#but also my laptop was overheating so i did need to set it down on a flat surface anyway

[bisexual-horror-fan]

"It's About Damn Time." Freddy Kreuger X AFAB! Reader.

So shit has been rough as I said. I’ve been doing nothing but commissions for over a month and while it has been great I think I really needed to take a moment and do something truly for me. Something utterly self indulgent and really just all mine. This is a reader insert but it is also so very much for me/any other Freddy writer. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it. I’ve wanted to write out this fic for a long while and feel better for it.

—

Rating. Explicit. Length. 3.3K. Freddy Krueger X AFAB! Reader. She/Her Pronouns. Warnings: Meta. Teasing. Mocking. Degradation. Vaginal Fingering. Knife Play. Blood Play. Praise. Dirty Talk. Mentions Of Masturbation. Use Of Good Girl. Edging. Denial. 

—

“He was an asshole. Unrelenting and cruel as he breathed into your ear, gloved hand between your spread thighs, cool blades resting on either side of the soaked and overheated lips of your cunt, pads of his fingers circling over your throbbing and straining clit. You writhed under him, begging for him to, “-speed up, please!” 

And all he did was laugh in response, tongue flicking out to lick up over your throat, his weight felt oppressively heavy on top of you. “Awe, now where is the fun in giving you everything you want right away?”

He was a total fucking son of a bitch-”

I sat back with a sigh. Stretching my arms above my head and rolling my neck. I looked over what I had so far. A couple of thousand words deep and just getting into the smut of this new fic. It was good, his characterization was on point, the set up and kinks were right, it was all hot, plus there were some great twists to come. But it was getting late, right? Tiredness was starting to overtake me. I glance to the bottom right corner of my laptop screen to catch a peek at the time as I reach for my water bottle, not even ten o’clock. What the fuck? I am off tomorrow. No way can I go to bed yet! There is so much more I can do. 

The credits are rolling on the movie I had just watched. I needed something new, something that would keep the energy up. I pick up the controller and I flip through the section of comedies till a niche’ movie from the mid 90s catches my eye, something on my watch list I haven’t seen with an actor or two I loved, perfect.

I put it on and sit back, curling closer into the pillows at my side, snatching up my phone to check my socials quickly before diving back in. 

My eyelids sagged and I shook my head so hard my ponytail tickled the back of my neck and I took a deep breath. My phone dropped to my side and my hands came up, pressing to the sides of my head and I tried to will myself to stay awake.

I opened my eyes after a moment and tried to focus on Mathew Lilliard on screen. My hands instinctively rest back in their home position on my laptop’s keyboard, my eyes flick between the two screens as I think about the next part that I want to write out. 

I didn’t know until I felt him.

Until there was icy steel and buttery smooth leather curling around my throat, the smell of smoke and whisky, spice and heat, a smell I have only ever dreamt of-

Dreamt of.

That’s it.

I feel the warmth on my back, the presence of him is so clear, I don’t move a single muscle, I am so tense. I hear him finally as I feel his warm breath fan over the side of my face, “Been a long time comin’ hasn’t it?” 

My breath catches, eyes so wide that it hurts, it can’t be. There is no way, it’s not true, no way, he never visited me. As much as I longed and cried and dripped and begged he never came. But I felt him. I heard him. I knew that voice almost better than I knew my own. 

My hands raised off the keyboard, slowly, they came back and I hesitated for a moment before one hand touched down, and what it feels makes me nearly jump. Cold metal. I touch, I feel, fingers explore nervously and experimentally and I hear him chuckle. “Yeahhh, hard to believe isn’t it? S’ okay. Take your time, you’ve already waited this long, what’s a little more?”

It was him.

It was really and truly him. 

“That’s right, it is me.” He sing-songed out and I gasped as his glove tightened on my throat. Oh God, he can read my thoughts, he knows what I just was thinking about, fuck, fuck, fuck. It’s real, this is real, HE is real.

“Holy shit-” I breathed and he laughed again, I could feel the rumble of it on my back and he teased, “I know, I know, too good to be true.” 

His fucking voice. The way he practically purred that in my ear. His non-gloved hand was on me then. It found my knee, I jerked slightly in surprise and he tsk’d, “You jumped more from me touchin’ your knee than this?-”

He moved his glove, the blades clicked, they tapped lightly on my throat and I swallowed hard before he rested it back against me. “-You’re so fucking funny.” 

I am glad he thinks I’m hilarious. But he does make a good point. He’s been here .5 seconds and his glove on my throat was shockingly welcome. Was I really this invested, this willing?

Apparently so. 

His non-gloved hand didn’t stop there, dragged up, dipping down, cupping my inner thigh, I feel extremely distracted. What was he going to do with me? His chin rested on my shoulder as he leaned forward. “Whatcha working on?”

My eyes darted up from where his hand was and to my laptop screen and it came rushing back, the massive fic commission I had been working on. It was a really intense piece about the very man who was curled so close to me that was loaded with kinks. Fingering, knife and blood play, spitting and spanking, extremely rough and degrading with a healthy dose of praise too, the makings of a truly great and depraved bit of smut. 

I usually never felt embarrassed. I was an extremely unashamed person, certainly not over my writing or overt sexuality but to have him, the subject of a few hundred thousands of words of porn I had written is a little different. My hands reached out to close my laptop as I said, “Oh no, it’s uh, it’s nothing-”

But my hands didn’t make it very far. I felt something grip my wrists, something I could not see but was there all the same and that some strange and invisible force prevented me from moving my hands from the task I wanted them to accomplish. 

His non-gloved hand moved off of me, reached out, his fingers touched the track pad and he scrolled up the nearly five thousand words I read written out so far, pages and pages flying by my gaze and surely his too. “Sure doesn’t look like nothing to me.”

I bit my tongue, I could feel myself sweating, my fists did the only thing they could and clenched, still frozen in mid-air in front of me. 

“Looks like you’re writing somethin’.” He hummed. “Wonder what or who-” He breathed that last word right in my ear and I fought back a shiver. “-it could be about.” 

He knew. He totally had to fucking know about me, about all the shit I have done and written about him. What did he think about that? Did he like it? Was he flattered? Did he think I was some perverted and obsessed fucking creep?

“Are you gonna read an excerpt or should I?” He asked and my heart practically stopped in my chest. Could I do that? I have read my smut aloud many a time but to the subject it is about? To the monster and dream demon himself who I wasn’t even aware was really real until two minutes ago?

“I-I uhm, I don’t know-” I stammered and he leaned on me, his head resting on me, his cheek resting on mine, I felt the blazing hot and rough skin. I did shiver this time even in spite of the heat he was giving off. “This is a lot for you to handle, s’ okay. I got a gooood compromise.” 

He reached the top of the page and scrolled a little before finding a good place, “Ah here we go.”

He cleared his throat and started to speak. “The way he spoke worsened your need significantly, you were leaking, could feel yourself soaking the thin and barely there lace you wore-”

I was going to die. I was squirming and he pulled me closer still as he continued to read, narrating the filth I had laid out, but the worst thing, something I never would have expected. Something that was even worse than what I was initially anticipating, he wasn’t reading it in his all too arousing voice. 

Oh no.

He was doing a pitch perfect impression of my voice, reading out my own smut all about him. Hearing my voice coming from him, saying all those things the way I would, the inflections, the patter of it.

It was one of the most flustering things I had ever heard. It was so awful, so mocking, so much to take. 

He paused his recitation of my work to ask, in his own voice again, “Oh can the smut peddler supreme not take what she dishes out?” 

Bastard, he is a total bastard. The worst of the worst-

“Real original thought there sweetheart.” He hummed. Ah yes that’s right. He can hear my thoughts. Fuck. 

His hand lifted and with a small gesture my hands still bound by whatever he was doing slammed down onto the table in front of me, resting right in front of my laptop. The force hurt, I made a small pained sound and he said, “You should be much more grateful to me. You’ve been wanting me to come by for how long now?”

The silence hung in the air. He expected an answer. One of the blades of his glove tapped impatiently on my throat, “Well?”

I rushed to respond. “Years. Over ten years, closer to uh twelve-”

“Such a long time.” He sighed. “You’ve been so patient too. Other than the whining and begging of course.”

He heard all of that?

“Don’t even know how many times you’ve cum over me. It’s sweet how devoted you are.” He praised me and I nearly melted against him. “Really?”

I breathed and he hummed, a small nod, his face almost nuzzling mine in a manner that was undeniable and impossible to read as anything but affectionate. “Yeah, real sweet. In a pathetic slutty kinda way.” 

His voice dripped venom and sickeningly sweet condensation and I felt myself throb over it. I wanted to press my thighs together but his ankles had hooked in mine, keeping my legs spread for him. “Freddy…”

“Ooh hearing you say my name in person like this, it’s good. I think I need to hear it some more.” His glove moved, dragging down, cool metal teased through thin fabric and I tried to arch away when it reached its destination between my legs. 

His glove moved, one blade sliced open the seam of the plaid pyjama pants I was wearing. I made a sound of protest and he laughed. “I love a little fight but c’mon, don’t pretend like you haven’t creamed your fuckin’ panties over the thought of this shit.” 

“Wha-what are you gonna do with me?” I asked, equal amounts arousal and fear sitting heavy in my chest and stomach. 

His mouth moved, lips dragged until they reached my ear, a graze of his teeth before he told me, “Gonna make all your dreams come true.” 

Did I die and go to heaven?

He cut open my pants, one blade split the damp crotch of my panties, his non-gloved hand was between my legs, he had wasted no time. I didn’t need much warm up. I was embarrassingly wet and ready. 

Glove was gripping the bottom of my jaw, my mouth was open, I was panting, my eyes were half lidded and my head had tipped back, resting against his shoulder. I could see his face like this, looking at him was hard, got me too hot but I can’t look away. He is really here. He is really touching me. My A Nightmare on Elm Street hoodie I loved to wear was open, off of one of my shoulders, barely clinging to me, just like my shirt he had also slashed open. I hadn’t worn a bra, my chest was heaving, tits out and on display. I felt obscene with my chest and cunt out in the open, exposed from how he ruined my clothing. Felt even more obscene with the wet squelching sound of him fingering me.

He had two fingers buried in my clenching hole, his rough palm was grinding against my sensitive clit and I was unable to stop the litany of sounds that spilled from my lips from the pleasure he gave me. It felt better than I could have ever conceived or dreamt of. 

I looked forward, my laptop had gone into sleep mode, the screen black, allowing me to see the reflection of him and myself. Us tangled up and what he was doing to me. I looked wrecked like this. I looked dirty and honestly, perfect. Beautiful. Correct. Like I should.

The feeling was all consuming, the situation and mental stimulation too was adding to all this, the build up was accumulating so fast, it wouldn’t take long. Not like it usually did but this was ridiculous, might be a new record for me.

“Surprisingly tight for such a whore.” A harder thrust of his fingers, another delicious grind before he curled his fingers just so, I clenched hard around him and gasped. “Ahhn! Freddy!”

“Yeah, let it all out.” He prompted and I moaned again, louder. The edge was coming up fast, climbing up, up, up and my mind flashes to all those stories I wrote. He has seen, he has watched, he knows me. Which means he knows what I like. 

I beg, it leaves me so quickly, frantic as I pant out, “Fr-Freddy I-ah! M’ close, shit, please! Please, please don’t stop, don’t stop-” 

He laughed and my eyes squeezed shut, a shaky inhale, no, please, I need this. After everything that has happened lately, all the hardship, how much life has dumped on my plate, I need some good. I need some relief, what I need is to fucking cum. 

I don’t stop begging, it becomes more and more broken the closer to the edge I get, the stronger the pleasure, the more out of breath I get, my sentence becomes an incoherent mess as a result. The only words that can be made out are, “-Freddy-” and “-Please-” and “-Close-” interspersed with moans and whines. Attempts to further beg him to not stop are lost in translation. 

And then I am right there. On the razor’s edge of oblivion, about to tip over, so close and I suck in a deep breath, expecting him to pull away, to edge me so harshly I nearly ruin. 

I am ready for it. 

For a night of awful and painful denial where there is a good chance I might not cum and if I have any hope I will need to debase myself terribly and do God knows what to satiate him and earn his favour. If I am good, if I listen and do all he asks than just maybe I might be able to cu-

And then something truly shocking.

He didn’t stop. 

He didn’t edge me or deny me. 

His fingers didn’t slow, didn’t break stride, the pressure and pace kept the same perfect rhythm. 

He kissed my neck too, his tongue licked up my pulse point and I throbbed, my legs trembled, back arching and his glove gripped harder on my jaw to help keep me as close as possible to him. The blades broke the skin, blood dripped down into his palm, the shock of pain is what did it, what made me break apart in his hands and finally spill over and cum. Tears well up involuntarily, overwhelmed by pleasure and pain both as I bleed and orgasm. I gush and leak around his fingers both above and below. He managed to keep curling his fingers in and out of my spasming cunt as I rode out the waves of my climax, panting out his name over and over until I felt I had no more breath left. 

Every ounce of ecstasy dragged out through the dripping slit between my legs he slowed and eventually, finally, stopped, just when overstimulation was setting in and I had begun to whimper and squirm. 

I fell slack against him. 

I had no words, I was in shock, my mind was blissfully blank. More so than it had been in weeks. 

My eyes open to look up and see him sucking on the fingers that had just been inside of me. 

Finally one word entered my mind, one question, I asked, “Why?”

He looked down at me. He pulled his fingers out, I could see my slick and his spit on his fingers and my lips shining in the low light of the basement.

“You’ve been having a hard time. Seems like you needed it.” 

Oh my God. I must have looked shocked, he laughed, a shake of his head, “Yeah, uncharacteristically nice of me ain’t it?”

I nodded with a short laugh of my own, “Yeah to say the least.”

“More people think and talk about me the better and you’ve really done a lot for me there.” He admitted and I grinned. My gross little porn writings helped with his power? Helped give him more attention and benefited him? I preened under his praise upon hearing that. 

“So I earned it?” I asked and he nodded, “Mmhmm. Felt like you deserved it. And I dunno why I waited so long, you are real fuckin’ fun.”

Fun. He likes me and I’m fun. This is amazing. 

“Hope you keep writing so I can come back real soon.” He dragged his fingers over my lips and I tasted myself lingering there. Is that what it took? I write and he comes and then I get to come? Fuck, I can do that. 

“Maybe next time if you beg hard enough we can have some real fun.” He teased, a forward push of his hips, reminding me of his hard cock that had been pressing into my ass the entire time he had been finger fucking me stupid. Oh God did I want that. 

“Till then kitten. Be a good girl for ol Freddy.” And his non-gloved hand came down hard, a solid slap to my soaked cunt, perfectly placed to hit me from hole to clit and the burst of pain to my oversensitive pussy made me jolt awake. I sat up with a gasp, eyes wide, the movie had been paused, my laptop screen was black and I was still in my basement. 

I sat back, taking a deep breath, a dream, just a very, very fucking vivid dream. My hand went to my chest to help steady my heart and my palm touched bare skin. I looked down, tossing aside my throw blanket. I was half naked. Shirt split open, hoodie barely on, pyjama pants and panties ruined, very clear wet spot made on my couch and my legs were still slightly shaking and I was dripping wet. My hand touched my jaw gently, it stung, I pulled my hand away, looking down, my fingers were stained scarlet with tacky blood. 

It…

Was it real? Was he real?

No way I did this to myself in my sleep.

I reached out and my fingers brushed the track pad to check the time. I had been asleep for around a half hour since I last checked the time. It was then my eyes moved to the doc I had been writing in, wondering if I should keep on writing or call it a night and I see a new sentence I hadn’t written.

“Do me proud. -F.K.”

A grin broke out on my face. I snatched some tissues and wiped my face and neck, crumbling it and tossing the bloodied ball of paper aside. I rolled my shoulders and my hands went back to my keyboard with one clear thought on my mind. I breathed it out as my hands began to type again, fully inspired and reinvigorated. “You’re on.”

#BHF writing #Freddy Krueger X Reader #slasher x reader #He is so great #I love him #Also this is like so obviously ME #BUT FUCK IT #I DESERVE IT

[pcvibe]

An In-Depth Review of the CUK Aegis R Gaming PC by MSI

If you’re looking to build or upgrade your gaming computer and are considering MSI, you’ll want to check out this in-depth review of the CUK Aegis R, which provides an overview of the pros and cons of MSI’s most powerful yet portable gaming desktop PC. While other gaming PCs like Alienware and Acer Predator offer similar performance, you’ll find that the CUK Aegis R is the best value for your money. This article compares the different MSI gaming PCs available, and includes a full breakdown of its core specs and price comparison with similar systems from other manufacturers.

The Design of the MSI Aegis R Gaming PC

The design this best $1500 gaming PC is sleek and compact, but with a powerful punch. The small size makes it easy to store in a closet or desk when not in use, though it does require some assembly when it arrives at your door. The front panel has two USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0 port for connecting peripherals like an external hard drive or flash drive, while there are also two card reader slots that can be used to read SD cards or digital camera memory cards. There’s also a button on the side of the case which turns on LED lighting in three different zones: along the left edge, down one side, and across the backside. And finally, we found that this system comes with a three year warranty from MSI which covers most components inside (including all parts on the motherboard) against defects caused during manufacturing, power surges and other disasters.

A Closer Look at the MSI Aegis R Gaming PC

The CUK Aegis R gaming PC was designed for gamers and built with a gamer's needs in mind. It features an 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8700 six-core processor, 16GB DDR4 memory, NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics card, and 1TB hard drive. The MSI Aegis also has a variety of preinstalled software to get you started, such as Windows 10 Home 64-bit Edition and Microsoft Office 365 Personal. Additionally, the Aegis R is equipped with two front USB 3.1 ports and four rear USB 3.1 ports which provide quick data transfers. The storage space can be expanded up to 2TB using a 2nd HDD or SSD on its 6x5.25 bays or up to 4 TB on its 5x3.5 bays so there will never be any shortage of room for your games and media files. The Aegis R also includes a Kensington lock slot at the back that allows it to be secured while traveling. When it comes to performance, this machine definitely delivers. For instance, it handles all of my demanding game requirements with ease, even when I am playing high-end titles like Overwatch or Fortnite Battle Royale. If you are looking for power and style in one package then the CUK Aegis R is the gaming rig for you!

Performance for games

The gaming performance on this computer is excellent. I was able to play games like Call of Duty WWII, and Fortnite at high graphics settings with no lag or problems. There are also plenty of ports on this computer, which makes it easy to connect any other types of USB devices such as controllers or headsets. The cooling system in this computer works well; my laptop never overheated while playing games on it.

The keyboard also has a red backlight that lights up when powered, making it easier to use in low light conditions or dimly lit rooms.

I would highly recommend getting this gaming desktop if you're looking for a new one!

Keyboard and Mouse Section

The keyboard and mouse combo is a solid choice and feels like it could handle any challenge thrown at it. With that said, both devices are not wireless which can be an inconvenience when you are playing or living in a space where cables get in the way. The keyboard has some nice features for gaming as well such as media keys, game mode, and volume control. The backlight on the keyboard is also a nice touch to help you see what you are doing in dim lighting. We did notice a slight delay from time to time with our input but other than that, there were no complaints about this unit. If you're going to be using your machine for hardcore gaming, then maybe invest in something with a little more speed under the hood.

Conclusion

After looking at all the pros and cons, I give this gaming PC an 8.5/10. The only thing holding it back is that it doesn't have a touch screen monitor. Otherwise, everything else about this computer is great and worth considering if you're in the market for a high quality machine.

#CUK Aegis R Gaming PC by MSI

[clumsyclifford]

Yup! Apology on twitter girl is still me. I tend to overthink especially bc I’m older than most stans so thank you for the patience. And no worries about the going off Twitter. I think that’s an incredibly healthy thing to do. Have a great day. -Spidey Anon

thank you yes i know the healthiest thing of all would be to delete twitter entirely but i have fomo so instead i just check it occasionally at least i dont agonize over missing things i also have no idea how the algorithm of the timeline works on twitter no clue but whatever 

i also dont really know what im saying rn since its 3am and im wicked tired like im just. saying words. so if im being incoherent or vague thats because my brain is just. entirely shut off sorry lmao

#this ask feels like a business transaction!!! be a homie #spidey anon #too tired to come up with funny tags for you all to laugh at #i feel like. i made pretty good progress on this fic #but not good enough #but also my laptop was overheating so i did need to set it down on a flat surface anyway #wowim tired #Anonymous #ask #answered

[alj4890]

All Through The Night

A Choices: The Royal Romance Dark AU fanfiction. 

A/N Other than my few Bloodbound shorts, I’ve never written anything with supernatural overtones before. After receiving requests to see Liam and Riley’s story if he was a vampire, this storyline was born. Since it is set in one of my favorite books from Pixelberry, I had to include as many of the main and supporting characters as I could. The following chapters will explain more where they and what our main characters are. Not going to lie, I am very anxious to step out of my comfort zone for this, but I’m also super excited to see how it goes. Along with The Royal Romance, I will be referencing and altering both The Crown and The Flame and The Royal Masquerade.

@gkittylove99​​ @krsnlove​ @kingliam2019​ @texaskitten30​ @yourmajesty09​ @mom2000aggie​ @ofpixelsandscribbles​ @twinkleallnight​ @lodberg​ @twinkleallnight​ @amandablink​ @neotericthemis​  @mm2305​ @sfb123​ @iufilms​​ ​ ​

Masterlist

Prologue

Once upon a time...

"Father!" Zenobia rushed down the stairwell. "Kenna is at the gates!"

King Luthor's frown deepened as he studied the places his troops had been destroyed. His hope to unite the five kingdoms and wipe off the abomination was for naught.

Kenna would not stop until he and his surviving offspring's heads were on pikes.

...until their blood filled the crystal goblets of the Dark Queen.

"What do we do?" His son, Diavolos, asked.

Luthor knew it was only himself Kenna wanted. After he had killed her mother, hoping to stop the monsters once and for all, Kenna would have her revenge.

If only he had known that she was a vampire...just like her mother.

"Listen carefully." His voice trembled at this possibly being the last time he was able to speak to his son and daughter. "A Nevarkis must always be ready to fight the creatures that prey on the weak and vulnerable."

"But..." Zenobia sniffed. "How? How can we possibly kill the unkillable?"

"She can be killed just like her mother before her." Luthor snapped. "Sunlight. A dagger to the heart. Cutting the head off." His features hardened with resolve. "Know that those are our true allies. Continue your training with daggers. Never stop being vigilant. Educate your children. And remember: where there's one vampire, many more lie in wait in the shadows."

Diavolos stepped forward and gripped his father's shoulder. "We will fight for you."

"No." Luthor corrected. "Fight for our people. The innocent. Fight for a chance to live without fear of monsters."

He cleared his throat. "If I should die--"

"Don't say that!" Zenobia screeched. "We'll be--"

"Kenna is coming for me." Luthor interrupted. "I know I must face the consequences of my actions."

"But--" Divalos lowered his head. "What are we to do?"

"Kill her." Luthor ordered. "Let your emotion be your strength." He took their hands. "And remember that a vampire is nature's evil incarnate. They will do whatever they want and kill anyone who they think is in their way." His voice turned to pleading. "Kill Kenna before she has a chance to kill you."

Zenobia nodded in a jerky manner. Diavolos swallowed with tears in his eyes.

"Good. Now prepare yourselves." Luthor pulled his sword from its sheath. "The devil herself is here."

*****************

Two years later...

Kenna cuddled her infant son, humming a lullaby.

Dom came in, a soft smile gracing his lips at the sight of his family.

"How are we this evening?" He asked, placing a kiss first on her lips then one on his son's forehead.

"A little fussy." Kenna explained. "But otherwise perfect."

"Good." Dom stretched then went to stoke the fire. "I will be going out later tonight."

Kenna's head jerked up. "Why? Are there more rumors?"

He nodded, a determined frown formed on his lips. "The Nevarkis brats refuse to let us live in peace." He moved to stand before the window that looked out toward the kingdom he had once lived in.

High in the mountains, the couple and those like them had found sanctuary. They built a kingdom, one of darkness and shadow that allowed them to live freely. He and Kenna were crowned the rulers, chosen by their people...those that were cursed as monsters.

"Si and I will be standing guard." He explained. "I will not risk you or our child."

"Dom..." Kenna pulled him close, capturing his lips in a long tender kiss. "This must end. I was foolish to let my need for revenge take over." Tears sparkled in her eyes. "Luthor might have left us alone if I had given him a chance."

Dom's face contorted into furious hatred. "A Nevarkis can never be trusted!" He gripped her waist, hands heating as he lost his temper. "He would have plunged a dagger into your heart the first chance he had."

"Dom." She said softly when he singed her clothes.

He wrenched his hands from her with a grimace. "I didn't burn you, did I?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine." She tried to lighten the mood. "Just a little overheated."

He took deep breaths to get himself under control. "Stay here where it is safe." His eyes searched hers. "Have you fed recently?"

"No, but I should be fine until you return." Kenna lifted a bottle with blood for their son. "I can call on one of the servants to help me if I need to."

"Promise me you won't go outside." He pleaded.

"Only if you promise to come back to me." She responded.

His lips quirked in that cocky smile she has always adored.

"Always, my queen." He kissed her once more, then slipped out the door to search out their enemies.

******************

Present Day New York...

"Cordonia...land of both beauty and mystery." Riley wrinkled her nose. "Boring."

"No, it isn't." Hana argued. "I think that is the perfect beginning."

"Look at the comments from our last video." Riley swiveled her laptop so her friend could see. "People love our walkthroughs and all but hate my narration."

"Well..." Hana's brow furrowed. "Maybe we should try to add more to it than just narration." She pulled out some sketches. "We could add some animation of the history before showing our footage of the country."

"That might work." Riley mumbled, tapping her pen against her notebook.

The two set to work planning their next project.

After years of trying, they had finally achieved their dream of traveling for a living. The two college friends had taken every class they could on how to make their hopes into a reality. With Riley's love of history and business and Hana's talent with art and fashion, the pair had created a successful travel channel that showcased rarely visited countries and cities around the world.

Hana took care of all the shopping and dining found at their chosen destinations. Her "day trips" were hailed as must see for anyone planning a vacation. Riley took over for what could be found at night. Myths and legends blended in with what could be discovered once the sun set. A place's nightlife was thoroughly researched and reached a wide variety of their audience, causing many to plan a vacation just on her recommendations alone.

"Did your mom suggest where we should go first?" Riley asked, after skimming the same few articles about the elusive country.

"Not really." Hana hedged.

Riley glanced up. "Is she giving you a hard time again?"

"Yes." Hana slumped in her chair. "She told me to call when I was done playing tour guide."

"Geez." Riley grumbled. "Does she not realize that we have created a legit business?"

"Ladies shouldn't be involved in anything that does not pertain to their husband and family." Hana quoted. "I was supposed to have my debut to Cordonian society last year." Angry tears filled her eyes. "She still hasn't forgiven me for missing out on the Masquerade Ball."

Riley wrapped her in a comforting hug. "I'm sorry."

Hana patted her back. "Don't be. I finally feel like I can accomplish anything."

"That's because you can." Riley sat back with a grin. "Especially with planning out what we should focus on first."

Hana giggled as she went to search out some of her old books she had inherited from her grandparents. "These might help you with your part."

Riley's eyebrows lifted over the titles. "The Crown, the Flame, and The Night Queen."

"That is the earliest recorded story of vampires and monsters in Cordonia." Hana explained. "Queen Kenna Rhys and King Luthor Nevarkis both fought over uniting the kingdoms that make up Cordonia." She shook her head in disbelief. "There is a legend that Queen Kenna was a vampire that married a man who could transform into a dragon."

"For real?" Riley eagerly opened the book. "What happened?"

"Luthor died." Hana reached for another history book. "Some say it was a sword fight while others say she ripped his throat out with her fangs."

"Whoa. Either way, she sounds pretty epic."

"His son got revenge though." Hana flipped to another chapter. "He sneaked in one day and supposedly dragged Kenna into the sunlight. Before her husband could save her, she burned to ash."

"Brutal." Riley shivered. "What did the dragon do?"

Hana shrugged. "Supposedly he left with their child to protect him." She pointed at some drawings rendered from the Dark Ages. "Kenna's son came back to extract revenge. He eliminated one entire side of the Nevarkis family tree."

"And let me guess," Riley picked up another book. "The remaining Nevarkis's struck back?"

"It's supposedly been a feud for centuries between the Nevarkis and the Rhys' families." Hana pulled up an image on her phone. "Though one is currently ruling Cordonia."

Riley studied the image. "Queen Olivia Nevarkis. Looks like the Rhys lost the throne."

Hana shrugged. "There's a myth that they still rule Cordonia from the shadows."

"Mythical royal vampires, huh?" Riley laughed at the thought. "I hope I bump into one just so I can figure out who's really in charge."

Hana giggled at the thought. "You would be the only person to ask a logical, government question instead of the usual, whoa you're a real live vampire!"

Riley threw a pillow at her. "Hey! I can be calm and collected when faced with the unknown."

Hana threw the pillow back. "Tell that to the supposed haunted house we visited on our last trip." She broke out into laughter with Riley's defense that squeaking doors were the true villains. "On that note, I'm going to start packing. Our flight leaves first thing in the morning."

"I'll be ready." Riley promised.

Once alone, she flipped to a more current timeline of the supposed Dark Kingdom.

King Constantine Rhys the Third rules over what is his rightful kingdom. Rumors swirl that he is simply biding his time until he can eliminate the usurper, Queen Olivia Nevarkis, First of Her Name. The people know that one day, a Rhys will sit upon the throne, uniting the Dark Kingdom and Cordonia once and for all.

****************

Cordonia's Royal Palace, 2 a.m.

"Heeeerah! Olivia threw her daggers as hard as she could while doing a roundhouse kick.

The blades struck into the chest, head, and groin of the makeshift dummy.

She brushed the few strands of red hair that had escaped her hair clip out of her eyes. With a great deal of scrutiny, she studied her dagger placement.

"The one to the head needs to go deeper."

She spun around with a start at that all too familiar voice.

"You're late." She folded her arms and tapped her foot.

Liam rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. Had to stop off for a quick bite."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "That's not funny."

"Not that kind of bite." He teased, holding up a styrofoam box.

"Oh." She blinked in surprise. "I forget that you enjoy normal food too."

He chuckled at that. "There are certain foods that I don't think any man could ever give up."

Olivia decided to ignore that as she wiped the sweat from her face and neck. "Now that you're here, let's get the formalities over with."

"Very well." Liam gestured toward her. "You may go first."

She sat down on a bench lining one side of the palace gym. She motioned for him to join her.

"Not you!" She hissed when she saw his all too familiar guard.

Drake Walker bristled at her tone. His brown eyes clashed with her green.

"Give us a moment, please." Liam asked him.

"Don't let your guard down." Drake warned. "Remember, she's a Nevarkis."

Olivia tensed. "Perhaps you should remember what happened the last time you said something like that."

She quirked one eyebrow at the man and felt a sense of glee when he winced in memory.

His hand automatically drifted to his side where one of her daggers had once struck true.

With a quick bow to Liam, Drake stepped back out into the hallway.

Liam shook his head. "Are you two ever going to get along?"

"Stop talking stupid." Olivia snapped. "Now then, as you know...I must have my revenge."

"I know." Liam folded his arms and leaned casually against a column.

She eyed him for any sign of hatred.

It drove her crazy how unvampiric he could be.

He seemed almost human.

He seemed...kind.

A vampire is nature's evil incarnate. You can never trust a Rhys.

Those words had been drummed into her skull by her parents and then her aunt after their deaths by Constantine's hand.

And yet...Liam had done the unthinkable.

He had actually been a friend to Olivia.

*************

The night after her parents' funeral, five year old Olivia had been sitting alone before the fireplace, weeping over them.

Her aunt had left her to deal with her own grief and to plan the next attack upon Constantine.

As she searched for a tissue, Olivia jumped back with a shriek at the little blonde haired boy that held the Kleenex box.

His eyes were filled with unshed tears as he handed her a tissue.

"Who are you?" She asked, remembering that a Nevarkis must always be brave.

"I'm Liam." He explained. "I wanted to...I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about your parents." He sniffed and took a tissue for himself. "My mom died too."

Olivia blinked and took a cautious step forward. "Are you...are you a vampire?!"

He nodded.

She whipped out the dagger her mother had given her and rushed at him.

Liam moved faster than she could comprehend, gently keeping her hand above her head.

"Let go of me, monster!" She ordered. "You're why I'm all alone!"

"I didn't do anything." He told her, anguish taking over his handsome features. "I don't want to hurt you or anyone."

"Liar!" She snapped. "That's what you do. Lie and kill." Her tears ran faster down her cheeks. "And now you'll kill me."

"I won't." He promised. "I swear I won't hurt you." He ignored his own tears trickling down his cheeks. His blue eyes burned with resolve. "My mother made me promise never to hurt a human."

Olivia shook her head. It had to be lies. Isn't that what vampires and monsters do? Lull you into letting your guard down so that they could have an easy kill.

"Your father will pay for what he did." She said, hoping to see his true, evil nature. "He must die!"

"I know." Liam slowly released her and took a step back.

Olivia watched in surprise as he sat down before her fireplace and pulled out a silk blue ribbon from his pocket.

He motioned for her to join him.

She slowly lowered herself down, dagger poised in her little fist in case he made a move.

"May I have your hand, please?" He asked.

He patiently waited on her to decide whether or not to give it to him.

She tentatively placed her hand in his.

His lips turned up into a relieved smile as he wrapped the ribbon over their joined hands.

"What are you doing?" She asked, lowering her dagger.

"Making a bond." He explained. "I, Liam Rhys, Crown Prince of the Dark Kingdom, promise to never seek out revenge and to end all vendettas against the Nevarkis family." His blue eyes held her green. "Just as my mother, Queen Eleanor wanted me to."

Oliva's lips parted. "You mean it?"

"I do." Liam's voice held a great deal of sincerity. "I would rather walk into the sun than not do as she asked."

"Oh." Olivia sniffed. She could understand that kind of devotion.

"Do you," Liam's cheeks colored. "Do you think we can be allies?"

"A Nevarkis will never be friends with a monster." She repeated the rhetoric that she knew by heart.

"But," Liam's shoulders slumped. "We're not all bad."

"All monsters are bad at heart."

"I'm not." He pouted. "I don't want to be."

"You're so weird." She muttered.

"Am not." Liam grumbled. "I hope I'm not."

Olivia looked down at their hands still bound together. "I guess since you promised something, I should too."

He didn't bother to hide his surprise.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I, Olivia Nevarkis, The Crown Princess of Cordonia, swear that after I kill Constantine Rhys, I will lay down my weapons." Her brow furrowed. "I'll pick them back up though if you or any other monster tries anything."

Liam's smile grew. Before she could react, he tugged her into a quick hug.

"Now we can be friends!" He cheered.

"Friends?" She shook her head. "I'm a Nevarkis and you're a Rhys. We can't be friends."

"We will be." He vowed, jumping to his feet. "I have to go before Father finds out I've sneaked out. I'll try to come back in a few nights."

Olivia didn't have a chance to tell him whether or not she wanted him to. In the blink of an eye, he had jumped from her balcony and was already out the palace gates.

*****************

That had been the beginning of Liam's visits. Through the years, he had remained true to his promise. He did all he could to befriend her and never tried to sway her from seeking vengeance.

Olivia had once asked him how he could take her threat against his father so easily.

He had merely shrugged, explaining that he knew it was the way of things. His father had killed both her parents, while he had only lost one. He hoped she didn't since he did not wish to see his father or her dead.

Olivia had then told him again how weird he was, bringing another smile to his lips.

And now here he was again, calmly taking her promised vengeance well.

"So what business brings you here tonight?" She asked.

"Father thinks it is time I chose a wife." Liam responded. "I thought you should know that I will be spending more time in your kingdom to find one."

Olivia shot up off the bench. "What? But you promised to never hurt a human!"

"And I will keep true to that." He explained.

"But..." Olivia's brow furrowed. "You'll turn her into a vampire."

"Only if she wishes it." Liam explained. "I won't force her to make such a decision."

"I see." She began to pace while thinking. "You'll have vampire children."

"Only if she's a vampire." He reminded her. "Remember my brother."

Olivia paused. She had forgotten about Leo Rhys, The Great Disappointment of the Dark Kingdom. His mother had begged Constantine not to turn her. It had never been asked before, and in his mercy he had agreed. That was when they all discovered that a monster and a human could only produce a human child. In order for the heir to the Dark Kingdom to be a vampire, both parents had to be the same being.

"And you'll be fine having human children?" She asked. "If you're chosen bride refuses the Vampire's Kiss?"

"Of course." He responded.

"Lord, you're so weird." She muttered.

His smirk flashed. "Let's hope the woman I choose doesn't think so."

"Are there no women in your kingdom you can choose from?" She asked.

"I've looked." He shook his head. "It's hard to explain, but if one doesn't have an arranged marriage, then we must search until we see the one meant for us."

"And you somehow got weirder." She brushed her hands down her pants and held one out to him. "Good luck, I suppose."

"Thank you." He grasped her hand and lifted it to his lips. "I'll keep you updated on my progress."

"There's no need."

"Of course there is." He winked at her on his way out. "We're friends."

Her lips parted to once again remind him that they couldn't be. For some reason, she decided not to say it.

Liam had somehow wormed his way into her life and had become the closest friend she had ever had.

********************

The Lee Residence, Shanghai, China...

Lorelei paled as she reread the report. 

It can’t be. Not Now!

Of all the times for this to happen, it would be when her stubborn, foolish daughter decided to visit. 

Given the nature of her relationship with Hana, she knew that there was no way she could convince her to postpone her trip to Cordonia. 

There was only one course of action left to take. She would have to call the one man who was capable of protecting her daughter. She would promise hiim anything as long as he kept Hana out of Liam’s clutches. As much as wanted her to give up this ridiculous hobby she called a job and settled down with the right sort of man, she would never put her in the path of becoming the next vampire queen. 

Setting down the packet of information from one of her informants, she checked to make certain no servant was out in the hallway and then searched for the needed phone number.

Taking a deep breath, she placed the call.

Her trepidation grew when he didn’t immediately answer.

"Hello."

"Lord Beaumont?" 

"Yes." She could hear a door closing in the background. "Who is this?"

"Lorelei Lee." She replied.

"Lady Lorelei." He responded with a recognition. "How can I help you?"

"My daughter and her friend have got it in their heads to come visit Cordonia." She began. "I'm not certain how long they intend to stay, but I was hoping that I could retain your services."

"For what exactly?" Lord Beaumont asked.

"Protection." She replied. "I have heard through certain channels that the dark prince is beginning to search for a bride." She took a deep breath. "We do NOT want our daughter anywhere near that vile creature."

"I understand." He replied. "I usually don't do personal security. With my brother, Bertrand, retired," he hesitated, "it is left up to me to help protect Cordonia's borders."

"My husband and I would be in your debt if you could watch over her in the evenings." Lorelei cajoled. "I've heard that your brother is planning on extending his vineyards. We would be more than happy to invest in the production and distribution of his sparkling wine. Perhaps even let it be the only sparkling wine we serve in our hotels."

"Send me her information and picture. Call her and tell her that since our family is an old friend of yours, that I've volunteered to show them around. Find out where she's staying and when she plans on arriving."

"Oh thank you, my lord. We--"

"I'll also need a contract prepared and signed for all that you offered." He added.

"Yes of course. I'll get everything to you at once." She promised.

Once he ended the call, she sank back down onto her chair. 

She bowed her head and began to pray that her daughter came to no harm these next few weeks. To lose Hana to one of the many creatures that roamed the night in Cordonia was too horrible to even contemplate.

If anyone could keep her daughter safe then it was none other than Lord Maxwell Beaumont.

#liam x riley #choices the royal romance #hana x rashad #leo x madeleine #maxwell x oc #olivia nevrakis #drake walker #trr dark au #vampire au

[eltanin-malfoy]

The Portend (His Royal Highness II)

word count: 6.7k

warning(s): cursing, anxiety

a/n: hi all! i just wanted to say that i know this chapter’s length is SO different from the first one’s but that’s because that one is, again, 2 years old and was written all at once. the other chapters will also be fairly long from here on out. i hope you enjoy this one!

taglist: @drawlfoy @war-sword @lilyreachelcassidy @socontagiousimagines @andreasworlsboring101 [@kaibie @regalillegal @mayorofzillyhoo, i know you all wanted to be tagged in the full-length HRH and this is pretty much it ig. please let me know if you’re still interested and want me to add you to the permanent tag list for this series]

reply to this post or send me an ask/dm if you want to be added to the tag list for the series or for all of my fics!

HRH - Table Of Contents

Y/N placed her palms flat on her desk as if doing so would bring any sort of change to the absolute hurricane that had begun its wrath within her stomach. She tried to imagine she was somewhere else for a second. Why would any rational human being do this to someone? That too to someone with as much responsibility as she had. Oh, right… she’d forgotten. Prince Draco was far from rational. Far from being a human being, even.

She looked down at the paper trays with guest lists upon guest lists kept before her, shifted them to the side and planted her face on the wood. That’s better , she thought. Now no one else can see how fucking ridiculous I feel right now! She tried to think about what the hell she’d done to him to make him act so horribly towards her. What could she have possibly done in a past life that would have resulted in her having to face such a… conundrum? She’d thought it was hard enough having to bargain with the King and Queen over how much detail could possibly be squeezed into cake decorations but had no idea a situation even more stressful could and would arise.

How could she let herself get so weak? How could she not bring herself to be assertive? She could have just said no, right? It wasn’t that hard. He hadn’t been nice at all. She took a deep, deep breath, trying desperately to calm her brain. It had begun to run from thought to thought, imagining every possible scenario that could go wrong. She had so much work left to complete on her own, and god knew how much attention and criticism she might face at and after the ball.

And the way she’d freaked out in front of Draco as well! She was sure he must’ve been at least a little put off by how strongly and emotionally she’d reacted so quickly. God, not that that should matter that much but… if they were supposed to work together for a highly publicised ordeal, they had to get along, right? Right? She hadn’t meant to do that. It’s just that he’d already shocked her a bit by slipping into her office so unexpectedly. And then he’d gone on and rushed to… that . Not to excuse what he did but perhaps she should’ve realised she didn’t need to panic so much over it either. She knew she was having a hard time with her anxiety…

Nevertheless, she brought her hands to the edge of the table closer to her and pushed herself up. She looked forwards, turning slightly to face the window she was looking out before everything turned to shit. The scenery was still gorgeous, albeit not that comforting anymore but looking out at the wide expanse of a beautiful garden would bring just about anyone some tranquillity. She had been thinking about how lovely the weather was today, how nice it would be to go for a walk after she’d finished up with her work. Maybe she could even head downtown for once and meet some old friends. But no, no one was happy just giving her a single moment of peace. Even fate was bent upon just giving her as much to stress about as was possible.

She looked down at the paper trays she’d just abandoned. Administrative work could distract her a bit, couldn’t it? All she had to do was send RSVP reminders and reach out to the guests and performers coming in from out of town about their travel and accommodation details. As well as request the performers for the outlines of their performances and send them contracts saying they’d stick by the approved setups. They couldn’t have a repeat of last year’s embarrassing The Hobgoblins’ performance. To be very brief, it had gone sexual. (The King and Queen’s expressions during it were still popular reaction gifs) She picked out one of the lists and opened up her laptop, finally beginning the work she’d been putting off all morning. It seemed so much easier and more comforting now that she had the much more disturbing dilemma on hand. She corroborated the list in front of her, adding ticks and crosses to the list to mark invitees as having confirmed or not. She then compiled their contact details and created a template for emails to send to those that had yet to confirm their attendance and travel itineraries. After this, she did the same with the list of performers, making sure to add enough information to their emails regarding the outlines they should send back.

And there… most of her work was done already, wasn’t it? Now all she had to do was proofread these, make sure all of the addressees were receiving the appropriate emails and well, press send. It shouldn’t take too long and then she could… She could get back to stressing about the problem fucking Draco had landed her in, goddammit! She was right back there again, her stomach beginning to swirl dangerously. She tried to take in a few deep breaths, forcing herself to get back to work. It wasn’t that hard. It wasn’t that hard!

Never mind, she couldn’t deal with it right now. She… Well, she needed a break. Or maybe she just needed to leave work early today. It was fair game after what the hell Draco had just unloaded on her. It was time she gave her intern some actual responsibility anyway. He was a sweet little fellow, straight out of university. Had his head in the right place but wasn’t particularly good with all the practical work yet. She’d assigned him some random organisational task she knew wouldn’t take her more than a minute and wasn’t going to bother checking because she thought it was simply too easy. Hopefully, he’d been able to do it to her standards.

She sat back in her chair and raised her hands up to her head, stretching out her fingers and breathing in and out deeply through her mouth. She was going to do this. She was really going to handle this (easier) bit of the work off to the intern and he was going to do it just fine. Just fine. Maybe she might have to assist him with it a little bit but it was going to work. It would work. Yes, it would. She shook her head to try and shake off some of her anxiety and stood up, closing her laptop’s screen and picking up the tray of guest lists. She walked out of her office and into the large room outside of it, which had a small group of cubicles placed in the middle.

While the rest looked rapt in their work (an exaggeration, to be sure, a lot of them were chatting with their co-workers and eating snacks), she noted her dear intern was just sitting idle which both made her feel hopeful and worried. He was sitting with his laptop closed, one hand tapping on the table’s surface, the other holding his phone.

“Hi, Colin!” Y/N said and he jerked forwards in surprise, dropping his phone to the floor. “Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”. Colin shook his head as he picked it up and looked it over, “It’s no problem, miss… My phone is just fine. Are you alright? I know the prince was just in your office, he came to ask me where it was first! I was so excited and I asked him for a picture but he said he was in a rush! I can’t believe I’ve managed to have a conversation with one of the royals already!” Hmm… “have a conversation” was probably a stretch but… she chose to ignore that. The boy was definitely an optimist and she couldn’t fault him for that.

“That’s lovely, Colin. I’m sure you’ll get to talk to him and the others again. I had some work for you if you’re up to it.”

“Yes, of course! Does it have anything to do with the prin-”

“Let’s calm down there, Colin. I trust you’ve completed what I assigned you earlier?”

“... Oh, yes I have!”

“That’s great.”

She set the paper tray on the side of his desk and he looked at it for a few seconds before looking up at her again.

“So… what do I have to do?”

Y/N gulped and laid out the lists for him, beginning to explain to him the meanings of the markings she’d made and the emails he had to look through and send off.

***

Beep, beep.

Y/N kept her phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear as she walked around her apartment. She was holding a large iced vanilla latte in one hand and her purse in the other. She knew she needed to set something down but felt too jittery to do anything but pace around with her stuff. It was probably partly inspired by the amount of caffeine she’d drank that day but hey, that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Today was also a terribly tense day, wasn’t it?

Beep, beep.

She took a nice long sip of her latte, relishing in how nice and cold it was. She had the air conditioner on and had taken off her blazer but it still felt like she was this close to overheating. This sudden heatwave throughout the country was absolutely unwelcome as far as she was concerned.

Now if only Pansy’d pick up so she could get some clarity on the situation. Suddenly the dial tone ended and she heard the crackling of breathing through the speaker.

“Hello, Y/N?”

She smiled and finally set her purse down.

“Hi, Pansy! It’s so nice to finally hear your voice. Are you free to talk?”

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, I was just sending off this email but now I’m free for a bit, yes. And Jesus, Y/N, is something… up?”

“Oh, nothing… it’s just… the prince really got me gobsmacked today.”

She hears her gasp over the phone.

“Oh my, the prince?! Well then… I certainly wasn’t expecting that. Although, I suppose… it’s not so far off for the prince to bother you when you’re working at the palace...”

“Pansy… that’s beside the point.”

“Yeah, okay, so… what happened? You have to tell me now.”

“I will but you need to promise me you won’t get mad or jealous of me or anything. I didn’t choose to be a part of it.”

“Of course I won’t be mad. Why would I be?”

“Well, you know, your history and… how you were off your trolley about him as a teenager?”

“Oh, bugger off, babe. That’s not even true anyway.”

“Oh, really? I can vaguely recall someone crying and taking care of him for weeks after he was attacked by that bird he harassed in the first place.”

“I was just… overemotional.”

“Right.”

“So what, okay? So what if I liked him for a while? There’s nothing there anymore. Even waking up to him the next day after the… you know what between us, I was just repulsed. And you thought he was fit too! So. And I feel like I only just liked him because I thought my parents would be happy with us together.”

“That’s… fair. But yes, you’re right, I’ll get back to my story then.”

“Yes, please.”

Y/N started to unbutton the collar of her shirt, beginning to feel hot again. She took another sip of her latte.

“Well, basically, I was just sitting in my office, you know, minding my own business, when Mr Royalty just busts in and starts talking to me.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Yeah, I know right? Anyway, he got straight to it and asked me to be his date to the coronation ball.”

“Holy shit! That’s… never mind, but you said no, right?”

“Well… at first, yes. But then...”

“You what? That’s so unlike you, Y/N, come on…”

“I know, okay… I shouldn’t have. I just started to feel bad for him and I... Should I get out of it? I’m thinking I will. It’ll be stressful, won’t it? I just… I don’t know what to do about it, okay? I’m lost. Help me.”

Pansy fell silent for a second and Y/N undid the whole of her button-down, setting her drink down onto a table as she headed into her bedroom to look for a lighter change of clothes.

“You know the first thing I’m going to tell you is you owe him nothing. I know you felt bad for him but he really shouldn’t have asked you that with no context or anything. He was the one in the wrong here for sure. It’s sweet of you to accept his offer but you don’t have to keep up on it if it’s really stressing you out so much. Also, the fact that you accepted such a spontaneous offer makes me a little sceptical of the power play there...”

“You’re right. Also, I think it definitely wasn’t nice of him but he wasn't mean about it or anything. He was definitely adamant but eh....”

She set her phone onto her bed and turned it to speakerphone, opening her wardrobe and taking out a t-shirt and some shorts.

“At the same time… when we look at the positives, they are fairly significant. You’ll likely have to give in… not that many hours in exchange for a pretty fun night. You know the service at royal events is amazing and if you’re literally the date of the guy the event is being thrown for, the King being crowned that night… I’m going to guess you’ll get so much from that. You’ll obviously get some… fame and have to pack on some PDA there and what not but that means free stuff, great clothes, who even knows what else. You’d just have to work extra hard for that time and balance the work, but I thought you said you were done with a lot of the stuff already.”

“That is … true.”

“But you’re not happy with that, are you?”

“You don’t have to say it like that. It’s just… actually I don’t have a counterargument for that. The perks do sound pretty good.”

“Right? But you know, there might be criticism or hate or something you might get.”

“Well… I’ll also get paid to advertise things after that, won’t I? And free things and VIP invites to places I wouldn’t even have been able to enter before.”

“Well, yes, but… maybe that’s something of an exaggeration, you know. Not every brand or group or whatever is that fixated on how much publicity they can get.”

“... I mean, aren’t they?”

“Okay, yes, they are. I think you should do this.” Y/N laughed as she took off her skirt. She sat down on her bed in her underwear, lying down so her head was near her phone.

“This was a very helpful call. Thank you.”

“I do agree, I think I was a huge help.”

“I concur. Again.”

“Thank you! Now, can I request an invitation to the ball as well?”

“Pansy!”

She giggled and sat up, crossing her arms. “Of course I’ll get you an invite, Pans!”

“Great. I was expecting that. I’m not missing you floundering around, having a… Cinderella moment for the world.”

“A Cinderella moment?”

“You know, getting a chance to dress up like a princess for a night? It’s weirdly literal too, it’s just for the night and then you go back to being normal again. Unless… the prince charming decides…”

“Shush up!” Y/N felt her face beginning to heat up. Not for the second time in one day… She sighed. And… partly because of the same person too.

“I’m sorry, darling. I hope I didn’t say too much there. You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah of course. It’s just a problem I’m starting to recognise with me. I keep getting more aggressive and emotionally charged than I mean to be.”

“I get that… you could try meditation, you know. Or you could join my yoga class, it’s pretty relaxing. The teacher has a nice butt too.”

“Pans!”

“Y/N!”

***

Her evening was fairly relaxed after that. The call with Pansy had seemed to fix the problem. Well, not exactly “fix”, more like change the way she looked at the issue so it felt all the lighter. And it worked pretty much the same. She began to feel so much better about the decision she’d made. After all, even if it was destiny or whatever, she’d been chosen for a reason, right? She’d managed to get Draco’s number off of Pansy. (“ It’s from… way back when so forgive me if he changed his number to get me off his back or some shit. ”) And… on a caffeine high, she had decided to text him almost right away.

Hi, your royal highness!

It only took a few hours but soon she was privy to:

Where did you get this number?

Got it from a friend. It’s Y/N btw :) should’ve said that before.

Oh, right! That makes sense. How’re you doing?

I’m alright, thanks. What about you?

I’m okay.

Listen, I was thinking about what happened today.

And now I’m wondering if we could meet tomorrow? Morning, if possible? It’s urgent.

Y/N squinted down at this message in confusion. What was this suggesting? Was there something wrong? Was he going to retract his offer? She knew there must be some kind of administrative work they’d have to log but was it really that serious already?

Sure, I’ll be free to meet before 9:30.

That is not what I was thinking of when I said morning :(

What, do you wake up at 4 o’clock or something?

No, I meant that that was too early!

She rolled her eyes. She should have seen that coming. He wasn’t exactly known for being put together. Or spiritual, for that matter.

We can call now if you really want.

No, it’s okay. It’s better we talk about it in person. I should try and wake up earlier anyway.

As you wish.

So I’ll meet you tomorrow then. Let’s say, 9 am sharp?

Perfect. I get dropped to the main drop off point at that time anyway.

Great. See you xx

See ya x

Y/N set her phone on her counter and put it to charge for the night. What the fuck? What was happening? The sleep she’d been looking forward to seemed to have suddenly drifted away. What was she going to have to worry about tomorrow morning?! She shifted under her sheets, turning where she lay to face the other side and look out her bedroom window. It was a clear, clear night. If she looked hard enough, she could probably see the edge of the royal estate. But then again, she really didn’t want to. She turned to the other side and just stared at her closet.

She wasn’t sure when her mind got tired of imagining potential disaster scenarios for the next day but Y/N woke up to the sound of her alarm ringing at 6:45 am. She reached over to her nightstand and turned it off, sitting up in bed and looking out the sun already shining bright in her window. It was barely May but the days had already begun to increase in length.

Since she’d woken up with ample time to complete her routine, she did everything she could to pamper herself, spending almost an hour in the bathroom. She even changed into her nicest formal clothes after, a white pantsuit with dark detailing. She packed her work bag with the essentials, her laptop, her water bottle, her royal admin ID, her wallet, stationery and her phone. She felt very prepared for once. Whatever was coming her way would be taken care of as needed.

She had a comfortable trip from her apartment building to the estate, the state-sanctioned car ride feeling a lot less bumpy than usual. It was still just as clear as it was last night, but the car’s windows were tinted so the sun’s rays felt like they barely even touched it. There was only the slightest hiccup when the driver slammed the brakes too hard all of a sudden and made Y/N’s face hit the seat before hers. OUCH!?

It didn’t take very long for the car to get to the palace, stopping at the main entrance pavilion. She didn’t notice anyone there yet and checked the time. It was still only 8:53 am. She had enough time to walk to the administrative wing, leave her things there and come back with time to spare. She walked through the hallway and towards the next hall which she knew led her to-

“Fuck me!” “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Hi, Y/N.”

She had her hand on her heart, trying to slow down her breathing as she looked at the blonde who had bumped straight into her. He had his hands in front of her to catch her if she fell. Thankfully, she had just missed falling.

“What the hell is it with you and giving me heart attacks?”

"I promise you that wasn’t my intention.”

“Well, I’d sure have hoped it wasn’t.”

She sighed and dropped her hand to her side, looking up at him with an eyebrow raised.

“So?”

“So, yes. Um. Can we walk or something? I don’t want to be standing here and have someone walk in on us?”

“... Draco, what do you have planned exactly...?”

She looked up at him quizzically and smirked. He managed a small smile but shook his head.

“God, get your mind out of the gutter! I just mean… this is stressful, okay?”

“Well, I’d like to drop my things off at my office if you don’t mind.”

“Alright, I’ll wait for you by the admin wing’s garden exit.”

“Done.”

***

Y/N had decided to leave her blazer on her chair and all her belongings except for her phone on her desk. Hopefully, Colin was good enough as a guard or she was getting robbed. Either way, she could spot a tall blonde’s head nervously bobbing above the hedge next to the exit. His face was a concerning shade of pink, goodness could only hope he’d put on an adequate amount of sun cream.

“Draco?”

“Yes, hi.”

He managed out, looking toward her walking out now.

“Are you okay? You look… red.”

“I’m fine.”

“I mean, are you sunburnt?”

“Oh…?”

He brought a hand up to touch his cheek.

“No, but that’s a good point. Let’s stand in the shade.”

She stopped where she was and he walked in to meet her. She felt her insides begin to do the jitterbug in anticipation. What could possibly have him so on edge? What was wrong?

“I’m really very sorry about yesterday. I wasn’t exactly thinking very straight when I came to see you. In hindsight, I know it got on your nerves and everything and I should’ve been a lot better at telling you about it.”

“It’s no big deal now, honestly.”

“Okay, but that’s not exactly why I called you. The thing is, there’s going to be a lot of PR work at this ball. I didn’t realise it before but Mother told me she’s arranging a meeting with our publicist for us today. And the publicist is never there just to take the piss. This is serious now. Like, even more than I thought it was.”

“I- what do you-”

“It’ll be very pressing, I would never hold it against you if you decided to pull out.” He stared into her eyes with a pensive expression on his face and Y/N felt whatever response she had been planning just vanish from existence. She pretended to have comprehended everything he said, but could only really think of saying one thing right then… That’s what she said... but that would be inappropriate. He soon got conscious and looked to the side and she felt the cogs in her brain begin to work again.

“The thing is my mother was getting a little impatient with me and telling me it was time for me to tell her who my date for the ball is. My parents have been begging me to find one unless I want to risk an arranged marriage, it’s a long story. So, I told them I’d find a date for myself and that they don’t need to worry. The truth is, I didn’t actually bother to find one and it was starting to get a little late. You know there’s only one month left till... right, you know. So… she came to talk to me about it over lunch and she told me I had to tell her who it was so she could arrange everything for us. I started to think about whom my parents would be okay with me going with and whom I would be okay with and well… you were on top of the list.”

“I’m hoping that’s a compliment.”

“It- it is. I told her your name and she was satisfied with it, I think. And then I was scared she’d come and talk to you immediately so I ran to you first and just asked you about it then. Again, I’m sorry it came out as forcefully as it did. I didn’t mean to… get you stuck in this whole thing.”

He took a deep breath and looked back at her again. Her stomach seemed to begin buzzing as she felt her anxiety grow. This was not going to go as smoothly as she expected, was it? The queen, and most likely the king as well, knew. Although that wasn’t exactly unanticipated, it gave everything a sense of finality. Like, she didn’t have much legroom here at all.

“Anyway, that's what happened. I’m sorry, again.”

He looked at her as if he was waiting for her to yell at him. She wasn’t intending to and just turned to the side, trying to calm her racing heart. She needed to make a decision, didn’t she? And who knows what kind of problems would face her, either way, she decided to go? It seemed like teasing to dangle this lux option in front of her just to draw it away. Draco annoyed her.

Looking at how strangely afraid of her he looked, she couldn’t help but notice how very much he started to look like the Draco she used to know. Little and arrogant and scarily afraid of his parents getting upset with him.

“You’re fine. I… I’m going to need some time.”

“That’s okay. You can take as much time as you need. The problem is, I have no idea when today my mother is going to pull you out for the publicist meeting.”

Y/N huffed slightly and covered her face. So, what was she going to do? What was she going to do?

“I’m in.” She’d set her mind to it, hadn’t she? She’d made a promise to the prince, and his parents knew of it already. She’d already told Pansy she was going for it. Well, all of those things and also the prospect of fulfilling a childhood princess fantasy seemed more enjoyable than anything. There was something so gratifying in that idea, dressing up well and being pampered and showered with affection and just… pretending to be a princess. What could be more fun than that?

“You’re sure?”

The answer was nothing.

“Yes.”

Most likely.

“Well, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“So do I.”

***

It still hadn’t really sunk in yet that she was actually going to do whatever this would entail. Sure, she’d been dreaming about it the day before but it seemed completely different now. Her gut seemed to be calmer now, signifying that perhaps her intuition hadn’t been completely off guiding her in the direction it had.

What’s sad was Y/N was still lost about this after Narcissa had whisked her away into one of the palace’s many giant bedrooms. She was sitting on the bed, still in her work clothes, stressed after having had to explain to Colin how to decide how accommodations would be settled for the guests and the performers coming. She’d been expecting the meeting with the publicist and Draco to happen but she was lost as to what was taking place right now.

Narcissa approached her with a clipboard and a pen. “Now, dear, I just need you to sign these first.” Y/N took both from her and glossed through the texts.

A non-disclosure agreement and an employment contract…

“I’m sorry, your majesty. Do you mind me going through the documents before signing them?”

“Absolutely not, sweetheart. Though do try to rush, we have appointments we need to get to in time.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Honestly, ma’am, I’m not too aware of legal jargon like this. Could I please ask you to explain the purpose of this agreement?”

“Well, when any…”

She seemed to want to say a word but held it back, twisting her tongue around in her mouth as she thought of what to say.

“Person unfamiliar with our ancestry and our policies gets… involved with a member of the family, we have them sign one of these in order to protect our privacy.”

“I see…”

That seemed very… imperialist of them. She began to skim through the document, trying her best to understand it based on what little knowledge of this she had. It all seemed par for the course except for the last clause.

“I’m sorry again, ma’am. The others make sense to me but this one: 11. Covertness, it’s quite vague, the “other actor”…?.”

“To be transparent, the King and I posed the covertness clause as a protective measure. We don’t need Draco learning about this agreement and growing wary of all of us. We’re doing it to protect him more than anything. You are not to revert any of this portion of our meeting to him and he mustn't ever come to know of this agreement or the contract at all.”

The Queen suddenly seemed scarier than she ever had in all the years she’d known her.

“Well, that’s- I’ll have to think about that for a second.”

She started looking through the employment contract. It was similar to the one she currently held, nothing too special, except for the fact that it detailed that she was entitled to a lump sum of £200,000 at the end of the event, assuming she kept up her end of the agreement. She paused for a moment and just stared at that number.

“Is this a misprint by any chance, ma’am?” The Queen leaned over and looked at where she was pointing, then shook her head.

“No, it is not.”

She took a deep breath. That would be much more than enough to have her set for life and for a private event planning business alongside. It would take her 10 years to even come close to earning as much. She continued reading the document. She was supposed to participate in a few publicity stunts, make it clear “she had good intentions” and was supposed to disconnect from the prince entirely after the affair was over. Those terms didn’t sound too harsh, now, did they? A little acting and ghosting for 200 grand? It didn’t sound like much. Even a real big shot actor wouldn’t get paid half as much for such little work. And the part about her leaving the prince alone after was a little strange, but she supposed it made sense, what with the royals’ obsession with keeping their family all blue-blooded. Draco had been the poster child for that kind of thing growing up. And she likely didn’t have an ounce of it in her.

Why were they even that desperate anyway? This seemed huge. It might boost the prince’s reputation a bit but… what else was there to this? She knew the country was not doing the best in terms of international relations but did this really hold that much weight along those terms? Surely, there was something here she was missing. Regardless, 200,000 quid for a little work and a lot of fun was too amazing an offer to turn down. And so, Y/N signed both papers and handed them back to her. Jesus Christ, Draco’s impulsive decision was about to get her rich. Quick. She certainly hadn’t been expecting this.

She handed the clipboard back to the Queen who smiled and took it back quickly, setting the papers into a folder which she kept in a decorative paper bag. Not a bad hiding place at all. She walked outside for a few minutes, before reentering, followed by a squat old lady well-dressed in mauve and a younger woman wearing similar clothes. The Queen ushered towards either of them and began speaking.

“Madam Malkin and assistant, this is miss Y/L/N, the crown prince’s date to the coronation ball, miss Y/L/N, this is Madam Malkin, the family’s official stylist and designer, and her assistant.”

Y/N raised her hand out for her to shake, and she did so, firmly. “It’s so great to meet you, Madam.”

“Pleasure as well, love.”

She retracted her hand, looked over Y/N’s outfit and began whispering to her assistant.

“Well, to be very honest, I feel we don’t have to worry about my wardrobe as much. I know I probably don’t meet the royal standards but… I was planning on buying this really nice dress online anyway. I could show it to you and have you approve it if that would be fine.”

The Queen looked at her vacantly, her eyebrows raised and her nose pinched in the slightest. Then her expression settled and she exchanged a look with Madam Malkin before looking back at Y/N. Madam Malkin maintained an unamused expression, then began to speak.

“ I hope you know we’re not going to let you just wear a dress you bought online to the ball… We’ll tailor one for you. And your other clothes will be picked from contemporary designers ourselves.”

Y/N just looked at her silently, nodding and blinking slowly in assent.

***

An hour or so of Y/N having to change into various clothes behind a divider and then show them off to the pair of them passed quickly. It was very fun knowing she’d get a bunch of very nice clothes out of this (even custom made underwear so her clothes fit her right over them!), and she thought the royal family was really being very generous with all of this. Lots of money and clothes? There had to be some kind of catch, right? Something that would make this hard to keep up with? What was it? Just the stress of all the work that’d pile up? That didn’t seem like enough. Everything was not going the way she was anticipating. It was going a hell of a lot better. Mostly.

The actual meeting she’d been waiting for all morning was finally occurring. She was seated in a meeting room opposite the Queen and Draco and their publicist. It was weird seeing them like this. It seemed like a strange grown-up parent-teacher conference.

“So, our point is, we need to have you both make it clear to the public that there is a strong relationship between the two of you.”

The redheaded man droned on at the head of the table and Y/N looked over at Draco who glanced at her as well before both turning to look at the man.

“It’s Percy, right? I’m just a little… I’m sorry if I just don’t know my current affairs well enough for this but… why?” Y/N gulped, crossing her arms tightly after asking this question. It was quite bold of her for sure. She could only hope she wasn’t violating anything by asking this. “She’s not wrong.” Draco chimed in, ”You never had to do anything like this, mother.” The Queen smiled but shook her head. “Things just aren’t the same anymore, are they?” She looked over at Percy to continue.

“We now live in a world of social media and tabloids and none of that will work towards the image we need to create.”

Draco seemed to be satisfied with that and just looked at Y/N silently, who could only really do the same at this point. “I’m sorry, again, I… think I’m missing something here. What “image” are we trying to create?”

Percy and the Queen exchanged a long look, where she pursed her lips and shook her head somewhat disapprovingly. She then nodded and he began to speak.

“Miss Y/L/N, to be very frank, the kingdom isn’t doing amazing. In terms of international relations and funding and… most importantly, resources and trading. We’re afraid we’re losing allies and we cannot risk anything. We not only need to increase viewership and publicity of the ceremony and the ball, but we need to raise the reputation of the family and the prince in the public eye. It’s… a trend at King’s coronation balls for royals or other elite families to offer their daughters’ hands in marriage to the crown prince or king. Our prince is bent upon not getting into an arranged marriage and having to reject offers is a lot more publicly disgraceful than you might anticipate. As you might know, the country wasn’t even on speaking terms with one of its neighbours because centuries ago a crown prince rejected an offer for marriage and an alliance with them. We cannot risk having that happen when we’re in as dire straits as we are.”

Y/N could only look up at him with her mouth agape. They were serious. This was why it mattered so much to them. This was why she was being paid to do this. In case they offended an ally or just any other country. Because of the prince’s idealistic desires for romance or whatever it was. Although she couldn’t really fault him for that, his father hadn’t had to do the same and she’d heard the conditions for some of those alliances and the situations they landed themselves in the future were never that positive.

She nodded up at Percy. “I understand. I should probably read a bit more on the news and the family anyway. I tend to avoid it.” Percy barely seemed to notice her response and started to talk about strategies and actions that needed to be taken. The meeting ended with Draco and Y/N agreeing to keep up with their public profiles and maintain a good reputation on them. They were supposed to interact more publicly for the time being while Percy laid out more intricate publicity stunt plans.

As she left the room and started to walk back to her office, thinking about what work she had to do, someone tapped at her shoulder gently. She turned around to see the very same prince that had dragged her into this mess staring down at her.

“Again, I’m sorry.”

Him saying that like this made her feel guilty now.

“It’s- it’s really okay. You don’t have to say that.”

“I feel like I have to. You’re barely getting anything for doing this for us.”

“That’s- that’s not true. I’ll have my fun, won’t I?”

“Well, whatever it is, what I told you yesterday, the offer still stands. I’ll get you anything, I’ll buy you a mansion, whatever you like.”

“Not that I’d ever decline you giving me anything… you really don’t need to. Thank you for the offer, though.”

Y/N bit her lip and smiled up at him, waving him off as he made to leave, pretending like that was really the truth. She watched him as he walked to the other end of the hallway. She was going to have to keep up this lie all the way till the event. It definitely wasn’t going to be easy. She began to clench her jaw, setting a hand on the wall as everything rushed through her head.

This was exactly like Cinderella except she had no evil stepmother or fairy godmother or glass slipper or a prince charming on a quest to find her, just a lump sum, publicised PDA and more acting than she realised. And absolutely no way out of seeing the story through anymore.

a/n: there will be a hell of a lot more draco in the next chapters, stay tuned!

#draco malfoy x reader #draco x reader #draco malfoy #draco #hp #draco imagine #draco malfoy imagine #hp imagine #au #prince au #royal au #prince draco #prince draco au #romance #draco malfoy series #draco x reader series #draco malfoy x reader series #drama

[hoseokslefteyebrow]

Love Myself: Her || P.JM || X

DRABBLE

Pairing : Park Jimin X Reader

Genre : Fluff

Summary : Taking care of your cold ceo foance when he's sick

Wordcount: 0.8k

MASTERLIST

[ A/N: BEFORE YOU READ, the reason why this is a drabble of 'love myself: her', is because I might be uploading a ceo Jimin story lol ok just wanted to tell u this this thanx for reading this bye. Also, enjoy!]

You have just arrived at your "fiance's" house. Yes, you have a fiance, tough not by choice. Your family was strictly bussiness orientated, and had therefore signed their firstborn female child over as an unexsisting product as a marriage option if it was necessary. 

You tried to close the door behind you as quiet as possible. 

You had been against this since the moment you've been aware of this.

You were certainly not a "product".

Your fiance, Park Jimin wasn't much better. For most times, you can't seem to read him at all. 

Tough he always does somehow look after you, (for example, you once had gone out with your friend who ended up ditching you, you had called him as last option at 3 am, but he didn't hesitate to pick you up) but he never actually talked to you about his feelings, nor was he affectione or anything else.

Currently, he was sick. And that's the only reason you're here. To take care of him while he's sick. Tough he could simply have his maid take care of him, he never lests her touch him. 

You greeted said girl with a small smile, which she returned, before eventually making your way to his room.

Upon opening the door, you realized that he was not in his bed. 

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Where is he?

"He's in his office." His maid said as you closed the door.

" Excuse me? I tough he's sick." You say confused.

" He is. But he still insisted on getting work done, so he's working from his home office." She explained.

You nodded. " Thank you for telling me."

A moment later you're in Jimin's home office, crossing your arms over one another while glaring at him from the doorway.

You cleared your throat before speaking.

" I heard you were sick?" You cocked an eyebrow.

He looked up from his work, and he indeed did not look good.

He was paler than what he's supposed to be, and his cheeks are hollow, a sign that he hasn't eaten today, his usually neatly styled hair was now also a mess ontop of his head, which even tough the current situation, only made him look cute.

" I'm fine." He grumbled with a hoarse voice before turning back to his work.

You rolled your eyes before walking over to him and closing his laptop right before his nose.

To your suprise, he wasn't mad about it at all, it almost seemed as if he wanted you to do it.

" Go lie down. I'll make you some soup." You told him as you felt his forehead with the back of your hand.

Once again he surpised you as he leaned his head in your skin.

You lightly retreated your hand before walking out of his office and down into the kitchen.

After a few minutes of setting up the water and getting the ingredients, a pair of arms wrap around you.

You jump, but the arms do not retract. As you turn around, you realize it's Jimin.

You sigh before getting back to the soup and Jimin sets his head down onto your shoulder, his overheated temperature seeping trough your shirt.

" I tough I told you to go lie down?" You mused.

You were now getting a little concerned, why was your cold fiance acting as if you two were actually dating?

He hummed in response.

" If we had met in different settings, do you think that we'd actually be something?" He asked you.

Your hand stilled on the spoon, the question taking you by suprise.

" I don't know." You shrugg in response.

He suddenly presses his nose in your shoulder, inhaling your scent.

The action causes you to still for a moment.

" Sorry." He wishpers, turning back to just leaning his head on your shoulder while holding you in a back hug.

" Jimin, are you sure that we don't need to take you to a hospital?" You ask him.

He shakes his head, his hair tickling you.

" No. I'm drowsy, and whenever I'm this drowsy I end up spilling whatever I have on my mind. I usually avoid my feelings for you." He bluntly tells you.

You blink before finishing the soup and pushing him down to sit and eat.

After that, you send him straight to bed, but he keeps whining until you escort him upstairs to his own damn bedroom.

" Y/N?" Jimin aks as he's sitting down on his bed, looking at you with small sleepy eyes.

You turn back to him from the door opening you're stood in, cocking your head to the side as a way to tell him to carry on.

He smiles.

" I love you." 

#bts #bts x reader #idkeitherman #bts park jimin x reader #park jimin #park jimin x reader #bts fluff #bts ceo au #bts cold boyfriend au

[monochromemedic]

“Get the hell away from me you freak-” the man’s exclamation was cut short as a wet force shot into his legs, his body slamming against the pavement with a loud thud. A direct slime bullet shot, and the last of the gang was contained within their gooey prisons. I sighed in relief, lowering my arm. ‘I should quip, that’s what all the good heroes do right?’ “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” I said softly before realizing that no one, not even the gathering crowd could hear that. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?!” I repeated before realizing how weak that was. Baby steps... just needed to not show my face around here for a week so they’d all forget how much I fucked up. I rubbed my neck, fingers gliding along the cryo collar as it released a blast of cold air, waves of relief flooding my body. The crowd erupted in clapping, something that startled me back to the situation at hand. A small rising gang had been causing havoc over the city, something larger heroes would only keep their eyes on before attempting to resolve. They were there to help with big tasks, real villains or aliens, something that would cause real devastation. It made sense but that didn’t mean that some real low lives could sneak under the radar and cause some damage as long as they spaced what they were doing enough or kept it the damage to a minimum.  The Graveyard Gang was playing with that line and it was obvious that if it wasn’t stopped some hero would have to come down and take them out themselves. If not for me. I raised a hand sheepishly, waddling to the side of the street to meet the crowd that formed around me. “Hey... hello. Did someone call the police already? Is everyone ok?” My words were met by the sound of sirens drawing near, a large news van trailing not too far behind. A frantic woman nearly rolled out of the van, mic at the ready as she bolted through the crowd, ushering a small man lugging a camera to follow her. “Hi, hello, out of the way, Channel 9 news. Hi, I’m Sandra Stevens of Channel 9 news would you mind giving an interview about the heroic deed you just committed?”  Her words were fast and rehearsed, like she had either done this a million times or dreamt about doing it so much, the words burned into her brain. Her mic was pushed into my face, knocking against my chin and drawing a thin strand of goo onto the mic. The woman didn’t seem to notice however, her eyes laser focused on me. “I... I su-sure. I’m just not very good on camera-” “Don’t worry honey, editors make everyone look good. Cameron! Start rolling, everyone please clear the place we need a nice shot of...what do you call yourself, Miss?” “G...Grey Matter.” “Grey.” she repeated, a eyebrow raised in silent judgement. “Well Grey Matter, hope you’re ready for your 5 minutes of fame because we’re rolling.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My fingers ran across the laptop keys, restarting the video again for the 11th time in a row. I couldn’t stop, my first interview, my first well known appearance as a hero. And the interview was... terrible. The comments didn’t say that but I couldn’t help but notice how nervous I looked, how much I stared into the camera at times, the way I showed my powers and how one guy said it was like a bad hentai. I knew that but god when others said that made everything feel ten times worse. However other commenters were nice, saying how cool I looked, how good it was to see another hero on the streets, taking care of baddies that the others didn’t get. I felt like my ego was a metronome switching from feeling like a god to feeling like a dumbass. I readied my finger to press the replay button as the video neared the end when a knock came to my door. Strange, I didn’t expect anyone, and not many people knew where I lived. Maybe it was a neighbor coming to congratulate me? Not like I could easily disguise myself and not many other people had the consistency of tar. I slid my pants on and walked to the door, opening it to a face almost 3 inches away from  mine. “Hello-” I jumped back, arms raising and balling like huge slings, ready to attack only for them to deflate and fall to my waist as I realized who it was. “You really do stretch! It’s like you’re one big sticky hand toy. Neat, Neat...” Plastic Man commented, his neck extended to look at me further. “Mind if I come in? I’d like to talk.” “I... Y-yes of course Mr... Mr. Plastic Man I... Um.” I could feel myself beginning to melt as I went to close the door behind him, gesturing to my messy house before him. He towered over everything easily, walking past my fridge and ducking to get into my living room to observe more of the house, making eye contact with the laptop. He smiled widely to himself before shifting his eyes back at me. “Please, Mr. Plastic Man was my father, just call me Plas. And I assume you know about me from the way your fangirling?” “I... yes of course you’re an inspiration to me ever since I became like this. The way you quickly maneuver and creatively problem solve with an air of ease is inspiring. Not to mention the way your so cheerful with the public, it puts alot of people at ease, I...starting researching you because we have such similar powers.. not in a weird way just, how you do things.” I rambled trying to literally hold myself together as I felt my body begin to dribble to the floor. “I’m sorry can you excuse me-” “Go ahead, you need... help there?” He asked as I sped past him to my room, grabbing the collar and placing it around my neck. In an instant it came to life, a release of cold air wafting over my body. I returned to the living room, head craning to look at the tall hero. “No thank you, I’m alright. Sometimes when I get nervous or overheated I start to lose my form. The cold from the collar helps me keep me together.” He lowered his head, neck stretching once again to look closer at the device. “I get that, hell sometimes on summer days I gotta put myself in a freezer and become a Plas Pop or else I nearly melt down the storm drain. That’s just another thing we have in common I guess. And that’s what I came here to talk to you about.” I swallowed hard, his hand gesturing to the opened interview on the laptop. “Everyone’s been talking about the girl who took down the Graveyard Gang and word gets around fast.  So fast that even I got word of it almost as soon as it aired. Boy was I surprised when I saw you on camera, showing of a little of what you could do. Another stretcher like me! And one who’s new to the game, a fresh face. It got me thinking.” He paused, crossing his arms as he glanced towards the ground. “Things have been quite in the League, least for ol’ Plas. Much as I love my job and helping the universe, seems like I’m always backup number 54 on the list of who to call when the world’s gonna end. Which isn’t bad but it leaves a guy with alot of time on his rubber hands. So I was thinking maybe I should give the whole mentor thing a shot, take someone under my wing. Just haven’t got the chance to meet someone I could actually teach anything to, till I saw your little stunt. So what do you say? Willing to make what the Batman described as ‘A horrible decision that no one would agree to’?” This was crazy. A proposal like this? And so soon? Learning under one of the League, one of the bests? “Yes, I’d be honored to be mentored by you Plastic Man- er... P-plas. I hope I don’t disappoint you, um... you know I can’t shapeshift like you right. I can’t turn into lions or trucks... I... I can’t do alot of those things actually, just basic stretching and modifications.” “Hm? Oh well that’s ok, besides I didn’t expect you to be exactly like me, that’d just be crazy thoughts. Also that’d make you my son, and that’s just weird. You got something else that I don’t have, you got that goo shot. I can’t shoot bullets of myself at people and you said you can set up traps and knock people out in a hail of slime. That’s kick ass, we just gotta embrace that side of you and you’ll be up there with Superman at the table, talking about what multiverse crisis was your favorite.” He grinned, lowering himself to my level and wrapping an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close against his body. I felt my face grow warm as I looked away from him, my chest pounding despite the lack of heart in my breast. Now he was touching me? Telling me how cool I was? I felt myself begin to drip again, knees beginning to buckle. “Y-you really think so?” “I know so. You got spunk kid, we just gotta polish you up and you’ll be golden, Pony Boy.” The force of his palm hitting my back sent me jolting forward, his shadow looming over me. “How about you meet me outside of your place, tomorrow. 1pm. We’ll assess your abilities and work from there. Sound good? Too bad, crime never waits. I’ll see you there.” And with surprising grace he dipped out of my apartment, leaving me like it was just a frantic dream. If it wasn’t for the sting from his palm I’d assume I was merely daydreaming, but it was real. Plastic Man and me, working together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Come on, haven’t you ever seen Spider-Man. Leap of faith!”  “I don’t know if you’re legally allowed to reference that...” I muttered, eyeing the large gap between buildings before staring back at Plas. “I haven’t really done much uh... traversal practice. What if I fall and hit the ground I... I mean I don’t think I can die like that but-” “I won’t let you fall, I promise you. I’d be a real bad trainer if the first person I mentored became a permanent stain on 4th street. You got this!”  Plastic Man grinned widely, flashing a thumbs up and stepping back. His words echoed in my head, as I stepped back a few feet, already making my plan as I dragged a line of slick slime in front of me.  ‘I’ll run forward, using the slime to propel me even further to close the gap. Then when I get as far as I can, I’ll stretch my arms out, attach to the building and slingshot my way up to the roof.’ I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting until every last bit of air left my lungs.  And then I ran. My feet slid against the slime trail like a skater on the ice as I raced towards the edge. Before I could even attempt to jump, I hit the edge, my body fling more downward then I expected. I felt the air leave my lungs, my head snapping up towards the roof top I was aiming for and snapped my arm forward, splatting against the brick a few feet down. Damn it, Damn it, I got this. I got this. I felt the tension build in my arms, threatening to snap under the pressure. Just when I thought it was going to be too much, it released. And I found myself ascending just as fast I was falling. Up against the building. A wave of pain shot through my body as I was bashed against the wall, slowly feeling the way my body spread and slowly began to peel away from the window. Just as I felt the last few strand of myself start to detach, I felt a warmth wrap around my body, lifting me up to the roof of the building. “Hey you good? I never saw anyone but me rubber band that hard into a building before.” I tried to nod my head, wheezing and groaning as I laid on my back, staring up at the titan of a man before me. “I’m ok... just the wind got knocked out.” “Mm, yeah I’m not surprised. I mean if anything I guess we found out that a fall from here would be a-ok. Painful but... if you can survive going mach one into a building a fall should be no sweat.” He stretched his arms and sat down beside me, hands forming something just out of my range of vision to mess with. “Take your time, and we can try again. Maybe something with less of a gap to fall down.” I closed my eyes, a sickening knot forming in my stomach. I fucked up the jump, and fucked it up bad. Was he disappointed? Rethinking his decision to choose me? He had been teaching me for 2 weeks now, and I couldn’t help but think that I wasn’t enough by the way he’d sometimes look away, seem upset, maybe wanting to be anywhere else but here. My body slumped forward, lingering pain in my core. “Plastic Man?” His head cocked to the side, eyes unidentifiable behind his goggles. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask him what he thought of me. The words caught in my throat, my fear too great to hear the truth. I didn’t want to seem too pitiful, too... “I’ll try better next time.” “That’s what I like to hear.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “GM what were you thinking?! You know you can’t handle that kinda heat, why did you head into a burning building?! No one was in there! Everyone was safe!” I ducked my head away from Plas’ rage, watching the soot swirl around the remains of my arm. I was hurt bad, nearly melted and burned in a raging fire me and Plas tried to contain. But I was careless, eager to please a man I thought was losing interest in me. Despite the fact the building was clear I thought if I could help put out the fire before the firefighters came he would praise my boldness. But I only ended up making a fool of myself, having to had Plas rush into the building and collect me himself. He didn’t fair well himself, parts of him still goopy from harsh heat damage. “Look at me when I’m talking to you! Why did you do that.” His eyes were angry, his usual smile twisted into a disappointed frown. “I wanted to impress you-” “Impress me?! Yeah your new power to turn into a corpse was real freaking impressive Jenna. Why the hell are you trying to impress me like that-” “Because I don’t think I’m good enough to be taught by you!” I exclaimed, shocked by how I raised my voice at him. “I... I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to... I just... I feel like ever since you started to mentor me I haven’t been good enough. I’ve always been messing up and-and I feel like if I don’t do anything to impress you, you’ll just abandon me and I’ll fuck up the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I-I look up to you so much, and I feel like it’s such a privilege that you chose me I... I feel like it’s a mistake. And so I’m just waiting for you to realize that and I feel like you’re catching on so I had to do something to make sure that you didn’t fuck up with your choice.” Plas’ face immediately dropped, a look of concern replacing his scold. “Christ... I gave you Imposter Syndrome. Is this what the other people with sidekicks have to deal with... Woozy was never like this. Er...well, no he was he just didn’t have powers.” He bit his bottom lip, and sighed, inching to take a seat beside me. “I’m not good at this teaching stuff, I don’t know if you noticed. So if I made you feel like you weren’t impressing me, I swear it isn’t true. I remember when I was first getting the hang of being a hero. I was dog shit. The amount of times I did somethings stupid or tried to impress others without knowing what I was doing myself, god... and when I was part of the league? The first month was a hell, I didn’t get anything done. I still mess up, I just make it seem like I don’t cause I play it off. We all screw up, even Superman. I would know, I was there for a couple of those times, etched em right into my head.” He glanced away, tapping the side of his head where the words ‘Pantsing Incident of 05’ appeared.  “Point is we all started somewhere and we were all ass at it. You think Flash got the hang of dodging every car while he ran down the road? No, it was just that no one remembers those times cause he’s  too busy kicking ass now adays that no one cares that one time he ate asphalt. No one accept me who uses it to blackmail him occasionally because I’m petty and like to knock him down a peg every once in a while. You’re doing great.” I could feel the tears dripping down my face as he spoke, using my palm to desperately hide my emotions from him. His arm wrapped around my shoulder in a cautious, yet caring touch. “Can we just not... run into burning buildings next time we’re trying to prove something? I might not be able to get you out next time.” “Yeah, of course sir. Thank you, for believing in me, after I did that, and that you believed me in the first place.”

#self ship: plas #have my scraps

[fabulouspotatosister]

“just breathe, okay?” give me some of that good disaster!reader & 13 uwu

(i'm so sorry this took so long!! it took me a little bit to get my motivation to write back. also, surprisingly, this isn't life-threatening angst again! that's for another day. // this also kind of describes school-related stress, inspired by my own experiences huhu)

82. "Just breathe, okay?"

This was a mistake.

The part of your brain that was freaking out was throwing a fit, metaphorical alarm bells ringing out and touching every thought with panic. The more lucid part of your brain sighed and made a note, adding it to a list of mistakes that was now growing by the minute.

When you said you wanted a break from travelling with the Doctor, you meant a break from the hectic atomosphere, near-death experiences, and general stress that those near death experiences caused. You should have been happy, really, when the Doctor dropped you off back on Earth in the middle of a hectic school week. Projects and assignments were things you could control.

That was something you stopped believing a few minutes ago.

The quiet hum of your ceiling fan was a constant, at least. The only light in the room was the bright glow of your laptop screen, settled on an empty document, with at least fifty tabs open on your browser. The poor thing was probably overheating, the keyboard keys already growing warm under your touch.

You definitely needed a time machine right now.

"Why'd I tell her to drop me off today? Oh yeah, give me just a few hours to deal with all the things that have piled up since I left, I can totally deal with that," you groaned to yourself. The light of the laptop screen was stabbing, making your eyes burn with the effort to see past it and look at the measly amount of words you had typed. "I've done this before! Why is this so hard today?"

It was true. You were the king of pulling all-nighters - a habit that unfortunately followed you onto the TARDIS. Living on a time machine and still staying up late. That must have been a special talent of yours.

You'd set your phone face down on your desk, the buzzing of notifications fading into the background like everything else did, creating a symphony from a cacophany of noises. This was a symphony you were supposed to be used to, background music for your battle against deadlines and unhelpful classmates. Challenging and triumphant.

Tonight, it was doubt and fear with just a hint of giving up sprinkled in.

You leaned back in your chair, taking a deep breath in to loosen the knots in your stomach, and picked up your phone. A fifteen-minute break couldn't hurt, right? Maybe that would be the thing to bring back some of your motivation.

You had spent the entire night making mistakes. Picking up your phone was the worst one.

You were hit with a barrage of messages, ranging from patient questions to aggressive queries in all caps.

"hey, we kind of need that thing by tonight"

"Hello? Where are you? Pick up the phone, please!"

"you still working on that? anyway i can help?"

Anyway I can help?

Time passes, time doesn't wait, and you were wasting so much of it trying to catch up. Trying to to everything yourself. You glanced at the time - 10 PM - you only had two hours and if you didn't get everything done you would let so many people down.

Your room was already small - the walls just seemed to get smaller. All the background noise rose to a deafening crescendo, your panic starting to overwhelm all of your senses - everything was just too much, there was just so much, and you just wanted it to be -

"What's going on? Hello?"

Quiet. It all went quiet for a precious moment as you saw the Doctor's head peek out from behind your bedroom door. The sight of her face was enough to make your chest constrict even tighter.

"Broke in. Sorry," she said quietly, opening the door slowly and stepping inside. "Before you ask, I know my sonic doesn't work on wood, but I have my methods. Do apologize to your mum for me, and pick up some of the glass -" She paused, her gaze stopping at your face. "What's with that face?"

A distraction, you needed a distraction. "You broke a window?"

"I didn't exactly break it, I maneuvered my way in!" the Doctor whispered, proudly, before her face fell again. "That's a fancy way of saying I broke it. I am sorry!"

You tried a laugh, and it came out more like a strangled noise from the back of your throat. Your thoughts were racing a mile a minute, and you were vaguely aware of a pain in your palms - you looked down to see that you were gripping the armrests of your chair.

The Doctor said your name, slowly, like she was throwing out a lifeline. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. Totally fine." And totally instinctual. "Why are you here?"

"You weren't answering our messages," the Doctor explained. She moved closer to you, standing not too far away from where you were sitting. You hoped she didn't get too close. "I - we got worried, so I came to check on you."

Oh, you'd flipped over your phone. Your phone with all the messages and the reminders of deadlines. You shuddered. The Doctor seemed to catch that, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She was inches away now, her hands hovering in the air. "You can talk to me, if you'd like. I don't give the best advice but I will listen."

If she moved any closer you would probably burst into tears - with a well-placed push of your foot against the floor, your chair skidded backwards, away from her and any comfort you felt like you didn't deserve.

"I'm a mess," you said. You squinted, her face suddenly blurry in the dark. "I'm a mess and I don't know how to deal with things properly." You just couldn't stop talking now, the words coming out in short bursts. "There's just so much going on and I have to catch up with all of it and -"

There were hands on your shoulders, now. You looked up to see the Doctor's face just inches away from yours.

"Just breathe, okay?" she murmured, holding you squarely in place. "Breathe. We'll find a way through this, yeah? Just breathe for me. That's right, in and out. Perfect!"

You found something to focus on - her eyes shone even in the dark, and her hair reflected the faint light of the moon coming in through your window. You took in deep lungfuls of air, marveling at the way the Doctor's face lit up with every deep breath you took.

"Sorry," you muttered, with a wry laugh. The Doctor raised an eyebrow in question - "I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I really am a mess -"

"Don't call yourself that," the Doctor countered immediately. The conviction in her voice squashed the small voice in your head that told you she was lying. "You are not a mess. You are brilliant and determined and you can do this. We can do this."

The Doctor - an indescribable alien that traveled through time and space and was incredible in her own way - was calling you brilliant. It made you feel warm, and you let a smile form on your face, watching as the Doctor smiled back.

"There we are." The Doctor beamed. "Now, come with me - and bring your laptop."

"Wait a minute, what?" you asked - but she was already rushing out the door. "Doctor, wait! Why?"

The Doctor poked her head through the door, grinning widely. "Time machine! Get a shift on! I haven't written an essay in years, let's see if I can remember anything from the great authors of Iambos..."

Her voice trailed off as she got farther away. You stared in shock at the door for a moment before laughing quietly, shutting your laptop and running after the Doctor.

Maybe you didn't make mistakes all the time.

#jess writes #doctor who #doctor who imagine #doctor who x reader #the doctor imagine #the doctor x reader #thirteenth doctor imagine #thirteenth doctor x reader

[andtails]

A Prelude to Chaos Control - Chapter 4: In the City

Click here to start from the beginning. You can also read this story on FanFiction.Net or Archive of Our Own.

***** 

“I sure am beat.”

Sonic sat in Knuckles’ modest kitchen, resting his legs up on the table as he chugged a blueberry sports drink, sweat rolling down his fur.

“You said it,” Knuckles replied, entering the room with a training towel around his neck. “I haven’t had that much of a workout in a while.”

“Maybe I should come by more often then?”

“Just not too much.” The echidna and hedgehog chuckled while continuing their banter, relaxing after a few hours of sparring in the clearing surrounding Knuckles’ home.

“I wonder how Tails is doin’?” Sonic asked himself, standing up to get a good view of the Master Emerald shrine from the window. Sonic watched as Tails continued his work, typing away on his laptop, which he had wired to multiple points on the large gem.

“Do you think he’ll actually be able to pull it off?” Knuckles asked, peering out of the kitchen window alongside the blue hedgehog, taking a swig of his cherry sports beverage.

“Knowing my little bro, I have confidence that he’ll accomplish whatever he sets his mind to.”

“But still,” Knuckles interjected, “the thought that one can simply detect chaos energy with some machine seems a bit farfetched, don’t you think?”

Sonic turned his head toward the red echidna. “I don’t pretend to know much about all this science stuff. All I really know is that the emeralds can provide a significant power boost in combat, and finding a way to obtain them faster would place us at a great advantage. If anyone in this world can solve this puzzle, it’ll be my lil’ bro.”

“You sure seem to have a lot of confidence in him.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Sonic replied, his face tightening as he sat back down at the table. “Ever since we met, Tails has gotten me out of countless jams and helped thwart Eggman’s schemes time and time again. I don’t think I’d be here today without his genius mind…or his friendship.” Sonic placed his arms on the table, looking up at the red echidna. “Yet despite this, he still places a lot of pressure on himself to be perfect, and he takes any mistake as a personal failure.”

Sonic’s voice began to shake as a slight hint of moisture formed over his eyes. “If I had one wish in this world, it’d be to help my little bro, but I just don’t know how, ya know?”

Knuckles, not used to consoling a friend or having these sorts of interpersonal conversations, stood there and looked at the hedgehog. He observed as Sonic turned his attention back to the window, watching the orange kitsune working diligently on his experiment.

This is so unlike Sonic. He must really be stressing out if he came to me, of all people, to talk about his feelings.

“But, what am I sayin’?” Sonic said in a joyful manner, a smile appearing on his face as he got up from his seat. “I’m sure that Tails’ll get the detector working, and we’ll have all the emeralds back in no time.”

“Ahh, okay, then…” Knuckles wasn’t sure how to respond to Sonic’s rapid mood swing.

“Why don’t we go check on him?” Sonic offered as he began walking to the door, taking a last gulp of his drink before throwing the bottle in the trash can along the way.

“Hey, you know we recycle here, right?” Knuckles pointed to the recycling bin next to the garbage can. The recycling container was labeled with three arrows that formed a triangle.

“Oops, sorry man.” Sonic ran a hand through his quills in embarrassment before fishing the bottle out of the trash and placing it in the proper bin. As he headed to the exit, Knuckles placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I may not be the best at this sort of thing, but if you ever need to talk some more, I’m always here.” Sonic looked over his shoulder and gave the red echidna a thumbs up and a smile before leaving the cabin.

*****

Tails stared at his laptop, tinkering with a software application that he had programmed to help analyze the unique energy readings emitted by the emeralds. He carefully studied the monitor, double-checking the software parameters while munching on his box of Mobian Scout™ mint chocolate cookies, allowing dark crumbs to fall onto his keyboard.

“All right, here goes nothing.” Tails clicked a few remaining keys before wiping his face clean of cookie crumbs and following the trail of wires leading from his laptop to the Master Emerald, which stuck to the mystical gem with suction cup-like energy readers. The objective was for the emerald’s chaos energy to transmit through the cables and reach the laptop, where Tails’ application would convert the readings into digestible data for further analysis.

Tails watched as the Master Emerald began to glow with a green aura as streaks of static covered the large gem. Meanwhile, the laptop was beginning to hum louder than usual, its small fans spinning faster to prevent the computer from overheating. The program displayed lines upon lines of numerical data as points on a continuously expanding chart shot up and down.

“It’s working!” The orange kitsune waved a fist in the air in excitement before grounding himself back to the task at hand, anxiously dividing his attention between his laptop and the Master Emerald. It was at this time that Sonic and Knuckles arrived back to the shrine, climbing up the stairs to greet the young fox.

“Hey Tails, how’s it goin’?” the blue hedgehog asked, waving at his younger brother. Instead of waiting for an answer, though, he shifted his focus to the glowing emerald, taking a step back in surprise. Knuckles swiftly stepped sideways to avoid Sonic’s sudden movement before noticing the emerald himself.

“Tails, what’re you doing!” Knuckles yelled, approaching the mystical gem with anger in his eyes. “Can’t you see the Master Emerald is in pain?”

“Huh?” Tails looked at the red echidna in confusion. “What do you mean? I’m only gathering data on the emerald’s chaos energy.” As if not hearing Tails’ explanation, Knuckles approached the gem intending to remove the cables. Before he could, though, a bolt of static shocked his hand, causing the tough echidna to step back, his face tensing up as he growled in pain.

“Knuckles, are you hurt?” Tails asked, approaching him with an outstretched hand.

“No, I’m fine.” Knuckles turned away, tending to his bruised hands before shooting a glance back at the orange kitsune. “So, are you gonna stop this madness?”

“I really don’t know what you mean, I was just—” Tails’ explanation was cut short by the static growing in size around the Master Emerald, the gem’s glow now a piercing light that blinded the trio as the shrine began to shake under their feet.

“Tails,” Sonic said, balancing on one foot as he swung his arms to steady himself. “You gotta stop this!”

“Right.” Tails flew over to his laptop, as walking was now out of the question, and pressed a few keys. As the application closed, Tails looked in bewilderment as the Master Emerald continued to glow violently, the intensity of the static getting stronger. “No, this is impossible! The reaction should’ve subsided by now!”

In a desperate attempt to remedy the situation, Tails tried yanking the cables off the emerald, theorizing that the gem was still transmitting data to the computer, even with the program shut down. Despite his attempts, the suction cups remained in place, firmly rooted to the Master Emerald. Tails moved closer to the green gem, still yanking at the cables, with one in either hand, making no progress.

“Why did I have to fasten these so tight?” Tails struggled to say as he used as much force as his little body could muster to remove the cords. As he gave a final tug, a steady stream of static pulsed out of the Master Emerald, striking Tails on both hands, covering his body in a wave of light.

“Ahhhhh!”

To Sonic and Knuckles’ horror, the orange kitsune remained frozen in place for several seconds, glowing brightly to give them a view of the skeletal outline beneath his skin, before falling to his knees. Tails’ body tumbled sideways, facing the Master Emerald, as he fell out of consciousness.  

*****

Tails slowly opened his eyes, blinded by the mid-afternoon sun pouring through the bedroom window of Knuckles’ cabin, to find himself in bed. Sonic was staring intently into his eyes, shifting in his chair as he noticed his younger brother regaining consciousness.

“Tails!” Sonic grabbed his hand. The young fox winced at the pain in his palms. “Ohh, sorry little bro.”

The kitsune raised his head up and looked down at his hands, gloves replaced by white bandages. He attempted to make fists with his hands, but while he was able to successfully move his fingers, pain still shot up his hand, tears forming in his eyes as his lips trembled. Drying his eyes with his right arm, he looked at the concerned hedgehog sitting next to him on the side of the bed.

“How long was I out?”

“About two hours.” Sonic pointed at a clock on the wall, which read two in the afternoon.

“I see,” Tails replied, resting his eyes for a bit, allowing his hands to drop down to his belly, the position that seemed the most comfortable to his injured paws. “And the Master Emerald?”

“The giant rock is fine,” Sonic replied, a small smile returning to his face. “Knuckles is tending to it now. You should’ve seen the look on his face when you got shocked, though. He was so scared!”

“If he was frightened, I can’t imagine how you reacted!”

The two brothers laughed in unison.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, big guy.”

Sonic peered down at the injured fox as he rustled his hair. Tails looked up at the blue hedgehog, wondering if he was imagining the moisture that appeared to be forming in Sonic’s eyes, as if he were about to cry, or if it was merely an optical illusion from the sun’s reflection.

“I’m…sorry…” Tails said, looking down at his palms again, his fingers twitching as feeling returned to his hands.

“Hey, you’ve got nothin’ to apologize for,” Sonic replied, stroking the back of the fox’s head.

“Did I really cause pain to the Master Emerald?” Tails looked back up at the blue hedgehog, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I don’t know for sure,” Sonic replied, holding Tails’ hands, delicately enough to not cause pain, “but nobody believes that you did it on purpose.” The blue hedgehog’s calming voice and rational response helped cool his nerves, fresh tears no longer building up in his eyes. The young kitsune’s face loosened as he looked out the window.

“I’m sure Knuckles is upset with me, huh.” Tails watched as the red echidna shined the Master Emerald, as if attempting to restore the mystical gem after being sullied by his experimentation.

“He was much more concerned with your well-being than that stupid rock,” Sonic replied. “But if you think you’re up to it, we can get you out of bed and walk around, maybe go see ‘im too.”

Tails wiggled his toes to confirm his feet weren’t asleep before pulling himself out of bed. The hedgehog helped steady the orange fox as he placed his feet on the ground before letting him go. Tails wobbled a bit, grabbing onto Sonic’s shoulder before regaining his composure. After releasing him once more, waiting several seconds to make sure he could stand on his own, the young kitsune was able to keep his balance without anyone there to prop him up.

“Now let’s see if you can walk.” Sonic stepped out of the bedroom, beckoning Tails to follow him. Instead, he lost himself in thought, no longer in the company of his big brother.

I don’t understand…how did I survive such a shock with little more than burnt hands? Surely the intensity of the electricity should’ve paralyzed me, or worse…

The young kitsune stood there, pondering his miraculous recovery, his finger to his chin as he continued looking out the window, the sun warming his orange fur.

“Is something wrong?” Sonic asked, poking his head back into the bedroom to check on his little brother.

“No, I’m fine.” Wishing to delay no longer, Tails moved his legs, still wobbly as if his nervous system were still rebooting. Slowly taking a few more steps, however, the orange fox regained the ability to move normally, briskly following Sonic out of the cabin.

The bright sun, light wind, and refreshing aroma of the outdoor air seemed to calm Tails’ mind. He breathed deeply, allowing the air to escape his lungs slowly as he looked across the pristine clearing. He took it all in, forgetting about his injuries and scientific failures for a few moments before turning his eyes to the Master Emerald Shrine, where Knuckles was still shining the large gem with a white rag.

Not wanting to push his luck, but still eager to test his body’s limits after recovering from the electric shock, Tails jogged toward the shrine. Deciding that his legs were okay, and his balance unhindered, he began to spin his namesakes to increase his speed. Thankfully, his tails, or the rest of his body, didn’t seem to be drastically impacted by the accident, just another mystery that rivaled the age-old question of how he was able to rotate his appendages like helicopter propellers in the first place.

Sonic watched as Tails picked up speed.

Man, that little guy recovers fast!

Meeting each other at the foot of the shrine, the two brothers walked up the stone steps to greet Knuckles, who had since dropped his rag and sat down for a break.

“How are you doing, Knuckles?” Tails asked, his voice shaky. He was nervous to confront him after the incident with his Master Emerald.

“Not too bad,” the red echidna replied, looking up at the young kitsune from his seat on the ground. “I should be asking you the same thing.”

“Oh, I’m fine.” Tails smiled as he placed a hand behind his head before pulling it away, forgetting that his palms were more sensitive than usual.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier,” Knuckles said, standing back on his feet. “I just hope you realize why I got so upset.”

“No, no, I should be the one apologizing for hurting the Master Emerald. I feel like I deserve the punishment I received.”

“That’s not true. I may be the guardian of the Master Emerald, sworn to protect it at all costs, but that doesn’t mean your pain was deserved. Besides, I’m sure the Master Emerald recognized you were not actually trying to cause harm.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Tails itched his muzzle. “Hey, Knuckles…does the Master Emerald have…sentience?”

“What does that mean?” Knuckles raised his hand to his chin, attempting to decipher this new word.

“You know…feelings…thoughts…like you and me.”

“Ohh, I see. Well…yes, the Master Emerald does have feelings, and I can use my connection to the emerald to sense these emotions, but it has never spoken to me in words. I felt the emerald’s pain during your experiment, but it didn’t say that you were causing it…it didn’t need to.”

The young fox approached the Master Emerald once more, the gem glistening in the mid-afternoon sun. “If you can understand me, I just want you to know that…I’m sorry...” He placed an injured paw on the large gem as he looked down at the base of the emerald. Surprisingly, his hand didn’t hurt from touching the mystical gem.

Knuckles and Tails stood there in silence. Only the rustling of the wind and the chirping of distant flickys could be heard as they lost themselves in thought. Sonic, who was on the other side of the Master Emerald, came back around and approached his younger brother.

“Hey Tails, you’re gonna wanna take a look at this.” The fox looked up and followed the blue hedgehog to the other side of the shrine, a charred laptop resting on the ground.

At first, the orange kitsune blankly stared at the damaged laptop, coming to the realization that all his hard work, not to mention his injuries, were for nothing, until he realized that not all hope was lost. The fox turned to his smartwatch, pressing a few buttons to reveal a projector-like display that floated over Tails’ wrist, allowing him to interface with its menu by swiping with his hands.

“Aha!” Tails raised a fist in the air and jumped for joy. “This is why I always run back-ups! My laptop saved all the Master Emerald readings to the cloud in real-time. I should be able to work with this.”

“That’s great news!” Sonic said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tails looked up at his older brother with a smile, content that the work he undertook, and the inadvertent risks that he put the Master Emerald through, paid off in the end.

Their celebration, however, was cut short as the projector’s image of numerical chaos energy data shifted to the face of a small, serious-looking Mobian.

“Hello, come in, Tails,” said a gravely, deep voice from the other end of the call. “This is General Pitliff.” Sonic and company saw him talking into a headset covering his large, gray ears, a green hard hat and military fatigues blanketing his small, furry, puffy body. If not for his stern expression, the frown on his face, and his petrifying stare, the chinchilla would have almost looked cute.

“Listen up,” Pitliff continued, placing a small paw over his exposed ear. “Robotnik is up to his dirty schemes again.” He paused as a car exploded in the background. “We need you and Sonic here to defeat and, hopefully, apprehend the evil doctor.”

“We’re on it,” Tails replied, giving Pitliff a salute with his arm.

“I knew we could count on you.” Pitliff entered a few digits into his smartwatch. “All right, I just sent you the coordinates, the heart of Seaside City. We’ll fend him off until you get here, at which point we will divert our focus to assisting the injured while you take care of Robotnik.”

“Understood,” Tails said as the general ended the call. He turned his attention to Sonic and Knuckles. “Alright, let’s go and kick Eggman’s butt!”

“Hold on a second.” Sonic raised his arms, signaling the young fox to pause as he was about to fly down the stone steps of the shrine. “Is it such a good idea for you to go rushing into battle with your injuries?”

Tails stared at the bandages on his hands. He winced in pain as he attempted to form tight fists.

“I’m…I’m alright, Sonic…honest.”

“I dunno, little buddy. I’m not so sure you’re in a condition to fight.”

Tails stared at his older brother, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. “But I’m your pilot. We can defeat Eggman together, like we always do. And besides, now that Eggman is back, we don’t know what he is planning, or if he has any Chaos Emeralds.”

Sonic looked up at the blue sky while tapping a finger against his chin, pondering Tails’ plea to help.

I am concerned for the little guy, especially with his injuries, and I could just fly the Tornado 2 by myself, but that’d absolutely crush his self-confidence.

“As long as you stay in the plane, I’ll allow it.” The hedgehog folded his arms and lowered his head, closing his eyes as if in deep thought. “I care too much about you to put you in harm’s way.” Sonic’s voice cracked as he looked up at Tails, a smile returning to the blue blur’s face. “But if you promise to keep yourself safe, we could definitely use the air support.”

Tails could’ve sworn that the hedgehog’s eyes were starting to moisten.

He really is concerned for me, huh? Well, all the more reason to make him proud!

Sonic raised a gloved pinkie finger, and the young fox grabbed hold of it with his own bandaged pinkie finger.

“Pinkie swear!” they said in unison.

“Hey guys, not to interrupt your conversation here, but shouldn’t we be heading to Seaside City?”

“You’re right, Knuckles.” Sonic replied. “Let’s go!”

With that, Team Sonic dashed through the clearing and the wooded path, making their way back to the Tornado 2, untouched from their arrival earlier that day.

Tails hopped in the cockpit as Sonic and Knuckles planted their feet on the left and right wings, respectively.

“You sure you’re gonna be comfortable leaving the Master Emerald behind?” Sonic asked as Tails readied for takeoff.

“I don’t like being away from the shrine, yes, but a few hours should be okay. Eggman is the biggest threat to the Master Emerald after all, so I’m still defending the Master Emerald, even if I’m away from the island.”

“I guess,” Sonic replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Hey Tails, are we about ready yet?”

“Almost.” Tails’ fingers were still numb from his injuries, lightly burning as he twisted the knobs and pulled the levers on his control panel. “I know what should make it better!” He reached into his glove compartment to find a new pair of white gloves, replacing the ones destroyed during the incident. “These should provide some padding to help dull the pain.”

He slipped the gloves on gently, careful not to undo the bandages around his hands, before bringing the biplane to life. He spun it around, twisting it 180 degrees on the grassy runway, and rolled forward, picking up enough speed to take off and retract the aircraft’s wheels. The young kitsune looked down at his gloved hands, now lifting the plane as it brought the gang up to a higher elevation.

“Yeah, I think these gloves’ll do nicely.” He grinned to himself as he glanced at either wing, making sure that his two companions didn’t fall into the ocean below. Next, he clicked a few buttons on his smartwatch to transmit General Pitliff’s coordinates to the Tornado 2’s built-in GPS. “Alright!” Tails said to himself. “If we go a little bit faster, we should reach our destination in about 15 minutes.”

And with that, Tails cranked up the speed, the hedgehog and echidna wobbling a bit before regaining their composure, as Team Sonic soared through the sky, on their way to confront Eggman once more.

*****

Seaside Hill was a tropical paradise, sparsely populated by Mobians and primarily visited by tourists eager to enjoy the pleasant waters, warm sun, and ancient architecture the getaway had to offer. Over the years, a city formed nearby, although not close enough to disturb its natural wildlife or pollute its pristine waters. As time passed, the city expanded further away from the coastline that made the region famous. Eventually, a multi-lane interstate highway was constructed through the heart of the city. Tall buildings were developed to house various multi-national corporations that established their roots in the sprawling economically lush business district. New suburban communities seemed to sprout up like wildfire, eager to fill the residential needs of workers who wanted to live away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Indeed, the city was growing at a rapid rate.

The perfect target for Eggman’s nefarious schemes.

As Team Sonic neared the coordinates provided to them by General Pitliff, they spotted the sight and smell of smoke filling the air and a large figure hovering high above the city, higher than the tall buildings of downtown as if waiting for a new challenger to appear from the skies. As the biplane got closer, they got a better view of this entity: a large, silver, mechanical raptor with long talons, a wingspan the length of a semitruck, a razor-sharp beak, and menacing red eyes that glared at the party.

“Why hello there, you miserable pests!” The sound of Eggman’s bellowing voice echoed out of the raptor’s beak. Now approaching within striking distance of the creation, Tails began to circle it, hoping to learn of the evil doctor’s intentions while developing a plan for taking down the raptor.

“All right, Eggman,” Tails said, speaking into his headset, allowing his voice to be heard through external speakers. “What are you up to this time?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, my furry little friend.” The robot hovered in place as the biplane made its second lap around. “All right, I’ll get right to the point. Hand over whatever Chaos Emeralds you may have in your possession or else I’ll continue terrorizing Seaside City with my Elemental Egg Eagle!” As if on cue, the mechanical eagle let out a deafening cry that sounded nearly identical to the real thing. The orange kitsune’s muscles tensed at the menacing sight before him, but Sonic didn’t seem too worried.

“Elemental whatchamacallit?” Sonic asked, placing his hands on his knees while laughing. “You need to build a robot to help you name these things because you’re lacking in the creativity department!”

“I’ll have you know that it took several days to come up with the perfect name!”

“Doesn’t sound like it to me,” Knuckles replied, pounding his fists together in anticipation for the battle ahead. Sonic followed suit, stretching his arms forward while still maintaining his balance on the unstable wing at his feet.

“Let’s say we show Eggman a thing or two.”

Not waiting for a response from the red echidna, Sonic leapt forward, rolling into a ball as he charged toward the robotic eagle. Knuckles did the same, gliding towards their foe, his arms outstretched in front of him. The two allies made contact, but they ricocheted off the mechanical beast, not even leaving a scratch. Tails expertly caught the two with his biplane, one on either wing, as he continued circling around the eagle.

“Now it’s my turn!” Tails declared, pressing a button on his steering wheel to release a torrent of bullets. Unfortunately, these also bounced off the robotic beast, seemingly having no impact on their foe.

“Wooahhooohoohooo.” Eggman’s jolly laughter was almost as deafening as the eagle’s cry. “Surely you didn’t think that such trivial attacks would stop the Elemental Egg Eagle!”

By this point, Sonic and Knuckles had recovered from their first attack against the raptor and tried again, both launching off the biplane’s wings simultaneously. This time, however, the eagle dodged the attack, soaring upward with a flap of its wings. The blue and red blurs collided, just hard enough to throw Sonic out of his spherical form, as they plummeted to the city below.

Once again, Tails jumped into action, putting his plane into a harrowing nosedive as he swooped down to capture the heroes on the leftmost wing.

“Aha! You fell right into my trap!” Eggman yelled from above.

Tails looked behind him to see what was, perhaps, his worst nightmare, the very thing that he feared most: lightning. The bright streak approached the biplane, originating from the eagle’s beak, hitting the tail of the plane. Electricity sparked along the back of the aircraft, but it didn’t reach the cockpit or the wings thanks to the weather-proofing shock absorbers installed throughout the Tornado 2.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that, Eggman!” Tails yelled. Before the young fox could reverse his nosedive, however, an emergency alarm rang from the plane. He looked behind once more to discover the fire scorching the plane’s tail. “Damn it!”

“Woah, Tails. Language!” Sonic yelled as he and the red echidna clasped onto the wing, their legs dangling upward as the plane careened to the ground below. Tails ignored this comment, instead trying to steady the plane for an emergency landing.

“Bad news, guys. Looks like we’re gonna have to take this battle to the city.” As Tails announced his plan into his headset, he frantically looked around the cityscape for a suitable place to land his biplane. The tall buildings scattered throughout the downtown area directly below were, perhaps, suitable for a helicopter landing, but he needed a long strip of road to safely land his aircraft without any casualties.

The kitsune found an abandoned stretch of the interstate, a section just long enough for him to land the plane and allow it to roll to a safe stop. Wasting no time, the fox took the plane out of its nosedive, allowing the Tornado 2 to lose altitude as a steadier pace. He steered the plane, positioning it horizontally with the highway below.

“Brace yourselves!” Tails yelled, deploying the wheels as his friends regained their composure from the nosedive. They bent their knees and balanced on the biplane’s wing like a surfboard, using their hands to keep themselves from falling off as the aircraft’s wheels made contact with the cement surface below. As the plane slowly lost speed, the orange kitsune dodged a few burning police cars before the aircraft ground to a halt, almost colliding with a school bus that obstructed the entire stretch of the interstate.

“Great landing, Tails!” Sonic called out, giving the pilot a thumbs up, which Tails returned before opening the hatch protecting the cockpit.

“Woah, hold up there, cowboy.” Sonic looked up at the cockpit, his younger brother about to jump out. “Remember what you promised earlier.��� It took a few moments for Tails to recall that he committed to staying in the plane.

“But I can fight, Sonic! You’re gonna need all the help y—”

“Pinkie…swear.” Sonic interrupted the fox’s argument with a stern voice, staring sharply at the pilot. “I’m sorry, but with your injuries, you’d only be a liability on the battlefield. Come on, Knuckles.”

The two jumped off the wing and ran down the interstate, approaching the mechanical raptor that had since descended and hovered in place a short distance away. Sonic dashed off too quickly to see the tears welling-up in Tails’ eyes. He tried to dry them with his gloved hands, but his emotional agony seemed to exacerbate his physical pain, causing him to groan in discomfort. He slumped in his chair, looking down at his feet as tears rolled down his muzzle, dripping to his legs.

“A liability, huh? Is that what you truly think?”

The young fox was too emotionally blinded to realize that Sonic’s comment was narrowly referencing the situation at hand – his injuries making him a more vulnerable target – instead of a poignant attack against his overall usefulness.

“No…” Tails’ voice was scratchy as he spoke through his tears. “I can do anything I set my mind to. I can help you defeat Eggman and prove that I’m no liability.” Drying his tears with his left arm, he jumped out of the aircraft. The fire on the plane’s tail extinguished itself naturally, so the young fox didn’t need to worry about further damage to his prized biplane.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?” Tails said to the Tornado 2, patting its metallic body as if to reassure the aircraft that he’d return safely.

He turned around and ran toward his friends, activating his namesakes for extra speed. The trip only took him a few minutes, even while dodging the debris scattered along the road. Hiding behind a destroyed car to remain undiscovered by Eggman, Tails peeked around the vehicle to find the evil doctor giving one of his famous, albeit annoying monologues.

“Isn’t my Elemental Egg Eagle an eggzzellent invention? It has the speed and agility of a raptor with an impenetrable body and the ability to produce not one…not two…but THREE elemental attacks. As you’ve already witnessed, electricity is one of them. Want to guess what else we have in store?” The eagle, resting its mechanical talons on the cement road, opened its beak while charging a new attack. “Get a load of this!”

The mechanical slave unleashed a stream of fire in Sonic and Knuckles’ direction. Sonic dodged with relative ease while Knuckles left little room for comfort. After jumping to the side, he noticed a warm feeling above his head. A few seconds later, he realized that his fur was on fire. He ducked and rolled around frantically to put out the miniature blaze, leaving a patchy burnt spot near his dreadlocks.

“Ahaha, Knuckles…you should look at yourself in the mirror!” The blue hedgehog laughed as he pointed at the red echidna, unable to control his emotions as Knuckles’ anger grew hotter than the flames he just extinguished. Suffice it to say: unlike Sonic, Knuckles didn’t chuckle.

“This is no laughing matter, you oaf!”

Little did Sonic know, Knuckles was correct. Eggman used this opportunity for the eagle to recharge, its beak gaping open as it gathered the energy necessary to release another flamethrower attack. Sonic quickly stopped laughing and braced himself for another dodge, Knuckles doing the same. Before the bird could launch its attack, however, an orange kitsune ran towards it, passing Sonic and Knuckles by as he held a dummy ring bomb in his outstretched hand.

“Get a load of this you fiend!”

Tails threw the ring directly at the eagle’s beak, landing in its mouth and falling down its throat. The machine’s eyes grew wide, realizing that a foreign object was obstructing the elemental weapons housed in its throat. It tried to gag it out, but it was no good; the bomb stuck itself to the first surface that it touched, making removal almost impossible in the short period of time before detonation. The eagle put its head down, as if conceding defeat, before the beak exploded, shooting shrapnel everywhere as the eagle collapsed to the ground, its wing twitching as if it were a real bird on its last legs.

“Noooooo! Curse that meddlesome fox! Get up, you worthless bucket of bolts!” Miraculously, the eagle obeyed; only its mouth and beak were damaged, so the rest of the mechanical raptor was still intact. The hole in the bird’s face left by the explosion revealed the three elemental cannons that deployed their respective attacks. The two on either side were too damaged to be of use, but the middle weapon was in working order.

“Freeze that fox back to the ice age, or else you’ll be joining your brothers in the junkyard.” Not needing to be threatened again, the eagle began charging the attack, a white mist forming around the hole in its face.

“Now fire!” At a speed even faster than its flame attack, the injured eagle released a stream of ice. The young fox had no time to dodge; the attack hit him directly in the chest, launching him back as the cold stream followed him, the green Chaos Emerald slipping from his utility belt and landing on the cement below.

“Not…the emerald…” Tails struggled to say as his body flew through the air, passing Sonic and Knuckles in the opposite direction before colliding with the side of a school bus. The ice continued its onslaught against his furry body, entombing him completely in a frozen chunk of ice against the bus, save for his head and a single arm.

“Ahhh, I’m…stuck…” Tails tried to wiggle himself free, but he lacked the energy and power to break the ice.

“Tails!” Sonic ran back to him, concern in his eyes as he approached his younger brother. “I’m gonna get you out of this.”

“No…Sonic…” Tails said between labored breaths, his body experiencing a tremendous amount of pain from the cold penetrating his fur and piercing the skin below. He used his head and eyes to turn Sonic’s attention to his free hand, a dummy ring bomb around his wrist. “Take…this bomb…and throw it into…its gullet. That…should weaken it…enough for you…and Knuckles to…bring it…do—”  

Tails spoke no more, dangling from the side of the truck.

“Tails…” Sonic placed a hand on his furry face, unresponsive to his gentle touch.

“Tails!”

*****

Click here to read chapter 5!

#sonic the hedgehog #Miles Tails Prower #tails #Tails the Fox #fan fiction #Fan #fiction #Fic #Sonic X #action #Adventure #brotherly

[eldritchsurveys]

1050.

1 - What’s your average grocery bill for the week? How many people/animals does that have to feed? Could you cut it down if you had to? >> Well, now that I’ve actually been put in charge of the budget, my projection is $150/wk. There are two of us (and a cat) trying to live on basically one income (my income is so meager that most of the time it isn’t even worth mention except in the fact that I pay a portion of the rent and can contribute to some small things) and that makes things rough, particularly since we each have certain needs and preferences when it comes to food. Recently we’ve been spending $200+ on grocery trips and that has obviously become unsustainable, as I’ve observed, so a lot of the fun stuff we used to buy (adult beverages, snack/convenience foods, etc) are going to have to be avoided from now on. I think we can pull it off, though. I am known for my creativity in stretching a dollar (one benefit of chronic poverty!). :)

2 - When was the last time you were woken up in the middle of the night? >> I wake up randomly almost every night, either because of environmental disturbances or because I’m overheating.

3 - Have you done anything out of the ordinary so far today? >> Nope.

4 - How long is it until your birthday? >> About six and a half months.

5 - Do you have a lot of debt? How long do you think it’ll take you to pay it all off? >> I have no debt. Another benefit of chronic poverty is that no one will even offer me credit in the first place.

6 - When was the last time you had to take time off work or school to attend an appointment? >> ---

7 - Do you get paid if you’re off sick from work? Do you think the number of sick days would change if you did or didn’t get paid? >> ---

8 - What colour was the last animal you saw? >> Black.

9 - When’s your next payday? Do you have anything you need to buy when you get paid? >> My “payday” is the first of the month. There are plenty of things I’d love to buy that are outside of my regular monthly expenses, but I don’t actually have enough money to do so. Could really use a better pillow...

10 - What kind of face mask do you prefer to use - re-usable or disposable? >> Mine are reusable. Disposable ones seem like an unnecessary expense and waste when we can just... throw cloth masks in the laundry every weekend with the rest of our stuff.

11 - If someone told you five years ago, that you’d be living through a global pandemic, do you think you’d believe them? >> I mean, it wouldn’t sound ridiculous to me, but I also wouldn’t be able to imagine what “living through a global pandemic” actually looks like because I had no prior experience to go by, so.

12 - Is your state or country under any form of lockdown or “stay at home” order at the moment? Are you following the “rules” of that? >> No, Governor Whitmer is probably just trying to avoid being assassinated or kidnapped or whatever crazy thing at this point, not to mention she also has her hands tied because the courts basically said she has no right to put out extended-emergency executive orders or whatever. Even though... this literally is an extended emergency. So I’m not sure how this surge in cases is going to be addressed (the local ICUs are at capacity already, but plenty of people are really just walkin around doing things like everything’s fine...). Personally, I’ve been sheltered in place pretty much this entire time aside from grocery runs and the occasional appropriately-distanced-and-usually-outdoors small social outing. It’s Sparrow who’s at direct risk because she has to go to work and some of the clients and staff there are... oof.

13 - What flavour were the last potato chips you ate? >> Salt and pepper.

14 - If you have pets, do you let them sleep in or on your bed with you? >> I don’t let anyone sleep in bed with me, lol.

15 - Would you rather watch a sitcom, a reality show, or a documentary? >> I like some sitcoms and I like some documentaries, but there is rarely a reality show I like.

16 - Do you have a favourite celebrity chef? >> Nope.

17 - When was the last time you did a load of laundry? >> Sparrow does the laundry on Saturdays.

18 - Do you have anything interesting planned for tomorrow? What day is it tomorrow, anyway? >> Tomorrow is Saturday, so, laundry, and also the grocery run. Nothing interesting, because the one thing we’d planned for (a distanced outdoor outing at the Nature Center -- it was a bonfire date night!) got cancelled due to lack of interest. :( I love bonfires... (also, soon we won’t be able to do anything outside because of the weather, so I was looking forward to one last chance)

19 - Have you ever been in therapy or counselling? Did you find it useful? >> Yes, but it did not work out because I have particular needs from therapy that would not get met by these particular people, and I don’t have the kind of insurance (or hard cash) that would get me the kind of people I do need.

20 - What was the last film you watched? Is it one of your favourites? >> The Lords of Salem. It isn’t one of my favourites, but I do enjoy it.

21 - Would you say you’re an organised person? In what ways are you organised or disorganised? >> I would say that, yes. I derive direct enjoyment from the mere act of organising something -- whether it be a budget, objects in a room, my computer’s files, whatever.

22 - Would you rather read a fantasy novel or an auto-biography? >> Fantasy novel, probably. Although if the autobio was by someone I found interesting, then yeah, that.

23 - When was the last time someone paid for something for you? >> I mean, Sparrow pays for things that I use all the time, but we live in a household together and share finances, so... you know...

24 - Do you have an open fire? If not, would you like one? >> A what?

25 - What do you do with your old technology once you upgrade or get something new? >> My old laptop is still here in my room, because I have no idea what to do with it. I guess I could take it somewhere to have it recycled or something, but seeing as that’s a thing I’ve never done, I just... never got around to formulating a plan of action for it.

26 - If you were given the choice, would you solve a problem by speaking to someone on the phone, in person or via e-mail? >> Most of my socialisation happens online, so any problem-solving would also happen online.

27 - Do you have an alarm set for tomorrow morning? What time do you need to get up? >> No.

28 - What are you wearing at the moment? >> A pair of shorts, an undershirt, and my usual hoodie.

29 - Is there anyone else in the room with you? What are they doing right now? >> No.

30 - Do people in real life know that you take surveys? If they don’t, is there a particular reason that you’ve never told them? >> I don’t really know anyone in meatspace well enough that we’d be talking about something like this, so no. I mean, Sparrow knows, of course, but that’s about it.

#surveys #survey #random survey #not for reblogging *glare*

[leonardo-capulet]

Friendly Concern || Cris & Leo

Who: Cristian Capulet and Leo Capulet

What: Cristian gets sick, misses a lunch with Leo. Leo goes to check on, and help take care of a sick Cristian.

Where: Cristian’s home.

When: March 20th.

To say it had been a long week for Cristian Capulet was likely an understatement. He knew he’d been working long hours and likely needed to pull back and relax, but hindsight was always 20/20. That’s why it shouldn’t have been surprising the morning he woke feeling like he hit a wall, body aching and throat sore. His head felt like it was spinning, but the submissive had managed to drive into work, writing it off as a minor cold and work exhaustion. Several hours later however, his condition only worsened and he felt like hell. It wasn’t long till he found himself being sent home from work on orders to rest and get better, the submissive grumbling the whole way to his car, he knew something was wrong at that point though— he felt up for then drive, and knew he was getting sick. Likely either a a nasty cold or else the flu, neither of which sounded particularly enjoyable to someone use to never taking a break. Cristian spent the remainder of the morning in bed, exhausted and sleeping heavily, forgetting until he woke some time later that he’d had lunch plans with Leo. Shit. He glanced around blearily in bed, spotting his work bag off to the side with his laptop, but no phone. He’d left it in the car, and there was no way he was managing that at the moment. If anything, he felt worse. His symptoms had expanded to a dry, persistent  cough, and he felt horribly fatigued still. Reaching for his bag, he pulled out his computer and shot the Dominant an email saying he’d need to cancel and was sick. Good enough. Not giving it much thought past that, Cristian set the laptop beside him, letting sleep take him once again.

Leo had been seated at a table for some time now, feeling the minutes drag on and feeling uncomfortable in the knowledge that Cristian hadn’t shown up for lunch yet. Another look at his watch told him that thirty minutes had passed. That was highly unlike the submissive, he was never late. Never. He’d sent a text approximately fifteen minutes prior to check and make sure he was okay, or if he’d gotten caught up with work, but no response had Leo both worried, and nervous. Deciding he would give it maybe another ten minutes, or so, he pulled up his email to see if there was anything important that he needed to address when he saw that Cristian had emailed. Opening the email, he read over the short text and frowned. The other was sick. If he wasn’t going to show up, then he’d swing by and check on him. Leo told himself it was only to make sure that Cristian didn’t need anything, but he knew it was because he cared, and also because he wanted to make sure that the submissive wasn’t avoiding him. Leo left and made his way to Cristian’s apartment. He didn’t know what he’d say upon arrival, but he figured he’d worry about that when he got there. He sent a quick message to his next in command of security detail, before heading to the submissive’s home, to say that he had something to take care of, and he’d be reachable by phone for any emergencies. Leo headed to the door, straightening his tie and suit jacket before he reached Cristian’s door. He knocked first. No answer. Leo frowned, he’d seen the other’s car, so unless he was out with someone else, he assumed that the submissive was home. Trying the door knob, not expecting anything to come of it, he was shocked when it actually turned and he was able to enter. He’d need to talk to Cristian about the importance of locking a door. He called out for the other as he entered, making his presence known, locking the door behind him before moving further into the apartment. When he didn’t see the other in any of the rooms, he headed to the bedroom and paused in the doorway seeing Cristian in bed. “Cris?” He walked over slowly, stopping by the bed. “Hey... how’re you feeling?” He asked, his tone softening with concern as he took note of the other’s appearance.

It took Cristian a moment to realize someone was in his bedroom, fading in and out of sleep. He rolled over and turned, confused when he saw Leo standing beside his bedside. “Why are you here?” He asked, voice laced with exhaustion as he stared up at the Dominant. He didn’t move from where he laid, stripped down to just his underwear and snuggled under his sheet and comforter, with his work clothing ditched over the chair that sat in the corner of the room.

Not answering immediately, Leo touched the back of his hand to Cristian’s forehead and sighed as he pulled his hand back. “I came to check on you. Got your email... albeit a little late... Just wanted to see how you were, see if you needed anything.” He crossed his arms over his chest giving the other a sympathetic smile. “You still didn’t answer my question, but just looking at you, I think I’ve got my answer. Have you tried to drink anything, or eat anything?” Knowing that hydration was important, as was keeping your body as nourished as possible so that it could fight off sickness, he wanted to see if Cristian was taking care of himself.

Cristian glanced up at Leo again and weakly shook his head. He'd come home and immediately crawled into bed. "No.. Not yet. I'll get to it."

Leveling him with a serious expression he gave another sigh. “In that case I’m making you some tea. And there’s no use in arguing, you need to hydrate and tea might help soothe things. Do you want me to grab anything for you while I make tea?” He asked, his mind wandering to why this Dominant that Cristian had been seeing wasn’t taking care of him. It didn’t matter, Leo would handle it and there was no need to bring it up now. It wasn’t his business, and Leo wanted to help anyway.

Cristian forced himself to sit up in bed, coughing as he did so. “Water’s fine— please,” he requested, knowing he needed fluids in general. Doesn’t he have work? What time is it?

With a nod, Leo said, “Water it is, although that cough doesn’t sound great. Do you have anything to help with that?” He asked. “Let me get the water first. I’ll figure out the rest in a second.” He left the room to get the submissive a glass of water, and when he returned he held the glass out for the other. “You need to make sure you drink this. I know you probably don’t want to, but you need to.” He instructed, sliding his hands into his pockets.

Cristian shook his head and waited, trying to think of what medicine he had in the cabinet in the bathroom. When the Dominant returned he politely accepted the water, not realizing how thirsty he was until he brought it to his lips. He paused to speak, clearing his throat which led to another string of coughs. “I think I have some pain killers in the first aid kit under my sink, but not much else,” he admitted with a pout, glancing up at Leo. He glanced back, turning just enough to set the unfinished water on the bedside table that doubled as a headboard for his bed. It was rare Cristian found himself ill, and comforting as it was to have someone checking in on him, he found himself overheated and just wanting to go back to sleep.

“Pain killers... that’s not gonna do any good.” Leo paused to consider his options. “Where are your keys? You can rest and I’ll go get a few things for you. Something to help with your cough and all.”

“They’ll help with inflammation,” he countered  softly, sliding back under his blankets.  “Pants,” he added, yawning and not paying too much attention to what the other had said past that.

“Just sleep, Cris.” Leo walked over to the pants, he grabbed the keys out of the pocket he knew the other kept them in, and then felt for where Cristian normally kept his cell, but didn’t find it. He made a note to check for it later, so that when Cris needed it, he’d have it. Taking a second to look over at the submissive, he made sure that he was resting and then headed out the door. First stop, to pick up medicine. He got a small selection of flu and cold medicines, and things to help with Cristian’s cough. Next, he made his way to pick up groceries. His mother had taught him how to make a soup that would be easy on the stomach, and had become their staple meal whenever anyone in the family had been sick. Once he’d gotten everything he made his way back to Cristian’s home, before heading in, he checked the submissive’s car, finding the other’s phone there, and then headed inside with the bags of items he’d purchased. Leo first checked on Cristian, silently, not wanting to wake him if he was asleep. Then he headed into the kitchen and set to work on making the soup. It made him feel good, to be able to provide for the other, especially after everything Cristian had done for him lately. It was a while before Leo went back to the room to check on the submissive again. “Hey, you awake?” He asked gently as he poked his head in the door.

Cristian shifted in is sleep, turning onto his back as he slept, blissfully unaware of his ex’s doings. He stirred faintly when the front door opened, only to pass back out again, snuggling deeper into his sheets.

When Leo received no response, he stepped into the room, bag of supplies in one hand. Settling on the bed where there was room, he set the bag he carried off to the side, and reached out with one hand to run it over the other's arm before nudging him as he spoke, "Hey, wake up, I've got some medicine you need to take." He followed this with another nudge just in case, and then gave the other a moment to see if he'd managed to wake him up.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Cristian mumbled just barely awake. One eye opened narrowly, focusing on Leo before the other joined it and he blinked several times. Sighing, he slowly forced himself into an upright position again, looking pathetically at Leo’s form. “Why are you here, Leo?”

"I'm here because you're sick, and this is what people do for those they care about when they're not feeling well." Leo answered simply as he lifted the bag of medicine into his lap and began to pull out the variety. "Pretty sure I've got anything that could potentially help with flu or cold or sore throat or cough. Pick your poison, but I highly suggest you take something for the flu, you're feeling kind of warm to the touch." He waited for Cristian to make a choice and as he waited he added, "I've also made you something to eat, and I know... you probably don't want food, but you need to put something in your system, and I'm hoping that this will be easy enough to get down."

The submissive’s lips curled into a frown at the mention of what he possibly had. “If I’m that sick you probably shouldn’t even be around me,” he responded, reaching out weakly for the bag and hoping there was something that could help with the headache and chills he’d had while he slept. Hands sifting through the contents of the bag, he glanced up at Leo again, adding, “Thank you, though... You really didn’t need to do this.”

Leo shot him a slightly bored expression. "I have a fantastic immune system, so don't worry about me." He was fairly certain he'd gotten anything that Cristian could possibly need, and couldn't help but give the other a small smile when he got a thank you. "You would've likely done the same for me, Cris. It's no problem. I really don't mind at all. And it's all yours, by the way. Might as well keep it just in case, you never know when you'll need it again."

Cristian nodded slowly after picking one bottle of a multi-symptom cold and flu liquid medication out of the bag. He made a disgusted face, cringing as he set it in his lap and set the bag off to his side for the moment. “Stuff tastes horrible but usually works well,” he complained childishly, pouting and jokingly adding,  “Could have at least got me the bubble gum flavor. The cherry’s the worst.”

The complaint, in addition to the expression on Cristian's face had Leo laughing freely. "Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know your cough syrup preferences. I'll keep that in mind for next time. I promise, only bubble gum flavor from here on out." He promised and then urged gently, "Go ahead and take some. I'll get you some more water, and if you're up for trying maybe some soup I made."

Cristian felt ten times warmer as he watched the visible joy Leo displayed, giving a shy, pleased smile himself despite how gross he felt. His fingers fiddled with the bottle a moment until he got it open, discarding the packaging beside him and using a small dosing cup on the lid to pour himself a shot. He cringed as he threw it back, audibly letting out a disgusted noise. “Like cherry flavored paint thinner,” he commented through his teeth, fiddling with with to do with the cup in one hand and open bottle in the other. “Mind putting the lid back on it please?” Times like this a more... logically placed beside table would have made sense, though he’d hardly thought he’d end up where he was.

The smile that crossed Cristian's features didn't pass Leo's notice. However, he couldn't help but chuckle again at his reaction to the medicine, and then teased, "Oh, because you drink paint thinner so often, do you?" A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he reached forward for the bottle of medication and the lid, closing the bottle. "I'll rinse out the cup too." As he took the items in hand, he slid off the bed to head towards the bathroom. He quickly rinsed out the cup and setting it over the lid of the bottle he entered the room again. "Where do you want to keep this?"

“Just behind me’s fine,” he answered, gesturing to his headboard just as he broke into another fit of coughs. The head  of the bed doubled as a shelf for bedside items, where Cristian’s water sat as well as two half read books. “Thank you... Though really... I don’t want you getting in trouble, Leo,” he added as the brunette returned. He thought it was incredibly sweet Leo was helping him— and had he not felt like shit, perhaps the queasiness only his stomach would have felt more akin to butterflies— but he couldn’t help but worry the other was neglecting work.

Leo climbed back onto the bed and set the medicine behind Cristian as he went into another fit of coughs, his brow furrowing in concern as he settled into a seated position next to the submissive. He rolled his eyes at the comment. "Cris, don't worry about my work. Everything is being taken care of." He wasn't going to avoid his work for long, and with his second in line keeping an eye on things, he knew that everything would be okay until he got back. "You're the priority right now, as the sick one. Work understands." Leo watched the submissive for a moment before he asked, "Do you think you have it in you to attempt to eat something? Or would you rather just relax for a little while longer?"

Food. He felt kind of hungry, yet the thought kind of made his stomach flip again— and not in a good way. He’d been able to smell it since he woke too— and despite the alluring scent, he wasn’t feeling it. “I feel bad,” he responded with a faint pout, turning away from Leo and staring at his lap. Everything still ached, and he figured it would be a bit before he felt any reprieve from the medicine. “You went to all that effort, but....” His voice faded off and he went silent for a moment before adding, “Maybe later?”

The pout on Cristian's face had Leo smile faintly, before reaching out and taking the submissive's hand. "It'll keep. When you're ready, I'll get you a little, and if you like it I'll pack it up so you can just heat it up when you need more whenever I'm gone. You just let me know when you'd like to try." He moved on the bed so he was sitting next to Cristian, facing the same direction, with his legs outstretched, one crossed over the other. "Do you know, my mother taught me how to make that soup that I made, and soup's not my favorite by any means. I like this one, though, especially when I'm sick." He gave a shrug of a shoulder and then added, "I thought maybe you'd like it while you're sick, too. I won't be offended if you don't, by the way." He remembered it as one of the few things his stomach could handle during the rare moments he'd found himself sick with anything that made his stomach feel wretched.

Cristian yawned, laying back down and turning onto his side to face Leo. His one hand remained in the Dominant’s grasp as he moved, not bothering to pull it away. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to stay awake for long or not, but having someone there—to listen to— was comforting in a familiar way. He chuckled, reaching for the blankets with his spare hand. “You never get sick.”

A soft chuckle fell from his lips at the comment, and he watched Cristian settle in bed. "I pretty much never get sick, you're right. Got sick more often when I was a kid, but even then it was rare. I think I might be able to count the times I've been legitimately sick on one hand." He looked down at Cristian next to him with a smile and then continued talking, not quite sure why he was sharing information about when he was a kid, but comfortable in doing so. "I'll tell you what, though, whenever I am sick? I'm down for the count. I'm practically dead to the world, and I am the most miserable, pathetic, sick person. My mother used to tell me it was the only time I was whiny. That's how she knew when I was really sick, and when I was faking it." He smiled at the memory of his mother caring for him when he had been sick. A pleasant memory, even if being sick had been awful.

Cristian smiled, though his eyelashes fluttered closed as he relaxed. “Sounds cute,” he commented softly, pausing to yawn. “—Little Leo.”

Leo could tell that Cristian was ready to sleep again, but the smile that had appeared on his face at Leo's memory, mixed with the comment, left a sweet smile on the Dominant's face. "Oh, before you fall asleep. I grabbed your phone for you because I figured you'd need it." It would also be much easier to contact him later to keep tabs on how the submissive was feeling. "Did you need me to call anyone for you?" He asked curiously. There were doubts settling in his mind regarding someone else. With his free hand, he pulled out Cristian's phone along with the keys he'd taken to get back into the house.

Not thinking much into the request, Cristian shook his head and responded, “I’m good.” His boss already knew, and he had no other plans that required cancelling. That was it. He’d been fortunate Leo came over, even if a small part of him questioned it like always. It was with that thought that Cristian numbly realized he hadn’t let go of Leo, gently releasing his grip on the other’s fingers and pulling back his palm to slide under a pillow. Old habits died hard.

Despite the doubts that Leo was beginning to have regarding this supposed Dom, he still hadn't expected the response that he received from Cristian. He didn't press the issue. Leo simply put the phone and keys next to the medicine and then relaxed again in the position he'd been before. He hated that Cristian had let go of his hand, but he didn't complain, he'd had a chance to hold onto the submissive without him pulling away for at least a short while. Instead, Leo's gaze remained on Cristian as he reached down with one hand and ran his fingers through the other's hair slowly. He repeated the motion for a while until he felt that Cristian was well asleep. Leo climbed off the bed carefully, not wanting to wake the submissive, and began to clean up. He set aside some soup for Cristian to eat when he woke up, and the rest he packed up to be reheated in the coming days that Cristian would likely be sick. Once everything was cleaned up, Leo took some time to call and touch base with people at work, making sure that things were being taken care of. With all of that sorted, he returned to the room, and sat next to Cristian. He busied himself with checking work emails, and responding to them, occasionally looking over to check on the submissive, and even brush his hair back every so often. It felt nice to be able to sit next to Cristian, take care of him, and not have the other try to push him away. In the end, Leo waited until Cristian was awake again so that he could attempt to get the submissive to eat, and to also let him know where he could find more, as well as to give the other male a promise to check in on him in the coming days when he wasn't working. If there was anything that Cristian needed, but couldn't get himself, Leo would help if he could. At least one thing seemed to be glaringly obvious, and that was that in the time Leo had been with Cristian... no other Dom had shown up, or seemed to call. An interesting fact indeed.

#[convo: cristian 10] #//i suck at titling things #love me anyway i guess??? #but here had this

[darkling-er]

Piety Knob || Chapter 1

Summary: In 2017 Juniper Blackwood moves into a small town with her aunt because of a job opportunity thanks to distant family. Juniper was always homeschooled so she's unfamiliar with everything at her new town, and a new school to fit in with strangers. With noone to really talk to, she dwells in the mysteries of the town, while finding out secrets about her family and herself as well..

Parts: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 coming soon

Characters: Piety Knob OCS (see under Piety Knob intros tag)

The car ride from the airport is longer than expected. It's not like I didn't google the whole trip and count how long it would take, but actually experiencing a 16 hour long car ride is way different from theory. Perry, my aunt, is being cheerful without a stop since we packed our things in Chicago to move to the distant little town in Oregon, Detroit.

"We should be near to family, Juniper, you'll see how good it will be for you!" she said when she announced that she got a job in my hometown. I was excited for her, truly, she had such an awful job back in Chicago, her boss was mean to her all the time and she recieved a way too low paycheck after the plus hours she was working.

Finally she got a chance to start over in a small town, with people she already knew and liked so I guessed why not. Why not leave behind the town I grew up in and mostly loved to a place I hardly even remembered other than from my aunt's tales when I was little. At the age of four when people only remember insignificant events like there was a time when a butterfly flew on my mom's shoulder and my dad tried to catch it. Or when I hurt my knee in the backyard and my aunt scolded me for being so wild when playing. Not Perry, mind you, my other aunt, from my mother's side, Primrose.

And here I am in the overheated backseat of my aunt's old station wagon. It smells old, mixed with smells of used leather, overheated plastic and the burgers we ate a couple hours ago for lunch.

It's close to noon, which I can tell from the direction of the sun in the sky - I had to rely on such primitive modes since both my and my aunt's phone died due to lack of charge - which greets us sometimes when it reaches over the tall pine trees that sorround the main road to Detroit.

Perry promised to take me on many trips after we moved in to the Stantiam State Forest.

I look from the phenomenal view to the front seat and ask Perry:

"How is Church doing?" I look to our old tabby, who sleeps peacefully in her carriage.

"Wonderful, after he puked on my best traveling shoe back at the drivers' parkinglot."

Perry says sarcastically but looks lovingly at the cat for a second before turning her attention back to the road.

"How are you darling?" she asks looking at me through the rearview mirror.

"Good." I smile and I believe I manage to convince her because she smiles back and drives happily towards that hellhole.

I practiced smiling like that for a long time before talking to aunt Periwinkle about moving to Oregon. It's not the nature I have the problem with, the lack of city noise. I actually love the idea of being somewhere quiet and nice. Somewhere I can actually breath clear air.

But the thought of leaving my home and the place I was so used to terrified me in a way I never thought it could.

Maybe a repressed childhood fear, I reckoned. Moving meaning to lose something I love, just when I was four. Losing both my parents than having to move to my aunt Perry, who was my closest next to kin. Meanwhile my sister stayed there with Primrose. I never understood why was that, and truly Perry couldn't explain it either, it was some mix up with my father's and mother's last will. That's why I've barely met my sister, Betty or my other aunt. I got a card and some cash for my birthday from them always, with some petty excuse of not being able to visit me and meet. On Christmas it was our turn to go to them, but Perry having terrible pay at her work made that difficult as well.

I'm not saying it's all their fault. We could have called or texted any time, it's 2017 for God's sake. But it was too awkward and forced so we stopped trying to connect with my sister.

Now that we'll move there, I don't really know what to expect from this sudden change. I would prefer to skip any small talk with them, but if Perry will persist, which I know she will, I will try for her sake.

She always put me in first in her life since my parent's accident, it's only fair I try and make it up for her.

Doing all this thinking I only realize that Perry was talking as she calls my name probably for not the first time:

"Juniiii? Earth to Juniper, is anyone home?"

I roll my eyes and smile.

"Of course, sorry I was daydreaming."

She dismisses it with a smirk.

"I was only saying now that you'll attend high school maybe you'll get a chance to meet a boy."

I make an annoyed sound and bury my head in my hand.

"What? Stooop, no!"

She shrugs in reply.

"Or a girl, I don't judge, you know me."

I shake my head and look out the window again.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say any of that."

Perry chuckles with amusement then turns her attention to the road.

"Whatever."

The rest of the trip is boring, we almost hit a deer at one point, which freaks Perry out the most, then Church, who acts wild in her special carriage 'cage'. I on the other hand just want to catch some sleep and recharge my phone so I can return to socialization. Jeez, I'm really one of those people who can't live without their phone for a longer period. Longer meaning hours, it's ridiculous.

I would read something, but all my books are in the new house, we sent the moving truck way ahead so at least when we arrive in the new house all our things will be there.

After what seems like ages I notice an old, mossy sing with the usual welcome messeage. 'Welcome to Detroit, Oregon. Stay for a while.'

"Well that sounds like what a desperate husband would say to her wife when they are having a divorce." I let the comment slip out of my mouth and Perry shushes me but I see her trying not to let out a chuckle.

When we finally reach the house it's already dark and I feel terribly tired after the long drive.

"I want to sleep for a month." i comment as Perry parks the car in the driveway. She nods in agreement and we step outside the old station wagon.

I breath in deeply the summer warm but fresh air and let my body to be free from sitting all day long. I strech my arms and legs with a low growl, then take out Church's cage from the front seat.

Perry is already at the door, all fast and excited even after the trip, like it was nothing to her, just a five minute trip to the store or something.

She lets out an excited squel searching for the right keyes in her hand as I close the car with an exhausted sigh and join her at the doorway.

She looks at me with a grin excited for both of us.

"This is gonna be so great, sweetie! I'm going to make you something for dinner, maybe you can unpack a little in your room?"

"Sure thing, Captain."

She doesn't mind my sarcastic tone as she lets the front door fling open so our new home can greet us.

Periwinkle steps in first and I follow her inside, locking the door behind me.

It's a two story building, all wooden and bricks. It looks cozy, it's definitely bigger than our flat in Chicago.

It has a half-deck to the front door. A garage and an attic. Basically the attic is the second store to the house. My room as Perry told me. Two bathrooms, one downstairs next to Perry's room and one upstairs next to mine.

The living room is open and is connected to the kitchen. Other than that it looks pretty simple, no guest rooms or a cellar. We don't need them anyway.

I like the style of the house. It's like the one from Oregon Trail. The window shutters and doors are painted to a deep green, like the color of the pines around the house.

The moving company did a great job with the furniture, though we mostly left everything behind. We only brought the old couch and the Perry's wardrobe with us. I didn't need anything in my room, all my stuff could fit in three boxes and that was pretty much all I really cared about. Things are just things, the people around us is what matters. My mom used to say that, according to Perry. I like that thought.

I set down Church in the living room and let her out of the carrier. As soon as she knows it's freedom for her she runs to Perry in the kitchen.

I hear my aunt chuckle from next to the stove as I go upstairs towards my room.

It's a narrow stair, followed by a similarly narrow hall which ends in two doors. First I assume is to my room and next to it is the bathroom.

I open up the door which creaks with an eery sound. From the pictures Perry showed me it looked a lot smaller but now stepping into it I immediately smile. It's small alright, but looks cozy with the two windows looking down to the small town and lake, somewhat covered by the pine trees.

My bed is right under those windows, and it has a wardrobe, a desk and a small bookshelf.

I can already imagine stacking up the walls with polaroid pictures I took ages ago in Chicago with the posters of movies I always watch with uncle Gabe. He lives in Salem, so I'm also excited to meet with him more often.

He couldn't help us to move from the airport because he was out on a job, but he called us and said he would visit next thing tomorrow.

I look at the boxes that the moving company put down in the middle of my new room and I start to open the up and unpack my things. Just some clothes, I never was really that into fashion and having a lot of clothes to wear. My books are the next, which I immediately put on the bookshelf above my desk, and some other trinkets, such as my laptop and charger. I search for a place to plug it in my phone.

"Arise!" I say dramatically and put it down to charge on it's own.

Now my main goal is to put on something comfortable and go down and eat whatever is smelling so good downstairs.

I put on a button up shirt which is way too baggy for me, I got it from my dad. Well I found it in a box that had my dad's belongings in it. My mom's stuff stayed with my sister and aunt Primrose.

It covers the short I'm having on and in this summer heat it's perfect and comfy. I run down the stairs towards the kitchen and meet my aunt with a new sense of energy.

"What are we eating, I'm starving!"

She looks at me with a smile and holds up the plates.

"Bacon and eggs.. Right from the locals."

"My precious..." I make a lame impression and we eat our food in less then a couple of minutes.

"I'm gonna go wash up. You should too, and get ready to bed. We have to go into town tomorrow, I have to meet with my new boss and we have to sing you into high school before august starts!"

With no time to argue she heads into the bathroom downstairs and I hear the water starting. I sigh and look at Church who is already licking up our empty plates. I pet her and say to her.

"You are very lucky to not have to go to work or school."

With no response other than some purring I fill up the washer with the dishes. Just as I would head back upstairs to have a quick shower then hit the sack there's a knock coming from the door.

I look toward Perry's bathroom then I sigh and put on a tired smile before going to answer the door.

As the front door swings open the cool air comes inside the house making me have goosebumps all over my body. I hear the sound of crickets and I look upwards to meet the eyes of a stranger.

He looks to be in his late thirties, with slicked back short hair and a small mustache above his mouth. He wears a suitjacket with a v neck grey shirt and some very 'important looking shoes'.

His salesman smile falters for a moment when he looks me up and down and I realize I look like a girl with only a shirt on. I immediately feel uncomfortable for multiple reasons.

"Umm... Can I help you?" I ask because he hasn't said a word yet and I want to close the door on his face already.

"I hope you can. I'm Damian Forrester, mayor of the town. And hereby welcome you and your lovely family to our community."

I nod but I find it extremely odd that he came all the way up here to just introduce himself in the middle of the night.

"I see..." I say clearly uncomfortable under his eyes. It's like he's a robot, his smile never fades or changes on his face.

I'm seemingly being rude as he raises his eyebrows.

"And you are.."

I try to conjure some politeness up, even though I'm feeling grumpy and tired by late night smalltalk. You never see the mayor of Chicago knock at your door to introduce himself and welcome you to town.

"Juniper Blackwood." i say standoffishly.

"Ah. Yes! Rose talked a lot about you coming to town... And your other aunt of course."

I look at him weirdly before asking.

"Then why did you ask my name if you already knew it?"

There's a moment of awkwardness and his unfaltering smile starts to scare me. I can almost see a twitch in his eye like I made him mad, but it's gone before I could interpret it like it was never there.

I hold the door awkwardly and I can't stand his gaze any longer so I look behind him. It's only then when I notice the very expensive looking car and next to it the presumed driver. He looks out of place, wearing similar clothing to a car mechanic, with a name tag on it. I try to read it from the distance but it only has a handdrawn smiley face on it. The wearer himself looks in his thirties, his hair buzzed at the sides, but letting it grow longer. Like he regretted the hairstyle and wants to regrow it. The rest is slicked back, but not like Mr. Mayor here, but more messier, like he used the product on his hair days ago and it's use is growing weaker.

He leans on the car door, looking bored and off to the distance.

Mr. Creepy smile notices my sudden change of attention and looks back at the driver as well.

"Don't mind Marcus, he doesn't have any manners."

At the mention of his name he lazily looks at the mayor and then at me. He doesn't come up to introduce himself or even just to break a smile, he just stands there looking.

Okay, this is getting creepy, it's like looking at Frankenstein and Igor. I think.

As if I had said the joke out loud Igor 'Marcus' shakes his head with a chuckle and looks at his wrist to check the time. Yeah, I would like you two to leave as well.

"So.. You need anything, Mr. Mayor?"

I turn my attention back to Creepy Smiles. He looks surprised at the title.

"No, I just wanted to welcome you to town... Is your aunt in?"

He tries to look inside the house and I know he wants to get invited in, but I am not going to do that. Even if I get a scolding for it later from Perry.

"She's having a shower. We are both very tired actually. We have to do some paperwork tomorrow and unpack as well, so.."

He looks from the house to me again, not forgetting the salesman grin.

"Of course, I'm sorry for the late intrusion. I'm sure we'll meet soon again. My wife is inviting you two to the ball we are having this weekend. Please come, have a laugh. I'm sure you would like my son, he's similar to your age."

I fake a smile, in my head already planning to forget to mention this invite to Perry.

"I surely will." I lie. "Goodnight."

He's ready to leave the porch as he waves goodbye and gets inside the car. The driver looks at me again before entering the vehicle.

"Nice legs." He says with a cheeky grin and I can't help but make a face and shut the door.

Who the fuck... I think angrily and go up to my bathroom. Who the hell invites people to a ball in the 21st century anyways.

With those thoughts I lay in my bed after the quick shower and I quickly fall asleep.

tags: @onl-you

A/N: hope anyone who sees this likes it even just remotely. 😂💕 SORRY ITS ON MOBILE I COULDNT ADD KEEP READING LINK

#piety knob chapter 1 #piety knob #piety knob ocs

[kai-zers]

Drarry, Auror au and a multitude of miscommunication issues.

 so this is @treacletvrts ‘s fault, as is many of the myriad of au’s we had in multiple fandoms and istg she’s to blame because tbh with y’all this has no cohesive thought at all so yup, I have no words other than these. 

PS: I have no idea how tumblr works because I am a noob that has no idea how this godforsaken site works despite the years I spent lurking here so expect crappy posts like these. 

This was also a race against my overheating laptop jesus christ tHIS WAS A STRUGGLE

Yup, let’s set the scene, but the rest is in read under because this would probably get long.

Harry and Draco are trainee aurors, or aurors already timelines be damned

 pining, a lot of it.

YOU KNOW IT

everyone and their ancestor portraits knew, okay.

Draco and subtlety didn’t exactly come in one package

but oh my god, circe’s tits, and whomever else they use in place of jesus christ, Harry doesn’t know.

Obviously, Harry wasn’t a Ravenclaw for nothing.

Draco thought Harry knew, but plot twist, your favourite boy who lived doesn’t. 

Shocker.

Draco assumes that Harry knew and actually thought that since Harry hasn’t distanced himself or changed the way he treated Draco at this point, Draco legitimately thought he had a chance at Saint Potty himself.

This is a usual topic between his, Blaise’s, Pansy’s and Theo’s get togethers.

‘you’d think five years post hogwarts we’d never hear Draco say Potter again, but I guess not.’ probably Theo tbh

Pansy is close to pulling at her own hair in frustration 

‘I shouldn’t have left Milan for this weekend.’ Blaise, shaking his head

Potter and Malfoy in the same mission? and they’re both alive? and the perp is caught in record time? Impeccable paperwork?

Call the Prophet

jk

anyways, their first mission and a handful succeeding that were a success. 

They are both star Aurors, and work as an amazing team

One mission they were both assigned to had a bit of a scuffle, they had to hide in a tiny closet, their faces really close

Oh Merlin, is this Draco’s chance?

Nope, since Harry had tried to distance himself as far away from Draco as far as he physically could in that situation

Draco knows how to read a room, and that definitely was an indication of ‘sTAY AWAY FROM ME’ from Harry

Harry, on the other hand, is having issues with himself

He’s scared of coming into terms that he ‘might actually possibly have a bit of attraction towards guys’ and he is panicking

Well, if I had spent my years in puberty being chased by a madman, tbvfh with you, that’d be the last thing on my mind too

so fast forward to them celebrating a major case being solved

DRANKS.

Harry has a preference for muggle alcohol because have you had a shit of Cuervo, that stuff makes MY alter ego come out.

Draco doesn’t drink often, he prefers to savour his wine, thank you very much.

he’s just a lightweight hahaha

so Harry is pissed.

like majorly pissed to the point where he’s seated on someone’s lap already, yelling at the top of his lungs about something to someone

A lot of jeering and what not happens, Harry’s insecurities get the better of him and he tries to hook up with a girl that night

much to Draco’s chagrin. 

He is watching this happen sober, poor thing.

but Harry isn’t getting any action tonight, turning the girl down instead, murmuring something about it not feeling right

Draco takes the initiative to tell Harry that he’s had too much, and he’ll side along him to Grimmauld if he wanted to

Harry agrees, and it takes a lot of rearranging for Draco to make sure that Harry doesn’t get splinched in the whole shebang back home

They get to Grimmauld place, and its actually clean

Draco shaking Harry awake so he could take him to his room to rest

they make their way up the stairs, and Harry is giggling because he keeps slipping and would’ve probably died an untimely death due to refusing to take his socks off a flight of laquered hard wood stairs

and once they reach the door of Harry’s room, Harry tries to make a move on Draco

He’s cupping Draco’s pale cheek in one hand, staring at his lips despite the haze of the alcohol

but Draco pulls away.

((YES DRACO KNOW YOUR WORTH))

Draco is hurt, because Harry would only dare touch him while he’s pissed off his arse like this

“Oh Merlin, Harry, don’t do this to me.” he hisses, as he drags Harry into the room.

“Wha?” and then Harry is dropped onto his bed with Draco removing his robes so he could sleep better

“Stay with me.” Harry slurred out, but Draco could only shake his head.

“For fuck’s sake, what was I thinking when I thought you were actually different? You’re just as cruel as everyone else is.” 

fuck me that legitimately hurt me when I typed that one out

harry turns over, staring at Draco as best he could without his glasses

Draco’s just murmuring to himself, wiping at his face hurriedly because oh no, here come the waterworks.

“I’m giving up on you, and that is final.” 

Draco says it more to himself than to Harry, but Harry hears it, and he’s not sure if its real or nah

He takes the liberty of flooing back to his estate, just to see Blaise and Pansy already lounging in his couch.

bold of you to assume the Malfoys didn’t invest in real estate, jk tho.

its been years since anyone has been back at the Manor, with Narcissa being in France and Draco in this smaller estate

Pansy takes one good look at Draco’s face and pats the space between her and Blaise and takes a pillow on her lap

Theo takes in the entire scene and just goes back into the kitchen, wine seems to be a better choice than tea at the moment

Draco plops down on the couch, burying his face into the throw pillow on Pansy’s lap

“There, there, pet.” She offers, though her perpetually ruby lips are already in a frown.

Blaise just takes Draco’s legs to lay them over his thighs, hands lingering on Draco’s knee

“Is this a bad time to say I told you so?”

Theo just sits wordlessly on the floor, leaning his head on Draco’s belly

I WANT THEM TO CUDDLE OKAY FIGHT ME 

“Draco, Darling, what’s wrong? What’d Potty do?”

“I thought he was different, Pans. I thought I had a chance. I thought he may love me someday.”

shet, ma. I’m sorry.

Harry still doesn’t know if Draco was real or not, but the following weekend, he finds out that Ron has been assigned as his partner.

Draco requested for a partner change, and has been actively avoiding Harry in the office.

of course, like with any romcom gone wrong, it is only now that Saint Potter realises that ‘hmm, something is up.’

He also realises how much of a better team he and Draco made, compared to him and Ron, because nobody got the paperwork done between them 

Harry realises that he misses Draco as a partner

but Draco somehow had the luck of being assigned solo cases that needed to be stationed really far away

the months following the partner reassignment, he manages to see Draco merely three times, and in those three times, Draco had only nodded at him.

This is where Harry realises: i have fucked up

Of course Harry attempts to talk or confront Draco about the thing happening between them

“Potter, I need space, and if you are supposedly as concerned as you are showing, you will keep your nose out of my business.”

whoop, obviously Draco is mad, but Harry doesn’t know why and he’s confused because he really misses the older male, but there are issues

FAST FORWARD TO HARRY ACTUALLY ASKING FOR HELP

ron is just as helpless as he is, hermione is just mum because wow harry this is a major screw up

luna is the one who actually gets to the point, telling Harry, ‘yup you’re in love with him and you’ve done fucked up’

but she’s optimistic, saying, you two just need to talk

‘Draco’s a little hard to understand, but if you don’t talk to him, you’ll never get to do so.’

ANOTHER TIME JUMP YUP WE ARE JUST SAVING THIS PLOT AT THIS POINT

Draco ends with a case involving a new drug that was supposedly being manufactured at this abandoned ship at some port

((i think its obvious I am not from the British Isles at this point okay plus this was done in an hour, liberties were taken and I am not sorry))

He gets ambushed and ends up getting chained to something he can’t get out of himself because he’s drugged and wandless, so no wandless magic

Harry gets suspicious that Draco’s partner gets back unscathed, but Draco is nowhere to be found

He grills the other auror for info and apparates to the ship, where whoop, it is on fire.

oh no.

cue on Harry’s gryffindor lack of self-preservation, where hE STILL GOES INTO THE SHIP TO FIND DRACO

he does find Draco, but idk the ship breaks, structural integrity is getting weak so he doesnt reach Draco in time 

BUT HE DIVES IN NONETHELESS

and sees Draco struggling to breathe and get out of his bounds

He spells off the cuffs, and drags Draco to the surface, and proceeds to send a patronus to Hermione

Hermione’s a healer in this au, okay

Draco is turning blue, and to say that Harry was panicking was an understatement 

He’s not breathing either, even with Harry’s attempts at CPR

Hermione arrives and does the wizarding equivalent of using a defibrillator 

????

yup I guess we’ll go with that for now and she also does a bunch of other stuff

Draco’s finally coughing all the water out his lungs, he’s breathing, albeit a little shallow and shaky at best

Hermione calls for back up because she can’t apparate them both, and Harry’s trembling--from the cold, or the adrenaline subsiding in his blood, but he wasn’t letting go of Draco’s hand

even when he was getting wheeled into the ER at St. Mungo’s, Hermione had to physically pry his hands off

‘he’s safe now, Harry. Let me have a look at you, now.’

Harry wants to say that he’s fine but he did jump into the sea in the middle of fucking winter, and the look Hermione is giving him is absolutely terrifying so he relents, murmuring that they should be tending to Draco instead

‘They are, and I need to tend to you now because I know you’ll scare off any other healer I ask to check up on you.’

Harry’s changed into warmer clothes, and he’s got a cup of tea in his hands to warm them

they’re still shaking, he doesn’t understand why the fuck he can’t calm down and puts it down

He just starts crying. 

The build-up of months of stress and the day’s events was too much for him to handle

‘Fuck, ‘Mione, I saw him turn blue. He wasn’t breathing, I couldn’t get him to breathe.’

‘He’s alive Harry, Draco’ll be okay.’

‘You don’t understand, I felt him die, ‘Mione.’

Of course, out of all people, Harry would understand how it feels to tap dance with death

Hermione just comforts him, willing away the tears in her eyes because it feels like this is the one time she can’t help Harry at all.

Ron just skids into the hall, and sees Hermione and Harry, and hugs them both without a word

back to draco, who has been under observation for a good two days and has finally woken up 

he sees Harry tucked into himself in the frankly ugly leather sofa by the window, head lolling forwards and back enough

Draco pulls himself up and groans, remembering how he got is ass handed to him in that ship and staring at the yellowing bruises on his arms 

Harry suddenly lets out a snore, which makes Draco snort but oh no what is in his nose

‘Circe’s tits, that fucking hurt.’ and he’s coughing up a storm enough to wake Harry up, who stares at him for a few seconds before he’s on his feet and pouring him a glass of water

‘What else do you need? the loo? food?’

‘A healer.’

‘oh. yes. yes, need to tell them you’re awake.’ 

‘Potter.--Potter!’ Draco manages to call after him before he got too far off

‘what happened.’

Harry explains what happened, the ship, traces of a drug in his system, almost drowning and what not

‘I’ll get someone, yup.’

Draco just shakes his head because he knew Harry was keeping something from him, but lets it go

he gets an extensive check up procedure, which is peculiar because this has been the first time they have been this attentive to his vitals 

he needed to stay for a few more days for monitoring, which is weird to Draco because I just fell into the ocean what is the big deal

A nurse comments offhandedly that he’s lucky that he survived drowning and near hypothermia

‘excuse me what’

‘From what I’ve heard, and judging from your vitals, you were minutes away from death’

‘enlighten me.’

‘Healer granger had to revive you using a spell she developed based off of Muggle Tech, she had to shock your heart.’

‘I was dead?’

‘you should’ve seen auror potter, he wouldn’t leave until your vitals stabilised. Healer Granger couldn’t even heal him properly so she had to administer a sleeping draught so he could finally rest.’

‘oh.’

hermione walks in, ‘oh, indeed.’

"I sent him home, if you were wondering.” Hermione says.

Hermione seemed to be able to read his expression, as she had just provided him with what he needed.

"He'd been sleeping here three days and that isn't doing anything for his injuries. Refused to get checked, so I just healed him so he'd actually go to sleep in a proper bed."

"So how are you feeling?" Hermione asked, already waving her wand as a quill hovered behind her, the quiet scratching against parchment, the only sound in Draco's room aside from his steadily better breathing. 

"Oh that's good. We managed to drain all the water from your lungs, no tingling in any of your limbs?" 

Draco shook his head. 

"No symptoms of hypothermia either." Hermione murmured a lumos under her breath, asking him to follow it and observing his eye movement.

Draco is just overwhelmed at this point, because this is the second day he had to endure these tests and Granger was terribly much detailed than the other healers

"You're almost well enough to be discharged, but I'll check you again tomorrow." She replied curtly, tucking her wand into her sleeve and the clipboard into her arm.

"Granger." Draco called, just as Hermione was about to leave the room. "Thank you, for saving my life. You have my thanks."

Hermione nodded, almost smiling at him. 

"Quite frankly, Malfoy, if Harry hadn't found your body, there wouldnt have been anyone to save, but you're still welcome."

draco is just dumbfounded in his bed, again.

The following day he gets the go signal to be discharged as soon as hermione finished her check up spells, and blaise and pansy were to pick him up

But harry manages to catch him just as he got dressed, immediately flushing as Draco's silent gaze fell onto him.

"H-hullo Malfoy, how are you doing?" 

OF ALL THE THINGS HARRY HAD TO SAY. HULLO.

‘Better.’

brace yourselves dace and i just ran thru this, dialogue is subpar at best, but wow they are finally communicating.

amazing.

"Uhm, that's it. I'll uh--i'll find hermione."

Draco rolled his eyes, calling out to him. "Potter."

"Uhm, ye...yes Malfoy?"

"Thank you. For finding me. If it weren't for you," draco breathed out, thankfully smoothly this time. "And granger, i'd be as good as fully dead."

Harry instantaneously lit up and frowned at the same time."Of course, Malfoy." 

Harry nodded. "Anything for you." He murmured under his breath, before turning away.

As soon as Draco was left to his own devices--tightening the laces on his boots, basically anything to just pass the time as Blaise and Pansy were just perpetually late--he heard Harry's god awful sneakers skid in the hallway and enter his room again.

"What is it, Potter, already come back for me to repay my debts?" He asked boredly, leaning back onto the hospital bed.

oh lord. Harry looked terrible.

Harry looked like he was about to throw up--green eyes erratic, lower lip between his teeth as he gnawed on to, hands shaky as he stuffed back into his pocket jacket, and out again.

"Please don't give up on me." He whispered, catching Draco by surprise.

"What?"

"The night you helped me get back home. I thought I was just too pissed on Tequila that I didn't even think you were real--"

draco's clamming up on himself, his arms are crossed, face guarded as Harry stood before him as his complete opposite, his vivid green eyes almost desperate as his lip wobbled.

"But I've died twice, Draco. I can tell apart what’s real and the pigment of my pissed brain."

"I'm sorry if you think I was cruel--if I hurt you without realising it, I'm sorry, please, please just don't give up on me just yet."

Draco is for a lack of a better word--Gobsmacked.

the boy who lived--no, that applies to them both now--is in his hospital room, in the verge of tears and looked like he was a sentence away from passing out.

"I'm sorry Draco," Harry trailed off, his voice breaking as he said Draco's name and using his hoodie sleeves to wipe at his cheeks as the tears rolled down.

"I was scared, and I didn't know it was okay to like blokes, I didn't know it was okay to like you, but I've ruined it, haven't I?"

Draco's heart is in pieces at this point tbh 

The first time he hears his name from Harry's lips, Harry's crying.

Draco sees Blaise at the corner at the corner, but luckily the other male was able to read the room and quickly dragged Pansy away, her retort lowering in volume as they went farther down the hall

"I'm sorry--fuck, i'm sorry for wasting your time." Harry said, sniffing as he wiped his face on his sleeve, running a hand thru the wild tangle of curls on his head. 

"Just ignore whatever I said. Get well, Malfoy."

i am: weak for curly haired Harry okay, humour me.

Circe, Draco thought, this is just getting painful to watch.

Because it seemed like he was being the wanker, making Harry cry even when the oblivious jackass was the one that started this whole fiasco

And Draco couldnt find it in himself to cut into Harry's blubbering at all. 

"Circe's tits, stop with the blubbering, Potter."

Oops. Not the best choice of words.

"What?"

Draco just stood up, and met Harry halfway and cupped his cheeks to press their lips together, mostly just to shut him up.

oh, wow. 

Draco could get used to this, and Harry let out a choked sound that was akin to a gasp and a whimper before he kissed back.

[[long, winded make out scene i am sorry i am terrible at those, I’ll leave it to your imaginations]]

Draco just says, "bring me home, harry."

And just shoos blaise and pansy off.

Which gets him the finger from pansy and a judgmental eyebrow from blaise

‘I make arrangements for a portkey at the last minute and this is what we get?’

‘at least it will make the cease of Draco’s whining.’

Pansy and blaise respectively

Both Harry and Draco spend their days in Draco’s estate just cuddling, and okay fine making out.

They finally talk and clear things out.

and Harry finally feels a moment of peace after nearly 25 years of being chased by a murderous madman and multiple criminals 

no hanky panky yet jesus draco died ffs

The following week, someone just yells from Draco’s floo.

and it’s loud enough to hear in the second floor in Draco’s bedroom.

"I know you died Malfoy, but you have to come to work."

its robards. 

he’s two aurors short, and they’re his best aurors.

"Please bring Potter too, just because you two have died doesnt mean you can escape the paperwork. "

Harry groans, while Draco merely laughs though its muffled against Harry's shirt, where his face is currenly buried into.

and they lived.

i guess

THEY COMMUNICATE MORE EFFECTIVELY NOW 

#drarry #drarry squad #draco malfoy #harry potter

[iiiyukifyiii]

The Reason My Laptop Is Broken

Background Information: This is an OC of mine. Well I guess this could be read as Fem!Kamski but idk. I’m not sure if I want to make a full story out of this universe but this came to my head. So the reader is Kamski and will be referred to as Kamski. Connor is married to the reader and lives with her. The reader has an adopted son(Elijah see what I did there ;) that works at the DPD. Nine also works at the DPD with Connor and is partnered with Gavin Reed. And I think that is all you need to know. This is kinda long one shot.

Pairing: Kamski!Reader x Rk800/Connor, Rk900/Nine x Gavin Reed

Warning: Adult content and references. Swearing. Kinda a crack fic but read at your own risk. No proofreading. 

Your Name = (Y/N)

2 Years After the Revolution April 30, 2040

The smooth and shiny surface of the Cyberlife building gleamed in the morning light. Though Nine had been here before, there was a new energy in the air. A new feeling. Cyberlife no longer produces androids and enslave them with the aftermath of the peaceful revolution, they are heading in a new direction. A direction lead by the now CEO of Cyberlife, (Y/N) Kamski. The creator of androids had been out of the public eye for years but right after the revolution, she steps out of the shadows taking over Cyberlife and working with the now freed androids. Many wonders if she was the one pulling all the strings all along…

Nine shook the thought out of his head and continue with his task…

Speak with Kamski

Earlier this morning Nine received a message from Cyberlife HQ to meet with Kamski. The message did not disclose the reason for this meeting but apparently, it was urgent. Nine, of course, listen to the message. He knew that he didn’t have to but at times he struggles with the whole free will thing. And he regrets it afterward. Walking up to the elevator and he took it to the top floor of the building.

The soft sound of elevator music did nothing to calm his worry. What is the purpose of this meeting? Is there something wrong with his body? Or his software? A soft ding from the elevator breaks his train of thought. Nine walk out of the elevator and walk towards the android receptionist. Though androids are free many choose to find a purpose out of their own free will. However, this model always seems to follow Kamski wherever she goes...

“Hello, how many I help you today?” The blonde android ask

“I have with an appointment with Mrs. Kamski.”

“Of course. Give me a second.”

Her LED flash yellow for a second

“Please follow me.”

Nine follows her pass the sleek black double door behind the desk. That when Nine realized that he never went into the top office before. After all, he was created before Kamski was CEO again. Everything was a sleek and shiny black with accents of white. Everything scream Kamski, expensive and imitating. Nine follows the android to the front of Kamski’s desk. The woman in question is looking down at her paperwork with earphones in. The android he followed in walked up to the desk and wave a hand in front of Kamski’s face.

Kamski looks up and Nine could finally take in her appearance. Nine have seen my photos of (Y/N) Kamski and know what she looks like build in his programming but never seen her in person, unlike his counterpart. Many photos show her as having a very powerful and imitating personality and they are not wrong. Her sharp eyes seem to see through him(even though that is not possible) but also carry a playful gleam. She is no doubt attractive by human standards and carries herself in a confident way. From where he stood he could feel her eyes scanning him.

“Your appointment is here (Y/N)”

“Thank you, Chloe. You can leave.”

After Kamski waves her to leave, the Android name Chloe nod and left the room. He is left alone with his creator.

“Hello, Nine. I guess you want to know why you are.”

“Yes. Is there an issue?”

Kamski smirk “Well it could be considered an issue by definition. But this is more of a heads-up. You are aware that your memories are uploaded to Cyberlife database regularly correct?”

Nine nodded unsure where the conversation is heading “Yes I am aware that my memories are uploaded every 5.3 hours and I make reports daily.”

Kamski let out an airily chuckle “Well I wanted to talk to you about your recent personal activities. You know, the ones you have with Detective Gavin Reed.”

Nine is a first confuse on what she meant until he thought about it. Heat start to bloom in his chest and by the look on Kamski’s face, he guesses he is blushing.

“So here is the story…”

The night before…

The house was mostly empty except for the 3 Chloe that decides to stick around even after the revolution. Something that you found hilarious. Saying “Who the fuck would willingly choose to stay with me?” Of course, this is the same woman that got married and adopted a child. You sip on your cold glass of wine and relax against the couch. Looking back on the eventful past 2 years you can’t help but wonder if this is the future you intend when you first created androids. A smile appeared. Looking back at your laptop you continue your work.

The sound of the doors opening and footsteps came walking in. You turn around to see your two beautiful bois. Connor and Elijah.

Elijah strolled in and took a seat next to you “We’re home. I swear today was so boring and fucking annoying. Gavin wouldn’t shut his trap.”

Connor quickly walks to your side to give you a quick kiss. “We brought you the food you requested”

“Awe thanks, Connor. You are the best”

Elijah rolled his eyes “Eww get a room”

“Hey, my house my rules. If you don’t like it you can move out, Elijah”

“Nope, nevermind.”

Connor set the food on the coffee table and took a seat next to you. These moments where Connor, you, and Elijah are just being together are your favorite. There no injustice, no big problem, no worry. Just family. Smiling at the thought you turn back to your work.

New memory uploaded                                     April 29, 2040/9:30pm Rk900/Nickname: Nine Status: Overheating issue, Unstable                           Open<              Close          

‘Overheating? Maybe I should check that out?’ You don’t normally look into the recorded memories of androids but you were concerned about the overheating issue. With Connor and Elijah sitting at your side you open the file. What you didn’t expect was…

Ahhh~ Nine!~ Y-you’re so fucking good~

Holy Shit!?!?

Your hands flew away from the keyboard. Elijah and Connor look at you with concern. Elijah was the first to look at your screen and he broke out laughing.

“Holy shit is that Gavin!? Holy fucking hell!”

All three of you just sat there in silence and stared at the screen. It was Detective Reed and Nine having sex. WTF. You finally snapped out of your dazed state. “O-okay I’m gonna shut this down.”

You reach to close the laptop but Elijah stopped you. You look at him in shock. “Why the fuck are you stopping me!?”

Elijah pulls out his phone and smirked “This is perfect blackmail material. The guy who gave androids so much crap is fucking one! I knew there was some sexual tension between them, can’t wait to show him.” And he started to save the video

This little shit.

That is fucking hilarious.

N-nine!~ Fuck I’m coming!

Nope. Connor was not having it.

Slam

The once working laptop was now broken. Why? Because Connor threw it against the wall. Everything happened so fast you had barely had any time to react. When Connor turn to face you he had an unknown look on his face.

“That problem has been dealt with. Would you like me to get you something to drink?”

Elijah smiled and look at you “Who knew Gavin is a bottom?”

You could hold in your laughter any longer and laugh alongside with Elijah. This was too funny. Your broken laptop remain forgotten on the ground. And when a Chloe came in to check on all the noise, she was very confused.

Present Day…

...so you see now that this could be a problem. Many Cyberlife employees have access to this database. I took the liberty of moving those memories into a secure and private server with only you and the detective can access if you feel adventurous. I can imagine the outrage that would happen if those got out.” Kamski smirk grow with each sentence

‘Ra9. Please have mercy’ “T-thank you for the...information. I will be sure to follow your directions. Is that all you want to tell me?”

Kamski nod “Yes. Nothing else. You are free to leave Nine.”

Nine turns to leave as quickly as he could but Kamski stops him. “You know Nine if you need any toys. Please don’t hesitate to call me!”

Nine ran out of there as quick as he could. The Chloe outside at the desk did not question anything, just a normal Monday occurrence.

Bonus: Later that day at the DPD Elijah walks into the break room with a plan in mind. It was mostly empty and no one was paying attention “Hey Gavin. How was last night?”

Gavin turns to see Elijah giving him a shit-eating grin “What are you talking about? How was what last night, you douchebag?”

“Wow, I surprise you can walk straight Gav. After how hard you got fuck I thought you would be limping.”

‘How. The. Fuck’ “I-I don’t k-know what the fuck you are talking about!” Gavin manages to get out but it didn’t sound convincing at all

Elijah starts to laugh and pull out his phone “ You sure about that?” Kamski glance at the photo “Nice pornstar face. I really love the angle.”

‘Kill me now’ Gavin tried to reach for the phone but Elijah quickly moved out of the way. “Tsk Tsk Tsk. I’m not gonna give it to you that easily.”

“You dickhead give me that!!!!!”

Elijah ran out of the room and hid behind Captain Allen. Gavin walk to the parking lot to cry to himself.

Bonus Bonus: With Connor(Connor being a good brother) Nine walks into the DPD hoping, just praying that the day would get better. Maybe he would solve the case, get caught up with paperwork, or anything that would distract his mind from this morning. He now knew what being embarrassed felt like. He couldn’t even make it to his desk when he met face to face with Connor. ‘Whyyyy?’

“Hello, Nine. Good morning to you.”

“Hello to you, Eight. How can I help you?”

Connor gives him a simple smile and put a hand on his shoulder “I wanted to talk to you. I was made..aware of your relationship with Detective Reed. I just want to let you know that I am here for you and will support you. If you wish to talk about anything I am always here to listen. I know how confusing relationships and emotions are and with my experi- Where are you going?”

Nine ran out of there so quickly as possible. Almost running into Hank.

Hank went and stood by Connor “What the fuck is his problem!?”

“He is worried about his relationship with Detective Reed.”

“Really? Those two?...it is too early for this.”

And this is the story of how Nine became Usain Bolt

#connor rk800 x reader #dbh connor x reader #connor dbh x reader #connor anderson x reader #rk800 x reader #connor rk800 x fem!reader #dbh connor x fem!reader #connor x reader #dbh x reader #connor rk800 x kamski!reader #dbh connor x kamski!reader #connor dbh x kamski!reader #dbh rk800 x reader #rk800 dhb x reader #gavin x rk900 #gavin reed x rk900 #dbh gavin reed x rk900 #reed x rk900 #gavin x nine #Gavin reed x nine #gavin900 #gavin #gavin reed #dbh rk900 #detroit become human rk900 #detroit become human #detroit become human connor #dbh connor #dbh rk800 #deviant connor

[quarterfromcanon]

Next to You

Heather & Valencia - Femslash February - Day 15 - Playlist [1,550 words]

“How are you completely packed right now?” Valencia huffed while arranging ensembles along the edge of the mattress. “I’ve loaded and unloaded my suitcase three times just since you’ve been sitting there.”

“This is all routine for me,” Heather reminded her. “Davis family reunions have been around longer than I have. The specific pants and stuff change from year to year, but the basic wardrobe requirements stay the same.”

“I still don’t know how to prepare for their weather.” Valencia put her hands on her hips and considered three different shirts. "Seventy degrees for us versus seventy degrees for them could feel totally different. I don’t want to shake your grandparents’ hands with pit stains but I also don’t want to be the weird California girl who keeps shivering every time she’s under a shady tree.”

Heather unfolded her left leg from beneath her body. She stretched it across the sheets to point to an option with her toe. “That one. Open with a tank top. You can tie it around your waist if you get overheated, but you also don’t have to worry about it hugging your arms too tightly and showing sweat if you need the extra layer.” 

“Thank you.” Valencia adhered to the suggestion and rolled the chosen garment the way she’d learned from a YouTube luggage space-saving tutorial. 

“It’s gonna be okay.” Heather didn’t look up from her laptop, but her voice was sympathetic and knowing.

Valencia twisted the recommended tank top in her fists. “This just means being around a lot of people. Like, so many. I come from a big family too, but I’ve got a safety net there. Everyone knows that Fernanda Perez would destroy their bloodline if they went after any of her daughters. It’s one of those ‘it’s only okay when I do it’ things, but it does provide the benefit of not having to hear what my aunts really think of me. They only discuss it when we’re out of earshot. I won’t have that going for me with your relatives.”

Heather waved her hands over herself in a ‘What am I?’ gesture.

“Yes, I’ll have you,” Valencia acknowledged. “I know you’d defend me if you had to, but I don’t want that to even come up. I don’t want to be the cause of a fight on a day that’s just supposed to be happy and fun.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Heather asserted again. “Seriously, they won’t give you any trouble. The Council of Elders might creak their old bones to give us side-eye, but that’s as confrontational as it’ll get.”

Valencia shuddered. “Can we call them something else? They sound terrifying.”

“Cheaters of Death? Ghosts of Prejudices Present? Good Ol’ Fashioned Pains in the Ass?”

Valencia smiled in spite of herself. “You’re teasing me.”

“A little. Is it helping?”

“Kind of.” Valencia sorted bottles of hygiene products in a clear, rectangular bag. “What’s got you clicking away over there? And why does it require headphones?”

“Travel soundtrack,” Heather answered simply. She held one of the headphone cushions to her ear with visible concentration. “I’ve gotta switch a few around. They’re fucking with the flow.”

“For the flight?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“For me?”

“Yep.”

“Music to soothe the anxious beast?”

Heather’s eyelids crinkled at the edges. “Something like that.”

Valencia settled across the narrow vacant space on the bed. She ran her palm up and down Heather’s leg from ankle to knee and back again. “I appreciate the personalized calming technique you’re creating but, if it makes you feel any better, I honestly won’t notice whether it all blends perfectly or not.”

“I know. I just like the challenge.” Heather twitched her shoulders.

Valencia poked the curve of Heather’s muscle. “You take your arrangements very seriously.”

“‘Music is crucial. Beyond no way can I overstress this fact.’” Heather intoned while she typed something else into the search bar.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re quoting that futuristic bumper car book at me again?”

Heather leaned sideways toward the shelf along the wall. Her fingers found the third level up without looking and counted across three spines before sliding out the fourth novel over from the right. Valencia verified the author name and title even though she was already familiar and shook her head. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk.

“Chapter seventeen,” Heather confirmed. “Hit Men.”

“I’m pretty sure you have the best memory of anyone I know. It figures that line would stick since it does sort of sound like you.”

Heather winked. “‘I carry a mix for any human condition.’” 

Valencia lightly slapped her hand against Heather’s thigh. “Showoff.” 

They both resumed their activities until dinnertime approached. It was decided that ordering in seemed the best course of action so they wouldn’t have any dishes to do before their early bedtime. They settled on opposite ends of the couch with their legs crisscrossed atop the middle cushion.

“You said we won’t be the only not-straight people there, right?” Valencia prodded at her noodles with chopsticks. 

Heather tucked a diced carrot into her cheek. “Are you still stressing?”

“Are you still surprised?” 

Heather gave Valencia’s kneecap a comforting squeeze with her calves. “No. I was just hoping it’d pass, for your sake. But yeah, there’ll be at least one other couple there. My cousin Nancy came out back when she was in high school. She’s bringing her fiancée, Charlie. They won’t be hard to track down; Charlie’s hair is an even brighter red than Paula’s. It’s like the easiest game of Where’s Waldo in a group of brunets.”

Valencia nodded. She tapped her hands against the sides of the takeout box. “So which of you two is older?”

“Me by about... four years?” Heather tilted her hand from side to side to indicate a rough estimate. “I was somewhere in college by that summer. She texted me the week before to get advice. I showed up in this denim jacket covered in, like, every pride button and patch I could find. I had a pansexual pin for her in my pocket."

Valencia’s expression softened and she nudged Heather’s waist with her foot. “That was really sweet of you.” 

Heather shrugged. She focused her attention on fishing out an elusive pea in her rice. “The plan totally worked because, no matter how many people noticed what she was wearing, I was always gonna be the more distracting one. It took some of the heat off Nancy and helped her chill out a bit. We basically sat on a picnic bench all day just talking and laughing, staring back at anybody who got a funny look on their faces.” She laughed quietly. “It was great.”

“All right, well, mission accomplished.” Valencia reached for her drink. “I’m at least a little excited for this gathering since it means I get to meet her.”

“She said the same thing.”

“Psh, no she didn’t.”

Heather pulled out her cell, tapped the screen, and scrolled. She turned it to face Valencia with her thumb under a message in gray.

Valencia clutched her heart. “Aww!”

Heather clicked her phone off and returned it to her pocket. “Told you.”

___

The four-and-a-half hour flight from LAX to DTW was a ride for Valencia in both the literal and emotional sense of the word. Her inner responses to their journey swooped from eager to bored to panicked and then repeated the cycle. Heather remained ever-present and attentive, able to track and accommodate whichever stage Valencia was experiencing at the time. 

The digital map on the fold-down display indicated they were now flying over Michigan. Valencia couldn’t help obsessively checking every so often to see if she could spy the city below, even though she knew it would be a while yet before they were that far across the state. Heather snuggled against Valencia’s shoulder with her cell phone in her lap, set to play the collection of tracks she had so meticulously assembled. The headphone splitter was nestled in her half-open hand.

They were about twenty-five minutes from the disembark when Valencia finally got a proper view through the clouds. Her breath caught in her chest and it was at least a full sixty seconds before she became aware of the lyrics playing through her earbuds.

‘Is this the fate that half of the world has planned for me? I know I love you, and you love the sea...’

Valencia turned to nudge her girlfriend awake, but Heather was already watching her intently. They met each other’s gaze for a moment and Valencia arched an eyebrow. “Did you time it out so one of my favorite songs by Vampire Weekend would be on right now?”

Heather could not quite conceal the upward turn at the corner of her lips. “I’m flattered, V, but don’t give my playlist-making skills too much credit.”

Valencia dropped her voice an octave. “Oh my God, you’re so full of it. You’re, like, so full of crap.”

Heather fluffed Valencia’s sleeve like a pillow. “That’s a good impression. You should trot that one out at the reunion. You’ll be a hit.” She shut her eyes and sighed contentedly. “I’m gonna catch a few more Zs before we land.”

Valencia rested her cheek against Heather’s hair. She pressed a soft, discrete kiss to her forehead. “I love you, too.”

#H+V FF #CEG Writing by Me #Helencia #Heather x Valencia

[iamvegorott]

Ok i just Saw the Hitman au cuddle ting and the first thing i thougt was the amout of nappable chests entering the cuddle chest also picture (Bing:Go for behind his ears , if you rly want him to melt) (Google: You fucking traitor ) Also Dark being a mess cause Anti's new fav spot to hack is his lap

Dark sat at one of the several desks in the Septiceye Headquarters, which was technically know the Iplier’s as well but Dark wasn’t ready to confirm that since it didn’t feel like to call it that. He felt as if he needed to do something first before doing so but he wasn’t sure what it was. Dark found himself glancing over at Anti, who was sitting on the floor and looking at his computer with a face of irritation. It was as if he was dying to do something but couldn’t since new eyes were on him. Dark assumed that last part since Anti kept looking around himself and huffing whenever one of the Ipliers would see him. Dark had his own…secrets, what could Anti be hiding?

“I think I got my elbow in your stomach, Robbie,” Bing said, adjusting the arm Robbie was hugging.

“Oh,” Robbie said with a shrug. Dark rolled his eyes at the others, who were all piled up together on the couch as they worked on setting up another heist.  

“Did you really not feel that?” Bing asked, getting another shrug.

“He doesn’t feel much physically, a lot of his nerves are dead,” Henrik explained.

“I keep forgetting that he’s a zombie,” Bing said.

“We’re highly sentient androids. A zombie isn’t too hard to believe.” Google said, shifting his legs that were across Bing’s lap.

“We’re all a little strange here.” Chase chuckled from behind Google, hands playing with his hair. “We all got our own little secrets we’re working on sharing.”

“What’s yours?” Bing asked.

“Can’t tell you that just yet.” Chase winked.  

“I can tell you one of Google’s.” Bing offered. “Rub behind the ears and he’ll melt.”

“Don’t be a traitor!” Google huffed. “I will tell them about~” Google’s voice trailed off into a groan as Chase did what Bing said.

“Your turn.” Bing giggled, pouting when Chase shook his head.

“Fucking.” Anti cursed before getting up with his laptop, huffing when he saw that there wasn’t any room for him on the couch. Dark raised a brow when Anti went over to him and soon stiffened when Anti sat down in his lap, legs swinging over the armrest and laying his head on Dark’s chest. Dark’s eyes were wide and face flushed as he just sat there in shock, blush deepening when he saw that Wilford was smiling and giving him a thumbs up. “You’re chilly,” Anti commented.

“What?” Dark asked, voice coming out as a squeak before he cleared his throat. “What was that?”

“Your body is colder than the others,” Anti explained.

“Um…sorry?” Dark wasn’t sure what to say.

“I like it,” Anti stated, nuzzling into Dark more. “I’m always overheated.”

“Oh…Okay.” Dark found himself squeaking again and he shot a glare at Wilford who was now wiggling his eyebrows at him.

“Looks like Ant’s found his new favorite spot.” Robbie giggled. “It’s so cute!” Dark and Anti didn’t see that they were both blushing at the comment since Anti buried his face in the laptop and Dark looked away from everyone. Wilford and Robbie both huffed a little, wishing that the other person would get the hint already.

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