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writteninthegarden · 2 years

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Buzzing During a Blizzard

NCIS Fic-Reader and Jimmy Palmer

Here’s a quick sit rep: Reader is Palmer’s roommate and moved into his apartment when his former roommate moved out. There’s a blizzard predicted on a Friday night, so reader and Jimmy get stir crazy and decide to make a game out of making mixed drinks out of whatever liquor they have in their apartment.

Timeline is a few months after my previous fic Day Off? No such thing. Career wise, reader is now pursuing a teaching job at FLETC.

MINORS DNI. This fic is 18+ due to content.

Of course, I do not own anything to do with NCIS. Their brilliantly created characters just live rent free in my mind and sometimes I get around to putting thoughts on paper.

Warnings: NSFW, 18+ ONLY, SMUT, descriptions of oral sex (male receiving), reference to oral sex (female receiving), alcohol consumption, but safely at home

With over a foot of snow predicted that Friday night, you and Jimmy were stuck in your apartment like most of the state. He made dinner after work like he normally did a few nights a week. Then the boredom overtook you both and you decided to start making mixed drinks with the random assortment of liquor you had on hand. Quickly, you realized that Jimmy’s science and accuracy in his work did not magically equate to him being a good bartender. The drinks were a tad strong and you guys were starting to feel them. However, there was nowhere for you to go so it wasn’t a big deal.

“I gotta lie down on the couch. Your heavy-handed pour is knocking me on my ass.”

Jimmy started to get up from where he was on the couch.

“You don’t have to move though. We can share. Here, put one of these pillows behind you.”

“Don’t you want one of those though?”

You settled yourself on the couch and he realized you planned on just leaning on him instead.

“Ah, I’m your pillow I see.”

You looked up at him then. “Is that okay?”

He smiled and said, “Sure.”

“Good because I just found my spot. You can lie down too. Get comfy, Palmy.”

“You realize we’d essentially be cuddling if I lie down too. This couch is only so big.”

“Mhm, and I’d also be warmer then.”

“Trying to use me for my body heat? Wow.”

“No, it’s not that. Your cooking is really good too…”

“Okay, fine. Since you’re laying on the compliments.” He moved so he was parallel to you and the back of your head now rested between his stomach and chest.

“Jimmy?”

“Yeah?”

“This is bound to come out wrong, but you smell nice for someone who is around dead bodies all the time.”

He laughed at that and you felt his body shake slightly from the laugh. “Thanks…I think. I shower a lot to make sure all of that stays at work.”

“Hah. I live with you, sir so I know all about your frequent showers. Wow, you’re just the complete package James Palmer…future MD.”

“You’ve done some impressive stuff yourself too, Y/N. Shouldn’t sell yourself short.”

“Thanks, Jimmy. That’s sweet of you. It’s so dumb, but sometimes I feel like none of that is enough for me on its own…if I don’t have someone…nevermind it’s so stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s like you’re excited to accomplish things, but most of all wish you had someone to share those moments.”

“Exactly. See, you get it.”

“Oh, I do.” Just then, you felt Jimmy’s fingertips begin to casually run up and down your arm very slowly.

You shifted in an attempt to move your head to a more comfortable spot, but he must’ve thought that was you telling him to stop.

“You don’t have to stop. I was just getting comfortable again. My head was slipping. That’s why I moved. That was kind of relaxing…what you were doing.”

“Yeah?” He asked softly.

You looked up at him and nodded while trying to read his eyes. You were completely unsure what was happening, but intrigued.

“Get comfortable then.”

“Okay” you whispered. Cautiously, you scooted yourself up higher on the couch next to him. Before you could debate it too long, you leaned in and rested your head on his shoulder. Your insides fluttered when he moved his left arm around your back and rested his hand on your left elbow that was resting on top of your hip. Of course, now that shifted his shoulder where your head was…so it was again your move. You weren’t sure where you found the courage, but you moved in closer to him and laid your head right on his chest this time. You smiled as you noticed you could now hear his heartbeat. It was such an oddly intimate position. Cuddling with your roommate?! The same roommate that you awkwardly made the point of clarifying that you moved in as a friend. Well, shit. you might be eating those words at a future meal.

“Better?” His voice was so soft and gentle in that moment. Jimmy in general is soft-spoken, but this was even softer if that makes any sense.

“Yes, very much so. How about you?” Good lord. One of you had to stop tap dancing around whatever in the hell was happening. You weren’t ready for it to be you…not yet at least.

“I have to admit this is nice.” He moved his hand from your elbow down to your hip.

“Oh, was my arm in your way I take it?”

“Yeah, but I worked around it.” He smiled down at you and you could’ve melted right there and then.

“So…it would appear we are essentially cuddling, just as you predicted.”

“Hmm, almost.”

“Almost?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, do you always cuddle with your arms crossed like a mummy?”

You hadn’t even realized you were doing that. “Hah. Oops. I guess maybe I’m nervous.” Crap, now you didn’t know what to do with your hands.

“I don’t want to make you nervous. Can I see one of your hands? I promise to give it back.”

“Sure, that seems like a good in between.”

You loosened your left hand in time to meet Jimmy’s right hand. You interlaced fingers and he brought your joined hands to rest on his stomach.

“Jimmy, can I ask you a question?”

“Anything. What’s on your mind?”

You looked up at him to find him looking down at you. God, you just had to do it. You reached up a little and placed the lightest kiss on his lips. He didn’t pull away, so you were bold enough to go in for another kiss. His lips met yours with excitement and you could feel his smile spread. That of course made you smile too.

“Was that your question?” He gently moved your hair back over behind your shoulder.

“I suppose it was…”

“Hmm, well you can ask me that question whenever you like.”

“How about right now?”

“Oh, I’d have to insist on right now.” He actually kissed you first this time, which made your lips tingle like when you just put on a new chapstick. You parted your lips slightly and was pleasantly surprised to feel his tongue tickle your bottom lip. You let him in and could taste the peppermint liquor you had added to whatever mixed drink you made up for Jimmy.

You couldn’t believe this was happening, but at the same time the last thing you wanted was for it to stop. Jimmy’s left arm pulled you in closer to his body. You wanted to roll right on top of him, but thought better of it in the moment. You needed to see what he was thinking before you risked spooking him.

Gently you pulled away for some air. He leaned to press a kiss on your forehead, which again just had you melting on the inside. In return, you massaged the top of his hand with your thumb.

“How is your skin so soft?” You whispered almost into his chest where you nuzzled myself back into.

“Well, don’t give away my trade secret, but there’s this thing called moisturizer I’ve found helps.”

“Jimmy Palmer with the skincare tips…I love it.”

“Yeah, it’s mainly all the gloves and extensive hand washing at work…and if we need to break out the hazmat suits, then boy that’s a whole other level of skin dryness.”

You gave him a look that said, maybe not now…

“I’m talking too much, aren’t I? Sorry. Enough about that.”

“It’s okay. You know I’ll listen to you talk about pretty much anything. Just right now I have other ideas. I can’t seem to remember if your lips were equally as soft. I believe they were…”

He smirked. “Oh, well…you should follow up on that hypothesis so you’ll know for sure.”

“I agree. Why don’t you sit up so I can test it from a different angle?”

Jimmy moved right up, almost as if he had wheels underneath him. He moved his legs to the floor and started to bring you up with him. You lifted yourself up the rest of the way on my own and swung one leg across his lap. You were testing the waters right into the deep end and sat yourself down to straddle his lap.

As you predicted, that was the point he finally called time out. You had to admit that for two people who always want to know the reason, purpose, and rationale for things in their life you were impressed to made it this far. He scooted back on the couch in order to move you to his mid-thigh instead of right on his crotch. Thankfully, he also moved his hands to one of your hips and back so you wouldn’t fall backwards.

“Sorry, I just need a minute. At the risk of ruining the moment, can we talk?”

“Of course we can. You’re not ruining anything. It’s the elephant in the room. I didn’t call it out because I didn’t want to stop.”

“Oh, trust me. I don’t want to stop either, but I had to once I felt you sit on top of me. Anatomically, I knew we were moments away from crossing an awkward line for two roommates.”

“You were going to get a boner if I stayed on top of you.”

“No, I’ve had a boner for a while.” He let out a mix between a laugh and a sigh. “It just would’ve become much more prominent to you sitting on top of it.”

“Hmm, I gave you a boner already?” You cleared your throat. “Sorry, I know I need to focus. Okay, umm…I realize I may have now changed my mind about only being roommates and friends.”

“That explains the cuddling and kissing…which I very much enjoyed.”

“Me too, which is both very exciting and confusing. I don’t have any answers right now, but I think I finally admitted to myself that I have feelings for you, Jimmy.” You sighed. “And in the spirit of honesty…I can admit that I’m attracted to you.”

It made you smile to see the slightly smug, but all the while genuine smile that spread across his face.

“Wow. It’s certainly exciting and confusing for me too. Y/N, I have feelings for you too, so it feels really good to hear you say that. Oh, and I definitely also find you attractive. While we’re being honest…I kind of had a slight crush on you since I met you, but once I knew you were seeing someone I worked really hard to stay platonic. Then once I knew it was Tony I think I worked even harder to stay platonic because I knew that would just be even more awkward.”

“Well, and then you were getting hot and steamy with Michelle practically everywhere. Ah, sorry. That was weird. Maybe we don’t specifically reference exes right now?”

“Deal. I think what I’ve realized looking back on it is that we both were seeing other people who it turned out couldn’t give either of us completely what we wanted.”

“True. Then we both became single and started spending more time together at home…and I think that’s slowly when it started to click for me.”

“Me too.” He took your hand in his and squeezed it. You squeezed back.

“Okay, I’m about to get cheesy so consider yourself warned. Jimmy, you’re one of the kindest and caring people I know. You’re a rare mix of a person who is incredibly book smart, but also so emotionally aware and considerate of your friends and family. If I may…you’re also very handsome and strong.”

“You never have to worry about being cheesy with me. You were one of the first close friends I made at NCIS. I’ve grown closer to the team now, which is awesome. Still, I know I’m quirky and you’ve always made me feel like I’m not annoying. Gosh, from the first time I met you I thought you were beautiful. Then I got to know you more and learned you’re so much more.”

“So, where do we go from here, handsome?”

“How about out on a date once this blizzard is over?”

“I like that idea…but what about in the immediate future?”

“I think you should come closer for that.”

“Okay, if you’re sure you can handle that…”

He pulled you in close and kissed you again. Wanting to again test the waters you grinded down on him and were rewarded with a groan. Just like he predicted, you felt him get hard right beneath you. You made a point to moan in his ear and then worked yourself around his clothed erection.

“Jimmy?” I whispered in his ear.

“Yes, beautiful?”

“I think we should take things slow.”

“Oh, okay, of course.” He slid his hands out from where they had just started to explore under your shirt.

“But I still want to tease the hell out of you tonight.” You knew you were confusing the poor man.

“Hmm, just remember that can work both ways.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.” You lifted yourself up and then back down on his erection.

“Troublemaker.”

“Hmmm, right now I want to see the trouble I’ve raised in your pants.”

Admittedly, not your best dirty talk... Thankfully he didn’t seem to mind.

“Can I take it out and play?”

“God, yessss.” He moaned in agreement.

You grabbed the waistband of his sweatpants and started to wiggle them down. On your own you didn’t get very far since he was sitting down, but he lifted up and slid them down to his thighs for you. Next, you ran your fingers along the waistband of his boxers and said, “I want these down too, handsome.”

When he slid them down his hard cock tapped against your pubic bone area before standing straight up.

“Hitting me with your cock?”

“Sorry, it got caught between the material when I-”

“That was really hot” you purred in his ear.

You enclosed just your fingertips loosely around the head of his dick and teased your way down his shaft.

“Ohhhh, god…that feels so good.”

“Mhm, and what about this?” When you reached the base of him you switched to a fuller tighter grasp and started jerking him.”

“Fuckkkkk…feels…yeah” he chuckled. “That feels even better.”

“Jimmy?”

For a few moments he could only seem to moan in reply. “Yes?” he finally found the word.

“Do you think I’d like the taste of your big hard cock? I really want to try it.”

Another moan. “Honey…baby, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”

“Uh, oh. Well, before that happens…” You ran your tongue up and down his shaft before swirling around his head. Then you took him in and thought his eyes rolled back in his head.

“I can’t last. You’ve got me so worked up. Should I finish on my stomach?” He looked down at you and then regretted now having the mental image in that moment.

“No, babe. Finish in my mouth. Please? I want to taste your cum…have it drip down my throat…every last warm drop you can give me.”

“Ohhh, god…” he grunted as he finished in your mouth as you instructed. You maintained the same suction until you knew he was finished. Then you swallowed and kissed your way all around his penis to keep gently touching him while you tried to help clean him up. Afterwards, you moved back up to sit next to him on the couch and he instantly pulled you over to rest against him.

“Hmm, my sexy sultry temptress, come over here. That was the best blowjob I’ve ever had…in case you couldn’t tell from the .02 seconds I lasted.”

“Well, that was partly because I teased you so much.”

“True, but that was also so damn hot. Oh, god…I just realized I never even took my shirt off.”

“I mean, you still could.” You innocently shrugged and Jimmy surprised you by doing that insanely hot move where guys pull their shirt off by just grabbing the back of it. Your insides sputtered a tad. You couldn’t help myself from running my hands down his muscular chest and abs. Oh, dear lord…those abs. You’d never forget the time you first learned of their chiseled existence. Jimmy was getting changed after he got home from work one night and much to your surprise went shirtless from his bedroom into the bathroom to grab something quickly. He was in and out and retreated to his bedroom to finish changing. Meanwhile, you were on our couch desperately trying to pick your jaw up off the floor before he came out of his room again. The damn scrubs he wore for work hid all that glory and wonder from the world.

You looked up to find him watching you explore his upper body with a satisfied smirk on his face. You figured your expression looked satisfied as well.

“Oh.” you giggled. “Sorry, had to touch your sexy body.”

Internally you could not believe out of all the words you had at your disposal in the English language to formulate into a sentence…those were the 7 you picked. A sentence that reads back like it could be included in an HR sexual harassment in service.

“Touch as much as you like, baby.” He kissed the top of your head. Wow, that permission had you feeling like you found a golden ticket in a Wonka bar. Hell, you was like Grandpa Joe leaping out of bed with Energizer Bunny energy. But part of you was still embarrassed, so of course you had to even the playing field.

“Don’t you mean honey baby?”

He smiled wide. “My brain wasn’t fully working in that moment. I wanted to use a pet name and then apparently forgot I had already said one out loud.”

“You know, I don’t mind it. It’s definitely unique.”

“Really? I’ll keep that in mind. I think I’m going to go lie down in my bed. Can I take you with me, honey baby?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to sleep already.”

“No. I just want some more space now that it’s my turn to play and touch that sexy body.”

“Mhmm, is it a problem that I’m a bit overdressed?”

“No, not at all” he whispered as he lightly kissed you. “I’ll help you strip down.”

Wow. Now it was your brain’s turn to explode.

You woke up the next morning in Jimmy’s bed with his arms tightly wrapped around you.

“Morning” you heard him mumble behind you. He slowly placed the lightest kisses up and down the back of your neck.

You remembered last night in great detail. Still, you somewhat couldn’t believe it. When you started to realize that Tony and you weren’t aligned for the long-term or a future together you were crushed. You grasped at anything to ignore or extend the expiration date on your time together. When there was no more kidding it was over, you tried your best to hide it and often that meant closing yourself off to sulk privately. Through all of that, Jimmy was right here. You wanted things with Tony to work so badly that you never saw it.

Now you did and hopefully weren’t going to waste it. You turned around in his arms and snuggled into his chest.

“No good morning yet. I just want to stay right here for a little bit longer.”

“I can work with that.” He pulled you in closer.

“Is this actually happening?”

“Yup, I’m a snuggler. Get used to it.” He pulled you in closer then, as if to further illustrate his point.

You kissed his warm chest and giggled.

“Oh, trust me. That’s not a surprise. I meant…this. You and I. Us.”

“I really hope so. Nothing would make me happier.” You’d heard him speak softly to you before, but this was even softer. Pillow talk soft, you supposed.

“Me too. I like you, Jimmy.” You looked up so you could gaze into his eyes as you said that. It felt good to say it out loud. Admitting it was still new, but you didn’t mind the practice.

“I like you more, Y/N.” His smile after he said that.

“Impossible.”

Impossibly, that moment was interrupted by Jimmy’s phone ringing.

“Tell me that can’t be Ducky.” you whined.

Jimmy hopped out of bed and ran to his dresser to grab a pair of boxers.

“Well, it can’t be Ducky. That’s the ringtone I set for when Gibbs calls.”

You pulled the blanket up over your chest, as if Gibbs could see you through the ringing phone.

“Aren’t you going to answer him?”

“Yup, but I really try to take work calls with pants on.” Jimmy reached for his phone and answered.

Hmm, that’s valid you thought to yourself.

#ncis #jimmy palmer #jimmy palmer x reader #smut

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introloves · 4 years

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i saw you mention destroying virgin hinata,,,,,pls elaborate. i didn’t realize i needed that in my life but omg. head full many thoughts

omg my first drabble for hinata, lets see if i can do this sunshine justice bc brazil hinata lives rent free in my head so we going with big muscle, sun-kissed hinata for this one hehe (ALSO OOPS THIS GOT KINDA LONG SORRY!) also this is for f! reader!

he felt guilty, hinata felt absolutely guilty looking at you like he wanted to devour you.

the way your thighs looked beneath the dress you wore, your soft skin, you looked supple and beautiful.

you were perched on his couch, legs crisscrossed, comfy around your boyfriend.

“sho?”

“y-yeah?” you giggled at the way he seemed to be absolutely out of it.

“you’ve been staring at me for a long time, you okay?” the tips of his ears flushed red, he looked away swiftly, unable to meet your gaze.

“yeah! its just...” he exhaled, steeling himself, “you look good.”

hinata pinned you with a stare you’ve only seen him sport during volleyball.

oh.

this time you ran hot with his gaze, your hand came up to block him from view while you basically simmered into the couch.

he was on you in no time, prying your hands away, he thought that he had made you feel bad. you quickly dismissed his claims. explaining to him just how intense he could look.

by this point he was well aware of the feelings simmering in his stomach, no one had ever made him feel like you did. you made him feel like a man, so far his life practically evolved around volleyball, he just recently squeezed you in. you had been quickly taking a larger part of his heart, and as he hovered over you, wrists still in his hand, he realized that he was aroused.

he felt gross at the thought, you weren’t doing anything particularly sexual, just the way your skin looked presented so pretty for him made his baser instincts flare.

your eyes formed half moons as you smiled brightly up at him, still in a playing mood you shook free of his grasp, wrestling your much stronger boyfriend down beneath you.

your dress had hitched itself even higher as you perched on his lap not caring about flashing your undies at him, hinata always made you feel safe and you weren’t a very modest person anyways.

he squeaked as you settled right on top his dick, which was growing with need, throbbing at the heat currently situated right atop it.

“s-stop you shouldn’t-“ he squeaked out, your eyebrows furrowed at the sudden change in attitude he had.

“shouldn’t what?” you asked, leaning forward to try and lock your gaze with his. he jumped, hands coming to clamp down on your waist.

ohh.

your eyes widened at the realization, he was hard against you.

he made a move to tug you off him, but you placed a hand on his forearms.

“l-let me... help you.”

he was your boyfriend after all, this was something boyfriend and girlfriends did.

those words like a punch to the gut, he was sure he was going to cum embarrassingly fast with how just your words affected him.

he nodded, releasing a breath he didnt know he was holding as you smiled... and began rocking your hips against him.

there was no soft build up, he quickly blinked in awe at the feeling of your cunt dragging over his dick.

his hands kept a bruising grip on your waist, biceps bulging with the restraint of ‘dont cum, dont cum, dont cum’ playing over and over in his head.

your own pants lingered in the air as his dick provided the hardness you needed to get off, there was little barrier between your undies (which were soaking... much to hinatas pleasure) and him.

hinata had never felt like this, the fantasy of a woman’s heat so close to him paled in comparison to you rocking against him. his toes curled, his own hips rocking up to meet you.

he couldnt keep up, this was too much too soon for him. he didnt wanna cum in his pants like a teenaged boy. he was ashamed at how little expirience he had, but he still wanted to make you feel good.

you sped up suddenly, wanting to see how he’d react to your teasing, but it felt like his world was tilting on its axis.

he stopped you, mustering all the strength he could to keep you still above him.

“s-stop! stop... please stop.” he cried.

“you dont wanna?” you huffed, struggling to keep your undulating hips still. hinata groaned out a painful noise, he ran a hand through his vibrant hair in frustration, and embarrassment. how was he going to tell his absolute sexy girlfriend he was twenty something and still a virgin.

with a deep breath he managed to stutter out a coherent sentence.

“i’m a virgin.” the words hung heavy around him, he sat there once again unable to meet your gaze.

you shuddered at the confession, it was like a switch had flipped. you once again moved against him and hinata all but choked at the feeling of your cunt work yourself over him.

“i’m going to ruin you.” you rasped out, hands coming up to cup his face as you held him against you while your mouth clashed against his.

“fuuuck.” he groaned at your words, his head thrown back agaist the couch to breathe, disconnected from your kiss for just a second.

you were going to ruin him? those words played over and over, he pondered the thought before he realized he wanted you to ruin him.

he nodded, unable to speak, his tongue heavy in his mouth.

you made quick work of his pants, moving his boxers down his thighs.

your eyes roamed up his dick, it was so pretty. it was pale and much bigger than what you had thought, you knew it was going to give you a good burn once you sunk down onto it.

it was your turn to let out a fucked out noise and hinata ate it up, swallowing hard at the way you regarded him.

“all good?” he questioned, nervous at having someone else look at him like this.

“oh shoyo, its better than good. you have such a nice cock.”

and with that you move your panties to the side, once again hinata tenses at the look of your dripping pussy. he moans unabashedly at the sight, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as you begin sheating yourself onto him.

hes never felt anything so tight, his eyes wide as he stares up at you in awe.

you thought you’d hold up better than you were currently, maybe it was because it was shoyo filling you up, or because of the position you were in made him reach inside you extra deep, whatever it was you panted like a dog in heat.

“sthat okay?” you slurred and he could do nothing more than nod, eyes tightly closed. his hips jerked beneath you, twitching.

you bit your lip at the jolts, knowing he wasnt going to last long.

“i’m already close. i’m sorry, im so sorry.” he whines, and you quickly shut him up.

“shh.” you coo, starting a slow pace up and down his cock.

“youre doing so good, youre doing so good for me.” you whine, choking on the way he felt against you... fuck maybe you were going to cum.

however that thought is short lived as you impale yourself onto him, over and over.

“fuck! i’m cumming! i’m cumming!” he babbles, taking a hold of you and pushing you down on him, you let him, you let him use you for the time being while he cums hotly inside you.

hinata jerks with the force of his release, cumming harder than he ever as.

you do nothing but coo above him,

“there you go, cum for me.”

he’s dizzy with your words and the way you clench around him to prolong his release.

hes well spent by the time he finally stops painting your pussy white with his cum.

there’s a minute of reprieve, just breathing against you until he gasps as he realizes just exactly what happened.

he grabs you unexpectedly. pushing his nose right between your boobs, laughing.

“youre my first!” he laughs, the type of laugh that comes deep within his stomach.

“and you just made me cum so hard.” he holds you tight, hands roaming your back, squeezing your ass slightly.

you laugh with him, heart so very light because with hinata everything is so easy.

“you know i’m going to pay you back for that right?” you make no noise, still processing what he means by that statement- until he makes a show of pistoning his softening cock in and out of you, making an absolute mess, his cum and your slickness dripping down his balls, slickening your thighs, making you squelch against it all.

you pant, worried about your pussy as you remember his insane stamina.

“w-what a second shoyo! you need to wait, aren’t you still sensitive?” you question, and he pins you with another intense gaze.

“whats that gotta do with anything?” he deadpans.

he had the gaze of a predator now, as you looked up at you between your tits.

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wistfulcynic · 4 years

Text

Their Way By Moonlight: Broken (Chapter 16)

In which the chapter title says it all, really.

For @thisonesatellite and @ohmightydevviepuu and @katie-dub, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID 😘😘😘 (and shoutout to @winterbythesea for filling the gaping holes in my video game knowledge)

SUMMARY: A new curse has fallen on Storybrooke and this time Emma is trapped inside it, deliberately separated from Henry and anyone else who might help her break it. But what no one knows –including her own cursed self– is that she and Killian have the ability to share their dreams, and are working together in secret to find a way to break the curse and free everyone from a new and dangerous foe.

Rating: M

AO3

Broken:

All her life Emma had loved to sleep, but she wasn’t the biggest fan of naps. Sleep, to her, involved putting on comfy, loose clothing, making the room as dark as possible, burrowing into her pillows and blankets and letting oblivion wrap her in its soothing embrace for at least eight hours, preferably more. Obviously, those perfect conditions didn’t happen often, but still a girl could dream.

Naps, she felt, were like fast food sleep. They met her most immediate needs but left her feeling heavy and groggy and a bit gross. Exactly the way she was feeling now. She peeled one sticky eyelid open and groped for her phone, groaning when she saw the time. Ten past six. She’d slept for over two hours, and Neal would be here in less than one. Rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands, she tried to force her foggy mind to focus.

A burst of triumphant laughter sounded from the living room, followed by a dramatic groan.

“Right, you’ll pay for that,” snarled Killian’s voice.

“Oh yeah?” Henry crowed in reply, “Who’s gonna make me?”

Emma heaved herself up out of bed and went to the curtain that separated her and Killian’s bedroom area from the main part of the apartment. She peeked around it and grinned at the sight that met her eye. Henry and Killian were on the sofa, controllers in hand, playing what was apparently a very hotly contested game of Battlefront II.

She thought back to when Killian had first begun attempting to play video games with Henry in New York, hampered by his missing hand and his general bafflement as to why anyone would want to sit for hours in front of a flickering screen, shooting imaginary bolts of light at each other. He seemed to have gotten over that in the past year, she thought, and now with his modern prosthetic he was able to manage the controller and navigate the game deftly enough that Emma had a sneaking suspicion he might be letting Henry win.

Although, she thought, as Henry racked up another kill, pumping his fist as his character respawned into Han Solo and Killian’s eyebrows snapped together indignantly, maybe not.

She pushed aside the curtain and went to sit on the arm of the sofa next to Killian, who flashed her a brief smile before returning his attention to evading Henry’s digital assault on him.

“Hey, guys,” she said, unable to resist letting her fingers sift through Killian’s hair. She still found it difficult to go too long without touching him. “Who’s winning?”

“The lad has a temporary advantage,” Killian replied grudgingly.

“Temporary my ass.”

“Language,” Killian rebuked, and Henry snorted.

“That’s rich coming from Mister oh bloody hell,” he retorted.

“Perhaps, but when you swear in front of your mothers I get the blame.”

Emma chuckled and Killian paused the game, looking up at her with the soft, adoring smile that never failed to make her weak. “How are you feeling, love?” he asked. “Rested?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She shrugged. “Kinda groggy. Do you think I have time for a shower before Neal gets here?”

“Aye, a quick one.”

“And you don’t need me to help with anything?” Emma looked around the apartment. It was as neat and tidy as ever, the way Killian always kept things.

“No, everything’s prepared for dinner, it just needs cooking. Go have your shower, then Henry and I should probably freshen up too.”

“What? I’m fresh!”

“Your mouth is, perhaps,” said Killian, quick as a flash. “But as this is meant to be a nice meal, please indulge me by putting on a shirt that isn’t covered in dog hair.”

“Ugh, fine.” Henry rolled his eyes but couldn’t suppress a grin. Neither could Emma.

“What about that nice grey one I got you?” she suggested.

“Mom, I outgrew that like six months ago.”

“Oh.” The little flare of loss and regret was familiar now, but no less sharp. “Okay.”

Killian squeezed her knee sympathetically. “It has been replaced by another nice grey one, however,” he said. “Which I happen to know is clean and ironed and hanging in your room. Wear that.”

“Fine,” sighed Henry. “Can I finish kicking your arse at Battlefront first, though?”

“You can try,” said Killian.

They were making dinner together.

Mary Margaret knew it was happening, she was here, she was experiencing it. She could smell the rich aroma and hear the sizzle of frying onions, could hear the rhythmic sound of knives on a chopping board as she and David sliced mushrooms and minced carrots. Hell, she was the one doing the mincing. But she still couldn’t quite believe it.

It had been David’s idea. When they finished their lunch at Granny’s that afternoon he’d walked with her back to her office, as slowly as they could get away with, then lingered even longer by the door.

“This was fun,” he said. “I had fun. Did you?”

The thread of uncertainty in the question squeezed Mary Margaret’s heart and set her mind racing. What if—she could barely entertain the thought—what if David felt as she did? What if he wanted the same things? What if he was just as unsure of her as she was of him?

What if—this was the scariest what if of all—what if she actually told him what she wanted? That’t she’d like to give their marriage a real shot?

What would happen then?

“I did,” she replied, slightly breathlessly. “A lot of fun.”

David’s smile widened. “We should do it again.”

“We should,” she agreed, as her heart raced faster.

“Like tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah.” David nodded eagerly. “Let’s eat together tonight. Let’s make dinner.”

“Make dinner? I can’t cook!”

“Me neither. It’ll be fun. Half raw and half burnt maybe, but, you know—” his eyes seemed to bore into her “—ours.”

“Ours,” she repeated, wishing she could draw some air into her lungs. “Okay.”

“Okay?” he echoed.

She nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay.” His smile was so soft, his eyes warm. “I’ll get some stuff. Ingredients and things, and I’ll—see you at home.”

Home, thought Mary Margaret, letting her eyes caress his ass as he headed back down the street, then jerking them away when she realised what she was doing. Maybe they could actually have one.

And so now here they were, standing next to each other in their kitchen, chopping vegetables and browning meat in an attempt to make spaghetti.

“Shouldn’t be too hard, right?” said David, opening an old cookbook he’d unearthed from the back of a cupboard. “We just follow the instructions.”

They browned their meat and added their veggies and a can of tomatoes, several pinches of herbs and a generous glug of wine. The aromas were amazing and the kitchen warm and steamy and Mary Margaret took off her cardigan, draping it over a chair, and when she turned back David was watching her, his gaze hot and almost tangible on her bare arms. She caught her breath and he seemed to catch himself, his eyes flying to hers, their gazes catching and holding, lingering as they began to move towards each other, slowly as if in a dream, drawn by the tug of attraction they could no longer ignore. David’s fingers gently traced her cheek and hers gripped his shoulders, and when their lips touched—so softly at first then harder, growing desperate—it felt right and natural and like coming home, and also sent the sharpest spike of lust through Mary Margaret’s belly that she could ever remember feeling.

She couldn’t remember it, yet it was so familiar. This was familiar. David’s lips on hers, the silky slide of his hair between her fingers, the breadth of his shoulders, the firm comfort of his arms around her making her feel safe and treasured. Loved.

Then his hands slid over her hips to cup her ass and all she could feel was the frantic certainty that if she didn’t get him naked, right now, she would die. She sank her nails into his shoulders and rolled her hips against his, swallowing his moan and adding her own as he hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and then—

“Wait—wait,” Mary Margaret gasped, tearing her mouth from his. She was still a sensible woman, no matter how lust-drenched she felt, and just enough of that sense remained to remind her not to burn the kitchen down. She leaned over and turned off the burner beneath the bubbling spaghetti sauce, then wrapped her arms tightly around David’s shoulders and kissed him fiercely, telling him with her lips what she couldn’t put into words. What she felt for him, and everything she hoped that they could be.

When they broke apart he stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time, like she was his sun and moon and stars and everything in between.

“Mary Margaret,” he breathed. “I want—”

“Me too,” she gasped against his mouth. “Me too. Let’s—upstairs?”

The icy blue of his eyes had never been so hot. “Fuck yes,” he said.

That evening Archie returned to the small, draughty room he rented in the boarding house where most of the mine workers lived. His body felt as exhausted as it always did after a double shift, his mind as fallow. He collapsed onto the small sofa that doubled as his bed with a sigh and let his head fall into his hands and his eyes fall shut.

The cushion beside him shifted and sagged as Pongo leapt onto it, his tail swishing across the threadbare cover. Archie looked down at the dog with a faint smile that grew wider as Pongo covered his chin with sloppy kisses then settled down to rest his head in Archie’s lap, gazing up at him with warm brown eyes full of trust. Trust, and love. Archie’s heart swelled in his chest and the worst of his exhaustion seemed to lift, lightened as all burdens are by the presence of a friend. Tears prickled behind his eyes as he stroked Pongo’s silky head.

“Good boy, Pongo,” he said. “That’s my boy.”

“Your love does not see them. He sees you.”

Oisín’s words rang in Regina’s ears as she stood examining her reflection in the mirror in the loft’s small bathroom. Carefully she applied another coat of lipstick then brushed a tiny crumb of mascara from beneath her eye. She’d managed to resist the urge to put her glamour spell back on but not the one that had drawn her into the market on her way home from Emma and Killian’s to pick up a stash of land-without-magic cosmetics. It was all well and good to talk about trusting people with the truth of her appearance but did have standards, after all, and no intention of going on a date with nothing whatsoever on her face.

She gave herself a final once-over just as a knock sounded at the door and took a deep breath to quell the butterflies in her belly. It didn’t work, not even a little, and they fluttered more frantically than ever as she went to open it.

Robin—no, John, she reminded herself firmly—smiled when he saw her, a smile that had warmed and softened considerably over the past few weeks.

You look lovely, Regina,” he said, producing a bouquet of wildflowers from behind his back and offering them to her, almost shyly. She caught her breath. He’d brought her flowers before, many times during their slow, cautious courtship, but always from the florist. Tasteful, professional arrangements that a banker would choose, nothing at all like this handful of blooms he’d clearly picked himself.

“Where—where did you get these?” she asked, taking them from him and breathing deeply, barely stopping herself from burying her face in them.

“Ah.” He looked a bit abashed. “From the woods. If you don’t like them—” He reached for the bouquet but she snatched it back, cradling it to her chest.

“I love them,” she said. “They’re just… different from the ones you brought before.”

“Indeed. It was the most peculiar thing,” he explained, stepping into the loft as she held the door for him and following her to the kitchen where she took out a vase and filled it with water. “Every morning I go for a run, as you know. Always around town, along the same route. But this morning—I don’t know what it was but I just felt the need to get out of civilisation, into nature.” He shook his head wryly. “I’d barely had that thought when I found myself jogging down the road that cuts through the forest on its way out of town. I was feeling brighter than I had in some time, lighter somehow, and then I noticed a footpath leading off the road and into the trees, and on a whim I followed it. It led through some dense trees and then opened into a little clearing with a tiny rock pool surrounded by the most stunning wildflowers.” He caught her eye and smiled. “They reminded me of you.”

Regina flushed with pleasure at the casual sincerity of the compliment and returned her attention to her flowers, arranging them in the vase and admiring their colours in the fading glow of the evening light.

“So I took note of the location and went back there just now to collect some for you,” he concluded. “Do you really like them?”

“They’re beautiful,” she replied, looking up again to see he had moved closer to her—so close—close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek and hear the hitch in it, see his pupils dilate as he too became aware of just how close they were.

They’d seen each other nearly every day since she’d asked him to lunch, sharing coffee and meals and conversation but only rarely touching. Touches between them when they did occur were gentle, restrained. Cautious.

(“Regina,” said Emma, coming up behind her as she stood by Granny’s outer gate, watching Robin return to work after their first lunch date. “I’m really glad you’re happy. But… don’t forget he’s cursed, okay?”

“As if I could,” snapped Regina. “It’s kind of obvious in the way he doesn’t remember me.”

“That’s not really what I meant.” Emma shuffled her feet, her face the picture of both deep discomfort and grim determination.

“Well what did you mean?”

“Just that he—he doesn’t have control of himself. He can’t make decisions like he would if he weren’t cursed.”

Regina frowned. “Are you saying that un-cursed he wouldn’t be interested in me? Because I can assure you—”

“No! That’s not—look—” Emma crossed her arms over her chest, clutching her jacket sleeves so hard her nails left grooves in the red leather. “Don’t sleep with him, okay?” she burst out, flushing at Regina’s outraged glare but barreling on. “I know it’s none of my business and believe me, I really don’t want to be talking about it, but just—don’t. Cursed people can’t consent, and—” she took a deep breath “—I know that’s something my parents had to deal with after the first curse.”

Regina scowled, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the twinge of guilt that needled at her. She’d cursed Snow and Charming to those lives with full intent to hurt them as much as she could, and while she wasn’t precisely sorry for it her own recent experiences had given her a new perspective on what she’d put them through.

Things between her and Robin hadn’t exactly been friendly when the curse struck the Enchanted Forest, and while she’d had a whole year to think about that he had not. She’d spent those moments of the past year that weren’t consumed with her fear for Henry’s safety thinking about Robin and the way she’d treated him, wondering what might have happened if she’d been less scared, if she hadn’t let that fear make her so snappish and bitchy to him. Emma was right. Un-cursed, Robin might not wish for her to touch him.

That thought hurt far worse than she’d expected.)

But she wasn’t thinking about that now, not with him so close and leaning closer… not when her heart was pounding and her breath short… not when his lips touched hers and she just… melted into the kiss. Melted into him, unable to think of anything now but how right this felt, how right they felt, and how profoundly she wished she hadn’t fought against it for so long. She felt consumed by him, by them and by this moment, and neither Emma’s words of caution nor her own regret, nor even the ominous shifting and creaking of the magic in the air around them could pull her attention away from it.

When Belle arrived home she carefully removed the books Killian had lent her from their bag and placed them on the small table in her living room, taking a moment to let her fingertips trail over them, across the cloth bindings and the leather ones, tracing the titles and the authors’ names, and the illustrations on their covers. They all looked so fascinating she couldn’t wait to dive in and lose herself in the tales they carried within their bindings. And she knew exactly where she would begin.

(“It’s an adventure tale,” Killian explained as he handed the book to her, his eyes twinkling at the way hers widened and her hands trembled with eagerness. “A heroic quest to rescue a prince and reunite true loves.”

“Ohhh,” Belle breathed. “That sounds wonderful.”

“I figured you might like it,” Killian’s grin was warm. “I can tell already that you have excellent taste.”)

Belle made herself tea in her favourite cup, the one she saved for the most special occasions, and carried it carefully to her sofa, curling her legs beneath her and tucking a fluffy blanket around them, and a plump pillow behind her back. She sipped the brew with a contented sigh, and then she opened her book.

Neal Cassidy was no stranger to disappointment. It was always there, clinging to him like the smell of stale cigarette smoke he carried home with him each night from the Rabbit Hole, harsh and acrid and never wholly gone even when his clothes were freshly washed. The disappointment was the same, ever present, hovering in a cloud around his head, wherever he was, for as long as he could remember.

He’d had dreams once. At least, he thought he had. He must have, everyone did. He’d had dreams and he’d had a family—or at least he’d had a father, though he could barely remember the man, no more than a hazy impression of a hunched form and a plaintive voice.

I love you, son.

But that was a long time ago, impossibly long it sometimes felt, lifetimes ago. He was alone now, and had been for—well, for as long as he could remember. He worked as a janitor because he could do no other job, he drank alone because that’s what everyone did in Storybrooke. Each night the Rabbit Hole was silent but for the blaring music that was always on its speakers, patrons scattered throughout the dingy room, staring into their drinks and pretending the rest were somewhere else. Possibly pretending they were.

He worked as a janitor at the town hall, every day the same, sweeping and mopping and scrubbing, always under the sharp eyes of Mayor Green. Eyes that watched him more closely than a mayor really ought to watch a janitor, and with a smug, triumphant gleam that made him itchy and uncomfortable.

And then one day Mayor Green was gone, replaced by Mary Margaret Nolan. Deputy Mayor Nolan with tentative determination in her eyes, who greeted him with a kind smile and didn’t watch him as he worked, and who one astounding day had called him into her office to inform him that he owned the pawn shop.

(“It belonged to your father, apparently,” she said, “and he left it to you. I’m sorry I only found the records yesterday, they must have gotten lost. But the pawn shop is yours, and if you’d like to open it again, well, more business in town wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

“Um.” Neal’s head was spinning. He didn’t know the first thing about running a business. And yet… “Yeah, sure. I can try.”

When he unlocked the pawn shop the next day it was dark and dusty, with that stale smell places get when they’ve gone too long without exposure to fresh air. Neal stood in the doorway feeling the full weight and scale of the task that lay before him and how very poorly equipped he was to tackle it. He was seriously considering locking the place back up and never thinking of it again when a voice spoke behind him.

“Hi,” it said. “Are you gonna open this place?”

Neal turned. He didn’t recognise the boy—not surprising as he didn’t recognise most people in town—but his bright, cheerful expression lightened Neal’s heart and gave it an odd twinge.

“Uh, yeah,” he replied. “I’m gonna try. I guess.”

“Cool!” exclaimed the boy. “Can I help?”

Neal frowned. “Shouldn’t you be in school or something?”

“It’s Saturday.”

“Oh yeah.” Neal didn’t know much about kids but he was pretty sure this one was still a bit young to be going around talking to strangers. “Um, where are your parents?” he asked.

“My dad’s at work,” the boy replied, like he was expecting just that question. “He owns a bookstore.”

“He does?”

“Yep. I helped him get it set up, so I know what needs to be done. I could help you too.” He shrugged. “You know, if you want.”

Neal kind of did want. He wasn’t sure just how much help the kid could actually be, but just the idea of having someone around, of not having to do everything by himself, made the weight on his shoulders seem lighter. Still, a kid he didn’t know… “You sure your dad wouldn’t mind?” he hedged.

“He won’t,” said the boy decisively. “But I can call him if you like, to be sure.” Again he sounded like he’d been expecting exactly this development. Neal’s frown deepened. He wondered if he was being played somehow, though he couldn’t imagine how or why.

“Yeah, why don’t you do that,” he said. Let this play out, at least.

The boy took out his phone and tapped on its screen, then held it to his ear. “Hey, Dad,” he said. “I’m at the pawn shop. Yep.” His eyes flitted to Neal’s face and then away. “There’s this guy who’s gonna get it open again and I offered to help him but he wanted to be sure it’s okay with you… uh huh… yeah… okay.” He looked up at Neal. “My dad wants to talk to you.”

“Oh. Um, sure.” Neal took the phone from the boy. “Hello?”

“Hello,” said a voice, a deep, smooth, accented one that gave Neal another odd twinge, less pleasant than the one inspired by the boy. The voice was friendly, but it made Neal tense, his fingers flexing on the boy’s phone. “I hope my son isn’t troubling you,” it said.

“No.” Neal had the oddest urge to contradict everything this voice said. “He’s not.”

“Good. He sometimes lets his enthusiasm overwhelm his common sense. If he’s bothering you, feel free to send him away.” The voice was light and careless and Neal bristled at its lack of concern for the kid’s feelings.

“He’s not bothering me.” Neal glanced at the boy, who was listening intently.“He offered to help, and actually I could probably use it.”

“Excellent.” There was a hint of amusement in the voice now that Neal found deeply objectionable. He scowled. “Well, let me know if he causes you any trouble,” the voice continued.

“Sure thing,” said Neal shortly, and handed the phone back to the boy before he snapped and said something much longer. The boy took it back with a bright grin. “So I can stay?” he asked. He listened for a moment, then sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know. Okay. Okay, bye!” He ended the call and stuck the phone in his pocket. “I’m Henry,” he said, holding out his hand. “Henry Jones.”

Neal took the hand, feeling that twinge again as the small fingers wrapped around his own. “Neal Cassidy.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr Cassidy,” said Henry. “So, where do we start?”)

Henry Jones turned out to be just as enthusiastic as the voice had warned, bright and cheerful and actually very knowledgeable about running a shop. As was his dad, Neal discovered, when the man arrived later that day to pick up his son. Neal had ignored the funny twist in his gut at the sight of them hugging and forced a smile as the man—Killian, as he introduced himself—cheerfully inspected their progress and answered a lot of the questions Henry hadn’t been able to, and even some Neal hadn’t thought of yet. And Neal found himself taking the man’s number, almost gratefully, and even calling it, just once or twice, whenever he hit a snag he hadn’t anticipated.

Though he liked Henry very much Neal had weirdly mixed feelings about Killian Jones. He couldn’t seem to quell the hostility he felt deep in his gut whenever they met, the twisting anger and resentment that at most times simmered low but at others flared so high they licked right at the edge of hate. This despite the fact that the man was never anything but perfectly nice and helpful and by all appearances the kind of loving father Neal wished like hell he could remember. He tried to like Killian, he almost liked him. But that gut reaction was too troubling to ignore.

And that was how he came to find himself at ten minutes before seven p.m. walking straight past the Rabbit Hole and towards the harbour, turning down the small street where he could see the sign for Jolly Roger Books hanging from a wrought iron hook above the shop’s wide doorway, swinging gently in the chilly evening breeze.

Neal set his jaw and rang the bell, and a minute later Henry’s cheerful face appeared. “Come on in, Mr Cassidy!” he said, pulling the doors open. “You’re right on time.”

It was a typical night at the Rabbit Hole. The bar’s interior was smoky and dark though the sun was still in the sky outside, adorned with neon signs in precisely the wrong colours and a ceaseless blare of music from the speakers. Not bad music, not exactly, but bleak and melancholy and a strain on the ears, and just loud enough to make conversation impossible, should anyone wish to converse.

Generally, no one did.

A handful of patrons sat at random around the dark and grimy room, staring into their drinks or off into space, not looking at each other, not so much as a civil nod. This was not the place for civility.

It was a typical night and no one expected otherwise, none there hoped for any more or less from their drinking place or from their lives.

And then the music stopped.

It stopped abruptly, with no hiss of interference or record scratch, just silence that fell with the grace of an anvil and was in itself so deafening that it took a moment for those present even to register the change.

The town records clerk was first to notice, rousing from his reverie and frowning as he looked around, his eyes meeting the confused gaze of the librarian sitting one table over to his left.

“What happened?” he asked.

The librarian shrugged. “Maybe it’s broken?”

“Wouldn’t be a bad thing if it was,” said the clerk, and the librarian snorted.

“Maybe they’ll switch it for something good,” another voice chimed in, this one belonging to a man the clerk vaguely recognised. Did he work for the bank? No… the insurance company, maybe?

“Let’s hope so,” the librarian agreed.

“I hope so,” said a fourth voice from behind the clerk’s right shoulder. “If I never hear that whatever-stank again it will be too soon.”

“Hoobastank,” supplied the librarian, and they all groaned.

“Even the name’s bloody awful,” said the clerk, and the other men all nodded their agreement, sliding their chairs ever so slightly closer as they did, drawn by the unifying power of a shared grievance.

On the other side of the bar a similar conversation was occurring.

“Finally, I can hear myself think,” growled Leroy, still glaring at his beer like it had done him a personal wrong, but doing so in peace and quiet at least.

The man down the bar to his left sneezed, startling the man down the bar to his right, who had been dozing into his mudslide. “What?” said the sleepy man. “Wha’s happ’nin?”

The sneezy man wiped his nose with an enormous handkerchief. “Something’s wrong with the music,” he said.

“What music?” asked another man from further down the bar, blinking wide, guileless eyes. “Was there music?”

“Of course there was music,” growled Leroy, glaring at the dopey man.

“Loud music,” agreed the sneezy man.

“Kept me awake,” muttered the sleepy man as his eyes drifted shut. Leroy snorted.

They all turned to look as the door to the back room opened and another man entered, wringing his hands anxiously and blushing bright pink, the sweat on his forehead glistening beneath the neon glare of the bar lights.

“Um,” he whispered, far too quietly to be heard over the faint buzz of conversation that now filled the bar. He tried again. “Um,” he said, slightly louder.

Leroy felt a flare of anger oh his behalf. This bashful man was just trying to get their attention and no one was taking any notice.

“HEY ALL OF YOU,” he shouted at the very top of his lungs, turning so that the men at the back of the room would be sure to hear him too. “THIS GUY HERE IS TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING,” he continued, pairing his bellow with a nasty glare that killed every last conversation in the room. “WHY DON’T YOU JERKS SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO HIM?”

The bashful man was pinker than ever but he nodded gratefully at Leroy. “Um,” he said for a third time, and every ear in the place strained to hear him. “I—I’m so sorry, but the music seems, ah, to be, er, broken.”

“What’s wrong with it?” called the clerk.

“I don’t know,” the bashful man confessed. “I can get someone in to look at it tomorrow, but it’s too late to do anything tonight. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” said the librarian. “I’d rather talk with this group of scoundrels than listen to another note of that shit.”

A chorus of “ayes” and “huzzahs” rose from the men around him, the clerk and the insurance man, and several others who had gathered around them to raise a pint in merriment together. Men whose day jobs left them drained and hopeless and who now preened in delight at being referred to as “scoundrels,” knowing it was as far from the truth as anything could be and yet feeling that somehow, deep in a place they hadn’t known they possessed, that secret place that brought them dreams of forests and campfires and glad camaraderie, scoundrels they might actually be.

“Doesn’t bother us—achoo!—either,” said the sneezy man, who had moved to sit next to the sleepy man and nudge him with a gentle elbow whenever he began to doze off. Leroy noted that the dopey man was now flanked by two companions, one white-whiskered with round, wire-rimmed glasses and the other wearing a broad grin that Leroy suspected ought to annoy him but instead made him feel like he’d found something long missing from his life. The happy man raised his glass to Leroy, and Leroy raised his in return.

“Doesn’t look like there’s a problem here,” he told the bashful man. “Why don’t you join us—” he’d meant to say join me, but the us he spoke instead felt far more right “—for a drink?”

The bashful man looked over at the group in the far corner, now laughing uproariously and toasting each other’s exploits, then back at Leroy. “Okay,” he said. “I’d like that, I think. Thanks.” He smiled shyly. “Thanks for everything.”

“No trouble at all, brother,” replied Leroy.

Neal followed as Henry raced up the winding staircase to the third floor and burst through the door to the apartment. Through it Neal could see Killian standing in the middle of an open-plan living space with his head bent towards that of a blonde woman, whispering in her ear. Their pose was unmistakably intimate, his hand curled around her waist and hers resting lightly on his chest, their heads touching. They turned when he entered the room and both smiled, strangely rigid smiles, Neal thought.

The woman’s face he could swear he recognised, though he couldn’t place it, and vague recognition definitely shouldn’t make him feel so angry at the sight of them together, or cause a stab of jealousy to pierce his gut when Killian’s fingers tightened on her waist and he pulled her almost imperceptibly closer.

So why did it?

Neal forced his emotions down and returned their smiles in kind and Henry, seemingly oblivious to the odd tension in the room, said, “Mr Cassidy, this is my mom, Emma.”

“Your mom!” Neal cried in astonishment, then wondered why he was astonished.

“Yep!” Henry’s bright grin faded slightly at the look on his face and Neal attempted to smooth his features as Emma stepped forward and offered him her hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

“And yo—” Neal began, when he realised in a flash of memory where he’d seen that face before. “Wait—did you say Emma? Emma… Swan? The sheriff?”

“That’s right.”

He could place her now, sitting at the end of the table at the town council meetings, sighing and tapping her pen impatiently. Neal frowned again as he tried to remember what he knew about Emma Swan. It was… not much. He didn’t know much about anyone in Storybrooke, and for the first time that felt wrong. He stared at her as he strained to remember, watching as she toyed absent-mindedly with the chain around her neck, the ring on her wedding finger catching the light.

“You’re married?” he shouted, and that gut feeling flared again when he saw her glance back at Killian, silently seeking support from her husband.

“Yeah, we—” Emma began, but Neal interrupted her.

“No,” he said, forcing the fury and jealousy down again and making an attempt to smile. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. Of course you’re married. Henry’s parents.”

“Yeah,” Emma smiled in relief and from the corner of his eye Neal could see the tension drain from Killian’s stance. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Come in and sit down, Neal. It’s okay if I call you Neal?”

“Sure.”

“Do you want a beer or something?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Neal was starting to think he needed a hell of a lot more than a beer, but it was better than nothing. His gut was roiling and his head felt stuffed with cotton balls, and there was a distant buzzing noise in the back of his mind, like white noise from a broken television. He tried to force himself to think, to remember more about Emma, about Killian, about all these things that seemed to be teasing at the edges of his mind, but the harder he tried the louder the buzzing grew. He gave his head a hard shake and then another, and ignored Emma’s surprised look when she returned from the kitchen in time to catch him doing it. She pasted on a smile and handed him a beer.

“So Henry tells us you’re reopening the pawn shop,” she said, sitting next to him on the sofa and taking a pull from her own beer. She smelled like flowers, clean and sweet, and gods, he could swear it was familiar. Her scent slammed into him like a Mack truck, carrying memories of something he could feel but not touch, as powerful as they were indistinct. Why couldn’t he remember?

He gulped his beer and tried to concentrate on her question. “Yeah. I guess,” he said. “Kinda sudden, I know. I just found out recently that the place used to belong to my father.”

“Oh?” Emma’s voice rose a bit too high on the question.

Neal frowned at her. “Uh huh. I don’t remember much about my papa—er, I mean my dad. So it was a pretty big surprise to find out about it. But Henry, he’s been a major help with everything. I probably couldn’t have done it without him.” He looked at Emma and warmth bloomed in his chest. “Thanks for letting him come by.”

“Of course,” she said with a smile. “But you know, with Henry it’s sometimes hard to stop him.”

“That’s what, um, Killian said.”

“What did I say?” asked Killian, perching on the arm of the sofa next to Emma as Henry came to sit on the floor.

“That sometimes when Henry decides he wants something there’s not much we can do to stop him,” Emma replied.

“Aye, unquestionably,” said Killian. “The lad is a force of nature when he sets his mind on a thing.”

There was so much pride in his voice as he said it, and so much pleasure in Henry’s answering grin, and so much love on Emma’s face as she looked between them and her fingertips absently traced patterns along Killian’s thigh as his played with the ends of her hair, and suddenly it was all just too much. They rose up and they choked him, all the feelings between these three people and the ones churning in himself, and it was too much and too strong and too confusing, and the buzzing in his head was so loud he could barely think straight.

Blindly he set his beer down, hoping he managed to get it onto the coffee table, and lurched to his feet.

“Is everything all right, mate?” Killian’s voice hovered just at the edge of his consciousness, and the mate made Neal want to punch him.

“I’m fine,” he growled. “I’m just—not feeling very well. Think I should go.”

“Oh.” Emma stood as well and approached him cautiously, taking him gently by the shoulders, her hands warm through the fabric of his t-shirt. She tried to catch his eye but he evaded her.

“I’m really fine,” he said, stepping back. “I just gotta go. Maybe we can do this another time.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” she said.

“Are you sure?” Henry asked. He was clearly trying to be calm but his eyes were so disappointed, and again Neal felt a surge of emotion that was far too strong for the circumstances. He shouldn’t care about disappointing some kid he only met a few weeks ago. But he did. He did.

“I just—I feel like—” he stammered, groping desperately for the words he needed to say, to explain. And then Henry stepped forward and hugged him.

Henry hugged him, and Neal’s arms came around the boy in return, automatically, naturally, like they’d done it before. He looked down at Henry’s eyes, big and brown and so damned familiar, so different from the clear green and blue eyes of his parents.

Was that even possible?

“I—” he tried again, but Henry interrupted.

“Please stay,” he said. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I—damn it.” Neal snarled. He wanted to go, wanted to run, fast and far away from all of this mess and tangle of emotions hot as fire and memories thin as smoke. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t bear for Henry to be disappointed in him.

“I’ll stay,” he said, and the world exploded.

Sleeping curses broke elegantly, the Dark Curse dramatically, but this odd chimaera of a hybrid curse, cobbled together from odds of this and ends of that, bound by Oz magic and twisted through the mirror world… this curse shattered. It burst into shards like the very mirrors that made it possible and Emma, Regina, and Zelena gasped in unison as they sensed its fracture. There was no burst of light, no gasp of awakening, just a sharp shock and then memories and then…

The world blurred, shifted, settled, and then snapped back into focus. The colours and shapes and sounds of Storybrooke were themselves again, the breeze through the town was warm and welcoming and the trees in the forest tall and straight, their eerie menace wholly gone.

Emma looked at Killian, eyes wide.

“What is it, love?” he asked, reaching for her and pulling her close. “What was that?”

“I think…” Emma lowered her voice to a whisper. “I think the curse just broke.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“I—I felt it. I felt it shatter and its magic is… well, it’s everywhere.”

Neal was staring at Henry, blinking rapidly, then a huge grin split his face. “Henry?” he said, pulling his son in for a bone-cracking hug. “Oh my God, Henry. I’ve missed you.”

“Um.” Henry was still reeling from what had felt like an earthquake. He looked past Neal to where Emma and Killian were standing with their arms around each other, whispering frantically, then his eyes lit up with triumph as the pieces fell into place. “Have you?” he said.

“Yeah, kid.” Neal loosened his hold and ruffled Henry’s hair. “I did. I—wait.” The smile faded from his face, replaced with a scowl as he turned to Emma and Killian. “What’s going on here?”

They exchanged a look. “What do you mean?” asked Emma. “You were cursed—”

“Yeah, I know that, but I mean you—you two—” He gestured at them, his scowl deepening as they unconsciously drew closer to each other. “You aren’t actually—it was the curse for you too, right? All this is just the curse.”

“No, mate,” said Killian gently. “We weren’t cursed. Emma was briefly, sort of, but Henry and I never were.”

“Then you’re really—” Something dark and angry flared in Neal’s eyes.

“Yeah,” said Emma. “We’re married.”

“You married him,” sputtered Neal, almost choking on the words. “The pirate? The one who fu—” he broke off with a glance at Henry “—who took my mother away. Him, of all people.” He stared at them, shaking his head, then gave a bitter, grating laugh. “So much for your word, huh Hook?” he said. “You remember, your word that you gave me, to back the hell off and give me a chance to be a family with my son and my—well, her.”

“A lot has happened since I made that promise,” said Killian, as calmly as he could when the nasty curl of Neal’s lip was making him wish he was wearing his hook. “A lot has changed Bae.”

Neal hissed an angry breath. “Don’t call me that.”

“Neal, then,” Killian amended. “As you like. We have much to discuss, lad, why don’t you—”

“I’m not a lad,” snapped Neal. “I’m as old as you are in this realm, maybe older. I’m not that boy you knew.”

“You’re right of course. I’m sorry.” Killian’s voice was genuinely contrite now, his expression sorrowful. “I do know that. Sometimes I just—forget.”

Emma’s arm was still around his waist and she squeezed him reassuringly. “Look, I know there’s a lot we need to talk about,” she said. “And I promise you, Neal, we will explain everything. But right now the curse has just broken and people are going to be confused. So can we table all this, please, until we’ve had a chance to figure out what we have to do?”

“Do for what?” asked Henry. “Isn’t the curse broken?”

“Yeah it is.” Emma shivered at the sharp, dangerous feel of the magic that had come untethered by the shattering curse. “But that’s not necessarily the end of our problems.”

“So what do we need to do?” asked Killian.

“I’m not sure yet. Let’s start by finding Regina. And my parents.”

@katie-dub @kmomof4 @teamhook @stahlop @mariakov81 @snowbellewells @thejollyroger-writer @jennjenn615 @tiganasummertree @lfh1226-linda @winterbaby89 @ultraluckycatnd @resident-of-storybrooke

#cs fic #cs ff #cs ff au #canon divergence #3b canon divergence #alternative 3b #captain swan #captain cobra #captain cobra swan #background outlaw queen #background snowing #curses #cursed storybrooke #broken curses #no tlk #more of a group-lk #bring back the love #their way by moonlight #profdanglaisstuff

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jadenjace · 4 years

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‘ TUNNEL VISION ‘ - A SELF PARA FOR JADEN LAPOINTE . ( atlanta task 006 )

tonight's the night to run a red light , drive past the words and continue despite what he said and the fact that he begged you to swallow your pride just this once . save tonight , save the show , broken glass and broken bones , tonight is all you'll know , show them how fast you can go . please slow down , you'll roll us both over the last that i heard hell had froze over ; you lost your war , you lost your race . so just swallow your pride and cover your head , because you're in the fast lane to a hospital bed . you risked it all , how fucking dare you still show your face ??

trigger warning : car accident , injury , blood , horror imagery , death .

he wouldn’t have missed this , not for the world – jaden had been nearly counting down the days until he could see ezra again , not that he was clingy at all but simply because he couldn’t contain his excitement to be going on a date with the girl that he’d seemingly been hopelessly crushing over . god , she was beautiful , and totally out of his league at that , but even though his invitation to the arcade was dorky and lighthearted he knew that this could be the start of something real . she wasn’t made up of pixels , she wasn’t fictitious ( as much as his friends seemed to tease him ) or something he’d made up to seem cool and maybe , just maybe , there was a chance that she felt the same way back . with a bunch of lilacs bundled into one hand jaden parked up his car and exited the vehicle to hurry up the staircase , tapping knuckles against the door he’d been pointed toward over and over until it cracked open ever so slightly , then more so to reveal the brunette beauty on the other side .

“ you’re early , “ “ you’re beautiful , “

he was cheesy , most of his pick-up lines learned from movies or the books he’d been reading , but it didn’t seem to matter . dressed up in what was deemed ‘ fancy ‘ in his mind ( a shirt unbuttoned a little too low tucked into dark jeans , low-ankle doc martens ) it was clear jaden had made an effort , but nothing could hold a candle to how stunning his date looked . so far he’d only seen ezra in her cinema uniform or in her comfies walking through the basketball courts , but with just the slightest lick of makeup and a dress that fit her curves just right .. he was speechless , high cheekbones flushed with a rosy pink that he was thankful the darkness masked . “ yeah i know it’s lame . let’s go , i wanna get there before the big guys get their hands on the best games . did you know that ermac in mortal kombat was originally just an error in the code ?? he was never meant to exist , but he became such a cult figure from the early games that they remastered him and added him into new releases as his own separate character , “ the oldest lapointe sibling could speak about video games for days , and he often did . between their journey from ezra’s apartment to the parked white audi outside he continued to spout off facts that anyone else would deem as useless , although to him they were priceless artefacts that lived in his mind rent-free . “ -- and tomb raider : angel of darkness was released super early to compete with the indiana jones game , so it means it’s super glitchy , but if you ask me it’s favorite one . that and legend , or maybe anniversary .. you get to stand on midas’ hand and shoot gorillas which is super , super cool .. oh god , and a fucking t-rex , ezra !! you gotta fight a t-rex -- “

babbling turned into white noise but soon enough he was opening the passenger side door for her to slide into . once shut , jaden looped around the car to take his position in the drivers seat . since passing his text ten years ago he’d barely ever worn a seat belt , not really seeing the need to since up until this point he’d been an impossibly safe driver . there was nothing to be worried about when he was behind the wheel .. or at least that was what he thought . the couple continued to be lost in conversation . perhaps that was both their blessing and their curse , the radio blaring at full volume with giggling voices only just raising above powerful speakers , finding common ground in all things buffy , the office , roswell .. nerdy things , really , that made him adore the girl even more . chatter was so relentless that he hadn’t noticed the other car driving a little too close to his own as they rocketed down maine streets . closer , closer still .. jaden’s eyes were trained on the road in front of them but that wasn’t where he should’ve been focusing , unable to react quick enough to the glare of headlights and a screech of metal , an ear-piercing wail of rubber against tarmac . in a split second all he could think about was protecting the girl beside him and so both hands turned on the wheel , veering the car to narrowly avoid the collision which would’ve no doubt stolen ezra’s life in a second .

the beloved audi first swerved off the road and down the grassy bank , before flipping over and over and throwing the young lovers around inside like a shaken snow-globe . having neglected to pull his seat belt over his chest in the first instance jaden was smacked against the window , headbutting the dashboard , crashing against metalwork as the shell of his vehicle continued to twist until coming to a halt at the bottom . commotion was the last thing he heard . the male was knocked out on impact once his brain collided with plastic but his unconsciousness was probably for the best — if the searing pain had been felt the older of the two would’ve been screaming , sobbing for help , but instead he lay completely still among the empty mcdonald’s bags and spare items of clothing he kept in the car for emergencies . crimson pooled beneath him in a puddle that settled in the cracks of the vehicle but even when it looked like there couldn’t possibly be any more the stream continued on . jaden had never been the best at biology and science but he did know one thing – blood loss was bad , really bad , and there had been a hell of a lot of loss on his part . it was a miracle that the male was still breathing . although it was ragged , shallow , gurgling in his throat , he was clinging onto the hope that by some blessing of god he’d make it out of this alive .

the way he was laying like a rag-doll with the strings cut made it seem like the figure in the driver’s seat was a discarded mannequin , lifeless and sickly pale compared to his usual tanned complexion , but the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he lay barely conscious showed any medical professionals that he was clinging on , barely . his right leg caught between the collapsed bonnet barely resembled a limb anymore , a bloodied mess of his shin with jagged bone protruding outward , surrounding area yellowed and bruised beyond recognition . sure , he was only three quarters of a man now , but he wasn’t giving up without a fight even if his energy was dwindling now more than ever . that voice was unmistakable , and although his eyes were shut and his throat croaked whenever he attempted to speak jaden knew that if he remained in silence with only the occasional moan he was destined to die there . gritting his teeth and digging deep to muster all remaining strength , a blubbery excuse at her name shuddered from his lips . syllables were so slurred it was barely audible but he hoped ( no , he prayed ) that ezra would at least hear the grunt and turn to see the mess hidden within trash-bags .

the stretch of road had been rather deserted but to their surprise , and later relief , bystanders had caught glimpse of the incident and dialled 911 as fast as their fingers could . time seemed all but an illusion now and so it could’ve taken seconds or hours , but soon the gargling of fluids from jaden’s mouth was subdued by sirens , flashing red and blue through a treeline that he was convinced was the last thing he’d ever see . beneath broken branches and shattered trees laid the car that had once been one of his prized possessions with the engine continuing to whirr , the melodies of pop-punk records wavering in tone from a spluttering and dying CD player . the first thought in his head was whether ezra was okay , fluttering lashes forcing his gaze to the side where she lay bruised , bloodied , but conscious . the next was how , if he wasn’t dead from this , his dad would kill him for totalling the car . in reality neither of these things would be a worry , instead weeks of a drug-induced sleep and months of trauma , physical therapy , night terrors and a healthy dose of post-traumatic stress disorder thrown into the mix .

the scene was a bloodbath , taken straight from a horror movie , and it was clear on the faces of the paramedics that this was something they hadn’t experienced before . not to this level , anyway . the leg ( or lack thereof ) was mauled in such a way that it was difficult to see what was left of it , let alone the telling sharp bite marks that left jagged cuts of skin around the wound . if he pulled through they would serve as a constant reminder of what happened , of that clown who’s eyes seemed delighted at getting a taste of such a fulfilling meal . how was he meant to explain all this to the traumatised girl above him that fought to keep him awake against all odds ?? as he stared up at her , eyes glassy and fogged over , her face was illuminated as if she was his very own guardian angel . maybe he was hallucinating those feathery wings or the glowing halo above her head , his body’s way of stopping him from going completely insane from the agony , but if he hadn’t thought she was beautiful before she was simply ethereal now .

#atgatask #car accident tw #injury tw #death tw #horror tw #blood tw

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spencerreidisbananas · 5 years

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New At This

Author’s Note: I finally finished another writing even though I have been gone so long doing school. Now that it’s summer I am back to writing! This is a Cake smut and I am very proud of it, if I do say so myself. If you guys have any requests or comments please let me know. Hope you guys enjoy ;)

Word Count: 2,640

I picked up the mail from the mailbox and headed into my apartment. The place was a mess which made it difficult to find the light and turn it on. When I finally sat down at the couch to look at my mail I sighed. The rent was due this week and I was sure that I couldn’t afford it. I could barely afford food for this month alone. I knew that the tips were good at the cafe that I worked at, but it simply wasn’t enough money for me to make a living off of. I knew that I was going to have to get a second job and one that was well paying.

I grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened my laptop to glance at some job offers. Most of them that I saw conflicted with my job at the cafe since it was throughout the day. A night job was the best idea for me. I saw a couple of bartending and waitressing options that sounded nice but I was hoping to find one with a little bit more of a pay. I didn’t want to settle for any of the jobs that were on there for now. I finished up the last drop of my beer before closing my laptop and calling it a night.

The next day I got up and headed to the cafe at 4am for the morning shift and to open the place up. My best friend, Kevin, was opening the cafe with me so it was a good way to start the morning.

“Kevin, I literally don’t know what to do! I don’t want to lose to apartment and the pay at those bars just isn’t enough. I will literally do anything. Do you have any ideas?” He laughed at my exaggerated tone and then smirked.

“ I have one job offer but you have to really be open to anything. It pays super well though.”

“Go on…” I say curious of what the job could possibly be.

“ Okay hear me out. It basically being a personal sex assistant. It’s like a brothel and they make it very safe for all of their assistants. All of their customers have to have current paperwork saying that they are clean and they do free examinations for their assistants. It’s a very private place so not many people know about it. They are hiring right now if you’re interested.” He raises his eyebrows trying to examine my expression.

I didn’t really have a problem with the idea of this job. Sex for me was never a big sacred thing, it was sorta just an act and I mean, hey, I could get paid for it too.

“ Actually, I think that I will apply. It pays well and it’s not like I have many friends that would judge me. The real question is; do I want to know how you know about this place?” I teased.

He laughed and nudged my shoulder. After that conversation, we went on our day normally and he sent me the address to the place since I could only apply in person. I got off of work early that day and headed over to the place. It was in a sketchy neighbourhood which started to get me worried. I pulled into a parking lot of a strip mall and searched for the address. The door, once found, had no signs on it and there was nothing indicating that it was even the right place. I opened the door and found a set of black stairs in front of me. Heading up them, I started to hear some slight music and once I got to the top of the stairs, the whole scenery changed. The place was dark but also well lit and right in front of me was a black desk. It looked almost like a doctors office here, but very much with a dark vibe.

The lady at the reception desk looked up at me and I walked over to her.

“ Hi how may I help you today?” She asked. I stuttered not knowing exactly how to ask to apply.

“Uhm, Hi I’m (Y/N) and I’m looking to apply for a job as an assistant here. Uh my friend told me about it.” My face flushed finishing the sentence.

“Okay. What’s your friends name?”

“Kevin.” I state and she nods in understanding.

“He told me that you were coming. Come this way please.” She guided me to the back and into another room with a desk and she handed me some paperwork.

“Do you have your medical forms with you?” She asked. Knowing that I would need them, I nodded and pulled them out of my bag. She glanced through them, nodding, while I filled out the application form. The first part of it was just basic information, but the second part was far from it. They ask me what my sexuality was, how many people I was comfortable with having sex with at a time, and a list of kinks to check off. None of the kinks really seemed to bother me, so I just selected the box that said all and passed the paper back to her. It was silent for a few moments as she left the room and came back with a folder.

She smiled at me, “ You got the job. You start tomorrow and here is your schedule of people you will be with each night. Each customer has a little sheet of paper with some information about them and what they are looking for/any special requests. If you have any problems just let us know. Otherwise, have fun and make the most of it. Welcome to the team!”

I was excited that I got the job but also nervous for my first day tomorrow. The next morning I immediately told Kevin that I got the job and he hugged me.

“See I knew that you would get it! When do you start?” He asked.

“Tonight and I’m super nervous. They gave me a folder with my customers and I haven’t checked who it is yet.” I pulled out the folder from my purse and opened it up to see the paperwork for tonight. Expecting to see some old ugly guy, I was shocked to see not one but TWO good looking guys. One had short whitish, blonde hair with tattoos scattered over his arms. One stuck out; a sword that was located on his left upper arm. The other one was tall with blonde curly hair. He had on a silk button down and a chain as a necklace. Both were good looking and I was actually getting a little excited at the idea of tonight. From the paperwork it said that the tall ones name was Luke and the other guys was Calum. It said that they were both dominant and they were looking for someone to be submissive for the night. The only rules that they had were to do as told and to use the safe word “apple” only if needed.

“ Wow you go lucky for the first night dang.” I heard Kevin say looking behind me. I couldn’t stop thinking about the plans ahead of me. I knew I would have to wear some nice lingerie before tonight.

Time at the cafe went by fast and soon enough I was rushing to the mall to buy something nice to wear for tonight. I got to Victoria Secret and found the perfect one piece black lace set. It fit my body perfectly and was definitely a good investment for my new job. It was seven by the time I arrived at the sketchy strip mall again and headed up those stairs. The same lady, whose name I learned was Katie, greeted me at the desk and led me to a private room. This room had a king sized bed and a full dresser full of toys and ropes, all which intrigued me. “Your first clients should be here in another five to ten minutes.”

She left me alone to my room and I took a moment to shake my arms, trying to relieve some of the nerves I had. As I scanned the room, I saw the black out curtains and a full length mirror. There was also a side door that I presumed led to a bathroom. The room sorta gave me typical vampire cave vibes and I think I was gonna have to add a few items in the room to make it more comfy.

The knock on the door stopped my thoughts as I walked over to open it. As the door opened, I was immediately in front of two rather tall men; Calum and Luke.

Luke looks me up and down and smirks while walking into the room, Calum following suit. “Well the new girl definitely does not disappoint in looks.” I blush at Lukes words as I let them examine me for a moment.

Calum walks over to face me and leans into my ear, “You’re new so we will start you off easy baby.” He lightly bites my earlobe before connecting our lips in a heated kiss. His lips feel soft against mine and I moan, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer. Luke came up behind me and nipped at my exposed neck.

Feeling more confident, I pulled back from the kiss, biting Cal’s bottom lip in the process. Both boys turned to me as I headed towards the bed and pulled the zipper of the dress that I had on down, leaving me in the black lace one piece. I wink back at the boys, Luke muttering a quick ‘Christ’ before rushing over to me and pushing me back on the bed, pushing his lips into mine.

I whined into the kiss, “ You’re wearing too many clothes.” as I pull his white shirt over his head and throw it somewhere. His golden skin glows in the soft light and I watch him shove his jeans and boxers down as well. He leaned back down to reconnect the kiss and I moaned at the feeling of him hard cock against my semi clothed heat. I bucked up my hips in order to feel him more, watching him groan above me. He pulled away, motioning for Calum to come over to him. I looked to see that Calum had already ridded himself of his clothing. I watched as Luke whispered something in Cal’s ear and he blushed before nodding his head. Cal leaned over me, taking Luke’s spot.

“I’m gonna make you feel so good babygirl.” He whispered, starting his trail of kisses down my body. I let out a whine as he got closer to my core. He chuckled before taking off my one piece and spreading my legs apart. Calum made soft kisses on both of my thighs before he looked up at me to wink. I groaned in frustration but was quickly cut off by a moan as he took a strip straight down my core. I immediately reached for his short hair as he started to work on my clit. His tongue delved into my pussy and I moaned pulling on his hair. The action caused him to whine and the sound made me even more close to the edge.

“Let me taste her Cal.” I heard Luke say as he was slowly jerking himself off. I expected him to eat me out as well, but was shocked and pleasantly turned on to see them start making out instead. The kiss was heated as Luke immediately took control of it, groping Calum cock, causing him to whine,”Please sir.” I was dripping at the scene in front of me and I whined wanting to be part of it.

“Looks like the princess is getting a little impatient,” Luke chuckled, “Why don’t you suck me off love, while Cal opens you up for my big cock?” I moaned at the thought, quickly changing positions so I was on my stomach. My head was hanging right next to Luke’s cock, while Calum got behind me to start opening me up. I looked up at Luke, flashing him a quick wink before I wrapped my mouth around the tip of his cock. He groaned, hands going straight for my hair. I moved farther down on his cock, taking in as much of him as I could without choking.

“C-can I fuck your mouth, Jesus Christ” I heard Luke say from above me as I hummed a response back. He was quick to put my hair into a makeshift ponytail and start fucking into my mouth. I felt fingers at my clit and I moaned lightly as Calum started to finger me. He started out slow with only one finger, but quickly realized that I could take more and added a second.

I moaned around Luke’s cock, causing him to curse and bucked his hips into my mouth. My eyes were watering, but I didn’t care; the pleasure that both the boys were giving me was far too good to stop. I felt Luke twitch in my mouth before he pulled out.

I whined at the loss of feeling full as Cal pulled his fingers out of me and sucked them clean. He rolled me over onto my back and pulled me in for a kiss. The kiss was deep as he glided his tongue over mine. I felt his hard on against my stomach and grasped it with my hand, stoking it a few times. I broke the kiss.

“Want you inside of me. Please Cal.” I whined and he quickly alined himself up with me. We both moaned as he pushed in and dropped his head into my neck, giving a quick kiss. He set up his pace for slow, deep, and powerful thrusts. The whole situation was overwhelming and intimate.I closed my eyes and let my nails rake down his back causing a small whine to come out of his mouth. He stopped moving for a moment as I watched Luke line up behind him. Cal looked over at Luke and nodding as Luke pushed himself into Cal. Cal’s body went limp against me and he let out a high pitched whine.

Luke bottomed out and soon Calum was begging for Luke to move which he chuckled and pulled almost fully out before slamming back in.The thrust caused Calum to thrust deeper into me and we all let out a moan. Luke started back up a pace that was faster than Cal’s, but just as hard. I could feel myself getting closer and I knew that Calum wouldn’t last due to his increasingly loud whines.

Luke let one particularly hard thrust that had Calum biting my shoulder. The action pushed me over the edge as I clenched around Calum and through my head back, moaning. Luke didn’t stop his thrust as Calum got even closer to cumming.

“Sir please let me cum. I-I'm so close.” Cal begged and Luke grunted back an okay before Calum’s seed was shooting into me. I moaned at the feeling and the sensitivity as Calum finally pulled out. Luke pulled out of Cal as well and stroked his cock a few times before cumming on both me and Cal with a loud ‘Fuck’.

Everything that had just happened had me exhausted as I watched Luke get a wet towel and wash both me and Calum off. Cal pulled the blanket over the both of us and let Luke underneath as well once he had finished up. My head was on Calum’s chest as Luke wrapped his arms around me.

As we all drifted off into sleep, I heard Luke mutter, “We should definitely do that again princess.”

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derireo · 5 years

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reserved | (7) | z.yixing

word count: 2863

genre: violence + humor + angst; mafia/triad au + badboy!lay

chapter summary: lei fan goes home to pack up her things and gets ready to move in with xu tai and zhang yixing. she decides to throw out some things, and on her way back to the main office with mo shan and ma chou, someone unexpected decides to show up.

chapters: 6 / 7 / 8

Chapter Seven: Home

A week passed since the sighting of Guo Dian and a few of his men, but there hasn't been any sign of him after that, Zhang He had gathered. It stayed quiet and there were no threats towards Lei Fan, but the man still felt uneasy. It was almost as if they were too quiet.

From the intel crew, they've taken notice that after the day of Lei Fan's arrival, all of Guo Dian's men including himself had retreated and went back to the outside of the city. An implication made by one of Zhang He's men showed that they could have easily taken over and subdue the group, but the boss had emphasized that they were not within the city's area.

It was one of the reasons why they could not take action other than causing panic to those who lived in the city and to keep Lei Fan safe from the danger. It wasn't impossible that Guo Dian was still in contact with Li Xiahouji and it would only be a matter of time until the woman would make a move of her own.

"You know, I don't think this is a good idea." Xu Tai protested. The man was trailing behind Zhang He who was escorting Lei Fan to the entrance of the main office.

When all three of them exited the doors, Zhang He closed his eyes to bask in the cool breeze that swept across them, sighing in contentment and understanding to Xu Tai's complaining. The man let a few seconds pass before he opened his eyes again, turning towards his friend with a smile and clapping him roughly on the shoulder.

"Mo Shan and Ma Chou will be there to help her gather the rest of her belongings from her apartment." his smile was benevolent, but the glint in his eye said otherwise. Zhang He's hand tightened on Xu Tai's shoulder when he opened his mouth to say something, only to grumble to himself after. He still didn't like the idea that she would have to stroll down the streets when the danger could still be lurking around, but he knew he couldn't fight Zhang He on this.

Lei Fan eyed the two men with a fond smile, tilting her head in curiosity, "And to think Xu Tai is the boss around here," she laughed, "Zhang He, you really act like the Big Man sometimes." her smile was bright as her friends turned to look at her, their faces puzzled with what she was talking about until they remembered that she didn't know that their roles were reversed.

Zhang He cleared his throat, "You've got to put this idiot in his place sometimes." he said as he grabbed a fistful of Xu Tai's hair in his hand with a charming smile on his face, "Someone has to make him do his job properly anyhow."

Xu Tai pouted at this, completely ignoring the pain that was coursing at the roots of his hair. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot against the floor while watching the two bodyguards, Mo Shan and Ma Chou, arrive and quietly take their place on either side of Lei Fan. His gaze was fixated on the woman before he was interrupted by Zhang He's tugging his hand out of his hair and his voice flowing through the pickup of the breeze. "Make sure she gets back here safe and sound."

"You can count on us." the two bodyguards bowed deeply before the other two men, keeping close to Lei Fan who bowed as well out of respect for the situation and the two important figures.

Xu Tai responded with a loose, two fingered salute while Zhang He only responded with a twitch of his mouth.

"I'll make sure to come back in one piece!" Lei Fan promised, a fist coming up to pound at her chest before she changed the form into a peace sign. Her smile was carefree as she waved the two men goodbye, and before they knew it, she had already slipped out through the gate with the two burly men trailing after her.

Xu Tai sighed, "I miss her already." he pouted, which ended up with him getting a gnarly punch to the shoulder as a response.

"You've really got to do your job better, Tai." Zhang He sighed to himself and wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulders, turning them back around to re-enter the office. The latter grumbled quiet complaints under his breath as he was dragged towards the elevator and threw his head back, his nose scrunched up as he wriggled himself free from his captor.

"I'd really like to," Xu Tai reasoned as they stepped into the elevator, "But you know I'm not really cut out for being a Big Boss and all." he confessed, hoping his dear friend would understand. He was more of the fighting type rather than the political and sociable type, but he understood that his job was to be the face of The King. It was just difficult since he started off as a gang member while Zhang He was The Boss.

They switched roles early on into their takeover of Yunliong due to a warning Zhang He had received by a stranger. It wasn't a superstitious warning or anything, but the threat of their Boss being attacked when their group was still so small was something that neither Zhang He or Xu Tai could risk. Although Zhang He was reluctant on letting Xu Tai be his decoy to cut off the scent of who was the true mastermind behind the long process of the takeover, the latter insisted, saying it was the best risk for them to take.

Zhang He had vowed that he would never let Xu Tai be killed in his place and the same went for his friend. They took a blood oath between themselves with their closest members as witnesses to make it official.

"I know it's hard," Zhang He consoled, stretching his arms above his head once they reached the third floor where their office was, "But you just have to attend meetings with me and look like you own the place."

"Yeah, yeah." Xu Tai waved his hand and strode inside the office, immediately taking his place on the sofa that was placed to the side of the room. He plopped onto it with a grunt and slumped down the cushions, looking in the direction where Zhang He sat at his desk, bundles of paperwork strewn across the oak.

While Xu Tai and Zhang He did whatever people who take care of a city do, Lei Fan had already reached her apartment with the two bodyguards. The building looked quite old and the lights in the lobby were a gloomy yellow that continued to incessantly flicker. Mo Shan and Ma Chou looked at each other with concern as they followed the woman inside, noticing how dingy and dirty it was, from cobwebs littering the corners of the area to scuff marks and scratches spread across the linoleum floor.

Interrupting their thoughts, Lei Fan spun on the heel of her foot to face the men, a warm smile on her face, "I'm a few floors up and the elevator doesn't seem to be working," her thumb jutted in the direction of the sign that said 'out of service', and the smile on her face turned sheepish, "My landlord claimed a few days ago that I was to move out as soon as possible, so you don't have to worry about any processes." she reassured.

The two men looked at each other once more, question marks popping from their heads. "That's quite alright," Mo Shan said, "That just means you can move in with Xu Tai right away."

Lei Fan enthusiastically nodded and began to bounce up the steps that would lead to the floor she lived on, "Great! It was never easy to pay the rent on time anyways and the very few people who live here give me the chills." she rambled to herself as the men were right on her heels. Due to how quiet the building was at the moment, it almost felt like there was no one else living here other than the occasional spider they passed and Lei Fan herself.

After another flight of stairs, Lei Fan was already getting tired and her breath was getting heavy. Her legs were cramping and it was obvious she was going to need a break before they could venture any further. The problem is that Zhang He would probably prefer if they got back to the office right away with her things so with the reminder of a possible demotion taking place with no good reason on his mind, Ma Chou took the liberty to sweep the woman off her feet and carry her up the last flight of stairs they'd walk up before they reached her floor.

Mo Shan showed a tiny look of surprise on his face as Lei Fan gasped in shock, "Ma Chou!" she fussed, swatting at the bodyguard's arm as punishment for surprising her. The man only hummed and shrugged his shoulders, Mo Shan shaking his head with a small smile as he walked towards the door that Lei Fan pointed at.

"Thanks," Lei Fan sighed, brushing the non-existent dust off her clothes as she walked towards her door. She motioned towards Mo Shan to open her door that was unlocked -- as it always was, and smiled happily when her home came into view.

But instead of a comfy home, the bodyguards witnessed a place that had conditions that no one should be allowed to live in. There was just a small mat with an old blanket and dirty pillow in one corner, a few magazines were strewn across the floor with old job advertisements here and there, and a pile of books by the pillow.

As the two men ventured in behind Lei Fan, they saw the horrifying results of being a poor youth with no family to go to, barely scraping by to live in a crappy household like this. The kitchen was littered with a strange array of dishes that were left dusty, and when they looked in the fridge, there was only a few water bottles inside. Clothes, both folded and unfolded were found nearly everywhere in the room, some with a few holes and threads coming loose.

There was a pair of old slides that rested by the door frame of the entrance that looked like it belonged to a man. Mo Shan decided to ask, "How were you able to go to clubbing all this time before we found you?"

Lei Fan smiled and walked towards her sleeping mat, plopping down on it with a content sigh, "Guo Dian paid for my drinks, Xiahouji let me borrow whatever clothes she had that she didn't like. All the money I had went towards rent, affordable meals, and bathroom necessities."

Ma Chou kicked at a large t-shirt on the floor that seemed to belong to a man and pursed his lips, "Guo Dian seemed to be doing well before. Why didn't he let you live at his place rather than let you sleep here?" he stepped on the shirt silently before kicking it away to the side once more, scratching the back of his neck as he looked around to notice how there were little traces of that man around the room. Stray clothes, a few pictures, letters, and those slides at the door.

The bodyguards were wondering why Lei Fan didn't throw all of these things away before she left for her trip overseas.

The woman picked at a thread on her blanket and stared at the photos that were laying beside her mat, her gaze glossing over momentarily before quickly snapping out of it. "He never asked." she said, curt.

She stood up from her bed and swiped a duffel bag from the corner of the room, gathering her clothes around the place and shoving them into the bag. Awkwardly, the two bodyguards stood stiffly in the kitchen, seeing how there was only one plate, one bowl, two mugs, and a pair of chopsticks. There was nothing in this place, and although it was beneficial for moving, it was upsetting that they knew someone who had been living like this for a long time.

"If you guys find anything that is Guo Dian's in here, please grab it and place it outside the door." Lei Fan called out from the washroom, the rustling of a toothbrush and toothpaste being stuffed into her bag with the rustle of a plastic bag making a cameo. "There's a blue mug in the kitchen, that's his." she added, and with that, the two men began to sweep the whole area to rid of any traces of that pathetic, backstabbing bastard.

After a few minutes of cleaning up the place, it looked like someone would be able to live here. The sleeping mat and blanket were folded up neatly with the pillow on top, and the washroom was rid of any accessories, medications, and necessities. The kitchen wasn't touched as there wasn't really anything to do other than keeping the water bottles, and the different clothes that were littered around the room were either in Lei Fan's duffle or were thrown out the door. The physical photos near the bed were folded inside the blue mug that was sitting idle by the door frame.

Lei Fan was content.

Three people buzzing with happiness left the building shortly after that, with the woman hitching a ride on one of the bodyguard's backs. Her duffle was hanging around her shoulder before she was carefully put back down on the ground once the fresh air hit them. The other burly man took the dufflebag from the woman so that she wouldn't carry it.

Just as Lei Fan was in the middle of saying that she left Guo Dian's things outside the door just in case he ever came back to find her in her apartment, she noticed a lone figure standing on the sidewalk with a cigarette between their fingers, the glint of multiple rings on their hand momentarily catching her off guard.

As her voice trailed off until she stopped talking, the bodyguards took notice of the figure as well and tensed, taking a protective stance behind her as she continued to walk towards the figure.

The person was donning a fitted leather jacket with a black mock turtleneck and had faded black skinny jeans, a thin chain dangling from one of the belt loops. On their feet was a pair of black combat boots.

Such grunge tastes.

The person stiffened when they heard the oh-so quiet footsteps padding behind them and with a slow turn of their upper body, saw Lei Fan pausing in her tracks just a few feet away from them.

Lei Fan's breath caught in her throat when the person turned, and watched as their eyebrows rose up lazily in question. It was a man. A very familiar man that she didn't think she'd meet again so quickly. His black, mid length hair was neatly slicked back with a few loose strands of hair perfectly falling in front of his face, and the cigarette that was previously seen between his fingers was soon found hanging loosely from his lips.

Lei Fan paused as she couldn't believe her eyes, "Han... Xiao Tzu?" she was hesitant in uttering that name as she was afraid she might have mistaken this man for someone else.

But as the name was uttered from her lips, the man standing before her had a pleased, lopsided grin adorning his face as he held his arms wide open for her to sink into, his eyelids hooded as he stared down at the woman who eagerly crashed herself into his chest.

The man flicked the cigarette away from his mouth and stepped on it with the heel of his boot, a cloud of smoke seeping out of his mouth as he wrapped a secure arm around the girl's waist with his other hand burying itself in her hair. For just a brief moment, the man closed his eyes and rest his cheek atop her head while the bodyguards stood there; frozen.

What was Brother Han Xiao doing here?

The man rocked the woman in his arms side to side as he hummed a sweet melody just for her, Lei Fan only snuggling closer to his chest out of happiness due to the unexpected reunion.

He pressed a firm kiss to the side of her head, "Hi, baby." he cooed, brushing his fingers through her hair.

Glancing up at the bodyguards who stood there dumbfounded, he sent them a subtle wink before he nudged Lei Fan back to get a more clear look of her face, slipping his hand from her hair to trace her jaw with his knuckles to then curling his fingertips against the spot under the point of her chin.

His smile was killer as his gaze was predatory, "Hope you didn't miss me too much, my sweet lover."

#kpop fic #kpop writing #exo fic #exo writing #exo imagines #writing #fanfic #lay fic #zhang yixing fic #yixing fic #kpop imagines #derireo #reserved #exo scenarios

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darkstache-iplier · 5 years

Text

Between Us - Arrival

WARNING: THIS IS A SEPTIPLIER FANFIC, DON’T LIKE IT, DON’T READ IT! Thank you!

Warnings: none!

Summary: Sean arrives at the farm, and is greeted by a sweet looking girl and a farm boy.

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Arrival

After a long conversation with his parents through Skype, a small talk with Robin, a vague post about 'taking some time for himself' on twitter, a short booking mail, a quick trip towards the nearest airport, an ever-lasting plane trip towards the 'Free Country', and another few hours long travel in a rented car towards the middle of the Californian desert, he finally, finally arrived to the location he was supposed to be.

The Iplier Residence.

It was indeed in the middle of the desert, though it wasn't like Las Vegas, with only miles and miles of sand around. There were a few trees, some grass, and inside the farm, from what Sean could see, there were some crops, some animals, living in quite the style, seeming extremely strong and imponent. Everything was green and beautiful, and the farm was the nicest thing he had ever seen. It somewhat remembered him of his shack in the woods, but much more... American, he guessed.

The houses weren't made of wood, apart from the barn, and some smallest storage rooms. There were many little houses, probably the ones that people rented to stay more isolated. And further in, there was the 'hotel', which was just a bigger house. The farm worked like booking a room in someone's house. Apparently the owner slept in the same house that Sean would, and everyone helped in the farm. It was part of their 'relaxing' program. And for those that only wanted to spend their time having fun, it was a bit more expensive.

Sean never had a problem with crops and animals and he guessed it would be nice to take care of them so he didn't mind being all that careful when choosing his vacation plans.

Getting through the big ranch-like gates with his car, he drove all the way to the big house, and stopped in the parking spots in front of it. He got off, grabbing his phone and wallet and bags and walked towards the house, standing in front of the closed off door. He knocked, waiting around, and then knocked again, after a few seconds.

It was very warm in there.

"Just a moment!" he heard a feminine voice saying loudly from inside, and after a few rushed footsteps and a grunt, someone opened the door. Sean looked at the girl, a bit surprised. She was the prettiest girl he had ever seen, with blond hair falling from her messy ponytail, dripping with sweat from (apparently) carrying something heavy, wearing a flannel tied around her stomach and a pair of jeans that were held secure by jeans suspenders. Her warm brown eyes looked up at him and she smiled, raising her hand after whipping what seemed to be dirt on her pants. "Sorry! We are a bit busy here today, name's Amy!"

"Hi... Sean" he said, slowly lifting his hand and shaking hers. She grinned even more and gently pulled him inside.

"Please come in! I will check your booking in a second, just let me finish to take these buckets away!" she said, happily, and rushed towards a pile of buckets that she was carrying. He frowned, thinking about offering help, but as she took them and walked away, he gave up, shutting his mouth and looking around.

The house was way colder than the outside. It was cozy, with a fireplace right in the living room, in the middle of a bunch of couches, chairs and comfy pillows. It was clearly a reunion place, somewhere to gather and talk over a few glasses of beer or wine and some cheese.

The decoration was also very pleasing to look at. The walls were dark, imitating wood, with furniture that seemed from the last century, some family pictures above them and on the walls. There was even an antler on the wall, though Sean was sure it was a fake and not the real thing. It was just atmospheric.

Sooner than he expected, Amy returned, wiping her forehead and rushing to a desk nearby, waving for Sean to come closer.

"So. Sean?"

"Sean McLoughlin" he said, leaning against the desk, and she nodded, opening a big ass book and going to the last pages, where she started to slide her finger down the many, many names.

"Sean McLoughlin! Yes! You made a booking for... two months, is that correct?" she asked, looking up at him, and he nodded. "Nice! Well you can pay everything off now or leave it for when you decide to go! Also you... don't have any plans so I am guessing you want our usual deal?"

"The fifty bucks a day plus labor?" he smirked, and she giggled.

"Yeah! But since you're staying two months I'm pretty sure I can convince the boss to lower the price. Specially if you're a good worker" she giggled and Sean shrugged it off.

"I'll pay it later then. But don't worry. I'm ready to get my hands dirty" he assured, looking around again. "This... farm of yours... it’s a great idea. Like pay for food and work a little... sounds like a great deal"

"Yeah, we usually receive many clients because of it" she admitted, closing the book after checking his name. "Like, someone comes once and then every vacation they come back. It's a blast. That's how I started. But I liked it so much I asked for a job"

"Really? And now you live here?" he asked, surprised, and Amy nodded, smiling lightly.

"Yeah. Now my vacations are at my parents' house" she shrugged and walked around the desk, smiling. "Do you mind waiting a bit? Mark likes to know the clients and show them their room himself. Mark is our boss by the way"

"Oh no problem" Sean shook his head and looked around. "Can I sit?"

"Sure! Want some water? Coffee? Juice? Beer?" she asked, and he shook his head, walking to the living room and sitting on a chair.

"No thank you" he smiled and she nodded, walking towards the door.

"I'll go call him. Wait here" she said, and walked out, leaving Sean alone. He looked at the place again before taking his phone and automatically going to his twitter app. But there was nothing there.

Right. He had deleted it.

Sighing, he looked around and sent a message for his mom and Robin, saying he had arrived safely and that he would get to know his room soon enough. Then, he opened one of his mobile games and begun playing it, waiting for whoever 'Mark' was to arrive.

Considering that farm looked like it was at least some decades old, he guessed 'Mark' was an old guy, probably the grandpa of the family, that took care of the employees and watched over his family (who probably also worked there or had left for better lives). Or maybe he was the father of the family? The son of the grandpa that probably passed away? Maybe a fifty something buff guy that liked animals? Sean couldn't really tell.

Soon, someone opened the door and he looked up, seeing a guy that seemed around his age coming inside. He dismissed it, guessing he was another employee like Amy, and turned back to his game. But the guy put the hay he was carrying on the ground and walked towards Sean, making him stop his game and look up.

"Hey. You must be Sean. I'm Mark" he said, happily, smiling big and offering his hand for a shake. Sean looked at him, head to toe, and then stood up slowly, taking his hand and shaking it. "It's a pleasure to have you here Sean"

"You... are Mark?" he asked, confused, and Mark furrowed his eyebrows, but kept smiling.

"I don't look like a Mark for you?" he asked, and leaned in, smirking a bit. "Too Asian looking?"

"No no!" Sean exclaimed, not wanting to seem like a xenophobe or something. Which he wasn't. He didn't want to add that to his already horrible image in the public eye. "I just thought... you would be older, that's all"

"Oh, yeah no, I'm thirty" he said, smiling. "I mean, I will be thirty. In a few weeks"

"You are thirty and you own a hotel?" Sean asked, surprised, eyes widening as he let go of the man's hand. Mark shrugged and looked around.

"Yeah. Yeah I am. And you're twenty-nine and a billionaire, are you not?" Mark smirked, and Sean pressed his lips together in a surprised expression. "Don't worry. Nobody in this farm is going to talk about you, mister Jacksepticeye. Although... being talked about seems to be your specialty"

"Well, I am not sure I am fucked if even a farm owner in the middle of the Californian desert knows about my shitty life" Sean chuckled, weakly, and Mark shook his head, slapping his shoulder lightly.

"Nah don't worry about it pal! Here, we don’t ask questions. Just have fun, enjoy yourself, and relax. That's what you're here for, right? Let things rest a bit?" Mark asked, and Sean nodded, scratching the back of his neck.

"I guess, yeah"

"Great. That's what I wanted to hear. Now let me show you your room" he nodded and the youtuber followed him towards the inside of the house. There was a staircase to the left of the living room, and they followed it up to the rooms, walking through a hallway with at least 5 rooms on each side. When they reached the second to last one, Mark stopped and took out a key with the number 7 on it. He opened the door and then handed the key to Sean. "Your room"

"Oh... thanks" Sean smiled and walked inside, while Mark stood by the door. He entered the coziest room he had ever seen. It was all decorated with simplistic objects and furniture, seeming more like a guest room than a hotel room. The bed seemed extra comfy, there was a mirror on the wall, a TV, a small fridge, and the bathroom was inside the room as well. "Holy shit..."

"Liked it?" Mark asked, walking inside slowly, and Sean nodded, looking around in amazement.

"It's like a hotel room, but much comfier... how the hell you have money to build this?" he asked, impressed, and Mark shrugged.

"The farm has around 8 years. It started with only this house, and the bathroom was shared, but then 3 years ago I rearranged it, made a huge renovation. Broke down most walls, reorganized the top floor, changed the stairs' location... it was a mess" he chuckled. "But it worked"

"This seems to be very crowded, I mean, for you to get that much money to do that much stuff" Sean said, sitting down on the bed and humming at how soft it felt. Mark chuckled and shook his head, leaning against the wall.

"Well it does get crowded but we ask only for what we need. We sell our crops, we consume them as well, and we only ask for more money from our guests because we have a high costing water and energy bills. If it wasn't for that, we would never ask anything from the guests, as long as they worked" he explained. "This is like... a place for resting. For forgetting your problems. And I don't really want to be rich so..."

"But... you have no profit?" Sean asked, frowning. "How do you buy new things?"

"The clients give them to me" Mark answered. "They give me what I need. And if I can't have anyone to give me anything, I don't do it. I wait until someone can"

"Wow... this is like... against everything the US teaches" Sean smirked, and Mark smirked back, nodding.

"Yeah, well. What can I do if this place resists?" he winked and Sean laughed, nodding and standing up.

"Well, you surely got me excited to begin my work. My bags are already here, I can change and begin to put my hands in the dirt and work my ass off!"

"Oh no please" Mark chuckled and shook his head. "First days are for resting and getting to know the farm. Take a shower, or just change, and come to the barn. From there I will show you around, present you to the employees, to the guests, and tonight we will celebrate your arrival. Only tomorrow you can start working" he winked, and Sean smiled as Mark made his way out of the room. "I will be waiting"

And after that, he closed the door, and Sean chuckled, shaking his head and sitting down on his bed again.

This place didn't exist. It wasn't possible that such a dream land existed. He could only be dreaming.

But he wasn't. And it was time to know a bit more about that strange place.

#my fanfic #between us #between us arrival #between us chapter 1 #septiplier #septipliertag2

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watchmist1412 · 6 years

Text

Break the Ice- Chapter 6

Co-written by @bloodredruby and @watchmist1412

BTI Fanart // Nalu cover // Gruvia cover

Words ~ 5000

Rated K+

Summary: Figure Skating AU. After an accident Gray, a professional figure skater, has to take some time off to heal and he’s not enjoying it AT ALL. What he didn’t expect was meeting Juvia, a swimmer tired of her career, even less ending up as her coach. Lucy, an aspiring figure skater, came to realize it was a whole new experience with a pink haired weirdo and his equally weird cat by her side.

Fanfiction.net

<<Previous Chapter // First Chapter

Lucy winced as she let her leg fall to the ground finishing her last cool down stretch. Her whole body was burning up and her muscles felt numb.

It turns out Aquarius was very strict with her training program, who would have thought? Lucy knew very well what she was getting into when she signed up to be coached by the woman but she never expected it to be so tiring. She did exercise and practice on her own before but this was on a whole other level! Lucy was sure it would be just a matter of time before she gets used to her new training process but still that didn't ease her hurting muscles.

She felt like each day of training was getting harder and harder. Her lack of stamina didn't help things at all and combined with her new part-time job she felt exhausted.

On the bright side, Lucy felt very happy at her new workplace! Levy had introduced her to her boss at a bookstore she was working on and Lucy was accepted as supporting staff. She worked on some afternoons and it was amazing to be surrounded by so many books! It was like a dream come true, even though she could just sit and read all of them.

Lucy's stomach let out a loud growl that echoed through the empty rink. And to top all of that now she was hungry. She grabbed her skates and went to the locker room. After battling with the lock for a few seconds Lucy pulled out her backpack out of her designated locker and shoved her white skates in. She then reached out for her phone and pulled it out.

It was… 11 AM and she had to meet up with Levy at 12 AM. They had agreed to meet in Lucy's apartment for a movie marathon since it was a day off work for both of them. Now she would have to get home quickly, take a quick shower and prepare her living room for the movie watching before her friend came, Lucy started planning in her head. It was fine she had enough time.

Oh, how she dreamed of lying in her comfy couch and eating delicious food! But all that would have to wait for now.

"Be strong Lucy!" she said to herself "You're almost home."

Lucy went into the lobby and started heading towards the exit but stopped in her tracks as she saw a familiar pink haired man chatting with the woman at the reception. She couldn't quite remember her name.

Lucy contemplated going to greet them or just leave but before she could come to a conclusion the white haired receptionist spotted her and waved cheerfully. Natsu brightened up as he turned around and motioned her to come over.

"Hi!" Lucy greeted them as she approached the reception desk.

"Hey, did you just finish practice?" asked Natsu. "You look pretty bad."

"Thanks." Replied Lucy dryly. "Yeah, I was just about to head home."

"Natsu!" the woman shoved him lightly "You can't just say things like that!"

"It's fine!" Lucy reassured her "I do look pretty terrible right now. I don't think he meant anything bad."

"See, Lucy gets it! Ow, Mira stop that."

Mira, right! That was her name.

The woman smiled sweetly "So how is training going? Is Aquarius giving you any trouble?"

"No, it's going pretty well! I'm still getting used to the environment."

"Good for you." Natsu cut in "Gildarts kept me another hour that usual for 'being late' to practice." He air quoted.

"You can't complain Natsu, you were 1 hour late after all so it's fair."

"Hey, it was only 52 minutes!" grumbled their male companion.

Lucy couldn't suppress a laugh at that "Mira's right, that is pretty late."

Natsu gave her a side eye glare "Traitor. Who was running to practice a few days ago?"

"I was on time! And you were running with me!"

"Those are details, you're missing the point." He grinned playfully.

At that moment a loud growl echoed through the almost empty lobby. Both women turned to Natsu who was clutching his stomach sheepishly.

"Natsu, you were just eating a while ago!" Mira cried out.

"Yes, but I'm a growing boy! I need my nutrition! Also, I had extra practice that takes up more energy." Natsu looked at the older woman with wide pleading eyes.

Mira stared at him before deciding to give in "Okay, I will make you something."

"YES! Thanks, you're the best!"

"I know, I know. You're lucky you're my friend, the cafe won't open for at least 3 more hours.

"Come eat something too Lucy!" Natsu turned back to her.

Lucy waved her hands around in denial "Ah, no thanks. I'm fine!"

With that statement her stomach decided to betray her and protest by releasing a loud growl similar to Natsu's. Sometimes Lucy felt like her own body hated her.

"Come on" Mira nudged her kindly "I'll make you something quick."

Lucy felt a blush creeping to her cheeks "You don't have to, I don't want to put you into too much trouble."

"Nonsense! It's no problem at all. I'm going to make something for Natsu anyway."

"Don't just endure your hunger you weirdo." Natsu backed Mira up.

"Okay then" Lucy smiled "I guess eating a little won't hurt."

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"Here you go!" The white haired woman placed the plates with their respectable orders in front of them.

The pair of skaters broke of their argument about spicy chicken and tuna sandwich. Lucy had no idea how they got to that but apparently both of them ended up in a playful banter about their favourite foods.

It looked so delicious! Lucy could feel her stomach rumbling from excitement. On the other hand…Lucy eyed Natsu's plate. She didn't doubt Mira's cooking skills but she couldn't imagine herself ever eating that.

She had to admit though, the rink's outside area was beautiful. The first thing she noticed when she went outside was the lake in the center of the park surrounded by huge trees. Apparently in winter when the lake froze it became an ice rink, open to the public. Lucy had missed the opportunity to go to the lake as it had already melted down but she hoped to see it the next year. On the side of the open area a small stool was placed along with tables where she and Natsu were sitting. Beside the tables stood tall pink umbrellas but they were closed for the time being since the café hadn't opened yet.

Lucy turned her attention to the white haired woman "Thank you so much, it looks delicious!"

"It was no problem, dear!" Mira smiled sweetly.

"So how much is it?" Lucy asked searching through her backpack for her wallet.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it!" Mira stopped her "It's on the house."

Lucy dropped the search for her wallet and started waving her hands around flustered. "It's not right, I should give you something!"

"It's fine! It's your first time eating here after all."

Lucy looked at the older woman gratefully "Thank you! Again." After all it was free food, who in the right mind would say no to that? Lucy did have to spend a lot of money these days for rent and for her training. She was trying to save up as much money as possible.

"Come on, eat your food." Natsu urged her with his voice slightly muffled from the food "It's gonna get cold."

"Natsu's right. You two eat your food and I'll go inside. Tell me if you need anything!"

"Okay!" Lucy waved at her before picking up her sandwich and taking a small bite of it. It was indeed as delicious as it looked. She hadn't realized she was that hungry.

The pair continued to eat in silence for a few seconds. Lucy spared her companion a glance. Well, that was fast, he was almost finished. She chewed up the remaining of her sandwich and attempted to start up a conversation again.

"So… you've been in the rink for some time now, right?"

Natsu hummed in agreement, swallowing the last bits of his lunch.

"Then you must know a lot of famous skaters!" continued Lucy with excitement "That's so cool! I just moved here so I haven't met anyone else except for you."

"Hey, are you implying something?"

Lucy was ready to reply before she unintentionally caught a glimpse of the sky. A few suspicious grey clouds were beginning to gather, covering up the blue sky.

"Hmm that's weird." She muttered to herself.

"What is it?" Natsu tried to move his head to find what caught her attention.

Lucy pointed at the clouds "Look. I swear it was sunny moments ago… Do you think it'll rain?"

"Oh, that's it? Nah, don't worry, it won't."

"I think it's going to rain." Lucy repeated staring worryingly at the rapidly increasing clouds "And I don't even have an umbrella with me!"

"Listen, you're not used to Magnolia weather, this happens all the time." The man leaned back to his chair in a relaxed position "They will just pass by, you'll -" Natsu was interrupted by a flash of light and thunder echoing after it. A single raindrop fell into the bridge of Lucy's nose.

"You were saying?"

Natsu sit up from his seating position. "We're still fine!" he said stubbornly "This can't be more than a few raindrops."

At that moment it was like the clouds had heard him and rain poured in signaling the start of a heavy rainstorm.

"OH COME ON!" Natsu shaked his fist angrily at the weeping sky.

Lucy chuckled at his antics. She could already feel her clothes get dump even under the protection of the trees. She quickly calculated the distance to the building. They were safe for now but they run fast enough they could reach a much better shelter and…

"Come on Lucy, how long are you gonna stand there?"

And he had already gone ahead.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Lucy hastily grabbed her backpack and started brisk walking towards the main building. She knew she would get more drenched that way but at least she wouldn't fall over to the muddy ground. It was too slippery to take any chances.

On the other hand, Natsu wasn't as patient and careful. He was already ahead of her nearly sprinting to the back entrance hopping over obstacles and puddles on his way.

"Hurry up Lucy!" he shouted over the heavy rain.

"I'm being mindful, thank you very much." Lucy shouted back not taking her eyes of the ground "You should too if you don't want to fall-"

A high pitched shriek sounded from the front followed by a splash of water and some not so children friendly expressions.

Natsu was lying head first into a large puddle of mud, his clothes and hair covered in the sticky substance. Lucy rushed by his side as he slowly turned over to a front lying position staring at the gray clouds above.

"Are you ok? Did you hurt anything." Lucy quickly scanned him, he didn't seem to be in pain.

The fallen boy then turned his head to her direction with a deadpan look on his face. "The universe hates me."

Lucy couldn't contain herself. She doubled over and lost herself into a feat of laughter. She didn't know if it was the defeated look staring into nothing, his body half covered in mud or the bored, unemotional voice but Lucy couldn't stop laughing at the combination of them. A small part of her felt bad for the man's situation but it was brushed over by the hilarity of the situation.

"I'm lying on the ground and you're just laughing at me?" Natsu whined "I could have been really hurt!"

"Sorry- It's just… You…" Lucy was consumed by another wave of laughter. She had reached the point where her breath was caught on her throat from too much laughing and she could feel tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, is that how it's gonna be?" Natsu had a mischievous look on his face. That couldn't mean anything good. Lucy couldn't do anything as she felt a wet hand tighten around her ankle and she was brought down to the muddy ground with a muffled scream.

"You little!" She quickly got up wiping out the mud on her cheeks but only succeeded at making it worse.

Now it was Natsu's turn to erupt into laughter "Oh man, you should have seen your face!"

However he was soon cut off by a mud ball landing straight in his face. Lucy was very proud of her aim.

Natsu grinned as he wiped it off his cheek "You're on."

----------------------------------------------------

"Why, just why did you two think it was a good idea to play outside when there's a rainstorm going on?

Lucy's teeth clattered as she pulled her towel closer to her body in an attempt to warm up. She could admit that wasn't the best decision she has made. Despite the weather gradually getting warmer it was still very much winter and it did no go well to sit in the cold with wet clothes.

She and Natsu hadn't understood how much time had passed until Mira found them and dragged them inside. The poor woman freaked out when she saw them having an all-out mud war in the rink's backyard. She brought them in and fussed over them covering the pair with towels and blankets.

It had been such a long time since Lucy had last let herself free and had so much fun. It felt really good to play around like a kid again. But now she was beginning to see the downside of the whole thing. Her clothes were completely dump and covered in mud and grass and her hair felt greasy and it stuck to her face. She must be a delight to look at right now. Moreover now that the adrenaline of the game and running around had faded away her whole body was freezing and no amount of towels to cover her with seemed to help.

Sitting on the couch beside her she saw Natsu frown under the older woman's gaze "We're sorry." He concluded.

Mira sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly "Just be a little more careful, okay? I don't want two of our skaters getting sick on my watch."

The pair simultaneously nodded in agreement.

"You two should go take a bath. You can't go out like this. Follow me Lucy. Natsu, you know the way."

"But I'm fine!"

"Natsu." Mira was smiling but her tone was slightly threatening.

"Aye sir!"

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Lucy ruffled her damp, now clean, hair with her towel one last time before handing it to the waiting older woman. Thankfully she had managed to take all the mud of without too many problems and loss of hair.

"Thanks! For everything."

"Oh, it was nothing! I've gotten used to taking care of our skaters here in the rink. Believe me I have seen way worse stuff."

Lucy was curious about that statement but she didn't say anything. Instead her eyes wandered off around the room searching for a familiar shade of pink.

"He's not here."

"What?"

"Natsu's not here, he left a couple of minutes ago." Mira smiled knowingly.

"Ah, no! I wasn't… looking for him. I should get going too!"

"Wait!" Mira searched under the reception desk for a moment before pulling out a bright red umbrella. "Take it, the rain hasn't stopped yet."

"Thank you so much! I'll return it on Wednesday!"

"Have a safe trip home!" Mira waved cheerfully.

When Lucy was out of the shelter of the building she opened up the borrowed umbrella and took the route home. Now all that was left was to explain to her blue haired friend why she was 30 minutes late to their meeting. That would be a fun story.

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Juvia halted her skating for a moment and looked out of the stained window on the other side of the big skating room. The rain was still going strong though considerably lighter than the rainstorm in the morning. Fortunately though, it had stopped people from going out of their houses so she now had the whole guest ring to herself.

Juvia had missed the rain. In her previous town it used to rain all the time. It was a weather routine she had gotten used to. But from when she moved to Magnolia it hadn't really rained before this day.

Other people would see this as a good thing but Juvia never minded the rain. The sound of the raindrops hitting the ceiling and windows was strangely calming and the smell of wet grass and ground was one of her favorite things. She generally felt very calm and relaxed whenever it rained.

However, it did hold a smidge of sadness in it. Sometimes the sadness would overtake her on days like that and she would wish the rain would stop following her already. But this day she was very grateful for the rain's familiar presence.

Juvia teared off her gaze from the window, shaking off her thoughts, and focused back on her task. She would perfect that move today!

She had gotten scolded by her swimming coach the other day for being dazed off in practice and not performing as good as usual. That resulted in Juvia having to go for extra practices which she was not particularly happy about. That also meant that she didn't have the time or energy to go back to Fairy Tail and maybe see a particular black haired man again.

She hadn't seen him since their last lesson… Juvia knew very well the lessons couldn't just continue but she couldn't help but miss it. It was really a dream come true to be able to talk to her idol and spend so much time with him! She really hoped she would catch a glimpse of him this day and maybe drop by to say a quick hello.

And last time, oh last time! They had gone out to eat together! Just he two of them! Together! It was like a date! But not really… They didn't actually do much.

They got their preferred ice cream flavors and had some small talk about skating and everyday things. Juvia avoided the subject of his leg. He didn't seem that comfortable to talk about it. She had been too nervous the entire time anyway. At some point she felt like her head would explode with all the things that were happening. In the end they finished their ice creams and went to their separate ways.

It wasn't anything much but it was all Juvia ever dreamed of! Well she actually dreamed of way much more but that wasn't the point. Juvia smiled at herself. It was so different meeting Gray Fullbuster, many times figure skating champion, in real life. So much more different than watching him from her TV or her laptop screen. It felt so real.

He was so calm and collected! But he was a bit closed off too. Which was pretty natural since he had just met Juvia. She did hope they would be able to spend a little more time together on the future! He was never rude with her even with her strange requests. And he was so handsome! His eyes were the prettiest dark blue color! She never had the opportunity to look at them so closely before. And he-

"AHHH!" Juvia screamed as she lost her balance and fell for once more right into the plastic dividers. That's what she got for dozing off when practicing. She rubbed her side where she collided with the divider to ease off the pain. She should really stop getting lost in her thoughts on the ice, it proved to be pretty dangerous. And she had enough bruises already.

The pain having become just a dull ache, Juvia got into position ready to try again. What had Gray-sama said about that move again?

"You're doing it all wrong."

Ah yes she could almost hear his- Juvia whirled around to the source of the voice. She wasn't imagining things! Gray Fullbuster was standing in front of the open rink doors in his full glory. He was slightly leaning to the doorframe with his arms crossed and a small scowl to his face and his lips pressed together in a line. Juvia guessed he didn't mean to speak up.

"Sorry, for startling you." He scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes awkwardly. "I was just passing by, I'll leave you alone now."

"Wait!" Juvia shouted before he could turn around. "Umm… what… What is Juvia doing wrong?"

She could feel heat rising to her face. Her ears were burning up. There she goes holding him back again. She really hoped she wasn't a hindrance.

Gray stopped and stared at her with calculating eyes before speaking up "You're leaning too far away in the front. Stand up a bit straighter so you don't lose your balance again."

"Thank you! Juvia will keep that in mind." She smiled widely.

"Yeah, don't sweat it." He started going through the metal door before stopping and turning around "Oh and try not to look at the ice so much. You need to stand up prouder."

"Okay!" Juvia squeaked. She hadn't ever noticed she was looking at the ice so much.

And then he was gone out of the room with a small wave of his hand and Juvia tried to calm her racing heart. That was a surprisingly stressful experience.

Slowly a smile crept up her face. But it was so amazing! He had actually come to talk to her! He came on his own and talked to her! She was so happy!

Juvia twirled happily around herself. But she had forgotten a small detail. She was still on the ice. Thus she ended up on the cold slippery surface of the ice. Again.

She should really keep her thoughts for after she has exited the ice.

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~~BONUS~~

It was a beautiful, sunny Monday morning and no one should be spending their time waiting outside of a hospital to- Wait no. That was completely wrong. First of all, no Monday morning was a good morning. Natsu had Mondays completely ruined for him by the school system. Who woke up in a Monday after resting for the weekend and said 'Oh boy I'm so excited to start my day at 7 in the morning!' That's right, no one!

Now that he thought about it better it wasn't a very sunny day either… He could spot some stray gray clouds beginning to gather and hide the morning sun. And they didn't seem to have any plans on leaving anytime soon.

Well, no matter what the day was like, Natsu did not want to just spend another minute standing alone in the cold. He prided himself as being very tolerant to the cold but even he was starting to feel the chill creep up to him. (a/n is that right?) It was only the middle of autumn but it was already beginning to feel like winter. He couldn't say that was his favourite season.

Natsu scoffed and placed his phone back to his pocket. There were so many of "Dragon Slayer" that he could play. And he definitely did not stop because he was losing too much!

He looked at the hospital's back exit. Still nothing. What was he doing in there! He should have been done an hour ago. Natsu knew he shouldn't have caved in when Gildarts asked him for this favor. Curse his good heart!

"Natsu?"

"Oh, finally you're done!" The man in question turned around to the familiar voice.

"Pffffttt!" Natsu couldn't contain his laughter. The sight before him was too much. Gray had just gotten his broken leg in the cast and he was trying, and mostly failing, to walk with his new crutches towards Natsu. What really got Natsu's attention, however, were the pink and blue hearts and scribbles all around the man's cast that looked like a child's work. Combined with Gray's grumpy face it made for a very hilarious picture.

"Oh man!" Natsu exclaimed as he tried to contain his laughter "This… this is so cute!"

"Shut up." Gray glared at him, a little hint of pink dusting his cheeks. "There was a little girl beside me when I was waiting for the doctor and she really liked my cast. You couldn't have said no to her either."

"You can thank her for improving your look." Natsu snickered.

"What are you doing here anyway, flame brain? Where's the old man?"

"Something came up, Gildarts won't come."

"So he sent you over?"

"Hey, I'm offering you a ride home, you should be thankful for that!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

"Come on now we're leaving. I wanna get back to the rink as fast as I-" Natsu stopped as he noticed the pained look flashing on his friend's face. He cleared his throat and tried to change the course of the conversation "Yeah… so are you okay with walking to the car?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That's what the crutches are for." Gray lifted one of them up to prove his point.

"You sure? You look like a baby duck that's taking its first steps."

"Hey, it's actually hard to walk with these things!"

"Oh come on, how hard can it be? It's okay, you can admit you suck at this. No one will judge you, except for me."

"You try walking on them and then we'll see if you'll talk!" Gray taunted him.

"I'm pretty sure I could do a better job than you." Natsu immediately replied.

"Is that so? Well, here you go." The black haired man stopped on his tracks and extended the walking devises to Natsu, while balancing on a nearby tree.

"What, right now?" Natsu asked surprised.

"We're in front of a hospital. It's the perfect place to be if you mess up and break something. Or are you not able to do it after all?"

"Ha! I'm not scared!" Natsu swiped the crutches off his hands. "I'll show you!"

He carefully positioned the metal handles under his armpit and put his weight in them testing their hold. Satisfied with the result he tried lifting his right leg and taking a few steps forward. He actually made it two steps in, before losing his footing and start heading straight into the concrete of the pavement. He had put his foot back to the ground, stumbling forward, so that he didn't fell right on his face.

Now it was Gray's turn to start laughing. "Oh wow! That should be so easy! I don't know how you could ever mess it up."

"Quit it ice princess! It's not my fault!"

"Oh yes, I'm sure that's it."

"No, I'm serious! It's the crutches. They're not the right size for me, I'm taller than you."

"What the hell are you talking about? We're the same height. Besides if someone's a bit taller, that's me."

The pink haired skated lifted one of his borrowed crutches up and started inspecting it. "Now where is it…?"

"What are you doing now?" Gray asked confused.

"I'm looking for the adjustment thing."

"The what now?"

"You know! The thing that lets you fix the height of the crutches."

"Natsu put it down, you don't know what you're doing."

"No, no, I got it."

"Natsu stop, you're gonna-"

Natsu heard a pop from the metallic crutch and looked in horror at his hands where he hold two pieces of the device that had come apart. He looked at it silently for a few seconds before looking back to Gray, his eyes widened in shock. He mentally prepared himself for the worse.

What he did not expect was to see the other man snickering before dissolving into a full laughing fit. "You… you should have seen your face!" Gray managed to make out between trying to catch his breath "I knew this would happen!"

"You knew it was coming off? Come on, I thought I had broken it!" Natsu whined.

"That's why I didn't tell you!"

Natsu frowned at him and lightly punched him in the arm, trying not to push him over. "You're an idiot."

He watched his friend wipe off a stray tear from all the laughing and Natsu tried not to smile himself, maintaining a grumpy composure. Gray hadn't genuinely laughed at all since the accident. He didn't even respond that well to their bickering. It felt so weird and out of place.

Now he definitely seemed more relaxed and happy. Things were starting to fix themselves, Natsu started to realize in delight. Everything would be back to normal soon.

Something good came out of this favor after all.

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Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, here's an extra long chapter to make up for it! We hope you enjoyed reading both the actual chapter and the bonus :) We look forward to hearing your thoughts about it! The nalu rain scene was one of my favourite scenes to write so far! You can find the scene i drew right here

On another note after this chapter the fic will be going on a small hiatus. Because of school stuff and exams it's getting harder to find time to write so we decided to postpone the fic for a while. It's not going to be long though, don't worry. We'll probably be back around June. Thank you for reading our story, we hope you understand!

See you next chap!

#ftfanfics #nalu #gruvia #nalu fanfiction #gruvia fanfiction #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #gray fullbuster #juvia locksar #nalu fanfic #gruvia fanfic #fairy tail fanfiction #break the ice #bti chapters #bti chapter 6 #collab fic #fairy tail #ft #my writing

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xjmparrish · 6 years

Text

Christmas Gifts 2017

Everyone receiving something from J this year is listed below in alphabetical order by first name. Each gift bundle has a handwritten card attached detailing just what is being given and well-wishes for the upcoming New Year.

@skarsgardb @xolively @candicepat @cmmurrray @quirkymisscb @krispinot @clrholt @deltslea @bviewgron @levittjoe @sharnamayxo @shay-bright @drizztroi @tylerjbburn @chmerkval @zendayam @zoeydevtch

Happy Holidays❤️

Bill,

Best friend. Here is my returning the gift of our hot chocolate bar, for when our schedules suck at matching, and a scarf to help you keep warm. I also may or may not have taken the chance to do something we’ve planned for months, and if the passport case isn’t a hint.. yes that is a plane ticket. I’m dragging you home to your motherland! Thank you for being the bestest friend I made this year, love you lots!!

Merry Christmas - J

Blake,

My Monica to my Rachel, my Cristina to my Mer.. I hope you like the diaper bag! I figured #momneeds. Before you kill me for making you think I got the girls better gifts between Ines’s shoes and Jame’s food truck, I have to say, even if the diaper bag was empty you’d still love me, right? This Christmas I thought I’d take it upon myself to spoil you some. So aside from the baby bag, every momma bear needs black sunnies for those rough mornings, comfy slippers for lazy afternoons, a fancy robe and pj shorts for those nights you wanna feel a little special. It also wouldn’t be spoiling you without some jewelry, so some cute earrings and a watch will come in handy next time we go on a girl’s date. I also threw in some essential oils for fun. Last but not least, I know you love chocolate. So chocolate covered almonds it was! (You should probably share some with your hubby cause that one’s half his.. if you want.) So happy holidays my wife, nieces, and I guess you too Ryan.. LOL! 😜 I love you all!

Merry Christmas - Janellybean

Candice,

My soul sister of sorts (the offer to marry is still on the table) , I had to spoil you just a bit after you suffered rooming with me on the trip. So a bracelet and some earrings to add to your wardrobe and just a little something extra to keep your life stylish. I hope you love it as much as I love you!

Merry Christmas - Janel

Chad,

My favorite human (and your mini me). Needless to say, I didn’t know what to get you. Hopefully, in time I’ll learn how to shop. Naturally, the first thing I picked up was a bottle of Jack for those late nights. Then I decided I couldn’t go wrong with clothes and accessories. Two sweaters and a jacket to keep warm, hopefully you like them. (If not, I’ll totally get you new ones.) I’ve also learned that you try to rep the Bills just about anywhere, so a new snapback seemed perfect. It’s a good look on you 😜 Then I got you some sunnies last (you’ll be twinning with Jlo), figuring everyone could always use another pair. And for Jackson, I’m still learning on the kid front, so a stuffed animal is always a safe bet. So he gets a dinosaur, because what kid doesn’t like dinosaurs? I might also secretly be hoping he learns a thing or two from me because I got him a little keyboard (you can hate me, just be happy it’s not drums) and lastly a collection of play-doh. It’s a right of passage for a kid. I promise, I’ll get better at this gift giving thing in the future. Thanks for making this holiday season just a little more special.

Merry Christmas - Janelly

Chloe,

For the bestest duet partner in the world, some boots, a red coat (I think I’m secretly turning you into A) and cute little ear muffs to keep you warm this winter! Thank you for making 2017 awesome, you deserve so much more. Love you pretty lady!

Merry Christmas - Janel

Chris,

My favorite Chris (that’s still our secret), some items to keep you warm this season and a pair of sun glasses so that you stay looking cool everywhere you go. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and even better start off to the new year!

Merry Christmas - Janel

Claire,

My favorite blondie from the land down under, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you but I thought now being in town together, I’d get you just a little something. So a scarf, beanie, and some sunnies seemed perfect. I couldn’t get over how cute the glasses were and had to get them, so I hope you get good use out of them. Love you!

Merry Christmas - Janel

Delta,

Pretty lady that I love so dearly, I hope you get good use of your gifts this coming year! A cute chunky sweater to keep warm, a little black cold shoulder lacy top for adding a little cute to layering, and some booties with a tie back. I hope you love them, and they’re just a little thank you for being one of the best people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet this year. Have a wonderful Christmas babes!

Merry Christmas - Janel

Dianna,

Di, I saw this bag and thought of you so I had to get it. It might just be my love of the color red on you. So what better thing to include than a new red lipstick? And along with the lip trend, gloss is all the rage right now so a fresh tube could never hurt. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas - that one random cheerleader from a decade ago (Janel)

JGL,

To the man who does it all and puts my workaholic nature to shame by a longshot, seeing as you’ll be heading off on travels for work I thought a backpack might come in handy to pack some stuff in. Maybe even instead of lugging around everything on your visits back to town, it could come in handy. And you’ve also got new shoes for the new year, which I really hope you like! Have a wonderful holiday!

Merry Christmas - Janel

Shar,

Disney, disney, disney. The little mermaid and her baby get themed gifts this year. So for you Shar, sweats and a cute little backpack because you could never have too many. And for baby El, a little Minnie Mouse dress. I couldn’t help myself when I saw the backpack and that’s how this came about. Hope you love!

Merry Christmas - J

Shay,

Shannon, my sister from another mister (and part time lover?) Nothing says Merry Christmas to you like furry jackets, and because you’re 200 times more stylish than me.. feel free to donate to Sammy if you don’t like. A faux fur hoodie, yes a hoodie, the best of both worlds, I think very Shan appropriate. The second coat is Mimi inspired, so you can live out your dreams nightly lip syncing to the RENT soundtrack in your living room. Lastly, not one but two sriracha key chains because nothing says Shay like bringing your own hot sauce anywhere. Kleo wanted to give Foxy and Angel some stuffed animals to play with too, so enjoy! Kisses from us to you!

Merry Christmas - Janel & Klee

Troi,

My caffeine addicted hippie rocker big sis, nothing screamed your name at me more than this Coffee & Friends sign when I saw it, I just had to get it. I’ll personally build you a coffee bar to hang it over if I need to. A new mug to add to the collection, too. A girl could use a hat from time to time, so here’s a new one that I hope you don’t have yet. And lastly, a poncho to stay just a little warmer this winter. With all of the love.

Merry Christmas - J

Tyler,

My TyTy. Auntie J and Kleebear got Dylan a couple of toys, I hope they last her longer than a few hours. Lol. And for you Ty, I raided AllSaints for you to show my love. A hat to add to the collection, and two shirts you probably already own but could use new ones of. And it couldn’t be Christmas without just a slight reminder that we probably belong on the naughty list, so a new lighter and flask for the new year baby! 😜 Much better than coal. Love you, loser.

Merry Christmas - Janey & Klee

Val,

V, I couldn’t help myself but get your something after reconnecting (also kind of makes up for that one Christmas but, you know..) so I hope you like everything. Between traveling and rehearsals, I figured you could use a new bag to carry your stuff in. Also, some new wireless headphones for those long nights on the tour bus or early mornings at the airport. A snapback repping the OG Brooklyn team, because nothing says you more than a backwards snapback (no kitty ear damage to this one necessary). And lastly, what is quite probably your true love in life.. nutella. Enjoy, babe!

Happy Holidays - that one Chinese-Irish Hawaiian chick 😜

Daya,

Z, let’s be honest I didn’t know what to get the most stylish person I know. But I figure, you can make just about anything work, so maybe I shouldn’t stress. So I got you some black knee high boots, cute high high socks (they don’t have to go together, I just thought they’d be cute) and a white bag to offset all of the black. All hopefully a great start for 2018. I hope you love everything! xoxo

Merry Christmas - J

Zo,

To the little sister I never knew I needed until your mama making out with my boo on tv someone brought us close (it’s a weird family dynamic). It’s been a blast reconnecting, and I can’t wait for new adventures in 2018. In the meantime, I got you a pretty dress nobody else could rock, a shirt to remind you that what Mama Lea and do, you can too, and a beanie that just says what I think about you like 99.9% of the time. (The only time my mind changes is when you’re clumsier than me.) Also, the homemade food from Mama P just as promised, still warm so you better eat up! Love you!!

Merry Christmas - Janel

#bviewxmas17

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scotlandandbeyond · 4 years

Text

A Week, (well 87 hours), of Living Dangerously

Remember the movie, “A Year of Living Dangerously”? It was a 1982 movie about the 1965 Indonesian revolution. That in itself is interesting because I seemed to remember it being about the 1970’s Khmer Rouge...go figure.

Anyway, for Craig and I we had 87 hours in a whirlwind; in particular the last 70 hours. That was when we last showered and dressed in clean clothes. Now that we’re home in Canada and in our 14 day isolation, I’m starting to process it all. This post is part of my own processing. Here’s the timeline of those hours:

Hoi An, Vietnam, approximately 2pm local time, (midnight Pacific time), our bus to Hue is pulled over and everyone is checked for a temperature. Passports are also checked for visa date, lots of paperwork about where we’ve been and where we’re going. We have an epiphany: if ANYONE on this bus tests positive, we’re all going into a lockdown facility...and they’re not using hotels for this...it will be in a fairly dire place. That night in our hotel, we make the decision to leave Vietnam early and head to our place in Mexico, (where we were to arrive in early April). All flight dates changed at no cost, however on the all with Turkish Airlines they tell us that our original flight date to Amsterdam had already been cancelled, but no one had let us know...good job I called. Other flights into Cambodia and back to Bangkok are cancelled, (who knows what we will recoup from those as wait times are too long to deal with refunds). Cancelled our hotel Siem Reap.

Wednesday midday Vietnamese time: we receive an email saying our flight time to Bangkok has been changed. Now instead of a direct flight, we are going via Ho Chi Minh city. We’re told there is no other option. This still gives us 4 hours until our flight out of Bangkok so we accept the change, but we’re uneasy. We also need to be in Hanoi the night before, so we cancel original flights to Hanoi and rebook. Again, refund...who knows???

A few hours later, we get another email saying our flight time has changed again, but we need to call to get the change. 3 hours later, after being on hold and cut off 3 times, we have both of us on phones, and the hotel reception calling locally as well, we get two different stories: English staff say we no longer have enough time in between flight from Hanoi to HCM and the connecting flight from HCM to Bangkok, (we have 1 hour and 25 minutes), so they’re cancelling the 2nd part of our flight, (the one to Bangkok), and we will have to rebook. Vietnamese people tell hotel, no all is fine, but these people need to check in again at the airport. We don’t quite trust the Vietnamese answer and know that if we can’t get to Bangkok in time, we will miss out flight out. We book another direct flight, (that interetily wasn’t an option earlier in the day), and keep the original flights. We know have 2 bookings and hope that one makes it out. We sleep fitfully and arrive at the airport just after 8am for our 2 noonish flights. The airport is ominously quiet with only Vietnamese airlines at the gates. Wearing a mask is mandatory. Thank goodness our friends Tom and Shaun brought us two skookum, (a good Canadian word), ones:

We manage to get the newly booked direct flight to Bangkok...hallelujah...but not before getting gauged for $85CDN for overweight carry on luggage. We were over the secret allotment amount by 3kgs. Ironically we were under by 9kgs in our checked bags...had we only known. Craig asked if this was just a “money grab” and a lovely Vietnamese young woman, with limited English smiled sweetly at Craig, (behind her mask), and said, “yes.”

We arrive in Bangkok just after 2pm local time, (midnight Wednesday morning Pacific Time), where we are told we need to download an app and fill out the online form before we can proceed to Customs and Immigration. So, along with hundreds of others we are doing our best with the airport wifi. We had to take a photo of our passport photo page, and upload it along with the form that asked our flight and seat number of the flight we arrived on, as well as our future plans and whether had had any of the individually listed symptoms. Then we submitted it all electronically and got a confirmation receipt that we had to take a photo of and show before proceeding on to have our temperatures taken and finally on through Customs etc and baggage claim. Once through, we are relieved to finally be out of Vietnam and are happily set to board our still flying flights out to Amsterdam via Istanbul where we are set to overnight before flying on to Mexico on Friday morning, (Amsterdam time), when....cue the music...we get a notification saying that all flights out of Amsterdam to outside the EU have been cancelled. Now we’re panicked: while we’re relieved to be out of Vietnam, what are we going to do if we’re stuck in Amsterdam for an indefinite period of time? And what if we DO somehow manage to get to Mexico? Will they let us in? We have property there, but no legal standing as residents. Online we go, and after looking at our options we decide to head for home, and to use a reliable carrier, (Air Canada), who thank us for our patronage by charging an obscene amount for 2 one way tickets, (but hey, they waived baggage fees). So we wait for 8 hours in Bangkok, and again we try to cancel our original flights to Amsterdam, but we can’t get through to anyone. Finally, Craig goes to their check in when it opens and explains the situation. Again we don’t know if there will be any refunds. Meanwhile I did a modern version of “working the phones” trying to find a place to stay when we returned, as our house is still rented out.

Take a look at the itinerary below: in addition to our 12 hour layover in Tokyo, (yes Tokyo), we didn’t look that closely when we booked in a panic, but fortunately Craig asked at check in if we needed to claim our bags or if they would just go straight through? The woman at the ANA counter looked at us as if we were insane and said, “Of course you will have to claim your bags in Tokyo because you have to take them to the other airport!” WHAT??? What “other airport???” Yes, we had to change airports.

Arriving into Japan, we had our temperatures taken again, and after claiming our bags, and an hour bus ride later we arrive at Narita airport where we have a 10 hour wait. Craig finds a lounge that our credit card gives us one free access to, and we head in there for its comfy seats. This turns out to be a great decision as during out 8 hours there we are two of only 4 people for most of the time. Meanwhile we keep checking that our Air Canada flight to Vancouver is still “on”.

At 4 pm Tokyo time on Thursday, we checked in for our flight. Relieved to have boarding passes in hand we anxiously waited. I have never been so happy to see that familiar Air Canada plane when it arrived! After having our temperatures taken once again, we boarded just before 6pm and finally we were headed home! Our previous flights had been maybe 1/3 to 1/2 full so we had been able to have a row to ourselves and I could lie down and sleep. Not so for Craig, due to his height. However, I was awakened on our flight to Tokyo, but Craig’s voice, obviously upset. Apparently when he went to use the bathroom, an overzealous flight attendant, picked up his mask that his had replaced in its resealable container, and disposed of it. I thought Craig was going to lose it; a combination of stress, exhaustion and fear that like in Vietnam, we would be denied boarding without one, almost pushed him over the edge. The mask had been put in the garbage, but it was on the top, and in a sealed container, so they were able to retrieve it and sprayed the container with a sanitizer and all was restored. It’s just an example of fragile our emotions were at this point.

We were unsure what to expect upon arrival to Vancouver, but we certainly did not expect how relaxed it seemed to be: our temperatures weren’t checked, and Border folks just asked if we had any symptoms, and where we had come from? We told them Vietnam, and didn’t get into our circuitous routing as we figure they must know how tough it’s getting to get back, as multiple airlines collapse their flights into one. We were given a sheet of paper outlining how the 14 day isolation works and we were off to baggage claim. It has NEVER felt so good to land back on Canadian soil.

This was not how our adventure was to play out. We are still dealing with our emotions around this and no doubt will be for a while yet, but we are home. Not that we’re safe here from this virus, but we know how the system works, we have a great healthcare system, (and we will do over very best not to overwhelm it), and we have family and friends.

I think what really got me through these days were two important things: Craig was a ROCK...seriously...and the never ending support of family and friends. Your continual messages via social media were great. I tried to keep people updated without sharing too much of our emotional rollercoaster, but your responses were propping me up. Thank you.

I’m happy to be home. We will spend our time in our trailer, (where we would live was one of our main concerns about coming home early). Our “personal shopping” team comprised of friends and family have bought groceries for us, and people have stepped up offering us their property to set up on, and a generator to charge our trailer batteries. We’re still finalizing where we will stay, (having rented a place for 2 nights to give us some breathing space to get our vehicle insured, etc).

I’ve learned a lot about myself this past week, (mainly about my shortcomings), but that’s for another post, (I had to share the photo of unguarded toilet rolls in a the bathroom at Narita airport!)

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