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ao3komorii · 3 years

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Tangling with the Lifeguard (Pool Party Sett/Reader)

The Pool Party Sett story is done! I’ve gone with a beach!AU sort of setting where league races exist in a modern-day beach sort of place. Also sorry to any MF or Syndra mains, they don’t really come out the best in this xD Hope you enjoy, and as always, there is a smut warning for the end!

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The sun was shining high in the sky, crystalline waters lapping against the shore as beachgoers took advantage of the perfect summer day. Taking in the scene from your place in the shade of a tree on the border between the beach and parking lot, you let a smile grace your lips as you mused on just how much this place seemed to not change, even after so many years.

The last time you had set foot on this beach, you had been twelve years old, full of excitement and unaware of the harsh realities of the adult world. Your parents had brought you here for that summer, now thirteen years ago, the beautiful beach an unforgettable experience. You had left after that summer with treasured memories, and a new friend, that same friend the very reason why you had returned to Port Navori beach after so long.

Taliyah had been the same age as you, with fairly lax parents who let her roam the beach by herself, even as the small twelve-year-old she had been. You had bonded instantly, spending almost every day together, and keeping in touch through letters, and later emails and text messages.

You had long said that you had wanted to come back and visit the lively beach town, but the timing hadn’t been right, not until this year.

You were done all your schooling, and had quit your high-stress, low-pay job, and as Taliyah had said on your last phone call, you had no reason not to visit. Her parents had been travelling the world since they retired, so you would have her house all to yourselves.

In your absence, Taliyah had become a fairly accomplished surfer in the local scene, working at an ice cream shop on the beach to support her expensive pursuits. She had been so insistent that you couldn’t find yourself able to refuse her offer; work in the ice cream shop with her in the day, and then spend the rest of your time catching up with each other. You had missed your friend dearly, and had accepted the offer without a second thought.

And now here you were, waiting at the beach’s edge for Taliyah to show up. She had told you to dress for the beach, sounding casual as was her usual, so you had worn a swimsuit with a short, flowy shoulderless dress on overtop. Unwilling to look like a lobster by day’s end, you had carefully layered yourself with sunscreen, and now all you needed was for your friend to get here already. Just when you were about to get out your phone to text her, an excited call of your name had you re-stowing the phone in your bag and looking back to see your friend bounding across the parking lot towards you.

Taliyah, dressed in a two-piece water suit and carrying a tropical-flower-print surfboard, came to a stop before you, leaning her surfboard against a tree to free her arms to tackle you in a hug.

“You’re finally here!” she grinned, surprising you with the strength of her hug. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”

“So what’s first?” you asked as you pulled back from the hug.

Taliyah hummed. “I guess I’ll show you the shop.”

You followed her onto the beach, recognizing the small bright blue building from the pictures she had sent you before. Taliyah took you around the back, fishing a key out of her pocket before unlocking the door and leading you into the small room.

There were large tubs of ice cream in the middle of the room, the walls lined with containers of various toppings and machines. On the back wall from you were two windows, glossy menus pasted to the doors that would display out when they were opened. Upon walking closer to the menu signs, you noticed something.

“Hey, it says we open at nine, but it’s ten-thirty…”

“It’s fine,” Taliyah replied with a shrug. “The owners are pretty chill. If anyone complains, I’ll just tell them I had to train the new employee.”

You playfully rolled your eyes. Sometimes you really envied Taliyah’s ability to be so carefree. Her calm energy was a big help for you, having got advice from her on numerous occasions over the years.

Taliyah came over to where you were, eyes flitting boredly to the menu boards before turning her attention back to you. “So I’m thinking we get you taking orders while I make them.”

“Works for me,” you agreed. It certainly sounded easier than figuring out what a poro float was supposed to be. You never knew ice cream stands had such fancy options now, used to the simple menus of ice cream cones and bars back at the shops in your hometown.

You were about to open the order windows when you were stopped by a rustling noise from the back of the store. You turned to see Taliyah digging in a cardboard box in the back corner, pulling out some folded-up fabric that was the same sky blue as the stand.

“Didn’t think you’d get away without an embarrassing uniform, did you?” Taliyah teased, tossing some of her fabric pile your way.

You caught the bundle, unfolding it to find an apron with Poro Palace Frozen Treats in pink bubble letters, little white fuzzy animals dotting the apron. There was an accompanying blue visor hat that looked like something out of a kid’s store. You reluctantly slipped both items of clothing on, looking back to find that Taliyah had done the same.

“Stylish, huh?” she smirked, striking a modelesque pose.

“We look like we work at an amusement park, Tali,” you laughed.

“Feels like it sometimes with all the annoying kids that come by,” she replied. “Okay, you can open it up now.”

Taliyah settled herself down in a chair in front of the section of ice cream tubs, and you reluctantly turned to unlatch and open the windows, unsure of exactly what you were getting yourself into.

The small room lit up with the outside sunlight streaming in from your window to outside, the immediate glare of the sun making you wish you had worn sunglasses.

Almost immediately, the masses were upon you. You noticed a woman with several children in tow who perked up as she laid eyes on you, striding over to you with her children right behind her, pushing each other as they scrambled to be the first one to get over to you.

You heard Taliyah groan behind you. “Get the pen ready. They always have the most annoying orders.”

You rose an eyebrow, but picked up the pen and notepad that sat beside the cash register as the woman came to a stop before you.

“You know, I’ve been waiting for an hour already. You young girls don’t know how hard it is for mothers,” the woman complained, not letting you get a word in edgewise. “Alright, tell her what you want.”

“I want a brownie sundae!” a small boy with blue hair who clearly intended to make full use of his outdoor voice shouted. “But with cotton candy ice cream and pop rocks and I want only blue candies!”

“Uh…” The kid was talking too fast for you to write, but luckily Taliyah had your back, a got it ringing out from behind you.

You weren’t sure how you had managed to get their orders out before they melted, messing up their total several times before Taliyah had to come and help you out. With a last snide look and a fistful of blue napkins, the mother and her little terrors left the stand at last.

“She’s the worst,” Taliyah said, bringing your weary gaze her way as she cleaned off an ice cream scoop. “I accidentally put one red candy in that kid’s sundae once and he screamed until I remade the whole thing!”

You winced. “Feels like we got off easy today.”

“Yeah,” Taliyah agreed. “Helps that they order the same thing every time, so I’ve got some practice.”

“Are they all this bad?” you asked, turning away from the window after seeing no potential customers nearby.

“Not all of them,” she replied with a strained smile. “I swear the heat just brings the jerk out in some of the people here.”

Speaking of jerks… your conversation was interrupted by an impatient-sounding throat clearing noise from behind you. You whirled around to see a redheaded woman with heart-shaped sunglasses and a revealing swimsuit leaning against your counter. She was staring at you like you were gum she had stepped in, flipping some hair over her shoulder when she knew she had your attention.

“Five cherry snowballs,” she said, dropping a few coins on your counter, some of which bounced and hit the floor. “To the red umbrella, thanks ice cream girl.”

Without any further interaction, she turned on her heel and strutted away, hips swinging as she went, leaving you wondering what had just happened.

You slowly turned back to face Taliyah again. “Um, do we usually deliver?”

“Nope,” she answered. “Not to people like that anyways.”

“But…” you protested weakly. You knew Taliyah got away with a lot here, but you didn’t want her to lose her job because some rude girl complained to her bosses. “I’ll just take them over and next time I’ll just say we don’t deliver.”

“Still tempted to put rocks in their snowballs,” Taliyah joked as she set about piling the scoops of red ice.

Soon you had a tray with five cherry syrup-coated piles of shaved ice in little plastic bowls with accompanying little plastic spoons stuck in the side of the dishes.

“I’ll be right back,” you said, heading past Taliyah to the back door, opening it to find yourself back out in the mid-morning heat.

The sand still felt uncomfortably hot underfoot, even with your flip flops on. With how hot it was out, these would have to be delivered as soon as possible to not be a puddle by the time they were eaten. Your only problem was that you had no idea where to go.

The redhead had said that she would be at the red umbrella, but of course nothing at this ice cream stand would be that easy. Standing just outside the hut, you were treated to a veritable rainbow of colored beach umbrellas. You counted at least ten red ones scattered across the beach, none particularly standing out to you. You didn’t have many options, and were forced to go with the most tedious one; checking every red umbrella until you found the girl and her group.

The first umbrella had been a bust, as had the next five. The sixth had led to a sweaty old man who told you that you were just in time to help him sunscreen his back. By the time you had hurriedly fled from that creep, it had been about five minutes of searching, the snowballs on your tray looking considerably droopier than they had been when you had left the shop.

You stared down at the tray of melting treats, unsure of what to do now. Should you go back and have Taliyah remake the snowballs? Try a few more umbrellas and hope you got lucky? You really hadn’t been anticipating this much stress when you had agreed to work here with Taliyah for the summer.

You frowned at the now-more-water-than-ice treats, your decision made. You couldn’t serve these, not as melted as they were. You would go back and help remake them and see if Taliyah had any insight as to which red umbrella was the right one. You turned around to head back to the stand, only to trip on your overheating flip flops and fall forward with a cry.

You had closed your eyes with a flinch as you fell, but opened them with a start as you heard a grunt from right in front of you. Looking up from your position in the burning sand, you felt like your heart was going to stop in your chest.

Standing before you was the most attractive guy you had ever laid eyes on, with fire red hair and a pair of black animal ears that looked soft to the touch. He was dressed in a tight pair of swim shorts, a lightweight red jacket tied around his waist. He had a flower lei around his neck, but that was the only thing that he wore on his top half, his insanely-well-built torso on full display, a torso you realized with horror was currently splattered with red syrup and shaved ice.

You looked from the hot guy to the ground, the sand around you speckled with plastic cups, spoons and napkins, your tray turned upside down in the sand. You slowly risked a gaze back up, only to see the guy staring down at you from behind his pink-tinted sunglasses as a clump of ice fell from his stomach to the sand just in front of your hands.

Embarrassment forced you to spring up, grabbing some stray napkins from the ground and dabbing them against the mess of syrup and ice on the man’s abdomen.

“I’m so sorry, I–” You looked up from your apologizing to see the man silently staring at you, your hand freezing in place as you realized that you were basically feeling this guy up through the napkins, the realization making your cheeks burn with shame and embarrassment.

“I’m really sorry!” you cried out, pulling your hands back. He still hadn’t said anything, and you realized that you couldn’t just stand here like an idiot, your flight instinct kicking in as you reached down to grab your tray before moving around the man and fleeing in the direction of the ice cream stand.

“Hey, wait!”

The man tried to grab your arm as you passed, but you were faster in your embarrassment-fueled retreat, and soon the hot stranger was far behind you. You didn’t stop running until you were back at the shop, the empty sand-logged tray clutched tightly to your chest, your heartbeat pounding in your ears as you shut the door, making eye contact with a confused Taliyah.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, getting up to approach you when you didn’t respond. “Talk to me. What happened? If that snob said anything to you–”

“No, no, she didn’t,” you replied weakly, sinking to the floor with your back against the door. “I didn’t even get to her.”

“Then what happened?” she pressed, bringing you a glass of water and prying the tray from your hands at last.

She ushered you to your feet and down into her chair, taking a seat on one of the counters. You took a deep breath, taking a sip of the water before recounting the events of the past ten minutes to Taliyah, who listened silently.

“…I didn’t know what to do, so I just ran,” you finished, setting your water down to bury your face in your hands.

“It’s no big deal,” Taliyah replied gently. “Everyone has embarrassed themselves in front of someone. Remember that time I tripped over my board in front of that group of tourists?”

“I covered him in cherry syrup, Tali,” you groaned. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this.”

“It’s your first day,” she stressed. “You’re bound to mess some things up.”

She stood up, returning to the shaved ice machine. “Now how about we remake those snowballs and then I’ll–”

Taliyah had frozen in place, a plastic cup in her hand as she stared straight ahead.

“Tali?” you questioned, standing up. “Are you–”

“That guy you dumped the snowballs on,” she quickly interrupted. “Did he have majorly cut abs and animal ears?”

“Uh, why?” You felt a jolt of fear shoot up your spine as you followed her gaze to see the man from earlier currently approaching the shop, well-defined abdomen now minus the sticky mess you had spilt all over him. “Oh god, it’s him!”

You and Taliyah exchange wide-eyed glances before you dove down out of sight, hiding behind the tubs of ice cream like they were a fortress.

“Please get rid of him!” you begged. “I’ll do whatever you want, I just can’t face him!”

You heard Taliyah sigh. “Fine, but this means you’re coming stone hunting with me tonight.”

You agreed immediately, even if the prospect wasn’t overwhelmingly appealing. Taliyah was always eager to add to her collection of shiny stones, but was so picky that it often took hours to find just one stone that met her standards. But right now you were so desperate that you would have promised her anything just to make the angry hot guy go away.

From your position behind the ice cream tubs, you could only hear Taliyah’s voice clearly, the general noise of the beach preventing you from hearing what the furry-eared man was saying. You wanted to peek out from your hiding spot, but found yourself chickening out. You really didn’t need him catching sight of you and making Taliyah’s job even harder.

You had gotten so in your own head with panic that you had completely tuned out of your surroundings until a hand waved in front of your face and you realized Taliyah was crouching in front of you, calling your name.

“You okay?” she asked worriedly.

“Is he gone?” you replied quietly.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” she confirmed, standing up and grabbing your forearms to pull you up with her. “Now help me remake those snowballs and then I’ll fill you in.”

You bit your lip as you scooped shaved ice into a row of plastic cups as Taliyah readied the cherry syrup. Soon you had five pristine-looking snowballs on your slightly-sandy tray, the sight of them bringing you back to your moment of collision with the cute guy.

The tray was snatched from your field of vision by Taliyah, who headed over to the rear door. “Be back in a few. Try not to freak out too much while I’m gone.”

And then the door was closed and you were left alone. Looking over at the order window, you decided that you were probably safer to just resume your position behind the ice cream tubs, unwilling to risk being out in the open in case the guy decided to come back.

While she was gone, you couldn’t help but fret over exactly what had been said between your best friend and the mysterious hot guy. She didn’t seem to be upset, so clearly their conversation hadn’t been that intense. Or maybe it had; Taliyah was a fairly relaxed person, so it would be difficult for a random angry customer to really get to her. But that didn’t quite make sense either; if he had yelled at her, you would have heard it over the noise of the beachgoers. All you were doing was overthinking yourself to death, exactly what Taliyah had told you not to do.

And it was there you remained until Taliyah returned, closing the door behind her and placing the serving tray in the sink before she turned her attention to you at last.

“Calm down, it’s fine… I think,” she said.

“You think?”

“Well he didn’t seem mad,” she explained. “He asked if a girl that looked like you worked here and I said you went home sick. Said he’d come back another time.”

“Another–” Oh god. Was he really so angry that he was willing to come back just for the chance to yell at you?

“I can see you freaking out,” Taliyah scolded. “Don’t. You’re fine. Musclehead or not, he’s not going to kill you just because you spilled shaved ice on him.”

She was probably right; hot shirtless guys on the beach likely had more important things to do than yelling at clumsy ice cream shop workers. By tomorrow, he would probably forget you ever existed, and you could go back to enjoying your time working alongside your best friend.

The rock collecting that night had been long and boring, at least for you. Taliyah hadn’t found any rocks she liked enough to take home, only ending the search after she had found some sea glass that she had deemed acceptable to add to her collection. You could only hope that you wouldn’t owe her any more favors any time soon, unsure if you could survive another late night rock hunt.

The next morning, you entered the shop alongside Taliyah, who put her bag down and began to set up the day’s supplies. Considering it was ten minutes past opening time and Taliyah had insisted that she didn’t need help setting up, you decided that you might as well just open the order window for the day, hoping that mom and her group of demon kids wouldn’t be waiting out there, only to unlatch the widows and see something arguably worse.

The window had only been open a peek, but it was enough for you to see the large figure of the man from yesterday standing ten feet or so from your shop, his back facing you as he stared out at the beach. In your brief glimpse, you also noticed that the jacket wrapped around his waist had a white plus sign in a circle as well as the word lifeguard in white blocky letters above it. Oh god, of course you had gone and pissed off a lifeguard on your first day here.

You shut the barely-open windows with a too-loud slam that made you wince before you quickly locked them again and rushed over to Taliyah.

“Tali, he’s here again!” you hissed.

“Huh?” she replied, pausing her task of refilling a container of sprinkles. “Muscle guy?”

You nodded frantically and Taliyah frowned, putting the sprinkles down and approaching the order window herself. You watched as she opened the window ever so slightly, peering out for a few seconds before closing it back up.

“Well… can’t say I was expecting him to actually come back,” she said evenly.

“What do I even do?” you asked, staring at the order windows like they would burst open at any second and reveal you to the clearly-determined lifeguard. “He’s a lifeguard, Tali! What if he bans me from the beach?”

She rolled her eyes in response. “He can’t just ban you from the beach. Lifeguards don’t have that much power. If they did, I would’ve been banned a long time ago for all the times I’ve surfed after hours.”

“Then what does he want with me?” you asked, looking away from the window.

Taliyah shrugged. “You’d have to ask him that.”

“But what if I… don’t?” you replied weakly. “He’ll give up eventually, right?”

“I mean, maybe?” she said. “But it might be easier to deal with him now and get it over with.”

You saw her point, but it wasn’t her that was being pursued by a tall, muscly lifeguard with a vengeance!

Taliyah clearly caught the reluctance on your face and sighed. “Fine, I’ll switch with you for today. Now let’s go over how to make the basic stuff before we open.”

True to her word, Taliyah had allowed you to hide in the back making orders, telling the lifeguard guy that you were off today. You watched him walk away from behind the shaved ice machine, hoping that your ordeal was finally over, but your hopes were quickly dashed the next day as you went to open the store again, only to see the same broad back facing you from just outside the shop.

Taliyah had reluctantly agreed to switch again that day, and the day after. But by day four, even the promise of helping her scavenge for rocks again wouldn’t get her to agree to switch.

You closed the window again, turning to Taliyah with pleading eyes, but she was having none of it.

“It’s been four days,” she said, arms crossed. “Clearly he’s not giving up. You should just see what he wants.”

“But…” The thought still terrified you. You knew you deserved to be yelled at for what you had done, but it was made that much worse by the fact that the subject of your plight was just about the hottest guy you had ever seen.

Taliyah shook her head at you. “Okay, but I’m not doing orders again today, so if you want to keep hiding from him, we’ll have to move onto plan B.”

Plan B, as it turned out, was a mascot suit of sorts; three fluffy poros stacked on top of each other like a snowman. A poro each made up your upper and lower body, the last poro being the head of the costume. You looked incredibly awkward, the arms and legs of the costume hairy and tipped with little brown claws. You were momentarily stunned by the sheer lengths you were going to just to avoid this guy, but you were already in the costume, so you reasoned that you might as well follow through with it now.

Taliyah put the costume’s head on you and your world was plunged largely into darkness, minus the mesh one-way view out of the top poro’s eyes. You were helped to the back door, some fliers for the store shoved into your hands.

Taliyah helped you walk out front, and you were pretty quickly swarmed by kids. You couldn’t see the lifeguard guy, but the relief that coursed through you was short-lived, swallowed by the immediate explosion of business brought on by your costume.

One thing you hadn’t considered in your haste was the heat. You weren’t sure if it was the costume or if today was hotter than usual, but very quickly you found yourself becoming a sweaty mess under the weight of the dense, furry costume.

The longer you were in the costume, the worse you felt, but you were determined to stick this out. So you handed out fliers and posed for photos with children while Taliyah ran the stand.

You wished that you could wipe the sweat from your face, but you weren’t sure if you could even reach up to remove the costume’s head yourself due to the awkward shape of the costume. So you endured the ever-increasing heat, only feeling wearier as the time ticked by.

You waved goodbye to a group of kids as they left with their ice cream cones, the sweltering heat really bearing down on you. As you went to turn and head back to the stand to ask Taliyah to help get the head off, a wave of dizziness crashed over you. You took one step towards the stand, and then another, and then it all went dark as you felt yourself falling forward, too weak to stop your descent to the ground.

You woke up with a heavy head, feeling foggy with confusion. The last thing you remembered, you had been heading back to the stand…

Immediately, you realized that you weren’t at the ice cream stand, and you weren’t wearing the poro suit, or even your beach dress. Sitting up in the cot you laid in, you found that you were wearing only your swimsuit.

As you sat up, a blue ice pack that you hadn’t realized was there fell from your forehead and into your lap. Picking it up, the pack only feeling slightly cold, you turned to look around the room, still unsure what exactly was going on.

You were in a room of some sort, guessing it was afternoon by the minute amount of light filtering into the room, even through the closed curtains. There was a fan gently whirring above your head, but otherwise the room was silent.

There was another cot beside yours, and a table nearby with a few red first aid kits stacked on it, some bandages messily spilling out of one of them. There was a sign pulled over the door, the side facing you reading come on in, we’re open.

You got up from the bed, shuddering with disgust when you noticed just how sweaty your whole body was. The bed squeaked as you got up from it, your knees hitting a bedside table between the cots that you hadn’t noticed had been there. On the small table was a glass of water, as well as a white fan that was emblazoned with what looked to be a group of cats waterskiing.

You picked up the fan, letting out a small laugh at the silly-looking cartoon cats on the fan. It looked like something you could win at a carnival booth.

“If you can laugh, then I guess you’re feelin’ alright.”

A deep voice from behind you made you jump, fingers fumbling the fan, which fell onto the floor with a clatter that was only made louder in the quiet room. You turned to look behind you, only to fall off the cot in shock when you saw the very lifeguard you had been trying so hard to avoid standing in the doorway of a small office you hadn’t noticed was there.

“Hey, careful!” He quickly crossed the room to squat down in front of you, taking your elbow and helping you back up onto the cot. You were too stunned to resist and found yourself falling into his chest as a wave of dizziness hit you.

“You okay?” he asked, and you tried to nod, but your head was spinning too much to focus. “Hey, hold still.”

He placed his hands on your shoulders, keeping you steady against him until you were able to regain your focus. When he was satisfied with your condition, he pulled back, releasing your shoulders and instead reaching out for the glass of water on the table next to you.

“Drink,” he instructed, handing you the cup before standing up. “I’ll be right back.”

He stared at you for a moment before finally turning back and heading into the office at the back of the room.

You watched him go, feeling on edge, but complied, bringing the glass up to your lips and taking a long drink. The last thing you wanted to do was give this guy more reason to be upset with you. You were surprised at just how refreshing the water felt, and you had soon downed the entire glass, placing it back on the table when you were done.

“Alright, lay back down,” the lifeguard instructed as he returned.

“What?” you replied. What was he going to do to you? How had you even got here? Where was Taliyah?

He stopped before you, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked down at your shaky, terrified form. “Are you–”

“I’m sorry!” you exclaimed, bowing your head. “I didn’t mean to spill the snowballs on you! If you need to yell at me, go ahead. I’m sorry I didn’t just come out sooner and–”

It had occurred to you mid-ramble that he had yet to say anything, and you cut off your babbling, slowly looking up to find him staring at you with what you could only describe as a bewildered look on his face.

He blinked. “Is that why–”

“I’m so sorry!” you interrupted, bowing your head again. “If you want to ban me from the beach, I get it!”

“Ban ya from the beach?” he replied with a bark of laughter. “The only thing I wanted to do was get your number.”

“My… what?” You had to be hallucinating. There was no way he had just said that.

“Lay down first,” he spoke sternly, and you complied, still feeling stunned by his words.

Once you were laid down, he picked something up from the bed, which you recognized as another ice pack. He placed it on your forehead, the cool pack immediately flooding you with a feeling of relief. Closing your eyes, you let out a tired sigh, suddenly feeling fatigued.

“Get some rest, princess. We’ll talk when you’re up again.”

You took his advice, the cooling from the ice pack lulling you back to sleep, your eyelids too heavy to keep open.

When you woke up again, you felt infinitely better, your head clearer and body feeling less overheated. The ice pack on your forehead was room temperature, and it was now dark outside. There was a light illuminating your left side as you sat up in bed, turning to see the office in the back with its light on.

The cot squeaked under you, which was responded to by the squeak of a chair from inside the office, the red-haired lifeguard emerging from the office and approaching your bedside.

“Feelin’ any better?” he asked, and you nodded, biting your lip nervously. “Got you some more water.”

You looked over to the bedside table to see the water cup refilled and took hold of it, grateful to have something to focus on other than the intimidatingly muscular man before you.

You drank the entire glass before you forced yourself to finally address the situation before you. “Um… why am I here?”

“You passed out,” he replied bluntly, taking a seat on the cot next to yours. “Overheated yourself in that rat costume.”

“They’re not rats, they’re poros,” you replied, unsure of what to say.

He let out a huff of laughter. “Poros that important to you that you’re willin’ to fry yourself for ‘em?”

“No, that was…” you trailed off. Well, you might as well just admit it. If he had gone out of his way to care for you after you had passed out like an idiot, then he deserved the truth. “I was avoiding you. I was scared you were going to yell at me. My friend didn’t want to keep covering for me at the window so I decided to wear that stupid poro costume.”

“So that’s what that was about,” he replied. “And here I thought you were avoidin’ me ‘cuz you weren’t interested. Gave up on gettin’ your number and then got news that someone passed out from heat stroke.”

You were still having a hard time comprehending the asking for your number part, so you instead chose to focus on the other half. “Heat stroke?”

“Not sure what you expected, wearin’ that costume in this heat,” he said. “Can’t say nobody’s ever been afraid of me before, but giving themself heat stroke just to avoid me is a new one.”

He sounded somewhat self-deprecating, and you immediately felt bad. You had clearly misjudged him, and realized that he hadn’t even mentioned the snowball incident himself.

You forced yourself to meet his eyes, even with as awkward as you were currently felt. “I’m sorry for giving you so much trouble, and for spilling snowballs all over you. I’m just really sorry.”

He laughed. “Ain’t nothin’ for you to apologize for. I’ve had worse get on me since I started workin’ here, and usually it ain’t from a cute girl.”

You tensed in your seat, tearing your gaze from his to look down at your feet, your cheeks feeling warm.

“Hey, don’t go overheatin’ yourself again,” he scolded, standing up from the bed. “If you’re not interested, that’s fine, but I think it’s best if I take ya home. Don’t need your friend yellin’ at me again if you pass out on the way back.”

As much as you wanted to deny his assertion of you being not interested, you couldn’t muster up the courage, so you instead quietly accepted his offer of help. You would have to ask Taliyah what he had meant when you got back.

It was surprisingly cold on the beach at night, the icy breeze sending shivers along your skin. You stared out at the dark ocean waves, entranced by the water crashing against the sand, when your focus was broken by some soft fabric being laid over your shoulders.

You turned to look over your shoulder to see Sett just behind you on the steps of the lifeguard office, the jacket that was usually around his waist now laying on your shoulders.

He caught your curious look and raised an eyebrow. “You nearly cooked yourself to death today, I ain’t about to let you freeze yourself to death now.”

“Thanks,” you replied quietly, reaching a hand up to keep the jacket around your shoulders.

Your feet met the soft sand as you followed Sett towards the parking lot. The beach was totally empty, an odd contrast to how things were in the daytime. It felt weird to actually see the shape of the landscape unobscured by giant beach umbrellas and a sea of bodies. You only looked away from the empty scene when you realized that you had left the sand, and Sett was staring expectantly at you.

“…what?” you asked, getting the feeling that he had said something that you had missed.

“Which way?” he repeated with a quick glance at the street ahead of you.

“Oh right,” you replied. “My friend lives on Sandstone Way.”

Sett’s ears perked up. “By that tacky souvenir shop?”

“Yeah,” you laughed. “Right by there.”

You giggled at Sett’s assessment; you had noticed the eye-hurtingly brightly painted store when Taliyah had walked you to her house from the train station. She had rolled her eyes at the store as you surveyed the display of t-shirts with embarrassing designs on them, stating that sometimes they got some good rocks in, but it wasn’t worth the amount of tourists always asking for directions when she was walking around the neighborhood.

Looking over at Sett out of the corner of your eye, you were struggling to think of anything to say. He was dressed in just his sandals and shorts, his sunglasses forgone and giving you a clear look at his golden eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

“So this your first summer here?” Sett asked, breaking the brief silence as you walked side by side. “I know I’d remember you if I’d seen ya before.”

“I was here for a summer when I was a kid,” you answered. “But everything looks so different now. Maybe I just saw this place differently when I was a kid.”

“Nah,” he dismissed. “It never used to be this busy here. Tourists bring money to this place, but it means it’s always loud around here.”

The conversation was slowly helping you feel more comfortable with the intimidatingly handsome lifeguard. You felt dumb for putting so much energy into avoiding him.

“So have you always lived here?” you asked.

“Born and raised,” he answered with a grin that you couldn’t help but feel looked a little sad. “Ma used to work at the boating shop… and the laundromat… and the candy store.”

“All at the same time?” you asked incredulously.

Sett shrugged. “Didn’t have much of a choice. Pa ran off on us when I was a kid, and it wasn’t like anyone would hire a fatherless runt to work for them.”

“Sounds like it was hard,” you replied. “Did you ever find out where he went?”

“For his sake, I’d better not,” Sett sneered. “I heard ma cry missin’ that scumbag more times than I can count. There ain’t a family here for that bastard to come back to.”

“How is your mom doing?” you asked as you turned onto Sandstone Way, passing by the tacky tourist shop, the flashy paint on the walls too bright even at night.

“She’s doin’ good,” he answered, finally looking happy with a satisfied smile. “Got her to quit her jobs when I started workin’ enough to pay the bills.”

“You’re a good son,” you complimented him. “She’s lucky to have you.”

You smiled at him, coming to a stop before Taliyah’s house. “Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me back.”

“Take care of yourself,” he said. “I don’t wanna see you passin’ out again.”

“I’ll try not to,” you replied. “No more poro costumes for me.”

“On that topic,” he purred, leaning closer to you. “You never gave me an answer.”

“An answer?” you squeaked, flustered by his sudden closeness.

“I’ve been tryin’ to get your number for days now,” he replied, and you did your best to supress a shiver from running up your spine. Was this real life?

You wet your lips with your tongue nervously, unable to miss how Sett’s sharp eyes watched the movement.

“I, um, I don’t have my phone on me,” you said, immediately realizing how dumb you sounded. You didn’t need your phone on you to tell him your number! You hastily made to amend your statement. “…but if you come by the stand tomorrow, I’ll give it to you!”

“Oh?” Sett’s grin was wide, gold eyes flashing dangerously. “I s’pose I could find some time to stop by. See you then, sweetheart.”

Sett turned to walk away, but you stopped him with a call of his name. “Wait, your jacket–”

“Keep it for the night,” Sett replied. “I’ll get it from you tomorrow.”

You reluctantly agreed, stunned silent by his bold flirting, his jacket sitting warm on your shoulders as you watched him walk away. You stared at his broad back until he was out of sight, only then turning to head inside, knowing Taliyah would be waiting.

The next morning she was still on you as you spent some extra time getting ready.

“I still can’t believe he gave you his jacket,” she teased with a grin. “I mean, I figured he was probably into you, but–”

“You what?” you replied as you paused styling your hair.

“I kept telling you to talk to him,” she replied. “No guy like that is going to wait outside your work for days in a row just to yell at you for spilling ice on him. But I didn’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

“I just feel so stupid giving myself heat stroke just go avoid him,” you lamented.

“Yeah,” Taliyah frowned. “If I had realized it was that hot out, I never would’ve let you go out in that thing.”

“It’s my own fault for being so dumb,” you insisted.

“But hey, it all worked out, didn’t it?” Taliyah grinned as she slipped on her water shoes. “You’ve got a hot lifeguard coming to visit you at work today.”

“Don’t remind me. I’m still super nervous,” you said, adjusting your beach dress over your most flattering swimsuit.

“You’ll be fine,” Taliyah replied. “He’s clearly super into you. You should’ve seen him when you passed out yesterday.”

“What?” You had been so tired last night that you had only told her the basics before crashing for the night, completely forgetting to ask her what had happened yesterday.

“Someone got him when you collapsed,” she told you. “You should’ve seen his face when he pulled off the poro head and saw it was you inside the costume! I tried to come with, but he told me he’d handle it. I maaay have threatened his life if anything happened to you, but just a little.”

You laughed. So that’s what Sett had been referring to.

Taliyah came up from behind you as you stared at your appearance in the mirror, resting her chin on your shoulder and meeting your eyes in the mirror. “Relax, you look great. Fuzzy ear boy isn’t gonna know what hit him!”

“Fuzzy ear–” you sputtered, laughing at Taliyah’s choice of words. “I guess his ears do look pretty fuzzy.”

“Well if he lets you pet them, tell me how soft they are!” she teased, pulling back from you to grab her bag. “Now let’s go. You’ve got a boy to meet!”

You somehow felt even more nervous today than you had the few days you had spent avoiding Sett. You were still having a hard time wrapping your head around the fact that a guy that looked like he had walked straight out of a fireman’s calendar was coming to your little beachfront ice cream stand for the sole purpose of getting your phone number. And his jacket, which was folded neatly on the countertop beside you.

You weren’t exactly sure when he was going to come. Usually, he would be there waiting outside in the morning before you opened, but all you had opened up to today was a sparsely-populated beachfront, no handsome lifeguards to be seen. By two in the afternoon, your anxiety had begun to get the better of you.

“Stop pacing,” Taliyah scolded you. “He’ll be here.”

“But what if he decided not to?” you said, taking a deep breath to try and calm yourself down. “What if this was just a joke?”

“Then I’ll go kick his butt,” she responded plainly. “He’ll come. Relax.”

You were about to reply, when a ding of the service bell at the order window had you spinning around, ready to take an order, only for the words to die on your lips when you laid eyes on the well-muscled lifeguard with the fuzzy black ears just outside the order window, sending a grin your way.

“Here to pick up my order,” he said, leaning an arm against the window.

“Your… order?” you replied, too entranced by his appearance to properly make use of your brain.

“A pretty girl promised me her number if I came by,” he replied, looking down at you through his sunglasses.

“I… right… I…” You turned back quickly to see Taliyah staring expectantly at you, mouthing the word number at you. Right.

With slightly shaky hands, you reached for the small notepad at the front counter, taking that and a pen in hand and trying not to focus on the fact that Sett was watching you as you began to write.

Double-checking that the number was right, you handed the paper to him, your fingers touching as he took it from you. Remembering about your other promise, you reached over to grab the lifeguard jacket from the counter beside you. You went to hand him his jacket, surprised when he didn’t take it from you.

“What time do you get off?” he asked, and you answered a quiet six. “Give it back to me then.”

With a short wave and a grin, Sett made a show of stowing the phone number in his pocket before sauntering off and leaving you standing there slack-jawed.

“See? Was that so hard?” Taliyah called from her seat at the ice machine. “Now you just have to keep it together for your date.”

“I don’t know if I can,” you said, leaning back against the counter.

“You did last night, didn’t you?” she countered. “He’s just a guy. A really hot guy, but still. Don’t freak yourself out. You deserve a nice guy. It’s just a bonus that he has more abs than spiders have legs!”

You let out an amused huff. Taliyah was right, as she always was. You needed to get over yourself and let yourself have a good time tonight.”

But for now, you had customers to deal with. You and Taliyah let out a shared groan as you saw the nightmare mom and her army of brats heading towards you. You both returned to your posts, hoping their overly-complicated orders would be right on the first try this time.

Taliyah let out a yawn, stretching her arms high above her head before beginning the process of cleaning up for the day. After the last customer left, you hastily closed the order window, not wanting to give anyone the chance to come and beg about how it was only five minutes past closing and they’ve been wanting a banana split all day. You had learned your lesson from that mistake on day two.

Once the order windows were closed and locked, you joined Taliyah at the side counter, helping to return all the different containers of toppings to their rightful places. You found your hands moving slower, your nerves slowing you down in order to prolong the inevitable.

Taliyah eventually got tired of your pitiful attempt at stalling for time and gently removed the container of blue sprinkles from your grasp. “Just go, I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure?” you asked, and Taliyah sent you an unimpressed look. “Okay, fine, I’m going, I’m going.”

“I hope you know I expect all the details later!” she grinned as you made your way to the door, hesitating with your hand on the door handle for only a moment before opening the door.

It was mercifully less warm outside today than it had been yesterday, not to mention that you were also minus a heavy mascot costume. Yesterday hadn’t ended too badly for you, but you would still prefer to not end today in a hospital if you exacerbated your current heat-sensitive state.

You weren’t sure if you preferred if Sett was already there, or if you got there first to wait for him; neither option seemed to abate your nerves. But of course, the lifeguard was prompt as always, leaning against one of the beams that held up the awning above the order window.

You didn’t think you had been making much noise walking along the sand, but he seemed to hear you, turning to face you with a grin as you approached.

“Ready?” he asked as you came to a stop before him, tucking some of your hair behind your ear in an effort to keep your cool.

“Yeah,” you answered, impressed that your voice hadn’t come out squeaky with how nervous you were.

“Good,” he replied, before his grin turned teasing. “Was half expectin’ ya to come on our date in that rat costume.”

“Poro!” you corrected again, trying not to get flustered by his mention of this being a date. You weren’t sure what else it would be, but you couldn’t help the butterflies that fluttered in your stomach when he had acknowledged the obvious.

He surprised you by taking your hand, pulling you along with him as you tried desperately not to stumble and fall into the sand.

The beach crowd was beginning to thin out, people heading home or to one of the many beachfront restaurants nearby. Watching as a kid packed up his sand toys, you wondered if one of those restaurants was where you were headed as well. Sett hadn’t told you anything about what the plan was, and you found yourself curious when he led you to the bright white lifeguard office.

At first, you had thought that maybe he had forgotten something, at least until you followed him into the small building to see what looked to be the table that had previously held all the first aid kits, now decked out in a soft-looking purple picnic blanket. On top of the makeshift picnic table was a spread of various tasty-looking finger foods, the scene completed by two chairs pulled up to the table, cushions with a starfish pattern placed on the seats.

You were perhaps too dumbfounded by the sight, as you snapped out of it to Sett calling your name, looking over at him to see him looking surprisingly tense. You should probably say something, you realized.

“It looks great,” you said, meaning every word as you looked over the table. “Are those cabbage rolls?”

“Ma helped me make ‘em,” Sett explained, looking bashful for the first time since you had met him as he raised an arm to scratch at the back of his neck. “Helped me with all of this, actually. Never done anythin’ like this before.”

“You mean a picnic?” you asked curiously.

Sett chuckled. “Picnics. Dates. Not a lotta women ‘round here who wanted anythin’ to do with a fatherless half-breed.”

You had a hard time believing that; you had noticed several mothers checking him out as they packed their family’s stuff to leave the beach. But the hint of something sad in his eyes made you reconsider. You had no memory of seeing someone like him that summer you had spent here, but it wasn’t like that was a surprise to you. You and Taliyah had been in your own little world at that time, only ever spending time with each other.

“Well I’m excited to try your cooking,” you said, figuring a change of subject was for the best.

Sett grinned as he sat down. “Should be decent. Haven’t poisoned anyone since high school.”

Your eyes widened, hand freezing on its path to grab a cabbage roll, startled eyes darting to his.

Sett let out a bark of laughter at your alarmed face. “Relax. Wouldn’t poison ya. Maybe those kids that keep swimmin’ into the boating zone, but not you.”

“Thanks… I think?” you replied, biting your lip as you stared down at the cabbage rolls, weighing your options.

“Wasn’t real poison anyways,” he scoffed, taking some rolls from himself. “Not my fault sugar and salt look the same.”

You laughed, grabbing some food for yourself at last. “I suppose they kinda do.”

“Ma didn’t wanna hurt my feelings, but I knew when I tried some myself,” he explained.

“It was nice of her to try,” you offered.

“Too nice,” he said. “Ma is always too nice. Never said anythin’ bad about my old man, even after what he did. Had to work three jobs for years because of that bastard, but not a word.”

“Well I’m sure she’s glad she has you,” you commented. “Even if you give her food poisoning sometimes.”

“Once,” he corrected, taking a bite. “Learned my lesson the first time.”

You followed his lead, finding the food to be entirely poison-free, and actually the best home-cooked meal you had eaten in a long time. The conversation moved to swapping work stories, and you were unsurprised to find out that the mother and her the demon children had been a thorn in Sett’s side as well.

“They really buried sleeping sunbathers in sand?”

“Five times in a day one time,” Sett grouchily confirmed. “Last time Braum went to handle it. Said I would bury those little assholes under the sand if I had to go yell at them one more time.”

You sympathized with his pain. You felt lucky that you had only experienced the tip of the annoyingness iceberg with that group of little terrors.

“Braum?” you inquired as you both left the lifeguard office, the beach now fully dark.

“Fellow lifeguard,” he answered, nonchalantly taking your hand in his as you made your way off the beach. “Bald, giant moustache, even bigger than me. Better at the whole gentle-but-firm thing than I am.”

“Oh, I think I’ve seen him before. He comes by for poro pops sometimes,” you said, mind drawing a picture of the surprisingly friendly man in the small purple swim bottoms with a weakness for poro-shaped ice pops. “So are you the head lifeguard then?”

Sett considered your question. “Guess I am the boss of ‘em. All of the other lifeguards are always comin’ at me with problems to solve. The extra pay doesn’t hurt either if I wanna keep momma from feelin’ like she has to work.”

“Say thank you to her from me for the dinner. It was really good,” you said as you passed by the familiar tacky souvenir shop.

“She’ll be happy to hear it,” he replied with a soft smile that made your heart thump in your chest. “I know she wishes she had more to cook for than just me.”

You both came to a stop before Taliyah’s house, and you sneakily glanced over just to make sure Taliyah wasn’t peeking out from a window, which she wasn’t. You turned your focus back to Sett, only to find him closer than he had just been. How was he so good at sneaking up on you?

A large hand came up to cup your jaw, thumb brushing against your cheek, and your face was tilted up towards Sett’s. You were glad it was dark out, because otherwise you knew your reddening cheeks would be obvious.

“Still afraid of me?” he asked, voice low, lips so close to yours that you could make out a small scar that crossed over his bottom lip.

“No,” you answered, making no move to pull away as you stared up into his eyes. “Not unless I was about to taste your high school cooking.”

“Smart,” he replied with a smirk. “But I’m talkin’ about right now, because if you don’t turn and run into that house, I’m gonna kiss you.”

Your bag almost tumbled from your grasp, but you held fast as you stared at Sett, whose own had already become half-lidded. You had no words to describe how much you didn’t want to run right now, so you didn’t use any, instead angling your face further upwards, trying to make your willingness abundantly clear.

With a grin, he leaned down and kissed you.

Pulling back slightly, he dove back in, his other hand coming to your waist to pull you against him. You happily leant into him, your hands on his firm chest.

When he pulled back again, you opened your eyes at last, feeling almost as dizzy as right before you had passed out from heat stroke.

Sett looked content, and you were only hoping you looked half as composed as he did right now. He leaned back in to give you one more peck before pulling back from you entirely, the cold from the air outside immediately apparent as soon as you were minus his warm hands against your skin.

“Think I’ll stop by tomorrow,” he said. “Been cravin’ a cherry snowball for some reason lately.”

Sett was a man of his word, you learned, though you were less happy to see him the next day when he asked if he could order a cherry snowball served like last time, and then laughed as you had proceeded to sputter like a broken machine.

His visits became daily, sometimes bringing Braum with him, who continued to surprise you with the sheer amount of poro pops he was able to consume in one sitting. Quite a few nights a week, you had found yourself all around Port Navori with the half-Vastayan lifeguard. You were surprised at how supportive Taliyah was being, considering you had originally come here to spend time with her.

“Gives me more time to surf,” she answered with a shrug when you had asked her. “And maybe that boyfriend of yours can convince you to stay here after the summer is over.”

“Boyfriend?” you yelped, and Taliyah raised an eyebrow.

“You aren’t? I thought he would have made it official by now. It’s been over two weeks… have you guys even done it?”

“Taliyah!” you scolded her, switching back to professional mode as a group of people approached the stand.

As you helped prepare their orders, you couldn’t help but think about what she had said. You and Sett had kissed quite a lot actually, but he had yet to do more than that. But it was far too embarrassing a subject for you to have the confidence to broach, so you had resolved yourself to just be content with things as they were.

It was just your luck that right then was when Sett had decided to make his daily visit to the stand, approaching the counter as the other group left.

Taliyah apparently wasn’t done pestering you for the day as she sped to meet him at the counter before you could get there yourself.

“Hey!” she greeted Sett with a sly smile as you stood frozen behind her, nervous about her motivations. “You’re on your break, right?”

Sett raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Well,” she said, in the voice you knew meant that she wanted something. “There’s a surfing contest I entered, and it’s almost my turn and it won’t even take that long and–”

“Tali!” you interrupted, rushing over to the counter.

“All I need is an hour,” Taliyah insisted, before pulling you beside her at the counter. “And she needs some help while I’m gone since lunchtime is when most of the people come by.”

“I’m fine, I–”

“I’m in,” Sett cut in, eyeing you with almost palpable smugness.

“Awesome!” Taliyah replied, immediately shucking her apron and hat onto the floor in her haste to get out the door. “Have fun, see you after I win!”

“Taliyah!”

Your call of her name fell on deaf ears as she already had her board and was out the door, leaving you standing at the counter with Sett still leaning against the counter.

Sett reached up to pull his sunglasses off, tucking them into his packet, his golden eyes fully uncovered and sparkling with mischief, the sight alone making you feel weary.

“Well? You gonna invite me in?” he asked. “Not sure I’d fit through the window.”

You scrambled to meet him at the back door, not wanting him to try and get into the shop through the order window that was less wide than he was. It was a strange feeling to open the back door of the shop to a guy that was almost too tall for the doorway, and another thing entirely to try and corral him into behaving as you tried to keep the ice cream stand functioning while Taliyah was gone.

“Aren’t lifeguards supposed to set a good example for others?” you huffed, wiping ice from your apron. At least he hadn’t made things truly equal and put cherry syrup on the ball of shaved ice he had pressed against your neck.

“Not when I’m off the clock,” he answered. “Besides, it’s my once in a lifetime chance to see what workin’ one of these is like.”

It would definitely be only one time if you had anything to say about it. If the almost-hour with him here had taught you anything, it was that Sett was not cut out to work in an ice cream shop.

The scoops of ice cream he doled out were easily twice the size of the ones Taliyah did, which made for happy customers, but a less happy bottom line if he was here for more than an hour. He was also lacking Taliyah’s patience, and you were forced to sideline him when an especially picky middle-aged woman came by who insisted you remake her smoothie four times until it had an acceptable pH level. The woman’s complaints had miraculously stopped the moment Sett had approached the window himself, becoming so invested in flirting with the handsome lifeguard that she had snatched her next smoothie attempt from you without complaint, not even glancing your way as she batted her eyes at him, only leaving when he excused himself with an excuse of needing to make more orders.

You approached Sett to check on him and found yourself pulled down into his lap as he leaned back in the chair.

Huffing, he pulled you against him, nuzzling against your neck. “Don’t know how you deal with that. Couldn’t pay me to make her damn smoothie one more time.”

“You get used to it,” you replied. “Don’t you deal with worse as a lifeguard?”

“Yeah,” he grunted. “But nothin’ sayin’ I gotta be nice when I deal with ‘em.”

“That’s true,” you laughed.

“If anyone complains, they can go somewhere else. Ain’t another beach within a hundred miles as well-run as this one,” he bragged, kissing at your neck.

As much as you were enjoying his sudden affection, you knew time was running low until Taliyah would return. You made to pull back to tell Sett that, but were instead pulled into a kiss that took you a few breathless moments to find the strength to escape.

“This Friday,” he murmured, face inches from yours. “There’s a party at the pool. You should come with me.”

You had heard about the exclusive pool parties on this beach from Taliyah, but hadn’t expected to ever get an invite. The pool, which was at the far end of the beach from the ice cream stand, was as exclusive as it got. Gated with walls so high that you couldn’t see in, it was the membership-only place to be for all of the elite in the beach town of Port Navori.

“Is that… okay?” you asked hesitantly.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” he countered, and you didn’t really have an answer. “It’ll be fine. Come. Have some people I wanna introduce ya to.”

The door burst open at the same time as you nodded your agreement, revealing Taliyah clutching both her dripping board as well as a shiny blue ribbon.

“You won?” you asked, trying to disentangle yourself from Sett, who reluctantly let you up.

“Easily!” Taliyah gloated. “Nobody else stood a chance. So how were things here?”

“The money ain’t worth the drama of this place,” Sett griped.

Taliyah laughed. “Smoothie lady come back with a vengeance?”

“I’ll take kids buryin’ sunbathers up to their ears over this any day,” he replied with a grimace, standing up and stretching.

At his mention of ears, Taliyah had brought both hands up to her own head about where Sett’s were on his head, and you quickly waved at her to cut it out before he saw. Thankfully she did, but you could tell that you were going to get asked if you had pet his ears yet as soon as his fuzzy ears were out of earshot.

“I’ll text ya the time when I know it,” Sett said, giving you a quick kiss on the head and a two-fingered salute to Taliyah before heading out the back door.

“So?” Taliyah asked, pulling the chair up to the ice cream station after she had stashed her prize ribbon in her bag. “Are they as soft as they look?”

“I didn’t pet them,” you answered.

“It’s been over two weeks!” she complained. “Has he at least asked you to be his girlfriend yet?”

You shook your head. “He did invite me to a pool party with him on Friday at that fancy pool.”

“Really?” Taliyah responded, eyes wide. “You have to tell me what it’s like! I mean, I’ve seen satellite photos, but it’s not the same…”

“I’ll probably be too nervous to remember any of it,” you grumbled.

“This is your chance!” Taliyah encouraged. “By Friday it’ll be three weeks. You need to ask him if he sees you as his girlfriend or not.”

You reeled back, waves of anticipatory anxiety rolling over you. “I don’t want to scare him off. What if this is just casual to him and I’m too dumb to see it?”

“Then you’ll know,” she replied. “I know you. It’ll eat you up if you put this much energy into a guy without knowing how he feels about you. So ask. If he says no, then at least you’ll have an entire store’s worth of ice cream to drown yourself in after!”

Taliyah was right. She was always right. You knew that you couldn’t keep whatever this was up without knowing where you stood with him. The more time you spent with Sett, the more you wanted, and if he intended to keep things casual, you would rather know sooner so you could make an informed decision.

So that would be the plan then. Go to the party, have a good time (and get some photos of the pool for Taliyah) and then ask Sett about the state of your relationship. Sounded easy in theory. You could only hope you could muster up the courage to go through with the plan when the time came.

After hearing that the party was to start at four, Taliyah had gone all out, closing the stand at two so she could help you get ready to impress the snobs. You hadn’t put up too much of a fight, happy to have her help and her company, as your nerves only climbed higher the closer it got to four o’clock.

“You’ll be fine,” Taliyah said as she styled your hair. “You’ll only feel worse if you don’t get an answer from him. And with how good you’ll look at the party, he won’t be able to say no!”

“Thanks, Tali,” you replied gratefully. “I promise I’ll get you a bunch of photos of the pool. And whatever else you want.”

“What I want is for you to stay here for good,” she said. “So really I’m just doing myself a favor by helping you. This place has been a hundred times more bearable since you’ve been here, and I want it to stay that way.”

“Still,” you persisted. “I feel bad that you’re going to so much trouble. If you want anything, just let me know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Taliyah dismissed with a wave of her hand. “You should get going, don’t wanna be late to the fancy pool party.”

She practically shoved you out the door, and then you were alone, walking down the mostly-empty sidewalk. As you walked along the street, you couldn’t help but dwell on the possibilities. What would happen at the party? What would Sett say?

If he told you that he wasn’t looking for anything serious, what would you do? It was hard to have an answer for until you were in the moment, since a lot of it would depend on what Sett’s answer would be.

You walked through the parking lot, and then onto the beach, passing by kids building sandcastles and games of beach volleyball as you walked towards the end of the beach where the pool was. As you made your way to the fancier end of the beach, you began to notice the differences that marked the split between here and the side of the beach that you were usually on.

The shops on this side of the beach were much fancier, the sand littered with designer beach chairs and umbrellas. It was crazy just how different two ends of one beach could be.

The pool was noticeable from a great distance, or at least the wall white walls that surrounded it were. At least you weren’t going to get lost and miss the party entirely.

You approached the pristine white stairs that led from the beach up to the pool entrance, equal parts excited and apprehensive. The entrance was an open doorway, covered by a deep blue curtain and guarded by a muscled bouncer in white. The sight alone was intimidating; why hadn’t you just asked Sett to meet you beforehand?

You plastered a reluctant smile on your face before approaching the man. “Hi, I–”

“Name,” he interrupted, not looking up from his clipboard, sunglasses too dark for you to see his eyes.

Well it wasn’t like you hadn’t expected some level of standoffishness from the elite side of the beach. Keeping your smile up, you told him your name, waiting the prerequisite few moments for him to leaf through the list.

He seemed to have found what he was looking for, as his hand with the clipboard went to his side and he moved over to the curtain, pulling it to one side to allow you to enter. He had said nothing further, but seemed to be staring in your direction, so you took that as your cue and walked towards the now-open entryway and into the pool.

The entryway led into a hallway with pristine white walls, soft lighting hanging overhead. You could begin to hear chatter as you got closer to the end of the hallway, exiting into an explosion of sight and sound.

The pool was huge, and there seemed to be an intricate gold pattern on the tiles at the bottom. The pool was surrounded by lounge chairs and umbrellas, tropical foliage bordering the inner walls around the pool.

There were people all over, in and out of the pool. There was also a bar in the center which seemed to be very popular, as many people were carrying around intricate-looking cocktails.

More than the scenery or the people, your eyes were scanning the area for Sett. You checked your phone again to make sure, finding that it was the time he had told you to be here for. Maybe he was just running late or…

Your rising concern was broken up by the tap of designer wedges on the granite heading your way. You looked up from your phone to see two girls heading towards you, one of which you realized you had seen before.

The stuck-up redhead that had been the reason you had been out on the beach to spill the snowball on Sett in the first place was striding towards you, not a hair out of place underneath her likely-expensive sun hat. At her side was a lilac-haired woman in a swimsuit with a plunging neckline that was color blocked with various shades of purple. Together they made quite a striking pair, but your previous encounter with the redhead had you wishing that Sett would get here soon to save you from the impending conversation.

“Look, Sarah,” the purple-haired one sneered as they came to a stop before you. “So eager to pretend she’s one of us that she rushed right over.”

You took a step back, but that only seemed to embolden them.

Sarah lowered her sunglasses, staring at you like you were in her way. “Sad when they don’t know their place, Syndra.”

“Sett invited me here,” you replied defensively.

The women exchanged a pointed look before Sarah raised an eyebrow at you, a hand on her hip. “You ever think about why that was?”

“What?” you replied, unsure of what she was getting at.

“She doesn’t get it,” Syndra said with a cruel undertone in her voice that unnerved you.

“Look around,” Sarah said sharply. “Really look. Do half the people here look like they belong?”

You looked around, not sure what you were supposed to be seeing. A man with a hook-nose sat at the pool bar, flanked by women in skimpy bikinis. A humanoid form that seemed to be made of water conversed poolside with a large purple man in a ratty straw hat who was holding a ukulele. What were you supposed to be noticing?

“Sett is too nice to break it to you, so the job falls to me,” Sarah said with a smirk. “This is our annual loser fest. Charity case race. Bring-a-freak-to-work-day.”

“Pig party,” Syndra supplied.

“Yeah, pig party,” Sarah repeated, noticing your confused look. “Don’t know what that is? Poor thing.”

“I don’t–”

“It’s pretty simple,” Sarah interrupted. “We take half the summer to find the biggest freak we can, and then we bring them all together and crown a winner, and by the looks of you, Sett is really going for the top prize.”

You gasped, eyes wide, suddenly feeling like you were going to be sick.

“Aw, you really thought he liked you, huh?” Syndra mocked with fake sweetness.

“He didn’t… he never…” you stammered, clutching your bag to your chest.

“Well duh,” Sarah replied haughtily. “He wanted to win. Do you tell a pig when it’s about to become bacon?”

“What is meaning of this?” Braum accused, storming up to your group. “I have not heard of such a thing!”

“Need-to-know, Braum,” Syndra dismissed.

“And you didn’t need to know,” Sarah added.

You felt numb. This whole time… is that why Sett wouldn’t ask you to be his girlfriend? Why he never did more than kiss you? All this time, he had just seen you as a prize pig for an ugly date contest? It all made sense now, why he had been so desperate to get your number. He had never liked you… it had all been one sick joke. You should’ve known; nobody as attractive as Sett would ever see you as anything but a freak. And was too cowardly to come and tell you the truth to your face.

“Look, she’s crying,” Syndra taunted. “Don’t cry! Soon you’ll be queen pig!”

You couldn’t do this. You couldn’t stay here with all these people who saw you as less than human as your heart was breaking into pieces. You were so, so stupid, now wanting nothing more than to cry in peace. So you did, turning and running as fast as your legs would take you out of this awful place.

“Bye, piggy! We’ll ship you the ribbon!”

You heard Braum shout your name, as well as the cruel laughter of the women, but you didn’t stop running. Not when you got to the beach, nor the parking lot or the tacky souvenir shop, the sayings on the gaudy shirts too blurry to read through your tears. Your feet didn’t stop until you were at the doorstep to Taliyah’s home, out of breath, tears running down your cheeks.

The door opened, Taliyah’s face appearing in the doorway. “Hey, did you forget– wait, what happened?”

“Settrigh, stay still!”

Sett frowned, but did as his momma requested, allowing her to tie the ends of his hair after she had finished arranging it. He loved his ma dearly, but he really didn’t have time for her to redo his hair ten times right now.

It was getting way too close to the start time he had given you, and with how nervous of a person you were, he had intended to be on time, but that was before his mother had discovered the reason why he was cutting their visit short today.

Ma was aware that he had been seeing someone, had been ever since Sett had needed help making food for their first date.

“You do intend to let me meet her, Settrigh?” she asked, stepping back once she had fixed his hair to her satisfaction.

“Yes, ma,” he answered, standing up from the chair.

He wasn’t exactly surprised by his momma’s eagerness, considering this was the first girl he had ever dated, let alone considered introducing to her. This world was shallow; he had learned that early in life, which may be why he found himself so drawn to a girl who had put her all into having nothing to do with him. You broke up the monotony in this busy beach town and gave him something to look forward to other than seeing his ma for the first time in a long time.

Sett knew he was working on a time limit. You had mentioned that you had planned on only visiting Port Navori for the summer, and the summer was half over already, which meant his chances to convince you to stay were also halved, which is where tonight came in.

He had been taking things slow, not wanting to come on too strong and scare you off like he had watched happen to many a beachfront pick-up artist. He had been unwilling to rush things and lose you, but the slip of the calendar into August had forced his hand.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit apprehensive as to how today would end. How would you take him asking you to be girlfriend? He could only hope that he hadn’t misread you entirely.

He didn’t go to the pool parties often, but it seemed like a good way for him to introduce you to his friends, as they didn’t often all gather outside of those parties. He knew you would likely feel out of place, but Braum would be there, and he intended to stick by your side the entire time. And then after the party, if things went well, then maybe he would end the night with you as his girlfriend, but the party would be the first step.

As he left his ma’s house, he found his mind turning to the party. If you were wearing that red swimsuit you had worn last week, then it was going to be a difficult night for his self-control. His desire to take things slow had really taken a hit then, his only saving grace being ma’s lecture on being a gentleman pounding in his head as he tried not to look at how your chest was half-busting out of your top as you leaned over to pick a thread off of his glove. You were really too hot for your own good, which made him all the more eager to see you.

He knew he was running late, the party having started at least ten minutes earlier. It wasn’t his style to be late, but he was also pretty helpless to defy his ma. He only hoped that you hadn’t given up on him and left.

He took the shortest route possible, which included a short trek through some bushes that left him more leafy than he would’ve liked, but it was all forgotten when he spotted the stairs that led up to the pool entrance.

He was able to bypass the doorman who was only half as big as he was and seemed to be wary of interacting with him, stepping out of the way as Sett approached. He pushed past the curtain, hurried steps heading down the hallway. You hadn’t been waiting outside, so clearly you had been able to get in. He tried to fight back the excited grin that wanted to take over his face, but it was a losing battle as he entered the pool area, eyes immediately scanning the area for you.

“Your cruelty is unimaginable!” Braum’s booming voice carried easily through the air. “That girl has done nothing to be deserving of such treatment!”

What had Braum so worked up? Generally he was an easy guy to get along with, easily Sett’s most tolerable co-lifeguard. Not much phased him, which was a little concerning. But Sett had other priorities, the most important being locating you.

You weren’t in the pool, and didn’t seem to be sitting in any of the chairs. Maybe you had gone to the bathroom and would be right back–

“Well how else was she supposed to know Sett is too good for her? She clearly wasn’t going to see reality without a little help.”

Sett’s ears perked up, his attention snagged by the mention of his name, but especially by the latter half of the sentence. He turned around to see Sarah Fortune with Syndra at her side, who had her arms crossed and looked bored. In front of them was Braum, looking more irate than Sett had ever seen him.

“What’s this about?” Sett asked in a warning tone as he approached, the fur of his ears standing on end, leaving him feeling like he wasn’t going to like where this was headed.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Sarah dismissed, flipping her hair behind her shoulder with a flick of her head. “We just showed a daydreaming little clout chaser the way out.”

Sett’s eyebrow rose. “A what?”

“Your ice cream girl,” Braum cut in. “These two have told her that this is a party for pigs. They have told her that you intend to bring her here to win ugly contest, and then she had run off.”

“What?” Sett growled dangerously, but the two women remained nonplussed.

“We did you a favor,” Syndra stressed. “If we get a reputation of letting just anyone in, then we’ll lose all status as members of the ruling class of the food chain. So we decided to throw this little pig party to make you come back to your senses.”

“You’re one of us, Sett,” Sarah added. “This pool doesn’t have room for little nobodies who don’t know their place.”

“Rather be a nobody than whatever the hell this is,” Sett snarled angrily, the full knowledge of the truth turning his bad feeling to a mix of simmering fury at the two women, and worry for you. He hated himself for being late and allowing this to happen to you. “Save your concern and don’t talk to me again.”

“But we were–” Syndra started, but Sett wasn’t in the mood.

“If you even look at her again, you’ll have me to deal with. And unlike that girl you just bullied outta here, I ain’t so nice.”

With that, Sett turned on his heel and stormed towards the exit to go do his best to fix this mess.

Braum quickly followed behind him. “My friend, I am sorry I could not stop them in time.”

“Ain’t your fault,” Sett replied. “Wish I’d have known. Gotta go see if she’ll even talk to me at this point.”

“I wish you luck,” Braum said as exited the hallway and emerged out into the sunny late afternoon.

Sett parted from Braum, taking the stairs two at a time as he surveyed the area, trying to see if he could catch sight of you. He quickly crossed the sand, making a beeline for the ice cream stand, even if it seemed like a longshot. He passed by a group of kids throwing sand on an older man sleeping on a towel, but ignored it and kept going. If anything was on fire, Braum could put it out. Sett’s sole focus right now was finding you and hoping you’d let him explain himself.

His chest felt heavy with anger and regret. How could he have let this happen? He hadn’t realized how cruel those women could be, and it had led to them making you believe he thought you were some freak he was using for convenience, which could not be farther from the truth.

Seeing those two talk about you like you were a pariah had brought him right back to when he was younger, to what he had endured at the hands of people just like Syndra and Sarah. People who had ostracized him, did their best to make him feel like he didn’t have a place here. Sett-the-beast-boy-bastard; the words had haunted him for a long time.

He had grown tough in response to the years of bullying, but you hadn’t. This was your first exposure to how awful this place could be. He and ma had dealt with it for years after pa ran off; he had nearly gotten expelled from school after a particularly bad fight with a kid that had made one too many nasty comments about his ma to his face.

Sett stopped, letting out a frustrated sigh as he saw the large closed sign on the front windows of the ice cream shop. So that was a bust. Without giving the store a second look, he continued on towards the rocks and then up to the parking lot.

There was only one other place to try. Chest tight, Sett followed the same path he had the night of your first date, the same path he took every time he walked you home. The walk there was one long blur, his feet unable to stop moving until the familiar house was in sight. Without a moment’s hesitation, Sett approached the front door, rapping his knuckles against the wood. When no answer came, he tried again, and after a few moments, the door opened to reveal Taliyah, who glared once she caught sight of him.

“What do you want?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Is she here? I need to talk to her,” Sett said, urgency bleeding into his voice.

Taliyah sighed, stepping outside and closing the door behind her. “You’re lucky I’m even talking to you after this. You don’t deserve to talk to her if that’s how you let your friends treat her.”

“They ain’t my friends,” Sett argued. “If I’d have known they were gonna pull that shit–”

A sly smile lifted the corner of Taliyah’s lips. “Good answer. If you had said anything else, then I’d be slamming the door in your face right about now.”

“Then can I–”

“Talk to her?” Taliyah interrupted. “Nope. Not a good idea.”

Sett’s face must have taken on a darker quality, because Taliyah retreated back a step, raising her hands in the air in mock surrender. “Relax, tough guy. I didn’t mean it like that. But she’s a little too upset to talk to you right now.”

The information only made Sett feel worse. He wanted so badly to talk to you, to do what he had wanted to do before this mess had happened and make you his girlfriend. You had never felt farther away than you did right now.

“Give me some time to calm her down. I can get her to be at the pier at seven, then the rest is up to you,” she said, levelling him with a stern look. “I know this wasn’t your fault. That’s the only reason I’m giving you a chance. She really likes you, so try not to make her feel any worse than she already does. Bye.”

And then Taliyah was gone, retreating back into the house and leaving Sett standing on the doorstep.

“Brought you some water,” Taliyah announced as she entered the room, glass in hand.

“Who was at the door?” you asked.

She shrugged. “Someone looking for my dad. Told them he’s not here.”

You nodded. It was probably too much to hope that it would be Sett. You winced as you thought his name. You hated how much you wanted to see him, someone who had used you to win some popular kid ugly date contest.

So it had all been a lie then? All the things he had told you about his life, his family? Every time he had kissed you, was he picturing kissing one of those girls instead? Is this really what popular people did for fun? You felt stupid for falling for it, for falling for him. You were so stupid.

With some prompting from Taliyah, you took a sip of the water. After she had made sure you had drank the whole glass, she sat down next to you, taking the glass from you and setting it down on the bedside table.

“I should have known,” you croaked.

“Known that popular girls are bitchy? Maybe,” she responded.

“That it was too good to be true,” you corrected.

“You’re acting like you’re eighty,” she scolded. “There are other guys out there. Ones who don’t have shitty friends.”

“Yeah, I know,” you replied. “But I really liked him. And I didn’t even get to pet his stupid fuzzy ears.”

“Well if you’re joking, then you must be doing okay,” she said. “How about we go do something to take your mind off of things?”

You frowned, and she rolled her eyes. “Not right this second. I’ll give you until six-thirty to get yourself ready to go.”

Taliyah got up off the bed and headed towards the door. “I’m not gonna let your night be ruined because of a couple of snobs.”

She closed the door, leaving you alone with your thoughts again. You laid back on the bed, intent on taking some time before you got ready to just veg out. As much as the notion of going out didn’t excite you right now, it was probably better than being a mopey mess all night. There would be other guys; it was just a shame that you had liked this one so much.

Two hours later, you were walking down the street with Taliyah. Your getting ready to go had consisted of washing your face of all the smeared makeup from your crying, brushing your hair into a semi-decent state and then watching dumb cat videos on your phone until you felt like you didn’t want to crawl in a hole and die.

Taliyah had assured you that you didn’t look bad, which you might have believed if you hadn’t seen yourself in the mirror as you were leaving, but at this point you were beyond caring about how you looked right now.

Taliyah had refused to tell you where she was taking you, and so you were forced to follow her down the familiar path towards the beach, unsure of where it was you were being led. Part of you was worried that you might run into Sett, but then the more rational side of you took over; he was likely back at that pool, partying it up with those girls and lamenting that you had run off before he could win his ugly date prize. It was crazy to realize just how flawed your judgment had been.

You had expected to be walking onto the beach, as it was where you two usually spent most of your time, but Taliyah didn’t go to the parking lot, instead heading towards the rockier section of the beach. You hadn’t been over here before, only vaguely aware of the area as a prime fishing location, bait shops and the like lining the street across from this part of the beachfront.

She took you past the fishing spots, down to near the end of the beach, where there was a small pier that went about thirty feet out into the sea. Like most of the beach at this time on a weekday, the pier was empty, most of the fishermen also having headed out with their day’s catches.

Taliyah led you down the pier to the small bench at the end of it, pushing you to sit down. When she didn’t do the same, you looked up at her, confused.

“I’ll be right back,” she said. “I’m gonna go grab something to help cheer you up. You just enjoy the view for a bit.”

You decided to follow her advice, staring out at the water. There wasn’t much to see other than some boats in the far distance and some buoys bobbing in the water that marked the swimming section from the boating section.

It was kind of nice in a way, the calm waters helping you to relax as you watched the waves roll in and out. You stayed like that for a while as you allowed yourself to zone out until you began to wonder how much time had passed. Pulling out your phone, you saw that it had been almost twenty minutes, and yet there was no sign of Taliyah as you looked around.

You had assumed that she went to get you two some food, which likely was still the case. Some of the places here tended to have rather large dinnertime crowds, so a twenty minute plus wait wasn’t exactly unusual. You had no idea where she had gone, so all you could do was wait. If she wasn’t back by seven, you would just text her and ask what was up.

You let yourself be taken in again by the rolling waves as you continued to wait, trying to recall what kinds of restaurants there were on the beachfront. It couldn’t be that fish and chips place; Taliyah had spent a full half hour last week complaining about how stale their food was. Or the taco place, since it had been closed for renovations for the past week. You had been trying to think of a third option when your concentration was broken by someone taking a seat next to you on the bench.

You looked over, expecting to see Taliyah back with some food, but instead nearly jolted off of the bench when next to you was the very man you were out here trying to forget.

Just seeing him when you were feeling so pathetic sent a jolt of you weren’t sure what up your spine, your flight instincts screaming at you as you made to stand up, only to be stopped by a firm grip on your wrist.

“I know you don’t wanna see my face right now,” Sett said. “But I can explain.”

“Explain what?” you replied meekly. “Those girls explained enough.”

“I haven’t,” he insisted. “Just listen for a minute. Then you can leave, or punch me, whatever you want.”

You took a look around, still not seeing Taliyah anywhere. You weren’t sure what he could have to say that would make much of a difference, but you sat back down, and he let go of your wrist.

You turned reluctantly to face Sett, waiting for him to talk first.

“Never told ‘em to do somethin’ like that,” he said gruffly. “Didn’t even know about it ‘til I got there and you weren’t there.”

“But they said…” you started, taking a breath to keep yourself calm as you prepared to recount the hurtful words. “They said you were only spending time with me so you could win their whole ugly date contest.”

Sett’s eyes narrowed, the skin of his knuckles tightening on his curling fists. “First I’ve heard of it. Ain’t no way you’d ever place in an ugly contest anyways.”

His words threw you. “Wait, so you don’t think I’m ugly?”

He snorted, a grin playing at his lips. “Well I was plannin’ on askin’ you to be my girlfriend after the party, so nah, I don’t think you’re ugly.”

“You–” you gasped, pulse skyrocketing. This was not how you expected this conversation to go. You were half convinced you were experiencing auditory hallucinations until Sett reached over, pulling you into his side.

“This is my fault,” he spoke lowly. “If I hadn’t been late, I’d have been there to stop that from happening.”

“What happened when you got there?” you asked quietly.

“Braum told me what happened, then those two tried tellin’ me they did it for my sake,” he growled. “I thought I was used to seein’ through bullies from how I grew up. Doesn’t matter now, they won’t be botherin’ you anymore unless they wanna find out why momma says I got her temper.”

“Why were you late anyways?” you asked.

He groaned, leaning his head back against the bench. Even with the sun mostly set, you could clearly see a pink tone to his cheeks.

“What is it?” you pressed, curious about why the intimidating lifeguard was suddenly being so shy.

He let out a long sigh, finally meeting your eyes. “Ma was doin’ my hair.”

You looked him over, realizing that his hair did seem to be tied differently today. The only thing that looked the same was his ears, just as fluffy as they always looked. You could almost hear Taliyah’s voice screaming in your head to pet them. Speaking of Taliyah…

“Taliyah!” you gasped, trying to extract yourself from Sett’s grip, but failing. If Taliyah was to come and see you here with the guy she had taken you out to forget about… “My friend, she’ll be back any second and–”

Sett laughed, and you were immediately left with the feeling that you were missing something.

“She ain’t comin’ back,” he said amusedly. “I’ve got you all to myself for the night… if that’s what you want.”

“Taliyah set me up?” you breathed, not having suspected a thing.

“I asked her to,” Sett explained. “Wasn’t about to let you go ‘cuz of some shallow assholes.”

Taliyah was much sneakier than you had given her credit for, you realized, but you couldn’t bring yourself to mind right now. Though that didn’t mean you weren’t hungry, your previous stress melting away and removing the only distraction from your empty stomach.

“So,” you hummed. “Are you still going to ask me to be your girlfriend?”

You still had no idea what would happen by the end of the summer, but you really wanted this. You wanted him.

“Yeah, was plannin’ on it.”

You had thought about it all the way back to Sett’s house. Was it really for the best to go back to your city when the summer was over? Back to your parents’ house to find an equally demanding and unfulfilling job?

The more you thought about it, the more you wanted to stay. Taliyah was here, Sett was here, and other than your brief nasty encounter at the pool earlier, this summer had been the best one you’d had in a long time.

Sett seemed intent on giving you more reasons to stay as he was on you pretty much as soon as you entered his house. You had been standing in the entryway, looking at a picture of what must have been Sett and his mother when he caught you off guard, picking you up from behind.

You yelped, turning your head back to face him just in time for him to dart forward to snatch a kiss.

“You’ll have time to look around later,” he said as he walked down the hall, nudging a door open with his shoulder and then taking you into what looked to be his bedroom.

Once again, you were scarcely granted a look around before Sett had overtaken your attention yet again. You were swiftly carried over and deposited on the bed, Sett eagerly caging your body down against the sheets with his own.

“I wanted to go slow,” he said against your ear. “Didn’t wanna mess things up. But that’s not what you want, is it?”

“No,” you gasped as he snaked a hand under your dress, and then under your swimsuit bottoms. “I… I want…”

“This?” he inquired, thumb brushing against your clit, causing you to jolt against him with a breathy moan. “Waited a long time to hear that.”

Seeking more room to work, Sett pulled back to reach down and pull down your swimsuit bottoms, tossing them to the side. You watched with reddening cheeks as he returned his attention to you, head disappearing under your dress next.

His first lick against your pussy felt back-archingly good, but you didn’t have a lot of room to move with Sett’s hands holding your lower half in place. His tongue felt slightly rough, bringing pricks of pleasure-pain along its path.

Closing your eyes tight, you tried not to squirm, but it was difficult as Sett’s tongue prodded inside you before moving back to sucking at your clit. It felt good, almost too good, but you found yourself wanting more than his mouth against you.

“Sett,” you moaned. “Please…”

You weren’t sure if he got the message until you reached down to grasp at one of his hands. He pulled back from you, wiping one forearm against the wet lower half of his face as he sat back. His position on his knees on the bed allowed you a good look at the decently-sized bulge in the front of his tight swim shorts.

Sett caught your eyes, reaching one hand down to cup his cock through his shorts. “All you, sweetheart. Still think I think you’re ugly?”

You somehow managed to shake your head, speechless from his ardent display of his body. Sett seemed to bask in just how speechless he had made you, a sexy grin overtaking his face as he stared down at you.

“Couldn’t ask for more than this,” he said. “But if you want more…”

He was such a tease. With a burning face, you relented.

“Could you just put it in me please?” you asked, too shy to make eye contact.

“Can do,” he replied, and you could easily hear the smug satisfaction in his voice.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Sett stood up from the bed to pull his shorts off, wincing slightly when he pulled the tight fabric over his painfully-hard cock. Tossing the shorts to the floor, his attention quickly returned to you.

Giving his cock a few slow strokes, he watched you sit up on the bed. Feeling a burst in confidence from his display, you reached down to the hem of your dress’ skirt before pulling it up and off your body, Sett’s hungry gold eyes unable to look away from you as you moved onto your swimsuit top.

Once your top was off, Sett struck, pulling you towards him. Sitting at the edge of the bed, he pulled you onto his lap, reaching around to your front to cup your breasts as his mouth went straight to your neck. His hands were warm against the sensitive skin of your breasts, rolling your nipples under his thumbs as his teeth scraped against a sensitive spot on your neck.

You felt his hard cock under you and shifted yourself against it, Sett letting out a deep groan in response. You could feel how wet you were, but this wasn’t enough. You needed to fuck him, needed this building tension to come to a satisfying end for you both.

You turned in his lap, looping your arms around his neck and leaning down to kiss him. Sett was happy to meet tongues with you, one hand resting on your ass until you pulled back from the kiss.

You met eyes with Sett, who began to help you lift yourself up, lining up his cock with his other hand. When he brought you back down onto him, you both sighed as you were fully seated on his cock at last.

“Nothin’ else would feel as good as you,” Sett groaned as he began to help you move and up and then back down onto him. “Never wanted any girl as bad as I want you.”

You were much less coherent, moaning out his name as your hands grasped against his chest. With a further burst of confidence, you reached a hand up to his ear, running your fingers along the fur and enjoying the resulting groan, the next upward thrust of his hips hitting even better into you. Maybe you would leave this out at Taliyah’s interrogation later.

“There,” you moaned as he shifted you in his lap, his cock hitting even deeper inside you. “Right there, Sett.”

“You’re so tight,” he groaned, pulling you down into a rough kiss as he held you close, thrusting up into you as you eagerly moved along with him, needing to make this gorgeous man under you cum.

Sett came first, stilling for a moment before pulling you slightly back to put a finger to your clit, letting you cling to him as you followed him over the edge.

Once you had both come back down from the clouds, you were set back gently on the bed so Sett could run off to grab a cloth to clean you up with. You watched him leave the room, still having a hard time comprehending just how you had ended up this situation.

You definitely had some phone calls to make tomorrow. Your parents would be surprised, but you would probably focus on the Taliyah part rather than the new boyfriend part of your reasoning. Taliyah would be overjoyed for sure; you’d have to thank her for her meddling when you saw her.

As Sett returned, you realized something.

“Wait, is your mom home?” you asked in horror. You hadn’t made any effort to be quiet during sex, forgetting about his mother until he re-entered the room.

Sett laughed at your mortified face. “I don’t live with ma, so no.”

“Oh god,” you breathed in relief. “I was worried I was too…”

“She ain’t here,” he replied as he joined you on the bed, handing you the cloth he had grabbed. “You can be as loud as you want.”

You dropped the cloth, burying your head in your hands, Sett’s amused laughter ringing in your ears as you tried to content with just what you had signed yourself up for.

#xreader #readerinsert #league of legends #league of legends x reader #lol x reader #league of legends sett #sett #pool party sett #sett x reader #smut #pool party sett x reader

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krat395 · 2 years

Text

W.D. Gaster, the Best “Uncle” Ever Part 1 (Chapter 1)

The Gaster saga continues! :D Picking up where “Tickles of Justice” left off, Gaster and the kids (Frisk, Chara, Asriel, and MK) finally go to Gaster’s house, which is at least 250 yards west of Asgore’s house, in the woods, the same woods where Gaster had an epic showdown against Toriel, Asgore, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys (the Main Six as Frisk likes to call them) in “W.D. Gaster, the Ultimate Tickle Master.” In this particular story (Part 1 of what I believe will be a three-part story altogether), Gaster and the kids prepare to have some fun together in the secret basement of Gaster’s home in this special room that he spent months building and fixing up. A kid-friendly room, of course, and one that Gaster claims will blow the kids’ minds! Well, let’s hope he’s right about that when the time comes! Yeah, spoiler alert, they don’t go to the room in this first chapter. But some other (hopefully) fun, interesting, and not to mention IMPORTANT things happen though. Just trust me on this one, folks. ;) And BIG personal headcanons in this story too! Lots of them, which might explain why it took me so long to write this story! :B

Undertale© Toby Fox.

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Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

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W.D. GASTER, THE BEST “UNCLE” EVER PART 1

Chapter 1: Best “Towel” Ever!

It is a late Saturday morning and Dr. W.D. Gaster has just teleported himself and four adorable children (Frisk, Chara, Asriel, and MK) out of Asgore's house and into his own house with a simple snap of his fingers. Gaster and the kids did consider a peaceful walk through the forest to get to Gaster’s house but due to various events that prevented them from leaving Asgore’s house earlier than they wanted to, they decided to save some time by teleporting instead. How convenient! :) Anyways, now that Gaster has the kids all to himself, he is now freely able to get ready to spend time with the four of them underground today (not deep underground like the Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, and New Home) in this special room in his secret basement. But before he and the kids go down there though, they would first like to take some showers and get all cleaned up. The sooner, the better and fortunately for them, Gaster has five bathrooms in his house just like Asgore does, which means that they will all be able to shower at the same time and therefore get to Gaster's basement as quickly as possible; provided that Asriel can get his fur dry in a timely manner. Even with the assistance of his fire magic, Asriel's fur takes a very long time to get fully dry. But luckily for Asriel, Gaster knows a way to help him get his fur dry fast. If the freaky-looking but friendly skeleton himself ever gets his butt downstairs, that is. (Jeez, Gaster, how long does it take you, a skeleton, to shower and put on a clean pair of black dress pants, clean black socks, clean black dress shoes, a clean white turtleneck sweater, and a clean black trench coat? XD)

Sometime later… on the main floor of Gaster’s house after the kids all took showers…

Frisk, Chara, and MK: Ah, much better! *said 3 of the 4 children at the same time as they walked into Gaster's living room with clean clothes on (same outfits as before; a blue shirt with 2 pink stripes, blue jeans, and blue flip flops for Frisk; a green shirt with a single yellow stripe, brown pants, and brown flip flops for Chara; and a brown and yellow striped shirt and brown pants for MK; just fresh, clean pairs of each piece of clothing)

Asriel: Heh, must be nice. *said Asriel with a slightly irritated tone in his voice while standing in the living room with just a pair of black athletic shorts on*

Frisk: Aww, Azzy, are you grumpy because your fur isn't dry yet?

Asriel: Oh, yeah! Mm-hmm! *answered Asriel, tapping his right foot against the floor with a grumpy expression*

MK: Jeez, Az! How long does it take for your fur to dry after a shower?

Asriel: Too… long. …And if your next question is, “Can’t you speed up the process with your fire magic?” the answer is no, not really. …Trust me, I’ve tried. *stated Asriel, still being a grumpy goat but this time, with his arms crossed*

Frisk: Awww! Don’t be such a grumpy goat, Azzy. Here, Chara and I will dry your fur for you.

Asriel: You will? And just how are you going to do that? *asked Asriel confusedly, right as Frisk and Chara got all up in his business with mischievous smiles on their faces*

Frisk: Heeheeheehee. Hold out your arms and we’ll show you.

Asriel: Heh, o-ok then.

Moments later, Asriel did as Frisk asked him to do but what followed however was something that Asriel didn't expect. Instead of trying to dry their brother's fur, Chara wiggled her fingers in the hollows of his exposed armpits from behind; and at the same time, Frisk scribbled her fingers all over his fluffy belly in front of him. They were tickling him and before Asriel knew it, he was laughing hard; real hard!

Asriel: PFFFFFFFFFFF… HAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! FRIHIHIHIHIHIHISK; HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA; FRISK, WHAHAHHAHHAHAHAAT THE HEHEHEHEHHEHECK?!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU THINK THAHAHAHAAT TICKLING MEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE IS GOHOHOHOHOHOING TO DRY MY FUHUHUHUUHUHUR?!!! *asked Asriel confusedly through his precious laughter, instinctively quivering his stomach and wiggling as if he were hula-hooping* HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!

Chara: Heeheeheehee. No; of course not, silly. *Chara answered for Frisk* This is just for fun! *she teased, exactly one second before doing something that made Asriel bleat* Pbffffffffffffffffffff!!

Asriel: BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! *Asriel bleated loudly and adorably the moment he felt Chara BLOW A RASPBERRY on his right armpit* HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!! CHAHAHHAHARA, NOHOHOHHOHO, HAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NOT THAHAHAHAT, HAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, AND NOT THEHEHEHEHEHEHEHERE!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! BAAAAAAAAH!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! *he bleated 3 times during 3 rapid fire raspberries from Chara* HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

30 seconds later…

Asriel: HAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!! OK, YOU GUHUHUHUHUYS, BAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I DOHOHOHOHON'T THINK, BAAAAAAAAAAAAH, MY, BAAAAAAAAAAAAH, FUHUHUHUHUR IS ANY DRIER!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!

Frisk: Heeheeheeheeheeheehee. You're right. It isn't. *agreed Frisk, moments before she and Chara stopped tickling Asriel* Heeheeheeheehee. Ok, Azzy, for real this time. Ready?

Asriel: Heeheeheeheehee!! Yeah, heeheeheeheheeheeheeheehee, I guess so!! *replied Asriel while giggling due to phantom tickles* Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee~!!

Frisk: Heeheeheehee. Ok; Chara, on my command! 1… 2… 3!

On the count of three, Frisk and Chara both did something very unusual, something humans that possess a Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justice, or Determination soul can do once they learn how. On the count of three, THEY CREATED FIRE IN THE PALMS OF THEIR HANDS! :O RED FIRE to be exact (red fire due to their Determination souls); and with their fire, they attempted to dry Asriel's fur, hovering their hands over his wet spots without burning him or his fur a single time. But creating fire isn’t the only magical ability they’re capable of though. They have other unique magical abilities as well and it’s all thanks to the destruction of the Barrier seven months ago. Long ago, powerful wizards used up practically all of their magic to seal the monsters underground but now that the Barrier’s been destroyed, the magic that was once contained within it has spread across the land to various humans within at least a 25-mile radius of Mt Ebott, granting them abilities beyond their comprehension.

Asriel: F-Frisk, what are you doing? I told you that heat from my fire magic doesn't help all that much.

Frisk: Yeah, we know, Azzy.

Chara: But heat from ours might though. We can at least give it a try.

Asriel: Oh, well alright then. J-just don't burn me, you guys.

Frisk: Heeheeheehee. We won't. You're far too cute to set on fire. *said Frisk with a cute little smile, causing Asriel to blush* Heeheeheehee.

Frisk and Chara's red fire felt warm to the touch, much like Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel's fire often does and as the two girls themselves worked together to dry Asriel's fur, they, along with Asriel, discovered that fire magic heat from at least one human actually speeds up the whole drying process.

Asriel: Hey. Hey, that's working, you guys! Here, let me help you with that. *said Asriel excitedly, creating RAINBOW FIRE, the hottest fire he is capable of creating (hotter than white, blue, and orange fire, which are three other types of fire he is capable of creating and controlling), in the palms of his hands* The more hands we have drying my fur, the faster we'll get done.

Moments later, Asriel began helping his sisters dry his fur with fire magic; and just like his sisters, he is hovering his hands over his wet spots without burning himself or his fur a single time. And with rainbow fire too! Not orange, not blue, and not white! Rainbow! It’s the hottest fire Asriel is capable of creating; and with Asriel’s assistance, the whole drying process is going even faster; but still not fast enough though. What the Dreemurr kids need is assistance from a fourth individual with fire magic. But as far they know, MK doesn't have fire magic or any type of magic for that manner. ...Right?

Chara: Gosh, it sure sucks that you don't have fire magic, Lizzy Boy! Because if you did, we'd probably be done by now!

MK: Hehe. Yeah, about that, you guys… *MK commented in a cool and confident manner, giving the Dreemurr kids the impression that he actually does have fire magic (and he does too) as he made his way over to their current location*

Once MK reached the Dreemurr kids' location, he stood right next to Asriel and held his robotic hands up as if he was going to create actual fire with them. Surprised by this, the Dreemurr kids all stopped what they were doing long enough to see if MK was indeed capable of creating fire.

Chara: Wait! MK, do you; do you actually have fire magic?!

After being asked such a question by Chara, MK's cool and confident behavior vanished out of the blue and was replaced with incredibly nervous behavior; nervous to the point that it felt like he had butterflies floating around in his stomach. Then afterwards, he just froze in place, completely unaware of what he should do or say next.

MK: (Crap, crap, crap! I got too excited! The plan was to show them my magic in the basement; not here!) Ehehehehehe. U-u-u-um… *stammered MK, laughing nervously to somewhat cope with the awkward situation he's currently in*

MK actually does have magic! For 15 months now; ever since his 10th birthday, MK has had several magical abilities of his very own. But because he was too inexperienced with all of them at the time, he has been keeping them a secret from many individuals including the Dreemurr kids until a time comes that he feels he can use all of them effectively and efficiently (and without choking in life threatening situations such as that time he was in danger of falling off of a bridge in Waterfall); and now that MK feels that he can thanks to training from his parents, Alphys, Papyrus, Undyne, Sans, and Gaster, and especially now that he's done with school, he is ready to tell those he's been hiding them from for so long; starting today with the three Dreemurr kids. But not right now though! MK was planning to show the Dreemurr kids his magic in Gaster's secret basement but he got too excited! Up until this point, he had been doing a spectacular job hiding his magical abilities from the Dreemurr kids. But it's not too late though! If MK can somehow convince the Dreemurr kids one last time that he lacks magic, then his secret will be safe until it's time to officially reveal his magic in Gaster's basement.

Frisk: MK, Chara just asked you a question. Do you have fire magic or not?

MK: U-u-u-um… Ehehehehehe~

Frisk: Well, do you?

Seconds later, MK broke the tension by tickling Frisk and Asriel with his tail and robotic fingers respectively, taking at least some of the attention off of himself in the process.

MK: Ehehehehe. Nope! Nope, I just wanted to tickle you guys! *lied MK with a nervous tone in his voice as he began tickling Frisk and Asriel rather hastily* Ehehehehe. Coochie coochie coo! Ehehehehehe~

Frisk: AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *Frisk laughed frantically upon feeling the tip of MK's scaly tail "drill" into her bellybutton underneath her striped shirt* MK, YOU JEHEHEEHEHHEHEHERK!!! *she shouted through her laughter without any actual spite; just mere moments before sinking down to the floor* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU JEHEHEHEHEHEHEHERK, MK!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!! EEEEEEEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!

Asriel: HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *Asriel laughed hysterically the moment he felt robotic fingers wiggle up and down along his sides* MK; HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA; MK; HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA; OH MY GOHOHOHOHOHOSH, I HAHAHAHAHATE YOU SOHOHOHOHOHHOHO MUCH RIGHT NOHOHOHOW, DUHUHUHUHUHUDE!!! *he then said through his laughter without any actual spite* HEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!

MK: Ehehehehehe. No you don't. You guys love me; me and all of my classic jokes! Ehehehehehehe. Like this one! Ehehehehehehe. OOOOF!!

All of sudden, MK got pinned face-down against the floor by Chara, which in turn made MK stop tickling Frisk and Asriel.

Chara: Mwah ha ha! You are in a world of trouble, young man! *teased Chara as she kneeled over MK's legs with her back facing towards his own back* Tricking us into believing that you have fire magic just so you could catch us off guard and tickle us; who does that?

MK: MEEEEEEEEE! *shouted MK proudly while wiggling and splaying his 6 toes; proudly because it appeared that all three Dreemurr kids bought his lie about lacking fire magic* Heeheeheeheeheehee~!

Chara: (Gah! Why must you always tease me like that with your toes, MK?) Oh, you are so asking for it now, Lizzy Boy! Frisk, Azzy, stand back!

A few seconds later, once Frisk and Asriel got out of the way, Chara began ZAPPING MK'S FEET WITH RED LIGHTNING (Red lightning due to her Determination soul)! :O All in an attempt to tickle his feet!

Chara: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *laughed Chara “evilly” as she zapped MK’s feet with lightning* UNLIMITED POWER!!! *she shouted like Emperor Palpatine XD* MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

MK: Eeeeeeeeeeep; unlimited power? Eeeeeeeeeeep! Chara, eeeeeeeeeeep, what are you doing to my feet back there? Eeeeeeeeeeep! I can feel you touching, eeeeeeeeeeep, my feet with something; eeeeeéeeeeep, but I don't know what it is! Eeeeeeeeeeeeep! You're making them tingle like crazy!

Uh oh! MK's not laughing! If MK's not laughing, that can only mean one thing. Chara's red lightning isn't working! Instead of tickling MK, all she's doing is making his feet feel extremely tingly, hence why MK is repeatedly shouting, "Eeeeeeeeeeeeep!"

Chara: Ugh! I'm trying to tickle your feet with my lightning magic, you doofus! *said Chara to MK without any actual spite*

MK: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Oh, eeeeeeeeeeep, that's your red lightning? Eeeeeeeeeeeep! Heeheeheehehee; wow, eeeeeeeeeeeep, heeheeheeheehee, that's awesome, Chara! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Super awesome! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Chara: Heeheeheehee. It is, yes! Heeheeheehee. But it would be even more even more awesome if it was tickling you, Lizzy Boy! I've tickled someone's feet with lightning before, you know! Just ask Frisk!

Frisk: Pffffff… Hahahahaahahahahahahaha!!! *snort* It's true, she hahahahahahas!!! *snort* Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!! My feeheeheeheeheeheet to be exact!!! Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!! But just one time thohohohohough!!! *Frisk honestly acknowledged; laughing and giggling at just the mere thought of Chara tickling her feet with her red lightning* Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Ohohohoh my gohohohosh, it's making me lahahahahahaugh just thinking about it!!! *snort* Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee~!!!

MK: Hahahahahahahahahhahaha! *laughed MK in response to Frisk laughing; not because Chara's lightning is starting to tickle his feet* Eeeeeeeeeeeep! Ooohoohoohooh, hahahahahahaha, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, it tickled that much, huh? Eeeeeeeeeeeep! Hahahahaha! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Frisk: Yehehehehehehehehes!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha~!!!

Seconds later; Chara, after figuring out that she won't be making MK laugh any time soon with lightning, stopped zapping MK's feet. Poor Chara! Just when she thought she was starting to get the hang of tickling others with her lightning magic! Oh, but it's not so bad though. She probably just needs some more practice, that's all. Practice makes perfect and if she practices enough, then tickling others with lightning magic could very likely become something she can manage to do all the time rather than something she can only manage to do on a few rare occasions.

Chara: Haha! Well clearly it's not working on you! *said Chara disappointedly as she stopped zapping MK's feet with lightning* So, I'll just do this instead! *she then said joyfully, just mere seconds before she began blowing a whole bunch of raspberries on the sole of MK’s right foot while blushing red* Pbfffffffffffffffff, pbffffffffffff, pbfffffffffffff...

MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *laughed MK hysterically in response to Chara's foot raspberries, his laughter overtaking him to the point that he lost most of his awareness to his surroundings* CHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAAARA; WOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOAH; MY GOHOHOHOOOOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOSH!!! *SQUEAK* EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! YAAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *SQUEAK* NOT THAT, HAHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA, NOT THAHAHAAHAHAHAHAT!!! *he pleaded through his laughter, spinning his tail rapidly as if it were a helicopter propeller* EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! EEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!

Foot raspberries are super effective against MK; so much so that they can easily be considered one of his weaknesses. Especially when they're blown directly on the ball of his foot right underneath his middle toe! Just ask his father, Rocco! He blows raspberries on MK’s feet more than anybody! :D

Frisk: Heeheeheehee! Whoo hoo! *cheered Frisk as she positioned herself on the floor next to MK's feet* Yeah! Foot raspberries! Like Rocco’s! Nice! Heeheeheeheehee! Mind if I do the same to his other foot?

Chara: Pbfffffffffff! Go for it, Frisk! Go nuts! *answered Chara in between blowing raspberries* Pbfffffffffffff, pbfffffffffff…

Frisk: Heeheeheeheehee! With pleasure!

Not even one second later, Frisk joined in, blowing raspberries on MK's left foot as Chara continued blowing raspberries on his right foot. With 2 girls blowing raspberries on his feet this time around, MK is laughing much harder and louder than before. But not just that though; he also happens to be squirming and thrashing like the little wiggle worm he is in Chara's clutches and wagging, flailing, and spinning his tail at a very alarming rate, bound to smack one or both of the girls at any given moment as tons of precious squeaks escape from his mouth in between his laughs.

Frisk and Chara: Pbfffffffffff, pbfffffffffffff, pbfffffffffffff...

MK: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! GAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, EEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEHEE, *SQUEAK* NOT BOHOHOOHOTH... *SQUEAK* *SQUEAK* HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! STOHOHOHOOHHOHOHOOHHOP!!! *SQUEAK* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *SQUEAK* STOHOHOHOHOHOP IT!!! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *SQUEAK* GEHEHEHEHHEET YOUR MOUTHS AWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAY *SQUEAK* FROHOHOHOOHOM MY FEEHEEHEEHEHEEEHEET, YOU CRAZY HUHUHUHUMANS!!! *pleaded MK desperately though his laughter, before pleading the following to Asriel,* HAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! *SQUEAK* AZ, HEHEHHEHEEHELP ME!!! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *SQUEAK* HEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHELP MEEEEEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!! HHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHA HAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Asriel: Heeheeheehee. Sure, MK; right after my fur dries. *responded Asriel with a sly smile*

MK: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA; WHAHAHAHAHAT?!!! *SQUEAK* HAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!! *SQUEAK* HAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! THAT'LL TAKE FOHOHOOHOHOHOREHEHEHEHEHEVER!!! *MK then exaggerated through his hysterical laughter to Asriel* EEEEEEEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!

Asriel: Heeheehee. Not if I use my “special towel,” it won't. *Asriel claimed, planning something mischievous while making his way over to Frisk, Chara, and MK’s current location*

MK: HAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA; WHAHAHAAAHAHAHAT?!!! *SQUEAK* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA; A SPEHEHEHHEHEHECIAL TOWEL?!!! *SQUEAK* HAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA; YOU HAVE A SPEHEHEHHEHEHECIAL TOWEL YOU COULD'VE BEEHEEHEHEEN USING?!!! *SQUEAK* HAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Asriel: Yes. *Asriel shamelessly answered while smiling*

MK: HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! WELL, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, WHEHEHEEHEHEHERE IS IT?!!! *SQUEAK* HAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA!!! AND WHY, *SQUEAK* HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE, THE HEHEHEHEHEHECK HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAVEN'T YOU USED IT YET?!!! HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Asriel: Heeheeheehee. *giggled Asriel in response, walking next to MK and the girls with a mischievous smile on his fuzzy face* Because… it's kind of attached to you, my reptilian friend. *he answered, grabbing MK's tail and using it as a towel for the next while* Heeheeheeheehee~

MK's tail; that's Asriel's “special towel;” and as Asriel consistently brushed his fluffy torso, neck, ear, and head fur against it as if he were using an actual towel all the while his sisters continued blowing raspberries on MK's scaly feet, the loudest and most hysterical laughter poured from the young reptilian boy's mouth. He was being tickled on his most sensitive spots and his laughter was so loud that it echoed throughout the entire first and second floors of Gaster's house!

MK: BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHA HAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! AZ, *SQUEAK* NOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHO!!!! *SQUEAK* *SQUEAK* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHWHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!! DOHOHOHOHOHON'T USE MY TAIL AS A TOHOHOOHOOHOHOHOWEL!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!! EEEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEHEHEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!! HOHOHOHOHOHOLY MOHOHOHOHHOHOHOLY, YOUR FUR TIHIIIHIHIHHIHICKLES!!!! *SQUEAK* *SQUEAK* HAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Asriel: Heeheeheeheehee. It most certainly does! Heeheeheeheehee! Best “towel” ever! Heeheeheeheeheeheehee~

Frisk and Chara: Pbffffffffff, pbfffffffffff, pbffffffffff…

MK: GAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! FRISK, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, CHARA, *SQUEAK* HAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NO MOHOHOHOHOHORE RASPBEHEEHEHEHEHEHERRIES!!!! *SQUEAK* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! OH, MY POOHOOHOOHOOR FEEHEEHEEHEEHEET!!!! *SQUEAK* HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHA!!!! AND, AZ, QUIT IT!!!! HEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!! YOHOHOHOOHOHOU'RE GEHEHEHEHEHETTING MY TAIL ALL WEHEHEHEHEHET!!!! *SQUEAK* FFFFFFFFFFWEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!! *SQUEAK* STOP BEFOHOHOHOHORE YOU GEHEHEHEHEHEHET YOHOHOOHHOHOHOUR LOOHOOHOOHOOSE FUR STUHUHUHHUHUCK TO IT!!!! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Too late! Due to Asriel's bad shedding problem during this time of year, some of Asriel's fur already got stuck to MK's tail; and as Asriel and his sisters continued tickling the young reptilian boy himself, it only got more and more covered with tickly fur; individual strands of it sticking to the scales in a polka dot-like pattern from the base all the way to the tip. It made MK's tail feel itchy, very itchy; quite an unusual feeling from Asriel's insanely soft, silky fur. Especially after washing all of it with pet shampoo! But luckily for MK, Gaster, after moving the Dreemurr kids off to the side with his telekinesis and after summoning hands to hold their legs against the floor after placing them in upright sitting positions with their legs together, was able to get it all off with just a simple snap of his fingers.

TO BE CONTINUED...

#undertale tickle #undertale tickling #monster kid #asriel #frisk #feet tickling #upperbody tickling

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theramseyloft · 3 years

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3/8/21 Loft Notes

Gonna be a day!

Up, meds-ed, feed birds, run inanimates to the post office, take car for oil change.

Satin and Sprinks got their third dose of Avionidazole today.

Two doses to go.

Still no sign of Jojo.

It's just one of those days where "one more little thing..." Keeps piling up to delay shit.

The later I wait to get the oil changed, the longer the line will be.

So the longer the oil change will take.

Got up, got meds, fed and medicated birds... Except Cody fluttered his paper into the water dish again, and is now standing on a sopping wet floor... Once his papers got changed, all the papers needed changing in quarantine, or I will forget.

Some one had a simple question I could answer very quickly.

Which turned into a novella of an infodump, because god help me, I cannot leave out a single detail.

I got out here to feed the flock... And realized I need to unload the trunk... 200lbs of food, grit, straw, and rat bedding...

Hubby helped so it got done faster.

Poured 50lbs of grit into the container.... Only to realize I forgot to take out the measure... Which I now can't get to through 50lbs of oystershell in a compact container....

Just... Kinda want to bang my head on a wall.

Four parcels were supposed to ship out today. One got rescheduled to next week. Cool. Not remotely in my way this week. The other live parcel may or may not be able to go today? Gotta wait until they can pay me. Can't ship anything tomorrow, because I leave to get Angel before the post office opens, and will bot get back until after they close.

Life happens. Better the family have the funds.

I can do the inanimates and then get the lives off after I get back from the oil change.

STILL waiting for the other inanimate to be paid for...

The only one of the four I can do if I left right now is Rogues blood sample.

I used up the time to type all this shit out because I am on the edge of shut down. My executive function has fallen the fuck apart, because the list of what to do in what order stacks like a block tower. Start moving shit in the middle with out setting up scaffolding, and the whole goddamn thing falls apart, and I can't fucking move until I manually put it all back.

Now that I have, the noose of time running out holding me under the sword of Dammit-close is noticably tighter.

I don't even have when I'm going to actually clean the lift figured in beyond a nebulous "after all that other shit"

I have to wake up at 6 in the morning at the latest, and have not been able to fall asleep before midnight for weeks.

Got the fucking measure out.

Can move again.

Birds fed. Feed container needs filled.

Another one more little thing, The sun feels warm... I don't know when I will be back... Should leave the loft window open.

Patron: "Would having a list of what to do when help you? Or would that overwhelm you more?"

Hubby suggested fridge magnet list, so they could be rearranged manually.

sigh

Lost my shit while showring, because the next "one more thing" was starting the roast. Hubby told me not to worry about it.

Got to the car with the stuff to mail... Became aware of the giant wet poo stain Cloud left in the middle of my chest by reflection in car window...

Went in to change. Could not remember having kicked off my flip-flops at the door. Split second blinding panic at the shoes vanishing like clothing perpetually does in my nightmares.

Dressed. Shodden.

Took so long to get ready to get to the post office, that I am now shaky and ill. New one more thing: stop to get food at grocery store Then oil change

Maintaining changes to plan here, so I have them on hand and can concentrate on driving with out worry over forgetting siphoning off my attention capacity.

Got to the post office door, realized I left my mask and phone in the car. XD

Inanimates shipped.

Day is running out of surprised, so the stress level is finally easing off.

Gonna grab food and stem the shakes.

Aaaaaand the car overheating ed and died.

Iiin line for the oil change.

Had to be pushed into a parking space.

Hubby is coming and we'll get the car towed and hopefully fixed.

Better here than on the road to atlanta.

Juuust wanna curl up and cry.

This pretty much is the worst case scenario, so, nothing left to even be anxious about.

Tow truck is here.

Safely back home.

Thank you.

Gonna get the pictures that are time sensitive, and then fuck off with my cousins to de-stress.

We think it blew a rod.

The cousins have offered their services so we can still go get Angel tomorrow.

The hubby and I have been saving for a new car, as this one is old enough to drive herself.

So, we won't be stuck for long.

Again, better here than on the way to Atlanta!

Apparently, Danica is not allowed to be tread.

Pippin broke her and Ginger up the first attempt by attacking her face.

The second time he attacked her while treading, she was prepared and Ginger got to finish.

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docheros · 3 years

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2 fanfics yesterday and 2 fanfics today?? I'm crazy y'all

I don't have a summary for this, but sweet dochero again. Comments are appreciated.

Henrik sat on the bed and yawned, stretching his body. He waited for his soul to download for a few more minutes, and then put on his glasses to see his surroundings. As soon as his vision got used to the glasses, he turned to his watch and checked the time: 7pm? Shit, he was going to be sleepless at night.

He got up, putting on his flip-flops and heading for the bathroom. When he was done with his needs, he opened the bedroom door to go to the kitchen to cook something.

But to get to the kitchen, he had to go through the living room. And what Schneep saw there, left him paralyzed.

— Henny, I'm home! — Jackie shouted from the room, appearing in the hall afterwards. Upon arriving in the living room, he found his boyfriend staring at the floor, all dirty with dirt — Holy mother of God, what happened here?

— I was sleeping, I woke up just now to go to the bathroom and found out that some cat passed by and dropped my calendulas! — The German screamed, lifting the planter to save the remaining ones — and Flash ate almost everything!

— Ah — the hero looked at the tortoise, peacefully chewing on one of the flowers — young man, I thought we had already talked about it! You'll be grounded!

Flash didn't even give him the luxury of looking up. Jackie took him by the hull, leading him back to his habitat: the bathroom in the suite.

— And why Flash was in the living room?

— I was cleaning my room and bathroom earlier, when I finished I just took a shower, put on some random clothes and lay down.

— I see those "random clothes"... — He crossed his arms, holding his laughter.

Henrik looked down, realizing that he was still wearing only his boxers and the puppy — specifically a pom — sweater that Jackie had given him for Christmas, the same he swore he would never wear.

— Of, of course, of course it's some random clothes! — he stammered an answer, damn mouth that didn't work when he was embarrassed — I was, I was cold!

— But you have a lot of sweaters!

— This was the first I found!

— If it was the first, then it means you wore recentely.

With nowhere to run, Henrik just stared at him pouting and with his face completely red. Jackie always thought his angry boyfriend was the most adorable thing in the world, he just wanted to kiss him and squish his cheeks.

But the last time he tried that, he was slapped in the face. So it was better not to challenge.

— Just help me clean it all up — Defeated, the doctor went into the kitchen with his face down, making Jackie laugh out loud.

-----------

ok so. two mutuals and an anon told me their ideas about dochero, and oh the desire to make a small fic was so tempting XD

so, thanks @theprinceofflies for giving me the idea of Henrik having calendulas!! Your flowers posts are lovely 🥺

thanks also @the-pastel-kitsune for giving me the idea of Jackie giving a pom sweater to Henrik, and also talking about the time he was slapped in the face LMAO, love your dochero headcanons <3

and thanks to the anon, who talked about they having a turtle pet named Flash!! I just changed to a tortoise, to fit better in the fic!!

and that's all!! Hope you liked it 💙

#i could put the links to the posts too #but tumblr isn't letting me save fics on my draft lately so i don't want to try again 😔✋🏻#but yeah #i'm writing!!#jackie #henrik #dochero my beloved

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beckzorz · 5 years

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Patching Up (one-shot)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!Reader Words: 4045 Summary: Summertime, and the living is... interrupted by an injured Bucky Barnes falling face-first through your window. You’re not a nurse yet, but you’ve still got a duty to take care of him. And oh, you do. Warnings: NSFW (language, smut), 18+ A/N: Prompt from an anon! Nursing student!reader x hot mess!Bucky, although it’s hard to tell how much of a mess he is when all I can focus on is the ‘hot’ part. And bonus—it’s also @the-ss-horniest-book-club‘s Thirsty Thursday, so I’m just on time XD Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy :3

It’s stifling out. May shouldn’t be this hot. Shouldn’t be this cold, either—the weather is flip-flopping more than the primary polls, fifty one day and eighty the next. You’d had to pull your pea coat out from under your bed. Silly you for thinking spring had finally settled in.

Nope.

You’ve got every window in your apartment wide open, but the evening air is slow to filter in. If you weren’t a broke student, you’d turn on your AC. Not that you’ve even gotten around to putting the window units in yet. If only you could’ve gone with your roommate to her family’s beach home on the cape, but no, you’ve got your work at the school clinic. Not to mention a distinct lack of a nice enough bathing suit.

So instead of fun in the sun, you’re overworked and overheated, alone and surly. At least school’s done for the spring, and you don’t have to worry about summer classes now that you’ve finally passed A&P.

Thank goodness.

You fiddle with your phone as you lie spread-eagled on your bed, the oscillating fan on your dresser trailing up and down your body. It’s nice. You’ve just got on a cami and boy shorts as you wait for the room to cool enough for you to sleep; then you can crawl under your blanket and escape into a dream where, hopefully, you’ll be rich and famous and done with nursing school.

As if.

Well, at least there’s summer.

Summer with its heat and its smells and… the banging outside? You sit up slowly, confused. It’s nine-thirty PM, not AM. But it sounds like garbage trucks are rattling around the trash cans downstairs. A few steps to your open window, and you yelp, careening backwards as the screen rips and an unpleasantly familiar face topples inside.

“What the fuck!”

Bucky Barnes, sort-of superhero, groans into your scuffed wooden floor. His legs are bent, shoes halfway up your wall, shiny stains littering his black uniform. A metallic scent floods your senses; you wrinkle your nose before realization sets in.

It’s blood.

“Oh my god,” you breathe.

He lies there for what feels like forever before you can move.

He’s bleeding. You’re a nurse. Almost, anyway. It’s your job—your duty—to help.

Regardless of whether or not the reports of him going renegade are true.

—

The Winter Soldier is a good patient, all things considered. Follows instructions well, doesn’t mouth back, keeps his hands to himself. Questions pile in your mind, but you don’t have the courage to voice them until he’s sitting on the lip of your tub and you’re standing between his spread legs to bandage a gash on his forehead.

“What happened to you?” you ask quietly.

He hums. “I was wondering when you’d ask.” He winces as you dab at the cut with a damp washcloth, wiping the dried blood away. “HYDRA unit infiltrated SHIELD. Thought it’d be clever to frame me for something. Then they caught wind of my next assignment and ambushed me on the way back to the safe house.” He peers up into your face long enough for you to notice.

You look down at him, eyebrows raised.

He’s studying you closely, his blue eyes solemn and intense. For the first time, you realize just how vulnerable you are. A stranger in your bathroom, a bloody one at that. And a dangerous one, with far more muscle than you'll ever have. You should shiver, should be afraid—but you’re not.

He’s been staring at you for far too long.

“What?” you finally ask.

“My safe house is, uh, near here,” he says vaguely. “I…” He trails off, eyes shifting, and it clicks.

“You know I’m a nurse?”

He nods once, sharply.

You ought to be terrified now. Stalker? Spy? Assassin for sure. But all you can register is how sheepish he looks, unable to meet your eyes as you tape a bandage over his last cut. A man like this knows things whether he wants to or not. It’s clear he knows he shouldn’t know, and that he feels bad about it.

Well, no need to rub it in.

“Well, I’m glad I could help,” you tell him lightly. You step back, observe your handiwork. Not bad, considering your dim bathroom with its exposed pipes and one bulb blown out is hardly a sterile exam room. Or emergency room. Or… much of anything really. At least his face is clean. A nice face, a good face, especially with the light flush across his cheeks.

He blinks up at you. “Are ya?”

“I mean, it was either help you or let you bleed out on my bedroom floor.”

“Coulda called the cops,” he says. He prods his fingers against his ribs with a frown.

“Coulda. You want me to look at that?”

A nod.

You drop to your knees between his legs and glance up at him, checking. He swallows, hard. But he nods again. His tac vest and jacket are already piled in the tub, and he pulls his black undershirt up to his pecs with a wince.

Oh.

You blink. You really have to replace that busted bulb, because how the hell is this a surprise? There’s a blooming bruise on his side, but you barely notice it because oh my god is he ripped. Abs, Adonis belt, a trail of hair leading down, down, down—

He clears his throat.

You tear your eyes away, face burning. “I—I’m sorry,” you stammer. Oh god. All of a sudden, you’re all too aware of just how utterly fucked up the whole situation is. Not only is there a goddamn half-shirtless superhero in your bathroom, but here you are, kneeling between his legs in nothing but a camisole and booty shorts and there’s a flush on your face and your hands are itching to touch and meanwhile he’s got bruised ribs and—

A cool finger slides under your lax chin. Your eyes snap back to Bucky’s face, breath catching in your throat. His eyes aren’t quite so blue anymore; his cheeks aren’t quite so pale. He’s let go of his shirt, but it’s caught around his chest. You try very hard to keep your eyes on his face. The prickle of a flush spreads down from your cheeks to your neck, your chest, lower…

“Think you got a good enough look?” he asks huskily. There’s a glint in his eye, just smug enough to tick you off. You shake his hand off your face and duck your head to actually examine his ribs. If you press harder than you need to—well, that’s what he gets for not just going to a hospital.

“It’s just a bruise,” you announce. You scoot back and glare up at him as you climb to your feet. “Try not to get hit there again before you can rest, okay?”

He stands, slower than you. You glance at the bathroom door, but he doesn’t go.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly. He doesn’t move, doesn’t even tug his shirt back into place. Just stands there, abs on full display and that bruise, that damn bruise. It’s blue, purpling at points and nearly green at others. How is it so advanced so fast? It must be whatever’s got his heart beating that fast, and his muscles so perfectly chiseled, and, and, and.

Your lips are dry. Your hands itch to touch the bruise again, to check it—the blood had been fresh out of his cuts, but this bruise looks days old.

“Did all this happen today?” you ask.

He blinks. Nods. A little smile lifts the corner of his mouth as he pulls his shirt back into place, but it’s not smug like his earlier smirk had been. More… fond. Like he’s known you for years, and you’re all he ever wants to smile at again.

“I knew you were smart,” he murmurs.

Your eyes widen. Your tongue darts out to wet your dry lips. “What—what do you mean?”

“I see you studying,” he says. “You keep your shades open.” He tucks his hair behind his ear, face pink again. “I can see from my kitchen window. You—it’s hard not to watch you work. Better’n just staring at the dishes.”

A giggle falls from your lips. “Are you saying I’m a dish?”

“I—” He blinks. Stares. Then he laughs, one loud burst of it before he’s hissing, hand flying to his ribs again. You rush forward the step and a half to check on them yourself, your hand brushing his as you feel those wonderful muscles under your fingers.

“It’s alright,” you tell him. You glance as far up as his mouth and back to his chest, but then his finger slides back under your chin.

This time, you don’t bat him away.

You let him lift your face until you have no choice but to meet his gaze. It’s sweltering, and it’s not just the lack of air conditioning or two people standing in a tiny windowless bathroom or the absolute stillness of the air. It’s the touch of that metal hand on your chin, his chest practically brushing against yours, the prickling of a flush that’s going far past the neckline of your cami. It’s his mouth, pink and plush, surrounded by the shadow of his scruffy beard. It’s his eyes, dark like the sea; you could drown in them, if you wanted.

And oh, you want.

His eyes flit across your face, settle on your lips. He doesn’t move, just waits, breathing shallow and pupils dilating as you watch.

He’s waited long enough.

You rise up on tiptoe, slide a hand into his hair, and pull his mouth to yours. And oh, it’s beautiful.

His lips are soft, just as plush as they look. Warm, dry, just enough give. And he tastes like every sweet thing you’ve ever denied yourself, like rich chocolate and fresh mint and something secret you wouldn’t know how to ask for if you tried. And here you are, getting it anyway.

Bucky is tentative at first, barely moving, but then you press your whole body against him and he groans into your mouth. His other arm circles your waist and pulls you even closer, his belt digging into your stomach and his pants rough against your bare legs. But you don’t care. All you care about are those lips searing yours, the hand kneading the skin of your hip through your camisole, the metal hand winding its way around your neck. And then there’s the way his chest drags against yours, the way your shirt bunches around your waist, baring more skin to the air, to his touch.

Your calves start to burn from standing on tiptoe for so long, and you drop back down to your heels, pulling him with you, your back arched as he bends just enough. God, that this moment never ends.

But he breaks the kiss, panting. You bite back a whine as he presses his forehead to yours, his eyes squeezed shut.

“God,” he rasps, “is this real?”

A pinch of his side—the unbruised one. He twitches, but doesn’t pull away. You smile, just able to make out the curve of his cheek as he does as well.

“If not, then we’re both dreaming,” you say.

“Well, here’s to never waking up.”

—

How you end up in your room is a mystery. All you know is that he’s kissing you, and then you’re on your back on your bed, breathless as he peels his shirt off, kicks his pants away. For the first time, you see him in all—well, nearly all, he’s still got his boxer briefs on—his glory. The shining metal arm, only just as sculpted as the other; the pecs lightly dusted with hair and far more heavily with a flush; that trail of hair leading down, down, down.

Bucky crawls over you, muscles shifting so beautifully as he gazes down at you as worshipfully as if he were gazing up at God. You reach up to tuck his hair behind his ears, certain you look loopy from the warmth bubbling in your chest. There’s the heat thrumming through you, but that warmth…

It’s not the usual fire under your skin that you get from a one-night stand. It’s something else. Something softer.

Bucky’s legs bracket yours as he ducks his head to nuzzle that tender spot at the crook of your neck.

“Mm.”

You sigh, hands carding through his hair as he curls his left arm under your shoulder. The metal is smooth, strange to the touch—you’ve never been touched by moving metal before, and it’s thrilling, new.

He’s hovering over you, braced by his bent arms and legs. His breath is warm on your neck. You breathe him in, his strong clean scent, just touched with the smell of your soap and the leftover smell of blood, and beneath all that something unique and spicy and dark and him.

Enough foreplay.

You shift your legs until he’s between them. Bucky lifts his head, eyes fixed on yours as you hook your foot around his calf.

“You’re awful far away,” you tell him. A tug of his hair, and he half-collapses on top of you, face inches from yours. You’re drowning in those sea-dark eyes. For the first time, you can feel him hard against you, the heat from his body almost scalding. You swallow a moan, afraid to break whatever spell you’re under.

“How close do you want me?” he murmurs.

Your smile is slow, greedy. You slide your hands down his neck, his back—oh, you’re dying to get a look at those beautiful muscles shifting under your hands—to squeeze his bum.

“How close can you get?”

His growl is positively feral. He covers you entirely, his weight delicious and heavy and stifling but you can’t get enough. His lips trail kisses down your neck, and the warmth blooming in your chest sparks, ignites, burns. Desire tingles in your chest, your arms, curling your fingers and toes as his clever mouth works at every sensitive spot along your throat. His teeth nip at your collarbone. You curve up against him, into him, head falling back as something primal surges through your veins. His hand slides under your top, peeling it away from your scorching skin, and then his mouth is on your breast.

“O-oh!”

Your hands fist in his hair as your eyes squeeze shut. You don’t realize you’re pulling hard until he groans, but it’s the kind of groan that makes your legs clench and a fresh rush of want pool at your core. His tongue rolls, laps, flicks, and you’re a babbling mess begging for you don’t even know what. Anything, whatever he wants, except to stop.

God, let it never stop.

He shifts to the other side, pays your other breast equal attention while completely ignoring how you’re grinding up against him, seeking desperately for the angle that will give you relief. But your pesky boyshorts and his pesky briefs are still in the way, and with his mouth glued to your chest, there’s no way you can win.

“Bucky,” you whine. “Closer.”

You can feel him smile against your breast. One last kiss to that sensitive skin—you twitch, gasp, unable to help yourself—and then he’s closer, hips nudging your legs further apart as he finally, finally, settles properly between them. Like he’s here to stay.

He brushes back the baby hairs at your temple as his eyes trace every line of your face. “Beautiful,” he murmurs.

“Ditto,” you whisper back. Your hands follow their trail down his back a little slower this time, mapping him out, testing the waters, watching the way his shoulder moves, until you reach his waistband. A glance back into his face, and his quick nod is all the confirmation either of you need.

Bucky yanks off your cami the rest of the way, you push down his briefs, somehow you get out of your boyshorts, and then there’s only him, burning you up from the outside in until he’s burning you up from the inside out.

Your mouth falls open with the stretch. You hadn’t even had a chance to look at him, to take him in, but he’s thick enough to have you scrambling at his back for purchase as he takes you apart in a single slow push.

He stills halfway in, his head dropping onto your shoulder as he struggles for breath. “Fuck, gorgeous. You—oh, fuck.”

You press a kiss to his hair. His chest rubs delicious friction against yours as he breathes those pretty broken breaths. Other than that, he’s immobile. Too long passes as he lays still, gathering himself. Impatient, you clench around him, tilting your hips up so he’s fully sheathed. You lower your hips, then raise them again, fucking up into him as he groans, one of his hands straying to his side before you remember the damn bruised ribs. You drop back onto the mattress, regret coiling in your gut as he pulls out and collapses onto his back beside you with a hiss.

Here you are, a nurse, and you’re hurting your patient. And screwing them, but that’s besides the point.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky says woefully. He grabs your hand, tugs you into his arms. “God, I’m sorry—”

“Well, don’t take all the credit,” you tell him, forcing a smile. “I literally just told you to get rest.”

He snorts, hisses, buries his face in your hair. “If only I could move, god, the things I’d do to you…”

You sit up, suddenly inspired. He can’t move, but you can. Besides, now you can see him.

And oh, what a pretty picture he makes. All those ridges of muscle, the sharp lines of his Adonis belt all the way down.

“The things I’m gonna do to you,” you murmur. You sling a leg over his hips and settle on top of him, his hard length between your legs. Slow drags of your hips send fresh bursts through you, from your core to your chest to behind your eyes, tickling your brain. Your legs are shivering. You reach back and grab his thighs, afraid to touch his torso for fear of those damn ribs, but you’ve got to hold on somewhere because there’s nothing left holding you up.

Your eyes flutter closed as you rub against him, and then a cool slick hand wraps around your right thigh. Your eyes snap open. You stare, breathless, hips still moving, as Bucky slides his hand higher, higher, until his thumb brushes against that one spot—

You’re a goner.

How you stay upright is a miracle. No muscle in your body is untouched; you’re a quivering mess atop him, breathy moans filling the air along with Bucky’s worshipful praises.

“So beautiful, so good, so sweet, god, you look so good, you smell so sweet—”

His metal hand works you through it. There’s no sense left in your brain to process his words beyond yes, good, he’s still here and oh god bless him and I want everything he can give me.

By the time you’re back to your senses enough to unclamp your hands from his thighs, you realize you’ve slid back. Bucky’s stroking himself lazily, the evidence of your release easing his way as he gazes up at you like the moon’s hung in your eyes.

“I could watch you all day,” he says.

You lean down, careful to avoid touching his ribs, and frame his face in your hands. “I could do this all day.” A kiss to those plush lips, and then you lift your hips, reach back, shift your weight, and—

“Oh fuck,” you groan.

He fills you entirely this time, just the slightest tilt of his hips as you sit back up. His hands catch yours, propping you up as you gasp for breath. It’s a minute to adjust—more than you usually need, but he’s more than you usually… well, he’s more than usual. You blink the stupor from your eyes, but the look on Bucky’s face is enough to keep you tongue-tied even if your body is aching for more.

Bucky’s face is awash with light, with longing and relish and so much beauty that you almost want to cry. You’ve never had such a beautiful man in your bed, let alone one who looks at you like you’re every good thing he’s ever seen.

You rock back onto him, unable to take your eyes away. In no universe, in no alternate timeline, could you look away from him. How could you? He’s the one with the stars in his eyes.

Every drag of your hips, every hitch of your breath or his, sends you careening along a knife’s point. There’s no escaping this, the feel of him, the contrast of his hands, one slick and sticky with your release, the other warm and dry. The broad expanse of his chest rising and falling rapidly, the grunts as he bucks his hips up just enough to nudge a secret spot inside you, his hiss when you pull a hand free to scissor your fingers between your legs, around him, the heel of your hand digging against that little bundle of nerves that’s about to blow.

You force your eyes to stay open as Bucky’s hips start to stutter, as he stretches you just that little bit more, as curses fall from his pretty pink lips. You want to watch him come undone—have to watch the power you have, for tonight and maybe, probably, never again. His eyes roll back, squeeze shut, and then his abs clench so beautifully as he spills inside you.

A few more rolls of your hips, the desperate shove of his flesh fingers between your legs, a million pounds of pressure at your core, and you’re gone.

This time, you fall forward, convulsing around him, a soundless scream streaming out of you as you clench around him, pleasure radiating through you in endless waves, his other hand tilting your head so he can latch his lips to your throat. You can feel him there at your neck, between your legs, under you, everywhere.

Then, nothing.

For a full minute, you’re motionless, senseless, adrift in a cloud of after-effects and the slow, weighty realization that this is the closest you’ll ever get to heaven.

The first sensation you feel is Bucky’s hands stroking your back. Then, his lips against your temple. The smell of sex in the air, the sounds of nighttime in the city.

He seems to know when you’re back to yourself. “You alright, gorgeous?”

“Mm.” It’s true. You’re so blissed out you could cry. What gave him the right to be so beautiful, so worshipful? So good, so sweet? So kind?

You tuck your face into the crook of his neck and trace his bruised side.

“You?” you ask.

“Well,” Bucky says, “I can’t say you didn’t take good care of me.”

You smack his chest, laughing a little. He gathers you up in his arms and kisses you dizzy.

“You beautiful woman,” he murmurs against your lips. “I shoulda knocked on your door days ago.”

“Yes you shoulda.” You kiss him until spots dance behind your eyes. Settle back tucked against his side, your fingers tracing the beautiful lines of his torso. “But I’ll take what I can get.”

“Oh?” Bucky’s voice dips dangerously low.

You crane your neck to stare, lips parted.

“You know,” he says, almost casually, “I heal really fast.”

“I noticed…”

“If you can wait—” he looks up, and you can just imagine the calculating he’s doing in his head— “thirty-five minutes, I think I can get you more.”

“Well,” you say, throat suddenly awfully dry, “like I said. I’ll take what I can get.” You reach up, trace his jaw. “In the meantime, do you mind if I just… hold you?”

Bucky’s eyes refasten on yours. There’s that warmth in your chest again, that star-light in his eyes, and you think that maybe you did drown in them tonight.

“I don’t mind,” he tells you. He pulls you back into his arms, one of your legs draped over his. He kisses your forehead, traces your cheek. “I don’t mind.”

#bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky barnes x y/n #winter soldier imagine #becca writes #bucky barnes smut

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imastrangeone98 · 4 years

Text

Shopping Spree

(A/N: haha you thought it was a new chpt of lost and found? No! You get a stinking one shot, that's what you get!)

Lolol honestly I'm still coming up with ideas for the next chapter so I'm doing a one shot until I come up with something XD

Warning: if you hate shopping as much as I do, this is gonna be an eyesore XD

This takes place sometime before chpt 5 of my lost and found series

"Faith. Babe. Seriously. We need to get you some better clothes," Lady muttered as she ran a finger over her friend's ragged hoodie.

"But... but they're fine!" the nephilim protested weakly. "They're still clean, and they fit me... well, kind of."

"I know, but they're just so threadbare. And hot." Walking around her friend, she carefully scrutinized each piece- hoodie, jeans, sneakers. "It's only gonna get hotter here, and I don't want you melting into the pavement!"

"I... I don't have money," she said, a pitiful final attempt to dissuade Lady from taking her shopping.

"You let me worry about that," she reassured, sneaking a predatory look at Dante, who was oblivious to the whole thing. "At least let me get you a new shirt."

And Faith knew then and there that she had lost the battle.

[...]

"Try this on! It's cute!"

Faith's arms were now piled high with clothes. She began to wonder if she was just an excuse for Lady to splurge on pretty outfits.

Dante yawned in the corner, rubbing his eye while tapping his foot to the upbeat music playing throughout the store. "Are you done? I'm hungry."

"Not yet. She has to try them on." As she spoke, she nudged Faith towards the changing room. "Now go. Go forth and dress."

With a heavy sigh, she obeyed, slipping into the small room.

The male let out a soft groan. "C'mon, Lady. Just let her wear what she wants; it's not hurting anyone."

"Trust me. She'll thank me later. There's a heatwave sometime this month, and I don't want her sweating to death. Also, thank you for actually wearing a shirt and not one of your stupid titty strap jackets."

"It's not a- it's not a titty strap!" he spluttered. "It's a gun harness!"

"Yeah, whatever. It still looks stupid. You really need a wardrobe change-"

"Holy shit," he whispered, as if in awe of something.

Unaware, she rattled on, "For a guy who's practically waist deep in debt, your obsession with red coats is-"

"So... what do you think?"

The sweet voice behind her caused her to turn around... and she gasped.

The soft, white dress flowed just past Faith's knees, the delicate gold flower designs accentuating the gentle aura that always surrounded her.

She looked like an angel.

The two companions stared at her for what felt like hours. It was to the point where she began to squirm under their gaze.

"Is it... not good?" she asked, shyly tugging at the hem of the dress.

Dante mumbled something, his face bright red. But he shook his head and gave her a thumbs up.

Lady, on the other hand, couldn't stop the compliments from pouring out. "It's perfect! It's just the right size, it's not too flimsy, and it matches your vibe!" She dramatically grabbed her friend by the shoulders and repeatedly shook her. "Please tell me you'll keep it! Please!"

Faith's brain still felt like it was rattling in her head. "Okay. Just... don't do that again, please."

[...]

They had traversed over ten shops within two hours. Faith had been rather conservative in her choices, much to the shopping lover's chagrin, but she still walked away with an impressive hoard of shorts ("Ripped shorts are always stylish," Lady had reassured her), floaty T-shirts, a dress or two, a pair of flip-flops, and- on Faith's insistence- a red flannel button up (which Dante seemed particularly happy about).

And while Lady gleefully pushed each bill into their male companion's hands, he didn't seem to mind all that much, simply taking it without a word despite Faith's constant protests that she would find a way to pay for it.

"It's fine," he said with a gentle pat on her head. "Just stick around and wear the stuff; that's payment enough."

"But..." she stammered, only to get a finger pressed to her mouth.

"No buts." With a grin, he slung an arm around her shoulders. "Tell you what. You manage to get through the rest of the trip without worrying over finance, and I'll buy you some cinnamon buns later. Deal?"

She would've argued with him, had she not remembered the smell of the sweet cinnamon glaze as they walked past the shop. Her mouth watered.

That shut her up.

At some point, their growling stomachs became too loud to ignore. They began their trek to the food court, only for Dante to point out a box to them.

"Check it out. A photo booth," he snickered. "I love those things. So cheesy."

Faith looked at it. "I've never been in one before."

He gave her a look. "Wait. What? Seriously?"

She shook her head. A small frown tugged at her lips.

"...Alright, we're changing that. Come on!" Grabbing her hand, he practically dragged her to the machine, where the trio squished themselves trying to fit in the minuscule box.

"Jesus, what were they thinking, making it so tiny?" he grumbled when an elbow smacked his cheek.

"I thought they were mainly for couples," Faith squeaked.

His blue eyes widened. "...Yeah, well, they really should take people like us into consideration, too." His voice sounded like it went up an octave; she wondered if he was just tired.

Once they finally got situated (Faith ended up sitting partially on their laps), Dante pressed some buttons on the screen and announced, "Alright, smile!"

Snap! Snap! Snap!

During each pause, they made some kind of funny pose- tongues out, then bunny ears, then a simple one with their arms around one another.

Faith laughed at some point over her friends' ridiculousness. And out of the corner of his eye, Dante watched her with a wide smile on his face.

Snap!

"Is that the last one?" Lady grumbled. "It'd better be; I'm starving!" She started pushing them out of the booth.

"Wait, the photos!" the small girl cried out.

"I got it!" He snatched up the strips of paper, sneaking a peek at them before shoving them in his pocket with a grin.

"Hey, stop hogging the goods!" Lady tried to shove her hand into it, only to get pushed aside by him.

"Quit it! I'll give you one later!" Before anyone could argue, he threw an arm around each of the girls' shoulders, steering them towards the food stalls. "I still need to buy those cinnamon buns."

"...You're gonna share those with us, right?"

"Fine."

That shut them up.

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

A/N: it's so dumb and fluffy but hey it's not like anyone's gonna read it right?? Hahaha... ha...

Anyway I'm pretty sure Mando is up next. Look forward to it my nonexistent fans!!

#devil may cry #dmc dante #dmc lady #dmc oc #dante x oc

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kauladoeswriting · 4 years

Text

Life Will Change, Chapter 3

It’s late and who knows what it’ll look like editing half a sleep XD I tried. Summary: Because Enzan should have known he was asking for too much to be able to start school without any complications. Word Count: 3292 Fandoms: Persona 5/MMBN Fusion Previous Chapter | Next Chapter Ao3

April 18th, 2016 Morning

The night had remained blissfully calm. Right up until that calm was shattered to pieces by a blaring alarm. 6 AM wasn’t an unusal time for Enzan to wake up, but maybe a small, unreasonable part of him thought it’d be the one of the many changes from life as an executive. Enzan pushed himself up, letting the blanket he was using fall in a puddle around his waist. It took a moment to adjust to his new room. He wondered if he’d ever get used to it.

His sleep had been mostly uninterupted by talks of the velvet room. It was beginning to feel like that one time was a freak accident, a dream made up by a mind that was already way too stressed out. Maybe the fact he’s gotten to relax a little the last few days helped? (That doesn’t explain all the oddities he’s seen since he’s come to Tokyo.) It was unimportant. Today was Enzan’s first day of school, and with the train accidents, on top of this being his first time traveling there, he wanted to be prompt and professional. After all, he knew very well the deck was stacked against him, and there was no reason to give them reason to dislike him further. In a few minutes, he had himself dressed in his school uniform, and his backpack mostly packed already, with his phone shoved in the side pocket.

“Enzan-kun, are you awake?” Meijin’s voice called up the stairs.

“Yes, I am, Meijin!” He called back, looking into the mirror he had managed to uncover one last time. First impressions were everything. Looking clean and neat would make for a good one. “If you want some cereal, hurry down now!” “Yes, Meijin!” Enzan scooped his backpack off the floor, and hurried down to meet Meijin in the kitchen for a second morning in a row. He set the bag down neatly against the wall, and sat down at the table. He poured himself a bowl of cereal, and got to eating as fast as he could. He had enough time to spend maybe ten minutes, accounting for train schedules.. A newspaper was flopped on the table in front of him. “I’ve already looked through it today, you can flip through it if you want!” Meijin was hurrying back and forth, looking for his things. Was the scientist always this disorganized? The sight confused Enzan enough that he was distracted from eating once again. This was new, compared to the Meijin he had gotten to see the last few days.

“Did you oversleep?” Enzan asked finally. “No no, nothing like that.” Meijin disappeared briefly into the living room and came back with his laptop. “I just wanted to see you off on your first day of school.” And he just… hadn’t gotten ready yet. He didn’t lie, it was just a partial truth.

If Enzan noticed, he decided not to call Meijin on it. He just hurried through the rest of his cereal, careful not to spill any milk on his uniform. He finished on time, and avoided the horror of soggy cereal. A double win. By the time he had finished, Meijin was leaning in the doorway, looking perfectly put together, as if he hadn’t been running around the house like a madman trying to get all of his things shoved into his computer bag at the last second. “All ready to go, Enzan-kun?” “Yes, I am.” Enzan picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulders. He went to put his dish in the sink to wash it really quickly, but Meijin called him away. “We’re both in a hurry, let’s leave that for later. Let’s get out of here.” Meijin had already said he couldn’t take Enzan to school. But he cared enough to at least see him off.

Unfortunately, it seems as though Enzan should have checked the weather before he left. Maybe then he wouldn’t be stuck under an awning by his school’s train station, wondering how he was going to get the rest of the way to the school without ruining his uniform. There was shuffling beside him as the two students that crashed into him yesterday came out from the train station. “It’s raining?!” yelled the boy. Netto, was it? The girl, Meiru, sighed and tucked the folder underneath her school coat. “It seems so. Didn’t I warn you to bring an umbrella?” Enzan stuck his hands in his pockets, and turned away slightly, as if paying attention anything but his new companions. He didn’t want to eavesdrop on the other students. Or at least, he didn’t want to look like he was. Netto looked busy with the box in his arms, as if that’d save him from the judgement of his friend. Meiru sighed. “I have an umbrella if you need it.” Netto perked up slightly, his cheeks colored in embarrassment. “Thanks Meiru-chan.” He shifted the box in his arms, and took the umbrella from her. With a swift motion, he extended the umbrella out and held it over his head. “If I hurry, I should be able to get something to eat! See ya, Meiru-chan!” And off the brunette went. “Netto, you forgot your folders- And he’s gone…” Meiru sighed. “I’m sorry he didn’t stick around to introduce himself.” Enzan stiffened, but was able to force himself to keep his business face on. Was it that obvious he was listening in? Because if it was, he was slipping. “He seemed to be in a hurry.”

“Yeah, he is. His club supervisor wanted Netto there early so they could get work done early…” The early bird caught the worm after all. Enzan thought it was a perfectly reasonable sentiment, but it appeared that Meiru didn’t share his opinion. Although...

“They’re not going to have a whole lot of time before class begins, are they?” Enzan’s phone beeped, and he pulled it out, wondering if he just got a notification. “No. Netto slept in, because thanks to this, he’s gotten almost no sleep this last week.” Meiru’s hand was tightend around the strap of her shoulder bag.

Enzan located the cause of the vibration and frowned. The strange app he was sure he deleted had opened itself. Definitely malware. He really needed to be careful about using it for any sensitive purpose until he could get a part time job to replace it. “They must be working hard.” Phone issues aside, Enzan wasn’t unused to long nights working towards a goal. It came with the territory. “It seems quite rigorous.” With a flick of his finger, he had closed the app and attempted to uninstall it once again. Meiru sighed. “It… It’s not just the hours.” She admits. “The teacher supervising it, Yamitaro Higure... he acts like he’s a CEO of some large warehouse, or a factory... where all the students are his employees.” Enzan raised an eyebrow, distracted from his phone’s odd behavior. “CEO? Factory?” What an… interesting way of describing it. (He didn’t realize the strange app had once again reappeared, nor that it was listening to their conversation.)

“Yeah. You’re a transfer student, right? I saw you with your guardian yesterday.” Her eyes drifted towards the school. “So I guess you wouldn’t really know.” “Know what?” “He charges outrageous fees. Just… steer clear. It’s not worth it.” Perhaps being broke was a blessing. “We’re… going to be late. I’m sorry for burdening you with my thoughts. Let’s get going.” Meiru turned in the direction she was looking, beginning to walk that way, when a wave of nausea hit her. And Enzan too.

It felt like it lasted longer than it did. Enzan shook it off quickly. Perhaps his breakfast didn’t agree with him; there was nothing to be gained from just standing about, musing on smething that didn’t matter. (He was fine with the cereal yesterday ...)

He shoved his phone in his pocket, deciding he’d deal with it later. “I agree that we should go.” Meiru had bent over, resting her hands on her knees for a bit while she caught her breath, and then straightened up with a nod. “Y-yeah. I’ll show you. It’s your first day, right?” She lead him down the streets of Tokyo, though neither of them could shake the feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong.

“I couldn’t have walked the wrong way!” Meiru was panicking, and Enzan couldn’t blame her. The building they were in front of most certainly was not a school. Rather, a large warehouse with an elaborate store front would be a whole lot more accurate.

Enzan would almost liken it to one of those big box stores that could be found in America.

She poked at her phone, growing increasingly frustrated. “I’ve lost all signal.” She frowned. “Do you think you could…” Her voice drifted off. “Yeah. I can.” He pulled his phone out, but the strange app was still up. Swearing under his breath for letting himself get distracted, he swiped up to close it. And it wouldn’t close. It didn’t take long to realize that his phone wasn’t going to power down either, meaning he’d probably have to let it die.

Wonderful. “My phone doesn’t seem to be working properly either.” It was strange that they were both having issues at the same time...

Putting her phone back into her side bag, Meiru looked over the building. “Maybe it’s just a weird prank or something. Though I wonder why Netto didn’t text me about this…” She didn’t seem sure of herself. This was a really weird prank, if it was one, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like Enzan ever went to public school before this. But surely, surely, if pranks involving cloaking the whole school was a thing that happened, there would be a news article about it.

As they pushed open the doors, it didn’t seem anything like a school that Enzan had ever heard of. Two desks flanked the door, each with a student behind it. One was girl with hair in blonde braided pigtails, and the other a boy with a sweater on underneath his school jacket. Both of them had one of those “Hi, my name is _” Tags stuck to their chest, each with a number on them.

The girl’s was a lot higher than the boys. Meiru looked between the two worriedly.

“Tohru-kun, Yaito-chan, what’s going on?” She asks. They must have been in the right place, if Meiru knew the two kids. Still not any kind of set up for a school though.

“Welcome to the Shuujin branch of Higureya!” The two echoed together. “Please pay the 5,000 yen for the enterance fee!” Enzan blinked. Shuujin. That was the name of the school, was it not? He was already enrolled, Why would there be any additional fee? This is definitely where the school had been the night before… Meiru looked confused too. “Guys, this isn’t funny. What’s going on here?” Meiru’s eyes flickered between her two friends. “Just… why do we need to pay?” “Because we’re an exclusive club. You must pay to join. Those who can’t pay should leave.” Enzan didn’t like this feeling. “Who are we paying, anyways? I think we should talk to them.” “President Higure-san is simply worth far too much to meet with those who can’t pay our generous enterance fee.” The blonde girl answered by herself this time. Meiru turned to her. “Yaito-chan, can you just explain-” “If you don’t leave soon, I’ll have to call security.” The boy said, voice quiet and flat. Meiru spun around to face him. “Tohru-kun, please, can you-” A siren cut her off, and a metal gate fell behind her. “Intruder! Intruder!”

None of these order of events were making any degree of sense to Enzan. He had lost it somewhere around their school being turned into a warehouse and Meiru’s friends apparently were turned into the kind of corporate drones Enzan might have expected to see underneath his father. Creatures that could only be described as formless blobs shoved into a suit slithered up behind the desks, each with a weird ornate mask shoved onto its face. “This isn’t necessary, we can be going.” Meiru assured, backing towards the gate, hoping that they’d accept her peace offering and let them go. Enzan followed her back towards the gate, keeping her behind him just in case. He didn’t like the look of those so called guards.

It didn’t open, and those blobs were getting closer. Enzan knew somewhere in the back of his mind it was fruitless, but he turned and tried to shield Meiru anyways.

----

They couldn’t really get more fucked than this, right? The wording was far more crude than Enzan usually preferred, but it seemed to fit their situation unfortunately well. He and Meiru were surrounded by these amorphous blobs that might have almost looked like a child’s robot in suits if he squinted, if they weren’t carrying actual weapons. And they were leading him and Meiru to… somewhere, well towards the back of the giant warehouse, that even Enzan’s internal map was having difficulties keeping up with.

Despite Enzan’s best attempt to keep Meiru safe, it was hard to find a position that could be considered so, surrounded as they were by these wanna be robots. Meiru kept her hands curled tightly around her book bag, holding it in front of her, eyes locked on the ground. Enzan looked back and forth, looking for a chance to escape. He had no idea what was going on here, but it was definitely disturbing and he had the sinking feeling that the two of them may not be walking out alive if they didn’t escape somehow from this warehouse that had taken over the school.

Maybe if he could find some sort of break in the robot’s formation, he could possibly fight one into letting them by and then maybe they could navigate out of here? That sounded farfetched, even to Enzan. He was just one guy, against robots.

The robots guided them to a door marked “Mister President Yamitaro Higure”. Higure, Higureya, someone was really full of them selves, weren’t they? Meiru’s hands tighened even more, digging her fingertips into her palms around her strap. One of the robot blobs knocked on the door. Higure, Higure, Higure, where had he seen that name before…

Right, on that poster from yesterday. He ran the club that Meiru had been complaining about just a little bit ago. Not that any high school teachers had any business having robots that seemed to be carrying actual weapons

The door swung open, and reminded Enzan of those cheesy B Action movies that he’d watch late at night in his office while working. And as the door opened, there was going to be a mob boss sitting at the desk. It should be noted that Enzan honestly did not expect to be as close to correct as he was.

“You…” Meiru probably couldn’t get more tense than she already was, but her shoulders noticably stiffened, and she made an attempt to straighten her back. Whatever happened here, Enzan was going to do his best to deflect any trouble off of her.

He really hoped he was just being uncharacteristically dramatic, but really, everything around him suggested otherwise.

“So these are our intruders, huh?”

The man in front of them was the oddest combination of sleazy salesman and well dressed man. He had a plaid brown vest on with an over exaggered fur coat and a black fedora, along with unruly messy hair. “Yes sir.” One of the robots informed him. “Intruders? This is our school!” Meiru said. She was glaring with all she had at the teacher. The teacher adjusted his ridiculous over exaggerated sunglasses. “Your school, huh…?” The man looked thoughtful, stroking his chin as if there was a goatee there. “You didn’t pay the price of admission though, huh?” Price of admission. The counters up front? “You can still make it up though, huh? You would make a great addition to the advertisement team.” “I want no part of that awful thing you call a club.” Meiru responded. “Why not? It’d be more useful than you harrassing my workers, huh?” Higure would be flicking the ash away from a cigarette if he had one. Maybe it was just paranoia that made Enzan step closer to Meiru.Was it just him or were those robotic blobs getting closer to them?

Undeterred by Meiru’s glaring, or Enzan’s increasing guard, Higure pressed on. “The advertisment team is lacking, anyways. It could use a little pizzaz, huh? Imagine the touch a woman’s hand could bring!” “Why would I do that?” She asked, looking like she was going to argue more. Not wanting to see what would happen if he blew up, Enzan made the executive decision that he was going to step in. She could yell at him later if it bothered her.

“Listen, I think she’s making it pretty clear she doesn’t want any part of this, so if you’ll let us go-” One of the shadow robot blobs grabbed Enzan by the back of his jacket and roughly pulled him away. It worked out in his favor somewhat, though. At least the man’s eyes were drawn to him instead of Meiru. Maybe he could create a cover for Meiru’s escape? But to his dismay, it didn’t last nearly as long as he hoped. After all, Enzan was a stranger. He was unimportant. His eyes quickly scanned the room, looking for some way to fight back. There was no way he was just going to stand down now.

“Meiru-chan, you don’t hold the cards here, huh? You either help, or I’ll have to have you disposed of.” The blobs pushed closer to her, weapons raising up. She glared at them pulling her bag up to her chest, as if hoping swinging it at them would help her out of her situation.

You aren’t just going to let her be hurt, are you?

The voice, not one Enzan could place, caught him off guard. As well as the pulse of pain across his forehead

Of course not!

He tried to grab for the statue on the desk, but it felt like everything had suddenly become muted. Enzan heard bits and phrases between the pulsing headache.

‘increased sales’

‘you don’t matter if you don’t make money’

‘why not help - it’s for the greater good’

‘You don’t have a choice.’

Just standing there won’t change anything.

You’d be risking yourself again, just to save her.

I don’t care!

I can’t just… stand by!

It wasn’t an accident, then. You won’t let her be a corporate tool.

I shall lend you my power, then, Enzan-sama.

Enzan-sama? Who are you?

Enzan didn’t notice that the conversation had died down. That everyone was looking at him, and somehow at some point he had fallen to his knees. Slowly, he climbed back to his feet, intending on correcting this issue. The voice, who ever it was, was right. He couldn’t step down.

“Leave her alone!”

“I was gonna let you live, huh, but if you want to ruin my business too…”

...There was weight on his face?

Who am I? I am thou….

On instinct, his fingers curled around the mask, pulling and pulling despite the pain blossoming across his face.

With a spray of blood that would have startled him if he hadn’t been in a daze, the mask came off.

And thou art I. Let us step in, shall we?

And then for the briefest moments, the world exploded in blue flame. When the flames cleared, it was hard to believe it was the same person who had been standing there just moment’s before

“Hello, Blues.”

#persona 5 #mmbn #megaman battle network #exe enzan #exe meiru #Life Will Change #unbeta'd #fanfic #Holy Shit #I did something

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tiffanytheweirdo · 4 years

Note

For Ellick: “You’re making a face. I know that face. It won’t work, I will resist it.” and “Mmmm… no getting up, only cuddles.” Thank you ❤️😊

@enchantedbooklover18 this is for you, thanks again for the request and your patience! I threw in a shot of steaminess in there and I really wanted to hide writing that so I hope you like it or else I'm gonna die from embarrassment XD

You can also read it on AO3!

XXOO -- Ellick

"Hmm it's so good to be home" Nick groans, flopping onto the couch immediately after putting away both their gear backpack and handing his gum for Ellie to put into the home safe along with hers. It's their routine when they get home, one to deal with the bags, another with their service weapons.

"Come on Nick at least go shower first" Ellie shakes her head at her boyfriend's antics, that gross man, she thought to herself and chuckles lightly. She has to admit though, it's really good to be home with her love after a long day out in the field following leads and chasing suspect.

"I'm tired Ellie, let me be" Nick pouts like a child, eyes following Ellie as she moves around their apartment to get herself some snacks, and two drinks for them. Damn she's so effortlessly beautiful, Nick thinks, a small smile making its way onto Nick's face.

"I was about to invite you to join me later. I guess that's a no then" Ellie says with a smirk on her face when she approaches the couch and hands Nick a beer.

"Now now sweet cheeks, you know I'm never too tired for that" Nick sits up, skillfully tugging Ellie's hand and pulling her onto his lap without making her spill the drinks she's holding.

"Nick!" Ellie yelps with surprise, relieved when she realizes that no drinks have ended up on their aesthetic fabric sofa. She is not spending her weekend cleaning it.

"Yes baby?" Nick answers in a sweet, innocent tone, taking one of the beer out of Ellie's hand.

"You're ridiculous" Ellie rolls her eye while she tears open the bag of bacon brown sugar chips, adjusting herself on Nick's lap to snuggle comfortably into him.

"But you love me" Nick leans back into the couch, tightening his hold on Ellie's waist while taking a swag from his beer.

"You're lucky I do" Ellie looks up smugly, and reaches up to cup Nick's face with her dirty hand.

"Eleanor Bishop, don't you dare" Nick mock-glares at Ellie, face moving back to avoid Ellie's "attack".

"What? I just want a kiss" And this time, it's Ellie's turn to play the innocent card.

"Oh sweet girl you will be getting that later. But now, you're in trouble" Nick warns with a "dangerous smirk" while taking the food and drink out of Ellie's hand after putting his down.

Ellie squeaks and jumps up from Nick when his hands first make contact to her side tickling her.

"I'm coming for ya" Nick says, giving Ellie a few seconds to put distance between them both.

Ellie laughs delightedly, running away from Nick and into the open kitchen, rounding the counter to buy herself more time.

Nick chases after her with a few strides, nearly catching Ellie by the dining table. Ellie crouches down and dodges from Nick, dashing into their bedroom.

The next time when Nick is close to catching Ellie, the only thing between them is their en-suite bathroom door. Ellie, almost successfully closing it, gasps when Nick slips his own hands in to stop her action.

"Come on Ellie I've gotcha" Nick raises his eyebrows suggestively, hands applying pressure to the door to tug it open.

"Nah-uh you haven't" But Ellie is not giving up just yet, also applying pressure to the door countering Nick's.

The two of them have a stare-down right at the bathroom doorway for a few moments before a virtual light bulb goes off in Nick's head.

"Ellie..." Nick purrs softly, contouring his facial expression into a soft, pleading, pouting look with wide innocent eyes.

"Yeah? Oh no, uh-uh" Ellie's eyes widen upon the change of Nick's expression, she bits her lips gently to try pulling herself together, "You’re making a face. I know that face. It won’t work, I will resist it."

"Ellie, baby..." Nick purrs again, adding the pet name and dragging out the last syllable.

Ellie feels like she has melted into a puddle with Nick saying her name and looking at her like this. Her hands on the door go slack, giving Nick the perfect opportunity to completely open the door and captures Ellie in his arms, his chest to her back.

"Nick Torres you cheater!" Ellie exclaims when Nick's arms sneaks around her, already squirming at the phantom tickling.

"It's call tactics babe" Nick holds Ellie in place with one hand, the other going to tickle her.

Ellie's squeak ringing through their bathroom is the the most beautiful sound to Nick's ears now. He pokes Ellie's side here and there just to get more of her laughter.

"Okay, okay, I surrender" Ellie taps against Nick's arm breathlessly, body going limp in his hold.

"Yeah?" Nick turns Ellie around to they are facing each other right now.

Ellie's face is flushed with all the excitement and laughter, a sheer layer of sweat on her forehead. And Nick couldn't help but to stare at her beauty with his mouth hanging slightly open.

"See something you like there, Torres?" Ellie chuckles at Nick's slightly dumbfounded face, and says.

"Oh you have no idea" Nick shakes his head fondly before leaning in to kiss Ellie on the lips.

It starts out soft and slow, like they are just savouring each other. Ellie hums contently into the kiss, hands climbing up to hook behind Nick's neck; while Nick reaches one hand up tugging at Ellie's hair elastic releasing her pony tail, and the other firmly pressed against the small of her back.

Then it gets heated. Nick couldn't resist the need to feel Ellie's skin anymore and sneaks a hand under Ellie's sweater. Ellie moans at Nick's warm palm on her back, tugging slightly at Nick's hair at the nape of his neck.

"Hmm Nick" Ellie whispers against Nick's lips, hands travelling down to tug Nick's shirt out of his jeans.

Nick moans at Ellie's fingers brushing against his skin right above his belt, and slowly walks forward, backing Ellie up to the counter.

They break apart, catching their breaths, and Nick takes the chance to lift Ellie up onto the marble, stepping to stand between her legs.

"Hmmm you're so beautiful" Nick mutters, sliding both of his hands under Ellie's sweater.

Ellie giggles softly at the slightly tickling sensation, hooking her fingers in Nick's belt loops to pull him even closer to her.

"Kiss me, Nick" Ellie whispers huskily, locking eyes with Nick.

And Nick doesn't have to be told twice.He leans down and once again captures Ellie's sweet lips, the kiss filled with love and desire, as Ellie fumbles with his belt.

The kiss soon travels from Ellie's lips down to her neck, after Nick yanked her sweater off and flipped her hair to expose a side of her neck.

Shortly after that, other pieces of their clothing join Ellie's sweater on the floor one by one. The kissing and touching never stopped.

By the time they are bare and naked in front of each other, Ellie's is more than aroused. Her body screaming to be please, to be satisfied.

Nick growls, eyes taking Ellie all in. He can never get enough of her, never.

"You're my goddess, you know that right?" Nick whispers lowly into Ellie's ears, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Nick..." She whimpers, needing Nick to take her this very moment.

"Into the shower?" Nick asks while hooking Ellie's legs around his waist, ready to pick her up at her nod.

Crashing her lips onto Nick's, and securing her arms around Nick's neck, Ellie moans out a desperate yes.

The shower takes way longer that usual. When they step out of it, their finger tips are pruney from how long they stayed under water.Nick wraps a towel around his waist before wrapping Ellie up with another, picking her up with a swift motion.

Ellie yelps in surprise but she doesn't mind at all. If she's being honest, she is not trusting her legs much right now.

She yelps again when Nick lightly tosses her onto their bed, climbing in right behind to spoon her.

"Niiiiick" Ellie semi-groaned, "we have to put clothes on, and the bathroom--"

Ellie is cut off by Nick's finger against her lips.

"Shhh babe, we can clean up tomorrow. And do you really think we need clothes on, hmm?"

Ellie rolls her eyes, she can hear Nick's smirk just from his tone. But she couldn't disagree with him, can she now?

"Okay, but how about--" She's once again cut off by Nick's finger.

"Mmmm… no getting up, only cuddles"

And as if he's trying to make his point, Nick discards their towels and wraps them up in the comforter instead, holding Ellie tighter against his body.

"Hmmm" Ellie closes her eyes on the comfort brought by the thick blanket, and more so Nick's body warmth, "okay I guess, only cuddles it is"

#ellick #ellie bishop #nick torres #ncis #fanfic #tiff writings #prompts #asks #requests

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szopenhauer · 4 years

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Grossest thing you’ve seen in a bathroom? pee, poop and blood mixed with vomit all over the place Do you consider your family dysfunctional? all families are toxic, more or less Do you hate people who act like everything is fine when its not? I hate those people, they both want you to leave them alone and guess, they’re annoyed with the fact you wanna know as much as you not caring about them, never satisfied, then blame everybody else, how are we supposed to act if we feel you don’t trust us enough to tell the truth? it’s your own fault! we also have problems, not everything’s about you, if you prefer to kill yourself than speak up, that’s your choice but it means you’re a coward, I’m tired of that behavior

Ever had a body piercing ripped out? never had a piercing so I’m lucky not to be bullied this way

Can you sew/croshet/knit? I know basics but I have no patience so it’s not my hobby Do you put the cap back on the toothpaste after using it? of course :o Have you shot off a firework? never, it’s dangerous, I prefer to look and from afar Are you offended when you see women breast feeding? no

Do you hate when people keep things from you? if we’re close then sure Can you multitask? I can XD

*działam na dwa fronty, boobs, albo na tyłach* Are you too sensitive? hypersensitive Who wears the pants in the relationship? who wears the socks and cowboy hat tho?

If you were given three things to make you happy, what would these be? health, money and no worries How would you rank the following in importance: family, career, love life? family and love life then career as I’m not interested in it

Which would you prefer: having a baby without a partner or a partner without a baby? partner without a baby but tbh it would be better to raise a baby without a partner if I decided to have a kid (I don’t want children though) as there wouldn’t be disagreements on how to nor risk of arguments and then divorce in general which would be super hard for the little one

Do you think God is real, and why? sigh...

Do you believe in giving people second chances, and why? rarely as it’s like putting your hand into fire hoping it will be cold this time, people usually change for worse - not better Do you think people fall in love because the right person has arrived, or because the time is right (regardless of whom the person is that they fall in love with)? because of other reasons usually as I wouldn’t call their relationships LOVE, they’re just desperate, scared of being lonely How important is trust in a relationship? I don’t think I can trust someone completely but still it’s very important to me to trust them as much as I am capable to - if I can’t trust them at all then it won’t work How do you feel about infidelity? it makes people feel like they’re not enough and they also get paranoid later, it causes trauma, person who was cheated on will always be afraid to trust another human being in case someone “better” will show up, nobody is perfect but it’s better if you break up than do smth romantic or sexual behind your partner’s back, nobody deserves it, if you can’t be with one person only then either do open relationships or polyamory or just don’t commit to anyone - one night stands or something - infidelity is caused by wanting more and being impulsive, liking adrenaline, risky behavior, you are some sort of an abuser, not just a liar, because you’re hurting someone who’s supposed to be closest to you, intoxication isn’t an excuse, if you can’t keep it in your pants when you’re drunk then don’t drink too much or publicly - simple as that, love is a promise and you’re breaking it for fun, someone said today that it’s like checking if another branch will snap while still holding another - sounds careful but that’s not the point - it’s just that you should sit on it (stability) instead of jumping trees after you already commited to one of them and made a nest on it, you will break all of the branches (other people) and you will end up on the ground anyway - alone, who wants to be with a cheater? honestly - rapist will always stay rapist even if he won’t rape again and so is the cheating person - they might change but fear will always be a part of their partner for sure, dating is like a competition for many, trying until you find the best match, always looking around, never warming up to anyone in case there’s a better opportunity, constant game that make us anxious, showing off you’re the best player among all and... you actually are a player in both of this word’s definitions, sadly What quality in a person do you fall in love with? it’s not a single separate thing but someone whole I believe, I tried to explain that to myself but it’s very hard, there are some traits I might like more, go for, see as necessities but I’m unable to list them for now - maybe later/someday Do you find it difficult to admit that you are wrong, and why? I am - I don’t care about winning, I want truth and justice, I prefer to be right but without admitting I’m wrong that can’t happen Which would you prefer in a romantic partner: a dreamer or an achiever? dreamer, I dislike overly ambitious and workaholic people What do you think are the two things that prevent people from realizing their dreams? money issues and health problems or time

So the world is dying to know the longest you’ve ever been on an airplane. 0 hours

Speaking of airplanes, can you sleep on them easily or no? no idea

So if I were to touch the place you last itched, would it be awkward? sorta

Have you ever come close to drowning? it was close in my opinion

Is the window in this room currently open or closed? closed

Is your phone fully charged right now? it is indeed

If you gave yourself a symbol (ex: star) to represent you, it would be…? not sure

Combine your two favorite animals. What kind of animal do you get? raccoon + elephant?

If I gave you a box of chocolates, which would you hope to get? I prefer something else than a box of chocolates

Have you ever caught your clothes on fire before? omg luckily not

Are you any good at improv? been told

Do you have any special handshakes with friends? I don’t have... friends :x

Are you better at writing fiction or nonfiction? I’m good at both but I prefer fiction

How many times does the letter ’t’ occur in your full name? once

Last song you heard? Crystal Castles - Suffocation Reason you last threw up? meds withdrawal How many pairs of flip flops do you own? zero Do you ever pick up pennies for good luck? I pick up all coins that I find and give them to my dad Something you wear all the time that you’d feel naked without? panties

If you have younger siblings, how old were you when your siblings were born? not applicable Would you ever pick up gum from the ground and eat it? hell no Have you ever gotten stitches? nope

Think back to the last thing you drank. Did you drink it using a straw? I didn’t Is the sun shining? it’s almost midnight Where did you go today? shopping Have you ever taken a survey while under the influence of drugs or alcohol? I don’t drink or take illegal drugs Where will you be in an hour? in my bed Is anyone irritating you? not atm unless I can count myself Have your parents ever threatened to throw your things away because your room was messy? sorta Is your shirt pink? it’s mostly white Are you going to do more surveys? it’s late and I’m commited to finish this one Who is the most complicated person in your life right now? ... me? Have you ever video chatted with someone you met online? yep Are you hungry or thirsty right now? thirsty Do you own a pair of gumboots? eww, gross Have you ever worked somewhere where you had to clean the toilets? I might Do you rate people’s attractiveness on a scale of 1-10? rating 1-10 is very hard for me Is there anything that you could cry about right now? shitload of reasons When was the last time you used Facebook? today like every other day Do you have a PO Box or does your mail get sent straight to your house? our house How many vowels are in your street name? 4 Did you share baths with your siblings/cousins when you were a child? I did not Have you ever been a member of an online dating site? couple Do you know what your neighbours even look like? obvi Do you put ketchup on your fries? yuk

What color was the last swimsuit you wore? uh oh I should check that in my photo album in pics from middle school

Is your dream job attainable? they ain’t

Have you read a newspaper today? we don’t buy/read newspapers

Do you have to go to school or work tomorrow? I’m done with school and am unemployed

Have you ever been to a drive-in theatre? no

Have you ever taken classes for a musical instrument? guitar

Have you ever been on vacation with someone other than your family? camp

Do you live with your parents? still

Are there any embarrassing school pictures of you anywhere in your house? there are

What moment in your life have you been most scared? constantly now last half year

Do you have any exes you can’t stand anymore? What happened to cause you to feel that way about them? long story

Do you ever make your own surveys, or just take them? I make them but barely ever

Are you more of a phone or a computer person? computer

Do you like to cook, or do you prefer when other people cook for you? prefer them to cook for me

How old do you think you’ll be when you move out on your own? hope that this will happen soon

Do you have a job? If so, where do you work? If not, do you want one? I need one

Have you ever ripped your pants in public? even recently

Have you ever thought someone was talking to you, but it turned out they were on the phone? Did you play it off? possibly

Do you know anybody that has severe allergies? can we not talk about it?...

Who was the last person you slow danced with? my gf

Do you ever ride the city bus? How much does it cost you? often, nothing as I’m disabled

Do you say ‘like’ a lot? used to

Do you scream out the answers while watching game shows on TV? at times I did

Do you ever go into photobooths? yay!

What bill do you hate paying the most? I’d hate paying rent as it’s idiotically high

What’s the best place to eat a romantic dinner? everywhere can be romantic with a right person

What was your first car? none yet

Favorite guilty pleasure? personal

What celeb do you think resembles you best? basing on look? Cole Sprouse or Maisie Williams but with Juno Temple body

Who from high school would you like to run in to? hmm...

Start a new career or relationship? just get a job as I’m taken

Are any of your toes connected? I don’t have webbed toes

What was the last thing you dreamed about? running from the police... w klapkach

What color is your bedroom carpet? no carpet Have you ever had a black and white cat? all black Would you rather have an STD or share a bed with Michael Jackson? life chose for me and honestly this is probably the first time I’m happy about it Do you have any wallpaper in your house? I wish How many pairs of underwear do you own? lots of panties but not enough bras Who was your primary/elemantary school’s most popular girl? E.O. and A.M. Would you like to learn to play the harp? meh Are your feet ticklish? very and I hate that Do you have a black dog? it’s partially black Who has the prettiest toes, that you know of? feet are disgusting What’s your least favorite season? winter

Do you enjoy walks? sure Can you roll your tongue? I can Would you eat a live spider for one million dollars? gimme Would you forgive someone for cheating? hard to tell Have you seen A Clockwork Orange? not interested Do you like to read? occasionally re you a grumpy person? often Do you like cotton candy? never tried and don’t wanna Rap or pop? pop What’s the weirdest flavor of ice cream you’ve tried? rose, amazing! Love or lust? love Do you remember lyrics easily? am I the only one who don’t? :(

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justanotherboyinblue · 4 years

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Unusual Asks

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? spotify!!

is your room messy or clean? ...depends if i don’t have company, or i haven’t been made to clean it, it’s relatively messy. well. it’s not messy to me, because i know where everything is and why things are...not...put away, but messy to Literally Everyone Else

what color are your eyes? brown!

do you like your name? why? i Love my name mostly because i chose it and i like how it sounds I Just Think It’s Neat

what is your relationship status? taken! i have two beautiful partners that i love very very much

describe your personality in 3 words or less Chaotic Disaster Gay

what color hair do you have? also brown dkjbsgalk

what kind of car do you drive? color? i don’t drive! don’t have my license yet

where do you shop? anywhere and everywhere alksjdb meijer? ig?

how would you describe your style? Grunge

favorite social media account discord! ‘s how i talk to my babies :3

what size bed do you have? a twin! v comfy, v bouncy

any siblings? unfortunately two brothers both are Assholes

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why? switzerland honestly first of all, lgbtq+ has been legal there since 1942 like look at them Go oh my gosh also! i love german, it’s such a fascinating language but the biggest reason? that’s where moje rojena wants to live

favorite snapchat filter? i don’t have snapchat, and don’t really plan to kjasbdl

favorite makeup brand(s) don’t wear it! the only thing i use is chapstick lmao a wonderful vanilla chapstick by Eos

how many times a week do you shower? sometimes every night, but mostly every other night! so three or four

favorite tv show? oh gosh there are so many she-ra is probably at the top i love supernatural, and elementary, bbc sherlock, person of interest, steven universe there are a bunch of amazing shows i love!

shoe size? i think i wear like a ten and a half quadruple e do with that as you will

how tall are you? 5′4 i think probably

sandals or sneakers? flip flops!! or barefoot kadjbsgl

do you go to the gym? i don’t think i’ve ever even seen the inside of a gym

describe your dream date cuddle pile some show or movie on tv So Many Blankets but the most important thing the Most Important thing is that my babies are with me and that’s all i really need

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? i don’t have any cash, but i have like a little over $50 on my card

what color socks are you wearing? white with gray designs

how many pillows do you sleep with? normally three, but i’ll bring in another three if i want to build a Nest:tm:

do you have a job? what do you do? no job! i think my first job will be working at my local library

how many friends do you have? uhhhhhhh no idea a dozen? idk maybe half a dozen i really have no idea, and i have a horrible memory

what's the worst thing you have ever done? I Will Not Divulge Such Information

what's your favorite candle scent? there’s this one candle we have that’s tide+kelp scented but it just smells like a speedstick it’s awesome

3 favorite boy names Leo (obviously) Tobias Axel

3 favorite girl names L(again, obviously) Celeste i’ve always loved the name Andromeda as well!

favorite actor? Ezra Miller!! they’re a nonbinary icon, first of all, and they’re an amazing actor in my opinion! they’re Credence in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Barry in Justice Leauge

favorite actress? hmmmmmmmmmm probably Margot Robbie tbh love her stuff also? have you seen the trailer for Birds of Prey? we Stan

who is your celebrity crush? don’t have one kjdsablg

favorite movie? oh gosh I Cannot Choose A Favorite Anything Okay i love Avatar(the one with the blue aliens not the Disgrace Of A Movie), and The Dark Knight, Captain Marvel, Abominable, and so many others

do you read a lot? what's your favorite book? i do! i used to read almost a full book every day Finding Me by Katheryn Cushman is really good, and so is Five Feet Apart, i love the Divergent series too!

money or brains? brains duh, if you’re smart you can make more money but if you’re an idiot with money what happens when you run out

do you have a nickname? what is it? not really kjabdsga my partners have their nicknames for me of course, but with my actual name you can’t have a lot of nicknames Leo calls me Q, i’ve been called Stefano and Viktor, one friend used Quimberly for a while akjfgbslkdfg

how many times have you been to the hospital? other than when i was born, i think only the once!

top 10 favorite songs Here We Go sweet tooth-Scott Helman adderall- Max Frost bambi- Hippo Campus roxxane- Arizona Zervas grixtronics- GRiZ iSpy- KYLE truth hurts- kidz bop (fuck off it slaps) walk man- TMG mr.clean- Yung Gravy peach scone- Hobo Johnson

do you take any medications daily? nope!

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc) definitely oily

what is your biggest fear? Ya Boi Out Here With Abandonment Issues

how many kids do you want? i’ll stick with my fur babies thank you very much

what's your go-to hairstyle? in my face covering my right eye so i can’t see with it because it annoys my mother and i think i look Hot

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) medium i would think? we don’t have a second floor or a finished basement, but i’ve never had to bunk with either of my brothers so

who is your role model? no one specific! just, kind people, yk?

what was the last compliment you received? i think it was on...monday? when Leo kept telling me i was adorable XD

what was the last text you sent? to a gc with my partners saying i was going mia because I Have The Right To Not Interact With Anyone For Several Days And Watch Movies no i will not be taking criticism

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? like somewhere from seven to nine i think i have no idea dude, i have the memory of a goldfish

what is your dream car? .... 1967 black chevy impala

opinion on smoking? bad for you, love the smell, not gonna tell you to stop, will just worry quietly in the corner because i won’t tell you what to do with your life

do you go to college? nope! still in high school, i probably won’t go to college tbh

what is your dream job? owning my own bookstore! with a cafe a cat cafe i have it planned out to a concerning degree

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? i’ve lived in one place my entire life and it’s on the side of the highway with no neighbors so Suburbs Be Like Scary

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? oh absolutely

do you have freckles? no and i’m salty about it

do you smile for pictures? of course! never with my teeth tho because my canines are halfway up my face :)

how many pictures do you have on your phone? don’t have a phone! i have a Whole Bunch on my computer though

have you ever peed in the woods? did not work out tried once Never Again

do you still watch cartoons? of course i do i’m gay it’s legally required

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonald's? i’ve never had McDonald's nuggets but Wendy’s has the best for sure

Favorite dipping sauce? ranch or campfire sauce

what do you wear to bed? pajamas???? in winter it’s long sleeve tees with fuzzy pants in summer it’s basketball shorts and whatever twenty-year-old shirt i can find in my closet

have you ever won a spelling bee? i’ve never entered one so no homeschool for the win

what are your hobbies? Anything On A Screen and books mostly books on a screen but i’ll occasionally pick up a paperback also food and swimming

can you draw? s o m e t i m e s

do you play an instrument? i played guitar for a while, but i broke one of the strings and don’t have the tools to replace it i really want a ukelele

what was the last concert you saw? i went to a college campus for four days with my youth group, and a band named Sing Love played every night

tea or coffee? Neither

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? Also Neither i’ve been to starbucks one time and it was the most disappointing drink i’ve ever had i am a loyal biggby customer even though i haven’t been there in over a year

do you want to get married? not in the traditional sense i couldn’t even if i wanted to because the us said No Polyam Rights

what is your crush’s first and last initial? L.R. + L.G.

are you going to change your last name when you get married? probably! or we’ll both take a new one together

what color looks best on you? warm colors!! i do look Fabulous in a nice cool forest green though

do you miss anyone right now? Of Course I Do I’m In A Long Distance Relationship With Two People

do you sleep with your door open or closed? closed if it was open my asshole cat would eat all my hair ties and my fairy lights

do you believe in ghosts? nope!

what is your biggest pet peeve? uh people who assume? ig?

last person you called? Leo XD

favorite ice cream flavor? mint chocolate chip!!

regular oreos or golden oreos? The Golden Ones they taste like lemon even if they’re not the lemon ones i love it

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? i don’t like sprinkles because i’m a Monster

what shirt are you wearing? i’m Not It’s Hoodie Season

what is your phone background? my tablet backgrounds are Leo and L because i’m a Sap

are you outgoing or shy? Both i’m getting a lot better in the confidence department, but i still get nervous and overwhelmed sometimes!

do you like it when people play with your hair? I Cry Every Time and so does Leo it’s adorable

do you like your neighbors? if i did i would hate them because i Can

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? not outside of the shower

have you ever been high? nope

have you ever been drunk? nope

last thing you ate? leftover itallian mac n cheese

favorite lyrics right now ..... ................. raindrops on rose and whiskers on kittens~ sTICKING-

summer or winter? winter!!

day or night? night, of course

dark, milk, or white chocolate? milk! or dark with sea salt

favorite month? hm maybe august because it’s just starting to get cold, but you can also still swim on the warm days

what is your zodiac sign pisces! as i’m sure is obvious

who was the last person you cried in front of? my mother Because Leaving Me Alone For Five Minutes Is Impossible

thank you Luxet for the questions!

#meet the blogger #long post #tw cursing #tw caps #tw alchohol #tw drugs #tw marriage #tw college #i should #probably finish my school #after taking like two hours to do this #I'm A Responsible Child

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purrincess-chat · 6 years

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How to Catch a Ladybug CH4 FINAL

So, I would have had this one out sooner, buuuuut I picked up Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition on Switch and spent most of my afternoon playing >,> But anyway, here is the last chapter of HCL! Much like the rest of this story, this chapter is a lot of Lila-meta, so, um, sorry or you’re welcome? XD

Read on AO3 | FF

Chapter 4

The following Monday at school, Lila stuffed her books inside her locker with a dazed look in her eye. Her mind was still a mess of truth and lies, unable to distinguish between the two anymore. Who was she now without her façade? Somehow she’d lost sight of that pretending to be someone she wasn’t, and as a result, she didn’t know what to say or even how to fake a smile. She both longed to see Marinette and simultaneously dreaded it though it was for a different reason than normal now because now she was going to confess her sins to her and beg for forgiveness.

It was uncharted territory for Lila. Schmoozing was easy when it was fake, but Lila had never had to genuinely convince someone of something before. She felt so open and exposed as if everyone could see right through her, and it made her skin crawl. Was it too late to transfer schools? If ever she wanted to run away and forget a place, it was this one.

“Lila?” She startled, twisting around to see Marinette standing behind her with a worried expression. “Are you feeling better? Rose told me you felt sick on Saturday and had to leave early.”

Her brows were knitted together, eyes filled with concern, and Lila felt her heart skip. She should hate her face. She wanted to hate her face. But she didn’t. Truthfully Lila had done a lot of thinking over the weekend, and the realization that Marinette’s actions had all been genuine and likely to make up for her behavior had flipped everything Lila had ever known on its head. No one had ever been her friend before. Not really anyways, and Lila wasn’t quite sure how to process it. She was, however, sure of one thing: she had developed a hopeless crush on Marinette overnight.

It made her whole confession scheme all the more daunting, though also all the more necessary. Lila had never been in love before. Not like this anyway. Sure, she’d set her sights on the hot popular types before, but it usually came with an ulterior motive. But this was different. This made her skin clammy and her hands shaky, and she didn’t know what to do with that.

“Yeah, I got a little stomach bug. I was over it in a day, so it’s fine now,” She said, the lie coming out smoothly, but her face quickly fell. “Um, I’m sorry I missed the rest of your party.”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.” Marinette placed her hands on Lila’s shoulders with a cheerful smile that made her spine stiffen. “Hey, why don’t you sleep over this weekend to make up for it?”

“Oh, uh, I- that sounds…great,” She stammered, and Marinette tilted her head to the side, slipping a hand under Lila’s bangs to press her hand to her forehead.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright? You still feel a little warm.” Lila’s cheeks burned under her concerned gaze, and she swatted Marinette’s hand away.

“I’m fine, and I’ll totally be there Saturday,” She said, and Marinette’s sunniness returned easily.

“Awesome! I can’t wait; I can ask Papa to make my grandma’s pizza for us, and we’ll have tons of movies and games and-” She prattled on as they walked to class, and Lila rubbed her temple with an internalized groan.

This was going to be harder than she thought.

The longer she put it off, the more her guilt was going to eat at her, but there really wasn’t a good time to talk to Marinette alone. She really did know everyone at school, and there was always someone else nearby anytime Lila approached with even a fraction of the confidence she needed. But she had Saturday night to look forward to where she was certain to get Marinette alone if the wait didn’t kill her first.

The mixture of dread and eagerness was doing a number on her mental health, but nonetheless she managed to survive until Saturday. She spent the day watching the clock impatiently until it was finally time to go to Marinette’s house. Her parents weren’t home, as usual, so she locked up and headed out.

“You’re here!” Marinette pulled her into a tight hug the moment she opened the door.

“I told you I would be,” Lila said, patting her back awkwardly.

“Come on in! Papa is almost done with the pizza, and I downloaded that Italian love drama that you recommended,” Marinette said, taking her wrist and pulling her inside.

“Welcome, Lila,” Mrs. Cheng greeted with a smile. “Don’t be shy just make yourself at home.”

“Thanks,” Lila said, twisting the strap on her duffle bag in knots.

“It’s always good to have another Italian in the house,” Her father commented with a grin. “I’ve been perfecting a Bolognese for quite some time now, and I’d love to get your opinion of it sometime.”

“Uh, sure.” Lila nodded, and Marinette placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Come on, you can put your bag up in my room,” She said, pointing up the stairs, and Lila followed after her like a baby duckling.

Her parents were so warm and welcoming, and it weirded Lila out a little bit but in a good way she supposed. It was nice to have people interested in her comfort and, as the proper Italian that Mr. Dupain was, her hunger level. Every time she turned around almost they offered her tea and cookies, bread, cheese, cake, and Lila hadn’t eaten so much since Christmas at her grandmother’s house.

“Well, we’re going to go clean up downstairs while you two watch your movie. Let us know if you need anything,” Mrs. Cheng said as Marinette flopped on the couch beside Lila with a bowl of popcorn.

“Okay. Thanks, Mama,” She said, nodding over her shoulder as her parents retreated downstairs. “Sorry, I know they can be a bit overwhelming sometimes.”

“It’s okay. They’re nice,” Lila said, hugging her knees to her chest.

“What are your parents like?” Marinette asked, clicking the remote to turn on the TV.

“They’re…busy.” Lila shrugged, and Marinette winced apologetically as if she’d broached a sensitive subject which, she had, but Lila wasn’t going to guilt her about it. “They just work a lot that’s all. It’s no biggie.”

“I’m sorry. That must be really lonely,” Marinette said, reaching out to place her hand over Lila’s gently, and Lila fixed her gaze on it, cheeks flushing a little.

“Sometimes, but I manage.” She shrugged. Not very well, as it seemed, but she was hoping to work on that.

“You’re always welcome here if you ever want some company,” Marinette said, and Lila opened her mouth to confess her sins only to be interrupted by the title screen music of their movie.

She faced forward as Marinette hit play and clamped her mouth shut, heart hammering in her chest. Close, but Lila needed more time to find her courage. Sleepovers were a place for really personal and intimate heart-to-hearts, right? Wasn’t that more or less why truth or dare was invented? At least she had cheesy Italian romance to calm her nerves for a while. If only her problems could be solved as simply as the ones in movies.

When the movie finally ended, it was getting late, and Marinette suppressed a yawn. Lila’s pulse quickened, a lump forming in her throat as Marinette turned off the television and turned to her. Should she say it now? Could she say it now? They were alone, but was Lila ready to deal with the consequences of what she had to say?

Worst case scenario, Marinette threw her out and never spoke to her again, but on the other hand, she could totally forgive her then they could enjoy a wonderful evening together. And Lila would be rid of all of her guilt, but the ever looming threat of the first scenario made her stomach churn.

“You ready for bed?” Marinette asked, stretching her arms over her head, and Lila nodded, standing up and heading for the stairs.

“Hey, Marinette…” She blurted boldly before she could overthink it, stopping short on the steps.

“Yeah?” Marinette glanced up at her and cocked a brow.

“Can I tell you something?” She asked, clutching fistfuls of her pajama pants to keep her hands from shaking.

“Of course, what is it?” She prompted with an encouraging smile, and Lila bit her lip, swallowing back a lump in her throat.

“I-I…” Her bravery was cut short when Mr. Dupain’s footsteps sounded in the hallway and seconds later the front door opened.

“Hey, girls, having fun?” He beamed, strolling in casually.

“Yeah, I think we’re gonna head to bed,” Marinette said as her dad filled a cup with water and tipped it back.

“Can I ask you a favor?” He asked, rinsing the cup and setting it in the dishwasher.

“Sure, Papa, what’s up?” Marinette paced down a few steps to meet him.

“I hate to ask this of you, sweetie, but can you repair my apron sometime soon?” Her father asked with an apologetic wince, holding it out to her, and Marinette accepted it without hesitation.

“Of course, Papa. I’ll sew it up tonight,” She said as if it weren’t a big deal.

“It can wait until tomorrow since you have a friend over,” He insisted, waving his hands frantically.

“It won’t take me long,” She said, examining the tear.

“If you’re sure…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you, honey.”

“You’re welcome, Papa.” She stretched up to peck his cheek before following Lila up the stairs to her room. “Good night!”

“Good night.”

“You don’t have to stay up with me,” Marinette said retrieving her sewing kit.

“It’s fine. I’m not tired yet,” She insisted, politely omitting the fact that she was too anxious to fall asleep as of late.

They were alone now, and yet Lila couldn’t bring herself to say much. She couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth. Maybe it was because she wanted to cling to this normalcy and camaraderie for as long as she could since she’d never had real friendships like this before. But this wasn’t real because Lila had always just told lies and put on a face. She’d been so absorbed in her mission that she missed the first opportunity she had to make real friends, and once she told Marinette the truth, she was certain that everything was going to change between them. So, if she were being honest, the real reason she couldn’t bring herself to do it was because she was a coward. Lies were comfortable, and they were all she’d ever known. Even if Marinette forgave her, Lila would start her journey down a long and unfamiliar road, and it terrified her.

So she sat quietly on the chaise next to Marinette, watching her fix the stitching on her father’s apron, wallowing in self-pity and regret until she’d finally finished and stretched her arms above her head with a yawn.

“Ready for bed?” Marinette asked, and Lila nodded, so she stood up to put away her supplies before they both crawled into her bed. “I’m really glad you came tonight. It’s been fun to spend time together with just the two of us.”

“Yeah…” She winced, settling down on her side, and Marinette laid beside her, her face only inches away enough that her breath swirled around Lila’s cheeks.

“I’m really glad that we’re friends, Lila,” She said, taking Lila’s hands in her own. “I hope we can become even closer.”

Lila pressed her lips into a firm line, studying the look in Marinette’s eyes. They were always filled with so much light when they looked at her, and she wondered how anyone could convey such genuine emotion like that. She envied her, her life, her loving relationship with her parents…Deep down it was something that Lila had always wanted but never gotten, so she’d adapted to the life she had. So maybe, if she were lucky, if she hoped and prayed hard enough, she could have a life like Marinette’s someday. A life with friends and happiness and love.

She gave Marinette’s hand a gentle squeeze, a small smile curling on her lips. “Me too.”

Marinette seemed pleased by her response, and she reached up to turn off the light before settling in contently. Lila waited until her breathing slowed and evened out before blinking her eyes open again. She reached out to brush strands of hair behind Marinette’s ear, running her thumb over the earrings. A week ago, Lila would have jumped at such an opportunity to have Marinette so vulnerable before her, such an easy target for her sleight of hand, but things were different now, and Lila couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not after everything Marinette had done for her.

Ladybug had humiliated her on her first day, but Marinette helped her move past that and do something Lila had never done before. Every day when she went to school now, people stopped her in the halls to tell her good morning or compliment her outfit. She had people to sit with at lunch who weren’t just interested in the fantastical stories she had to tell. People who cared about more than just her lies.

In a weird way, Lila was grateful that Ladybug had called her out because if she hadn’t then Lila wouldn’t be lying in a bed with a friend, but rather, she’d likely be at home, alone with nothing but fake admirers and two busy parents. In an instant that road seemed a lot less daunting, and Lila realized that maybe she’d been taking steps down it all this time without realizing.

Because she did find Kim’s jokes funny and Nino’s remixes catchy. She cared about Rose’s letters to Prince Ali, Alix’s new rollerblades, and Max’s newest high score on Ultimate Mecha Strike. Maybe in her mind she’d been pretending at first, but maybe there was also something genuine inside her, and she just didn’t know how to recognize it.

She let her hand drop back onto the pillow, leaving the earrings right where they belonged. Marinette really was a hero, and she’d saved Lila from herself.

When morning came, Lila pulled the blanket over her head to shield herself from the sunlight streaming in through the skylight. Marinette still slept peacefully beside her, and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. Never before in her life had Lila wanted something so badly as she did a fresh start with Marinette. A fresh start with herself. Maybe she wasn’t certain who she would be or where she would end up, but she hoped in her mind that she could be more like Marinette. Genuine, caring, honest. Someone worth loving and being friends with.

Confessing her wrongdoings was only the beginning, and she silently hoped that Marinette could forgive her. After all, she’d forgiven her once already and seemed to like her well-enough now. And for what it was worth, Lila had forgiven her too, and it was a weight lifted from her shoulders. She hadn’t realized how heavy a grudge could be until she finally stopped carrying one.

“Girls! Breakfast!” Mrs. Cheng called up the stairs, and Marinette shifted in her sleep, eyelids fluttering open a few moments later.

“Good morning,” She yawned, stretching her legs out.

“Morning,” Lila said groggily, rubbing her eyes.

“Did you sleep okay?” Marinette asked, sitting up. “I didn’t hog the bed, did I?”

“No, you were fine,” She insisted, shaking her head. “I hope that I didn’t steal the blanket too much.”

“Honestly if you did, I didn’t notice. Once I’m asleep I’m completely out.” She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Are you hungry? I’m sure Papa baked us something for breakfast.”

Lila detected the faint smell of bread, and her stomach growled embarrassingly loud. Marinette giggled as she clamped her hands over it, cheeks flushing. She seemed so relaxed, the polar opposite of the storm raging inside Lila’s mind. Would she be able to smile so care freely one day too?

“Good morning, girls,” Mrs. Cheng greeted as they climbed down the stairs.

“Morning, Mom.” Marinette pecked her cheek before taking a seat at the table, decorated with fresh fruit and bread.

Everything in their life was so warm and filled with love. As Marinette sliced pieces of bread, Mrs. Cheng poured them tea, and Lila felt a bit overwhelmed. She wasn’t used to dining with other people at breakfast as her parents just took their cups of coffee to go. Only on holidays would her whole family get together to share a meal.

“Did you two sleep okay?” Mrs. Cheng asked, taking a sip of her tea. “You didn’t stay up all night gossiping, did you?”

“No, we went to bed, and I fixed Papa’s apron for him,” Marinette said, slathering her slice with jam before taking a bite.

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to get it back.” She perked up. “I’ll go run it down to him and let you girls finish eating.”

“Okay. It’s on my desk next to my sewing machine,” Marinette instructed as her mother disappeared up the stairs, and Lila waited until she returned all the way down to the bakery before flicking her gaze to Marinette.

“Alya and the girls are going to the pool today, do you want to come?” She asked, scrolling through her messages on her phone.

“S-Sure.” She nodded, rubbing her sweating palms on her fleecy pajamas.

“Awesome! I’ll let them know,” She said, keys clacking as she typed a quick response.

“Um, actually, can I tell you something first?” Lila started, swallowing back the lump in her throat.

“Sure,” Marinette said, sobering and turning to face her fully.

“I want to be honest with you, for once, because I see now how petty I’ve been, and I want to be better.” Marinette tilted her head a little in confusion but listened intently nonetheless. “I know your secret, Marinette. I have for a while…”

“M-My secret?” Her eyebrows raised in surprise as a nervous grin crept over her lips.

“I saw you in the library the day after I arrived at school. I know that you’re Ladybug.” Marinette’s eyes widened worriedly, and Lila averted her gaze with a shrug. “It’s fine. I’m not going to tell anybody, but I want you to know something about me that might ruin our friendship, but I’m tired of pretending. For once in my life, I want something real.”

She paused for a moment as Marinette’s jaw closed, and she nodded for Lila to continue.

“When I found out who you were, I was angry because I felt like you were befriending me to mock me, and I thought that everything you were doing was fake. So I pretended to be your friend hoping to get back at you for everything you did to me, and I hated your guts because no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t beat you.” She gripped her pajamas nervously, gaze locked on the table. “I even planned to steal your earrings from you so that you couldn’t be Ladybug anymore. That’s why I gave you those stupid fake ones for your birthday. I thought that you were like me, and that you had everyone wrapped around your finger because you made them revere you. But I was wrong.

“People like you because you care. They’re your friends because you’re always standing up for them and putting your neck out for them. You’ve never been fake to any of them, and when I realized that, I was ashamed. You have everything I’ve always wanted, and I’ve been really jealous of you all this time. And you’ve only ever been nice to me and been my friend, and I-I…” She ran a hand across her cheek, feeling something hot and wet touch her skin, lip quivering, but she continued. “I don’t want to pretend anymore. I want to be more like you. I want to be honest and have friends, and I want to be friends with you. For real this time, but I understand if you hate me.”

Marinette sat in stunned silence for a moment while Lila hiccupped and whimpered pathetically before she reached out to place her hand over Lila’s with a sympathetic smile.

“I don’t hate you,” She said gently, scooting closer. “In fact, I don’t blame you. The things Ladybug said to you- the things I said to you were harsh and uncalled for. The truth is, I was jealous of you and worried that you were going to steal Adrien away from me, and I got angry and lashed out at you.”

“You had every right to. I was using you to make myself look better because I never expected Ladybug to drop out of the sky and call me out like that.” She rubbed her nose and sniffled. “I hated you so much when I found out. I hated you more than anyone, but I couldn’t- you’re so genuine and honest, and I’ve never had that before. I want to hate you, but I can’t.”

She paused to take a breath. “I realized that I can’t hate you because I love you. I love you, and I want to be with you, but I know I don’t deserve you.”

“We’ve both done things we aren’t proud of, but I’m willing to put it behind us if you are.” Lila glanced up to meet her kind gaze, feeling her tears welling up again. “Honestly, I was expecting you to confess your feelings to me all this time, but I never expected that you knew my secret…I felt a little guilty too knowing what I did to you as Ladybug before I even knew you. Because once I got to know you, I couldn’t help but fall for you.”

“I don’t deserve someone like you,” She wailed, burying her face in Marinette’s chest. “You’re so nice and gentle and caring, and I’m so horrible and mean and I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for lying to make myself look better. I’m sorry I pretended to be your friend. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“I don’t think you’re horrible.” Marinette shook her head, running her fingers through Lila’s hair. “You’ve done horrible things and been mean, but that doesn’t mean that has to be who you are. You can change all that and turn that girl you’ve been pretending to be into the real you.”

“I don’t know how,” She said, sitting up, and Marinette cupped her face, brushing a tear from her cheek.

“Then it’s a good thing you’ve got me,” She said with a laugh. “Because I love you too, Lila, and I’m willing to help you so long as you want to be better.”

“I do. I want to be someone who deserves your love,” She whimpered, and Marinette took her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know who I am without all of my lies, but I know that I want to be more open and honest with others and with myself.”

Marinette smiled brightly, and for the first time in a long time, Lila smiled too. Not out of want for something or to manipulate someone into getting her way, but out of happiness. Her chest was warm and overflowing with happiness and light, and tears streamed down her cheeks as Marinette held her close. There she was safe, and there she was loved, and she had a lot of work to do.

#miraculous ladybug #lilanette #lila rossi #marinette dupain-cheng #my writing #how to catch a ladybug #finale

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