the railings. The sun had almost finished setting, still casting an orange glow over the steep hills that surrounded the castle. Soon the sky would turn an inky black and with the absence of cloud cover you’d be able to see the stars clearly.

Garreth had stashed a basket in the storage area below, and had assured you that there were no classes due and a caterwauling charm cast to frighten off anyone looking for a spot of nighttime stargazing. Opening the magically-expanded basket, you gasped in awe at the cavernous space inside the unassuming wicker container, filled with all kinds of things one might need on a date. Blankets, cushions, snacks, an entire china tea set, a sofa…he’d thought of everything to make it comfortable up here so you could enjoy the fantastic view to its fullest.

You chose to forgo the furniture, instead pulling out various chintzy cushions and scattering them across the wooden floorboards on the protruding circular platform. Garreth flopped down onto them with a shake of a blanket, beckoning you into his arms. Warmth filled your chest as you snuggled up to him, watching the last of the sunset in silence until the moon and stars turned the light a colder hue.

“It’s beautiful tonight,” you murmured, shuffling your head against his shoulder.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I do. And no, I never did anything like this with anybody else.”

Garreth gave you an apologetic smile as you looked up at him, eyes twinkling in the dim glow. The way he kissed you now was much different than the feverish battle of tongues you’d exchanged in the empty classroom earlier. The brush of his lips was tender, restrained. They still set your pulse racing and core aching, but your heart fluttered along with them. Was it too soon to say those three little words?

You stashed the thought for another time—there would be plenty, with any luck. If the moments were even half as wonderful as this, you’d consider yourself the luckiest person alive. His warm hands were busy caressing your cheek as you pulled apart, his lips placing sweet kisses on your forehead before meeting your eyes.

“I wish we’d done this years ago,” he said, all joking aside and not a hint of insincerity in his voice.

“Me too, but we’re here now.”

There was no shortage of topics of conversation, though you knew practically everything about Garreth already. You talked about your families and their reactions when they found out about your involvement; likely it would be similar to Natty and Nellie’s responses of ‘finally’. Garreth pulled out the tea set when the temperature began to dip, boiling the water right in the teapot with a flick of his wand before pouring two cups of the herbal brew. Slight citrusy hints filled your mouth and you sighed happily as you sipped your tea and gazed at the stars, not wondering which constellations were visible but simply enjoying their beauty.

The perfect evening unfortunately had to come to an end as curfew approached, and the thought of returning to your own bed weighed heavily on your mind. Garreth seemed to notice the shift in your mood and gave you a questioning look and warm smile as he packed away the cushions.

“I…it would be nice to fall asleep next to you,” you admitted.

“Oh! It would. I mean, I’d love that, too. You’re more than welcome to, I just didn’t know if you were comfortable with everyone knowing that…”

“I think they can probably guess.”

“You’re probably right,” he chuckled. “I would love you to sleep with me tonight. In my bed, I mean…er, no pressure.”

It was your turn to laugh at his bashfulness, planting a kiss on his cheek.

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

Garreth grinned, gripping your hand, leading you down the stairs and stashing the basket hurriedly behind a large crate of old telescopes. Despite his assurances, he was clearly eager to continue the evening in private, in the comfort of his bed, curtains tightly drawn. Down the stairs you flew, giggling in response to his excitable bounding. This was really happening. Again. Except this time you'd be tucked up under his duvet rather than lain across grass.

You were practically giddy, until your fun was cut short by a familiar cackle. Peeves flew over your head, clearly gleeful that he'd found some students to harrass.

"It's nearly curfew, you two. Will you make it back to Gryffindor tower? Hah! I don't think so!" he said in a sing-song voice.

"Bugger off, Peeves. We're on our way back now," Garreth said, gripping your hand.

The poltergeist tutted, swooping through a wall and out of sight without another word. You should have been relieved, but the look on Garreth's face mirrored your own—suspicion. Peeves wasn't one to give up so easily. Picking up the pace, you skipped down the corridor, pushing through doors with unnecessary force. You had a few minutes to spare, and would be back in the common room just in time—or so you thought.

The whump to the back of your head destroyed those thoughts on impact, and the cold, wet, slimy sensation that covered your skull had you gasping for air from sheer shock. Garreth's exclamation beside you told you he'd had the same experience, and your hands pulled apart to tend to the mess on your heads.

“Peeves!” you shouted down the corridor after the mischievous poltergeist as Garreth shushed you. “Fuck…”

Whatever the menace had been carrying was utterly foul. Stinking, oozing, sticky sap that coated your hair and slid down the back of your neck like a cold flobberworm. Garreth hadn’t gotten off any lighter, his gorgeous copper locks now flattened under the weight of the greyish sludge.

“I think I might be sick from the smell if I don’t get this off,” he muttered, freckled face screwed up in a grimace.

Your wand was out before he’d finished speaking, uttering simple vanishing and cleaning spells. The result was less than desirable—whether because of your lack of aptitude of domestic charms or because the ooze was somehow resistant to magic, you weren’t sure, but the residue left on your skin was still incredibly unpleasant and pungent.

“We’re going to need a bath, I think,” you sighed.

“Maybe we can take one together,” Garreth said with a cheeky smile.

“That sounds…uncomfortable.”

“Not if we use the prefect’s bathroom.”

You quirked an eyebrow at him as your hands stilled from rubbing at your skin, wondering if he’d really thought through his suggestion. The twinkle in his eye he often got when he was excited about something was back, his sticky hand finding yours and lacing your fingers together with an uncomfortable squelch. He wasted no time in whisking you off towards the faculty tower with long strides that had you skipping to keep up with.

“Don’t you need a password to get in there…?” you asked breathlessly as you approached the corridor.

“Hm? Oh, it’s been the same for ages. I overheard my aunt tell Nellie at the beginning of the year and I’ve been using it ever since.”

“What? Well you kept that quiet.”

“I can’t give away all my secrets, can I?” he grinned.

“Well, I think you just did.”

“You’re my girlfriend now; there are certain perks.”

There certainly were, and as he muttered the password and the magic lock sprung open, you added this one to your ever-growing list.

Both you and Garreth had no time or inclination to be prefects, or even be considered for the role. In fact, it was safe to say that you were the very last people the faculty would have entrusted such roles to, but as your eyes fell upon the opulent bathroom you felt a pang of jealousy—perhaps there was something to be said for it after all.

You’d never seen anything quite like it, and weren’t sure it could be classified as a bathroom at all. The bath looked more like a swimming pool; at least ten metres long and lined with gold taps in the shape of various fish. Lucky that there were such an array of taps, since the bath would surely take hours to fill otherwise.

Garreth was already busy turning them on with a flick of his wand, jets of water shooting out in different colours with bubbles and floral scents filling the room. Your mouth was still agape, and you blinked, turning to lock the door before discarding your wand.

His hands were all over you before it hit the tile, grabbing needily at your flesh as your clothes were discarded. You'd never been naked in front of Garreth before, and your nerves settled uncomfortably in the pit of your stomach. You needn't have worried, as with every item of clothing that slid off your skin, Garreth's lustful moans intensified, his fingertips digging almost painfully into your behind. He himself didn't disappoint, and the glimpses you'd occasionally caught of his midriff were just a hint to the firm and freckled torso that lay beneath his shirt.

Garreth was broad and strong—he had the look of a man who could easily pick you up and throw you about, which he decided to demonstrate by doing just that. Grabbing both cheeks, he pulled you up to his waist, your legs falling around him to hang on as your yelp of shock echoed through the bathroom. Garreth grinned as he carried you over to the water, taking great care when descending the steps until you were waist-high in the hot, fragrant water.

The taps turned off as the water reached the top of the great sunken pit, a smart bit of magic presumably added to stop the bath from overflowing and flooding the whole room. The only sound remaining was the gentle swish of water and the wet smack of your lips as you kissed Garreth, still clinging to his body. You didn't want to move; the gentle undulation of the water as it settled and weightlessness you felt was so incredibly relaxing that you lost yourself completely in the moment.

"Mmm…is that butterbeer?" Garreth said after a while, sniffing the air.

It was. The sweet unidentified scent of the bath bubbles reminded you of the beverage and you nodded and grinned as Garreth tested a lick of the foam in his fingers.

"Okay, it doesn't taste like it."

"Disappointing. Maybe you can concoct a bubble bath that does."

The cogs in his brain started whirring, and you knew you had to distract him before he became too engrossed in the idea. Unwrapping yourself from his waist, you floated in the water for a few seconds, looking around at the sides of the bathtub. The stairs which you'd been carried down looked like a good place to perch, so you pulled Garreth gently by the hand to settle against the tiled wall, slinging his arm behind you.

"You're…so beautiful, you know," Garreth whispered as your head fell against his shoulder. "I've always thought so."

Your heart pounded in your chest as you tilted your head to look up at him, sliding a hand to cup his cheek.

"I thought the same about you."

All those days, weeks, months being merely friends when you could have been so much more. Those three little words were on the tip of your tongue once more as you gazed into his eyes, wet hair falling onto his forehead to frame them. You thought he might be thinking the same thing, as his lips parted and a gentle 'I…' left his mouth, but he seemed to reconsider as you had done, instead pressing those lips to yours to convey the message wordlessly.

A fire erupted in your heart, desire coursing through your veins as the hot water suddenly became stifling. You were pulled into Garreth's lap with those strong hands in a swift movement sided by the water, landing in his lap with a soft moan. The sound was captured by his mouth, exchanged with his own in mingled pleasure as his erection grew against your backside.

"Garreth…"

"Mmm?" he answered distractedly, palming your breasts as his mouth nibbled at the skin on your neck.

Your head spun with the heat and sensory overload, the gentle candlelight and dim glow of the enchanted lanterns dimming in your vision as everything shifted out of focus.

"It's… too hot in here."

Garreth's attack on your neck ceased as he looked at you; deciding that it would be better to get you out of the water, he lifted you again onto the side of the bath. The cool air bit your skin in the best way, instantly reinvigorating you, as did the mouth that found itself between your parted legs.

"Oh, fuck, Garreth!"

He was still mostly submerged in the water, only his shoulders and head visible, as well as the hands that held your thighs with a vice-like grip. Moans of ecstasy filled the room and echoed off the tiles as his tongue swiped and swirled, sucked and thoroughly feasted on you. He looked to be enjoying himself as much as you had been whilst encasing his cock earlier that day; humming against your skin as he teased your swollen clit with expert ease.

Your arms were weak from keeping your bodyweight up, but you endured the stinging of your muscles to watch Garreth. A flick of his eyes up at you through those stray copper strands and you were gone.

"I'm going to…oh shit, Garreth, I'm coming."

His fingers plunged inside your now soaking wet entrance as your walls contracted around them, gripping his digits with every mind-altering pulse that ripped through your body. It wasn't a moan that left your mouth, it was an animalistic growl. More. Garreth smiled against your folds as you wriggled away, your overly sensitive clit burning from his touch. More, please. You begged with your eyes, and he answered.

Finally you saw his form in its full glory, bathed in the dim glow you could see every chiseled muscle; his wide shoulders and strong arms, toned chest with the slight softness around his middle which made you want to bite his flesh, worshipping every inch of his delectable body. And oh, his swollen and touch-starved cock stood proudly against his abdomen, drawing forth a pool of saliva in your mouth.

"I don't think I can wait until we get back to the dormitory," he whispered, pressing himself between your legs.

"Me neither," you replied, removing your sore hands from the tile and wrapping them around his neck.

"You look so good wet," he muttered, almost entranced as his eyes scanned your naked body as he lined himself up with your soaking entrance.

"Mmmh, oh please…"

You didn't care if you sounded needy, because you were. Garreth moaned against your neck as he pushed the tip of his cock inside you, stretching you slowly. Every further inch was blissful; how you'd missed feeling so full. You drew your legs up fully, heels to your behind to take him as deep as you could. Incredible. Fantastic. Amazing. Words came to your mind but you had no ability to say them, instead settling for whimpered moans as Garreth began thrusting into you with a perfect, steady rhythm.

"Godric have mercy, you feel fucking incredible," Garreth moaned before resuming the gentle pressure just below your ear.

He'd leave a mark, but you didn't care. All the better, in fact; why shouldn't he claim you as his? You already were, completely and utterly. Your fingers found his damp hair, tugging gently in rhythm to the grind of his hips as he started hitting inside you just that little bit harder, then a little bit faster. That steady rhythm was fast dissolving into slightly erratic thrusts, pressing so deep you almost screamed.

"That's it, fucking scream my name."

"Oh, shit, Garreth!"

You were clenching around his cock in anticipation of your orgasm, the pool of tension in your core close to exploding as your legs shook violently.

"Please tell me…you're on the potion now?" Garreth rasped breathlessly.

"I am," you gasped in reply. "Gods, I want you to come inside me."

Garreth growled, his eyes turning darker as they were consumed with lust, fucking you mercilessly as you shouted his name over and over again. You didn't care if every prefect in the school came bursting in the bathroom, as long as he didn't stop.

"F-fuck...I'm going to fill you up until you're dripping my cum down your thighs…"

"Garreth…"

You reached your climax with a wail, fingernails digging into the back of his neck and shuddering breaths that couldn't seem to catch a single gulp of the chilly air. Garreth's cock twitched and his own orgasm exploded, forceful ejaculation shooting his load inside you in thick ropes.

His thrusts slowed to a gentle grinding of his hips as the pleasure ebbed away and you were left panting and messier than when you'd entered the bathroom. Garreth broke into a grin as your eyes met, and you were just thankful that he didn't apologise again, returning the smile with one of your own.

"That was incredible," you sighed, pushing damp strands of hair off of your face.

"It was. Bloody amazing," he grinned.

"I'd better get back in the bath to clean off," you said, kissing the tip of his nose.

You took your time washing, exchanging sweet kisses and tending to each other's hair until your fingers wrinkled like prunes. There was the tiny matter of sneaking back to Gryffindor tower way after curfew to contend with, but even a detention for being out of bounds could taint what had been the most perfect night, sticky ooze and all.

#weasley wednesday #garreth weasley #garreth weasley x reader #garreth weasley smut #garreth weasley fanfiction

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thesillyexpresser · 3 months

Text

Put some of my favorite arts I made through an AI filter

Let’s see what hell spawn it generated

(FYI first image is my art, second is the AI’s)

^ Not that bad at first, but the more you look at it, the worse it gets like why is the shirt half button up half sweater and fusing with her skin. And who sneezed buttons on her jacket like I’ll find you

^ What- am I a 5 year old??? I look like that one Anya face like what. Plus why am I 5% grandma bag like what’s that on my hand. Where did the bag motif come from like what???

^ Hell naw the algorithm forced poor AI Turo out of the closet and transitioned into a Love Live idol. GRRR AI ART HAS THE WOKE AGENDA GRRR THE ROBOTS ARE TURNING THE ROBOT MEN INTO LOLIS GRRR 😡😡😡😡 /j

^ This isn’t even Turo what the hell this is hell spawn I would’ve taken literally anything else please get Toilet Bound Hanako Kun’s and Timothée Wonka’s aborted love child rotting in Limbo away from me like who is this this is literally the next analog horror craze like he would sell organs

^ Not that bad but all the colors got switchadoodled like this is NOT Rei from Evengelion this is 🫧✨Ray🫧✨ as Shinji’s Sperm Cell starring as a special guest in Cells at Work (plus why is there a random bone protruding on her back like why)

^ Why she got a tag on her face and arm ain’t no one wanting to buy her and her Temu lookin fit😭😭😭 What’s that sucker punched bug looking dog under her arm like what someone get the slipper kill it

^ This ain’t Professor Iroko from Tales of Tanorio this is Professor “I Erm Ackshully” from Tales of “That’s erm fackshully incorrect ??? is not named Coughing Baby Man that’s such a stupid name” 🤓☝️ (plus those gloves UGLY as hell) (he’s the guy who makes all the weird furry fan art in the TOT discord)

Whelp that’s all. Never knew how absolutely trash AI images were until now. Bleach time :D

#ai art #ai image #art #artwork #doodle #character art #artists on tumblr #pokemon #illustration #professor turo #rei ayanami #ai turo #ai art is not art #ai art is theft #ai art slander #Cursed #Professor Iroko #tales of tanorio

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queen-of-the-queers · 1 year

Text

Come out (wherever you are)

Stella has had feelings for Beatrix for a while, and she's finally certain about her crush. But who should she tell?

For all of Beatrix’s flaws, she at least made for an easy online stalk. Not one of her accounts were private, leaving her hundreds of pictures, endless reels and frequent stories free for the world (or more specifically perhaps, a certain light fairy) to see.

It was unusual for Stella to have a crush. For her entire life, her every move had been overshadowed with the all-consuming pressure of being the heir to the Solarian throne. Whenever she felt herself catching feelings, she not only had to think about her own attraction but also the small matter of the entire otherworld’s future. No pressure.

That’s why this new flirtation had her tied up in knots. Beatrix was unlike anyone she’d ever met before; bold, blunt and brash, massively stubborn and perpetually sure of herself. She’d dated rebels before, but nobody quite like her.

There was also the obvious fact that Beatrix was.. well.. a woman. Never before had a same-sex couple ruled over Solaria- What would her mother think?

Anxious thoughts swirled around inside her mind as she scrolled mindlessly through the air fairy’s instagram page, trying to ignore the flutter in her chest she felt upon seeing Beatrix’s pouting, red lips and frequently exposed midriff.

It was getting harder to ignore her feelings and Stella knew it. Every interaction with her friend was now consumed by her relentless desire to be close to her, to hold her in her arms and feel the gentle intimacy of their skin against each other’s.

With every lingering gaze and secret smile exchanged along the corridors, she had come to realise that she knew exactly what she wanted. Stella just had to decide what she was willing to do to get it, and the pressure was eating her up inside.

She groaned, throwing herself backwards against her pillows and covering her face in her hands, abandoning her phone by her side.

A few moments later, she heard a knock on the bedroom door, followed by the sound of it swinging open.

“Is everything ok Stella? I thought I heard some noises.”

Terra peered into the room, squinting through the hand she held over her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just couldn’t get the best angle for a selfie,” she responded, “You can drop the hand.”

The earth fairy nodded in response, starting to leave the room before Stella spoke.

“Wait! Actually, erm, can we talk.. Please?” the blonde said quietly, looking down at her lap and trying to swallow back her suddenly overwhelming nerves.

Terra looked taken aback for a split second but quickly shook it off, closing the door behind her and cautiously edging towards the bed as though she half expected Stella to change her mind and yell at her to get out.

“You can sit down.”

Terra sunk down onto the end of the mattress as Stella shuffled over, turning to face her friend with a sombre expression.

She sat silently for a moment, nervously running her hands through her hair and across her face.

“Stella… You know you can talk to me about anything,” Terra said slowly, her eyes searching the blonde’s expression in concern.

Against her will, Stella felt tears starting to sting in her eyes, and she hastily brushed them away with a pink, cotton sleeve.

She opened her mouth to speak, before immediately closing it again, struggling to find the right words for what she wanted to say.

“Terra-“ she started before cutting herself off, squeezing her eyes firmly shut.

Her friend reached over, taking her hand.

She squeezed it, feeling the warmth of the gesture flood through her body.

“I think… I think that I… ” She inhaled deeply, trying to prevent her voice from wavering, “like girls?”

Even as she said it, she felt as though a weight lifted off her shoulders.

This was Terra she was talking to. Somebody who had been through the exact same thing, and had probably felt many of the feelings she was feeling. Someone who could help.

She opened her eyes just in time to be met with a crushing hug and a grinning friend.

“Thank you so much for telling me. I’m really proud of you Stella, I know this must be huge.”

Stella allowed herself to lean into the embrace, burying her head into the crook of her friend’s neck.

Suddenly, Terra pulled away.

“Wait, is there a girl?” the earth fairy gushed, unable to keep a grin from her face, “Do I know her?”

Stella blushed bright red, averting her gaze.

“There’s no girl.”

Terra seemed unconvinced.

“Well I’m happy to be your wingwoman whenever you decide to admit it.”

Suddenly, a text lit up Stella’s discarded phone and both women looked over.

Beatrix: Tonight at the library? I have whiskey.

Terra looked up from the screen, meeting her friend’s eyes with a playful look. The blonde looked away, snatching it up and hugging it to her chest.

“That’s nothin-“ Stella started, just as Terra said.

“I guess that’s another mystery solved. How long have you been in love with Beatrix?”

#oneshot #fate the winx saga #ftws #stellatrix #sterra #terra #stella #stella of solaria #beatrix #rivusa #coming out scene #queer

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heirofnepeta · 2 years

Text

Ok so I'm gonna talk about ✨love✨ and ✨gender/sexual identity✨ again for a second.

I was never considered handsome by anyone in the past. I've not really had many friends in the past.

Recently, and by that I mean in the 8th grade when I moved back to my hometown, I managed to get some friends, most of them were neurodivergent like me, so we were able to get along great!

Now about half of these friends are also LGBTQIA+ and that was how I found out about sexuality and gender identity because I had a non-binary friend, a genderfluid friend, an agender friend, and a few more.

For a long time I thought I was aroace bc I just hadn't felt anything for anyone after I was neglected by nearly everyone I met. I also thought I was a cis male because, well, I was never told I could be anything else. I only realized I was trans a few months ago when I realized all of my mannerisms were either neurodivergent or extremely feminine. And I only realized I was bi because I got back into watching shows and found those of both sexes hot.

Recently, I started talking to one of my friends from 8th grade, the gender fluid one. I will call them J for convenience sake.

I wasn't very good friends with J back in 8th grade, in fact, she used to bully me a bit when we first met. Eventually we became friends through two of our mutual friends.

The reason we were able to reconnect is because they let me sit with them on the bus when no other seats were available. We started talking for a bit, and when they explained they were genderfluid now, I mentioned that I'm trans by talking about how I had to come out to my mother. They were consideeate enough to ask if I had a new name I went by and I told them, and they've been using it ever since.

I don't know if it was the gender euphoria of being called my name or the general euphoria of being treated like an actual human being for the first time in a while, but I just kinda fell for them right the. And I didn't realise it at first because I'd never felt true attraction like this.

Then, today, those friends we connected through started to erm... Think things...

We had been sitting together everyday, and today we exchanged snapchats, so the non-binary friend said to their friend that me and J should date, which kinda made my heart race. This was the second time they've said this. The first time, J noticed and said that 'it would be weird if we dated, since we've not really known eachother for very long.'

This did kinda hurt, but I understood why.

I don't know where I was gonna go with this, so I'll just say that I hope this relationship ends up going well, and may aphrodite bless you all with any kind of love, romantic, sexual, platonic, whatever!

#wynn is in love #love #<3

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mazisetsa · 1 year

Text

Mazi was on cloud nine after the trip the Sharlayan earlier that day, her tail wags happily as she enters her house. "You really do not seem to stay here often..." a new voice murmurs as Mazi blinks at the odd person on her couch, she notes the strange garbs and the apparent...fox like features.

"E-Erm...h-how t-the f-fuck d-did y-you g-get i-in h-here?" Mazi raises a brow a frown replacing the happy smile that had been on her face mere seconds ago. Why? Why now? She still wasn't feel the best from Yasu's uncle and now *another one*?

"Those wards you have placed seemed to have just...let me in, not that you need to worry. I mean you no harm, little one. Can Yasushiba come out to play?" she questions crossing one leg over the other an eyebrow raised as Mazi freezes. She was half tempted to just...walk right out. Yet she held her ground as the fox awoke from in their headspace *'She speaks the truth, she will not harm us Mazi, this I swear. We are safe'*

Mazi outwardly nods letting out a tiny huff as her bodys expression goes blank, eyes glowing as a smile coats her face "Dear friend it clearly has been a while, I am glad to see you alive and well" Mazi pauses in their mind frowning at the other foxes words but stays quiet. Her friends would kill her if anything else happened so fast.

"I have been well, I was surprised to hear that someone had killed Uncle and the rumors that spread after... there are a few people searching for the both of you." the new fox murmurs glancing over Mazi's body, it was a calculating stare. "I did not come to fight if that was your next question. I came to gauge how much you've grown since our last time together, or if that opposite has happened we will judge that too." she murmurs her hand glowing as she send a wisp of aether at them. Yasu tries to dodge yet the ball follows and she lets out a string of curses as she throws out her own ball of aether to match.

"We do not need to be judged." Yasu seethes out wincing as she turns the corner into the kitchen another wisp of aether is sent her way and she growls.

"Actions speak louder than words, Yasushiba." the purple headed fox murmurs as she sends another few balls of aether one eventually managing to hit the smaller fox. She sighs, going to speak yet…she cannot. Her brows furrow as she blinks blankly at her friend. Actions speak louder than words….she should have known.

“We will give you a few weeks, expect more, yet most will beg you to come back…to lead our peoples or what is left.” she murmurs standing and walking out. Yasu rolls her eyes, small victories she supposes…as did Mazi.

‘C-Could b-be w-worse…j-just g-glad S-Soleil w-wasn’t h-here…’ Mazi thinks quietly. This was fine.

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claraswritings · 2 years

Text

All I Want

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader (Andrew Garfield Peter/TASM Peter)

Warning: Bit of angst, no spoilers, not one of my best- might delete.

Notes: I’m not entirely sure if I like this one or not.

***

You’d first become friends when he’d awkwardly asked to sit next to you in a library. You were reading a book but had a notebook open in front of you with jotted down quotes and snippets of what Peter assumed was your brainstorming

“Can I…”

You looked up from your book. “Sure,” you shrugged and whilst going back to your book you held out a bag of sweets

“Want one? Help yourself. You’d be doing me a favour if you ate the green ones though, ever since they’ve swapped from apple to lime they’ve gone down”

Peter smiled “Green happens to be my favourite,”

“I would say you have terrible taste but you’re probably the best person to share a pack with in that case. I’m [Name],”

“Peter Parker” he offered a half wave.

A copy of the Daily Bugle folded under his arm caught your eye.

“You read that crap?” You scrunched your face up “Jameson is the worst,”

Peter raked a hand through his fluffy dark hair “Yeah… he’s…something alright…You’re not a fan?”

“Hell no” you snorted. “Guys a loon,”

“You’re telling me? you ever met him,” Peter shared a wry smile. Jameson was indeed a bit of a loon. He’d on one occasion thrown Peters stack of images out of the window all because he didn’t manage to get a picture of Spider-Man “helping” the getaway driver. Jameson had convinced himself that by focusing on catching the robber with the money rather than the man in the idling truck, Spider-Man was involved with the robber

“God no,” you cackled “I don’t think J Jonah Jameson and I run in the same circles, thank god, you don’t look like the kinda guy who’d read this,” you joked.

You nodded at the research notes he’d also had placed on the table between you.

“You have all those science looking notes, you gotta be smart”

“Im…” he protested quickly “I’ve erm…just got a second job working for him… freelance photography…but it’s extra money, I help my aunt out and…” he trailed off “rents expensive”

“Oh shit I’m sorry” you stated so matter of factly that it took Peter a moment to click you meant “I’m sorry you have to work with that guy” rather than “I’m sorry your boss is insane,”

You’d realised you lived close in the city and you’d been friends ever since…and Peter had liked you as more than a friend since about a week after that.

***

You were soon inseparable, you’d go out for food, for walks, to movies. Hed come over to yours and often fall asleep on your couch and wake up the next morning with a perfectly timed coffee and a blanket over him.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by May that he’d made a new friend. She was grateful he was finally doing something other than work and visit her. You’d picked him up from her place once and May was quick to notice the reaction her nephew had to you. She hadnt seen him like that since his former girlfriend. Given how she’d passed and how Peter seemed to avoid any sign of romance, she was a little surprised.

When he’d returned for dinner she’d invited you in and whilst you were parking, she gently pried to see if there was something more but Peter had just shrugged and told her he didn’t think you liked him that way.

By the end of the evening, she knew the answer. Long before you did.

***

The day you told Peter you were going on a date, he felt an ache in a part of his heart he’d thought was long since numb to any semblance of heartbreak.

His name was Liam Parsons. You’d met in a coffee shop.

The second he’d arrived home, Peter had fired up his laptop. From looking at his google search results, Liam was a once divorced art dealer, 6’2”, blonde hair slicked back with almost an entire tub of hair gel. He seemed to wear almost exclusively Hugo Boss suits and Rolex watches. He had a Porsche, a speedboat and a holiday home in the Cayman Islands.

Peter slammed his laptop screen shut with more force than necessary and took off into the night to patrol the streets. In a rare moment of peace, he found himself swinging over to one of the penthouses Parsons lived in and staring at the shadows moving inside.

It was 11PM and he wondered if you were one of them and shook the thought from his head. The implications of you going home with Liam was not something he wanted to think about.

He wondered what you saw in Liam. You never were impressed by rich, flashy guys so what did this guy have? Peter couldn’t decide what would be worse. Liam being a good guy as well as having everything or if you were just dating him for the fun lifestyle that he could never ever offer you.

He didn’t care. Liam could keep the nice car and the fancy penthouse, the seven figure salary and the beachside villa. All Peter wanted was you.

***

That night Peter watched you from a rooftop, Liam was beside you, one arm casually over your shoulder as he chatted to another man in a suit with a too tight shirt.

You looked beautiful in that black dress. You always looked beautiful. Peter couldn’t remember a time when you weren’t the most lovely person he’d ever seen. It would have been before he met you.

Even from a distance he could picture the favourite red lipstick you’d have worn, from how often he’d looked at your lips, he could pick the shade out of a million. He knew the way you’d have curled your hair carefully but you could never get that one bit right first time, so many times he’d wanted to be the one to reach over and fix it back for you.

You looked cold and uncomfortable and Peter could tell by how you were shifting that your feet were starting to hurt in your heels. He felt a pang of annoyance he knew was unjustified. Liam was still talking away, whilst you rubbed your arm, awkwardly.

If he was your boyfriend, he’d offer you his jacket and carry you home. Unable to watch anymore, he leapt off, swinging into the night.

He loved you for your details. The way you pinched your ear lobe when you were nervous, the way you had five different smiles depending on your mood or who you were with, the way you were so unashamedly honest, the way you once told him you hated an iconic movie for ending on a cliffhanger in such a casual way, the way you went out of your way to help anyone who needed it without having to be asked.

Watching you with another person was like the worst gut punched he’d ever felt.

***

He took to watching Liam from a distance. Sometimes you were there, sometimes he was just making sure Liam wasn’t some sort of criminal. A part of Peter wished he was. The jealousy was unbearable sometimes. How cruel was fate to give him his perfect match in every way but he couldn’t.

Why didn’t he kiss you on the evening when you’d sat together watching the sun come up after a night of watching lame movies. Why didn’t he pull you in closer when you’d fallen asleep on his shoulder when you’d had a picnic in Central Park. Why didn’t he tell you how stupidly, insanely, irrevocably in love with you he was when you’d sat on his fire escape with him for three hours because he’d couldn’t sleep. Why didn’t he thank you for being the best thing in his life when you comforted him over the phone when he spent nights reliving the worst moments of his life.

***

It carried on like this, a week, maybe two passed, and you’d visited his as normal and the whole way through the time you spent together, Peter could barely concentrate. Each minute ticking closer to when you’d leave felt like a step closer and closer to losing you.

He feared when you’d step out the door, he’d never get a chance to say what he needed to.

So he acted on instinct to stop you going.

“Don’t go”

Flicking your eyes from your hand now webbed to the door to Peter and back, Your expression was one of pure shock, Peter could almost see the cogs turning, processing every clue he’d ever dropped.

“It’s you,”

Peter nodded once. “Yeah, it’s me,”

“What the FUCK,” then you tacked on “I don’t know how I didn’t notice”

“I need to tell you something…I forgot…” he hesitated. He could hear the cars below and the neighbours and the blood rush in his ears. “Actually I remembered what I had to say,”

And with a surge of confidence he kissed you, one hand in your hair. “I love you”.

It was short but passionate and said everything he could ever need to say and when he pulled back, you were a little breathless

“So… any thoughts… can you say something… anything about any of this?”

“You’re Spider-Man? And you’re in love with me?”

“Yes” Peter “to both. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I didn’t want you to get hurt but…” his eyes searched for a reaction in your face “Don’t be with Liam, leave him, be with me, I know it’s selfish but I don’t care… I love you, You’re the first person I think about in the morning and the last person I think about at night, All I want is to make sure you’re safe, All I want is you to be happy, I never ever want to spend another day without you as my girlfriend, I’m so so so crazy about you, You’re it for me, I never thought I’d ever love someone again, until I fell in love with you,”

“Pete” you stared at him then started laughing.

“What. What’s happening” he was panicked now. “Shit did I say too much”

“I ended things with Liam. Last week. He was nice…but I ended things because I couldn’t ever see myself in love with him…mostly because I’m in love with someone else,”

“Oh..Oh,” Peter raked a hand down his face “Well I erm, I hope he’s good enough for you or… yknow, I’ll have words” he gestured

“he’s tall, he’s dark haired, total science geek- i love listening to him talk about experimenting even if I don’t understand it, and he reads every single draft poem I send him, he’s my best friend, he helps people, everyone and asks for nothing in return, I never cared about falling for someone or finding love until I realised that was because I was already in love with someone, him”

Peter was staring at you and a smile spread over his face.

“You… you mean me right”

“Of course i mean you, you idiot” you joked

“I love you,” he stressed again “I’m sorry it took so long for me to catch up,” he stepped in close and pressed his forehead to yours.

“I forgive you” you teased “Now can you get my hand off the door? I think we have some making up for lost time to do”

#peter parker imagine #peter parker x reader #andrew garfield peter x reader #andrew garfield peter parker #peter 3 x reader #tasm peter parker #tasm peter x reader #tasm peter Parker x reader

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ladynyctophilia · 3 years

Text

*SPOILERS*

((Just some of my thoughts on possible events that could happen with Judy and V living with the nomads.))

(Edited because I’m a perfectionist. 💀)

-------

Greetings, reader. It's been about two weeks since Judy and V left Night City with the Aldecaldos, and things couldn't be better ...except for one tiny thing.

Judy: *Lights a smoke, only to inhale it once before flicking it away as she approaches Panam.*

Panam: *Is to occupied with her vehicle to even notice Judy approaching, forehead drenched in sweat.*

Judy: Ahem. *Clears her throat and crosses her arms.* Panam. Dude. We need to talk.

Panam: Okay? *Blinks, rolling out from under her vehicle.* What can I help you with...”dude”? *Forces a smile, wiping away the grease on her pants.*

Judy: Okay...Well I just-

Panam: Is V alright??? Did she have a seizure? ?? Is she bleeding again??? *Stands up, concern growing in her eyes.* Fucking hell V. Can she go two seconds without bleeding???

Judy: No! *Flails her arms.* Fuck, no. *Shakes her head.* Nothing like that. V is doing fine, same as usual, I actually wanted to have a convo...about you. *Hugs herself, looking away into the sun.*

Panam: *Drops her wrench, looking pissed.* What?

Judy: It's been eating at me—you and V.

Panam: Me and V? *Picks back up her wrench with a laugh.* Bitch, you are crazy.

Judy: Don’t give me that shit Panam, you know exactly what I'm referring to. *Huffs, growing impatient.* You and V. What's that about?

Panam: *Rolls her eyes, returning Judy’s suspicious gaze.* Is there a problem?

Judy: Yeah. *Scrunches her nose.* There might be.

Panam: *Points her wrench at Judy.* Do I need to remind you who’s clan you’re traveling with?

Judy: No. *Sighs, pinching her nose.* Shit. Look, I’m grateful as fuck for what you guys have done for V...and me...b-but...*Shakes her head, kicking at the dirt while trying to find words.* Look. I trust V. She's very...special to me, and I don't want to have any problems with you, holmes. *Shrugs.* I just want everyone to be on the same page.

Panam: *Nods, arms crossed.* Uh-huh. And what page is that?

Judy: That V is my girl and I don’t take kindly to sharing. Simple as that. *Shrugs.* I know what V’s intentions are, but I don't know shit about yours...we just haven't known each other long. *Sighs, rubbing her head.* And as much as I hate acting jealous, I left those games behind in Night City. So if you’re into V, just say it; no point in lying.

Panam: Your girl? Games? Ha! Fuck this. *Waves Judy off and turns back around to the vehicle.* Look, Judy, I feel like if I don't answer your question, you won't leave, and one of us will end up with a black eye. *Takes a deep breath.* SO. For V’s sake and your conscience, the short answer is yes. *Shrugs, back turned to Judy.* V and I are more than “just friends.” I thought that was obvious. Happy?

Judy: Okay. Thanks...for your honesty, I guess. *Closes her eyes with a sigh.* I thought hearing the truth would make me feel better, but...*Just shakes her head and pulls out a cigarette.* And? Your plans are?

Panam: Pfft! What plans? *Picks the scab on her arm.* Other than finding a cure? Nothing. *Chuckles, popping open the hood.* V is my clan sister. She's a dumb fuck, but she's family and I love her, nothing beyond that. *Shrugs* That's it.

Judy: *Blinks, putting away her smoke.* That’s it?

Panam: *Nods, half paying attention.* Yep!

Judy: *Furrows her brows.* What was all that flirting about then? I thought-

Panam: JUDY!! FUCK!! *Throws her wrench on the ground and grabs Judy by the shoulders.* I DON’T WANT TO FUCK YOUR GIRLFRIEND!!! OK?? I like dick. DICK. *Is screaming at the top of her lungs. Yes, all the clan can hear.* OKAY?? Okay. *Pats her on the back.* Good talk “dude”. *She let's go of Judy and picks back up the wrench.*

Judy: O-oh. Oh! *Laughs away the tension.* Fuck. *Shakes her head, flushed and embarrassed.* Ugh, I'm sorry, Panam, that was a gonk move of me...I...well...sorry...it’s just...

Panam: *Smirks, looking over her shoulder.* Trust issues? And if you apologize one more fucking time, I will punch you in the throat. *Says that with a smile and returns back to her work.*

Judy: *Shakes her head, now smiling.* No...not anymore. V is just the first person I've been able to trust and rely on...*Stops, thinking of Evelyn*...in a long time.

Panam: Damn, that city really did a number on you, didn’t it? V’s told me a little, but not all.

Judy: *Sighs, and nods.* Yeah. Maybe I will tell you the full story sometime. I’m still...processing it.

Panam: That’s alright. Your past is your business. *Hands Judy a beer.* Before V, I thought I could only rely on myself, and then she reminded me of the value of family and what a rare thing that is to find and keep...*Gestures around* And well, I wanted her to become apart of that.

Judy: *Sighs, looking around.* Yeah...

Panam: *Bumps Judy with her hip.* Hey, I guess that means you’re apart of the family too. Even if it's temporary.

Judy: *Smiles, looking at the beer.* Thanks...I just feel like such an ass now. *Kicks at the dirt, mad at herself.* Ugh. Shit. Fuck. *Shakes her head, frowning.* I'm sorry for assuming.

Panam: Meh. *Waves a hand* Already forgotten. You aren't the first to assume, and you probably won't be the last.

Judy: You know what? You’re a good person Panam, kind of an ass, but the type of person you will never find in Night City.

Panam: Ha! Fuck you, basement dweller, I will drink to that. *Takes a swig of her beer.*

Judy: *Sighs, watching the sun set.* I think it's time I add a new tattoo...

V: Heyyyy! *Waves from afar, back from a mission.* Drinking without me? The AUDACITY.

Panam: Well hello to you too, fellow alcoholic. *Raises her empty bottle in greetings.*

V: *Flips Panam off with a smirk as she approaches Judy.*

Judy: V. *Smiles so hard it hurts.* Glad to have you back...and you can have my beer. *Holds it up.* I’m not really in the mood.

Panam: *Grabs Judy by the shoulder, roaring with laughter.* YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT JUDY JUST ASKED ME!!!

Judy: *Gasps, dropping the beer.*

V: Oh, this I HAVE to hear. *Grabs a beer from the cooler.* Spill.

Panam: J-JUDY THOUGHT....*Is laughing so hard, she's crying* SHE T-THOUGHT- *Can barely stand, Judy is the only thing keeping her up.*

Judy: SHUSH, YOU GONK!!! *Groans, pushing Panam away.*

Panam: *Glaldy falls, laughing and gasping for air.*

V: Judy...*Looks at her with THOSE eyes*

Judy: Uhh....*Sweats.* Nothing! I...erm...It was nothing! *Clears her throat.* I have something over...*Looks desperately for an escape*...THERE..hnng...*stomps away, covering her face* so embarrassing...Carol! Help.

#cyberpunk 2077 #judy alvarez #panam palmer #cyberpunk spoilers #cp77 #short story thingy #Its RIDICULOUS how much fem v and Panam flirt. 💀💀#i don't know what I'm doing lololol #Judy would be sus #IM SUS

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be11atrixthestrange · 3 years

Text

Waking Up In Vegas: Chapter 1

After a night of debauchery, Ron and Hermione wake up in Vegas... married.

Muggle!AU. Romcom!Romione. Slow burning, smutty, angst-fest.

Rated M for reasons.

Ao3 | FFN

------------------------------

More Chapters

------------------------------

Chapter 1

[Ron]

Ron wakes up to the strong desert sunlight assaulting his eyelids and turns onto his stomach to bury his face into his pillow. The bed is so warm and comfortable, the satin sheets enveloping him into a nourishing hug. The pillow has somehow maintained its shape and is just the right combination of cold and cozy. His back feels fine, which very much exceeds his expectations, based on how his back usually feels when he wakes up. Maybe an expensive mattress is just what he needs.

Soon enough, his real-life anxieties start to surface. How much does this mattress cost, anyway? What about these sheets? How much extra did this room charge for the scented pillows? Am I even paying for it?

He tentatively opens his eyes, zeroing in on a tray that lies on the floor by his bed. It's adorned with discarded chocolate-covered strawberries, two empty champagne flutes, and a bottle of whipped cream. He never eats whipped cream.

Did I have a girl over last night?

Ron sucks in a breath and freezes in his satin sheets. Gingerly, he turns his head to the other side of the bed, catching a whiff of the pillows he thought were scented before.

Perfume, you idiot.

He lifts his gaze over the mountain of fluffy blankets and high-thread-count sheets, half expecting to see wispy blonde hair glossing the pillow and a hot-pink nightgown that doesn't entirely cover her familiar set of curves. Maybe there would even be lipstick streaked across the pillows. Bloody hell, perhaps he was covered in lipstick, too. Do they charge extra to clean up shit like that? He wouldn't know; he doesn't stay in hotels often.

Honestly, he may have been relieved if Lavender was beside him. They dated for years, and he knows her well. Ever since they broke up, she's been not-so-subtly trying to get him back in bed. She likes having sex with him, and quite frankly, he likes it too. At this point, he knows her body well. She's difficult to disappoint.

On the other hand, she may have mistaken him sleeping with her for regret about ending things, and he has no desire to set the record straight again. Las Vegas is already far enough out of his comfort zone, so Ron will do what it takes to avoid any conflict on this trip.

However, he doesn't have to worry about that because when he peers over the blankets, the girl sleeping beside him is not Lavender Brown.

Instead of a hot-pink nightgown, she's wearing a black pair of mens' boxers and a bright orange Chudley Cannons T-Shirt, with the words "World's Best Coach" emblazoned across the back. He loves that shirt. It was a gift from the youth football team he's coached for years, and he never even let Lavender wear it. Not that she ever asked to, but that's beside the point.

Who the fuck is she?

Still, her head is buried under her pillows, effectively masking her identity. He reaches toward the pillows and gently lifts them to reveal her face, or more accurately, her hair. There's so much goddamn hair. It looks like someone has loaded a t-shirt cannon with curly brown hair and unleashed it onto the pillow beside him.

No. It can't be...

He wonders how he survived the night unstrangled when his companion's hair moves on its own accord like the limbs of a sentient and unpredictable willow tree. Is it as easy to anger as its owner? It begs the question — how the hell has he managed to wake up next to Hermione Jean Granger, his sister's nightmare of a Maid of Honor?

Swiftly but smoothly, he removes his blankets and rises to his feet, only to discover that he's completely starkers. He grabs the first thing he can find — a towel — and wraps it around his hips while he searches the floor for something to wear. Luckily, he's in his hotel room, and his suitcase is wide open on the floor. He exhales a sigh of relief and collapses next to it, pulling garments out one by one. He lands on a pair of inside-out khaki shorts and red short-sleeve button-down, one of his favorite shirts that Lavender would never let him wear. She always said it clashed with his hair.

When he turns the shorts right, a piece of paper floats to the ground. It must have been folded up into his pocket. Out of curiosity, he picks it up and unravels it. He has to read it twice before realization kicks in, and his jaw drops to the floor. His hand is suddenly shaky, but not enough to obscure the words 'Marriage Certificate' across the top.

It's even signed and dated. Ron B. Weasley. Hermione J. Granger. Fuck. This had to be some sort of a practical joke.

He looks back to the bed, and he can't ignore the dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. Hermione's head is still buried under the pillows, the Chudley Cannons Tee rising and falling rhythmically with her breath. Suddenly, he's extremely nervous. She'll wake up soon, and what will happen when she sees him?

She'll probably be pretty upset. Unlike Lavender, she seems easy to disappoint.

Bloody hell.

One week earlier…

"I'm Hermione Granger."

She extends a hand to Ron, who reluctantly shakes it. Firm handshake.

"And you are?"

"I'm Ron." She raises her eyebrows. "Ron Weasley? The bride's brother? The groom's best friend?" He tries not to be offended when she removes her hand and wipes it on her trousers. "You honestly don't know me?"

"I figured," she shrugs. "But most people introduce themselves without assuming others know who they are."

Her unfiltered judgment catches him off guard. It strikes a nerve, and he can't help but wonder why Ginny has selected her as her Maid of Honor.

His instinct is to snap right back, but he fights it. He is about to embark on a ten-day international trip to celebrate his sister's wedding, and as the Best Man, he'll be working closely with Hermione and the other bridesmaids, one of them being his ex-girlfriend. It is going to be rough already.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Hermione Granger," he says as cheerfully as he can muster. He'll just have to get through this trip, and he'll never have to see her again.

Her reply is annoyingly curt. "Thanks." She takes a seat and motions for him to do the same. The gesture is subtle, but it keeps him on edge. He doesn't need permission to sit down. He's tempted to keep standing simply out of spite, but on the other hand, he would like to avoid a power struggle.

He shakes his head as if doing so would reset this terrible first impression. He wants to like her — she's one of Ginny's best friends — but he already feels himself building a wall.

She waves down a server, and Ron squirms at how impatient she seems. What's her rush? The server grumbles when he approaches, and Ron tries to send an apologetic glance his way. "I'll have an iced coffee."

The server nods, then glances expectantly at Ron. "Oh erm... same, I guess.".

"No straws," adds Hermione.

"Noted," quips the server.

"Actually," says Ron, "I would like a straw."

"Straws are awful for the environment," she says when the server's out of earshot. "You don't really need them."

Ron fights the urge to roll his eyes. He's determined to keep it cool, so he takes a steadying breath and changes the subject. "We should compare itineraries for the bride and groom."

"Yes, I agree. In fact, I have put together a tentative plan for the joint stag and hen party." She slides a piece of paper across the table to him. The level of detail is horrendous. It's also laminated. She's organized, that's for sure.

"Hold on," he says. "A joint stag and hen party?"

"Yes, it's more efficient this way. You can see on page four, I've already made reservations at a hotel on The Strip, and for pretty much everything, bigger parties mean bigger discounts."

Ron's heart sinks. He has been planning a surprise stag party for Harry, and he was pretty excited about it. Harry wouldn't go for this. There's no way.

"Hermione, I think the boys would prefer a separate party." Ron was also looking forward to a night out with just the boys — Harry, Neville, Dean, and Seamus. It would be a very different experience if the girls were there too. Well, Ginny, Luna, and Demelza would be fun. Lavender? Hermione? No thanks.

"I've already spoken to Harry, and he loves the idea."

Ron straightens up and stares back at her, for a moment forgetting to mask his hurt. "He… what?"

"Yeah, he already agreed to it."

Their conversation pauses as the waiter returns to deliver their iced coffee. Hermione scowls at Ron and rolls her eyes as he takes a long drag from his plastic straw. Maybe he should ask for a second one just to tick her off some more.

Keep it cool, Ron.

Hermione's expression softens. "I know it must be awkward for you to spend so much time with your ex-girlfriend. Ginny told me about the breakup. She wasn't expecting you two to split before the wedding,"

Unfortunately, the Lavender thing contributes to his resistance to a joint party, but he hates that she can sense that. He hates that Ginny told her about his breakup.

"Look," says Hermione, leaning closer.

He's skeptical of what she might say, but it seems like she's genuinely trying to be caring, so he leans in to listen.

"It'll be hard, but we can't let our personal issues affect this. This wedding is about Harry and Ginny. No one else."

Ron sinks dejectedly back into his chair, immediately regretting giving her the benefit of the doubt. Our personal issues. "What are you saying?"

"I'm asking that we don't bring any unnecessary drama along. Leave it here, and focus on the bride and groom."

"We?"

She nods. "Yes, we. I will also leave my issues at home." She really is infuriating. He's going to have a chat with his sister about her choice of best friend.

"So no drama at the wedding. None." He takes another swig of his drink, raising his eyebrows at her. She scowls again at the straw.

"No drama."

"Deal." He reaches out a hand, and she takes it. Another firm handshake.

Then, something on his face catches her eye. "You've got something on your nose."

He releases her hand and rubs his nose.

She shrugs. "Must have been dirt."

He forces his lips into a smile and wonders if it looks as fake as the one she returns.

What a nightmare.

He's pulled out of his reverie by an abrupt jerking of limbs from the bed. Hermione's rhythmic breathing turns into a groan when she tugs the pillow off of her head. She slaps a hand over her eyes when the sunlight hits them, and she groans again, angrily this time. Any illusions of peacefulness are a far distant memory.

When she finally opens her eyes, it's her look of horror that alerts Ron to the fact that he never put on his khaki shorts and a red shirt. He's still hovering next to her bed in a towel, staring at her. He's suddenly very aware of how pale and freckly he is.

"Why are you—?" Eyes wide, she rises to a seat in bed, her hair billowing in every possible direction. She looks down at her body and pinches his Cannons shirt with her fingers like it's a dirty napkin. "Why am I wearing this?" She glances back at Ron and scowls. "Why am I here?"

Ron opens his mouth to answer, but he is unprepared to fill her in. Like her, he has not yet processed this. Before he can explain, the towel starts to unravel from his hips. He motions to catch it, but his right hand is clutching his clothes, and his left hand is clutching a goddamn marriage certificate, so the towel unwinds and lands in a pile on the floor. When Hermione's eye line lowers, her cheeks blush. Ron can't tell if she's embarrassed, angry, or impressed, but he hopes for a combination of the three.

"Morning!" He grins goofily, emulating the falsely excited tone he's become so accustomed to using around her.

It brings her gaze back to his eyes. "Ronald Weasley. What the hell is going on?"

#ROMIONE #romione fanfic #romione fanfiction #muggle au #waking up in vegas #hp fanfiction #hpromione #romionecom

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dyaz-stories · 4 years

Text

Seven Minutes

Guess who’s writing some more human Inuyasha? That’s right. I’ve really neglected him I think. Anyway, enjoy a little canon Inukag scene! Rating T for that one, but nothing too serious.

Tagging: @shinidamachu @sailorbabydoll92 @sweetchcolate @clearwillow @zelink-inukag @cstorm86 @digital-art-monster @danycontreras90 @redflamesofpassion @lost-amidst-the-stars @eternalnight8806-3 @desiree239 @keichanz @ashleys-canvas @mustardyellowsunshine @meggz0rz @contacting-u @ramen---boi

When the door closed behind them and they both found themselves in the dark, the pair of human eyes unable to adjust well to the obscurity, Inuyasha’s voice cut the silence bluntly.

“Okay, now what the fuck are we supposed to do in here?”

Kagome let out a long, deep sigh. To be fair, she should have expected that. Now, she was really questioning her judgement. Why, exactly, had she thought that taking Inuyasha to her friend’s party was a good idea? Really, she hadn’t, but she knew she would have felt very bad all evening if she’d left him alone on his human night, even if he was safe in her era. She had thought that it would be easier for him to blend in, considering he was wearing human clothes and that he looked, well, human, and as it turned out, she was mistaken.

Her friends hadn’t seemed too surprised by the change in his appearance, just assuming he’d died his hair or something, which had made her felt somewhat better about it all. And then, of course, she had realized, feeling quite stupid about herself, that Inuyasha purely and simply didn’t blend in in a crowd of modern, human kids.

She couldn’t explain it, but he just stuck out. At first, she had thought she was the only one thinking that, and that it had to do with her own feelings for him, but she’d quickly understood it simply wasn’t true. People would naturally move aside to let him pass, sometimes pausing in their conversations to eye him up and down. Inuyasha seemed rather oblivious to it, which was somewhat of a relief. She didn’t want him to feel set aside here as well, when it was already true in the Feudal Era.

There were a couple of girls doing that, too, and she couldn’t say she enjoyed it, but she didn’t blame them either. She certainly couldn’t take his eyes off of him. He was taller than most guys here, and slightly more muscular. Not by much, considering his half-demon strength had nothing to do with muscle mass, but still, his shoulders were somewhat larger. More than that, there was something vibrant about him. An energy that surrounded him that she didn’t think she’d ever noticed before, or not like that, at least. It made everyone else look just… so bland.

“It’s just a stupid game,” Kagome mumbled, averting her eyes from where she could distinguish his form in the dark. “We don’t have to do anything.”

“That guy certainly looked like he wanted to get to do it with you,” Inuyasha half-growled, sound coming out a little strange with the human vocal cords.

Yes. That was how they’d found themselves in that situation. Because, when Yuka had mischievously suggested they should play ‘seven minutes in heaven’, Hojo had somewhat excitedly, and while blushing terribly, offered to play with Kagome.

Which Inuyasha had vigorously objected to, before basically dragging Kagome into the closet. And that was where they were now.

“So why would he want to do nothing with you?”

To be fair, she doubted anything would have happened if she’d been in there with Hojo. He was far too gentlemanly for that, and they would likely have just talked. She didn’t think she would have hated it.

But honesty forced her to admit that her heart had skipped a beat when Inuyasha had taken her inside. More than the idea that they would do anything, the thought that he wanted to do something with her had filled her with pleasant warmth. Of course, that was before she’d realized that Inuyasha had no idea what they were supposed to do, and now, she wasn’t exactly eager to let him know.

“Usually, people who play that game, erm, k-kiss, or do— things like that.”

“Oh.”

Inuyasha swallowed at that, mouth suddenly dry. It made him all the more happy with himself that he’d stopped the other guy from going in with her, but it also made him doubt himself. Had she— had she wanted to go in and— do that with that guy? Did she… Did she not want to do it with him? Was that why she was being weird?

“But we don’t have to do anything,” Kagome sighed dejectedly, misinterpreting his reaction. She wrapped her arms around her waist in a self-conscious gesture. There wasn’t anything wrong with Inuyasha not being attracted to her, and she would never blame him for that. It just made her a little sad, was all.

“You don’t— You don’t wanna?”

That had her looking up. Her eyes were starting to adjust, and she could make out his expression, even if it was just a little, and he looked— he looked like she probably did. If he’d had his dog ears right now, they would have been drooping.

“Do you want to—?”

“’m not, y’know, opposed to it,” he mumbled with what he tried to make a nonchalant shrug.

Kagome rolled her lips, trying to assess the situation, which wasn’t easy, what with her heart beating so loud in her ears she couldn’t hear anything else. Where did she go from there? How did she— initiate something?

“You’ve… done that before?” she asked, feeling a pang of jealousy in her chest.

“Well, you’ve— seen that,” he replied with a frown, and she remembered with distaste that time she’d seen him and Kikyo kiss.

“So, can I— Should I—”

“Y-yeah, sure, j-just—”

Kagome took one step towards him, and Inuyasha realized belatedly that his back was against the wall. He swallowed when she put her arms around him, hands on his shoulders first, before she moved them to cup his face. Even in the half-light, he could see her face was burning red. He doubted his was much different. When she pulled him towards her, he leaned forward, and closed his eyes just before their lips touched.

At first, it was a simple contact, but even that had his stomach doing loops. Her lips were soft, and tasted vaguely of cherry, probably due to that thing he’d seen her put on before they left. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her waist, settling his hand on the small of her back, while he lifted the other to her cheek.

She pulled away, though she didn’t step back, body still pressed against his, and slowly lifted a hand to her lips, and Inuyasha thought that sight would have his heart bursting out of his chest, as her fingertips traced her mouth.

“A-again?” she offered, and God, he really hoped he wasn’t imagining that hopeful tone.

He merely nodded as a reply, and a second later she was pushing herself on her tiptoes to kiss him again. It was a little less shy, and this time, her mouth moved against his as she kissed his lower lip. A small, whimpering sound came from his throat as his hand tightened on her back, bringing her just a little closer.

He kissed her back hesitantly, and the feeling he got when she gasped into her mouth, right before her lips curved into a smile, was as close to ecstasy as he’d ever gotten. He groaned when her breasts got pressed against his chest, and did his best to focus on the kiss and not let his mind go— elsewhere. Which was hard to do, when she was everywhere.

Her smell wasn’t as present as it was when he was in his usual form, but he was still acutely aware of it, and coupled with her taste, which he’d barely even dared to dream of before, it was almost enough to overwhelm him completely, but it was only the beginning of it. She was warm, almost burning, one of her legs was lifted off the ground slightly and rubbing against his, her hair were tingling against his cheek, her hands were on his face in a gesture that felt so damn intimate, and— fuck, he was out of breath.

He was the one to pull away this time, panting, and he pressed his forehead against hers, refusing to let her move.

“E-everything okay?” she asked, voice trembling. “I don’t have much— experience.”

“N-nah. ’s all good. ’s pretty great, actually.” He doubted he could put in words exactly what she made him feel right now, because he couldn’t even fathom it. The fact that she was kissing him, that she’d want that… It made him so happy it almost physically hurt.

Swallowing, he took one of her hands off of her face to guide it to his chest, right above his heart. There was a moment of soft, delicate silence, until her mouth formed a silent ‘oh’. He couldn’t tell her how she made him feel, but at least, he could try to show her.

“Can I— Can I kiss ya?” he asked. She was the one who’d initiated it before, and he didn’t want to do anything she wouldn’t want him too, but her eager nod worked pretty well to reassure him about that.

There was a wide grin on his face when he leaned in. He kissed her carefully, like she could break at any second, but also with more intent than before. The soft noise of their mouths moving together, as well as the ruffling of their clothes, filled the small space. Kagome let out a small whimper, then opened her mouth against his, tongue pushing against his lips, and Inuyasha’s brain stopped functioning once and for all.

He parted his lips almost hesitantly, and felt her tongue pushing inside. She was almost disappointed not to feel his fangs — she had been wondering how they would feel for a while now — but decidedly kept going despite it. It wasn’t long until their tongues met, with movements awkward and shy, until they parted once again, a light chuckle on Kagome’s lips.

“We’re, um, not there yet, are we?”

“That’ll need some— practice, I guess,” Inuyasha conceded. “If— If you want to.”

She nodded.

“I’d love to. Just— This is—” Was it really the right time to bear her heart out to him? Wouldn’t she ruin this moment?

“Yeah?”

But his voice was so soft and gentle and he was warm and engulfing her and she felt so safe in his arms, and somehow, she couldn’t hold in what she’d felt for months even a second longer.

“I’m in love with you, Inuyasha,” she breathed out. “So if— if this doesn’t mean anything to you— if it’s not about the same thing for you, I can’t—”

“Kagome…”

The sadness in his voice nearly shattered her heart right here and there and despite his embrace, she felt the cold fill her. This was it, she’d done it. Now he’d reject her once and for all, not leaving any of that previously lingering ambiguity, and she wouldn’t even have that to cling to anymore.

“How can ya think that?” he mumbled, sounding almost offended. “’f course it’s ‘bout that for me. I thought I’d been— pretty clear ‘bout that, actually.”

Kagome let out a loud laugh of disbelief. This— what?

“It wasn’t— It wasn’t clear at all!” she protested.

“How wasn’t it clear?” he replied heatedly. “I told ya I wanted ya by my side! And I told ya there was no one else for me! And you’re the one who’s always cozying up with that stupid wolf—”

“Wait, you had doubts? Inuyasha, everyone knows I have feelings for you!”

She needed to stop saying that, ‘cause he really couldn’t think when she did. It just turned him into a big pile of emotions, and all he could think of was how much he wanted to kiss her again right fucking now.

So he did. He crushed his mouth hungrily against hers, and it was the most heated and passionate kiss they’d shared so far. It involved some uncomfortable teeth scraping against each other, but his hands also started moving over her body, grabbing one of her thighs to pull her closer to him. Kagome replied with just as much intensity, hands burying in his long hair, as she moaned in his mouth.

They weren’t there, sure, but they were learning.

“Hey lovebirds!” Yuka, probably inebriated, shouted from the other side of the door, “you don’t have much time left! Everyone! Ten! Nine!”

Horrified, Kagome pushed herself away from him, earning a disappointed growl, and quickly did her best to simultaneously rearrange her clothes and her hair. When Yuka opened the door, her wide, shit-eating grin told her it was no use. Ignoring her, Kagome grabbed Inuyasha’s hand, and pulled him outside. He followed without thinking twice about it, mostly because he couldn’t do much of that right now.

Now that they were out, the reality of what had just happened was settling with him. Him and Kagome’d just kissed. Several times. She’d told him she loved him. She’d told him she loved him. His ears were practically ringing, and he had no idea how to process any of it. So right now, following her was as good as anything else.

Kagome soon decided it was time for them to go back home anyway, and Inuyasha helped her into her coat before taking his place by her side. The walk was mostly quiet, the silence awkward but not completely unpleasant. Lots of things had been said that night, and they would definitely need to talk about them some more, but also, it was far from being bad. In fact, it could very well be the beginning of something really, really good.

Inuyasha reached out to take her hand about mid-way, and Kagome shot him a smile when he did, a smile that had his entire body burning once again. Even though they were in the middle of the street, he took one quick step towards her, and leaned in to press a brief kiss against her lips.

“So that— that’s okay with ya, right? ‘cause I— ‘cause I feel like ya?”

Ears and cheeks burning, Kagome managed to nod. Inuyasha gave her the brightest smile she’d ever seen on his lips, squeezed her hand in his, and Kagome marveled at the way he looked right now under the stars. Calm, relaxed, smiling. Happy. And the thought that maybe she played a role in that was much more than she could handle.

They didn’t add anything to the conversation for the moment. They didn’t feel the need to. Right now, the warmth of the other’s hand was all they needed, and with it, everything in the world was just right.

And woosh, I vanish again.

#inuyasha #kagome #kagome higurashi #inukag #inuyasha fanfiction #my writing

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sunnywritesstuff34 · 3 years

Text

At Times,

(Oh boy oh boy, another installment in the “Sasuke is raised by the Akatsuki au” yay. This one is a little weird and underdone but I. I tried. Also sprinkled some mythology in there because i wanted to. hurrah. Anyway, here is some fluffy stuff, yeah. good ole fluffy. next one probably won’t be. but you know. also I am jumping all over the place this timeline is not linear i will be jumping all over the damn place so you know. @ghostjellyfishheart i made another one.)

TW and CW for: child injury, semi-gratuitous depiction of serious injuries, sort of amnesia, fucked up sleep schedules/habits, kidnapping, distress, probably ooc characters, this is a long one brace yourself but its mostly fluff i swear, tell me if I missed anything.

Sasuke woke up alone, for some reason. He opened his eyes carefully, sitting up. That action wasn't without pain of course, suddenly it felt like liquid fire had been poured into his veins, specifically his arm. He hissed through his teeth and looked blankly at it. His arm looked the same as the last time he looked at it, except a lot worse. A lot worse. Broken, it was clearly broken at the elbow. Well, it looked like he wouldn't get to sleep in afterall. Sasuke looked around him to try and get a grasp on his surroundings, and found that he was sitting in the middle of the woods, propped up against a tree. He groaned as he tried to get to his feet, scanning his surroundings again. He didn't see anything or anyone, but forced his sharingan away regardless. What happened? He couldn't remember. He must have gotten separated from the others, he’d been on a mission with Sasori and Deidara, right? And then… something happened. Sasuke felt panic grow in his chest. There had to be somewhere close he could go to collect his thoughts. His arm was beginning to scream, the numbness from unconsciousness wearing off. He was awake now, and the pain was only going to get worse. He gritted his teeth. Oh well. He’d been through worse. Conveniently, when he looked around, he found a path not too far from the tree he’d woken up at and began to follow it. He felt… heavy. Sasuke reached into his pocket, trying to figure out what he had on him should the need to defend himself arose. A couple of kunai that he nearly stabbed his fingers on when he reached into his pocket, and… something else. He pulled it out and his face twisted in disgust. A Hidden Sand Village headband. Was that who found him? Maybe? He was half tempted to throw the band into the brush but decided against it, tucking it back into his pocket. Not too far away, he came to a town that he… recognized. Degarashi Port, he realized. How did he get to Degarashi port? That's in the land of tea. Where is Sasori and Deidara? Itachi? Where is… anybody? Fuck, he’d really stepped in it now. He couldn't remember if something had happened, couldn't remember how he ended up here. Well that's head trauma for you, he thought bitterly. He probably had some type of head trauma. That was a good explanation. He was wearing his traveling clothes, his cloak and a sun hat he could use to cover his face if he needed to. Walking through the town, he tried to go over what he could remember. He’d been with Deidara and Sasori in tea country to assassinate some major leader. They had been scouting out a piece of land to see if they could camp there. And then… and then Sasori shouted something, and the scorpion tail, and then Deidara’s face looked more alarmed than Sasuke had ever seen it… and then nothing, for a while. And then… he paled. Fuck. something had happened, something bad. He’d been captured by someone who recognized him somehow, for what he was, who he was. Something about his eyes, something about the sharingan, forcing him to show it to them. Somehow he managed to get away; either he killed them and ran or stole away. Either way, he was in public now, so getting kidnapped wasn't so much an issue anymore. No one would snatch a kid in broad daylight in front of everyone, or at least, he didn't think so.

He meandered down the road, trying to clear his foggy head and look for a plan of action. His broken arm was tucked under his cloak, safely out of sight. Other than that, he didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, for the most part. He turned a corner into an alleyway, leaning back against the wall. He knew this place like the back of his hand because of how many times he’d been there, it was kind of ridiculous how many bloodthirsty people there were in a place called the land of tea. He needed to get back to the land of Wind, he needed to get back to the lair. Deidara and Sasori had to be somewhere else. Whoever captured him had been smart, they probably led them to somewhere that was a dead end. He had to get back on his own, and Sasuke could do that. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully. No, he had to. He would. He would get home. Whatever happened was important, he knew that. He had to get back home because of… because of what? Couldn't remember, whatever it was, he had to get back to the Akatsuki lair. When had he started calling it home?

“Oh my god, hold on, I know that kid!” Sasuke turned around just in time to lay eyes on four people. One of them was tall, white haired with an eyepatch and a bored expression. The other three were kids, around his age. One of them was dressed in a long sleeved crop top and his skin was so pale and grey Sasuke almost thought he was dead. After a few seconds of looking at him, he understood better. Black hair, serious eyes, fake smile. He's seen that before. The third person is a girl, short pink hair and wide green eyes. And the fourth… he felt his heart jump up into his throat. Blond, blue eyes. A stupid, stupid fucking smile. His mind flashes back years to being stranded at a boring hotel with an obnoxious boy around his age. Part of him wants to disappear, and the other part is grateful to see someone who’s just a little bit familiar. The blonde ran over to him.

“Sasuke!” he called. “Hey, hey Sasuke! It's me, it's Naruto!” He remembered that name, and he remembered that face from a long time ago out in the country side. Sasuke must have been around twelve then, bored out of his mind because of how long Kisame and Itachi were taking to get a job. He didn't have a single friend his age at that point, (he still didn't, but he wouldn't think about that) so it was kind of refreshing to meet someone else like him. Even if it came in the form of a loud annoying boy with the brain of a toddler that screamed his name constantly and had no idea what it meant to keep his voice down.

“Naruto,” Sasuke said bluntly. “I um- I can tell. That it's you.” The other three people followed behind and Sasuke did his best to figure them out. The girl, pink hair, is looking at him with something like admiration. He couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The other two seemed more cautious, the black haired one still smiling blankly but more on guard and the white haired adult… Sasuke got the creeping feeling that he was being analyzed right back. He tucked that into the back of his mind for later. This person was dangerous. He knew that much.

“Who’s this, Naruto?” the girl asked. Naruto glanced at her.

“Huh? Oh! Sakura, this is Sasuke.” He turned back to his friend. “And Sasuke, this is Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai. Sasuke’s a friend from a while ago, on that journey with Jiraiya?” Sasuke’s head was turning particularly slow. He blinked.

“J-Jiraiya? Like the legendary Sannin?” Naruto’s smile grew wider. He probably thought Sasuke was impressed by his trainer, but in reality, Sasuke was thinking well, the last time I met a Sannin, he tried to cut out my eyes and/or use me and Itachi for creepy ritual stuff, that was not a good time. Of course, Naruto didn't need to know the inner workings of his mind. In his confused and half delirious state, Sasuke wondered idly if Naruto had a similar experience with Jiraiya. He doubted it, frankly.

“Hello. My name is Sai,” the black haired boy said robotically. Sasuke didn't trust him, and he didn't trust that smile. At all. Still, he gave a half wave with his good hand.

“Sasuke knows Ninjutsu!” Naruto said proudly. White hair, Kakashi, raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? And what village is he from?” Naruto frowned. Sasuke tried not to grimace. He remembered his interactions with Naruto very, very clearly. They traded techniques, beat the hell out of each other a little bit, had a lot of fun and shared memories and thoughts they hadn’t ever shared with anyone before, and then… and than Sasuke noticed the leaf headband and disappeared without a word. He used any excuse to be anywhere else, because this kid was a leaf ninja. He couldn't risk it. He could never have been friends with someone like that.

“Hey, I never gotta ask. Where ya from anyway?” Naruto asked.

“H-Hidden Sand,” Sasuke said quickly, pulling the almost forgotten badge from his pocket and showing it to them. Kakashi seemed to approve, and Naruto smiled.

“Damn, Sunagakure? I've got some friends from there, that's-”

“What's a Sand village ninja doing this far south?” Kakashi asked contemplatively.

“Lets just say I got… separated from my squad,” Sasuke told them, a plan beginning to form in his foggy mind. “I know the area here, I could help you get back to Fire Country. Do you think you can help me get back to Suna? I… erm… a sort of… diplomatic mission?” Naruto smiled wider, something Sasuke hardly thought was possible.

“Sure! Gaara’s the Kazekage, he’s like, my best friend. No problem at all!” Kakashi sighed.

“Okay, what could possibly go wrong? Just a little pit stop at Suna, nothing more, nothing less…” Sasuke felt himself let out a breath of relief. At some point they started walking back towards the woods after Sasuke pointed to a couple of spots on the map, and at one point or another, the pain in Sasuke’s arm began to build. He stumbled on the forest path.

“Woah there kiddo, what's going on?” Kakashi asked. The sensei gently moved him to a tree and had him sit down against it. The girl, Sakura, moved forward, and after examining him for a second or two she uncovered his arm. Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Naruto and Sakura winced.

“Y-You're arm is broken!” Sakura exclaimed. Sasuke blinked at her blearily.

“Uh… y-yes,” Sasuke managed. “It… it is.” She picked up his arm gingerly and began to look over it with a solemn expression. “I need to set it, and then apply some medical jutsu. It's a bad break. Why didn't you say something earlier, stupid?” she demanded. Sasuke blinked at her again.

“S-Sorry. Today has been… rather trying,” he muttered.

“Yeah, sure seems like it,” Naruto muttered. “We should make camp, the sun’s setting anyway and it's dangerous to go down these roads in the middle of the night,” he glanced at Kakashi who sighed and nodded his ascent.

“Hate to admit it, but you're right. Sai, come on, let's go find a clearing.” Sasuke looked over at Sakura, the pink haired girl. Her eyes were clouded with worry, concern. He didn't understand it. He didn't know her. Why was she… Sakura sighed and put a hand to his forehead.

“Sleep, okay?” she breathed. “You look exhausted, and it won't do the healing process any favors if you try to stay awake. Just rest, you're safe now.” You're safe now. It had been so long since anybody had said that to him. He didn't know if he liked it. He wasn't safe. Sasuke… was never safe. He had never been safe, never would be. But then chakra flowed from her fingertips, and he was lulled into… something. His eyes closed. Consciousness slipped through his fingers like sand.

When Sasuke woke up, he was more tired than he had been in a long time. His periods of rest were typically dreamless and seemingly endless, unless they were plagued by nightmares that left him screaming for help and tasting blood. This time, he woke up slowly, almost… gently. He woke up to a forest ceiling made of leaves belonging to trees he had never seen before. He sat up slowly, not wanting to strain himself.

“You're awake, teme!” Sasuke blinked and looked to his right, just to find a very enthusiastic Naruto looking back at him. He frowned and his answer was instinctive.

“Of course I am, dobe.” Naruto only grinned more. He looked like he did when they met all those years ago. That pale kid, Sai, walked over.

“Hello,” he called, and Naruto turned to look at him.

“Sasuke’s awake!” Kakashi walked over too, surveying all of them.

“Yes, it appears that's the case,” he mused. “I hate to say this Sasuke, but you should probably try to go back to sleep. These idiots only have a few more hours of sleep left before we have to head out.” Sasuke only nodded. If there was one thing he was familiar with, it was weird sleep schedules. He was used to waking up at the crack of dawn or the middle of the night at the drop of a hat. That's just how he’d lived and had to live. He suspected that these ninjas must have lived a similar way. It certainly seemed that way. He had to fight the waves of rage that crept into his chest at seeing their headbands. Leaf soldiers. They were leaf soldiers. In any other circumstances he would slit all of their throats and run, but he needed them. And besides, he didn't know if he’d ever be able to do that to Naruto. Ever. It was disturbing, how averse he was to hurting this Konoha dog. It didn't feel right. He only nodded at Kakashi’s instruction and laid his head back down on the bedroll, frowning.

“What… where did you get this extra bed roll?”

“It's mine! I let you sleep in it,” Naruto chimed in. Sasuke blinked at him.

“And… why did you do that?” Naruto rolled his eyes.

“Uh, you were injured. You obviously need it more than me.” Sasuke couldn't help but smile.

“That's… thank you.” He rolled over and froze after a moment. He sat up again. “Where’s- where’s my sword?” Naruto frowned and went rummaging on the other side of his sleeping area. He produced the chokuto, scabbard and all. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief.

“Geeze, all that for a blade?” Naruto muttered. After a few seconds of looking at it, he asked another question. “Why’s it so important?”

“I made it myself. Forged it with some help. It's called Kusanagi.”

“That's a cool name.” Sasuke closed his eyes and laid down.

“It means grass cutter.” He mumbled, thinking of old stories his brother used to tell him in the dead of night. “There’s a whole story about it. Once there was an old god who roamed the plains of earth. He met some younger gods when they told him about a giant snake that terrorized them and kept eating their daughters. They offered their daughter’s hand in marriage if he could defeat the snake. When he did, he found out that there was a sword embedded in the snake's tail, a sword that could control the wind. He used it to ward off flames rising in the dry grass plains, that's why it was called grass cutter.”

“Wow,” Naruto muttered. “That's a cool story.”

“Mhm,” Sasuke mumbled back. “It was one of my favorites.” They both nodded off soon after, and Sasuke fell asleep oddly well for being with the enemy. Better then usual, anyway.

#that was an abrupt ending #sorry my brain said no thank you fam #sasuke does not understand genuine emotion #as a medical nin and a normal person Sakura likes him but is also just worried about him as another human being #and he does not #he cannot comprehend #Itachi was never great at emotions #he certainly tried #kakashi does not really like how this is going #but he doesn't have reason to suspect much so he's going along with it #Sai is just entirely checked out #like this boy tired #he also doesn't really give a shit #naruto is happy #like the mythology i sprinkled in there?#ehehehehe #im a nerd #and the name of his sword was interesting #but um #sasuke is doing okay #but you can only imagine how Itachi's doin rn #cause its not #its not great #he's gonna be dropping bodies until he finds his brother #bcus you know #itachi be that way #he's quirky like that #yk #naruto fanfiction #naruto au

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lookimtryingmybest · 3 years

Text

“How to accidentally die, meet a shady ghost and become a half demon” A story by Logan Freud.

Part 1 Part 2

CW for discussions of blood, needles and digging up someone's death body and using it for weird magic stuff. Also a few graphic descriptions of injuries (Janus's) and a brief scene where Remus almost cuts himself that might be considered self-harm. And casual conversations of murder because yes. This is the weirdest shit I've written so far.

Janus waved his hand over the TV. He just had to get it right enough, and he could turn it on to watch something. It’s not like he had something better to do.

“You’re running out of time.” A husk voice reminded him.

Janus rolled his eyes, not bothering to turn to the voice. He could see its silhouette reflected on the TV’s screen.

“I know.” He said. “I won’t take much longer.”

“You know what will happen to you if you fail.” The voice warned him.

Janus waved it off. “Yeah, yeah, I know, now fuck off, I wanna watch Buffy.”

“I will come by the next full moon. If you haven’t finished by then, I’ll take both of you with me.” The voice said.

“Wait.” Janus frowned. He turned to face those orange eyes he hated. “Both?”

“You.” It said, smiling at Janus. “And your new friend.”

“Logan.” Janus realized. “Leave him out of this, I’m the one who made the deal.”

The demon smiled. “Someone’s coming home. See you around, Deceit.” It said, before dimming out in the shadows.

“Bastard.” Janus said. He turned back to the TV. A month. He had a month. He could get everything right before the month ended, right?

He heard the front door opening.

Logan entered the living room, followed by Virgil. He smiled at Janus.

“I thought you’d be here.” He said.

“Yeah, wow, congratulations. You have braincells.” Janus said, floating above his level. He noticed Virgil holding the wooden triangle to his eye. “What’s he doing? Apart from looking like an idiot?”

“Rude.” Virgil said.

“He can see us.” Logan said. “And hear us.”

“You could’ve warned me about the face” Virgil said.

Janus rolled his eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry my face upsets you, I died in a fire what the fuck did you expect?”

“Sorry.” Virgil muttered. “Anyways I’ll, eh… be in the kitchen for a while.” He said putting the triangle in his pocket. “I’ll talk to you two later.”

Janus waited for Logan to speak. Logan just looked uncomfortably around for a while, before speaking.

“I… apologize for snapping earlier.” He said. “It was out of place.”

“Damn right it was.” Janus said. “What are you going to do, hug me over it?” He asked, floating near him. “Good luck touching me.”

“I did not mean what I said.” Logan said. “Do you want to go back with the others and talk to them for yourself?”

Janus contemplated his options. He didn’t have many. A month was so little time.

“Fine.” He said. “I’ll go get Virgil.”

He floated through the walls into the kitchen. Virgil was unashamedly eating ice cream out of the container. Janus looked around for something to knock over.

He pushed Virgil’s phone. It barely moved. He tried again, and again, and again until it fell to the ground.

Virgil cursed and grabbed it, placing it back on the table.

Goddamnit, he was an idiot.

Janus took another five minutes to push it over the edge again. This time, Virgil grabbed it midair.

He grumbled, leaving the ice cream on the table and pulling the triangle out of his pocket.

He stared at Janus. “Asshole.” He said.

Janus shrugged. “I want to speak to the others as well. Grab a notebook or something, I’ll need you to make a list.”

“A list for what?” Asked Logan appearing through a wall. “Wow. That was so weird.”

“You get used to it.” Janus said. “A list to get shit going, I’ll explain once we’re there.”

Virgil placed the ice cream back in the fridge. “Let’s go. They’re probably waiting.”

“Got any kings?” Patton asked.

“Apart from myself? No. Go fish” Roman said. He was holding three kings, and he refused to let them go.

Something pulled the king of hearts out of his hands, throwing it to the cards pile.

Patton gasped. “You were Lying!”

“Pat, the game is called ‘go fish but we lie about it’” Remus said. “Got any threes?”

Patton grabbed the king as Roman grumbled, grabbing another card from the pile.

“Nope! Go fish” Patton said. A card flew from the pile and hit Remus in the face.

“Rude.” Remus mumbled, grabbing the card.

Virgil entered the room, holding the triangle to his face. “Janus, stop messing with the game.” He said. He received a card to the face seconds later, when he had already sat down at his pillow. “I applaud your determination to hit me with a card.” He turned to the others. “He had to try five times until he managed to lift the card.”

“So he can touch physical objects” Roman said. “That’s creepy.”

“He can, but he has to try over and over cause most time his hand just passes right through.” Virgil said. “Wanna see him yourself?”

“Sure.” Roman said. He left his cards down and moved to sit next to Virgil.

“Here ya go.” Virgil said, giving him the wooden triangle.

Roman inspected it. Something in the back of his mind told him he’d look stupid with the triangle in his face, but he pushed those thoughts away.

He looked through the hole, and nearly screamed.

The ghost, Janus, it was horrible. Skin falling off his face and blood splattered on his clothes. Roman had to hold a gag back.

Virgil looked at him and gave him a sheepish smile. “Yeah, maybe I should’ve warned you…”

“That would’ve been ideal.” Logan said, appearing in Roman’s field of vision. He looked the exact same as he had in the funeral. “Hi, Roman.”

“Hi, Lo.” Roman said, feeling a bit sick. “Hi, erm… Janus?”

“Yep.” Janus said, floating to his level. “You ok there, princey?”

Roman nodded. “Yeah, perfectly fine…”

“Ro, you ass, let me see as well.” Remus said, nudging his brother.

Roman passed him the wooden triangle. “All yours. I need a, fuck, a bin, please.”

Patton stood up to the corner of the room and brought the bin to Roman. Roman didn’t have time to thank him, as he double over it and emptied his stomach. Patton grimaced and rubbed his back.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Virgil said, offering Roman water once he had finished.

“Jeez, is he that bad?” Remus asked, before putting the triangle to his eye. “Oh… He is!”

A pause. “It’s not rude if it’s the truth. Also, you’re that kid from the house fire fifty years ago?”

Another pause. “How does he know about this stuff?” Patton whispered to Roman.

“Look, I’m not one to judge Remus’s weird hyper fixations.” Roman whispered back. “He likes crimes and death.”

“So… what’s your plan to get back from the dead?” Remus asked. He listened for a few seconds before turning to Roman. “Get the pen and paper, I’m making a list.”

“A list?” Virgil asked. “For what?”

“For the ritual, duh.” Remus said. “We’re bringing these two idiots back.”

“Ok, ok, we got the incense and the bowl and Virgil and Patton are getting the candles.” Remus said, ticking the things off the list. “Can you get the salt?”

“Yeah, we have to mix it with something else, right?” Roman asked, opening the cupboard.

“No, that’s the weird mix of sulphur and other shit.” Remus said, ticking off the box next to ‘salt’.

“What do we have to mix it with?” Roman said, leaving the salt next to the bowl. He looked over his brother’s shoulder.

“Eh… ivy’s leaves, honeysuckle petals, although those have to be added after burning the other stuff, the incense and…” Remus squinted to read his messy handwriting “virgin’s blood.”

“Wait, blood?” Roman asked. “I thought you said the stuff was easy to get!”

“Well, Janus spoke fast and I copied fast, I didn’t remember the blood part. Nor the virgin.” Remus said. “Besides, the other stuff like a chalk and blackboard are pretty easy to get. We already have one.” He pointed at the blackboard and chalk he had left lying against the wall. He ticked the box next to those items.

“Ok, does it have to be a female virgin? A dead virgin? Cause I’m pretty sure all of us are virgins.” Roman said, taking the list from Remus. “It just says virgin’s blood, didn’t Janus give more details?”

“Not that I remember, let me ask again.” Remus said, taking the wooden triangle again.

“Hey, J-anus.” He said, looking at the space above Roman. Roman shot that space a death glare and hoped it got to Janus. “Yeah, you heard? Anyone’s? What about masturbation, does that count? Good, ok, I can do that. How much do we need? Oh, I thought it was more. Well, I mean, the human body can lose to up six litres of blood. Although you pass out after three or four.”

“Remus, not that I want to interrupt your lovely conversation,” Roman said, taking the triangle from Remus “but we have to keep going. How much did Janus say we needed?”

“Just enough for the bottom of the bowl. Not even a tenth of a litre.” Remus said, moving to one of the drawers and pulling out a knife. “We should put it in the fridge so it doesn’t form clots. Those are nasty.”

“Wait wait wait.” Roman said, practically yanking the knife out of Remus hands. “The fuck you think you’re doing?”

“Getting the blood.” Remus said, trying to get the knife back. “Duh.”

“Not like that!” Roman said. “You’ll need stitches and none of us know how to do them.”

“Well, then, how?” Remus asked.

Then his phone started ringing.

Patton pushed the shopping cart down the aisle. He looked at his phone, at the picture he had taken of Remus’s list.

“Ok, so candles first. Then there’s another few plants needed, which I think we can take from the Twins’s garden.” Patton said “or maybe we have o go to the botanic garden…”

Virgil pulled the cart towards him. “I think the candles are over here.” He said. “Let’s deal with those first. Does it specify how many they need to be?”

Patton read the list. It said ’12 fucking candles’. Of course Remus would be too lazy to write twelve, but would still write ‘fucking’ as if it was necessary.

“We need twelve, but it doesn’t tell me which kind.” Patton said. He grabbed a random candle and smelled it. Lavender. “Will Janus mind if they’re scented?”

Virgil grabbed a black candle. It smelled like chocolate. “I think it doesn’t matter, didn’t it say we also needed sulphur and incense? That should block anything else.”

“You sure?” Patton asked.

“No, but I’m not even sure this isn’t a wild fever dream, so…” Virgil said, getting more black candles.

Virgil’s phone got out of his phone and fell to the ground. Virgil cursed.

“Really Logan?” He grunted as he picked it up. “What are you trying to say?”

“Maybe he wants us to call Remus and ask?” Patton guessed.

“Maybe.” Virgil said. “I’ll do so. Don’t put back the black candles, those are mines for my aesthetic.”

Patton snorted at that, as he watched Virgil dial Remus’s number.

“Hey, asshole, it’s me.” Virgil said. “Yeah, quick question, do the candles need to be scentless?” A pause. “Oh, ok, great, that was all. Thanks.” Another pause. “Why do you need that? Virgin’s what? Never mind, why am I surprised? I should’ve seen this coming. Sure, yeah, I’ll get that as well. Anything else? No? Great, tell Janus he owes me money for this.”

Having said so, he hung up.

Virgil looked at Patton. “He says scentless just in case. They’re probably cheaper anyways.” He took a dozen of candles in his arms and dumped them in the shopping cart. “Now, we need a syringe.”

Patton frowned. “What do we need that for?”

“For the blood.” Virgil said. “Now, where do we get a syringe?”

Patton blinked confused. “In the pharmacy…?”

Virgil nodded and started pushing the cart.

Remus was in the garden grabbing the ivy’s leaves, wearing gloves just in case they were poisonous. He wasn’t sure if they were, but he didn’t want to deal with the consequences in case they were.

Roman was in the kitchen still, making sure they had everything else. And waiting for the other two to arrive.

Remus shiver when he felt something going through him. “Janus?” He asked, barely above a whisper. “What do you want?”

He took off his gloves and grabbed the wooden triangle in his pocket. He placed it to his face and stared at Janus. He was going through the plant in front of him.

“What do you want?” He asked.

Janus floated above his head. “There’s something else I need. It’s right over here.”

“Over where?” Remus asked, pushing his gloves and the bag of ivy’s leaves into his bag pack. He stood up to follow Janus.

“In Virgil’s backyard.” Janus said. “Just follow me, I know a shortcut.”

“That’s not right over here.” Remus complained. “I’ll go get the others.”

“No!” Janus exclaimed, reaching out and passing right through Remus. Remus shivered. “Not for this.”

“…Ok…” Remus said. “If I get murdered I’m blaming you.”

“Fine by me, now follow me.” Janus said.

And so Remus did. Janus led him through the garden, surrounded two houses and crossed the road, right to Virgil’s garden.

Virgil’s garden wasn’t as pretty as Remus’s. His parents didn’t care as much, and just left it to grow as it pleased, only mowing the grass once per month. The grass itself was yellowish and half dead.

Remus liked Virgil’s garden. You could always find cool fungi in it.

“Right over…” Janus said looking at the ground. He pointed at one spot with less grass than the others. “Here. Dig here.”

“I don’t have a shovel.” Remus said.

“There’s one in the shed.” Janus said, pointing at the small wooden house in the corner of the garden. “And they never lock the shed, so…”

“Fine.” Remus said. He pushed the wooden triangle to his pocket for a moment and went to the shed. It was indeed unlocked, but the door was heavy and Remus had to push with his whole body just to open it a few centimeters. He sticked his hand inside and grabbed the shovel that was conveniently near the door.

He went back to the place where Janus had been floating and started digging. It was harder than he anticipated.

At one point, when he had dug a meter, the wooden triangle fell from his pocket and floated in front of him. He grabbed it to stare at Janus.

“Did I dig enough? I still don’t know what we’re searching for.” He asked.

“Ditch the shovel.” Janus said. Remus threw the shovel away. “And grab a handful of dirt. The one at the bottom best.”

Remus sighted and grabbed another plastic bag from his backpack. “Why are we doing this again?”

“I need these, ok?” Janus said. “Now continue digging. With your hands. If you keep using the shovel you will break them.”

“Break what?” Remus asked, as he struggled to open the plastic bag with just one hand.

“My bones.” Janus said.

Remus stopped to stare at Janus. “Your bones.”

“Yes, my bones, can you hurry up?” Janus said, crossing his arms.

“Why the fuck are we digging up your bones?” Remus asked.

“I need something from them.” Janus said. “And I need you to trust me, ok?”

“You’re literally a ghost, how the fuck am I supposed to trust you?” Remus said. “What do you want to do with them? Tell me or I’ll fucking leave.”

Janus grit his teeth. “I’ll only tell you if you promise not to tell.”

Remus sighted. “Fine. Tell.”

Logan followed Virgil to the Twins house again.

He passed through the wall into the kitchen, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn’t like looking at the insides of the walls.

In the kitchen, Roman was placing everything in order as he made sure he hadn’t missed a thing. Remus entered through the door and unceremoniously dumped a bag of ivy’s leaves and honeysuckle petals in the counter. Roman gave him a death glare and colocated them in order.

“Hi Lo.” Remus said. He had taped the wooden triangle to his face. Roman looked at him weird and ignored him.

Janus appeared behind Remus. “So, did they get everything?”

“Yes. Although, may I ask, blood?” Logan said.

Janus raised his hands defensively “hey, I don’t make the rules about rituals, I just follow them.”

Logan rolled his eyes just as Virgil and Patton entered the kitchen.

“Hey, crackheads,” Virgil said “why the fuck do we need blood?”

“Ask Remus.” Roman said, taking the shopping bags from Virgil and dumping the candles on the table. “Why are there extra candles?”

Virgil didn’t reply, only taking the candles and shoving them back to the bag.

Patton laughed at that and pulled out the syringe. “So… blood, huh?”

“Yep!” Remus said. “Janus said it doesn’t matter who the virgin is. Like. We’re all virgins, right?”

“Yeah…” Roman said, looking away and blushing. “Right…”

“Do I want to know?” Logan said, mostly at himself.

“No.” Janus said. “You really don’t want to know the things I’ve seen.”

“You’re just saying that to make me second guess things I’ve done.” Logan said.

Janus tsked. “Touché.”

“…I did not ask for this information.” Remus said, staring at both ghosts. He looked at his brother disgusted and Roman only blushed harder. “Nope, didn’t need to know. I’m gonna go get the final details with J-Anus. You three see if there’s any virgin left among us. Horny fuckers.”

He ignored Roman’s offended noises and went upstairs, grabbing the chalkboard on the way. Janus waved Logan goodbye and followed.

Virgil and Patton looked at each other and erupted in laughter. Roman groaned and hid his blushing face with his face.

“I hate you all.” He said.

“Ok, ok, but I must know, which guy was it?” Virgil asked. “Cause you’re hella gay and can’t deny that.”

“I’m not… look, it doesn’t matter.” Roman said, grabbing the syringe and the cup. “Who’s gonna donate their blood to the cause?”

“I’m not… a big fan of syringes.” Patton said. “Do we even know how to draw blood without fucking up?”

Roman showed him his phone, with a YouTube tutorial on it. “There’s a tutorial for everything.”

“So we need something from you because of your connection to the demon.” Remus guessed. “What about Logan? Do I need to go grave robbing?”

“No. He’s connected to me.” Janus said. “If I succeed, so does he.”

“Why si he connected again?” Remus asked. “Last time I checked, he didn’t even believe in ghosts, nor deal making demons.”

“Yeah, well, now he’s a ghost.” Janus said. “I can’t say for sure, but he saw me before dying, and now he can’t move on, so he must be connected to me, or to someone else from this plane of existence.”

“Oh. Cool, I guess.” Remus said. “And you’re connected to…? Apart from the demon.”

“The demon. And my murderer.” Janus said.

“Wait you were murdered?!” Remus said. “You said you died in a fire.”

“I did. I was murdered. In a fire.” Janus said. He ran a hand through his hair. “Blow to the head, a lot faster than burning alive.”

“You know who it was?” Remus asked.

“Yep.” Janus said. “Not gonna talk about it, cause they died ten years ago.”

“Understandable, have a great day.” Remus said.

“Talk about what?” Logan asked, entering through the wall and shivering for a second. “It’s still weird.”

“It took me a year.” Janus said. “And talk about the ritual. We’re almost finishing reviewing it.”

Remus grabbed the chalkboard where he had written the instructions and showed it to Logan. “See? Resurrection in five easy steps!”

Logan scoffed. “Should I tell the others to go carrying the utilities to the basement?”

“Yes.” Janus said. “We’ll be there in a minute.”

Remus watched as Logan disappeared through the wall again, before turning to Janus. “So… anything else we need?”

“A knife.” Janus said. “That should do.”

“Are you going to leave it there like the shady bitch you are, or are you going to elaborate?” Remus asked.

Janus rolled his eyes. “Hide the knife and hand it to me when I ask you to. Quickly. Also, drop the mixture into the fire at the same time, or the knife won’t do a thing.”

“Ok.” Remus said. He got up and grabbed the chalkboard and his notebook. “Also, I find it disturbing that you watched my brother shag.”

“I didn’t do that.” Janus said. “And about everything related to the situation, that’s what’s disturbing? Not the whole digging my bones out and grinding them to dust?”

“That was… weird, but hey, it was a very educational experience.” Remus said, as he made his way downstairs. “Come on, we have a demon to slain.”

Remus had taken off the stupid wooden triangle of his face by the time he made it down to the basement.

The basement, as creepy as it sounded, was used mostly for storing the old stuff none of Remus’s parents wanted, but were too lazy to throw out.

The four of them had cleared up enough space, pushing the old boxes to the back and cleaned the space.

Remus guided them as they made the salt circle and place the candles, lighting them all on. Virgil volunteered to mix the ingredients, as Roman was still pale from seeing blood and Patton’d rather not get close to poison ivy.

And Remus, of course, set the mix on fire.

As Roman reluctantly read the meaningless words Remus had scribbled on his notebook, two figures started becoming more clear.

Then Roman finished, and both of them fell to the ground.

Logan was able of keeping his balance for a few seconds before slumping against the wall, heaving. Right. Car crash. Broken bones. He should’ve expected the pain. He groaned and looked at the others.

“Hey.” He said oh, so eloquently. “It worked.”

“Not yet.” Janus said, still kneeling on the spot he had fallen. He was panting heavily, grimacing at every little movement he made. He raised his hand to his hair and noticed the wetness. “Concussion, right, I can deal with that.”

He moved to stand up on wobbly legs and Patton made a move to get out to help him. Virgil held him back.

“We stay in the circle. Those were the instructions.” He looked at Patton for a few more seconds before letting him go. “What’s the next step?”

“Next step is” Remus said, “do not panic.”

“Easy for you to say.” Roman said. “This whole experience is going to end me.”

“Roman, shut up.” Janus asked. He looked at the flickering candles. “It’s here.”

“What’s here?” Logan asked, trying to move from the wall.

Janus opened his mouth to answer, when the candles were all blown out. The burning mixture kept going, making everything smell horrible.

And then it stepped in, horns grazing the ceiling as he made his way towards were Janus was standing. And it smiled.

“So the little liar finally came around.” It said, smiling in that way that made Janus shiver. It looked over the four kids in the circle. “Which one of them will it be, Deceit?”

“Wait.” Logan said. “What’s happening here?”

The demon turned to him. “The little snake didn’t tell you? He made a deal. A soul for a soul.”

Virgil was the first to realize what that meant. “You piece of shit!” He yelled, and Janus didn’t even have the decency of looking at him. “I did not agree to this!”

“Stay in the circle.” Janus said, voice barely over a whisper. “It can’t get you if you stay in the circle.”

“One of them will have to come out, if you want to go back to life.” The demon said. “Well, two, if you want your friend to live as well.”

“You set us up?” Patton asked. “Was this your plan all along?”

“No.” Janus said, turning to them. “It was not.” He turned to face the demon again. “I’m not giving you a single thing.”

“Then you’ll die, and so will your friend.” The demon warned.

Janus clicked his tongue. “I don’t think I will.”

The signal, Remus thought, before pulling out the mixture he’d made and dumping it into the fire. He didn’t wait to see how the fired reacted, too busy pulling out the hidden knife from his pants and throwing it at Janus.

Janus tried his best, he really did. But there was only a maximum effort a newly undead body could make. And it wasn’t fast enough.

The demon grabbed his wrist just as the knife was left inches from its face.

“What’s this?” It asked, knowing fully well what was happening. “The little snake thinks he’s strong enough?”

And having said that, he bent Janus’s wrist in an angle that wasn’t supposed to be possible.

Janus screamed as the knife fell from his fingers.

Remus found himself running without second thought, as he did everything in life. With no second thought. And so he punched the demon in the face, making it release Janus.

And stepping out of the circle.

And hurting his wrist.

Then the demon grabbed him by his shirt and threw him against the wall. He heard someone scream his name, probably Roman, as they rushed to his side.

His head ached as he opened his eyes and tried to make sense of what was happening. Roman was fussing over him, talking to him too quick for Remus to understand.

He shoved his brother to the side and tried to focus on the scene in front of him.

Virgil and Patton, both paralyzed with fear, still inside the circle. Both of them trying to protect the other against that thing.

Janus, that little shit, being raised by his neck, struggling with the little strength his damaged body provided.

And Logan, who probably had several broken bones, being the only one to move.

He grabbed the knife from the floor. Without more hesitation, he thrusted it through its eye, straight to where the brain should be if this creature was biologically similar to human beings.

Janus felt to the floor, gasping for air. The demon stumbled back, dissolving into dust.

Logan looked around him, still panting. He could hear his heart beating on his ears.

“Is it… Is it over?” Patton asked.

“No.” Janus rasped. “No, you fools, I told you to stay in the cir–”

And then there was light.

Back when Patton had been five, he had fainted for the first time.

It hadn’t been a pleasant experience, getting sick to the point where you fainted. He had those memories buried in a sea of other, much more pleasant, memories. But he hadn’t forgotten how it felt waking up after fainting.

Waking up after this was fairly similar, only something seemed odd.

Very odd.

He pushed himself to his knees. He was in between boxes, as if they hadn’t moved them in the first place. And he felt… wet. Like he was drained in cold sweat, after a long run in the park when it was freezing outside.

He made it around the corner of the big box, probably containing the twins’s old bunk bed, and came face to face with Virgil.

Or he thought it was Virgil.

His face was a bit more angular, more sharp than before. He had a purplish tint to his skin and bright purple eyes. Eight of them, three smaller ones underneath each ‘normal’ one.

And fangs, Patton discovered, once Virgil screamed and backed away. Patton couldn’t help it and he screamed as well, stepping back.

Once both of them had stopped screaming, which took a few more seconds, Patton stared at Virgil.

“You’re purple!” He said.

Virgil gestured to Patton’s body. “Well you’re green! And frog-like!”

Patton stared down at his hands, noticing the green tint they had acquired. And the fibers between his fingers. And that explained the wetness.

“Oh.” He said. “Oh.” He turned to Virgil. “Do you think this has to do with the ‘killing a demon’ thingie?”

“Maybe? I dunno.” Virgil admitted, inspecting his skin as well. “Where are the others?”

As if on queue, they heard two very distinct voices screaming.

They walked to the back and found what they assumed was Roman and Remus, screeching at each other.

Both of them were on the ground, staring at each other as they screeched. Remus, or whom they assumed to be Remus by the white streak–now more prominent– on his hair and the mustache, had tentacles coming from his back, about six of them. Roman, on the other hand, had bat like wings, plus the spiraled horns that appeared from his head. Both of them seemed to share some characteristics, like pointy ears, sharp teeth, and really loud screeching.

Virgil groaned. “Ok, SHUT UP.” He yelled, his voice becoming louder than he had expected. He shot his hands to his mouth, clamping it close. Both the twins stared at him. “Sorry. But really, you were being too loud.”

“You– you’re…” Roman stuttered, for once in his life lost for words. “You’re… that?!”

Patton rubbed his temples. “Ok, ok, calm the fuck down.” He said, ignoring the gasps that came with him cursing. “There has to be a reasonable explanation for this.”

“Yeah, well I don’t see any!” Remus said. His tentacles shot up in frustration. He grumbled and tried to put them back down. “Why do I get the slimy tentacles and you get the cool wings?”

“Why do I get the horns and he gets the cool voice amplification?” Roman asked, gesturing with his head towards Virgil.

“This… this has to have to do with the whole… demon? Thingie.” Virgil said, running a hand through his hair. “Patton said it, and this whole shitshow went down after Logan killed it.”

“Wait.” Remus said. “Where’s Logan?”

Everyone looked around, as the twins got up from the ground, stumbling thanks to the new difference of balance.

“Logan?” Patton called. “LoLo?”

Then Roman’s phone started ringing.

Logan woke up and looked at the sky. He blinked for a few moments, frowning when Ride’s melody made his way to his ears again.

He sat up, taking off his headphones. He didn’t remember putting them on. Where was he?

He looked around. Oh. That’s where he was.

He got up and ran to the pavement before he got run by a car. Again.

Looking around once he was safe from the cars’s wrath, Logan noticed where he was. In the street in front of the park, where he had agreed to meet up with his friends. Where Virgil had been waiting for him.

He looked to the other side of the street. No one there.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket when he realized. His skin was different.

He might have dropped his phone in shock. He couldn’t exactly tell, staring at his skin as he was.

His skin was like a crystal container where gasses roamed free. No, not gasses. Nebulas. Entire galaxies were spiraling inside his skin.

Logan knew better than to panic right there. Panic could wait, until he was out of sight.

He grabbed his phone from the floor and started going to the Twin’s. That wasn’t the closer one, but he thought that maybe, just maybe, they’d still be there from the ritual. Or whatever that had been. It had not gone as planned.

He checked himself on the camera of the phone as he walked. His eyes seemed to be filled with stars as well, and his hair might have been the only thing that remained like before. Good. He didn’t like changing his hair.

Logan was about to knock on the Twins’s door when he realized they were not likely to answer themselves. Not wanting to scare their parents to death, he pulled out his phone once again and started calling one of them.

“Logan?” He heard Roman say, right after picking up. “Where are you? What happened?”

Logan sighted. “I’m outside your home. Would you mind coming to open the door? I do not wish to startle your parents.”

“So you’ve changed as well?” Roman asked.

“We’ll talk about it when we see each other.” Logan said. He was not willing to have this conversation over the phone.

Five minutes was all he had to wait until his friends came out of the house and tackled him into a group hug.

Logan endured the hug from the ground for five seconds before starting trying to squirm away from it. He sat up and looked at the others.

“So…” He said, noticing their inhuman characteristics as well. “You too, huh?”

“YES!” Virgil said, exasperated. “If you ever dare die in front of me again, I will murder you personally!” To emphasize this, he punched him in the shoulder. Logan pouted.

“Why does Logan get to look pretty.” Roman said. “I wanted to look like a pretty star deity too.”

“At least you can fly.” Patton said, getting up. “Let’s get inside, someone might see us.”

As Logan watched the others made their way back inside, noticing their new… aspect.

Then he noticed, as he entered through the front door.

“Where’s Janus?” He asked.

The others looked at each other, eyes widening with the realization.

“Don’t look at me!” Remus said, when everyone turned to him. “He didn’t tell me this part of his plan, only the stabbidity stab one.”

“Well… where did you wake up, Logan?” Roman asked. “Cause it wasn’t here either.”

“In the middle of the road next to the park.” Logan said.

“Oh, well, then Janus must be at Virgil’s house.” Patton said. Everyone stared at him in confusion. “What? Remus said that Janus died there, in a fire.”

Remus couldn’t help smiling, as he bounced up and down. “You were listening to me?!”

“Eh… yes?” Patton said. “I thought everyone was.”

“I usually tune it out when Remus starts talking of death.” Virgil admitted. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok” Remus waved his hand, dismissing it.

“Well, let’s go to Virgil’s then.” Roman said, grabbing his coat and keys. He stared at the coat for a few seconds and then at his new wings. He then glanced to Remus. “How did you hide the tentacles?”

Remus shrugged. “Just will them to go away, or something.”

“Really helpful.” Roman muttered. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. Then opened them. “Nothing? Well, great.”

“Just, I dunno imagine them disappearing or something?” Remus proposed.

“Right.” Roman said. He seemed to concentrate for a second.

The wings disappeared. Roman cheered.

They found Janus asleep on Virgil’s room, laying on the floor.

Remus nudged him with his foot. “Is he… alive?”

Virgil pushed him away. “Of course he is, that’s what the whole ritual was there for.”

Logan kneeled to the ground and pushed Janus to lay on his back.

Janus looked better than he had expected. Yellow scales littered his body, mostly on his left side, were the burnt skin had once been. Apart from that, he didn’t seem to have changed as much, which destroyed Logan’s theory of why he had changed more than the Twins and why the Twins had changed more than Virgil and Patton.

If Janus had changed as much as he did, it would be because they were closer to the centre of the explosion of light, while Patton and Virgil where in the circle, protected, and the Twins were outside but farther from the centre.

He shook Janus gently. “Janus. Janus. Wake up.”

“You sure he ain’t dead?” Remus asked. “The ritual did go shittily, after all.”

“Shittily isn’t an adverb.” Roman said.

“It can be if I want it to be.” Remus said.

Janus groaned, blinking his eyes open. Logan noticed one of them was yellow now.

“What?” He asked. “Where am I?”

“Hey, you’re in my roo–” Virgil started saying, before Janus interrupted him screaming. “Shut UP. Yes, we look different, that’s your fault, now stop overreacting.”

Janus stared at him, then at the others, then at himself. “Scales. Great.” He said, and then grimaced. He sticked out his tongue and stared at it. It was forked. “Snake. Great. Just what I wanted.”

Logan snickered. “Well, none of us could chose anything, you just got unlucky.” He said. “Come on, get up.”

He grabbed Janus’s arm and immediately let go when he yelped in pain. And shoved Logan away. With three arms at the same time.

“Wow, wow, he gets several arms?!” Roman complained. “And pretty scales?! This is so unfair…”

Virgil elbowed him. “Stop complaining, dramaqueen.”

Roman pouted.

Remus rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother and approaching Janus. “Give me your wrist.” He said, crouching in front of him and shoving Logan away.

Janus eyed him wearily, hesitating before accepting. His extra arms seemed to disappear.

Remus gently rolled up Janus’s sleeves and held his bloody wrist in place. He stayed like that for a few moments.

“Is… Is anyone gonna say anything, or…?” Patton whispered, leaning towards Logan.

Janus pulled back and massaged his hand. He looked at Remus and frowned. “How did you do that?”

Remus shrugged. “I dunno, I just repeated what I did earlier when I healed my concussion.”

“Wait, you had a concussion?” Roman asked. “I was worried! You could’ve told me!”

“For what? To worry you even further?” Remus asked. “I’m fine now, so why bother?”

“So… Remus can heal people, Virgil has the weird voice amplification thingie…” Patton said. “We all got powers?”

“It seems so.” Logan said. “Well, now that we are together, we should figuratively tackle the most prominent issue here.”

“You don’t have to say figuratively.” Virgil said.

“Shush.” Logan said, and continued with what he was saying. “Our… new appearances. Might be not so warmly welcome as me coming back from the dead.”

“Honestly I don’t think you coming back from the dead is going to be easy to explain at all.” Virgil said.

“Ooh!” Roman said, bouncing up and down. “I got an idea!”

“Oh, god, I’m scared to ask.” Virgil muttered.

Roman sticked his tongue out at him. He then turned to the others. “Ok, so, if we have cool powers, maybe we can like… hide it? Illusion or something, I dunno.”

Everyone looked at each other for a moment, expecting someone to do some magic trick that would save everyone. Nothing.

“Don’t look at me, I did my healing trick. That’s all I’ve got so far.” Remus said.

Logan sighted, rubbing his temples. “Allow me to try.”

He closed his eyes, and imagined them all, back to how they were. It was hard imagining Janus, without the injuries he had carried as a ghost, but he tried his best.

He felt dizzy for a second, almost losing balance. Janus helped him steady himself, and he opened his eyes.

He stared at his friends, all back to their previous forms. Human. Even Janus.

“I did not expect that to work.” Logan said.

“It didn’t.” Janus said. “Your eyes are different. They’re blue now. Not brown.”

“I think it worked great!” Patton said. “I’m sure no one will notice.”

“It doesn’t matter what you think, Pat.” Janus said. “People will notice.”

“We’ll manage.” Virgil said. “And since when do you get to call him ‘Pat’, huh?”

“VIRGIL? DID YOU INVITE FRIENDS OVER WITHOUT WARNING AGAIN?” A voice yelled from downstairs.

Virgil blushed and turned to the door. “WE’LL LEAVE IN A SECOND MOM.” He glanced at his friends, blushing, and gave them a death glare.

Roman elbowed Patton to stop giggling. He didn’t.

“Ok, darling, don’t stay up late! You’ve got school tomorrow!” Virgil’s mom shouted back.

“Wait. School?” Virgil said.

Logan checked his phone. “It appears to be Sunday again. Eccentric.”

Janus shrugged. “Weird magic doing weird shit.”

“I thought you knew what you were doing.” Roman said.

“I knew. Mostly. I improvised.” Janus said.

“Ok, normally I would care, but you need to get the fuck out of here.” Virgil said. “And figure out a way for Janus to exist now that he doesn’t have any legal documents.”

“Fuck you’re right.” Janus said. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me sleep here, will you?”

“No, we don’t have extra beds.” Virgil said.

“This was my room.” Janus pointed out. “So it would be an extra bed for you, not for me.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “I don’t care if it was your room, it’s mine now.”

“I’d invite you to my place, but my parents don’t like me having over friends they don’t know about…” Patton said.

“You might come to mine for the night.” Logan said. “I doubt my parents will mind.”

“You mean you doubt your parents will notice?” Janus said. “I’m not a particular fan of your parents.”

“Ok, could you please stop implying you’ve seen every aspect of our lifes?” Roman asked. “You’re creeping me out.”

“Let me think… nope.” Janus said. “Also, that guy? Out of all your options?”

Roman blushed, letting out a series of offended noises. “How dare you?!” Janus only laughed. “Stop it!”

“Ok, as much as I enjoy teasing Roman, Imma have to kick y’all out of here.” Virgil said. “I’ve got shit to process, and y’all ain’t helping.”

“I’ll take a look into getting Janus official documentation.” Patton said. “See ya guys.”

“See ya losers.” Remus said. “Don’t murder anyone with the new powers.”

Janus followed Logan home. As he had predicted, Logan’s parents didn’t even notice his presence. It was like being a ghost again. Only now he had to walk.

“I did not come back to life to do math homework.” Janus complained, looking at the equations in front of him.

“Well, too bad, this is what you get for making deals with demons.” Virgil said. “Math homework.”

“I hate you.” Janus said.

“No you don’t.” Patton said. “Now stop complaining and do your homework.”

“Or, in other words.” Remus said. “Suffer.”

“You’re all so dramatic, it’s just maths.” Logan said. “Maths are easy.”

“Shut up, math gay, you don’t count.” Roman said.

Janus groaned again, considering the option of just knocking himself out. That way he wouldn’t have to do homework.

#sanders sides #fanfic #oh boy there's a lot of tags #janus sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #blood #demons #weird magical shit with no actual reason behind it

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nony314 · 4 years

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And They Were Roomates : chapter 1

(A/N: I have no idea if inserting a read-more is possible on mobile and I don't have a desktop at the moment so I truly apologize if this is just a wall of text. If you know how to do this, let me know? Thank you!)

This day had started out with so much promise, Kagome thought with a heavy heart. She was standing on her new balcony-- that is, the balcony of her new apartment-- with her cellphone pressed to her ear.

"No, no… really, I understand!" She insisted again.

"I'm so sorry Kagome! I swear I would never even consider it, unless it was something incredible..."

"Stop apologizing, Sango! This is huge! You should be celebrating, not apologizing." Kagome pressed her lips to prevent a quiver. She was happy for Sango, but she couldn't help but be disappointed for herself. They were supposed to share this apartment together, until Sango landed her actual dream job. Taijiya Games had offered her a developer position on their newest title, and although Kagome barely knew what that meant, she knew Sango had all but given up on getting a job that good until now. There was no way in hell she'd make Sango feel guilty for taking the opportunity, even if she had to go to the UK for it. "You're going to be great! Even I'll play your game, I swear,"

Sango sniffed, and chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Thank you so much for understanding, Kagome. The second I get back to Tokyo we'll go--" the line cut out, and Kagome pulled her phone from her face to find the sign off logo filled the screen. The battery was dead.

She stood alone on her balcony, watching the sun set over the city. This view was beyond gorgeous, which only made all of this harder. She'd saved up as much as she needed for her own half of the rent, but without Sango's half, she wouldn't be here long. It'd be faster to sub-lease it instead of finding another roommate, and that's what she'd start on tomorrow. For now, she just enjoyed the view, although it was a little blurred with tears. She wiped them away, but paused when a strange noise came from inside her empty apartment.

<p/> Looking in, there was almost nothing but stacks of boxes against every wall. The sun had just dropped below the skyline, casting the entire room in eerie shades of blue and purple. The sound happened again, and this time she thought she knew what it was. The front door was being opened.

She held her breath as she watched through the sliding glass door, mentally retracing her steps back to when she definitely locked it, when she heard the door open, then slam shut. She jumped when a shout came from within, sounding something like a name, then just incomprehensible slurring as a pile of boxes tumbled over. She realized all at once that someone must have seen her moving, and broken in. First Sango, and now this.

She cursed to herself in a panic, whirling around to find something to defend herself with. Her panic only rose when she realized she had nothing except a few plastic plants and a folding lounge chair at hand. She shot a glance over the edge of the balcony in hopes of maybe escaping that way, but it was a straight drop ten stories down into the busy streets below. She looked to her phone, trying to turn it on for just a few seconds longer to call for help, but it was completely drained. She pinned her eyes back on the door when the person within made another noise, and appeared in the entryway. Kagome was paralyzed in fear as she watched the stranger steady himself on the nearest wall, digging inside his jacket pockets for something.

As she remained pinned in pure terror, she noticed how the stranger swayed, and grumbled to himself, and how frustrated he was with jacket pockets. He looked like he was constantly one second from stumbling over, but somehow managed to stay upright. There was a word for what he was. Drunk. Very very drunk. More importantly, he was totally oblivious to her presence. Hoping to keep it that way, she ducked down against the railing, sitting on her knees and keeping her head just high enough to watch him.

He called out that slurred name again and waited, but obviously there would be no answer. She realized with some relief that since he was calling for someone he thought lived here, he probably wasn't there to rob her, but in fact had chosen the wrong apartment due to being so drunk. He was most likely a neighbor, not a burglar. She jumped again when he suddenly barked out a laugh of triumph, having successfully pulled whatever he'd been looking for from his jacket. He sauntered over to the glass door of the balcony, and Kagome silently fell back on her butt, pulling her knees up to her chest in defense. That was when his eyes finally glanced up, pausing on none other than a horribly confused and frightened Kagome.

“Oh… shit, erm… h’llo.” He mumbled, pushing off the door frame and swaying his way over to the railing, which he leaned on with some force. She gasped and reached out when it looked for a moment like he might tip over it, but he quickly steadied himself, sticking a slightly bent cigarette between his teeth. She eyed the crumpled pack in his hand and decided that must have been what he'd been searching for. Next she noticed his jacket-- red leather with something she couldn't quite see embroidered on the back. The pockets did not look all that complicated to her. His hair was very long, straight even though the rest of him looked a little disheveled, and even more interesting, it was snowy white. Her eyes froze when they raised higher, spotting what looked like animal ears on top of his head.

Overall he was about as strange as any stranger could have been.

He looked down at her as he started a new search through his pockets, eventually pulling out a cheap plastic lighter.

“Well… Fuck," His low voice rumbled as his amber colored eyes looked over her, sending a chill up her spine. "Ain't you a pretty ‘un.” He laughed once to himself as he flicked the lighter, once, twice, three times before getting it lit. He held it to the tip of his cigarette and took a long drag, the orange glow lighting his face. He was handsome, she realized then, although his habits were anything but attractive. He puffed out a plume of smoke and made a sound like a sigh before finally losing balance and dropping down to the ground beside her. If the movement hadn't been so sudden, it almost might have looked like it was on purpose.

Kagome thought about asking if he was okay, but he didn't seem to be hurt as he propped his back against the railing, letting his head rest on the metal. He took another drag from the cigarette before turning his face to give her a very focused look. “You wit’ uh… Koga n’ them, or what?” He asked casually. Kagome blinked, lightly clearing her throat as she thought of how to respond to that.

“Um… I think… you may have the wrong apartment.” She said delicately, hoping this revelation wouldn't throw him into some kind of drunken rage. He turned to look around, seeming to weigh the likelihood of that statement before resolutely shaking his head.

“Uh… no-pe. This’ where I live ‘m pretty sure.” He sorted another laugh, like she was the ridiculous one here. Kagome inched away a little further, wishing she hadn't talked to Sango quite so long.

“Well… no, you see, this is actually my apartment, so… if you wouldn't mind…” She pursed her lips as he narrowed his eyes at her once again.

“What're you talkin’ about ya crazy broad? If this’ Your apartment, ha’come I got a… a, uh… where the fuck d’I put that damn thing…” He rummaged through his pockets again while Kagome waited. He bit the cigarette between his teeth to free up both hands, concentrating very hard on the task, before finally producing a keychain. “Ah! Uh key! Howcome I gotta key, huh?” As he spoke the cigarette fell from his lips, and he dropped the keys on the ground before her to pick it back up. Once it was retrieved, he took another drag, glancing between her and the keys with a raised brow. With an inward sigh, she decided she could at least direct him to the correct apartment if She knew what number he was in. Kagome hesitantly picked up the keychain, turning through the keys until she found the familiar one, labeled 5J, otherwise known as the very apartment they were both sitting in.

“Seeee?” He sneered with a smile, “S’my apartment.” He leaned closer to point at the key in question. “Five-J.” He read aloud. Kagome was hit by the smell of liquor and inched away again, offering the keys back.

“Well… that is a key to this apartment, but I assure you, I live here, not you. See?” Kagome produced her own keys, pulling up her own 5J key and holding it out. He glanced at it and rolled his eyes dramatically, heaving a loud groan.

“That fuckin’ Koga! I keep tellin ‘m not ta give out the damn key to every-fuckin-body, but here we ‘r. I don't give a fuck how fuckin sexy ya are, ya can't liv ‘ere… Gonna mess up th’ whole thing we got goin with the band 'n all them-- fuckin yoko-ono n’ shit, you know what I mean? Keh!” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand in her general direction. No, no she did not know what he meant. From what she could understand most of his vocabulary seemed to be the f-word. She could tell, however, that she wasn't going to get him to leave without calling the police, and her phone was dead. As she shifted her gaze towards the apartment, she realized she didn't have the faintest idea where a charger might be, either. The situation was looking bleak, and after all that had happened that day, it was just a tad too much. She sniffled once, then twice, and a couple small frustrated tears filled the corners of her eyes.

“Awe damn it, don't-- come on!” Protested the drunk stranger. “No crying!”

“Oh, should I laugh!?” She shot back, wiping her eyes for the second time that night. He didn't react, other than snubbing out on the concrete. She noticed through her teary gaze that there were several black marks there, and she absently felt annoyed she'd have to clean the marks off.

“No, you should shut up and…" He trailed off when she gave him a look like daggers. "Uh… go ‘t sleep with me?” He asked, giving her a daring smirk that was way too charming for someone so very intoxicated.

"I have pepper-spray, and I'm not afraid to use it." She threatened seriously. He barked out another laugh.

“Fine, s’wortha shot…” He fumbled onto his feet, adjusting his jacket before sauntering off towards the door. Before he made it all the way there, he half-stumbled into her lounge chair and tumbled into it. He looked like he might try to stand up again, but evidently found the cushion to be pretty comfortable. Instead of correcting his course, he sprawled out, mostly on his stomach, and promptly passed out.

Kagome blinked, watching his chest rise and fall for a moment before pulling herself up on the railing. She moved as silently as a shadow across the balcony and darted through the glass door, carefully but quickly closing- and locking- it behind her. <p/>

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techni-kolor · 4 years

Text

Strep, Surprise, and Spiced Tea

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27771862 !!!

"Oh, and I brought your tea for you, it's the same blend you liked last week. The one with the cinnamon, and the orange peel, and the little bits of cardamom."

Martin smiled awkwardly, placing the cup down on the desk with a soft click.

"I know you enjoyed this one so I, well, I made sure to get another box of it, just so that we'd have it."

Jon stared up at him, and then at the faintly steaming cup of tea

The cup of tea that was his absolute favorite blend, one that was hot and spicy and amazing, and that at any other time would have been delicious, had his throat not been absolutely burning. The ache that had been lingering there for days solidifying overnight from a bit of a cold that he could easily hide behind a few half stifled coughs and the dryness of the stale air in the archives, to a near firey pain that raced down from his jaw to his chest with each swallow.

"Yes, erm, thank you, Martin." He said as clearly as he possibly could, despite the way that the words seared up his throat. "I'll– I'll definitely try it– try it later."

Martin's face shifted to an anxious expression.

"Is it still a bit too hot right now? I tried seeping it in just a bit of a higher temperature than usual, but I wasn't sure if it would be too warm or not."

Jon froze, as much as the feverish tremors would allow.

"No, no. It looks, er, okay."

Martin's face creased further in a way that looked nervous, and just on the wrong side of apprehensive.

"Is there something– something else wrong with it then?" He asked, sounding almost jittery with anxiety.

Jon mentally cursed himself, and his own lack of foresight. Had he simply said that it was too hot for immediate drinking, he could have left it to cool on the desk under the guise of the heat, and then discreetly disposed of it later when he felt less as if he were swallowing glass shards. Now, Martin was staring nervously at him, wringing his hands, and fidgeting in front of the desk in clear apprehension.

"No, no. It's–" He broke off, not just due to the sharp ache at speaking, but also that he didn't have an excuse that didn't involve the phrase 'I've caught a cold'.

Martin's pale blue gaze almost bored into him with the anxious question reflected in his eyes.

"It looks– good." Jon said awkwardly, and in a movement he knew he was about to regret, raised the steaming cup to his lips and drew in a sip of the tea.

It absolutely burned, the heat of it searing a path down his inflamed throat, and stinging immensely as the flavors of the herbs touched the swelling and the red, raw patches that he knew were lining the inside of his mouth.

Involuntarily, he let out a pained cry, muffling it behind tightly shut lips as soon as he could, but still obviously just a beat too late, as Martin's face went from nervous to absolutely panicked.

"Jon! Are you– are you okay?"

Jon swallowed again, the sting of it near bringing tears to his eyes, and an absolutely vicious shiver racing through his body.

"I'm– I'm fine." He choked out, the raspy, scraping tone to his voice that he had gone to great pains to hide slipping through to hang awkwardly in the air.

"Was it– was it the tea?" Martin asked, looking still almost ready to bolt with his blue eyes near comically wide, and his lips parted in a stuttery gap.

"No– no." Jon managed to say, still blinking back the absolutely horrid combination of feverish shivering, and the pain in his infected throat. "Wasn't– it's not that."

Martin looked only faintly less panicked but a curious, and almost probing look, formed across his face.

"What was that then, Jon? Because it looked– well, it looked pretty painful."

For the second time, Jon froze.

"It– er, was just– just."

Martin's brows creased at the stammering.

"Did you hurt yourself somehow?" He asked, adding in a softer, more perplexed tone. "Not sure how you'd injure your mouth though."

Jon flashed through a multitude of lies, each one less credible than the next. That he'd recorded too many statements that morning and it had wrecked his throat, that he had cut his tongue on a crunchy biscuit, that he'd been hungover and that the acid from the vomiting had given him a sore throat.

"I– I have a cold." He finally muttered.

"You have a cold?" Martin repeated, his voice sounding both still slightly confused, as well as edging into the territory of concern.

"Yes, I've– I've been a bit under the weather."

"And your throat– it hurts bad enough that you can't even drink anything?"

"Well I can still drink some things." Jon corrected. "Just not anything too hot– or spicy, or well, too much at once, or really anything that has too much sugar."

The last traces of confusion flickered away from Martin's face, but was instead replaced by an abundance of concern.

"How long has it been that bad, Jon?" He asked, the edges of his lips down turning into a frown.

"Not since today, it– it's felt sore for a while. But it wasn't this bad until this morning."

The words didn't cause the concern to fade from Martin's expression as Jon had hoped, instead it ratched up to a level that had Jon squirming faintly in his desk chair. Feeling, for once, almost pinned under Martin's gaze and the surprisingly intense sheen of worry emanating from his blue eyes.

"How long have you been sick?"

"It's only been– well, erm, it's been a few days."

Martin's frown deepened.

"And how bad is the pain– in your throat I mean?"

"It– hurts." Jon muttered, aware that the answer was in no way informative.

"Jon, this is important, how bad is it?"

"Excruciating. It's– it burns."

"Do you know if you have a fever at all? Or have you felt sick in any other ways?"

"I've felt–" Jon mumbled. "I definitely am– well, I do have a fever. I believe it was near 38.5 degrees last night, and I've been a bit sick to my stomach."

"Jon," Martin's voice was far more intense than Jon typically heard it, not wavering in his usual anxious way or trembling. "Can I look into your mouth? It sounds like– well like you might be a bit more ill than just a cold."

Jon fidgeted awkwardly at the prospect of Martin of all people staring into his mouth, the idea feeling uncomfortable and far too invasive. But the sharp, stinging ache all down his throat was rapidly reaching a point that was near intolerable.

"Alright." He mumbled.

"Alright to check your throat?" Martin asked, still frowning.

"Yes, it's– yes."

Martin nodded, and took a careful step forward, sliding the cup, that damn cup of tea that had started all of this mess, over to the side.

Gently, he placed his hands on either side of Jon's jaw, the touch feeling uncomfortably freezing against his burning skin.

Martin frowned deeper as well as his fingertips touched the heat, but said nothing, instead gently probing at the sides of Jon's throat before lightly tapping on his jaw in a signal to open his mouth.

Jon squirmed a bit, but still pried open his jaw in a stiff, painful motion.

Martin instantly made a soft, almost hissing sound, carefully tilting his head up further towards the office's lights.

"Jon," He said softly. "That– that's pretty bad. It looks like it could be strep, especially with how sick you've been."

"What?" Jon said stupidly as soon as Martin's hands left his face. "It can't be, I'm an adult, and– and it's seemed like just a cold, just with a, well a horrible sore throat."

Martin's frown turned almost sad.

"Jon, adults still get strep, especially if their immune system isn't fully working."

"But– I never, I hadn't had it in grade school. How do you even know?"

Martin winced a bit. "Well, you've got– it's– it's pretty swollen. And those whitish patches don't really tend to happen unless you've got an infection, and it looks just like strep."

Jon sat back in the chair, slumping a bit from the absolute shock of not only getting into far too close quarters with one of his assistants, but also the idea that he could have a nasty, childhood illness.

Added to the already feverish exhaustion, and the absolutely vicious chills, he was almost tempted to simply remain rooted in the chair until he felt better, or until the archives closed for the night, which was only in about seven hours since he'd already been there far earlier than the opening.

"Jon?" Martin asked softly.

"Yeah, er– yes." Jon mumbled, glancing back up to Martin's still concerned face.

"Are you okay? Well, beyond the– well, strep."

"I'm fine, Martin."

The mixture of illness and exhaustion, and truthfully everything was just a lot.

Far too much really, and he was seriously considering the plan of remaining rooted in the desk chair for the rest of eternity, not just the rest of the work day.

"You–" Martin said haltingly. "You're going to need antibiotics. If it really is strep, it's only going to get worse and there could be complications."

Jon let out a breath, hissing at the searing pain of his throat as the air crossed the swelling. And the pus, if Martin's assessment had been accurate, however disgusting the thought might be.

"Yes, well, I'll go to a clinic this weekend."

Martin looked apprehensive again. "It's– it's not exactly good to wait that long, Jon. You really should go today, before it gets worse."

Jon felt the tug of resistance rise up at the idea of being instructed by Martin of all people, and the very idea of leaving work far before business hours were finished, but again, for what felt as if it were the hundredth time that day, the searing ache in his throat and the weight of his own exhaustion laid heavier than his pride.

"Alright, I'll go to the clinic."

"Now?" Martin asked, looking almost relieved in a way that was annoyingly sincere.

"After lunch. I need to be at least a bit productive today."

A look of disapproval crossed Martin's features, but he nodded softly.

"Alright." He said, fidgeting slightly in the odd space behind the desk. "I'll just take this, then?"

He gestured to the still faintly steaming cup of tea, "It's– well it's not exactly going to be useful now."

Jon huffed out something that would have been a chuckle if not for his swollen throat. "Yes, well, likely not."

Martin smiled awkwardly.

"I'll just take it back to the break room then, and check back– well I mean, I can come back later, before you go to the clinic?"

Jon frowned at the reminder of his plan of exiting the workday early. "Yes that's– it would be fine."

Martin nodded. "Alright then."

He turned towards the door, the mug held cradled in his hands still steaming with just the tiniest wisps of fogginess.

"Oh, and Jon?" He asked.

Jon glanced up from where he had been staring back at the statement, trying to make sense of it through the haze of discomfort still surrounding him. "Yes?"

"What are you going to tell Tim and Sasha?"

Jon groaned.

#sickfic #tma #whump #fanfic #I am in fact all over the place as a writer

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allyvampirelass29 · 4 years

Text

The Queen and Victoria

A NOS4A2 Fanfiction By: Allyssa J. Watkins

"Do you love her, Mister Manx?"

Charlie's lip curled with his distaste at Bing's clumsy impertinence, daring to ask such a question.

"What business could it possibly be of yours, Bing, as to whether or not I love the woman I have wed?" He snapped viciously, not bothering to look at the brutish oaf of a man and his slow-spreading, vacant expression.

"Forgive me, Mister Manx, if it not be well and proper to ask, but........ don't you WANT to love the little thing? Isn't that why you stole her in the first place, brought her here to Christmasland? To be your happy missus?"

"Thin ice, Bing, THIN. ICE." Charlie rasped back, his knuckles tightening over the curve of the candy cane's crook, that made up the fencing, and he looked out over the sweeping grounds, blanketed in snow, frowning imperiously, at the too perfect creature, that frustratingly fetching female, that beguiling brunette beauty, his own Mrs. Manx. There she was in all of her glittering red strapless gown glory, her full skirts skittering across the drift, as she reached down, tentatively, to pet one of his skeletal reindeer, seeking an impossibly red apple from a sparse white tree.

Hello, Wife. The question lingers........ even as I look at you. Do I love you, My Sweet? The answer was most alarming, and he said it out loud in a huff.

"Too much........ I love her too much, and it's becoming a problem, Bing. Most disconcerting."

His dark eyes narrowed, as the girl eagerly plucked the succulent red apple from its branch, giggling happy, as she fed it to the deer from her doting little palm. Are you eating out of my hand, My Fawn, or have you right now got me wrapped, tied up in a bow 'round your pesky little finger?

"Problem?" Bing ventured even more cautious, his eyes impossibly wide. "Love's the thing! How can Mrs. Manx be a problem, when she wears your ring?"

Charlie felt his gaze soften, fighting his half smile, as he searched for the ring on her finger, and it glinted in the silvery sunlight. You wear it, for me........ Even on our wedding night, that you wasted, sobbing at my window, huddled against the glass in fear, foolishly thinking I violated your power, when I was kind enough to demonstrate to you its full potential, even then, embroiled in our darkest hour, you never once took it off.......... It has not left your finger, and I know it never will.........

"It may be a champagne problem, Bing, but a problem persists, nonetheless....... Because I hate that I love her this ardent, this despicable depth of feeling is........ unnatural......... I've abhorred every conniving female that has carried with her the name, Mrs. Manx......... Save for this one, thus making my docile dove the most dangerous of them all. I crave her more than even the strongest creative power. In truth, she's more threat to me, my work, than Vic McQueen could ever be........"

He sighed, vexed, leaning over the rows of candy canes, elbows elegantly folded beneath him, a strand of jet black hair working free of his slicked coif. He admired the way her dress shimmered as she walked, and she shivered in the cold, her shoulders bared, and as white as the surrounding snow. Her cheeks chilled, and as red as the apple she'd held in her hand. You tempting little Minx, Mrs. Manx........ Who are you to taste of the forbidden fruit of my love? The Eve to my frosted Eden, what crowns you Queen of Christmasland save that but MY hands?

"Shall I erm, take care of it, Sir? If this Manx Bride does not appease, than Bing must bring a second, and make the first flee........"

Charlie wrinkled his nose, attempting to banish the rising violence incurred by Bing's fool thoughtlessness. "My Boy, if you so much as touch Allyssa Manx, even once, the graveyard of what might be, will then become, your Christmas Present. A Partridge hanging from a pear tree. You gargantuan lump, I am not displeased, but severely the opposite.......... When we love too much, we lose even more. Remember that, Bing."

"Yes Sir, I promise, I won't touch her."

"No. You won't," Charlie finished sharply, turning away as Ally let herself fall back into the drift, defying the cold, making a snow angel. Ohhh must you toy with me so? My Snow Angel, My Porcelain Plaything? What am I going to do with you?

"Ready the Wraith, Bing, I require a distraction, and there is a dear little lad in Hartford that's dreaming of Christmas fun, while his fool parents spend their nights getting drunk. He shall be a special surprise for my young bride, a brand new, adorable son...... The first to greet her when she meets them."

"Uh Boss, do you think it's wise, she meets the little nippers so soon? She only just got here......."

"Why, of COURSE, she must meet them, my GOD, Man, where is your head today?" Charlie chastised, with an indignant scowl, which all too quickly melted into a fond smile. "Those poor motherless souls, are orphans no more......... They have a kind, nurturing, beautiful mother now, and a doting, dare I say, spoiling father. I have done it, Bing, at last....... with my taking a wife, I have given them everything. A queen to rule them, a matron to soothe them. She is my gift to my Found Children, and they are mine to my lucky bride. Christmasland just needed a woman's touch......... As did I........"

Ally had popped up from the drift after leaving her lovely indent, her gown rustling, and she caught sight of her striking husband contrasting dark with the snow, ebony against the white, and her gloved hand raised in a gentle wave.

He fought the handsome grin, and lost, waving regally in return, nodding his raven head forward, in genteel grace. His smile faded however, as Bing pushed forward, far less graceful, wobbling, with an absurd wave of his own.

Ally looked startled at first, and then smiled nervously as she waved back at him too.

"You're not to touch her, Bing, I mean it, not even once. She's too delicate, too pure, to have to entertain the likes of your insufferable company. You may exchange with her, vague niceties in my presence, but otherwise you will spare her your unsettling gaze."

"Yes, Boss. It's not polite to stare at Mister Manx's pretty wife. Bing must stay away, if he wants to stay alive........"

"Good, good. Now prepare the car for my departure." Charlie hopped nimbly over the candy cane fence, and descended towards the lower grounds of the castle. "I must....... tend to my bride......."

"Sure thing, Boss."

Charlie did not so much as glance backward as Bing hunched his shoulders and stalked towards the garage. His eyes were fixed hard on his sweet wife as she had turned to study the very much alive snowmen wreathed, like the reindeer, in glowing, coloured lights.

"My Dear Mrs. Manx, do take care......... the snow creatures can be quite vicious, especially on a warmer winter's afternoon like today. They are, shall we say, temperamental........."

He felt her melt against his leather gloves as he snuck up behind her, taking hold of her near naked, freckled shoulders.

"They seem........ rather sweet." She cooed, as he placed a burning kiss into her red, frigid cheek, digging his nails into her shoulders, just slightly, and he felt her shiver, excited, as the sharp tips poked through his supple gloves.

"Beware that which possesses only the appearance of goodness, My Dearest Love......... for in such clever deception can hide the heart of wickedness........."

Ally breathed deeply, fighting for her white plumed breath as she spoke. "A lesson you have taught me all too well, My Darling Husband.........." Charlie smirked with her answer, aroused by her subtle defiance, running his fingers along her gauzy, sparkling neckline, sliding them torturously slow down her silk bodice.

"How very telling, My Sugar Plum, and while I'd love to impart the entirety of my knowledge of wickedness to you....... I must depart. You'll see yourself inside, won't you? Wrap yourself up a bit warmer next time you venture out, I must insist. How perfectly scandalous.......... A married woman scurrying around with her shoulders bare, showing off such soft, pale, freckled skin........." Charlie's breath got heavier as he spoke, relinquishing his talons from one of her shoulders, to replace it with his open, eager lips, meeting fast with her bare skin. "However, in the privacy of our rooms, do feel free to show me every........ last....... one of these teasing little freckles........." He kissed the dotted constellations as he spoke, her white wine skin tasting even better for having been chilled, and had there not been a little boy in dire need of his particular talent, he'd would have been tempted to stay, and do just what he told Bing he needed to do......... tend to his wife.

"Charlie.......... Where are you going?" Ally asked breathless, a little rattled, not just with her husband's scandalous words and pleasing attentions, but at the wary thought of being alone with that other lurking, rather large friend of his, that seemed to skulk everywhere that Charlie went.

Charlie snickered, whirling her around to stare into her worried green Christmas tree eyes, his gloved hands taking possessive hold of either of her sides, pulling her to him. "Fret not, Snow Angel, I shall return to you, once I had done with my work. Rest now, retreat to our love nest, and find comfort in our marriage bed. I shall share it with you soon enough."

"What work coaxes you from me? Please, Charles, do not leave me here alone with your odd friend, looming ominous! He frightens me, even if it is not his intent."

Charles chuckled amused, moving swiftly forward to brush his nose against hers, leaning in for a kiss, and then pulled away, just as she went to indulge him.

"My good work must remain a continued mystery to you, Pet," He lamented, brushing a stray curl from her face. "But worry yourself no more, Mister Partridge will be accompanying me on my errand, and you will be spared any further awkward instances, I assure you."

Ally bit her lip, looking guilty and embarrassed. "Please understand me, Charlie, I do not wish to speak ill of Mister Partridge, nor do I seek to hurt him in this opinion, but I am rather distressed by him."

Charlie chuckled lower, deeper, his dark eyebrows slanting deadly forward. "Bing, while an irksome fellow, yes, is no threat to the Queen of Christmasland.......... You, My Precious Wife, should be far more concerned about the distress caused to you by tender hands. You should fear me infinitely more than Bing Partridge........."

"I do......... You're......... terrifying." Ally whispered reverently, and Charlie's hot breath threatened a kiss, before he granted it mercilessly.

Ally kissed him back, grasping at the back of his coif, and he pressed into her lips more fiercely as she pulled every sleek strand loose, working them through her dear little fingers.

"Diabolical. Using your feminine allure to trap me here? You ARE a scheming minx, Ally Manx," he rasped back, the heat in his voice making his snow white rose positively wither.

"You dastardly clever fiend, however did you figure me?" She gasped back blissfully, feigning affront, and he grinned wickedly.

"Because........ It was I that was the making of you, My Dear....... I know you better than anyone ever could. All your life I have watched you, studied you........ Waiting." Ally shivered, but this time it was out of actual fear, a seeping cold, quick to kill the searing heat of Charlie's attraction. Flashes of him, towering over her, grinning cruelly, hands raised as he puppeteered her own, making them author his violent scribbling, the words engulfed in a blaze of hatred and black smoke, and she'd felt it........ the girl........ the brave teenage Creative, flying from her bike, colliding with the side of a truck, crumpling, concussed.

She turned her head away, missing his kiss, and Charlie nodded coolly, impressed. "My, my, what a devastating punishment indeed. Perhaps we might continue this delectable disciplinary action once I've returned, but for now....... Do get inside, and get yourself warmed up."

She nodded, averting her eyes as Charlie carefully kissed her hand, sensing the subtle change in her demeanor. There it is....... that ever so foreboding reluctance. We can't have that.

"Charles, why do you not tell me about your work? Why cannot I accompany you, instead of that dreaded, hulking Bing?"

"Don't pout, Darling, it is more becoming than I can bear, at present." He protested, pressing a gloved finger to her pouting lips. "You are safe here....... If I had it my way......... You would never again depart the comfort and confines of my glorious inscape........."

Ally felt the chills of a far more sinister nature creep unwanted through her body, a suspect fear taking hold. "But you WILL let me leave here, and see again the natural world, won't you, Charles..........?"

He could taste the fear in her voice, and while he'd feasted on it, hungered for more of it, as she'd fought to free herself of his floating grasp, he did not care for it this time, that bitter hint of desperation. Women were frail creatures, that behaved badly when they turned desperate.

He forced a smile, and shooed away the shadow of his dark intention, letting the pale light break through his black eyes. He was secretly working on a way of dealing with that pesky little possibility, as they spoke, cooking up a special something that would take care of the unfortunate issue once and for all....... But as for now, her hunger for the lie, was even more aching than her need of the truth, and so he would gladly feed it to her, without regret.

"Of course, oh you poor girl, of COURSE you shall be returned to the outside world, in time! What kind of heartless tyrant do you take your husband for?" He stroked her hair, as he cooed his assurance, and watched her eyes believe every word, watched her swallow the lie, relieved, as he pressed it urgently to her lips. "Forgive me, My Bride, in my haste, in my newlywed state, I may have proved overly protective." He took her hands in his, and looked deep into her eyes, with his best guise of sincerity. "I do not, at present, think it wise for you to make the transcendent journey. There are nefarious beings that poison the outside, My Pet, bad people who might prey upon your good nature, and if anything should happen to you........." Charlie's voice trailed off, rife with a very real sorrow, grasping her hands in donned earnest.

"No, of course you are right, Charles, forgive me........" She whispered in hushed apology, squeezing his hand, relenting as he brought his other gloved palm to cup her cheek. He knit his brow painfully, putting on the mask of the distraught husband, feeling her give in, helpless to stop it, as he took control of her mind just as effortlessly as he'd done with her hands.

"What waits for me out there, save an empty world that didn't even want me?" She whispered, fighting the tears. A world that doesn't care I've gone. No one's looking for me........"

"Shhhhhh," Charles soothed, pulling her into him, holding her head to his chest, fighting the smug joy, as he stroked the top of it. "There now, My Sweet........ It is true. No one searches for you because you are no longer lost. You are found."

Ally cried into the front of his woolen coat, as he continued to calm her, kissing the top of her head, while she clinged to him. "That's so beautiful, Charlie, and truly profound. My place........ is here. Right here. With you. With your children."

"Yes, My Young Bride, and they are going to LOVE their dear mother, as much as I do," He simpered, smoothing his thumb up her cheek to catch her falling tear. "No one cries in Christmasland, My Divine, and there are far more inducements here, in this magical land I've promised you, than upon that hated, sinking ship, I rescued you from." He snarled his lip in a way he knew she couldn't see, his thoughts deliciously malicious. I told you, Girl, you would never leave my Paradise for the Lost, and whether I keep my promise through candy-coated enticement, or a creative kind of punishment, so be it........

Ally smiled sweetly up at him, before nestling her head back into his chest. "Thank you, Charles. For saving me, for marrying me, forgiving me in this, my ungrateful request. It was a slight in asking, and I am sorry. You gave me a home, a palace of shining lights and sparkling snow, and while you and I have had our......... creative differences, I don't want to leave, I couldn't do that to you, or your children, whom I ache so to meet and mother and love......."

"Our children," Charles whispered, with a playfully raised eyebrow, resting his forehead against hers, taking both of her hands in his. "They are rather gnashing their teeth to meet their new mother as well," he finished smoothly, bemused by his own wit. "Such a shame they could not attend our Christmas Eve Wedding, but you see, introducing a new woman into their lives is a big change. It must be the exact right moment........." I must first find the means to make sure they don't eat you alive, he thought with another smile. You will be a treat for them, My Sweet, just not the one they're used to their father spoiling them with..........

"Our children........ Ally breathed, pulling back to kiss him tenderly. "I like that, I love them already, Charlie, oh how happy our family will be!!!"

Charlie kissed her back slowly, watching her face light up like a Christmas tree. "That's right, Mrs. Manx you will have no choice but to love them. They're especially unforgettable.

Ally giggled, and Charles led her up the snowy knoll to the candy cane fence, helping her over it. "I must bid you adieu, My Sugar Plum, but I will return with an extra special surprise for you, a wedding present that I hope you will find more favorable than the first........."

Charles kissed her carefully again, as she shivered with his words, writing the goosebumps on her delicate skin.

He turned away from her, when she reached for his arm, and that meddlesome desperation bled through her fingertips.

"Charlie..........?"

"Yes, Allyssa, My Love?" He answered back, looking over his shoulder, fending off his perturbed suspicion.

"The girl....... on the motorcycle....... Who is she? Is she........?" Ally's voice was pleading, faltering on the last word, making him shudder.

"Alive?" He asked spitefully, and she cast her eyes downward with the harsh sound of his voice. They hadn't spoken of it, hadn't uttered one single word between them on the matter, since that awful, rapturous, fateful night. Why did she want to talk about it now? Why couldn't she forget about Vic McQueen? Why couldn't HE forget about Vic McQueen?"

"Yes. To my every screaming vexation, The Girl on the Motorcycle lives. No thanks to you." Charlie hissed, pulling free of her hold.

"I couldn't do it, Charlie, I won't do it. I won't be a killer like-" Ally gasped tearfully, clapping her hand over her mouth, ashamed.

"Like....... Me," Charles finished with a cruel smile, impressed that she'd actually said it.

"No, Charlie, please-" Ally sobbed, wavering to meet his intense gaze.

"No, come now, you can't take it back....... You married a killer, a monster, you called me, if I'm not mistaken?" He smirked, but his eyes were deathly cold.

"No........ I-I didn't mean it, Charles........ Please, I just don't understand it! Why does the full force of your hatred, your fury fall upon this one girl? What could she have possibly done to you, to inspire the darkest of your intent? Tell me?"

Charles shook his head, disappointed as he looked at her, so lovely, so perfectly impossible. "Victoria McQueen is a problem, my problem, and one I'll admit I had hoped we could solve together. She threatens you, even while you throw yourself to her defense. She is my greatest enemy, and if you harbor any misplaced sympathy for what we did to her........ There is no place for you here.......

Ally stared at him, incredulous, tears glistening in her green eyes, stunned, as he looked right through her. "You would...... banish me.......?"

"No. I would banish the woman who would enact this treachery in aiding my most hated foe. I know that isn't you, Allyssa Manx." Charles insisted through gritted teeth.

Ally nodded gently, raising her head. "No...... No, it is not...... But I must ask this, and then we need never speak of it again. Do you love me........ as much as you hate her.......?"

Charles felt himself struck to the heart by yet another deafening answer.

"Yes."

Ally wasn't sure whether to be achingly relieved for herself, or paralyzed with fear for this Victoria McQueen. This messy-haired, reckless girl, prone to screaming profanities, being herself a mere eighteen years old, WHAT power could she possibly hold over the Strongest Creative of them all? Charles' own beloved Wraith could take him anywhere, what use did he have for this coveted red motorcycle, and the mysteriously named, "Shorter Way?” But the question that stole the breath from her lungs was this......... Could Charlie come to regard his own wife with the same crushing hatred as he'd revealed for his mortal enemy? A girl, not much younger than she?

"Yes, Mrs. Manx. I do love you with the same violent intensity that I hate Victoria, and I assure you there exists no more a romantic profession than that!!! However, I can also assure you, without hesitation........ one shall never cause effect to the other. Just as my possessed hatred for her, shall never impede my ability to love you, so shall my love for you, never sway me in my tirade against her........"

Ally nodded solemnly, the severity of his words as biting as the cold which had grown between them considerably.

"I want to hurt her, wrest from her everything she holds most dear. I want to ruin her, and I cannot promise that I won't use you, and your smoking pen to do it. However, I won't make a murderess of my own wife. You'll take her to the edge, yes, but I will be the one to finish it."

#charlie manx #nos4a2 #charlie manx x oc #vic mcqueen #christmasland #paradise for the lost #bing partridge #paranormal romance

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