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1a-imagines · 4 years

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A knights promise (part 2)

(Knight!Midoriya x reader)

↬Warnings: smut

↬Summary: After finally running away so you can be together, you find travelling isn't as easy or fun as you first thought. Luckily you have someone to take your mind off it.

↬A/n: This is day 18 of the Izumonth collab! You can find the collab post here.

This is a part 2 if you want to read part 1 you can find that here! But honestly, this one is mostly just smut so i guess you don’t really need to read part one. It just gives a bit more insight into their relationship and goals.

Also the art is mine, I'm really nervous to post my art, especially since its kinda old art and my style has changed a lot, so I don't love it. But I drew this awhile back and thought it would go well with this fic since its fantasy izuku. Anyway! Hope you enjoy ^^

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You shuffled closer to Izuku's side, half hiding behind him, hoping his body would act as a shield against all the wildlife.

Izuku couldn’t help but chuckle at the way your nose crinkled up at the new environment.

"Have the forests always been so-..." you paused thinking of the right word to say. "disgusting?” you asked as you stepped around yet another puddle of sludge. Your hands tightened around his arm. The forest was indeed a beautiful sight from the palace windows, but now you were trudging through mud and wet grass, your boots already caked in dirt, it wasn't as enchanting as you thought it would be.

Izuku gave your hands a light pat. “I know you’re not used to these conditions yet, but I think you're overreacting a bit, princess. It’s just a bit of mud.” He giggled at your sour expression. Truth be told he expected you would be a lot more enthusiastic about the whole situation, finally having freedom, getting to date him without worry, travelling to far off kingdoms and learning new things. You had always dreamed of such a life.

Though it seemed you never thought through the possibility that not everything would be easy and perfect.

"Still, had I have known it would've been this bad I would've brought bigger boots." You muttered. So far this whole 'adventuring' thing has had its ups and downs, like yesterday when you both found that hidden waterfall, the water was sparkling in the sun, vines the trees hung low to keep it hidden as flowers bloomed around the edge of the lake. It was lovely, you both got to splash around in the sun, make a campfire and sit under the stars when night came. It was amazing! One of the most beautiful nights of your life in fact. However, walking through blank fields filled with nothing but muddy sludge wasn't so magical.

A yelp escaped your throat when you were suddenly lifted into the air. You instinctively wrapped your arms around Izuku’s neck as he carried your bridal style. With raised eyebrows you turned to the man who held you in his arms. "What are you doing?" You asked Izuku who grinned in response, "The mud is bothering you right? And as your knight it's my job to protect you even from nature!" He declared, you couldn’t help but smile at him.

"You're not technically my knight anymore, I ran away, remember? So I'm not royalty." While his logic confused you, you weren't about to complain that you were his arms. "I'll always be your knight, royalty or not, I'm always going to protect you." His smile melted your heart, like the sun beaming down on an ice cream cone.

You pressed your flushed face into his shoulder, deciding not to reply. He looked so determined there was no way you would win this argument.

He carried you for hours, and with every step he took guilt stacked another brick onto your heart. Weren't you getting heavy for him. Surely he must be getting tired? He was strong, no doubt. He had trained sith the royal guards, as well as in his spare time, for years! But carrying another human in your arms for hours!? Even the strongest of men would tire eventually.

Catching your eyes he smiled at you, silently reassuring you that he was ok. You purse your lips in response, not believing him, you had already asked him countless times if he was tired, you had told him he could put you down whenever he wanted, but it seemed like he was pretty content with you in his arms.

The more he walked the denser the forest grew. It was a nice day, the sun's light caressing your skin in the best of ways, the breeze brought a refreshing chill every now and then, you could have fallen asleep in his arms then and there. "I don't think we're going to make it to the next down by sundown.." He muttered, shaking his head with a sigh.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have carried me so far, we left the muddy field hours ago and you still won't put me down." You giggled, playfully poking his cheek with your finger. . He blinked, a blush coating his cheeks. "I-I just like holding you!"

He was indulging in the fact he no longer had to hide his love and affection for you, carrying his princess in his arms was just another way to show the outside world who you belonged to, despite having passed no people at all. It was more for his own satisfaction.

"There's a cave over there! We can rest there for tonight!" Your voice snapped him from his thoughts. Your finger pointed out to a lake with a waterfall. It was hard to see but there was a small, circular, opening in the rocks of the cliff. "Good find!" He smiled at you as you jumped from his arms and hurried towards the cave, you wanted to make sure it would be safe enough to sleep in tonight. Izuku pouted as you ran off, already missing the warmth your body provided.

He followed you into the cave, it wasn't big

but it was dry and would keep you hidden from the dangers the night brought. "This will do for tonight, from the looks of the clouds over the mountains it's going to rain soon and we don't want to be stuck outside when it does. That would mean more mud." He grinned at you, nudging you with his elbow. You flushed at the jab he made and turned your head away.

What a tease.

You both took off your bags and placed your items down, Izuku went off to collect sticks to make a fire and you began to roll out your sleeping bags. You kicked away all the stones and dirt before placing them down next to each other. You made sure there was enough room for the campfire, you weren't working with a whole lot of space and the last thing you needed was for your beds to catch fire.

You finished your task relatively quickly and decided to walk outside to the lake's edge. There was a small pathway around the water leading to your cave. It was narrow, meaning you both had to shuffle along sideways to get in and out of the cave,

but it also meant the likelihood of others finding or walking into your cave was very slim.

You took your shoes off at the entrance of the cave and sat down, dipping your feet and lower calves into the water. You closed your eyes and leaned back onto your hands, taking in all the sounds of nature. The rusting of tree leaves, the calls of birds singing with each other, the sloshing of the water as you gently kicked your legs.

Izuku found you peacefully becoming one with nature, a smile made its way to his lips. He figured it would be hard for you to adjust to such a big lifestyle change, going from silk sheets and servants tending to your every need to sleeping bags and having to fend for yourself wouldn't be easy for everyone. You certainly struggled with some of it but at times like this, when you were soaking in the sun, and allowing your surroundings to bring you peace he couldn't help but feel pride for you.

You were doing your best to enjoy this new lifestyle, no matter how much of a shock to your system it was.

He left you alone for now and got to setting up the fire, it took about ten minutes to get the fire going, just in time for thunder to roar from over the mountain tops, a cry of war directed to nature.

You walked back into the cave to avoid being caught in it. Izuku handed you some fruit to snack on, he wished he could offer you a nice meal but when travelling, it wasn't that easy.

“Stop pulling that face.” You said as you took the apple from him, and took a bite.

He blinked, looking up to meet your eyes. “W-what?” You frowned, sitting down beside him, the fire crackling before you both as raindrops began to fall from the sky outside. "You keep pulling that face, as though you're afraid you're not doing good enough."

You could read him like an open book. Granted he never tried to hide his feelings from you. He just wanted to make you happy, you must be so used to your lavish lifestyle, but now you're stuck trudging around in mud and living off apples for every meal. He looked down at the ground, his lips parted as he tried to speak but no words came.

"You already know why I left, but allow me to remind you." You flicked his forehead, a way to get him to look back at you. He frowned, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "I left because I want to be with you, no matter where we are. Whether I'm sitting in a palace eating a piping hot meal or in a cave eating an apple. None of that matters to me, what matters is that I have you by my side." Your hand came up to his cheek, the pad of your thumb brushing over his red cheek.

He half smiled at you, there was still some uncertainty despite your words. However, he wouldn’t be Izuku if he wasn't always worrying over all the little details. You chose to be with him, and he was determined to give you the best life possible. Even if he had his worries he always appreciated you trying to reassure him. He was so lucky to have someone like you in his life, someone willing to give up everything for him. He silently vowed to give you the rest of his life in return. He nuzzled into your hand, pressing it closer to his face. “I love you.” he whispered.

“I love you too.” You smiled, brushing some hair from his eyes before moving in as he did to join your lips in a sweet kiss.

What was meant to be a reassuring peck quickly turned into tongues dancing and hands fumbling. A kiss that stole your breath away. Your hands trailed from his cheeks, down his neck to place on his shoulders. He shivered at your feather-like touches that glided across his skin. His hands pulled you forward by your waist bringing you to his chest.

Your head titled as his did, deepening the kiss. You hummed as his tongue traced over your lips, desperate to feel more of you. You parted your lips, getting up on your knees, never breaking the kiss, and shuffling forward until you were close enough to straddle his lap. He felt him smile into the kiss when you sat on him, like he had gotten his way. His skin was already tingling despite the layers of clothes in the way.

Your fingers tangled into his hair, tugging at the locks, wordlessly begging for more. He got the hint, his hands pushing under your shirt and taking it off in one movement. His scarred hands began tracing shapes into your back as you began gasping for air. He pulled back from your lips, teeth gently tugging at your lip as he did so.

When you looked into his eyes you saw them burning with desire and that alone was enough to send a pool of heat to your core. He moved forward again, lip connecting to your neck, his hot breath fanned against your skin sending shivers down your spine, a small hum escaping your lips as you pulled his head closer.

He left marks all over your neck and collarbone, sucking and nibbling at your soft skin. He soon trailed down to your chest as he unclasped your bra and moved it aside. His eager lips attached to your breast, and while his mouth began to suck on your sensitive buds, playing and groping with the mounds of fat as his hands rolled your hips forward. A groan echoed through the cave when he felt your clit grinding against his growing erection. You moaned, taking the hint and grinding against him creating a heated friction between you. The way you hugged him closer, begging for more, how your hips desperately rolled forward to feel more of him, it turned him on so much he could feel the blood rushing to his throbbing cock.

He pulled away from your breasts, his hands fumbled with your pants. He did take a second to catch his breath as he pulled your pants off leaving you only in panties. He took a second to admire your body, hands caressing up and down your sides as his eyes drank you in. "Gods… you're so beautiful. How did I get so lucky?" He smiled, pressing a loving peck to your bare shoulder. He was always so sappy, even now when you were grinding against him.

You smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek and yanking on his hair. You were desperate to feel more of him, you needed him. He got the hint and pulled off his own pants, throwing them to the side before taking off his shirt. You looked over his scars, pressing kisses to a few of them.

Once you were both rid of all the clothes that kept you apart, he picked you up bridal style, carrying you over to the fur sleeping bags. He lay you down, coaxing your legs apart so he could get between them, your lips locked again, your naked bodies rubbed together, it felt so much better without the clothes in between. He moaned, getting up onto his knees and fisting his hard cock in his hand.

He gave you an expecting look and you crawled forward. You sat back on your knees when you reached him, looking up at him through your lashes, pupils dilated. He smiled down at you, one hand petting your hair as the tip of his cock traced around your lips. "Open up, princess." He whispered and you obeyed.

He pushed his hips forward until his ball hit your chin, tears peaking at the corner of your eyes as you swallowed his length, the tip hitting the back of your throat. He wiped them away for you, "Suck on it for me princess." He muttered breathlessly.

Your tongue circled around the tip, the salty taste of pre cum hitting your taste buds. You bobbed your head up and down, impatience making your actions erratic. He breathed out, eyes sliping close as he marvelled in the feeling of your hot mouth around his aching cock. It took everything in him not to start thrusting forward into your mouth, but he didn't want to hurt you.

You grabbed onto his hips for better leverage, quickening your pace. Saliva began to drip from your mouth, onto your bouncing tits. "Mhh, yeah, just like that baby." You removed one hand from his side and slipped it between your legs, his loud moans and words of praise were too much for you, your ever growing heat needed to be tended to.

Izuku opened his eyes to see where your hand had gone, and upon seeing you pleasuring yourself as you sucked on his member got too overwhelming. His head went back, toes curling as he inhaled a sharp breath. "P-princess i'm going to cum!" he let out a strangle moan, his body curling forward as he released his hot seed into your mouth. He panted as you pulled away, cum covered your lips. Your tongue poked out to lick up every drop as you stared deep into his eyes.

His lips parted at the sight of you greedily lapping up his cum. You smiled at his reaction before laying back down on the sleeping bag. He smiled back, crawling over your body. You were far from done.

He connected his lips back to yours, noses clumsily bumping together, he could taste himself on your tongue, it boosted his ego. Your hips began to rock against his, your slick coating his cock as it slipped between your folds. You sighed into the kiss, grabbing at his hair and neck to pull him closer.

His lips started to trail back down your body, this time going further than your breasts. He kissed his way down your stomach, soon his face was between your legs, he could feel your heat, see your dripping arousal. He licked his lips, squeezing your thigh before diving forward. His tongue pushed inside your hole, lapping up your juices, his nose buried deep into your clit.

You gasped, back arching and toes curling when your aching core finally had some attention. He moaned at your taste, sending vibrations down your spine. Your beautiful noises of pleasure bounced off the walls of the cave. Neither of you had to be quiet anymore, there were no guards, no servants, not even family to be careful of, and he wanted to hear you scream out his name.

"Fuck! p-please. Just fill me up already." You mewled. He looked up at you with a grin, pulling away from you as he licked his lips. You'd never seen such an animalistic look in his eyes. It was like a lion stalking in on his prey.

He got onto his knees, grabbing your hips and pulling your forward. He pressed the tip of his cock to your clit, teasingly rubbing it up and down, slapping it a few times. You whined at his teasing before finally pressing it into your hole.

You simultaneously released low groans. Your hands grabbed at the fabric of the sleeping bags as his fingers dug into your hips. A trapped sigh escaped his lips once he was fully in. He gave you a few seconds to adjust as he put your legs over his shoulders and leaned forward so he could grab and hold one of your hands.

"M-move- fuck~ please!" You moaned. He didn't need to be told twice. He began to pound into you without hesitation. Each thrust of his hips made you whimper and whine, you squeezed his hand as the heat in your core grew.

"Mmh~ you're taking me so well. G-Good girl." He whispered, his hips quickening at the sound of your squelching pussy. He moaned, his cock going sliding into deep. As much as his body wanted to throw his head back he fought to keep it forward. He didn't want to miss a second of your expression. You looked so beautiful, your hair falling around your head like some sort of halo. The way you bit your lip, your eyes rolling back as those blissful, slutty moans left your parted lips.

It was all too perfect.

He took his hand from yours, sitting up and changing the position. He bent you over, ass in the air and your glistening pussy on display for him. He moaned at the sight before slipping back inside of you. His hands clamped down on your waist, pulling you back into him. It was so much faster, harder, you were both screaming out in pleasure at the new position. His cock reached new places.

You rolled your hips against him, eyes rolling back into your head as you desperately grabbed for something to hold onto, fearing that you were already about to come undone around him. You felt his hands rub at your ass cheeks, his eyes admiring how perfectly round and plump they were.

He leaned over your body, chest against your back, one hand holding him up as the other moved around to your swollen clit. He drilled into you as his fingers rubbed circles into your clit. His lips leaving small kisses to your bare shoulder in between his moans.

"Oh.. oh, Y/n~ princess." He panted into your ear. "Are you ready to be filled?" He asked, nuzzling your neck with his nose. His toes were digging into the floor as he felt his throbbing cock ach for release. He wanted to stuff you full of his cum as you screamed out his name.

You nodded, moaning out a string of yes's. You pushed your hips back, keeping up with his lightning speed, your breasts bouncing with each thrust. He closed his eyes, back arching as he felt his hot ropes of cum spill inside of you as you cried out his name, your juices spilling over his hand. Your body curled in on itself as the pleasure washed over you.

He fucked you through your orgasms, only pulling out when his cock had stopped twitching.

You both collapsed onto the fur. He wasted no time pulling you into his arms, hand moving around to massage your hips as he always did. You did your best to ignore the feeling of his cum slipping out of you and dripping onto your thigh.

With a light kiss to your forehead he pulled you to lay on his chest. "You ok, princess?"

You giggled at his concern. "We've done this so many times now and you still worry about hurting me?" His face flushed red, eyes turning away to look at the pouring rain outside the cave. "I-I would never want to hurt you." He confessed.

You took his face into your hand, turning him to look at you. You pressed a kiss to his lips and lay your head back down. "It was amazing as always. Don't worry."

He nodded, both of you laying in silence for a while as you enjoyed the sounds of nature. The calming sounds of rain showering down from the sky, the cackling of the fire that kept you both warm. It was so peaceful. There were no other people in sight, no guards, royals, townspeople. It was just you two, alone, how you both had always wanted it to be.

"You never told me what your mom said when you told her we were leaving." You turned to face him again, resting your chin on his shoulder. His hand ran through your locks absentmindedly.

"She was happy for us. She said she was glad i was following my heart, that i found someone who loves me enough to give up everything they have just to be with me." He smiled, recalling her reaction. "All she asks is that we come back to visit every now and then, and when we eventually find a good home to settle down in, we have to send her a letter telling her our whereabouts so she can come visit us too."

You smiled, it would be so nice to have her visit your home, to be able to cook for her for once. She always took good care of you whenever you went to visit. You couldn't wait to return the favour. "That sounds nice doesn't it?"

He hummed in agreement, the image of you both living in a cottage, somewhere in the forest. Not too far from civilisation but enough to have your own space. No one to bother you, everyday would be peaceful. You could have spare rooms for guests. Maybe a family and pets someday.

"Yeah, that sounds amazing." He smiled, looking at you. His one and only princess, his first and only love.

He couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with you.

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saiilorstars · 3 years

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Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance • Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 20: Happily Ever Now

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x Female OC

Chapter summary: Avalon and the Doctor finally go out on their first date. As happy as they are to be together, they both can't help but think of the future that's coming for them both.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel [If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Avalon had just emerged from her bathroom wrapped in a towel after a long, relaxing bath. She could still smell the lavender scented bath bomb she'd used. She just loved the scent so much! She made it to her closet when she heard a small noise from her door. She peered around the closet door and saw a folded, old looking, paper on the floor.

"What?" she crinkled her nose and walked over to pick it up. In doing so, she found a second smaller paper under it.

At first glance she knew the first paper was made to look old. There was a laced purple bow keeping the paper folded and, as beautiful as it was, Avalon pulled it off and opened up the paper that turned out to be a letter.

My dearest Ava,

It has come to my attention that we have not had a first date. It's frankly ridiculous that I have the most amazing woman at my side and I haven't taken her out on date! I would love to spend one whole day with you and no one else . If you agree, then I shall await for you in the console room in one hour.

Yours truly,

The Doctor.

Avalon felt her entire face warm up after reading the letter. She checked the second smaller paper and found it was a P.S. She had to laugh.

P.S. If you accept, dress for heat. Literally. It's going to be like summer.

She looked up at the ceiling with a dreamy smile. "Did you see him write this for me?" It was silent for a few seconds but then Avalon heard a light hum. "Well, my Fairy Tale Man just wins for today." She folded the letter again and brought it to her vanity desk and checked herself in the mirror. "I have a lot of work today, don't I?"

The TARDIS hummed and Avalon would dare to say it was an outraged hum.

She giggled and looked up at the ceiling. "You are far too kind to me, you know? I still don't understand why but I'm happy about it. Now," she turned away from the vanity desk and brought her hands together, "I have one hour to make myself look gorgeous. No wet curls-" she wrapped a stark wet curl around her finger, "-and towels! And I absolutely need stunning clothes! Can we do it!?"

The TARDIS hummed loudly, making Avalon laugh again.

"I'm taking that as a yes! Let's do it!" Avalon determinedly marched for her closet to start searching for those out-of-this-world clothes!

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was making endless rounds at the console trying to wait like he promised. He was sure the TARDIS was laughing at him with all the humming she was doing. "Very lovely dear, absolutely lovely," he scowled at the rotor. "I know you can't help favorite Avalon but do remember I have known you for centuries. I deserve a little encouragement from you." And right now he could use all the encouragement and support he could get. He was about to go on a date with Avalon, their first date, and he had no idea if she would like what he set up for them. He'd covered his basis and made sure that Amy and Rory were nonethewisers about it. They and the Sapling were off at a beach to enjoy their day. Today was going to be all about him and Avalon, just them.

It was nerve-wrecking.

"You are 909 years old, get a hold of yourself," the Doctor berated himself. He would try not to think about the insane age gap between him and Avalon but right now he needed to remember his age. He couldn't be this nervous over a date - he'd done a lot more than just date in the past so why was this one date different?

Because it's Avalon you idiot. The Doctor came to a stop and deeply exhaled. It was Avalon. The girl he was head over heels for. The girl he was in love with and who had no idea about it.

Somebody cleared their throat and since the only people in the TARDIS was him and Avalon, the Doctor quickly spun around to find his ginger.

Don't spin so fast! That's not cool! It was then that the Doctor panicked as he realized that he needed to learn how to be cool, desperately. He always said that he was cool but Avalon tore that to pieces each time she came into a room looking all...well...the way she looked right now.

She really took his suggestion of wearing something for summer. She'd chosen a khaki, tie-front, peekaboo dress with thin spaghetti straps. Its skirt was just a bit flared so it wasn't tight, although the bodice seemed to be just right.

Once the Doctor felt his face heat up he knew it was time to look away, literally anywhere else...but his eyes drifted back to her each time. He caught sight of her legs and suddenly the heat was there to stay.

She'd paired her dress with pink, suede lace up sandals with just a hint of a heel. Her hair was left in its natural curly state with one jeweled rose clip at the back of her hair holding the bump on top of her head. Her curly hair was sometimes her worst enemy.

Avalon slowly made her way up the glass stairs to the console and nervously stopped a few feet from the Doctor. "I got your letter..."

The Doctor took one deep breath in and smelled her lavender scented perfume. Amazing. He was also aware of her soft pink lips were enhanced with a shade of lipstick that...that made him want to forget everything and just kiss her all day. "Yeah..." When he realized that wasn't at all cool, much less suave, he shook his head and started again. "I meant yes, that-that was...that was me."

Dammit. He wasn't getting it right, was he?

Avalon blushed when she remembered the letter's words. "I've never been asked out on a date through a letter..."

"Is that...is that not cool?" the Doctor blinked, panicking all over again. He intended on being different when it came to their relationship and he thought, since Avalon loved everything classical, that an old-fashion letter might be better than him stammering out the question. At the very least it could be more memorable.

Avalon sweetly smiled and leaned forwards to kiss him on the lips. "That was very sweet," she tapped his lips afterwards. "Very romantic."

"That...is what I was going for," the Doctor nodded, slowly finding his voice again. "I will always try to be like that, my princess."

Whether she wanted to or not, Avalon blushed again. It was ridiculous, she knew, to get all these butterflies in her stomach at a word that almost anyone would use on their partner. But, when the Doctor used it, she could almost believe that she was a princess. It didn't sound cliche at all. It had meaning.

He has saved you plenty of times, she reminded herself.

She stepped closer to him and drew her hand over his chest. "And what shall I call you? My knight in shining armor? My prince?"

"I like the first one, makes me sound cool." The Doctor grinned smugly, especially when he remembered that's how Avalon had dreamed of him. "Yeah, I'm your Knight in shining armor."

Avalon chuckled. "Not like you haven't been one in my dreams..."

"Was I? I totally forgot," the Doctor feigned surprise. "Didn't cross my mind one bit..."

"You're too modest but I'm not going to get into that right because somebody, I'm not pointing at anyone..." Except Avalon did just that with her excitement sparkling in her eyes. "But somebody promised me an entire day that'd be all about me."

"W-well that wasn't...I said to us..." the Doctor pointed at himself and Avalon, and though she seemed to nod that she understood...

"Right, about me," she slowly went around the console, brushing her hands over the controls.

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes at her, figuring he wasn't going to get anywhere with her and honestly...who cared? He wanted to spend the entire day with her so maybe it was just about her. "I've found the perfect place for you, my dear Ava," he went the opposite way around the console, soon meeting her halfway. "And the best part of it is that we won't have any interruptions."

"Oh, and why wouldn't we want any interruptions?" Avalon played innocent so nicely that the Doctor almost believed her, almost. "Are you planning on doing something...?"

The Doctor truly hated how quickly the heat returned to his face but he'd taken one look at her dress again, specifically at the exposed shot he got of her midriff, and it was all downhill from there. She was teasing him so subtly and yet so obviously, he absolutely hated it. So why was his body almost on fire?

"Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon stepped closer to him and brought her hand up his arm 'till it came to rest on his shoulder. "You were saying?"

"R-right, uh...I meant to say..." the Doctor did his best to look only at her eyes but she still somehow made her innocent gaze so flirty. "I want a proper date with you where there's no danger, no aliens...except for me," she chuckled, "And especially, no interruptions from beloved Pond 1, Pond 2 and our dear Sapling."

Avalon swayed her head in agreement. It sounded very nice. "It has been a bit constant, huh?"

"YES!" the Doctor nearly shouted, "I love them, I really love them but every time we're in our little moments...they come in and interrupt us. Like, last night, when we were watching a movie and...we got...distracted," Avalon blushed but remain silent as he continued, "They almost walked in!" the Doctor frowned, "Or how about when we were in the archery room and we were having a little moment...and they almost caught us! Every time I want to kiss you or just be alone with you for a while they come in and I'm tired of it! And the Sapling! He's too innocent to figure out that sometimes we just want to be alone."

Avalon laughed when she remembered the time the Doctor had tried to explain to the Sapling that his Mother and Father wanted to watch a movie by themselves and the Sapling had asked 'why?' which then led to a very comical stammering from the Doctor. But as funny as it had been, Avalon felt like the Doctor was right. Of course it brought out another issue they hadn't yet come up with a solution for.

"We could just decide to tell them, you know," she said and immediately felt the Doctor stiffen under her hand. "What?" she laughed. "Too scared to face Amy and Rory?"

"Well...yes...honestly..."

And she didn't even know the half of it. The Doctor knew that Rory had expressed his support for a relationship between Avalon and him if it ever arose, but it didn't stop the Doctor from being scared that there would still be a part of Rory that would reject the relationship. After all, Avalon was no longer a friend, she was his granddaughter. Of course Rory would want his granddaughter - his only grandchild - to be with somebody safe. And he...was not safe. Which also brought the idea that maybe even Amy would disagree now that she knew Avalon was her granddaughter. It wasn't just them, it also went back to Avalon's father - now uncle - who they would eventually have to tell. How would Ryland react to his only brother's daughter having a relationship with the man who was surely responsible for Oliver's death? He would have every right to be against it. Only River Song would, seemingly, be in his corner but that didn't stop the Doctor from feeling the guilt. River wholeheartedly agreed with it, even pushed him towards her daughter, but he was the reason River was far away from Avalon in the first place. He'd done so much to the Ponds and of course he would choose to go and fall for one of them.

Of course.

"Doctor?" Avalon gently called since he'd fallen deep into his thoughts. "Hey," she noticed his face had gone pale and that couldn't be right, at least not over facing Amy and Rory. "So what if Amy and Rory don't agree? Even if they didn't agree, which I highly doubt to be honest, why would it matter? It's not their relationship, it's ours."

"I know," the Doctor lowered his gaze with a weary sigh. It was all so jumbled up.

"Are you sure it's just about them?" Avalon decided to ask what she'd been suspecting for a few days now. "Or is it that you're not quite sure about me yet? Because...because I'm not like you? A...what did you call it? A Time Lady?"

The Doctor's eyes snapped up to meet her nervous pair. "That is never it, Avalon. Don't you...don't ever think that, alright?" He cupped her face and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, only parting enough to talk. "You are perfect the way you are. I would never think any less of you because you're different. Hell, I like you more because you're not like me. My people...they weren't the best, least not in the end. You're not a Time Lady, you are better."

"Alright, you don't have to kiss up," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes in an attempt to be casual but the truth was she was close to tearing up. "Actually, you could kiss up if you'd like. Kiss here-" she tapped her lips, "-and here-" she moved her finger to her nose, "-and then over here..." She tapped both of her cheeks.

"As tempting as that sounds - and it's really tempting - I would much rather go on our date. What do you think?"

Avalon nodded her head. "Take me away, Fairy Tale Man!"

"Gladly!" the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.

~ 0 ~

"If I trip, I'm going to kill you," Avalon so romantically warned as the Doctor guided her with his hands over her eyes.

"Don't you trust me?" he planted a kiss on her cheek for good measure.

"Of course but I also trust that you're very clumsy and frankly I'd rather not trip because my idiot of a boyfriend - I mean our relationship that's still yet to be labeled - tripped over his own feet."

"I'm still looking for the right label, don't you worry," he promised and finally stopped them right where he needed her. "Now are you ready?"

"Yes! You're lucky I haven't bitten you!"

"Well, to be honest, biting me isn't really much of a punishment anymore," the Doctor cleared his throat and thanked the stars that Avalon's eyes were closed so she couldn't see his blush.

Avalon smirked. "Duly noted. Now please take your hands off my eyes so I can see!"

"Right, I really hope you like this place." The Doctor took in a deep breath then finally pulled his hands from her eyes.

Avalon was quick to open her eyes but she was initially blinded by the sun. She shielded her eyes until her vision could adjust and when it did, she was mesmerized.

She was standing on a marbleized ground, the 'backyard' of the building behind her. She didn't waste time studying that because what truly took her breath away were the botanical gardens in front of them. She stepped forwards, her eyes landing on the large squared pool - that couldn't be deeper than five feet - in front of them with an aisle down the middle leading to what she imagined were the other gardens. She could see two sets of staircases on either side after crossing the aisle. The green gardens, as well as smaller lakes and pools, seemed like they stretched on forever.

"Where are we?" She turned to the Doctor, her eyes dazzling with excitement at the prospect of everything else she'd yet to see.

"This is the Gardenia Style," the Doctor extended his arms to his side. "A relaxation retreat for anybody who needs it. It's the best one in the Andromeda galaxy."

"A retreat? I don't...I don't really see anyone," Avalon said after taking another scan of the place but it seemed pretty empty.

"That's cos there's nobody here. They owe me one."

Avalon snapped her head in the Doctor's direction, eyes wide. "So they just...they just let you close down the place? What...because you asked?"

"The head of the place is an old friend of mine. I explained the situation and I asked her if it was possible to give me a day."

"And she said 'yes of course I can shut down my very profitable business just for you!'," Avalon folded her arms, her lips curving into a smile that threatened to laugh. "Doctor, you can just get people to do that!?"

"Well, I...yes?" the Doctor scratched the top of his head. It was something that he did get to do at times but he never took advantage of it either. "I helped her a long time ago when she was having an, uh, infestation problem..."

"Oh, so you saved her ass and now she owes you? Typical," Avalon turned away from him to gaze at the beautiful scenery. "My Fairy Tale Man just saves so many people, huh?"

"So do you like it?" the Doctor moved to stand behind her, his arms cautiously slipping around her waist. He thought it was the perfect place for Avalon because of its fairy tale nature. He was anxious to show her a few special places the gardens had to offer, but he wouldn't do any of it if Avalon didn't like it.

"I love it!" Avalon exclaimed and leaned her head against his chest, tilting it up to show him her grin. "You chose perfectly."

"Anything for my Ava," he kissed her on the lips. "My princess."

Avalon felt the dozen butterflies fluttering in her stomach at his new name for her. Yeah, he could keep calling her that for as long as he liked.

"C'mon!" the Doctor unwrapped his arms around her to take her hand.

"What are we going to do?" Avalon laughed as he led them down the small steps towards the pool aisle.

"Anything we want! We have the whole day!"

Indeed they did.

~ 0 ~

Avalon was eager to see everything, but the Doctor was right in that they should start with lunch. And as if to prove her point, her stomach decided to grumble only seconds after the Doctor proposed the idea. So he led her towards the spot where lunch had already been served for them.

Avalon keeled over at the chosen spot. They would be having lunch in a gazebo right in the middle of a beautiful lake. The Doctor led her down the boarded bridge up to the stone gazebo decorated with red poppies, her favorite flower.

"This is amazing," she couldn't keep her mouth from falling each time she looked. She gazed over the lake where flowers lazily floated down their direction. She then turned her attention to the table that was truly set with everything they could possibly eat.

"I'm glad to see you like it," the Doctor's voice pulled her eyes off an odd blue slushy-like content inside a bowl.

She turned around with a wide, soft smile. She walked up to him and looped her arms around his neck then kissed him. "You are wonderful. This entire place, the parts that I've seen is all wonderful. But you know...just because I love fairy tales and I call you my Fairy Tale Man doesn't mean you have to do all this for me. I really would've been just as happy with a picnic or a date in the TARDIS."

The Doctor could see her genuine honesty in her eyes. His hearts swelled knowing that she would be satisfied with something simple so long as they were together, but it didn't mean he could stop himself from enchanting her with everything he could get his hands on. "I just really like impressing you," he said, bringing one of his hands to stroke her cheek. "And I think you deserve only the best."

"You gave me the best thing that happened to my life nearly two years ago when you came back for me. Although, one could say that you only came back for me because Lena asked you to." Avalon casually played with his bowtie while she oh-so-innocently asked her question, "Would you have come back for me if Lena hadn't said anything?"

"Without a doubt," the Doctor had the answer within the second she asked it.

She raised her eyes, dropping her hand from her bowtie. "Really?" There were no more innocent games when she asked again. She had been the last one the Doctor came to pick up after the Atraxi incident, who's to say he wouldn't have changed his mind about her if Lena hadn't needed her. "I was in jail the last the time you saw me. You helped me because Lena asked you to. If she hadn't said anything, would you have still helped me? Would you have come back for me like you came for Amy?"

"Of course I would have," the Doctor once again answered her as soon as she asked. He thought these were rhetorical questions, but River's warning came back to mind. Avalon was a strong girl but every now and then she needed reassurance from people around her. "You helped me when you were seven and you did impress me, Avalon. I have never met another child like you and most certainly another woman like you."

A bright pink blush bloomed across Avalon's face, nothing stopping the big grin on her lips though. "I can say with the utmost certainty that I have never met another man like you."

That was music to the Doctor's ears. He leaned down to kiss her, practically meshing their lips together. Avalon's arms around his neck unwinded slightly to touch his hair. She'd learned fast that the Doctor loved getting his hair touched, stroked and tugged on. Who was she to deny him his bit of pleasure when he was so attentive to her likes? She kissed him fervently and let her fingers stroke through his hair for as long as he wanted because really...who would interrupt them? The flowers in the lake? Nobody. That was the best part of this place. They could kiss for as long as they liked, wherever they'd like.

~0~

"Okay, what is that?" Avalon laughed as the Doctor picked up the odd blue gushy stuff in a bowl.

The Doctor seemed to like it judging by his grin. "Oh, you'll love it!" He scooted his chair closer to hers with the bowl in hand. "Try it."

"Right, but you haven't told me what it is," Avalon pointed out, "And I'd rather not be poisoned."

"Oi, you think I'm poisoning you?" the Doctor made a face.

"Payback for what I did."

Even if it was a joke, the Doctor didn't like it. "I would never," he whispered earnestly. "Because you know I forgive you for everything, not like I had to though." He reached over to her and gently tucked a curl behind her ear, though it kept sticking back out. He smiled at her so kindly that Avalon teared up.

"Oh God I will never forgive myself for it," she shook her head.

"Ava, don't think about that stuff. You're here now and you're okay. I won't let anything happen to you, never again."

Avalon smiled through her tears. "Okay, let's try that gushy stuff then." She tried her best to eat it without letting it spill on her dress. They collectively laughed when she slurped it up. "That's ladylike for sure!"

"What'd you think?" the Doctor handed her a napkin.

"I love it! Kind of like blueberry!"

"Excellent, then I know you'll love Akhaten!"

Avalon shot him a confused smile. "Aka-what?"

"Akhaten, you'll love it! It's a planet with a big ole market place and a beautiful sun."

"I'd love to go there," Avalon's smile widened with excitement.

The Doctor chuckled, "I'll take you one day, I promise."

Avalon beamed. Something about making plans for the future made butterflies appear in her stomach. It also made her want to push away all thoughts about Lake Silencio even harder. She couldn't let that future happen. In fact, now she was thinking about the moment a lot clearer. A lot of the Doctor's behavior was beginning to make sense. He'd been a lot nicer to her than what their relationship back then entailed. He didn't even get mad at her for stealing a Milan fashion dress! That should've been her first clue that he'd been a future Doctor. My Doctor wouldn't get so mad at me right now...

"Hey Doctor, what would you think of going back to Milan again for fashion week?"

"I think I would die of boredom 2 seconds after we get there," the Doctor answered with an honest-to-God straight face.

"Well, how about if I nicked something kind of pretty for me?" she arched an eyebrow. "Maybe something kind of sexy?"

That definitely got his attention. "Uh, well..." He cleared his throat, obviously finding nothing to do with himself in the moment. "I-I would think...they...they probably wouldn't miss one silly little dress..."

Avalon smiled widely. The Lake Silencio Doctor was truly a future version. He'd been this Doctor she had in front of him, the one who cared for her so much that he couldn't find a label to describe just how much he felt for her.

"Ava, what's wrong?" the Doctor reached to clear off a tear rolling down her cheek.

She quickly blinked the rest away. She had teared up without noticing. "N-nothing. I'm happy, I'm very happy right now." She took his hand from her face and held it tightly in hers. "You have no idea how much I care for you, Doctor. I'm almost upset that you haven't come up with a good label for us just so I can use it right now."

"I am trying," he assured her. "I might just have to create a new word for us. That is how much I care for you." Avalon chuckled but there were still tears welling in her eyes. It puzzled the Doctor deeply. "Why are you crying, Ava?"

"These are happy tears," she tried to argue but he had come to know her that well now.

"No," he cleared more tears off her face with his free hand. "They're sad tears. What is making my Ava so sad?"

Avalon felt so stupid for ruining their date, but she couldn't stop the tears. He was right, they were sad tears but they were also fearful tears, and even happy tears. She was an outright mess. "I just..." She sniffed and let go of his hand to dry her face completely.

The Doctor pushed his chair back to stand up but Avalon beat him to it. She got up from her chair and easily slipped onto his lap. She pressed her lips to his for a sweet, long kiss. The Doctor truly had no idea what was going on but he would never refuse the chance to kiss her.

A few minutes later, Avalon pulled away but only slightly. She smiled at him but the Doctor could still see that same sadness in her eyes. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Tell me what's wrong, Ava, and I'll make it better. I'll always try to make everything better for you."

"Really? Anything?"

"Anything."

Don't be stupid. Avalon took his hand stroking her face and gave it a kiss. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything." The Doctor was willing and ready which did, admittedly, give Avalon a teeny-tiny bit of hope that maybe this time they could change the future.

"Promise me that we won't end. Promise me that you'll try to stay at my side...at least until you get tired of me."

The Doctor thought it was silly that she'd want to hear this but...if she needed reassurance he'd give it to her. "I promise. I promise to stay at your side..." Until Time would say otherwise and Time had already spoken, he was just too much of a coward to tell her the truth. He made it a routine to check his biography from the Teselecta every day, reminding himself of what was to come in 200 years. Perhaps he was ridiculous for thinking that he could change the future, but having Avalon with him right now, asking him to stay at her side...it created a powerful drive to make it so.

He couldn't fathom not being with her.

She was still holding onto his hand when he maneuvered his fingers to stroke her skin. "I promise that I will be at your side until I die." That was a promise he could keep.

Avalon took in a shaky breath. 'Until I die'. She had been at his side when he died.

"Why don't we finish lunch and then I can show you the rest of this place, hm?" the Doctor asked. He wanted to rid her of those tears ruining her usual clear blue eyes. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each of her fingers. He was glad to see her smiling by the time he kissed her pinky.

Avalon ultimately nodded her head. She shouldn't waste such a beautiful day on horrid thoughts. "Okay, but one more thing...do I have to get off?"

The Doctor hook his head, grinning almost immediately. "Not at all. But you might have to help me eat..."

Avalon swayed her head then reached for a few grapes on a nearby bowl. She held one to his mouth and watched him take it off swift and easily. She then dropped one into her own mouth and smirked at him.

How the hell can she make that look so seductive? The Doctor figured he wouldn't get that answer, so the least he could do was take advantage of every moment it happened.

~ 0 ~

After lunch, the Doctor got to lead Avalon through the gardens. He had shown her the smaller pools which, unfortunately, he did not allow her to dip her toes in. She rolled her eyes at his excuse that, while being true, was still annoying.

"So I get a cold, what's the big deal?" she was only letting him hold her hand because if not, there was a good chance she'd get lost in the maze they'd entered.

"The big deal is I don't know how aggressive that cold might get and I don't feel like seeing you get a cold. I am the Doctor, remember? My patient is not getting sick on my watch."

"Patient?" she shot him a side-glance. "Is that all I am?"

"Still working on a label my love."

Avalon's head turned in the opposite direction when she felt a blush cross her face. Whenever the Doctor would say 'my love' to her, her face automatically went all warm. She was choosing to ignore the tingle - as best as she could - that was going down her back.

"Not upset are you?" the Doctor noticed her gaze had become stuck on the bright green bush walls.

"No, course not," Avalon finally gave him a well needed look a few seconds later. "I have to say, I love this maze...one could get lost in it forever, huh?"

"No, not really," the Doctor shook his head. "It's not that big."

"Still, a maze? Gardens? Lakes? Doctor, I really love this place," Avalon turned to him with a smile to match what she felt. "I'm curious to see where you might take me tomorrow, on a normal day?"

"Well, 'normal' isn't exactly the word I'd use for us. But to answer your question, I'd take you anywhere you'd like."

"Really? Anywhere?"

"Anywhere. My only rule is that it has to be exceptional for my Ava." The Doctor took her hands into his, intertwining their fingers together.

"Even if it's outrageous?" Avalon bit her lower lip with anticipation. "Could I ask to see something outrageously exceptional, then?"

"Of course. Name something, I dare you."

Avalon hummed while she thought about such an outrageous place that even he couldn't make it happen. "I got it. Can you take me to, I don't know, Neverland?" That had to be impossible for him to reach.

"I'd make it so," the Doctor gently tugged Avalon to him, smiling at her soft laughter. "I would!"

"It's from a movie, Doctor!"

"Doesn't mean I can't find a piece of it somewhere up there," he tilted her chin up to the sky. "Cos that's the best thing about traveling in the TARDIS, Ava. Somewhere in the galaxies, in one small corner, there might be two little stars and we'd only have to go to the second star on the right."

Avalon stared at him with twinkling eyes. "You would make it so even if you couldn't," she said quietly. The Doctor only gave a light shrug, but it was done almost automatic, like an instinct. He didn't know if he could ever find the place but he would try to find it for her. "Second star to the right," she whispered.

"Those are our plans for tomorrow then," the Doctor swooped down to give her a kiss. "Can't wait to see what we come up with for the day after."

Avalon laughed and allowed him to pull her down the maze. "You're going to get us lost!"

"I will not!" he huffed. He stopped them at an intersection and Avalon swore he looked at each path more than what a person who knew what they were doing had to. "I've been here a bunch of times!"

"Oh, who with?" Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, genuinely curious who had had the privilege of seeing this beautiful place.

"What?" the Doctor registered the question a few seconds after choosing to turn to the left. "Who did I...? Oh! I, uh, I think I showed Donna!"

"You don't remember?" Avalon made a face at him, almost looking offended on behalf of Donna.

"Well, it was such a long time ago!"

"But you said Donna used to be your best friend, how could you forget that you came here with her?"

The Doctor came to a slow stop and looked at her. "I do have 900 years worth of memories, Ava. My head's not that big, despite what you all say. Plus, a good chunk of my memories are with the Sapling."

Avalon rolled her eyes and allowed him to finish their way out of the maze. She gave him his credit for finding the way out in five minutes, although she suspected that Donna had played a huge part in finding the way out because Avalon swore that the Doctor had mumbled some type of mnemonic to help him find the way in the end.

"What a beautiful sight," she remarked once they were on the other side. The maze had led them out on a new grassy terrain with a cliff ledge.

The Doctor brought Avalon towards the edge so she could see the waterfall gushing below into a river. Where that ended, Avalon had no clue, but it all looked amazing. The sun was making the water shine a golden shade that Avalon didn't want to look away anytime soon.

"C'mon Ava," the Doctor had to eventually drag her away from the edge. He was a bit afraid that in her attempt to look further below, she might fall. He'd love to make a dive himself but Avalon didn't know how to swim. That would probably be a problem.

"But I want to keep looking," Avalon complained with an arm gesturing at the scenery.

"We can do that, just not right at the edge!" The Doctor brought them back a decent amount from the cliff and then sat down on the grass. He patted the spot beside him and flashed her a smile. With a roll of her eyes, she sat down. As soon as she'd gotten comfortable, the Doctor moved again.

"Doctor, what are you...?" Avalon laughed when he made himself comfortable with his head over her lap. He shifted far too much, making it a show until he finally found his spot. "Are you good now?" Avalon looked down at him with another laugh.

"Oh yeah," he nodded but a few seconds later Avalon noticed the quick dart his eyes did to the opposite direction.

"What is it?"

"Um, your, uh..." he coughed in an obvious manner of awkwardness. "It is a beautiful dress you're wearing, Ava."

Avalon blushed when she realized he'd gotten a little glimpse through the hole of her dress below her chest. She pressed her dress and cleared her throat. "Sorry. You can look now."

The Doctor suspected she wasn't very sorry, and if he was going to admit silently then he wasn't sorry either. You are way ahead of yourself, Doctor. Calm down.

"I bet your mind just rushed with new thoughts, didn't it?" Avalon smirked.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Alright, alright, I'll let it go because you're doing so good today."

"I am?"

"Mhm," Avalon started stroking his hair, much to his delight.

The Doctor was sure that she had the most gentle fingers. She was a writer so maybe that had to do with it. But there's no explanation for the way she makes me feel when she touches my hair. Several times the Doctor had to swallow a moan. He wasn't sure if Avalon knew what she caused, but either way he couldn't ask her to stop. It felt too good.

"Don't fall asleep on me, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon chuckled when a few minutes had passed by and the Doctor hadn't opened his eyes.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" the Doctor cracked one eye open. "I heard from Amy about your little tricks at your sleepovers. You drew all over her face and you had the audacity to scribble a little 'sincerely Ava' under." If he had, had the slightest doubt that his Ava could pull off something like that, the confirmation was all in Avalon's smirk. "You are one bad girl."

"And yet you don't sound the least bit upset about it," Avalon bopped her nose over his roguish lips.

"I do like myself a bad girl, especially the gingers. They're the feistiest!"

"Are you speaking from experience? Have you dated another ginger like me?" Avalon scrunched her face as soon as she realized what she asked. She placed her finger over his lips before he could answer her. "I'm not sure I can handle the long list you have of significant others." She raised her finger from his lips and sighed. "That doesn't mean I would want you to forget about them, though. I mean...I'm not gonna be one of those people demanding you forget every other relationship you've ever had."

"I thank you for that, and it's the same for you, you know," the Doctor reached up to her face and stroked her plump pink lips. "But that doesn't mean I'd like to hear who else had the privilege of kissing these lips."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Many have had the fortune but none will have it now but you. I hope you extend me the same courtesy."

"You know it."

"I hope so because I know your track record, mister. Almost every companion has had a piece of you!"

"That was...that's...I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, I'm sure!" Avalon would've bantered more with him if he wasn't reacting so serious. He should know by now that this was just her way of being. "Calm down, Fairy Tale Man. I'm just pulling your leg."

"Well, can you pull my hair instead?" the Doctor didn't hesitate to respond with. He short her a smirk and pointed to his unkempt hair.

"You are so..." Avalon wouldn't be able to find the right word to describe him and she wasn't going to spend all day thinking of one. She let her fingers once again run through his hair and smiled when he saw the satisfaction on the Doctor's face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"I, uh...you know that I know about your past, perhaps not all of it but a good amount. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I would really get it..."

"You're rambling, Ava," the Doctor opened his eyes to see her struggling face. "What is it?"

"I know about your last love, your most recent last love." Soon as she started with those words, she felt the Doctor's body stiffen. "There's no resentment, Doctor. Never. I'm only curious about her. Rose Tyler was her name. Kovarian mentioned her a lot. She said that Rose unintentionally helped the Daleks break through the walls of the universe."

"She had no idea what she was doing," the Doctor said quietly. "She wanted to come back to this world..."

"...to find you?" Avalon smiled softly at him, truly bearing no type of anger or resentment like she said. "I can admire that. She broke through parallel walls just to find you. Must have been one hell of a love story."

"It was," the Doctor said after a minute of struggle. He wasn't used to talking about his past with anyone, much less to think about people like Rose, people that had meant a lot to him.

"You can always talk to me, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon whispered and the Doctor wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or subconsciously, but her fingers found a gentler way of stroking his hair. "Is there something you want to tell me about Rose Tyler? Let somebody new in on her memory?"

The Doctor smiled. My Ava. "She was sweet, she was young - she was your age when we first met. Nineteen. She worked at a shop and...she didn't really know what she was doing with her life."

"I felt that," Avalon chuckled. She never knew what she was going to do with her life before the Doctor returned to Leadworth.

"Travelling helped her find her way. But then she got pulled into a parallel world. She almost died but she was saved. Being stuck in that parallel world was better than for her to have died in the Void with the Daleks and Cybermen."

Avalon fingers stopped between the Doctor's hair. "The Daleks and Cybermen..." she whispered. She closed her eyes when the memories tried coming back. "Kovarian showed me so many pictures of that battle...I can't...I can't believe it..."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, feeling guilty he was bringing back the things she wanted to clearly forget.

"No, no, you're good. I...I wasn't even there, I mean...I wasn't in the eye of the storm where it happened. But you were...you were there when your friend got lost. I'm so sorry it happened."

"It started a lot of things," the Doctor said with a saddened smile. Losing Rose had been one of the most terrible days of his life, but it truly did start different stories afterwards. "I met Martha soon after - actually, I met Donna before and then Martha but then I found Donna again."

"Lucky her," Avalon resumed with her gentle fingers gliding through his hair.

"Yeah...no...no, she wasn't. It was fate. I met her to lose her as well."

"You always say that I remind you of Donna," Avalon said, unable to keep her curiosity hidden. "Why's that? Besides the ginger thing of course. That doesn't automatically make us twins or something."

The Doctor chuckled. "I know. You two shout at me the same way, the only difference is now I can kiss you to shut you up. If I did that with Donna she'd kill me. She made it very clear to on her first day in the TARDIS that she did not want anything to do with me beyond friendship."

"Did she shout it?"

"A possibility."

"Alright Donna," Avalon smiled.

"I wish you could have met her, Avalon. I think out of everyone I met before you and the Ponds, you would've gotten along with Donna the best. She could be reckless and fun when she wanted to be. She grew to become confident, to love who she was. She was brave as hell and so sympathetic to others. She had some very good snaps and comebacks too. She even gave me my own nickname like you did. Spaceman." Just remembering the many times Donna would call him 'spaceman' made him long for the times with his best friend. He'd love to have Donna around so she could meet Avalon and no doubt make fun of him for taking so long to open up about his feelings.

Avalon tilted her head in thought. "Spaceman...I like it. Not as much as Fairy Tale Man but...she had taste." She looked down at him to find him lost in thoughts, no doubt about Donna. "You really miss her, huh?"

"Yeah. If I hadn't had to wipe her memories, I'm sure she would still be here. She would be making endless jokes about the fact we had a cosmic tree child."

Avalon laughed. "You think so?"

"I know so!"

"She sounds great, Doctor, really. She and Rose do. I'm so sorry that you lost them."

The Doctor sobered from his own laugh but when he smiled, it was no longer sad. He gazed up at her and met her lovable sea-blue eyes. He finally sat up and shifted to sit beside her, facing her, with one arm going over her lap to rest on her other side. "I lost them but I have you now. I did love Rose, I won't lie - not that I could - but I lost her a long time ago. And I understood why. She wasn't for me. She wasn't...mine. You are. And Donna's gone, my best friend, but I found new friends. I have Amy, Rory, and my sweet baby sister Lena. I have all of you now."

Avalon's eyes glistened with tears. "Why do you always make me tear up dammit?"

"I'm sorry, dear," the Doctor rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

"They're happy tears, trust me," Avalon said, this time genuinely truthful. "I'm happy that you're happy. Let's me know that I'm doing a good job here."

"Of course you are. No matter what you do I'm happy, so long as you're by my side." He leaned closer to her, purposely pausing just in front of her lips to give her a heads up of what was coming. "Are you happy?"

Avalon felt like that was a ridiculous question to ask, but she humored him. "Very. I wish I could thank Rose and Donna, and everyone else who came before me, for saving your ass so you could be here with me."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You just couldn't help yourself, huh?"

"No..." Avalon giggled. "I'm really bad."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed before kissing her. God knows what else she might say.

~ 0 ~

"Hey Doctor, I just realized, how come you didn't tell me about your other friend, Martha Jones?" Avalon asked once the pair were out of the maze and cliff altogether. They were in front of a rectangle-shaped, 2ft pool. Avalon noticed the stone flower statues lining the middle of the pool.

"Oh, uh, cos I'm saving her for a better moment," the Doctor said, flashing her a mischievous smile.

"What are you up to Fairy Tale Man?"

The Doctor turned to her, letting his mischievous smile widen even more. "Confession time?"

"Always!"

"Back when I was looking for you, I actually had some help from my old friend Martha. I thought we might pop back to see her and you can meet her."

Avalon nodded excitedly. "I'd love that! You think she'd like me?"

"Of course she would," the Doctor said, preferring not to think about how Martha had implied this relationship was coming. He'd just have to suck it up and admit she was right sooner or later. "And, I guess...we could get our mutual old friend...Jack..."

Avalon had heard the name perfectly despite how low the Doctor had muttered it. "Jack!? Oh my God, I'd love to see him again! I haven't seem him in such a long time!"

"Please...try to look excited..." the Doctor's face was completely flat while Avalon practically bounced at the idea of seeing the old immortal man.

"I am!" Avalon laughed, not noticing his expression yet. "I love Jack! He just gets me and my weaponry interests!"

"Oh, well...so long as you're happy, I guess..."

Avalon rolled her eyes when she finally got his disdain. "Oh Fairy Tale Man. He's my friend! I"m allowed to have friends that are men!"

"Yeah, but Jack just loves to flirt with everyone and so do you! I dread to think of what it's gonna be like seeing you flirt with him!"

"Jealous?" a sly smile took Avalon's face. The Doctor huffed and looked away. "I guess I should keep my mouth shut about my actual previous boyfriends, then?"

"Yeah!"

"Did you say no? I heard 'no'!" Avalon turned away with her hands clapped together. "Let's see, oh! How about my very first boyfriend? Ah, Leo. I liked Leo a lot. You know he took me on a date to the ice cream parlor!"

"Gah," the Doctor waved her off. "Pales in comparison to all this!" He flapped his arms to his sides, gesturing to the beautiful gardens around them.

Avalon kept her back to him but was smirking. She was getting a rile out of him and it was the most hilarious thing ever! "I had my first kiss with him too! I was fifteen but, eh, nothing wrong with a late bloomer! Then there was Benjamin. He was such a sweetheart," Avalon brought a hand over her chest. "He wrote poems for me!"

The Doctor let his arms fall to his sides. He was about to shoot her a comeback but he could tell, even when she wasn't facing him, that she'd started to truly reminisce about her past, just like he had. He couldn't be mad at that. "Did he write them well?" he asked suddenly.

Avalon turned sideways and nodded silently. "He uh...he actually asked me if I..." she chuckled, "He asked me to our school dance in a poem. It was such a cheesy poem but I was so excited cos it was my first school dance." She didn't exactly make the best reputation for herself in school so having a guy actually write her a poem just to ask her out to a dance was beyond her. It still warmed her heart. "Mum took me out shopping for a dress, she tried her best to make this-" she grabbed one of her curls, "-decent, and she let me wear her special lip gloss. Benjy...he was one of the sweet guys."

"Benjy..." the Doctor repeated though there was a light laugh that slipped through his lips. "Then I like him for being thoughtful."

"Really?" Avalon set a hand on her hip. "Cos a minute ago you looked ready to yell."

"Well...you deserve some good memories too, and if 'Benjy'-" the Doctor brought his fingers to the air for quotation marks, "-made you happy then I'm happy too."

"He did," Avalon nodded. "And then a year later he had to move to Scotland. I hated Amy so much..." There, the Doctor laughed. "Her stupid country took away my Benjy!"

"Oh, Ava!"

Avalon sighed, waving him off. "That was my first real break up. I was so sad. Took me forever to get over him. But then I dated again, met Jordan. He was a bad guy..." She smirked and the Doctor had to keep himself refrained from moving when she started biting her lip. "He had the black leather jacket...oh! I had some good times with him."

"Really?"

"Mhm. He was a good kisser."

"So what happened to him, then?"

"Dumped me for some other girl," Avalon scowled.

"Oh," the Doctor wasn't expecting that answer, least not yet. "I'm sorry..."

Avalon shrugged. "Wasn't my first, wasn't my last. I had a couple more boyfriends after that but I don't think they were very meaningful."

"No more 'Benjy's'?" the Doctor asked her, a tiny smile quirking across his lips.

"A few but...I don't know, some of the guys were just boring and others wanted things I didn't want. I think only ever liked Benjy. We dated for a year until he moved. My last boyfriend, the one that dumped me the night you came back for me, remember?"

The Doctor nodded. He remembered her face full of tears. Now that guy deserved all his hatred. No one should make his Ava cry.

"He was fine. We were fine but...I wanted to find Lena and he thought I was getting obsessed. He couldn't handle it so he broke up with me." Avalon exhaled deeply, letting her shoulders once again awkwardly shrug. "I didn't have epic love stories like you did..."

"But they're your stories," the Doctor moved up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Mm, and I wouldn't change them," Avalon pecked his lips and turned around to watch the pool, resting her back against his chest.

The Doctor couldn't help think about her words for a moment. They were the same ones River had told him back when Avalon had escaped the TARDIS to visit her in Stormcage.

His thoughts were interrupted when the sprinklers of the pool turned on. Avalon yelped when the drizzle of water and mist fell over them. She turned around and buried her face in his chest. "Not my make up!"

The Doctor laughed and hurried them away from the sight. "C'mon, Ava!"

They ran down the gardens, only stopping here and there to admire. One part of the gardens had a field dedicated to statues. There was no pattern nor order, just statues meant to be admired by the guests. They were gorgeous...only Avalon found one that reminded her too much of the Silence, so the Doctor quickly changed venues. But funny thing was, after they left the statues, they forgot all about it.

"Is the sun setting already?" Avalon asked as they began nearing the building where the TARDIS was. The sun was getting covered by clouds and actually...there seemed to be a lot of clouds suddenly.

"I'm afraid so," the Doctor lamented like her that their day was coming to an end.

"Still, our day together was rather nice..." Avalon side-glanced him. "Right?"

"Truly." The Doctor brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. "The first of many." Avalon beamed. She would love to see what else he could come up with. "C'mon," he led her down the pool aisle to return to the front, but Avalon let go of his hand midway. He turned back to see her gazing at the two pools. "Ava?"

"Are these like...sacred pools or something?"

"What? No, no, they're purely here for aesthetic reasons."

"Ah..."

"Why?"

Avalon smirked at the water, giving the Doctor about a second to realize what she was thinking before she actually did it.

"Avalon-"

Avalon hopped into the water, splashing the water around her. The water only reached to her ankles but it was enough for her to have fun wiggling her way through it while splashing.

"Avalon! Get out of there! You'll get sick!" the Doctor called to her in vain.

"Don't be a spoilsport!" She called and kicked some water his way. "I can't swim so this is as close to a pool as I'll ever get! C'mon!" She walked towards him, ignoring his refusals, and splashed some water his way.

"You are childish!" He stepped his boots hard on the ground to get rid of the water they now had.

"And yet you're smiling! C'mon!" She reached down and pushed more water in his way. "We're about to leave anyways! One more shenanigan!"

The Doctor exhaled and finally looked at her. Shenanigans. That was literally what they did most and it was always so much fun and...spontaneous. He couldn't plan around Avalon because even when he did - like this entire place - she always did something out of his plans. And he loved it. She brought him the thrill he didn't know he needed.

"Coming, Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon backed away and twirled about in the water.

The Doctor thought she looked beautiful. She looked happy. It was nothing compared to Berlin, or after. His Ava was happy...and she was calling him to her side, right where he once told River he'd love to be. Almost like he was in a trance, the Doctor hopped into the pool. Avalon was still twirling when the Doctor reached her. He picked her up midspin from behind and heard her laugh as he gave her another spin.

"Gotcha my dear!" He planted her feet back on the ground but kept his arms locked around her waist, only offering her space so she could turn to face him.

"Couldn't resist, could you?" Avalon cheekily smiled at him.

"I could never resist you."

"Smooth," she rolled her eyes. She danced her fingers along his chest until they came to rest over his shoulders. "Is this the end, then? Has our date come to an end?"

"Not quite, there's one more thing we have to do."

"What is i-"

The Doctor swooped down for a surprise kiss then hurried out of the pool. His feet splashed the water all around until he made it to the cement ground. "But you'll need to get out of that pool!" He called back to the ginger still in the pool.

Avalon laughed. "Why? What are you doing?" She watched him dash for the TARDIS and because she was overly curious, she listened to his words and walked out of the pool.

She raised her head to the sky and saw the clouds getting darker. Maybe it was a good thing their date was ending because it looked like there was rain coming. Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft tune that started from the TARDIS. It only took Avalon a few seconds to recognize it. He'd chosen to play Once Upon A Dream for her.

She laughed just as the Doctor came out of the TARDIS. She wouldn't even bother with his smug face - he deserved it this time. "That's my song, our song..."

"Our first dance," the Doctor hurriedly hopped down the steps to join her by the pool.

"How could I forget?" Avalon sighed in content. It'd been the first day she felt genuinely happy with him. He'd taken her to meet Mary Costa and she'd become a singer to the very song now playing.

"Would you like to dance, princess?" the Doctor held a hand out for her.

"There's nothing else I'd like to do, my knight in shining armor," Avalon did the familiar bow of a princess then took his hand.

The Doctor gently pulled her up to him and set his free hand on her waist. Avalon gripped his other hand that held hers and rested her free hand on his shoulder. The two descended into a slow dance. They were so into their moment that they completely ignored - or perhaps they didn't even hear - the thunder cracking in the sky.

"Now it's a perfect date," the Doctor murmured beside Avalon's ear.

She slightly tilted her head in the opposite direction, smiling so widely it could possibly crack her face. "It was a perfect date from the start. I have never had somebody go through this much trouble just for me."

"You deserve everything, Avalon," he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She doubted that she did. There was no denying that her background involved a lot of running from the law. She liked the running too, the adrenaline. She made some bad choices in the past and it seemed like she would continue doing the same. There was a part of her that feared her bad choices would lead her to Lake Silencio. What if I'm the one in the astronaut suit? What if the Silence weren't done with me? Avalon screwed her eyes shut in terrible fear. She couldn't let that happen. She would rather die than ever become a weapon for them.

"Ava?" the Doctor gently called her name. He didn't know what was running through her head but he figured it couldn't be good if it had her squeezing her eyes shut. "Are you okay?"

Avalon opened her eyes and smiled lightly. "With you? Always."

This time they heard the thunder roar but Avalon gripped the Doctor to their spot. She wasn't ready to leave yet. "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you! The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam..."

The Doctor smiled. Of course. They couldn't leave until the princess sang her song. And he loved this princess' voice as much as he loved when she stroked his hair. They danced together as Avalon's melodic voice filled the air.

"Yet I know it's true the visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do..." she laughed when the Doctor dipped her, keeping their faces close together. "You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..."

The Doctor brought her back up but kissed her midway, unable to help himself even if it caught her song off. Avalon didn't seem to mind. She moved her lips with his for as long as she could, or they could...

Thunder cracked one more time before the rain started. They parted from their kiss only slightly to look at each other.

"But if I know you, I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..." Avalon finished with the biggest smile on her face.

The water was thinning her curls, flattening them to her face and body. She watched the droplets of water drip from the Doctor's strands of hair over his forehead. She reached her hand over and gently moved his hair to the side.

"Singing and dancing in the rain, now we have the perfect ending to the perfect date," she said, laughing when the Doctor gave them another sway of a dance. "I will never forget this day, Fairy Tale Man." She leaned over and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck the more they kissed.

A kiss under the rain was truly the last bit they needed before they could leave such an enchanting place.

When the Doctor heard actual lightning strike, he knew it was time to go. Still, he reluctantly pulled away from Avalon but she wasn't letting him go. "Time to go home, princess."

Avalon smiled and nodded. She had dressed for heat, not rain. "Okay." She unwinded her arms from his neck and let the Doctor guide them towards the TARDIS. Neither of them noticed a small, truly minuscule, device had been placed on one of its sides. When the TARDIS dematerialized, the bug device flashed to life.

"The time has come to collect the rest of my memoriesssss." The Scream emerged from the building's back door. He raised a handheld device in his hand, a tracker of his own unique kind, and watched it. "I will follow youuuu Doctor. I know exactly how to take what's miiiiine."

#ocappreciation #doctor who #11th doctor #dw #11th doctor imagine #dw imagine #doctor who fics #11th doctor fics #dw fics #amy pond #rory williams #river song #oc: Avalon Reynolds #fic: falling in temptation

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ravens-rambling · 6 years

Text

Love Like You

A/N: I have read tons of touch starved Virgil fics but not a whole lot of touch starved Deceit and that's a shame! Come on people! If there is any side that’s touch starved it would be the snakey boi!! My son needs some love!!!

This is my first time writing Deceit so his personality is properly off sorry about that!

summary: When Deceit isn’t sure if he could fit into this ‘family’ cause of how freakish he looks he takes matters into his own hands, luckily a certain dad side is there to calm those thoughts and to assure to the lying side that sure it might be rocky and tough at first. But Ohana means family right?

WC: 5,183

ships: Romantic LAMP, mentions of romantic DLAMP, platonic Moceit

warnings: Self-harm, panic attack, sensory overload, self-deprecating thoughts

Tag List: @punsterterry @frostedlover @070222 @witch197

Deceit has noticed something.

Ever since the others have..accepted him he guessed he could say, they have become more comfortable around him. And in turn, he has observed them.

The way they are around each other was..strange.

They seemed so relaxed around each other. It almost seemed like they will trust each other with their lives. Why would they do that though? Isn't that risky? What if one of them betrays them? Doesn't that thought concern them? How can they be so relaxed, so trustworthy around each other?

Every time he sees them all together it baffles him time and time again.

Often he finds himself awake at night staring at his ceiling pondering the others actions. Trying to understand them and their ways.

And time and time again he just..couldn't.

He often thought there was something wrong with him. Since Virgil trusted them enough to even share his name with them. In such a short time he trusted them with everything he is. Surely he should be the same right?

But it's been months and even the thought of sharing his name with them sent shivers down his spine. Names held power after all. He just..couldn't trust them enough to have that much power over him.

But that sent a certain dread to his very soul.

Maybe if enough time passes by they will get tired of him? Maybe if he doesn't trust them enough soon that they will see he is a lost, broken, cause and start hating him again? Or worse maybe they will see how much he's broken on the inside, how much of a freak and monster he really is.

He already was a freak on the outside for Christ sake.

He's the only one with snake scales on his face. He's the only one with a snake tongue. He's the only one that hisses like a snake. He's the only one that needs the room warm or he could die.

Sure Virgil hisses like a cat.

Sure when Roman is upset he growls almost like a lion.

But that's it. And that doesn't scare the others. Rather they thought it was cute in a way. But his...imoralities? It scared the others at first.

He remembered when he first hissed. Roman had teased him about his scales, yet again, and it got to him. It made him angry and it hurt him inside. Despite his nagging fearful thoughts he turned around and hissed at the creative side, exposing his snake-like tongue and his fangs in the process. Roman had jumped back properly thinking he was going to bite him and his fearful gaze only proved that thought.

The other sides whipped around when they heard that girly scream. Virgil has already seen that scaly side of him so he wasn't fazed. Patton at first seemed a bit scared but within a few seconds, that fear turned to amazement and childlike wonder. Logan seemed..curious is the only way he could describe it.

But once he looked back to Roman his eyes were still wide and to Deceits horror, his hands went to his sword on his side and unsheathed it. He looked about ready to cut off his tongue and fangs.

It took quite a while for the other sides to calm him down before he apologized saying that he has dealt with loads of evil snake people in his realm so it was just instinct.

He tried to play it off like he didn't care then but really it hurt. Is that all that snakes are? Evil to others?

Maybe Patton was just trying to be nice when his eyes sparkled like stars at seeing that side of him.

Maybe Roman was right to be fearful of him.

Maybe Logan was looking for research to get rid of him or if he ever did lash out he knew how to stop him.

Maybe... Virgil has been lying on wanting to be his friend again.

Maybe they all were lying.

Sure he can detect lies but..maybe they were hiding their lies so good that he couldn't pick it up? After all, why would anybody want lies right? Lying is never good. Maybe if he looked like the others it would be easier for them to accept him? Maybe then they don't have to lie to him. Maybe then he really could be apart of their family. He won't have to be evil anymore.

So that was what he was doing.

It was rather late in the afternoon, he couldn't seem to face the others today so he hid in his room the entire day. He was starving but just the thought of seeing their unsure glances behind his back...he couldn't take it today.

That's when the thought occurred to him.

Taking a pair of scissors that he used to cut his hair he one by one tried to peel off his scales.

But as he tried to peel off the first one he noticed how deep it was into his skin. With a frustrated sigh, he realized this might be harder than he originally thought.

As time passed he finally managed to peel off one scale, it bouncing in the sink. Though he winkled his nose as the scent of blood engulfed the bathroom. As he noticed how much blood was coming from his now peeled off skin.

But none of that mattered.

He hated this part of himself. He hated how different he was. This was worth it.

Though as he managed to peel off the third scale his hands started to shake. His vision became blurry on the edges and he had to lean on the counter to study himself. He was properly losing a lot of blood. But he didn't care.

His breath became shaky as he raised the blades once again. Just as soon as it was about to touch his swollen skin, however, a rather loud bang exploded through his room causing him to jump out of his skin.

He somehow managed not to make a noise as the sound of Virgil echoed to his ears, "Hey Dee, Patton's getting worried about you. Dinners almost ready and he wants you there... So um..come if you don't want Pat up your ass...or whatever."

With surprisingly study voice he replied, "Yeah sure V. I won't be down there in an m-moment."

Curses.

There was silence from the door then a flutter of footsteps. Shit.

Before he could think of an excuse there was another flutter of footsteps, these much lighter but with a certain rush to them.

Then a voice, "Hey kiddo? Virgil said he could sense something was wrong. Are you okay? Can I come in?"

No. Nononono. Anything but that. He'll see what he's doing. He'll try to deny his thoughts. He'll lie to his face even more. No. He can't have that.

"Yes, Pat I'm fine. Something to worry about. It's just V being V I'm fine." Even his voice sounded fake to him.

His hands began to shake more as soon as he spoke so badly that the blades slipped from his hand and bounced in the sink making a thud noise. Winching at that he glanced back to the door maybe hoping that Patton didn't hear it.

"Dee? I'm coming in. It doesn't sound like your fine."

Shit. Shit. Shit. Before he could even think of a backup plan the doorknob was turning. Patton peeked his head in and Deceit's breath was stuck in his throat as he saw the other's eyes land on his bloodied face. The pure worry and concern were spread throughout his face as he quickly came to his side.

Tears were already down his cheeks as he slowly raised his hands but drew away before he could touch him knowing that he was sensitive towards touch. Though the pain in Patton's gaze made him believe that he wanted to hug him.

"D-Dee... W-What..ha-happened?"

Deceit looked away unable to look at that face any longer and grabbed Patton's wrists lightly, even that single touch sent sparks throughout him making this all the harder. He hasn't shed a tear..yet. He was strangely..calm even though his heart was beating fast.

"I.. I thought..if I got rid of my scales... The side of me that none of you like..you..you guys would..like me more..it'll be easier for you to..accept me..."

Well, it was out. There was no way he could bullshit around this he knew.

As he for once told the truth a blistering pain erupted on along his scaly side of his face. It was more pain than before causing him to whine out and shut his eyes waiting for it to be over.

Patton let out a sob as he spoke and let out a whine shaking his head, "Dee... N-No..honey... Why did you tell the truth? I.."

He sucked in a breath before drawing his hands away and bringing up a hand to cup his one none bloodied cheek, slowly and gently he turned his face so Deceit could face him. At that touch, his breath got stuck in his throat again. The look on Patton's face made his breath stutter more.

"Honey..we love you for who you are. We love every bit of you okay? Don't ever think we don't. Please...don't get rid of any part of you... I.. I know that we might not show it enough... That us accepting you haven't been..the greatest or enjoyable thing ever. But we are learning. You are learning. And that's alright. When we accepted Virgil it was rocky at first too. But we learned to accept each other. As we will do with you alright? Please..don't do this again.. I love you kiddo."

That sent a blow to his gut. To his very soul. It finally made him crack enough to cry. Tears were leaking down his cheeks, merging with the blood on his one cheek, it was like a dam now.

With a gasping voice, he shook his head, "B-But... I-I'm nothing..like you.." A gasp for air, "I'm so different..so monstrous... How..how could you like me?... H-How... I-I've hurt everyone..of you... How could... H-How could you even..think to like.." Another gasp, "To love..something like..m-me. I'm a snake... I-I'm lies... I-I'm the villian..nobody...likes liars..nob-nobody likes..snakes... I..."

There was a sudden spark in Patton's eyes as he continued to cry, as he spoke. And yet again a flare of pain came from his cheek making him cry even more.

Through the pain, he heard Patton speak again his voice also coming in gasps alike, "Sweetie no... Lies can be good. You are good. You protect Thomas..you protect us. You are not a monster alright? You didn't know the right from wrong in the past. But that's okay cause now you know. Now you know what you did was wrong. And that's alright okay? Again..your learning and that's okay. You are not the villain anymore. Now your apart of this family. And we love you so much kiddo. It's going to be okay I promise you."

He knew he wasn't lying. The back of his mind screamed at him that he was telling the truth. He couldn't detect any lies. But...

How could this be the truth?

He didn't even know what to say back his mind was in pure disbelief. He didn't know what to do.

Patton cried along with him before his cries had stopped. That hand was still on his cheek as he gasped for air. Finally, though that hand went away and before he could stop himself Deceit let out a whine. Despite himself that one hand, that one touch, was grounding. It made him feel real. That this was real despite it sending sparks to his soul.

Instead, as he looked back at Patton his arms were outstretched.

What..what was he doing? Wait...

Patton had a small smile on his face, "Kiddo... Can I hug you?"

He..wanted to hug him? He's seen Patton hug the others, especially Roman, but he always shivered away from them. They seemed so..weird, so exposed... He couldn't quite fathom how.

But anything was better than this cold dread that seeped to his bones at the disappearance of his hand. He needed that grounding touch. Is... Is this how he was going to get it? Is this the only way?

His eyes were wide, untrusting for a few moments, his body tense as he gave a small nod.

Patton smiled more brightly before slowly coming up to him and wrapping his arms around him and...

Oh god...

His body became even tenser. He could feel his muscles screaming to get away from the hot touch. He could feel his mind screaming. His breath became louder gaps as his entire body shook in Patton's arms.

He must have felt this as that sudden bursting hotness was gone just like that leaving him with a cold stone in his chest. In his soul. When did that stone appear? Why is he feeling so cold?

Shivering he wrapped his arms around himself as he looked back to Patton.

He looked..heartbroken he guessed is the only way to describe it.

Another gasp of air and then, "Dee... Have.. Have you ever been hugged before?"

A few heartbeats of silence, a few gasps of breaths, and a shake of a head. Then a loud intake of breath and a cry then a whine that wasn't his. He couldn't even focus anymore. That cold was suffocating him. That cold stone was overtaking his body. He couldn't stand it anymore. He wanted that hug back, it made him warm. Sure it was like standing right next to the sun but he'll take that over this shivering cold any day.

"Oh.. Sweetheart.. Shh... It's okay..do you want me to hug you again?"

"I.. Don't..P-Please... So.. So cold..." He managed to say through chattering teeth.

"Shh okay okay... I've got you... Breathe for me kiddo.. It's going to be okay... I've got you."

He heard that before that burst of surging blistering hotness was on his skin again. It was everywhere. It made his eyes water up again. It made his heart ache from his depths.

"I think that's too much for you. Here let's try this."

A shift of movement and he realized that heat wasn't as suffocating anymore. Rather it was on one side rather than all around him. Looking over he saw Patton under his arm curling into his chest and his arms around his one arm.

That was..better. He could at least breathe. Though that coldness was still affecting him it wasn't as strong, he realized.

With a gasp of breath he looked back down to Patton, "T-That..wasn't..a...h-hug?"

"Yes sweetie it was. This is a side hug... Well almost. But... Dee..you've never been hugged before?"

"When..wouldn't I have? The..others..like to be touched..."

This is the closest somebody ever been in..a long time, that thought popped into his mind. The only time he's ever been touched wasn't very..pleasant. It's always been punches, shoves, the things of the like. But this was..nice..

He almost expected this to be a dream or for Patton to leave him and laugh at him as he walked away.

But as time went on..none of that happened. This was real, he realized.

A shaky exhale escaped from him as his body started shaking again. Patton was saying something to him he could tell, but it sounded like it was coming from a long tunnel. He couldn't focus on it. He couldn't focus on anything other than the coldness seeping through him again and the fact that he was being touched.

Fear spiked through him as well. His body tensed up even more and involuntary he sprang away. His hands gripped his shirt in bunches as he hiccuped.

No, this...can't be happening. Why would Patton give him a hug? Maybe he did something wrong. He must of, why else would he do that? What to try to be nice. No, it properly was going to lead to some punishment. Just like every other time he was touched visions of him being pushed, of him being pulled down and stomped on, blasted through his mind.

Suddenly he realized he couldn't breathe. His lungs felt like they were collapsing in on itself. His hands went to his throat as he tried to scratch his skin. Try to make some air get to his lungs. To try to do something. To try to get the pain to just stop. Everything became too much. He couldn't seem to process anything. Maybe if he-

"Dee. Sshhh... Dee, can you hear me?"

"P-Please..do..hurt me..." Deceit managed to choke out.

He tried to back away from Patton as he could see through his tears that the other side was coming towards him. The others hands raised up as he did so making Deceit's breath pause in his throat. His back hit the wall and he gave a whimper at it. He knew it. He knew this was a lie. All of this was a lie.

Breathing coming in gasps he heard a soft voice, "-d begin to be...Half of what you think of me...I could do about anything..."

His eyes slowly opened as he recognized that song.

"I could even learn how to love, When I see the way you act.."

It was...

"Wondering when I'm coming back...I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love... Like you..."

It was a secret that well..didn't really stay a secret for long after the others were involved in his life more but... Deceit secretly loved Steven Universe. It wasn't much of a surprise really, he remembered Logan saying, they all loved musicals as much as Thomas does. And Thomas just about adored that show as much as he did musicals so it made sense that the sides would as well.

"I always thought I might be bad Now I’m sure that it's true...‘cause I think you’re so good, And I’m nothing like you."

As Patton sang he could feel himself calming down he could feel himself being grounded into reality.

Blinking his watery eyes he looked to the other to see him sitting down crisscross on the ground his eyes closed but he could see every few moments he would open one of them to check on him. His hands were close to his sides properly making sure he didn't make the same mistake twice, Deceit thought in the back of his mind.

"Look at you go...I just adore you, I wish that I knew...What makes you think I'm so special"

His mind focused on the lyrics. Focused on Patton's voice rather than the rushed, suffocating thoughts running through his mind. A few tears kept coming down his cheeks but he could finally breathe. He could at least take a few breaths without hiccuping.

"If I could begin to do, Something that does right by you...I would do about anything...I would even learn how to love...."

Patton peeked up again to see Deceit had at least almost calmed down and smiled at the sight. He patted the ground next to him making sure to keep his hands close to his body as soon as he did that. His smile only grew in size as the other slowly made his way over and sat down. His knees drew up towards his chest and he looked away from Patton but he certainly looked calmer.

"When I see the way you look... Shaken by how long it took, I could do about anything... I could even learn how to love like you...."

And with that Patton stopped slowly his eyes opened up fully and turned his head towards Deceit, that beaming smile still on his face.

As Deceit calmed down fully now he could feel that coldness seeping through him again. But it came like a wave this time. It felt like a truck slamming into him. The sensations were all at once making his breath get trapped in his throat again for a few moments.

Patton saw his struggle to breathe yet again and softly said, "Do you want me to touch you?"

Eagerly Deceit nodded his head still not looking at him hoping that he didn't appear too needy. Too desperate.

Softly Patton leaned forward whispering, "I'm gonna take your hands now okay? I'm not going to hurt you I promise."

As his soft hands met Deceits he sucked in a loud breath making Patton draw back in alarm. But quickly Deceit threw himself forward whimpering and gripping for Patton's hands before he knew what he was doing. As soon as he did that another whimper came from his lips.

He was afraid, afraid that his fears would come true. But yet..this was so nice...it warmed him up to his very soul...

He had never been this warm before. He didn't realize how cold and dreadful he once was, his desert finally had rain after so many years of the dreaded silence. Even this little touch sent electricity spark through his entire body but it made a soft smile appear on his face.

That soft smile made Patton smile even wider.

He tightened his grip slightly, "Dee... Can you look at me?"

His gaze, which was at their intersecting hands, slowly went up towards Patton.

At seeing the fearful gaze in his, mixed with some happiness, it made his smile falter a bit. "Oh, sweetie... It's going to be okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm never going to hurt you, kiddo. I think I know what's going on... It was similar to Virgil. I may not be Logan but Dee... I think your touch-starved and worse than Virgil."

That caused him to stiffen.

"But that's okay! That just means we'll give you extra hugs and love how does that sound?"

A nod then a small, "Not... G-Great..."

Patton beamed leaning forward and before Deceit knew what he was doing his lips went to his non-bloodied cheek.

Deceits eyes went wide and a soft blush came upon his cheeks. That was..a kiss, right? He's seen Patton do that to the others too...

"I love you kiddo. We love you. We love you for who you are. You won't ever get hurt again. You're a part of this family now. Ohana means family and family never gets left behind or forgotten right?"

Tears willed in Deceits eyes again but not from pain, not from fear this time, rather of happiness. He was for once..happy. He doesn't even remember a time he was once so happy.

A sob came from his throat before he nodded, "N-No... I.. I hate you..too.."

Laughter burst out of the other one causing Deceit to chuckle himself.

"What's not funny?"

Patton waved his arm, "Your blush is adorable Dee that's all! Now come on let's get you cleaned up and head downstairs I'm sure the others are worried about us! That's if..you want to of course." Another peck on his cheek then a swift of motion as Patton stood up. He even offered a hand to the flustered side.

After a few confused seconds, Deceit took it with a soft smile as he rubbed his eyes, "Y-Yeah... Sounds...not g-great."

As he was led to the bathroom once again he winced as he saw the scales still in the sink. As he saw the blood that was on the counter. As he saw the bloodied scissors. He swallowed heavily at the sight.

"Hey, shshs it's okay. Why don't you wait outside while I clean this up for you?"

All Deceit could do was nod he had to be lightly pulled outside, his entire body frozen from the sight.

As his gaze drifted around his room, as the more time passed, that ache intensified in his chest. That coldness grew in volume until it became hard to breathe. How long was Patton in there? Minutes? Hours? Days? He couldn't tell anymore.

His arms curled around his torso as he tried to bring some warmth to him. And of course, that did nearly nothing. His teeth started chattering making small noises that caused him to whimper at.

As he opened his mouth to call for Patton to hurry up his eyes blinked as he saw..mist? Fog?

What..was happening?

He opened his mouth again drawing out air and froze when he saw that mist intensified. When did it become so cold? Was it just him? It didn't seem like it was that cold and even so, it became so cold in such a short time how could it...

His breath became gasps as it was getting harder to breathe. Warm... Have to get warm...

Finally, he faintly heard the door open.

He was barely able to turn around his body becoming frozen to the ground as he tore his arms from his sides and grabbed for Patton the best he could. His gasps turned to whimpers as he tried to pull Patton close to him.

Patton was warm. Patton would help him, right?

As arms went around him his head curling up against his collarbone he involuntary cried into his blue shirt. It only took seconds before his freezing self was screaming as Patton's warmness became too much once again.

But he didn't want to pull away. He didn't want that coldness again. But luckily he was shifted back to Patton's side where the intense heat wasn't as bad. It didn't cause him as much pain as a full hug, luckily.

Still breathing somewhat heavily he was dragged into the bathroom giving a sigh as Patton didn't remove him.

"Shshsh... I've got you now Dee. I won't leave you again I promise." He felt the others hand rubbing against his arm making him warmer.

"I-I'm not sorry..."

"No no Dee don't say that. It's not your fault alright? Just hang on to me and breathe for me. That's right..in and out like that. You're doing fantastic."

Once his breathing was back to normal once again he raised his head but kept his hands buried into Patton's blue shirt, now gripping onto it like a lifeline. "I..do know what that was..."

"I don't know either. But we can ask Logan once we get downstairs. Now," He clapped his hands together softly, "let's clean you up!"

That one grounding grip seemed to be enough to bait the freezing cold away as he didn't feel it returning as Patton cleaned him up. Lazily he glanced around noticing he really did clean up everything, the blood, the scales, and even the scissors, were gone. He..really cleaned it up for him...

It didn't take long before Patton seemed satisfied with how he looked, he honestly didn't care much. He was too tired to care anyway.

Instead, he just shrugged and nodded to all of Patton's ramblings. He wanted to sleep now but he knew if he didn't eat anything Patton would get upset. And well he feared that freezing touch would come back. Would Patton be here next time? No, it was better if he just followed where Patton goes.

Suddenly, like a blink of an eye, he found himself coming down the last stair still gripping on to Patton's shirt with a tight grip. But what he saw made him smile lightly.

Roman seemed to be putting the icing on what he assumed to be dessert while Virgil was fighting with him to get the icing tip. Logan, meanwhile, was trying to break up the fighting but it seemed to be a lost cause at this point.

At seeing them all playing and bickering like children it sent a little laughter through him. It honestly made him...gleeful. He felt lighthearted inside and he wasn't sure what this feeling was. For some reason, he felt..included finally. He wasn't sure what did it but this not so pleasant moment seemed to have made him happier. The happiest he's ever been actually. He didn't know how to take it but it was quite pleasant he must say. Weird but pleasant he could certainly get used to this, he must be exhausted.

As Patton came forward to help break up the fight before there is icing everywhere he was dragged along. Though as soon as Patton made his way into the kitchen there was a loud pop noise blinking he found Roman's normal pure while garment stained with yellow icing. And Virgil's hoodie front covered in it as well.

They both continued to bicker but the sight was too much for Deceit. He brought up his other hand to his mouth lightly as he laughed, loudly. He was laughing so hard he snorted a few times. He must have been laughing for minutes before he finally stopped wiping at his now tearful eyes he looked up to see them all staring at him with..wide eyes.

His own eyes slowly went wide at all the staring eyes.

Was..his laugh that stupid? Sure he's rarely laughed in front of them and never laughed that hard before but...

His laugh can't be that bad right?

But as soon as those fearful thoughts went through his head he suddenly heard a loud, "Awwww!!!!"

His head snapped towards the sound greeted to a glittering Patton gaze at him.

Blinking as Patton started bouncing in place his hands to his chin causing him to bounce in place as well trying to keep hold of him the best he could, "Dee!! Your laugh is adorable!! You should laugh more!! Even those little snorts are just so cute!!"

"It was rather quite..okay I must say," Logan said next and despite his words and deadpanned voice Deceit could see a faint trace of a blush on his cheeks.

"Oh come on your freaking out over his laugh Pat? It's not as cute as my laugh right?" Roman spoke up being dramatic as usual even he had a trace of a blush, however.

Patton giggles leaning over to kiss his cheek, "Of course not sweetie."

Virgil was..quiet for once. Glancing over to him he seemed to try to hide his face but as they both caught eyes he could see a small smile formed on his lips and..a faint purple blush on his cheeks as well.

That made Deceit blush they...all thought it was cute? His laughter..cute? They weren't terrified of something that he does for once?

Maybe...this 'fitting' in thing won't be so hard. Maybe he had nothing to fear after all.

Maybe he wasn't as terrifying as he originally thought. And maybe..he wasn't like the villain he always thought he was.

As the others got cleaned up and dinner was started he still couldn't leave Patton's side but for once he didn't mind it. For once he let his guards down. He let his walls down and finally tried to relax around them.

Sure that fear was everpresent, sure that fear still seeped into him from time to time but for once he was content with it. He didn't let it consume him like before.

Cause he knew the others won't hate him again. He knew he was a part of this ohana. This family.

Love like you~

928 notes · View notes

arsyeong · 5 years

Text

[6] thief | ijb.

o n e / t w o / t h r e e / f o u r / f i v e / s e v e n / e i g h t

summary: it’s him who explains to you why bambam likes you. word count: 1,816

Things changed after that night with Bambam.

“It’s the reason why I was so worried about you, why I want to help you so much,” he had said, “because I like you, and I like you a lot.”

Since saying that, he had no longer been shy about his feelings. You first thought he was playing with you, then you thought he was confusing something else for a romantic type of love. As the days went on, however, you realized he meant it when he said you were more than just a friend to him.

“When did you first realize it?” you ask the man himself while you walk home, intertwined hands rocking back and forth slowly.

“When did I first realize I liked you?” Bambam tilts his head and looks up, lips pursed as he thinks. “During the drink shop encounter.”

“Oh, really?”

“You should know that I was torn between (Y/F/N) and you for about two years prior to that,” he pauses, taking in how your eyes widen in shock at the confession, making him smile a bit. “Anyway, I was spending all that alone time with her and, when I started yearning for you instead, I realized I’ve made a decision: I liked you. Only you.”

“Did you tell her?” you can’t help but ask.

“No,” he says, “but I felt like she knew it too.”

You nod and he continues, “When I came back and saw you frozen and all that, all I could feel was anger and annoyance. How dare that thief do that to you? And why did Vana and Ivan leave you alone? I was filled with the sudden urge to protect you, and I’ve never felt that strongly for anyone in the past.”

You knew it was true.

In his play boy days, he had usually filled you in on his escapades and whatnots with his various women. Never had he mentioned he’d grown attached to one of them, and that had resided in your mind as a ray of hope, a hope that maybe he would like you back one day.

And now he did.

You turn to him, grinning softly and holding both of his hands in yours. If you were to view it in a third person point-of-view, you would see yourself staring up at the man you loved. The moon, big and bright, would be illuminating the young couple. It was a perfect moment, one you would rather painted than captured without the two of you knowing. It was everything you’ve ever wanted.

However, you don’t miss the sudden movement beyond Bambam. The moment is broken as your eyebrows come together and you move your gaze from him to the scenery behind him. His eyebrows furrow as well, plans of confessing love to you forgotten as he’s filled with concern. He squeezes your hands slightly, enough to regain your attention and have you see his thick lips in a pout. “What’s wrong?”

“I thought I saw something.” When he looks back, you quickly add, “It was probably an animal.”

An awkward silence hangs over the two of you. “I guess I should get you home then,” he says, offering you a small smile and letting one of your hands go so he could walk beside you once more. You nod in defeat, internally cursing yourself for ruining such a moment. The next words you exchanged with him were farewells and well wishes.

You watch Bambam walk away, shoulders hunched and head down, and you could practically feel his disappointment. When he’s out of your sight, you sigh sadly and look up to the stars. “If only you could paint me a moment perfect as that again,” you whisper. You feel weird talking to the sky, talking to nothing as if it could hear you, much less help you.

Then, you set out to the spring.

As you expected, Jaebeom was waiting for you at your usual spot. You watch as he takes a small stone and throws it across the spring. Maybe he was waiting for it to touch the water multiple times, but it ends up just short of the other end before sinking.

“Sorry to ruin your moment with pretty boy over there,” he says. When you tear your gaze away from the small stone’s final destination, you see him with his legs curled to his chest and his head resting on his overlapped arms. He was looking at you.

“It wasn’t your fault,” you say, walking to him, “I could have just ignored you.”

He waits for you to take your seat next to him, and he continues to stare at you for a few seconds before saying, “I can see why he likes you.”

You immediately redden at the unexpected remark. Your eyes widen and you pull your head back a bit. Your eyes flit from object to object, avoiding his gaze but still hearing him laugh at your surprise. “And I thought you got over my smooth talking, (Y/N).”

“Anyone would be shocked if you told them something like that,” you defend, “but, now you’ve brought it up, please do elaborate.”

It takes him a moment – which he spends staring at you with narrowed eyes – before he speaks up again, “I can’t tell if you’re fishing for compliments or you’re genuinely curious.”

“Both,” you shrug, “but mostly because I’m looking for compliments from you.”

“Oh, I could compliment you.”

“Genuine ones.”

“Well, I do mean it when I call you ‘fair maiden.’”

“Qualities,” you say, “Characteristics, traits, habits of mine you think drew him to me. The things no one else sees until they look close enough.”

“You have a lot of hair strands?”

“Jaebeom.”

“Okay, okay,” he chuckles, hands raised in play surrender. He shifts to seat cross-legged, his entire body now facing in your direction, and you see in your peripheral vision how the moonlight made his eyes sparkle a bit. It took an effort not to turn to him as well, knowing you’d be blushing and looking down as soon as he gets started, and you don’t want him to get a proper view of that.

“Well, first is that you’re very beautiful,” he finally says, “Inside and out. That should be it, really, but I have a feeling it’s too general for you so I’ll go on.” You roll your eyes at his slight jab at you, feeling yourself grin a bit. “Second reason is because you’re hardworking, a trait I’ve observed he doesn’t have.”

“Wait, you’ve been observing him?”

“People are usually drawn to the opposites of themselves,” he goes on, ignoring you. You shoot him a quick glare and huff but he continues, “Third is because you’re his best friend. He knows a lot about you, you know a lot about him and you trust each other. It’s also the cliché of best friends falling in love with each other, realizing their feelings for each other are more than just friends then secretly pining for the other, hoping they’d realize it too.”

The memory of Bambam’s words flash through your mind and you feel your smile widen. “Fourth reason is that you’re selfless. Your job is to help around the town and, when someone needs more help, you give them that help. You want nothing but the best for every single person here, even if that means overworking yourself and getting sick.”

When he doesn’t say anything after that, you turn to him in confusion. He’s looking down and playing with the grass, only looking up at you when you clear your throat. “Ah,” he says quite softly, “I was just thinking about you the other night. Sick and obviously exhausted but still being there to catch me.”

There’s a brief silence, and you don’t know what to say. Should you make up some excuse? Or should you tell him the actual reason you were there? As he holds your gaze, you know he’s trying to decipher the debate in your eyes.

“Is there a fifth reason?” you mutter, lost in your thoughts and, somehow, lost in his gaze as well.

“You’re amazing.”

It was as if things were in slow-motion – two pairs of eyes gradually widening as the words sink in and stop brain function. You open your mouth to say something but nothing comes out. A silence takes over once more as you look at each other, stunned.

He’s the first to recover and says, “What did you expect me to say? I don’t have a list of your positive attributes at the ready. I could go make one, though, but that would be for another day of complimenting.”

“Jaebeom,” you breathe out.

“What? It’s the truth,” he says, “You are an amazing person, and that’s what drew him to you. That’s what’s drawing everyone to you.”

“You included?” The words are out before your mind could even process it. He looks at you in shock, as if he wasn’t expecting you to ask him something like that. Your mindless question is irreversible; now, you’re left to fearing whatever his answer may be.

You watch him closely as his features slowly soften, and you think he’s about to answer your question but he doesn’t. Jaebeom stands up, you following in suit of him, and says, “It’s getting late.”

“It’s already late,” you snap, “so answer my question.”

Your frustration builds with every step he takes, leaving you to watch him walk away from you. It was inevitable you would snap; he’s left you with too many questions already.

“Why do you keep confusing me like this?” you scream after him, “Why do you keep walking away?”

At the second question, he comes to a stop. The soft breeze is visible through the movements of his hair. Like you, it must think it could move a man with such broad shoulders, a man so firm, a man so solid.

You start running when he moves again. You should’ve known better.

You chase after him desperately, and you don’t let him get out of your sight. Just as he was to round a corner, you catch up and take him by the wrist. “Please,” you find yourself begging, “Answer me.”

It was suffocating you, the feeling of so many unanswered questions. You were breathless, both from the running and from the hope that at least one of those would be cleared. You definitely don’t need another sleepless night from trying to figure out any of those. All of those questions were like him – unrelenting, confusing and so frustratingly opaque.

He looks back at you, and you see his eyes soften. You’re sure he’s seen your thoughts perfectly, but, blinded by hope, you don’t realize the moment has passed. It breaks you when he removes you from him easily – you weren’t as steady as he was – and he walks away without turning back.

p r e v i o u s / n e x t

#jaebum #got7 jaebum #got7 jb #jaebum scenarios #jb scenarios #got7 jb scenarios #jaebum angst #jaebum fluff #jaebum thief au #harvest moon ds cute au #got7 jaebum angst #got7 jaebum fluff #got7 jb angst #got7 jb fluff #bambam fluff

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queenofcats17 · 5 years

Text

I Guess I Have Another Grandpa Now?

@pipesflowforeverandever made a series of posts about her Vampire!Gin and I wanted to write it so bad.

The Vampire!Gin AU is directly connected to @aceofintuition ‘s Werecat AU. Which is why Snowy, Joy, and Ana appear in it

It was late at night and I was walking home. My club had gotten out later than I’d anticipated, so I was walking home in the dark. Technically, I could have taken a bus all the way home, but it was a nice night so I thought I’d just walk home from the train station. I needed the exercise anyway. My earbuds were in and I was quietly singing along to the song that had come on. It was a peppy one that made me pick up my pace. I was cutting through the forest preserve since I didn’t get many chances to go through it. It was a beautiful night. The moon was shining amongst a series of glittering stars in the dark velvet sky, a warm wind blowing through the trees. I exhaled slowly, allowing myself a smile. Nature really could be so amazing sometimes.

Suddenly, a flash of white caught my eye and my breath caught in my throat. A little white bat was flying toward me. I immediately stopped in my tracks, taking my earbuds out and watching as the teeny bat flew down. I’d never seen a bat in real life before. They just didn’t live in my area. Instinctively, I cupped my hands so that the little bat could settle in them. It landed in my hands and I let out a small squeak. It was so small, its fur so soft.

“Hey there, little guy,” I whispered, bringing my cupped hands up to my face. I could have sworn it was smiling at me as it made cute little squeaking noises.

“Aren’t you just the cutest little thing?” I cooed, shifting the bat to one hand and tapping its little nose with one outstretched finger. It almost seemed to giggle, wiggling a bit and making happy sounds. I let out a small squeal, rubbing it against my face. I knew it was probably dangerous to be fondling a bat like this, but it was so cute!

“You’re so cute.” I kept rubbing it against my cheek. The bat made more happy noises, or at least noises I hoped were happy. Then it flapped its wings and flew out of my hands. For a moment, I thought it was going to fly away. Then it started pressing little kisses to my cheeks.

“Hey!” I giggled. “What are you doing?” The bat didn’t pause, continuing to plant little kisses all over my face. It was an interesting feeling, being kissed by a bat. It honestly tickled a little bit. I giggled louder, scrunching my nose up and closing my eyes. After a minute or so, though, the kisses changed. They no longer felt like bat kisses, but more like the kisses a human would give. And I could have sworn someone was holding my face.

When I opened my eyes, the bat was gone. But there was someone who was still kissing all over my face. An older man, maybe 50 at the youngest, wearing a red and white suit and a top hat of all things. His skin was pale, almost unhealthily so, and he had rather vibrant orange hair. He was kissing all over my face in the way a grandparent would kiss their grandchild. He did look kind of like a grandpa with his circular glasses and wrinkles. I let out a small squeak, jerking away. The man looked rather disappointed.

“W-Who are you?!” My voice went up an octave.

“Ah! How rude of me! I didn’t introduce myself!” The man exclaimed. “My name is Joey Drew! Although, my friends tend to call me Gingersnap. Gingie seems to have stuck the most, though.”

“How- Where did the bat go? Are you the bat?”

“I am.” He nodded, smiling brightly. He had a nice smile. A kind smile. He looked like a kindly grandpa. No! I couldn’t be sucked in by his charm! This was a strange man!

“How were you the bat?” I demanded. “People can’t just turn into bats.”

“Yes, that is true,” Gingie replied with a mischevious sparkle in his eye. “But I am no ordinary person.” I stared blankly at him. He stared expectantly back at me.

“I don’t know what that means.” I finally said.

“I’m a vampire!” He smiled again. Now that I looked closer, I could definitely see what were probably his fangs. Quickly, my fear and apprehension turned to interest.

“You’re...a vampire?” My voice was quiet, almost reverent. I’d always been such a fantasy nerd, and I thought vampires were just the coolest thing. Although, this guy didn’t really seem like the kind of person I pictured when I thought of a vampire.

“I didn’t know vampires were even real,” I whispered, then my eyes widened and I stumbled back. “Wait, are you going to try and suck my blood?! Please don’t kill me!”

“Of course not!” Gingie looked rather offended at the idea. “I only drink from animals and willing humans! And never enough to kill anyone!” I stayed where I was, still nervous. He may have seemed sweet, but he was a vampire. Vampires were dangerous. At least, all the vampires I’d read about were dangerous. Gingie’s expression softened and he took a step closer.

“My dear girl, I truly don’t want to hurt you.” He smiled gently. I was about to reply, but then my stomach growled loudly. I closed my eyes, making a small whimpering sound. Seriously?! I was totally messing up my chances of this vampire thinking I was cool. He probably thought I was a dork. When I opened my eyes, he had a disapproving look on his face.

“Have you not eaten yet?” He demanded, arms crossed.

“Um...No?” I smiled sheepishly. “I was, uh, headed home to eat.”

“My dear, it is almost 8 at night!” He huffed. “This cannot stand!” He grabbed my arm and started to tug me in a direction that was not toward my house.

“Where are we going?” I asked, feeling my heart rate beginning to speed up in panic. Was I being kidnapped? Was he going to eat me?! He’d said he wouldn’t, but vampires were dangerous!

“A friend of mine lives close by,” Gingie said brightly. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we dropped by for dinner!”

“It’s okay, I can just get food at my house.” I tried to pull away. “I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

“Nonsense!” Gingie scoffed. “It’s no trouble! He’ll be happy to see us, I’m sure!”

I was dragged to a nice little house in the suburbs, one that looked a little bit like my own. Gingie waltzed up to the front door and knocked, a huge smile on his face. It was opened by a beautiful woman with a child at her side. She had dark skin and brown hair, which the girl beside her shared. One difference, though, was that the little girl had blue eyes.

“Grandpa Gingie!” The little girl exclaimed, throwing herself at Gingie.

“Hello, my little jellybean!” Gingie scooped her up in his arms, spinning her around. The dark skinned woman smiled softly, noticing me after a moment.

“Hello.” She said. Her expression changed to one of slight resignation and amusement. I wondered if this was the first time Gingie had brought someone to her house.

“Hi.” I waved awkwardly. “I-I’m sorry. I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Don’t worry. You don’t have anything to apologize for.” She assured me. “He probably dragged you over here, didn’t he?” She glanced at Gingie, who had transitioned into holding the little girl in his arms, asking her how her day had been.

“He, uh, he did.”

“Well, if you’re here, you might as well come in.” The woman stood aside, allowing me to enter. I walked in behind Gingie, more than a little nervous. I really didn’t want to be a nuisance to these people. I didn’t even know them! I didn’t even really know Gingie!

“Who was at the door?” A man’s voice came from the kitchen area.

“Just Gingie.” The woman replied. “He brought a friend.”

“Oh for crying out-” A man stormed out of the kitchen. Like the girl and the woman, he had dark skin. His eyes were blue like the girl’s, and his hair was strikingly silver, even though he didn’t look all that old. He was very tall and very angry looking and I squeaked and shrank back a bit. Thankfully, though, the man’s anger didn’t seem to be directed at me. He marched up to Gingie, hands on his hips. Gingie quickly handed the little girl off to her mother.

“You’ve gotta stop picking up these kids! One of these days, someone’s going to call the cops on you for basically kidnapping them!” The man said, sounding rather like a scolding parent. He was a parent, from what I could tell. I couldn’t help but giggle a little at this.

“I did not kidnap her!” Gingie frowned. “She hadn’t eaten and I said she could get some food here, that’s all.” The man sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Do you even know her name?” He asked.

“Of course!” Gingie replied. “It’s...” He trailed off, slowly realizing he’d never asked what my name was.

“My apologies, but I don’t believe I ever asked your name.” He smiled sheepishly toward me.

“It’s Fiona.” I tried to stifle a laugh, but it slipped out anyway.

“Well, it’s lovely to properly meet you, Miss Fiona.” Gingie took my hand, shaking it enthusiastically. “This is my friend, Snowy!”

“We’re both named Joey Drew, so we use nicknames to distinguish ourselves,” Snowy explained, still watching Gingie with weary resignation. “Sorry he basically kidnapped you.”

“No, it’s okay,” I waved my hands in an attempt to deny the apology. “I don’t mind. I’m sorry for intruding.”

“Like I said before, you don’t have anything to apologize for.” The woman said. “Gingie was the one who dragged you over here.”

“This is the lovely Ana!” Gingie gestured to her excitedly. “She and Snowy are married.”

“I’m Joy!” The little girl proclaimed proudly.

“It’s nice to meet you all.” I managed a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Ana said. I felt a bit better about being here since she didn’t seem all that bothered by my presence. Clearly, Gingie had done this before.

“This is like Francine all over again,” Snowy muttered, sighing heavily. “Do you need to tell your folks where you are, kid?”

“Oh! Yeah!” I fumbled out my phone. “They’ll probably get worried if I’m not home before 10.” I typed out a message and sent it to my parents. While I did this, Ana, Joy, and Snowy started setting the table and getting the food out. Gingie stood by me, rocking on his heels and humming.

“Are you sure this is alright?” I asked quietly as I put my phone away.

“Oh, it’s fine.” Gingie waved a hand. “Snowy will make a big deal about it, but he doesn’t mind.”

So, I ended up having dinner with Gingie and Snowy’s family. Joy insisted I sit beside her so that she could ask me questions. She was especially cute, so I didn’t mind. I’d never really been sure how to interact with small children, but I was going to do my best.

“You have really pretty hair.” She said. “Are you magic like Grandpa Gingie?” I’d gotten my hair dyed purple recently and it always seemed to delight small children.

“Uh, no, I’m not.” I smiled apologetically. “I’m just a regular human.” Joy nodded solemnly, one hand on her chin.

“That’s okay.” She finally said, putting a hand on my arm. “Not everyone can be magic.” I tried very hard to keep a straight face.

While we ate, I told them some basic details about myself. Where I was going to school, what I liked, a little about my family. Snowy kept looking pointedly at Gingie, especially when I mentioned that I only lived about 20 minutes away. Once dinner was over, I got up to leave when Gingie caught my arm.

“I apologize for being forceful.” He said. “But I would very much like to meet with you again. Your work sounds wonderful!

“Oh, um, okay?” I smiled nervously. “Do have...a cell phone or something?”

“I just got one!” His face lit up. We exchanged numbers and I was sent on my way. Honestly, it had been a pretty weird night.

#bendy and the ink machine #batim au #fanfiction #vampire!gin #gingie drew #joey drew #joey snowy drew #snowy drew #ana drew #joy drew

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amoralto · 5 years

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Playgirl: Paul! (June, 1982)

(Note: I’ve been wondering if I should include more full articles/interviews on the blog, i.e. pieces that are not already available and/or hosted online. This is one of them - more of an overview/feature piece, but worth a read nonetheless. For Paul and Linda’s 1985 interview w/ Playgirl, I typed it up a while ago here. Previous quote posts from both articles: here, here.)

by Mark Rowland

He turns 40 this month, and if he is anything like the rest of us, the last 20 must feel as close as yesterday. Was it really so long ago that four working-class chums from a dingy English port town sang and laughed and shook their mop-tops to signal a crumbling of the old order and a hailing of the new? You look for the signs of age in recent photographs, but the changes are so subtle—a slight hollowing of those cherubic cheeks, perhaps a hint of wariness in eyes that used to sparkle with playful coquetry. Yes, time has been a gentle thief.

The lad who stole girls’ hearts all ’round the world is a husband of 13 years standing, and the father of four. The inveterate rock ’n’ roller divides his time between home and studio, now surfacing to promote a new album (Tug of War, Columbia), soon disappearing back into the mists of his Scotland farm. Which is just as it should be. Paul McCartney, handsome and rich and brimming with easy charm—and still the mirror in which we seek the reflection of our own youthful dreams.

“I like Walt Disney cartoons—they sort of live forever.” Paul McCartney

In fact, the last decade has not treated Paul all that kindly. When it becan he was, quite simply, a hero. By its close he’d become the subject of casual ridicule, a turnabout engineered in part by the mocking comments of his former best friend and musical compatriot, John Lennon. Any critical appraisal of his band, Wings, was bound to include unflattering comparisons to the Beatles and/or snide references to the credentials of its keyboard player, who just happened to be Paul’s wife.

And then there was Wings’ disastrous final episode, a triumphant tour of Japan that abruptly terminated when customs officials unearthed a hefty cache of marijuana in Paul’s luggage. Instead of Budokan’s concert stage, McCartney commenced a 10-day engagement “live” in the local jail, regaling his fellow inmates with renditions of “Yesterday” and “Mull of Kintyre”. Then he was deported.

“He certainly received quite a shock,” recalls Michael McCartney, Paul’s brother and the author of an affectionate family history entitled The Macs (Delilah Communications, Ltd.). “But even worse was the way the media deliberately distorted his situation. When I said I was angry at what was happening, for instance, they made it sound like I was angry at Paul. So just at the crucial moment, when the court is weighing judgment, they read the papers and think, ‘My God, even his own family thinks he’s a fool.’ It could have gone to his detriment, you know. He could have been locked up for years.”

Paul’s problem, of course, is that he has always appeared just a tad too sexy, too suave, too eager to please. His equipoise looms like a red flag to critics ready to knock him down a peg, and no matter that his temperament is genuinely affable. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a bad mood,” contends rockabilly great Carl Perkins, a friend of nearly 20 years standing. “I’ve worked with a lot of greats, from Elvis to Dylan, and they could all get pretty moody at times. But Paul’s not like that. I’m sure he has a time and place, but it doesn’t interfere with his outward personality.” Though McCartney is far from invulnerable, it has never been his style to exorcise personal demons in public, a la John Lennon. Instead, he turns inward, to his family and his music. When the Beatles broke apart, Paul did both—he formed a new band with his wife.

“If you want the Beatles, go see Wings.” George Harrison

“I think I’m good. I like me, I’m good. I can dig me. Can you?” Paul McCartney

“He sounds like Englebert Humperdinck.” John Lennon

Wings took flight in 1971, when Paul and Linda joined forces with old pal Denny Laine (from the Moody Blues) and drummer Danny Seiwell. It endured, in various incarnations, for eight more years and eight more albums. Paul first conceived the band as a vehicle for playing small clubs and halls, a return to his rock roots and an emergence from the isolation that, in Paul’s view, had ultimately destroyed the Beatles. As a traveling show, Wings was a hit from the start—who wouldn’t want to hear Paul play the local pub?—but a succession of pop hits soon propelled him back to superstar-sized arenas and concert halls.

Critical acclaim was not so readily forthcoming. Without the Beatles’ special alchemy Paul’s romanticism tended to drift toward pap, lacking the spark of originality that characterized the best McCartney-Lennon collaborations. His most acrid critic, to Paul’s everlasting chagrin, turned out to be Lennon. For years they squabbled like ex’s unable to leave behind a stormy marriage, but when it came to sarcastic repartee John was in a class by himself. Japes like the one about Humperdinck, or the picture of John hoisting a pig by its ears (a wicked sendup of Paul holding up a sheep on the cover of his Ram album) wounded Paul deeply. He still has not entirely recovered; in a recent interview he claimed to draw fresh solace from his conversations with Yoko Ono. “She tells me something very important,” he revealed, “that John still loved me, after all.”

“Of course my brother and John loved each other,” declares Michael McCartney, “same as my brother and I do. Brothers have their feuds—you love ’em and you hate ’em. Oh, it’s easy enough to put all the negative parts under a microscope. I could have written a book called Paulie Dearest, slagged him to death and made millions. But it wouldn’t have been the truth. With Paul and John, though, all the dirty linen was brought out in public.”

Despite, or perhaps because of, such controversy, Paul continued to pour his energy into the music, and by 1976, his faith had been rewarded. Wings toured America that year like conquering heroes. McCartney was hailed on the cover of Time, and the band’s crack performances drew wildly ecstatic crowds and rave reviews. Amidst all the hoopla, however, Paul and Linda remained serene and jocular, causing one associate to marvel that McCartney was the only touring rock star around who knew how to keep a grip on his sanity.

”Groupies, chicks. It was fabulous. I loved it. There was no stopping me after a (Beatles) show. I was the biggest raver out. But I got to thinking, ‘What am I doing with my life? Who am I getting to know? What one chick do I know as a pal?’ And there weren’t any… Mainly, I’d sown enough wild oats. Making love does become a sort of commitment—I love the idea of vows and stuff. To tell the truth, it keeps me kind of straight.” Paul McCartney, 1974

“I’m not sophisticated, a good conversationalist, looking good all the time. I don’t think of myself like Jacqueline Kennedy or Patricia Nixon.” Linda McCartney, 1974

Paul was always the most desirable of the Beatle bachelors, and by the end of the sixties, he was the only one left. Any whiff of serious romance merited close scrutiny by the press. Thus, Linda “no relation to Kodak” Eastman was in for some rough sport, when, after a relatively swift courtship, she and Paul tied the knot in 1969. A rock photographer at the Fillmore East who’d enjoyed acquaintanceships with various rock figures previous to meeting Paul, she was dubbed the “Park Avenue groupie”—a sobriquet that says more about rock’s inbred sexism than Linda’s character. (Years later, Rolling Stone slurred Joni Mitchell in much the same fashion.)

Nonetheless, Paul and Linda took to the life of domestic bliss with remarkable dispatch, a condition rather smugly documented on their first two records together, Ram and Wild Life. Since then, however, they’ve managed to sustain the ideal of traditional marriage and family—no mean feat in this era of celebrity swapstakes. Though rumors of discord surface from time to time, from all indications, their marriage remains solid. Indeed, one of the highlights of the Wings Over America tour was Paul’s impassioned rendition of “My Love”, crooning the hook “my love does it gooood” while a smiling Linda posed before the multitudes, hands on hips, letting no one miss the implications of that particular song.

“Paul would be sort of a Republican.” John Eastman, Paul’s brother-in-law and business manager

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Paul McCartney is “the most honored man in music.” One is naturally inclined to trust Guinness in these matters, and Paul’s statistics do tell an amazing story—over 100 million album sales, 100 million singles sales and, separately, 43 million-selling songs. Since 1970, all 10 of Paul’s records (solo and with Wings) have been certified gold by the Record Industry Association of America. The last five releases have also gone platinum (over a million units sold), and his newest, Tug of War, which features Ringo, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Carl Perkins, is certain to do the same.

During the sixties, however, only a small part of the Beatles’ fabulous success translated into personal wealth. For many years the band relied on a loose network of acquaintances to handle their financial matters—most proved either honest or competent, but rarely both. But under the guidance of John Eastman, Paul has since realized a vast financial empire, with an estimated annual income, mostly from record and publishing royalties, of about $40 million. His publishing house, MPL, originally established for tax purposes, is the largest independent song publisher in the world, holding the rights to scores from Grease, Annie, Hello Dolly, A Chorus Line, Bye Bye Birdie and Mame; standards from “On, Wisconsin” to “Stormy Weather” and “Autumn Leaves”; the entire catalog of Buddy Holly songs, rags by Scott Joplin, songs by Ira Gershwin, even the theme to the Dinah Shore TV show. And in a recent twist of fate, Paul and Yoko are currently negotiating with British mogul Sir Lew Grade to buy back Northern Songs, the catalog of early Beatles hits (including “Yesterday”) that was sold during the sixties. The whimsical Beatle has turned out to be one savvy entrepreneur.

Less publicized, however, are McCartney’s frequent gestures of charity. He’s performed various benefits for UNESCO, and, in 1979,, following a plea from then-Secretary General of the United Nations Kurt Waldheim, he personally organized a giant pop concert to raise the emergency relief aid for Kampuchea. The event and subsequent album, Concerts for the People of Kampuchea (featuring the Who, Queen, the Pretenders and Elvis Costello, among others), has netted UNICEF over $600,000 to date, according to organization officials. A concert movie will also be released around the United States and Europe this summer.

McCartney’s generosity crops up in smaller, more personal encounters. “When I first decided to become a writer, I sent a bunch of stuff to Paul,” recalls Laura Gross, now a radio interviewer at KRLA, the “Beatles station” of Los Angeles. “Then, when he came to L.A., I knocked on the door of his hotel, and he said ‘Oh yes, I’ve read your stuff, you ought to send us what you’re doing. Linda and I are very interested.’ Here I was, a stranger and a nobody, and he took the time to be kind. He gave me encouragement at a time when that was very important to me.”

“He was my boss,” observes Wings guitarist Laurence Juber, “but he was also my teacher. At one point he gave me a fairly substantial budget just so I could develop my own ideas. He’s an extremely benevolent sort of person, but he doesn’t shout about it. He’s aware of his responsibility to other talents, otherwise he wouldn’t be a nice person, and he is a nice person. Of course, he’s always got that element of cockiness about him, because he’s come such a long way. Don’t forget, he was just a kid off the street in Liverpool. That’s all any of them were.”

“Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust.” The Clash

“I love Paul, he’s my favourite—brown, white, red, blue or green! He is the Beatles.” Little Richard, interviewed by KRLA’s Laura Gross

In 1974, Mark Lapidos decided to put together a kind of giant swap meet and communal gathering for Beatles fans. He called it Beatlefest, rented a hall, and ended up admitting 7,000 people and turning away thousands more. This year, Beatlefest will span 11 days in four different U.S. cities, as interest continues to mount in a group that called it quits more than a decade ago. “We’re not living in the past,” Lapidos insists. “You take surveys now and ask young people their favourite group and what do they say? The Beatles! Their music will not die. It is the cultural phenomenon of the century.”

Lapidos may be right. The past year has evidenced yet another spate of books and articles about the Beatles, along with discoveries of long-dormant radio recordings and master tapes by the Fab Foursome. And if anything, the hideous murder of John Lennon in December 1980 seems to have inspired fans to rekindle the flame of memory. “We simply couldn’t let that act destroy such an important part of our lives,” explains Lapidos. “Actually, we became more like family, pulling closer together after we’d lost our brother.”

The man who knew John Lennon best was devastated by his murder. Paul’s friend, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains, remembers seeing McCartney looking “stunned. He said it was useless and tragic, (but) I don’t think it had penetrated that John was gone forever. I’m sure it took a few days for that to sink in.” When it did, Paul turned, as he always did in times of crisis, to his closest ally—music. At the suggestion of friend and producer George Martin, he shifted base from London to Martin’s studio on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, away from the obtrusive glare of the media. Once settled in with Linda and the kids, he called up Ringo, Wingsmate Denny Laine, Carl Perkins, Stevie Wonder, and embarked on the most ambitious and painstaking project of his musical career.

“I have never met a more dedicated musician than Paul McCartney. He’ll work all night on a little guitar lick until he gets it just the way he wants it. He’s a perfectionist.” Carl Perkins

The intensity of his commitment on Montserrat became its own kind of therapy. Between sessions the musicians would swim, sun on the beach, or take Jeep rides along the scenic island trails. But after two months, McCartney and Martin returned to London, where they continued to refine the material for another year. The sessions had produced two albums worth of music; the second set was still in its final stages of completion when I phoned Martin’s studio in March. A spokesperson remarked that McCartney was anxiously awaiting its public reception. “I think Paul wants to have a truly ‘musical’ success this time, not just a popular one,” she declared. “He really wants to be recognized for achieving something.”

In the past decade, McCartney’s most trying periods have often fostered his best work—McCartney and Ram, following the Beatles split; Band on the Run in 1973, when Wings was coming apart at the seams, and to a lesser extent, Back to the Egg in 1979, amidst persistent rumors that Paul and Linda’s marriage was on the rocks. But all of those efforts pale, I think, beside Tug of War. Here Paul has finally cast off the aureole of calculated cuteness that marred so much of his seventies music, and penned lyrics that are evocative, unsentimental and deeply personal. At the same time, the album’s sheer range and spunky, let’s-try-it-on spirit recalls the Beatles at their most ambitious, from the daring juxtaposition of rock ’n’ roll rhythm and big band texture that propels “Ballroom Dancing” to the graceful, quirky country swing duet with Perkins, to the hothouse funk of “What’s That”, a six-minute corker with Stevie Wonder that bears favorable comparison to Wonder’s own “Superstition”. Yet the record’s most eloquent moment is its most elemental—a quiet, heartfelt paean to McCartney’s fallen brother, entitled “Here Today.”

And if I said I really knew you well, What would your answer be? Well, knowing you, You’d probably laugh, And say that we were worlds apart If you were here today… here today.

Every era has its myths—from Jesus to Camelot to the Beatles—and every myth exists to fill the special needs of its culture. As Beatle Paul, he will always play the courtly knight, the crooning Lancelot in shining Nehru jacket. But the real Paul McCartney is no more or less than a talented musician with wife and kids, nearing middle age and trying, along with the rest of us, to sort out the various slings and arows of life’s fortune. It is no put-down to say that nothing he ever does, no matter how accomplished, can again approach the majesty of the legend he once helped create, precisely because it is a legend.

“Why should the Beatles give more?” John Lennon once asked, with characteristic bluntness. “Didn’t they give everything on God’s earth for 10 years? Didn’t they give themselves?”

So now Lennon is gone, though his restless, vibrant spirit survives among the living. And now Paul McCartney, unarguably one of the premier artists of his generation, continues with his own life’s work, which is simply to make music for the world to hear and enjoy; perhaps even be touched by.

#1982 #paul mccartney #paul and linda #full article placeholder tag

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cutegirlmayra · 6 years

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Sonamy Week Promo- Theme - Superheroes (August 3rd)

With special permission to promote the upcoming themes, here’s something to inspire you!

Prompt:

The tingles spread throughout her body.

She stared with sparkling excitement in her eyes up to the screens where the three heroes fought the evil mustached man.

She wondered if they could make it as her fists scrunched together even tighter. Her heart raced with each of their movements, trying to track them on the screen.

“He’s gonna die.”

Amy glared back at a kid the same age as her.

“Nuh-uh!” She cried back, looking to the blue one. She pointed very proudly to her favorite, “Heroes don’t die! Especially not my Sonic!”

“Your Sonic?” The boy looked confused, before mocking her and shaking his head. “Hey guys, get this! This girly has a crush on some loser!”

In that instance, before little Amy could say anything back, a large explosion went off and Amy’s attention was once again glued to the most important thing in her life.

First a red one, then a yellow, each descended from the explosion and looked out towards where they had escaped from…

But where was her hero?

Where was Sonic?

Her feet inched closer towards each other. Her nerves flooded tears to the back of her eyes, ready… just in case the worst was to befall…

“Heh, told ya he was-“

Then Sonic burst through the explosion’s ending flames, and in his arms, was a few flickies he released. Eggman was slung over his shoulder and back, looking like a pouched prize before Sonic dropped him off and let him roll to his back, coughing smoke out for a second.

He dusted his hands off as the flickies rejoiced with thanks and flew off. He waved and looked surprised to see a camera.

Amy waited… she knew what was coming next, and her whole body was ready to cheer.

He curled his lips into an infamous smirk that drew her breath to a mild still.

He threw up his hand into a thumbs up, matching how her fists came up to cover her blushing muzzle.

Then… a sly wink.

The crowd around her burst into cheers, and she herself sounded out the loudest.

“I’m gonna marry you, Sonic!!!” she cried out, jumping for joy and springing her arms up, out and wide.

The boy and his gang of no-do-gooders tsked.

He walked up and put a hand to her shoulder, stopping her cheers. “Marry? Haha! You couldn’t even meet the dude!” he pushed her towards the wall as she stumbled, her feet coming up a bit behind her.

Her hands braced the wall to diffuse the impact, before she turned around with offense in her eyes. There was now a fire from all the energy around her, and her mind wasn’t thinking very kind thoughts…

“What’s your problem!? Jealous?” she turned back around as his friends called out ‘oohs’ and challenged their friend to fight her back.

“What’s to be jealous of? If you do marry him, at least he’s thinning out the ugly runts for us.” He looked back at his friends who laughed or seemed to have to loop the sentence in their minds before getting the joke.

Amy’s face flushed as her once innocent enthusiasm turned into bitter rampage.

Her shoulders hunched up, her teeth bore fierce walls against the growls that were swallowed in her throat.

“What’s that? Can’t take the truth?” The boy turned back, smirking.

His smirk… was nothing like her hero’s.

He was just a stupid kid!

“You’ll never be what Sonic is!” she cried out, letting her chin stick out as she let the full width of her mouth elongate the sentence out. Her body lurched forward and she summoned her hammer. “Just watch! I’ll be a super hero too and make him respect me!”

“You don’t even have our respect!” the boy spat back.

“…I will.”

Her demeanor suddenly became very scary.

She smiled a wicked grin and gripped both hands to her hammer, lowering her eyelids as the boys suddenly hushed up and took a step back.

“W-wh-what’s with this atmosphere… all of a sudden..?”

It was only a matter of seconds.

A few grunts and some hard PIKO hits, and the boys were scurrying out from among the crowd, crying or looking terrified. Some called for mommy and some just stated she was crazy.

It wasn’t long before Amy started her own career of crime fighting…

Not long after getting a reputation, Sonic and the gang arrived to see Eggman trying to recruit young and stupid teens to his causes. Making empty promises that would ensure their swift sign up to slavery—I mean—Employment.

Amy was the first on the scene, taking out his robots, and showing off a great deal of combat strength.

Immediately, the Sonic gang looked to each other, and thought her skills would be an asset to the team.

But Sonic hesitated.

“What do you mean, she’s too aggressive?”

“All I’m saying is we should scout her out. Feel what her motives are. After all, you can’t just sign someone up for the business.” Sonic had recently taken out the rest of Eggman’s forces and driven him off the city, but Tails and Knuckles still wanted to recruit the young hero.

“Hey, if she can deal out her hits as well as she did those robots—” Knuckles unfolded his arms and tried to make a plea in her case, but Sonic continued to relax back on the side of the building they were hanging out on.

“And what? Find out that she can’t hold them back?”

The two suddenly stopped their persistence and looked to one another.

“You want to test her morals?”

“Exactly. You can’t be a hero if you’re just throwing punches without good reason.”

“We mostly fight robots. There’s no need to-“

“There might come a day where there is, Tails.” Sonic got up, cracking his knuckles and smirking. “I’m gonna find out what her motives are. See if she has any class. If I find she’s worth the venture, I’ll offer her a place on the team right on the spot!”

Knuckles smirked, “A friendly test of one’s righteous causes, eh..? I’m in!” he punched his fists together, as Tails twirled his twin namesake’s skyward and looked up.

“She’s mostly known for protecting the weaker guy… If we set something up to test what she’ll do, we’ll have to make sure she can’t recognize it’s a test.” He was very logical in his thinking, but Sonic wasn’t thinking of a set-up…

“Oh no. We’re not playing any of those mind games.”

Tails looked confused, “Then… how do we know if she’s good or not?”

Knuckles looked off towards a pile of robots that scrap-heapers were still trying to clean up.

“I’ve got an epiphany!” he smiled.

The two looked down from the building at the place he was staring at, and both smiled as if getting the same thought.

Amy Rose was a small-town hero waiting for her chance to properly introduce herself to Sonic and his gang.

Mostly Sonic.

She had trained and challenged every mediocre bad guy that came bounding around the corners of her metropolitan home.

They never stood a chance to her Piko Piko Hammer, but the second Eggman showed up, she knew Sonic would be hot on his trails, and had seen him in action for the first time with her own eyes…

Now… she was finally going to impress her hero.

She put her hands together and took a deep breath.

“Okay…” she summoned her hammer.

“HELLLPP!!!”

Amy looked down to see a strangely clothed child rushing away from a robot chasing after him.

“I thought we said no mind games?!” Tails whispered back through his disguise, turning to Knuckles, crammed inside the husk of the robot.

“Shut up and say your line!” he swiped the mangled arm, but it fell off and he freaked out, having his eyes go white with the illusion breaking and quickly pulling it back up before the red of his arm could show through.

Amy, from so far up near an apartment complex’s rows of thin, steel stairs off the sides of the building, couldn’t see the malfunction in disguise and quickly went to the scene.

When she was just about to make her move, Sonic spin dashed into Knuckles, causing him to fall over as he saluted to Tails to head off.

“Woah! It’s Sonic!” Tails faked admiration like a fanboy, and then waved him off before heading away. “Thanks, Super cool, Superhero, Super Sir!”

Sonic sweat dropped, freezing in mid-motion to show his awkward reaction to Tails overacting his improv.

‘A little much there buddy…’

Amy held her breath again…

Her feet inched closer.

Her fists covered her muzzle.

She waited for it… the signature flare she loved so much.

Turning his head, he prepped himself before firing off a smirk, a flick of his nose, a finger wag that transformed into a thumbs up.

But where was..?

Then he winked.

“Awwhhaa-haa-haa..” she melted at the sight of it being so real in front of her. Immediately she strode out, “Sonic!”

He turned, having already seen her coming, and smiled. “Well, if it isn’t Amy Rose.” He held himself confidently over the robot, as Knuckles angrily wondered when he’d finally get off of him.

She stopped a bit in her tracks and stared up at him in amazement. “You… You know my name?”

“Sure do.” He held a kind tone and then stepped over Knuckles, having a faint ‘OFFPH!’ come from within the metallic hide. “I’ve heard a lot about the beauty of the city, but even more so about a young hedgehog who takes after a certain well-renowned hero we all know and love so much.” He lifted a hand up to explain before striding over to her.

His eyes had her fixated and she gulped, not even having enough seconds to prep herself—that is, mess with her dress and bangs—before he was standing directly in front of her.

“I was just wondering when I’d get to meet the lovely rising-star of the generation.” He tilted his head down and folded his arms, sticking a leg slightly out to balance and still holding himself with high prestige.

Amy stumbled on her name, before finally shaking her head, “O-O-Oh no! I meant, I’m Amy Rose and I’m a huge fan!”

“I can see that. The Newspapers leave no stone unturned.” He winked.

She fawned again.

“Is all he doing is talking?” Tails peered from around the corner, tossing his getup and unclothing himself from the disguise as he did so. “Geez… it’s like all he wanted to do was flirt with her.” He looked awkwardly afraid that he was right, but his eyelids lowered to annoyance. “Humph.” He fanned out the clothes and put them into a neat pile by the side of the alleyway. “I never took Sonic for a Casanova... Yet, here we are…” He muttered out, clearly frustrated at Sonic’s apparent ruse. Though Sonic’s intentions were clearly not so… Tails wondered how ‘not so’ they really were…

“So why do you do it? Why do you fight?” Sonic got right down to business, tugging on his gloves to keep his attention elsewhere.

He didn’t want her thinking he was interested… not just yet.

“O-Oh… T-…To get closer to-“ she stopped herself suddenly. She looked down at the ground.

His ear twitched and he looked back to her. ‘…Did she really only do this to get close to her idol?’ he looked a bit disappointed, and thought this was all for naught.

Before he could bail out and reject her, she suddenly took a breath and quickly spoke out.

“I wanted to make what was unfair… fair again.”

He stopped from his momentary retreat.

His head turned slightly back to her, wanting to hear what she had to say.

“There’s too much ‘justice’ in a world of unjust men.” She held a hand to her heart, “Sometimes… it’s so inspiring to see someone stand up for the little guy… like you do. When you saved all those critters from becoming energy-food for robotic takeovers! Or-or..! That one time! When you fought that robotic double-ganger and even tried to save him from that lava!” she began to grow excited, and her passion moved Sonic to turning around and fully back to her.

“I just knew there was a thing as true justice! Because I saw you extend mercy… not just once, but countless of times! You weren’t holding yourself over men, like some judges do… you were… equal and knew you weren’t any better… But what made you better was that you had the courage and strength to do the right thing! More than anything! That attracted me to doing the same thing in my life!” She became more bolder and stepped up.

Her sudden shift of character allured him to fixate his eyes upon her shining expression, the look of pure hope and admiration in her eyes…

Her voice was sweet… “Heh, thanks for the flattery, kid.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head down, rubbing his nose. “It takes a lot for someone to commit to doing the right thing like that.”

“I don’t just do it for myself.”

He looked up again, once again taken back slightly by her boldness.

“I do it… to serve others.”

He found himself staring at what seemed like his younger self… his ideals and dreams… before smirking and nodding to her.

“I must admit, I’m impressed.” He walked back towards her. “Usually,… these hero wannabes just want the fame and glory… no redeemable qualities about ‘helping others’ unless it’s all talk and no real heart.” He stopped, toe to toe with her, before tending his hand.

“Wanna prove it?”

She looked at the outstretched hand.

Suddenly, Knuckles was tried of just laying down and doing nothing!

He rose up with fierce anger at Sonic ignoring him.

He pretended to charge up a laser, even making a sound effect.

Sonic thought it silly, turning around to him but Amy seemed to believe it and jump towards him.

“Look out!” she fell on top of him.

“Quick! We can take him!”

“W-wait! Hold on!” Sonic’s hand was immediately taken, but so… was his surprised heart…

She hoisted him up with a powerful swing of her arm as their hands stayed gripped together. “Spin me around! Like you do with Tails!”

“O-o-okay..!” Still stunned by her forwardness, he spun her around like a flicked coin, or looking like a spinning top as their blurred images formed a similar blue and pink pattern to one.

They bashed against the metallic coverup, but Knuckles held his ground and fought against the grinding sensation coming from her hammer.

“Nn…nnnrrrg…nnrraaAAHHH!!!” he flung them back, as Amy skidded on the ground and launched Sonic at him.

“Now! Spin dash!”

Sonic smirked from within his ball, seeing her passion wasn’t all just talk, but she was truly ‘throwing herself’ into the fray.

He took down Knuckles with multiple pummels. “And stay down… don’t mess this up for me, buddy.” He whispered down to the metallic carcass, stars in Knuckles’s knocked out eyes.

He raced back to Amy, but she leaped into his arms, surprising him and his heart once again.

His eyes grew wide as Amy celebrated.

“We did it!” she moved her head to look directly up at him.

The world seemed to glimmer and glow as she gave him a genuine smile.

“My dream came true! I was able to help you!”

Immediately, Sonic was taken off by her over-eager imaginations to go out on a ‘first’ date with him. Dragging him stupefied as she showed him around her beloved city, introducing him to the sights and delicious tastes of her city’s proudest creation- The Chilidog Dog.

Was it because he was with her? Or was it the amazing food?

Either way, Sonic had never felt so powerlessly helpless before.

He didn’t quite like it. It was too strange for him. And he couldn’t just pull away…

Tails and Knuckles would watch silently from afar, eating the delectable chilidogs, and just contently keeping tabs from far off.

“You think he’s going to invite her to join the crew again?” Tails said with a stuffed mouth, sauce sprayed across the sides of his face.

“…Eh, he looks kinda jaw-struck.” Knuckles formed a frown to the side of his face, pouting almost at how utterly exhausted and mesmerized Sonic was acting.

Tails knew he meant awestruck.

“…Mwaybwe hwe’s swmittwen.” Tails commented as he shoved the last piece of the bun into his mouth, chewing.

“…Smitten? By that pink thing?” Knuckles turned to Tails, raising an eyebrow. “You think he’s in to tough girls?”

Tails swallowed, wiping his face with his arm. “Or sweet, endearingly passionate girls who domineer his every move.” He wagged his feet off the side of the building they surveyed the interactions on. “Either way, I think he’s just surprised he impacted someone’s life so much, you know?” He turned back to Knuckles, “I was kidding about the smitten part.” He sweat dropped, seeing Knuckles squint his eyes as if trying to see something he couldn’t from the two…

“Yeah… smitten…” Knuckles didn’t hear a word he said.

“…Knuckles…” Tails looked annoyed he was being ignored, before Knuckles swung a fist out and started shouting.

“OH YEAH!? Well if he thinks he can swing a girlfriend by on MY TEAM. Why I outta…”

“Sonic and I made the team.” Tails side-commented, looking at him but turning his face away before smiling down at Sonic. “I hope he doesn’t see her like that. It could be problematic… but either way, I’m just glad someone’s able to entertain him for so long.” He mused, before yawning. "Well… he’ll find us when he’s had his fill of this… New Girl. Let’s just find somewhere to sleep, okay?”

“Wait till I get my gloved, mitteny little hands on that-!”

Tails just sighed and dragged Knuckles by the scruff of the back of his neck, pulling him away from the two.

#sonamy week #sonamyweek #sonamy #sonicxamy #sonic au #amy rose #cutegirlmayra #sonamy prompt

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sonichico-blog · 5 years

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Letters and Bracelets - A Bungo Stray Dogs Fanfic

Author - Circie888

Pairing - Chuuya Nakahara/Atsushi Nakajima

Osamu snorted, whined and rolled eyes, while sincerely refusing to believe that his subordinate has such a bad taste in people - well, including the fact Atsushi was pretty close to him, there was no doubt. "Sorry, Dazai-san, - Nakajima awkwardly smiled and scratched back of his head. - I... Fell in love". There was nothing left for Osamu to do but courageously be silent, ignoring the presence of the ginger shorty in the Agency, and break loose on Kunikida, annoying him three times more often than usual, but including the fact how tense the work got just before the New Year, Doppo wasn't just unsatisfied - he was in rage. That's why Dazai was beaten up three times more often. But even this was better for him, than Atsushi's and Chuuya's little world - sugary-vanilla, with milk rivers and gingerbread shores.

When Nakahara got his deserved vacation, he started visiting a lot more often, than usual. Sometimes he got drinks for all of the detective company, except for Dazai, of course; sometimes he visited just to to drag Nakajima off behind the folding screen, to whisper about stuff on couches in solitude; or he took Atsushi to the cafe on the first floor for lunch break, but always paid for both of them, not letting Nakajima even look at the cheque. Shortly speaking, Chuuya tried to get every single piece of his beloved one's free time, and even though sometimes was distracting, Atsushi was... Happy.

Quite often Nakahara arrived in the end of the working day, and two of them went away under Dazai's displeased look, which Chuuya tried to not notice very hardly, and got away to the town, walking through snow-covered alleys, along narrow cozy streets with colorful garlands and round lanterns hanging over their heads. Nakahara had this weird will to always buy something for Nakajima, doesn't matter what - for example, a key chain, a plushie or some clothes - in any case the tiger-boy had an awkward feeling, but refusing these gifts would be impolite. When he confessed about this, Chuuya just thought about how cute he was and said, that he does not mind the money for him at all, but Atsushi made him promise he'll calm down a bit.

- How would you like to celebrate the New Year? - Nakahara asked, pulling up his scarf, and looking into Nakajima's face - red cheeks and red nose, shiny eyes, filled with the light of life. Yes. That's what he was in love with.

- I... Don't even know, - Atsushi babbled with an unsure smile and wiped the snow off his shoulder, snuggling up closer to Chuuya. - People in the Agency were talking about a corporate party, but I don't think they'll be holding it on the New Year's night. I am sure, somebody would want to celebrate it with their family - like Kenji, for example...

Nakahara bit his lip, hesitating to ask, but he wanted, he wanted to offer it so much, so he couldn't hold himself and blurted out:

- Then... How about spending it with me?

Chuuya hid his glowing look so that Nakajima doesn't see how exciting it was for him to talk about it, but he didn't care and smiled happily, going for a hug, but immediately pulling away - after all, this was so... confusing.

- Why not? - Atsushi responded, putting his head on his shoulders, but starting panically waving hands: - N-no, not like that, I'd want it! Really want it!! - Nakajima promptly muttered, and Nakahara laughed kindly, soothingly patting him on the shoulder.

- Heh... Personally, I think it would be great to book a room at the hotel, or maybe a house on the outskirts of the city?..- Chuuya thoughtfully said, starting a new wave of confusion inside Nakajima, who mumbled:

- Uhm... Chuuya, isn't it gonna be a bit expensive?

Yes, that's true.

But such things never stopped Chuuya.

Despite all of the talks and common sense, which seemed so only for Atsushi, in the end Nakahara rented them a two-floored villa and took the boy there as soon as his vacation started - two days before New Year. The place was amazing, beaming with holiday-like coziness: along the perimeter of the house there were garlands, beaming with gold, twinkling stars and snowflakes, there was a spruce wreath, and just above the threshold - omela, and Chuuya didn't miss the opportunity to kiss Nakajima's cheeks, tightly holding his hands.Inside was no less beautiful - nice warm colors, high ceilings, a fireplace with red socks, tinsel and glass balls, but the most prominent was the Christmas tree, gleaming with hundreds of lights. The place was great. Chuuya was great.

But at the same time Atsushi had a feeling that he doesn't deserve this.

He couldn't give anything in exchange, he was sure, that Chuuya would get him a gift which can't compare to his - moreover, Nakajima didn't have enough time to even think about it, to buy something - even more so; that's why he felt guilty. Firstly Chuuya didn't notice his depressed mood, but when he noticed, understood it is so because of him, and so he fell into the sadness pit too. He just wanted to please Atsushi. He just wanted Atsushi to be happy with him, here, at the place he had never been to, experiencing feelings that he never experienced. Nakajima bit his lips in confusion, listening to his beloved one's honest excuses, and then he told about his worries. Nakahara made them disappear one by one. Then they hugged, laughing happily, and after that, when Chuuya made them some mulled wine, they sat together in front of the fireplace. Swaying in a hug to quiet music, drinking spiced hot drink, rub noses, gently smiling - if somebody told him he's going to spend his holidays like this a year back, he probably wouldn't believe them. But despite this... right now he was happy.

Only a half of the day was left until the New Year. And even if Nakajima couldn't buy anything, he could make it him himself - so that's why he locked himself up in a room, sometimes coming out just to grab some food or tea.

Atsushi was thinking a lot, keeping his eyes on the blank sheets for a long time, he wrote, tore, and started again several times - the correct thoughts just didn't want to come to his head, but he needed to...to tell how important Nakahara became for him. Atsushi was a bit nervous, as he didn't have a pretty envelope for this letter, was nervous if the white sheet of paper would look soulless, and his writing would look too bad - since the orphanage times he still hasn't made it better... He was ashamed and felt awkward, but he finished and neatly folded it, and drew black hats and little tigers on the other side, repeating to himself how childish it looked.

But Nakajima was satisfied with his work. A bit nervous, but satisfied.

Their New Year - great tasty food, made by Chuuya, sparkling champagne, warm hugs and fireworks, which Nakahara launched with unstoppable fun and loud shouting, thank God nobody could hear them. Without the loud bells, without going to the church and without the traditional games, actually, they didn't need that - their hearts were filled with happiness, bright fire was burning in the quivering souls, and lazy stretching under the kotatsu* wasn't worse in any way.

- Oh, Atsushi-kun... The gift, - Nakahara awkwardly smiled, getting something out of his back pocket.

- Please don't say it's something expensive, I'll die of embarrassment! - Atsushi squeezed his head in his shoulders holding his hands between the knees, and Chuuya, hiding something that he got out, laughed warmly.

- Firstly, we talked about it already, - he said, taking Atsushi's hand into his. - And secondly - no, it's not expensive - and he put a braided cord, clasped it, making sure he picked the correct size. - I... made it myself, - Nakahara lowered his head and smiled. - I was thinking about the gift for a long time... Starting with great alcohol, ending with a flat next to mine. But you'd not be interested in the first, and the second would make you sad, because, you know, too expensive.

- C-chuuya... - Atsushi held his fists closely to chest, nervously looking at the bracelet he got.

- I was thinking about a hat, about a coat, about a smoking... Even about a ring, - Nakahara smirked, looking up at Nakajima. - But all those things are not... sincere enough. That's why I started making this kumihimo** and made a gift for you by myself. Sounds... So childish, - and Chuuya started laughing, covering his face, but Atsushi took his hand into his and gently kissed the knuckles.

- Thank you. The bracelet is great, - "Just like you", - a thought flew through in his mind, but he didn't have enough courage to say it outloud. - And it... Is important. Right here. - Nakajima placed Chuuya's hand on his chest, where his tender heart beat fiercely, and Nakahara hugged his darling, dragging him back under the kotatsu. - Ah, yes, I have a gift for you too! - remembered Atsushi. - Wait a second.

He jumped out of his warm spot and ran away to the second floor, to the bedroom, where he had left his letter. When he returned, he sat next to Nakahara and and stretched out the paper rectangle with his trembling hands. Chuuya smiled inappropriately wide, and Nakajima blushed, biting his lips.

- Looks like you even overdone it with the "childishness", - Chuuya smirked, looking at the cute drawings, but when he felt it could offend Atsushi, he hurried up to apologize - I'm not intending to shame you. It just looks really cute.

- W-wait, are you going to read it now? - Nakajima asked, when Nakahara started to unfold the letter and caught a puzzled look on himself.

- Why not?

- It's just... Whatever. If you want to, go on then.

Chuuya could understand him - maybe, it's very confusing, when somebody reads the thoughts you put on a piece of paper right in front of you, but the man was too curious, that's why he carefully unfolded it and started looking through the neat lines of handwritten kanji.

"My beloved Nakahara Chuuya,

I am very happy to spend my time with you. Every day, which I spend with you, every minute, every second fills my heart with the most sincere joy, which you can feel only by being with the closest person.

We don't know each other for so long, and we have been dating even less, but you became the most important person for me. Your attention, your care, your love make me feel the happiest human on this planet - and even though we work in the organizations, which still haven't destroyed each other only because of the fragile truce, it does not prevent us from loving each other no matter what.

It's a bit awkward to write about such stuff. When you're unsure, a bit scared, confused... it's very scary to say something wrong and trip, but I know, you will catch me, so that's why I'm ready to entrust yourself to your hands. You filled my life with light and eclipsed the horrors of my past. I never knew love nor tenderness, but you taught me, and I am thankful to you, and I will try so hard to not lose you.

I love you with my soul and body. And I hope you'll love me the same.

Sincerely yours

and nobody else's

N. A."

Nakahara covered his mouth with his palm, and, it seemed like his temperature raised because of what he felt while reading this letter. Atsushi was just keeping quiet, dying of embarrassment, and Chuuya, finally looked up.

- Atsushi-kun... - he breathed out, letting go of the letter and tightly hugging the boy. - Atsushi, I love you so much! And I will! I promise I will!

Nakajima blushed again and hugged him too.

Intending never to let go.

________

Kotatsu* - a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits.

Kumihimo** - a Japanese form of braid-making. Cords and ribbons are made by interlacing strands. Kumi himo is Japanese for "gathered threads".

All credit to @circie888

Your humble translator @sonichico

#bsd #bsd chuuya #fanfic #bsd atsushi

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