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priortoallthoughts · 3 years

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Don’t Mess With the Commander’s Caf

(or do, because it’s gotten you this far)

Rating: T

Word Count: 3.6k

Pairing: Commander Fox x afab!reader

Warnings: Mild swearing; gets a bit spicy at the end but nothing explicit.

Summary: What is supposed to be a night out at 79s turns into a night in the drunk tank, and the morning starts a startling new relationship with a certain Coruscant Guard Commander. All over a cup of caf.

// [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

Masterlist

A night out in Coruscant is never complete for you without going to the clone bar, 79s. You may pre-game somewhere else, but you always end up there, recognizable as one of their regulars. You love the atmosphere, honestly. It’s so jovial, just vode – and weren’t you surprised when you found out that clones spoke a different language with each other – coming to forget the war for a night. Living life as much as they could. You’ve picked up a few words of theirs purely because you hear them so often. Many a curse word too, which are your favorites.

And they were about to be put to good use.

You’re already buzzed and walking with a group of grey-clad troopers that had pulled you into their group when they saw you walking alone. You chat easily with them even though you never met them before. That’s the funny thing about being sociable when you’re sober – you’re even more chatty when you drink. And giggly apparently, considering you couldn’t stop laughing at the mission gone wonky they were telling you about.

When 79s came into view your smile widens. There really is nothing like the neon lights and bass you can already hear resonating from inside. Were there probably millions of places just like in on Coruscant already? Sure. But there isn’t anywhere aside from 79s you could find this kind of ambiance.

There is one downside that pisses you off like no other though.

There’s yelling coming from over by the speeder-way and when you look over, another civilian is getting in the face of a Coruscant guard member. The frown the graces your face feels wrong after laughing so much, but you can’t help it. You pause in your tracks. Usually when you see this kinda shit it deescalates fairly quickly, but this civilian is getting louder and more violent the more the (admittedly nervous acting) guard tried to calm him down.

“Hey.” A hand lands on your shoulder and you look up to see one of your group. “We can’t do anything. The punishment would be too harsh and that civvie chakaar won’t even get a slap on the wrist.”

Your frown turns into a snarl. “You can’t do anything.”

Fishing your flask out of your jacket pocket you take a swig before shoving it into the chest of the closest trooper. The steady click of your heels is the only thing you can hear over the growing volume of yelling.

“Hey! Shabuir in the stupid shirt!” Your own yell interrupts.

You have exactly one second to reconsider things before you think about all the vitriol this jackass is spewing at the guard for nothing. The sound of your fist hitting his face is the most satisfying thing you’ve heard tonight, along with the yelp he lets out when he hits the ground.

“What the kriff is your problem, bitch?!”

“You talking shit about this trooper is my problem!”

He turns towards the guard again and the trooper flinches. “I want her arrested for battery!”

You lean down to grab his collar and shake him out. “Oh, so now you want him to do his job? The one you were just belittling him for? Can’t have it both ways, chakaar!”

“Let go of me!”

You drop him so suddenly that his head cracks against the ground. He scrambles to his feet and points a finger at you. “You’ll regret this! They’re nothing but meat-droids!”

“Say that again, you little pissant. I dare you.” You go to take a step forward but he’s already running away. A hand on your shoulder again makes you look over to the one you defended.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” And he does sound sorry. “I will have to take you in tonight. I… can’t ignore you attacking someone right in front of me.”

You smile at him. “No problem, trooper. Do your job; I don’t want you getting in trouble.” You offer your wrists to him and next thing you know they’re in a pair of binders behind your back and you’re being placed in the back of a speeder.

“A night in the drunk tank should sort you out.”

The smile you give him is blinding, because not only do you know that’s not the proper booking for what you just did, at least you look cute while you’re being taken away.

---

When you wake up in your cell (lucky you’re the only one there) you’re beyond tired and in desperate need of some caf. You can’t function without it in the morning.

There’s a guard member who lets you out not long after you get up. You follow him like a zombie. Presumably he’s leading you out of all the twisting hallways, but you stop short when your nose picks up the distinct smell of caf.

But not just any caf. You know the smell of Death Wish anywhere.

Your favorite.

You follow your nose to a mess hall – sparsely populated but still enough that everyone stops what they’re doing to look at you as you make your way to the caf machines in the back. You’re basically falling asleep as you walk so you don’t notice. Maybe you should care, considering you’re still wearing your clubbing outfit from last night, but no, you don’t actually care.

When you get there you see two different machines. One is labeled with some cheap, generic caf name and the other is simply “Fox’s Starfighter Fuel.”

You grab a flimsi cup and fill it with the second one. No cream. No sugar.

No life, only caf.

You finally notice how deathly quite it is as you take your first sip and turn around. There’s one trooper standing in front of you, helmet tucked under his arm, and the most severe look you’ve ever seen before gracing his features. You look him over with half-lidded eyes, noticing he’s dressed differently than the others, and casually take another sip of caf.

“You must be Fox.”

“Civilians aren’t allowed in this part of the building, who let you in here?”

Still waiting for the caf to kick in, you shrug. “Spent the night in the tank. No one stopped me when I walked in.”

Fox turns to glare at everyone sitting at the tables. They all look down at their food like they weren’t obviously watching and someone starts whistling.

“You need to leave,” he says when he turns back around.

“Can I finish my caf first?” You ask, taking more sips hoping to stall.

He glowers even more. “That’s not even your caf!”

“Shame.” You chug the rest of the still mostly full cup and coughs wrack your chest when you finish. “I think I just burned my esophagus,” you rasp.

“Get out.”

“That’s completely fair.”

You toss your cup in the trash on the way out. Turning the way you were going before you got distracted, you make your way to the exit; no need to bring the wrath of Fox down on you for sticking around. You feel like, once again, you get off light and dont’t want to press your luck. The smile that graces your face as you step outside is probably a strange thing for anyone else to see considering you’re walking out of jail, but you had a good night, and the morning is shaping up to follow suit.

---

The next day you walk into the caf shop you normally stop at on the way to work. The barista behind the counter waves as you walk up. “Your usual, hun?”

“You know me,” you smile brightly, “but, uh, can you make it two?”

Her eyes widen. “I can’t imagine the morning you’re expecting to have!”

You laugh and wave her off. “Nothing bad. I owe someone a cup.”

“You mean someone else drinks this sludge?”

“Imagine my surprise. And it’s not that bad!”

She places two large flimsi cups in front of you. Your hands rub together nervously before you get your thoughts together. “Can I borrow your marker?”

She hands it to you with a raised eyebrow and you quickly scribble a few words on one of the cups. It isn’t a lot, and it completely gives away who you are without having to sign your name, so you hope it’s okay.

“Thanks, gotta run!” You scurry out of the door before the barista can ask anything about what you’re doing.

You aren’t even sure yourself if you were being completely honest. The Coruscant Guard building is a little out of your way from your route to work, but you leave early in the mornings anyway, so you can still make it in time even with the detour. You feel a bit nervous walking in this time. Where did all your confidence from yesterday go?

You flag down the first trooper you see that doesn’t look busy.

“Can you give this to Fox, please?” You hold out the cup for him to take.

He doesn’t.

He only stands there, and you imagine he’s making a face behind his helmet because he doesn’t say anything either.

After a few seconds of silence you lower the cup awkwardly. “Uhh, oh, sorry, am I allowed to bring caf?”

“Why are you bringing the Commander caf?” He finally asks.

You squeeze the cups so much the tops almost pops off. “Fox is a commander?”

“Commander Fox is head of the Coruscant Guard, ma’am.”

The top of your own cup does pop off this time, but nothing spills.

“The entire guard?” You squeak.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Heat is quick to crawl up your face. “Oh stars, I can’t believe I took his caf.” Your internal panic is quickly becoming external as you try not to drop either cup. You hid your face behind one in embarrassment.

“Wait.” The guard member tilts his head. “You’re the one they were talking about yesterday? The girl from the mess hall?”

There’s a few second where nothing but incomprehensible noises come out of your mouth, but you finally get out, “how many people know about that?!”

“It’s made its way around.”

“I’m gonna - kriff - go throw myself off the senate building I swear-“

You’re cut off by the sound of a chuckle and you snap your head up to see the guard member’s shoulders shaking. “So you’re not trying to poison the Commander, huh?”

“No!” You yelp, but quiet down after you see others turn to look at you. “I was just trying to repay the caf I drank! We like the same kind!”

“That’s disgusting.”

“Can you please just give this to him before I die of embarrassment? You’re killing me here!”

He laughs again and finally takes the cup from your shaking hands. “Who should I say it’s from?”

You slap a hand over your face to hide your grimace. “At this point I’d rather not tell you. I want to keep some of my dignity intact,” you mutter.

“Nobody’s dignity is intact here, ma’am.”

“Oh… joy.”

“You best be on your way then.”

He is giving you an out and you’re taking it in full.

“Have a good day,” you say as you turn, the only proof you’ve been there being one guard member and a note on a flimsi cup.

“Sorry for taking your caf yesterday.”

---

One week later you find yourself standing outside of the caf shop, once again with two cups in hand through no fault of your own. It makes you think that maybe another trip to the Coruscant Guard building wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Why waste a perfectly good drink after all?

You pause immediately when you step through the door, because the man you’re looking for is standing across the room talking to someone with a datapad in hand. The decision on whether to interrupt is made for you when the person he’s talking to looks over and spots you.

He waves and Fox finally looks over as well, tilting his head as he does so. You take a deep breath before walking over to them.

“Caf girl!”

You raised your eyebrow at the other trooper. “I really am known around here for that, aren’t I?” You say as you stop in front of them. You have a sneaking suspicion that he is the same one you talked to last week.

“Well you never gave me your name,” he shrugs.

Yeah, it’s him.

Your head snaps to Fox, however, when he addresses you.

“You know my name?”

“Your information was processed and put into the system when you spent the night in the tank.”

“Osik,” you mutter.

“Did you need something?” He asks.

You perk up some, and hold out the second drink in your hand. “Right, there was a mixup at the caf shop, and I got an extra drink. I thought you might like it.”

He takes it carefully, but your bare fingers still brush against his gloved ones. They tingle when you pull away, and while the heat on your palm from holding the hot cup fades, the heat in your fingertips does not. You have the sudden urge to find out what holding his hand feels like, but you push that thought down along with the blush you can feel rising. Now isn’t the time. You have to get to work. Maybe if you come by earlier next time….. would there be a next time?

“Thank you. I… appreciate the thought.” You think you hear him trip over his words, but there’s no way.

You smile brightly at him. “You’re welcome!” You check the time on your chrono. “Looks like I gotta bounce. Enjoy your caf, Commander!”

Your retreat is quick, but hells if you don’t add a little extra sway to your hips as you walk out the doors.

And scribbled on the cup now in Fox’s hand is:

“I know day old caf when I taste it. Fresh is better.”

---

You start to bring Fox caf every week.

“This has become part of my routine, so I hope you don’t mind.”

Every week turns into every few days.

“Your filing system is horrifying but at least your chair is comfy.”

Every few days turns into every day.

“Tell Thorn that if he sees me at 79s tonight, he can’t arrest me just so I’ll hang out with him.”

And leaving early just to see Fox is the best part of your day no matter what. You hope you’re not the only one who feels like this. That maybe as you walk to the Guard building in the morning, you’re not the only one smiling and counting down the minutes until you get to Fox’s office. He never turns you away, and he’s always there to take the extra caf from your hands if he can be. Sometimes you have to leave it on his desk if he’s not in, but you understand that his job isn’t easy by any stretch of the word.

He is in this morning, however, seeing as the door opens promptly at your knock. He sits behind his desk, a few data pads already stacked next to him and a frown marring his face. That won’t do.

“Credit for your thoughts?” You say as you set his caf down next to his helmet and lean against his desk.

Fox looks up and gives you a tired smile, unaware of how it makes your stomach flutter. “Shaping up to be a long day.”

“Giving yourself more grey hairs already?” You say, giving a pointed look to his already greying sides.

“Like I need any more,” he huffs.

“I dunno,” you reach up and run your fingers lightly through his short curls, “I think they make you look distinguished.”

He lets out a breath you didn’t know he had been holding. “At least one of us thinks so.”

“It’s okay, I can like it enough for the both of us.”

“Should I count myself lucky then?” He smirks, finally taking a sip of his caf and sighing contently into the cup.

You give him a cheeky grin. “You should.”

He looks at you then, not saying anything, and you can’t help the flush you feel crawling up your face. You swear, you had never blushed so much around anyone before you met him. You distract yourself by drinking your own caf, the liquid welcome to your suddenly dry mouth.

“I do.”

“What?” Your head snaps back up to him and he’s still looking at you, but not in a way you’ve seen before.

“I do count myself lucky.”

You look away shyly, a small smile forming at the corners of your mouth. Sure, you two have been lightly flirting with each other, or at at least you’re definitely flirting with him, but this is the most straight-forward thing he’s ever said to you.

“It’s a good thing I got myself arrested that night then, isn’t it?”

It’s uncharted territory, where this conversation is heading. The thought of what it could be sits low in your belly and causes you to let out a shakey breath.

“It’s quite the holovid to watch,” he says offhandedly.

You’re lucky you aren’t drinking your caf, otherwise you would have spit it everywhere. You turn your head so hard you think you give yourself whiplash, mouth agape, looking at him in wide-eyed mortification.

“There’s a holo of that?!” The pitch of your voice would be embarrassing if you weren’t in the middle of spontaneously combusting on the inside.

He nods empathetically, which is shit because you know for damn sure he’s not empathetic about it; he’s having too much fun with this. You know he is, with that stupid, heart-stopping smirk playing on his face.

“Our HUDs record each incident for our files to make sure everything matches up with the reports.”

“Nooooooooooooo,” you whine quietly into your hands that now cover your face. You hear him get up and move to stand in front of you, but you don’t react. Mainly because you have no idea what he’s doing, but also he’s so kriffing close you can barely handle it.

His pries your hands from your face and presses them to his desk, effectively caging you in. He’s even closer now, and you’re hyper aware of how hard your heart is pounding even though you stop breathing. It’s the last thing from threatening, but you’re still frozen.

He leans in so his mouth is right next to your ear. “You look good in that little red dress of yours,” he whispers, his voice octaves lower than before. “Especially when you’re beating the kark out of a civvie – standing up for my vod.” It sends a pleasurable shiver down your spine and straight to your ovaries.

You suck in a breath when he pulls away. This is much more than you could have expected. “You’re not giving me much incentive to not be arrested again,” you tilt your head, “now that I know you’d be watching.”

“Always watching you, cyare.”

You hum, pulling one hand away from his to run up his armor and trace lightly over his jaw. “Gonna have to try harder to get a pair of binders on me next time, then.”

“Would you run?”

“Only if you’re the one chasing me.”

You move your hand from his jaw to the back of his neck and scratch lightly, feeling more than seeing him shiver under your fingertips.

“I’d find you.”

“Oh, I’d be counting on it, Commander.”

It’s a mutual surge that leads you two to lean in, culminating in the most charged kiss you’ve ever received. You throw your other hand around his neck, holding him as close as you can, while his hands latch onto your hips, pulling you up and into his embrace. He leads you back until he’s sitting in his chair and the next thing you know you’re falling into his lap to straddle him. You break for air, and to process that yes, this is happening, before you’re kissing again. A little slower; a little deeper.

You moan quietly into his mouth, and his hands move to your ass so he can pull you even closer.

There’s a chime from your chrono and you pull away, panting.

Fox’s eyes are dark and hungry when he looks at you. “You have to go soon.”

You nod, not breaking eye contact, and not moving either.

He grins, and it looks absolutely predatory. He slides the top of your blouse down slowly, just enough for his mouth to latch on to you right above your collarbone. You let out another breathy moan, and his teeth graze your skin in response as he sucks harder. His tongue soothes the area over when he lets go, and he looks at the quickly darkening spot with what you can only assume is possessive pride.

“For you to remember,” he says huskily.

Knowing he’s just staked his claim on you stokes the fire inside you even more. You give him your own feral grin, and pull down the collar of his blacks as he stiffens. “Who am I to allow you to forget, then?”

You suck hard at the column of his throat, higher than he did on you, knowing it would still be covered. You taste the sweat that had been building up, and his skin which you can’t even describe except that it tastes like him.

He groans lowly into your ear and you shiver when you pull away. You drag your nail lightly over the dark bruise in satisfaction before pulling his collar back up.

You slide off his armored thighs slowly. He follows you to stand, and gives you one last, long, kiss.

“Until next time, cyare.”

When you leave his office, you wish you had written something more on his cup than a crudely drawn fox with a smiley face next to it. Tomorrow though, you wonder what you can get away with saying.

“Next time I’m wearing that little red dress, feel free to search me. Who knows what I could be hiding.”

#prior writes #star wars #swtcw #clone wars #the clone wars #commander fox #cc 1010 #commander fox x reader #commander fox x you #afab!reader #coruscant guard #writing #fanfic

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golden-voices · 4 years

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Jealous Inosuke x reader

Gimme that spicy spicy. Jealous Inosuke x reader, or if you’re not comfy with that, then Giyuu. Like maybe we were at a fair during college or sum (whatever AU) and these guys flirted with reader and they’re like “haha thx” cause they’re oblivious. So they “claim” reader as there in a little hidden section. (So like... semi-public) Im not tryna right the whole plot Im sorry, idk if you want mucho detail or not 🥺🥺 So uh... just public Inosuke or Giyuu x reader basically 🥺

I finished my first request yaaay! But I don’t think that i fulfilled the original request tbh (accidentaly deleted it haHA) :(

Writing this actually was harder than expected, as English is not my first language lol, but I think it turned out well for my first non-school-related writing.

If you got critism oder tips feel free to tell me!

And sorry, I don’t know much about college or what a fair is :’) I hope you still like it.

[Warnings: nsfw, semi-public]

As you were on a mission with the Kamaboko squad and the flame pillar, you happened to get into a festival in a village you were passing by.

The smell of food, people laughing and kids screaming, your friends talking. All of this makes you happy, but seeing your boyfriend having so much fun and tolling around makes this festival unforgettable. But this damn demon... for three weeks you haven't found a trace, except for the remains of his victims. Your thoughts drifted to your mission again and again...

"Where's your mind wandering, (y/n)?" Tanjirou blurted out, pulling you out of your thoughts. Now the others got curious too... great. "Uuh, I just can't get my mind off that demon," Tanjirou slightly furrowed his eyebrows as he began rubbing your shoulder, "We can worry about this tomorrow, but now we should take a break!" he cheered. "Yes (y/n), your face is too pretty to be ruined by sadness!" stated Zenitsu with a dreamy glance in his eyes, his cheeks turning red. As they were going on comforting and complimenting you, you felt an intense glance on you...

"Why won't they stop touching her?!"

Inosuke was furious. His eyebrows were wrinkled and his lips pursed as he was obviously jealous. The green-eyed couldn't hold himself back anymore... "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, WHY ARE YOU ALL HITTING ON HER?!" He squaled, pulling you out of their range. The attempts to calm him down only made him irritated.

Surprised you were looking at him. You are used to him being impulsive and not able to control his feelings, but something like this?

"Is he.. jealous? That's kinda cute tho,"

You just had to laugh. Inosuke stopped mid-sentence to look at you with a confused expression "Why did you laugh? DO YOU THINK I'M RIDICULOUS, HUH?". Out of consideration for the others, you asked your upset boyfriend to talk about this in a quiet place. But Inosuke didn't want to talk.. he wanted the world to know that you are his. Suddenly he grabbed you and pulled you through the crowd, "OKAY" he yelled, "IF YOU SAY SO".

As soon as you reached a place away from the festive turmoil he threw his boar mask to the ground and pinned you against a wall. "INOSU-" You couldn't even end your sentence because he pressed his lips against yours. Gasping you pushed him away from you but that didn't stop him, it just turned him on. "When I'm done with you-" he pulled at your uniform "-everyone knows that you're mine."

"We're in public, Ino.. S-Stop..." You tried complaining, but your complains faded into moaning as the heated young man began to leave hickeys on your neck. With a husky voice, he whispered right into your ear "No (y/n), I won't stop until marked what belongs to me". Hearing his seductive voice and seeing this wild gaze in his eyes you couldn't resist him anymore, so you slung a leg around his hip and stuck your tung in his mouth.

"It's YOUR fault if we get caught, mister," You told him while he was taking off your shirt. "Shut your mouth and take that fucking bra off!" He responded in a harsh voice while struggling to take your bra off. You just had to tease him after a good laugh "What if I won't, huh?". Getting annoyed by you getting cocky he pinched your butt. The moan you let out made him even harder. "Fine, here you go. But watch out for someone coming, please" You dropped the black bra with a floral pattern to the floor.

As soon as your bra fell onto the floor Inosuke grabbed your breasts and squished them. "N..Not so rough, my breasts are sensitive you know that" You mumbled. He didn't bother listening to you, he instead grabbed your thigh even rougher and pulled you to him. You could feel his hot breath at your ear, causing you to hold on to him tighter. You pressed your hips into his so you could feel his covered erection.

Inosukes mind was going wild at the sight of your shaky body. Your leg in his hands, your red face, your twitching thighs, he didn't care about getting caught, it only would declare his dominance even stronger.

"We haven't done it in a while..."

his thoughts were going.

"I want to take her hard,"

While slipping his hands under your panties, he discovered you already dripping wet. A feeling of superiority coming up, he inserted one digit into you, "You're already dripping after five minutes of making out. Do you desire me that bad?" provocatively asking while sticking another finger into you.

You couldn't stay quiet, not after Inosuke began fingering you. Every time he pushed his fingers a bit further up your cunt you let out a pleasant moan. Passionately he sucked your neck, leaving love bites everywhere. You already were a mess, but when he hit your G-spot Inosuke felt you clenching around his fingers. Wanting you to beg he stopped moving.

"D..Don't stop now, I'm close," you told him with a shaky voice. The only response you got was a throaty "

Beg

" and a dominant glance, so you begged him.. "Please, I need you now", "I'll do everything you want me to", "Make me cum" your voice getting breathier with every sentence. When you whined enough to make him feel like the best partner ever, he pressed your G-spot. "I'm the only one who can make you beg like this," he claimed, "Am I right?". But as you didn't reply to him, he quickly inserted a third digit into you. "Yes Ino- aah.. You're the only one I'd ever beg for", satisfied with your answer he fingered you with a faster-becoming pace.

Reaching your climax you bit into his shoulder, leaving a bite mark. He didn't stop pleasuring you through out your orgasm, but when he pulled his fingers out of you, you slid down to the floor, breathing heavily. "And now I'm making you come on my cock" the horny man mumbled while taking off his pants.

"(y/n), Inosuke!, where are you?!" A voice coming closer and closer echoed off the walls of the alley where Inosuke was taking off his pants. "PUT YOUR PANTS BACK ON DUMBASS," you shouted at him while hurriedly getting dressed again. "But I-" he wanted to convince you, but he was interrupted by you pulling his pants up.

"Finally I found you two! I've been worried so I decided to check if you were okay!" The flame pillar exclaimed energetically. He just stood there looking over the both of you, standing there stiff, all sweaty and messy, with hickeys all over your necks. The moment he realized where he walked into he blurted out "I'M SORRY FOR INTERRUPTING YOU! But the others are waiting, so come back!" and just got on his way back.

Still scared by Rengokus sudden appearance you took Inosukes hand and started following the blonde. "If someone asked, we were arguing, and don't you dare tell something different. But anyway, why have you been so jealous?" you looked Inosuke straight in his eyes, still embarrassed as hell. " BECUZ THOSE FUCKERS WERE ALL FLIRTY WITH YOU" Rengoku turned his head around at Inos yelling. "YEAH, YOU TOO DONT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT" The man turned around fast with a guilty look on his face. "But Inobaby, they've just been comforting me because I was worried," you explained. "You're even denser than me sometimes... But in contrast to me they didn't make you forget your worries, heheee" A smut face replaced his pissed expression. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Legend says the boar man is rockhard to this day.

#kny #kny imagines #Inosuke hashibira #Inosuke x reader #smut #inosuke smut #fanfiction #inosuke fanfiction #hashibira inosuke

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realityhelixcreates · 5 years

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Lasabrjotr Chapter 4: The Universe; Behind the Scenes

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Warnings: Mentions of Past Death Relationships: Loki x Reader Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), OFC Additional Tags: Thanos Is A Tool, Influence is Not the Same as Control, God I Want That Bathtub Summary: Reader learns what she remembers, but not why.

“What the hel was that?” Loki demanded. “She was fine one minute, and then she falls apart over a mere face full of dust? Who does that?”

“I can think of a reason.” Thor said softly.

“Brother?” Thor was rarely introspective, and Loki didn’t quite know what to make of it.

“She’s had a hard day. She will need rest, but I have some questions first. “

“I’m sure we all have.” Loki grouched. “Seems like that’s all we have.”

*****

The bath was nice, though the toiletries all smelled of him. You were surprised by how much mud had gotten in your hair. You weren’t made for such bizarre happenings: magic, and kidnapping gods, and ancient civilizations being built anew. Nothing about today seemed quite real. Even time was wrong. A few hours ago you were clocking in for the morning shift at work. Now the sun hung low in the sky. Evening was coming. You’d lost an entire day. You supposed that made its own kind of sense, since technically, aliens were involved.

Where were you now? This couldn’t be your country. Yes, the U.S. was pretty big, big enough to cover several time zones, but you didn’t think there was any part of the continental United States that was night while another part was morning. You had to be all the way across an ocean, or somewhere similarly as far. What a pity. You would have liked to see that. Flying over an ocean must be beautiful.

The towels were nice, much nicer than you were used to. Everything was probably going to be higher quality than you were used to, since royalty was involved.

How were you supposed to talk to them? There was no real royalty in your country; you didn’t know the etiquette. How did one address a prince? A king? A god?

Someone had taken your clothes while you bathed. Of course you couldn’t put them back on while they were still so filthy, but it made you feel vulnerable all the same. The tunic you had been provided in their place did not fit correctly at all; it was too loose in the shoulder, too long in the arms, and too tight in the hips. This was obviously a man’s garment, olive green and incredibly soft. You didn’t want to think about it. At least the provided slippers fit correctly. Your legs remained mostly bare, but you didn’t think they were all that much to look at anyway. The tunic was made for someone taller than you, so it covered enough.

This little set of rooms was odd to you. Like a whole house inside of another building. Here a bath, there a library, there and there a bedroom. And when you tried to leave back out into what you thought was the main corridor, there was a young man in armor there to stop you. He was polite, but he spoke a language you didn’t know.

“I’m sorry.” You told him. “I don’t understand.” He led you back into the library and pointed at a chair. “Oh, I get it. Sit down and wait, huh? I can do that.”

He waited until you had gotten yourself seated before going back to his post. He must have had orders not to let you leave. Annoying, but fair; they wouldn’t want you running off, and after that small panic attack earlier, it might not be safe for you to wander around without a guide.

You started browsing through the books, but most of them were in unfamiliar languages. When Loki came to collect you, you were going through illustrations and diagrams that you couldn’t read, but found interesting nevertheless. You looked up from a beautiful drawing of a huge tree with little worlds hanging it its branches, and he was just there.

“Uh…How long-“ You began.

“You make so many little noises when you read. Do you fear silence, or are you simply that lacking in self-awareness?”

“It’s just a habit.” You said defensively. “No one’s ever complained before.”

“You live completely alone. Who is there to complain? You will have to break that habit while you are within these walls. We cannot have incessant noise disturbing our guards, or my contemplations.”

You turned back to the illustrations, cheeks burning slightly. So it was just a little habit! It wasn’t that big a deal.

“You say it like we’ve gotta be joined at the hip all the time, but that’s obviously not the case, because I just had a nice bath without you. So unless you were waiting just outside the door-which would be creepy-then I’m sure my ‘incessant noises’ won’t be as big a problem as you’re making them out to be. “

You both let the moments pass in increasingly uncomfortable silence.

“I was harsh with you.” It was a statement, not an apology, but also probably the closest you were ever going to get.

“You were. I was…rude.” You conceded. You really must have crossed a line when you called him a monster. You had let your temper and fear run off with you.

“You were.” He agreed. “You were frightened. It’s only natural. And I was…frustrated. But that time is passed, and now the time has come for greater things.” He beckoned for you to follow him, and you did, curiosity growing.

Where could you possibly be going now? Some kind of magical laboratory, to run tests on your rune? A spiritual center, to meditate on this magical connection that sapped or restored energy based on how close the two of you were? A medical area, where they might operate on your hand to learn more about it?

“Where are we going?” You asked softly.

“Dinner.” He said airily, and you snorted. Greater things, huh? Still, something as mundane as dinner sounded amazing right now. You’d technically gone the whole day without eating. Something mundane sounded very nice right about now. You might not get that again for some time.

He looked oddly normal as well, which struck you as strange. It somehow never occurred to you that he didn’t look the same all the time. But all you’d ever had for reference was video footage of the battle. He wore armor to intimidate, horns to add height. Not that he needed it. The top of your head barely reached his shoulders. You would have never expected someone like him to even have casual clothes, if all those pin-tucks and diagonal shapes counted as casual. You tried to ignore the similar shapes on the ill fitted tunic you currently wore.

It was hard to believe how much different he looked without that helmet. How much the sharpness of his face was softened by letting his hair fall lose around his shoulders.

“Like something you see?” He asked. “You’re staring, you know.”

“Sorry.” You said, embarrassment creeping in. “It’s just that you look…”

He turned to watch you, the corners of his mouth lifting, ever so slightly. “Yes?”

“You look like a man.”

He paused, the tiny smile fleeing. “As opposed to a monster?” Then he quickened his pace, and you struggled to keep up.

“That’s not what I-“

“Oh don’t worry.” He cut you off. “After all, I’ve never shown this world anything different.”

“Lo-“ You started, then held your tongue. No, you couldn’t call him by name. You weren’t friends. Whatever reasons he might have had, he was the architect of a major disruption in your life. There was no way you had a job anymore, and if you ever got home, you probably wouldn’t have your apartment either. Your houseplants were going to die. Your friends and father, and coworkers had no idea you were still alive. And all of this was quite literally by his hand.

How were you supposed to address him?

“Your…Highness?” You tried, and he made an affirming noise. “Can you tell me where we are?”

“Yes.” He said, and nothing else. It took you a moment to realize he was doing that obnoxious thing some teachers do in order to amend their students’ grammar. How annoying.

“Please tell me where we are, your highness.” You said in a voice pitched higher than normal. Years of working in retail with difficult customers gave your demeanor a false show of being chipper. He noticed instantly, giving you a strange look.

“Within the kingdom of Asgard, but you would know this island as Iceland.”

“Iceland? How did-how am I-I…I’ve never been to Iceland.” You spluttered lamely. You had never been so far from home in your life. You’d never really wanted to. You were well and truly trapped, weren’t you? If you found that you really needed to leave, there really was nowhere for you to run. Even if you could make it out of the unbuilt city, you didn’t know where any other towns were. You wouldn’t be able to speak to any people you might find. They would know you shouldn’t be there, see that you had no passport, no identification. They’d haul you right to jail. That was all that awaited you outside the city. Death in a foreign landscape, or prison.

“Oh god, I’m an illegal immigrant.” You murmured.

“What are you talking about?” He led you into a large room with a huge table in the center, and then right past that table, and into a much smaller room, with a much smaller table, set with three dinners, and furnished with the king of Asgard.

“Yes.” He asked. “What are we talking about?”

“I don’t have a passport! I’m illegal, I’ll be put in jail!

Thor shrugged. “You’re a guest of the Crown, at least for a little while. You don’t have to worry about it. Sit with us; eat. Ease your worries. We’re going to take care of you.”

You took a seat opposite Thor; Loki sat next to you, not, as you expected, next to his brother. It almost felt like they were fencing you in, putting themselves between you and the door. Or between you and anyone who might come through the door.

The food was simple, and looked good, if a little unfamiliar. A bowl of hearty stew, full of vegetables and tasting of herbs your tongue had never met. A little pot of creamy white stuff, topped with orange sauce that turned out to be sweet instead of spicy. A chunk of something that was trying to be bread but was actually dried fish that you were supposed to spread butter on as if it was bread. And a glass of strong cider that you had trouble actually drinking. Alcohol was usually too pricy for you, and so you never drank much.

It was warm, and it was good, and it was what your body, confused by time zones, desperately needed. You ate every bit, even the buttered fish. But you said nothing, not until Thor addressed you directly.

“I know you have had a very rough day, and I know you must be tired and confused, but would you be willing to entertain a few questions?”

What choice did you have? He was right about being tired; the hot food and cider had hit you pretty hard. But it wasn’t like you could just tell him to go stuff it either, could you? You put your customer service face back on.

“Sure, ask away!”

He raised one eyebrow at the fake cheer in your voice, but made no comment on it.

“I’d like to assure you that we keep this place very clean. No dust, unless you go near construction zones. But, if it’s not too uncomfortable, could you tell us why you reacted like that? So we can keep you safer in the future.”

Damn. You should’ve known they wouldn’t let that go. Six months ago, you had been sure he would have an answer for you; now you just didn’t know. Would he think you were crazy too? But he was a god; was it possible to lie to a god?

“I’ll know if you’re lying.” Loki said, as if hearing your thoughts.

“There’s no need for threats.” Thor chided him.

“I wasn’t.”

“If you are comfortable talking about it.” Thor concluded.

“It’s difficult.” You said. “It’s not that I don’t want to; I kinda do, and I have for a long time. But it seems like some great big secret that I can’t bring up, because most people don’t believe me, and the ones that do are sort of paranoid of being thought crazy. Look, something happened about a year and a half ago, except it didn’t, but it did. And I know you probably won’t believe me, but-“

“Half your world turned to dust.” Thor said grimly. “People, plants, animals, everything. And then it all went back to normal, as if nothing happened. But not for you. In the time between the two events, you suffered. You mourned. You struggled and starved. And now you remember, when it seems no one else does.”

Loki stared at you. “That shouldn’t be possible.”

You had gone very still and very pale as Thor spoke out that list of everything you had gone through.

“I knew it.” You whispered. “I knew it. I knew it was real. That many people couldn’t have the same hallucination. I knew you knew something!”

Thor nodded, still looking very serious.

“That’s why I went to the tower in the first place! That’s why I tried to approach you! I knew one of you knew something!”

“But the spell-“ Loki began.

“What happened?” You demanded, excitement overcoming your sleepiness.

“It’s a lengthy tale, if you’re up for it.” Thor warned, but you only nodded in enthusiasm.

“Very well. It begins when the universe does.” Wow, he wasn’t kidding.

“Thor, are you sure this is a good idea?” Loki broke in.

Thor shrugged. “Looks like something went wrong. She’s not supposed to remember, but she does.”

“That spell was cast for a reason.” Loki protested.

“Which do you suppose was worse? Being one of the lives initially lost, or being one of those left behind to live in that broken universe? Do you know what that was like? Being the only one left? I say she deserves an answer. “

Loki rolled his eyes. “No, if you recall, I was dead at the time. Whatever, tell her what you will, but I’ll not be taking responsibility when it blows up in your face.”

“Wait, you…you died? Did you turn to dust too?” That even happened to the gods?

“Not exactly,” He muttered. “It was more of a hand’s on experience.”

“He was very brave.” Thor said.

“I was very foolish.” Loki retorted, but he looked more proud than angry.

“What happened?” You asked again.

“Yes, the story. Directly after this universe came into being, there also spawned a handful of concepts; embodiments of the things that make up the universe and everything in it. These things were given physical forms, shaped into shining gems of incredible power. Wars were fought over them, and with them, but only certain powerful individuals can actually use them. I have a friend who has seen what happens when someone who is too weak tries to handle one. Not pretty, apparently. However, Loki has used two of them before.”

Pride colored those last words, and Loki looked unsure of how to take being bragged about.

“For certain definitions of ‘used’, I suppose.”

“There was someone else who wanted them, a homicidal lunatic, name of Thanos. An absolute waste of space who brought nothing to the universe but mountains of corpses. Twisted. Worthless. Seems like all he could do was destroy. The Chitauri invasion? That was him.”

“That was him.” You pointed at Loki.

“Certain definitions of used.” He repeated.

You looked back and forth between the brothers. “What are you trying to tell me here?”

“He used the Mind Stone.” Thor said. “While at the same time, it used him. It affected everyone around it.”

“Wait, you mean mind control?” You asked, shocked by this revelation. “These things have their own will? Why haven’t you told anyone? Everyone thinks-“

“Do not mistake me.” Loki interrupted. “No matter how much my brother would like to paint me as an innocent in this, I still did what I did. Those were my actions and my decisions. One can very easily be a victim, and be guilty at the same time. Take it as a demonstration of what I am capable of, just not everything that I am.” He sighed, but his expression remained neutral.

“It is however, correct to think that, without Thanos, without the influence of that stone, I don’t think I would have done any of it. But I did, and there is no way to erase that. Do not make of me something I am not. I was the person who did all those things. But I am not now, and will not be again.”

“I don’t know what to think about this.” You said, but internally you were a bit relieved. You hadn’t actually stopped being frightened of him, but it was very reassuring to know that all that malice, all that bigotry and hatred hadn’t all been him. If his words could be trusted, anyway. Thor wasn’t objecting though, so maybe he really was on the level.

“He did take his stand against Thanos though.” Thor continued. “We all did; heroes of Earth, of Asgard, of the stars. And every last one of us failed. Most of us died, either in his quest for the stones, or in the event he caused. He came into possession of all of the stones, which allowed him to reshape the universe as he wanted it to be. “

“Which was…nearly empty?”

“He was a madman. He was obsessed with his savior complex, but his bloodlust was far greater, and I think he forgot how to separate the two. So yes, instead of thinking up ways to change reality for the better, he felt the logical choice was to kill everybody.”

“He had no creativity or finesse, unless he was causing harm.” Loki muttered.

“Now this is the part I really can’t tell you about, which is a shame, because it was amazing. However, because of the forces involved, the fewer people who ever know about it, the better. But we few survivors took our battle to reality itself, and we succeeded. We regained what Thanos took from us, and erased his nightmarish vision of the universe.”

“Before separating the stones and returning them to their proper guardians, the sorcerers among us used them to cast a spell over everything and everyone; that none save those of us involved should have any memory of the event we erased. We wanted to undo that suffering, but we also wanted to prevent mass searches for the stones. We can’t risk it happening again.”

“Then how come I remember?” You asked. There was much more mystery surrounding you right now than you were comfortable with.

“That is an excellent question!” Thor said. “And since you don’t seem to have any answers for us yourself, we will simply have to add it to the pile of things we have to figure out.”

“I would like to have answers too, but right now, I’m so tired.” An involuntary yawn punctuated your words. “Pardon me.”

“Yes, of course.” Thor said. “Loki will take you to bed.”

“Absolutely not!” You screeched.

“Phrasing!” Loki snapped.

Thor looked like he was having a very hard time not laughing, which you didn’t appreciate at all. That was a terrifying prospect, and one you were not in the least willing to entertain. Loki looked perturbed as well, so at least you were both on the same page.

“I’m sorry, ____, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!” A little laughter did escape him, fueling your annoyance. It wasn’t a laughing matter. Neither of these men had better start getting ideas. Just because they were divine rulers didn’t mean they could take liberties. You still had rights. Didn’t you?

“Buffoon.” Loki grumbled. “Come. I’ll see you to your room.”

You got to have your own room? That sounded promising. You followed along behind him, sleepy and quiet, swimming in the events of the day. It was all so much to take in, but maybe sleeping on it would help. Loki led you back to the set of rooms you’d earlier had your bath in, letting you inside and addressing the young man standing guard at the door. You couldn’t understand what they were saying, but the young man seemed mildly confused and upset. He kept shooting you curious looks, and eventually he patted you reassuringly on the shoulder, and nodded at you. Then he went into the smaller of the two bedrooms, gathered his things, and left. He even waved at you on his way out, as if he was trying to convey no hard feelings without being able to actually speak to you.

“Uh…Your Highness? Did I just kick that guy out of his room?” You asked, feeling very guilty.

“No.” Loki assured you. “These rooms are mine, and I decide who may use them, and for how long. There is room for him in our guardhouse, it was just more convenient for him to be close by. Now it is more convenient for you to be here.”

“Because we don’t know how far apart we can be, or for how long. I get it.” There wasn’t much in the room; a bed, a desk with a chair, a small dresser, and one window. The floor and walls were bare, and there was one lamp on the desk, but no other lights. Well, you didn’t need much right now, and you owned practically nothing here, not even the shirt on your back, so this was much better than you had feared it would be.

“I feel like we can probably have a respectable distance between us, just not miles, and certainly not an entire ocean. However, I also feel like we should sleep closer together. Partly for your own safety, and partly because it seems to me that the focus of this draining sickness was our mutual dreams. “

He took a seat in the chair while you crawled into the plain little bed.

“Will you tell me about them?” He asked. “I know we were both having dreams, and I think we were connected through them, but you said yours were nightmares. Mine were not. I wonder about the differences.”

“Ugh. They weren’t anything complicated, but they were always the same. There was this big blankness that I just wanted to sink into so that I could finally rest, but you wouldn’t let me. You just kept dragging me away, and you wouldn’t let me sleep. You were scary, and it was torture, not being able to rest.”

He nodded slowly, writing something down in a small notebook you were sure he hadn’t had just a second before.

“Mine were…similar, but the perspective was different. That void was death, and I was compelled to keep you from it.”

“Do you think we’ll still dream?” You asked.

“Only one way to find out.”

“Right. Can you, uh…”

“Oh. Yes, of course.” He left, closing the door behind him. You might have heard the lock turn, but you were already drifting off.

*********

The void beckoned you, a promise of rest and freedom, but now you knew it might not be as benign as it seemed. Loki clutched your arm, frightening with his horns and cold eyes, but now you knew he might not be as malign as he seemed. You spent the rest of your dream there, between two deceivers, not sure which one to choose.

#lasabrjotr #loki x reader #loki (marvel)#thor (marvel)#avengers #marvel fanfiction

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dissimulxte · 5 years

Note

/ liSTEN, DO THE THING. yes, with deucey and mari. or ollie and mari. surprise me sdfsfhsdfds

okay listen i’m not gonna say that i’ve thought about it but i’m not gonna say that I haven’t thought about it

ship meme | accepting

send me a pairing and I’ll tell you who:

1. falls asleep on the couch

Mari. Any surface is fair game for this cat to nap on, so you’d better believe if she’s sprawled out for long enough she’ll doze off. Not always for long, of course, since ol’ Blue has a habit of waking her up one way or another and prodding her to stop being lazy– which’ll either work (to some sleepy, cranky sounds) or she’ll push him away and try to resume the snooze. If it’s important, you’re going to have to drag her off it yourself.

2. makes friends with the neighbors

Hahahahaaa, uh, neither? Lots of love for both of these kids, obviously, but Deucey’s not exactly the friendliest guy on the block, and Mari’s interest would only be piqued if they had something she wanted. Maybe, then, I could see Mari being the first to reach out, if only to get the beat on the people around them, and see if there is anything worth getting closer for. If people somehow worm their way to a place of friendship with this odd pair, it’s because they went out of their way to do so.

3. is the adventurous eater

Both. I can’t even express how relieved Mari would be upon finding out Deuce is the kind of guy who can handle spicy foods; most of her favorite cuisines and dishes definitely take the scovilles up a notch, and there’ll always be something with a [WARNING: HOT] next to it on a menu that’ll catch her eye. Albeit, she’s the sort to try just about anything once, so who knows how far he’ll go in the realms that extend into strange instead of just spicy, but as soon as she makes a competition of it or calls him chicken, he loses any reservations.

4. hogs the covers at night

I’ve said it before and I’m stickin’ to it: Mari. Mari, Mari, Mari a thousand times. She doesn’t seem that strong but goddamn if she doesn’t have a vice grip on a blanket once she’s folded herself all up in it. Though Deuce probably puts up a much more respectable fight than most of her partners, he’ll eventually learn the best way is to either bring an extra cover, or get close enough to be swaddled up with her. Hope he doesn’t overheat easily.

5. forgets to do the dishes

Deuce, since he’s always got something else on his mind that’ll carry him off, some other business to attend to. Mari whines about it a little and makes a harrrumph about him being lazy, (haha! chump), but also doesn’t hesitate to just clean them up herself to keep things as tidy as she likes.

6. tries to surprise their partner more often

Deuce definitely tries more often down the line, less out of an effort to woo the little lavender lady, but rather, to actually surprise her, since she seems to figure out most of his plots before he can make good on them, and it drives the poor guy crazy. It’s not as if it was that important to him in the first place– who wants to go out of their way to do something cute or nice for her of all people? But, on the other hand, it’s so goddamn satisfying to see her eyes actually widen and a genuine shock come over her features when he does manage it…

and maybe, just maybe, the momentary flicker of a heartfelt smile on her face and a softly spoken “thank you, Deuce. it’s lovely” also lingers at the fringes of his thoughts for motivation.

7. leaves dirty laundry on the floor

Deuce, also only occasionally. Mari treats her clothing/costumes/disguises with too much care to leave them around, and though she’d just sort of ignore his things scattered about at first, he’ll eventually start finding them washed, folded, and neatly stacked out of the way once they’ve settled into a closer dynamic.

8. stays up til 2 AM reading

Both, though, it could be argued that Mari is the one more prone to staying up so late reading, whereas Deuce seems to be writing something or another. A journal, maybe. Letters that he never bothers sending.

Even for all her meddling and curiosity, the sense that whatever he’s jotting down is so personal keeps her from prying. She wonders if he’s ever written anything to, or about, her, but she’ll just laugh. Probably not.

9. sings in the shower

Mari, usually only if she’s certain she’s alone. Again, this is a fairly… intimate thing for her; a time when her voice isn’t raised in a teasing tone or dutifully camouflaged to portray exactly the impression she desires. A shame, really. It’s quite lovely to hear.

10. takes the selfies

Mari, to the point of annoyance for sure. There must be well over a hundred snaps where she’s dragged him into frame and he either doesn’t bother to look at all, turns a snippish look at her, or glowers at the camera with irritation written all over his face; none of which changes her beaming expression and little chimes of laughter after the fact. She doesn’t keep all of them forever… but there’s one or two rare ones saved to favorites where she’s actually caught him laughing next to her;

or with that smile– not a smirk, not something laced with smarm, but a soft. Accepting. Content. As if he might actually be happy, for a moment, at her side. As if.

11. plans date night

Deuce. It seems, no matter where they end up, he has a knack for finding the best, quiet spots. They’re not much for real ‘dates’ when it gets right down to it, but finding the best boulevard, beach, trail to wander down and eventually bask in the views of with quiet awe– well, that suits them just fine. There’s plenty said in that silence, anyways.

#infcrtunii #♥'( i just imagine this being such a goddamn tsundere relationship and it kills me as much as it fills me )#♥' ( deuce tbt )#♥' ( answered )#♥' ( inbox meme )#♥'( eight years later here i am with lowkey emotions nobody asked for )#♥'( ollie and mari would take... so much doing... I mean i'm here for it but )

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livingthroughchoices-blog · 6 years

Text

The Marshmallow Chronicles (Ch. 16: The Beaumont Bash) *NSFW*

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Author’s notes: Right. So I am SUPER nervous about this chapter bc it’s the most different and the one I’ve added the most stuff to so far. I really hope you like it omg. It’s also the longest yet. As always, I’m deeply sorry if you have to scroll through this on the app, but as of now, there’s nothing I can do about it /:

Thanks to all who like, reblog and/or comment, you guys keep me going! And especially to @starstruckzonkoperatorbat, @notoriouscs, @simplyaiden-blog, @snyggflicka, @asprankle, @speedyoperarascalparty, @mirivalencia, @mymandrake, @asobigokoro2018, @krisnicjack and @fabi-en-ciel for asking me to tag them! Please let me know if you want to be tagged or untagged (:

I love you and I reaaally hope this is okay.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Mention of depression, suicide.

Rating: NSFW

Pairing: Drake x MC

Words: 8,059

As he got ready for the Beaumont Bash, Drake was aware of feeling an aching thirst for alcohol. He figured getting wasted was his best chance at surviving the unbearable sight of Liam and Riley together and might even stop him from thinking about her all night.

With this in mind, he poured himself a glass of the unopened bottle of whiskey Liam had given him for his birthday. He swallowed with savage pleasure, as if Liam could know he was ignoring his request to share it with friends.

He debated whether to pour himself a second glass, then decided against it; he’d been to enough Beaumont parties to know this would be a long night. He should pace himself.

Having thrown his usual outfit on, he barely glanced at the mirror, not really caring much at all about his appearance tonight.

It’s not like anyone will be looking.

He trudged down to the ballroom, only to find Lady Kiara at the foot of the stairs. In his current mood, he gladly would have avoided her, but it was unfortunately the only way down.

Nevertheless, he tried to keep their meeting short and discourage conversation by saying, “Lady Kiara,” as curtly as possible and not stopping.

He wasn’t fast enough, though, as a hand seized his forearm before he could make his getaway.

“And where do you think you’re going, Monsieur Walker?” she asked with a smirk. “I haven’t forgotten your promise of a legendary night, tu comprends?”

Oh fuck, not this. Why did I have to open my goddamn mouth?

Drake extricated his arm as politely as he could and averted his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I comprends or whatever.” This made Kiara giggle, so he added a very discouraging, “We’ll see,” for good measure.

He burst into the ballroom, eager to fade into the crowd and get drunk by himself. And who should be there to welcome here other than Riley. She was wearing a midnight blue dress that made her skin look radiant and her eyes a deeper color than usual. Her hair was up in an elegant bun. Drake privately decided – I shouldn’t even be thinking about this – that he preferred it down, but there was no denying she looked beautiful either way.

Of fucking course. Can’t have a moment of peace around here. Does she always have to look so... so...

His frustration was such that he couldn’t come up with a single word for her; he came up with too many. He realized he’d pursed his lips and balled his fists when he’s seen her. He relaxed as he stepped up to her.

“Welcome to the Beaumont Bash...” she said with a grin.

You’d think nothing happened yesterday.

“You’ll recognize some of these fine floral arrangements as yours...” she gestured to the centerpieces.

“Heh. After yesterday, I was skeptical about this place being ready in time, but...” he looked around the lavish room, appraising it. “Looks like you’re about to have an actual party here.”

“I know, right?” said Riley excitedly. She gave him a once over, seeing him fully for the first time. “Though... you don’t look like you’re dressed for the occasion.”

Drake opened his arms as if on display. “You don’t like my look? This shirt’s clean.”

Riley sighed and rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s the most I should expect. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dress up for these fancy events. It might be a nice change of pace.”

The comment stung more than it should have.

Well, what did you expect? She’s marrying a prince! Why wouldn’t she think you look like crap? Anyway, me? Dressed like a fucking noble? No way.

He shrugged studiously. “Eh. Fashion is subjective. Besides, people are here to see the Prince, not me.” He attempted to keep the bitterness out of his voice at that last part; it was just a fact, after all. He thought he’d been successful until he saw Riley was shaking his head sadly at him.

He was about to reassure her that he didn’t mind, when Hana bounded up to them. She waved at him with a smile and he returned her greeting with the most cheerful nod he could muster. He felt an arm around his shoulder and turned to see Maxwell had joined them as well.

“Riley! Maxwell! I’ve never been to the Beaumont estate before. This looks wonderful,” admired Hana.

Maxwell replied, “Thank you, Hana...” as Drake shrugged his arm off.

“And you look lovely tonight, Riley,” said Hana, her eyes shining as she took in Riley’s elegant figure.

Riley beamed and returned the compliment, “As always, you look gorgeous too!”

Hana blushed deeply. To the unsuspecting eye, she might just seem like someone who was not used to receiving compliments, but Drake knew better; the corners of her lips were twitching and it was clear to him she was fighting back a smitten smile.

Luckily for Hana, at that moment, the waiters started bringing out the appetizers.

“Our creations!” Maxwell whispered.

“I hope people like them...” said Riley, biting her lip.

Lady Kiara, who was just behind them, wondered aloud, “Uhh... what is this dish?” when the waiter handed her one, along with a napkin.

Maxwell, doing his best pompous celebrity chef impression, explained, “What you have there is a deconstructed delicacy of caviar cultivated from pampered hake fish of the Swedish fjords with paprika harvested from a micro-nursery in Provence.”

Lady Penelope had bitten into it halfway through Maxwell’s bluffing description and now exclaimed, “Wow... so fancy... I like them! Spicy, salty, definitely unique.”

Encouraged by her friend’s reaction, Lady Kiara gave it a small bite too. “Mmmm... It reminds me of when I dined at the top of la Tour Eiffel in Paris! Did you use the same chef?”

She looked so impressed, Drake almost snorted.

Rich people. Throw some food together, call it something fancy and they're happy.

“Someone comparable,” choked out Maxwell, obviously holding back laughter.

The suitors moved on to mingling with other nobles and Maxwell turned to his friends, “Well, the reactions to our appetizers seem mostly positive.”

“They like the food? Really?” Riley’s smile was almost ear to ear. “I can’t believe we pulled that off.”

“Yeah. I really thought this would be a complete disaster,” agreed Drake.

“I told you... it’s all in the marketing!” Maxwell gave him finger guns.

Drake’s snide response was interrupted by the arrival of his two least favorite people – or should I say my least favorite snake and possessed murder doll.

Judging by the grimace on Riley’s face, which she quickly covered up with a reluctant smile, she felt the same way. “Duchess Olivia... Countess Madeleine... welcome.”

Hell no.

Maxwell seemed to be thinking similarly, for he walked away from the group with Drake.

They each grabbed a glass of champagne.

“To not being a part of that conversation,” toasted Drake.

Maxwell chuckled and clinked his glass, saying, “Oh, come on, Drake, they’re not that bad. Olivia has been very loyal to Liam.”

“So? Doesn’t change the fact she’s about as pleasant as a root canal. And don’t get me started on Madeleine!”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Are you kidding? I’d trust her as far as I could throw... Liam; I could probably throw her pretty far, actually. At least Olivia’s open about how terrible she is.”

“That’s a fair point,” Maxwell conceded. “She’s definitely crafty.”

“That’s one way to put it."

Noticing Madeleine and Olivia had moved on, Maxwell and Drake returned to where Riley and Hana were standing.

“Welcome, everyone,” rang out Bertrand’s clear voice. “If you’ll please take your seats, dinner will begin shortly.”

"That’s my cue. I have a seat in the back,” Drake said, pointing to his table, “so I’ll see you after dinner.”

“And I’d better go and take my seat with the other ladies,” chimed in Hana.

Riley pouted, “I wish we could have all sat together.”

Drake touched her arm lightly. “Hey, don’t look so disappointed, Addams. You’re sitting with royalty. I learned a long time ago I don’t fit in there.” He sighed in resignation. “But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be able to handle one dinner without us.”

“Right...” Riley replied dubiously.

"We’ll catch up later!” Hana reassured her.

On his way to his unglamorous table, Drake overheard Olivia whine, “What am I doing back here?” He automatically made eye contact with Riley across the room and they both burst into laughter.

Still chucking he sat down at a table with Bastien and other guards.

He tuned out most of the conversation throughout the meal, focusing instead on the food and drink. He had to admit, dinner hadn’t been half bad, considering it was fancy rich people nonsense. The champagne was the best part, though.

Feeling slightly less grumpy thanks to the food and – in large part – to the alcohol, he felt ready to start a conversation.

"So, Bastien,” he turned to his right, “did you find the person behind the photos?”

“Not yet. I haven’t been able to get ahold of the reporter to whom they were being sold,” the older man grimaced, clearing his plate.

“Bummer.” What Bastien had said reminded Drake of something else. “Oh, hey, what’s this I hear about a reporter being caught inside the grounds at the Manor? It it true?”

He gathered from Bastien’s exasperated sigh that it was.

“What the hell, Bastien?! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was under the impression that I reported to Prince Liam, not to you,” Bastien snapped with ice in his voice.

Drake was momentarily hurt into silence. The fact that he’d specifically said he reported to Liam instead of King Constantine seemed designed to make him feel smaller. Bastien sighed again and put a hand on his shoulder; Drake resisted the urge to brush it off.

“It was nothing, all right? I figured you had enough on your mind and didn’t want to add to it because of a meaningless incident. She was caught and promptly escorted out. End of story.”

“How can you be sure she didn’t do anything? Take pictures or... I don’t know.”

“Drake, we made sure, trust me.”

Bastien met his eyes earnestly. Drake felt ashamed at having doubted his old friend.

Why would he tell you anyway? What have you ever done?

He shook his head as if to rid himself of that spiteful little voice.

"I have had a lot on my mind lately,” he admitted. “What with Liam’s Coronation, and Riley–”

“I see Lady Kiara is still taken with you.”

“Wh-what?”

He whipped his head around to the suitors’ table and saw Lady Kiara engrossed in a conversation with Hana.

“What are you talking about? She’s not even looking this way.”

“You just missed it.” Bastien clicked his tongue regretfully. “I think she’d be good for you, if you don’t mind my saying.”

“Uh, really?”

“Definitely! She is charming and intelligent, and I’m sure I have heard you mention her physical, er, attributes.”

“Yeah, Bastien, she’s hot, you can say it.”

“I will not. But I hope you take my meaning.”

“Now that the dessert course has been served, the grand hall is now open,” came Bertrand’s voice from the main table. “Please join us there for the after-dinner festivities!”

Standing up, Bastien patted his shoulder before leaving the ballroom along with his men to take his position in the main hall, where the party was to be held. Drake filed out of the ballroom alone and stood among the crowd anonymously as Bertrand continued giving unnecessary speeches.

“Citizens, nobles, friends, we’ve gathered here today to celebrate the end of the social season. So if you’ll hear me out, I’d like to share a few words...”

At this point, Drake’s attention drifted.

There’s only so much noble rambling I can take in one night.

He looked around and spotted Liam at the very front with his family. He wasn’t eager to join the King and Queen, so he kept searching the crowd. Hana was carrying what seemed like a tiresome conversation with Lady Penelope. Drake shuddered.

I’d rather be alone than talk about poodles.

Left with no other choices, he looked for Maxwell.

Disconcerted, he realized his friend was not part of the crowd.

Where the hell is he?

Bertrand’s voice, once again, broke through his confusion, “... and so, with all of House Beaumont with me, let us propose a toast!”

Drake finally spotted Maxwell coming up the stairs carrying a mace. Close behind him – his eyes widened – was Riley, valiantly hauling a battle axe that looked like it weighed about as much as she did.

“To our gracious royal family...” Bertrand continued.

“To all those here tonight!” Maxwell added.

“And to the PARTTYYYY!” Riley yelled, hoisting the battle axe up precariously. “Let’s rock this place to the ground!”

“YEEEAAAHHH!” Maxwell pumped his fists.

He swung the mace at the champagne, shattering the bottle.

“We’ve never let a lost bottle stop us before. Bring out another!” called Bertrand to the staff.

“WOOOOOOOO!” Maxwell was almost buzzing with frantic energy, his hand and bottom half soaked in champagne.

Riley gripped her axe and sliced with difficulty at the bottle. Perhaps because it was so heavy and thus she had very little momentum, she managed to hack the cork clean off. Champagne immediately bubbled out and she took a drink directly from it. Beginner’s luck, scoffed Drake, though he had to admit to being a little impressed.

Maxwell, on the other hand, was very impressed, and possibly a bit jealous, “Whoa... It took me much longer to master that move.”

“From all of us at House Beaumont... thank you!” Bertrand brandished the bottle Riley had opened at the crowd and they cheered in unison. Waiters marched into the room with tray upon tray of champagne.

Thank God.

Drake’s pleasant buzz had begun to subside and he knew he was only a few sober minutes away from getting sulky.

Meanwhile, Maxwell had raced to the top of the stairs.

“... Maxwell!” Bertrand said.

“What?” Maxwell called back.

“Let the revelry begin!”

“AWWWWWWWWW YEAH!” yelled the younger Beaumont, sliding down the banister.

Deafening pop music blared all around the room, and professional dancers and acrobats, dressed in colorful, circus-like costumes, made their entrance. The room now felt twice as crowded.

Drake stood in his spot, back against the wall, gulping down the champagne he’d snagged from a passing waiter. He didn’t notice his friends walking over to him until Liam spoke, “So, enjoying the party, Drake?”

“It’s been less than two minutes, and my ears hurt...” he grumbled.

Liam elbowed him, “Come on, Drake, you usually give it at least five minutes before tapping out.”

I usually don’t have a crush on the girl you’re marrying.

“There’s so much happening,” Hana marveled.

Drake rolled his eyes. “That’s the problem.”

As if on cue, he heard Bertrand shout, “Bring out the horses!”

“The horses!” Maxwell echoed.

“The horses?! You’re bringing horses in here?!” Riley asked over the music.

“Who’s ready for a little horse riding?” Bertrand led the horses to the center of the room.

“I am!” Maxwell piped up.

“Great...” Drake shook his head. He hated this tradition of theirs. The poor horses couldn’t understand what was happening and were obviously spooked.

Fucking nobles and their “eccentricities”.

Maxwell, already mounted, asked, “Who will be my partner?”

“How about our king-to-be?” suggested Bertrand.

“I nominate Drake as my proxy.”

If looks could kill, Cordonia would have found itself without an heir. Liam held back a laugh at Drake’s irritation, but the latter merely said, “Oh, no, you’re not forcing me into the saddle tonight.”

Hana chose that moment to say, “I vote for Riley!”

“Riley!” Maxwell repeated.

“Come on up then, Lady Riley.” Bertrand offered her his hand. “Your saddle awaits.”

Riley was helped onto the horse, which whinnied uneasily. “Easy, girl.”

Riley scratched the horse’s mane and that seemed to help calm it down. She then led it in a gentle turn around the room.

She and Maxwell waved at the crowds.

"My fellow Cordonians, take a picture!” Riley proclaimed. “I want everyone to see my noble horseback pose.”

Drake snorted at that. She wasn’t a bad rider and her pose was not terrible but it was a far cry from “noble” as she put it. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing he could teach her better, before clamping down on that dumb instinct.

“Phones are not allowed inside these parties. Nobody wants to see embarrassing pictures of themselves in the news.”

Bertrand was right; phones were not allowed and yet... there were always exceptions, weren’t there? He thought back to Maxwell’s video of him dancing to Hayley Rose and felt his face grow warm. A lot more sinister were the pictures of the bachelor party that someone had tried to sell for profit.

“I’ll take mental pictures for you,” Hana consoled her.

After going around the room once more for their adoring fans, Maxwell said, “We should let some others ride around on the horses.”

“Fair enough.” Riley dismounted and made a beeline for Drake.

“Drake! I feel like I haven’t see you all day.”

That’s ‘cause I’ve been avoiding you.

“Well, you’re seeing me know,” he replied, noncommittal, looking down at his champagne.

“Yeah and guess what? I wish your face didn’t look like you just swallowed a lemon.”

He looked up sharply at that, eyes narrowed, and Riley laughed. As per usual, her laugh was too contagious to resist and he ended up chuckling along.

“See? That’s better,” she smiled and brushed her fingers against his. He stopped laughing instantly.

“I need a drink.”

“Me too! I’ll come with!”

He groaned a little but could think of no way to dissuade her without hurting her feelings, so he let her follow him to the makeshift bar.

He opened his mouth to order whiskey, when Riley elbowed him aside and spoke over him. “Do not give this man whiskey. Do not. We’ll have two shots instead.”

The bartender looked at her expectantly. When Riley didn’t elaborate, he asked, “Shots of what?”

“Surprise us.” Riley turned to Drake and smiled with that mischievous glint in her eyes. “Scared, Drake?”

“Pff, I can drink you under the table, no problem.”

“Then how about a bet?”

“What? Another one? We both have bets we never settled!”

“Then I guess they cancel each other out!”

“You just wanna get out of paying up, Addams.”

“How dare you! I’ll remember this insult against my honor when you lose, you know?”

Drake put on a whiny voice and begged, “Oh, please don’t, I’m so scared. I’m sorry I insulted your honor, Lady Riley the Waitress.”

“That’s Head Waitress to you, grumpy commoner.”

They were so busy trying to stare each other down, they didn’t realize their shots were ready. The bartender cleared his throat awkwardly.

Drake turned to him, “Er, right sorry,” and grabbed the two shot glasses.

Handing Riley hers, he proposed, “Okay, how about whoever makes a face or shows any difficulty in swallowing this, loses?”

Riley put on her best poker face, though he noticed her lips were still twitching. “You’re on.”

They clinked their glasses, maintaining eye contact the whole time – I have to, for the bet! – and then threw their heads back. The base was definitely vodka. Drake had only negative experiences from his teenage years to associate with that spirit, but he powered through his body’s rejection of it.

Riley was not faring as well; for a moment it seemed like she might actually throw it back up. In the end, she managed to keep it down, but she couldn’t help the pronounced grimace on her face as she did.

“HA! I knew it!”

“No! I demand a redo! I cannot handle vodka, okay? My body hates it!”

“Rules are rules, Addams, don’t tell me you’d back down from a bet? Surely your honor wouldn’t allow it,” he teased.

She took a step forward, “Well, maybe I’m not so honorable...”

Drake licked his lips unconsciously. “Neither am I.”

He hadn’t realized when it happened, but his breath had quickened. He felt his hand rising as if of its own accord, reaching toward her, to touch her.

A familiar tall figure was approaching them from behind Riley.

“I better go. Wouldn’t want to interrupt your time with the prince,” Drake said, leaving hurriedly back to the bar and ordering whiskey.

Leaning against it, he had a prime view of Liam and Riley talking. He went to take a swig of his whiskey only to find it empty. He ordered another one straight away. When the bartender handed it to him, he saw Olivia interrupt the couple.

Yes! Go Olivia! Oh my God, what the fuck. I’m actually happy to see Olivia.

Before leaving with a person that Drake considered to be in his personal bottom three and yet felt like hugging right now, Liam kissed Riley on the cheek. Drake downed his whiskey and ordered the next.

The rest of the party went by in a blur of alcohol, dancing – or, in Drake’s case, being forced to dance by Maxwell – and crazy hijinks, like trying to shoot an arrow through an apple on a bust’s head.

Nobody could do it. They hit other things, though... The bust, mostly. But there was an exciting moment when Penelope, swaying, very nearly hit Maxwell. He wouldn’t have been badly hurt – the arrows were blunt – and it hadn’t even brushed him, yet he still took it upon himself to act out a Shakespearean death scene, much to everyone’s amusement.

Drake hadn’t even tried. His level of drunkenness paired with how bad he was at archery at the best of times was a recipe for disaster; even drunk him knew that.

The party felt like it was winding down. Lady Kiara was sitting on the floor in the corner, moaning, “Too... too much... Je ne me sens pas bien.”

Penelope, in the meantime, was leaning against one of the horses, going, “You know, horse. You and I have so much in common... hair, bodies, an adoration of poodles. You’re like my equine soulmate.” She seemed to doze off at that point.

Liam and Olivia were chatting in very loud voices. Well, Olivia was; Liam was talking maybe a tiny bit louder than he normally would, but his cheeks were far more rosy than usual.

Bertrand was sitting against a column with an empty champagne bottle in one hand – Drake didn’t doubt he’d drank it all himself – and a sword in the other.

“We gave those apples what for,” he said proudly to no one in particular.

Maxwell, to no one’s surprise, was still dancing while Riley and Hana looked on, amazed at his energy.

Drake walked over, hoping the fact that everyone was pretty drunk meant he could go. “It’s over. I’m finally free.”

Maxwell stopped dancing and wheeled around to face Drake. “What do you mean ‘it’s over’? The party is just getting started.”

“Lady Penelope is literally talking to a horse,” he nodded toward her. “The party has done its job.”

"Your mane is so soft,” she was saying as she ran her fingers through it. “You have to tell me who does your hair.”

“Back home, this was always about the time we’d break out a game of Truth or Dare, but I bet you guys are too classy for that!” Riley raised an eyebrow.

“You’d be betting wrong! I love Truth or Dare.”

Of course Maxwell would love a party game.

“’Truth or Dare’?” Hana met Drake’s eyes; they both seemed to be thinking the same thing: Truths could mean trouble. “That sounds dangerous...”

“Well... only if you have something to hide...” shrugged Riley. Drake almost laughed. “Or a fear of embarrassing stunts...”

She looked at Hana beseechingly and the latter couldn’t resist, “It sounds... Fun!”

Normally, Drake wouldn’t blame her, he knew by now how powerless he was to resist Riley’s requests but...

Dammit, Hana! Not after yesterday!

Riley took Hana’s hands, “I can’t believe you’ve never played! Now we’ve go to do it.”

Drake shook his head over and over. “Oh no. I’m not playing Truth or Dare.”

“Come on, Drake, we should do it for Hana,” pleaded Riley.

Hana backtracked politely, “I don’t want to pressure you guys into doing something on my behalf.”

“But I would!” said Maxwell. “Do it! Do it!”

“I see where this is going...” Drake was already rubbing his face tiredly, waiting for what he knew was coming.

“Drake! Drake! Drake!”

Aaand there it is. Does this man ever not chant?!

“Okay... fine. I’ll play, just stop chanting my name.”

“Whoohoo! Someone’s going streaking tonight!” Maxwell wiggled his eyebrows.

“We can play in my room!” Hana offered, and she led the way upstairs.

Drake and Maxwell followed suit. Riley, for all her talk, lingered behind.

Waiting for Liam?

He didn’t know what to feel if that was the case. On the one hand, relief that he wouldn’t have to play a risky drinking game with her; on the other, pure, uncontrollable jealousy.

Who am I kidding? I’m no closer to controlling this stupid crush than I am to controlling the fucking weather.

To his immense relief and despite his hesitancy to play Truth or Dare with her, Riley joined them soon in Hana’s room. They were all sitting crosslegged on the floor in a circle. Riley took a spot between Hana and Maxwell, facing Drake.

“This is so exciting! How do we start?” asked Hana.

“Usually with a few drinks,” Drake replied.

“Oooh, there’s a full bar!” said Hana, noticing it for the first time.

We are very different people.

“What do you guys want?” she asked.

“Make me something fruity and delicious!” requested Maxwell. “I know! I want Sex on the Beach!”

Hana’s hand went to her mouth, her cheeks turning red, “Oh my! I don’t think...”

“It’s a drink...” explained Maxwell hastily. “Never mind, I’ll make it myself.” He stood up and joined her at the minibar.

“I’ll just have–”

Riley cut Drake off, “Let me guess. Whiskey.”

Drake rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his face heat up, “I’m getting predictable, aren’t I?”

“Maybe just a little bit,” she said with a small smile.

“What about you, Riley?” asked Hana.

“I’ll have a whiskey, too,” she winked at Drake, who couldn’t help grinning back.

Hana poured two whiskeys and a glass for champagne for herself, while Maxwell mixed himself a bright orange drink.

“Cheers, friends! Thank you for joining me tonight!” Hana extended her hand to the center of the circle.

“Cheers.” Drake followed.

Maxwell added, “To friendship!”

“To friendship!” agreed Riley, clinking her glass to the others’. “And Truth or Dare!”

Drake drank deeply, remembering what they were all there for. “Oh boy, this is going to be a long night.”

“Drinks have been accomplished! Now, what comes next?” Hana looked at them expectantly.

“Someone goes first,” said Maxwell.

“Addams should start.” Drake pointed at her. “This was her idea.”

Maxwell turned to her, “Okay, Riley... truth or dare?”

“I choose Truth.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Maxwell rubbed his hands together with relish. “I’ve got a great one for you. If you were stranded on a desert island, where you’ll never see anyone or any civilization ever again... Which one of us would you want with you?”

Riley pretended to think for a moment, tapping an exaggerated finger to her chin, then announced, “I’d want Drake!”

He could not have been more taken aback. He knew they were on good terms now, maybe even more than that if yesterday was anything to go by, but there was no denying he was a difficult person to be around, let alone be stuck with.

“Me? Be honest, Addams, you just want me there so I’m suffering as much as you are.”

“Mostly just to see how you’d look in a grass skirt,” she smirked.

“Hey!” Drake threw a nearby cushion at her, which she deflected with her arm, laughing.

“Ha ha!” Drake allowed Maxwell to laugh for a second before glaring at him.

“Just kidding. I think you’d be gruff and grumpy, but deep down, when it counts, you’d probably save me from a tiger or something,” continued Riley.

“Well, I’d feel terrible if a tiger ate my only companion,” joked Drake.

“And there wouldn’t be any nobles around, or courtly intrigue, or gossip...” Riley was now looking intensely at him, as if trying to say something other than what her words conveyed. “In fact, I think you might enjoy being stranded more than palace life.”

Staring into those hypnotizing blue eyes, all Drake could think was that he’d sell several body parts if it meant he could be alone with Riley anywhere. Even a deserted island.

The corner of his lip quirked up, “You never know.”

“Okay, Maxwell, it’s your turn.” Riley broke their eye contact before the others could wonder if there was something else to the innocent answer. “Truth or dare?”

“Dealer’s choice! I’m not afraid of anything!”

“Okay, then, tell us a secret that no one else knows about you.”

Maxwell’s bravado faded right away. “Aw, I’m an open book! Everyone knows everything about me!”

Drake scoffed, thinking back to how weird Maxwell had been just the day before. “Nope.”

He caught Riley’s eye and she nodded, remembering the same thing. “Not true at all.”

“We know almost nothing about you!” countered Hana.

“Well, all anyone ever had to do was ask. Okay, let’s see...” Maxwell reflected for a moment, then said, “I hate carousels.”

“Really?” asked Riley, incredulous. “I thought everyone loved carousels...”

Maxwell elaborated, “When I was little, the royal court took all the kids to a theme park for the Prince’s birthday. But when we were on the carousel, some reporters got in and mobbed us. The security team did their best to get us all out of there, but I was the last one they got to. So I was stuck on this dumb carousel for what seemed like forever with people taking pictures and shouting questions at me.”

He had a glassy look in his eyes, as if transported back to the horror of helplessly riding a fake horse round and round.

“I was only three... I had no idea what was really going on. And because our parents had spent so much time trying to warn us about dangers, I thought I was about to get murdered.”

Riley leaned her head on his shoulder, “Aww... Maxwell...”

He shook himself. “I’m fine. I was a long time ago.”

“Still...” Hana sounded disproportionately concerned.

“Aw, geez, this is why I don’t like to talk about serious stuff. I’m fine, you guys!” Maxwell reassured them. “Just forget it! Next up... Hana, truth or dare?”

It struck Drake that this was something Maxwell did all the time and he was an expert at it: seemingly divulging information about himself while at the same time withholding anything of meaning. The fact remained that he had no idea what his friend was going through right now and likely wouldn’t find out anytime soon if Maxwell insisted on bottling it up. Not that he was a model of mental health.

He turned his attention back to the game. Hana had just decided, “Oh... um... truth!”

“Tell us about your first kiss,” said Maxwell.

Hana bit her lip. “My first kiss?”

“You have been kissed, right?” Maxwell asked curiously.

Tactful.

Hana’s brow furrowed. “Yes, of course.”

“You were engaged, after all!” Riley shot Maxwell a reproachful look.

“Well... it was actually a very chaste courtship. Our first kiss was in front of a professional photographer for our engagement photo shoot. My parents were insistent that we publish a very public announcement in all of the papers. It was... somewhat awkward,” she finished, staring down at her hands.

“He wasn’t a great kisser?” grimaced Riley.

Hana sighed and said, “He missed.”

Drake had never been so confused. “Missed? How?”

“He kissed my ear. Well, he punctured his lip on my earring, actually. He started bleeding. I felt terrible. My parents were furious that he ruined my dress. It was a complete disaster.”

Drake had been about to burst out laughing, when he caught a subtle shake of Riley’s head.

Okay, not the time.

He carefully avoided looking at Maxwell, whom he knew would also be close to laughter. One glance and they’d both cave.

“Hana, you deserved a better first kiss than that!” Riley put her arm around Hana. Drake saw her smile in absolute delight, holding Riley’s hand.

“Thank you, Riley. But it wasn’t so bad. Looking back, it was actually pretty funny. I mean, who can miss that badly on a kiss?”

Feeling like he had permission, Drake laughed, expecting Maxwell to join him. However, he only gave a small, “Hah!”

Drake turned to him questioningly and Maxwell continued, “I know. I mean. What a loser...”

By now, Drake was excellent at knowing when his friend was hiding something. “Maxwell...”

Maxwell sighed and slumped his shoulders, “Okay, maybe I accidentally kissed someone’s chin but that’s, like, a totally understandable mistake, right? I mean, it’s right below the mouth...”

Hana did an amazing job of containing her laughter, only letting out a small giggle, “Hee hee. Yes, that’s completely normal.”

Riley and Drake however, were not so considerate, howling with laughter.

Annoyed after a minute of this, Maxwell talked loudly over their subsiding laughter, “Okay, my turn again! Riley, I dare you to go streak through the ballroom in your underwear!”

Uh oh.

The exact same thought seemed to have crossed Hana’s mind for her eyes widened and she glanced at Drake instantly. Fuck. I cannot see Addams in her underwear again. I might spontaneously combust.

Hana beat him to the punch, “That’s not fair! It’s not her turn.”

“Yeah, and she didn’t even choose ‘dare’,” Drake pointed out

“Well someone should streak tonight or this game is a bust. Come now, Riley, it’s your game. Who will it be?” asked Maxwell.

This time, she didn’t even pretend to think, “Drake.”

He rolled his eyes at her and felt his face grow warm.

“You trying to see me shirtless, Addams?”

“Not if you run fast enough!” she said cheerfully.

The group went down to the now deserted ballroom. The tables had already been cleared by the palace staff, leaving a vast, empty room perfect for something like running around half naked.

“The things I do for you people.” It had been his constant refrain lately, yet Drake had to admit that the phrase should be singular. It’s not like he’d do this just for Maxwell or Hana, as much as he liked them.

He took off his shirt and pants and stood there for a split second in his gray boxer briefs. He thought he saw Riley’s eyes glint.

Fuck it, let’s get this over with.

He sprinted the length of the room, the cool air feeling nice throughout his whole body. He realized he hadn’t known how drunk he was until this moment, when running proved more difficult than he’d anticipated. He managed not to trip, but it was a close thing.

“Woo! Go Drake!” Riley cheered from the other side of the room.

He ran back to them and stopped.

“Satisfied?”

“Yep!” said Maxwell, “Now what?”

Riley grinned. “I’m going to join in!”

For the love of God, NO.

She took her clothes off efficiently and yet even then, Drake couldn’t help but think how sexy her confidence was.

Fuck me, now she’s in her bra and undies. I’m gonna die. That’s it. RIP Drake Walker.

It took all of his concentration and strength not to look below her face at her amazing, perky breasts in a black bra; at her long, shapely legs; and most of all, at her ass, whose every tempting curve was hugged by her matching underwear.

“We can’t make Drake be the only one. Come on, Hana!” urged Riley.

Yes! Yes, that might make this feel more normal. More like a “friend” thing.

“Hee hee... okay! It does look fun!”

Hana took her clothes off as well. Drake barely registered her creamy underwear, although he would have to be an idiot not to see that she was a beautiful woman too.

“Let’s go!” Hana gestured for them to run.

Riley turned back, “Maxwell?”

“I’ll be the photographer.”

“Maxwell!”

“I mean, I’ll stand guard!”

The three of them took off running and immediately, Drake felt better. The other two were nothing but a blur and so he could be just a normal guy having fun with his friends, rather than a commoner pining for the prince’s fiancée-to-be.

“Wooooooooo!” squealed Riley.

“Freeeeeedom!” roared Drake.

Hana shouted, “Truth or Dare!”

They ran the length of the room twice and then collapsed next to Maxwell, out of breath and with spinning heads.

“Wow, that took a lot out of me,” mumbled Riley.

“Me too. I need to lie down.” said Hana, a hand on her head.

They returned to her room, carrying their clothes. The four friends threw themselves on Hana’s bed, resting for a moment. Drake found himself lying down next to Riley. Her head was resting on her arm and she was staring at him. She reached out and brushed his bare chest with her fingers.

He exhaled sharply and sprang off the bed. The others took this as a sign to do the same and got dressed. Riley stayed on the bed a moment longer, then put her clothes on as well.

“I can’t believe we just did that!” Hana was flushed and her hair was wilder than Drake had ever seen it. She also looked happier than ever.

Drake ruffled her hair further. “Ah, the magic of Truth or Dare.”

“This was so much fun tonight! Thank you,” she said to them all.

Riley smiled. “Any time.”

“Yeah, you know me. I don’t need much of an excuse to party.” Maxwell did the robot.

“And I’m... still not sure why I came this time, but I guess I’d do it again.” It had been a risk, and it had almost gotten too dangerous, but nothing happened.

“Drake, I think we’re graduating from friends to best friends!” Hana beamed.

Drake put his hands up defensively, “Whoa, whoa, whoa... Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“I dunno, man. We all drink together, goof off together, spend most of our time together...” Maxwell nudged him.

“No...”

Hana squeezed Drake’s arm. “It’s too late, Drake. We are best friends!”

“I guess I’m just going to have to accept this, huh?”

“It’s probably for the best. You could do much worse than the three of us,” said Riley.

Oh, I know. It’s you guys who should be thinking this twice.

“That’s true, isn’t it?” He sighed. “Okay. You got me.”

“Yay!” exclaimed Maxwell.

"Yay!” echoed Hana.

Drake crossed his arms. “Please tell me this isn’t a thing we do now.”

Riley patted his arm, reassuring him. “This is not a thing.”

“Thank God. At least someone still has some sanity.”

“I’ve got your back.” She gave him one last squeeze before letting go.

Hana stifled a yawn behind her hand.

“Okay... we should probably call it a night before we break Hana...” Maxwell said, concerned.

Hana nodded. “Good night! This has been a very memorable evening!” She waved goodbye to everyone as they prepared to leave her room.

“Good night, guys,” Drake said.

“G’night!” Riley repeated.

Once in the hallway, Maxwell went left, while Riley and Drake went the opposite way.

“So, that was fun, right?”

Drake only grunted in response, cursing nobles internally for having such big houses. He couldn’t be alone with her.

“What’s up with you? I feel like you’ve been avoiding me all day.”

“Uh, no, I haven’t.”

It wasn’t exactly convincing, but she couldn’t prove anything.

“Are you tired?”

Drake answered, “Nah,” before thinking, Shit. Why didn’t I just say yes?!

“Cool, me neither. Let’s have a drink.”

She pulled him into her room and he found that he didn’t feel like fighting her. Without asking, she poured them both whiskey and they sat down on a futon.

“Truth or Dare?” she asked softly.

“Dare.”

“Down your whiskey.”

“Come on, Addams, at least make it a challenge.” He was just bragging. His throat actually felt like it was on fire and his head hadn’t stopped spinning since the ballroom. He was extremely drunk already.

“Truth or Dare?” It was his turn to ask.

“Dare.”

“Same thing.”

She rolled her eyes at him and gulped down her drink. She managed to swallow all of it, but she had a coughing fit. He thumped her back, although he wasn’t sure that even did anything.

She stopped coughing, but he didn’t remove his hand; she didn’t seem to mind.

“Your turn.” Her voice was still hoarse from the whiskey.

“Truth.”

Fuck it. Hope this doesn’t bite me in the ass.

“Are you mad at me?”

Her voice was so small, he could barely keep himself from squeezing her.

I can’t even blame her for thinking that. I’m such an asshole.

“No. And I’m sorry for making you think that.”

She seemed to be waiting for him to add something, but that was as far as he was willing to go, so she nodded.

“Truth.”

“Do you miss home?”

She was quiet for a long moment. Drake thought he could hear a clock ticking, but he couldn’t see one. He wondered idly what time it was. Late, but how late? He didn’t dare check his phone at that moment.

Finally, she sighed and spoke, “What is home, anyway? I don’t really have anyone, so no.”

She was leaning into him now, his hand still on her back.

“I’m sorry, if you don’t want to–”

“No, I do. It’s actually kind of a relief to be asked. I know my life is a million times better here than it ever was in New York, but sometimes it sucks that people just assume I’m happier here.”

“Aren’t you?”

“No, I am! I definitely am but...”

Drake waited again until she was ready to continue.

“Remember back in Olivia’s estate? When we went out before the storm?”

You mean the moment I knew I was falling for you, even if I was in denial? Yep.

“Sure,” he replied.

“I told you I knew what it was like to feel like you failed someone.”

“Yeah,” his voice was barely audible. He had been wondering about that but it seemed serious and he didn’t want to push her. He figured she’d tell Liam about it, rather than him.

“I... had a younger brother. Growing up we were really close, but then I left for college and we kind of drifted apart. I thought I could justify it, being a busy college student and all that but... He started having a hard time and I–I didn’t even know about it.”

She squeezed her lips together and continued, “One day I got a call at school that my little brother,” her voice wobbled, “had killed himself.”

Tears were now escaping her eyes, falling too fast and hard to roll down her cheeks. Drake realized he’d been rubbing circles on her back for the past few minutes.

She shook her head. “I didn’t even think to check up on him and I knew depression ran in the family.” She put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. “In his note he asked me to forgive him. As if it were him I needed to forgive.”

She let out a small sob, her face still hidden. A few seconds later, she wiped her tears and spoke, her voice still unsteady, “Coming here, I was just running away from my guilt. But I’m happy for the first time in years thanks to you guys, and you’ve helped me believe I do deserve it, despite everything... I haven’t completely forgiven myself, but I’m closer than I’d ever been.”

She gave him a watery smile. “So thanks, for everything.” She squeezed his hand.

He could not believe she was smiling. The horror, the trauma of losing a loved one in such a way and yet she still found something to be grateful for. He felt his own throat closing up, overwhelmed with affection and admiration. Unable to speak, he squeezed her hand back.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, with her head on his shoulder and his hand stroking her back.

She sniffed and stood up, walking to the mirror. “God, I’m a mess!”

Drake went to stand behind her. “I think a pink nose suits you.”

She giggled. “And to think I might have met Liam looking like this!”

Drake’s smile died on his lips. Right. Liam.

“Listen, if you’re feeling okay I should leave you to it.”

“Oh, um, yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it felt good to tell someone.”

So she hadn’t told anyone? Not even Liam?

He entertained that thought for a second and then shook himself.

It doesn’t matter. You can be her confidant; she’ll still marry Liam. And that’s okay. Having her in your life is enough, but you need to forget about anything romantic happening between you. She deserves no less than a fucking kingdom.

“You should go meet Liam. I bet you can still make it.”

“You... think I should?” Her expression was unreadable.

“Yeah.” So was his.

His feet carried him to the bar, where he ordered shot after shot. He lost count. His bed was only a few feet away, so he could get as drunk as he wanted. As drunk as it would take to forget about Riley for a second. To forget about her bravery and resilience, her vulnerability, her warmth.

We can be friends. We have to be friends, I can’t lose her. I just have to find somebody else.

As if planned, Kiara plopped down on the stool next to him. He couldn’t really focus her properly, but he still knew she looked beautiful as ever.

“Drake! I haven’t seen you all night!” Her speech was not as proper as usual, maybe even a bit slurred, but Drake was in no condition to notice.

“Theeeerrre you are, mylittlecroissant.” He had no idea he was barely intelligible at this point. Kiara didn’t seem to mind, anyway. “Voulez-vous choucher avec moi?”

“I thought you’d never ask!”

They finished their drinks and Kiara moved to his lap. He didn’t see the bartender leave, but he must have. Drake crashed his lips clumsily onto hers, their teeth accidentally clashing. She responded enthusiastically, her tongue entering his mouth. They made out sloppily, his hands roaming her body.

She pulled him closer by his shirt and let her hands stroke his chest, going lower and lower. She brushed his inner thigh and he felt his cock stir in his pants.

He jumped up from his seat, making her fall to the floor.

“Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry!” He apologized over and over again as he helped her up.

“Kiara, yeeer great, ya know? Like, s-superrr cool an’ev’rything but I can’t. I juss can’t.”

He left her standing there and stumbled back to his room as fast as his condition allowed him.

As soon as he was through the threshold, he slammed the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily. His hand trembling with need, he undid his zipper, pulled out his cock and took himself in his hand.

He started out slowly, just savoring the feeling. Then, without meaning to, he let himself imagine what a smaller, softer hand would feel like. His hand moved faster. Unbidden, an image of Riley in her black underwear and matching bra came to him and he was powerless to stop it. His hand moving at a feverish pace, he had to clench his jaw to stop himself from crying out.

Still, he couldn’t help groaning, “Addams!” through clenched teeth as he spilled all over his hand.

Steadying his breath, he cleaned himself up and staggered to bed, already knowing his future self was going to regret so much of what happened that night.

I’m so fucked.

#trr #the royal romance #drake walker #drake x mc #prince liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #pb #pixelberry #choices #playchoices #fanfic #ch 16 #the marshmallow chronicles #long post

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quell-tea-salon · 6 years

Text

TsukiPara translation - Kuga Ichiru scenarios

GREETINGS

When you think of autumn, you think of saury, and eggplant, and cakes with chestnuts!

Wordy books make me sleepy so I'll pass on them... I can read manga for hours though~

Whoa! G-give a warning before you touch me... That scared me.

*Yawns* ....What the heck, it's still early... I'm going back to bed...

*Stretches* Alright, time to wake up Issei!

I'm hungry.... I wonder what's for breakfast?

Issei..... Where did he go?

Mornin'! Hey, what's with that sleepy face? Cheer up!

Don't skip lunch! You gotta have real food and eat lots!

I'm definitely gonna master that dance step at dance practice today!

I'm not good with jobs that involve filming... But it's lame if I stay like that forever.

It's getting dark. Be careful on your way home! Don't stay out too late, okay?

...Is Shu coming home late again today? I know he can't help it, but... (TN: Omg his sad puppy voice ><)

Ah, this smell! Eichi must be cooking something. I'll go help out!

Have you had dinner? Make sure you eat something even when you're busy. Promise?

I think I'll go ask Issei about work.... But I don't want to keep relying on him like a kid......

Don't stay up too late! ...Though I get why you'd feel like staying up to watch TV, or play games...

Hey! Are you listening to me? (TN: If you're idle for too long)

Heeeeey! I'm bored over here! (TN: 2nd idling line fjga;gj;k he's so cute ;_;)

Hey, I'm bored! Let's do something!

After Issei gets out of the bath, he likes to go look at the stars. If you leave him to it, he’ll be out there for ages! I don’t want him to catch a cold... Maybe I’ll stick next to him and look at the stars together. (TN: This is one of the winter-specific lines. The other lines are about kotatsu.)

DORM

Schedule - Ugh! SolidS will be at this program too?! Not that I don't like them... I mean, they're my senpai, and my friends..... And I sorta think they're all amazing and respect them. Except Tsubasa! He's always messing with me! The other day, he even patted me on the head! He's treating me like a kid! ....Just watch! I'm gonna get so good at dancing and singing that I'll blow his socks off!

Food - What should I have for dinner tonight...?

(Select "yakiniku (BBQ meat)") Good idea! I love yakiniku! ......But it might be too much for Issei's stomach? Issei can't handle greasy stuff.

(Select "gratin") Oh, nice! Both Issei and I love that stuff! ......Right, I'll go ask Eichi to make us some!

(Select "soba") Soba? That doesn't really fill you up though? .....Hm? Isn't that one of Shu's favourite things to eat? It's light on the stomach, so Issei will probably like it too... I guess I should invite Shu and Eichi some time, and we can have soba together!

Reading - The manga that I borrowed from Six Gravity's Koi has a really interesting setup! ......I'll show it to Issei too!

Reading - This manga is lit! Yeah, I borrowed it from Six Gravity's Koi. Sometimes I get them from Arata too. At first, I didn't know what to expect from living in a dorm, but it's fun to get to swap books and stuff like this.

Running - Crap! I forgot about the study session with Shu! Did Issei go on ahead? I'll check his room before going!

Food - I'm not picky with food. I basically eat everything, but if I had to choose, I like hearty stuff like rice bowls (donmono) that I can chow down on and fill my stomach with.

Cooking - ......Issei and I used to live on our own, so we know how to make simple dishes. But I prefer the food that Eichi makes, and thinking back to when it was just the two of us, I think everything tastes better when we eat together as QUELL.

Phone - Ugh! I got a message from Tsubasa!? ....'Kay, I'm gonna send him some of those weird stamps that Eichi told me about!

Study - Uh............. I... hate studying. Do I have to....? I know Shu said "to be a top idol, one needs to have the knowledge and education to match"... and Issei is working hard too..... Okay, I'll do it.

Sighing - Shu sometimes says the most shocking things with a serene face, doesn't he? ......You never know what to expect.

Embarrassed - ......Shu and Eichi are both people who give out praises easily, although they go about it differently. Of course I'm happy to hear it..... But I'm not used to it, and it feels weird.

Lizz-kun - Lizz-kun........... They all have dumb faces, but you can't hate 'em. It's weird.

Angry - Damnit! What was that!?

(Select "What's wrong?") Just now, some guy bumped into Issei. He started complaining even though it was his fault. Issei kept quiet, so that guy just went on a rant. So I stepped in between them...... I hate jerks like that who force their opinion on everything!

(Select "observe quietly") I heard that the city is full of selfish assholes like that, and it turned out to be true... No, that's just an unfair stereotype. There are good guys and bad guys everywhere.

Resting - Suddenly I have all this free time. ......What should I do?

(Select "Have a meal with Issei") Even after becoming idols, we've been eating together every day. That's kinda of the norm for us. ......Welp, since I'm bored, I'll go invite Eichi and Shu too!

(Select "Dance lesson with Eichi") That's a good idea! ......I hate to admit it, but Eichi's good at dancing and giving advice. But I'm gonna catch up in no time! You better keep your eyes peeled!

(Select "Tour shrines and temples with Shu") ......Well, since I'm bored, that might not be a bad idea. Honestly though, I don't really get the fun of visiting temples. If I'm spending time with Shu, I'd rather do something else.

Drink - Looks like Eichi made some tea. Would you like some too? I'm gonna fetch Issei, so you go on ahead first.

GIFTS

Clothes - These clothes are for me? Thanks! Hey, it looks pretty cool! Huh? "This is the current trend", you say? ......I see. I don't know a lot about fashion trends or stuff like that. Of course, there are designs that I like or don't like. I know I should learn more about fashion as an idol. But you don't know what you don't know. Maybe I should ask somebody around here for advice? ...Somebody that isn't a blonde womaniser. I think Koi from Six Gravity, and You from Procellarum are into fashion? Alright, I'll go talk to them!

Cake - I can have this cake? ......Thanks. I really like cakes. Actually, before joining QUELL, my birthday was the only time I got to eat cake. Obviously Issei and I have the same birthday as twins, so we only had cake once a year. ...When Shu found out, he took it on himself to buy us cakes at any opportunity. He'd brush it off like "I just happened to walk past a bakery", and I'm too embarrassed to thank him properly.... But, I'm actually really happy, and I'm grateful to Shu. ...This is just between you and me, okay? I wanna thank Shu with my own words one day.

Umbrella - Wow, it's a big one. Thanks. The other day when I was taking a walk with Issei, we were ambushed by a gorilla rainstorm? Or is it guerilla rainstorm? ...Anyway, it suddenly started raining buckets. Neither of us had umbrellas so we were soaked in minutes. It sucked. But this umbrella is totally big enough for both of us! Thanks! ...It's strange, whenever I get my hands on a new umbrella, I find myself wishing that it'll rain soon. Come on, gorilla rainstorm!

Bandaid - Thanks! Actually, I tripped during the dance lesson just now and scraped my knee... I didn't have any bandaids on me and didn't know what to do. ......I used to get caught up in dumb fights, so I always carried around some bandaids. But now.... come to think of it, I just stopped carrying bandaids one day. Huh, this is a surprise. Slowly but surely, I'm actually changing. I found out something good about myself!

PAIR CONVOS

ICHIRU AND SHU (1)

Ichiru: "Hi, I'm Lizz-kun. Nice to meet you, Ichiru-kun!" .....Hahaha, yeah right.

Shu: ... ... ...

Ichiru: Whoa!? Sh, Shu!? How long have you been standing there!?

Shu: ......How could you, Ichiru. How could you do something so cute... like play with dolls by yourself! ......Stay right there, I just need to grab the SLR camera from my room!

Ichiru: Huh!!? Wait, stop! Please stop! I'd rather die than let anyone photograph me doing this!

ICHIRU AND SHU (2)

Ichiru: Huff! Ha! Hup!

Shu: You've been doing pushups for a while.

Ichiru: Yeah.... I saw Eichi's abs the other day and it kinda shook me......

Shu: Yes, Eichi's abdominal muscles are well-balanced in definition, and beautifully masculine.

Ichiru: It's not fair that he has a six pack! ...While I'm just starting to get a hint of muscle. I'm gonna train so hard that I'll get a six... no, a twelve pack!

Shu: I don't think it's physically possible to get a twelve pack.... But it's good that you're putting in the effort.

ICHIRU AND EICHI (1)

Icchi: Yo! ...Eichi, what do you think of this pose?

Eichi: You look really cool!

Icchi: ....Eichi, you've just been saying "cool" or "cute" for every pose I make!

Eichi: But I mean it! I'm not lying or trying to flatter you!

Icchi: I'm trying to pick a trademark pose! ...You're not helping when you praise everything I do. I need to hurry up and become a hot badass and blow the socks off that womaniser blondie! ......Nevermind, I'll go ask Shu instead.

Eichi: No need to rush, you're already growing up into a handsome man! ...Besides, I really don't think you'll get different results from Shu.

ICHIRU AND EICHI (2)

Icchi: Ah~ I'm so hungry......

Eichi: I have just the thing for you, Icchi! Here, my newest gratin recipe!

Icchi: Oh, good timing! Thanks for the food! ......!? Th, this is...! Really good! The gratin is delicious too, but the curry sauce inside is just the right amount of sweet and spicy and matches it perfectly!

Eichi: Wow... It must be really delicious if even QUELL's resident tsundere is showering it with praise. So worth the effort of buttering up Procellarum's Mr. Curry to share the recipe with me......

#kuga ichiru #QUELL #tsukipro #proani #tsukipara #translation: characters #translation

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island-dreams-and-sighs · 7 years

Text

let me tell you about this date i went on.

this post is long overdue, and i wish i'd written it sooner to when the date happened. it's been a few months now, so i've forgotten every bitty detail that i might’ve wanted to savor by keeping it in a blog post, but maybe it's for the best. now it'll be whittled down to the main pieces, the important ones, the ones i thought were worth remembering and writing down. (edit: it's still long as hell, and there's plenty more i could add, but likely no one is going to read it so it's just for myself anyway.)

april 25. the perfect date.

the tuesday before i left alabama (so, 3 days prior, because i left that friday) a boy invited me to go on a hike. we had met through an unnamed anonymous social media forum; he and i had chatted a few times here and there ever since december or january, and we had each other on snapchat, but we'd never met. we’d talked about meeting a couple times but nothing ever seemed to work out. well, finally he asked if i wanted to go hike by this lake i'd seen on his snap story, so i said sure, i'd love to, since it’d looked so gorgeous on his snap story.

it was my last day of work, and i was scheduled until 5:30, but we had said we'd meet at 6 so i asked the lead if i could leave a little early (being the last week before finals, our store was pretty dead other than people studying, so my lead allowed it!). i booked it back to my apartment, took a quick shower, slapped on some makeup (did a pretty good job for 15 minutes, if i do say so myself) and got dressed. i didn't do anything with my hair, but that didn't matter anyway; he came to pick me up in his jeep, and the top was down, so my hair never had a fighting chance. (he'd asked me beforehand if having the top, and i think the doors, of the jeep off was okay, and i was like yes sure!! but i wasn't so sure. however, i'd come this far, i wasn't about to back down from anything that might scare me.)

he got lost at my complex, so we had a laugh trying to find each other, but then i got into his jeep and we formally introduced ourselves. he drove us to his parents' house to pick up his dog, where i met his other dog and his mom. he warned me that his pup wasn't a big fan of people and that she might bark or growl, but she did neither when i met her. obviously, i felt incredibly honored because one of the best feelings in the world is when a dog who normally doesn’t like people likes you :D

after picking up his dog, he drove us to the lake. despite the lack of top/doors, we ended up being able to hear each other reasonably well, and we listened to music (he has amazing taste, like carly rae jepsen among other fantastic groups, and i think he liked my song choices as well; another feeling comparable to the dog feeling). when we got to the lake, we hiked a little bit, just chatting, until we got to a sign that said "danger: no trespassing" but "no" had been graffitied over. so, naturally, he took me past it and we sat on a large edifice overlooking a dam. we sat there talking for maybe an hour and a half, perhaps longer, only leaving when we realized the sun had set and it was quickly getting dark. i pet his dog the whole time; he had said she was scared of strangers, but i feel like she sensed my nervousness and thought i needed something to calm myself. on our way back to the jeep we both had our flashlights on our phones out, and his dog came running back to us through the dark and we both freaked out a bit, and then he caught a frog and i held it the rest of the way back to the car. he let me and his dog into the car, and then a security patrolman came around to tell us to leave, which we were doing anyway.

the entire time was so great, and i didn't want it to end, but he drove back to his parents’ house to drop off his dog, and then he dropped me off as well. once he got home, he messaged me saying he had wanted to ask if i wanted to grab food or something, but he had a class project due the next day and he assumed i would be busy with packing. however, i immediately said i would loooove to go and get food, but he needed to finish his project. (just because i’d taken the semester off and was leaving before finals week didn’t mean i was about to allow my friends, however new, to slack off for the sake of spending time with me.)

an hour later, he was done, and he came back to pick me up around midnight for some food. c:

we went to this place called cookout, a little burger place with good food and good prices. he’d never been before, and he seemed to like it other than me suggesting a cajun chicken burger because spicy’s not his thing. we ended up sitting in the restaurant talking until 2:30am, and since they closed around 3, we wanted to leave before they had a chance to kick us out. he drove me back, but we weren't done talking, so he came into my apartment.

we talked and played chess until 4:30am, and he asked if he could crash since it was pretty late and he didn't want to drive back. i said sure, but i'm not a one-night-stand kind of person, so i gave him a pillow and a blanket and let him sleep on the couch. the next morning, i woke up around 11 and showered and got dressed before he woke around noon.

(i told myself i wouldn't put this in the post, but honestly it warrants mentioning: i caught a glimpse of him before he woke up, and he was lying shirtless on my couch, just half-covered by the blanket, his chest touched gently by the sun coming in through the window. i might've sworn apollo himself was sleeping in my living room if i didn't know better. my breath caught in my throat a bit, but i didn't want to invade his privacy, so i didn't stare.)

when he woke up, we talked a bit before he headed out. he said he was going to miss me, and i echoed the sentiment. we hugged, which was nice.

i wish i'd kissed him, but the timing never seemed right. i also wish i'd stayed in alabama. but again, the timing wasn't right. we still keep in contact, pretty much daily, and we've got a few things planned for if and when i visit.

still, it was a nice night. absolutely, completely unforgettable. i'm not sure anything will come of us... it's a little too soon to tell, i think. we flirt, and i definitely have a crush on him, but the distance wouldn't be fair to either of us even if i knew with certainty he liked me back.

if nothing else, i'll have a fond memory of that night, along with a new friendship, and i wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

#personal #dates #mine

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365daysofj2 · 7 years

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Striptease For Me, Baby (Library!Boys, NC-17, 20/?)

“Hey,” Jensen says quietly when Jared steps through the door. “How was your first solo class?” Jared kicks his shoes off and heaves a huge sigh. “I was not prepared for patron-level computer illiteracy in one of my trainees. I have no idea why she was hired. She’s hopeless. She barely understands the different between left and right clicks.” He steps into his sheepskin slippers—a housewarming gift from Jensen—and locks the door. Jensen’s eyes widen. “Are you gonna be able to train her?” “I honestly don’t know.” Jared flops down on the couch next to Jensen, who immediately stretches an arm across Jared’s shoulders and pulls him close. “I might ask Samantha tomorrow what I should do if she doesn’t improve. I don’t know if they would rescind her job offer, but I’m thinking they probably should.” “Wow.” Jensen rests his chin on top of Jared’s head. Jared buries his face even further into Jensen’s neck and takes a deep breath, relishing the spicy scent of Jensen’s cologne and the clean tang of laundry detergent and fabric softener. Jensen still smells amazing after seven and a half hours of work, which just isn’t fair. “I’m sorry it’s not going well.” Jared shrugs. “It is what it is. How was your day?” Jensen’s eyes widen. “You didn’t check your email before you left?” “I forgot. Why?” Jensen grins. “Because I banned Chang for a month, that’s why.” “Just a month?” Jensen’s grin slides into a smirk. “He has to meet with Jeff and me before I allow him to come back. And if he doesn’t show any signs of getting the message, we’ll ban him for another 6 months right on the spot.” “Good for y’all. I can’t wait to read the letter.” “Five times, total, we kicked him out before they let me ban him. Five. Fucking. Times.” “Jesus.” Jared slumps against Jensen, totally drained. “Your day sounded so much better than mine.” “Well, there’s still time to turn it around.” Jensen kisses the crown of Jared’s head. “I’ve got lasagna and garlic bread in the oven. I wanted to reward you for making it through your first day as solo trainer.” Jared has to smile at that. “Thank you. You take such good care of me.” “And I always will.” Jensen extricates himself from Jared’s grip and stands up. “I’ve been chilling a 2011 Barolo all day. You want a glass?” “Please.” Jared joins Jensen in the kitchen and accepts the generously filled wineglass that Jensen hands him. Jared knows he doesn’t appreciate wine the way Jensen does—Jensen can actually pick out “notes” of fruit and chocolate and shit like that—but it’s a nice, full-bodied red wine, and it’ll certainly ease Jared’s residual tension. “Why don’t you go change and I’ll check on the food.” Jensen takes a sip of his own wine, a much smaller serving than Jared’s, and sets the glass aside. Jared nods. “Sounds good.” He goes upstairs to the bedroom he’s just starting to think of as partially his and changes out of his button-down shirt and khakis in favor of flannel pants and a Penn State t-shirt. When Jared returns to the kitchen, Jensen’s taking the pan of lasagna out of the oven. It smells amazing, all that cheese and garlic and oregano, and his mouth literally starts watering. Jensen holds out a basket of garlic bread and Jared carries it to the table. Jensen brings over two big plates of gooey, cheesy lasagna and Jared smiles from ear to ear. “Man, I needed this.” Jensen takes his seat. “Yeah, I had a feeling.” He nudges Jared’s foot with his own and grins. “Enjoy it.” Jared cuts a piece and takes a bite. He closes his eyes and moans with pleasure. He reaches over and covers Jensen’s hand with his own. “Amazing as ever,” he assures him. Jensen beams and takes a bite from his own plate. “Needs more salt.” “You are such a perfectionist.” Jared shoves another huge bite into his mouth. “I have high standards.” Jared swallows and takes a sip of wine before replying. “So I meet your ridiculously high standards?” Jensen shakes his head. “No,” he answers, but he can’t hide a smile for long. “But I love you anyway.” “Ha ha.” Jared lightly kicks Jensen under the table. “You’re lucky you’re cute.” Jensen bats his eyelashes. “You think I’m cute, huh?” “Well, not now,” replies Jared, but he’s grinning. “Not all of us can be as ruggedly handsome as you, Paul Bunyan.” Jensen takes a piece of garlic bread and tears it in half. “Does that make you Babe the Blue Ox?” Jensen snorts. “That’s where the analogy falls apart.” “Well, you are quite a babe, Babe.” Jared grins and nudges Jensen’s knuckles with his own. Jensen smirks. “And I’m hung like an ox, obviously.” Jared nearly chokes on his lasagna. “Yeah, keep dreamin’.” “Just for that, you don’t get dessert.” Jared quirks an eyebrow. “There’s dessert?” “Well, there was,” replies Jensen. “You gotta earn it back.” Jared picks up his empty plate. “Oh, I can do that,” he murmurs, sliding a hand down inside Jensen’s shirt and tweaking a nipple. He presses his lips to the side of Jensen’s neck and lightly grazes the freckled alabaster skin with his teeth. Jensen shivers and tilts his head back to give Jared better access. Jared lightly bites down, not hard enough to leave a bruise, and then laves the sting away with the tip of his tongue. “Bedroom,” gasps Jensen. He starts to stand up, but Jared lightly holds him down and stacks Jensen’s empty plate on top of his with his free hand. He collects Jensen’s empty wineglass and takes both to the kitchen. He leaves the plates in the sink, but refills the wineglass. Jensen grabs Jared’s half-full glass from the table and heads for the stairs. Jared quickly follows suit. Once they’re upstairs, Jensen moves to loosen his tie, but Jared stills his hand. “Alexa, play ‘Striptease’ by Hawksley Workman, and dim the lights to 60 percent.” Alexa does as she’s told, and Jared sits down on the foot of their bed. “Striptease for me, baby.” Jensen smirks and unknots his tie, swaying his hips to the beat. He whips it off in one smooth motion, snapping it like a whip, and Jared goes from “mildly interested” to “half-hard and aching for more” in less than a second. Jensen slyly shimmies out of his sweater vest and pulls it over his head, making his hair stand up in unruly spikes. Jared sheds his own shirt and pants then, and he’s fully, painfully hard now. Jensen reaches for his wineglass and downs half of it before turning his attention to the buttons on his crisp white dress shirt. He flicks each one open with practiced ease, and Jared’s just about to tell him to slow it down when Jensen starts to ease the shirt off his freckled shoulders one drawn-out inch at a time. It seems like hours before the thick swells of Jensen’s biceps are uncovered, and Jared finds his mouth watering again as Jensen exposes his nipples, grazing them lightly with his fingernails to perk them up. “Jesus,” Jared hisses. It seems like another hour before Jensen exposes his perfectly cut six-pack and tosses the shirt aside. He reaches for his belt buckle, and Jared finds himself licking his lips in anticipation. He thumbs a bead of precome off the head of his cock. “Fuckin’ tease.” Jensen cocks an eyebrow. “You asked for it.” He whips his belt off with an audible snap and drops it on the floor. He reaches for his zipper and Jared can’t fucking take it anymore. He surges forward and shoves Jensen’s pants and boxer-briefs off his hips, then lifts him clean off the floor and out of them. Jensen lets out a surprised squawk and wraps his arms around Jared’s shoulders as Jared heaves him over to the bed and throws him down hard enough to bounce. “Jesus fuck!” sputters Jensen as Jared straddles his hips and leans over him to retrieve the lube from the nightstand drawer. Jared shoves Jensen’s knees up onto his shoulders and squirts lube onto his already sweat-slick fingers. He presses one into Jensen’s hole with no warning and Jensen yelps. Jared covers Jensen’s mouth with his own and thrusts his tongue between Jensen’s lips to collect his objections. Jared adds a second finger in a matter of seconds. He can’t wait any fucking longer. Jensen’s still and quiet beneath him, enough that Jared starts to get concerned. “This okay?” he murmurs, looking right into Jensen’s eyes. Jensen nods. “Yeah, yeah. Just—yeah.” He bites his lip. Jared adds a third finger and starts to scissor. Jensen’s letting out these little breathy moans of pleasure, so Jared stops feeling guilty and just concentrates on getting both of them off as fast as possible. Jared presses his cockhead to Jensen’s hole and eases in. Once Jensen is nice and relaxed for him, he starts to thrust, setting a rhythm that’s just barely on the right side of the pleasantly/punishingly hard divide. Jensen’s ivory skin glistens with sweat in the low light, and his cheeks are as red as the wine. He throws his head back, struggling for breath, and Jared backs off a little. “I’m gonna—I’m gonna—” Jensen can’t seem to finish the thought, so Jared finishes it for him by hitting home enough times to make Jensen come. Jared’s not far behind, and his own orgasm crashes over him hard enough to make his knees go weak. He barely manages to pull out before he collapses next to Jensen, chest heaving so hard it’s almost painful. For a long moment they both just lie there and attempt to catch their breath. It doesn’t come easy for either of them. “So, did I earn my dessert?” asks Jared with a smirk. “We certainly burned enough calories.” “Doesn’t seem wise to deny you anything,” replies Jensen, kissing the curve of Jared’s jaw. “So yeah, I guess you did.” “I’m not sure my legs will support me long enough to get to the dining room,” complains Jared. “It’s been a long fucking day.” Jensen cards his fingers through Jared’s damp hair. “Bitch, bitch, bitch.” But he kisses Jared’s cheek and pushes himself up on one elbow. “I’ll bring it up, you big baby.” Jared throws one arm over Jensen’s shoulder and pulls himself up to give Jensen a proper kiss. “I love you so much right now.” Jensen grins and ruffles Jared’s hair. “I love you too, Paul Bunyan.” “So be a good ox and cart me up some dessert,” teases Jared. Jensen flips Jared’s hair into his face. “I’m pretty sure this hair makes you the ox.” He shoves Jared onto his back. “That and the way you smell right now.” “You love my musk. Admit it.” Jared reaches out and slaps Jensen’s ass. “I love you.” Jensen pats Jared’s ankle and walks to the door. Jared smiles. “Good enough.”

#j2 au #j2 fanfic #j2 #365daysofj2 #library

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ambrosedeans · 7 years

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56. “I’m sorry, what? I keep getting lost in your eyes.” with ellisman lmao? i'm not being hinckman trash for once!

56. “I’m sorry, what? I keep getting lost in your eyes.”AN: Casey!!! It’s finally done! I’m sorry it took me so long. I had a real bad case of writers block, but hey! We got there in the end. Also, more ellisman content pls, I love these two sassy nerds. prompt meme + AO3 mirror

Kyle wishes his mother would stop setting him up on blind dates. He knows she means well, but the dates are pretty much always terrible, and honestly, Kyle isn’t that worried about being single anyway. Only when his mother comes home all excited about having arranged something for him, Kyle doesn’t have the heart to say no. He never does, and so he ends up suffering through forced dates with people he doesn’t care all that much about in the first place, time and time again.He finds himself sat alone at the table of a restaurant that’s not too fancy, but is nice enough to warrant more formal clothes than a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Kyle’s never been here before, but he likes Italian food, and the atmosphere is nice, and he thinks that even if the company is terrible, he’ll at least enjoy his meal.

As for the company, Kyle has no idea what to expect from his date. He knows his name is Bradley, knows that his mom has some connection to Kyle’s mom. He assumes that both of their parents seem to have a penchant for setting their respective sons up on blind dates, and that’s about it.He’s not expecting anything to come of tonight, that’s for sure. He’s been set up on enough of these dates to know how they go. He predicts another night sat across from someone, forcing awkward conversation with a guy he would never willingly go out with. He expects to enjoy his meatball parmesan and pretty much nothing else. He expects his date to be a little like him but not too much; not so similar to Kyle that they’ll actually get along, but awkward enough that his mom sets him up on blind dates.Kyle is thinking over the reassuring speech he knows his mother will give him when he sees her next, and so he takes no notice of the man approaching his table, until said man is standing over him, clearing his throat. Kyle looks up from the drinks menu he’s been pretending to study, eyebrows raised. The man is handsome, wearing fitted jeans and a leather jacket over a checked shirt. He looks like the type of person that is overly confident and popular. Not Kyle’s type. Upon first glance, Kyle would decide he doesn’t have the patience to talk to someone like this, but the stranger has somewhat forced his hand.“Can I help you?” Kyle asks, giving the man an expectant look.“I hope so,” replies the stranger, his lips quirked a little into a grin. Kyle feels like he’s being mocked, squints a little behind his glasses, his eyebrows creased. His opinion of the confident man is somehow falling even lower. Hih “I’m supposed to be meeting Kyle?”“You’re Bradley?” Kyle exclaims, disbelief obvious in his voice, in his wide eyes, and eyebrows that are now raised. Brad laughs and it’s a nice sound. It’s more genuine than the cocky grin, and suits him better, Kyle thinks.“Brad’s fine, but yeah,” Brad confirms with a nod. “Hi. Do you mind?” Brad gestures to the chair opposite Kyle, and Kyle, still a little shocked, nods slowly, making an active effort to keep his jaw closed despite the urge to let it drop as he stares at Brad in wonder. This does not look like the kind of person who needs their parents to arrange dates for them, and Kyle’s a little stunned.“Yeah, sure,” Kyle manages to say, but only after Brad has pulled the chair out and draped his jacket over the back of it. Brad grins at him as he sits down.“So, do you do this often?” Asks Brad, and Kyle has to make an active effort not to roll his eyes. He’s still trying to get a read off this guy, and for the moment all Kyle can think is he’s snarky and probably not Kyle’s type. No matter how objectively attractive he may be.“What, get Italian food?” He asks, keeping his tone serious. He’s playing dumb in response to the stupid and obvious question. “Yeah, I’d say I’m a fan.” Kyle’s answer makes Brad face light up, amusement in his eyes and in that stupid grin which is back on his face.“Is that why you’re here, because you love Italian food?”“It was a huge factor, yeah,” Kyle replies bluntly. He really has no interest in trying to be overly polite, or in trying to impress this guy. If his track record is anything to go by, Kyle won’t see Brad again after tonight anyway, so why bother pandering to him?“That’s fair,” Brad chuckles. “Blind dates don’t tend to be all that exciting.”“I can’t say I’m going to break that trend for you,” Kyle warns him. “I’m not really an exciting person.” Brad grins, like he knows something Kyle doesn’t and it just makes Kyle narrow his eyes a little again.“Hey, at least let me be the judge of that,” insists Brad. “Maybe my luck’s changed.” Kyle wants to roll his eyes again. He just wants to enjoy his food, has already had enough of Brad’s attempted smooth-talking for now.“Maybe,” Kyle mutters, though he’s clearly not convinced that Brad will even find him vaguely interesting. He goes back to looking at the drinks menu and Brad feels a little dejected. He thinks Kyle’s cute, likes his upfront, no nonsense attitude. He wants to get on Kyle’s good side.“You don’t think this could be an okay date?” Brad asks, keeps his tone light, curious. Kyle clearly hasn’t offended him. Kyle sighs heavily, looks back up from the menu again.“Look,” he says flatly. “It’s nothing personal. Just, speaking from experience, these dates don’t work out all that well.”“So you are experienced,” notes Brad, smirking a little at the fact he’s managed to get Kyle to answer his previous question. Kyle scoffs.“Yeah,” he snaps. Brad’s grin doesn’t falter as he sees Kyle’s frustration at himself grow. “I’m experienced. You wanna know my experience? I go on a date that my mom has arranged for me, sit opposite some person who is vaguely like me, and spend the night eager to go home again because and the company is terrible and I’d rather be alone.”“Sounds like we have pretty similar life experiences then,” Brad quips with a grin.“That tends to be pretty standard too,” Kyle answers, still not pleased. Brad’s overly optimistic attitude is starting to grate on him. Kyle’s being obviously miserable, but it’s not putting Brad off; if anything it’s making him act like he likes Kyle even more. “Oddly enough, the kind of quiet guys who need their parents to set them up on dates have similar backgrounds.”“Hey, who said I was quiet?” Jokes Brad, a teasing smile on his face. He’s so flirtatious, it almost pains Kyle to witness him. They seem to be complete opposites.“I will admit, you certainly break the mould on that front,” Kyle concedes, with no trace of joy in his voice. Brad grins triumphantly anyway.“See!” He cries. “Maybe this could be a date that puts an end to both of our unlucky streaks. I’m already spicing things up for you.” Kyle winces at that, smiles despite himself, though it’s more a pained look than one of genuine amusement.“Please don’t,” he laughs, an awkward and uncomfortable noise. “Don’t call yourself spicy.”“I never said I was spicy!” Brad protests with a laugh. “I just said that I’m making things more interesting.”“Being more interesting doesn’t necessarily mean you’re more appealing,” Kyle points out. Brad shrugs.“Maybe not. But, I could be both,” Brad counters with a look Kyle knows is supposed to be suave, but he finds it a little obnoxious. Kyle sighs. He doesn’t know what Brad expects him to say to that.“You’re off to a bad start,” he says, back to his blunt attitude. Now it’s Brad’s turn to sigh, shoulders slumping a little. It’s like Kyle can see him physically drop the cool guy attitude. Brad smiles sheepishly and Kyle likes that infinitely more than the cocky grin.“Alright, sorry. Can I start over?”“Sure?” Kyle agrees, his brow furrowed, his face a picture of confusion. What is the deal with this guy?“Okay,” Brad breathes. “Hi. I’m Brad, I prefer barbecue to Italian, but you seem really cool, so I don’t mind that we’re not getting barbecue.” He’s met with silence for a few moments, as Kyle stares at him, lips mouth slightly agape. He really can’t believe this.“That was… sort of better?” Kyle manages finally, but he’s still confused.“I’m sorry man, I don’t really go on that many dates, I’m not sure what I’m doing.”“You don’t go on that many dates?” Asks Kyle, eyebrow arched and voice dripping with disbelief.“Not really? Why do you sound like that?”“Because!” Kyle exclaims, gesturing to Brad. “Look at you!”“Yeah dude, I’m just another average guy.”“No, Brad, you’re like—” Kyle cuts himself off, realises what he was about to say. Though Brad’s not letting him off that easily.“Like what?”

“You’re like, super good looking,” Kyle continues, somewhat begrudgingly.“Says you!” Brad exclaims. “Have you seen yourself?”“Yeah, I’ve seen myself, I’m a huge nerd, Brad.”“Then that makes two of us!” Brad cries with a grin. “Two nerds who find each other attractive.” Kyle groans and hides his face.“I can’t believe I told you that,” he grumbles to himself, but Brad chuckles.“It’s fine, we’re on the same page, right?”“I mean. I guess so? But for the record, I when I first saw you, I thought you were not my type and out of my league.” “Out of your league?” Brad echoes. “Why?”“Because,” Kyle huffs, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You came in with your skinny jeans and your leather jacket and your charming smile, and I’m sat here on a date that my mom set up for me because she worries that I’m lonely.” Brad chuckles at that.“Well, my mom set me up on this date too, so. I’d say were in the same league.”“Yeah, what’s the deal with that?” Kyle asks. Because apparently they’re having an actual conversation now, and apparently Kyle doesn’t hate talking to Brad.“The deal with what?” Questions Brad, a little lost.“Your mom setting you up on dates. You don’t look like a guy who needs his mom to get dates for him,” explains Kyle.“Oh! Yeah, that. Well, funny story, my mom assumed I was dating my best friend for years. I’m talking like, since we were teenagers. Then recently she casually asks me if we’re ever gonna get married and I had no idea what she was talking about. So, after a lot of clearing things up, she realised that I’ve been single all this time, and now she thinks I need to be dating someone. So here I am! Dating,” Brad nods once and grins at him. Kyle lets out a laugh of disbelief.“Are you for real?”“Yeah, dude! It’s crazy, right?” Kyle nods his head, lets out another laugh.Their waitress comes and takes their orders, returning a few minutes later with their drinks. Their conversation comes much more easily now, and they talk about their lives, their jobs, their interests. Kyle learns that Brad’s a hairdresser, and when Kyle reveals that he’s a QA tester, they discover they’re both incredibly enthusiastic about video games. Of course, Brad’s not the first date Kyle’s had who likes games, but he’s the first person Kyle has enjoyed talking to about them. Brad’s opinions are interesting, and whilst Kyle doesn’t agree with him on everything, he likes their discussion.They move on from the topic of the 3DS and Pokémon before Kyle can get genuinely offended at Brad’s (idiotic) opinion that the games have rapidly gone downhill and are no longer interesting or relevant enough for Brad to play them. Brad’s the one who cuts him off, asks about the games Kyle has worked on, which prompts Kyle to start explaining the development of Guitar Hero and DJ Hero.After a short while, Kyle stops talking, waves a hand and snaps his fingers in front of Brad’s face.“I’m sorry, what? I keep getting lost in your eyes,” Brad says after a few moments of Kyle looking at him expectantly. And Kyle wants to go back to hating him, he really does. He wants to hate Brad because he wasn’t listening and because that’s the cheesiest line Kyle thinks he’s ever heard and Brad doesn’t look like he’s joking. Kyle wants to hate him, but Brad is cute and charming, and Kyle enjoys talking to him, when Brad actually listens. Kyle wants to hate him, but instead his eyebrows raise and a smile of disbelief tugs the corners of his lips upwards.

“Are you even real?” He asks, laughter in his voice. “What is this?”

“Dude, I’m sorry, you just have really nice eyes.”

“No, Brad, my eyes are stupid. I’ve got a stupid face with stupid eyes. What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me!” Brad protests, gets this teasing look about him. “There might be something wrong with your really nice eyes though. I don’t think they’re working properly. Maybe you need new glasses or something.”

“How,” Kyle groans, laughing again. He reaches for his shoulders before remembering they’re at a nice restaurant and Kyle’s not wearing a hoodie; he can’t pull the hood over his face and hide from this. Instead he rests his elbows on the table and hides his face in his hands as he giggles. “How can anyone actually be like this? You sound like you’ve been picked right out of a romcom.”

“Is that bad?” Brad questions, and though the fingers over his eyes prevent Kyle from seeing the fond smile on Brad’s face, his tone is light, laced with amusement. Kyle wants to hate him even more.

“I don’t know, Brad,” Kyle admits, pulling his hands away. He looks at Brad and Brad looks back, both of them grinning. Brad arches one eyebrow, questioning, and it makes Kyle smile, all open mouthed and gleeful.

“You don’t know if I’m bad or not?”

“Oh no, that was bad. You have bad, corny pickup lines and they make me want to kick you under the table,” Kyle replies, flatly, honestly. Brad lets out a short burst of laughter, but Kyle’s not done. “But I think it’s so bad that it’s good, y'know? You’re like a Popsicle stick joke.”“So terrible then?”“What?” Kyle answers with a frown. He looks offended. “No, Brad, Popsicle stick jokes are the best. I love them.”“Kyle. No, Kyle, they’re terrible,” Brad tries to reason, acting like Kyle has lost his mind. “They’re the worst jokes. They’re not even jokes, they’re just bad puns.”“Bad puns are great!” Kyle refutes. Brad shakes his head.“And this date was going so well,” he sighs, dramatically. He looks wistfully up at the ceiling, chin resting on his hand. He’s clearly joking, or at least Kyle hopes he is.“This relationship would never have worked out if you don’t like bad puns, I can assure you,” Kyle laughs.“Well, I might be able to look past some bad jokes for someone with a smile like yours.”“Oh my god, Brad,” Kyle groans, face flushed with embarrassment. He puts his hands up again, hiding his cheeks which have reddened from the flattery. He really can’t believe this man is real.“What? Was that too far? I’m sorry,” Brad, starts, but Kyle’s hands fly away from his face and he holds them up in a ‘stop’ motion, palms facing Brad, fingers spread.“No! No, don’t, don’t apologise, it’s,” Kyle rushes to get out. He pauses, sighs and reminds himself to relax. He sounds calmer when he speaks again, slower. “It’s fine. You’re fine. It’s just that you’re like, this handsome cliché with cheesy chat up lines and I don’t even think you’re doing it ironically.”“Did you just call me handsome?” Asks Brad with a smirk. Kyle groans loudly, puts his hand to his forehead.“Of course, that’s what you took from that. Yes, you’re handsome. Handsome and cheesy.”“But you like cheesy,” notes Brad with a cheeky smile. “So I’m good, right?”“Good for what?”“I don’t know, this? Like, you don’t hate me and want to get out of here as soon as you can, like usual.”“The people I go on dates with aren’t usually you,” Kyle points out, not thinking before he speaks and immediately regretting it. Brad seems to have developed something of an ego over the course of the night, and Kyle would like to avoid stroking it if possible. The smirk on Brad’s face tells Kyle that he’s failed in this instance.“Are they usually flattered this much?”“I’m not flattering you,” protests Kyle, raising his finger as he tends to do when correcting people. “I distinctly remember saying I want to kick you under the table.”Before Brad gets a chance to contest Kyle on the flattery front, a voice from beside them says:“Meatball Parmigiana?” And prompts them both to look up. Kyle glances to the side at the waitress and raises his hand to indicate that the dish in question is his. He notes that the waitress seems amused as she sets their plates in front of them and tells them to enjoy the meal. Kyle wonders how much of the conversation she heard and what she must think as he begins cutting into his food. Kyle was half right with his predictions for the night, in that his meal is delicious. He finds he’s happy to be proved wrong on the other front, is glad of Brad’s company, is glad he didn’t insist on bailing on tonight.They continue with light conversation as they eat, back to the topic of Nintendo, talking about recent games which prove the company isn’t doing all that badly. The tone is still playful, they’re still teasing one another in a way that feels flirtatious, but it’s nice. Kyle thinks it feels natural, this bickering between them, and he likes that he doesn’t have to worry about what he says or how he says it.Kyle finishes his food and continues his rant. Though, as he’s halfway through making his case for why Super Mario Maker is such a great game, he realises that Brad seems distracted again. Kyle stops talking mid-sentence as soon as he notices, waving a hand in front of his face once more.“Brad? Hello?”“Huh? Yeah, sorry, what was that?” Brad asks, snapping out of whatever daze he was in.“Were you being weird about my eyes again?” Kyle replies, with said eyes now squinted as he looks across the table. The question makes Brad let out a soft chuckle, but he shakes his head.“No, actually,” he says, grinning. “You just have sauce on your face.”“Oh my god, Brad,” groans Kyle dramatically. He reaches for a napkin, a little flustered from realising he probably looks like an idiot. “Why didn’t you say something?”“It’s cute,” Brad shrugs. He watches Kyle scrub furiously at his face, on the wrong side of his mouth, and Brad’s grin only grows.“Getting food all over your face is not cute. At all,” Kyle says definitively. When he’s done scrubbing, he looks at Brad again, head tilted up a little. “Did I get it?”“No, c’mere,” Brad laughs, leaning forward over the table. Kyle doesn’t have time to ask what the hell is happening before Brad takes the napkin and uses it to wipe at the corner of Kyle’s mouth. He lingers for just a little too long afterwards, a few moments which stretch on past the acceptable period of personal space invasion. Brad meets Kyle’s eyes and offers a small smirk and Kyle’s hate for Brad grows because of the way his heart feels, the way his pulse quickens under Brad’s intense gaze. “Got it,” Brad says finally, in soft voice which Kyle barely catches over the blood that seems to be rushing in his ears.All Kyle can manage to do in response is swallow nervously—Brad’s close enough that he catches Kyle’s throat move from the action—and nod his head.“Thanks,” he breathes out finally, cheeks flushed and his focus still a little lost. He doesn’t understand why he’s so worked up; all Brad did was wipe at his mouth after all, it’s not like he leaned over and kissed him. Although, he thinks that doesn’t sound too terrible.“No problem,” Brad says, shrugs but doesn’t move back. He’s still so close, and now he’s grinning, like he knows exactly what kind of effect he’s having on Kyle by staying there. After a few moments of Kyle still not composing himself, Brad leans back and returns to casually eating his food, figuring he might just be making Kyle uncomfortable.Kyle isn’t uncomfortable, he’s just kind of shocked. He hadn’t even expected to like his date for tonight, and even when he and Brad found they had common interests, Kyle remained adamant that it would just mean pleasant conversation throughout the evening, instead of forced and awkward small talk. But it’s worse than that, because Brad is oddly charming with his stupid attempts at pickup lines and his insistence on invading Kyle’s personal space. Normally Kyle would hate that, but he likes Brad, had briefly thought about kissing him and wasn’t instantly repulsed.Brad clears his throat, and Kyle comes to again, blinks owlishly at Brad.“Sorry, I spaced out,” he apologises, shakes his head. Brad’s still grinning.“Don’t tell me you were lost in my eyes,” he teases. Kyle’s shock is quickly forgotten, and he lets out a small laugh. He likes that Brad can laugh at himself, doesn’t take himself too seriously.“Yeah right,” Kyle scoffs, rolls his eyes. “Like anyone would actually fall for such a stupid, cheesy line.”“Are you saying you haven’t fallen for me?” Brad asks, sits back and clutches his heart dramatically, as if Kyle has pained him. It’s enough of an act that he can pass it off as a joke, but there’s a genuine question behind it. Brad really does want Kyle to have fallen for him, wants to impress him and see him again.“Not quite,” Kyle laughs, light and genuine. Brad’s nice, and despite all Kyle’s internal moping, he’s had a really great time. He doesn’t want this to be the first and last they see of each other. “But, I am a little bit swayed.”“Oh yeah?” Brad says, trying to sound teasing. He hopes that will mask all the hopefulness that’s swelling in his chest from actually showing through. Kyle recognises it nonetheless, and he grins.“Yeah. I’d like to do this again some time. Well, not this, exactly, but. Another date. If you want?” he manages, a little flustered. Brad doesn’t mind, thinks it’s cute. He nods eagerly.“Another date sounds awesome,” agrees Brad. He’s not able to hold back his smile, is so glad that Kyle seems just as keen as he is to do this again.“Good! We can do something more exciting than getting dinner,” Kyle suggests.“Wait, I thought you loved Italian food,” Brad counters, smirking. “What could we possibly do that would get you more excited?” He asks, sarcastic and teasing.“I can think of a few things,” Kyle hums. It takes Brad raising his eyebrows and looking slightly startled for Kyle to realise he implications of that, and as soon as he does, he feels his cheeks get warmer as they flush pink. “Not like that! Oh god,” he groans, hides his face in his hands again. He hears Brad sniggering at him across the table.“It’s fine, Kyle,” he chuckles. “I know what you meant.”“Okay. Good. Because that sounded— and you’re nice, you really are, but that’s a lot, and I don’t know that I—”“Kyle,” Brad cuts in, voice firm, but there’s still laughter in his eyes. “I said it’s fine. How about we finish this date before you start stressing about our next one?”“That sounds like a good idea,” Kyle nods. He takes some deep breaths, trying to regain some composure after his mini freak out. Brad smiles and finishes up his chicken Alfredo, and when he’s done, they fall back into a normal conversation where Kyle isn’t stressed at all.They order dessert and flirt some more over their gelato, and they trade numbers as their plates are cleared and they wait for the bill. Brad and Kyle leave together, walking out into the dark parking lot, their laughter carried away on the night breeze.Considering Kyle didn’t want to go on this date in the first place, he’s having a hard time leaving and heading to his car. He stops and looks up at Brad, gives him a soft but genuine smile. He thinks back to the restaurant, to Brad wiping sauce from his mouth. The moment seems much less intimate when he looks at it like that, and so Kyle dispels the thought almost as quickly as it came.“I’ll see you soon, then?” He says, somewhat awkwardly. He’s never had to say goodbye to a date he actually likes before.“Yeah, sure dude. I’ll text you,” Brad replies with a grin and a nod of his head. Kyle nods and returns the smile.“Okay. Good. This was nice. I’ll see you,” Kyle repeats, his thoughts scattered and his anxiety flaring up as he tries to think of what he’s supposed to do, what he’s supposed to say. Brad’s much calmer, seems to notice Kyle is getting worked up, and he reaches his hand out. For a moment, Kyle thinks Brad’s going to touch his face again, and Brad considers it, but he settles for resting it on Kyle’s shoulder instead.“See you Kyle,” Brad laughs softly, gives Kyle a fond look. Kyle’s heart is doing that stupid thing again and Kyle reminds himself that he hates Brad.“Don’t get lost again on the way home,” Kyle quips teasingly, and Brad laughs, pulling his hand away.“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I won’t have you there to distract me,” he says with a confident smirk. Kyle rolls his eyes and scoffs, bumps Brad’s shoulder playfully.“I’m going to go home and spend the night recovering from all your cheesy comments.”“And then you can start preparing for all the ones I’ll bring to our next date!”“Goodnight, Brad,” Kyle laughs.“Night Kyle,” Brad parrots, waves his hand in a way that Kyle, quite frankly, finds kind of adorable. Brad walks away to his car finally and Kyle watches him for a few moments, stunned by how well that turned out. He’s actually very excited for the next time he gets to hear Brad’s cheesy flirting again. Maybe Kyle does spend his car ride home thinking about how the lines weren’t that bad, and maybe he considers they were part of the reason Kyle wants to kiss him, but that’s nobody’s business but Kyle’s.

#ellisman #uneasy alliances #getting together #fluff #humour #alternate universe #my writing #long post #read more #tw: food #easyupdate

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floralgothpersephone · 7 years

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Attraction, pt2

It was cold. It was a lot colder than Shirayuki was expecting. The sun was out, but the bora winds coming from the North were lashing out onto her frigid frame and seeping into her bones. The breeze from the quick movements of riding a horse were not helping in the slightest. Her face raw from the wind, her nose aching from the chill.

I should have packed a scarf, or at least a hat. Shirayuki thought. Her attempts to keep her hood on were being thwarted by the wind pushing it off as she was riding. Her ears were starting to burn from the freezing air, and her fingers were sharp from the piercing breeze. She gripped the reins harder and burrough herself into her jacket in an attempt to shield herself from the biting cold, but it wasn’t doing much.

Shirayuki almost regretted taking on this task from Garrack, almost. But Ryuu had really needed to pick up a shipment of kava root from Konavo and his current research projects were too tedious to be able to make the day’s journey to pick it up. Besides, this trip would almost require that Obi would have to come along to accompany her, and she hadn’t seen a lot of him since he took on the new training position for the guards. She missed him, she found, and while he would still spend time at the pharmacy and check in on her regularly, they were not able to get into the same sort of mischief that they had previously.

“Miss, are you doing okay over there?”

Shirayuki looked over to Obi, he was riding his horse looking completely passive to the bitter cold air and Shirayuki found herself hating him a little bit for it.

“I’m just cold Obi, aren’t you cold?”

Obi grinned a little picking up on her frustration, “Not at all miss, in fact, I’m feeling quite a bit toasty myself.”

“Ugh lucky” Shirayuki grumbled, “I think I am starting to lose feeling in my nose.”

“Well miss, there are ways in which we could fix that.”

Shirayuki looked up at Obi as he brought his horse closer to hers and took off his scarf. He reached over, bumping his leg against hers, and draped it around her neck before reaching back over to his own reigns.

“There you go miss, make sure to wrap it around your nose to protect your face!”

“Oh… thank you Obi.” Shirayuki was a bit stunned, she could feel the heat of a blush creeping up her face and quickly wrapped the scarf around her to hide the evidence. The scarf was warm to the touch, and she found comfort in the fabric against her frosty cheeks. She took a deep breath, soaking in the warmth when she realized just how good the scarf smelled. It smelled of fir trees and spices, just like Obi when he climbed out of his favorite trees or had eaten his favorite meals.

Oh no, it smells like him. She thought, burrowing deeper into the scarf. And it… Obi...Obi smells good. Shirayuki didn’t know what to do with her new found realization. And while Shirayuki did appreciate the warmth returning back to her cheeks, she did not think that the warmth was worth the price of knowing.

“We should be arriving to Konavo soon Miss, do you want to stop and get some food before we go pick up the kava roots?”

Shirayuki hummed in response, still burrowed into his scarf hoping he couldn’t read her thoughts. “yes, I could use a hot meal.”

“Alright miss, we’ll find somewhere soon.”

Shirayuki and Obi arrived at Konavo and started their search for food. The port town was quaint and colorful even in the dreary weather. The wind gusts picked up flags and curtains across the town and the unmistakable flutter of fabric could be heard as their horses walked down the cobblestone path towards the market.

Shirayuki tried to keep an eye out for signs that advertised food, but she was not interested lifting her head out of her protective shell for long periods of time. She followed Obi’s horse through the village until he stopped in front of a small eatery that advertised rich hearty meals. “Here we go miss, this looks promising doesn’t it?” Obi asked her, as he dismounted his horse and hitching it to a nearby fence. Shirayuki dismounted her horse with a sound of agreement while Obi led her horse over and hitched it next to his.

They walked inside the eatery and were immediately assaulted by the smells of warm food and cheerful chatter, the wind a distant memory lashing at the windowpanes. Obi and Shirayuki took a seat near the stoves and ordered some warm tea and some soup; spicy soup for Obi and the house stew for Shirayuki.

The tea was brought out nearly immediately and Shirayuki was grateful for the warm cup to ease her aching fingers. Obi was in a good mood as well, watching her as he drank his own tea. It occurred to Shirayuki that he might want his scarf back.

“You know you are not getting this scarf back anytime soon Obi.” Shirayuki started, cozying into the scarf while taking another sip of her tea. “I’ve taken a liking to being warm again.”

“Why of course miss.” Obi grinned, looking far too pleased for someone who had just been told that they were not getting something they owned back. “Whatever keeps my mistress warm.”

Shirayuki eyed Obi carefully, making sure that he wasn’t just teasing her and was going to take it back when she wasn’t looking. But Obi seemed content with his tea, and was relaxing into his chair. Perhaps it would be safe to not worry about the scarf… for now.

Their soup came out quickly, steam still rising from the bowls and paired with a small loaf of bread. Shirayuki looked down at the massive bowl full with meat, potatoes and vegetables in a thick broth, she could feel her stomach growl in response to the delicious smells. Shirayuki looked up at Obi who seemed similarly entranced by his own bowl, should could smell the spices from across the table.

“Well miss! Lets eat!” Obi dug into his bowl of soup, making pleased sounds and complimenting his food while he ate. Shirayuki couldn’t agree more, the food was just as delicious as it smelled, and she found she was a lot hungrier than she thought. As much as she was enjoying her meal, Shirayuki thought that Obi probably was a lot hungrier considering the rate in which he was scarfing down his food. She tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into her soup, humming happily as she chewed.

“How is your food miss? Are you enjoying it?” Obi asked, taking a break from his almost empty bowl.

“Oh it’s really good Obi, the meat is very tender, and the broth is heavy and delicious!” Shirayuki exclaimed happily, “Would you like to try some?” Obi stilled for half a second, just enough for Shirayuki to panic and try to correct herself. “Wait, no, that… that was… I didn’t mean…” Obi stopped Shirayuki from speaking any further with his hand on hers and an easy smile, “I would love to try some, would you mind?” Obi motioned with his spoon towards her bowl and she nodded quickly, not trusting her own voice. Obi reached over and took a spoonful of her soup, tasting it slowly. “Yes, you’re right it’s really good miss.” Obi grinned, “I don’t imagine you would want to try mine would you? Fair warning, it is very spicy.”

“No, no, it's alright I’m good with my own thank you.” Shirayuki stumbled out. “I’m not even sure if I can finish all of this anyways, it's just so much food.” Shirayuki scooped up a rather large piece of potato and plopped it into her mouth.

“Well you just let me know if you need any help!” Obi joked, “I never let any food go to waste!” He proved his point by finishing off his soup with a chunk of his bread.

Shirayuki laughed, eating another several bites before deciding she was finished and sliding the half eaten bowl over to him. “Well then I might just take you up on that offer.” Obi looked very pleased with the second bowl of soup, and started eating it with just as much enthusiasm as the first.

“Here Obi, do you want to finish off the bread too?” Shirayuki asked, handing the piece of her loaf. Obi took the bread from her hands smiling, and used it to clean out the bottom of the bowl of soup.

Shirayuki laughed with joy, “Surely you must be full Obi! It’s such a large bowl of food.”

“Ah, well, miss, you never know when your next meal will be sometimes.” Obi teased, licking the crumbs off the tips of his fingers.

Obi stilled for a moment, obviously shocked that he had said that outloud. Shirayuki was flustered too, her mind racing with the implications of his statement. She quickly went through all of the times she had seen him eat and how he reacted to being given food. She could feel the pieces fall into place, and a resolution set into her bones. Never again.

Obi coughed and looked around the shop, gripping at his shoulder “Miss, perhaps we should get going to the market?” It was a weak excuse for a distraction, but she let him have it. They paid for their meal and headed back outside to face the wind and to complete their task. They decided to leave the horses at the fense, and to walk the rest of the way to the Market themselves since it was nearby. Shirayuki could feel the chill trying to lash out against her, but she kept warm in Obi’s scarf and her warm belly.

They arrived at the market and looked for the merchants who usually kept a large stock of kava root. She found the stall easily with the tropical fruits that was their main goods for trade. Sirayuki approached the merchant easily, asking to see what current stocks of kava root where in, and once obtaining them, looking over the baskets of kava root carefully. Once satisfied that the kava root were in good condition, she paid the merchant as Obi picked up one of the two satchels that they were bringing back.

As they were walking back to their horses, Shirayuki filled the silence by chatting about the kava root, informing the very attentive Obi on its main uses and how to tell whether or not the root will be potent enough for harvest.

Midway through her rant on how kava root is grown and propagated Shirayuki realized that she had been rambling. “I’m sorry Obi, you must be terribly bored, I don’t mean to bother you with all this.”

“Not at all, I like listening to you talk miss.” Obi smiled at her over his satchel of kava root. “ I like it when you share your interests with me.”

Shirayuki was filled with an unknown warmth, and could feel her blush creeping up her face again. She quickly hid her cheeks in his scarf and muttered a small reply back, trying not to think too hard about the bubbling feelings in her chest.

By the time they had secured the satchels of kava root onto the horses, Shirayuki had started to feel cold again and was not looking forward to the ride home. She reached up to touch her cheeks and sighed a little bit, wrapping the scarf around her face a little tighter. Hopefully the return trip will be better, she thought. She was startled when Obi came up behind her and turned her away from her horse. “Are you okay miss? Still feeling cold?”

“Just a little bit, not really excited for the ride back.”

“Ah well miss, I think I can help with that.” Obi grinned, the twinkle in his eye warning her that he was up to something. Shirayuki quickly got a good grip on the scarf, preparing herself for when he tries to steal it back. But instead of him going for the scarf, she found his bare hands on her cheeks. When did he take his gloves off? And why are his hands so warm? Shirayuki relaxed into his hands, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth when her face was suddenly assaulted with warm, humid air. Shirayuki opened her eyes to look at Obi’s mischievous face, alight with a grin that spoke volumes about just how not-so-innocent he was in the matter. “Obi, did you just… did you just blow hot air on my face?!” “Why yes I did miss, I’m trying to keep you warm!” Obi responded, not doing a very good job of controlling his laughter.

“Obi… that… that does not help!”

“Oh sure it does Miss, wasn’t it warm?”

“Well yes…” Shirayuki started, realizing that it was in fact warm, even though it was cold again. “You know what Obi, you’re right, it was warm. Do it again.”

“Waa?!” Obi exclaimed, taking a step back from Shirayuki and retreating his hands. “You heard me Obi, it was warm, do it again!” Watching Obi fidget under her stare was entertaining, it was so very rare when she was able to beat him at his own games. But she was also still cold and Obi was being very incorporative. “Obii” Shirayuki whined pitifully. “I’m cold.” Obi sighed, and pulled Shirayuki close into a hug. “Remind me why I shouldn’t tease you miss.” Shirayuki just muffled her laughed in response, stealing as much of his warmth as she could in before he stepped away. Obi released her and moved to go mount his horse, Shirayuki also doing so. She secured Obi’s scarf to her face and looked towards Obi as he lead the way out of Konavo.

It was precisely then, watching Obi look back at her with his most authentic smile, that Shirayuki realized just how fond her feelings towards Obi had become. She had always appreciated his attentiveness, and earnestness in her life. But she has also come to appreciate his gentleness, and his willingness to share with her, to help her in her goals. If she was going to be honest with herself, she has also come to appreciate just how attractive he is overall. She appreciated how easy it was to be with Obi, how comfortable they are together.

Oh no. She thought. I think... I think I love him.

#obiyukifitenight #teamsharing #ITS DONE #I wrote the majority of this in 2 days #So it might not be *that* greatly edited #BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I LIKE IT #So enjoy #Also #This is supposed to come before part 1 in the timeline #So I guess its a prequel

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snails4martianrights-blog · 7 years

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Thailand

^ The late King Bhumibol, whose passing has spawned an odd competition between every kind of establishment as to who can create the largest and goldest shrine to him

So I went to Thailand a couple weeks ago. Thailand is a fun little place in Asia, and it’s got that dirty and wild side that people know about, as well as a lot more. The citizens seem a little tired of tourists, but most of them are still nice. They’ve got Buddhist monks, they’ve got clothes cheaper than dirt, they’ve got bars and parties, they’ve got wild dogs and buffalo-looking creatures wandering around. The taxis and most other businesses seem to take the law as a vague suggestion, and haggling is definitely accepted. You could live in Thailand for ten years on $25, 000 (and decently well). Just because of the slow, leisurely pace of this trip, instead of telling this chronologically, I’ll break this up into areas of interest.

Tuk-Tuk Drivers

A Tuk-tuk is an open taxi, and mostly they seem to operate outside of the law, not that anyone seems to care. Pretty much it looks like someone affixed a small sitting area to the back of a motorcycle and started zooming around, picking up passengers for dirt cheap. It’s a super fun way to get around, and you haven’t really experienced the best of Thailand unless you take one somewhere.

ONE SERIOUS WARNING: Beware taxis, tuk-tuk drivers, and mostly anyone else who speaks really good English and offers to take you to where you want only after you go to his friend’s tailor shop, or bar, or whatever else. Some people here will attempt to trick you into going really far distances and basically extorting you into paying a bunch of money or buying stuff you don’t want or else you’re stranded. I had one douche tell me how much he wanted me to pay in the middle of a tuk-tuk ride, and when I refused because it was a ridiculous sum, he told me I had to pay twice as much and wouldn’t let me get out. He drove wildly into oncoming traffic multiple times, and refused to let me and my friend out. Don’t let suspiciously overly friendly people take advantage. Also, tuk-tuk rides have no set price, so you should give them what you think is fair. This being said, don’t let this turn you off to tuk-tuk rides. Weaving through oncoming traffic while trying to hold on to a plastic woven spiderweb, trying to escape the madman who is also in control of your fate at top speed is part of the experience.

The Streets of Bangkok

Bangkok is so hot that people wake up at around 11 and start opening their stores and restaurants for business around noon. Don’t expect to get anything done if you’re any early riser. The streets in Bangkok have all manner of crazy food and cheap clothes. There are a bunch of people sitting in piles upon piles of cheap wholesale goods, bare feet, just chilling. Some of the side streets have cramped mall-like areas that you can barely walk through because people have so much random stuff to sell. And they pretty much just unload it from a truck on the sidewalk and sit on it all day unless someone wants to buy it.

^ A covered area we walked past with a ton of Buddhas

^ Random street with a waterway going through the area. They have a lot of water cutting through populated areas.

^ Pretty sure this is a spirit house, and as I understand it, these are for tricking evil spirits into think that this is the real house so they won’t enter.

^ Another spirit house, I think, or maybe some kind of shrine?

^ MOAR SPIRIT HOUSES (possibly for sale?)

^Buddhist temple

^ Close up of those cool ass windows

Toilets

Toilets are super weird in Thailand, but maybe that’s just in the city areas. I don’t know, but I do know that many of the ones I encountered said things in multiple languages like “Do not flush toilet paper! Throw it away! This is for the environment.” Often, the toilet paper would be located outside the stall. They also seem to do this thing where they have a full shower head inside the toilet stall. I am not sure what to make of that.

Songkran Water Festival

This was seriously the best time.

^ Street full of people shooting each other with water guns (there’s more of them than it looks like)

I had been eager to come here during this particular time of year because apparently what had started as a demure celebration of sprinkling small amount of water on people’s heads had slowly evolved. It gets to be about 110 degrees by noon on a normal basis, so someone had the great idea to turn this several-day holiday into a national water gun fight.

By the time my friend and I walked down a random side street and were finally ambushed, my friend just looked at the ground in somber acceptance. Four joyful dudes poured a bucket of water on us and then wiped baby powder on our faces- marking us. *horror movie sound effects*

(I, meanwhile, had totally forgotten what was happening so I screamed when water was poured over me. It was awesome.)

After a few days, our hostel had towels on every floor and every person we came in contact with was perpetually soaked. One day, as I was flaunting some bright red underwear beneath my saturated pants, my travel buddy became vengeful. “That’s it,” quoth he, “Tomorrow we buy super soakers.”

Notes about this: If you intend to go during this time of year, bring MANY changes of socks. The participants will also shoot you if you are on a motorcycle or tuk-tuk. It’s SUPERFUN for the first two days but then you might find yourself wishing you had more socks, and sprinting past kindergarteners with tiny bowls of water who pour it ONLY on your feet which would be one thing you’ve been trying to keep dry the whole time. You will also be unprepared at some point and get soaked by an entire street of cheering folks. Some will pour entire buckets of ice cold water on you- or more disturbingly, they will pour very warm water on you. People also do drive-bys from truck beds.

Pattaya

^ The people of Pattaya are also participating in Songkran

We only spent one day here, but I immediately understood why this is a tourist area. There are a lot of water sports like jet skiing, some sort of parachute-gliding over the water, boats. They have bars and parties galore, nice country lanes, nice and very cheap houses mostly owned by expats, cool Buddhist temples, laser tag, elephant rides, crocodile farms, the “Floating Market,” and more. The only down side is that everything is way more expensive here than in Bangkok. I’d recommend a vacation here if one were planning to go to Thailand for a short visit.

^ The Beach in Pattaya

^ Water sports are available on the beach of Pattaya

Aquarium

So there we were, waiting to get into the aquarium in the basement of a mall in Bangkok, when a lady approached us and asked if we wanted to skip the line. It sounded weird, but it turns out there is a deal where you pay a lot more money and you can not only skip the line, but go inside the fish tank.

They took us into an area where you can see over the top of the tank and gave us wet suits to put on. Then they lowered this weird helmet onto us that was basically a reverse fish bowl. We got to walk in the tank with sharks and stuff, but we were also part of the entertainment, it would seem. Everyone outside the tank was watching us and taking pictures, so I got to find out how awkward it is to be a celebrity for four minutes. Just smile and wave, boys.

^ Above the tank, waiting to go in

^ Getting in the tank

^People were behind us watching us watch sharks from behind the glass

^ Us becoming aware that we had an audience

Thai Massages

If you like being in massive amounts of pain, these massages are for you. Thai massages are famous, and I’m sure they do a lot of good for a person’s body, but wow. They get in there deep, and you won’t like it. If you need some serious attention, they’ll give you that. Even a simple pedicure or foot massage will probably hurt quite a bit the first time you go. And probably a few time after that as well. I didn’t really like them because of how painful they were, but personal preference I guess. Mr. Superman (I’ll talk about him later) from our hostel seemed to think they were part of the true Thai experience. I do not have any pictures of my agony.

Food

Thai food is damn good. The noodles, the smoothies, Tom Yam soup, Pad Thai, you’ve got to try it all. Tom Yam is a spicy lemongrass and shrimp type deal, and you need to try it. I always loved that soup, but it’s even better from actual Thailand. The smoothies are great and come in huge variety, and are usually freshly made right then and there. I loved the coconut ones close to the hostel, but I also tried one from a small café that involved dates and papayas.

There is one food that reigns above all the others: The Durian. This fruit is very smooth in texture, and when exposed to air, at first smells faintly of mild onion, and then over time develops the odor of a ripe fermented gym sock. It is banned from most stores and establishments. It is inexplicably popular and looks like this;

^ The spikes are there to warn you.

Obviously I was super excited to see one and hold it. The lady selling them was amused and a man standing behind me in the uncropped picture looked thoroughly disgusted. This fruit divides a nation.

Animals

In addition to these soon-to-be mentioned creatures, I also saw a water buffalo looking thing that I don’t know what it was, and also a bunch of wild dogs. If someone could tell me what the water buffalo thing is, I would be grateful.

Anyways, first we went to a zoo in Bangkok and saw a nearly not fenced in enclosure with a super low concrete wall housing some bears. Naturally we went to go see the bears. He is bathing in this small pond like a hot tub for bears, and you can only see his head. He was pretty close to us but then some douche thought he was into celebrating Songkran and started shooting him with water. He moved. :(

We also went to a tiger park in Pattaya where they raise baby tigers by hand and treat them almost like cats. Large, dangerous cats. You can go inside the cage and pet them, but you can only do what the keepers tell you.

^ Us petting a “small size” tiger

^ “Small size” tigers playing in their pool

^ Lil baby guy that they kept bottle feeding

I also got to ride an elephant and that was cool.

^ This was fun and we got rings made of elephant hair that are super tough and feel like plastic. I wish I’d asked for the elephant’s name, though.

Hostel

The place we stayed was a hostel, which was interesting because we got to see a bunch of interesting other travelers, including this one super weird dude that I called Mr. Superman who spoke enough English to give us some recommendations and walked around naked a lot and had some crazy outfits for his raves that he went to. He wore a superman outfit at one point and coated his hair in blue dye and sparkles, hence the nickname. This place was called “Boxpackers Hostel” and it was clean, had a good hang out area, and they served breakfast. I’d say hostels are good for meeting strange people, or if you really want to save money because they are not expensive. Some people say they are dangerous or weird but I think it depends on which one.

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