#final total can/will climb……… i wonder how far out his books are gonna be by the time i do my consultation bc my fam is planning on a beach

[thiserichann]

cookies and cream - lee jeno

reader x jeno

genre: smut, strangers to fuck buddies, humor if you squint hard enough

word count: 4k-ish

warnings: recklessness (she met with a stranger online, don’t do it kids) excessive lying, 18+ scenes that includes: oral (f receiving) face riding, soft dom!jeno?

This is merely a work of fiction and is not meant to hurt the image of Jeno and NCT. Again, don’t be as reckless as OP. This was just a fantasy of mine that I’ve been dying to get out of my system.

Holy fuck.

That's the only word that you've managed to utter when you decided to check your messages that morning.

You got bored in the middle of the class and decided to sneak a peek on your phone to pass the time. The class is recorded anyways so you can always just go back to the parts of the lessons that you've missed.

But holy fuck.

You never expected to see THAT so early in the morning.

"Miss Y/N?"

You snapped back to reality and stopped malfunctioning for a second when somebody called your name. Everyone including your professor remained quiet and all eyes are on you.

"Oh. Sir what’s the question again?"

You answered nervously as you tried to review your notes and backtrack on what he is discussing a few moments ago.

"I see that you're distracted in the middle of my class again. Mind sharing what you're occupied with?"

"Uhm. I was watching KPOP fancams, sir."

"Fancams won't get you into law school, Miss Y/N. Phones off please."

You tucked your phone back to your pocket and never picked it up again since. The professor started blabbering again but no information is being retained on your head. It stayed that way at your other classes.

You wished you were looking at some KPOP fancams earlier. You’ve watched fancams at class before and got away with it unscathed.

Oh no. It was a goddamn dick pic.

A good one, too.

It was from a guy that you met in a kink site a few days ago. You created the account out of boredom and expected nothing to come out from it. It’s all the flirting and sexting without all the unnecessary commitment

It only took you a few minutes to set up an account. For some privacy, you made a random birthdate and a random nickname, because like hell would you share your real information to these people. You also picked a racy picture of a lady that looked a bit like you and passed it off as your own.

Within minutes, your inbox is flooded with messages. Most of them, however, are from men who are old enough to be your father.

Well, you were bored, so you entertained everyone and then went on back to your boring, vanilla life. A few political history and theory books later, you went back to see which ones messaged you on the site.

And that's where you've met him.

The most gorgeous piece of meat alive.

He seems like a nice guy. He introduced himself as LJ and your age aren’t that far off from each other. LJ is the only one who actually engaged in conversation besides "want to fuck?" or "are you horny?"

As soon as you started messaging back and forth, you scrolled on his profile to see what he looks like. The only thing is, his profile looked a whole lot like those high fashion male underwear photoshoots.

It was an array topless pictures (presumably his, you just can’t be bothered to check if it is actually his). It featured his sculpted abs and biceps, cropped up all the way to his full lips. Despite not seeing his whole face, you knew very well that he’s a hunk. To say you were intrigued is an understatement.

Since then, you've been talking back and forth through Snapchat (your secret one because you're not stupid) and sent him actual pictures of yourself, completely omitting the face. You took one from your bed, your bathtub, and probably every part of your house that you felt is sexy enough to be included on the pics.

You can't tell him if it's him or the repressed sexual urges finally manifesting itself after more than a year of not getting laid, but every text to and from him made your heart race. It was something that you looked forward to every hour everyday.

Hours went by that you totally forgot leaving him on read. You climbed up to your bed to rest your back to the headboard and opened your unread messages.

You: Hey svlr. School stuff.

  He opened the chat and started typing right away.

  LJ: Oh good. I thought I did something wrong to upset you.

You: Not at all. I loved the pic by the way. It literally knocked my socks off.

LJ: Just the socks?

You: You can take the rest of it off yourself ;)

You scoffed. The flirty banter has always been there ever since you started talking but nothing really came out of it.

LJ: If only I could :(

You: I know. Covid’s a bitch.

You set your phone aside for a second to go to the bathroom. On your way, you picked up some snacks at the fridge and sat back down to your bed, only to find your phone blowing up.

LJ: If you're down maybe we could meet

LJ: It's totally fine if you don't want to

LJ: I just made it weird, didn't I?

LJ: I'm so sorry I brought it up in the first place

LJ: I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable

LJ: Hello?

LJ: I'm really sorry

You: Chill. I'm right here

You: I just went to the bathroom

LJ: Oh

You: I'd be lying if I said I don't want to meet you as well

You: Well... I wouldn't write off the idea

You: But with the Covid

LJ: Thoughts?

You: I don't think it's a great idea

The screen says Seen right at the bottom but it took him a couple more minutes before finally replying.

LJ: I understand

LJ: But in case you change your mind, I'll leave the time and place up to you

LJ: I’ll take care of the rest

LJ: Deal?

You: I'll sleep on it.

You: Speaking of sleep, I gotta go. Morning class.

LJ: Okay. I guess this is good night then

You didn't, in fact, talk to him the day after.

You'd be lying if you said that you didn't want to see him and his abs in real life. But as someone who overthinks a lot, you just can't shake off the risk.

You: Good night. Talk to you tomorrow.

What if he's not really the guy in the pics? Or he’s psycho in real life? What if he's infected the virus?

You sighed.

Why must some global pandemic ruin your sex life?

You waited until the end of the day before you finally replied to LJ. The last thing that he texted was a brief good morning from earlier in the day and nothing else. He’s actually a pretty sweet guy, totally not worth ghosting, and you actually liked talking to him as a friend that you can share your sentiments with.

With your guilt finally eating you up, you took a break from your assigned readings and sat back at your bed to rest for the day. Your fingers hovered over the keyboard for a minute, thinking of something to say to him. It took you a few tries before finally hitting the send button.

You: So, I thought about it

LJ: And?

You: I need to know I can trust you

LJ: Okay. How?

You: I don’t know. Send me a proof that you’re real. Get tested?

You: Is that fine with you?

Within a split second, he sent his reply.

He actually did it.

You couldn’t believe it but he actually did it.

LJ: Consider it done.

He got tested for physical, including the virus test, and passed with flying colors. He even sent you a vid of him inside a medical clinic.

He just sent the uncensored results this morning where you can clearly see his real name.

Lee Jeno.

LJ.

Seems legit.

Well, the uncreative nickname shouldn’t matter now because the results meant only one thing.

You’re gonna have to push through with your promise.

You got ready around noon that day. You can’t remember the last time that you actually got ready to meet someone that’s not a delivery guy or a relative passing on something to your family.

As someone who overthinks a lot, you actually got everything covered. You picked a place near a restaurant to eat. The police station is just a few blocks away just in case something happens, and right in front of a library…

“Where’re are you off to?”

You raised your backpack to show to your mother.

“I’m off to the library. I needed to get these renewed. Maybe pick up a novel or two.”

She looks at you from head to toe, eyeing that incredibly loose hoodie, faded denim jeans, some worn out sneakers that looked like it’s supposed to be thrown away years ago and a medical mask that covers about ¾ of your bare face. It’s just your usual attire whenever you go out for errands.

She just nodded and went back to watching her favorite soap opera.

“It’s nice that you’re out of your room for once. Take some cookies from the kitchen so you’ll have something to eat in case you get hungry.”

… as an alibi to get away from your strict parents.

As soon as you left the door and made sure that you’re out of sight, you found the nearest public toilet and grabbed a whole other outfit from your backpack. The hoodie is replaced by a white, ruffled see-through blouse and you ditched the jeans for a tight skirt that’s at least four inches above your knees. You tousled your hair a little bit and put on some powder and tiny hint of lipstick before putting your facemask back on again.

It’s been a while since you’ve done an elaborate scheme like this. Your skills got a little bit rusty, but they always work.

Sometimes you wonder if you’re really meant to be lawyer or a criminal instead.

You stepped out of the toilet and blended right back into society.

Now all you have to do is find wherever the hell LJ is.

Jeno sat anxiously as he waited for you right inside the café. He’s on his fourth cup of coffee but it didn’t do anything to calm his nerves down (geez I wonder why).

You: I’m almost at the café.

He’s been staring at his phone the whole time. Once he received your message, which is a pic of you in the bathroom after the outfit change, he almost choked on his drink.

This message sent him on a panic as he turned his camera on to see how he looked. He did some minor adjustments to his hair and he wiped off his eyeglasses clean with the sleeves of his hoodie (which did nothing for him by the way) and then casually sat down and played it off cool like he hasn’t been waiting for you for over an hour.

On your perspective, you walked inside the café and looked around for LJ. Fortunately, there was only guy inside the café, twiddling with his phone on his hands and as he kept on peeking through the glass windows as if he’s looking for someone.

From afar, he actually looked really cute. His appearance, a shy, nerdy dude with glasses, looked way off from the fuckboy image that you expected him to have in reference to the messages that you’ve been getting from him.

It’s always the quiet ones that are kinky. You should know, you are one.

You walked over to his table and tapped his shoulders to get his attention.

He froze for a moment before he finally managed to turn around and face you.

“You’re actually here.”

“I know. I’m just as surprised as you are.”

tap tap tap tap

The room is so quiet that the only thing you can hear is the sound of your heels tapping against the tiled floor. You can say that that is one of your observable annoying habits tapping your foot on the floor when you're a nervous wreck.

Sighing in retaliation, you removed your hoodie, fanning yourself as you tried to relax and get comfy on the hotel couch (which should be comfortable enough since you paid a shit ton of money on that room), switching the TV on to get your mind off of things. The lackluster array of shitty sitcoms didn’t distract you at all, but it instead reminded you of the reasons why you’re in that room in the first place.

Having nothing to do to pass the time, you paced back and forth in the room, finally sitting down once you realized that it looks way worse than you just tapping your foot. You folded your arms right across your chest, looking at the watch from time to time but the hands of the clock seem to be moving slower the more you stare at it.

Quarantine started almost a year ago and it's been very hard for you. Sexually. It's been almost a year since you've been touched by a man and you’re more than ready to jump on anyone’s dick at any this point,

Too bad that that dick is taking his sweet time in the bathroom.

tap tap tap tap

Your foot found its rhythm once again, only this time, you’re not nervous anymore. Your patience is wearing thin.

As if summoned by the constant tapping, the guy comes out of the bathroom, just casually drying himself while wearing nothing but the towel dangerously hanging on his waist and a boyish smile on his lips.

No biggie.

"Hey."

Suddenly, you’re not tapping anymore.

Head empty, just thoughts of a hot guy patting down a towel all over his toned body.

“I hope I didn’t make you wait for too long.”

He spoke, tossing aside the towel on his hands on the sofa, finally giving you a full view of him and all his glory.

You must admit, you’re skeptical at first. The guy that’s been sending you faceless thirst traps just days ago, telling you how he’d fuck you senseless looked a lot different from the guy who entered the hotel room just a moment ago.

He came in wearing those black oversized hoodies that did a great job in hiding his best features. His hair was a bit long for your taste, covering half of his face while the face mask hid the other.

But this man right here in front you, he’s Adonis.

You unconsciously bit your lower lip, earning a chuckle from the guy.

“I’m guessing that you’d like to start now?”

You nodded, the tension and awkwardness rendering you unable to speak.

He smiles as he takes the remote from you, turning off the television because the main show is about to start.

You started to tense up again, eyes wide as you realized that he’s now right beside you, wrapping his arms around you as soon as he sat down. He leans over, soft lips coming into contact with your exposed neck and shoulders, landing small pecks all over.

You sat there breathless as he slowly ran his fingers to the side of your thighs, tracing circles at it while giving small, reassuring kisses on your neck and shoulders. It’s as if he’s asking you for your consent, waiting for you to open up to him before he makes a move.

He got his answer when you turned around to face him, running your fingers into his cheeks before cupping his face, your lips finally touching his. He moved in the same pace as earlier, slow and calculating. You got a bit impatient once again, biting his lower lips gently to let him know that he can do more.

He grabbed you by the waist and successfully placed you on top of him. The kiss got even more sloppy as you ran your hands through nape, then into his soft locks. His hands travelled once again, finger running through legs again, stopping as soon as he reached the hem of your skirt, flipping it up to reveal the thin lace material that barely covered your core. You took that as initiative to remove the towel on his waist and grinded against his growing member, the friction and heat enough to earn a groan out of him.

He held your waist once again, firmly this time, halting your movement completely.

You broke away from the kiss, staring him in the eyes to read his face.

“Something wrong?”

“Hold tight.”

You were about to ask about what hold tight mean, but your arms cling unto him involuntarily as he lifts the both of you out of the sofa.

Jeno laid you gently in the bed, making sure not to break eye contact as he does so. He looked like he's about to eat you alive, which is enough to send flush to your cheeks.

“I would’ve loved to bend you over that sofa, but I think it’s just proper that our first time will be on the bed.”

"God. You're beautiful."

He then ran his fingers towards the thin fabric of your blouse, feeling every part of your torso like he's memorizing every detail of it. His hands then travelled in your chest, squeezing the swell of your breasts on each hand, fingers shaking as he does so. It felt like an artist admiring his delicate work of art.

He situated himself between your legs, taking a moment to admire you first before doing anything else.

He started to run his hand on your cleavage and stopped on the uppermost button of your blouse, taking his time to remove all of them and placing a kisses at the exposed skin. After all of the buttons are taken care of, you lifted your body up and slid off the fabric. Your black lacy bra finally made its appearance. You took the liberty of taking that off too, as slow and as you possibly can.

 Jeno just stared at your body in awe, breathing heavily as his eyes scanned your naked glory.

 "Gorgeous."

He said under this breath before leaning down to claim your lips once again. You're turned on by how much attention he's giving your body now. You're usually loud in bed but his gestures are making you bashful. You've never felt this beautiful before.

You can feel his hands trembling as it travels all over your body, his kisses getting even more needy. There was moans of satisfaction every time he would lick your lips. Jeno was kissing you like you were oxygen and he needed to breath.

His hands travelled south, running across your thigh and your now aching core. You're about to remove your skirt and underwear but he stopped your hands midway.

"Keep it."

He took your hands away from your skirt and placed them just above your head.

"Just sit there and relax baby. Let me treat you."

You did just like he told you and gave him full control of your body.

"Good girl."

His lips brushed your ears, whispering sweet nothings about how beautiful you are under him. His kisses then went down to your neck, using his tongue and teeth, marking everything he can get his mouth on with his saliva. Meanwhile, his hands finally touched you down there, massaging your still clothed wetness.

His middle and index finger felt your slit, moving it in swift motion in search for your clit.

"Oh my god. That's it."

You gasped as his fingers finally hit the right spot, tossing your head back as his fingers made circles at your bundle or nerves.

You opened your legs more, leaning on your arms on your back, head tossed back and eyes closed as you feel your impending orgasm.

He dipped his hand inside your underwear and collected some of your essence with his fingers. The mental picture of him licking his fingers deliciously is enough to get you off for weeks.

It didn't take long before he took your panties off and his ducked his head down. He opened your legs once again and licked one long stripe on your core, making sure to taste all of you. You sat there and watch as he hungrily takes all of you in his mouth, acting like your pussy is a full course meal and he's been starving for years.

Within moments, you've become a moaning, toe curled mess. You ran your fingers to his blonde hair, guiding him on how to move his tongue and fingers on you. At one point, he bit some of your sensitive skin, making you scream a string of curses under your breath.

"Stop stop stop."

You grab a fistful of his hair and he paused from what he was doing. You pushed him gently away from you, leaving him staring at you confusedly. The confusion didn't last long when you flipped your current position, you're now on top.

"Can I ride your face?"

At this point, you're bold and horny enough to use your words and ask him. He just nodded, sliding himself from underneath you and went back to eating you like a champ. You grabbed his hands and placed them across your chest, squeezing your breasts to send him a message. He was quick to pick up and followed suit, pinching your nipples right in between fingers while your ride his face to orgasm.

"Shit. I'm coming..."

  You writhed from above him as you come undone. Your body felt cold all over. Your eyes are ringing, feeling dizzy as you almost passed out while you bucked your hips a few more times to milk your release.

You didn’t have time to recover when you heard your phone ringing from outside. Your legs felt a little shaky and you almost tumbled and hit your head in the wall if Jeno didn’t help you get up. You  sat down on the floor, butt-ass naked as you frantically searched for your phone from under all of your stuff before you finally pressed the answer button.

“Yes mom?”

“Where have you been? Your father’s been looking for you at the library. He’s picking you up on your way home.”

You buried your head on the couch to shake off the buzzing feeling on your head. You placed a pillow on your body while you searched for your discarded clothes all over the hotel room.

“Oh yeah. I went to the café and got something to eat. Tell Dad I’ll meet him outside the library.”

“Okay sweetie. Can you pick up some groceries on your way back? I’ll text you the list.”

“Yeah mom. Bye.”

You breathe a sigh of relief as you started putting on the outfit that you wore when you left home.

“Where are you going?”

Jeno reluctantly got dressed as well, his shy demeanor came back as soon as he wore his glasses and fixed his hair.

“I got to go, Jeno. I’m sorry that I’m leaving in such a bad time…”

You went over to him and placed a sweet kiss on his lips.

“I promise to make it up to you next time, okay? I’d love to meet you again.”

You grabbed a paper bag from your backpack and handed it to him, waving as you bolted out the door.

After fixing his things, he sat down for a moment and took a quick peek inside the package that you left him.

It was a ziplock bag of full of cookies and a whole other treat.

You left him your two-piece lace lingerie.

To be continued.

#nct #nct dream #nct u #nct x reader #nct smut #nct jeno #nct hard hours #jeno #jeno scenarios #jeno au #jeno smut #lee jeno #jeno imagines #jeno x reader

[tipsylorie]

Dream Project Pt. 3 {title in progress}

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

A/N: Hola everyone, here is part 3 but not yet proof-read. I hope you will like it nevertheless...

Word Count: 2.7K

THE NEXT DAY

Liviana drove herself to office due to the driver’s message early in the morning that says he will be late because of an emergency. Upon arriving the buildings parking lot, instead of her driver, it was her assistant who was waiting with a worried look.

“Why the long face baby boy?” This is the thought that has been running through Liv’s mind when she saw her assistant, and this made her laugh. It took a while for her to compose herself so with a long face, she just remarks as she exits the car, “Why the sad face Jer?”

“Why are you laughing though?” Jayceon asked with a growing grin, but Liv just dismissed it by saying ‘nothing’. So he continues to inform his boss, “It turns out that your driver for today had to rush her wife to hospital earlier so there won’t be anyone to drive you.”

“This won’t do, I have to get these cakes delivered and to check the situation in Paradigmia.” Liv said with worry written all over her face but then she suddenly smiles, “You do have a license, right?” She asked the young man who responses with a nod. “Then you’ll drive. I just have to get some materials in my office.”

Jayceon sees Liviana walking towards the car and anxious on how his driving should be. Because the only one who he was able to drive are his friends. Heck, his parents don’t even know that he can since he has always been provided with a driver and an assistant. It didn’t help either when Liv chose to seat beside him after she arranged the materials and cakes at the back seat. “Why are you sitting here instead of over there?” Jayceon nervously asked as he points to the back seat diagonal to the driver’s seat as where bosses should sit according to some according to etiquette.

“Well, I am not really used to passenger seat being vacant. Don’t worry Jer, this is perfectly normal and please just treat me more as your friend instead of your boss. It will be more comfortable that way.” Liv informed her assistant.

Jayceon smiles as he was happy hearing how humble his business partner is, so he proceeded saying, “Ok then Liv, buckle up and enjoy the ride!”

It was an internal chaos in Jayceons mind since he doesn’t really want to go to his habit of over speeding and to scare Liviana however his childhood acting lessons had paid off since he was able to act composed and relaxed while he’s driving his temporary boss. Okay, so if you’re wondering about Jayce’s early life, his mother well like all Asian mothers are, enrolled him in all extracurricular activities she could come across. Therefore, ever since in the age of 4 he had already experienced EVERYTHING, from sports to performing arts.

Upon arriving to the Academy’s main branch, Liv immediately went to her friend Anne’s office. “Annie! Been so long, I made you some cupcakes!” She enthusiastically greeted her friend.

Anne was a little bit puzzled by the sudden visit, “What’s up? Why the cupcakes?” She asked. However, Liv just gave her a questioning look as a response and it only dawned on her that it was their friend’s birthday. So, the look at her face was so funny as if she experienced horror while saying, “OH MY GOSH! How could I forget?”

“Don’t worry Anne. Just message her later or maybe give her a visit after your working hours. It’s just a 30-minute ride so… It’s up to you.”

“Well, if it is up to me, I will just take a half day off and go to her but yeah cannot do that because my boss would be mad.”

“Ha, I know what you’re trying to do, well just so y’know as your boss I would totally not mind however I know how keen you are with your work so I reckon that you will finish today’s job and just go to her later after working hours.” Liv said the last words with a tap on Anne’s shoulder then left her office.

As they left, Anne just snickered on how her long-time friend never failed to read her like an open book.

*

On their way to Paradigmia, they stopped at a gas station since Jayceon found the need to pee. So Liviana just waited in the car. Jayce always has the impulse to buy something since he finds this satisfying. When he was about to pay, only then he realised that he left his wallet in the car’s compartment that is in between the driver’s seat and passenger seat. So, he hurriedly opened Liv’s door side in a rush, and tried to open the compartment and reached it and however this fell on the backside and without thinking Jayce climbed on top of Liv and once he reached his wallet he exclaimed, “Yes! Finally got it!”

This woke Liv up and her eyes widened in surprise. Jayceon just froze and stared to her eyes, and he had the urge to gulp just to somehow slow the rapid beating of his heart. To snap him back to reality, Liv asked, “What are you doing?” in a concerned voice and was trying hard not to jump to conclusion since as far as she knows, the guy in front of her was gay.

Jayce or in Liv’s perspective, Jer stepped back to not cause any alarm and calmly said, “I was just trying to reach for my wallet,” showed the wallet in his hand, “because I have items waiting in the counter of that 7-Eleven.”  He pointed to the convenience store in the side of the car.

“Oh okay, but you know you could’ve used the other door, right?” Liv asked genuinely.

“I didn’t think of that earlier since I was in a rush. I am so sorry about that.” Jayce apologised. “I promise it won’t happened ever again!” He subconsciously emphasised as his eyes asked for forgiveness.

In Liv’s perspective, she cannot stay mad to this adorable guy in front of her. “Fine, just never ever do that again to me or to anyone ever again.” She informed her employee.

“Pinky swear! Brb just gonna pay for those food! Thank you, Liv!”

As Jayce ran back to the convenience store, Liv thought it was really odd for Jer to stare at her like that. However, she just dismisses this immediately and went back to her nap since she knows it will be a long day in Paradigmia.

“Hey,” Jayce said as he tapped Liv’s shoulder when he sat at the driver’s seat. “You want some peanuts? It’ll help to lessen your sleeping.”

Liv slowly opened her eyes and looked at the bag of peanut he was holding, “Yes, that would be great.”

As Jayce prepped himself to drive, he asked a last question, “What did you do last night that made you this tired today?”

“Well obviously the cake made me use all my remaining energy last night. I don’t know maybe I had a tiring dream.”

“You also believe that? Despite not remembering the dream?” He asked and she just nodded with a faint smile as a response. “So glad that I am not the only one.”

After few more minutes they finally arrived to the apartment of Julie. Liv asked Jayceon to grab the balloons she prepared at the backseat. “You had balloons? Why haven’t I seen it?” He asked in amusement. “Well, maybe I unintentionally intentionally hid it?” This just made the pair chuckle as the guy grabbed the balloons, the lady handled the cakes.

“After centuries you’re finally here!” Liv’s best friend, Julie exclaimed as she hugged her while holding the cakes.

“Careful! My masterpiece!” Liv yelled.

“Sorry but that will not even last a day in this household.” Julie rebuked. This resulted to the three of them laughing.

“Did Anne tell you she’ll be here later?” Liv asked her good friend.

“Yeah, she felt so guilty of almost forgetting and thanked God when you thought of leaving some of your wonderful cupcakes in her office and she has time to prepare.” Julie nonchalantly informed Liv.

“So, what do you prefer, stay here while we wait for her or let’s head now to the hotel I already booked for tonight?” Liv asked.

Julie replied after some thinking, “Well, I think my family will still visit here shortly to give cakes and such, so maybe wait for Anne in here.”

With Julie’s response, Liv faced her assistant and informed him, “So, if you want to take a rest you can go to the hotel first. I am sending you know the voucher for your room, and by just showing this to the reception, I think you’ll be assisted to your room immediately. Just leave the car and keys since we really do not plan to get wasted so I’ll just drive us there and I’ll just let you know once we arrived there. Is that okay?”

As Liviana is explaining her proposition, Jayceon cannot help but take notice on how she always has the tendency to worry about everyone around her ergo, planning everything tediously beforehand. He admires this but at the same time feel sorry for her since she has the kind of person who loves to smile despite the truth that deep inside, she is already drowning. He can see this because she tries so hard every single time as if it is always her life on the line. He wishes that somehow he can help her to loosen up a bit and be true of what she truly feels. (A/N: Jayceon has taken a lot of Psychology modules in undergrad as a hobby that made him enjoy analysing human behaviour and Liviana has been one of the most interesting person he has met.)  So after listening to Liv, he answered, “Yep, sure thing! That all sound great! So I guess, see you tomorrow?”

“Yes, Jer see ya! Thank you for the help. Ooh I almost forgot, I also set aside these cupcakes for you.” Liviana said as she gave the 3 pieces cupcakes in a sealed tray.

“Thank you Liv! Really appreciate it! Bye!” He remarked as he waved goodbye then got inside the taxi they messaged.

~Jayceon in the hotel~

Jayceon went to the counter which the receptionist immediately recognised him as his family being the co-owner of the hotel. In which he was greeted immediately with a bow and for the employee to immediately ring for the Executive Manager. Jayce then quickly tried to explain his stuation in the most discreet way possible. Telling him to stop his manager from coming because most probably him having prior commitments with his work. He just asked for the receptionist to give him the room stated in the voucher and instead to have Liviana Voss in the most expensive room available during her stay and charge her with only the amount the room she booked. So just like that, Jayce had his staff to put Liv in the Premium Suite Penthouse which is technically a room with rooms and a second floor that has a direct access to the rooftop.

Jayce was pretty proud with what he did especially on how smart he think it was. To have Liviana be one of the lucky winners in an online booking event that never existed. After feeling content, he took a nap to make sure he will not miss any updates from his “boss”. But didn’t miss the beat to take a taste of the cupcake after dinner. He can surely tell that it was made with love.

~Meanwhile in Julie’s Household~

“So, who was that guy? He looks so good! Do you have a thing with him?” Julie prompted with the question she has been holding until that guy left.

Liv answered with a grin, “I knew it! I can already sense your questions like once we both entered your house. And the answers would be: first us my assistant; second, yep he is but not interested with girls; and finally, I think no?”

“Omg, you do have! Spill!” Julie enthusiastically ordered.

“But it is your birthday! Why talk about me? We need to focus on you getting older!” Liv claimed.

Julie tried to explain, “Still, I am the birthday girl, so you need to let me use my power card for today of you to just share about this matter, please?”

“Fine! I love you so much that is why I am letting you use the card.” Liv gave in.

Julie was delighted with this by saying, “YAYYYY! BEST BDAY because of the BEST TEA!” But then suddenly interrupted with her family entering the house with their spare key. This made Liviana laugh so much that Julie’s family can see her almost rolling off the ground literally but thankfully she was able to stop herself. Julie’s family only stayed for like 2 hours since they also have some stuff already planned.

Once they left, Liv and Julie cleaned a little bit and wash the little number of dishes. Just right after they finished, Anne already arrived, and this made Julie happier since Liv can share the tea to the both of them at the same time. Liv’s narration went like this:

“Well, I was taking a nap since I was really exhausted with the baking and decorating so I really do hope you guys will love and like it. So, while napping I can feel that something is different, and I can see him staring at me adoringly? I guess, it was really weird because I felt something. It also feels like an eternity and still his position being on top of me didn’t change and remind you that the seat was declined so it was really awkward and I can also see his change in demeanour of somewhat being manly like more than so he normally is and he also gulped that really sent shivers to my spine. Just overall – WEIRD.”

Julie and Anne just looked at each other because they have the same idea. So Julie slowly proposed their idea, “Liviana, don’t you think it is time to consider that he is not gay? As we both can already sense with the vibes whenever the two of you are in a room, you guys act like high schoolers interacting with their first love like that is literally the aura the two of accentuates.”

Anne added, “Also this is nothing like the chemistry thingy back when we tried to ship you with someone in junior high instead this thingy right now is something that everyone can call sincere and genuine.”

Liv was really quiet with the insights her friends are telling her but all she managed to reply is a joke, “Okay guys, you two could really write a million-seller fiction right now.”

Anne just retorted as she and Julie are already used to their friend always being in denial which is the total hundred percent reason why she still never had any boyfriend, “Whatever Liv, just don’t tell us we didn’t inform you. I know that you know that there is a possibility with what Julie and I are saying. So please, don’t resist it anymore because you also need to find a partner too at some point.”

“Wow, our youngest just scolded me. Yes Ms. Annie, will do. So can we now finally celebrate Julie’s birthday?” Liv asked warily.

“YAYY!” The two girls exclaimed, and Julie shouted, “Movies and cupcakes!”

“Speaking of cupcakes, where did you put the cupcakes, I gave you Anne?” Liv asked.

Anne replied, “I have the half of them in my house and left some to my mother’s because you know how much she loves your cooking and baking!”

Liv responded, “Yes of course, I am glad she still does.” She asked, “Julie, what movie do you want?”

“Ugh please, let’s not do that, we will spend like an hour just looking for a movie, guys just pick a number up to 10.”

“Three!” Liv exclaimed.

“Five!” Anne yelled.

“Okay the Liv, just choose the eighth one while pressing the arrow down keys in the remote control.”

“We got, Force of Nature, a 2020 film. Is that okay?” Liv asked as she manages the TV.

“Yup!” Julie replied while she takes the cupcakes to a plate and placed the cake in her refrigerator.

“Sounds great!” Anne responded as she handled the flavoured drinks. They all agreed to get drunk once they arrived at the hotel.

After the movie, the cupcakes also ended. So they cleaned up and prepared their things for the second party in the hotel.

Re-blog for part four!

Lemme know what you think…

#2pm #2pm imagines #lee junho #lee dahee #ceo #kpop headers #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kdrama #kpop industry #original fiction

[whaleofatjme1920]

On Your Bedroom Floor with Her By Your Side (Kate the Chaser X F!Reader)

On Your Bedroom Floor with Her By Your Side

[Kate the Chaser/Kate Milens-Hayes X F!Reader]

[Warnings: slight language, minor violence, none really]

[AN: I started my oneshot book on quotev because I loved Kate that much]

You weren’t supposed to even know she existed. In fact, the way she found you was entirely an accident over winter break your freshman year of college.

Your parents had been out on a well needed vacation and left you home to handle the house. That was fine, you needed the time off and wanted to relax as much as you could before getting back into the swing of school in January. You spent most of your time moving about, pleased that you had the space to branch out and do what you pleased. This included listening to your music without headphones and generally, being weird without anyone to judge you.

A few days into your well needed alone time, you had laid in your bed watching videos on your phone. The house was dark and quiet, easily giving off the appearance that no one was home. On your own, you were naturally pretty silent when night fell over the land.

That’s what led Kate to make her first mistake.

Somehow, she had gotten separated from her group. It was supposed to be a simple clearing, a one and done it kind of deal, but they were essentially ambushed. Masky got shot pretty bad, so Toby’s priority was getting the group leader out and to safety. Hoodie stayed behind with Kate to finish the clearing, but they were swarmed. They had to abandon the operation and return to it later, or perhaps, another group would take it over. Hoodie yelled for Kate to scatter and that he’d get them off her trail. What a selfless guy, always watching out for the proxies in his group. And she obeyed him because he was Masky’s right hand. On her way out, she’d gotten shot. From what she could feel, it wasn’t fatal, but it still hurt like hell.

She stumbled while sprinting through the woods and found her sense of direction totally shot. This was a relatively new area to her and her group; she hadn’t committed it to memory just yet. No matter, she could return to them in the morning. She was probably too far to send out any mental notes to her comrades, but she attempted anyway just so they wouldn’t stay up worrying about her. Kate eventually stumbled upon this empty looking house and quickly deduced that the owners must’ve fled this cold place for somewhere warmer for the winter. Perfect! She’d spend the night there, fix herself, and leave without a trace.

Kate grit her teeth as she trudged through the snow and eventually, dragged herself to the back door. The wound on her side felt like ice, and the freezing temperature was not helping her feel any better. With a slight grimace, she pulled her coat sleeve over her fist and punched through the glass of the door. It shattered surprisingly easily and that alone made her raise her brows. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kate opened the back door and threw most of her caution to the wind as she shut the door behind her. There were no neighbors, so she could turn on the lights and no one would care. Kate flicked on the kitchen lights and began working her ‘in real life magick’ after she shed her coat haphazardly on the counter.

Upstairs, you heard quite a commotion going on downstairs. Immediately alarm bells rang in your head. Your parents weren’t due to come back until much, much later. There was an intruder. You slipped out of bed, phone in hand and began to creep out of your room. From where you stood at the top of the stairs, you could see the lights turned on and someone’s shadow dancing across the floor followed by pained muttering.

You took a tentative step down and immediately panicked when it creaked. Time seemed to slow.

“Shit,” you heard your intruder mumble.

A tense second later and you heard they were running towards your direction. You screeched in surprise when you finally caught a glimpse of them and high tailed it back up the stairs, the image of their mask burned into your skull. After all, there was no way a human looked like that.

They chased you up the stairs when you narrowly made it back to your room, accidentally dropping your phone in the process right when you slammed your bedroom door shut as it acted as the only barrier between you and the intruder.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” You cried out as you locked the door, then quickly worked on piling various things in your room against it.

They didn’t pound on your door, nor did they try to violently enter the room, but the doorknob did jiggle a tad too much for your comfort. “Look,” the feminine voice said. “I’m in a lot of pain right now. I don’t have the time to deal with you. If you stay in there and don’t try running or telling anyone about me, I’ll do what I have to and be out of your hair before the morning.” You heard her tap at the door a few times. “Besides, where are you gonna go in a snowstorm like this? Your phone is out here with me, and as far as I can see, no one is coming for you any time soon. Even if you did have your phone, authorities wouldn’t be able to reach you,” she said as she tried to reason with you. “Don’t do anything stupud, and I’ll be gone before you know it.”

“Don’t even think about taking anything-” you began, eyebrows furrowing in rage. You balled your fists and glared at the door while you attempted to control your breathing.

“There’s nothing here I want but medical supplies,” she waved off, clearly exhausted. “I got shot, princess.”

Your eyes widen slightly. “You got shot?”

“I’m not explaining this to you; I don’t have the time,” she sighed in an exasperated tone. You heard her pad away from your door and to the direction of the upstairs bathroom. “You got first aid in here?” You heard her ask.

You wonder if you should answer her or not-

“Never mind,” she said, effectively cutting you from your thoughts.

An awkward silence falls between the two of you for about half an hour as she works on herself. You’re almost certain she’s ready to leave when you hear your phone ring. You instinctively glanced down at your hand only to remember she still has it.

“It’s your mom,” she said, voice on the other side of your door. “Do you uh, want to answer it or not?”

Of course you wanted to answer it.

“Look, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything. You can literally just stick your arm out and I’ll hand you the phone.”

You find yourself more than apprehensive.

“Tell you what,” she said, verbally looking down at the ringing device. “I give you the phone and you let me leave and I won’t hurt you so long as you don’t tell anyone about me.”

Hesitantly, you found yourself cracking the door open to get a good look at the woman who broke into your house. She’s still wearing that mask, but her eyes are so dark it’s like looking in the recesses of the universe and getting pulled into them. She’s not terribly tall, but she’s still taller than you. She looks tired - her body sags slightly. The shot must’ve taken it out of her.

“Give it to me,” you mumbled.

Without any words, she handed you the device, momentarily stopping you before you answered it. “I’ll be back soon to ensure you’re not talking about me. Have fun talking to your mom,” she nonchalantly stated, then nodded for you to answer it.

You shot her a more than confused look before finally answering your mother’s call.

And that was the start of your very strange relationship with the woman you came to know as Kate the Chaser. Though, she preferred you just called her Kate. Kate was a very odd woman, and she was only like, a year or so older than you. The second time she visited, she still had a mask on - something about privacy. You wondered often why she wore it, but she always claimed she had a reason, just could never tell you.

It was odd to admit how you had grown used to her visits. After the first few rocky visits, the two of you had established a schedule. Kate would only visit on the weekends, and your parents could never know she was here. That was fine - she often climbed up to your bedroom window anyways. Sometimes, the two of you would sit on the roof and star gaze. It became all too apparent that Kate enjoyed spending time with you. And slowly, you found yourself enjoying your time with her as well.

The two of you grew to like each other’s time so much that right at the eve of your graduation, she was the first person to wish you congratulations.

She had come into your room like she normally did, by climbing and knocking on your window with a special knock before you let her in. Truthfully, she could have just lifted the thing herself, but she felt it rude and an invasion of privacy (which you found ironic.) After hoisting herself into your room, she took her spot on your bedroom floor, thankful you had a mug of warm tea waiting for her.

“I graduate tomorrow,” you say with a small smile, plucking your mug up from your desk. “I’d kinda like if you were there.”

“I’d love to be, you know that,” Kate replies before taking an appreciative sip of the liquid. “I… I don’t think my boss or my coworkers would be pleased, though. Besides, I’m kinda nocturnal,” she chuckles, making you giggle in response.

In the back of your mind, you wondered why she couldn’t do so many things with you. Everything had been chalked up to her boss, her coworkers, herself. And any time you tried to pry it out of her, she went tight lipped, like she was afraid of telling you anything relating to her. Still, you knew enough of her. She was sarcastic, had a smile like the stars in the sky. And was incredibly knowledgeable on topics you’d never even thought to consider in your daily life. You knew her work, that much was apparent just by looking at her, but you wondered what type of work it was to keep her from you when the sun was out. You knew it was shady, but in order to keep her, you had to resist pushing. “It would be so much better if you were,” you continue, throwing your best puppy dog eyes.

Kate playfully rolls her eyes before ruffling your hair. “Not this time, princess.”

“I legitimately only graduate once,” you reply with a smirk painting itself onto your lips.

“It’s why I came tonight,” she continues as she gestures to the two of you on the floor. “Thought I’d bring you some little gifts to celebrate.” She slings the backpack off her back and opens the biggest pocket. Her hands rummage for a moment before she procures a medium sized leather book. “Here’s the first thing,” she places it in the space between you. “And the next.” out pops a set of high grade art supplies. “This,” now there’s a small little gift basket full of treats you enjoy. “And this thing.” It is a plush giraffe and is donned with a graduation cap.

You smile widely and look over the objects with fascination, gently holding them. The leather journal fascinates you the most. “Where did you get these?” You ask with that same smile.

“Here and there,” Kate answers, her eyes looking over the things she’s gotten for you.

“Thank you so much,” you say in a grateful tone, closing the gap between you and Kate with a hug.

She quietly giggles and hugs you back, her lips pressing to the side of your head. “I’m proud of you, y’know that?”

The two of you chat for a bit more before finally turning to a streaming service. Your parents thankfully, haven’t heard either of you over the sound of some anime playing on the screen, so you’re able to cuddle next to her on the floor and giggle about the world and its happenings as she holds you in her arms. You stay like this until her gaze goes blank, like she’s getting a message only she can hear.

“Have to go,” she says softly. It’s nearing 4 am.

“So soon?” You whisper back, hand holding hers like she’s the only thing grounding you.

“Yeah, work,” she mumbles, quietly standing up to not make too much noise in the quiet house (save for that anime that’s still playing in the background). “I’ll be back before you know it.” She tries to reassure you, her hand gently cupping your cheek.

Your hand meets hers and gently squeezes before she reluctantly leaves your side, heading towards the window. You stand and pad over to her, arms wrapping around her waist and face burying into her back. She smells like the forest. “No,” you mumble.

“His word is law,” she sighs while attempting to turn around to hold you properly. When she can’t get free of your iron grip, she tries something else. “Hey, first thing, you need to rest before the graduation ceremony and, second, just remembered I wanted to give you this.”

You look up from her chest and see she’s unclasping the necklace that’s captivated your attention since you first met her. Your eyes widen slightly when you realize she’s putting it on you. Your hands instinctively reach to look at the pendant, and with it, she’s able to move.

“Promise I’ll be back, so, take good care of it for me,” Another kiss to the top of your head and she’s out the window faster than you can even look up.

You rush to the windowsill to see her running towards the forest with three figures waiting at its edge for her.

She momentarily turns around, waves to you, then disappears into the woods with them.

You feel a slight pang in your heart, but holding the pendant between your fingertips quells it until she returns.

#kate the chaser #kate millens #kate hayes #creepypasta #slender the arrival #creepypasta x reader #kate the chaser x reader #x reader #reader insert #fluff #established relationship

[vanillasakura]

Arthurbeth headcanons because they are dating

One of their favorite things to do is just sit down and and write/draw in their journals next to each other during the late afternoon. Mary-Beth will rest her head on Arthur’s shoulder when she needs to think about something, and then she’ll always end up getting lost in her own thoughts about how warm and wonderful he is. This, inevitably, will lead to Arthur poking some light fun at her, saying he isn’t so special that she should end up losing her train of thought because of him, kissing the top of her head and ruffling her hair

Ever since the two have gotten together, Arthur has discovered just how much he loves holding her in his lap. He’s still far too embarrassed to do it in front of anybody (although that doesn’t stop her from sitting down on his lap in front of the campfire some evenings, wrapping his arms around her and delighting in his blush), but every time the two are alone and he needs some attention, he’ll stop her in the middle of whatever it is she’s doing to scoop her up in his lap and kiss the side of her neck and the top of her shoulder

Mary-Beth loves to tease Arthur by flustering him. Sometimes she’ll walk up to him while he’s talking to someone, cut him off with a kiss, and then leave. Other times she’ll whisper something in his ear about how handsome he looks with his shirt slightly unbuttoned and watch as his ears turn red and he forgets what he was in the middle of entirely. Knowing that she has the power to render Arthur totally helpless gives her a bit of a power trip in the best way, although it never lasts long, especially when Arthur kisses her roughly as soon as the two are in their tent, saying that he’s gonna get back at her for having been such a tease all day.

Arthur loves to play with Mary-Beth’s hair. He’s always astonished with how soft she’s able to keep it, even though they’re always outside. Whenever he asks, Mary-Beth just laughs and tells him that it’s a “trade secret”

You know how it’s possible for Mary-Beth to give Arthur a wedding band after he gives her a pen? Real subtle R* Well, Arthur slept on whether or not he should wear it and ended up deciding that he should, even though he was terrified that Mary-Beth was going to be scared of him for doing so and stop talking to him for some reason. The next day, it took everything in him to not point it out to her or make it overtly obvious that something was up, but it was worth it when she finally noticed, a small gasp falling out of her mouth and eyes watering up. “You actually like it? And want to wear it?” she asked, letting Arthur pull her into a hug and tell her that of course he did, she went out of her way to give it to him and he treasures it. Ever since, Mary-Beth has delighted into holding his hand and feeling the band press into her fingers, knowing that it was her that gave it to him

Whenever there’s music playing and these two aren’t busy, they’re going to dance. Arthur loves flaring Mary-Beth, twirling her and dipping her and seeing a smile spread across her face whenever he does so

Arthur hasn’t kissed anybody seriously since Mary, so he was terrified when Mary-Beth leaned in the first time. She noticed, of course, and when he told her what was wrong, blushing bright red, she grabbed his hands and told him that she was willing to wait however long she needed to until Arthur felt comfortable. The fact that Mary-Beth was willing to wait for him as opposed to just going for it anyways warmed his heart so much that he grabbed her face and kissed her right then and there, letting one of his arms snake around her back and pull her in tight. Needless to say, Arthur isn’t scared of kissing anymore

The two fantasize all the time about what it will be like to have their own house, right at the edge of a forest with a balcony that they can sit and write in their journals on. Mary-Beth mentions a room or two they could have for kids but, upon realizing what she said, squeaks and stays silent. Arthur, however, kisses her and starts going on about how they could run around the forest with them, teaching them how to climb trees or search for mushrooms, and Mary-Beth is so happy and overcome with emotions that she starts crying

Mary-Beth also loves thinking about what their wedding would be like. How handsome Arthur would be, how much fun they would have, how beautiful she would be in her dress… she’s very excited for the day that it’ll happen for real. She’s written about it a few times and whenever she’s bored, will flip back and forth through the pages of writing she’s done about it, the very existence of them making her happy

Whenever Arthur does something sudden, like scooping her up or hugging her from behind, Mary-Beth squeaks. At first, she was horribly embarrassed, but after seeing how much Arthur loves hearing it, she’s become slightly less self-conscious about it

Mary-Beth also does this loud, happy giggle whenever Arthur does something unexpected that she loves, like kissing her neck or twirling her around while they’re dancing. Whenever this happens, her face flushes this gorgeous shade of pink and Arthur feels himself fall in love with her all over again

Arthur is very cuddly in bed, much to Mary-Beth’s pleasure. The moment the two of them are lying down, she’s in his arms

Arthur proofreads all of Mary-Beth’s writing, and is very objective with it. She’s very happy about that, glad that his opinion about her doesn’t muddy his thoughts about her work. She gets the best advice from him, although it isn’t that much of a competition when Abigail can’t read, Sadie is too busy to, and Karen, Sean, and Tilly are always like “This is perfect! I have no problems with it!!” When Mary-Beth begins to work on getting her stories published, Arthur helps, acting as her editor. If anything, he’s always more proud than she is whenever her books end up on the shelves, and he always buys dozens of copies. Mary-Beth always is sure to give him one of the first for free though, writing a heartfelt note to him in the inside cover

Both of them are huge fans of writing love notes too, little somethings for the other to find after a busy day. They both keep all of the notes, but the catch is that for the longest time, neither of them knew. Mary-Beth end up finding Arthur’s collection first, and is shocked that he kept them. Arthur asks why, insisting that anything written by her warms his heart. When Mary-Beth tells her that she also keeps his notes, Arthur is at a total loss for words– his notes? But they’re nothing special, especially not when compared to Mary-Beth’s!

#guys my dad owns rockstar and he literally told me that arthurbeth is canon #trust me i asked him and he told me #seriously why are we not talking about these two more they are made for each other #i adore them with all of my heart!! #rdr2 #rdr2 community #rdr2 fandom #headcanons #headcanon #arthur morgan #mary-beth gaskill #mary beth gaskill

[patton-cake]

Past adventures and future experiences

Pairings: Logicality and very background Anaroceit, it's only mentioned.

Summary: The Christmas ball, a magical high school experience. At least that’s what it’s supposed to be. Patton knows that he has to ask Logan soon or else he might be too late. You know what? Forget it. There’s no way that Logan would want to be his date. 

Word count: 3635

Additional information: Merry Christmas Gabi! I had the honour to be your Secret Santa this year and I really hope that you're not disappointed with that! Anyway, I love you and I hope that you'll like my gift :D @irritating-lady-knight

~The Story~

Books had always been Patton's escape from this repetitive world. Sure, there were a lot of good things in the world and he certainly wasn't complaining, but sometimes it just feels nice to be somewhere else you know? To be away from your annoying teachers, who think that 25 homework assignments due next week is completely reasonable. To be away from that one feeling you get when you think that you've finished everything, but you're not 100% sure, and to be away from himself for once.

That's why Patton started to read.

When he was younger, his mom used to take him to the library every Tuesday afternoon. They would spend hours reading together about brave princes who saved princesses ("But what if I want to save a prince instead of a princess mama?" "You can save whoever you want Mon Étoile"), they learned about the most beautiful creatures, and one day, they met one of Patton's future best friends.

Logan would teach him everything he had learned about the stars and their different constellations, the planets and their little baby moons ("They're not their children Patton.") And in return, Patton would read him his favourite stories and take him on thrilling adventures.

Unfortunately, the boys grew older and with becoming older, came more responsibilities. School wasn't much of a problem for the two friends. They both enjoy learning and Patton even made a new friend (who he immediately introduced to Logan, because the two were and always will be a package deal). 

At the first sight, you would think that someone like Virgil would never become friends with someone like Patton. His dark black hair with faint purple dye, dark lether jacket decorated with punk rock pins and spiky boots have scared off a lot of people, but not Patton. Instead of running away, Patton basically adopted him.

Don't worry! He and Logan are still best friends! Patton has two hands and a lot of room in his heart, especially for someone like Logan.

  "Thinking about Nerd number 1 again huh?" Patton shook his head and blinked a few times, before completely zoning back into reality. Oh right, school. Virgil laughed at Patton's 'angry' glare and pointed behind him.

"Good news Pattycake, your sweetheart is coming this way."

Patton poked his side and grumbled "He's not my sweetheart!"

With a look of disbelief, Virgil stared at his best friend and rolled his eyes. "You two are basically married already! Roman and I have a bet that you two got married years ago somewhere in France, because that's totally the type of romantic Logan would pick, but just didn't invite us to the wedding."

"If you keep bullying me then no, I won't invite you to the wedding!" Patton tried to hold back his laughter, but failed completely.

"So there is going to be a wedding??"

Before Patton could react, he heard a quiet voice calling his name.

"Salutations Patton, Virgil. I hope your day has been satisfactory so far." Logan had a slight blush on his face and was anxiously fidgeting with his tie.

"Goodmorning Lo! We saved you a seat!"

A small smile appeared on Logan's face as he sat down next to Patton.

"So mr. and mr. Nerd, did you two already hear about the nightmare that is the Christmas ball?"

Oh right. The Christmas ball. The event of the year.

The Christmas ball was this party for everyone in their last year. It was a sort of last goodbye before they graduated. Basically their school just took prom and slapped a different name on it to feel special and creative.

"Yeay! I bet that you, Janus and Roman are going together huh?" Patton winked at him and gave him a bright smile. He had been so happy for his friend when he and Roman finally got together and even happier when later Janus got added to the relationship. They were really adorable with the three of them.

"Mhm! Roman wanted to do some big promposal, but fortunately for us, Janus managed to talk him out of it. But how about you Logan? Anyone you wanna ask?"

Oh gosh Patton was going to kill Virgil. His friend knew that he wanted to ask Logan. In fact, he had tried to ask him like 5 times already, but every time he was about to pop the question, his anxiety took over and he asked some other random thing. This had lead him to asking Logan about the way ducks keep floating, their math homework and random facts about ladybugs instead. Patton truly was hopeless.

"Logan? Are you blushing? Now you gotta tell!" Virgil leaned over the table with a mischievous smile on his face.

"I did no such thing, but yes, I suppose there is someone I'd like to go with." Unfortunately for Logan, his face only turned darker red, which made Virgil laugh harder.

"Tell us more Logan!! Come on!" Virgil gently poked Logan's arm and leaned on his elbows, interrogating Logan,

"Well.. They're the most wonderful person in the world and I could not imagine my life without them, but I'm not telling you their name, not until I've asked them."

"Come on Lo! You can trust us! Right Patt? Patton? Everything okay?" His voice suddenly turned concerned when he looked at Patton, who was fidgeting with his necklace and looking at his hands, a sad smile on his face.

"Yeay, I'm fine," he grapped his backpack and stood up, "I'm gonna go to my next class, see you later guys."

  In all honesty, Patton wasn't fine. He had failed to ask Logan to the prom and now he was too late. Gosh he was pathetic. He felt a few teardrops falling down his face as he walked outside. Patton desperately needed to get his mind off of everything, so he went to the place he always went when he was sad. The magic treehouse.

When they were younger, Logan and Patton had wanted to go on their own adventure. They tried to discover the hidden secrets from their library (the only thing they found was that the librarian was secretly dating ms. Williams. Patton still got shivers when he thought about that), they practised their sword fighting skills, discovered that Logan shouldn't be trusted with sharp objects and searched for hidden treasures in their backyard.

One day, after getting complaints from ms, Williams, their parents decided that they should have their own little place, somewhere where they didn't disturb other people. Logan and Patton had spent all summer building their treehouse together. Of course that meant that their parents build it and that they had decorated it with fancy fairy lights.

Patton smiled when he reached his backyard. The magic tree was located in the little private forest, behind their yard and right now, it looked absolutely magical. It had started snowing a few days ago so the whole scenery was covered in a little layer of white snow.

He carefully climbed up the ladder and entered the treehouse. Patton looked around him with a soft smile on his face, nothing had changed in their secret hideout. The shelves were covered with books, the fairy lights were still covering almost the entire ceiling and on the walls hang multiple drawings of their great adventures.

A chuckle escaped Patton as he looked through their drawings. Most of them were from when they were 9. He could barely identify the two blue stickman figures as Logan and him wearing their crowns. Logan always said that one day, he and Patton would become mighty rulers of their own library kingdom. They would have flying books and magical flowers that changed colours.

Patton's heart broke a little when he thought about that. Logan always claimed that they'd be together forever, Patton knew that they had only been children at the time, but still, he couldn't help but feel heartbroken. He'll get over it eventually, Patton would be happy for Logan and his date of course, but it still hurt.

Suddenly, his phone started to beep and he could hear the Sherlock theme song starting to play. Logan was calling him. Patton turned his phone off and sunk down to the floor. Class had started half an hour ago and here he was, crying in his childhood treehouse. How pathetic.

After a while, Patton's breathing had become steady again and he walked towards the bookshelves. A shiver spread over his body and he finally began to realise exactly how cold it was in the treehouse. Patton picked up the first book and started to read. Stories had always cheered him up a bit.

  "I think that I remember that one."

Patton snapped his head towards Logan and let out a deep breath.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Patton knew that he was being hypocrite but at this moment, he couldn't really care about that.

"As should you." Logan sat down next to Patton, taking in the their treehouse. "Nothing has changed here, has it? Do you remember when we were 11 and those bullies threatened me on the playground?" Logan chuckled softly and looked at their drawings, "We spend all day hiding here, drawing together."

Patton too, let out a soft laugh and looked at his hands, keeping his head low.

"Wasn't that the day we made the first drafts for our little kingdom? You know? With the weird roses and the unrealistic inhabitants?"

"Hey! Don't you dare insult Regno Libri like that!" Logan exclaimed. He tried to keep a serious face, but couldn't help but laugh. Patton giggled softly and finally looked Logan in his eyes.

"I'm sorry if I worried you Logan... I just needed some time for myself, I'll be fine."

Logan smiled soflty and took Patton's hand, gently fidgeting with his fingers.

"You're my best friend Patton, I know when something is bothering you. It's okay if you don't want to tell me, but just know that Virgil and I are here to help you okay? We care about you." He squeezed Patton's hand and moved closer so there sides were touching.

"I know Logan, thanks.." He slightly blushed at their intertwining hands and leaned onto Logan's shoulder. Physical touch had always been the best solution to cheer Patton up and especially if Logan was providing that touch. Logan would never admit it, but he secretly was a great hugger.

After a few minutes, Logan gently let go of Patton's hand and put his arm around Patton's shoulders instead, carefully pulling him closer. He gently stroked his hands through Patton's curls, softly twirling them around his fingers before speaking up again,

"Patton? There is something I'd like to ask you.." Logan smiled down at his friend with a loving gaze,

"I know that this might not be the most perfect time to ask, but do you might want to be my date to the Christmas ball? And perhaps we can try to become Promkings? Instead of rulers? Do you remember that?"

 Wait

 What?

 Patton's thoughts zoned out and he looked at Logan with a shocked look on his face. Did.. did Logan actually asked him to prom?

"Patton? I- you don't have to, I understand if you don't see me that way, if you don't like me like that but-"

"Logan, please don't doubt yourself that much."

  And with that, he kissed him. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but it was everything they needed. The kiss was sweet and gentle and it tasted a bit like vanilla, Patton couldn't get enough off it.

When Patton pulled away and looked up at Logan he giggled a bit. His (boy)friend (?) had a dazy smile on his face and his cheeks were bright red. After a few seconds, he spoke up

"I- you- is that a yes?"

Patton chuckled at the normally composed and stoic boy and kissed his cheek,

"Yes Logan, I'd love to be your date to the Christmas Ball." Patton leaned his head back onto Logan's shoulder and nuzzeld his cheek gently, taking in everything around them.

  He had just kissed Logan

  Patton had just kissed Logan

And it was perfect

After what felt like hours, Logan kissed Patton's forehead and carefully stood up. He reached out a hand to help Patton and linked there hands together,

"I think it's time to return, Virgil must be really worried." Patton let out a yawn and leaned into Logan's embrace,

"You're probably right."

   And yeay, Logan had been right

"Where the hell were you Patton? I was so worried! Are you okay? Why did you leave and- Are.. are you two holding hands?" Virgil waved around with his arms, face full of worry. But when he saw Logan's loving gaze at Patton, something in him shifted. A soft smile appeared on his face and he smirked down at the two.

Patton looked down at their hands and blushed soflty. He loved Virgil, he really did and it was so funny to see him turn into this overprotective mother hen. Eventhough Virgil liked to act like he didn't care about other people, Patton knew how much of a softy he actually was.

"So when's the wedding?"

Logan almost choked on air.

  It had only taken a few days before the entire city was covered in snow. Patton could hear the white crystals crunch under his feet as he walked through the park close to his house. Virgil and Patton had agreed to meet up a few hours before the Christmas ball was supposed to start. He checked his phone when he arrived at the old oak tree. The old oak tree had been in the park for ages, hence the nickname. Patton could remember being a little boy and trying to climb all the way to the top of the tree, even though Logan would always warn him that he could fall down and break his legs. Which he eventually did. Well, not both of his legs. Patton had only broken his left ankle, but he got a lolly from the nice nurse lady so he was fine. Giggling at the memory of Logan’s concern, Patton unlocked his phone to check the time. Five minutes until Virgil would arrive.

Just when Patton was about to send Virgil a message, letting him know that he had arrived, Patton saw something flying towards him before said thing hit the ground with a muffled sound.

“Damn that was supposed to hit you!” Patton turned around a saw a big bundle of purple coming his way. The purple blob tried hard to keep his balance on the slippery snow as it made it’s way to the tree. “Did it scare you?” It’s voice was slightly muffled by a fluffy scarf but Patton could still recognize the bright purple hair that always looked like an absolute mess.

“Oh I was terrified” Patton rolled his eyes while simultaneously trying to contain his laughter. Virgil scoffed and lightly hit Patton’s arm.

“Mission completed then I guess, but it’s not like you could have done it bette-“

Before Virgil could even finish his sentence, a cold snowball flew into his face. He quickly shook all the snow off of himself and looked at Patton who had a really sweet and innocent smile on his face

“Oh you bastard, it’s on” Virgil quietly mumbled to himself and began to collect more snow.

“What did you say Virgy? You looked like you needed a little cool down time!” and yeay it was really no ones fault besides himself when Patton too, got hit by a snowball right in his face.

A lot of snowballs later, Virgil walked up to his friend with his hands high up in the sky, slightly shivering from the cold.

“You won okay, I give up. I’m literally freezing.” Patton took this opportunity to hug Virgil around his waist and nuzzle close.

“Alright, alright we get it, you love hugs. Now come let’s get some hot chocolate or something. We deserve it after this intense battle.”

Patton nodded in Virgil’s chest and together the tried to find their balance while walking out of the park.

   When the two friends walked into Patton’s house, they were met with an overwhelming smell of gingerbread and apple-pie. Which made sense because Patton’s parent had been baking Christmas treats for their family this morning.

“You mind if I grab one?” Virgil held up one of the chocolate chip cookies and ploffed down on one of the chairs in the living room. He took a bite when Patton motioned that he could eat it and let out a small noise of contentment.

“Your suit arrived last week right?” Patton nodded and Virgil continued, “Have you tried it on yet?”

Patton nodded again and smiled brightly at Virgil

“It fitted perfectly! I really hope that Lo will like it too”

He hugged himself anxiously and Virgil stood up to wrap him into a strong embrace

“Hey it’s okay Pat. Your boyfriend absolutely adores you. Believe me, if it would have taken you two any longer to get together I would have sued Logan, because he just couldn’t shut up about how handsome you looked and how he would just skip the prom because he couldn’t ask you.”

Patton giggled and blushed slightly

“And besides, if Logan does somehow decide to hurt you in any way or form, I will gladly kill him for you!” Patton lightly hit Virgil’s arm before looking up with his bright smile returned on his face.

“Thanks Virgil.”

  After Patton changed into his light blue suit and Virgil had eaten more chocolate chip cookies, he also finally decided to put on his indigo purple suit with bright red and golden bracelets to match his boyfriends. Logan and Patton had agreed to wear matching ties, which meant that Patton was wearing a beautiful navy-blue necktie.

He triple checked if he had all of his stuff, including his phone, keys and if Virgil was ready, when he suddenly heard a soft knock on his door. With a mischievous smirk, Virgil walked up to the door and opened it slightly, leaning in the doorway.

"Hello Logan"

"Salutations Virgil, is something wrong?" Patton couldn't see Logan but he could identify the slight shake in his voice as anxiety.

"I don't know Logan. Tell me, are you going to dance with Patton tonight? Bring him some pretty flowers? Give him everything he deserves and more?" He could hear Logan clear his throat and Patton was sure that he was anxiously fidgeting with his necktie by now. Logan always did that when he was nervous.

"If Patton wants to dance tonight then I'll gladly join him, I did indeed bring him a flower and believe me, I will try to do anything I can to make him happy." Patton almost melted at the soft adoration in Logan's voice and he pushed Virgil out of the doorway.

"Virgil! Stop that! You're bullying the poor thing. I'm sure that Logan will be a true gentleman, as will I." Patton giggled at Virgil when he rolled his eyes and then turned back to face his boyfriend.

"Hi Logan," Patton whispered breathlessly, "you look absolutely amazing"

Logan, who looked equally as breathless, blushed slightly and whispered back with a soft voice "As do you Sunshine, as do you."

He then held his hand out and presented Patton a singular light blue and slightly bowed

"For you my love" Logan smirked up at Patton and chuckled softly.

"Move your domestic display elsewhere you nerds. This is too nauseating." Virgil smiled softly down at Patton and hugged him quickly before Logan took Patton's hand to escort him to his car.

  The night sky was filled with stars when the two boys finally arrived at the oh so dreaded Christmas ball. Well, of course the ball wasn't that dreaded anymore. Patton wondered if anything could be dreadful when Logan was there by his side.

"Your mind is lost in space Sunshine, what is troubling you?" Logan intertwined their fingers and gently rubbed his thumb over Patton's hand to soothe him.

"Nothing's wrong Starlight, everything is perfect. Absolutely perfect." The honesty in Patton's voice made Logan blush and together, they entered the ballroom.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by hundreds of fake snowflake decorations. The fairy lights gave the room an enchanting atmosphere and because it was Christmas, in the corner of the room stood an eight feet tall Christmas tree, decorated with the most beautiful ornaments. It looked magical

"Well I did promised a dance didn't I?" Patton turned around to face Logan and saw that his boyfriend was holding out his hand for him.

"We don't want to disappoint Virgil now do we?" He giggled as he happily accepted Logan's invitation and followed him to the dancefloor.

The music started to play and Patton could feel Logan's hands gently wrapped around his waist. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear the other people entering the dancefloor, but Patton was too distracted at this moment. Blue. Beautiful dark blue. The only thing Patton noticed was how the lights reflected into Logan dark blue eyes, making him truly look magical.

"..Logan" Patton slightly cringed at the crack in his voice, but Logan didn't seem to notice

"Patton?" His boyfriend looked at him with a confused smile and a lot of admiration in his eyes.

"I love you"

"Well that's perfect Patton, do you want to know why?" Logan blushed while still keeping a smirk on his face leading them through their dance. He continued when Patton nodded,

"Because I love you too."

The two swayed the night away, living in their own private bubble. It was just the two of them and it was absolutely perfect.

#logan sanders #patton x logan #logicality #logan x patton #long post #patton sanders #virgil sanders #anaroceit #(mentioned) #pattoncake writes #Gosh I'm nervous about this one #I really hope that you like it Gabbee #This is my longest fic so far

[axther]

every second i get

in which Midoriya is forced to deal with his friends trying to get him and his crush together. 

for @patt-writes-stuff

Midoriya tried not to make regrets. 

This might’ve sounded strange, maybe obvious. But he took chances when he had them. He took the leap, hurtled off edges that others might’ve been worried about because he was finally able to do what he always wanted to. He put a thousand percent into everything he did. 

But this? This was some bullshit. 

Recently, as an example of goodwill, U.A. took in several exchange students from other countries. They were all valuable and magnificent in their own right, with talents that Midoriya could only awe at. One had the ability to rewind time under a full moon. Another could breathe underwater. 

But most of all, one could read minds. 

YN LN rarely used it, but it was said that there was a villain attack back at her own school, and she defeated them by only spamming their mind with cringy, outdated Ugandan Knuckles memes. It was funny, of course, but also incredibly powerful. Some mentioned that she was in the same boat as Shinsou, but she seemed to take it much better than he did. 

Oh, and she was cute. Really cute. 

Midoriya would catch peeks of her in the hallways, waltzing to her class with her books close to her and her eyes shining in the afternoon light. She always seemed to have someone at her side, talking softly with them, or maybe laughing loudly. But she was popular, kind, and strong.

Everything that Midoriya felt he wasn’t. 

Of course, he had friends. His quirk was certainly useful, though it had it’s drawbacks. But she was gentle and sweet. Even Bakugou tolerated her and didn’t give her a nasty nickname, which was definitely new. 

So when Mina waltzed up to him with a sneaky grin, he was worried. 

“Heyyyyy, Deku!” She tittiered, leaning on him in a way that was more than friendly but less than flirting. “You like YN, right?” 

“H-huh?!” Midoriya flushed bright red, flailing his arms comically as if to fend off the accusation. “N-no! I mean, she’s really nice b-but I totally don’t have a crush on her and I don’t want-er, really need to dater her, I mean if she asked I would say yes but I don’t have a crush and it’s really not-!” “We get the idea, loverboy.” Mina cut Midoriya off before he could ramble any more, and turned him around to see Sero talking with Denki and Todoroki. “Sero’s gonna have a party tonight. And guess who’s gonna be there~?” “Y-YN?” Midoriya’s flush went down, but barely. 

“You got it! All the transfer are going to be there, and we’re going to rope her into a game of truth or dare!” Mina cheered, but Midoriya recoiled. 

“Wait! What?!” “Yeah! And you’ll get to find out if she has a crush on you!” “What?!” Midoriya leapt away from her, bright red again, and gasping. “That’s-!” “We’re fuckin tired of seeing you pine, asshole.” Bakugou bit from his seat. “Either get your shit broken or date her. I don’t give a fuck.” “Oh, don’t lie like that!” Mina chastised him and swatted at his head, making him growl in response. “He does care! It was his idea!” “Shut the fuck up!” 

Midoriya felt nervousness crawl up his spine, a chill settling in his heart. What if he got publicly rejected? Oh god! What if she said she liked him? How would he react? Would he hug her? Thank her and bow? Kiss her, even? Oh my god! Kiss her?! What kind of response is that?! 

His mind was on overdrive, thinking in all caps and screaming at the top of his proverbial lungs. All sorts of scenarios played through his head, most of which were not meant for public consumption. It was pure chaos until he realised he was being shaken by Tsuyu grabbing his shoulders. It made his head roll around until he came to. “O-oh! Tsu! Sorry!” “It’s okay, kero.” She let go, pointing at her chin. “If this is how you act now, I wanna see how you act with YN in the same room.” “S-same...room…” “Shit, it’s happening again! Someone! Stop him!” 

Midoriya was a foot away from her. 

They were sitting on the couch together, with Denki between the two of them. The room felt like it was filled with lava; bubbling, hot, and too full. Every other second was spent glancing at YN, who was preoccupied with a game of twister that Jirou and Bakugou were fully absorbed in. They were practically doing aerobatics, growling at each other in a refusal to step down. The tension was climbing until one of Jirou’s ear jacks conveniently got under Bakugou’s hand and made him slip. It was almost artistic how she still stood where he fell, but in the end, Bakugou lost, and most of the class was willing to overlook the foul. 

And then came the dreaded truth or dare. 

For whatever reason, Sero brought a bottle, but spin the bottle was quickly shut down once everyone realised they would have to tape Mineta to the upside of the ceiling. They chose to tape him anyway, which led to some confusion on what they were going to play, but it remained truth or dare. 

The first to go was Ochako, who dared Tsuyu to smack Kirishima with her tongue. She did so and almost knocked him out, but he assured her he was fine and the game went on. Late into the night, borderline dangerous dares (“Hey, Bakugou, can you explode in your mouth?”) and embarrassing truths (like the time Todoroki froze over his own underwear and used Midoriya’s All Might underwear, which Midoriya found more mortifying than Todoroki did) were traded around, until it landed on YN for the first time all night. 

“Eh, YN.” Ochako murmured past the thirteen marshmallows in her mouth. “Do you hath a cruth on nnieeone?” “Huh?” YN tilted her head, crossing her legs with a bit of sass. “Now, isn’t that a bit…?” “Nobe!” Ochako chirped, her face splitting into a grin. “Anthwer!” “Ocha…” YN extended her hand, sighing. “I, well…” “You tho! You tho!” Ochako cheered. Midoriya didn’t realise he was on the edge of his seat until he almost fell off. “Thay it!” “Well, maybe…” She pursed his lips. “I can tell you he’s in this room.” Midoriya’s heart skyrocketed. In this room!? There was only him, and Bakugou, and Todoroki, Sero, Denki, Mineta, and Shoki and Tokoyami, Aoyama, Iida, Ojirou, Kirishima, Koda, Sato… Midoriya’s hopes plummetted. It didn’t narrow it down by a lot. 

“Yeah?! Who?! Who?!” “He has...a darker palette?” YN tapped a finger to her chin, trying to dance around the question. It cancelled out Denki, Bakugou, Todoroki, Sato, Ojirou, Aoyama, Koda, and kind of Kirishima if Midoriya squinted. 

“And he’s really smart, and does really well in class.” That definitely outs Kirishima and Sero. Ojiro, Koda, Tokoyami, Aoyama, and Shoji weren’t exceptional in class, either. So all that was left was…

Midoriya’s brain stopped. It stopped fully in its tracks. 

All it left was him. 

It was like he did a mental stutter, the couch feeling like a rock and his hands feeling far too sweaty for his liking. He wiped them on his jeans, but they seemed to be just as sweaty as before. He swallowed. He slicked back his hair a bit. His eyes wandered. Every second felt far too long. 

“That’s not enough, YN.” Mina whined, tipping back so she was laying on the floor. “You have to tell tell us!” “Nah.” She reclined into her hand with a soft smile, blinking slowly. She seemed satisfied, despite the other girl’s begging for more information. Midoriya coughed into his fist, trying to regain his sensibility before slowly rising. 

“I, uh, I’m gonna head to bed!” “Whaaaatttt?” Mina crooned, leaning forward. “Why? Not even Bakugou has gone to bed yet.” 

“Shut up!” “I’m just tired,” Midoriya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, trying to edge away. Before he could, though, YN rose up and took a deep breath. 

“I’m going to bed, too.” She smiled, nodding her head. “We need to get sleep while we can, right?” “Ughhhhhh,” Ochako groaned, finally swallowing the marshmallows. “Fine. But it won’t be the same!” 

“That sounds like a you problem.” YN sassed before walking past Midoriya, glancing at him when she passed. It was as intimidating and romantic as eye contact could be, and made his knees grow weak. 

“R-right.” Midoriya said, though no one asked him anything. “Sure.” “Huh? Dude, are you okay?” Kirishima leans over, but Midoriya just shakes his head as he watches YN walk away. “Y-Yeah!” He juts his thumb towards the hallway, wondering how long leaving was going to take. “I’m just...gonna go.” Before anyone else could say anything, he booked it until he turned the corner and was out of sight. He was panting, but less out of the running than it was nervousness. He kept looking behind him, like he was expecting one of his classmates to come barrelling at him. He turned a second corner, only to bump directly into YN. She had been standing, waiting there for him, with a deep stare. “Hey, Izuku.” 

Midoriya jumped, nearly hopping out of his skin at her gentle, quiet tone. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes were bearing into him. 

“O-Oh! YN! Hi! Hey! I mean, uh, I thought you were going to bed.” He started backing away slowly until his back hit the wall. “Yeah. But I wanted to talk to you.” YN brought her arms up and promptly slammed them on either side of Midoriya’s shoulders, effectively trapping him between her and the wall. “You’re bright red.” “R-really?!” His eyes looked everywhere and nowhere, speeding around until they landed on her. Her brow was furrowed and her nose was scrunched. 

“Yeah. Say...do you have a crush on anyone?” She leaned in, eyes glancing down onto his lips before flickering back up. 

“M-maybe!” He squeaked, desperately trying to figure out how he should respond. Everything about this was something out of a manga, not real life. 

“You know…” YN leaned in again, this time not only looking at his lips but keeping her eyes on them. "I've never wanted to kiss anyone as much as I want to kiss you."

Midoriya felt his face flush again, then go cold, then flush redder than before. It was a constant rapture that seized him, lifting him up higher than he could ever consider. 

“What?!” He yelped once his mind caught up with what was going on. “Shh!” She hissed, putting a finger over her lips, which looked very cute. “You don’t want the whole dorm knowing, do you?” 

“Oh…” Midoriya wasn’t sure if he did want everyone to know, but YN kabedonning him made his brain keep on stuttering like a broken record. 

“Hey…” For a second, there was a flash of uncertainty in her eyes. “Do you like me? All the girls say you do, but still…” 

“Yes!” Midoriya nearly shouted, jumping and almost bonking heads with YN. “Yes, yes, yes!” 

“Wait, really?” YN leaned back, surprise on her face. “I thought I was going to scare you off, or something.” 

“Not at all!” Midoriya started waving his hands, a happy flush growing on his face. 

“Then...do you wanna date?” “Yeah. “ He sighed softly. His eyes were wide and his heart felt like it had soared to the moon. The moment was pure ecstasy, and he couldn’t come down from this high.

“I would love that.” 

#midoriya x reader #midoriya izuku x reader #bnha x reader #bnha event #kabedon #shorter reader #pumping these mfs out even if it kills me

[free-pool-trash]

folklore - isaac lahey {4/?}

part 4!! Hope you guys are liking this so far :) PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!! 

platonic stiles, derek and scott x reader in this part too :)

word count: 3.8k

warnings: blood, blood sucking? lmao idk, swearing i think that’s it? let me know if i missed anything <33

Taglist: @makeusfreefromthisfandom​, @cece-lives-here​, @chocolate-raspberries​, @belsandthings​, @dancing-tacos-23​, @truly-dionysus​, @britty443​, @tanyaherondale​, @furiouspockettoad​, @yunsh-17​, @random-thoughts-003​, @gloomybrieyxb​, @futuristicslimemongerbanana​, @linkpk88​, @big-galaxy-chaos​ let me know if you’d like to be added <3

FOLKLORE MASTERLIST

“You’re sure about this?” Stiles rolled his eyes at the question, the same question you’d asked four times already. Letting out a dramatic sigh the boy looked you dead in the eyes, “For the fifth time, yes! Now hurry up and stick your needle teeth in me before I change my mind.” 

A nervous giggle left your mouth before your could stop it and you grabbed the knife you’d brought with you from home out of the pocket of your jacket, looking at Stiles with an apologetic smile you gently pulled his wrist toward you, “I won’t actually get my fangs until after I feed…” You reminded softly, eyes searching his for any sign of uncertainty. 

You were currently sat in the passenger's seat of Stiles’ jeep, the sarcastic boy himself sat beside you in the driver’s seat, both of you had your seat belts unbuckled and your bodies turned towards each other as best you could in the confined space of the jeep that was parked on the outskirts of the woods.

The only feeling in your chest that didn’t belong to you was the nervousness that Stiles assured you was just due to the fact that he was alone in his car with a pretty girl and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact he was about to give a baby vampire her first taste of human blood. It was a good thing that Stiles had agreed to your request, though. To be honest you weren’t sure why he’d said yes but you were grateful nonetheless.

 Deaton had made it clear that in order for your transition to be as seamless as possible you’d need to feed on a human who didn’t share your bloodline, which obviously eliminated your parents from the running as well as Scott and Derek since neither of them are technically human. That left you with a choice to make between Isaac and Stiles and considering your decision to keep Isaac out of it, your options were limited.

Thankfully Stiles had responded to your text message of “I really need a favour” quickly and didn’t ask too many questions, he’d mentioned he would rather have you drink his blood than die and you couldn’t lie you were kind of moved by it. Who knew the sarcastic Stiles Stilinski was a sweetheart?

“Oh so we’re using a kitchen knife...fun. Very sanitary.” He commented, eyeing the knife with displeasure obvious on his face and in your chest. You offered him another apologetic smile and tried your best to send a wave of calmness his way- already having started learning how to use your empathic abilities.

When he let out a relaxed sigh, closed his eyes and let his buzzcut head fall back against his head rest you brought the knife to his skin. You cut quickly and as shallow as possible, wincing while he let out a hiss.

Blood oozed from the cut you’d created and suddenly it was as though the rest of the world had simply dulled around you, you could hear Stiles’ heart beat beating like a drum and every single drop of rushing blood sounded in your eyes. Throwing him one last questioning glance you waited until he nodded his head for you to go on before you cautiously raised his wrist to your lips, holding it with both hands and swallowing the saliva that had built up in your mouth at the sight of the red liquid.

Bracing yourself for what would happen next you took a deep breath in. Slowly, you opened your mouth and placed it over the cut you’d made on his pale skin, the taste of metal filled your mouth but it didn’t repulse you like it should have, it tasted good… incredible even. A hum of approval left your throat only to be muffled by an approving sound of his own coming from Stiles.

When you disconnected from his wrist to look at him your eyes widened, he looked absolutely blissed out. Head thrown back against the car seat and a dopey smile on his lips while half lidded eyes stared back at you.

“Are you okay?” You asked him in panic. How were you going to tell Scott that you broke his best friend?

Stiles nodded, his smile only growing as he giggled out his answer, “That felt really good. Really good.” He drawled out his words and you had to laugh, hoping to god that a vampire bite had some kind of euphoric effect and that Stiles didn’t just have some weird blood sucking kink. Although come to think of it you hadn’t actually bit him…

Shaking the thoughts off you sat with Stiles on the outskirts of the forest and waited for him to come down from his high so you could ask him what exactly had happened. After a solid forty-five minutes of staring out into the woods dozily and babbling nonsense as if he’d just smoked an unhealthy amount of weed, the boy beside you finally sobered up.

The first thing he did was look at you with wide eyes, “That- That was awesome.” 

“You were kinda gone for a minute there, I was worried I broke you.” You laughed, the noise dying in your throat as he shook his head frantically.

“No! It was like- like I actually don’t know… but when you started drinking it felt like something was injected into my bloodstream! It was like a drug or something, I swear.” He explained excitedly, the positive energy spreading to your chest and forcing a wide smile to grow on your lips.

“Was it as good for you as it was for me?” He asked jokingly, wiggling his eyebrows and smiling when you let out a hearty laugh. You shrugged casually, an innocent smile playing on your lips that were still stained red with Stiles’ blood, “I guess you were a pretty tasty midnight snack.”

*

Deaton hadn’t lied when he told you that your fangs growing in would be painful, you’d spent the entire night rolling around your bed in agony after you parted with Stiles. It wasn’t until the sunlight peaked through your curtains that morning that you were finally able to catch your breath, your teeth looking normal as you inspected them in the mirror, only forming fangs when you made an effort to bare them. When you met your own gaze in the mirror you played around with your newest feature, eyes widening as you realized that while you changed your teeth, something else changed too- your eyes. As you barred your fangs your eyes shifted from their usual colour to a glowing lilac purple. A shocked gasp left your lips and your brows furrowed in confusion. 

Vampirism seemed to be full of surprises and even still the most shocking thing about your reflection was how undeniably tired you looked. Staying up all night in unbearable pain would do that to you, you supposed sighing heavily and getting yourself ready for the day ahead.

“Hey kiddo.” Your father greeted, not looking up from the book he was reading as you entered the kitchen with your school bag thrown over your shoulder.

Leaning over his shoulder to see what he’d been looking at you let out a laugh when you saw the word written on the top of the page in a gothic black font; Vampyr.

“Some light reading, huh?” You asked teasingly, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen island and leaning against it while you waited for a response. 

The man let out a huff before shutting the book and throwing his head back dramatically, greying hair falling in his eyes as he did. “Just tryna figure out everything we can about your new lifestyle.”

A small laugh left your mouth as you made your way out of the kitchen, “Blood sucking and superhuman abilities, what’s more to know?” You called sarcastically, shutting the front door and climbing into your car.

*

School was loud at the best of times, even before being bitten you could barely stand it especially in the mornings, adding your enhanced hearing and total lack of sleep to the mix seemed like a recipe for disaster. You were ripped from your thoughts when a hand landed on your shoulder, “Oh hey, guys.” You muttered when you looked up from the ground to see Scott and Stiles looking at you with what looked like slight concern, with so many people around it was hard to tune in on what they were actually feeling. 

“You look terrible.” Stiles stated bluntly, receiving a light kick in the shin from you, “Yeah well your stupid blood activated my fangs and I was up all night in pain while they grew in.” You grumbled, giving him another light kick for good measure.

Scott chuckled before speaking up, “How did feeding go?” 

Before you could answer Stiles was already blabbering excitedly, “Dude! You have to let her bite you it’s like… other worldly!” Your eyes rolled at how over dramatic he made the whole situation sound, sure his blood had been incredible and your bite had put him in a state of pure bliss but for all you knew that could’ve just been a one time thing. Scott stared at Stiles with a suspicious look on his face as the two began to argue playfully, stopping once you cut in, “Alright you too, I’m gonna head to my locker. Stiles try not to think too much about how other worldly I am.” You teased with a wink before walking away.

Isaac had been watching the entire encounter, he’d seen you the second you walked in, he’d seen the way you laughed and chatted with the boys you were seemingly growing closer with and he definitely didn’t miss the wink you threw towards Stilinski before you began walking towards him. He wondered if he wasn’t in the picture would you be better off? His mind torturing him with that fact that since you were placed into different home rooms this year you’d already made a number of new friends. Maybe he was holding you back?

“Whatcha worrying about, Lahey?” Your soft voice shook him out of his quickly self degrading train of thought and when his eyes met yours all worries about himself went away as he focused solely on you and your tired eyes. 

“You…” He told you, eyes trailing over your face before coming back to your eyes. “Are you not sleeping?” He asked, concern dripping from every word. His hand found yours and you simply nodded your head, there was no point in lying to him about it when you knew damn well you were probably going to pass out at some point during the day.

“It was just last night, I had a really bad toothache.” Technically it wasn’t a lie and by the way his eyes glanced over your puffier than normal cheeks you knew he believed you.  

Isaac nodded his head, keeping his soft grip on your hand as he looked at you for a moment longer, “You sure here’s the best place to be?” He fretted, his eyebrows coming to a furrow. Worry began to build up in your chest along with every other feeling being felt by every other hormonal teenager who walked the halls. They crashed over you in waves, one after the other and relentlessly leading you to seriously consider Isaac’s question.

“(Y/n) I think you should go home, you’ve got the same look on your face as you did that night in the hospital…” Isaac pointed out as he let go of your hand.

Even though he was standing right in front of you, again like that night in the hospital, his voice sounded distant. Instead of excessive noise this time it was overwhelming emotions clouding your mind and as opposed to ringing in your ears all you could feel was a volcano of feelings threatening to erupt in your chest. There seemed to be something about Isaac- it was like he triggered your powers, whenever he was with you they were at their strongest and you didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing. 

As his hand slipped out of yours you felt yourself pulling it back to you as quickly as possible without triggering your new vampire speed, because while Isaac triggered you- you felt as though he was also the only thing stopping you from losing control.

“Hey, you ok?” His voice sounded again, prompting you to squeeze your eyes shut, hoping to gain some kind of leverage over the car crash of emotions flooding your every breath, you took a deep breath before you opened your eyes, locking your gaze with Isacc’s.

His eyebrows were furrowed together and the amount of concern he held for you in the moment would’ve warmed your heart if it wasn’t already crushing it. “I think I should wait a few more days.” You reasoned out loud, nodding your head mirroring Isaac as he nodded in agreement, adjusting your grip on his hand so you weren’t just grabbing on to it. He intertwined his fingers with your own and led you towards the school doors muttering, “Give me your keys, I’ll take you home.”

“If you miss school you’ll get in trouble.” You reminded him weakly, fatigue getting the best of you as you leaned against his side for support, not seeing him shake his head, “Nah, he won’t be mad if it’s about you. Didn’t touch me the whole time you were in hospital.” Isaac informed you as he snatched your car keys out of your jacket pocket himself, trying to fight a grin at the dopey look on your face as you stared up at him.

“He didn’t?” You questioned when the pressure in your chest began to release, only when you moved your gaze away from your best friend’s face did you notice that he had already brought you to your car, he opened the passenger side door and looked at you expectantly, motioning for you to get in, “Come on, sleepy head. Get in the car.” With a sigh of defeat you plopped yourself into the seat, watching as Isaac shut the door and made his way around to the driver’s side, quickly hopping in and leaving the school grounds so you wouldn’t get written up.

“Nope. Said he didn’t want me stressing you out with my ‘little accidents’” He kept his eyes on the road as he spoke and you tried your best not to make your staring too obvious. It was a rare sight though, seeing him with no scrapes or bruises, you liked it a lot. At least it meant he wasn’t hurting physically.

“Maybe I should get injured more often then.” You told him tiredly, head beginning to lull, soothed by the warm feeling spreading across your chest

Isaac laughed humorlessly, glancing at you briefly before returning his gaze to the road ahead of him, “Honestly I’d rather get beaten black and blue than see you hurt for another second.”

The warmth in your chest only grew as you gazed at him, “I could say the same.” He laughed again only this time it was sweet, “How about we both try not to get our asses handed to us?” 

As the words left his mouth the car had pulled into your driveway, your mother’s car was out of sight and your father would’ve left for work by now so it seemed that you and Isaac would have the place to yourselves.

When you got inside you dropped your bag on the hallway floor and made a beeline towards the stairs, waiting for your best friend to follow you as he usually did only this time he didn’t move. Isaac stood rigidly in the doorway, his teeth gnawing on the inside of his cheeks as indecisiveness radiated off his form.

“Come on, I know you didn’t ditch school just to drop me home…” You tried to lighten the mood but your words only confused him further. He only stares at you in contemplation, his teeth moving to chew on his bottom lip. “What’s wrong?” You asked, voice dripping with concern.

Little did you know his mind was running wild with the same thoughts that had plagued him earlier that morning, maybe you didn’t want him with you… maybe you would’ve preferred Scott or even Stilinski. Before he could apply any sort of logic to the thoughts his mouth started moving, “Do you want me to stay? It’s fine if you’d rather- I don’t know call Scott or something?”

You felt bad for laughing, you really did but the question definitely had not been what you were expecting, his jealousy towards Scott and even Stiles was clear as day but you didn’t realize he was so blinded by it. “Isaac, I love you so much but that is the worst suggestion you’ve made all day.” You told him through a laugh, moving from the stairs back to the front door, shutting it after you pulled Isaac inside and looked him in the eyes.

Drowsily you placed both of your hands on his cheeks, forcing him to meet your eyes, “Don’t get me wrong, Scott and Stiles are great” You started, pausing to squish his cheeks together to drive you point as you finished, “But they’re not you.” Isaac smiled down at you sweetly, escaping your grasp to pull you against him in a hug and once again that warm feeling flooded your chest again. It was different that the others you’d felt so far, the others seemed to sit on your chest or weighed it down, but this feeling felt as though it was simply floating over it, it wasn’t heavy or overwhelming but light and comforting. You sunk into it for a second, eyes falling shut as you let out a hum of approval when Isaac’s grip around you tightened ever so slightly.

Pulling yourself away before you fell asleep right where you stood you grabbed his hand, leading him upstairs, “Alright dumbass, I need a nap we can cuddle upstairs.” You grumbled only to have him laugh and push your shoulder playfully, “You’re the worst, (L/n)”

“Mhm, and don’t you forget it, Lahey.”

*

“Call her. Now.” Derek growled out at Stiles demandingly causing him to throw his arms in the air in frustration, “And what’s she gonna do about it? Huh? Suck your blood?” Stiles retorted, sarcastically.

“No,” The older man once again growled, “She can heal it. Now, call her.”

“You suck, you know that right?” Stiles mumbled as Derek ignored him, clutching his arm in pain as the boy with the buzzcut finally began to dial your number.

After a minute, Stiles lowered the phone from his ear, “She’s not answering.”

“Then call her again.” 

*

You groaned into Isaac’s shoulder as your phone rang for the fifth time waking you from your longer than intended nap, groggily you grabbed your phone from behind you on the night stand as best you could without removing yourself from Isaac.

Finally grabbing hold of it you held it to your ear, not bothering to check the caller ID before answering, “Hello?”

“Finally. (Y/n) listen to me-” Your face contorted in confusion at the sound of the frantic voice on the other line, “Derek?” You questioned, still half asleep and Isaac’s hand running through your hair didn’t help with the matter of waking you up.

“Yes, (Y/n) it’s Derek-” “And Stiles!” “Shut up!”

You couldn’t help but wince at the volume of their voices, finally sitting up, “Both of you shut up. What do you want?” You grumbled crankily.

“Allison’s aunt shot me.” Derek told you bluntly causing your eyes to widen and your voice to pitch, “What? Are you okay?”

“I need your help.” He admitted causing your shock to grow significantly, “How the hell am I supposed to help?” You asked panicked, trying to calm your beating heart when it dawned on you that your best friend was right beside you.

Stiles voice cut in this time, sounding just as frustrated, if not more, than Derek, “Do you have to be so cryptic all the time? God. (Y/n) I’m taking him to Deaton’s okay? The pet clinic. Just meet us there alright?”

“Okay, got it.” You sighed, quickly hanging up and jumping out of your comfortable bed, letting out a laugh when you noticed the sun had long since set, you must’ve been asleep for hours.

“You ok?” Isaac asked. Standing now too.

“Yeah, Derek needs me for something.” You told him, irritation clear on your face. “I’ll drive you home.” You sighed and gave the boy an apologetic smile,

*

Hurriedly you made your way into the pet clinic after dropping Isaac off, eyes widening at the state Derek was in, “Jesus, you really got shot, huh?”

The wolf nodded with an insincere smile on his face, eyes narrowed in your direction, “Yes. Now come here, I need your blood.” Derek demanded, rolling his eyes when you recoiled in disgust, “Come again?”

Derek sighed impatiently, only bothering to give you a half assed explanation, “The bullet that shot me has a toxin in it, vampire blood will stop it long enough for Scott to get here.” He grabbed your wrist and pushed it toward your mouth, “Bite.” He instructed, hesitantly you bore your fangs, eyes flashing in the process, and bit into your wrist, wincing as you broke the skin before you removed your fangs and held the limb toward Derek who immediately attached his lips to the bleeding area, “Gross…” You murmured, scrunching up your nose as Stiles looked at the scene with as much distaste as you.

When he was finally done with your wrist you saw that the marks your fangs had left only a minute ago were gone and besides the spit from Derek which you wiped off on your shirt with a grimace, it was like nothing had been there at all. “What the hell?” You voiced in confusion, staring at your wrist.

“Okay, so vampires heal too.” Stiles deducted, nodding his head approvingly.

“They can heal themselves but they can also heal others. With their blood.” Derek finally explained coherently. 

“You’re not healing though.” You pointed out matter of factly, prompting the older man to let out a sigh, ��There’s wolfsbane in my system. Your blood will dilute it but it won’t stop it completely, I need the bullet.” He said vaguely to which you only nodded, not bothered asking him any more questions, he sucked at answering.

Deciding to leave Derek to his brooding you made yourself comfortable next to Stiles, “So Allison’s aunt?” Stiles nodded, “Yep. Pretty funny considering Scott went over to Allison’s after school today to ‘study’” He told you making air quotes with his fingers.

“I gotta be honest Stiles… I don’t trust her.” You voiced your concerns, chewing on your bottom lip. Stiles looked at you with a confused glance, “Allison? Why not?”

You shook your head, staring distantly out the window as you mulled over his question. You couldn’t explain it but there was something about the Argent girl that just didn’t sit right with you, she felt volatile, confused even. Like given the right motivation she’d switch teams without thinking twice

Turning back to meet Stiles’ eyes you shrugged your shoulders, “Just an intuitive feeling.”

#isaac lahey x reader #stiles stilinski x reader #derek hale x reader #scott mccall x reader #teen wolf x reader #folklore i.l

[theauthorunicorn]

She’s Back Part 2 | Evan Buckley

Read Part 1 here

Prompt: During the operation at the train wreck the reader met Abby and saw her with Evan but she doesn’t know why she’s even back.

“I mean, if I could just take a week off Captain that will be good.” it’s been three days passed since the train incident and I’m just tired ignoring Buck for a while now. He wanted to reason everything out but I think I’m not ready to hear him after knowing that they both met the day after the incident.

“A week off now? Earlier you keep asking me to transfer you to another shift? What’s wrong Y/N?” Bobby asked eyes furrowed.

I sighed in annoyance, “I don’t know, I’m kinda tired and -” I can see Buck in my peripheral vision listening to us, “I wanted to try other things or stuff. I really don’t know Cap and this answer usually could grant a week off though.”

“Who’s having a week off?” Eddie interrupted.

“Me. I’m asking a week off, okay?”

“Why?” he asked confusingly.

“I don’t know or probably I’m gonna fly to Europe and explore somethings or even go to London and see what are they up to.” I told them. I can see Buck’s annoyance in my answers and I don’t care.

“Please, grant me those. I needed this time off.” I begged to Captain Nash.

And oh if you’re wondering by the way the “I need to tell you something” by Buck was never happened because I try my very best not to talk to him or even be at the same room with him.

“I’ll go check if you can Y/N. I’ll let you know after the shift.” Captain Nash assured.

*****  

“Thank you so much.” I hugged Bobby as he informed me that I could have five days off and that’s the best that he could do.

It was raining hard as soon as our shift ended and unfortunately my car was still in the shop because of engine problem. I grabbed my umbrella in the locker and booked an Uber home.

“You’re gonna Uber home?” Eddie asked as he passed me.

“Uhm,” I locked my phone, “My car was in shop, engine problems.”

“I could just swing you at your apartment this rain isn’t gonna stop soon.” Eddie offered.

“We live in the opposite side so ‘swing you home’ is not efficient.” I said as I declined his offer.

“Okay, I just want someone to hear this conversation so he could drop you home and talk whatever is going on to both off you.” He winked at me as he walk towards the door.

I checked my Uber and no one has ever picked my booking.

I walk toward the door and thought that it would be a perfect spot to wait for a cab since it’s impossible to get an Uber at this time.

It’s twenty minutes passed and no cab even passed by. I keep myself entertained over my colleagues who will start their shift after us catching up.

Then, a black Jeep stopped in front of us, I sighed to know at that very second who it was. Buck rolled his passenger side window and shouted, “Hey. Y/N it’s impossible to get a cab now, I’ll just drop you home.”

Maria, a friend of ours had this confusion then proceeded to ask me, "Buck is here, I don't know why you're still waiting for a cab? You two are basically a couple without being in a formal relationship?" I rolled my eyes to her.

"Am I right, Buck?" She shouted over Buck even though he didn't know what are we talking about.

He nodded and shouted back at me, "Y/N, get in the car."

"As if I have a choice." I mumbled as I walk over the Jeep.

I said my goodbye to Maria and she's happily teasing the me and Buck. I don't know why people kept seeing us so compatible to each other because right now, I can't even see it.

I stand in passenger side of his Jeep, "Hey, thank you for doing this, I don't even know that you're still in the station at this time." He smiled and God forbid those smiles. "Can you open up the back, I could just sit over there." I pointed it because I'm refusing to seat beside him.

He looked over at his back, "It's kinda messy over there, I got my stuff for the gym earlier. It'll be better if you'll seat over here." He pointed at the passenger side.

"I think I can do that," he smiled again, "I mean, I can sit at the back."

"It's really messy in there Y/N. I wished I cleaned it up before passing you here because I would if I just know that you'll be here. And it's pouring hard so you better get inside." He opened the door and a backed away. I climbed over the passenger side to settle this little argument.

"Where can I put my umbrella? It's literally dripping." I asked him.

He points at his back seat and it's really messy. "Put it in the back."

He started driving away from the station, he offered me a bag of Cheetos and even if I wanted some I declined his offer. Buck started casual talk but it really ends up in my yes, no or maybe.

"Do you still have grocery at your home? Because the last time I was there it was almost empty."

Well, he's not wrong. He spend a night in my apartment four days ago as we watch The Office again.

"I still have some. I'll probably just order a takeaway tonight." I said in a monotone voice.

Then, it's a dead silent. It felt like five minutes before he start speaking again.

"I heard you're gonna have a five day off, where are you going? Are you gonna visit your parents in New York?" He asked as if he dropped a million dollar question.

"No and not to be rude, Buck. It's none of your business." I put my airpods in my ear to shut whatever he's gonna talk.

He sighed deeply as he saw me doing that. I kept my head leaned over the window watching the raindrops race over the end.

*****

He parked his car adjacent to the door, I settled myself before opening it. I put my phone and airpods at my bag, "Thank you so much for driving me home, Buck and I'm sorry that I'm mean earlier I'm just not in the mood."

"It's Evan and it's okay I understand, Y/N."

I opened the door and hop out, "Drive safe." Usually it followed set of words, 'call or text me when you're home.'

And he usually answers, "Yeah, I'll text you when I'm home." and he does this time out of habit even if I didn't ask for it.

*****

I had different shifts from Buck after that day he dropped me home, he also did text me that he arrived home safely that night but I didn't reply, I left him on read. And fun fact I'm flying over London tonight for my mini vacation.

"So, London, huh?" Maria asked me as I settled my things I had the night shift the past few days so I had the chance to hangout with Maria.

"Yeah. It'll be good." I said in British accent. I tied my hair into pony tail before grabbing my things.

"I hope you have a wonderful vacation over there dearie."

"Yeah, I will." I walked over my car unlock it from a far when someone grabbed my free hand.

"Hey, I got you coffee to compensate your all nighter duty." Buck said as he handed me a venti Starbucks cup. "It's Vanilla Latte." He smiled.

"Thank you." I said confusingly. He's acting weird like he normally fo everyday.

"You're welcome and actually if you can remember I want to grab something with you so I can say something to you. Maybe right now, like breakfast?" Buck asked as if we're actually okay and its making me mad.

"No, I have something to do today." I replied plainly.

"Something much more better than me, mmm, Y/N." He said playfully.

"Buck, stop this."

"Evan, call me Evan." He insisted.

"I'll be flying to London tonight and I need to pack up my things, I'm sorry if I can't. And please stop acting that we're okay because we both know that we're not, Buck."

And now, he's totally angry. "I want to talk to you so bad because I want to explain things and after all you're gonna leave like what Abby did to me. It felt like everyone is leaving me, Y/N and you're the last person I expected to do that."

It felt like I'm burning up, I catch my breath before answering him, "I'm not like Abby, Evan. Okay. Don't compare me to her. That's it, get over it. Get over her. Find yourself and I'll go figure out what the hell is happening with me in London. I needed this time off so you don't have the right to tell me those words you said to me."

I opened my car and threw my bag at the back as I settled the coffee in the cup holder. He held the door to keep it open, "I'm sorry Y/N. I didn't mean it."

*****

I'm at the airport right now waiting my flight to board.

"All passengers from BA 798 bound to London this is your pre-boarding announcement -"

"Y/N!" Someone called my name, panting. I looked around to see Evan catching his breathe. "I'm glad I still catch you here." He hugged me tightly.

"Is everything okay? I mean how can you be at this area if you don't have a ticket." I asked him.

"I bought a ticket for Kansas tonight and I’m not even flying there just to pass through because I need to tell you something before you go." He uttered those familiar words.

"I know I fucked up that I didn't get over to what I felt with Abby because I kept a promise to wait for her but when you came into my life it drifted away but I'm not gonna lie as soon as I saw her that night it all came back even if I didn't want to because I'm finally happy. I saw pain in your eyes when you both saw us and it felt like I personally planted a knife in your heart to have those look in your eyes. I wanted to pause everything at that time to explain things to you but I couldn't they needed our help. Then, the day after the incident you avoided me, I thought it might be a temporary thing but it didn't. Yes, I met her that day also too, so I could settle whatever is left in here for her" he pointed in his heart. "And when you heard that we agreed to see each other that day, I see the pain doubled in your eyes. Abby, went here with his fiance to tell her relatives that they're going to get married in June, I met Sam too, her fiance I actually saved him at the incident, I may be lying if I'll say now that I wasn't hurt when she say that she'll be married but I did a little, then, I think about you Y/N. I think about everything that we had for the past year and especially the last few days before you start ignoring me," he giggled, "it's much more special and wonderful than what I had with Abby and it was so wrong to compare you to her this morning and again, I'm sorry."

"At this time we invite our business class customers to board the aircraft." The boarding gate agent announced and I hesitantly looked at my watch to check what time it is.

"I'm actually called?" I told him.

"Please stay for a while, I'll finish this up in a minute or two." I nodded.

"Because of the situation we didn't actually do as what we planned that night grab a breakfast or something and me telling you something and right now, you're going to London and I couldn't afford to have those five days passed away from you without knowing this, I love you Y/N more than anything. You mean the world to me and if I could just fly with you tonight I would but I can't, Captain said we will be short staffed. So, yeah, I love you and I want to spend my days with you annoying you, loving you and caring for you."

When he finished saying those words, I teared up and hugged him tightly as I savor those words in my head.

"All passengers for BA 798 bound to London kindly board your flight now at gate 22."

"Hey, I think you're being called for your flight."

"They can wait, I'm a business class passenger." I said to him. He laughed as we still hug each other. "And I love you too, Evan."

#911 fox #evan buckley #evan buckley x reader #evan buckley x you #evan buckley x y/n #evan buckly angst #evan buckley fluff #evan buckley imagine #imagine evan buckley #evan buckley drabble #evan buckley fanfiction #buck x reder #buck #buck x you #buck x y/n #buck angst #buck fluff #buck imagine #imagine buck #buck fanfiction #911 imagine #911 fanfic #evan buckley fanfic #buck fanfic

[captainjanegay]

Apartment 16 | Stucky | Meet Dumb Cute | 5k words | Ao3

Summary:

"Finally, he sees the longed-for number 16 on the door in front of him and bends to retrieve the key. Luckily, it's still there. Bucky thinks about the fact that in just a few minutes he'll finally be able to lay down, fall asleep and forget about the dull ache in all of his muscles for a few hours. It's a very nice thought. It makes him let out a small, happy sigh as he opens the door and sneaks into the dark apartment.

The light coming from the window in the living room is not much but enough for Bucky to realise that there's a dog. A big dog is standing in the middle of the hallway, its head cocked to the side as it watches Bucky. It's fair and huge, a golden retriever if Bucky was to guess.

It wouldn’t be weird if Bucky just ignored the fact that Natasha did not have a dog."

A/N: Here’s a random thing I wrote to escape from the other fic I’m working on. It was supposed to be a short ficlet and here we are at 5k. It was really fun to write and I hope you’ll have fun reading it :’)

My fourth fill for the @stuckybingo2020 ♥

There are eighty-seven steps to get to the 5th floor of the building Natasha lives in. It is at least eighty steps too many. In normal circumstances Bucky probably wouldn’t complain. He got used to the permanently broken elevator and he was in good enough condition not to die of exhaustion climbing those damn stairs on a normal day. But all of this doesn't matter at 4 AM when Bucky's completely exhausted—both physically and mentally—after his shift at the bar. In those circumstances he can complain as much as he fucking wants, thank you very much.

Despite all the stairs, he is really thankful for Natasha. His own apartment is not that far, maybe a twenty minute walk from here. But he'd rather fall asleep on the street than walk all the way to his place right now. So bless the permanent permission to crash on Natasha's couch whenever he feels like it. She even keeps a spare key under her mat—a foolproof hiding place, so obvious that nobody ever bothers to check there and break into her apartment.

Finally, he sees the longed-for number 16 on the door in front of him and bends to retrieve the key. Luckily, it's still there. Bucky thinks about the fact that in just a few minutes he'll finally be able to lay down, fall asleep and forget about the dull ache in all of his muscles for a few hours. It's a very nice thought. It makes him let out a small, happy sigh as he opens the door and sneaks into the dark apartment. Taking off his shoes, he turns to lock the door. Then, he freezes. He can hear a weird noise from behind his back, like... clacking against the wooden floor. Slowly, he turns around.

The light coming from the window in the living room is not much but enough for Bucky to realise that there's a dog. A big dog is standing in the middle of the hallway, its head cocked to the side as it watches Bucky. It's fair and huge, a golden retriever if Bucky was to guess.

It wouldn’t be weird if Bucky just ignored the fact that Natasha did not have a dog.

A few more seconds pass. Bucky starts wondering if he didn’t in fact pass out from exhaustion somewhere between the bar and Natasha’s place and all this is just ravings of his tired brain. After a moment of deliberation, Bucky wonders how badly such a big dog could hurt him. After all, he can get mistaken for a burglar. Hell, he is in someone’s apartment—not Natasha’s, that much is obvious—after he basically broke in in the middle of the night, probably still reeking of cigarettes and that beer someone spilled on him at the bar hours ago. 

So if the dog leaps to bite his face off, Bucky kind of had that coming. The rational part of his brain makes him take a step back towards the door. He blindly reaches for the door-handle. As he realises that he’d actually closed the door behind himself, he curses under his breath. At least the dog is still just watching him, calmly.

Just as Bucky thinks that, the dog moves. There’s no leaping and biting-off-faces involved so far, the dog only scampers towards him leisurely. It sniffs at Bucky's hand, while Bucky tries very hard not to breathe. After an excruciatingly long second or two, the dog nudges Bucky's hand until it rests on its muzzle. When Bucky doesn't do anything, the dog sits on its hind legs and looks at Bucky in a way that seems kind of expectant. Not having much choice, Bucky does the only thing there is to do. 

He moves his hand to rest on the dog’s head and pets, gently scratching behind the dog's right ear. It lets out a quiet noise, somewhere between a bark and a content huff. Bucky chuckles quietly. He's not sure what is happening, but at least he's not worried about getting eaten alive for now. Soon enough, the dog flops onto its back, exposing its belly and there's that look again. Without thinking, Bucky crouches down and proceeds with the rubs.

Once again, the rational part of his brain tries to take control, telling him that he's still in some stranger's place, it's still past 4 AM and Bucky still should not be here. No matter how friendly the dog is. Unfortunately, at this hour the rational part of his brain has no say in anything. The dumb and the tired parts are the present CEOs of The Bucky Barnes Brain and that's why nothing good happens to him at the wee hours of the morning. So of course, Bucky ignores the voice of reason that tells him to go and try to figure out where the hell Natasha's apartment is. And besides—he had a long night. He had to deal with drunk and obnoxious people and serve them their drinks with a smile. He had to stand for hours and his legs are so sore he's not sure if he'll be able to get up from the crouches. He sure as hell deserved to pet a dog who clearly wants to be pet as a treat.

"What. The. Fuck. Is happening here?!"

Of course Bucky's happiness is short-lived. When he hears the deep, male voice, his head snaps up, trying to make out the silhouette in the dark corridor. 

Before he can do that, the light is suddenly switched on. Bucky winces and starts blinking, bringing the hand not currently petting the dog up to shield his eyes from the blinding brightness. The quick movement throws him off balance, making him plop down onto his butt.

When his ability to see is more or less back, he looks up. His eyes widen. He opens his mouth but closes it when nothing comes out. He just stares.

Because right in front of him stands a very gorgeous man. He seems skinny and small, probably at least a head shorter than Bucky. His blond hair is sticking in every direction, which Bucky would find adorable in different circumstances. The man's jaw is strong, his cheekbones to die for and he has the most beautiful blue eyes Bucky has ever seen.

Unfortunately, those blue eyes are glaring at him furiously and if it was possible to die under someone's gaze, Bucky would drop dead 15 seconds ago.

"Who the fuck are you? What are you doing in my apartment? It's the fucking middle of the night!" the stranger says, almost yelling.

"I'm not a burglar!" is what Bucky answers and he totally deserves the unimpressed eyebrow raise he gets. "Which is probably what a burglar would say. But really, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—I was going to my friends place but I must've messed up the floors or something. I was going to get out as soon as I realised that something was wrong, but…"

Bucky glances down at the dog, who is still lying on its back with its tongue lolling out and demands more scratches.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Bowie?" Bucky opens his mouth to defend himself, but he frowns at the name. After a moment he realises that the man is addressing the dog. "Aren't you supposed to defend this household or something? Are you really that cheap?"

"For what it's worth, I feel pretty defeated right now," Bucky chimes in. Another annoyed glare is what he gets in return.

"It's not worth a fuck, you've broken into my apartment! At 5 in the fucking morning," the man yells, running a hand through his hair. Only now Bucky realises that he's clutching a big and heavy-looking book in his other hand.

"I didn't actually break in! I found the key under the mat!" Bucky says.

It catches the man off guard. For a moment he just stands there, his brows furrowed and his cheeks go a bit red. It doesn't last long though.

"Well, that's my bad, but why would you even look for it?"

"Cause my friend hides her key for me there, too. Look, man," Bucky tries and scrambles to get up. His legs protest when he stands up but he is able to suppress a whine. "I'm really sorry. I'm tired as shit, I just finished my shift and up until this point I was convinced that my friend lives at number 16. I really didn't mean to disturb you. I really wanted to go but at first I was worried your dog's gonna eat me alive and then I couldn't deny him the scratches. If that's any consolation, it was the best part of my day. Playing with your dog, not breaking in here."

A winning smile appears on the man's face. "So you do admit you broke in here!" His tone and expression is significantly less murderous than before so Bucky dares to roll his eyes in response. "Let's say I believe you. I don't think I've ever heard about someone breaking into a stranger's home by accident but let's say that's true."

"It is! Also, just out of curiosity—you wanted to knock me out with that book?" Bucky feels the urge to ask.

"Still might," the man points out, grabbing the book tighter.

Bucky might be imagining things but he thinks there's a ghost of a smile dancing in the corner of the blond's mouth. Or maybe he just becomes delirious from exhaustion.

"Then you'd be able to tell people you've defeated a burglar with the power of literature," Bucky jokes. As soon as it leaves his mouth, he hears how lame it sounds but he blames his tired brain for that. And the handsome stranger, who seems to dampen his ability to think even more.

The handsome stranger who, surprisingly, let's out a chuckle in response to Bucky's horrible efforts at… whatever he is currently doing. Is he really trying to flirt with a man into who's flat he's barged in at 4 in the morning?

After thinking about it for a moment, he realises that it can be the case. Which is another argument in favour of the fact that at such an hour he's a danger to society. And to himself, especially.

"I wouldn't have to do that if Bowie at least pretended to be a guard dog and not a slut for belly rubs," the man says. The dog gets up after hearing his name and trots over to his owner, his tongue still dangling happily from his mouth. The stranger only sighs, but it's obvious he's not really mad as he starts scratching the dog behind his ears.

"You named your dog Bowie?" Bucky raises an eyebrow. "Like, after David Bowie, the artist?"

"No, after James Bowie, the botanist," the man says without batting an eyelash. Bucky's not sure if he's being serious. After a few seconds a smirk appears on the stranger’s face in response to Bucky’s confusion.

Despite looking like an angel, the man seems to be such a little shit. Bucky would be lying to himself if he said he’s not into it.

“OK, it’s lovely chatting with you, burglar—”

“It’s Bucky,” Bucky interrupts.

“What?” the man furrows his brows in confusion.

“My name’s Bucky. Not burglar, I thought we’ve settled that already.”

The man rolls his eyes but the smile still lingers on his face. God, it’s such a pretty smile. And such a handsome face.

“Bucky,” the man repeats.

Bucky loves the sound of his name rolling out of the stranger’s tongue. He wonders if it’s socially acceptable to ask out the person into who's flat you’ve broken in? 

He’s afraid it’s not. 

It’s a real shame.

“I’d really like to go back to sleep if you don’t mind,” the stranger continues, probably oblivious to Bucky’s internal torment. “Will you be OK, though? I can call you a cab or something. Who knows if you won’t mistake the apartments again. And others might not be as nice about it as I am.”

“I’m glad it was your I stumbled upon, then,” Bucky says, smiling his most charming smile.

Once again, the blond tries to pretend that he’s utterly annoyed but his cheeks are totally blushing. Bucky’s smile widens with pride.

“I might be nice but I’m not the most patient person, just so you know,” the stranger warns. “And I really like my sleep so please stop depriving me of it.”

“Oh, sure. I’m sorry, I really am. I promise I didn’t do it on purpose, I’ll leave you alone, sorry.”

As much fun he’s having flirting with the guy, he really is sorry for waking him up and disturbing his peace in general. So he takes a step back and unlocks the door.

“You sure, you’ll be OK?” the man comes closer, his eyes looking at Bucky with no anger left in them. Bucky even sees a bit of concern there.

“Yeah, don’t worry. It’s probably just the wrong floor or something, I’ll manage. Thanks, though.”

“It’s OK,” the man smiles. His hand rests on the side of the door as he leans against it a bit. “Try not to torment anyone else. Or at least wait till morning.”

Bucky ducks his head and laughs at that. He sticks his hands into his pockets, still hovering outside the stranger’s apartment.

“Again, I’m really sorry. I hope you’d still get some sleep,” Bucky says, sincerely. “And thanks for not calling the cops on me or something.”

“Don’t need them, I have the power of literature, remember?”

Bucky’s grin grows so big his cheeks start to hurt. Maybe it’s possible for good things to happen at such ungodly hours, after all.

“How could I forget?” After a moment Bucky feels bold enough to ask, “Do I deserve to get your name?”

“You don’t deserve shit, jerk,” the blond says but his smile matches Bucky’s. “Come back at a reasonable time and we’ll see about that. And use the damn doorbell, for fuck’s sake.”

It is hard not to get his hopes up after hearing what he has just heard. Bucky bites at his lower lip, trying to tame his smile a bit. At this point, he’s pretty sure he’s gonna wake up any time now, passed out on Natasha’s couch or behind the bar, back at work. It all seems too good to be true. The beautiful, sassy man standing in front of him, barefoot, in just his boxer briefs and a loose t-shirt, with his cheeks red and hair messy is definitely too good to be true. 

“OK, I can do that,” Bucky says, taking a step back. "Sorry again and have a good night. Or what's left of it. Bye, it was nice meeting you. And you too, Bowie."

The dog barks happily, bumping his head into Bucky's leg as Steve shushes him.

"Hush, you big lug, let's not wake any more people, OK?" the man says to the dog, pushing him back inside. "Goodnight, Bucky."

They exchange one last lingering look and a smile before Steve closes and locks the door. Bucky just stands there for a second. He lets out a little chuckle under his breath and runs a hand through his hair, still not sure if any of that actually happened. Finally, he turns around and climbs another flight of stairs, trying to figure out Natasha's actual address. When he gets to the floor above the handsome stranger's apartment, he halts to a stop and blinks in disbelief.

Because the door he is standing in front of now has the number 16 on them. He actually goes halfway down the stairs and leans over the barrister to glance at the floor below. He is not hallucinating. Both flats can’t have the same number but somehow they do. Bucky walks back up the stairs and glares at the door. He really doesn't want to walk into someone else's apartment again. He got lucky once but that doesn't mean he's not gonna get arrested at some point.

The more he stares at the little silver number, the more convinced he is that there's something wrong with it. The "1" and "6" are not lined up properly, it's almost as if…

Furrowing his brows, Bucky nudges the "6" with his finger. It swings from side to side. On closer inspection, he notices a small hole above the number. When he turns it all the way up, the hole aligns perfectly with the matching one on the number “6”

Or a "9" actually. Bucky lets out a tired sigh and rubs his face with his free hand. After over 3 years, Bucky finally discovers that his friend lives in apartment 19 and can't be bothered to fix a damn number on her door. Which maybe she should, in case some idiot mistakes the apartment for the one below.

To be honest, he's not even that mad. For one, he is too exhausted to muster any more emotions. And two, meeting Natasha's handsome neighbourhood might've shaken him a bit and Bucky's pretty sure it'll take him a while to stop thinking about their encounter. Not that he wants to stop thinking about it.

He bends down, retrieving the key from under the mat and this time he checks the inside of the apartment before he walks in. He's pretty sure it's Natasha's, but better safe than sorry. He takes off his shoes and smiles dreamily at the sight of a familiar couch, calling to him from the living room. His heart warms when he notices that after his text earlier Natasha left him a pillow and his favourite blanket ready. Quietly, he walks to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. He leaves his clothes on the floor and sinks into the couch in just his boxers. It takes him about 0.2 seconds to fall asleep.

The smell of coffee fills the air and that’s what wakes Bucky up. When he blinks his eyes open, he sees Natasha sitting cross-legged on the coffee table in front of him. She waves her hand above the cup she’s holding, sending the coffee scent his way.

“Good morning, James,” she smiles at him. “I figured that midday is a reasonable time to wake you.”

“Thanks,” Bucky says and returns the gesture. 

He sits up just a bit and reaches for the cup with his right hand. Natasha snorts and swats at it.

“You’re crazy. That’s mine,” she gets up and walks away, ignoring Bucky’s whine. “You can get yourself some from the kitchen, if you want.”

“You’re at the same time the best and the worst person I know,” Bucky grumbles but stands up to walk towards the kitchen, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders.

Natasha beams at him as if that’s the best compliment she ever heard. “Thank you!”

There’s indeed more coffee waiting for him and Bucky pours himself a cup, cradling it in his hands with a blissed smile.

“When did you get here last night? I fell asleep at two and you weren’t there yet.”

“I have no idea. It must’ve been around five,” Bucky says, taking a sip of his coffee.

Natasha shakes her head in disapproval. “I swear to god, you have to find a new job. They’re making you stay later and later every day and you’re exhausted before you even get there, that’s such bullshit.”

“Maybe, but the money’s good,” Bucky shrugs and then says before he can bite his tongue. “But I finished half past three yesterday, so it wasn’t that bad.”

He realises his mistake the moment Natasha narrows her eyes at him. “Then where were you for an hour and a half?”

“Um, what?” Bucky asks, trying to play dumb. He knows that Natasha won’t be fooled but it will at least buy him some time. “Maybe I remember it wrong, I didn’t really check the time when I got here so it could’ve been earlier.”

“Did you get into a fight? Did you finally punch Brock? Nah, you’d be bruised after that though. No offense.” Bucky leaves the kitchen but she walks after him. She gasps theatrically. “Did you finally get laid?”

“You’re obsessed with Brock and my sex life. It’s alarming.”

Rolling her eyes she plops down on the couch before he can do the same. “I just really think that ‘he’s my boss’ is too weak of an argument not to punch the guy and if you don’t do that on the day you quit I’m gonna disown you. And I really want you to be happy and satisfied. In every meaning of that word.”

“You’re horrible. In every meaning of that word.”

“Heard that already, you have to work on your insults,” Natasha nudges him. “Go shower, loser. We’re going out for lunch.”

Bucky doesn’t even argue with her. Lunch—or breakfast in his case—sounds like a great idea, actually. Before he gets to the bathroom, he stops by Natasha’s closet. There’s one whole shelf dedicated to all the clothes and random crap he’d left at Natasha’s place on various occasions. It’s really helpful for when he crashes at her place and it saves him from wearing beer-stained jeans for example.

When he's showered, dressed and ready he joins Natasha back in the living room. As soon as he walks in, she sends him the same expectant look she's had before. Bucky should know she's not gonna let this whole thing go so quickly. Ignoring her for a moment, he retrieves his wallet and phone from the pile of clothes he'd left by the couch the night before.

"You know the, um. The guy that lives below you?" he starts, conversationally.

"Steve? Yeah, I've met him a few times. Nice guy," Natasha says, matching his tone but he can hear the smirk in her voice without even looking her way. "Why?"

Bucky busies himself with folding the dirty clothes which is absolutely pointless except for the fact that it lets him avoid looking at his friend. "I kind of… met him last night."

"Oh really?"

When Bucky finally turns, Natasha waggles her eyebrows at him with the most obnoxious smile he’s ever seen. Bucky just rolls his eyes.

“First of all, do you know that the number on your door is misleading because the ‘9’ is broken?” Bucky asks.

“Yeah, I know. I like it better that way. It has more character this way. How is this rele—” she pauses, furrows her brows and then starts laughing. “You really thought I live at 16 didn’t you? Oh my god, did you—”

She doesn’t even finish and starts laughing even harder. Bucky really does hate her sometimes.

“I can’t believe you broke into his apartment in the middle of the night,” Natasha wipes an actual tear from her cheek. “Did he beat you up? He’s totally the type to do that, I’ve once driven him to the hospital with a broken nose after a fight he started.”

“I— He what?” Bucky asks. Natasha just shrugs in response. Bucky realises he’s not that surprised, he can totally imagine such a scenario after his encounter with the guy. “He didn’t beat me up. Wanted to, though. He also keeps his key under the mat and I was really tired so it took me a while to notice I wasn’t at your place. Also, he has a really friendly dog.”

Natasha hums, sending him another amused look. “So you’ve spent over an hour playing with his dog at 4 in the morning?”

“Basically? I was worried the dog was going to eat me but he just wanted belly rubs. The guy was more likely to eat me for waking him up and barging into his flat.”

“Oh, I bet he’d like to eat you,” Natasha cackles and heads for the door. “I like your style, Barnes. Breaking and entering is a rather unusual way of flirting but I totally approve.”

“You’re a horrible person and an awful friend,” Bucky says, walking out of the apartment after her.

“You still love me.”

That part is true but Bucky is not going to admit it out loud.

They walk out of the building together and just because the Universe hates Bucky, as soon as they walk out the front door, he hears a bark. Something big, bright and fluffy starts running towards him.

“Oh,” Bucky says as the dog bumps his head against Bucky’s hand. He automatically starts petting him. “Hello there, Bowie.”

“So now you’re gonna steal my dog in broad daylight, too?”

Looking up, Bucky sees the handsome neighbour already looking at him with a smirk. His eyes are even bluer and brighter in the sunshine and Bucky forgets about trying to defend himself for a moment. Before he manages to reply, the man turns to Natasha and his cocky smirk turns into a friendly smile.

“Hi, Nat,” he says. “So you’re the mysterious friend of Mister Burglar here?”

“Hi, Steve. Yeah, unfortunately I am,” she answers, grinning at Bucky, who just rolls his eyes.

“You won’t let it drop, will you?” he sighs looking from Natasha to Steve. “It wouldn’t hurt to have a bit of compassion for a man who was tired after a long night at work and got a tiny bit mistaken.”

“If your tiny mistakes lead to crime, I don’t want to know how your big ones turn out,” Steve says, making Bucky groan.

He’s not really mad, he’s pretty sure Steve is just messing with him, if the smile on his face is any indication. But Bucky can play along. Especially, if that means making the pretty smile stay where it is.

“He’s a lost cause,” Natasha agrees.

“I don’t understand why Bowie likes him so much. He’s usually a good judge of character but everyone can be wrong sometimes.”

After that, Bucky crouches in front of the dog who tries to lick at his face. “You are right, though, aren’t you? Such a good boy, way smarter than those two dimwits there, right? We’re gonna dump them and become best friends, aren’t we?”

Bowie barks happily. Bucky hopes it’s because he agrees with what Bucky’s saying and not just because he’s getting more backrubs.

When Bucky glances up, he notices that Steve is watching them both with a soft smile on his face. He has to look back at Bowie to hide the blush that creeps up his face for some reason.

“I hate to break your moment,” Natasha says, nudging Bucky with her knee lightly. “But I really am hungry and from what I remember, we were supposed to go for lunch. Want to join us, Steve?”

Bucky’s heart skips a bit and he can’t help the hopeful look he sends Steve’s way. Unfortunately, the man shakes his head.

“Sorry, I have some work to do and I won’t be free for another hour,” he answers. He looks down at Bucky when he adds, “Maybe next time.”

When they just gaze at each other for a moment, it’s Natasha who finally snorts and says, “Yeah, next time. It was nice bumping into you, Steve. I bet Bucky would like to bump into you some more but we gotta go.”

“Tasha!” Bucky gasps, horrified but she only laughs. Steve blushes and looks away after her words.

“Yeah, I gotta go, too. Have fun,” Steve says, whistling at Bowie who obediently follows him to the door.

“See you round!” Bucky yells a bit too loudly and gets one more smile before Steve and his dog disappear inside the building.

He stares at the closed door for another moment. Natasha sighs, grabs his elbow and starts dragging him down the street.

“You really are a hopeless cause,” she says with fond exasperation.

The lunch with Natasha is nice. They go to their favourite bistro just two blocks away and spend over an hour catching up and chatting about nothing in particular. After that Natasha has to come by the office she works at to get some documents, so they make plans to meet up later that week and part ways. Natasha goes to the office and Bucky goes home.

Or at least that was the plan.

Because for some reason Bucky finds himself standing in front of apartment number 16 in Natasha’s building. There’s no reason for him to be here. Steve said he had work to do. On the other hand, he said he would be free in an hour. But then again, he doesn’t necessarily have to be home right now.

There’s also no reason for Bucky to be feeling as stressed as he does right now and yet here he is. He takes a deep breath and rings the doorbell. Immediately, he can hear Bowie’s barking at the noise.

A moment passes. Then another. Just as Bucky is about to leave, the door opens and Steve’s face appears from behind it.

“Look who’s learned how to use a doorbell,” he teases but his smile is bright and there’s no real bite to his words.

“You say that but I doubt you’d appreciate it if I rang the doorbell at 4AM,” Bucky points out.

“Probably not.”

A moment passes. Bucky bites at his lower lip, trying to get a grip on himself.

“I came to apologise again with hope we could start over?” he says.

Steve leans against the doorframe which brings him closer to Bucky. There’s a light blush on his pale cheeks. Bucky feels a bit weak in the knees.

“Maybe,” Steve shrugs with his left shoulder.

“OK, then,” Bucky nods. “Hi, I’m Bucky. It’s nice to meet you. I was wondering if you’d agree to go for a coffee with me? Or a dinner, if coffee isn't your thing?”

“I’m Steve. And I’m completely fine with either. It’s really nice to meet you in those completely normal circumstances, too.” Steve grins and Bucky can’t help but to mirror the gesture. “Now, should I get my jacket or was the invite just hypothetical?”

Bucky starts to shake his head before Steve even finishes the sentence, “It is very real, if you’re free right now.”

The light coming from the window in the living room is not much but enough for Bucky to realise that there's a dog. A big dog is standing in the middle of the hallway, its head cocked to the side as it watches Bucky. It's fair and huge, a golden retriever if Bucky was to guess.

Title: Apartment 16

Creator(s): niallhoranbitches

Card number: 065

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27296590

Square filled: C2 - Natasha Romanoff

Rating: Teen and Up

Archive warnings: None

Major tags: Meet Cute, No Powers AU, Pre-Serum Steve

Summary:

"Finally, he sees the longed-for number 16 on the door in front of him and bends to retrieve the key. Luckily, it's still there. Bucky thinks about the fact that in just a few minutes he'll finally be able to lay down, fall asleep and forget about the dull ache in all of his muscles for a few hours. It's a very nice thought. It makes him let out a small, happy sigh as he opens the door and sneaks into the dark apartment.

It wouldn’t be weird if Bucky just ignored the fact that Natasha did not have a dog."

Word count: 5045

#stucky #stuckybingo2020 #stucky fic #stucky fanfiction #stevebucky #stevebucky fic #meet cute au #pre serum steve #meet dumb au #fuck it's so late #or early #it took me ages to make the banner #and it's still bad jdadasdj #ah well #i hope the fic is good and that you'll like it #sorry for the typos and all :') #i really had fun writing it #my writings

[cherrybombusa]

GROUP ONE  - THE LIBRARY. SUCCESS.

PLAYERS:

THE ARTIST - Sloane Salt. THE ROMANTIC - Mac Walsh.  THE  FILMMAKER - Zev King.  THE MANNEQUIN - Lilli Montgomery.  THE BITCH - Zahra Jackson. THE WRITER - Noah Russell. 

PERKS EARNED: 

WALK IN MY SHOES: After Jamie Dyer spilled his secret to save his friends, he’s been rewarded with the ability to put other people in his shoes! If something happens to Jamie he doesn’t like, he has the ability to switch places with any character as if it happened to them instead. 

MEMORABLE MOMENTS: 

-MAC GOT TAKEN BY THE KILLERS.  -LILLI GOT GRABBED TWICE AND TAKEN.  -SLOANE ATTACKED A MAN ON LSD AND SAVED ZEV. -JAMIE SPILLED HIS SECRET TO CLARISSA - AND THE REST OF CHERRY. 

THE NARRATOR: It might not have been a quiet night, maybe not even uneventful, but the Gang found themselves grateful, at least, that the Candy Girl hadn’t shown her face. It was nearing midnight now, and with only Paulie Virginia checking on the kids before they fell asleep on the sand, and Lucas Bright left straggling on the beach with the Gang, they were sure to turn-in soon. 

They were gathered around the bonfire, talking and laughing - almost even letting their guards down - but the screech of three white vans pulling up to the shore interrupted every little conversation taking place around the bonfire. They didn’t want to think anything of it at first… College kids in this town were wild, and they were all piling back into town this week, after all. But when a group of masked, hooded figures with baseball bats, and kitchen knives galore began making their way out of the vehicles, and onto the beach - what were they supposed to do but worry?

OFFICER PAULIE: “Hey! Stop right there!”

THE NARRATOR: It was almost instinctual for the rookie to go right into barking cop voice, even with no back up  - stupid, of course - but another ‘Candy Girl’ stunt was the last thing he was going to let happen on his watch. The man reaches for the taser in his belt, just like he was trained to do, but just as he gets it free, the blur of a body rushing forward - Lucas Bright - distracts him for a split enough second to fumble. 

Paulie almost yells for Lucas to stop, but before he can get the words off of his tongue, the Bright kid nearly runs headfirst into one of the masked figures' fists. It’s shocking how hard he falls - makes Paulie wonder if he’s okay - but before he can wonder too much, he realizes too late that one of the hooded figures has gotten the jump on him. He’s half expecting the figure to reach for his taser - the oh shit moment of the century - but when Paulie feels a baseball bat connect with his ribcage… He almost wishes he had been tased. Might have hurt less.

CANDY GIRL: “Hello, my little freaks and geeks! Did you miss me and my little friends? Because I think tonight is about to get a little more fun.”

THE NARRATOR:  ...Uh oh. Maybe I spoke too soon about the Candy Girl not showing her face. 

It doesn’t take long to get the gang tied up - not with the threat of knives, and Paulie’s discarded taser at the hooded groups disposal - and the ringleader of this little group, the one bouncing around telling everyone what to do, seems absolutely giddy with her capture. What else are you supposed to expect from faceless psychos, though, right?

CANDY GIRL: “Here’s the game tonight, losers! We’re gonna split you up and see if you can pass our little trials. Those who do? They get to go home tonight! Those who don’t…. Well, you might end up closer to Lux than you thought you were before.”

THE NARRATOR: Candy turns toward one of the other masked figures - one that seems like her Helper - flicking her chin toward the Gang. It’s a cue, and that much becomes clear when one-by-one, each of them has a hood slipped over their face, obstructing their view nearly completely.

CANDY GIRL: “But first, we’re going on a little trip!”

THE NARRATOR: It’s hard for the Gang to know just how they’ve been split up, but as they’re pushed forward toward the parking lot - the sound of Paulie’s and Lucas’s far-off groaning in their ears - they know one thing. They’re completely fucked, and there’s nothing they can do about it with their hands tied behind their backs… Especially not when they’re about to be shoved into the back of those fucking vans.

Nobody’s really sure how long they’ve been driving - they’re all too terrified to try and keep count - but by the time the van finally slows to a stop, they’re all dragged right back out onto solid ground, and into… some old building. Just where, is the question.

MAKE A CHOICE: YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY THE CANDY GIRL TO CCU FOR A NIGHT OF FUN. DON’T DIE!

THE NARRATOR: Maybe it’s the heavy doors that give away their final destination, or maybe it’s the musty smell of old textbooks, but those who had ever stepped foot into the CCU library know right where they are at that moment. It’s a comforting place for some - one that induces only stress, or indifference to others - but it’s hard to imagine that it won’t be a place that brings anxiety after tonight; just as tainted as the boardwalk, or even walking along Lux’s and Harvey’s block might be. Now is no time to think about how they might feel in the future, though -- if they even make it that far. No, they’re going to have to make it through tonight first.

The gang is led into the room like lambs to slaughter - Jamie carried not-so-nicely over one of the maniacs shoulders - but once they’re situated, the hoods that cover the gang’s faces come off; they even cut the ropes off from around their wrists, but the knives, and baseball bats manage to keep everyone in their place. The library is dimly lit, with only it’s balcony lights shining down on the grandiose room; the bank of computers on the second floor is like a beacon, beckoning them forward. It almost seems normal for a moment, like they were just there studying after-hours, but the two figures heading the circle - Candy and her supposed assistant - shock them back into reality with a clap of their hands.

CANDY GIRL: “Like I said, we’re gonna play a little game tonight, boys and girls! But, you’re all oh-so-familiar with games, aren’t you? Especially after our special little stunt at the boardwalk.”

THE NARRATOR: Her voice could almost be considered familiar, but nobody in the room really knows where to place the memory of it. Did she actually sound like that recording on the beach? Was she someone they knew? The gang just looks at each other from any angle that they can; making eye contact at whatever cost, as if it might help them all jog their memory to know they’re on the same page. They don’t get another chance to listen, though, as the other figure - Candy's helper - begins speaking.

CANDY'S LITTLE HELPER:  “She’s written some riddles!”

THE NARRATOR:  They pull a sheet of paper from their pocket.

CANDY GIRL: “And you’re going to solve them! Don’t worry about the doors -”

THE NARRATOR:  The movement is clearly rehearsed as a number of their captors - five, if you’re counting - head toward the door. Three of them leave, but the other two begin looping chains through the antique handles, locking them into the room with no real escape but up… And we know just how well this group does with climbing.

NOAH RUSSELL: Of course. They couldn't have one fucking night could they? Although what more could he have expected from the masked figure who thought a funeral was the time and place to play spin the bottle. The library of all places had a chilling feel to it in comparison to the beach. Almost theatrical like every horror book he'd ever read, and he sure as hell had read a lot of them. "I'm getting real sick of these damn riddles." He started as he thought about taking a step towards the door before thinking better of it. These people had knives, bats, and while on their own that didn't have to overly intimidating, this was the same person who only too recently before had blown up an entire carousel. "Anyone opposed to taking out the windows?"

SLOANE SALT: On some level Sloane knew that this was... a bad situation. There were scary people with what looked like weapons. Extremely tall people, some as tall as the ceiling, maybe and swaying.  The hooded girl's voice sounded kind of familiar, but considering the state she was in, she could hardly pin point who it was. She hadn't said much of a word on the way to the library mostly because she didn't really want anyone to know that she was feeling weird and now she was sitting on her ass, staring at her newly freed hands. "When did I paint these...?" She muttered to herself, turning her head entirely too slowly to look over at Noah as he spoke. As she took in his words, her expression quickly shifted to offence, her eyes widening and her mouth opening in fear. Those poor windows, they hadn't done anything to anyone. "No, don't hurt them!"

CANDY'S LITTLE HELPER: “--Um, excuse me? You’re totally throwing us off our rhythm!”

THE NARRATOR: Candy’s little Helper interrupts the conversations with an annoyed tone, as if they’re the ones inconveniencing her night. It’s strange, how nonchalant it is, but Candy just just shushes her. You can't even see her face, but you can almost just tell she's rolling her eyes beneath the mask.

CANDY GIRL: “Will literally just say your line?

CANDY'S LITTLE HELPER: "Fine! You need three keys, and three keys, exactly!"

CANDY GIRL: "Or you'll spend the night -"

THE NARRATOR: Maybe it’s the fear of the moment that kept all of their eyes focused on the two masked figures interacting with them - tunnel vision, of sorts - but it only makes the loud squish of blade entering flesh even louder than it should have been. The group of them flinching before Candy even has a chance to start shrieking through the pain of the blade in their side.

It was almost unbelievable that it had happened at first - did it even make sense that the Candy Girl’s henchmen were even turning on her?  - but the blood splashing against the tile had to have been proof enough that it wasn’t just some fucked up group hallucination… One that didn’t seem so expected by either Candy Girl, or the other henchmen.

CANDY'S LITTLE HELPER: “What the fuck is wrong with you!”

THE NARRATOR: Fair question. And the attacker should have heard it - as loud as the second-not-so-in-charge-figure shrieked - but the knife-wielder didn’t even flinch as he dragged Candy toward the bookshelves; blood pouring from the wound in her side.

The other mask - Candy’s little helper - almost considers running for it, throws the note from her hands in anticipation of getting the fuck out of there…  but she hardly gets a chance when her own attacker - the other one of the maniacs who had chained the door - comes from behind her and squeezes their hulking arms around her fame. They have their own knife; one that plunges directly into her abdomen, but the Gang doesn’t have much time to watch as the attacker laughs and drags her toward his own row of bookshelves.

What. The. Fuck.

There’s only a moment of hesitation - it had all happened so quickly - but the gang wastes no more time before fleeing to opposite sides of the library, Mac helping Jamie as best as he can in the struggle. The sound of the woman’s dying screams echo across the space, shaking all of them to their core… but they all know one thing: they need to get their hands on that riddle.

If they’re locked in, then it might be their only way of getting out.

MAKE A CHOICE:  MAC, JAMIE, LILLI, AND NOAH ARE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE LIBRARY, HIDING BEHIND THE LIBRARIAN’S DESK. ZEV, SLOANE, AND ZAHRA ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE, MAKING THEIR WAY UP THE STAIRS TO THE SECOND LEVEL.

MAC: Tonight is the first time in his life that Mac thinks he shouldn't have went along with one of Libby's ideas. How stupid of them was it to all gather in one spot in the middle of the night? They might as well have asked Sloane to paint perfect targets on their collective backs. He'd already been freaking out enough as it was, but the sound of that blade? The blood? If he made it out of here alive they were sure to be added to his ever growing list of nightmare material. A sudden rush of adrenaline as everyone begins to flee has him nearly carrying Jamie across the room, ducking under the desk, eyes searching to see if the rest of his friends had made it over unscathed. "What the fuck are we supposed to do now?"

NOAH: Even though he knew about the kind of antics the Candy Girl could have possibly gotten up to, there was a difference between knowing and seeing them first hand. Of course it wasn't the first time he'd seen blood drawn, but the blood from cut lips and faces after a brutal run in from home failed in comparison to what he'd just seen. Candy Girl was supposed to be their captor wasn't she? The one who'd been tormenting them since night one? The one who kept Lux fresh and at the forefront of their minds, unable to move on. Watching her fall to her knees, the screeches of pain that rang out behind them as they'd ducked for cover. It didn't make sense. Any trace of alcohol that had once been intruding his symptom felt faint in comparison as he hid beside the desk. "I don't know but we can't stay here. We're gonna be sitting ducks. We need to find those fuckin' keys, but looking in a library is going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack." He added in a harsh whisper as he attempted to catch his breath.

THE NARRATOR: Split up and helpless. Fuck. Looks like they need that riddle if they're going to make it out of here alive.

MAKE A CHOICE:  SOMEBODY DOWNSTAIRS MUST RETRIEVE THE RIDDLE: WHO WILL IT BE?

MAC: Mac's eyes dart around the room, searching for the slip of paper he'd seen one of their captors pull out at the mention of riddles. He wasn't even sure if it would help them at this point, considering he was almost positive getting stabbed wasn't part of the plan, but it was their best option. Right? When his eyes finally land on the piece of paper his adrenaline once again kicks in, causing him to lunge across the room in an attempt to retrieve it.

MAKE A CHOICE: SUCCESS!

THE NARRATOR: Every step sounds like a symphony in their own ears, each and every movement too-loud, even masked by the sound of Candy and her Helper's screams, but somehow Mac manages to make his way back around the librarian's desk and toward where the riddle was thrown. He gets his hands on the blood soaked paper; the breath leaving his lungs as the sound of screaming begins to die - no pun intended - out. It’s not completely obvious what he should do next, but he makes eye contact with his friends behind the librarian's desk; with the few on the second level. 

They’re never going to make it out of this without each other, so they better think fast. 

They hear the sound of the killers beginning to stir from somewhere within the maze of bookshelves, and just like that a plan forms in their freaky little hive mind. Someone needs to distract the killers while everyone else gets upstairs. But who will it be?

MAKE A CHOICE: SOMEBODY MUST DISTRACT THE KILLERS WHILE THEIR FRIENDS GET UPSTAIRS. SHOULD THEY THROW SOMETHING ACROSS THE ROOM ,  SNEAK ACROSS THE ROOM AND KNOCK SOMETHING OVER, OR SHOULD SOMEONE UPSTAIRS THROW SOMETHING OFF OF THE BALCONY?

ZAHRA:  Zahra peered down at the half left on the floor below. Things had gone wrong so quickly and in so many ways and compartmentalising was the only way any of them were getting out of this in one piece, so she did her best to ignore the fading screams. Instead she turned her focus to her surroundings. There had to be something she could throw down to distract the psychos - there! Her eye caught on a computer plugged in near the edge of the balcony. Wordlessly, she hurried over to it and yanked out the plug. Then, with as much of a heave as she could muster, she threw it over the edge.

MAKE A CHOICE: FAILURE!

THE NARRATOR: It was a long shot, but as Zahra tosses the computer off the railing, only one of the killers turns their head to investigate. The other? Well, their gaze lands directly on Mac. 

It’s hardly a split second before they cross the room toward them, and as hard as Mac tries to fight, but it’s no use - the threat of the knife, and the feeling of it’s handle knocking against the side of his face is enough to give the killer the upper hand… At least they have time to throw the riddle in the general direction of their friend before they’re dragged away toward the maze of bookshelves. 

It’s enough to the rest of the gang all in place, but they know they have to get upstairs -  they have to get the hell out of there, and save Mac.. if there’s even time. They all book it as fast as they can, everyone helping Jamie along the way, and somehow they manage to make it up the stairs before they’re spotted - one of them even manages to grab the riddle, even if they were silently hoping it wasn’t Mac's last gift to them all. 

At least it might actually save them. 

Their hearts are pounding loud enough in their chests that they might swear they could all count each other’s heartbeats. Now is no time to check up on each other, though - not as they lay the first riddle out in front of them

.

If you want the first key, you’ll have to find Me,

I’m the keeper of the scrolls, you see.

Melvil named the system, and I check it twice,

Are you feeling naughty? Then here’s some advice: 

I’ll name a book, or maybe name three -

You’ll choose the one that speaks to the dream 

Of losing it all, or leaving behind 

That sweet, sane, little part of your mind. 

Maybe they fight it, or maybe they end it, 

Maybe the pick is the one your friend mentioned. 

Will your gang make it out? Maybe -  who knows.

But I wouldn’t count on it, unless you all know who glows.

HOODED MANIAC: THE KILLER IS HERE.

THE NARRATOR: The killer hardly sneaks up on the, but the Gang is surprised anyway - each of them gasping as Lilli is snatched up by his grasp. She screams - she's caught - but the rest of them have a choice to make.

MAKE A CHOICE: LILLI HAS BEEN GRABBED. DO YOU TRY TO SAVE THEM OR LET THEM GO?

ZAHRA: Yeah, things with Lilli had always been a little contentious but there was no way Zahra was letting her be dragged away. They'd already lost Mac and that was fucking enough. She lunged forward and grabbed Lilli as she was snatched up.

MAKE A CHOICE: SUCCESS!

THE NARRATOR: It’s a great effort, and though they don’t manage much real damage, Zahra's still successful in getting her ""friend"" the hell away from that monster. The whole group is terrified, but they’re quick on their feet as they move somewhere else that could be deemed even semi safe within the madness to solve the next riddle.... Watch out though. I think the killer saw where you were going.

MAKE A CHOICE: LILLI RUNS FOR THE KEY.

THE NARRATOR: Lilli runs as fast as she can - the gang all sneaking close behind - and with the correct location, it’s not hard to find the key taped to a shelf in the history section, along with the next part of the riddle. It should be easy to get back to their friends, but before they can even turn around, she feels hands grasping around her limbs and yanking them back through the bookshelves yet again- dragging her away toward the maze of a room to… She didn’t even want to think about it. She just knew they had to fight - but she can’t do it alone.

MAKE A CHOICE:  DOES SOMEBODY WANT TO SAVE THEIR FRIEND, OR LET THEM DROP THE KEY?

THE NARRATOR: The gang can hear Lilli trying to fight her attacker - her screaming echoing through the space  - and though the guilt eats them alive, they know there’s nothing they can do about it. They just have to hope that the fact that the screaming gets further and further away and doesn’t just abruptly end - just like it did when those two masked maniacs got stabbed earlier - is a good sign. 

The remaining members make quick work of grabbing the key and the riddle, and try to find another safe spot in the library.

If you want to get out, don’t Twist and Shout, 

It’s not the Candy Man locking you out. 

If you feel Clueless, then here’s your clue - 

You can find Me behind door number two. 

How to know you’re close? Just think of the times, 

The 90’s are ending, but gossip still thrives! 

Once you’re through, don’t look any further - 

Your key can be found in the one with no murder.

ZEV: Zev scopes out the Librarian's desk and makes a move for it, trying to keep down and quiet as he dashes, heart pounding in his chest.

THE NARRATOR: Zev sprints with everyone else not far behind him. The key is there, taped beneath Glenda Logan's desk along with the last part of their riddle, but at the very last moment - before the Gang can warn him - one of the killers comes and hits him over the back of the head with his knife. He's got a hold on Zev, and as hard as he's fighting, he's not going to be able to make it out alone.

MAKE A CHOICE: DOES SOMEBODY WANT TO SAVE THEIR FRIEND, OR LET THEM DROP THE KEY? 

SLOANE SALT: All of the running around and masked killers has mostly been Sloane moving in accordance with everyone else, eyes bugged out of her face as she tries not to trip over her platform boots. When Zev gets snatched, it's as if enlightenment comes over her and she suddenly becomes aware that one of her favourite people, someone basically a little brother to her is in danger. "Let go of him!" She screeches as she reaches for him, using all of her body weight to try and pull him away.

MAKE A CHOICE: SUCESS!

THE NARRATOR: Maybe it's the LSD, or just sheer willpower, but everyone swears they actually see the Killer flinch as Sloane screams like a banshee toward him. They groan in pain as their shoulder is pulled nearly out of place, and in fear they run as far as they can in the other direction.

 The whole group is terrified, if not confident, but they’re quick on their feet as they move somewhere else that could be deemed even semi safe within the madness to solve the next riddle.

Here’s your third key - you’re almost there! 

Unless you can’t take a bit of a scare. 

Your clues can be found with Clarissa Teller - 

But she’ll only tell you if you can impress her. 

Somebody’s secret must be told.

 It’s only then that I’ll give her the gold. 

So, hurry along! But only choose one.

Oh, wow, oh boy!

Now this will be fun.

MAKE A CHOICE: SOMEBODY MUST TELL CLARISSA THEIR SECRET ON THE COMPUTER UPSTAIRS. WHEN THEY DO, THE LOCATION OF THE THIRD KEY TO BE RELEASED.

NOAH: The panic that had gripped his chest as the evening grew, only intensified as they read their final clue. Mac had been taken, Lilli had been taken, he'd watched helplessly as Zahra saved Zev, and perhaps the bit that was the most impossible to forget, he'd seen the Candy Girl murdered before his very eyes. And while he didn't see the life fleeing from her eyes he could picture it a little too well. "Zev you okay?" He asked, in an attempted moment of calm and partially to distract from the racing of his own heart. Waiting the moment for some sort of nod before turning to the rest of the group. "What the hell is she talking about? What doesn't Clarissa know already?" He asked, his voice soft with profound fear as he glanced around the room. The first two clues while challenging in their own right, they seemed to fall into place, but he dreaded what could possibly be meant by the third.

SLOANE SALT: Sloane was definitely riding on more than one high at the moment, one of the unidentified form, from that pill she'd taken and one from saving Zev. She was breathing heavily, leaning on the table in the study room as she looked around at everyone who was still with them. They needed to get through this, that was the only thing that mattered, even if even the furniture was kind of freaking her out. Throwing her arms around Zev, she turned her head when she heard Noah's voice. Her mouth twisted as she fought off the urge to say something, a sly smile forming on her lips. "Come on, she doesn't know lots of secrets." Her eyes widened as she emphasised the 'lots'. In the state she was in, she was tempted to just start blurting out everything she knew, but then her head turned to Jamie and she suddenly felt guilty. "What do we do?"

JAMIE: Jamie had been watching the crew from the jump, lingering behind the rest not only due to his leg but his own dwindling motivation to be part of some messed up game when two of his favourite cohorts had gone missing with no promise of survival. This was what Cherry was now, a mecca of lost, frantic young adults enslaved to the whims of someone other than themselves.  As terrible as they were, Jamie didn't believe any of them deserved to be forced to admit to something they weren't ready for. That was why he'd agreed to hide the note, wasn't it?

When Sloane's desperate eyes met his, he'd already made up his mind.

"I'll do it," he said, with little fanfare. "Can someone help me up the stairs?"

By the time he was seated at the computer, his heroic resolve had diminished. Words that normally came easy for him sat bated behind still fingers as he thought of exactly what to write when he'd never allowed the thoughts to come to real fruition.

𝐝𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞:  Dear Clarissa, the day has finally come where I have to acknowledge your existence but rest assured that it's not by my own volition. I have a secret to tell you that I'm sure won't come as too big of a surprise. 

Last semester, I snuck in and did the SATs for Cherry High graduates who had the means to pay. My family is in debt, thanks to my father and his frivolous new wife, and I thought I'd be able to pay it off. I couldn't, but that's not the point. The point is that I enjoyed every minute of it. The studying, the acceptance, the shining accolades.

I mean, I wouldn't have to talk to you if I just went to college, would I?

THE NARRATOR: It probably feels like a punch in the gut to be selling their own secret to the local paper, but as they press send on the keyboard - as Clarissa starts typing - the power goes out, and the room goes dark. It’s terrifying at first, enough to make the Gang clutch at each other, like it might be their last moment… But when the sound of chains dropping from the door handles echoes through the room - followed by the scurry of sprinting out of the library - they almost think to breathe a sigh of relief. Could that really be it? Could it be over? 

They don’t move for nearly an hour - or maybe it just feels like an hour - but when they finally decide the coast is clear, the group of them  - or what’s left of them - sprint down the stairs, and the hell out of CCU as quickly as they can. Maybe it’s a betrayal to not even look for their friends… or maybe their bodies. But how are they supposed to stomach the thought of it? How are they expected to stick around with those… killers still on the loose? 

Are their friends still alive? Is the Candy Girl alive? Who knows. They just know they need to get the police down here to help their friends as soon as they can... even if it means leaving people behind for now.

MAKE A CHOICE: YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED YOUR PLOT EVENT. YOUR FRIEND'S FATES ARE UNKNOWN.

#bio rp #town rp #oc rp #skeleton rp #small town rp #secrets rp #gossip rp #gossip girl rp #90s rp #classic rp #college rp #secret rp #lsrp #small rp #small group rp #plot event 002 - the bonfire. #plot event 002 - ccu library.

[syms-things-5]

Clear The Area - Chapter Fifteen (Part Three)

Previous chapter here

Warnings: language, some suggestive sexuality, and some good old angst

Tags: @jennmurawski13 @kelbabyblue Thanks for the support!

Notes: Hope you enjoy this, and apologies for my poor spelling and grammar.

Chapter Fifteen: Part Three

She woke up earlier than him.

It was half six when she stepped into the shower having given up on her sleep. It had been a hot, rather uncomfortable night and the aircon barely broke a chill through the suite.

It was taking some getting used to, this sharing a bed, especially with someone who insisted on snuggling into the back of her. Sarah wasn’t much of a cuddler and Chris knew this. She would much rather wrap herself up in blankets and drift off to sleep but it didn’t stop him from slowly inching his body towards her throughout the night. It was a case of putting up with it for fear of falling off the end and breaking something.

She barely moved under the shower head except to allow the water to rain down on her skin and hopefully liven her up for the day. She was anxious, more anxious than she anticipated she would be. She was always able to keep her cool under test conditions, probably why she became a nurse in the first place, but something about this particular exam was hitting differently and she wasn’t sure why.

She eventually got dressed and went back into the bedroom to sort her hair. He would be annoyed she’d woken up before him now that he had decided he was single-handedly responsible for all her breakfast needs that week. Admittedly, though, it felt nice being looked after in this way. Really, really nice. It was like having her own PA.

He was sleeping flat on his stomach, one leg poking out from underneath the covers. He had wrapped his arms around a pillow and his low snore was rumbling through the warm air in the room. It was confusing how anyone could find that position comfortable and not wake up having lost all feeling down one side of his body. His back muscles were relaxed but still resembled something Michelangelo could only dream of painting. He was, in all honesty, a ridiculous specimen of a man. A man that told her he wanted her to get some good rest and sleep as much as possible. Who had closed her textbooks, ran her a hot bath, and climbed in behind her to massage her shoulders. Potential lingered in the air last night but he was going to stick to his word and not get in the way of her work. He told her he was glad he was with her and happily settled for stroking her hair as she fell asleep. Her head was lying on his chest but when she felt his heartbeat settle and his arms loosen around her, she softly rolled away from him like he knew she inevitably would.

At various times, they found themselves getting into a very comfortable and, dare she say it, enjoyable routine. It was surprisingly easy to do so when the door was locked. He had used the hotel gym to give her some peace for a few hours each morning. He had kept her fed and hydrated when she would have most likely forgotten both having had her nose stuck in her books for hours on end. He had watched daytime television in the bedroom and failed to hide his tears when a charity had rebuilt an elderly man’s home following a flood. When she asked, he had helped to test her using the notes she’d prepped for the exam. He read scripts as soon as they had landed in his inbox. His team was politely shocked at his new-found efficiency.

When they weren’t fooling around on the sofa in the evenings, she had taken a break to read over some lines with him. While at first he was very kind and promising with his notes, especially with some kissing scenes he’d invented, they both knew she was definitely not suited for a life in front of the camera.

“Don’t overthink it too much. Just go with your instincts.” he encouraged her to continue reading with him for fun but she had given up when he had fallen into a fit of laughter as she attempted to arrest him.

“Yeh, no, my brain doesn’t really work like that.” she responded, holding up her hands in defeat.

“Please? I’m sorry, I promise I won’t laugh.” he pleaded. “Again.”

It was easy to get used to having him around but she finally realised how and why women fell for him hard. There was something very childlike about him, something innocent even if he was anything but when they dimmed the lights. He was gentler and quieter than she knew him to be, less sure of himself at times than perhaps the impression he wilfully gave away to the public. She heard the criticisms he levelled at himself when reading his lines out loud and saw first-hand the pressure he placed upon himself where his career was concerned. But for every committed step them took forwards as they learned more about each other, even after all these years, something started to pull her back.

“Hey...”

She was broken from her contemplation by his groggy drawl. He turned on to his side and laid his hand in the space she had previously occupied. One eye had yet to open and his hair was pointing in all different directions.

“It’s far too early to get up, y’know.” He stretched his arm out to connect with her leg curled up underneath her as she looked back at him. “Oh shit. I forgot. Is it really this morning already?”

She stayed looking at him from where she was sat before nodding. “I should only be a couple of hours but I’ll swing by that bakery down the street and pick us up something nice for lunch. They do those almond croissants you like.”

He sighed, taking her in and smiling. She’d tied her hair in a side plait and was wearing a slightly fluffy striped sweater that he wanted to run his hands over. “Yeh, that sounds really nice, Bernette.” He didn’t miss a beat. “I could meet you afterwards? We could go for a walk through the Park?”

“I might just want to come home and cry.”

“Hey now, you’re gonna ace this test. I can feel it.” He was fully awake now, purposeful in his movements towards her to help put her mind at ease. “if I was your patient, I would be ecstatic to have you working on me.”

She chuckled to herself. He was always so confident expressing himself. She was jealous of that. She wished she could be as confident and as sure of herself, like the rest of the family were. It was one thing in her that stood out in stark contrast.

“What have you eaten? I didn’t hear any room service.” He probed, a serious look now glazing over his features.

“Oh it’s fine, I’ll grab something on the way. I’m not all that hungry to tell you the truth.” She tried to brush off his protests but it only served to make him more concerned.

“You’ve got time yet, let me order something up.” He made for the phone but was stopped as she got up from the bed. “You need to eat something, Sarah. You’re gonna be sat there for hours. I don’t want you passing out.”

“Alright, thank you, Dad!” she laughed. “It’s fine! This is not my first exam. I know what it’s like and I promise you I will get something from Starbucks on somewhere else on the way.”

“You’re going now?!”

“Yeh, I could do with a walk to clear my hear. I always found that helpful when back in school.” She was talking from the lounge as she tried to locate her boots. Something else Shanna had chucked into her suitcase without her realising, but she wasn’t as annoyed with this one.

“Give me ten minutes and I’ll come with you.”

She re-entered the bedroom to find him rifling through his bag for new clothes. “Why?”

“Because I wanna support my girlfriend! Jesus!” He was sharper than he had intended but carried on with his search for fresh boxers, throwing out some old stuff in haste like he was searching for long lost buried treasure.

She just looked at him. He’d never used that word before. They’d never talked about it. He acknowledged her silence and stopped to look at her, jeans in hand. He saw her awkward stance and instantly felt like shit. This was not the morning to lay this on her. He knew the very next words out of his mouth would determine how they moved forward.

He paused before chucking his jeans on the chair in front of him. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she responded but she wasn’t sure it was.

“If you wanna head off, that’s totally cool. I’ll be here if you need me. Just text me when you’re done, yeh?”

She nodded at him, offered him as reassuring a smile as she could manage before leaving the bedroom to gather her things. He didn’t follow her; she heard the bed creak slightly so he must have chosen to stay put instead. It was probably for the best. She didn’t want the image of his pitiful face to be her last memory before sitting in silence for 90 minutes, trying in vain to concentrate as hard as she could.

*

The test went about as well as expected, if what she had expected was to doubt her basic entry-level abilities. She was one of seven that morning, six if you discount the gentleman that walked out fifteen minutes after he sat down.

It was multiple choice. It really shouldn’t have been that difficult. The answer was hiding in plain sight after all. She was reminded of something her tutor once told her and her graduating class before they left the relative comfort of their college:

“There will always be someone who knows more than we do.”

He didn’t mean it in a disparaging way - at least she didn’t think he did - but more that you go from being one of the best in your class to being surrounded by people who are equally as bright and as intuitive as you may be, and who will all have had different experiences. He wanted to say that sometimes, there is no one right answer. It was more than passing a test and qualifying; you have to adapt. You had to soak everything up like a sponge or else you risk becoming redundant in the very profession you devoted your life to. No wonder Medicine had the highest quit ratio. Boy, had she been naive.

Shanna 11.41am: OK OK I kno ur probably still super busy bt i’m dying to kno how it went?? Txt me when you get a sec babe xxxxx

She smiled down at her phone before typing a series of vomiting emojis. That should just about sum up her feelings. Scanning her phone again, she found a couple of messages from Audrey but none from Chris. She was surprised but would be lying if she didn’t admit to being relieved.

She meandered down the street towards the subway, thoughts swaying between reliving stupid mistakes she had convinced herself she had made, to what kind of mood Chris might be in. She texted him that she was finished and heading back like she promised she would, then the train was bang on time so she didn’t even have the luxury of blaming delays. Her legs weighed like lead as she approached the suite doorway, her lack of sleep the night before finally catching up with her.

Everything was deathly quiet when she entered. She paused after shutting the door behind her but still couldn’t hear anything. Certainly no trace of another person being present. Confused, she walked into the bedroom and found a note left on the comforter. He’d gone to the gym and told her to message him when she got back. This might give her the excuse she’d been seeking to grab five minutes alone.

She flopped on to the bed and turned to the side to catch the pile of notes and textbooks he’d shoved there the night before. So much promise contained in those few pages. So much knowledge that it felt like she had no business attempting to absorb it for her own personal gain. Many highly accomplished physicians and scientists had bound their entire lives to the duty of finding answers to the human body’s potential for extreme trauma. What exactly would a young, angst-ridden girl from Michigan bring to the table?

The door went a few moments later and she realised she had closed her eyes. She was lying on her back with her legs hanging off the end of the bed as he walked in, slightly sweaty but nevertheless a sight for sore eyes. Seeing him in this state was the nicest thing that had happened to her all day and she regretted their tense conversation earlier.

“Dude...” he muttered as he dropped his towel on the chair by the door and joined her on the bed. He flopped down alongside her with a heavy sigh.

“Good workout?” she finally offered.

“Yeh, all good. Nothing too strenuous.” He replied like it was the most normal conversation in the world. “Good exam?”

“Oh yeh, same.” she replied just as casual as him before they both fell into a fit of giggles.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked after they had both calmed down.

She took a deep breath. “Not really.”

“You want me to guess?”

“Chris...”

“What?” his voice was a little whinier than he would have liked at this particular time. “I know you. You’re writing yourself off before you know what’s happened.”

“Who said I was writing myself off?” She pushed back. “It’s normal to feel like this. It’s just...nerves or whatever.”

“Yeh, well, there’s no point worrying about something twice.”

She didn’t want to talk about this right now. She was silently hoping he would make a move on her after refraining from touching her the night before when she was definitely in the mood for him. “It’s just...it’s hard to explain.” She got up from the bed and shuffled into the bathroom to remove what little make-up she had put on that morning.

“Try and tell me about it. What was it like? How many questions were there? How many people turned up?”

She threw the face wipe in the bin and ran the tap water to wash her hands. She knew he wasn’t going to budge from his trajectory. She knew he wasn’t going to stop picking at her to talk about it. She leaned her hands on the marble top and took a deep breath.

“It was harder than I imagined it would be. I think I just froze. Like, basic stuff I do day in and day out just wasn’t coming to me.”

“If doing auditions has taught me anything it’s that you always think you’ve done worse than you have. It’s just natural. The brain works in strange ways sometimes. It can trick you.” he reasoned, finally moving into the bathroom but not daring to reach out to her. He settled for backing up against the wall inside the doorway.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a good result, thought.”

“You don’t know that for sure.” He spoke softly, comfortingly. “You’re so smart and so capable of doing this. You just gotta believe in yourself.”

She nodded in acceptable of what he was trying to say and looked at him face-on. His brow was defined with those worry lines again which made feel a little crap, but he still had a boyish shine about him, no doubt because of the glow from his workout. She would have been a heaving red mess.

“What are you thnking about?” he asked.

She continued studying him, trying to arrange her thoughts. “Is this all there is to life?” she asked after another moment had passed. “You find something you like to do and that’s it, you just coast for 40 years?”

He contemplated her question for a second. “Yeh. Pretty much.”

Sarah huffed out a laugh, not fully appreciating his brutal honest at this moment in time.

“But not everyone is lucky to even get that far.” He moved into the bathroom to stand closer to her. “People can go years with no real clue of what it is they wanna do. You’re one of the lucky ones, Sarah. You figured it out when you were young, you did what you had to do and now you’re doing it for real. That’s less common that you think.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate what he was trying to do, it’s just that often she had multiple anxieties convincing her of the opposite. It’s easy for him to say this, he’s already at the top of his game. He doesn’t have to other with the real world if he doesn’t want to. Most people don’t have the financial luxury of stopping to retrain as something different and Chris had always alluded to quitting acting while he was still young in order to take up something else, like carpentry or simply staying behind the scenes. He always figured he would stop when he had his first child but the reality for everyone else couldn’t afford them that same privilege.

“You are where you’re supposed to be.” He continued. “I don’t believe there is anyone better qualified at what it is they do than you. I believe that and I believe that you know that, too, deep down. You just gotta find the other stuff that keeps you happy in the meantime. Whatever it is that keeps you going.”

“What makes you happy?”

He smiled at her. “Well...what you see if what you get. Family, football, beer. Not necessarily in that order.” He was glad she was smiling again. “Spending time with the people I love. Recognising that I love them and that they love me back and that that love is wonderful.”

“You’re so lucky you don’t second guess yourself all the time.”

“Oh, believe me, I do.” he impressed. “It’s just that I learned some things a few years ago that helped me now. Like taking a deep breath and letting it wash over you. It’s natural to feel doubt but it’s what happens afterwards that really matters. It’s how we choose to perceive the things that happen to us, and how we move forward.”

“Anything has gotta be easier than feeling like this.”

“It’s not always a good thing. Sometimes you have to wait for other people to catch up.” He leaned onto the counter next to her, the mirror in front of them spotlighting them both and making them both appear a little pathetic in their current gait.

“I should start packing.” She whispered after a few more silent moments had passed by.

Neither of them made the effort to move but check-out was 2pm at the latest if Chris had bought it and she was almost certain he had. She would eventually need to make her way to the station and presumably Chris would simply head home in his car. Back to Boston. Back to reality.

“We still have some time. We could order up some lunch if you want to? I’m not entirely convinced you ate anything this morning.”

She watched him in the mirror as he turned to face her, a sterner look in his eyes. He was pretty certain he could read her face this time and her lip-bite told him he was right.

“Or we could do something else with the little time we have left.” He reached out his hand to touch hers, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. She didn’t more away so he chanced his arm and pulled her closer to him before kissing the inside of her palm and wrist. “It was so hard last night.”

She smirked at him before it dawned on him. “I mean...you know what I mean.” He rolled his eyes. “It was hard for me to lie so close to you and not touch you. I really meant what I said, about you getting a good night’s rest but fuck me, it was difficult.”

“I know. It was hard for me, too.”

“We don’t get this kind of time together,” he looked down at her hands, held tightly in his. “And I’ve really, really enjoyed myself. I feel more normal around you. I can’t explain it.”

“It’s OK. You don’t need to say anything.”

This was the type of conversation Sarah would ordinarily run a mile from had it been with anyone else. Chris seemed to understand as well as he stopped himself from talking some more. She was being held in place by the literal limited space around her as he planted himself in her way. He looked down at her causing her to freeze up and, mentally, she began checking if she could feel her feet.

She slowly ran her hands up and down his arms in an attempt to sooth him. She saw him glance down at her lips and she hoped he would end the silence by kissing her but there was no such luck. He was trying to figure something out but what, she didn’t know. He was waiting for her next move.

“I don’t think we’ve thought this much about what happens, when...” he paused, gauging her for a response or an indication that she was OK with what he was about to say. Perhaps even anticipating it in some way. “Sarah, I have these feelings for you and they’re getting stronger and these past few days have told me that I’m right. Do you know what I mean?”

She did know. She didn’t much want to know, but she did. “Let’s pause this and figure it out another time, yeh?” He hands rubbed up to the rest of his shoulders. “Let’s just enjoy this while it lasts. There’ll be another time for talking.”

He wasn’t convinced but assuaged enough to kiss her again, a little harder this time. His hand slipped into her hair to hold her to him and she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. They had time.

*

She should have known he would have had the idea to drive them both back home. Yes, there was no need for her to sit on a busy commuter train for three hours but still. She did almost say yes but she would feel awkward asking him to drop her off blocks away from her home and he would inevitably disagree and they’d argue. Not argue per se. They never really argued, but it would become a thing and she didn’t have the heart to disappoint him a third time that day.

They were in happy moods by the time they checked out. All ideas of having a more serious conversation had evaporated quickly after she pushed him onto the bed and climbed on top of him. He had them both naked in record time even for him, and she made a point to memorise his face and the rush of red through his skin when she watched him cum hard underneath her.

She’d bought him a coffee from the cafe bar inside the reception and he’d thanked her with a gentle peck on the lips before slipping away via the underground garage, ball cap pulled down low over his eyes. She felt the light bruises form on her thighs and smiled to herself at the memory of where his hands had been when she walked into the apartment to find Shanna in tears. She froze on the spot.

“Oh my god, what the hell happened?” Finally finding her voice when registering the scene in front of her. Sarah dropped her bags and ran to the couch to wrap an arm around her friend. “Why are you crying?”

“I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. Sorry, I’m...” Shanna tried to gather her thoughts. “It’s stupid really. I don’t even know what I’m crying.”

“Well, it’s not stupid. It’s obviously something because it’s made you upset.” She pulled her hand inside the sleeve of her hoodie and used it to wipe away her tears. “Do you wanna talk about it? Is it something I can help with?”

“Not really.” This wasn’t the feisty Shan Sarah knew. “Turns out Robbie wasn’t interested in me after all because he’s asked somebody else out. I should have known really. He definitely wouldn’t be interested in me.”

“Oh love,” Sarah empathised.

“It’s not even like I was really all that bothered about him, honestly.” She continued. “It’s just, it’s been a while since someone decent asked me out on a date, y’know? Someone smart who had potential. Normally, they have to be drunk to even approach me and they just end up being dickheads. All of them.”

Knowing Shanna as well as she did, she knew Shanna wouldn’t appreciate an empty platitude. “I think it happens to the best of us. You should hear some of the tales Audrey has. She’s experienced some crazy shit.”

“Yeh? How did she meet Michael?”

“She didn’t make it easy for him that’s for sure!” she chuckled and felt relief at the grin now showing on Shan’s face. “The way she tells it, she stopped looking. Just stopped going to bars and clubs, spent more time doing the things she enjoyed and more time with her friends and family. Randomly met him at a march in the city, can you believe that? He wasn’t even supposed to be there but his brother dragged him along apparently.”

“I think she was right to concentrate on her friends and family. I should take a leaf out of her book. At least you can count on them to keep you sane.”

A sense of unease found its way into Sarah’s head. “Yeh, definitely. You never know when a good thing will strike and maybe this shows you that you know what you don’t want anymore. That’s gotta be a positive thing, right?”

“Yeh, it just feels a bit crap but I’ll probably feel better in the morning.” Shanna got up from the couch and Sarah sense it was more so to hide a few more tears. “I got some wine earlier, do you fancy a glass?”

“Uh yeh sounds good. I’ll just go and sort my stuff out.”

“Oh fucking hell!” Shanna smacked her hand to her face. “I’m so sorry! How did it go?”

Sarah held her bag loosely in her hand, her attempt at making a quick getaway to her room without discussing the exam a failure. “Oh, it was what it was. I won’t find out for a little while so no point worrying about it twice, right?”

“Huh, you sound just like Chris.” Shanna said before walking back into the kitchen. “I’m sure you did great, though. You always do.”

“Thanks.” She carried on to her room to dump her stuff. She would sort it out tomorrow. Right now, she figured Shan would want to get a little bit drunk and Sarah was on a late tomorrow anyway, so...it wouldn’t do them any harm.

“Hey, Sarah?” Shan called from the kitchen.

“Yeh?”

“Who did you have coffee with?”

Confusion set in as Sarah tried to figure out what Shanna was talking about. She peered her head round the door. “What?”

“Coffee today?” Shanna responded, holding a crumpled piece of paper in her hand. “This dropped out of your coat, I think. Coffee for two?”

Confusion quickly turned into full-blown panic as she realised what she had done. Fuck. “Oh, um, I just...” She stumbled over herself and felt her skin redden and get hotter. She must have looked a sight. “Um...it wasn’t...”

“Hey, listen, you don’t need to explain anything.”

“Oh no that’s not what it is-”

“-At least one of us is having better luck in the romance department.”

“Shan, it’s not-”

“-I’m so glad you and Greg are getting on well.” Shanna handed over the receipt to Sarah before regarding what must have looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. “I mean that. He seems nice and you absolutely deserve to have some fun for a change. I know I haven’t been very supportive of this whole thing with Charlotte but I worry about you a little bit sometimes. After everything that’s happened, I guess I just didn’t wanna see you hurt again.”

Sarah was frozen to the spot. Numb. Shanna had put two and two together and thought the best of her friend. Sarah didn’t deserve that.

“He seems like he’s being really supportive right now and being the person that I should perhaps be. I will try to be better, I promise.” Shanna apologised.

Sarah looked down at the slip of paper in her hand and then to the floor, a little bit of feeling starting to return to her legs. “Shan,” she started quietly, so quietly that she missed it entirely and when she looked back up, Shanna was walking back into the kitchen.

“I mean it. You’ve always been amazing to me. Picking me up when I need it and looking after me. Everyone says I take you for granted sometimes and they’re absolutely right so I just wanted to say that I will back you up 100% from now on. No excuses. You and me against the world, right?”

Shanna flashed her a broad and hopeful grin and all Sarah could do was return a limp version in response. 

“Let’s get that wine opened and you can tell me all about it.”

Shanna disappeared into the kitchen again. If she had stayed a second longer she would have seen tears form in Sarah’s eyes at the knowledge that she screwed everything up. She and Chris had diverted a conversation on the promise of having it another time but that was never going to happen. Not now.

How could it?

*

#Chris Evans #Sarah Bernette #chris evans x original female character #clear the area #evans fic #chris evans fic #fanfiction

[purelyfiction]

Title: The Return of A Royal

Summary: Din had agreed to take a break from the boundless jumping from planet to planet, and so the group gathers what they need to stake out for a few days, figure out a way to find the information they needed without wasting so much fuel. When they land on their chosen destination Mari finds wonder in the planet, taking her time to relax, finding that the Mandalorian doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word. She decides to return the favor of bike lessons by teaching him how to find calm and to clear his mind for once.

Word Count: 5,328 (I DON’T KNOW HOW I DID IT EITHER SO DON’T ASK)

TW: this chapter is honestly my favorite so far there’s so much !! important stuff !! in it !! i think the length is based off of the fact i drew concept art for the chapter and then fell in love sooooo yep. completely PG chapter but it is beyond wholesome so !! enjoy !

Chapter 8: Made to Fall

The afternoon sunshine fell on the sands of Tatooine with ease, leaving Mari to sit in front of the Crest on a mat, watching the suns begin to sink behind the mountains of granules of sand. Mando watches over them, knowing that she's more than capable of watching over Grogu, and steps off the ship to look at the two of them before giving a nod. "I wanted to run into town to see if they had some more food and supplies that we'll need before we leave. Are you going to be ok with him alone?" He questions, Mari's face moving so quickly that the bangs across her forehead flitter with the movement.

"Yeah. You're not gonna be long. Besides, by the time the suns set he'll probably be ready to sleep for a bit." She nods, pulling him to her lap slowly, hoping to offer more reassurance that she'll protect him. The Mandalorian seems content with her and starts off back towards town, giving a second glance when he sees the woman pointing to something flying by. The smile that's on his face is guarded by the helmet and for once... he wishes it wasn't there.

Din makes his way to town, finding the nearest shop and entering with ease. An older woman draped in shades of brown stands at the back of the store, broom in her hand. "You're lucky I decided not to close up early tonight! What can I do for you?"

The armored body moves forward before he speaks. "I was looking to see if you had food supplies. And.. perhaps sleeping accessories." He offers, the woman setting the broom against the wall before she takes clumping steps to a rack.

"Sleeping accessories. We have blankets, pillows, some quilts -"

"A cot. A folding one preferably." The elderly woman nods slowly.

"Ah, yes. However, it is not a standard cot. It fits two persons. I've found that there is not nearly the same demand for such a thing - many travelers like yourself come alone and see no need for it." The Mandalorian's helmet reflects the suns rays coming in from the open doorway, flashing over to a wall, letting him spot a thick yellow quilt tucked in the corner.

"Do you have comforters?" He asks, his stride moving to the quilt and picking it up, unfurling it to see an intricate pattern of different shades to the patchwork. Some type of design alternated on each square, and it looked large enough to cover more than one person. He folds it once more looking at the woman as she brings over a heavy brown blanket, filled with some form of polymer to make it rather comfortable.

"This is the last one I have. You've picked some of the heaviest things. Going somewhere chilly?" She asks, beginning to pick out food items, mainly canned goods - they were on a desert planet afterall.

"Not at the moment. I just don't have enough material for my crew." He explains, stacking the yellow quilt onto the comforter and moving to the counter. The woman moves to the counter, box of food in her arms before a hand falls to the quilt, admiring it and smiling softly.

"The woman who made this quilt dropped it off, didn't ask for any payment before I sold it. She said she'd made it for someone she'd not been expecting to come into her life. And just as soon as she had completed it - they were gone." The white haired woman sighs, only to begin totaling the purchases. "It never got any use to it. She'd spent such a great deal of her time on it. I do hope you are able to get use out of it."

"We will." Din pulls the required credits out of his pocket when he recognizes that she hadn't calculated the cot into the numbers. "I'm taking the cot." With surprise, the woman gives a smile and nods.

"Alright then. Thank you for taking it off my hands." He simply nods, following her to where she'd pointed to and gathering the device.

He'd ended up renting a cruiser to take him back to the Crest, knowing he'd never be able to carry the items at a fast enough pace to get back before it was completely pitch black out. He arrives seeing a glow come from the inside of the craft, the suns now below the sands, an orange glow creating a thin line in the distance. More credits to hands, before he's pulling his purchases onto the ship. Mari's made a comfortable seat in the corner, using a pile of blankets that the two shared to lean into the metal wall comfortably, a manual from the Crest in her lap. Blue eyes look up when Din enters the ship, a small smile on her face. "Welcome back. Need help?" She asks, slamming the book shut and moving to stand up, the Mandalorian raising a hand to tell her to stop. She returns to her relaxed spot before a clunk of weight falls to the floor.

"I've got it. Just need to put things away and then we'll start off." He explains, grabbing the box of goods and moving to his makeshift pantries beside the small kitchenette in the ship. Despite his words, Mari stands, moving to the pile and seeing more blankets - her eyes particularly trained on one of the items in the pile.

"Did you buy another cot?" She asks, starting to tug on the metal frame in front of her. She pulls until the device is removed from the weight of the other items, seeing it clearly. "This thing is huge, where are you supposed to put it?"

"Against the wall. I'll fashion something to help tie it down for when we're in motion." The reply is rather quick, clearly wanting to focus on the task at hand, so Mari keeps quiet. She refolds the blankets he'd purchased, setting them on the cot neatly for sleeping later, taking a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship of the quilt in front of her. The yellow is vibrant and looks like the dye was chosen very specifically for someone. She's distracted from the woven fabric at a small cry, both Mando and herself moving to look to the creature, who was looking at the two of them with tired eyes.

"I guess someone is ready for bed." She speaks, making quick paces to meet Grogu and help him into his hammock. Once he's there, she tucks him in with the small blanket remnant Mando had split down to give the child some insulation for when he sleeps. When a soft snore comes from him, Mari finally backs up, and shuts the door to the chamber, turning to where the male had been standing not even four minutes prior. When he's not there, she climbs up the ladder, her head popping up and pausing when she meets his brown boots, looking up to him looming over her. "You've got to quit doing that, it's freaky." She complains, only for Mando's hand to extend and help her up again, Mari leaning into the action with familiarity.

The two sit in the cockpit as The Mandalorian navigates to their next destination - one he's being highly secretive about. They'd been in hyperdrive for nearly three hours, and Mari's starting to get tired. "Is there a reason you won't let me see the nav screen?" She asks, holding her knees to her chest, boots below her on the floor, slightly shivering again. She's still in just the black tank and stretchy pants, leggings maybe, and the cold metal of the ship wasn't much for insulation.

"I picked out the planet, it's good for trying to escape for a bit. Seeing as you have this uncanny ability to know so much about the systems and ships, I wanted to see if you could figure it out." He offers the explanation, moving the chair to turn to her. Mari lets her head tilt slightly, giving a nod.

"Interesting. It'll give me something to do then, huh?" She teases, Din snickering the slightest bit.

"Yes. Now, if you're going to get any rest tonight, you're best off heading down now. We have a few hours before we land, and even then I'm sure it'll be some time before the sun rises after we get there." He explains, and Mari gives a nod, this time a yawn coming from her.

"Ok, ok, I'm going. You want the new cot or the old one?" She asks, standing and leaning on the back of his chair since he now faces the front of the ship.

"Don't care." Short, but expected.

"Alright. Actually try to get some sleep, will you?" She speaks before heading to the ladder, humming a goodnight before dropping to the hull.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Razor Crest made decent time as they arrived to the lush planet, still encased in mainly darkness with the exception of small glimmers of light from small creatures along the meadows. Din wasn't on the planet much, if ever, and he found that there was a bit of excitement for Mari to discover where they were. He'd remembered in passing her mention of her home planet being that of a desert planet, similar to the one they'd just departed.

He's left the cockpit now, and maneuvers around the hull, starting to remove armor slowly, stacking each peace by the cot before moving the one comforter on the device to lay it out, noticing that it's missing a pillow. He shrugs it off, and climbs onto it with ease, pulling the blanket over him with a contented sigh. His head sits uncomfortably in the confines of the helmet, and he shift to make it a little more bearable. He finds himself staring at the ceiling, counting the bolt marks and tracing the lines in the metal before arguing with himself. Just take it off, you'll sleep better. She's not going to be awake for a while. And with that rationale, he does, setting the casing on the floor beside him and rolling into the awkwardly large surface. It was somewhat cold without another body present on it, but he pushes past it.

Just as Din's dozing off, the cot chamber door opens and Mari slinks out of the area, uncovered feet hitting cold metal below her. Her feet move her to the refresher, eyes barely open, mere slits to get to the room. She flicks on the fluorescent light, turning to shut the door and she does - but not without seeing a flash of brown resting on the new cot in the hull. The door is shut fully now, and Mari's much more awake. The shade she'd seen was not a familiar color. Whatsoever. Sure, most of Mando's clothes were brown or black - but this brown... wasn't it. She pulls herself onto the sink, slightly regretting it when she realizes the cold metal is on her somewhat bare behind. She's got a thing about sleeping with pants on - it's never been an issue, until now that is. The whole damn ship was a icecube when they were in cold conditions. She figures that the ship hadn't regulated temperature to the planet's just yet. Despite that, she takes a minute. She'd seen his hair. That had to have been what it was. Mari tries her best to erase the thought, knowing that if she were to accidentally reveal the new information - she might lose any trust he's gained in the past two days. After finishing her time in the refresher, she makes sure the light is off before walking out, moving back to the compartment. She stops when the new memory flashes again. He didn't have a pillow. His neck is going to kill him. She can't leave him like that, she knows how uncomfortable she'd been sleeping in the cockpit, it wouldn't be fair for him.

So she does the next best thing. She grabs one of the pillows littered in the cabin, and moves in Mando's direction, eyes closed. She's shuffling slowly, moving from memory. When her shin hits the cot, she lets out a restrained hiss, before crouching and carefully finding his head, beginning to lift his head and maneuvering the pillow - only to be stopped by a firm grip on her wrist. Her breath catches, and she speaks almost too quickly. "My eyes are closed. They're closed." She whispers, his hand still not moving. Maybe this was a bad idea. Yeah, this wasn't smart. She should've just went to bed. There's no doubt that he's going to yell at her, tell her to go to bed, continue the scolding in the morning. Except it doesn't come. Instead, his head shifts up, giving her space to push the pillow under his head. His grip softens once it's secure under him, his voice groggy, as though she'd actually woken him up by trying to give him a pillow.  

"Is your leg okay." She's... caught off guard by his question. It's not what she'd expected but she manages an answer.

"Yeah. Yeah it's fine." His fingers are still wrapped around her wrist, but they're far more gentle now.

"Good. Go to bed, Mari." He returns a command, before his hand slips from hers, the large figure in front of her shifting, rolling over. She's glad the dark is encasing the two of them, because he can't see her reaction, which is a small smile as she stands and immediately turns around so she can open her eyes and do her best to navigate in the dark. Once she's back to the cabin, curled under the yellow quilt from Tatooine, she hears his voice again. "Thank you."

Mari wakes to the door of the sleeping chamber sliding open, Mando standing at her feet. She groans, pulling the blanket over her to hide the light. "C'mon, we've got a day ahead of us." He comments, Grogu moving in his hammock with a content coo as his father moves to pick him up.

"I could've been naked." She complains, finally sitting up and rubbing at her eyes, hair a mess from tossing and turning the prior night.

"Not that it would have mattered." He reminds her, causing her to scowl at him. With the child on his hip, a slight chuckle leaves him when he sees her expression. "Let's go, princess."

Mari watches as he falls out of her view, sitting still as her heart recovers from the beat it had skipped at the word. She'd not used the word in almost 15 years, and it used to be commonplace in her life. It was her title, everyone she knew had called her by it. Princess Mari. And yet, when he said it... it wasn't the same. It wasn't a position, a requirement or a standing. It made her heart malfunction, her stomach turn and goosebumps raise on her skin. She pushes herself from her spot, getting out of the comfort of warm blankets and to where her closest was.

"You figure out where we are?" His voice is louder, coming from above her, in the cockpit clearly. She'd not actually thought about it til then, and takes a minute to do so as she pulls a grey t-shirt from the pile.

"Um, no. I fell asleep before I could do the math." She offers, quickly switching out the shirts before grabbing a pair of pants. They were a deep blue, and the color combination wasn't... awful, but nowhere near ideal. Despite that, she pulls them on rapidly before Mando comes back to the hull. A pair of wool socks are being tugged on as he finally joins her again. She's quiet in thought, the man moving about to gather things. He pulls the yellow quilt from the sleeping quarters, putting it in a bag with some food and water. Sat on the metal floor, Mari is tying her boots when she finally looks up to him. Her brows are furrowed as she does so and Din's own raise as he waits for her guess. "We came from Tatooine... and we have to go to Coruscant next... but you weren't in hyperspeed for more than five hours, right?" Din gives a shake of his head, sitting on the floor across from her, one leg relaxed, the other propped up with a boot flat on the floor as Grogu shuffles about the ship in excitement. Finally, her eyes light up and he lets a smile fill his face as she shoots up. "We're on Naboo! Mando, I've only read about this place." She offers as he gives a grunt standing up, pressing a button on his vambrace, letting the side hatch begin to open, Mari moving to the door as sunlight floods the interior of the ship.

Once the ramp has extended fully, she's slowly stepping out, looking at her surroundings. A wide open field, surrounded by trees, mountains in the distance... and so... much... green. A breath moves through her, in complete awe as she slowly starts into the terrain, taking in the blue skies, the dark green trees, the tall grass shifting as a breeze passes through. It's warm, and pairs with the sunshine beautifully. Mari moves to rake her hands through her hair, awestruck. "I never thought I'd leave Esno... when I did it was all so similar. None of it felt... like what I'd pictured. There were shops, buildings, and it was all so..."

"Brown?" Finally Din's voice comes from behind her and she looks to him. It's his turn for his breath to be knocked out of him. The way she looks to him, with so much joy. He'd imagined it, thought about it the entire way there... but he'd underestimated. She looked so content, and her eyes seem to melt into the skyline, yet shine so much more brightly. He's certain he's never seen her like this, so... carefree. She's been on highwatch for so much of her life, being surrounded by others, never truly having free reign. Now she has it. A smile fills her features before she turns to the landscape around her once again.

"Yeah... brown." At this point, the child has started following Mari through the grass, following in her footsteps to avoid blades of grass to his face. Din finally lets his feet move, letting her start off in whatever direction she wishes, simply letting her explore. She's not even begun to pick out each of the sounds that fill the air around them, the rustling of the trees through the gusts of air that pass by, the accompaniment of birds and other creatures, the wisping sound of the grass as each step falls onto them. And in the distance, a loud roar. "What is that?" She finally asks, her head tilting back to the fellow bounty hunter, trying to place it with other things she'd heard.

"What's what?" Din asks, not really following her thought process. He simply was letting the two roam, knowing that the new experience would keep them amused for some time.

"That sound. It sounds like some sort of... Maker there's nothing I can compare it to. Wait-" She raises a hand, making all three of them stop and just listen for a few moments before Mando finally snickers.

"Follow me."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hike to their location is filled with the two walking side by side, listening to the sounds the planet had to offer, Grogu tied to Mari's back with a piece of fabric she'd found on the ship. As they seem to descend into a slight valley, the noise grows louder when his footsteps pause, and Mari finally sees what was creating the roaring noise. A dozen or so waterfalls are carved into the cliffside in front of them, water cascading to a pool below them and into a river that ran the length of the valley. "Holy kriff." It's so soft he nearly misses it, the two of them standing uniformly and watching as the water free falls in a grand motion. The outline of the city of Theed sits on top of the falls in the far distance, a mere blip in the skyline. The Mandalorian begins to move again, leading the way down to the valley in the safest manner, Mari having a hard time keeping her eyes off the body of water.

They walk nearly silently, coos coming from the child on her back as they inch closer and closer. Eventually they reach the shores of the water, as close as they can become without entering the water. "The hike is worth it, don't you think?" Mando questions, looking at the woman who's now drenched in sweat, but despite it, holds the brightest smile.

"Every minute of it." She sighs, watching quietly as he moves to the bag he brought, pulling out the canteen and handing it to her. She takes it with a quiet 'thank you', twisting the cap off and looking as he moves to a spot a little off the shore. The quilt he'd snatched comes from the bag, and is tossed to the ground. She's quick to catch on and moves to his side, picking up the fabric and unfurling it in the air so it's spread across the ground. Once it's out, Din lets the bag fall to the yellow material, and then speaking.

"Let me get him off your back, and then we can settle in." Mari turns her body away from him, feeling as he unties Grogu from his makeshift carrier and the weight is off her back. The kid is set to the ground to explore leaving her to finally sit among the white flowers that are littered in the area, something she'd not noticed until she reaches the ground. The Mandalorian finally slouches down beside her, a slight huff coming from him. She finally turns to him, realizing that if she's hot, he must be boiling.

"Why don't you take off your armor? You'd probably be less hot." She suggests, the man's head moving in her direction. He's about to retort something, but... he can't find a good reason not to follow her suggestion. So he does, starting the process and letting each piece stack up into the black bag beside them. Eventually, all the beskar rests in a neat pile - except the one above his shoulders. "Better?" Din nods, letting his arms reach behind him and leaning onto them to look around at the visual that they'd found. Mari moves her body so her back is against his right shoulder, watching the water travel so elegantly, eyes deterring to find the child, seeing him running around after some sort of butterfly. Blue eyes return to the falls and she sits in the natural silence. The deep blues pop with each thrush wave of white that is created off the rocks below. The entire area was something out of a dream to her. She's so overjoyed in the moment. Safe, secure, and surrounded by such beauty. So why does her mind wander...

"Your helmet... it has a sound processor doesn't it?" The question is so sudden that Din nearly jolts, having found comfort in the quiet.

"Yes." The response is an answer she already knew, so she's unsure why her heart sinks a little. He's not hearing the same thing as she is. He's probably not seeing the same thing either. He doesn't get to feel the blades of grass that her fingers have been fiddling with as she gazed. Doesn't get to smell the cleanest breath of air she's ever had. So she sits up and shifts to face away from the falls, shuffling her legs around. "What are you doing?" He's matching her movements, sitting up himself. Mari's legs move to cross over his, shifting til she's completely in his lap, and leans into him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders, her chin resting on his left shoulder blade.

"Take off your gloves." Her voice is soft, nearly drowned out by the rushing falls behind them.

"Mari-"

"Please? My eyes are closed, I promise." A mere whisper before he's reaching behind her, fingers tugging on the leather on his hands before he drops them to the quilt in front of them. Once they're off his hands fall to her lap. Before she speaks, she holds on a little tighter. "Your helmet."

"Mari, I'm not doing that." He scoffs, nearly pushing her away before she stops him with a squeeze of her hand on his arm.

"I'm not going to look. I want you to hear this. I want you to see what I'm seeing. Not a computer screen or a speaker. I want you to experience it. Not ... render it." He stays still, her words starting to do a lap in his mind. She says it so cautiously... as though he'll yell at her for even speaking. His hands finally move from her thighs, and he reaches up, pulling the helmet as softly as he can, the softest release noise accompanying the action. He lets the beskar shift to his left hand, his right moving around Mari's back in a gentle holding motion as he sets the helmet down at his side. Mari finds a more comfortable position, her cheek against his shoulder, facing his neck as his other hand wraps around her again. "Now listen. Look."

And he does so. His head moves to the water, the smell of the flowers and the moisture of the air finding his skin. It's so peaceful. The sound of the falls, the breeze drifting across his exposed skin and rustling through his hair. He's not felt that since he was a boy... and what a relief it was. Mari lets herself relax in his arms, listening to the water calmly as she counts his breaths, her body moving slightly as his own breaths make his chest rise and fall. Each one of her own breaths brings a familiar scent. Cool mint, soft lavender... and that one she can't quite place. The same scent from that third night. It was him. His shirt lingered his scent that night. And she'd slept in it every night since. The smell had faded now... but now she knew the source.

They sit there for what feels like hours, but really couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes. She can feel him shift, a hand moving from her side to move to his helmet. "Wait." She stops him, letting her head return to it's upright position, her hands moving to the sides of his face. The familiar abrasive touch of the hair on his chin is met with her hands, causing a small smile. Her fingers then pull his head down slightly so that she can press her lips to his temple. Mari lingers for a moment, his hand returning to her side, a gentle motion to tell her to let go. She does, letting him pull the helmet on once again.

"Open." She does, and the image of what she had imagined in her head is pushed away when the familiar glint of silver reaches her eyes. She gives a meek smile, her hands resting on his arms.

"I couldn't let you miss that." She offers, a thumb running along the fabric of his sleeve. She notices he's in no rush to put his gloves back on, fingers making small shapes along her side.

"I appreciate that. Truly." Despite the modulation of his voice, she can tell he means it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They spend most of the day on that quilt, in the middle of nowhere on a planet neither of them are familiar with. Mari had sat watching clouds roll by as Din sat in a seemingly content meditation. Grogu had fallen asleep not long ago, so the two were debating if they wanted to start to head back. "I think I'd be content if I never left." Mari voices, the other looking to her.

"If only we could." He volunteers, a sigh tagging along with it. He's right. The two of them couldn't stay here. Someone was bound to notice a bright shiny spaceship in the middle of nowhere. She reluctantly gets up looking to the gleaming water once more. "You think the water's cold?" She asks abruptly, Mando following her eyeline to the water. He sits on the idea for a minute before standing up, walking to the water with no inclination of what he's doing."Mando? What are you doing?" He says nothing, causing her to have to get up from the spot they'd not left most of the morning in. He's crouched at the front of the water, ungloved hand dipping into the flowing blue.

"Checking the temperature." He replies, standing up before his foot is pulled up, and his hands move to meet it, untying the laces on his boot and pulling it off. He's not actually...

"You're not actually thinking about it are you?" She asks, arms crossing across her chest. Soon enough, both boots are off and he's got both clothed feet in the water. What on Tatooine is he doing?

"Nope. I'm doing it, there's a difference." He turns to face her, now knee deep in the water before he falls backwards, sinking into the water until he's chest deep.

"You're going to get your helmet wet, Mando." She scolds, moving to sit at the shoreline.

"Impermeable. One of the benefits of beskar." He's got a response for everything, doesn't he? "Come in. Answer your own question."

She looks at him with her legs crossed under her. She swallows harshly before looking to the top of the falls, and then to the man mingling in the water. It's a beautiful location, she's beyond grateful for the experience but...

"I don't want to be wet on the walk back."

"Is that what's stopping you?" Her eyes move away from him as he moves to swim towards the shore, starting to climb out of the water. When she turns back to look at him, water is dripping from him, and what once were bagging clothes were now clinging to every part they could. Her stomach does a somersault at the sight, jumping when he speaks again. "Mari." She quickly scrambles to her feet, arms moving back to her chest with a grunt.

"I can't swim." She grumbles, and Din suddenly has a moment of clarity. She grew up on a desert planet. There were hundreds of moisture farms to make up for the lack of water. Of course she's never learned to swim, she wasn't expected to have to face such a thing. He's now on the shore and looking at her. Blue eyes look to the slit in the visor with hesitation. "There was no point to learn on Esno." He's quiet, only before an overly smart response comes from him.

"So why were you on Trask?"  Mari nearly snickers at his question, a smirk on her lips.

"You gonna look for a princess who can't swim on a planet that's mostly water?" His eyebrows rise at her question, and he gives a nod.

"Smart girl." He takes a step and then holds out a bare hand to her. "Unfortunately, you're around me now. You should know the basics, in case of an emergency." Din can see the fear that sparks at the idea of getting into the water. She's only ever known showers and ultrasonic varieties. Not being submerged in it.

"Mando... I..." She's holding herself tighter, and he slowly moves to take her hand, pulling it away from her body. Fingers wrap around her own with reassurance.

"I'm not going to let you drown. Your head will never go under the water. I promise." As she gives a reluctant nod, she notices the thread that's slowly being woven. It's built with letters, and wraps around them with colors of trust intertwining them.

I promise.

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfic #the mandalorian smut #mandalorian fanfiction #mando fanfic #mando smut #mandalorian fanfic #din djarin #din djarin fanfic #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin smut #Star Wars fanfic

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Comfortember Day 14 (Alt prompt-Jacket)

Since I wanted to write about my OCs today but a road trip would not be so fun for Robin (metal in cars is uncomfortable to be around for too long), so here's an alt prompt instead! (I'll probably do a road trip for someone else later though, because that's a GOOD ONE)

Winter in Los Angeles is barely winter. At least according to Kira, whose school in Oregon saw real snow every year. Robin's never seen more than faint flurries. It sounds magical, but if it's even colder than the weather is today, he'll pass.

A chilly breeze is blowing off the grey ocean, and the dampness hangs in the air, making its way into his bones. He zips his dad's jacket up as far as he can, tucking his hands in the pockets. He hasn't taken anything out of them, there's a gum wrapper that crinkles with real foil, the kind almost no one makes anymore, a lighter almost out of fluid even though Robin doesn't think Adam ever smoked, and a peppermint candy that's covered in dust even in its plastic wrapper.

In the other pocket is a folded picture of Robin and Ellie. Robin is standing in the yard and Ellie is bent down over him, both of them looking at the camera and smiling. The picture is creased in half at Robin's shoulders in the picture, the crease thick like a seam and worn white, like the photo's been opened up and closed again multiple times.

With the sun down, the chill creeps through the streets like the shadows. Robin steps into the slight shelter of the side of a building. The vamp they're looking for hunts this area and they're basically on stakeout patrol (and John has already made EVERY possible variation of a pun on that) until he shows.

Kira scampers up the side of the building to perch on a fire escape three stories up, getting a good overhead view of the area. Kira reminds him of the alley cats, agile and lethal. She's a shadow, moving fast and striking faster. Robin's impressed with her ability to take advantage of every handhold. She'd tried to teach him too, but too many things she uses to help her climb have too high an iron content. And since wearing gloves can be dangerous because of potential slipping, Robin finally decided he'd leave the climbing to her.

With her on watch, John and Robin prep their gear. Cody's back in the van on comms, watching their local surveillance feeds. John says one of the best things that happened to hunting was the digital camera. Vampires actually appear in digital images as themselves. Film cameras capture them as they truly are. Showing their real age, or in some cases only a skeleton. Robin remembers the vampire informant they meet with who buys cheap film cameras and takes pictures of himself because he wants to feel human again.

Thinking of the photos the vamp had in his pocket along with his little black book reminds Robin of the one tucked in his. He fingers the worn paper, wondering how many times Adam touched it before heading out on a hunt.

A faint tapping above him catches his attention.  He turns just in time to see Kira hop down from her perch with a gracefulness his own numb, cold-heavy limbs could definitely not replicate.

MOVEMENT IN THE SECOND ALLEY NORTH, she signs, and John nods and relays the information to Cody quietly. It's no coincidence, Robin is sure, that that's the one place they're struggling to get video coverage.

Unfortunately, it's a false alarm. Just a local shop owner a shortcut on his way home. Which means it's back to their posts.

Robin tries not to lean on the cold brick wall, it feels like it's sucking the warmth out of his body. He takes slow breaths, hoping no one can hear over comms that they're shaky. He's good at keeping his teeth from chattering, but the shaky breaths he can't help. His cheeks feel wind-bitten and his toes are cold.

John turns and glances at him when he raises his hands to blow on his fingers, and Robin quickly tucks them back in his pockets.

"Are you cold?" John asks.

"I'm fine." It comes out too fast, too desperate, a conditioned response to being asked that many times before and not liking the results of total honesty.

"Oh really? That why you're shakin'?" John asks. "You coulda said you were getting too cold. You can wait in the van..."

"I'm useless in the van," Robin says. "By the time I get out the door you guys will be where you need to be."

He's cut off by the knocking sound again, as well as Cody whispering over comms. "There's movement northeast of your position. Hard to get a clear visual."

Kira scrambles down from her perch again, and they head toward the source of the movement.

This time, it's not a false alarm. Fortunately, the vamp is easy to bring down. He's the kind of predator who likes laying in wait and getting the drop on victims, and in a full-on fight he surrenders almost immediately.

The adrenaline of the arrest pushes the cold aside temporarily, but by the time they're heading back to the agency with the vamp in the secure section of the van, Robin is feeling the chill again. The van is warm enough, but even so, he feels like he'll never really get warm again, the damp chill like fangs sinking into his bones. He tries not to think about Arion or that cell.

He startles when someone spreads something over his lap. John is looking at him with concern, his own jacket off, that's what Robin felt. And from her seat, Kira is digging through the emergency kit to pull out one of the brown shock blankets. The ones they carry are different from everyone else's; wool is more effective for Robin than the reflective insulating material in the regular type. They have a couple of those as well, since the rest of his team is human, but Robin feels a little warmer just at the thought that his specific needs have been considered.

Robin wants to insist he doesn't need it, but John is already wrapping him in the blanket the best he can while Robin is huddled in his seat, and it's not worth the effort to try and figure out a way around the painfully obvious truth.

"Next time, tell us if you're not okay, alright?" John asks. "We're not gonna make you stand out there and freeze to death."

"I should be fine. You and Kira were alright."

"That's not a good enough reason. If anyone told you it was, then they better answer to me." John frowns. "We don't all handle things the same. And we don't have to. You don't see me scaling walls like Spider-woman over there." He puts a hand on Robin's shoulder and Robin could swear he can feel the warmth through the blanket, his jacket, and his shirt. "You don't have to be okay just because someone else is."

Robin nods shakily. It's going to take time to undo the things Michaels and the Silver Blade team beat into him, literally and figuratively. The constant reminders that he wasn't allowed to struggle because none of the rest of them were, so he'd better suck it up and stop acting like an entitled brat.

But they'll get there. And he knows it.

Taglist: @nade2308 @cmvorra @bands-space-and-monsters-oh-my @catwingsathena @asloudasalone @anguishmacgyver @flowing-river24 @myhusbandsasemni @floh673 @teddythecat1234 @bkworm4life4 @viawrites-andacts @amarilloskies

If you want to be added to or removed from my taglist for Magic & Silver stuff, just let me know!

#comfortember #magic & silver #my ocs #robin #angus robinson #john stoker #kira burke

[d8rkmessngr]

Happy birthday @lorrainejhane

It’s always a happy joy to hear my stories are still read even today. I hope they stand the test of time. It’s @lorrainejhane’s birthday today and while I didn’t have a floating snippet around, I did find intro to book 3 in my phone.

One day....

-------------------------------------------------

Warning: language and unedited

"Just stick it in."

"W-what? No!"

"Aw, come on! I know you know how this works. Just aim and shove it in there!"

"You and I both know it takes more finesse than that, Alec!"

"You and I both know it takes less time than that, too!"

"It's—no, you know what? Forget it. Let's just forget it. This was a crazy idea…"

"Come on. Weren't you ever curious?"

"…Well…"

"It’s easy. We've done this a thousand times—"

"You have."

"And here I am sharing with you my expertise. And my experience is telling you to just shove it in there!"

"But—"

"You can't leave us hanging! Ready, aim, and boom! Give it the little twist I showed you and you're in!"

"No, this is insane. Alec, I told you, it was just a thought, I was only wondering, I didn't really want to—"

"I can't believe you're backing out now!"

"But this doesn't make sense—"

"This makes perfect sense!"

"No, it doesn't! Alec—"

"Look, it's your first time, I get it, babe. I do."

"But—"

"And I told you no points will be taken off if you miss your mark. I won't laugh. Much. Well, not in your face at leas—Okay, I promise only with Cindy. Pinky swear."

"No, I don't want to do this."

"Aw come on! Why the hell not?"

"Because I live here!"

It was admirable (and sort of hot) how Logan managed to look freaked out, embarrassed and pissed off all at the same time. He clutched white-knuckled around the harness wrapped around his thighs and torso. The lockpick trembled in the other hand.

Alec swayed in his harness to swing closer to Logan. He plucked the pick out of Logan's shaky fingers before it could drop twenty seven floors below. They were hard to come by.

The Seattle breeze held the promise of a chill, warning fall was finally edging summer off. Alec briefly enjoyed how the wind ruffled through Logan's bangs, flopping them over wide, panicked hazel eyes.

"You know," Alec remarked as he settled into his bow line with an ease Logan hasn't managed the ten minutes they hung over the side of his building.

"When you said you have a trouble with heights, I was thinking like more of a 'don't look down' kind of thing."

Alec stretched both arms above his head. Logan curled both hands around his own harness tighter as he tracked Alec's movements.

"Seriously?" Alec waved his arms wildly to his sides. "Whoa! Look out!"

"Alec!" Logan yelped.

Chuckling, Alec shifted his weight towards Logan. Using his feet planted firmly on the building, Alec steered towards Logan. He gave Logan's feet a quick check to make sure they were securely pressed against the narrow sill strip.

"Hey," Alec murmured. He leaned in and brushed the tip of his nose across a stubbled cheek.

"Hey," Logan said unsteadily. His head leaned into Alec's space. He exhaled shakily.

"You're doing great, babe," Alec said. He slid a steadying palm over Logan's lower back. Even though thick buckles and straps shielded him from the warmth and skin, Alec knew Logan felt it. When Logan fidgeted—although it might be more due to the whole squishy-human-might-go-splat thing—Alec felt a shiver go down his spine.

"You needed to graduate to something more after a month." Alec noted the tightness pinching at the corners of Logan's eyes. He pressed his lips together. "We agreed we needed to push."

"I was hoping for something more…grounding," Logan huffed. He sucked in a deep breath. When he looked over, his mouth was twisted in a half-grimace.

"You said you used to climb when you were in college." Alec wondered if Heather wore climbing shorts then, ballistic nylon wrapped around tanned limbs, thick black straps ribboned around his firm as—fuck.

Now it was Alec's turn to grimace because, wow, yet another thing about Logan Cale that could turn him on. Crap, it was getting harder to walk normally these days.

"That was before I was thrown off a roof," Logan muttered under his breath.

Cold crashed over Alec, deflating some parts and inflating others. His chest expanded, his eyes rounded and his mouth dropped open.

"What?"

Logan blinked, realizing Alec heard him. He winced.

"I'll tell you about it some time," Logan said. "It's a long story."

Alec ground his teeth.

"Give me the short version for now," Alec grated out, "At least tell me whoever did that are dead and if not, where can I find them?"

Logan smiled tightly. "They're dead."

"Good." Alec forced himself to face forward. When he caught the twisted look on his reflection on Logan's reflection, it startled him. It reminded him too much of 494 even if a part of him wished 494 was the one who eliminated the bastards, whoever they were.

Logan pried one hand away from his rigging and touched Alec's arm; only briefly before it hastily returned to its death grip around the strap.

Alec snickered. He brushed a bump over the bone bleached clutch.

"All right," Alec murmured. "Let's go over the steps aga—" He blinked. He looked up.

"What is it?" Logan glanced around. His throat worked when his eyes happened to skim below them. "Hoverdones? But even the new modified ones from Cale’s competitors shouldn't be able to get this high. They're not supposed to be released until after—"

"I'll be right back." Alec reached over and planted a wet smack on Logan's cheek. "Don't go anywhere."

Alec reached up and grabbed the line above his head. He wished he thought to hook up his ascender rigging instead. Jumaring was a bitch, but it would have been faster. It would have looked impressive, too. Not that he was trying to impress Heather or anything.

"Where are you goi—Alec!"

Logan's whispered words started with a hiss and ended a half octave higher in panic as Alec walked up the building, pulling his lines, higher and higher until he reached his goal. He may or may not have clenched his ass at the same time. In case Logan was looking, if Alec cared that he was, that is.

Far away, Logan was calling Alec's name. It wasn't clear if it was because Alec came here or that he was left dangling by his own window. Not that Alec would have let him fall; Logan was firmly anchored to Alec's line in two places. Heather wasn't going anywhere without him.

Alec blew a kiss down to Logan. The wide eyes and agape mouth that greeted Alec was cute, but also reminded Alec he shouldn't dally.

With a broad grin, Alec rapped on the window.

"Alec!" Logan's yelp floated away in Seattle's breeze.

After a moment, Alec heard the tiny beep of the security alarm—good girl—and the window slid open.

Merry blue eyes and a crown of snow white hair poked out and dipped down towards Alec.

"Why, hello," Mrs. Moreno chirped. She squinted past Alec's ear. "Hello, Logan."

"H-hello, Mrs. Moreno," Logan stammered.

Mrs. Moreno winked at Alec. "I see Alec finally convinced you to try climbing. How nice."

Logan choked. He fumbled an explanation or thanks or whatever he could think of twenty seven stories high.

Alec stamped down the urge to loosen his lines to drop down and kiss Logan. He cast hopeful eyes on Mrs. Moreno.

"I smell cookies."

Mrs. Moreno's tinkling chuckle swirled around Alec as she wagged a finger at him. He drew up his line shorter so he was eye level with her so she wouldn't have to stoop.

"I knew you would drop by if I made my lemon drop cookies again." Mrs. Moreno's eyes twinkled. "I had no idea it would be literally."

“Technically, I climbed up, you know.”

Mrs. Moreno patted Alec's hand curled on the sill. "They'll be ready in an hour." She peered out her window at Logan. Alec leaned in. His shoulder butted gently again hers.

"That should give you boys enough time?"

"What?" Logan squeaked down below. Seriously, Heather was totally begging to be kissed here.

"Shirley," Alec said in mock-outrage. "I'm appalled. For that, I demand a cookie now. I know I smelled some already powdered with sugar."

Mrs. Moreno winked. She reached behind her and held up a clear bag of a dozen cookies.

Alec reached in, kissed her forehead before grabbing the treats to shove into his jacket.

"Better make it two hours," Alec quipped. He knocked at the window. "Don't forget to reset that alarm."

"I know, I know," Mrs. Moreno sighed.

“Seriously, that aide Carlos keeps forgetting and last time--”

“Don’t be rude to your date.” Mrs. Moreno gave Alec a wave as he descended back down to Logan. "Have fun, boys!" she bade before retreating back inside.

Logan gaped at Alec when he reached their window.

Alec shrugged. "She makes the best cookies." He grinned wolfishly. "And she thought we look hot together."

Logan's mouth snapped shut. He stared at Alec a beat longer, blinked back up towards Mrs. Moreno's window. He shook his head as he muttered under his breath. He lifted his head and shot Alec a look.

Alec's breath caught. It wasn't the first time such a look was directed at him. Well, not the first time Logan directed it towards him. It was a mix of fond exasperation and something warm and unidentifiable. Unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed.

"So." Alec cleared his throat. He was never sure how to respond to the look; it appeared more and more often.

"How long you're gonna leave us hanging here, babe?"

The reminder erased the look on Logan quickly. Now, he glared at Alec. His knuckles bleached further white around the harness.

With a hand square on Logan's lower back, Alec nudged Logan closer towards the window. He caught the sharp intake of breath that rattled Logan's back. Absently, Alec wondered if Matt would know anything about assholes tossing certain people over rooftops.

Logan's right knee trembled as it fought to stay in the slightly bent position, its foot planted flat on the building. It was a huge improvement from a month ago. Even with Alec's and then along with Matt's support, Logan stayed upright only until he got to the ground floor of the damn warehouse the Reds held him in.

The breeze swirled around their bodies as Logan struggled to position the pick correctly like Alec showed him. Alec caught strains of Logan reciting the steps under his breath. He smiled at Logan's bent head. He suspected he wore the same look Logan just gave him before. The same warm infusion filled his gut.

The bowline curved under and around the firm buttocks. The harness creaked as Logan shifted weight to stay close to his target. Wide rough straps ran up, parallel to the strong line of Logan's back. They brushed against Logan's pullover, dragging fabric over sleek muscles and smooth skin.

Logan squared back his shoulders as he leaned in carefully, lockpick in position. The move had a ripple effect; muscles shortened and lengthened in response. Shoulders flexed; biceps swelled.

Heat pooled in Alec's groin. His mouth ran dry.

Another breeze skimmed over Logan's hair. Unruly shades of brown and golden parted to reveal an unblemished nape.

The lines around Alec's thighs seem to constrict. Everything felt too small, snapped tight around him.

Alec pressed in behind Logan, his legs spread to frame Logan for additional support. He was half-surprised Logan couldn't feel Alec's erection branding hot into his lower back.

"Almost there," Logan murmured. His voice was unintentionally throaty, a whisper brushing over Alec's skin.

"Same here," Alec groaned.

Logan didn't appear to have heard him. His brow drawn in concentration, Logan squinted at the spacing. He tentatively poked at the opening. The tool withdrew immediately after contact.

Alec pressed his nose to the soft spot under Logan's left ear. He breathed deep.

"Is that supposed to be motivating me or distracting me?" Logan grumbled.

Alec rolled his pelvis forward, enough to ground, but not enough to ease the ache between his legs. He squeezed his legs into Logan.

"Thanks," Logan said distractedly, mistaking the move as a 'let's not make the squishy human fall' rather than a desperate move to get off.

Alec placed his hands on either side of Logan's hips. It was probably the wrong move. This close, Alec felt Logan's ass brushing over his groin, his obliques flexing to hold Logan up, hot to the touch even through his shirt.

"Alec," Logan grumbled when Alec pressed in. "Pushing me isn't a effective way to rush me."

Alec swallowed hard. He leaned into the warmth of Logan's body.

"I want you," Alec whispered into Logan's ear. Somehow, saying he wanted to fuck Logan felt like he belittled what they do.

Logan exhaled. He was squinting at his window sill.

"Logan," Alec whined. He gripped Logan's hips tighter.

"Almost there," Logan promised. He tentatively poked at the opening and the exposed sensor again.

“Can’t we just do it here?” Alec groaned.

The pick screeched as it scraped into the sensor the wrong angle. The alarms wailed.

Oops.

#dark angel #alec/logan #intro to book 3--sh #happy birthday lorrainejhane #one day my muse will wake

[unicyclehippo]

Kairos - a propitious moment for decision or action. For beaujester?

There are rules for this world. There are rules and ways of doing things correctly, which means, conversely, that there are ways of doing things incorrectly. For some, this means that they are liable to be caught in the harsh, designated lines of decreed law: things simply are as they are, as they have always been, and to fight against this is... arrogance, some might say and be correct in that. Arrogance and folly, and deeply sad. To struggle, forever, against something that is permanent. Immutable. 

There are very few things in this world that are permanent and immutable. There are many things in the world that, upon one’s first, and third, and nine-hundredth examination seem permanent and immutable. For example, on Tarth Wavesinger’s first, third, and nine-hundredth attempt to sing the wind into their sails - and on every attempt between - they failed. On Tarth Wavesinger’s nine-hundredth and first attempt, however, they discovered a shred of a song that, in storybooks and tales is said to have delighted the winds so much that it was eager to help, just to hear what the next note might be. And now, if one is patient, if one has the time and energy and knack for it, if the sky is clear and the wind is not engaged elsewhere, it is possible to call on the eastern wind. 

Beau taps the dull end of her pencil to the page, reads over the words again. 

‘D’you think this is real? Caleb?’

‘Hm?’

‘This book says that it’s possible to sing a song and the winds will listen to the call of ancient humans, who once sailed the seas alongside their elemental ancestors. Does that - sound like something that’s real, or does it sound like a story? I guess it could be both.’

‘Ja.’

‘Are you listening to me?’

‘Ja.’

‘Do you smell like cat piss?’

‘Ja.’

Beau throws her eraser at him, smirks when it hits his temple, knocking him to the side. ‘Hey!’

‘You weren’t listening to me!’

‘I was, though! You asked about elementals and conjuring wind, and if I was listening, and if I smell like cat urine.’

‘Piss.’

‘it is the same thing, Beauregard. I heard you.’

‘Why do you smell like that?’

‘I don’t know how many times I have to tell you and Fjord this,’ Caleb says with a heated note banked like an ember in his reasonable tone, ‘but Frumpkin is a real cat. Sometimes, he takes a piss. Sometimes, he does it on my coat. If it bothers you so much, you do not have to sit and read with me.’

‘Is that you being polite and you want me to leave, or...’ Caleb fixes her with ice-blue eyes for a second before returning to his books. Beau begins to make all of the most annoying sounds that she can imagine, lounging as she is on Veth’s bunk in their shared cabin. Eventually, she starts to entertain herself by trying to hoot like a monkey, not the same as what Frumpkin had been but more like the raucous creatures that had swung through the canopy of the creepy snake island they’d gone to with Fjord, before Caleb finally caves and lifts his eyes once more. He’d stopped reading a full three minutes earlier but she can admire his determination to ignore her.

‘Beauregard.’

‘Yeah, man.’

‘Please get out.’

‘Aye, aye. Don’t forget to eat something or you’ll get scurvy.’

‘I will eat something.’

Beau rolls off the bunk and, largely unread book on the fucking secrets of the universe or whatever she’d brazenly lifted from the stacks of the Cobalt Reserve tucked under her arm, she saunters from the cabin and up onto the deck. Everything smells heavily of salt and a little bit like smoke and some acrid, chemical scent Beau can’t place until she looks to the stern of the ship where one of their new friends is showing Veth a strange, tube-like device she calls a rifle. The gunpowder used for the cannons smells similar, though not entirely so, and within a few minutes of watching them Beau can ascertain that the contained explosion with the use of the powder packed into it and the small ball-bearing type ammunition would create a propulsive mechanism with the use of - what? flint maybe? - to send a metal ball flying at considerably high-speed and impact with considerable damage. 

‘Do you think it’s safe for them to be doing that on the ship?’ Fjord asks as Beau climbs to the wheel where he has taken his place.

‘No, absolutely not. I don’t think you should ever have given Nott - Veth - access to the cannons, I super don’t think she should have been your cannon person, gun monkey, whatever they’re called - ‘

‘Too late to take that offer back.’

‘ - and I think that Luc is gonna get a gun for Summer’s Eve and I can’t - I don’t think I can catch those.’

‘You can try.’

‘I got shot by Veth already once and that bullet is still in my ass,’ she tells Fjord, whose face creases into a strange expression, half laugh, half grimace. ‘I’m not going anywhere near them.’

‘Well, there’s closer to Veth and the weird weapon she’s pointing right at us,’ Fjord says with a true note of fear to his voice, ‘or there is Jester at the front of the ship,’

Back of the ship, then, Beau’s brain immediately supplies. 

‘There’s a guilty face.’

‘Huh? What? Who?’

‘You.’ Beau scoffs, loudly, insincerely, and unconvincingly. Fjord looks pained for her. ‘I don’t know what is going on between the two of you,’

‘Nothing.’

‘- but whatever it is, sort it out.’ He gives her a little nudge with his elbow, nods toward Jester. It’s fate conspiring against her that Jester turns in that moment and catches them watching, catches Fjord pointing Beau toward her, because even at a distance Beau can see the way she turns hopefully toward her. And how she draws back, draws closer to herself, arms wrapping around her waist.

‘She looks like I’m gonna hit her or something,’ Beau mutters.

‘You should probably fix that.’

‘I don’t know how, dude.’

‘Maybe, and I don’t know how good of advice this is, but maybe - just putting it out there - you could try, oh I don’t know, talking to her?’ He laughs when Beau shoves at him, pretends that he didn’t actually get shoved several feet off-balance. ‘Go on. It’s not like we have anything else vital to do before we meet up with the other armada.’

She still has the book with her, Beau realises as she makes her way down the steps toward Jester. She still has the book and ink stains over her fingers and she knows she hasn’t washed her hair in days because they don’t have bathtubs on a boat, and she had picked up this book totally at random from the shelves of the Reserve but maybe, maybe, it has some kind of secret meaning in it and she can find whatever that meaning is in the two seconds before she makes it to Jester’s side. Beau has enough time to read the title once - The Accounts of Immutability and Invention - before she is standing beside Jester.

‘Hey.’

‘Hey,’ Jester says back, musters up a smile for her. 

The sea is flat and still, as flat and still as the sea gets, which is not so much like the mirror-glass stillness of a lake or pond but more like the slow and lazy breathing of a creature at rest, the water rising and falling and the boards of the ship still sometimes falling away from under her feet. Beau’s stomach lurches as the deck tilts again, and she rights herself with a shift of her feet, rolling with it. The air is still as well, the sails fallen slack. 

‘Did you know there’s a song to conjure wind?’ Beau blurts out. ‘It was discovered early in the Age of Arcanum by a human called Tarth Wavesinger and it’s thought to be one of the earliest recorded instances of music being used as a focus for magic.’

Jester frowns. Brushes her hair off from her face. ‘Like, a gust cantrip?’

‘Uh - yeah. Probably.’

‘That’s cool.’

‘Yeah.’ Beau swallows. Flicks her eyes to the ship most closely sailing by The Balleater, a small Dwendalian vessel. She can’t make out the name at this distance but pretends to be trying. 

‘Is that it?’

‘Huh?’

‘Is that all you wanted to say?’ Jester asks, and when Beau dares to sneak a look sideways at her, she sees that Jester is holding herself very still and her face is a performance in nonchalance.

‘Uh. Yeah. Yeah, I guess.’

Jester purses her lips. ‘Okay.’

For however displeased Jester is with her - Beau suspects mightily displeased - she doesn’t move away. And as the boat rocks underfoot and as the wind picks up, and falls, and the booms shift overhead as they tack into the fleeting wind, Beau thinks about Tarth Wavesinger singing their song and adjusting it minutely note by note until finally something answered. She wonders how many times she’s spoken to Jester; there have been hundreds of conversations between them now, easily, she knows. Nine hundred? Maybe. Not that it is a magic number or anything, or that she knows what she wants to conjure, or change, if indeed she did want anything to change. 

Well. 

That isn’t entirely true.

‘Are we okay?’

‘Are we?’ Jester shoots back with barely a breath between Beau finishing her question and her response. ‘You tell me.’

‘I’m gonna go with a no? Just...picking up on that...feeling.’

Jester whirls from the railing to stand face-on with Beau, staring at the side of her head until Beau also turns to face her. ‘Do you really think he’s predatory?’ Jester demands.

‘Oh. Shit.’

‘Well? He’s a god, Beau,’

‘I mean, he isn’t though.’

That was the wrong thing to say. That was definitely the wrong thing to say. Jester’s expression makes that abundantly clear. If there was anything between them that might have happened with this conversation, any fractured paths laid out as possibilities like a great wheel of a ship waiting to be directed, they are all pointing unerringly toward the singular option of Beauregard fucks up. 

‘Wow.’

‘That’s - it’s turning out, like, if there were degrees in which the whole situation could be so super shitty,’ Beau holds one hand out far to the left, ‘and like, the best possible options,’ she holds her other far out to the right, as far as her arm will extend with the book tucked between elbow and chest, ‘then, y’know,’ she tries to sound encouraging, tilting her head from one side to the other non-committedly, ‘it’s going not terribly.’

‘So you were basically lying when you said all you said about having chaos in your heart and following him wherever and liking the Traveller and him doing cool stuff and,’

‘I said I’d follow you. I don’t know the Traveller - Artagan,’

‘Traveller.’

‘Artagan,’ Beau says again, more firmly, and when she meets Jester’s eyes it is to see a gleam of hurt too profound for Beau to have been the entire cause of it. She lowers her hands to her sides, steps forward. ‘Jes,’

‘Don’t.’

Beau stops, hand frozen where she had gone to touch her friend gently on the elbow. Guilt claws in her chest. She looks back over her shoulder to Fjord, much too far away to hear anything and yet shaking his head, obviously able to pick up on the fact that she’s fucked it up again. 

‘Jester,’

She drops her head to her chest, hiding her face from Beau. 

‘Shit. Crap. Please don’t cry.’ Beau shuffles her things around, pulling the cloth belt from around her waist to offer to Jester. She tries not to regret it when Jester blows her nose forcefully into the cloth. ‘Okay. Uh - look - I’m an idiot and an asshole, we know that,’

‘Don’t make me disagree with you when I’m angry with you, Beau.’

‘Okay. Okay. You’re right. Okay. I - am not always...’ Beau pauses, considering her words carefully. ‘I have issues with authority, and dads, and sketchy corrupt figures who tell people to do things and who aren’t around to take responsibility for their actions. I think the people who take all the flak for that, the people who take the fall, the people who are fighting the wars on behalf of generals sitting behind their fucking desks and playing paper wars deserve better. And maybe I’m crossing ideas in my head that don’t need to be crossed and defending you when you don’t need to be defended, but I see this guy and I hear that he found you when you were a kid and I start thinking of all the shit that could have happened and about what he wants you to do for him now and - I think you deserve better,’ Beau tells Jester. ‘I think out of everyone in the world you deserve someone who deserves all of your trust and faith and,’

‘I love him, Beau.’ Jester shakes her head, sniffles. ‘He’s been my best friend forever and I know he’s not what I expected but...no one is. Right?’

Beau sighs. ‘I guess not.’

‘I think...the further away from mama and the Chateau I got, the more people I met, that’s what I keep finding out. That people lie all the time and they’re not who they say they are and they do good things and bad things. And the bad things they do...don’t erase the good things,’ Jester tells her. ‘The Traveller has been my friend for years and years and years and he’s saved my life and yours.’

‘Yeah.’

‘And so, okay, he’s not a god. He was a god to me, and he’s a god to a lot of people still, and maybe it isn’t great that he’s not actually a god and it’s kind of a lot and scary and maybe I’m hurt right now but...he is helping a lot of people with the lie. Lots of people made friends and had fun because of him. That’s not bad, is it?’

‘...No,’ Beau admits. ‘No, it’s not.’

‘So when you think about it that way, do you still think he’s a creep?’

Jester looks up at her with diamond across her skin and diamond motes of light in her eyes, and Beau knows this could be the moment - she could say no, say that she trusts the Traveller and Jester and that everything will be great, and Jester will forgive her and more importantly be happy again, and,

‘Yeah.’

Jester stares at her. ‘Oh.’

‘I don’t trust someone who doesn’t...’ Beau frowns heavily, trying to pick her words. It doesn’t fucking matter at this point, she’s lost Jester for good probably, but she still loathes the idea of hurting Jester worse than she already is, so she picks her words carefully. ‘I don’t trust someone who doesn’t at the core of themself...care. I know what that sounds like coming from me, I do, but Jes, so many things go wrong in this world because people don’t care about other people. And Arta- the Traveller said himself that the only thing that matters is what he wants, right in that moment.’

‘Right, but,’

‘What if,’ Beau suggests softly, ‘he decides one day that he wants to turn every one of his followers into a tree.’

‘That would be cool.’

‘I don’t think it would be. I’m a hundred per cent biased about it, but I don’t want you to be a tree, Jester.’

‘I’d make a pretty tree.’

‘You’d be lovely. But you wouldn’t be Jester. And I don’t know if he would find that fun, or if he could change you back, but if he wanted to do that to people - do you really, honestly think that he would ask first?’ Beau ducks her head, crouches a little, to try and catch Jester’s eyes with her own. ‘Do you think he would ask?’

‘I - yes. I’ve known him forever, Beau, you only just met him. He’s not bad,’

‘I don’t think he’s bad. But I also don’t think he’s good. And there’s a big grey area there that I’m not comfortable with. I’m sorry, Jes. I wish - I really wish I could tell you that I like him and that I’d follow him, I really, really do.’

‘But you won’t,’ Jester says, with a rueful twist of a smile. ‘Because it’s not true. And you never lie.’ There’s a bitter note to the words that stings like salt in a wound and Beau stares at Jester for a moment. She isn’t sure if she’s daring Jester to ask her something, or tell her something, or working up the courage to speak herself. She just keeps staring. ‘I think... I want to be alone for a bit,’ Jester says.

Beau swallows hard. Her mouth is dry, bone-dry and all she can taste is salt.

‘Okay.’

#cr tag #prompt fill #tagging my stories #cr spoilers #in the loosest sense of the tag honestly

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Look to the stars

What a beautiful starry night! The sky's a mix of lavenders, roses, and gold stardust clouds peeking through the darkness. That's right, it's the gemstone galaxy in all it's glory!

According to Hawk, this marvelous sight only occurs once every millennia so we gotta cherish every second of it! How lucky is it that Wolfgang and Ketchup built an astronomer's telescope for us to gaze into the wonders of space? It's one thing to see the gemstone galaxy in clear view, it's a whole 'nother experience seeing it up close through a fancy telescope!

At long last, the BFF squad is here. As soon as Hawk heard about the gemstone galaxy showing up around this area, he immediately got the others on board to come right over to the camp. It's been great having Kat, Hawk, Elara, AJ, and Micah here - especially with Hawk's enthusiasm about the gemstone galaxy!

The gang arrived a couple days ago and since then we've been chilling, doing fun camping stuff, and catching up. Elara and AJ are rowdy as usual, Breezy Hollow being their ideal place for a picnic date. They should come during a gyroid event or a scavenger hunt as that's something they'd totally dig - AJ likes climbing trees and getting into hard to reach places while Elara likes scavenging and collecting things. Speaking of gyroids, Daisy Jane and Hawk might be cooking up something for a future event...

In other news, Kat and Hawk are engaged! And so are Elara and AJ! Not surprisingly, they announced their engagements at the same time. No double wedding though - Kat and Hawk have a date in mind while the gals aren't planning to get hitched anytime soon. Micah pretends to be indifferent but we know he's a tiny bit excited now that Hawk's going to be his brother - not that he hasn't always been like one, but now it's official.

Both families have been going a bit crazy with the planning. Kat says her aunts have been bombarding them with questions while Hawk's dads keep bringing out the photo albums and memory books and making everyone emotional. At least Micah Sr.'s there to keep the others from going overboard, but Kat and Hawk can tell that he's a bit overwhelmed. That's partly the reason why they wanted to get married soon - to keep their families from being too hyped up.

Hard to believe that the next time I'll probably see Kat and Hawk, they'll be a married couple! They plan to have a traditional wedding, which includes a ceremony to induct Hawk into the Crescent Moon royal family as well as an unveiling of a new family portrait for the mural room. It's a lot to plan for in three and a half months but it's nothing they can't handle - not with pretty much everyone helping out in some way.

As for AJ and Elara, they're taking their sweet time. After all it took them over three years to finally confess their feelings - and before that they were going back and forth on whether they liked each other or not. Took them a long time, but now with their pasts far behind them, they can heal and forge a new future together.

On the first day the squad arrived it was close to evening so we hung out at Saltwater Shores to catch dinner and set up a bonfire barbecue. When it got dark we went stargazing, which was the perfect segue for Hawk to fill us in about the gemstone galaxy. Then Wolfgang and Ketchup brought up the astronomer's telescope and from there we began planning a watch party for the once in a lifetime phenomenon.

The next day we went hiking in the mountains, where AJ and Micah were messing around and ended up getting stuck on a dangerously high and narrow cliff. Elara tried to come to the rescue, only to end up dangling off a branch that broke and landed on top of Hawk. Kat ended up doing the rescuing via teleporting, which was tricky as they managed to get into a really tight spot so Kat had to land several feet away and reach for them in order to get them out before the rocks gave out.

Along the way we found some berries and later made some tarts and cupcakes for the stargazing party. Of course, we made them galaxy themed or else that would be a missed opportunity. It's good to see that Elara and AJ have improved their culinary skills - AJ's been into making cakes and is currently taking impromptu baking lessons from Kat and Micah's aunts and dad. Elara has never been big on using measurements and yet she manages to get it just right by eyeballing it or guesstimating. Kat's glad that they don't leave behind a tornado in the kitchen anymore while Micah's happy that their cooking's edible - both are major improvements.

After spending the day hiking at the mountains, we spent the next day sailing with Gulliver. We visited various islands to collect treats and treasures. By accident, Micah found a couple leaf ticket maps so that was a big win!  Leaf tickets are hard to come by so I'd be a fool to turn them down. While two couples went off for some alone time at Lovestruck Island, Daisy Jane, Micah, and I went for a swim at the waterfall.

Micah pretends to be annoyed by the lovebirds running off on their own while being left behind but I know he's happy for them. After all, he's the one who first hinted that Kat and Hawk were getting serious. Knowing him and Devi, they're planning a big surprise for the wedding - either which way it goes, it'll make for an unforgettable ceremony. Given how he's been putting on a performance for me and Daisy Jane with some new water spells he's been learning, I have a feeling that the surprise has something to do with the fountain at the castle courtyard.

While exploring Argyle Island we ran into Celeste and Blathers and got to talking about the gemstone galaxy. We also dug up some fossils, which got Blathers excited so we got to talking about those too. The Wizpire Museum's fossil wing is due for an update so it looks like we're gonna have a new exhibition! Now we're gonna have to explore more islands to find more fossils so that's gonna be fun to look forward to.

During midday we went back to the camp so Celeste can take a look at the astronomer's telescope and set up more equipment. Hawk and Wolfgang did some research at the cabin while Kat helped Daisy Jane with the decor. Elara, Blathers, Micah, and I tested all the telescopes, which was a lot of fun. Then we visited a few more islands before settling in Comet Island for another fun night of stargazing.

Today we hung around the camp, catching fish and bugs, harvesting fruit, and helping campers out. We also crafted some space themed stuff for the party while Hawk and Celeste tinkered around with an old telescope. AJ got started on baking cupcakes with Judy and Coco while Ruby and Ribbot made berry tarts. Blathers interviewed Kat and Elara for research - it's so cute seeing them so enthusiastic and curious towards each other. Elara always wanted to meet Blathers so it's a dream come true for her. Micah tagged along with me and Daisy Jane, running errands and packaging orders. So the camp has been buzzing with activity all day.

AJ later joined us on packing orders for Daisy Jane. Happy Floral Mail has been taking off with at least twenty orders pouring in a week. Daisy Jane's been working on a shop update where she'll introduce new products like memo pads, keychains, and enamel pins so she's in the process of finalizing many designs. At the rate the shop's continuing to grow, Almie might become her assistant by the end of the year!

By the time we were finished with the orders, the cupcakes were ready to decorate. Along with baking AJ's also taken up cake decorating, courtesy of Annie and Micah Sr. She even learned how to make Italian merengue buttercream, an impressive feat as I've heard it takes skill to make. To make it galaxy themed we added food coloring and star sprinkles.

Nightfall came and so did the gemstone galaxy. Hawk wasn't exaggerating about how beautiful the stars look. The view is simply breathtaking! I swear the moment the galaxy came into full view, the entire camp fell silent. It's been a few hours now so the sky's mostly black with gold, lavender, and rose clouds still peeking through the dark. I feel so lucky to experience such a wonder!

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble