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pandorafallz · 5 months

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Vampire AU | New problems, old Stories

Quaritch stared at the fence. His hands were on his hips and a disgruntled expression on his face that hadn’t lifted since the alarms had been cut off and this had been their next problem; the fucking fence.

The deserting women that had legged it after locking in the brig guard and the two love birds from the maintenance that also flew the coop in the chaos. He was waiting on the inventory reports but…he was very pissed off that they had left with a bang.

Literally.

The outer fence had been taken out by a mine explosive attached to its main support, not including a small fire that had caught the trees but it seemed fate had been kind that it hadn’t gotten out of control before they had turned on the waterworks and put it out. What was left was a huge space of burnt metal and debris and he had put two armed amp suits to keep it protected as the manufacturing rig in the factory got to work and built them a new one which had to wait until morning for the machines to wake up—safety measures forced them from overuse so night time gave them the time for them to cool down. This was still becoming a long ass day within the first few hours of it.

How did someone get their hands on explosives to do this?

Major Kung, he knew very well with her years of service to the RDA. She had run the mining operations with an iron fist before her deceit came to light. It made more sense where she could have gone her hands on mining explosives. Except given Kung had been in the cell at the time, it made it hard for her to set it up at the fence as well.

In all honesty, he was surprised that the other one would follow her mother's footsteps and aid her escape. He knew very little of Bree Kung given she was only qualified for her excellent xenolinguist skills and fast learning, also the matter being she was the youngest person on this base. No combat training of any kind, despite her mother’s long history of veteran lifestyle. How did she get her hands on bombs when she wasn’t cleared for anything less than a dumbbell?

In total, four more female staff went within the night.

This meant he was gonna have to do a lot of checking into their medical and personal files for any potential reports that were removed before he was notified, which he hated to have to do but it was something he had to set as a precaution for all those bailing now with so much shit suddenly passing him by.

“Sir,” Wainfleet called, coming up beside him. “Samson’s come back; they followed the sidewinder for about five miles before the tracks vanished into Omatikaya territory and…it looks like any further trails looked to have washed away from the rainfall this morning before daybreak.”

“So…no leads.”

“No, sir.”

Quaritch let out a heavy exhale, wondering for a moment how long Selfridge was gonna rant and rave about this before he nodded. He could probably hold off on visiting the guy by checking in with the other departments. The MineOps certainly needed tending to given no doubt everyone knew Kung and that she had bailed on them. He should stomp down any rumours and get order properly re-established before anyone thought it was a good idea to follow after friends.

Yes, that was the next best thing and certainly would take up time before he’d get inventory reports and personal files and Selfridge would probably have to wait in his lectures for him to do his job.

So Quaritch did just that, taking a trip to the mine with Lyle. At first, it wasn’t overly fruitful, but he talked to Captain Hale who had temporally taken over the head of MineOps since Kung was arrested who had given them a tour around and talked with various staff.

Captain Hale looked very at home in her new place, though she lacked the cold steel of command that Kung had, there was an…edge to her that set him alert as she talked through complaints the Miners had, not that Quaritch paid it too much attention as he strained his eyes across the whole pit; the machines that were toiling away at the earth and soil for its rich veins of ore of each of their paychecks.

“...I’m just surprised that Kung didn’t try to bash Selfridge’s face sooner.”

He refocused back to the Captain in surprise. “What?”

Hale looked at him, an eyebrow arching behind her mask very innocently. “Sir?”

“What did you say Kung would do?” Quaritch said, because…he had a growing sinking feeling this was a matter that was beyond simple daughter bailing mother out of trouble. What was problem common knowledge here? Would that bite them in the ass later? “I knew Kung was entirely loyal to the RDA before she backstabbed us. Why would she want to hurt him?”

Hale blinked at him for a moment then hesitantly looked about. “Let’s go to my office. That’ll be…easier. We found some things of interest, since you’re here already I didn’t have to send it to you.”

She led the way from the mine side and to a stack of moveable, shack modules set off to the side to overlook. Once inside the airlock, they all took off their masks before Hale headed towards her desk.

“Sorry, it’s…a bit of a mess. Still organising stuff.”

Quaritch eyed the office; noting how pristine the place was and how orderly things were displayed; the walls were covered with pictures and stuck-up pieces of paper of reports and general schedules. Clearly, they weren’t seeing the same thing but he opted not to question it as Hale went to her monitor.

“It was a huge surprise when you arrested Kung two weeks ago,” Hale was saying, “Kung is many things, some wouldn’t speak of her fondly but she’s also paranoid and smart. Enough to leave paper trails on shit she thinks is important in her absence to back up necessary claims. Purchases, orders, signed contracts…. Hell, even tool specifications. Including the safety check tools that were recalled and repurposed.”

“I thought I had everything from Kung?”

“Only what was local servers on Hell’s Gate and what’s sent to your systems at the time. Mine Ops has connections to Hell’s Gate but a different server. Kung had a personal memory drive in the server for everything hidden in the MineOps operation console.” From the woman’s desk drawer, she pulled out a large case and flipped it open. Inside were three long, green thin memory cards. Easy to miss, he realised if put into a computer system.

“How did you….” Lyle lent forwards. “How’d you find that shit?!”

Hale shrugged, “Wasn’t in the server specs. We double-checked before removing them. Shen helped route it out for me to what they were and that they weren’t dangerous like viruses. Nope, just extra memory.”

Quaritch reached forward, taking one of the memory slides. He’d get the rest of the servers checked for extra shit like this. Shen was a wild card to call to aid but she was brilliant and inheritably scrappy. This wasn’t in her job description but…Hale had long since outranked Shen so she was perfectly in the right to get the woman’s help.

“Do you know what’s on them?”

“A little. The typical records that I mentioned but…she also seemed to have complied scientific papers for Pandoran medical remedies for Earth Diseases or illnesses, her contract, Bree and Raina’s contract and… medical experimental requests. Every reason for her betray the RDA is on that, no doubt.”

“A little, huh?” Lyle poised.

Hale just flashed the guy a very pearly grin. “I have a good memory.”

Quaritch sighed heavily but put the chip back in and took the case. “I’ll look into it. Anything else?”

Hale shook her head. “Our production has slowed since Kung’s gone. Stress is building and we’re running out of tools we need to check the mine walls. I’ve requested to Selfridge last week for funds for replacements but I haven’t heard back. It’s making my men nervous.”

“We’re not messenger birds, Captain.” Lyle spoke heading back towards the airlock, “We have the system for a reason.”

Hale’s lips pursed though her eyes narrowed at the guy for a moment then slid to Quaritch. “It’s a matter of security, Coronel. No checks are being made and if one wall fails then we lose good men who happen to be in the fall way. There’s been a lot of…accidents in the last couple of years. My men aren’t forgetting that. ”

Quaritch just signed but added it to his To-do list that was ever going. “I’ll look into it.” At least nudge Selfridge into it; he didn’t want Hale to get on his ass as well. He always had one red-head on his ass about shit he couldn’t care less about and he certainly didn’t need another.

Grace once again set herself up in the smallest lab as the lunch called others away and left her with only a few and allowed herself to continue to work rather than join the others and waste food without question. Her thirst was burning softly at the back of her throat as a reminder she’d need to feed within the next day or so if she didn’t tonight. She was in no particular mood to get welcomed into someone's bunk or sneak into someone's bunk when they were asleep either so she’d wait for now.

The only two scientist with her was Molly and Choi who were also busy and giving each other goo-goo eyes that Grace wasn’t particularly fond of witnessing but she had no reason to send them away yet. They were still working after all.

“..So, a new sample would be better to get. Cryo storage isn’t perfect. There’s mild decay in the cells.” Molly complained to Choi, allowing the Xenobotanist to take a peek.

His lips pursed a little. “You’re not wrong but we’re only seeing this in more detail given our eyes are better. The human ones can’t see the dead cells that well; even through a microscope. I doubt it’ll interfere with the results.”

“Maybe it’s cold damage?” Grace suggested, not looking up as she picked up her pipette. “Not all plants are adapted to cold, even for preservation.”

Molly considered her words, though seemed to direct her next sentence to Choi rather than reply back. “That’ll be a good test to run still. Getting new samples tomorrow, and do a comparative test. Masterson and his team are the closest ones in their link shack to more. We can ask them to collect and we can swing around to pick it up tomorrow.”

“I’ll drop him an email.” Choi said, “Though Grace, can you authorise my holiday? I’ve emailed you some days next week I want to book off for personal reasons.”

Grace spared him a look. “Holiday?”

Choi nodded and adjusted his lab coat as he left Molly to her microscope. “It’ll be…officially four years since I turned. Kinda like a birthday…” He stared. “I want to celebrate.”

Grace set her pipette down into the holder and then leant towards her monitor to check. “You’re not exactly able to eat cake…” She wondered, “What’s there to celebrate? I’m sure most of our turnings were traumatic and non-consenting.” No one really…talked about how they came to be unless you were there to be witness to it. Grace didn’t ask and it felt awkward too. Her own turning was brutal and…she had no intention to celebrate that. Everyone knew what happened. But, each to their own. If he wanted to celebrate it, it was his business.

Choi hummed, and he returned to his station. “Did I ever tell you how I turned?”

“Maze got bored?” Grace suggested idly; she knew who sired who in this weird undead living situation they were all in. Maze in question chuckled under her breath in the link room but couldn’t retort back as she wasn’t alone.

“No.” Choi chuckled, “She overindulged one evening. Accident. Remember when the cooks got a fresh stock of garlic in that year; almost everyone was eating garlic meals for weeks in one form or another.”

Grace winced sympathetically. The garlic meals were the worst in the Mess; the viable blood was servery shortened until the human bodies processed it all out. They couldn’t eat well, if at all on those people. She must have been starving to drink too much.

“I didn’t eat garlic, so I was in the all-clear. Kamath and Walker had already fed from me the day before before Maze got too temped.” He shook his head fondly. “My body hadn’t replenished fast enough in that time, she took too much than normal as well.”

“Ouch,” Grace said, finding the email buried under the mass of other emails and notifications on what passed through her department. She swiped the request form onto her datapad and signed with a stylus.

“It wasn’t fun but… well it’s something that happened to me and…there’s no point in hating the event. Its part of what I am now. Why not make something of it?” Choi shrugged.

“You do you, Daniel.” Grace said, “But I’d rather not celebrate my turning for many, many reasons.” It was the worst and last day of her life. Why remember it in a good light?

“Fair. Maybe you could celebrate something else? You first human prey? Finding your shtick? First human to sleep with?” His suggestions sounded more like a joke though unit made her wrinkle her nose.

“Three ‘No’s and I haven’t slept with a human since I turned.” Grace pointed out and it wasn’t for the obvious reasons that the others would think. A dull throb rose at the side of her temple at the reminder; skirting her away from thinking about it. Nope. “And first prey? Really?”

“Hey, we all had our firsts.” Molly pointed out, drawn away from her work to talk. “I mean, there’s something to remember; you’re finding trust with your own body and instincts; building confidence…making sure we don’t end up killing anyone by accident.”

That was something, she supposed. She knew her first almost went sideward given she had underestimated her own strength with the man. Blood bags were one thing but…fresh and from someone alive…was a whole new area. Quite the learning curve and she had long since had to abandon self-consciousness that she had started off with into this new life.

“Who was your first?” Choi asked Grace curiously. “I wasn’t about for it.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Why does it matter?” She turned her attention back to her monitor.

“Doctor Patel.”

Grace turned and glowered sharply at Molly who looked very intently through her microscope and doing her best to ignore her withering look.

“My first was Alejandra Castro, MineOps gal.” Choi announced with fondness and without prompt, “freshly showered from a gym visit; very good diet… also very easy to convince her to let me into her bunk. She was very horny. Not surprisingly, she was a week away from her period. That aside, she’s very sexually active.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “We all know that.” The woman’s habits hadn’t changed.

“Who was yours, Mol?” Maze had decided to join in with the lab and came to lean against one of the benches. “Mine was Deke Harrison, a guy from SecOps. He repairs the AMP suits and has a habit of jogging around the base alone before bed. Very…fit.”

“Also very gay. You’ll never have a chance of bedding him.” Molly pointed out with a sly grin reflecting off her monitor.

“I know, he turned me down once and told me.” Maze sighed wistfully. “He’s still a good snack. So, Mol?”

Molly didn’t turn their way through Grace eyed the woman with a suspicious look at her non-answer after all of this stupid, personal talk. “Molly?”

“I’d rather not…talk about my first.”

“You literally outed Grace’s here.” Maze snorted, less than impressed. “If you’re gonna out that information, you’ve really got to share your own shit here as well.”

Molly wrinkled her nose.

Grace’s eyes narrowed a little, watching how Molly didn’t seem to meet her eye as she tried to get back to work now. But the fact the woman was staying quiet said that she was worried or self-conscious about her first. Molly had been a vampire at least a year before she had been turned so the window of option was still vast. If it was someone not known or personal, she would have said something. Then Grace had a sinking feeling given…how the woman was refusing to look at her.

“Me? I was your first?” She groaned. “I thought Shen’s attack on me was my first bite.”

Molly flashed her an apologetic look. “I—yes, you were my first but in my defence…you were very easy.”

Choi snorted in the back of his throat, turning around to his bench.

Grace just gave her a very unimpressed look but...in all honesty, Grace could be mad about it but…the reality was that…someone had to be their first prey. Unavoidable. However, she didn’t like being called –“Easy? Easy?”

“You were alone, in the lab late at night.” Molly pointed out as if it was a simple observation. “Plus, your back was to the door.”

“How many people fed from me when I was human?”

“A few, as we said, you were a very easy target.”

Grace inhaled deeply, leaning away from her bench. “Ugh.” She tried to think of when this could have happened; a lot had happened that year. A few…painful things –one that she didn’t want to think about. “When?”

Molly chewed on her lip. “So… you know when you fell asleep at the lab that February and broke your arm falling off the counter…”

Grace stared, a little unimpressed. It had been a difficult break to deal with when she had come to that night; one simple snap but there had been also a lot of micro-fractures around it that had been weird. The same arm Shen broke the night she lost her life. She hadn’t questioned the incident; she had felt awful and weak but she put that to the injury and exhaustion. She had spent most of that night in medical and drugged up to the land of the Dinosaurs. Didn’t question why Dr Solis had given her more supplements and an injection—probably Erythropoietin to up her red blood count and to cover their asses on what was drunk away.

“You broke my arm.” Grace wrinkled her nose. “I kept feeling the twinges of pain through my avatar for most of that time as I healed. It was really weird.”

“Sorry.”

“Why don’t I remember it now? Surely as a vampire, I should recall all your tampering.”

“When you turn, your memory isn’t restored…and we can’t suppress other vampire memories or resurface them.” Choi said, “Probably for the best.”

Grace scoffed. “I want my memory.” She at least deserved to know when she was one of her group’s Happy Meals here. She had…long since thought her attack from Shen was the only time she was bitten but…perhaps she had thought too innocently. Vampires had been here for a long time. “How can I get it back? Surely there are ways to do that?”

“The telepaths might help better than us.” Maze suggested, “Hale will be around after dinner. Kamath has double shift with dozers.”

“Alright.” She’ll bother Hale about it. Kamath was more experienced but Hale was a fast learner with the art of the mind.

Telepathy, while Grace had that, it wasn’t something she ventured into more than she had to with her meals. She knew it was secondary in nature after her telekinesis in terms of their Vampiric abilities but it wasn’t her primary. She knew she should venture into her other gifts a lot more. She could hold a vapour form for a short period of time and a bat form but never more than that. Paz morphed a lot when Spider was doing tummy time in her quarters to entertain him and she had a lot of forms mastered. Hearing the baby giggle and try and grab what his mother was shaped as was pleasant music to her ears. She was also ninety-seven per cent sure Molly and Choi had literally fucked around in non-human forms as well for the fun of it.

Grace spared a glance at the clock and then peeled off her gloves. “I’ve…got to go. Meeting with Quaritch and Selfridge.”

Shen happily checked through her monitor as she flicked through the data and made sure it all mirrored Martin Duncan’s own coding. Everyone’s method of coding was unique; small tricks and tells and subtly that, if she was a human, she could have easily missed in making to pass off as someone else’s. She made this to even convince Duncan he had done it himself.

It was worth the extra bucks to do this and it was easier getting the blame on someone else than having a loose end with a question mark. With a final look, she closed the programs and terminated her monitor’s connection with the server to scrub it offline.

“Ugh.” The door opened behind her though Shen didn’t turn as Angela came in and flopped onto her bed. “Humans.”

“I dread to ask,” Shen said, turning the screen off once she was done to turn her attention to the British blonde who lay about across the covers, arms and legs spread.

“I hate doing fucking nothing while our food escapes out into the wild,” Angela grumbled. “You were right, Midori has the best blood….I miss that already and it’s been a week!”

Shen snorted a little, running her fingers through her locks of dark hair. “Free range meals?” Shen suggested. “I mean… it’s just a longer trip out, just make sure you’re not caught.” The thought of…going out and actually…hunting down these humans sounded more thrilling than seducing them into a private area and going for some flesh. She liked the idea of the chase and the sweet victory on her lips at the first bite.

It was one of the few things she…enjoyed. Hell, even when she got Augustine a few years back, it was a thrill to remember, even if her impulse control and rationale were elsewhere; she retained the memory despite that frenzy. She wasn’t…really that sorry for it; only sorry for getting caught so publically but Midori’s blood had been far too tempting. It wasn’t her fault she metabolised blood far quicker than the others. Something about seeing Augustine run flicked a switch in her predator brain and… if it hadn’t been for the fact the woman had been so close to hitting the fire alarm, she knew her hunting self certainly would have let Augustine run for longer; let her think she was getting away then to get her at the last second when she got to her bunk, grab her and drag her back then just…sink her teeth in.

That would have been glorious.

It was a want she desired again but Mansk’s stupid rules kept them far too restrained, even with their mutual wellbeing in mind which was annoying sane. She liked living on the edge; it was safe to know the shelf and the fall and teetering on it was what made her feel alive. Sure, it got her turned but that didn’t change much.

Angela snorted a little. “I suppose. Finding them won’t take too long.”

“No, you two, keep to the ones in Hell’s Gate” Mansk’s voice echoed in dry annoyance somewhere in the amour bay.

Shen scoffed a little, slinking off her chair though she rolled her eyes. She could continue to live with what she wanted and fantasise about her ways of hunting. She eyed her girlfriend thoughtfully before a sly smile crawled onto her lips as an idea sprung to mind.

Angela eyed her expression, rolling her head to face her. “What? You wanna fuck now? My break ends in five minutes. I got a shift with dozer escorting with Fike and Kamath. Aren’t you also skiving off?”. That was not a ‘no’ between them, just a ‘sure if you’re quick.’

“Not...now. I’ve got a few ideas for tonight.” Shen said, licking her lips. “You might…enjoy it.”

Angela tilted her head curiously, “I damn well hope so if you’re looking at me like that. I do like your attention after all.”

The meeting was…boring as Grace expected. Most of which she knew in overhearing but they didn’t know that. Grace had ignored the plate that was offered for when meetings went over meals as per usual though Selfridge’s anxious nibbling from his plate grated on her nerves a lot.

“Any word from your blue teams?” Selfridge finally asked when he got to her. “You have two link shacks operating, not including the ones that left us.”

“No, nothing.” Grace said, “I suspect we’re being watched when we’re taking samples but I can’t prove that just yet. They’re experts at hiding their footsteps and presence. It’s possibly they’re assessing us and what we’re doing but haven’t decided if we’re worth making contact with.”

Selfridge let out a frustrated huff. “Then make a better effort. You need to find ways to force an interaction.”

“I can’t force the Na’vi to cooperate.” Grace fired back sharply. “That has never worked in the past and certainly not any time soon. They need to see us work and respect the land but that’s hardly going to happen overnight.”

“It’s been a month. Since you’ve upped your expeditions. More than that, even.” Selfridge huffed indignantly.

“They’re not monitoring us every visit, Parker. Having my teams out there has helped in our research but it’s going to take time for the people to make contact with us. Their last contact with us, officially was when the RDA gunned through my school and killed some of their kids. You think they’re gonna jump to meet us?”

“It’s been two years. They’ll get over it.” Selfridge said, waving it off. “But we’re here to make progress. So be creative here that doesn’t wind us burying our men and that they’re out of that tree by the time we get to it.”

“Maybe we should try a new angle?” Quaritch suggested, “Site 26’s still available.”

Grace’s head snapped towards him sharply. “What?”

“That’s one angle but that’s hardly going to help,” Selfridge said, not that convinced either.

“It might. We don’t know what they’re thinking and that worries me. If they’re not trying contact because the science groups are coming to and from Hell’s Gate, then another approach must be considered. If Augustine sets up at Site 26, she’ll be surrounded by forest and easier to approach at any time of the day. I doubt they’ll miss the fact you’ll be living there after a few trips out.”

“I am not agreeing to move out just yet, thank you very much.” Sure, there was a lot of what she wanted at Hell’s Gate but the feeding situation was what was keeping her from jumping on board with this idea. “I’m Head of SciOps and the Avatar Program, I have a lot of shit to organise before I can leave Hell’s Gate for long periods of time, even if I do decide to go.” She had the power to decide, even if these two jerks were for her going.

“How long would it take to organise?”

“A month.” She gambled, over-inflating the timeline for the sake of it. Selfridge didn’t need to know the real-time. “Getting new working systems in place and getting people to take on new responsibilities takes time and an adjustment period. That’s if I decide.”

“A month.” Selfridge scoffed, “That’s too long!”

“What? It’s not like your dozers are gonna be any closer to Hometree. It’s been a month and it’s barely a fifth there.” She pointed out. “Now, I don’t plan on leaving so let’s move on. I’m sure MinOps has some riveting information in their progress and gossip about little Kung pulling a mission impossible?”

Selfridge’s face flushed angrily.

Quaritch’s steps were easy to follow behind her when they had finally left. Grace tried to lose him, which was poor given she couldn’t use her speed to do so with the number of people around and active cameras and the fact he sounded like a man on a mission didn’t help.

He finally caught up to her as she tried to duck towards the Ladies’ restroom.

“Augustine.”

“What?” She turned with a dark look.

“We both know you love Site 26 and would jump ship at a moment’s notice to get away from Selfridge and his bullshit,” Quaritch said knowingly. “Why are you stalling?”

Grace raised an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”

“I know you heard me correctly. Why not? You could be there tomorrow and be happy. You’ll no doubt take Norm and another researcher with you.” He said, “You’ve never missed an opportunity to jump to the mountains before.”

Grace’s jaw clenched. “It’s not that easy. The last time I went to site 26, do you know what happened?”

Quaritch’s hardened expression fell, softening up. “That was over a year ago, Grace.”

“So was what? All three of us could have died, Miles. It took three hours for your idiots to roll up and pick us that rogue mountain after the crash.” Grace knew this was a dirty tick to pull; using that horrible day as an excuse but…if it bought her time to think up some other alternative options, she’d use it. “I’ll know when I’m ready to take that trip and that’s not any time soon.” She made to move around him but she barely held back the gasp as she felt his hand grab her wrist, the metal ring he had on felt like it was burning into her wrist before she yanked her hand free, her other hand coming to pull down her sleeve.

Fuckin’ sliver.

“You can have Trudy Chacón as your pilot. She knows the mountains better than anyone. Even Socorro. She won’t crash.”

“Thanks but…I need time.”

She didn’t wait, moving on and quickly before she spared a look down to her wrist; a light and irritated discolouration band looked to be cropping up over the affected skin.

Fuck. Good to know Quaritch had silver on him.

Ass.

Jake was at Hometree with most of his camp, aside from N’deh who had elected to stay behind. Nadine was at the fire, practicing Na’vi with the cooks again in going over what they were making. Morgan was at the weavers with some more kids making slings or just weaving shit—Jake couldn’t tell from his angle. Kim was hunting with Neytiri and Jerome was with him carving new arrow shafts while Jake made wooden beads.

He kept himself parked in plain sight of the spiral for the new arrivals and when they came, he made sure to wave.

The neck brace woman was in her avatar and the oldest woman of the group was not present with the group. Zeke and Ruby were the only ones from their camp also arriving with Tsu’tey.

Tsu’tey went off to find the chief and the group seemed to give pause as he was noticed before the avatar snorted first and broke the awkward tension.

“Sully, of course, you’re here.” She said, her hands on her hips, “Though…no Avatar?”

“I use it every other visit here, trying to balance its use every day.” Jake explained, “That said, welcome, nice to see a few more human faces around. Eytukan will direct you to places but a good portion of kids speak English, even if the adults don’t but enough that you two can get a message across.”

“Kendra?” Jerome set down his tools, rising from the ring with a wide grin on his face which exposed his naturally long canines.

“Rome?! Holy fuck!” The Japanese woman moved around the avatar with vigour, “You blended straight in! I didn’t even recognise you!”

Jerome grinned down, crouching down to accept the hug she offered. “Still tiny, I see.”

“You’re still weird looking.” Kendra prodded back and leant away. “You’re making it work, I suppose.” She reached up to tug the man’s loincloth a little to make a point.

Jerome just snorted, “I suppose. Kim’s out hunting right now so she’ll be back around noon but she’s looking forward to seeing you.”

“I’ll look forward to it. I heard what happened to ya, sorry man.” Kendra carried on, her hands coming to her hips. “Also, congrats on the baby.”

Jerome nodded his thanks, “Thank you.”

“Babies. Plural.” Ruby pointed out, from the side.

Kendra gawked at that. “Oh, good luck.”

“Children are a gift.” Jerome reasoned.

“Hm, yeah. The real gift being woken six times at night for food or a change.” Harper added in, a little sarcastically.

Just then, Eytukan arrived to get involved and began directing the six new faces to other areas. Jerome returned to the bead-making and Jake got back to it.

Zane was put to making beads with him. Jake’s smaller hands made it far easier for the man to copy than it was a Na’vi though both remained supervised so he wasn’t teaching him the incorrect methods. Jake learned the names of everyone at the camps when they began to talk.

Ashley Sloan was the avatar driver, Eliza Drennek was a surgeon who was at the camp and currently looking after Ashley’s human body in the link bed, Mingxia Wu was a Valkyrie pilot then the ones he already knew, like Ruby Carr, Zeke Hodge, Trinity Harper, and Kendra Midori.

Jake found himself fascinated a little as Zane spoke about his life on Earth, how he wound up coming to Pandora and even what his parents did as well.

“You see… my parents run a few of the wildlife reservations.” He was saying, “Africa took less of a brunt of the polluted air but…high levels of sun that scorched the land. Large areas of our roofs were developed to use as Solar fields to use the space to retain our family’s job maintaining the parks. Using the Sun’s power and less smog, my family’s expenses were cut straight down to afford things more comfortably. When Pandoran plants finally reached the Earth side. They made sure to purchase some of them and hired some of the scientists to put the plants to reviving the land.”

Jake’s eyebrows shot up. “It worked?”

“From what I last heard in my last family transition there’s…signs of new growth but it’s slow going; the plant had to have some adaption to survive our atmosphere.”

“You are using our plants to…fix yours?” The voice of Ten’nel, the main bead maker asked as he eyed Zane curiously. “How come it got so bad to require from Ewya’s child?”

“We have to. That’s…why there are scientists so interested in your world. Your plants have grown and thieved in what Humans would think as…unsuitable in terms of high carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, both are poisonous to us and don’t exist in high concentrations in an atmosphere..” Zane spoke, “Our…plants don’t know how to adapt, and we changed our world faster than nature could keep up. Plants died, and as a result, the soil became…laden with minerals that can’t support growth. Your…plants can absorb these minerals, and toxins and breathe new life back into the soils, and your plants can clean our air, and filter out the toxins. Earth has suffered greatly and in most because of humans, but….it’s on the basis of how our culture formed around a concept called capitalism and mass population growth and demand of food and shelter that humans demanded more from our planet than it was able to support naturally.”

“Humans built areas to produce things like clothes and food in mass and quickly,” Jake added in, “Like… making beads, machines would make thousands of beads a day to be traded for supplies and it’s cheaper and faster and no waiting time. Instant demand met and trade. Humans use a concept called Money. A trade of goods and services for this Money. Humans on Pandora are here for service, in return when they get back they get money. Money is used for food, shelter and entertainment. Now, these built areas are called factories; they create but there’s waste that comes of their creation. Like these wood chips.” He nodded down to their laps where they were they were covered.

These chips, Jake had seen would be put to use; going into the fire when it needed a little more of a kick into life. Bones fragments would be turned into paint, or ground into bone meal and stone would returned to the soil or ground further to help sand down wood with a brush. They had little waste.

“The waste from the machines are not like wood chips.” Zane pointed out dryly, “It…depends on what’s being made. But to generalise on a global scale, machines produce waste that can’t be reused; be it unsafe minerals or toxic smoke. Humans didn’t know where to put the waste so the smoke was left to rise, water waste was returned to the water, and earth waste was put into water and to the soil. Out of the way and life continues on. Humans thrive, make more babies, more demand on food and supplies and so, more factories are built to support them, and more waste is put into the world. It builds up and up and…well we’re depending on another world plants to fix the problems that are still ongoing because we need those factories to survive”

“That sounds….awful. Did your Earth mother not teach you methods of how to look after your world?” Ten’nel asked, a little horrified like a few of the others.

“There’s no Earth version of Eywa.” Jerome piped up, ears pinning back sadly. “No connection, no mother and so, no teaching. Humans had to figure stuff out on their own. No one to tell them not to mine, no one to tell them not to set stone upon stone, or to create the turning wheel. Earth is harsh, even when our world was filled with plant life and thriving animals.”

“Well, Earth has had at least five mass-extinction level events, humans didn’t survive that by praying to the ground for help that’ll never come. You’ll sooner be dead.” Jake pointed out. “Survival of the fittest and natural selection and all.”

“You all sound like you’re having a horrifying conversation.” Ashley’s voice called as she passed them towards the spiral “You do realise Na’vi don’t have a concept of extinction.”

“Ugh,” Jake wrinkled his nose. Yep, that was on him for that bit. Of course, this world didn’t have that. “Right…”

Zane just chuckled at him. “Maybe that conversation is for another day.”

“Yeah,” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Hey, at least we explain why humans are the way that we are. A little.”

Zane hummed, though not fully convinced but thankfully they got back to a less intense discussion and allowed the group that had listened to fully digest their sudden wave of information without being subjected to listening to more earth horrors. Ten’nel looked…uncomfortable but not horrified or disgusted though he didn’t seem to ask for more.

Jake watched as Kim arrived and Harper and Kendra immediately went to her; to hug and to coo over her pregnant belly a little. Kendra though more refrained but was still happy for her nonetheless. Jake finished up with the beads faster than Zane so he was set to help Mo’at as the new guys filled the positions he would have been going to, like the weavers.

Inside, he was surprised to see Ashely’s avatar dormant on the mat as he was set down. Mo’at was examining her with interest as well, though less vigorously as she had with his Dreamwalker a few days ago.

“She unlinked?” Jake asked, settling his legs out onto the mat.

“Indeed. She said she needed to tend to her sky person form for a few hours given her injuries. The healer at her camp has strict rules while she is still healing and one that I find myself agreeing with given the nature of her wounds.” Mo’at replied. “Her Dreamwalker does not exhaust but her mind does. Apparently, she was stubborn enough to come before she was healed to do so.”

Jake snorted a little. “She looks like someone who wanted to know what she was getting into first than wait around and see. Grace said drivers have to go through link sessions to prepare the mind for long-hauls in the link. Though I’m surprised she’s putting her human body through the wringer than just come here human.”

“She informed me that cannot wear a smaller mask for long periods of time because it doesn’t protect her eyes. Our air can irritate your eyes with long exposure, does it not?” Mo’at asked, tilting her head at him.

“Hm, yeah. It stings.” He supposed that made sense. “As long as she’s okay and you’re good with the arrangement…”

“Indeed. She said she’d have the healer with her come down and speak to me next time they come here.” Mo’at said, setting the avatar to rest more comfortably on her back and hands on her stomach. “I look forward to that. I haven’t examined a sky person’s form properly, so it would be nice to understand our differences with an expert on functions. The Dreamwalkers have been enlightening, yet they are too like Na’vi and only seem to hold a part of Sky-people in them.”

“You were never shown a sky person’s body?” Jake raised an eyebrow at that. “Didn’t Grace show you diagrams? Pictures?”

Mo’at shook her head. “As I have mentioned before, my error with my interactions with Grace was never asking such questions back. The children at the school may have seen pictures but their parents never wanted them to bring the education to them so directly. Most need not worry.”

Ah, so leave school at the school and or leave it at the doorstep at Hometree. It was familiar in families that didn’t approve of other’s opinions or education. Kids might like it but…kids lived in their own way of logic. Still, it seemed weird to not want to spread the culture around as much but…maybe that was one of the reasons why the adults were less open to change.

“Maybe they’ll change their minds, they’ve got humans coming and going every other day. But… it sounds like you and the doc could get along with your shared interest.”

“Indeed.” Mo’at agreed, “For now, I want to test my stronger medicines on your skin. Your skin looks and feels to be thinner than ours. We’ll find out swiftly what works for you and what doesn’t.”

“You didn’t ask the others?” Jake asked, his hand coming to roll up his sleeve.

“It’s their first day here, Jakesully.”

As Jake worked with Mo’at, he talked through what he had spoken to the bead makers about and then some. A Tsahìk’s perspective would seem useful to understand human history. They found that human skin did absorb a lot quickly but he had only a mild reaction to a select few ingredients which made him a little groggy. Mo’at grumbled a little on how to edit the receipt to make it safer with fewer side effects.

While his body cleared that out, he was allowed to return down to the others after Ashely linked back with her avatar. He was uncertain about having a new person lift him down but he held his tongue as he clambered into his chair.

It was the soft patter outside that pulled his attention, He sighed deeply at the sight of rain then he wheeled slowly towards Ruby, Harper and Kendra who were trying to learn how to clean, part and spin a cotton-like puff ball into thread with a few of the weaver kids.

“If it rains like this into the night, we’ll probably have to wait till morning to return,” Jake said as he got close enough.

“Like…spend the night?”

“It’s unsafe to travel in heavy rain. Mud, potential for thunder strikes and flooding so… yep.”

“Oh fuck, I don’t think my Exo-mask has a big battery for another twelve hours!” Ruby gasped, her hand coming to her filter in alarm, checking it over as if it was in an immediate risk of shutting down.

“Relax,” Kendra spoke, patting the bag pack she was leaning against. “I got spares.”

“Oh, thank god!” Ruby relaxed a little.

“Thank me, more like it. I’m a little paranoid so I also got a few spare masks, filter sheets and a med kit with me.”

“Little paranoid?” Harper asked with a smirk. “I'm pretty sure I saw you put in your laptop as well.”

“And now we can watch a film before bed so you are welcome,” Kendra answered back nonchalantly, pulling a face as she lost the thread.

“Oh, what films you got?” Jake asked out of curiosity, “I mean, I got a load of films but if you got stuff that I haven’t and vice versa, we could mutually download copies?” He pushed himself around a large root.

“I favoured TV series over films. A few Marvel Series and films, Star trek, Star Wars, Walking Dead, The Home Alone film series, Buffy, Interview with a Vampire, Merlin—“

“Wait, was the last one?” Jake asked before he could stop himself.

“Merlin.”

“Before that?”

“Oh, Interview with a Vampire.” Kendra said bluntly, “bit bloody but a good watch. I got the book version downloaded. Did you want a copy?”

Jake met Morgan’s eye across the ring who had been passing with a basket of nut-shells though he looked a little uncomfortable; rolling his head to his shoulder a little a motion not unmissed by Harper who frowned in confusion.

“No…it’s…just threw me off.” Jake said, “I’ll…look into it later. I should really get back to work.” He was sure he’d get around to telling the new guys about vampires. Tomorrow before they left, once they knew he wasn’t just a nutcase. He’d need someone to help back him up on this.

Tsu’tey was serious enough….if he was willing to be there.

Masterlist

#avatar #avatar au #avatar james cameron #grace augustine #avatar the way of water #jake sully #mo'at #neytiri #avatar rda #norm spellman #miles quaritch #parker selfridge #neytiri te tskaha mo'at'ite #tsu'tey #eytukan #vampire au #vampire #vampire grace

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deancasbigbang · 2 years

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Title: Dean and The Dragon

Author: WhiskyBoys

Artist: blueteainfusion

Rating: Explicit

Pairings: Dean/Cas, mentioned past Dean/others

Length: 36000

Warnings: No major archive warnings, some homophobia, swearing.

Tags: Gay but not out Dean, oblivious Sam, hurt Dean, protective Cas, John Winchester’s A+ parenting

Posting Date: October 17, 2022

Summary: Dean and Sam Winchester work for the family business. The family business being Supernatural Hunter, a periodical magazine, book series and also, thanks to Sam, a YouTube channel. They tour the country debunking ghost stories and, on rare occasions, banishing ghosts. When their Dad sends Sam and Dean on a wild monster chase, Dean isn’t impressed. The Loch Ness monster isn’t real and it damn sure isn’t living in Dunvegan, Montana. One thing Dunvegan does have though is Cas. The hottest motel manager Dean has ever set eyes on. And a man that might just be worth the risk of Sam finding out that Dean’s not nearly, as in not at all, as straight as his family thinks. But, as it turns out, Cas and Dean are both hiding secrets, and John Winchester probably isn’t going to like either.

Excerpt: Dean moans contentedly around another spoonful of pie, the pastry so light it’s literally melting in his mouth. Before he knows it, he’s scraping the last crumbs of pie crust and the final smears of filling from his plate. “That was freaking delicious,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “We never would have guessed, what with all the pornographic moaning.” Sam glares across the table at him. His own fruit salad barely touched. Dean shrugs; the dude should have ordered the pie. “God, Dean, you’re so embarrassing. Sometimes I’m not sure how we can be related.” Dean bristles a little at that, though he tries to hide it. He knows Sam doesn’t mean to sound like he thinks he’s better than Dean, but he does have a tendency to sound like a stuck-up asshole occasionally. It’s not as if Dean doesn’t know that he’s the dumbest of the Winchesters without being constantly reminded. “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your food, Dean,” Cas says from his seat at the table beside them. For some reason he’s glaring quite pointedly at Sam. Dean had been so enraptured by his pie, he’d momentarily forgotten Cas was there. And the fact that a few minutes ago he was all but fellating his spoon in the middle of a public diner, is possibly why Sam is quite so pissed. Cas didn’t appear to mind. Cas’ glare morphs into a sheepish apology of a smile when Sam and Dean turn in unison to look at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. It’s just, well, it’s nice to see someone enjoying the little things in life. And Donna’s pie is delicious. She would be delighted to see you enjoying it so much.” “If he enjoyed it any more, we’d have to start charging by the minute,” Sam huffs, but he makes an effort to flash a smile, only slightly strained, at Cas as he says it. Dean decides he has a sudden need to pee. Which he probably shouldn’t have announced quite so loudly before fleeing to the men’s room, but hell, he’s already wallowing in embarrassment, what’s one more kick to his pride. He’s washing his hands and splashing cold water onto his heated face when it occurs to him that he left the hot guy who jacked him off last night and his brother sitting a table apart in the diner. Twenty seconds later, he’s striding back out of the men’s room. “You ready to go, Sammy? Come on, I’ll pay the bill.” “I was going to order some coffee actually,” Sam says. “Cas was telling me about the local…” “Daylight’s wasting, Sam. That lake isn’t going to investigate itself.” Dean slides his wallet out of his back pocket and throws enough bills down on the table to cover the meal, plus a very healthy tip. “What the hell? Are you high?” Sam grumbles.

DCBB 2022 Posting Schedule

#dcbb 2022 #fic preview #2022 promo #deancas #destiel

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harryfeatgaga · 10 months

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Not to get deep so early in the morning but I was just rewatching Harry's first Stern interview and thinking about the part where he talks about not being in many proper relationships bc touring is really hard on his relationships and like I've heard so many people say that unless he's willing to compromise and tour less his relationships are gonna continue to not work out bc it's so much strain on his partner but like with these last shows especially it's so blatantly obvious that touring fills him up in a way that I don't think any one singular person ever will and as unfair as it may seem to the other person, if they're not on board with either following him on tour or with him being gone for the majority of like 1-2 years, it's not gonna work! And I don't mean to be one of those people who thinks his partners need to put in all the work and not have a career of their own but I don't think he should have to give up/cut back on doing the thing he loves most in the world for a relationship. If you have to compromise on a fundamental part of yourself in order for something to work then it's probably not meant to be 🤷🏻‍♀️ whoever he's gonna end up with is gonna have to be fully and enthusiastically on board with it! Case in point why he should date me bc I will happily follow him everywhere and have no desire to have a career of my own 😁

THE LAST SENTENCEJNVHUIJFNHJI YOU ARE SO MEEEEEE LIKE DOES HE KNOW I WILL LITERALLY DROP EVERYTHINGGGGGGGGGGG

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killian-whump · 1 year

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Some Work-from-Home Ideas for Cute Peanuts:

Make Your Own Patreon A lot of us bristled at paying Josh for Game Night. That was because the price was for access to ALL of Josh’s content - a bargain if you’re interested in all of it, but a major rip-off if you’re only interested in one or two things. We also bristle at paying Allen for interviews/podcasts, because it’s a nepotistic cash grab. He’s not a journalist. He’s not a fellow celebrity. His only “claim to fame” is being someone’s brother, and I’m not willing to financially support him for that feat. I think there would be very little bristling (and likely a lot of interest) in paying Colin for Colin content. He could share just about anything on there - drawings, podcasts, video tours of his silly sock collection (please?), storytime videos of him reading children’s books... Hell, literally anything. I’d gladly pay a subscription fee for any/all of it - and I say that as someone who doesn’t even have expendable income to spend on such things. To support Colin during a rough spot in his life and get new Colin content? I’ll get someone to buy me a year’s subscription for Christmas or something. I’ll find a way.

Join Cameo Likewise, Cameo allows actors to do commissioned videos for fans. The fan pays a set fee (determined by the actor themselves) and requests a video - say, “Could you say Happy Birthday to my friend Olivia?” The celebrity then records said video in the comfort of their own home, when/where/how they see fit, and uploads it to the site. Not only do they make the paying fan happy - but if the fan decides to be magnanimous, they can choose to let the video be public on the Cameo site - providing some content for all the star’s fans to enjoy at no cost at all :)

Be Someone Else He always says he’s more comfortable in front of an audience being someone else rather than being himself. Well.. Why not do that? Do either of the above... as Captain Hook! He’s got the outfit and he looks just like the guy! Captain Hook’s storytime? Birthday messages from Killian Jones? I mean, people would definitely pay for that stuff. Heck, some of us would even pay for content from other characters, too XD

Make a Go Fund Me Look, I don’t know exactly what’s going on or anything, but if it’s something serious that is causing financial strain (medical bills, legal issues, whatever), or something that prevents him from doing any of the above due to time/health constraints, then Go Fund Me is an excellent way to let one’s past work and the fandom that work acquired assist with present hardships. It also allows a way for his colleagues and friends to financially support him, as well. The major downside, of course, is that it requires putting one’s problems out there for public consumption - something we know Colin won’t want to do. Still, it IS an option available to him, should anything come to that.

At any rate... Colin’s got a loving and supportive fandom that desperately wants to share their love and appreciation with him and support him through whatever it is that’s going on in his neck of the woods. We just need a way to do so that lets us feel secure in the fact that we’re supporting HIM and not someone looking to profit off of him. All he has to do is give us some way to do that ❤️

#colin meta

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delking · 2 years

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introducing...delilah ‘daisy’ king

.ೃ࿐ ( abigail cowen , cis woman , she/her ) a little birdy told me delilah “daisy” king just moved to sunset hills . have you met them yet ? they look somewhere around 24 , if i had to guess ! pretty sure i heard them driving down the street golden by harry styles , they sounded a little pitchy but they had the spirit ! must be their favorite or something . hey … it looks like they just moved into marina hall . have you heard about what they do for a living ? someone told me they’re a music major , but who knows if that’s even true . guess we’re just gonna have to wait and see . nervous ? maybe you should be . sunset speaks just posted about them … apparently they’re resident id 001? between you and me , i think that might spark some things in the community … but what do i know ! you guys might get along just fine ! ( louisa , she/her , 21 , gmt . )

hi babes! i’m louisa and this is my new little baby delilah and i can’t wait to write with you all. if you want to plot like this and i’ll hit you up! but enough about me, here’s a little more about delilah

cora stephenson and garrett king met in their senior year of college, bumping into each other at a music festival and finding out they attended the same school. their romance blossomed quickly and within six months, with a little help from cora’s parents, the couple had their own home and a baby on the way. queue delilah

garrett’s band played locally, gaining just enough traction that while her mom went back to work after delilah’s birth, her dad could afford to be a stay at home dad. the system worked well, and delilah and her dad bonded better than anyone could have imagined. the king family had a dynamic that worked perfectly for them. until it didn’t.

garrett’s band gained more traction than expected and soon, he was hardly home, touring the us and playing on the radio, which quickly became the only way delilah heard her father’s voice.

delilah became acqauinted with the relatonship she shared with her absent father, until he came home from a tour when she was eleven. with cora overjoyed to have her husband home, delilah and garrett regained the bond they once had, with her father resuming their hobby of making music together, delilah realised she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps.

as much as she hates it, delilah knows her father is no angel. he’d do anything to make himself happy, abandoning his daughter and wife in favour of doing drugs and having affairs. her relationhip with her father is complicated, because she’s a daddy’s girl, but she can’t ignore his wrongdoings, or the strain he put on her relationship with her mother.

her biggest fear is ending up like her father, but in some ways, its her biggest ambition.

musical theatre, lessons with professionals, recordings in her fathers makeshift studio, if delilah could get a hold of a way to use her voice, she would. academic triumphs were no more for her, music was her life.

this was when she got in with the wrong crowd. she wasn’t a bad kid, she just cared more about fun and music than her studies. this became elevated when in her senior year of high school, she found out her parents were getting a divorce.

christmas and birthdays were now spent bouncing between homes, especially when she decided to live with her father, much to her mothers disapproval. she worked her ass off for two years in shitty waitressing jobs until she could afford her own music equipment.

she applied for college secretly, never even telling anyone she got in, hauling her drum kit and the rest of her belongings into her van and hightailing to college

personality;

daisy is literally a certified lovergirl. she falls in love ten times a day. she’s curious, adventerous and extroverted, with her mothers lust for life. her grandmother said she got the best qualities of her mother and the worst of her father; she has both of their determination and ambition, but overly so. she’s selfish and sensitive and kind, all wrapped up in one chaotic little mess, too carefree and free spirited for her own good.

wanted connections;

nonsense; quite simply nobody knows what’s going on with them. they bicker and fight but can’t leave each other alone. after a party or at the end of a long day, they always end up at each other’s doors, but leave before the morning comes and regret and awkwardness sets in.

magic in the hamptons; quite simply a party friend. they know it’ll always be a good night with the other and the excitement sets in whenever the other texts

i’m trying; pls just give me the first person to ever break daisy’s heart. <3 she needs the humbling

other connections; fwb, childhood friends, enemies, frenemies, u guys know the vibes

#sunsetintro

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petergabrielyuri · 3 years

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Freddie be like: This Jazz tour show be so fine,,

then boom: we play bohemian rhapsody and my voice fucking dies

#lolz #my post #im listening to montreal 12/1/78 rn #and oh boy #as far as jazz shows go its standard #he is literally strained for the majority of the tour #and i haven't even gotten to the japan 79 leg #where he apparently sounds AWFUL lolz #but yeah #usually he manages pretty fine through the show #with maybe a few rough moments here and there #but when it gets to borhap he just DIES #queen jazz tour #queen live in montreal 78

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temptress-writes · 2 years

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🌺 Paradiso Rosa

A/N: Soft, famous Harry. Part Two of La Villa Gialla.

C.W: sexual content (softish smut again just dirty talk, lil bit of choking) alcohol & drug use (wine & weed- lightly mentioned) & coarse language. VERY NSFW. 18+

Word count—16.2k

Enjoy!!

***

If someone had told Harry five years ago that he would have three movie roles under his belt before he turned thirty, he wouldn't have believed them. He might have even laughed.

He always had a fascination with the movie industry but his management had been strict for the majority of his career. He couldn't see a life past the music and the touring. He was so overworked and controlled, he couldn't imagine them loosening the reigns. But now he was his own person. Solidified and powerful enough to go after what he wanted. He worked with his team now. He wasn't controlled like a money-making puppet anymore.

His latest film had wrapped up filming a few days prior. But he stuck around in Venice, not wanting to leave it just yet. He'd traveled all over the world. Seen wonders and sights that measured to indescribable beauty. But Italy was different.

Italy was golden sun bouncing off calm rivers. It was orange juice and charcoal on sketching paper.

It was a yellow villa, soft and selfless and simple.

With his fans crowding the streets for a glimpse of him, he holed up in his hotel room, brushing up on his Italian. They were camping outside in diminishing numbers and while he wanted to be kind, he couldn't help but wish he could have an ounce of privacy. At least while he was filming a movie, of all things.

Inwardly, he wondered how much of this film hadn't been spread across social media already.

He loved being on set. Truly. He loved that the different call times kept him on his toes. He loved getting to know the crew and his co-stars. He loved memorizing his script and finessing how to deliver his lines.

And above anything else, he loved pretending to be someone else.

But, however good his acting skills were, he couldn't hide his embarrassment at how his job was treated like a meet and greet. He felt like he was causing a strain on the entire film crew by simply being there to do his job. He'd been anxious showing up on set and filming scenes.

Italy had been a nice change in pace from the UK. It was sunny and exciting and, yeah, he'd be lying if he said he didn't think of Irene almost every moment.

He wondered where she was now. All this time on, was she still in her yellow villa? Taking dips in the pristine river with Cannoli, sneaking into her neighbors garden to pick fresh fruits from it. Drawing lovers, those who had passed and those to come. He wondered what kind of lucky lovers she'd had since him. And if, like him, she'd wish they were someone else. Him.

Did she think of him as often as he thought of her?

As Harry lay in the sheets that morning, he knew he wanted to leave those four walls.

His bodyguard, Ren, hadn't woken up yet, mostly because Harry had encouraged him to have a sleep in. He was in the next room over, unaware that Harry's inner turmoil was rooted to a single soul in a golden yellow villa.

He could have kicked himself for not getting her number or literally any way to reach her. But, at the time, it was meant to be as it was. Bittersweet goodbyes, reaching out to each other only in dreams.

He couldn't separate himself from her. From the life she lived and the day she'd given him. It was dreamlike, a glimpse into a life he'd desire if he wanted to simply exist. On his back, while the current of the river rushed around each cell in his body.

It's important to do things for yourself. Think of this river as your life. The current is something you can't control, but you can choose to struggle against it or float with it.

He'd close his eyes and envision that he was back there. The crisp water enveloping him and washing everything away except for the essences that made the existence of him. If he focused, he could hear it. The turquoise water, serene and refreshing. He could hear Cannoli's needy little yaps. He could hear Irene's playful laugh. Hear the pencil sketching the paper. Hear her asking for a kiss.

Hear her soft little moans as she rode his face. Hear her sharp cries of his name as he fucked her on that tiny sofa.

Harry growled and clenched his jaw, fisting the sheets at his sides. His cock hardening at the thought of her, pressed up against his abdomen underneath his sweat pants. He often did this.

Thought of her while he shamelessly fucked his hand.

But this time it was so much more. He was in the same country as the one they'd met in. There were reminders of her everywhere. In the art he saw, in the azure skies, in the orange juice that came with his room service every morning. She tasted heavenly after a sip of citrus. Fresh and addictive. Almost as deliciously sweet as between her legs.

He could remember every sense he experienced with her so vividly.

So, he let his hand slip into his pants, the tip of his length wet with pre-come. He breathed out softly, his arousal magnifying as he gripped his length in his hand. He slid his sweatpants off and got comfortable, settling into the crisp sheets. He sighed, his brow creasing as he took himself in his fist again.

His skin felt silky and quickly became rock hard in his tightening grip. He brought his hand up, spitting into it before returning it to his cock. A deep, rumbling moan traveled from his chest and up his throat. Tumbling from lips the same raspberry hue as the tip of his dick.

He kept his rings on. Loving how they felt against his skin, rolling and adding another sensation entirely.

His other hand spread along his lower tummy, sliding up along his pecs. His body felt electric, every touch sizzling underneath the surface and emerging from his pores in plumes of arousal. He thought of her, arching his neck and burrowing his head deep into the pillow. His hips shifted and rolled against his touch, his toes curling as he fucked himself with a tight grip.

He remembered her sweet words. How she called him beautiful. Told him to fuck her mouth. Then how she'd asked him to fuck her.

Harder, please.

Fuck, she was so kind to him. So giving. He'd thanked her for it. Then soon after, asked for her permission to come.

Harry had always had a vivid imagination. And for whatever reason, his memories with her were so much more vibrant than they were with anyone else. Therefore, imagining that she was wrapped around him instead of his hand was easy to do.

Please, don't stop.

Fuck, he wanted her. Wanted her artistic mind, her colourful words, and her beautifully shaped body. Her delicious curves, his hands wrapped around her thighs, tracing the delicate stretch marks along them.

His fist tightened around his shaft, his pace picking up until his hand was almost a blur. She was dreamy. Wet in the river, sweet from orange juice, flirtatious from red wine. Her cunt was a plush heaven, even more so on that next morning when he'd woken up next to her and couldn't help but have her.

Come for me, Harry.

He gritted his teeth, rocking his hips up desperately as his orgasm loomed. It tightened in his balls, warmed his stomach. His toes tingled, his body was hot and slick from how hard and fast he was working his body.

He let a long, drawn-out moan into the air of the room as his climax hit, his other hand fisting his hair in euphoria. His hand and stomach soon painted in his orgasm. He pumped his hand slowly, reveling in his high before relaxing into the sheets.

"Fuck."

An exploration of his hand found his release all over his rings, decorating the jewelry. Still so out of it, he sucked his thumb into his mouth, tasting himself. Wishing she were tasting him instead. Licking his come off his fingers like he was now.

He shook his head with a smile. He had always been a highly sexual person and she was the one person he didn't think he could ever survive. If he ever had the chance again. He internally mapped out the rest of his time in Italy, wondering if he had the time to slip towards Rome and her little yellow villa.

After a quick shower to freshen and clean up, he dressed in a pair of corduroy shorts, a beige shirt, and his checkered vans. He hadn't shaved in a couple of days and the facial hair was quite freeing, he didn't shave when he was at his most relaxed.

He slipped on his aviators as someone knocked at his door. He brushed his hair away from his face with his jeweled fingers before peeping through the hole. On the other side was his bodyguard, Ren, dressed and ready to go. Harry sighed, flexing his dimple and opening it.

"Morning." His tone was cheerful as always, Ren raising his brows at the fact that he was already dressed.

"Good morning, sleep okay?"

"Yeah, not too bad." Harry smiled. "Yourself?"

"Good. Where we off to today?"

Harry felt kind of bad. He figured he'd only need him during filming but judging by the crowds that gathered at set locations, his guard felt it anything but safe to leave him by himself. That's why it shocked him when Harry clicked his tongue and broke the news.

"Just me today."

Ren looked at him for a second, gauging to see if he was serious before he burst out laughing. "Good one, chief! Had me for a second there."

"I'm... being serious. Kinda just wanna go for a wander. Take pictures and stuff."

"Harry..." Ren shook his head, his hands on his hips. "It's not safe."

"Heaps of people think I've left, though. I'll be an hour tops. You can put your feet up, relax a bit. I'll text you if I need anything."

He just glared, not amused at all. He thought Harry was being irresponsible. At the end of the day, Harry was his employer and if he wanted a bit of alone time, the most Ren could do was advise against it. The crowds that waited for Harry had died down plenty by that point but that did nothing to lessen or ease his worry about it.

Harry pouted. "It's just an hour."

He rolled his eyes, hating when he acting like this. "Fine. An hour. I'm not happy about this, H."

"You won't regret it. Go relax, call the wife and that."

While it would appear ridiculous to some, it was a large victory to Harry. He thought he'd gotten quite good at being stealthy when he went out. That being said, cameras always found him. So... not stealthy really.

He grabbed his camera, slinging the strap over his neck and grabbing his phone, wallet and his hotel room key. He'd wanted to explore a little bit of Venice with his co-star before he had left but they both inwardly agreed it would cause a fuss neither of them wanted.

Harry wasn't sure exactly why he'd stuck around. Maybe because he wanted to live in this moment of his life a little longer. Maybe because the last time he was in this country, he had experienced something that had truly stuck with him. Immerged his soul into truly living.

And maybe, just maybe, he'd run into that feeling again.

It was another gloriously sunny day in Venice. He kept his head down, his march fast-paced. He stopped and snapped pictures with his camera, working to get the angles of the things he found beautiful. He adored the architecture, how pristine it was and how smooth the canals were. They didn't compare to Irene's river but were beautiful nonetheless.

His rings glistened under the sun as he lifted his camera to snap a shot of the canal. He had to hide a smirk at the fact that not long ago, they'd been covered in his orgasm before he'd licked them clean.

The sun was healing, browning his skin, warming his inked arms. Offering the perfect lighting for his camera roll and exposing every hidden gem the city had to offer.

He knew people were noticing him and taking pictures. He could always tell and he tried his best to ignore it all unless they actively approached him. He walked along the side of the canal, glancing into stores as he went and admiring the wares they had. Then, he spotted a group of girls notice him and yell excitedly, pointing at him and encouraging stares his way.

He tried to keep himself calm, feeling like he was about to be swarmed and suddenly kicking himself for being so careless. He didn't want to look like he was running but he also didn't want to stick around and cause a scene. He should have known that one fucking day to himself would be too much to ask.

After crossing a bridge and slipping down a side street, he glanced behind him and nudged his sunglasses higher up the bridge of his nose. He breathed out a puff of air, frustrated and vexed at how his day had flipped so quickly. He had to circle back around to where he just was to get back to the hotel.

He peered around the corner, wincing at the sight of a group of excited girls scanning for him. He ventured further down the side street, emerging onto another small row of shops. He felt like he was being caged in. Trapped. He could call Ren but he was still a sitting duck out in the open.

To his left, the girls closed in but hadn't spotted him yet. And to his right, a store that stopped him dead in his tracks. He wasn't sure why but all the moisture stripped from his mouth and his intrigue piqued tenfold.

It was quaint, an abundance of citrus hues and yellows. The name was sprawled in a handwritten font, Amore e Arte and as he neared closer to it, so did the group of fans. He ducked his head and slipped inside, closing the door behind him.

It was a small gallery of sorts, handcrafted pottery, paintings, and drawings spread along an array of canvases. Smatterings of paint, or simply shaded charcoal or pencil. An easel sat at the back, not too far from it was a pottery wheel.

The store itself was open and bright, a perfect partner to showcase the true art showcased. Whoever manned the store wasn't there, but he could hear someone in a back room and he figured he'd leave them to it. He wanted to calm down before he alerted them of his presence in their store.

Harry slipped behind a shelf of unfinished paintings as the group of fans marched past the storefront. He released a sigh of relief when they didn't even look in.

His camera was heavy around his neck, his throat a little parched from his efforts. He pocketed his sunglasses and sent a text to Ren, letting him know what had happened, that he was safe, and his location. Harry rolled his eyes at his response, a smug I told you so. Sit tight, on my way.

With another sigh, Harry ventured deeper into the store and he couldn't shake the feeling that the art style of some pieces were so familiar. Something so personal about the strokes and the shading.

Like it was a song he'd heard before, or a familiar spice long before tasted.

It was then that he saw it. In watercolour but clear as day. A little yellow villa, red roses, oranges, and a little dog curled up in the garden. He thought he had imagined it. Maybe he missed that little villa so much that he saw it in everything. To a point where it showed up in places like a teasing mirage.

"Is that you, paperotto?"

And then he thought he was definitely imagining things. Was he still in his hotel sheets dreaming of her? No, her voice was far too vivid for it to be a reverie.

He turned and he genuinely couldn't believe it. Irene. Delightful and beautiful. Her hair was shorter now, he noticed. Her eyes were still so warm and kind. Her lips always turned up in a small smile.

"Irene." He frowned, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that she was in front of him. "Am I dreaming?"

She giggled, soft and wispy before brushing her hair away from her face. "No, am I?"

"No." He shook his head with a chuckle, finally moving towards her.

He wasn't really sure how to approach her. They'd not seen each other in a very long time but he'd also thought about her while his hand was wrapped around his cock that morning. Did he hug her? Shake her hand? Fall to his knees and confess how much he missed her?

But, before he could have a full-on complex over it, she pulled him in for a hug. It was warm, close, and calming. He expected nothing less from her and he suddenly felt his chest become tight. Humans like her were so fucking rare and he didn't realise just how much he'd missed her soulful presence.

"So... this is a coincidence." He spoke into her hair.

"You always find me when you need me the most. Are you okay?" She pulled away, leaning back on the counter and he mirrored her.

Could she sense his skin-deep panic? Maybe she saw how disheveled he looked and just knew. Her words resonated deeply because, in a sense, they were true. Then where was she when he'd dreamed of her so much he felt like he'd lived an entire lifetime with her in a parallel dimension?

Cloudy skies viewed from rivers, broken apart by the trees framing the banks. Branches, and leaves interrupting the blue. She was everything it enticed and more. He'd tried other rivers and he was quick to realise it had always been her. Not the setting, but the beings within it.

"Just finished filming a movie-"

"Wait, you're a movie star, too? You've been busy."

Harry breathed out a laugh at that. "Yeah, it's been fun. Wanted to come out and get some pictures but a group of fans spotted me and I..." Harry twisted his lips, mildly embarrassed. "I ran."

"You ran?" She raised her brows, genuinely concerned for him. She peeked out the window but didn't see any crazed girls after him.

"First time out by myself, thought I could handle it. Wishful thinking." He muttered, glancing at his shoes before his eyes trailed up her body. A tiny sky blue dress that he really didn't mind looking at.

"Well, of course. You deserve some time to yourself. You work so hard. I'm sorry that happened, I know it can't be easy. You love them for all they do but some days you want to be away from it all."

"Exactly." He agreed, still in shock that he'd stumbled into her. "Is this store yours?"

"I wish." She huffed, crossing her arms. "An old man owns it, lets me sell some of my art here and work a few shifts."

He nodded to the pottery. "Did you make those?"

"I did. It's actually quite fun, have you tried it?" She walked over to the pottery wheel.

"No, not seriously." He laughed.

Irene's heart hadn't stopped racing since she'd stepped out from the backroom to find him standing in the middle of the store. A man she didn't think she'd see ever again. Dressed exquisitely, his tattoos dark and even more impressive than she remembered.

She thought of him more often than she'd care to admit. How lost and timid he was on the doorstep of her yellow villa.

She'd fantasised about how it might be to run into him again. Maybe if she was wandering the streets of London, turning a corner and bumping into him. Perhaps showing up to one of his gigs or maybe he'd even return to her villa one day. But she never could have imagined this.

He'd slipped into this store for shelter, and what were the chances that it was the one she was working in?

She was a beacon of refuge for him. Almost as if his soul knew the way to her, treating his body like an unsuspecting puppet, mapping his steps and guiding him to her.

"You left the villa?"

His favourite bright golden dream.

She smiled, sensing how fond he was of it. "Just for a little while, I needed a change in scenery. My brother keeps it standing."

"So where do you live now?"

While there wasn't even an inclination of something suggestive behind his question, their eyes met and they were both thinking about the same thing.

Her day had been quiet business-wise. Her boss was out of town for the rest of the day and it took her all of two seconds of deliberation before she was grabbing her store keys and locking the shop door.

"A little apartment out the back. Come, I'll show you."

Harry raised a brow at her sudden burst of movement, watching with an intrigued smile and then gasping when she grabbed his hand and led him through the back.

An open courtyard, framed by vines crawling up the pale pink exterior. The cobblestone beneath his feet felt ancient, intricate depictions that heightened his adoration. There was a fountain in the center of it, trickling peacefully in its ornate design.

He couldn't help but lift his camera and take some pictures of the fountain, the garden of the window above with a flower box, simple and perfect.

Irene watched him admire the space she'd gotten so used to. A quaint little home with all the same charm as her villa. She'd revived the garden in the courtyard, now alive with birds and insects. A small bench where she often sat during the warm evenings with a glass of wine or in the mornings with a jug of orange juice.

She'd planted an abundance of pink dahlias in the flowerbeds, brighter against the pale pink of the walls. Ensuring the space could be her little pink paradise.

And he could feel it. Feel the peace and tranquility in it. Like her river, she'd brought him to a haven and he felt it wrap around him like a warm hug.

Irene intruded the quiet of the courtyard with a whistle. Harry turned, confused and lost. But then he saw a familiar furry face. Four-legged, and as excited as ever, little Cannoli.

Harry gasped, crouching to meet his excitement. "Hey, little guy!"

The dog yapped, leaping up and licking at his face in delight. Harry scrunched his face up and groaned through a tight smile.

"He missed you." She laughed, knowing she missed him far more than her little dog did.

"He's gotten fat." Harry accused through narrowed eyes.

"Only a little bit!" She defended. "The butcher around the corner feeds him scraps all day."

"Lucky boy." Harry crooned, scratching behind the dog's ears. He stood, taking in the area again.

His next dreams would be more vibrant. Pink buildings and fuchsia flowers and sky blue dresses.

"How much of Venice have you seen?"

Harry shrugged, flipping through the exposure settings on his camera. "Not much. The canals, the view from my hotel room."

She felt a rush of sadness fill her veins. He was missing out on such a beautiful city because people didn't understand the concept of privacy. He was treated like a zoo animal on display to be stared at and fascinated over. He was treated like he owed them something.

"Well, that won't do." She said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Harry raised a brow and she grabbed his shoulders, guiding him to sit on the bench.

"Don't go anywhere." She instructed. He could have laughed because where the fuck else would he rather be?

She opened the front door to her little apartment and he clicked his tongue. "What, I don't get a tour?"

"Patience, paperotto."

Irene changed into her worn converse, grabbed her little purse, throwing the strap over her shoulder before retrieving Cannoli's leash. He was loyal and well trained but she felt safer having it on hand just in case.

Harry sat patiently, happy to submit as he lulled his head back and stared up at the sky. He'd do this often since he met her, imagining he was floating downstream on his back with her. He'd done it while he was filming in Venice, too. Between resets and setups for different shot angles.

Let his gaze fall to the giant blue and melt his thoughts away. Her dress matched the open sky. And he knew he'd be staring at it as long as she was wearing it.

Perhaps even still when it was a pool of azure on her bedroom floor.

When she emerged from her house, she stood in the doorway and admired him. His arms spread along the back of the bench, his legs spread freely as he wobbled them back and forth. He looked so much powerful. More solidified in himself.

Even in a year, he looked stronger. Like he hadn't aged physically but was more grown. His shoulders broader, the muscles in his inked arms more prominent. His jawline was dangerously sharp. His hair was glossy in the sun and he ran a hand through it as if he knew she was paying attention to it.

He noticed her, leaning in the doorframe and he wanted so badly for her to let him in. Into her home. Back into her heart. But he wanted to prove that he could offer more than a night or two with her. He just wasn't sure what more could ensue for their connection.

"You ready?"

"For what?" He frowned.

"Sedersi," Irene ordered Cannoli, waiting until he sat obediently at her feet." We're going to be your personal tour guides."

Harry's mind flashed back to the screaming fans and he winced. "I don't think-"

"And before you worry about getting followed, I know the secret routes and quiet spots. You deserve to experience the beauty of this place uninterrupted just like everyone else. I'll show you my favourite hidden spots, and the best food you'll ever taste."

He had really missed her voice. The way her accent carried every word downstream, curling them through her full lips.

His heart careened in his chest. He'd missed her so much. How did he live so long with only the memory of her?

"I'd really love that."

An abrupt series of knocks on the store door pulled them both from the moment. Irene raised a brow at the aggressive manner and Harry closed his eyes with a sigh.

"That might be Ren."

She frowned. "Who's Ren?"

"My bodyguard. I told him I was here. Before, you know, I knew you were here."

"Where was he when you were getting chased?"

Harry twisted his lips ruefully. "Kinda told him to take the day off."

"Smart move." She remarked jokingly and he threw her an unamused look before heading back into the store.

Ren was a sweaty mess. He'd texted Harry, and after receiving no reply, assumed the worst. Little did he know that Harry was far too distracted to even be thinking about his phone at all. He didn't even notice it buzzing in his pocket.

But he was fuming. Relieved that Harry was still in one piece, but fuming nonetheless. It didn't help that Harry opened the door with Irene's key and a big smile that only vexed him further.

"The fuck, man? Been trying to call you." He could have hit him. He really wanted to. He'd been worried sick since Harry left the hotel and seeing Harry so relaxed post his drastic text didn't do anything to lessen his stress.

"I'm sorry," Harry defended. "I ran into an old friend, we got busy chatting and it totally slipped my mind to check my phone."

"An old friend? Do you realise how worried I was? I thought yo-"

"Ren, stop." Harry hissed quietly, aware that Irene was coming up behind him.

"What do you mean stop? You think you can just- Oh. Ciao."

Irene peeked around Harry's shoulder, giving a soft smile. "Ciao, I'm Irene."

Ren shot his brows up at Harry who was bugging his eyes out at him. He cleared his throat and softened his expression. "Ren."

"It's lovely to meet you."

Harry grinned down at her. Ren stared at the slight flush in his cheeks and suppressed a smirk. She was ethereal, radiating a warm and kind aura that he could pick up on straight away. It was his job to read people, and she wasn't the type of woman he was used to Harry having around. Soft and loving and earthly. Some old friend.

"Irene is going to show me around."

That wiped Ren's smile from his mouth. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "Out there?"

"Out there." Harry nodded.

"I don't think that's wise." Ren had seen many groups of fans searching for him. The last thing he wanted to do was let him out of his sight again.

"I understand." She chimed in. "If you'd prefer to come with us-"

Harry shook his head, turning his gaze between the two. "He doesn't. He doesn't prefer that."

Ren frowned, confused but then suddenly caught on when Harry gave him a look that said, don't even think about it.

"I know Venice very well. And we have a guard dog." Irene assured, pointing to a little oblivious Cannoli who was chewing on a toy.

"See? We're sorted here."

Ren sighed. There wasn't a lot he could do. He hoped Irene kept them off the main streets where the fans were hoping to snatch at him like vultures. Harry was his own person. As much as it was Ren's job, if Harry said he didn't need him, he had to listen.

"Fine." He muttered, still not happy about it. "I'm a text away, okay?"

"You got it." Harry nodded, suddenly sounding very chipper.

Ren decided to stay in their proximity, finding a small café to stop at for some lunch. He never let his phone out of his sight, ready to come to Harry's rescue.

Irene giggled, patting her leg to get Cannoli's attention. "Let's go, boys! Lot's to do, lot's to see."

As it turned out, she knew Venice like the back of her hand. Each side street a vein, hiding them from persistent fans. She navigated them away from busier places with ease, still making it exciting for him. She told him tales of old buildings, pointing out things for him to take pictures of.

He plucked a small yellow flower from a vine, holding it out to her with a courteous bow.

"Un fiore per me?" She giggled, thanking him and gasping when he pulled it from her reach.

"May I?"

She nodded, not knowing what he was asking for but ready to give him whatever he wanted. He tucked the flower behind her ear, letting his fingers dance along her cheek for a fraction of a second. His touch was brief but they both felt it tingling in their skin for a long time.

He brought his camera up to his eye, squinting as he aimed it at her. "Smile, darlin'."

She tilted her head to the side a little, showcasing his gift proudly. He snapped the picture of her. Stood against the vine of yellow flowers and green entwining them together.

Blue skies, pink heavens, teal rivers, orange juice. He knew he'd keep this picture of her in his wallet. Keep her essence close to him. Fiore. A small, delicate flower he'd treasure forever.

They stepped into an ice cream shop, needing something to cool them off. Cannoli lapped at a water bowl provided while they stood outside under the shade with a cone each in their hands.

"I don't think I've ever tried mint chocolate chip ice cream." She commented on his flavor.

Harry stared, dumbfounded. "What? Are you kidding? You've never tried mint chocolate chip? It's my favourtite."

She laughed at his reaction, her tongue stained pink from her raspberry scoop. "Maybe I have, but I didn't like it very much."

"No, I will not accept this." He shoved his ice cream in her face with a determined expression. "This is the best I've ever had. Promise."

She licked a bold stripe along the frozen treat tentatively. Harry's breath caught in his throat at the sight of her tongue. He was taken back to how good she was for him, so good at having his cock on her tongue before sliding down her throat-

"Okay, it's not bad."

"Better than yours." His mouth made a beeline towards her scoop sat atop the waffle cone in her hand.

She knocked it upwards, a dollop of raspberry ice cream smearing on his nose. "Cattivo!"

He yelled dramatically, using his fingers to wipe the ice cream from his nose. After innocently checking to make sure no one was watching, she grabbed his wrist. Her touch burned straight through his anchor and into every cell beneath it.

When she sucked on his fingertips to clean him of the ice cream, he just about melted into a puddle at her feet.

He'd dreamt of her so often she had no choice but to be a part of his life again. And now here she was, being free and brave with him and willing him to do the same.

Harry hadn't travelled like this before. Or, at least, in a very long time. Where he could exist and simply be human. Get excited over everything travelling offered, take pictures and let his jaw drop and his excitement run as rampant as the currents of her river.

They kept to more secluded spots, staying out of sight just in case. He couldn't keep his eyes off her for long. Admiring the sights for a time but then watching her. While she marveled at the views, he was marveling at her.

"So, how was filming?" She asked.

"It was amazing." Harry smiled with his dimples on full display. "I think it's definitely going to be different for people to see me in that light, you know? I like acting, pretending to be someone that isn't me... It's refreshing."

Harry felt like he had been acting for most of his career. Trained in how to act and talk, falling into a persona that slowly deteriorating who he actually was. But his recently found freedom and withdrawal from that stage in his life had done wonders for him. He was more comfortable in his skin, knowing there wasn't an evil team of management treating him like their puppet.

"I'm excited to see it."

He grinned, looking down at her as they meandered along the canal. "Yeah?"

"Mmhm. See my little paperotto on the big screen."

"Love a little romantic drama, do you?"

"How we met is a romantic drama, Harry."

"So true." He laughed. Their hands brushed between them, roaring rivers, gifted flowers. She felt so good. In her soft touches, the way she spoke. Everything about her was just so pure.

They walked for hours. Stopping routinely so Harry could take pictures while she told him about different areas. They stopped by the Rialto Bridge, and Irene took a picture of him with the iconic setting in the background. Cannoli was his usual behaved self, happy to trot along beside them with a wagging tail. Harry texted Ren often, ensuring him he was safe.

It was seeping to the evening by the time they made it to the Grand Canal. Most of the city's locals retracting to their homes, the streets far less busy now.

The sky melted above them. A composition of burnt oranges and fiery pinks, the golden yellow of the sun bleeding along the edges of the horizon as it gave the stage to the moon.

Irene approached a man balanced in a gondola, paddling towards the dock and wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Buonasera!" She smiled sweetly. "Puoi portarci a fare un giro?"

"Ho finito per la giornata."

Irene pouted and clasped his hands together. "Per favore, ti supplico."

The man grumbled under his breath. "Entra."

"Grazie." She gasped, clapping her hands together.

Harry held her hand as she stepped into the boat, watching her legs as she balanced and sat down. He sifted through his wallet, producing a few notes and she spied a folded page, a glimpse at a textured paper she knew all too well. But then he closed his wallet and she snapped out of her thoughts.

He slipped the gondolier a stack of cash, more than enough Euros to cover the fare. He sat next to her, his arm around her shoulders. He let his fingers play with her hair, watching how the sunset danced through the brown tendrils.

Cannoli peered over the edge as they set off, the gondolier humming a tune as they rowed down the canal. Harry's other hand reached over and came to rest on her thigh. They fell into a comfortable embrace, wrapped up in each other.

"Sei in ognuno dei miei sogni." Her confession was spoken so softly that he almost missed it.

He loved when she spoke Italian. It was wispy and creamy, almost. Slipping past his ears, melting into a sweet symphony in his eardrums.

"What does that mean?"

She smiled, moving closer to him as they floated under a bridge. "You're in every one of my dreams."

His heart dropped from its pedestal in his chest and straight into her waiting palms.

They felt so much for each other at that moment. They hadn't forgotten one another since he stumbled upon her little yellow villa. She'd accepted him there so openly because, in a way, it had been fate. And they'd been brought together when he needed her most. Needed her sanctum and her guidance.

You always find me when you need me the most.

"Sei in ognuno dei miei sogni, fiore."

His arm around her shoulder tightened, pressed her up to him. He was so close, she could smell his cologne. See how his nose was a little red from all the sun he'd gotten. Stubble along his jaw and upper lip, a naked and vulnerable look in his eyes.

She tilted her head, blinking and staring at his lips. She knew them well and thought of them often. How they felt against her own. On her neck, her breasts.

Between her legs.

His hand on her shoulder squeezed almost pleadingly. His grip on her thigh crept higher with each passing second and she suddenly felt like she was back in her river with him. Aimlessly floating, purposefully existing for the soul next to her.

His lips brushed hers and she inhaled a sharp breath at the sensation of him again.

Cannoli, blissfully unaware of the moment he was about to ruin, let out an alarmed yap at a small flock of birds paddling past the gondola. Irene gasped in fright, pulling away and tutting at him. Harry swallowed, his ears ringing at the idea of having her that close again.

They passed under another bridge and he took a second to gather himself, toying with his camera. He tried to veer his attention back to the beauty of Venice but his eyes started to blur and distort everything that wasn't her.

As the sun set, the lights of the city lit up to replace it. Irene subtly leaned into him as they floated down the current. He was precious, pointing at things he liked, taking pictures of the sights and even more of her.

Glowing golden lights twinkled along the border of the canal, igniting the couple in a transcendent and heavenly radiance. He couldn't stop taking pictures of her. She wrinkled her nose, grabbing for it and angling herself so she was leaning in front of him. She aimed the lens at him and he shied away, holding a hand in front of it.

"Don't be shy. You look dreamy, I want to take a picture."

He smiled, reaching for the camera but she pulled away. "Come here. I want one of us together."

Seemingly happy to meet him halfway, she slipped him the camera and settled back next to him. Scooting up real close so they could both fit in the frame.

"Come." She ordered Cannoli to join them on their laps, who was more than happy to do so with his tongue sticking out one side of his mouth.

"You ready?" Harry checked as she posed.

"Mhm."

"Come closer." He instructed, holding out the camera but knowing full well they were in the frame. She got closer, their faces pressed together. "Three, two..."

His spare hand gripped her chin and their lips met in a long-awaited kiss. One. The shutter clicked, the picture was taken at the moment their lips locked.

She tasted like everything he'd been dreaming about. A tall glass of orange juice, a dive into a rushing river, a glance at a summer blue sky. Heavenly. Devine. Everything pure about life all wrapped into one person.

Soft here, too.

It was slow at first. Tentative almost. Nervous as to how willing the other person was while they scrambled to get on the same page. And then, they found a rhythm. One that he felt in the pit of his belly in the form of butterflies. His lips cradled her lower one, nibbling on it a little before he took her deeper, his tongue flicking out to meet hers.

Kissing her again. It was every kind of bliss he'd imagined it would be.

Her hand met his thigh, corduroy beneath her fingertips that she squeezed. She'd missed him. She never thought she'd see him again but he was thrown into her life once more. Whether it be a higher power or a really funny coincidence, she was thankful.

She requested the gondolier to stop at an upcoming port. They hopped out and she gave Harry an incredulous look as he slipped him a few extra notes.

"Grazie!" They chorused with a wave.

"Amare l'un l'altro. L'amore è più lungo della vita."

Harry shot her a raised brow and she shrugged. "He said he liked your shirt."

He stared down at the fabric, pinching it at the hem and admiring it. "It's new."

She would tell him everything sweet and more. But first, she wanted to see where his head was at. And she wanted to do it in her own words.

They dined at a small restaurant on the canal. Adorned with an array of golden bulbs that glistened off the water. She ordered him her favourite dishes, the Italian cuisine so much more to him when it came from her. Like she knew what would make his taste buds dance.

They sipped on glasses of deep red wine and he couldn't help but notice it was the same as the one they'd indulged on in her villa. On her patio with the Italian countryside sculpted before them. Not long before she started to draw him. And then kissed him.

He kept one hand on her knee, massaging and squeezing, his thumb tracing circles into her skin. He kissed her a lot because he couldn't get enough. Seizing small pecks between bites of food or sips of wine. She threw Cannoli scraps from her plate and praised him for such good behaviour.

They delved into a shared slice of chocolate cake, enjoying people watching over the canal. He'd barely been approached all day. But he internally knew there would probably be pictures of him all over social media. He could always sense when a camera was being pointed at him. But he was glad he had more space to breathe, at least.

They approached the counter to pay, happy with wine running through their veins. Happy that they both missed each other so much and couldn't hide it.

Harry opened his wallet and she put a hand on his wrist. "Harry, I can-"

"I'm paying."

"I don't feel comfortable-"

"Consider it a thank you for saving me. Twice."

She bit her lip with a nod. Not willing to fight him on it because she knew she wouldn't win. And then she saw that folded page in his wallet again and this time she was sure she knew exactly what it was.

They exited onto the street, and she gently grabbed his hand and let their fingers intertwine. He grinned, pulling her close and cupping her cheek before planting a kiss on her forehead. The flower somehow still wedged behind her ear, hard to shake much like his adoration for her.

An exposed bar sported a live band, lit in candlelight that twinkled as beautifully as the ivory keys of the piano. Harry slowed to a stop, smiling down at her and wiggling his brows.

"Un ballo, fiore?"

She laughed softly, turning to face him as he placed a hand on her waist and grabbed her hand with the other. In their own world, between a lively bar and the canal, they danced. Slowly, mesmerized with each other. Crazed at how they'd been brought together by the universe once more.

"You kept the drawing." She whispered into his ear shyly, their cheeks pressed together.

The drawing she'd done of him at her little yellow villa. Sat on the bank of the river with Cannoli next to him, and a little duck. It was a venturing statement, but she knew after seeing it that second time that she was right.

"Of course I did. Had to keep you close to me somehow." He felt the weight of it in his wallet every time. "I want to thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving me. Again. For showing me around and for giving me something I'd never thought I'd have. This would have been nothing without you. You're so special to me, I hope you know that."

You always find me when you need me the most.

"You're so special, Harry. I could never forget how special you are. I went for swims every day but it wasn't the same without you."

"I never forgot how good it felt. What you said stuck with me. That the river is like life. The current is something you can't control. You can choose to struggle against it or float with it. I remembered that when I couldn't remember anything else. When I was struggling."

"I'm glad."

She felt so close to him. She could feel the heat radiating from his body. Feel the longing reaching from his soul to hers. They danced like no one was watching. As if they were two simple lovers and nothing more.

Until they were reminded with a flash of a camera that they were anything but.

Harry sighed, shielding her with his body. And as the song concluded, so did their bubble of privacy. Popped. A vivid reminder of how they'd found each other again.

As he was noticed by a couple more people, Irene gripped his hand tightly and called Cannoli to follow. They zigzagged down side streets, crossing bridges and avoiding crowds. As much as he hated having to do it, staying hidden in plain sight was quite exciting when it was with her.

They made it back to the pink heaven of her courtyard, sat on the bench wrapped up in each other. The sky had long since melted from its caramel hue into a burning violet, strains of darkness bleeding into it. They kissed for ages. Too enthralled with being together again.

Golden lights reflected off the pink walls, igniting the firmament between them and the one that surrounded them.

"Do you enjoy it? Venice, I mean."

She pursed her lips in thought. "I do. It's different. I like to move around and travel a lot, which keeps me inspired for my work. That's why I came here."

"I'm glad you did." He smiled softly.

"Me too." She agreed before kissing him again. She smirked against his lips. "Wanna get high?"

They soon found themselves on their packs on a patch of grass in the courtyard, the fountain trickling nearby. Surrounded by pink dahlias while the sky put on a dazzling show of stars for them. The buzz tingled through their whole bodies, transfixed on each other and how blissful today had been. The lit joint was sucked between her lips with a deep inhale before she passed it to him.

"Wanna ride a shooting star." He said aimlessly.

The mental image made her laugh. "Like one of those mechanical bulls?"

"Yeah." He narrowed his eyes, holding his hands out. "Like how sick would that be? Riding a rock through space?"

"So sick." She agreed, fully getting it now. His mind was racing at the idea of seeing the universe that way, riding shooting stars to get to different milky ways and planets.

"Space uber." He jutted his lower lip out, nodding at his impressive pitch.

"I can't believe I asked you if you were any good at music." She laughed about their first meeting when she'd asked what he did for a living. She had no clue who he was even after he told her that he was a musician.

He chuckled. "It was... humbling."

"I googled you after you left."

"You didn't..."

"But you're a movie star now, did the music not work out?"

With a shrug, he took a long drag of the joint before slowly exhaling. "Been writing some stuff for another album but I'm just having fun trying new things."

She leaned up on her elbow, facing him with a sudden burst of excitement. "You wanna try something else new?"

And while his brain was reeling and seaming with different things he'd be willing to try with her, she got to her feet and pulled him up impatiently. He decided to go with the flow. She slipped off his rings one by one, slowly and watching him from underneath her lashes. His heart was just about beating out of his chest and she dropped the jewelry into his palm with a harmony of clinks.

He slipped them into his pocket and she grabbed his hand. She led them back into the store, flicking on a couple of dimmed lights. She buzzed around the room, readying it for their next activity. Harry stared, raking his fingers through his hair, sure it was a mess at that point.

"What are you up to, little fiore?"

She grabbed a ball of clay, one she'd kneaded earlier that day so it was bubble-free, and then got the pottery wheel spinning. She pointed to the stool in front of it.

"Plant it, paperotto."

Harry grinned, taking a seat and staring at the wheel as it spun around. "Something new, huh?"

"Si, qualcosa di nuovo."

She sat on his lap until he scooched back a little so she could sit comfortably between his thighs. She centered the clay on the wheel, perfectly wet for her to work with. His hands trickled down her arms as she turned back to look at him.

"What should we make?" She queried, grinning when he nudged his nose against hers.

"Surprise me."

Her hands molded the clay, creating a taller form that he watched come to life. "Give me your hands."

She placed them over the clay forming tall, curving in and hollowing out at the top. He spread his hands along it, the clay cold under his touch.

"Like this?"

"You can press a little bit. Mold it to how you want." She guided him, her hands over his applying pressure to his fingers. His chin was on her shoulder and his cheek pressed against hers. "That's good."

He hummed and she felt it rumble in his chest against her back. He turned his face in towards hers and she took his mouth in a deep, lush kiss. He sighed at the feel of her. Completely distracted, their tongues met in a frenzy. He sucked on hers, loving the taste of her. Addicted. She could feel his stirring arousal against her back and she deflected a whimper by kissing him deeper.

"Harder." She said against his lips.

It took him a second to realise she was talking about his hands on the molding clay. He'd honestly forgotten about it. His expression was surely exactly mirroring hers. Lulled eyes from the weed, cheeks hurting from smiling too much.

She felt his dick harden at her request and she flicked her tongue against his lower lip before turning back to the clay. It was slowly taking shape which would usually excite her but all she could think about was his body pressed against hers.

But she kept firm and determined, guiding him expertly around the wheel and talking about her skills. He loved hearing her talk about it. Like she was describing cloud formations or how the rain sounded pattering against the roof on a stormy day. So simple and calming.

"I like new things." He said after a while, addicted to the way it felt to be tucked behind her and creating something so unique.

Their hands were covered in the clay. Hers were tiny in comparison to his and it tugged at his heart every time he looked.

His body felt electric. Running his tongue along his teeth felt euphoric, her hands on his tingled. And every time she moved, his dick grew harder and harder.

"Creating things, molding it to the perfect shape. It's what we do to ourselves throughout life, don't you think?" Her hands squeezed his. "And sometimes we need help, but it makes us even better. Makes us appreciate the shape we become even more."

Is there ever a perfect time to tell someone that you had grown to love them? That you love their mind and their soul? How did he find the words to tell her that her heart was his favourite thing he'd ever encountered in his life? She was a continuous sanctuary, even when they'd been apart. Did she know? Did she grasp how much he cherished her?

"You're better than anything I could ever dream of," He said quietly, nestling into her neck and squeezing his arms around her. "everything beautiful that life has to offer and so much more."

"Tu sei tutto, sempre."

As limited as his Italian was, he knew that. Straight away. "Everything, always."

The clay set into a shape that was small round and hollow, slowly came to a stop on the wheel. It resembled a vase, imperfect, a little uneven around the neck but it was perfectly them.

She pursed her lips in thought, tilting her head from side to side at the art. Harry kissed her temple.

"What are you thinking, pretty?"

"It needs something."

"I need you." He muttered against her, bringing his hands to her thighs and smudging clay on the skin.

She giggled, tapping his hands and standing. She rummaged through her art supplies and Harry clenched his jaw and got up, locating a sink and thoroughly washing his hands.

He turned and she was bent over the counter, their pottery sat atop it. A small, sharp tool in her hand that she etched into the drying clay. He pressed himself up behind her, his hands finding her hips and squeezing the material of her dress until it rode up her thighs. The flower had fallen from behind her ear, sat on the counter next to the pottery.

He bent forward, folding himself over her and pressing his lips to the space where her jaw met her ear. And then he almost snorted when he viewed the addition to their creation. A little duck, a simple outline, slightly wonky but adorable nonetheless.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" His voice rumbled in her ear.

She dropped the tool with a sigh, pushing her ass back against his crotch. "No."

"I missed you so much, you never left my mind." He told her, feeling the warmth of her skin against his length.

"Really?"

"Really. Think about you so much. Do some dirty things while I think about how pretty you are, how good it felt to be inside you."

"Tell me, Harry."

"I fuck my fist, come so hard in my hand and wish it was inside of you. I cry your name every time. Remember how nice you were for me, baby? Making dinner and then sitting on my face after?"

"Yes, I remember." She whimpered. "I think about you, too."

"Do you, honey? Tell me what you do."

His cock rocked against her ass, so hard for her. Her dress came up, bunched around her waist with her front pressed against the counter. His heavy breaths fanned against her cheek.

Her face heated. "I play with myself and think about how good you tasted me, Harry. How you made me come so hard."

"You came so hard, didn't you?"

"Fuck," She gasped. "Yes, Harry."

"Will you let me taste you, little fiore?" His hands clawed at her hips. "I missed how you feel on my tongue. Wanna see how wet you are for me, get you dripping before I give you my cock."

"Per favore."

"Good manners, thank you."

She whimpered in response and he kissed her neck, sucking and nibbling. His hands moved to the front of her thighs, squeezing. They fanned inwards, brushing the lace concealing her. He hissed, pulling away to admire the soft pink panties.

"Have you been hiding these under this sweet little dress all day, hm? Just for me?"

She didn't want to egg on his ego by admitting that she'd changed into them right before she changed her shoes earlier. Hoping he'd get a chance to see them. She simply nodded, turning back and watching him admire her.

His hands squeezed her hips some more before pulling the panties down. He'd missed her too much to delay tasting her any longer. He crouched behind her, settling on his knees and spreading her cheeks to look at her.

She stifled a moan above him, biting down on the back of her hand as the anticipation rocked her. She was saturated. Glistening pink, pulsing as his thumbs reached inwards and brushed her. Not where she needed him, but so close.

"What's got you this wet?" He mused, knowing full well he was to blame.

"You,"

"Me?"

"Sì," She breathed out. "You."

"Then I better take care of you, shouldn't I?"

She smiled. "You better."

"Where are those manners?"

"Do you want me to sit on your face again?"

The idea didn't sound horrible but he left a quick, stinging slap to her ass. "What do you say?"

"Assaggiami, per favore."

His mouth enveloped her clit. Scorching hot and so sudden. Her legs shook as he sucked deftly before his tongue delved between her folds to taste her properly. She arched back into his face and he moaned, pulling away.

"There we go, missed you so much."

She collapsed into the countertop, her skin heated, tingling fiercely as he ate her. No one had given her so much attention. This kind of attention. He did it as if he were starving for her. While many treated it as a chore, he cherished it.

His hands wrapped around the backs of her thighs, right below her ass. He anchored them open as she shook on his mouth, so close from being high. High on him and the blunt they'd shared.

Her hand reached back to tangle in his curls, holding him in place. His teeth nipped at her clit before softening the act with his tongue.

He slipped a lone finger inside of her, her walls trembling and sucking at him desperately. He'd internally wondered if she'd been touched lately. But with how she was quivering for him and crying out his name, he doubted it. Or if anything, it wasn't any good.

Harry pulled away, gripping the skin of her ass. He admired how pretty she was in between her legs.

His pink paradise.

He helped her turn around, sitting her up on the counter and standing between her legs. Her body was so sensitive as he ran his hands down it, kissing her deeply as the pads of his fingertips found her clit. He circled it slowly, applying pressure that made her clench her legs around his hips.

"Is that good?" He checked in.

She mewled out a small, "Yes." And rolled her head back.

Her hips rocked up to his touch and he offered a sympathetic look. "What do you need, pretty? You want my fingers inside you?"

"Please." She gasped.

He slowly worked up her arousal, teasing her before he slipped two fingers inside of her. She clenched around them immediately and he hooked them up. His fingertips pressed tight against her g-spot before he started to massage it.

Everything from her waist down locked up tight. She gripped his neck to anchor herself, her fingernails digging into the skin. The clay dried on her hands and flaking off as she clung to him.

He hissed out a low noise at the sensation, moving his fingers faster. She cried out softly, allowing him to swallow her moans as he kissed her. It was wet, hot, frantic. As if allowing how pent up they'd been all day finally break open like a dam.

Leaning down, he put his mouth back on her, sucking her clit. She gasped, taking a fistful of his curls and holding him tight against her. His eyes didn't leave hers, obsessed with her blissed-out expression, the way her jaw was dropped, and her brows were turned up. Fuck, she felt so good. Tasted so good. He'd missed her like this and his memory, however strong, did not do her justice.

She often wondered if she'd potentially marveled over how good he was at eating pussy a little too much. But here he was, making her feel so insanely good she didn't know which way was up.

She could feel how much he missed her. Eating her and touching her so enthusiastically. Her orgasm rushed towards her, and as if sensing it, he moved his hand harder to work her g-spot with more intensity.

Tasting her again. It was every kind of bliss he'd imagined it would be.

He hummed, narrowing his eyes as she clenched and pushed around his fingers. Her gaze met his as she pushed breathless praise past her lips. Telling him how good he felt, how much she'd missed him, how no one else had ever made him feel this way.

Maybe it was because she was still a little buzzed, or maybe it was him. She came hard and fast, swimming in a euphoric bliss that had her shaking. She collapsed against the counter, cold against her back. Her thighs clenched around his head as he worked her through her orgasm.

"That's so good, honey, keep coming for me."

He didn't let up. Driving her already rapturous state higher and bleeding into another orgasm that tailed the first. She writhed against the counter, her moans echoing through the store. Her back was arched, pressing her cunt right up against his mouth.

He hummed against her, his fingers slowing to caress her as his lips met her inner thigh, kissing the skin there.

"Wanna make you come every day. Wake you up with my cock, put you to sleep at night after I've had you on my tongue."

He'd always been so vocal during sex. It was because he felt so comfortable in himself and his desires. So he'd babble, say whatever came to mind.

"Every day," She smiled as she tried to catch her breath. "do you promise?"

It was the first implication of any form of future for them. Two hearts careened behind two rib cages in joy.

"Te lo prometto, fiore."

He stood, cupping her face in his palms and kissing her.

"I need you, Harry. Please." Her hand came down to palm his length through his shorts. He was so hot and throbbed at her touch. Harry moaned at the feel of her.

They kissed deeply, frantically clutching each other. He grabbed her thighs, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist. His hands slid around her lower back to press her core against his. She pushed him away, standing and grabbing his hands to lead him from the store and back into the pink courtyard.

She fumbled with her key, struggling to unlock her front door. His hands gripped her sides, squeezing as his teeth marked her neck.

"Hurry up." He growled against her skin.

"I'm trying." She breathed out, her hands shaking as she tried to slip the key into the door.

Her entire body felt like jelly, hot as a furnace and tingling. Impatient, he grabbed the key and slipped it in, unlocking the door and guiding her past it before slamming it closed.

Her back was pressed against the door, his hands all over her, his mouth devouring hers. She took two fistfuls of his hair and kissed him strongly, sucking on his tongue with a hum. Her core rocked against his cock, so hard and firm beneath the corduroy of his shorts.

She slid her hand down while he unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it away to display the expanse of his long torso. Inked, toned, and delicious.

She palmed his dick, feeling him throb before pulling the zipper down and slipping her hand past the waistband to feel his silky skin. He was scorching hot, the tip of him wet with pre-come.

He sighed against her mouth at the feel of her. He pressed himself against her after stripping his shirt off, throwing it behind him on the ground.

She wrapped her hand around his shaft, pulling up slowly to get him fully hard for her. She bit on his lower lip before pulling away to look at him with a slow curling smile.

When her hand tightened and her pace quickened, he clenched his fist and knocked it against the door next to her head. He clenched his jaw and moaned, his forehead pressed firmly to hers as he tried not to crumble.

"I missed you so much." He whispered against her lips.

"Show me how much."

He groaned, his hips rolling against her hand wrapped around him. He kissed her and gripped her thighs before hauling her up, holding her up between his body and the door. Her dress bunched up, the straps falling down her shoulders and he jumped to kiss the skin there.

"Get wet on my dick, honey. I want to feel you wrapped around me."

She gasped, her trembling hand reaching between them as her hips flexed to run the tip of his dick between her saturated folds. The crease between his brow deepened as he slid inside of her. So warm and wet. So tight. Pulsing from the orgasms he'd given her.

The stretch of him filling her was a blissful burn. So thick as he slowly pushed inside of her. Ripping open an absolutely blinding pleasure deep against her g-spot.

As he sheathed himself in her warmth, he released a breathless moan. "Fuck."

She cried out softly, her head lulling against the door with a quiet thud. "Please move."

He retracted until only the head of him was inside of her before slamming his hips forward with a growl. And then he just didn't stop. He didn't think he could. His strong inked arms held her up while he destroyed her. Her soft moans edging him further, adoring each sound and wanting to entice more.

His fingers were surely going to leave marks from how hard he was holding her thighs. His mouth attached to her neck before a hand came up to pull the front of her dress down to expose her full tits to him. He licked them, biting her nipples while his hips snapping fiercely against hers.

He was phenomenal, showing her how much he'd missed her and her body. Filling her to the brim and ruining her.

"There's my girl." He rasped, his eyes narrowed as he watched her tits bounce. "Feel so fucking good."

She leaned forward, kissing him again with a deep moan. His thrusts were sharp, his skin slapping against hers. The skin already reddening from his drive.

Enthralled with how tight and wet she was around him, he pulled her away from the door. With his hold on her thighs, he started pumping her up and down onto his cock. So open and accepting of his thickness. She cried out, her fists yanking at his curls.

He turned them, placing her on the stairs that led up to her home without breaking their connection. He kissed her, wrapping his hand around her throat before fucking into her so hard that every thrust took her breath away.

He was so deep this way, hitching her legs up high so he could hit her g-spot every time. She clung to his sides, his skin so smooth and warm. She dug her nails into him, a hiss leaving his mouth as she dragged them down.

With his hand around her throat, he started screwing into her. His jaw wound so tight as her walls rippled around him. Sucking him in further. He was so powerful, the muscles in his body flexing as he worked her, holding himself up perfectly above her. His abs flexed beneath a forming film of sweat, his biceps bulging, each vein in his arms and hands on display.

"H-Harry, I'm so close, please don't stop, please don-"

He growled out, hitching her legs right up his sides and fucking into her brutally, so deep she was seeing stars. He slipped his hand from her throat and gave her two of his fingers to suck on.

"Get them nice and wet, there we go." He crooned as she sucked on them with a hum. Her walls trembled profusely around him as he retracted his fingers. "You are close aren't you? You want me to make you come again?"

"Yes, please I need it."

"You're such a good girl for me, aren't you?"

"Yes," She gasped.

"Mm, you want me to rub your clit, baby? That would get you there wouldn't it?"

His hips didn't let up, demolishing her from the inside out. Tears pricked in her eyes at the intensity of him.

"Please."

"Ask me properly. Ask me to rub your clit while I fuck you."

"Oh my god, please rub my clit while you fuck me."

"Good girl."

His wet fingers reached down between them, and as soon as the pads of his fingertips touched her sensitive nerve endings, she was exploding around him.

He swore, holding her down and fucking her through it. She sobbed his name, writhing against the stairs as his fingers kept rubbing and his hips never faltered.

Her cunt was delicious when she came on his cock. Rippling and throbbing notoriously around him. His name leaving her mouth in breathless cries. Her fingernails dug into his sides and he had to grit his teeth at the sharp sting.

Praises were spilled into the air. He told her how beautiful she was. How incredible she felt. How he was so fucking glad they'd found each other again.

Irene blinked away tears at the intensity of her orgasm as she came down. Her hands slid up his arms and then his neck to pull him close. He kissed her and it was messy with how hard he was fucking her.

His thrusts came to a slow roll of his hips. His hands wrapped around her thighs and he stood, carrying her. His dick slipped from her warmth and she whined at the loss of him.

He nodded up the stairs with a crooked smile. "You gonna give me that tour, now?"

His comment made her laugh. Recalling earlier in the day when he'd asked for a tour and she'd told him to be patient. She slipped from his grasp, standing on shaking legs with her dress askew. She grabbed his hand with a flirtatious smile and led him up the stairs into her apartment.

Her apartment was an array of yellows, muted oranges, and soft pinks. It was modest, piles of books, knickknacks decorating many of the surfaces. Smatterings of art both completed and abandoned on scraps of paper and varying sized canvases.

His view of the apartment was scarce, her hand still pulling him along through the space. He pulled her back, kissing her and fisting the dress at her sides.

"So, this is my lounge." She informed against his lips.

"'S nice." He murmured, squeezing her thighs before moving back to her full ass and taking handfuls of it. His kisses moved to her neck and she whimpered.

"Kitchen is through the door on your right."

"Mm."

She felt his teeth on her skin as he grinned at her tour, though far more interested in her. He bit and sucked on the space below her ear.

"Is that a good enough tour, paperotto? Or do you want an inventory list of my books-"

He gripped her throat, not hard but the shock of it stopped her sentence before she could finish it.

"And where's the bedroom, fiore?"

She blinked, a slow smile growing on her lips. He was in a daze for her. His hair a mess, curls draped along his forehead. His chest heaving, his cock still so ready and hard for her.

"Through there." She nodded behind his shoulder, on edge as he took a step back.

His eyes didn't leave hers. "Take your dress off for me."

As much as he loved the dreamy blue, he adored what was underneath it even more. She gripped it at the hem, slowly pulling it up over her head before dropping it on the floor. A small patch of heavenly sky at her feet.

"Get on the bed."

He watched her as she brushed past him, heading towards the bedroom. He clenched his jaw at the sight of her, her full hips swaying as she walked, her hair messy from him. She took her time. Testing his patience.

But she should have known that his patience would be non-existent by that point. He went after her, circling an arm around her waist and lifting her. She let out a surprised gasp as he carried her into her bedroom.

He threw her onto the bed and she landed with a bounce. She giggled, leaning back on her elbows and crossing her legs, kicking off her shoes. He stripped his briefs and shorts off along with his vans.

"Look at you," He cooed, grabbing her ankles and gently yanking her to the center of the bed. "Pretty girl, can't believe we found each other again."

She sat up, taking his dick in her hand and pumping slowly. He was saturated from her warmth and she gripped his hip and brought him closer.

"Please fuck me, Harry."

"Fuck, I love the way you say that."

"I love the way you fuck me." She purred. "I want you to fuck me as hard as you can."

"Jesus..." He felt lightheaded. Her eyes wide and feigning innocence as she worked his cock in her hand. Looking up at him, searing and delicious.

"Please, baby. I missed you. I want to feel where you've ruined me tomorrow."

He pushed her back onto the bed, gripping her legs together and placing them over one of his broad shoulders. He reached between them, gripping his shaft and running the tip of his length between her drenched folds.

The sound she made as he slid inside of her was one he felt in his soul. A soft gasp, accompanied by narrowed eyes and hands that clung to his sides. Her nails digging his skin, her toes curling. He was so dreamy. Intense green locked onto her. Curls framing his forehead weighed down with perspiration.

His thrusts were sharp, barely retracting before he was fucking deep into her. He hooked her legs higher, hitting her sweet spot with a precision that took her breath away.

He leaned forward, kissing her messy and wet, his hips never faltering. He could feel her tightening and clenching around him. He fucked her harder, wanting her as blissed out as he could get her.

She whimpered at the quickened pace. He was all she could fathom, so deep inside of her and filling her to the brim. She cried out shamelessly, looking up at her with desperate eyes that glistened with tears of pleasure.

"Oh my god, just like that."

Her praise hit him deep. Right in his core, buzzing and addictive.

"Yeah? Tell me how good I'm fucking you."

"So good, I missed you so much. No one fucks me as good as you did."

"Do." He corrected with an extra hard thrust that took her breath away.

"Yes, fuck please don't stop." She managed out between gasps. Her muscles pulled up tight and he swore at how she clamped around him like a vice.

He gritted his teeth, putting everything behind his hips and driving into her. "Not fucking stopping until you come so hard on my cock, leave me fucking dripping, that's it, fuck."

She came with a sharp cry, writhing so much that he moved her legs to his sides and held her down with his body. He didn't stop praising her through it, her body released more explosively after being so worked up and climaxing so many times already. She bit into his neck, not hearing when he growled at her sharp teeth but fucked her through it.

He felt fucking dizzy. Like her body was drawing all the pleasure from deep down inside of him to the surface. He could feel the avalanching force of it looming, threatening to knock him out and explode inside of her.

She came around from her orgasm, nudging him so he could flip onto his back. She quickly reconnected them, sinking onto his cock with a relieved sigh. He admired her body from this angle. The fullness of her hips, her gorgeous breasts. He squeezed them, running his hands along every inch of her. Obsessed. In awe.

Upon feeling her cunt throbbing around him, he smirked. "You did miss me, didn't you?"

She shot him a playful glare. "Shut up."

Her hands met his chest to anchor herself before she started rolling her hips. His brow creased as she found a rhythm, bouncing on his length. His hands encased her hips with a growl, encouraging her to fuck him faster.

His dick was pressed tight against her g-spot and she wondered if there was anything that wasn't heavenly about this man.

She leaned over, gripping his face in her hands, stubble prickly against her skin. Her lips brushed his as he countered her thrusts with his own. Screwing and grinding up into her. He panted against her lips, feeling the muscles in his stomach tighten, his dick unbelievably hard inside of her.

"I'm so close." He breathed out.

"I need to taste you, Harry. I want you to come in my mouth."

"Fuck, please, I'm so close I-"

She lifted herself off of him, settling between his legs and taking his throbbing cock in her hand. She worked the skin, slick from her warmth. As she took him past her lips and down her throat, he moaned and took a fistful of her hair to hold her down.

"Yes, that's it, don't stop."

He was so close. He could taste his orgasm on the tip of his tongue. Feel it tingle in every nerve of his body. She worked him deeper, taking him as far as she could until her nose was pressed against his abdomen.

He choked out a broken sob as his orgasm hit him hard. Crashing into him like a tidal wave of pleasure. His muscles tightened as he came deep into her mouth, coating her tongue in his release. Her hands spread up and down his tensed thighs, each touch sending sparks of white-hot heat up his spine. She hummed around his shaft, the vibrations heightening how good she felt.

She held him in her mouth as she swallowed all that he had to give her. Gently working his shaft as he came down. Harry's chest was heaving, the warmth of her mouth around his spent length an overwhelming sensation.

He looked down at her, still working her mouth on him as he softened. He hissed out, so sensitive from his orgasm but she didn't let up. She slowly worked her mouth along his shaft, his hand coming down to cup her cheek. She hummed, staring up at him with lulled eyes.

"Gentle, fiore." He pleaded, so fucking delicate after coming so hard.

She licked the entirety of him, laying him flat and flicking her tongue on his balls. Harry breathed out a light laugh at the attention she was giving him. He pulled her up, taking her mouth in a lush kiss. He could taste himself on her tongue and it reminded him of this morning when he'd licked his orgasm from his rings.

After brief trips to the bathroom, they settled into the sheets again. Wrapped up in each other, lulled and droopy from the weed and how hard they'd fucked. He pressed his cheek firmly against hers as they cuddled and she wriggled away with a whine.

"Prickly paperotto." She commented on his growing stubble.

"You don't like it?" He smirked.

"I love it. I miss the moustache." She brushed his stubbly upper lip with a small smile.

He chuckled at her sleep expression, her eyes barely able to stay open. She giggled and he pulled away with a perplexed expression. "What?"

"I'm just imagining a duck with a moustache."

He rolled his eyes. "Silly girl. You're still high as shit."

"Prove it."

"Duck with a moustache... somehow funny..." He ventured, eyeing her as if it were obvious.

"Says the man with the world's worst jokes." She started giggling again and he felt it in his chest, pulling her closer.

"Sta 'zitto."

"Fammi." She threw him a glare that was anything but menacing, and he watched as her eyes drooped closed before he kissed her forehead.

"Sleep, dreamy fiore. I'm here."

Having her again. It was every kind of bliss he'd imagined it would be.

Harry was awakened by the sun kissing his skin. Warm rays of it beamed through to the windows, golden on his chest, bright on the sheets spread along his hips and legs. He stretched, feeling temporary disorientation as he blinked open his sleepy eyes.

He was in the warm, pink heaven of the soul he'd been longing over for a while. It wasn't a dream. An illusion that he often got lost in. He was actually there, had actually experienced her light and essence. Her body. His hands spread through the sheets, searching for her.

But before he could pine for her, the bedroom door opened. Irene entered with a tray of food and an orange vase sat amongst the plates.

"Good morning, paperotto." She smiled gingerly before setting the tray on the bed. She climbed in next to him and let him kiss her cheek.

"Morning, fiore. What's all this?" His voice was scratchy and rough from sleep.

"Breakfast in bed."

He grinned, pulling her into his side and admiring the spread she'd prepared. A stack of buttered toast next to a jar of homemade jam, a few crumbling pieces of biscotti, a bowl of fresh oranges, and strawberries. And of course, two tall glasses of orange juice.

Then he noticed the orange vase was the one they'd molded the night before. She'd gotten up early, far before him, to finish the creation. Adding depth and shading to the duck she'd etched into the clay. Beside it, a few small pieces of scrap paper and a pen.

"You said you loved trying new things. You can write all the things you want to do and keep them in here. Pull one out to do now and again, keep yourself inspired and add new ones as you think of them."

Harry felt his heart squeeze tight, pumping an abundance of love and awe and appreciation for her throughout his veins.

"It's perfect, I love it so much."

He'd treasure it so much. He wanted to ask her if she intended them to use it together. Or was it another parting gift, like her drawing had been?

He grabbed the pen and wrote something down on the paper, his scrawl messy and hurried. She tried to peek but he quickly folded it and tossed it into the vase. Then, he handed the pen to her.

"Your turn."

She smiled, taking a second to think before jotting something down on the scrap of paper. She folded it, doodling a little flower on it. She didn't give him a chance to see it before popping it in the vase.

Another nod towards a potential future for them. They'd see each other again. Then they'd reach into the pottery they'd crafted together and reveal their next adventure.

They delved into their breakfast, sharing bites and indulging in top-ups of the orange juice. Enjoying the sweet morning that it was. Tucked away in a little pink heaven, simply existing together.

Harry was heading back to London the following night. He'd used up all the free time his schedule could allow. He didn't want to bring it up with her, afraid it would shatter the illusion that they could be with each other with no other worries. He knew it wasn't realistic or fair... but he really didn't want to ruin the moment.

She knew he wouldn't be able to stick around for much longer. In a way, she didn't want to know. She wanted to enjoy him for a little bit longer and not know the expiry date this time.

So, they didn't mention it. They polished off their glasses of orange juice and showered together. Harry was insatiable, washing her body from head to toe, leaving soft kisses on each inch of skin.

Irene missed her river. Missed the freedom of the soft currents carrying her. Missed how refreshing it was to dive in on a hot day. And since they couldn't return to the teal haven, they planned to spend the day at the beach.

Harry had gone back to his hotel to gather clean clothes and his swimming trunks, encouraging Irene to meet him around the corner of it. Ren was happy to have another day off, encouraging Harry to call if he needed him. When he finally met up with her, his backpack slung on his shoulder, she was perched on a rental bike. Another was leaned against the wall next to her and she dinged the bell on the handlebars and nodded towards it.

"Hop on, dreamy. The sunshine and sand await."

They cycled for a while, Cannoli happily trailing along while Harry waved at a few fans who spotted him. Irene wore another tiny sundress and he kept glancing at her legs and the straps of her bikini on her shoulders. They veered off-road and he realised she was taking him to a hidden gem. Another safe place that she frequented.

It was a small cove, though well equipped for locals who frequently swam there. They set up on two lounging chairs, spreading out in the sun after a thick application of sunscreen. Harry adored her body. A soft green bikini that did wonders for her curves. She tugged and teased at his They fed each other slices of oranges and kept hydrated.

Irene pursed her lips. "Don't think I've seen a duck sunbathing at the beach before."

And while he usually rolled his eyes at her duck jests, he smiled softly this time. "Maybe this one's trying something new."

After indulging in the warmth of the generous sun, they raced each other to the water. She squealed in shock at how cold the water was and Harry scooped her up with an arm around her waist and carried her out. She clawed at his arm but he was determined.

"Dio santo!" She yelled. "Put me down, testa di cazzo!"

"I don't know what you're saying but it's hot."

She climbed around, latching onto his back as he strolled deeper into the water.

"Mangia merda."

He tutted, his hands wrapped around her thighs with a squeeze. "I understood that, naughty fiore."

Her lips met the back of his neck before feathering around to his ear, nipping at his earlobe. "Mi sei mancato più di ogni altra cosa."

"What does that mean?" He requested softly with genuine intrigue.

Always a cheeky and endearing woman, she shrugged and dove into the water. He watched her underneath the glistening crystal surface, waiting until she breached it before approaching her with a broad stroke of his arms.

His hands gripped her waist as they swam deeper, their lips brushing as she wrapped herself around him. Her legs around his waist, hands around his neck to toy with the curls at the nape.

"I missed you," She whispered against his lips. "more than anything."

"I missed you, too."

Her hands slipped to his stubbly cheeks, drawing him closer so she could kiss him. The waves lapped at them, pushing at his broad back as if enticing them closer together.

While it wasn't the river that flowed behind her little yellow villa, the currents of their connection coursed just the same.

They swam around, splashing each other and conducting breath-holding contests. They kissed under the surface, his hands attempting to untie her bikini before she slapped him away. The sun sat high, glistening down on the cove with unrelenting beams.

They paddled back to shore, heading to the shower provided to wash off. She couldn't help but run her hands over his strong inked torso, sculpted and taut under the warm trickle of water. Her fingers brushed the waistband of his blue shorts and he shot her a flirty look before guiding her under the spray with him.

They relaxed on the lounging chairs once more, drying off in the sun. Harry dragged his chair right next to hers and grabbed her legs so she could spread them across his lap. He squeezed her thighs, checking in on her to make sure she was hydrated and feeding her strawberries when she demanded them.

Cannoli was happy to relax on a blanket next to them under the shade, occasionally venturing to the water only to be afraid of the waves as they lapped at the shore.

A comfortable silence fell upon them, a book of his with too many dog-eared pages sat in his hands. Irene turned the page, two very familiar pieces of paper falling from their concealment in the novel. She raised a brow at him and his eyes were mischievous beneath his aviators.

"Did you take these from our dreamy vase, paperotto?"

He laughed, picking up the one with the doodled flower and handing it to her. He had, in fact, swiped them from the pottery and slipped them into his book while she had her back turned. He was far too impatient to wait. He wanted another adventure with her.

"I wanted to hear what you'd written down. The next new thing you're going to try."

Wanted to hear it from her mouth, the unfolded paper in her fingers grasp.

She smiled, fluttery from a sudden jolt of nerves. Her eyes scanned the paper and he waited patiently.

"I want to ride a shooting star."

There were a lot of things he wanted to say. The fact that he'd said something so ridiculous when he was high the night before and it had stuck with her as it had with him. Like she really got it, past the actuality of it. They wanted to see the universe. See it all, feel the freedom of solely existing to explore.

He wanted to express his deep devotion, spill his deepest secrets. He battled with what he wanted to say in response because his own scrap of paper would inspire a similar retort.

"You rode one last night."

He scrunched up his face as she slapped his chest. Of course, not actually bothered by it because she thought he was pretty funny even if his jokes were intolerable at best.

"Harry, that was so bad." She scolded even though she was fighting back a laugh.

"I love that you understood what I meant. Even if we were high as shit."

"Yeah, yeah. What's the new thing you'll be trying, then? Maybe brushing up on your Italian? Learning some funnier jokes?"

Harry was quiet for a minute, flipping the folded paper between his nimble fingers. His eyes met hers, his lips pursed as he waded through his thoughts.

"I'm going tell you how much I care about you."

Her heart felt like it was being squeezed tight in her chest. She turned to face him fully, his eyes flickering between her and the piece of paper in his hand. It was a shock to hear the words leave his mouth. Another nod towards a potential future for them.

She brought a hand up, placing it on his naked chest. She felt his heartbeat quicken under her touch.

"When we met it was... I don't know, like this super-quick connection. And I'm a people person, you know? I get along with everyone. But with you, it was like you could see how much I have to put on this façade and your presence told me I didn't need to do that with you. You're just such a comfortable and refreshing person and I'd be lying if I told you I didn't think about you every day. I regretted not getting your number or anything but somehow we found each other again. It was like I walked into that store and nothing really mattered anymore. Just you and what I feel for you."

"Harry..." She pressed her forehead to his with a shaky sigh. "You're so beautiful. I'm so happy we found each other. I thought of you every day, fantasised about all the different ways I could run into you. But my imagination could never prepare for how magical yesterday was."

He kissed her. Needing to taste her and feel her. His nerves simmered down into grains of sand, settling into the beach where they finally found themselves on the same page.

"My one seems stupid now." She grumbled and he had to laugh at her displeased expression.

"No, fiore. It was perfect. You're sweet."

The pieces of paper were tucked back into the safety of his worn novel, placed to the side so he could pull her closer. She nestled into his side, grateful that their chairs were pressed together so she could be this close to him. She kissed his cheek, brushing his curls away from his face as they dried, textured from the seawater.

Harry's chest expanded on a deep breath before he said, "Come to London with me."

She pulled away to look at him, and he gauged her reaction.

"Really?"

"Really. I-It doesn't have to be anything, it can just be a holiday, you can come for as long as you want. You can stay with me or I can get you a hotel. You can bring Cannoli if you want and we can spend time together. See where this goes, take it day by day. Just, you know, to try something new."

She wasn't sure how to respond. There had been many implications of a future for them. Small things that they both picked up on and clutched onto. Her life in Venice wasn't permeant. She loved traveling and loved London and truthfully loved Harry even more.

She could picture their connection strengthening. She could see it as clear as the blue sky above them. They just needed a little bravery, opening their palms to catch each other in deep flowing harmony.

They didn't want to let each other go again. And here he was, inviting her into his life as she had done so easily to him. Little yellow villas, pink heavens. Everywhere was a paradise with her.

"Tu sei tutto, sempre."

"Always."

***

Hope you enjoyed it, babies! Love you very much x

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles filth #harry styles one shot #harry styles smut #smut #hes #hslot #italyrry

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works-of-fanfiction · 3 years

Text

“He’s the Best.” - 90s!Graham Coxon x Reader

Summary: Graham struggles with his self-esteem within the band and the reader tries to cheer him up.

Requested by: Anon. I hope you like this <3

Warnings: Swearing (literally once).

Word Count: 3.3k - a bit of a longer oneshot from me! I didn’t mean for it to be this long.

A/N: I’ve been writing this and putting it off for days because I just don’t know if I like it, but I don’t want to restart it. Argh… I hope someone enjoys this cheese fest.

* Gif credits to the linked creator

_______________

No one in this life is born ‘better’ than anybody else. It’s not a competition or a game of comparison. Every single human on this planet has their own unique qualities that make them interesting and most importantly, worthy. However, humans sadly aren’t wired to see those qualities in themselves. They spend the majority of their lives obsessing over others; wondering if they’re as talented as the next man, or if they’ll ever look as good as whatshername. Sometimes, it gets to a point where even the deepest of friendships can become strained due to one or more parties comparing themselves to another’s achievements.

And seeing Graham go through exactly that, has been killing me. There was a time when everything Graham and Damon did together, was truly that - together. Every single melody, riff, lyric - it was theirs. Neither one did more work than the other, neither was more musically talented. They were both kids crammed inside a Portakabin with their very first instruments, strumming and plucking and making probably rather bothersome noise. They had no idea what was to become of their lunchtime jam sessions and after school practices. Both were just excited to have a friend that liked the same things as them, and enjoyed the noise the other was making.

But Graham has since become a shadow of who he once was around Damon - he’s become Damon’s shadow. Or so he thinks.

Being in a band with a boisterous frontman like Damon was bound to become hard work for the other members at one point or another, but I never thought it would affect Graham like this. It’s getting harder to communicate with him, and I know it’s not his fault but I’m running out of things to say to fill the silences. There’s only so many times I can ask if he wants a cup of tea, or tell him about the encounter I had at the bus stop earlier that day. I’m sick of hearing my own voice, so I can’t imagine how he must feel. The silence seems to be the only thing he wants; he doesn’t write anymore, he hardly plays guitar outside of work commitments, and he hasn’t picked up his sketchbook in weeks. He just seems to stare at the TV or sit on the sofa with his head buried in a book that’s stuck on the first chapter. I watched him the other day and in forty-five minutes, he turned the page once. I bet if I asked him about the story he wouldn’t be able to recall a single character’s name, never mind the plot.

Watching him struggle with his self-esteem is crushing, and I don’t want him to live another second feeling the way he does. I know it may take a while for him to find himself again, but if I can do anything to help move things along, it’s worth a try. I’d drop everything for Graham in a heartbeat.

“I dropped those music stands off today. Did you get them?” Dave asks, his voice a little crackly on the other end of the phone.

“I did, thank you!” I chime, balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear as I assemble the very same stands.

“Oh, good. I was a little worried about leaving them outside. I thought somebody would take them… What do you need them for anyway?”

“That’s something for me to know and you to find out, Dave.” I laugh, tightening one last knob on the second stand and straightening it out. I stand back and admire my handy work, smiling at the prospect of what they are to become.

“Alright, alright. Well, I hope they come in handy! I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks again. See you next week!”

We both hang up and I grab the stands, climbing up the stairs and into the spare room, placing them in their desired places. Grabbing two pieces of sheet music, I slot them onto the stands neatly and adjust them until they’re perfect. With one last thing to check, I turn on the projector I borrowed from an old university friend and let the film play out on the blank wall opposite. I mess with the sound a little, making sure it’s loud enough before rewinding the footage to the beginning and turning it off until later.

Standing in the middle of the room, I turn around and admire everything on the walls. Everything from lyrics to old album art concepts, to still life paintings from Graham’s time at Goldsmith’s. Beside the music stands, there’s crates filled with records, decorated with lyrics scribbled onto scraps of paper, some in Graham’s handwriting and others in mine. I of course, couldn’t resist writing them out in various colours and covering them in star-shaped stickers. The finishing touch is a large beanbag against the wall for us to sit and watch the projector from. I fluff up the beanbag for the thousandth time before heading downstairs to wait for Graham to get back.

It takes around two hours for Graham to arrive home. As soon as I hear his taxi pull up outside, I jump up from the sofa and head into the kitchen to flick the kettle on. Nerves bubble through me as I anticipate his entry. It’s impossible to predict how Graham’s going to be feeling on any given day. He could come through the door and speak to me as normal, or he could disappear into his studio until he’s tired enough to head to bed. Through the rumbling of the kettle I listen out for the door, fingers impatiently tapping on the counter as my gaze fixates on a magpie outside, shakily balancing on the washing line. A second joins it and I smile, muscle memory taking over as I pour the boiled water into two cups, not taking my eyes off of the birds.

“Hi.” Graham’s voice peeps behind me. Putting the kettle down, I turn around with a warm smile on my face. Despite everything Graham has been going through, seeing him come through that door every day is still my favourite sight. Having him come home to me will simply never get old. I don’t know what I’ll do when he has to go out on tour again in a few months.

“Hey.” I breathe, the sides of my face already beginning to feel sore from the ridiculous grin stuck on it. He smiles back, the expression not quite reaching his eyes but I know he means well. He’s trying. “You go and sit down. I’ll bring these in.” I gesture to the brewing teas on the counter and he nods, hanging his bag on the nearest kitchen chair and leaving the room without another word. I finish the drinks as quickly as possible, grabbing the stack of takeaway menus from the junk drawer and bringing them with me, the pieces of paper clamped between my teeth as I concentrate on carrying the two steaming hot cups in my hands.

Setting the cups down on the coffee table, I toss the menus onto the sofa next to where Graham is very aggressively, trying to pull his Docs off. “Need a little help?” I ask, laughing as I kneel down and bat his hands out of the way. “It would help if you untied them.”

“It’s easier to leave them tied.”

“Oh, really?” I scoff, gesturing to his feet still stuck in the cherry red boots. The laces are a complete mess with three bulky knots in them. I sit down cross-legged on the carpet, carefully plucking and unravelling each knot whilst Graham buries his head in the takeaway menus. “How do you even - “ I struggle, pulling at the frayed shoelace whilst trying not to damage it further, “- get these things on?” With one last tug, the first lace loosens and I’m able to slide the boot off with ease. Graham’s face pops out from behind the menu, a side-smile plastered onto his lips and a cheeky glint in his eyes. I know he wants to laugh.

“Shall we get Indian tonight?” He changes the subject, flipping over the tatty piece of bright orange paper as he squints at the options. He always orders the same thing, yet still insists on reading the whole menu front to back. He does it for every restaurant.

“Indian sounds good.” I nod, pulling the second boot off and shoving them to the side. “I’ll call them now.” Jumping up to grab the phone, I type the number in from memory and hold it up to my ear.

“What’s the rush?” Graham mouths and I hush him when somebody answers. I order the usual along with some extras and give them our address, despite them not even really needing it anymore. The phone call is no longer than a minute and Graham sits staring at me, nose scrunched in confusion. “Are you going to tell me what’s going - “

“Follow me.” I blurt out, stretching my arm towards him and rising onto my tiptoes out of excitement. He stands slowly, shrugging off his jacket and leaving it on the sofa. “I was going to wait until we’d had our food, but I have to show you now.”

“Show me what?” He asks as I grab his wrist and drag him up the stairs. We squeeze up the narrow staircase, almost tripping each other over a couple times until we stop on the landing, feet overlapping one another’s on the small square of carpet.

“I know you haven’t really been yourself lately.” I start, my fingers slipping from Graham’s wrist to entwine with his. He looks down, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth. His eyes watch our hands as I lightly stroke the back of his thumb in an attempt to relax him. He has a habit of tensing up whenever I broach the subject. “So I wanted to remind you just how great you are.”

I watch his face intently, the corners of his mouth twitching and trying to smile. With my free hand, I open the door and flick the light on, pulling Graham into the room with me. His hand slips from my grasp and I back up to stand against the wall, watching as he takes in the room around him and everything in it.

He walks to the music stands first, fingers tracing the notes on the pages, flipping them over then back again. He walks towards the canvas on the back wall - a woodland painting he’d won a prize for back in college - running his hand over the textured patch of paint that forms the trees. I nervously bite the back of my thumb as he kneels down to sift through the records in the large black case below, flicking through every Blur album and single released to this day. My favourite lyrics are scattered on sheets of paper all over the ground, and he picks up the second verse from Coffee & TV. “You’ve always loved this one.” He says, turning to me and smiling.

“I happen to really like the guy who sings it.”

“He must be pretty good then.”

“Oh, he’s the best.” Resting my foot against the wall, I kick my body forward and stand straight, joining Graham beside the projector.

“What’s this for?” He asks, hands hovering near the buttons but not daring to touch anything. I take his hands in mine and give them a loving squeeze.

“Sit down and I’ll show you.” I chirp and he sinks down onto the beanbag. I mess with the projector until the sound starts to creep in, stretching over to switch off the light. Graham shuffles to the side to make some room for me on the beanbag and I flop down beside him, nestling into his side.

The image from the projector is surprisingly clear against the wall, although could’ve been improved had I borrowed a screen from somewhere. A variety of different clips play out in front of us, ranging from Graham performing onstage to snippets of his band members talking and praising their guitarist. I try my hardest to focus on the film in front of me, but I can’t help glancing over at Graham to see his reactions. His brows are furrowed, but not necessarily in a bad way - he’s focused, fully concentrating on everything he’s seeing and hearing.

I fidget with my hands, twiddling my thumbs and quietly cracking my knuckles. Graham notices this and grabs my left hand, squeezing it tightly and bringing it over to rest in his lap. Laying my head on his shoulder, I press a kiss onto his sleeve, rubbing my head against him and breathing in his familiar scent. He lays his head on top of mine, but never looks away from the video playing on the wall. Absentmindedly, his fingertips dance on the back of my hand, the drumming following the beat of Song 2 as it plays from the projector. I too can’t help bopping along to the beat, my foot tapping softly on the carpet.

The video closes with one final clip, a message I recorded for Graham. Too embarrassed to watch myself, my focus stays on him as I squeeze his hand a little tighter and snuggle up as close as possible. The picture begins to fade and the sound plays out until there’s no footage left, and the whirring of the projector becomes background noise in the room. Graham doesn’t say anything at first, but as I try to stand to turn the projector off, he pulls me back down onto the beanbag and rotates his body to face mine.

“Hey.” I whisper, my right hand supporting his cheek as he leans into me, his eyes closed and lips pressed into a line. Our bodies slot into one another’s on the beanbag, the very little space between us growing warmer by the second.

Graham releases a deep breath, his eyes slowly opening again with a small smile spreading across his face. It’s hard to see him properly in the dimly lit room, but I could never mistake those big brown eyes staring at me. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.” He says, his voice low as he leans in close to speak like we’re the only two people who matter inside a crowded room.

“I wanted to show you how incredible you are. You’ve been so hard on yourself and I just - “ As I speak, tears start to well up in my eyes and I look up to the ceiling to try and stop them from falling. I’d already told myself earlier that I wouldn’t cry, because I don’t want Graham to think he’s upset me. I press at my eyes lightly with my fingertips in an attempt to push the tears away. “I can’t stand seeing you this way because you don’t deserve to feel like this. If it wasn’t for you, Blur wouldn’t exist! Everything you’ve all achieved wouldn’t have happened.” My voice begins to shake and I feel Graham’s hand on my arm, rubbing it gently to try and calm me down.

“Y/N.” He starts, before reaching up to turn on the light. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust, before my gaze falls to the ground to avoid his. If I look at him properly, I know I’ll start bawling. “Look at me. Please.”

“I can’t. I can’t because I’ll cry, and then you’ll get upset and I don’t want to make you feel any worse than wha - “

“You won’t upset me. Y/N, I’m sorry I’ve - “

“No, Graham. Don’t apologise.” I grip onto his shirt tightly, my fingers tangling in the fabric. Graham bows his head and nudges it against mine, edging closer until he pushes my head up with his and our noses are almost touching. We both open our eyes, our faces too close that my vision is distorted and I’m seeing double. I pull back, sniffling once and dabbing at my eyes again, still not allowing any tears to actually emerge.

“I’m sorry,“ he starts and I sigh at his words, but he hushes me by holding his finger up to my face, “for putting you through this. I was so caught up in my own head that I didn’t realise how it was making you feel.”

“Graham, this isn’t about me.”

“But it affects you. Bloody hell, if I had to live with this miserable twat - “ he points to himself and I scoff, slapping the back of his hand playfully. “ - I’d have given up by now.”

“I would never give up on you.” My voice is barely above a whisper, the lump in my throat making it difficult to speak. Graham goes silent again, staring down at our joined hands and moving his thumbs around. I nudge his head with mine in the same way he did previously and he sniffles, his chest rising and immediately falling again. “Graham?” I bring my hand to his chin and push his face up to find his eyes watery, and cheeks significantly more red compared to a moment ago.

“God, look at me. What the hell are you still doing with me, ay? I’m a bleeding mess.” He sniffs, roughly wiping tears off of his cheeks with the backs of his hands.

“Because I wouldn’t want to be with anybody else.”

“Not even - “

“Ah! Stop right there. There’ll be no more of that.” I take his hands away from his face, holding onto them loosely. “Graham Coxon, you are the best thing to ever happen to me. And I’ll give you a free pass to slap me silly for being so cheesy.” I laugh, his grip on my hands tightening as he awkwardly slides closer on the beanbag, his body sinking into it at a strange angle and pulling me with him. “I love you.”

Within a second, Graham’s hands are on both sides of my face, pulling me in for a kiss; the kind of kiss that feels like the person is pouring their entire heart out to you. Like the kiss between the main characters of a movie, when they’ve just ran across a field or a busy road to collide with another at the centre. His lips messily press against mine and I can feel the stray tears running down his face as they dampen my cheeks. My hands rest on his legs, holding on firmly as his thumbs dig into my face a little. It doesn’t hurt, but he soon pulls away and swipes at my face softly as if to apologise for it. He uses his sleeve to dry my face and I do the same for him, small gasps of laughter exchanging between us.

“Thank you for doing this. If you can’t tell, I really love it.” He says sincerely with a genuine smile, the biggest smile I’ve seen from him in weeks. The expression is infectious and I can’t help mimicking him as I grin back like the Cheshire Cat. The faint sound of knocking from downstairs pulls us out of our romance film-esque daydream and we both clamber to our feet.

As we approach the stairs, Graham stops and spins me around, pulling me into him. I land against his chest with a huff, before adjusting my hair and looking up at him. “After we eat, can you show me the film again?” He asks, his hand meeting mine to help me fix the loose hairs falling in my eyes.

“We can watch it as many times as you like.”

#graham coxon #graham coxon x reader #oneshot #blur #request #anon request

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fific7 · 3 years

Text

Short Term Loss

Billy Russo x Reader

@omgrachwrites 500 Follower Celebration

Summary: Follows on from That Swept-Back Hair and Velvet (they’re tagged if you want to read). It’s 2 months since Billy got out of hospital. He’s got some memories back, but are they the important ones?

Warnings: Swearing, memory loss, angst/fluff mix.

A/N: well this is really late to the party but here’s part 3, final one. Loosely based on S2 Billy, but this is non-canon and exists only within my personal Punisher AU.

(My GIF)

Your plane touched down at JFK about 30 minutes later than scheduled, and by the time you grabbed an Uber and got home, it was just after midnight.

The trip had been a super busy one, and you were totally shattered. The jet lag was gonna be a bitch. At least it was Saturday tomorrow. Today.

With a sigh of relief, you stepped inside your darkened apartment, dropped your suitcase and bag, kicked off your shoes and headed straight for the sofa. It had your name on it, and you were going to collapse on it for at least half an hour before doing anything else.

You gave a small shriek as a sudden movement from one of the armchairs startled you. Billy’s face came into view in the reflected glow from a streetlight outside, and you noticed he was still wearing his black tactical outfit. He stood up and came over to you, sliding his arms around your waist and kissing your neck, burying his nose in your hair.

“Hey, sorry sweetheart... I didn’t mean to scare you. Dozed off waitin’ for you.”

You stroked his jawline, your fingertips feeling the bristly scruff along it.

“Oh, honey, we agreed we’d meet up tomorrow for lunch.... because my flight was getting in late, and you had a job today.”

His face fell, “Uh, yeah... I... kinda thought we had, but I... wasn’t 100% sure.” Inwardly, you felt sadness wash over you. Absentmindedly, he touched a finger to his largest scar, a frown appearing on his face.

You took hold of his hand, “C’mon you, let’s go and faceplant onto the bed,” starting to lead him through to the bedroom. You heard a chuckle behind you, “Okay... if you say so.”

You began to strip off your wrinkled travelled-in clothes, pulling on one of the oversized Anvil T’s Billy had given you, and which had pretty much replaced your PJ’s for sleeping in.

Billy was down to his boxer briefs and undershirt, and as he pulled the white tank over his head while sitting on the bed, you spotted a big purple-black bruise on his side which hadn’t been there when you left for your trip.

You leant down, fingertips touching it. “Billy? Where’d that come from?” He looked down, his own fingers landing on top of yours.

“Ah, that job today. Some asshole wouldn’t do what I told him to.”

You cupped his face in your hand, “When’re you gonna stop going out on assignments, Billy? You know I worry about you.��

You saw his mouth pull into a line, his eyes looking like black flints as he stared at you. He stood up abruptly, facing you, body tensed, “I’m too fuckin’ tired for this shit right now! If you’re gonna go over it again, maybe I better head to my place.”

He stared at you, waiting for your answer.

You sighed, holding out your hand to him, “You don’t need to do that, Billy. I’m too fucking tired for that shit too.”

He grinned at that, relaxing, taking your hand and sitting on the edge of the bed, where he pulled you to stand between his wide-apart long legs, your hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

He ran his hands up from your waist to cup your breasts, lingering for a moment, then moved them back down to your waist. He looked as tired as you felt.

You ran your fingers through his hair, thinking how glad you were it’d begun to grow back at last, although not yet anywhere near as long as it had been. But there was enough there now for you to attempt small tugs on it, which you were delighted to find still had the same effect on Billy that it ever did.

He suddenly lay back on the bed, burrowing under the covers and pulling you right along with him.

“Billy!” “What?” “I need to....” “You need to lay here with me.”

You laughed. “If I wake up tomorrow with panda eyes, it’s on you. And I will punish you.”

He sighed, grinning at you, and let you go. “Okay, okay, I know when I’m beat! But... don’t be too long.”

After you’d done all the necessary girl things which needed to be done, you hopped back into bed with Billy, switching off the bedside lamp as you lay down next to him.

He gave you a long kiss, then you felt his lips softly trailing kisses down your neck.

“G’night, sweetheart,” whispered against your ear. “Sweet dreams, Billy.” You tucked your head against his chest, sighing in contentment, hearing his steady heartbeat.

Soon, his breathing evened out and you knew he was asleep.

Tired as you were, your mind wouldn’t let you sleep. You thought of Billy’s words to you when you got home; he’d forgotten that the two of you were meeting for lunch the next day, rather than him coming over to your place that night. He’d tried to cover it up, but you knew he’d forgotten.

Your heart ached for him. He’d made a lot of progress over the past couple of months, recovering well physically. Psychologically.. well, that was another thing entirely.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

As you’d anticipated, Billy had an exceptionally hard time dealing with his facial scarring. The scars were much less noticeable than they had been, but he had taken to wearing caps and hoodies to hide behind.

You often found him gazing into a mirror, lip curled in distaste as he stared at his reflection. You’d make a point of sneaking up behind him, arms going round his waist, asking him, “Hey, who’s that handsome guy in the mirror, then?” He’d smile and turn round, kissing you softly, totally aware of what you were trying to do.

Once though, he’d blown up, whirling round and yelling at you, “How can you say that?! Look at me!! This...” pointing to his face, “...is a fuckin’ mess!!”

You had placed your palm on his cheek, and he’d calmed down, laying his hand over yours. “Billy, I told you in the hospital that you’re still handsome, and I meant it. Okay?” He’d looked unconvinced and said in a low voice, “I know you say that, but I just don’t understand why you wanna be with me when I look like this.”

And you’d have to try and tell him why without using the L word, as you two hadn’t got to that stage before the explosion, and now was not the time to mention it.

You kept constantly reassuring him, and slowly he began to accept that you did still want him, especially as you two slept in the same bed when staying over at each other’s places. You held each other, just that, and this one simple thing seemed to bring him comfort.

His memory still had a black hole in it, covering the period between the explosion and his last tour in Afghanistan. The memories seemed to start making their way back into his head from there outwards.

He was struggling a little with his short-term memory too, forgetting or mixing things up, hence the lunch confusion from earlier. While this worried you, he was silently frustrated by it.

He now remembered his discharge from the Marines, and that it was his decision to leave. The word Anvil was hovering just at the edge of his memory, present but not fully formed yet. Billy was back working there, but Frank was temporarily still in charge. He could also remember most of what had happened leading up to the explosion, but not the actual event itself.

Some memories came back as tiny fragmented pieces. He would remember a comment you’d made in the past, or the way you did something. You’d walk into a restaurant or cafe with him, he’d stop walking and talking, and you knew it had sparked a memory for him.

An important sense to him seemed to be that of smell. You’d spritz your perfume, deodorant, or body spray around you and his eyes would close, you’d hear your name being said under his breath.

He was forever sliding his nose against your neck or into your hair as if scenting you, through your perfume or shampoo.

But he still didn’t really know who you were.

He heard all about your shared history from you, of course. He didn’t remember anything except random moments of your six months together, and nothing at all about the years of being ‘friends with benefits’ which preceded that.

Frank and Karen had also answered questions that he was wary of asking you directly; how the two of you had been together, how you’d acted with each other, had you kissed, held hands, wrapped your arms around each other in public? Telling you later what he’d asked, and you’d reinforce what they’d told him through actions as well as words.

You were like two strangers, who’d only just met and were getting to know each other. Everything had been a little awkward between you since Billy got home from the hospital.

From the first night he was back, he’d started making tentative, fumbling attempts to have sex with you. It had taken you aback, as it’d been so unlike the Billy you’d known. You guessed he thought it was what you’d expect from him as your boyfriend, and was trying to keep you happy.

So you’d sat him down after a few days of gently warding off these attempts, and had a long talk with him.

How he literally didn’t know you anymore, and that he’d be relearning everything about you. How, until you were truly and completely back in his head, he really shouldn’t rush to try and be a boyfriend to you.

While he protested that he didn’t want to wait, you could tell that truthfully he was relieved. He was trying his best to be your ‘before’ Billy which had been a strain on him, and you’d felt like he was on edge all the time.

But since your little chat, he’d been a lot more relaxed and had been more easily affectionate, in public and private. This had finally resulted in a full-on kiss just before your most recent trip, initiated by him while Frank and Karen were sitting there with you. In itself that didn’t sound earth-shattering, but to you it was a major step forward, as it meant he was a lot more comfortable around you.

The four of you had been in your regular after-work bar, just chatting, Billy listening a lot as usual, just soaking up the details of the conversation and making an occasional comment, or more often asking a question.

You’d just finished recounting a story of an arm-wrestling match between Frank and Billy at a backyard barbecue one time, where the two of them had been so competitive about it they’d ended up rolling around on the lawn, putting each other in headlocks.

Billy had laughed out loud, leant forward, slid his hand around the back of your neck and passionately kissed you. He’d then sat back and taken a sip of his beer, before noticing three sets of surprised eyes on him. “What?” he’d smirked.

“Don’t mind us, Bill, you just carry right on,” grinned Frank, waving a hand in the air.

Billy had looked at you, eyes sparkling, “Huh. Yeah, might just do that.”

Frank raised an eyebrow at him, smirking.

“What can I say,” Billy shrugged, “haven’t felt much like laughin’ lately, and.... and she makes me laugh,” grinning at you.

You’d felt a blush burning its way onto your face, and you’d looked down with a small smile, feeling shy all of a sudden. Karen reached over and put her hand on your arm, a cheeky grin on her face. You knew she was worried about you still seeing Billy, she was scared you’d get badly hurt.

A few days prior, she’d asked what you’d do if Billy never recovered his memories of you, and started seeing other women because he didn’t feel any real connection to you.

Truthfully at first you’d been hurt and offended by the question, and felt that she wasn’t being very supportive of you. But at the same time, you knew that she was a pragmatic soul and was merely trying to prepare you for the worst case scenario.

After letting this percolate through your brain for a few moments, you’d answered, “Well, obviously I wouldn’t be happy about it, and I guess I’d finish with him.”

She’d nodded, seeming to take some comfort in hearing that you wouldn’t cling on for dear life to a non-existent relationship.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Now, as you lay there listening to Billy’s regular breathing, you thought back to what Karen had said a few days ago, her ‘worst case scenario’.

Honestly, right now you didn’t think Billy had enough confidence in his appearance to approach any other women. You smiled sadly; whoever would’ve thought anyone would ever be able to say that about Billy Russo?

But he was slowly regaining his equilibrium, so how long would it be before he decided he needed to look elsewhere for what you wouldn’t give him? Especially if he still hadn’t recalled your relationship and consequently felt no loyalty to you.

You sighed, and Billy huffed in his sleep; lying still, you held your breath, you didn’t want him to wake up.

He still slept, so you released a breath and let your mind start spinning again.

You wondered to yourself... would you really do what you’d promised Karen you would - give up Billy without a fight? Pride and jealousy might get in the way of that. And why exactly were you lying awake torturing yourself over something which hopefully wouldn’t ever happen?

Eventually your tired mind wound down and down, and you slept too.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy had woken up before your jaded jet-lagged self did, and you’d groggily surfaced to the sound of cupboards opening and closing, and the chink of mugs and plates. He appeared a little while later, two mugs clutched in one big hand, two plates in the other.

He’d made coffee and toast, which was slightly burnt but you didn’t mind that, as he’d slathered on lots of butter, just as you liked it. You pointed at it, “You remembered,” smirking.

“Uhuh,” he said, “I did,” looking pleased with himself, putting everything down on the bedside table and getting back into bed. He slid closer to you, hand going round the back of your neck and pulling you in for a slow kiss. He pulled away, smirking at you then sat back up, grabbed a plate, handing it to you.

“Breakfast in bed,” he said, to which you replied, “Crumbs in bed,” grinning back at him. He laughed and poked your side, “Now that’s just ungrateful!”

The two of you lazed around, eating your breakfast and drinking your coffee, watching the TV news as you did.

Suddenly, Billy put his mug down and rolled on top of you, dark eyes gazing down into yours, his fingers tracing your cheek and jaw. He leant in and kissed you. “I’m startin’ to remember, you know, I really am. I can feel what we had between us.”

You stroked his face gently, feeling the ridges of his scars against your palm. “Are you, Billy? Truly? I confess I’d be very happy if you are.”

He nodded, still gazing at you. Then you felt his fingers at the hem of your t-shirt, moving it up. You shot up, Billy falling back on one shoulder.

“Wait a minute! Were you just saying that so you’d get laid?!”

He put both hands up, palms out, “No!!” Then a guilty look crossed his face, “But I can’t lie, I do wanna get laid.”

“Oh, and I’m the nearest convenient woman, right?”

He sat up, putting his head in his hands. “No!” he yelled, looking over at you, “You’re my girlfriend! We should want each other!”

“But you don’t remember that I’m your girlfriend, Billy!”

You felt tears welling up in your eyes, “You don’t remember.”

He reached for you, and you allowed him to pull you into his arms, kissing your temple. “But I’m tryin’ to, sweetheart, I swear I am.” His dark eyes looked into yours, “Because I want back what we had. I see Frank and Karen together, and I want that too. With you!”

The two of you lay back down, Billy sliding his arms round you, lips next to your ear. “I’ll be here with you till I remember, I’m not going anywhere and... I don’t want anyone else.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Things were a little bit awkward between you for the rest of that day, Billy casting anxious glances at you and periodically repeating much the same thing to you, trying to reassure you. He now knew that you were feeling as insecure as he was, but about a totally different aspect of your relationship. He, deep down, still worried that you no longer truly wanted him due to his scars and continued amnesia.

You were worried that he didn’t want you as he couldn’t really remember you, and would leave you eventually. He’d felt helpless, was trying to make you see that he felt the connection between you, was just trying to fill in the gaps, didn’t want anyone else except you. But he wasn’t sure you believed him.

Karen and Frank had suggested meeting for lunch the next day at a local diner and you’d sent Billy on ahead to meet them, as you’d received a query from your Editor in Chief which you thought you’d better answer sooner rather than later.

As you stepped into the diner 25 minutes late for lunch, you spotted Karen and Frank sitting in a booth but there was no sign of Billy. Your stomach dropped, where was he? Did he forget which diner you were meeting in and was maybe wandering about trying to find you all?

Then your stomach lurched again, but for a different reason. Billy was standing at the far end of the curved diner counter, facing you but tucked out of sight of your other two friends, his head tilted over as he listened to a dark-haired woman speak directly into his ear. Her back was to you so you couldn’t see her face, but suddenly Billy grinned and she moved her hand to cover his, rubbing her thumb over his skin.

You felt rage and jealousy boil up inside you, and you took silent swift steps towards the two of them, catching the tail end of what the woman had been saying, “....so just come to my apartment, and we can have some private sessions, okay?” Your mouth dropped open as you continued walking towards them... what the hell??

Billy caught sight of you heading his way, and his face lit up with a big smile. You couldn’t believe it, this woman was blatantly propositioning him and he was smiling at you?! A murderous scowl on your face, you grabbed the woman’s elbow and swung her towards you. Catching sight of Billy’s astonished face, you then quickly looked at her equally startled face.

Dr Krista Dumont.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

“You!” was the first thing out of your mouth. “Consulting in diners now, are you?”

You’d taken an instant dislike to the good doctor when you found her in Billy’s hospital room without permission, feeling that there was something ‘off’ about her. And now you knew why... private sessions? You’d lay odds on those not consisting of psychotherapy. Or not the kind she was licensed to practise, anyhow.

Looking pointedly at her hand on Billy’s, you continued, “Take your hand off Billy, and take yourself out of here... now.” She opened her mouth to speak, but you cut her off, “And if I find you anywhere near my boyfriend again, especially making offers to give him private sessions!... I’ll have you struck off.”

She drew herself up, trying to regain some dignity, but after taking another look at your furious face, she just high-tailed it out of there instead without saying a word.

Billy had watched this exchange between the two of you in complete confusion, but as you switched your attention to him, you saw that he had the ‘Billy smirk’ on his face. He’d just remembered that he loved it when you got feisty. “What are you smirking at? And...exactly what did that woman say to you?”

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, she said she’d been my psychotherapist in the hospital but didn’t think she’d been allowed long enough to fully rehabilitate me, and wanted me to go to her apartment so we could continue having private sessions.” Looking anxiously at you, he asked, “Would it have been so wrong to go?”

“Oh, Billy,” you sighed, it was breaking your heart how vulnerable this trauma had made him. You took his hand, “Come with me, over to Karen and Frank. I want you to hear from them why it would have been so wrong,” you glanced up at him, “in case you think I’m bullshitting you.” He shook his head, intertwining his fingers with yours. “I’d never think you were doing that.” You in turn shook your head, “It’s better you hear it from them.”

You led him round to the booth where your two friends sat, deep in conversation but immediately looking up as you approached. “Hey! Where were you?” grinned Karen, “we were about to send out a search party!” Frank butted in, “Were you two in the bathroom together?” and wiggled his eyebrows at you both. You punched him lightly on the arm, “No, we weren’t! But I walked in on Billy and an unexpected visitor.”

They both looked puzzled, and as you and Billy slid into the booth, you said, “Dr Dumont.” Karen burst out, “What?!!” and you nodded, “Yeah, exactly. Interesting, huh? Billy... tell them what she said to you.” Looking nervous, Billy repeated what he’d told you earlier and saw amazed looks appear on their faces as he recounted it.

“Wow,” said Karen, “Billy, that is not true. Absolutely not true.” She nodded over at you, telling him you’d declined Dumont’s services in favour of Curtis’ counselling sessions, as everyone had agreed that he’d be more at ease in those. “Yeah, Mask Lady is a piece of work, so we heard,” growled Frank.

“And this just confirms it,” agreed Karen. “Billy, no self-respecting doctor runs ‘private sessions’ from their own apartments.” She fixed him with a hard stare. “You can imagine what one of her sessions would have consisted of, surely?”

Billy’s face flushed red, and he immediately looked at you, “Oh shit! I... uh... I didn’t... I never...” shaking his head back and forth, eyes wide. You put your hand on top of his, “Billy, shush... it’s fine. She tried to take advantage of you. In a really calculated manner.”

You stroked the back of his hand. “You’re still vulnerable, and she must’ve asked you little questions here and there to gauge how much you remembered about your time in hospital. When she’d determined that your memory of it was hazy at best, she spun you that tale of being your doctor. She wasn’t. She tried to be, going behind our backs and starting a session with you, but luckily Frank & I interrupted her when we arrived for a visit.”

Karen tutted, “What a creepy bitch!” You nodded, “You know, I’ve got a good mind to go ahead and report her anyway. She might be pulling this same stunt with other vets!” Frank agreed, “I’ll get Curtis onto it, he’s got so many contacts in that sector he’ll be able to put the word out.”

Billy huffed out a long breath, still shaking his head. “I can’t believe I fell for that.” “Billy - she’s a doctor. People believe doctors,” Karen said. “Yeah, well I’ll be a lot more wary of them now!” he replied.

Then his smirk appeared again, and those dark eyes stared into yours, “On a lighter note...” he said, “while you were verbally beating up Dumont, I remembered that I always loved it when you got feisty. And I remembered that it would mean angry sex for me later on!” And he winked at you, making you blush and give an embarrassed laugh.

Once you’d all eaten and were finishing up your coffees, Billy had sidled up to you and nudged your shoulder with his. “Ready to head for the ranch?” As he asked you this, he took your hand and slid it along his thigh, brushing it sneakily past the large bulge in his jeans, watching your reaction. His eyes had a soft, needy look in them, and suddenly you didn’t feel like keeping him at arm’s length any more. You nodded, and signalled for the bill.

Once outside, Karen corralled you slightly away from the men, who were having a conversation in low voices. She gave you a concerned look, “Are you okay after that little shitshow Dumont put on in there? Honestly, I don’t know how you stopped yourself bitch-slapping that bitch!”

You giggled at her, “With great difficulty, I tell you! I could’ve fucking dropped her where she stood to be honest, but I didn’t think that was a good look. Plus then I would’ve ended up in jail and she’d be free to come sniffing round Billy again. She’s so fucking creepy, Karen! She put her hand right on top of his, stroking it, you know? It was so ... euwwww!”

Karen gaped, “Oh I’d definitely have killed her.”

“Anyway,” you confided, “I think it’s time I lifted the sex ban on Billy.” Karen raised an eyebrow, “Oh.... really? And you’re comfortable with that?”

“Well....” you shrugged, “if Dumont thought it was a good idea...?” you said, voice dripping sarcasm.

Karen burst out laughing. Frank and Billy’s heads swivelled and they smiled at you both, happy to hear laughter after the earlier tension.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Back in the apartment, Billy headed straight for the bedroom, pulling you along by the hand, saying you both needed a siesta. You laughed, “We do?” He nodded, “Definitely. Your feistiness, all the remembering I’ve been doin’, all the sexual tension between us,” he grinned at you.

You laughed, shaking your head at him and started peeling off your clothes. You pulled your sleep t-shirt on over your head, lying down on the bed and sighing as you relaxed into the pillows.

Billy, meanwhile, had now finished stripping off down to his black boxer briefs - a delicious sight to behold, you thought as you lay watching him - and joined you in bed, pulling the covers over both of you. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his chest, kissing your temple before kissing you on the lips with heated passion. He pulled back, rubbing his bristly jaw along your cheekbone before just gazing at you for a long moment.

He sighed, running his hand over your hair, saying, “You know that... while I might still have gaps in my memory, and I’ve been forgettin’ things... you do know that I love you, right?”

You’d been watching his sensual lips moving while he spoke. Now you looked up, startled, into his dark eyes, “I..uh.... no, I didn’t know that, Billy.”

His eyes got wide and glossy, “I really shoulda told you that before all this shit happened.” Overwhelmed by his admission, you laid your face against his chest. You heard his heart, it was beating fast.

He spoke again, in a low voice. “Because I know I felt this then, and I still feel it now. More than ever. You’ve really got my back, haven’t you?” You nodded, “Yeah, Billy.” His arms tightened around you, and you felt soft kisses on your cheek.

“You love me?” he suddenly asked you.

Again, you looked deep into those dark eyes of his, “Yeah, Billy.” He gave a low laugh, “You gonna actually say it to me?” You smiled, “I love you, Russo.”

He gently tilted your face up towards his and kissed you, long, slow and full of love.

“Oh... we’re doing last names, huh?” he smirked, knowing he had one more bombshell to drop.

He leant down, and you felt his breath on your ear as he whispered, “Well, I hope you like ‘Russo’, ‘cause it’s gonna be your last name too, someday soon.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Additional A/N: Yes, not me still with the 🥊 on Dumont!

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

#billy russo x reader #billy russo #billy russo fanfiction #billy russo imagine #ben barnes #short term loss

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joontier · 3 years

Text

Subliminal in Scrubs | V2; report xi

pairings: dr. jeon jungkook x female reader

chapter rating: NC-17 | genre: humor, workplace relationships

warnings: mentions of explicit themes, curse words

word count: 2.6k

g/n: Send me your thoughts?

[taglist]: @nottodayjjk @ditttiii @zeharilisharaban @btsbunny07 @turquoiseandplaidinautumn @aamxxrii @codeinebelle @btsmakesmehappy @stargukkie

Subliminal in Scrubs (the records) | navi. | m.list

As soon as you get out of the elevator, you rush to the slot where your car is parked, checking your surroundings before sending a quick text to Chohee.

You fall silent, remembering the events that transpired last night, and having to see the cause of it all just this morning.

You barely make it out of the basement with the eight-year-old family Camry you borrowed from your parents and as you exit your apartment building, you make a mental note to have it checked one of these days.

Thankfully, you reach Woocheon alive and in no time, considering the current state of your car. There are only thirty vacant slots left when you reach the hospital’s basement. Sighing, you keep your eyes open for any vacancies. When you spot one just beside the space reserved for motorcycles and bikes, you speed a little towards it, hoping that no one else will beat you to it.

Just next to you, a scooter arrives, and as a familiar mop of blonde hair greets you, you knock on your window, excitedly waving at Jimin as he lifts up the scooter seat to retrieve some of his things inside. “Jimin!!”

“Hello, _______, good morning to you too. You seem...bright-er today.”

“I’ll tell you all the deets later with Soomin, but ackkk can you believe it? Our first day!!” Jimin laughs at your enthusiasm as he waits for you to get your stuff from the passenger seat.

“You want me to help you with that?” Jimin eyes the duffel bag hanging by your shoulder. “I’m okay, no worries,” you reply, reassuring Jimin and waving him off with a free hand.

“_______, it seems as heavy as it looks...” Ah, maybe the strap straining against your shirt was a little too obvious then... but you don’t have the heart to burden Jimin with your own belongings so you politely decline one more time.

Jimin, however, isn’t convinced one bit with your statement, especially when he sees your knuckles turn white as you adjust the strap of your bag. “How ‘bout this instead? You carry my bag, and I’ll carry yours because mine is definitely lighter than that...baggage of yours, ________.”

He doesn’t budge from his spot, raising his eyebrows as he gives you an offer you can’t deny. “Fine, but this is only for today, okay?” Pouting, you hand your bag over to Jimin who accepts it with a smug smile. He then proceeds to jokingly topple over due to the weight of your bag.

“Jimin!” you exclaim, tugging the strap back towards you. “I’m kidding! It’s fine _______, don’t worry about me,” he smirks, doing weird poses as you both make your way out of the basement parking lot. Just a couple of minutes later, and Jimin entertaining you all the way through, you both arrive at a small restaurant just beside the hospital where the three of you agreed to meet for breakfast.

With brows furrowed in concern, Jimin waves his fork in front of you to get your attention, “_______, you okay? You’ve been staring at that bottle for quite some time already...you think maybe you can ketchup later instead?” Jimin snickers quietly to himself, while you and Soomin have similar expressions, staring blankly at Jimin who instantly turns quiet after seeing your reactions. Jimin sinks slowly in his seat as he clears his throat. “Uhm, sorry...I’ll just shut up...for now...”

“Mustard you do that this early in the morning?” Soomin looks at you then squints her eyes at Jimin while she fights the grin playing on her lips. Jimin’s face lights up like a little kid on Christmas day. The two share a high five as they bond over their equally awful jokes as you quietly rejoice in your seat, glad that they seem to have come out of their shells after their awkward first meeting.

You wish someone else in particular would have at least made an effort to rectify your rather unpleasant first meeting too.

“You two would make a cute couple.” You make sure your observation is loud enough for them to hear, disguising half of your sentence as a cough to distinctly express your amusement.

The two instantly part at your remark - Soomin going back to picking at her food while Jimin takes a sip of is drink. Your eyes widen a little bit, realizing that you might have celebrated a little too early for that. “Anyways, like Jimin here mentioned, you do seem a little distracted today...you alright?”

You close your eyes for a bit, trying to lose the image of Jungkook greeting you in your own corridor this morning. You’re certain it’s not just your sheer pique against Jungkook that continues to bother you, but half of it is definitely the humiliation that came with realizing he was the same person that had indirectly brought you to your high last night - and your own dignity could not take the veracity of it all.

“Okay, remember when I told you guys recently that my neighbor was leaving and that she’s looking for a new tenant, right?”

“Mhmm.”

“And do you also remember the time I mentioned that I am...uh...displeased with a particular human being named Jeon Jungkook?”

It’s Soomin who makes a second murmur of affirmation.

“Ah, yes... you meant you hate him. Am I correct?” seconds Jimin.

“That is affirmative. Yes.”

You take a deep breath before starting, “Well...”

“Hang on, let me just backtrack a little bit...we’re talking about the same Jeon Jungkook from Yonsei right? The one you tied with at the boards?”

“That is also a yes.”

“Well... I think he might be my new neighbor.” Grimacing, your face crumples in disappointment while you imagine just all the possible things that might happen having Jungkook as your neighbor...and all the nightmares that will accompany his moving in.

Jimin purses his lips in a poor attempt to control his snicker. “You have an insane amount of bad luck following you around, ________.” Courtesy of Chohee divulging yours and Jungkook’s history all the way to your first encounter with him, Jimin is well aware of your resentment towards Jungkook.

“In all honesty though, he seems like a normal dude. Just leaning a bit towards the cheeky side, but nothing too atrocious really...and if I do say so myself, you really, and quite literally, just got off on the wrong foot.”

“Jungkook...Jungkook...Jeon...” Soomin is looking somewhere else, clearly focused on trying to recall a memory as she repeatedly taps her nails against the table repeatedly. “There’s something about him that I’m forgetting but,” she says, looking at her watch, “but shit!! We’re going to be late, we gotta leave!”

The three of you get up from your seats abruptly, the sound of your chairs scraping against the floor startling the other customers in the restaurant. “Come on! Quickly!”

The locker room is full by the time the three of you arrive that you have to squeeze through rows of interns before a female WMC employee in uniform comes through the door with an announcement. “All interns, please proceed to the lobby for your hospital tour and orientation. Chief Park Daejung will be with you momentarily.”

Your trio scrambles to look for free lockers while the rest of the interns start to file out of the room, so when Jimin finds a free one for the meantime, he hurriedly grabs both yours and Soomin’s stuff and stashes them inside before ushering you all out of the room to catch up with the group.

At the lobby, the HR assistant from earlier, Narae (the same reason you’re convinced majority of the male interns are paying more attention than expected) is already making a roll call of all the interns that came in this morning and your trio just makes it in time to hear your names getting called.

Even from the back row with all the disadvantages of having average height, you’re practically buzzing in your spot and just like a crazed woman, you’re powerless to shake off the smile that seems permanently etched on your face.

“Excited?” Jimin nudges your side as he looks at you with an equally warm smile. “Yeah...” you murmur, marveling at the sheer size of the hospital, “I have studied my ass off my whole life for this moment...”

Opening the information booklet handed over by Ms. Narae earlier, you slide your ballpen off your lanyard, deciding to write your name both in Korean and English on the first page and officially claiming it yours. As you get to your surname, someone bumps into you, causing you to scribble a line throughout the entire page.

You take a deep breath, internalizing your annoyance and drilling it to the far end of your brain. Nope, you weren’t going to let this bother you, not today at the least. The name Chief Park Daejung class out however, makes you look up from the booklet.

“Jeon Jungkook? Glad to have you join us...fifteen minutes after call time.”

“I am sorry, Sir. Something came up. This won’t happen again.”

The chief turns to Narae, who’s been nothing but professional the whole time, ignoring all the ogling from all the other interns, “Didn’t know we actually got him. I’d recognize this kid anywhere. He’s the spitting image of his father - plus, they both make sure to make strong first impressions,” adds the chief, handing over a clipboard back to Narae.

Even though the voice coming from your right is unmistakable, you still close your eyes in fervent prayer, hoping that the person the chief was referring to isn’t the same number one person on your fight-on-sight list. Slowly, you pry one of your eyes open just to see Jungkook already staring you down with a smug grin on his face. “Fancy seeing you here, smally.”

Soomin, who’s standing on your left, leans toward your ear. “Ah, that’s what I was going to say earlier this morning...Jungkook was on the intern list.”

With the smallest smile your face muscles can muster, you look at Soomin, eye to eye. “Thanks for the warning, Soomin. I...really appreciate it.” She winks at you as she replies, “You’re very much welcome, dear.”

Jimin, who seems to have overheard the entire conversation, looks over and waves at Jungkook. “Hey bro, didn’t know you applied for Woocheon too! This is awesome!”

You’re starting to question if your so-called friends are really on your side or not.

Taken aback by Jimin’s questionable enthusiasm, Jungkook scratches the back of his head before voicing out a reply, “Oh yeah...surprise! I guess...”

Surprise indeed.

“Well, shall we start then? We’ve got a long day ahead of us!” Chief Park clasps his hands together, “Everyone, welcome to the Woocheon Medical City.”

Woocheon is going to be hell.

Miss Narae continues to walk your group around the hospital’s main building - through the lobby, cafeteria, outpatient clinics, as well as the different departments. “Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t the orientations usually come before the tours?” you ask Soomin, going over to the page of the booklet showing the hospital map.

“Yeah, but there’s a lot of foot traffic in the hallways starting from ten onwards so it’s not recommended to have the tour during those times…” Soomin replies.

“Oh… I see…” Your group finally arrives by the operating rooms and you close the booklet, focusing on Miss Narae’s guidelines. Suddenly, the automatic doors open and out come two doctors talking to each other with the taller man stretching his arms. “Interns, may I introduce to you our surgical residents, Dr. Min Yoongi and Dr. Kim Namjoon, specializing in general surgery and neurosurgery respectively.” Your group bows to the senior doctors, likewise greeting them a good morning.

“You all sure about choosing medicine as your career path?” The smaller one of the two, who you assume to be Dr. Min, says with a straight face.

“Hyung, don’t scare them away! But just so you know,” Dr. Kim adds, then takes a step closer to your group, “...there’s still time to back out, kids,” he whispers, earning nervous chuckles from the group.

“Ah new babies!!” Someone from behind your group announces. With the blue scrubs he’s wearing, you assume he’s another surgeon (and an insanely handsome one too). “Apples keep the doctors away but the hospital can’t really keep its patients away can it? Else we wouldn't have such a magnificent hospital such as the Woocheon Medical City, right?” Laughter erupts from the group as he passes through, making a beeline towards Dr. Min and Dr. Kim.

Miss Narae clears her throat, gathering everyone’s attention once more, “I’d also like to introduce to you Dr. Kim Seokjin, also a surgical resident specializing in general surgery.”

“Oh don’t believe her! With looks like these? Sheesh! We’re actually newbie actors filming season 3 of Hospital Playlist...but you know...between us three, it’s obvious who sets the bar, right?” This earns eye rolls from both Dr. Min and the other Dr. Kim.

Pushing Dr. Seokjin towards the operating room, Dr. Yoongi turns to your group again, “Please ignore him. We’re actual licensed doctors…Hyung just…” Dr. Min sighs, rubbing at his temples, “...he says he doesn’t like attention but he keeps on doing humiliating things like these…”

Dr. Seokjin, who’s already inside the operating room hallway, overhears Dr. Min’s words. “Hey! Why do you keep outing me like this?! Also, this appendectomy will just take a while - wait for me! I’m craving kalguksu today!”

“Soomin...is it just me or everyone here has got to be damn attractive?”

Jungkook leans in from behind, raising his eyebrows at you and Soomin. “Oh you guys weren’t aware that it was one of the qualifications before getting accepted into Woocheon? Kind of an unspoken rule really…” Jungkook remarks as he crosses his arms over his chest and you swear on your life you hadn’t taken a peek at the very distracting outline of his arms.

Jimin who seems to agree with the idea wholeheartedly, places his fingers under his chin and wriggles his eyebrows wildly.

Boys.

Rolling your eyes at them, you retort, “You do realize that that only means we’re hot too.” likewise raising your shoulders at them. Soomin gives you a high five before flipping her hair towards the two. Jungkook gives you both a lopsided smirk in reply, “I’m not going to deny that.”

Soomin grabs you by the elbow, turning both your backs to the boys behind you, “You sure you hate him, or you just can’t take the way he’s flirting with you?”

#jungkook x reader #btswritingcafe #bangtanarmynet #btsghostie #jeon jungkook #bts aus #bts fic #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #doctors au

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serpentinesarang · 4 years

Text

long time no see

pairing: woozi (lee jihoon) x fem reader

genre: idol!AU, smut, fluff, second-person POV

word count: 1560

content warnings: cyber sex, mutual masturbation, swearing

summary: society is finally back to somewhat normalcy after covid, and svt finally gets the opportunity to embark on a world tour. woozi has been away from you for about two months now, and he misses you extra, so he facetimes you after a concert while in a fat, juicy m o o d™️

requested by: @amymoonl

a/n: #5 on my prompt list ♡

korean key:

⦿ annyeonghaseyo (안녕하세요) = most common and formal hello; pronounced “on-yawng-ha-seh-yo”

⦿ nado (나도) = me too; pronounced “nah-doh”

⦿ jagiya (자기야) = baby; pronounced “jog-ee-yah”

⦿ anyo (아뇨) = colloquial no; pronounced “on-yo”

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

Saturday afternoon. You’ve checked off all of the things on your to-do list so far: morning skincare, grocery store, laundry (darks and reds), workout, lunch with a close coworker, post office errand, and even a phone call with one of your parents all the way on the west coast of the US, the country your partner Jihoon is currently touring with Seventeen.

It’s been a long two-ish years since COVID first hit, and SVT being able to finally set out on tour was the biggest blessing, not only for the boys but carats as well.

You’re parked on the couch, newly available after a brief check-in with your family. Your phone is literally still in your hand when it abruptly launches an app: “Jihoon ❤️ wants to FaceTime with you...”

Your eyes bug almost out of their sockets, and your jaw nearly cracks off your skull at the sight. Baby boy hasn’t videocalled you in any way in almost a month now because their tour dates were so heavily stacked, and his texts had been alluding to all-around fatigue for everybody after not touring for so long.

But shit! He’s calling you!!!!

You waste no time jamming your thumb against the green circle, the screen loading a dimly-lit image of a topless, black-haired Jihoon propped up with pillows.

“Baby!” you yelp with excitement, extending your arm to capture yourself at a more flattering angle.

“Y/N!” Jihoon yelps back, matching your level of giddiness. He beams a toothy, ear to ear grin and stares at his screen intently, taking in your beauty.

“I miss youuu,” you say with an adorable pout as he turns on a bedside lamp.

“Nado, jagiya,” Jihoon frowns in response, pursing his pink-stained lips. “I still have energy tonight though, so here I am.”

It dawns on you that there’s a major time difference between you two. You glance at your watch, which reads just after 3 PM Korea-time, so that means it’s past 1 AM in Chicago, where SVT had just finished performing a concert.

“Oh, wow... Shouldn’t you be sleeping, babe?” you ask.

Jihoon glances around for a moment, his expression looking a little hesistant. “Honestly... I’m really horny right now.”

Well split me open and butter me up... you think.

You take in a big breath, scrambling to process your man’s words. “Ah, I see...” You pause for a second to watch him shift more upright against his pillows. “I can be persuaded.”

Jihoon dramatically brings his phone up to his face with raised eyebrows. “I will persuade you, Y/N.”

At that, you feel a lone throb within your clit. You’d be a fool not to indulge him, especially since you haven’t flicked the bean in a solid week because of work.

You sigh, preparing yourself. “I’m waiting,” you reply softly.

Wordlessly, Jihoon aims his camera away from his glowing face and downward to encompass his entire lower half. You can just barely see bedsheets crumpled up against his thighs, but it’s his long, rock-hard boner lying against his stomach that catches your hungry eyes.

“Oh, Jihoon...” you murmur, not a single thought in your mind. You feel a small glob of arousal trickle out of you, so you shift around nervously. “Where are the boys?”

“Some of them are drinking somewhere, and others went to sleep in different rooms. I told them the concert gave me a headache,” he responds after bringing the camera back to his face.

Proud of his craftiness, you nod with a tiny smirk forming. “Smart man.”

“Now, about my problem...” he raises a brow and peers into the camera expectantly.

“Say no more, babe.”

You reach forward to prop your phone against an empty mug on the coffee table before you, making sure all of you shows on screen. Scooting to the edge of the couch, you tug off your t-shirt and haphazardly tie your hair in a knot. You’re left in a cotton sports bra and yoga pants.

“More,” Jihoon whispers roughly, pulling back his phone to show himself leisurely stroking his smooth, pink shaft. You want to see his balls too, but you know you have to give more in order to get more.

You remove your pants, revealing a rather sexy, red G-string. You hear Jihoon whimper in the background while he grips his dick and slowly pumps it horizontally, the tugging motions finally giving you your peek at his beautiful full package.

“You’re so sexy, Jihoon,” you say in a velvety voice before turning around and kneeing the couch to give him a sinful view of your equally sinful ass, the little red string peeking out at the small of your back.

“Anyo, jagi,” he replies, his voice scarily firm. “Not like you.”

Jihoon flips his camera from selfie mode to alleviate his tired arm, and your view is now a delightful close-up of his languid, horizontal pumping. Now you can make out the precum beginning to ooze at his swollen tip.

Still facing away from your own camera, you tug off your sports bra and chuck it carelessly behind the couch. Once you turn around and sit at the couch’s edge again, Jihoon emits a loud mmm. While you fondle your supple breasts for him, he angles his erection vertically, causing your clit to develop its own heartbeat.

“More, jagi, please,” he begs in a quiet voice, gripping his shaft tighter as he continues pumping, occasionally twisting his wrist for extra sensation.

“Okay, baby,” you nod.

You lift your ass quickly to discard the G-string and then lay your shoulders back against the couch with your gorgeous pussy closer to the camera. You spread your knees as far as possible before digging your heels into the couch cushions beside you. This is a view he would absolutely drop anything for.

Jihoon sighs aloud, stopping at the base to demonstrate the now prominent veins of his shaft. “Look what you do to me,” he murmurs lowly before he resumes pumping, this time at a faster pace.

“Ji, look at how wet I am,” you counter, rubbing the pad of your middle finger against your soaked entrance and carefully pulling it away to show your arousal sticking to your finger in a tantalizing, glistening line.

“Fuck,” you hear him whisper.

You press two fingertips to your enflamed clit and trace light circles, cupping a breast with your free hand and rolling your neck backward.

“I want you so bad, Y/N,” he moans, breathing a little bit louder. You bring your eyes back to the screen to see his precum running all the way down his angry shaft and even touching his thumb.

You smirk at the sight of how far gone your man is. Picking up the pace on your clit, you take your free hand and slid two fingers inside, thrusting straight in and out at a more casual pace.

Jihoon utters an impatient mmm. “Baby, say something... I miss your voice.”

“I miss your voice calling me a bad girl when I used to masturbate before you came home,” you reply, fucking yourself faster and matching the speed of your clit rubbing.

“Uggghhh...” he groans, slowing his pumping but squeezing the tip hard each time. His precum was still flowing out of him like tears.

“I miss your dick hitting my cervix every fucking time,” you murmured, your voice strained. Feeling yourself free-falling into your pleasure, you curl your fingers inside to press your G-spot, and you involuntarily roll your eyes back.

“UHh,” Jihoon whines at the sight of your blissful expression, and you can tell from this sound that he’s close. You know his noises well enough by now.

“Go faster for me, Ji,” you plead, opening your eyes again and focusing on his deliciously red erection in his small hand.

“I’m so close,” he whispers, fulfilling your request. At this point, his insane amount of precum had started running down to his wrist, and this mouthwatering image shoved you over the edge.

Pressing deeper into your hard clit and fucking yourself so fast that your wrist was aching, you feel yourself uncontrollably clenching on your drenched fingers.

“Yes, jagi—oh my God,” Jihoon groans, finally spurting thick ropes of cum into the air and against his hand. “Ohhhh shiiiit.”

You couldn’t take it anymore. Jihoon’s trembling orgasm snaps you into your own. You pull your fingers out for him to see your pulsating hole as you shriek in a broken sound of unbridled euphoria, still furiously massaging your clit through the orgasm.

“So hot, Y/N. I wish I could lick you dry,” he declares while tenderly stimulating his frenulum with an index finger.

At last, it’s done. You retract your hand and remain spread open, allowing Jihoon to watch the last vibrations of your shiny hole as well as the considerable amount of fluid draining out of you and between your cheeks.

He switches to lightly groping his balls, angling his camera upward for you to better see. “I can’t wait to cum in you when I get home.”

You sigh, wiped out from the experience. “Ji, I just wanna cuddle you more than anything right now.”

Jihoon flips his camera back to selfie mode, revealing a light sheen of sweat across his forehead and temples. “That too, jagi. I’ll hold you as long as you need when we come back.”

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bigsteeb · 4 years

Text

this is gonna be a long post so bear with me, growing pains got a b i g emotional reaction out of me & I need to share my thoughts & feelings about it because jesus fucking christ.

ok first things first, someone hug this boy immediately. he’s sat in his room, still in his pajamas, in day time watching dog copter. this whole scene is just steven going “lol I’m sad, I’m gonna comfort eat & stay in my pajamas & watch a kids show I watched when I wasn’t as sad haha” & it’s not only upsetting, but relatable too fuck. his room is a mess along with him eating ice cream at what I assume is morning… making it his breakfast? geez steven. also idk if it’s just me here but in this shot he looks… bigger? like ignoring his body size shifting later on in the episode he looks a lot wider than he usually does when paul & drew board episodes to me, he’s rivalling etienne & maya’s steven’s wideness. did he… get chubbier from comfort eating? how much time has passed since together forever for him to put on weight if he has? this could literally just be steven slouching or his pajamas making him look bigger but as someone who is an advocate for the body positivity shown in su & suf it has me curious. I want to hug this soft, sad boy. It could also be due to how steven’s design fluctuates through the animation process, it’s never really on model all the time.

the grunting noise he makes in this scene is very distressing, as are other moments from the episode too. a glimpse at the glow-bracelet he proposed to connie with is enough to physically pain him? fuck me man. is he leaving his room where there’s already ice cream… to get more ice cream? sobs. also the puns in this shot. I cant? slow burn?! you’re evil crewniverse. not to mention his body size changing throughout this scene, god this poor lad.

screams, this was when I started worrying. the boy is now in an environment he has never been in before & is feeling extremely uncomfortable & vulnerable. look at the lines under his eyes, his sad eyebrows & pout I hate it. also don’t even get me started on this part. the slight raise of a voice being enough to send him into panic?! fuck I hate how much I relate to that.

here’s where I immediately broke, no god damn pun intended. seeing steven’s skeleton, steven’s fucking skull, like this pained me. that crack on his skull is from fucking jasper in jail break. I can’t express all of the visceral emotions that were going through my body at this. there was intense sadness for steven, extreme anger at jasper & the gems for allowing shit like this to happen to him. turns out he’s not as resilient as we thought he was. each hit he takes physically breaks him & then his gem instantly heals his wounds, my heart fucking broke at this. think back to everything that happened to him, everything that physically hurt him. it broke him I can’t deal with it! then there’s what priyanka says to steven next;

“you seem to of made a series of miraculous recoveries, but that doesn't change the fact that you experienced trauma. you’ve recovered physically but, have you recovered mentally?”

this part here along with her reassuring him that there’s nothing wrong with his brain, how childhood trauma can have an impact on how your body responds to stress & how you act in your social life, the usage of the word “cortisol” too. this stuff being in a children's tv show is incredible. the writing for priyanka describes trauma simply enough for kids to understand, but for adults to fully realise too. folks, steven has ptsd. there wasn't one bit of sugarcoating about it or nothing, this is canon fact & it hurts me. for so long have I wanted steven’s emotional issues to be alked about, to not only be brought to steven’s attention but to the audience’s too.

everything that has happened to him has built up to this moment. this moment where his behaviour & coping methods are finally making sense to a large majority of the fandom, & to steven himself. he’s hurting; physically, mentally & emotionally, & he isn’t coping well what so ever about it. his emotional support system is complete garbage, no one regularly checks in on him & folks just take steven at face value like “oh yea glowing pink? he’s fine it’s just steven” but he’s the bad person?! I hope a lot of you out there who genuinely believe steven is a bad person re-think yourselves after this. dealing with trauma is tough as shit. some days you even wonder if that one thing that fucked you up is really worth being labelled as trauma. I still can’t believe this is the route they’re taking, if he doesn’t get some form of therapy by the end of future I’ll be furious.

then things begin to spiral as he remembers what happened with connie. he clutches his chest in pain & begins changing size over intense amounts of stress & it was extremely distressing to watch. steven immediately reassures connie that this isn’t because of her, but because of everything else that happened to him. however. I believe that that’s a slight lie, he wouldn’t of spiralled if he hadn’t of remembered the proposal, steven you fucking himbo. he continues to reassure them both that he’s fine, just that he needs them to leave so he can calm himself enough to control himself.

then this happens.

“I. CAN’T. BE AROUND YOU RIGHT NOW!”

this was fucking intense. he means this literally in 2 ways btw. his body size shifting over the stress he’s feeling is a danger to both connie & priyanka in this moment, but it’s also because of how it started. being around connie hurts him. he’s not mad at her though let me make that very clear, just that thinking about what happened when he tired to propose to her is sending his head in a fritz. he did what he did full of confidence in together forever, for connie to then make him realise how silly he was being. these two are destined for each other, but that advice from ruby & sapphire has really fucked with him. he looks up to those 2, looks up to garnet, their relationship is so strong & stable. for them to give him that advice & to then scream “DO IT!” in his face is incredibly tasteless imo.

then greg gets here. I knew connie was calling for either greg or the gems when she was on her phone as she left the room, fuck yea connie I love you. the breathless, strained “thank you” from steven towards connie for calling his dad? g o d. connie telling him she’ll be there for him when he’s ready?! g o d. these next boards were done by rebecca, I knew immediately when I saw steven’s face. it makes sense that rebecca boarded these, because fuck.

how do I move on from all of the stuff I’ve been through? how do I live life if it always feels like I’m about to die!?

I’m tearing up as I type this. when I first heard the leak of this audio I so badly wanted to believe it, but to also believe it was fake too. I was an emotional mess off & on for about 3 days over it because I couldn't stop thinking about how fucking distressing it was. like… shit steven. he seriously feels this. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain he felt just saying this in front of his fucking dad. he is hurting badly. this boy, this sweet sweet boy we’ve watched grow & develop into the person he is today is distraught about his future & life. it is… soul crushing to watch this. a group of friends of mine have found joking about the episode as a form of coping with the intensity of it & as much as that’s valid as fuck, any joke coming from this episode feels morally wrong to me. I can’t bring myself to join in it feels terrible even thinking about laughing at it to cope. I love them all, but I can’t bare myself to join them. this moment ending with greg comforting steven, telling him he’s here for him & all of his struggles, got me weeping. greg is possible the best father figure I’ve seen on tv, let alone a kids tv show. he’s amazing.

the final scene right here is lovely. greg making steven a hot chocolate & listening to him vent, reassuring him over his worry for his future. this right here is exactly what steven needs. someone to talk to, someone he could trust to talk about his feelings to. this the start of his support system, tag on peri from in dreams, bis in bismuth casual as well as connie from the past few episodes & it’s already looking great! even when greg eased him about being there for him steven still feels guilty about him leaving his tour, leaving his tour because he got a phone call from connie about his son being in need & steven feels guilty about it. fucking hell man. I did enjoy how the episode ended though, with that little moment between the both of them;

“just get some rest kiddo. you don’t have to solve all of your problems in one night.”

“yea. thanks dad.”

it’s a great message too, all of your struggles can’t be dealt with all at once. I’ve used a similar analogy before but it’s like removing a dead tree. you have to deal with all of the little things surround this issue first before you get to the deep, harder stuff. along side the message about trauma they’re both very important messages, I’m glad they exist in the show.

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one more thing before I end my thoughts & feelings over growing pains.

this ending shot;

as soon as I saw the frog mug my mind raced back to the promo for this scene, & this whole moment to come entirely. if you remember this moment has the first set of leaked audio within it, the audio of the gems basically cornering steven about him not opening up to them. christ pearl even gets mad at him for his gem building a wall behind him, protecting him from them. it’s common knowledge, I hope, that steven’s gem reacts to his emotional state. pearl herself has said this;

“I think your gem is reacting to your state of mind.”

his gem building this wall? it felt like steven was being threatened by them. this scene now has awful connotations with it. because since we now know what the pink mode is doing to steven, how actually painful it is, think back to these;

yea. fuck the gems. I’ll let it slide if steven, greg or priyanka haven’t told them about what happened at the hospital. but if they do know, if they know how much it hurts steven being in his pink mode & still press into him about it I’ll see red. with steven’s trauma & now ptsd being cemented into the show I fucking hope garnet, amethyst & pearl get held accountable for what they put on him as a kid. that shit will not slide with me if they don’t. do not condone what the gems put him through. do not condone the gems for making steven feel like he had to be his mum for them. just… don’t. please.

#thanks for coming to my ted talk lmao sdngsjfhg #this episode fucked me up in more ways than one #i dont even think ill simmer down about it before next weeks episodes either #it was… a lot... to listen & deal with #i care deeply about steven as a character #& see it being canon that he has trauma & ptsd… possible c-ptsd #it fucking breaks my heart #god dammit it crewniverse #i hope you handle this with extreme care #i trust you but still… jesus christ #steven universe #steven universe future #su spoilers #su future spoilers

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bbykpoper · 4 years

Photo

𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓪𝔀𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 🍓

Inspired by this post 🌼

Pairing: professor!jongho x student!reader

Index: Hongjoong // Seonghwa // San // Yunho // Wooyoung // Mingi // Yeosang

･*:༅｡

The early morning sun hit the windows of your small room just as the alarm on your phone buzzed underneath your pilow. A soft groan left your lips as you snaked an arm underneath it to turn of the annoying buzz.

“Wake up sleepy head.” The soft whisper reached your ears, making you stir under the covers. “You’ll be late to class.”

“I don’t wanna.” You mumbled out.

“But you have to, otherwise I’ll throw you out of my lecture Miss y/l/n.” The soft voice chuckled and it was then that your eyes shot open and widened at the face in front of you.

“Welcome back to the world of the morning people Miss y/l/n.” The softest smile reached your eyes and you groaned into your arms as you looked over to your friends for help. “Come to my office after class.”

“Yes sir...” You huffed as he went on to continue his lecture.

“Why didn’t any of you kick me when I fell asleep?” Your soft whisper reached your seatmate.

“Sorry y/n, but you were sleeping so soundly I didn’t have the heart to.” She answered.

Lucy was the cute clueless blonde that ended up being friends with you after freshman orientation when she managed to trip over your foot on accident. She, just like you was a biology major and you guys were inseperable ever since.

“I just really wanted to see you get embarrassed so I did nothing.” Your other seatmate snorted through her quiet laugh.

Phoebe was a girl who first befriended Lucy, also through an accident in the student cafeteria along the second semester of your first year. She was such a laid back brunette that you two naturally got along and stuck together in most of your classes.

“Wow, you just really like to watch me suffer don’t you?” You mumbled her way and breathed a sigh of relief as the lecture continued without another incident.

“I just find it amusing how you have this large ass crush on our ecology professor.” Phoebe commented, booping your nose as she picked up her books.

“Hey, Professor Choi is an attractive man. If I was straight I’d go after him too y/n!” Lucy added as comfort to you.

“Gee, thanks?” You laughed at these exchange. “I’m gonna go off now to get a lecture on my behavior and maybe later we can grab a coffee or something?”

“Yeah, we’ll meet you at Sugarberry’s.”

You made your way towards Professor Choi’s office, tightening the pony tail on your head and mentally preparing yourself to zone out on his speech and just admire the man’s beauty. Just as you were about to knock on the door, it suddenly opened and a young man smiled at you, excusing himself and leaving. You shamelessly stared after the tall blond man, releasing a breath you didn’t know you were holding as the shape of his backside came into full view when he readjusted his shirt.

“Miss y/l/n.” The stern voice of your professor drew your eyes to him only to notice how he was now standing right in front of you. “Please take a seat.”

He moved and you shuffled inside taking a seat in front of his desk.

“How have you been Miss y/l/n?” He asked.

“Good.” You said.

“Have you been getting enough sleep?” He chuckled when you blushed intensly.

“Sorry about that sir, I had a project due yesterday and haven’t exactly had time to sleep.” You admited with a really strong blush on your cheeks.

“Well Miss y/l/n, I would’ve liked it better if you listened to my lectures instead of sleeping in the middle of it.” He said looking over at his window.

You being the curious little thing that you are peeked over to see the array of plants which were situated in his window, especially the one he was looking at.

“Are you growing a fennel in your office?” You giggled out loud when you noticed how his eyes widened in embarrassement.

“You know your way around plants?”

“Yes, I am planning on working in the greenhouses when I get my degree. I really do like plants and growing them.” Your eyes lit up with love as you spoke about your dream. “Even back in my appartement, I basically grow anything and everything I can and get on my roommates nerves because some of the devil ivy reached the bathroom.”

You stopped yourself when you saw how the man in front of you watched you with so much softness and awe in his eyes that the blush which reached your cheeks, spread out to your ears, burning them in the process.

“Would you be interested to join me on a little excursion this Saturday?” He suddenly asked you.

“An... excursion...?” You tilted your head and you suddenly spoke out. “As in a date?!”

“Oh God no!” He was really quick to deny that and it hurt you a little bit seeing him so quick to say no. “You are one of my best students, and I would like for you to join a small group of my top proteges this Saturday. We’ll be visiting the National Greenhouse and I think it would be a wonderful chance for you all.”

“Oh, I see.” You said, feeling the humiliation crawling up your neck. “Silly me.”

“Would you like to join?”

“Yeah, sure.” You slumped your shoulders.

“Perfect.” He clapped his hands together in joy. “If you don’t mind I’d like to get your number so that I can add you to our whatsapp group.”

“Yeah, neat.” You took his phone and begrugdingly typed your number. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?”

“No, that would be all.” He smiled, looking at his phone. “See you on Saturday.”

･*:༅｡

“So what, now you’re going to this outing or whatever it is with like five other students and him?” Phoebe asked clearly pissed off.

“Yep.” Is all that you could muster.

“But at least you have his number.” Lucy tried to lift your mood.

“But what does that even mean? Nothing.” Phoebe groaned. “She likes him for almost two years, is obvious around him as if she’s carrying a transparent that says ‘marry me’ and the only thing he does is allude to a date but end it as a social gathering for his proteges?” Her eye-roll didn’t go unnoticed. “A bunch of bull if you ask me.”

“Or maybe he is in a position in which he can’t openly ask you out.” A sudden intrusion of another voice made the girls look up and see the waitress come over with their order. “Men are dumb creatures and sometimes they simply need a push when it comes to feelings. My advice to you is to just simply tell him that you’ve liked him for so long and just see where it goes from there.”

“But what if he doesn’t like me back? What if this strains any type of relationship I have with him?” You asked the waitress in the cute and fluffy pink apron.

“Then at least you’ll know what you’re dealing with and will finally get the chance to move on.” She shrugged her shoulders and thanked them for the money they left her for the drinks, walking back to the inside of the shop.

“You know, that girl actually gives good advice.” Lucy commented.

“Must be nice being in a healthy relationship.” Phoebe muttered out watching the girl inside the shop as she smiled politely to some other customers.

･*:༅｡

Saturday had come by faster than you had liked and you dreaded to leave the appartment. The greenhouse group had decided to meet up at the bus station 12 p.m. sharp and from there professor Choi will drive you guys down to the greenhouse and the tour will begin.

And right now, it was 11.30 a.m. Your friends were over and had forced you to wear one of your many long dresses to fit in with the flowers you would see in the greenhouse. It was a soft green dress with a pattern of leaves spread out across it. You sighed for the umptenth time as Lucy had braided your hair in a loose fish braid and looked over at Phoebe who was admiring your roommates ability to ignore all the plants inside here.

“It will never stop to amaze me how you put up with all these plants Mina.” She said.

“It’s not that bad.” She smiled. “I have actually grown fond of them. And y/n takes real good care of them so I don’t mind them.” She laughed. “Plus they are a really good background for photos.”

Mina was a photography major who you shared your dorm with in your second year. You two bonded quickly and when you managed to finish the second year, decided that it’d be great to have your own appartment together. And here you were one year later.

“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked you.

“Nervous. Meh. Disappointed.” You stated turning towards her. “I’ve decided to listen to the advice the waitress at Sugarberry’s had told me. I mean honestly, what could go wrong?”

“The rest of the semester will be pretty awkward if you ask me.” Phoebe nodded her head.

“Like it isn’t now?” You snorted. “I’m just getting tired of having dreamy eyes for my damned professor and being treated like a project for him.”

“A project?” Both Mina and Lucy asked.

“Well this is that isn’t it? His empowering our future or what not. I appreciate the fact that this will help me get my dream job but I literally can’t take this anymore.” You slumped down into the couch.

“Well you better because you have less than ten minutes to get downstairs and to the station.” Mina pointed on the clock and you groaned grabbing your bag and stomping outside of the front door.

“Oh dear, I hope it all goes well.” Lucy commented looking at the other two girls.

Honda Hitomi, Danny Wellbridge, Jackson Wang, Joana Clark. The rest of your outing group was already gathered at the bus station located in front of your appartment complex. You had joined them all just a few minutes before professor Choi pulled up with his car. Joana was the first to call shotgun and sat next to him, while the rest of you evenly pilled in the back. Danny and Jackson in the far back, you and Hitomi in the middle.

“Oh gosh I’m so excited to see all the insects there!” Hitomi squealed in joy.

“I know what you mean.” Danny added from the back.

“I’m just happy about the plants. I heard they’ve updated their western exhibition and added some new types.” Jackson said.

“Really?” You turned to face him. You’ve seen Jackson around campus a few times before. He was the definition of a social butterfly and sometimes even hanged with Phoebe. But you never got the chance to personally get to know him before this trip. “Do you think there would be some rare types of flowers there too?”

“I don’t know. But it would be awesome.” Jackson said matching your enthusiasm. “Hey, you maybe wanna go together to look around?”

The conversation you two were having was caught by professor Choi and he observed you through the rear view mirror, a prominent scowl on his face.

“Hell yeah!” You nodded with a bright smile.

It wasn’t long before you all made it to the National Greenhouse and were at the entrance waiting for your guide. You evaded talking to professor Choi, directing your full attention to what Jackson was talking about, fearing that if you did speak with him now you’ll loose all your courage to confess later on.

“Students, this is Jeong Yunho. He’s an old college buddy that’s in charge of the Japanese garden in the back and he’ll be our guide today.” Professor Choi spoke up cathing all of yours attention.

“Please call me Yunho.” The man with the pale blue hair smiled at you all and waved. “I’ll give you the main tour and then I’ll let you wonder about on your own. I feel that that way you all will go where your interests pull you.”

The tour was wonderful and you and Jackson managed to bond over every neat little plant you could find. Hitomi and Danny gushed so much when you guys ran accross a caterpillar and you then commented on something stupid drawing Hitomi in and befriending her quickly. The tour had come to an end when you reached the center of the greenhouse area and Yunho turned to them all.

“You are free to go off now, but I’d like it if you went in pairs as to not getting lost. These place is large and it’s quite easy to turn the wrong corner.” He said nodding to professor Choi. “The greenhouse closes at 7 p.m. Have fun. I need to get back to work.”

“Thank you.” You all said in union.

“So, where do you want to go first?” Jackson asked as Danny and Hitomi scurried off towards the insect exhibition.

“How about visiting the South European-”

“Mister Wang you should go with Miss Clarck. Your interests seem to be the same and it would be best that way.” Professor Choi cut you off.

“But me and y/n agreed to go together...” Jackson stated.

“Yes, but this is a better suited pair.” He said with a cold smile which made Jackson look at you for help. “Shall we Miss y/l/n?”

This was your chance!

“Sure.” You nodded and looked at Jackson. “I’ll make this up to another day.” You added apologetically and went off after professor Choi.

“So where are we headed?” You asked him.

“A surprise.” He winked at you and it made you blush.

On the way to this ‘surprise’ you have left the greenhouse and moved on to more of a garden scape further back and it just made your heart stop at the beauty of it.

“The interesting fact about the National Greenhouse is that the Botanical Gardens are just a bit behind them, and this is in fact where Yunho works.” Professor Choi stopped and placed a hand on your shoulder pointing in one direction. “See, he’s right over there working on a bonsai tree.”

All the blood rushed up to your ears at the close proximity between you two. The whisper of words made your stomach churn and your legs weak. You needed to get this crush off of your chest soon, otherwise you’ll be stuck fawning over him forever.

As he guided you towards a small garden a flower caught your eye and you stopped getting a closer look.

“A youtan poluo.” You breathed out in a whisper. “And jade vines.”

“That’s right.” He smiled at your shinning eyes. “Welcome to the rare flower exhibit.” He chuckled. “Surprise.”

You looked around and noticed many more which you’ve only seen in books and on the internet. It was a magnificent sight to see and just the aromas which surrounded you had your head doing summersaults.

“I overheard you and Jackson talking in the back while getting here and I remembered Yunho telling me how they’ve updated their rare flower collection, so I thought you’d be happy if I brought you here.” You looked over at this man and his shy sunshine smile. And you’ve decided. It was now or never. “I was right wasn’t I?”

“I like you.” You stated, looking right at his eyes. Professor Choi looked dumbfounded an at a loss for words. The fast blinks were matching his rapid heartbeat but he was unable to form any words. “I’ve liked you for well over two years now professor. All those times you showed sympathy to me and ignored the fact I fell asleep in your class, or those times you would shyly smile when you noticed I was staring at you regardless of where we were. I know you figured this out already. But I just had to tell you.”

“I like you professor Choi Jongho.”

You looked at him with hope in your eyes as he stood there processing this information you had thrown at him. It felt like the minutes were going by in an eternal stupor of movements, his facial expressions changing as he came in terms with what just happened. You were scared, shaking and nervous. You really didn’t know what to expect. But surely you were not ready to get rejected.

“y/n...”

It was clear by the tone with which he said your name and the tears welled up in your eyes. Gosh, you were dumb weren’t you.

“Yeah, I figured.” You stated with a sad smile on your face. “It’s okay. I don’t expect anything from you. I was dumb to even say these things to you.” You sighed and gripped your dress for support. “I think it’s better if I go home now. Thank you for bringing me here today and showing me these flowers.” The tears were now feely falling from your eyes, you unable to control them. “It really did make me happy.”

You ran off without stopping. Not when he called after you. Not when you viciously passed by a worried Jackson. Not even stopping to look at the bus number that had just stopped and getting on it. You cried in the back, not caring about all the stares you were getting from the old ladies.

It hurt. Your heart really hurt.

By some dumb luck you had actually gotten on the right bus and made it back to your appartment complex, you made your way to your appartment and to your room, ignoring the worried roommate who was more than ready to throw hands with a grown ass man. You crawled into your bed, disregarded your plants and just wallowed in your self pitty for the rest of the week.

･*:༅｡

It’s been a whole week and you haven’t left your room except to shower ever since. Jackson and Hitomi had been blowing up your phone, worried after you had just ran out without a word. But you turned off your phone after the fifth call request from Jongho. He had tried calling you that night but you had fallen asleep and the next day when he did call you you cried more getting an earful from Phoebe.

Hell, you dreaded leaving your room just because you knew Phoebe would make you attend all your classes and yell at you for being M.I.A. for a whole week.

“She still hasn’t come out of her room?” Lucy asked Phoebe as they both collected their things to leave class.

“No. Mina leaves food out the door and y/n eats once a day just so she doesn’t die.” Phoebe sighed. “She even neglects her plants Lucy! She never does that. Not even when her grandma died.”

The two were just about to walk out of class when somebody approached them. Lucy’s eyes went wide while Phoebe took on the stance of a dog with rabies. It was apparent he wasn’t welcome.

“Hello girls.” Professor Choi spoke up.

“No offense, but we don’t want to talk to you sir.” Phoebe grumbled out.

“I know, but please hear me out.” He sighed in defeat. The two looked between each other and Lucy urged Phoebe to let the man talk. “I didn’t get the chance to answer y/n properly and she hasn’t been to my class this week. I’d like for you two to help me so I could talk to her and clear up this missunderstanding.”

“What missunderstanding? Her feelings aren’t a missunderstanding. They’re valid and came from the heart!” Lucy was quick to say.

“I know. But my answer was a missunderstanding.” He said sincerely.

Phoebe caught on pretty quickly by what he meant and narrowed her eyes while she got up in his face. She pointed her insex finger in his chest and harshly jabbed at it.

“I got my eye on you buckeroo.” She stated threateningly. “I know how to hide a dead body.”

Jongho gulpped as he, for the first time, took notice of those fierce eyes this girl had. He nodded furiously, almost cracking his neck. Phoebe pulled back and headed for the door, followed by a confused Lucy. Even Jongho looked defeated as he assumed they were leaving.

“Well? Do you want to talk to her or not?”

Mina stared at the plate full of food which she had left this morning. It was late afternoon now and she had just come back from her lectures but the plate was untouched. You haven’t left your room at all.

“y/n.” She whispered out as she knocked on your door. “You need to eat. I don’t want you getting sick...”

No answer. Just like before. She sighed and cast down her eyes as she picked up the tray. A sudden knock on the front door drew her attention and she went to open it, revealing Phoebe and Lucy with an unexpected addition.

“Her room is the one in the corner of the living room.” Phoebe said as Jongho took of his shoes. “He needs to talk with her and I thought you might want to hang with us while he does.”

Mina looked up at the man and nodded, understanding the need for privacy.

“If you manage to get in can you make her eat? She barely had a proper meal this week...” She handed him the tray of food.

“I’ll make sure.”

They left and Jongho went over to your door, noticing how it hand a small potted plant hanging off it. It was cute, something which really suited you. He knocked a few times but there was no answer. With a brave heart and hope that you hadn’t locked you door he tried the knob, happy when it opened.

The inside of your room was covered in darkness, streetlights seeping in through the large windows. Potted plants were in the window and Jongho noticed how they seemed to be lacking water. He took it upon himself to relive the plants of their thirst, leaving the tray of food on your desk.

“Go away Mina. I don’t want to eat.” The bundle of sheets spoke and caught his attention.

It seemed you had made yourself into a taco, some hair sticking out to indicate where your head was. He sat down next to you and placed his large hand on your head.

“Your roommate left a while ago.” He spoke up, catching you off guard. “Before you yell at anybody, I asked your friends to bring me over so that I can talk to you. And I’d like it if you listened to me first before throwing me out.”

Your body stiffened but you kept quiet. You were yet again on the verge of crying but were trying really hard to control yourself.

“I was surprised back at the botanical garden when you confessed your feelings for me. A lot of emotions went through my head and I was dumbfounded for any type of answer at first. I thought how it was wrong for one of my students to fall in love with me, how I should have stopped this crush you had the minute I caught on it... but I just couldn’t do that. I noticed you the first day you had walked into my class, the way your hair swayed with every small movement of your head, how you would soak up every bit of information I gave you like a sponge, even the way you’d chew your nails when stressed.” He sighed when he noticed you calming down and peeked out the covers. “I have liked you since day one y/n. But I though it was wrong and I couldn’t bring you in a situation where you would be involved with your professor.” He chuckled. “To be honest, I would have confessed when you graduated.”

“Really?” You crawled out from underneath the sheets.

“Really.” He nodded with a smile.

“But what does this mean for us now?” You asked, sitting up and letting the covers reveal you whole.

It was only then that Jongho noticed how your hair covered your bare shoulder. The tanktop you were weating hugged your body closely and the booty shorts did not help his eyes to not wander down your bare legs.

“We can try to make this work. You only have one more year ahead of you. As long as we don’t make it obvious I’m sure we’ll survive.” He stated a deep blush covering his cheeks.

“Are you sure?” You asked with a furrowed brow not understanding why he was suddenly so flustered. But then you noticed how his eyes wandered down your body and suddenly you got self concious. “Are you sure that it won’t be-” You pinned him down onto your bed, stradling his waist. “-troublesome for you?”

Jongho gulped and you brought your face closer. It was too cute not to tease him seeing how he got so flustered he began fumbling with his words.

“It may be troublesome if another man come up to you but I think I can handle him.” He said, his face suddenly turning serious. With as much as little effort he flipped you over, so now the positions were reversed. “Just as I can handle you.”

You held your gazes steadily as he lowered his face, mere inches from your lips. But nothing lasts forever. Especially when you don’t eat properly for a week.

Your stomach grumbled loudly and you blushed at the sound. You were hungry, and he knew it. He laughed and pulled you up, bringing over the plate of food Mina had left him.

“I think that it’s best you eat first. And then we’ll figure something out.”

You nodded shyly as you ate slowly, enjoying the comfort he gave you with his caring nature.

･*:༅｡

“Wake up sleepy head.” The soft whisper reached your ears, making you stir under the covers. “You’ll be late to class.”

“I don’t wanna.” You mumbled out.

Jongho chuckled as he climbed into bed with you, messing up the sheets even more. He peppered your face with kisses as giggles left your mouth and you finally cracked open one eye to look at him.

“Did you water the plants?” You asked him, noticing how he had some dirt on his cheek.

“Yeah. Mina asked me to model for her for her graduation project just as I was doing it.” He said, wiggling under the covers so he could hug you. “She wants to portray love.”

“Yeah, she told me last night that she was inspired by us while we were planting strawberries on the balcony.” You reached out to kiss him. “I told her I’d do it, but that she should ask you too.”

“Well good because I answered yes.” He smirked kissing you back. “I’m glad you confessed when you did. Because otherwise I couldn’t be apart of something so wholesome.” He smiled wide. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You answered matching his smile. “I’m just glad I listened to that waitress’ advice. Because you really wouldn’t have been a part of something so wholesome!”

#ateez imagine #ateez #choi jongho #ateez reactions #ateez fic #strawberry

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