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sleepygraveyard · 1 year

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Brian x Damien Nsfw

Words: 1331

Synopsis: Damien has a Certain effect on Brian and Brian can’t wait until he gets home to get rid of the urges…

Pants and whimpering replaced the silence in the bathroom stall. Why was he doing it here? Brian thought to himself, God You’re pathetic, you can’t even wait until you’re home. But despite the thoughts he kept moving his hand up and down, massaging his cock that had been leaking pre before he had gotten to touch himself. He didn’t want to think it was his fault he couldn’t control himself, he wanted to blame the reason he was doing this, the reason he was so ashamed of himself, on the Demon that had caught his eye and hadn’t left his mind since the first time they met. He wanted to blame it on Damien so bad, but he just couldn’t, he knew it wasn’t his fault, but at the same time he wanted to rationalize his actions to himself, he didn’t want to feel like such a pervert. If Damien hadn’t bent down to grab that dodge ball during gym right in front of him, the fabric of his shorts so tight against his ass, they left nothing to the imagination, no line of any type of underwear showing through, none of this would have happened. Brian’s thoughts went rampant, the idea of Damien being commando filled his head, and how when they went back to the locker room he could try to steal a glance as he slid down his shorts, down over his plump ass. and down passed his dick, showing his neatly groomed pubes, the red skin on his dick leading down to the head that he could only think would be a beautiful darker shade of red. He felt blood rushing to his cock, he could feel it start to grow and press against the fabric of his underwear, he had to do something, anything to get away from the situation, his boner would be so apparent through the small shorts they had on, he couldn’t let anyone know. He ran over to the coach complaining about his stomach and then ran out of he gym as fast as he could, he was glad everyone was too preoccupied with the match of dodgeball to notice him, well at least he was pretty sure.

The moment kept playing in his head, on repeat, it wouldn't stop. His hand went faster and faster pumping his dick, he wanted release so badly, he wanted to be able to go back to class and pretend like nothing happened at all. Faster, faster, and faster until he shot cum all over his shirt, covering his hand in the slimy white liquid. It felt so good he could help but let out a groan, subconsciously moaning out Damiens name. What the fuck is wrong with him, he was in a school bathroom for fucks sake, he lectured himself in his head as he was ready to get up and leave, but his dick was still rock hard, if anything more hard than before. Fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck fuck. He let his head fall backwards letting it rest against the back of the toilet. Should I just wait it out? I just came, it's not like it’ll take that long for my dick to go flaccid again. Oh how wrong he was. 20 minutes passed and his dick was still as hard as it was previously, twitching and still leaking pre. Dammit, he cursed. He brought his hand back down to his sensitive cock, rubbing his thumb over the tip causing a shudder to run throughout his entire body. He wrapped his hand around his cock again, closed his eyes and the images of Damien played through his mind over and over until they were interrupted by an idea, Brian took out his phone and opened it to Damien’s social media. Pictures of him in drag, him styling hair, fire, and knives took up the majority of his feed, but the photo that caught his eye the most (and also made his dick react the most) was a photo Damien taken at the beach of him in a speedo, hisbluge so clear through it. His body on full display. His abs were shining from the sun and water, he could even see the little happy trail that damien had going up to his belly button, other that that he was completely clean shaven. Brians hand moved faster without him having to even think about it. He imagined Damiens cock bouncing up and down and he rode Brians cock, his ass making a slapping around every time it made contact with Brians skin, Damiens head thrown back, a moaning mess, his eyes shut tight, drool starting to leak from his mouth and a string of pre connected from his dick to Brians stomach.

Brian could feel himself getting closer, he knew he shouldn’t be doing this, what would Damien think if he knew he was jerking off to pictures of him, one of his closest friends, if Damien found out what would happen. Brian couldn’t help but think the worst, regardless of this even the thought of Damien yelling at him, calling him out for being the disgusting pervert he was excited him. He came again, this time more came out and not only that, it went everywhere, it sprayed forward and landed on the floor, the sides of the stall, it even got on his own face. When he came he thrust his hips into the air moaning so loudly he was scared that someone outside of the bathroom might’ve heard him. As Brian began to calm down, and his dick finally started to go flaccid, he let out exhausted breaths, too tired to worry about if someone had, in fact, heard him, if he had missed class, or even what Damien would think of him. He cleaned off his hands and pulled his shorts back up, grabbing more toilet paper to to try to scrub off what had gotten on his shirt, and wipe off what got on his face. Brian grabbed more toilet paper and sighed, ashamedly beginning to clean what mess he had made all over the stall. This is gonna take a while, he thought sadly.

Brian hadn’t realized that while he was jerking off the second time, someone had entered the bathroom and got into the stall next to him, and that they had been there, listening, and trying to suppress their own erection. Another thing Brian had missed was the fact that some of his cum even shot over the stall wall, landing on the other side. Damien looked at the cum on the wall and smirked, so that’s how Brian felt about him? Good to know. He ran his red finger through the white liquid and gathered it onto his red finger before slowly putting his finger in his mouth and sucking it, the familiar salty flavor that he loved so much greeted his tongue with a sensation he’d never get tired of. Damien left the bathroom and headed back to the main building, Brian, of course being preoccupied, didn’t notice. Damien walked away with a grin, knowing that what he had done would fuck with Brian’s head, and he took immense pleasure in it.

The period ended and Brian still wasn’t back so Coach had told Damine to go bring him his stuff, he checked the nurses office but he wasn't there, he checked all the bathrooms inside the school and he wasn’t in any of them. He walked to the outside bathroom and as soon as he entered he could hear moans and the sounds of cum being used as lubricant on someone’s dick, the wet sound echoed throughout the bathroom, he briefly glanced down to see that the shoes were unmistakably Brians.

As Brian finally exited the stall, he saw his stuff on the floor outside near one of the sinks, and a note placed on top folded into a square. Brian walked towards it and picked it up, reading the writing scribbled on the paper.

I’m Glad I Have Such an Effect On You ;)

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rxttenfish · 5 months

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Damien x Liam

Zoe x Vera

Shipping meme.

oh, damien and liam is one of those classic monprom ships! i think the very first ship art i saw from monprom was damien and liam? it sounds right, though it has been over five years since i first joined, so that could just be my memory not serving me well. point goes is that it's a prominent one and gotta be one of the most popular of the RO x RO ships, and definitely one that's the most alluded to in canon.

the issue is just... i still don't like it very much. to be fair i like very few m/m ships, and i know this is such a popular dynamic that from the offset it just automatically felt the most like a ship that would get popular, but it's a popular dynamic that i hate a lot. i don't really care for the bully/nerd dynamic nor the things it sets up, and especially with things like it highlighting damien's toxic masculinity combining less than favorably with how much liam openly and directly talks about things like sexism within the game itself. it's just... unfortunate, i think.

it feels like everything just conspired to make me hate this ship. it's liam, one of my favorite characters, with damien, one of my least favorite characters. most of the events with these two involve damien beating liam up or beating him down, and while i would agree that the two are still friends from the events that are exceptions to this rule and how it just plays out when it does happen (liam is... very directly the masochistic type, so it doesn't necessarily strike me as out of character or even a badly thought out part of the dynamic if this is part of the selling point on a friendship with damien for liam), it always feels weird and off-putting to me. i think this probably works best, and i prefer it best, as them being occasional fuckbuddies on top of friends, less as a proper romantic relationship.

zoe and vera is another ship that i've seen before, and i can definitely see it more than liam and damien. though i'm notoriously known for not really caring all that much for zoe as a character, thinking of her as kinda weakly written in comparison to some of the others on top of including tropes i hate, which also makes this complicated for me.

i think vera's also always an odd one to ship with, because there's a duality between her constructed image and how she allows people to approach her, and what she actually wants and needs in a relationship for emotional fulfillment. she needs someone who can make her relax and slow down, provide a way to remove her from her whole constructed image to let her be a person again, but they cannot simply disregard that image and what it means, cannot wholly discard her interests and ambitions and all that she's put work into attaining. there's a careful dance that has to be done to disarm her suspicions and her harshness before she lets someone in, but once they're in they need to be loving and fond and safe in a simple way, an easy way that vera otherwise would deny herself.

it's not that i don't think zoe could do it, could be that person. rather, zoe isn't very careful at much of anything that she does, and she's so overt and sometimes even pushy that i worry more about all of it making vera freeze up, shut down, lock zoe out. vera in comparison is... harsh and blunt, yes, but her personality is multi-layered and multi-faceted where what you see is not always what you are going to get, and being able to navigate the complexities of her moods and emotions are needed. she can be quick to punish and quick to say the exact kind of nasty things upon the slightest infraction that could all too easily hurt zoe. being overtly affectionate and positive can work, as we've seen with her friendship with scott, but it also needs an ability to take the punishment she can dole out, either just not getting it or not taking offense in either manner. this can also certainly be done if the other character is person-smart enough to realize what's going on beneath the surface, like polly. this doesn't feel, to me, like something that zoe can do, rather being more the type to take the first time vera lashes out as deep personal offense and either not recovering from it or taking a much longer time to recover from it.

which, again, isn't to say this can't work! i think it certainly could work well, especially if you're fleshing out a timeline or plotting this out more thoroughly, and after this specific period i could see them being very good for each other, but it's also something that is enough to make me skeptical.

#all the care guide says is 'biomass'#asks #Anonymous #monster prom #basically vera is bitey #which is exactly the kind of character that i love #LOVE characters who are just. so tightly wound and have so many Issues #that they need someone to perform an intricate dance to disarm their defenses before coming in to love and support them #in the exact way that they need #experienced owners who know how to use a snakehook ONLY. others need not apply.#need someone to love me like caring for a hot snake #also yeah canon loooooooves damien x liam so much. just dropping it in everywhere.

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phoenixrising0308 · 1 year

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Picktober Challenge: Falling for you

Picktober theme(s)-

Flufftober: Sharing Clothes and Holding Hands,

Falltober: Pumpkin and Cider

Fanfiction (Choices The Royal Romance/ The Royal Heir & Perfect Match Fandoms)- Fictober prompt: I’m doing it, shut up.

Books: The Royal Romance 1-3 to Royal Heir and Perfect Match.

Rating: M (18+) Sexual situation and adult themes.

Trigger Warnings in this chapter: NS*W 🍋. Additionally, mention of miscarriage.

Pairing: Liam Rys x Jessica Garcia (MC), former. Damien Nazzaro x Jessica Garcia

Agent Phoenix Forged in Fire Series premise: This is a canon-divergent series set after TRR 3 Tariq is never found. Liam’s duty to his country forces him into marriage. Jessica and Liam enter into a Cordonian arrangement. Both of them wanted to have a life together. However, various obstacles prevent him from a divorce and having the life they both want together. With dreams of a future crushed, Jessica leaves Cordonia. Despite a five-year absence, they are still heartbroken and unable to forget each other and the life they once shared. When Jessica’s career path takes an expected turn, her duty to her country pushes her to Cordonia, back into the society that burned her, and back into Liam’s sights. Will she rise from the ashes or once again go down in flames? Catch up here

Disclaimer

A/N: This is my submission for the Choices Monthly Challenge: Picktober and Fictober.

*This is a oneshot that is a part of the main story, and events will occur in a later chapters and stories in between* in the meantime here is a companion piece to give you some background on the meaning of Koi in Liam and Jessica's life.

Chapter Summary: Jessica and Damien's friends-with-benefits relationship gets complicated.

Song Inspiration: Toothbrush - Dnce

Word count: 4,500 *, please excuse typos and grammatical errors*

Reading time: 10 Minutes

Damien Nazario apartment

Jessica jumped up from the couch and shouted, “Fuck yes! Thank you, Aaron Judge.”

Damien dug his head into the arm of his sofa and said, “Can we turn this off?”

“Why? Because the M-E-T-S are losing?” Jessica jeered.

“I just think I’m disgusted with my team at this point,” Damien mumbled while eyeing the tv remote.

“Damien, you are a sore loser.”

Damien rolled his eyes. “Please don’t do that.”

“Do what?” Jessica said, knowing full well she was being obnoxious.

“You don’t have to rub it in.”

“The fuck I do. All day long, you were talking sooooo much shit; look at this score. We have four more innings.”

Damien snapped back, “Tone it down, okay.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Such a baby,”

Damien crossed his arms and huffed, “Just stop.”

“Are you gonna make me, Sir…” Jessica said with a cheeky smile.

20 minutes later…

“Fuck” Damien murmured in a deep seductive tone; she moaned as Damien smacked her ass. She spread her legs, quickly aligning herself with him. Both of them are so hungry for each other. She was dripping while she slowly sank onto him, gasping as she felt him enter her inch by inch. She gave her body time to adjust to his length and thickness before she moved her hips in a figure-eight motion, arching her back in pleasure.

Damien reacted similarly, groaning her name as she got fully seated in his lap. Jessica began to rock her hips back and forth, moans mixing through the air as they were stimulated.

Damien held her hips, thrusting into her with determination. “Mmmm.” Jessica moaned, her head tilting back as Damien reached up to tangle his fingers into her hair again and tug. She squeezed her eyes shut as Damien’s thrusts up into her became rougher, his free hand reaching down to rub circles onto her clit, making her body taut and her pants of breath faster. Jessica could feel herself get close, her first orgasm of many barrelling toward her. She cried out as it hit her, the sound of her ass hitting his thighs becoming clearer and clearer. She heard him moan her name out in bliss.

Jessica stopped on top for a few seconds as she combed her hair with her hand before she laid her head on Damien’s chest and mumbled, “God, that was so fucken good.” They both gave a slight chuckle. Jessica lifted her wrist to look at her father’s watch and said, “So fucken late or so fucken early.”

Jessica rolled off Damien’s side, gently brushing the hair away from her face while he whispered, “Preciosa, stay.”

Jessica pursed her lips. “I don’t know if that ruins our friends-with-benefits situation.”

“Worry when you’re leaving a toothbrush. You don’t have to work tomorrow. If it makes you feel better, just get some rest, and you can leave without waking me up.” Jessica responded by cuddling a little closer, allowing herself to relax; their two bodies were tangled in each other’s arms.

“I’m gonna just close my eyes for a bit.” She murmured.

Damien twirled Jessica’s hair and watched her eyes get heavy under his touch. When he was sure she had fallen asleep, he kissed her forehead and whispered, ‘Me Estoy Enamorado de ti (I’m falling for you).”

10 am …

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Jessica and Damien both woke up at the sound of loud knocking. Damien wiped his eyes. “What the fuck?”

“What’s happening?” Jessica said, half asleep.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Sssh baby, go back to bed,” Damien said without thinking as he rushed to put his pants on to answer the door.

Jessica looked at Damien, puzzled, and whispered, ‘Shhh baby go back to bed?’ to herself, silently cursing for oversleeping and confusing their arrangement.

Damien closed the bedroom door behind him and answered the persistent knocking at his door. A woman said, “Ángel, ¿Cómo estás hijo? (Angel, how are you doing, son?)

Damien said in shock, “¿Mamá? ¿Qué estás haciendo aquí? (Mom? what are you doing here?)

“Well, we wanted to surprise you.” Another woman answered with a sassy tone.

“Lucilla.”

“We came to visit Hope and her wife. We are gonna go pumpkin picking. We know you hate that stuff, so we thought we could force you if we showed up unannounced.”

Meanwhile, in Damien’s bedroom…

Jessica covered herself in Damien’s comforter. ‘I want to die. Maybe they’ll leave, and I could just pretend I wasn’t here. Yeah, no sweat. They won’t know I’m here. Crisis averted.’ Jessica silently thought, plotting her escape.

“Dames, since when do you carry around a Marc Jacobs tote?”

“Carina?”

“Goddamn, is this the fucken Nazrio family reunion?” Jessica hissed as she got off the bed and started frantically looking for her clothes.

“Is she still here?” Another voice whispered.

“Yea, she is still here. Shirts on the floor.”

“Hope, come on.”

“Oh Dios mío. Perdóname hijo. Te estás protegiendo, ¿Verdad? (Oh my God. Sorry son. You’re protecting yourself right?”

¡Mamá!

‘Fuck my life hard.’ Jessica cursed at herself in her head.

“You didn’t tell us you were seeing anyone.”

“Is it serious?”

“¡Lucilla cállate!” Damien snapped.

“Bring her out; let’s meet her.”

“She can come with us pumpkin picking.” Lucilla chimed in

“Okay… Okay… can I just talk to her? I’m sure she hears all your loud mouths.”

Damien walked into the bedroom, and a pillow was thrown in his face as soon as he entered. He could see the panic and worry on her face.

“Your whole family is in the living room; they want me to go pumpkin picking with them,” Jessica said in a harsh, whispered tone.

“Preciosa, I’m sorry I obviously didn’t know.”

“Cool it with the pet names! Where are my panties?”

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Ohhh, nice bra.” Isabela teased from behind the door. Damien opened the door jar and collected Jessica’s bra.

“Just shoot me. Put me out of my misery.”

“Come on; it’s not that bad.” Damien mused as he held out Jessica’s bra. Jessica snatched it and put it on.

“Yeah, this is bad,” Damien smirked.

“Gee, thanks,” Jessica said as she rolled her eyes.

Damien went into his closet and handed Jessica a shirt. Jessica looked at the shirt and looked at Damien with an annoyed expression. “Really? A Mets jersey.”

“You want me to go back out there and get your shirt off the floor or what?”

“I want to throw up.”

Damien gave a cringe as Jessica put on the Mets Jersey and said, “So I will just tell her we are dating like a couple saying we are just seeing each other will lead to other questions. The usual ones about settling down.”

Jessica roughly adjusted the jersey in disgust and hissed, “You can’t be serious. We’re not an item, Damien!”

He shhed her with his hand while speaking low and said, “I know that, but they don’t. Please, Preciosa. I will never hear the end of it.”

“That’s not my problem.”

Damien looked ready to get on his knees and beg as he gave a pleading stare and said, “Please, Jessica! Just one day of playing the part and pretending. I’m not asking you to go to trader joes or some shit couples do on a Saturday morning; I just want a day of pumpkin picking and you pretending we’re together.”

Jessica stared for a long moment before they heard one of his sisters through the door, “Are you coming out or not? Come on and bring her out!”

Damien gave Jessica a pleading look and sighed heavily while pinching her nose bridge. “Fuck…Okay, one day. One day of pretending, and that’s it.”

Damien released a relieved sigh and smiled before Jessica adjusted herself, and Damien opened the door to greet them. Jessica came face to face with an older woman and four younger women with curious stares her way.

Damien put his arm around Jessica while introducing her as Jessica plastered a fake smile on her face. "Mamá, Hope, Isabela, Carina, Lucilla; this is Jessica Garcia." He gestured to Jessica before gesturing to each sister and his Mother. “Jessica, this is my Mamá, My older sister Hope and my younger sisters Isabela, Carina, and Lucilla.”

Jessica was bombarded by both Spanish and English as everyone seemed to talk simultaneously to introduce themselves and ask questions about her. Damien held up a hand and said, “Guys, I’m sure we can talk plenty on the car ride.”

The one sister Isabela gestured to Damien’s Jersey Jessica wore, “Oh, you’re a Mets fan!”

Jessica forced a smile even though she thought, ‘Fucking Hell.’

Twin farms Orchards, Freehold, New Jersey

Jessica inwardly cringed when Damien held her hand while walking through the grass to the rows of Pumpkins lining the field. She gave him a sideways glare as he leaned down and whispered, “Preciosa, couples hold hands.”

Jessica hissed, “Yeah, but we’re not a couple.”

“One day, Jessica. Please. “

Jessica rolled her eyes as Damien’s sisters ran ahead of them. As she whispered to him, “I’m doing it, shut up.”

Damien gave her a smile with a nod and whispered, “Just…Try to enjoy the day pretending we’re together. After today, we can return to our strictly friends-with-benefits arrangement. I promise…Please, Jessica?” His dark eyes held an intense gaze she had seen so many times in her past with eyes as blue as the Mediterranean Sea.

She stared at Damien a moment and thought to herself, ‘Stop it. That life is behind you now, and it’s not like you’re betraying anything or anyone here. This is just a casual little outing with his family. You’re just doing a friend a favor.’ She reminded herself as she huffed and looked away while Damien squeezed her hand lightly.

Jessica couldn’t help inwardly smiling as she felt his hand in hers, but this time it wasn’t a momentary touch; it lingered, and she enjoyed the feeling. A slight warmth bloomed in her chest as his fingers interlaced her own. She almost felt guilty for enjoying it, even if her brain told her she shouldn’t.

The feeling was cut short by Hope saying, “Hurry up, lovebirds! We need Damien for the heavy lifting.”

Damien smiled and retorted, “So that’s why you called me out of bed to go with you all, and here I thought you missed me.”

Damien looked at Jessica right when his sisters and Mother looked over, and Jessica forced a smile even though all she could think of was, ‘Great. I’m spending my Autumn Sunday in a fucken Mets Jersey with a guy that is strictly friends with benefits, and his family thinks we’re a fucken couple madly in love or some shit…Perfect.’

Jessica sighed to herself when Damien pulled them both towards the pumpkin patch.

Isabela said, “What? Hope, that pumpkin is downright sad. It’s tiny!… Now, that one, on the other hand.”

Damien’s face sagged when he saw the large misshapen pumpkin Isabela pointed at, and Jessica couldn’t help but lightly chuckle as Damien gawked.

“You can’t seriously expect me to carry that thing the whole time, right?” He argued.

Lucilla walked over to their brother with her own pumpkin in hand, “Isabela, it’s not even round. It’s so ugly.”

“So? It’s getting carved anyway.”

Carina gestured towards a row of medium-sized pumpkins and exclaimed, “Uh, who cares about the size and roundness when those aren’t even that orange, and they have bad spots on them.”

Jessica and Damien watched the sisters talking over each other in minor disagreements as Damien gave Jessica a sideways look and mumbled, “On second thought, if you wanted to bail, I’m sure I can come up with an excuse.”

Their Mom chimed in, lecturing them in Spanish as Hope replied, “Sorry, Mamá, we’ll just pick one each. So it doesn’t matter who picks what.” Hope gave while shooting a mild glare to her three younger sisters, who all collectively nodded or shrugged and went off looking for their perfect pumpkins.

"Preciosa, which one?" He asked while scanning the pumpkin patch.

Jessica shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to me.”

Damien sighed, “Come on, Jessica. Try to act like this isn’t killing you to be here, for my sake.”

Jessica blinked at that and said, “I never said it was. I guess I’m just rusty.”

Damien ran a hand over his temple with a cringe. “I know, I know. I didn’t plan this exactly, but I want to make a decent impression, so I’m not hounded with questions.”

“You mean more than what was already asked? Carina asked me how our first date was, and Isabela asked if I planned on coming to Thanksgiving, and Hope and Lucilla wanted to know every detail imaginable.”

Damien gave an apologetic look, “Sorry for dragging you into this mess.”

Jessica eyed him for a moment. The way he looked at her and had her insides twist a bit. She released an annoyed breath through her nose before glancing at the pumpkins.

She thought, ‘The least I can do is try. It’s one day. ‘

“Okay.” She mumbled before walking over to a pumpkin. She bent down to pick it up and examine it. Her hand ran over the smooth surface before nodding. “This one.”

Damien looked slightly surprised, “You sure?”

Jessica nodded at the modestly sized pumpkin and said, “Positive.” Before she handed it to Damien, who smiled relieved and took it.

“Thanks for not picking the biggest pumpkin in this field for me to carry all day.”

Jessica gave a cheeky smirk. She looked around with a hum and said, “Hmm…Actually, maybe that one way over there?” She pointed to a much bigger pumpkin on the other side of the field.

Damien rolled his head back with a groan even if Jessica could clearly see a smirk; he tried to hide, “Oh God, please don’t start acting like my sisters. You already see what I have to fucken deal with.”

Jessica let out a huff-like chuckle, “Save it. I grew up with two overprotective older brothers. I don’t want to hear shit.”

They both walked together, giving the same witty banter and snide remarks they always did with each other, and Jessica couldn’t help thinking, ‘This really isn’t so bad. Damien’s a nice guy, his family is nice, and so far, his sisters and Mom haven’t been bad to me, and it’s a good pumpkin patch… It’s really kind of…Easy to pretend.’ She thought with a slight frown at her mixed emotions as she and Damien walked side by side.

Jessica paused when she saw the Apple Orchard a ways away on the other side of the field. Red apples hung from the faraway trees as a few people with buckets picked them. She stopped in her tracks to stare as a slow sinking feeling dropped in her stomach at all the memories an apple orchard could bring back.

A particular memory of her and the Crowned Prince sneaking off into the Applewood Manors Apple orchard for one of their ‘in-between’ moments. Laughing as he chased her before he caught her, kissing her deeply in secret while Jessica swore she would spend the rest of her life with him.

Damien instantly noticed her expression and stopped alongside her. “Jessica, is something wrong?”

Jessica shook herself and said, “No, just watching….”

Damien eyed her as she forced herself to look away. Analyzing her as she had on her poker face.

Suddenly, they were interrupted when Lucilla walked over to them and said, “Dames, Mamá, and Carina need help with their pumpkins… Jessica, if you want, we can go to the shop together and snag some cider and donuts for everyone. “

Jessica didn’t get to answer as Lucilla grabbed her hand, all while Jessica gave Damien a sideways glance as she was practically dragged away.

Damien nodded, “Sure thing. That’s my job here, apparently, Pumpkin carrier…Try not to keep Jes- my Girl, too long.” He gave Jessica a slight cringing smile as he left.

"No promises, Dames."

Jessica gave Lucilla a look as she let go of her hand, “... You’re gonna interrogate me, aren’t you?”

Lucilla shrugged, “It’s not an interrogation, just…Just Girl talk. About things about my brother.”

Jessica released an exasperated sigh as all she thought in her head, ‘Fuck my life.’

A short while later, Jessica and Lucilla had cider in their hands as they sat on a bench. Lucilla wasted no time asking, “So, how long have you known my brother?”

“Long enough. A year.”

“And we never heard about you because?”

Jessica shrugged, “We were friends first. I actually never expected…This, but here we are.” Jessica laughed slightly, trying to come off as genuine as possible.

“And uh, how did…This happen? Like, was it endless crushing on one of your parts, or did you both just randomly decide?...” She asked while trailing off.

Jessica shrugged, “I think it just kind of happened. A snarky remark here, a dig there, and before you know it, we hit it off.” Jessica gave a small smile. “I guess it was our way of flirting.”

Lucilla watched Jessica intently as Jessica sipped her cider and asked her, “So, do you know everything about Damien?”

“Um, yeah. I’m pretty sure I do.”

“Do you? Because my brother plays this cynical tough guy act to protect himself. “

Lucilla continued, “He’s had a lot of heartbreak. He won’t tell us, but this one woman he claimed was only a ‘colleague’ on the force messed him up pretty badly. The minute she ‘left’ work and was gone from his life or whatever, he became bitter and depressed. We couldn’t even say Alana’s name without him getting the biggest frown on his face and looking like a kicked puppy. There was Kai Parks; she had led him on for months. Now she is getting married. Dames has never really found his ‘Perfect Match.’ He’s become such a pessimist about relationships.

Jessica opened her mouth slightly to form the words. “I…I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, well, that’s Dames. He hides everything because he doesn’t want to burden people.” She sighed and swirled her cider in her cup. “I just want to ensure he’s not dealing with another heartbreak.”

“No, I would never do that to your brother Lucilla.”

She gave Jessica a skeptical stare. “Yeah? Then can you actually see a future with my brother? He doesn’t need a fling; he needs a woman who will love him as much as he loves her. Long term.”

Jessica sighed and sat her cider down to turn to Lucilla on the bench. “Listen, Lucilla. I get it. I have two brothers of my own and my own issues with the women they’ve dated. I don’t know where this is going with Damien and me, but we’re just testing the waters now. But I can tell you I have no intentions of hurting him.”

“Then what do you love about him?”

“What?”

She sat back to stare at Jessica and replied, “I want some proof. Do you really give a shit about him, or are you just stringing him along?”

Jessica groaned internally and thought, ‘God, I’m getting grilled by a teenage.’

Jessica cleared her throat and muttered, “Well, he’s… He’s actually the most annoying jerk but in an endearing way. He’s competitive, and we clash, but we also get along just as much…Um, He’s family oriented; I can tell that already … He’s kind and passionate…Responsible… He’s protective and puts others before himself… He’d be a great Dad if he wanted that.” The more she spoke, the more her voice trailed off as her mind wandered.

Lucilla had a smile slowly stretched across her face as she said, “...I believe you.” She patted Jessica’s knee, “And I think he’s in love with you too. It’s why I grilled you so much just now, just to be sure he’s not going to get burned.”

“Uh...You think so?” Jessica cautiously asked, taken aback and blinking at Lucilla.

Lucilla exclaimed, “Of course! Have you seen the way he looks at you? Every time we looked at you two, you were both laughing at something, and he had this dumb, goofy smile every time he looked at you. Trust me; a sister knows when her brother’s in love…Right?” Lucilla nudged her a bit.

Jessica felt a strange mix of emotions she couldn’t quite place as she slowly nodded. She cleared her throat and changed the subject, “So if the interrogation is over, I think we should get these donuts for everyone before we eat them all.”

“Or we could tell them they ran out and talk some more….”

“I think the cinnamon sugar dust is a dead giveaway,” Jessica muttered as she wiped some dust off Damien’s Mets Jersey. “Besides, I told you everything so far. You want my social security number, too, in case?” Jessica chuckled.

Lucilla laughed and said, “Fine. Besides, I think that Damien’s like a prized possession you’re wearing. He’d instantly know you got something on it, and then the secret donuts would be a giveaway, and I know Isabela she’ll complain till we go back and get her some, and then Dames would cry all day that his prized shirt is ruined or some shit like that. “Lucilla gave an eye roll. “I mean, you’re a Mets fan too, obviously.”

Jessica had to hide the grimace as she forced it out. “Uh yeah. I totally love that team…Just love them.” She lied as Lucilla got up with the bag of donuts, and they walked back.

Lucilla smiled at her and said, “Well, he must love you to let you wear his prized Jersey.”

‘More like he thought it would be hilarious.’ Jessica thought.

Lucilla continued, “I like you so far.”

Jessica raised a brow, “Well, I like you too. So did I pass the test?”

Lucilla laughed, “Yeah, I think Dames finally got someone.” She gave Jessica a smile, and Jessica gave a smile back.

‘You made it. You’ve been questioned; you did the cute couple thing like holding hands; you picked the stupid pumpkin together and lied through your teeth that you liked that shitty team…After this, you can just stop and go back to the arrangement you both have. No feelings, no romance, no future together. ‘Jessica reasoned with herself as she walked behind Lucilla.

They made it back to everyone as Lucilla handed out donuts and cider. Damien came up to Jessica with a donut in hand, and she couldn’t help noticing how he looked at her, whether it was just realizing it or paranoia from Lucilla.

He asked, “So, did you get to state your case to the judge, or were you thrown the book?”

“I got my ass handed to me by a teenager.”

“Good. But hold that thought because the jury is still deciding the verdict.” He mumbled as both their gazes landed on Lucilla, whispering something to her sister Hope as they both not so subtly glanced at Jessica.

Jessica softly groaned. “Fucken great.”

“No, I actually think they like you. I mean, they haven’t said one insult to you all day. For my sisters, that’s saying something.”

Jessica gave a slight smirk as Damien bit into a donut and had sugar on the side of his mouth. Jessica pointed. “You have some on your cheek.”

Damien raised his brows and swiped his hand over but missed it twice. She finally sighed and said, “Oh jeezus, here. “As she wiped his cheek with her thumb.

Even after she got it, her touch unintentionally lingered. Both of them stared at each other as Jessica pulled away, and Carina said, “No, no! Hold that pose!”

Jessica froze as she saw Carina trying to take a picture. Damien quickly wrapped his arm around the small of her back as Jessica smiled while turning towards Damien.

Carina scoffed, “Come on, be more romantic than that!”

Jessica glanced at Damien before leaning up and hissing in his ear, “You owe me. Big.”

Damien cringed and said, “I know, fuck, I know.” Before he leaned down to hold Jessica close and plant a kiss on her cheek while Jessica gave a big smile for the camera. Years earlier, gaining experience from posing for royal media paid off as she effortlessly made it look natural.

“Perfect! God, you’re so photogenic, Jessica. Where did you learn to pose like you’re on a red carpet?”

Damien released her as Jessica shrugged, “Just practice, I guess.”

Jessica started walking with everyone who all talked amongst each other, including her in the conversation here and there, before a body of water caught her eye. Some benches and a stone Koi pond were among the red and orange trees.

She felt her heart tightening at the sight of the koi fish swimming around and a couple with their little boy watching the fish.

Damien noticed first as he asked, “Hey, Preciosa?”

She walked towards the pond away from the group as Damien looked concerned and asked again, “Jessica?”

“I’ll just be a moment.” Jessica softly gave as she watched the koi fish.

Damien stopped to watch her from afar as his sisters walked over to the koi pond. The only one behind was Damien’s Mom, who stood beside him watching the beautiful Koi pond, and Jessica.

Damien watched Jessica as she looked curiously at the Koi pond. He was falling for her hard, and there was just a softness about her when she fed the fish. His sisters were quite taken with her, with remarks here and there to Damien throughout the day about how she seemed to fit into their idea of who Damien should be with.

“Ángel, I want to talk to you about this girl.”

“Si Mamá dime (Yes, mom, talk to me).” Damien scrunched up his nose and listened to his Mother.

“I’m not a fool; this girl isn’t your girlfriend.”

Damien blinked at that as he looked down at his Mother and asked, “How do you know?”

“You look at her like you want her to be yours.”

“That obvious?” Damien gave a sigh.

“Si Hijo. What makes her special to you?”

“Mamá, when I’m with her, the nightmares go away. She makes me smile and laugh, and I can tell her anything, and she won’t judge me. I’m falling in love with her. I don’t know when it happened, but it’s happening.”

Damien looked over at Jessica, laughing with Lucilla about something as Lucilla pointed at the water. “I want more with her; I’m just afraid to ask.”

“I like her. I like her for you a lot. She is hilarious, and you can tell she is very bright. Hope likes her a lot too, and she is hard to win over.”

“Wow, Hope doesn’t like anyone.” Damien chuckled.

“This girl, is she a family girl?”

“Yea, she has two brothers she is very close to. They are cops; one is Captain, the other a Lieutenant. I actually know the older brother.”

“What about her parents?”

“They passed away. Her father was a detective, and her Mother was a Social Worker.

“I see she knows what it’s like for you and your work.”

“She is a cop too. Don’t worry; she is nothing like Alana.”

“Oh, that I can tell. Alana cared about herself. If she were like Alana, she wouldn’t be here.”

“Mamá, what do I do?”

“Sometimes you have to be willing to lose.”

Damien gazed at Jessica as she turned to give him a soft smile from the koi pond. His Mother’s words rang out in his head as they both stared at one another. Jessica’s smile slowly faded as she stared back, some unspoken conversation going on as they both struggled with what they wanted and what they allowed past the walls they built up.

Damien calmly walked over to her as she returned to looking at the koi fish with his sisters. Damien looked down at the fish as he stood beside her.

“They’re pretty, aren’t they?” Jessica finally said as Damien hummed in agreement.

They watched a bit longer before Jessica released a long sigh. Thinking to herself about her unspoken past. Of the child she lost, they nicknamed Koi, of the life she could have had with Liam.

Jessica frowned slightly as she thought, ‘Look at you, Jessica. You have a great guy standing next to you with a family that already accepts you. You have the opportunity for something here that you didn’t have in Cordonia if you just let it go and move on.’

Jessica sucked in a breath with a tight-lipped smile and thought, ‘I already said my goodbyes to Liam but not to you, Koi. I’ll never stop loving you or who you could have been, but I think I need to start learning to try and find some happiness in all of this.’ She almost felt tears in her eyes, but she closed them and held onto the sad smile on her face before walking away from the pond.

Damien watched her intently, a frown in place as he studied her. He followed her as his sisters and Mother started walking, pumpkins in hand, to pay and call it a day.

“...are you alright?” Damien asked.

Jessica nodded and replied, “Yeah, I think so.”

She and Damien hung back as he spoke in low tones, “Thanks again for this.”

“No, it was…It was fun. I actually enjoyed today with your family.”

Damien released a hearty chuckle, “Oh, don’t deny it. You secretly love my team.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I did…But you owe me for wearing a stupid Mets Jersey in public, and now Carina has it on camera.”

“Is that why your team ate shit last night?”

Damien lowered his head to whisper as he slung an arm around her as they walked, “Remember what else happened last night?”

Jessica smirked, “Remind me again later…You do owe, after all…SIR”

“All night if you need.” He promised as they walked side by side, Jessica leaning into him for the first time openly in public as Damien smiled to himself and held her close.

@choicesmonthlychallenge

@choicesficwriterscreations

@lovealexhunt

@fictober-event

#writers on tumblr #writeblr #fictober22 #liam x jessica #liam x mc #the royal romance #king liam #trr #jessica x liam #trr fanfic #liam rys #prefectmatch #damien nazario #damien x mc #perfect match #play choices #choices fanfic

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kiruamon · 2 years

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Teacher-AU Part 9!

If you've been paying close attention, you'll notice that the Christmas vacations are just around the corner within the AU.

So here's a little fact check:

The school is festively decorated at this time of year.

The leafless party tree is lit up even more festively than usual.

There are Christmas trees in the hallways and wild snowball fights out in the schoolyard.

Oz prefers to stay inside the school building during the snowy days rather than spend time outside.

During the last week before the vacations, Oz places a bundle of homemade cookies wrapped and tied in a holiday-themed napkin on each of his students' desks before class.

He put some thought into the shapes and decorations and put them together individually:

Vicky - lightning, hearts, hammer, screwdriver

Amira - fire, stars, music notes

Brian - rugby, dragon, tetris stones

Polly - moustaches, bottles, chess pieces

Scott - bones and classic Christmas cookies like Christmas tree, Santa, gingerbread man, etc.

Liam - puzzle pieces which together make a picture, however exactly one piece is missing and it drives Liam half insane until he decides it's supposed to be some metaphor about the incompleteness of life or something

Damien - flames, knifes, lighter, guns

Vera - coins, mice, dollar signs, diamonds

Miranda - princess crowns, hearts, seahorses, silverware (covered with silver icing, of course)

The Colorgang definitely asked Teach on the last day of school before the vacations if he won't feel lonely and if they should visit him during the vacations.

Oz declined the kind offer and told them that he would be fine and that they should enjoy the holidays to the fullest.

After all, they had already celebrated his birthday with him.

Of course, he regretted his words a little later.

Spending Christmas alone just isn't very mood-lifting no matter how nicely everything might be decorated around you.

Damien didn't think much about Teach, but that was also due to the fact that, unlike the Colorgang, he hadn't even heard that Teach was stuck on school grounds or that he didn't have any family to celebrate with.

However, the holidays should not be quite as dull as Oz had suspected them to be.

At a cursory glance, neither the table nor the chair in front of Oz appeared to be different from the twenty-four others in the room. And yet he was drawn to that one seat. His hand stroked a dark, singed mark in the surface of the tabletop. Sundays and holidays always felt a little lonely. But worse than those brief periods of silence were the vacations. Both the summer vacations, which felt like they dragged on forever, and now the Christmas break, which, while much shorter, seemed so much colder and grimmer to him. No club activities, no unauthorized evening school parties, no students swarming through the hallways, no earsplitting fire alarms or accidentally summoned nightmare demons from other dimensions. Just empty, dark school hallways and icy snow storms that swallowed up any colors and noises outside the school building. In the past, Oz had been quite fond of the winter. Its silence, the gentle trickle of snowflakes, and the glittering, powdery landscape. And on top of that, the uplifting illumination of homes and towns. With a thousand colorful lights that competed with the starry sky at night. Truly a magical winter wonderland.

But if you trudged lonely for years through weathered ruins, bleak landscapes and knee-high snow where the cold made you feel as if millions of tiny needles were being driven into your skin, while you only grew more and more tired and yet found no sleep and no peace, then any winter romance that might have arisen vanished. Besides, it just wasn't the same to spend the holidays alone. No matter how nice or cozy he tried to make his surroundings in order to create a little holiday atmosphere. Neither a decorated tree, a warm blanket, a cup of hot chocolate or the variety of Christmas songs, which were playing on every radio channel, helped. He used to look forward to this time of year so much. But now he simply did not come to rest any more.

Probably that was why he had come here. Just as himself. Since it was the vacations, when he didn't have to worry about anyone showing up. No one would notice if, like today, he dropped his role as Teach as he wandered through the abandoned building like a ghost in his much younger-looking form and wearing his favorite yellow cardigan. Just him, his phobias and the silence around them. On days like this, Oz felt clearly how tiny his world had become. Of course, he would always make the same choice. But he missed being able to decide for himself whether he wanted to spend his day comfortably in his room without the constant stimuli from outside crashing over him or whether he wanted to spend his time outside among other monsters. And he missed taking a walk in nature that wasn't restricted to a few miles around the school grounds. He had walked in the limited area given to him so many times that he knew the position of every tree within the barrier better than he knew the inside of his own Void! And, of course, he missed his friends. And Dames. And also Dames' fathers, who had welcomed him so warmly into their family. He would have liked to send a card to Stan and Lucien, but immediately dismissed the idea. After all, they didn't know him personally yet. To be honest, he wasn't even sure if Damien told them anything about him or not. And to receive a Christmas greeting from their son's teacher would have been quite odd, if not alarming.

But whining didn't help. He knew that well enough. He had to come to terms with this situation. "It could be a lot worse," Oz tried to cheer himself up with little success. Since Spooky High had been rebuilt, his daily schedule felt definitely busier. He had responsibilities and a regular routine each day that was more than a mere distraction to prevent him from going insane. And... his friends were alive again. He was allowed to see them again. Even if it wasn't like before. But... that was exactly what was bothering him. His life now ran mostly parallel to theirs. They had fewer opportunities to come in touch with each other. Could he really earn their full trust in less than three years, the way things were at the moment? It was so awfully difficult. Walking the fine line between not pushing himself too hard on them and not stepping too far back either. Oz could only try to do his best and continue. Exhausted from all his worries, he dropped down on the chair and looked at the blackboard and the teacher's desk in front of him from his new seat.

And then there was the whole thing with Dames. How did his former love saw him when he stood up there before the class and gave one of his lessons? So far Oz had taken it as a good sign that his former partner had not skipped any of his classes. Even if that might be due to the unspoken challenge that existed between him and the pyromaniac fire lover. Damien still hadn't been able to achieve his goal of getting him to stop his lessons because of him. And heaven knew how hard his former partner had tried! Oz smiled for a second before the smile disappeared from his eyes again. But what if Dames could pull it off? It was easy to imagine that the school rowdy wouldn't show up any longer to his lessons... Then all Oz would have to hope for was that Damien would continue to show up for detention when he was supervising. The only problem with that was that they weren't often alone there. Most days, other students had to show up there, too. And then Oz didn't have the time or the opportunity to try to rebuild their old bonds. Besides... what if Damien stopped showing up there, too?

Was this whole teacher thing perhaps a flop? Should he rather give up this role and enroll as a new student next year? But... no, no, he couldn't do that. It would be much harder to live here undisturbed on the grounds. And he would have to keep making up excuses why he couldn't go into town. He would have to start from square one again with his friends and... Oz didn't want piling up more lies. "I wish I could talk to someone about this... ", but there was no one he could entrust himself to. The tired entity felt Isolophobia's tiny fingers comfortingly brushing through his hair. "Thank you," Oz said softly. Lately, he sometimes forgot how important it was to be nice to himself once in a while, too. Thankfully, his phobias reminded him of that. With a deep sigh, he let his upper body sink onto the table in front of him, resting his head on his arms. Surely his head would likely explode from all the brooding. So Oz decided to turn off the thinking for at least a few minutes. He would just rest here. Sitting here in Damien's place to be at least a little bit close to his lost love. He missed him so much. He missed the way Damien had always smiled at him back then. To feel how deep and strong the bond of their love was. Unshakable. But now... now it was broken. Oz wanted to reach with his hand for the worn fabric of his coat - the coat Damien had once given him - only to remember that he had hung it up to dry in the laundry room. Right. Yellow cardigan. White shirt. Dark gray pants. He had allowed himself to be Oz for once today, and not Teach. Exhausted, his hand released the fabric of his cardigan.

If the school weren't closed, he could have almost believed that he was a first-year student at Spooky High again. And that his terrible memories were nothing but a horrible nightmare. Just a bad dream from which he awoke at the end of class. "If only it were so simple... " But the cool metal against his chest reminded him that this past had really existed. This life had truly existed. Even if he was the only one who remembered it. "What would you do in my place Dames?" Oz blinked into the warm sunlight that poured through the wide windows covered with ice flowers into the empty classroom and warmed up his body a bit. The heavy gray clouds of this morning must have disappeared, for the sky outside shone in a vibrant steel blue.

"No doubt you would have tried to take matters into your own hands." But how? Would Damien have approached him straight on? Would he have simply told him everything? Without thinking too much about it? Patience never had been Dame's biggest strength. Or to plan ahead. Oz, however, was far too afraid of making a wrong step. So much that he thought he wouldn't be able to move at all. That was nonsense, of course. He had made some small progress. For example, the birthday party with his friends. But would it continue like this next year? Or would it remain an one-time thing? Why... why did he always let himself get so easily discouraged? "What else can I do? How can I convince them to believe me?" From his hand, Decidophobia chirped at him. "Yes. Yes, I should probably distract myself a little and clear my head," he actually knew that. And had intended to do so, as well. Maybe it would help to read a book or watch some silly videos on one of the old computers in the library. At least there was no point in worrying about all the ifs and buts all the time. "As it is, I'm just running in circles," Oz stated a tiny bit more firmly, pushing himself back against the back of the chair from his lying position. Only then did he notice that something white was lying on the floor next to the table. Surprised, he stood up and bent down to pick up the slightly crumpled piece of paper that was lying there so thoughtlessly. "Empty," he muttered as he looked at the page facing him and turned the note over in his hand without much expectation. This time several sentences written in a scrawl and with too much pressure came to light. Oz would have recognized Damien's handwriting even if he hadn't already corrected several of his current student's tests. Thoroughly, his eyes wandered over the few lines.

The poem before him was hardly a masterpiece. Dames had rhymed a word with itself at one point. Only to continue without any more rhyming afterwards. The poem was blunt in its message and so straightforward that it left no doubt about the writer's thoughts. In his work, Dames complained about the boring school subjects and the not-so-lame theater rehearsals at school. And mentioned a teacher who constantly stopped him from burning down the classroom. It was a tiny bit silly. So simplistic. So passionate. So typical Damien. It made him laugh and then cry. Because it reminded him of how often Damien had recited one of his little poems to him. To make him laugh. And sometimes to tell him how much he loved him. Oz didn't bother to stop the tears as they rolled down his cheeks as he read. He was alone. It was okay to show his feelings. It was okay to be emotional.

Oz read the lines a second time. And then a third time. There were still a few tears dripping from his chin to the floor when suddenly, with an earsplitting loud crash, the classroom door flew off its hinges and hit one of the desks next to it. In shock, Oz stood frozen, clutching the poem in his hands. He could hardly believe whose figure he spotted in the frame of the broken door.

Damien was no less surprised than his opponent to find someone else here when he noticed the puny-looking monster. WTF? Why was someone still hanging around here on the holidays of all days! When he decided to break into the school today, no one should have been here. Especially after he found out that the front door was locked when he tried to open it for the first time! Had someone forgotten the guy here and locked him up over the vacations? Was that why the noob was crying? Didn't he own a cell phone or something with which he could call for help? Ugh! It didn't matter! Hectically, like a hunted animal, Damien looked around. He had no time to deal with such a pip-squeak! If he didn't found his poem as soon as possible, before someone else saw it after the holi- Shit! His eyes landed on the crumpled piece of paper in the hands of the trembling weakling in front of him. That fucking noob! Uaarghh! He was so going to kill that fucking worm! Right here on the spot! How he could dispose the corpse, he would figure out later! To steal the stuff of other monsters and to read it without their permission was really not cool! Especially, if said stuff belonged to Damien! And then it had to be one of his fucking poems!

Without caring about his surroundings, he stormed towards the lanky and still frozen monster. "You are so dead!", he yelled at the noob, who flinched violently and seemed to notice the trouble he was in. Because the shorter monster almost stumbled back away from him. Which did not work very long, because after a few steps, the little thief literally stood with his back to the wall and could not move any further. Bright and hot flames engulfed Damien's right fist. Another three meters, two meters... He prepared to give the weakling the most powerful blow of his oh so short, pathetic life.

Oh no. Oh no. Ohnononono! Oz felt the wall at his back prevent him from escaping further. It simply did not possess the kindness to give way. Damien looked incredibly angry! And worse... Damien had seen him! In this form! With his poem! Reading his poem and crying! What was he supposed to do? Oz couldn't manage to think clearly, as caught off guard as he was by the whole situation. "It w-was l-l-lying o-on the f-floor."

What the- Damien's steps slowed slightly as he heard an overly frightened voice stuttering in dread inside his head. He hastily shook off the slight feeling of irritation that this monster, like his dad and Teach, also used telepathy to speak. "Doesn't matter! You've seen it so say your final words loser!"

"I-I-I k-know I shou-shouldn't have do-done t-that... I'm s-so so-sorry." "Oooooh you should be. But as to how sorry you are, you'll have plenty of time to think about in your afterlife!" One meter. Half a meter. He was ready to strike with full force. To strike at this trembling little pile of misery that stared at him with those big… round... white eyes... where had he seen them before? Arg! No! There was no way he would falter now. "I-it was ju-just so g-g-good." With that, the flames around Damien's fist died instantly. His fist rammed into the wall next to the face of the dorky-looking monster in front of him, who winced rather sharply, but still looked him straight in the eye, without blinking even once. "You liked it?" asked Damien, completely dumbfounded and barely able to believe his ears. "Y-yes, I d-did." "You really mean that serio-... I mean, of course it's good! After all, I wrote it myself!" With his chest swelling with pride, he raised his chin a little more. For the first time, Damien now took a closer look at the little thief, whom he had wanted to beat to an unrecognizable pulp only a moment ago.

When he stared at him like that... that resemblance.... The pipsqueak looked like Teach! Well, not in every way, but pretty close! The skittish little dork in the bright yellow cardigan was a good deal shorter and more slender than his teacher or himself. And he definitely looked a lot younger, making him appear to be more around Damien's age. Plus, he was such a babyface! Quite fragile. He was probably knocked over by the tiniest gust of wind. Despite the many differences, however, the similarities could not be denied. Teach and the noob here had the same characteristic facial features. Especially the eyes. Yes Teach's were a bit narrower, but other than that.... The short one here also had no mouth and then... Damien's eyes caught a glimpse of two phobias, which tried to hide from him.

The lanky monster in front of him looked at him sheepishly and every time their eyes met he began to flinch nervously. Damn it, this sight made him super flustered! The longer Damien watched him, the more he began to feel uneasy and restless himself. Unfortunately, he did not know what to do with this pent-up energy. As a result, he slammed his left hand against the wall, completely trapping the pathetic nerd in front of him. The noob before him turned white in horror! Especially around his nose and cheeks. Hah! Hah. ...

Why didn't that feel as good as usual? Normally, he loved it when other monsters started to shudder with fear in front of him. The young prince decided the beating could wait a little longer to find out who this noob actually was.

His poor, poor heart. Did Damien frighten him! A terrible chaos still filled Oz's mind after this unexpected encounter. What was he supposed to do? Was he even supposed to do something? His beloved friend's face was so awfully close to his own that it made his heart beat faster. He felt hot and cold at the same time and felt how his face unintentionally started to turn white from his pounding heart. Why of all things did Damien have to look at him now with his wonderful amber eyes that robbed the air from him to breathe? Thankfully, breathing was optional for Oz. And then there was that intimidating and manic grin. Was Damien actually doing that on purpose? Driving him out of his mind? Was it wrong that he wished Damien would threaten him a little longer? He hadn't been this close to him in so long. If only Dames would lean in a little further to him until.... Oh my. What was he thinking? This was absolutely not the right moment to live out some weird fantasies. Let alone the fact that Dames surely had other things in mind with him.

"Who are you spying for?" he snapped harshly at the monster, who looked like a shrunken version of his teacher. Damien was still trying to make sense of his prisoner. But the latter was now giving him a quite surprised look. As if Damien had hit his head. Which he most definitely hadn't today! Yet... "Now spill the beans! But quickly!" "I... how... n-no, I didn't... W-well, I'm not a-a... " Gaaah! The little guy just kept getting more and more nervous! And... hell, that voice reminded him so much of Teach even if it sounded much younger. Plus this light stuttering that mixed in with his faint voice. Was there a law that forbade someone to be too cute? If so, a certain somebody just broke every single one of these laws right now. Whoa, wait. What... had he just been thinking? Dammit! Where on earth did such cheesy thoughts come from? "Now hurry up! Spit it out, or I'll consider just giving you a new face," Damien threatened the nerd in front of him in an irritated mood. Fuck, it was upsetting to see the short guy staring at him with his stupid big eyes.

O-oh dear. Damien was getting more and more impatient. Hectically Oz thought about what he should answer him. An idea. An ide- There it was! Though maybe not the best one he could have. But now was not the time to be picky. "I-I... um... I am Teach's brother." Damien looked at him as if he had just grown three heads, four new legs of various shapes, and all sorts of other abstruse stuff out of his body. Thankfully, the speechlessness that had come over the demon only lasted a few seconds. "You're... For real now?" Oz nodded and Damien looked like he was tossing this new information back and forth in his head before he could accept it. "... You do look alike," Damien admitted after a small pause. "Y-yes, we hear t-that a lot," he really didn't like lying to Dames, but what else could he do? Tell the truth?

Hey, you know, I am actually your teacher, and this is what I used to look like, and by the way, we are... were... married until suddenly this terrible thing happened where everyone except me died. And because of a pact with another entity, now everyone is alive again, but no one can remember me.

Yeah right. Damien would first laugh at him for such a crazy story and then beat him up until all that was left of him was a sorry puddle on the floor. And he couldn't even blame him. "So you're here because ... "

"To visit my brother, b-because it's Christmas and all. S-Since h-he lives on campus. Um. H-he's a little busy right now, th-that's why.... I just t-thought it... it'd be kind of nice to check out the place where he's w-working and everything, meanwhile." Another lie. He would apologize for it someday. A lot. Hopefully he would be forgiven. For now, Oz stuck to his made-up story. Luckily, Damien was buying it. The rowdy prince nodded slightly and very slowly took a step back, giving him back his freedom. Which Oz found almost a bit sad.

Damien found it difficult - now that he knew about the kinship of the two monsters - to take his eyes off the stuttering little nerd in front of him. "So you're Teach's younger brother," he repeated more to himself as if that would make the words something he could comprehend more easily. A new question flashed through his mind. "What's your name?" he asked with a curious glint in his eyes. Teach's little brother hesitated for a moment before his timid voice settled back into his head. "O-oh, you... um... you c-can call me Yellow. O-or Wiz. That's... what my f-friends call me, anyway." Embarrassed, the shy noob in front of him lowered his head and stared awkwardly down at his feet for a moment. Hm. Yellow or Wiz, was it? The names were both a little strange. They didn't feel quite right when Damien tried to match them with the being in front of him. But they didn't feel completely wrong either. However! He could think about that some other time. For now, he simply chose one of the names. "Wiz, then," he decided without further ado. It was short and sounded more like a name. Although he believed to understand why Yellow would have fit as well, looking at the bright yellow outstanding cardigan. "Um... here please. Your poem. You... you wanted it back, didn't you? Again, so-sorry for reading it without asking." This time the little boy stuttered a lot less, obviously calming down from the fright Damien had given him before. Grumbling softly, he was about to take the paper from Wiz when he changed his mind. "You can keep it. I only wanted to destroy the evidence anyway. But don't you dare! Don't you dare showing it to anyone! And definitely not Teach!" Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to look his teacher in the eye for the rest of the year!

He was allowed... he was allowed to keep it? Oz blinked in surprise at this unexpected turn of events. Damien, however, seemed to misinterpret it entirely. "If you don't want it after all, I might as well burn it- " "Nonononono! Please don't!" quickly Oz pressed it closer to him before Dames could take the poem from him again. "I want to keep it! I do! For real! I'm not going to show it to anyone, I promise."

Huff. What a hassle. "Fine. But if you don't stick to our deal, you're done for. Teach's little brother or not. Got it?" Menacingly, he glared at the little nerd, who looked up at him and nodded eagerly to show that he got the point. Good. Sighing, Damien scratched the back of his head. Now what? The thing he had come here for had been dealt with by that. What a huge waste of time. He could just leave now... but he didn't really... want to. His eyes fell again on the small entity in front of him. "Say, Wiz. Where else were you heading?" After all, he had babbled something about wanting to take a closer look at the school or something. "Where I... oh, well, I... I thought to the auditorium? At least I've heard it's pretty impressive by high school standards." The auditorium, then. Damien's tail flicked thoughtfully through the air behind him. Why not? A grin settled on his lips. "Okay. Well, listen carefully. I, Damien LaVey, will do you the honor of showing you around for once. You should consider yourself lucky."

This... just took an unexpected turn. But Damien looked so incredibly pleased with his idea that Oz simply couldn't bring himself to say no. Besides... the possibility to spend a little more time with Damien made his heart skip another beat. Even more so because this time he didn't needed to act as his teacher.

At first Damien thought Wiz would refuse. Because the short guy didn't answer right away, despite his once in a lifetime offer. But when he saw a warm, happy smile reflected in the white eyes of the entity before him, that was more than enough for him as an answer.

Oz looked around the stage. All the house sets from the pre-Christmas play were still standing around. "A Christmas Carol, huh?" asked Oz with a bright smile. Unfortunately, he was teaching the upper grades at the time of the performance, so he sadly missed the play. "Yeah. The teachers wanted us to do something classic that didn't end in the death of half the cast. Pretty lame, if you ask me." "I like the story," Oz admitted. He had probably read the book more than a dozen times. "Figures a noob like you would be into that sort of thing," Damien rolled his eyes, but Oz could see the demon grinning slightly. Besides, the amused tone in Damien's voice revealed that he didn't mean his words as harshly as one might think. "Did you have a role in the play, too?" asked the entity with genuine interest. "Sure. Heck, they can't get anything done around here without me." When it came to acting, Damien was always surprisingly committed. It was a wonder as to why the demon had never thought about a career in acting. "So? What role was it?" Damien was silent for a moment longer than normal. " ...ley... " The answer was so mumbled that Oz barely understood it. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caug-" "Jacob Marley." Ah. The deceased business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. "And just for your info, I so rocked that role!" immediately clarified Damien, the tips of his ears flushing a little pink. Was he embarrassed to have played a supporting role? "There's never been a Marley this rad and brilliant before, I tell you!" An unmistakable smile appeared in Oz's eyes when he heard Damien speak so proudly about his performance.

"Are you laughing at me right now?" the prince looked at Wiz in shock. So little could he believe that this little bookworm just dared to laugh at him. "What? No! No, it's not that," the latter raised his hands a bit and quickly explained himself. "I just think it's great how passionate you were about your performance. I... would liked to have seen it." There was something unexpected about the confession. And somehow Damien felt slightly flattered by it. So Wiz would have loved to watch him? Damien mused. And pondered. And then it clicked. "The camera!" "Camera?", Wiz didn't seem to understand. Well, how could he? "Our drama teacher captured it on camera. You know so we can watch it together after the vacations and analyze it and stuff like that." Damien shrugged. "That would mean... " "Yep. If we get the recording, we could watch it."

The plan was simple. Oz volunteered to go into the teachers' room and look for the camera. Especially because he knew that Damien would make a huge mess in the room otherwise. And because he had the keys to the teachers' room with him anyway. Damien would get the rest of the equipment they needed from the AV room.

In less than a quarter of an hour, they had gathered back together, set up the screen, connected the projector and camera to the laptop, and made themselves comfortable on the stage while the recording flickered across the screen in front of them. Oz felt like he was in the middle of a private preview for a new movie. So many other monsters had been in the audience that night. But now it was just him and Damien and no one else. And it was such fun to listen to the Damien's comments, who told him inside stories about bloopers during the rehearsals or how they had to practically force the role of Ebenezer Scrooge on Liam. "Actually, I had wanted to play the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come," Damien confessed at one point." "Really?", Oz detached his eyes from the screen for a moment to look at the horned demon. "Sure. I mean that's pretty much the most badass role in the whole play." That was kind of true. However... "But it would have been a shame, too." Confused, Damien looked to him before his facial expressions twisted in annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean?" the disgruntled school bully immediately growled at him. Uh-oh. He hadn't meant it that way at all! "I-I just mean, b-because then you wouldn't have had any lines at all. A-and from what I saw earlier, your strength is in delivering the lines and your facial expressions. And neither would have come into play if you had been the spirit of the Christmas yet to come." Um... why was Damien staring at him open-mouthed now?

Damien hastily closed his mouth again when he realized how much Wiz's spot-on analysis of his strengths had left him speechless. He hadn't thought of that until now, but the little pipsqueak had a point! His tail twitched a little, while a warm feeling spread through his chest. Surely it was only because someone finally realized what a great actor he truly was! Damien turned his face away from Wiz again and instead stared forward at the screen again. "Hmph. Hiding a face as handsome as mine behind a hood would have been a real shame, I guess." Out of the corner of his eye, Damien could see Wiz nodding in agreement. Why did his chest tingle so strangely? It was obvious that he was great. He didn't need a little noob to tell him that ... For the rest of the recording, they went back to more casual chit-chat. Little anecdotes from Damien. And Wiz, who shared some surprisingly interesting details about the book and the author with him.

The recording was just over and Wiz was helping to take down the technology again when a rather strange idea went through Damien's head. Was he going to ask Wiz for his number? He had no idea where that thought even came from. But... Wiz wasn't a student at this school. The chances of running into him again after today were probably slim. But did he actually wanted that? To keep in touch with Teach's little brother? Their encounter today had been an absolute coincidence. However... it had been fun to talk to the little noob. At least Damien had to admit that to himself. Undecidedly he glanced over to the small entity with his silly yellow cardigan. He... Oh fucking hell. What harm could it do? "Hey Wiz! Come here," he called loudly after the other. The latter looked up. Put aside the camera he had just turned off and came running towards him like a duckling called by its mother. "Yes? What is it?", with his big eyes he looked up at him and again Damien felt a slight touch of nervousness. Which he immediately swallowed down as if it was nothing. "Hand over your phone," the words came out a bit more harsh and tenser than intended. The nerd blinked at him in confusion, but then followed his request and placed a smartphone in Damien's outstretched hand. "The PIN?", Damien wanted to know. "Oh. Um. 0328," Wiz replied a little sheepishly. He was probably worried Damien might do some crap with it. For once, though, he had nothing like that planned. Without giving it much thought, he punched in the numbers and the phone was unlocked. Contacts... Wow... that was a sad sight. But never mind! After all, they were changing that now. Damien created a new contact, entered his number in it and clicked save. Next, he opened the chat app and sent himself an invitation to his own number for a new chat group via Wiz's phone. So done! Satisfied, the prince of hell shoved the cell phone back into the other's petite little hands. "There you go. Now you can write me messages. But I'll tell you right now, I'm pretty busy. So don't expect me to always have time for you." The noob better not let it go to his head that Damien just gave him his number without asking for a favor in return. Even though, in truth, Damien had absolutely no plans at all for the rest of the vacation. Except to spend some time with his dads and maybe go into town now and then to cause some chaos.

Damien had... really just given him.... Speechless, he stared at the screen of his smartphone feeling as if he had just witnessed a true Christmas miracle. Tenderly holding the device in his fingers, he lifted his gaze from it and looked up with gratitude at Dames, who stood there scratching the back of his head, with a tiny expression of embarrassment. "Thank you very much. A-and don't worry. I um... am quite good at waiting." He just couldn't let this chance slip away. Even if it required him to continue to be patient.

Damien almost felt a bit of guilt at Wiz's words. Nonsense! Even if his suspicions were right and the other really didn't have any friends, that wasn't his problem. Besides, he didn't want the noob to end up clinging to him like a limpet and pestering him with boring messages or random problems. That would be annoying. So he'd just play it cool. And that meant writing Wiz every now and then, depending on his mood, and seeing how things turned out. Besides... maybe he could even use this golden opportunity to learn more about Wiz's older brother? Things he couldn't ask Teach directly? Dig up some secrets and weaknesses. Or find out more about his teacher's shitty ex. There were so many new possibilities for him if he kept in touch with the noob! But first, he had to think about all that more thoroughly.

What else happened after that?

Damien was a little irritated when within the next days there was still no message from Wiz.

But at zero o'clock between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day he received a message from Wiz wishing him a great new year and thanking him again for the nice day they spent together.

Also, Wiz sent along with his text a cute picture of a cartoon bunny with a party crasher. Damien thought it was silly but kind of cute of Wiz.

Damien was definitely in a better mood after this and answered him immediately.

Also Damien saw during their first message exchange that "Wiz's" chat name is YellowWizard and so he put together that Wiz is a short form for it.

In the end Oz was quite happy about this little accident and the chance to talk and spend time with Damien separately from his role as a teacher.

Damien and he exchange text messages every now and then during the school year.

In the beginning, messages from Damien come rather irregularly, when he happens to notice his chat with Wiz while scrolling through his contacts.

Oz is happy about every message, even if it is just about trivialities

Over time, their text exchanges increase

Sometimes Damien sends him a new poem in a message and waits impatiently for his reaction.

Oz is happy to share his thoughts on the poems and tries to encourage him to continue writing them.

Oz keeps the gift poem in his Void, but sometimes pulls it out to read when he needs a little encouragement.

Damien also once came close to asking Wiz about Teach's ex, but ended up deleting the message instead of sending it

I hope I didn't confuse you with the introduction of another "persona" for Oz. For now, "Wiz" will have more of a supporting role in the form of their text exchange. In case you have trouble remembering the name, here's a tip to make it easier. Just think of the Wizard of Oz.;) Because that was exactly my thought process when I thought of the nickname. And yay! Oz got Damien's phone number! Finally he can talk to him a little bit more freely!

Also, for those who want to know what the exact cast in the play was:

Liam - Ebenezer Scrooge

Damien - Jacob Marley

Vicky - Bob Cratchit

Amira - Mrs. Cratchit

Blobert - Tiny Tim

Hope - Ghost of Christmas Past

Miranda - Belle

Polly - Ghost of Christmas Present

Brian - Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Vera - business woman who speaks ill of the deceased Scrooge

Scott - the boy who is asked to buy the turkey

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