#keep shooting your shot Vi I believe in you

[wellthebardsdead]

The loved & the forgotten pt8

Part 7 here

———

Vivienne: *staring up at Tel Mithryn, not moving, just staring, as if paralysed with indecision and fear* …

Taliesin: we don’t have to go in if you don’t want-

Vivienne: we do though… he may know what’s causing these ash spawn attacks or have knowledge on miraak… just… nobody mention my name or my spear or Vivec… please.

Sero: Still not going to tell me why you’re all so afraid of anybody seeing your face?

Kaidan: Aye. And it’s going to stay that way until we know we can trust you.

Sero: Fine, fine, as far as I’m concerned so long as I’m getting paid I’m-

Vivienne: *suddenly removes his dragon priest mask showing him his face* …

Sero: …Beautiful- I sorry I said that out loud lord viv-

Vivienne: I’m not a lord. And my name is vivienne. Not Vivec. I’m not a god. I don’t pretend to be a god. But there are a lot of people who’d believe otherwise and wish me harm. So please… keep me secret…

Sero: *nods and clears his throat* y-yes. Absolutely of course. Your secret is safe with me. *looks up nervously to see Kaidan glaring at him like a furious Sabre cat* I promise-

Vivienne: *puts his mask back on* thank you… *turns and walks up to the door, knocking only for it to open by an unseen hand* oh? I… hello??

???: *from above* yes yes enter I haven’t got all day.

Kaidan: *looks up then at the ground* well how the fock do we- *eyes wide watching vivienne suddenly float up and land on the top platform* … *steps on it nervously and gets shot up into the tower by his foot* FOCK- *smacks into the roof and lands on the floor narrowly avoiding falling back down the shoot* ughh-

Taliesin: *floats up followed by the others and helps him to his feet* are you okay?

Kaidan: *seeing stars, smiles as he sees taliesins face* prettyyyyy~

Taliesin: oop and you’ve got a concussion-

Neloth: *suddenly turns around and stares at the group before him* oh brilliant. A group of barbarians come into my home and don’t even have the decency to wipe their feet. Alright what do you want?

Vivienne: *steps forward* we’re sorry for the intrusion but you’re the only person on this island who may actually be of use in our query. We’re looking for black books and any information on-

Neloth: *holds up his hand, looking at him perplexed, ears shifting about listening to his voice and trying to place where he’s heard him before* I know you… *steps closer making vivienne back up as panic starts setting in*

Vivienne: I-I assure you you don’t. Can you help us or n-

Neloth: *backed him up against the exit up the tower, grabbing his mask and pulling it off to reveal the familiar and yet different face he once knew as Vivec* Well then. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to see you’re still kicking around. I hope you weren’t expecting a more ‘grand’ welcome lord vi-

Vivienne: Vivienne. Not vivec, I’m… im not vivec…

Neloth: Vivienne… hm… Well then. *steps back and walks across the room* Make yourself comfortable, it seems we have a lot to discuss after all.

*a few hours later*

Vivienne: *practically naked floating in a lotus position feeling very awkward* so he just- greeted people like this?…

Neloth: Oh yes. He was insufferably vain. He took great pleasure in the theatrics of being a god, but actually helping his people? No no let’s just make a giant rock float over the city as a threat to make us love him. Wonderful. Pfft, and rather than facing the consequences of his actions he went ahead and gave up his existence to be reborn as you.

Vivienne: *visibly wracked with guilt* …I’m sorry…

Neloth: For what? So you look like him and have some of his powers and memories but that doesn’t mean you’re him. *inspects the bruising on his lower back* what on nirn?

Vivienne: I… found out about his relationship with Molag Bal the hard way… quite literally… the hard way. *shudders before blushing as Kaidan suddenly holds him*

Kaidan: *body language tense and growing increasingly protective of his partner* can he put his clothes back on now? You’ve seen enough now tell us what we want to know.

Neloth: *sighs* fine fine, if it’ll keep you from destroying my tower further. *gestures to the dent in the ceiling where Kaidan smacked into it* I have one black book here but to answer your- hm?… *pauses spotting the mark of Molag Bal on Vivienne’s hand* …oh dear…

Vivienne: oh dear wh- oh.. y-yeah that… that turned up after I… *clears his throat* d-destroyed azuras shrine.

Neloth: YOU DID WHAT?!

Vivienne: it was an accident!!

Kaidan: boethias was an accident too-

Neloth: *rubs his face in shock* oh gods no.

*that evening*

Vivienne: *seated by the fire outside of Tel Mithryn keeping watch with Sero, not enough space for all of them to sleep inside* …ow… *looks at his hand to see the ward Neloth placed around the mark glowing ever so slightly* …

Sero: Aching again is it?

Vivienne: yes… I… think he’s trying to break the ward… he… visits me in the moments when I grow tired and whispers in my mind… and when I dream he’s… *sighs* don’t tell Kaidan or Taliesin… I don’t want them to worry… I’ve hurt them enough already with my existence… if I burden them further they might… just find someone else…

Sero: *looks at him then over at Kaidan & Taliesin, both seemingly asleep, embracing each other in the tent* you really think that?…

Vivienne: I love them… I adore everything about them and I’d give up my life to save theirs… but I’m not loveable… I’ve accepted that… I’m just something to be used. A fun little thing to enjoy for a brief moment before being forgotten again… it was the same in morrowind, it’s the same in skyrim and it’ll be no different here… the only difference is… they’re-… really damn convincing at tricking me into thinking maybe I can be theirs forever…

Sero: Do you truely think it’s a cruel trick and not them being honest?

Vivienne: they’re beautiful and I’m the reincarnation of a bastard false god who just got used like an old sock by the prince of rape and before then I was fucked by hundreds of men and women day in and day out as they wished, I sleep with people just so I can survive and get what I need, I can’t even be seen in public with them without putting them in danger and everywhere I go my mistakes from the past keep turning up to hurt everyone I care about all over again… *hugs his knees to his chest* why would they want me?… I’m disgusting…

*meanwhile just a few feet away*

Taliesin: *trying not to openly sob into Kaidans chest and give away that they’re actually awake* he thinks we hate him.

Kaidan: *stroking his hair gently being careful not to mess up his bedtime braid* …when we’re done with this miraak crap… we’re proposing to him…

Taliesin: what if he says no?…

Kaidan: then we take every chance we can to let him know we adore him… *sniffles and holds him tight* to let him know we love him…

Vivienne: *suddenly crawls into the tent as inigo & Lucien take over watch duty* tali, Kai… *nudges the both of them thinking they’re asleep before squeezing in between them*

Kaidan: *shifts and gently embraces him as if he’d woken from the movement* come here love…

Taliesin: *embraces him as well and kisses his hair, trying to hold himself together* … *locks eyes with Kaidan* …we love you… you know?…

*Meanwhile*

Nerevar: *standing on the deck of the ship headed to skyrim, staring up at the stars* …

Voryn: *dressed in a comfy, silky robe, ready for bed and waiting for his moon and star* no answer?…

Nerevar: Azura is silent, and now so is Boethia… and whenever I try to feel for Mephalas presence I get no response… just a strange sense of peace…

Voryn: perhaps that is her answer to you… maybe, she was able to connect with vivec…

Nerevar: maybe… *sighs* and rubs his tired face* I still cannot help but feel ill… what if something terrible has already happened?…

Voryn: then we will deal with it when we reach that point… but for now. *gently pulls him close kissing his brow* come to bed… it’ll be a few more days before we reach solstheim to restock. And longer then before we reach skyrim…

???: Ah, sorry to interrupt your little randevu my lords. I was not expecting you to be awake at this hour.

Voryn: *looks away from nerevar and rests all 3 glowing eyes on the figure before him, an elf as arrogant as he is handsome, dark grey skin, red eyes, and long thick dark red hair in a high ponytail, the high councillor and future grandmaster of house dres who insisted on joining them for this journey under the story of ‘agricultural inspection’, Sen Dres.* What do you want now S’wit?

Nerevar: Ryn.

Voryn: *huffs but goes quiet. Utterly despising the younger dunmer given his families former attitude towards house indoril but not wanting to upset his neht further.*

Nerevar: *quirks a brow at him before looking at the other dunmer* what did you need Sen?

Sen Dres: *smiles innocently* I must admit I came up here in case I was to be sea sick. At this point I think I’ll prefer sleeping on the floor of the cabin, if the hammock rocks me any further I think it’ll send me flying out of it.

Voryn: *under his breath* or off the ship-

Nerevar: *nudges him a little before smiling warmly at the younger elf* yes it takes some getting used to but we’re set for calmer waters tonight and we’ll be docking in solstheim in a few days.

Sen Dres: *nods* that’s a relief. It’ll be nice having solid ground beneath my feet again.

Nerevar: *nods and looks at voryn before looking back at him* speaking of hammocks though, I think we’re going to retire for the evening. *bows his head* goodnight lord Dres.

Sen Dres: *smiles and bows deeply to the Hortator* goodnight lord indoril. *nods at voryn* high councillor. *walks past them to the head of the ship with a playful grin knowing how to find voryn up*

Voryn: *glares at him as he walks by before taking nerevars arm and walking him back to their cabin* I’m telling you neht it was a mistake bringing him. With his family history he is definitely up to something.

Nerevar: He is not his father and I’ve heard good things about him Ryn… besides, if I said no I’d be accused of holding bias against their house… *sighs* and Divayth is too busy to come defend me for a last minute council.

Voryn: Please just let me turn him into a pile of ash it’ll solve everyone’s problems.

Nerevar: Ryn… *strokes his cheek* enough… I’m too tired to deal with this tonight…

Voryn: … *gently pulls him in close, kissing his hair* forgive me my moon and star… you know I only speak so because I worry…

Nerevar: *smiles* I know my dreamer… let’s go to bed now, Kay?..

Voryn: *smiles and lifts him up* Bed or, Bed~?

Nerevar: … *wiggles his eyebrows*

Voryn: *chuckles* tired my ass.

*meanwhile*

Sen Dres: *leaning over the railing of the ship, looking at the pipe he’d taken from the brothel madam after burning her establishment to the ground when he’d come to visit his favourite little toy, only to find him missing* oh Vivi… *smiles remembering how beautiful he was beneath him, how sweet his voice was as he cried out in pleasure and pain, so willing to let him abuse his perfect body* I hope you remember me…

#yes this is the same guy from Vivienne’s first story 👀👀👀 #sen dres #voryn dagoth #indoril nerevar #nerevar #vivienne dragonborn #dunmer dragonborn #vivec #Kaidan skyrim #skyrim taliesin #teldryn Sero

[sparatus]

♾️

Send a ♾ to my ask box and I’ll shuffle Spotify and write a drabble or flash piece for it

Sainted be what I say.

Character(s): Nautilea Victrilianus, Kautus Fidensis, Steven Hackett, Tibero Quentius

Words: 1,607

Warnings: referenced character death, derogatory language towards humans by an alien (leaning towards turian supremacy?)

--

Nautilea's boots clanked along the metal floors of the docks as she marched towards her ship, her cloak snapping in the wind left in her wake. Footsteps clanged in stamping, ominous unison behind her, the two men she'd selected as her personal guard on the Citadel doing their best to keep up. They were good men, loyal and proud, and wouldn't hesitate in the line of duty. She could trust them.

It was hard to trust anybody, these days.

Captain Fidensis met her at the airlock. His salute was swift and crisp, like a good turian. "Ma'am."

"Captain." She returned the salute, tapping her mandibles against her face, then dropped it and headed into the airlock. "I assume you've heard?"

"Yes, ma'am." He fell into step at her flank, Lieutenant Fortis stepping aside to make room. "I'm surprised the asari agreed to it."

"We gave them no choice." Nautilea drew her hands behind her back and stood at ease while the decon ran its course. The lights hurt her eyes, and the decon itself tickled her scalp, like always, but she barely afforded it more than a twitch of one mandible. "The asari failed to defend the Citadel and the Council. Now it's our turn. We're stronger, smarter, better suited to war. If the Alliance decide to be cowards again, it won't matter."

Fidensis's boots scraped against the floor behind her. "I heard the Alliance was expecting to take over defense of the Citadel, ma'am."

Nautilea snorted. "They were."

The lights switched off, and the VI chirped pleasantly. "Decontamination complete. Identity confirmed: Welcome back, Admiral Victrilianus."

The airlock doors slid open, and Nautilea continued onward without a backwards glance. Hurried footsteps were her only assurance Fidensis and the guards followed, as if there was any question they wouldn't. "Contrary to what Admiral Hackett's ego would have him believe, the Council didn't take kindly to the suggestion that the navy who let the Ascension burn would be the best ones for the new job opening. Unanimous vote of absolutely not."

Fortis snorted, and her mandible twitched upwards a couple degrees. One of Hackett's marines had dared try and get in Fortis's face during the hearing, and now had what she was sure was a lovely Phaeston-shaped bruise on their chest where he'd proven exactly what turians thought of such aggression. Fidensis just rumbled, his subvocals betraying his concern. "I'm sure the Alliance was thrilled."

That got Nautilea's mandibles all the way up, and she licked her teeth as the memory of the human admiral staring up at her and trying to make himself look big. "Oh, you should have heard the cries of nepotism. Thought Udina was about to have an aneurysm and die right there on the floor. Hackett wanted to shoot me, I think. So sad, I don't think he knows how to handle opponents a head and a half taller than him and pointy on all ends. Would've called 'im cute if he didn't have my friend's blood on his hands."

"You've got a lot of damn nerve, Steven Hackett, speaking to me like that with so much blood on your hands!"

She should have shot him. Her arm jerked towards the SMG at her hip, but a warning bark from Tibero stayed her hand. She settled for looming over the humans instead - Hackett only came up to the point of her keel, and Udina was even smaller, and humans were nothing more than squealing mammals when you applied enough pressure. The Star of Palaven swinging from her chest proved she knew plenty about that.

Fear danced across his eyes, but not enough to stop the stupidity on his tongue. "It's obvious you're biased," he argued. "If we put the turian councilor's own wife in charge of the Citadel fleets-"

"I'll have a personal fucking stake in saving him, won't I!?" Nautilea hissed. Fortis and Praetelus behind her both echoed with their own wordless snarls. Good boys, those two. She took one step forward, bringing herself that much closer to what she should have done twenty-six years ago. She was close enough that she had to turn her head almost all the way down to look Hackett in the eyes as she bared her teeth. "Because of you, I held my friend back from throwing herself on her husband's pyre, and you have the gall to tell me you deserve to defend this Council. Ierian Sparatus and thousands of others are dead - because of you!"

Her foot came down a little too forward, a little too angled. She yelped as she stumbled, just barely catching herself on the railing around the command center before she cracked her skull open on it. "Fuck!"

Fidensis lunged forward, but she waved him off. "I'm fine," she forced out through her teeth, pushing herself back upright. Her ankle throbbed in disagreement, but half the techs on the command deck were watching. She couldn't look weak now. She'd have her snuffle in private.

Maybe she'd call Tippi once she was alone. Tippi understood her.

"You can't lose your temper like that, Nauti."

Nautilea's gait faltered, just a step, but it was enough for her to fall behind. She huffed and took longer strides to catch up. "You heard what they were saying, Tippi. They were practically spitting bile on Ierian's pyre."

"And you almost started a war in the Council chambers." Tibero stopped by the elevator and pressed the up button. His shoulders and mandibles were sagging, more tired than Nautilea had ever known him. "Believe me, I'm just as angry as you are, but Ierian is gone, and Teia's back home in Tiirtias. I can't have you going to prison or getting killed, Nauti, you're the only friend I have left on this station."

Her heart climbed up her throat, and on impulse, she reached for his hand. "Tippi..."

He flinched back, and pure bile replaced her heart. Then he sighed, and he took her hand, lifted it to his mouth plates, and gave her knuckles a gentle kiss. "Just... keep your head on straight. For me. Please, baby."

He was supposed to understand her, anyway.

She took a deep breath as she stepped up the command dais. Most of the bridge was already watching, waiting for the speech they'd probably been buzzing about as soon as word of the shifting tides arrived. She did always pride herself on delivering. She tapped the keys to broadcast herself across the ship, then settled into parade rest. "This is Admiral Victrilianus," she told them, and a distant echo confirmed the speaker system was working. "I'm sure you've all heard the news by now. The Enninion is taking the lead in defense of the Citadel, and the Empire will be sending more ships to bolster the fleets. By morning, you'll all have been officially transferred to Citadel Defense."

Hackett's face flashed across her mind's eye, infuriatingly defiant despite the clear danger he'd put himself in, and her mandibles pulled in tight. "I won't lie to you, lads. We've all seen the state of things on the station, and on the news. The Alliance believes themselves heroes for letting thousands die by their inaction."

Grumbling and growling rose up around the bridge, but fell silent as she raised a hand. "I'm as angry as you are. Our late councilor wasn't just a politician. He was a champion for our people against a culture that wanted us to file down our points and make ourselves small. He upheld the law in the face of aliens trying to chip away at what it stands for. He was a great man, one I..." Her throat tried to close. She took a deep, slightly gasping breath and soldiered on. "One I'm honored to have called a friend."

Her talons curled around the railing as she bowed her head. Murmurs of sympathy and agreement slid through the air around her, and just behind her, Fidensis lowed soft encouragement. Another deep breath, and her head came up. "Ierian Sparatus will not have died in vain. At this very moment, Commander Shepard is being hunted down like the worthless, terrorist vermin he is. Justice will be served. Order will be restored." A low growl built in her chest, and she rolled her shoulders. "Starting today, the Alliance will learn that their actions have consequences! Together, we will stand strong against the Council's enemies, and prove the might of the Turian Empire! The Alliance may have betrayed the Council, but we, the sailors of the Turian Imperial Navy, will not fail!"

As roaring cheers filled the air, Nautilea took a deep breath, cut the feed, and slowly relaxed her hands. "I will not fail," she repeated, quieter, eyes fixated on the map of the Widow system one of the navigation team had put up. The wreckage of the Ascension had finally been towed away the week prior, and the space where it used to be was just that, a gaping hole where the sense of safety and security of an entire galaxy used to be. A flashing dot appeared in the center, followed by a nav path leading to the little holo Enninion still docked at Zakera Ward. "I promise, Ierian. This is my revenge. For you, I won't fail."

Tippi wasn't going to like it, but so be it. He'd come around. She wasn't going to lose him like Teia lost Ierian. The Alliance had betrayed them, but now she was in command, and she wasn't letting anything happen to her Tippi.

If she had to take out every star in the universe, she would protect her own.

#press conference #korblez #ierian's writing #ierian's ocs #quentilea #bad end #nautilea victrilianus

[space-blue]

I never even thought of the possibility of Vi realising at one point that Silco genuinely cared for Jinx and vice versa. How does that even happen when she only knows bad things about him? When Jinx herself tell her at the finale that Silco took everything from her and Vi and he planned to backstab her just like he did to Vander? When Jinx told Vi that all those years Silco locked up Vi (not true) and then kept telling her she abandoned Jinx? She’d surely hate Silco for turning her into a shimmer monster. Anyway, does Jinx at one point tell Vi how she bonded with Silco over their shared experience of being betrayed (yikes) by their sibling? Or when Jinx tells her where Vi failed Silco helped Jinx realise her dream of becoming a proficient engineer/ bomber/ gunsmith and an expert fighter/ hitman? It will only reinforce to Vi that Silco truly moulded her to care for the things he provided her over screwing over the memory of their family and her still alive friend Ekko along his group the firelights. It looks like in-game only Sevika and Singed would truly understood how Silco genuinely cared for Jinx. I highly doubt they would set the record straight with Vi. What does the writers want from this sibling storyline?

Yes you're right Anon, Jinx does tell Vi her misunderstandings, calls Silco a liar in front of her... But it's the same shimmer-eyed Jinx who asks Vi to kill Cait to prove herself, shoots a puppet in the head after having a conversation with it...

Please bear in mind that Vi is silently sitting right there while Silco pours his actual heart out to Jinx...

"You're my daughter" and "It's just us" and "Everyone betrays us"

And Jinx is seemingly finally understanding he means it...

Then shit goes south, and Vi may not like it, or she may still not compute it, but she SEES Jinx grieve Silco, and then CHOSE his side, and BLOW UP the Council.

Vi is there for all of that, and don't actions speak louder than words? Sevika tells her Jinx is Silco's daughter. Silco says it to Jinx with tears in his eyes... Ekko told her Jinx worked for him willingly, and then she blows up the Council...

I think it would do Vi a disservice to keep her in denial much past that.

Jinx is THE unreliable narrator. She's on shimmer, she's upset, and she's confused. She also didn't believe Silco when he told her he didn't know about Vi, but it was some hectic time, and believe it or not, she still went and killed Marcus, soooooo...

I basically don't think Vi needs to be told anything more to realise that Jinx and Silco were indeed close. I mean, she could ask literally anyone on the street about it.

It's one of my main gripes with the treatment of Vi, and solely a meta issue. Vi is in the worst prison, with everyone Silco sends there, and some that get caught despite it all, like Mek, and she SOMEHOW never hears about Jinx? The feared, bomb maniac Jinx? The blue haired girl who works for Silco? I don't buy it for one second... But we have to, because otherwise her expectations from Stillwater onwards would be completely different.

Vi, imo, is the character through which you see the most of the writers' hand.

Back on topic, what do the writers want? I think they want to explore how siblings who deeply love each other and have no one else in the world can be torn apart by systemic injustice and trauma, trickling down both on a grand scale (parents shot in a riot) and on a familial/personal one (your father figures stabbing and choking each other even though they are technically on the same side). It seems the want to question just how far can siblings drift apart before them being related breaks under the weight of those differences. And what could bring them back together.

In my fic The Shimmer Baron's Family (still a wip, gotta finish F&D first), I have a regency ball happening during which Jinx is forced to meet Vi again after she went for years away with Vander. Her dance partner, who knew Vi abroad, tries to reassure her by saying this :

'Call it brotherly wisdom,' he said with a small laugh. 'I have an older sister too, you see. We are not estranged, although sometimes I daydream about it... In all seriousness—siblings are inescapable. One simply cannot walk away from that bond, as I'm sure you're keenly aware of. It may seem painful now, but it actually is to your benefit: you need not impress Miss Violet tonight. You need not be eloquent in your greetings. Your meeting this evening could be a complete catastrophe! It hardly matters, because she will remain your sister tomorrow; as incapable of escaping you, as you her. You'll have many more opportunities to talk. Unlike with new and fleeting acquaintances—such as presumptuous gentlemen met at balls—with her you can take your time.'

And I think in a way this is what a lot of Arcane is about, in the way they pair people up and pull them apart. Silco and Vander, Jinx and Vi, Viktor and Jayce... Those are all close bonds, of different nature, and they all come under stress, to eventual breaking points.

Vi and Jinx can't escape each other, because they're the only ones who are true siblings. Not "like a brother" or "brother in arms". They're tied together by blood, and separated by time, experience... Call it fate. Silco helped that division, as well as Marcus... But in her own way Cait too.

Both sisters hurt each other a lot by refusing to accept change in the other. Jinx is done understanding now that Vi has changed. She says she hoped she could still love her "as she used to", implying she now knows she won't and can't.

It'd be weird for Vi to not promptly do her own catching up to the situation.

I think she would benefit from understanding she'd been misguided, and wanted to believe Silco bore all the blame, but things simply changed while she was in prison. She can't help what Jinx has become, and might realise that her failure to address this precipitated a lot of the conflict... But now that's behind them. She named Jinx to the Council, and Jinx bombed them... Vi will have to take sides, and her opinion of Silco probably won't affect things all that much.

#bit rambly here #idk why I have so many asks today lol #anon ask #arcane #meta #musings #vi #jinx #silco

[sxypigeon]

Chapter 2: Space

Burn it all down - a slow burn, Piltover's finest story. Set after the finale, these ladies have some trauma to work through.

Chapter 1: Too much trauma for two people

The first time Caitlyn had donned her uniform a week before graduation would always live in the back of her mind.  Looking into the mirror, she hadn’t seen a privileged daughter of a councilor, someone whose only claim to notoriety was her family’s wealth and status.  She saw an enforcer, someone whose purpose was to help the community she served, not just the wealthy elite her family usually interacted with.

Wearing her uniform today, Caitlyn felt something very near shame.  Knowing the truth about Marcus and his influence . . . Caitlyn couldn’t fault any of Ekko’s Firelights for shooting her suspicious or angry looks as she and Vi walked down the ramp around the tree.  

“Good to see you two on your feet,” Ekko shouted up at the pair from the ground.

It was slow going making the trip.  With the stitches in her thigh torn and her leg hastily bandaged, Caitlyn certainly wasn’t in any shape to move faster than a geriatric shuffle.  Vi was at her side, a hand at the small of the enforcer’s back, ready to catch her if she stumbled.  It was all Caitlyn could do to keep herself from reading too much into the gesture.  She’s just being considerate; she doesn’t mean anything by it.  I’m just one more responsibility to her, nothing more.

“After a night on that shitty cot, it’s a miracle either of us is able to move at all,” Vi teased once they made it to the grass.

Ekko grinned and leaned back in his patchwork folding chair, his injured leg propped upon a crate next to him.  “That’s right, I forgot Stillwater was a five star resort.  They had goose down pillows, right?”

The older trencher grinned and shoved her hands in the pockets of her coat.  “Don’t get me started on the beds,” Vi chuckled.  “The finest concrete money can buy.”

Feeling none of Vi’s confidence and because of having manners drilled into from the moment she could walk, Caitlyn interrupted, “Thank you for your hospitality, truly.  I don’t know what would have happened to us otherwise.  I owe you a very hefty debt.”  She hoped Vi wouldn’t describe the luxury the enforcer lived in.  She didn’t need to give Ekko another reason to dislike or distrust her.

Ekko smirked from his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.  “Vi, take note - that is how you show your appreciation to someone who’s saved your ass multiple times.”

Vi’s eye-roll had started before Ekko had finished speaking.  “Yeah, yeah.  My hero.”  

The two women took seats at the battered wooden table Ekko was using to go over scout reports.  The sound of hoverboards and giggling children surrounded them as a faint breeze rustled the leaves of the tree.  The vigilante cut to the chase.  “No enforcers have been sighted beyond the bridge so far.  It looks like they’re still trying to secure all access to Piltover.  No word yet on the exact extent of damage Topside, but it seems like the council tower was the only structure that’s taken a hit.”

The enforcer’s leg throbbed at the thought of making the trip topside.  I should have insisted we head topside last night.  “It’s going to be tricky getting across the river then,” Caitlyn sighed.

A look of mild disinterest crossed Vi’s face.  “You don’t think they’ll let you cross?  You’re in uniform.”

A uniform that seems to mean less everyday.  “I’m not exactly keen on being held at gunpoint again by more of my coworkers.”  She had dreamt of Marcus last night, not a topic she was interested in delving into at the moment.

“She sees the truth,” Ekko snided.  “And all it took was me getting shot.”

I deserved that.  Caitlyn looked down at her hands before working up the nerve to meet Ekko’s cool stare.  “I am, and will forever be, tremendously sorry for what Marcus did to you and the Firelights . . . and for not believing you earlier.”

Ekko rolled his eyes, but smiled.  “Well, I guess you’re still my second favorite Piltie.”

That had Vi’s attention.  “Who’s your favorite?”

“Professor Heimerdinger.”

“Why?  Do you know him or do you just have a thing for yordles?”

“He’s here, asshole.  I just sent for him.  He has a boat and should be able to get you Topside.”

Caitlyn felt as if she was still suffering from the worst of her concussion confusion.  Heimerdinger is here, of all places?!  “You . . . sent for the head councilor?”

Ekko grinned and shrugged.  “He said he’s not a councilor anymore and crossed the river to help out in the Undercity.  He’s taking a look at our fritzy water purifier.  With my leg busted, I can’t do the repairs myself.”

. . . Wha- “That’s- You know what?  I’m just going to go with it,” Caitlyn mumbled mostly to herself.  After the last four days she’d had, Heimerdinger helping the Firelights seemed absolutely plausible.  

Vi leaned back in her chair and shook her head.  “How is it that both of us have been running around the Undercity with councilors in the last twenty-four hours?” 

“I guess you just bring trouble wherever you go.”

***

Vi was beginning to understand that Pilties really only came in one of two flavors: arrogantly superior or hopelessly naive.  Like Caitlyn, the former councilor fell into the latter group.  Anyone as chipper and optimistic as him didn’t belong in the Undercity.

Vi and Caitlyn sat on a patch of grass near the base of the tree while Heimerdinger and Ekko spoke.  Grass was such a funny thing: it looked so soft, which Vi guessed was sort of true, but she never realized how itchy it was on bare skin or how easily it stained clothes.  She’d seen grass before on trips topside, but never had the opportunity to thoroughly inspect it.

“Did you want to come topside with me?”

Vi looked over at the enforcer in confusion.  Caitlyn was staring at a blade of grass between her fingers, her injured leg outstretched.  The question felt loaded, a strange thing from someone as emotionally transparent, usually, as the enforcer.  “I guess I just assumed I’d go with you and make sure you got home safely.”

The other woman nodded.  A tense silence lingered for nearly a minute before Caitlyn spoke again, “I don’t want you to feel obligated to come with me - you’re injured too, you know.”

“I-”  Vi took a moment.  Does she not want me to go with her?  “It’s nothing I haven’t handled before, Cupcake . . . but if you want to make the trip without me . . . I’m just worried.  Shit’s hit the fan and you’re in the undercity in an enforcer’s uniform.”

Caitlyn began shredding the blade of grass.  “I can’t, in good conscience, let you come with me if you intend to leave the moment I make it home.  It took us hours going one way last time-”

“I can handle it.”

“You don’t like being topside.  I can’t ask you to-”

“I’m offering.”

Vi!” Cait snapped.  Her swollen eyes narrowed as her body tensed.  The anger in her eyes almost immediately faded.  “You can’t take care of anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.”

Anger was simmering under the brawler’s surface as she turned away.  “I’ve never had the luxury.  No one here has.”

“Bullshit.”

The fuck- Vi whipped her head back around fast enough to crack her neck.  “What?”

The enforcer didn’t wither under the trencher’s glare.  “Every moment of your life doesn’t have to be a fight for survival!”  Caitlyn’s posture went lax with a tired sigh.  “Even Ekko knows when to take a step back.  Whatever responsibility you feel for my safety, I think I feel something like it for you - I won’t let you hurt yourself for my sake.”

That’s not your decision to make.  Vi watched the enforcer push herself painfully to her feet, pause a moment as if reconsidering her actions, before squaring her shoulders and walking toward Ekko and Heimerdinger.  Words the brawler wanted to throw at Caitlyn soured in Vi’s mouth as she remained silent.  She doesn’t understand - she’s not getting what things are like, especially now that everything’s gone further to shit.  

Vi huffed and stood, cringing as her ribs protested.  She doesn’t want me with her, not that I can blame her.

***

These are the two most dramatic women I’ve ever met . . . Well, I guess Jinx still has them trumped.  Ekko watched Caitlyn and Vi exchange excruciatingly stiff goodbyes as the group heading out assembled at the door.  Definitely no hugging this time.

Vi must be really fucking out of practice.  No other reason for her to be this oblivious.  The Piltie, sure.  No one ever says what they mean up there.  

Ekko limped up to them as the women began to separate.  “Stay safe, Piltie.  I don’t want to have wasted those bandages for nothing.”

A small, bashful smile lit Caitlyn’s face.  “I was serious about owing you a debt.  That’s something we topsiders take very seriously.”

“No good deed goes unpunished, huh?”

“I’m afraid not.”  Caitlyn adjusted the crutch the professor made for her.  “Hopefully we’ll again under better circumstances.”

He nodded and watched the group file out the door.  “You’re not going with her,” Ekko stated simply to Vi.

Her response was clipped.  “She didn’t want me to come.”

“Yeah, that’s not the vibe I got.”

“That’s what she said to me.”  Vi stalked off.

Those two are going to be a problem.  Ekko shook his head and took a seat back at his table.  Maybe some time apart will help.  I’m sure as hell not putting up with Vi sulking until they fix whatever is going on between them. 

***

Caitlyn spent many hours of her childhood listening to her mother drone on and on about the responsibilities Caitlyn would have to take on once she was the matriarch of house Kiraman. The importance of appearances, connections, and influence - how she’d need to know how to converse with the most important people in Piltover. Caitlyn just didn't expect to be faced with the role so soon.

“You did all of that investigating without the sheriff’s help or encouragement?” Heimerdinger asked.  Once the group going topside made it to the river bank, Ekko’s escort turned back.  Caitlyn and Heimerdinger crossed in the professor’s skiff, the enforcer continuing her story along the way.  His many exclamations of wonder made her wonder if he was truly impressed or simply had low expectations for humans in general.  

The enforcer hugged her uninjured knee to her chest.  “I thought he was like the other enforcers, skeptical of whether a councilor’s daughter was really up for real policing.  I thought if I could find enough evidence and form a solid enough lead, I’d finally be taken seriously.” She looked out into the fog covering the water around them and the boat.  “I never imagined the reason he ignored my evidence was because he was complicit in the crimes I was investigating.” 

“Betrayal is a painfully personal thing,” the yordle muttered sadly.

Yeah, it is, she thought, not thinking about Marcus.  She sighed and scratched at the bandage around her thigh.  “I understand why he did it.  He was backed against a wall and was scared for his daughter’s safety. . . But he had me at gunpoint for so long . . . and he couldn’t do it.  In the end, there was still enough good left in him- he tried so hard to pull the trigger, but didn’t.”

The gentle lapping of the water and hum of the boat’s engine filled the silence.  Marcus tried to be a good man drowning in corruption.  What did that say about the rest of the city’s enforcers?  Caitlyn was so tired.  Every part of her body still ached and recounting the trauma of the last few days wasn’t helping.  She was only half way home.

The professor cleared his throat, “It appears there is much work to be done once we learn the fate of the council.  I’ve spent far too much time in our gilded city to notice the harsh realities faced by those of the Undercity.  We’ll need people with first hand knowledge of the situation - I know it’s a lot to ask after everything you’ve been through, but I’m certain your insights will be invaluable.” 

The motor of the boat filled the silence.  Can I really handle more of this?  I’ve almost certainly lost my mother, can I really keep this up?  Can I really put Dad through more worry?  Caitlyn was quiet for a moment.  “I’ll . . . I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

***

Thanks for reading! Gotta kill a few plot bunnies before letting these two get together.

Chapter 3: A parting of ways

#piltover's finest #arcane #violet x caitlyn #vi #caitlyn #fanfiction

[sheriff-caitlyn]

#this has been a shitpost #tablet silliness #partners #shipping #vi #caitlyn #Piltover's Finest #keep shooting your shot Vi I believe in you

[cevans16]

I Could Not Live Without You

Summary: Bucky almost loses you on a mission

Sorry this is a long one! Lots of fluffiness though :)

You and Thor were sitting in the back of the conference room horsing around with a thumb war. 

“You’re such a cheater” you discreetly yelled at him. 

“You are mad that I am winning little one” he teased you

“Little one?! Should I demonstrate that I am a strong demigod just as you!” you yelled a bit louder

“Thor, (Y/N)! Keep it down!” Steve yelled over to you two. You received dirty looks from the rest of the crew until you finally calmed down only for you and Thor to start messing around again.

“(Y/N) if you don’t listen so help me-” Tony was the one to yell at you this time. You looked up at him to be met by a stern expression from the genius man. Tony and Thor were your best friends so getting a certain look from either one of them would calm you down

“Sorry Tony” you whispered back to him. 

“As we were saying - for this mission it will be Thor, Sam, (Y/N) and Bucky” Tony listed the names causing you to groan at the last one

“Is there a problem?” Tony asked

“Yes, HIM” you replied motioning to Bucky. Since you two met, Bucky was never nice to you, he either ignored you or always had to critic something about you.

“Well, Wanda and Vision are on their honeymoon so I see this as a team bonding exercise since you two can’t seem to get along” Tony peered at you. 

“I get along with everyone else, he seems to have a problem with me” you replied. 

“Come on doll, it’s one mission, if I can tolerate you everyday, I’m sure you can tolerate me for a few” he said winking at you causing you to roll your eyes back.

“Whatever are we done here” you said getting up from your seat to start packing. 

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

You were settling yourself inside the quinjet, you and Thor were the demigods so you were practically there as an extra asset for Sam and Bucky. 

“Want some cashews?” Bucky offered you, you rolled your eyes at him again.

“No thanks” you said walking away from him to sit next to Thor.

“You know both and I don’t know much about Midgard however I think he likes you” Thor said winking at you

“Please don’t” you quickly replied to his comment

“Ohhh but I know you DO like him, Stark said so himself” at that you scoffed.

“What! No! Damn you Tony, what did he say?” you asked Thor narrowing your eyes at him.

“I overheard you and Stark speaking about him” he said motioning over to Bucky. You remembered that day perfectly.

“I think you have a thing for him, don’t you (Y/N)?” Tony picked on you

“NO! He’s rude, a know-it-all and gosh that stupid long hair needs to be chopped off” you quickly replied defensively while fixing a nanotech knife you had built with Tony.

You turned around to look at Tony who was raising one of his eyebrows at you with a smirk slapped on his face.

“That doesn’t sound very convincing” he chuckled

“I think Manchurian Candidate has a crush on you too but I could be wrong---actually I am never wrong” he continued.

“What do you mean?” you asked curiously

“Well for starters, its like in elementary school, boy likes girl but wants to seem cool so he picks on the said girl which in this case is you” he said poking you with one of his tools

“You don’t see it but he always looks over at you when you are not looking, asks where you are when you are not around, that sort of stuff” Tony explained.

“I mean maybe you two should give it a shot” he shrugged

“Not in a million years Tony” you said walking out of the lab, only to bump into Bucky himself

“He’s never been nice to me so why should I do the same” you told Thor. 

Thor didn’t say anything, you and him leaned back against the wall to take a quick nap before arriving to your destination.

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

“Hey....we’re two minutes out so suit up” Sam said shaking you out of your sleep gently

“Thank you Sam” you said getting up from your seat to grab your equipment

You grabbed two small pistols placing them on each thigh holster, your earpiece from Sam, you placed your sword behind your back and picked up a rifle to head on out.

“Are you sure you can handle that?” Bucky teased you

“I can handle more than that Barnes” you sternly replied

“That she can Bucky, don’t forget she’s a demigod” Sam said, “I do have to ask though, where did you learn to shoot because I’m sure there aren’t guns on your world” he asked 

“Well I train profusely with Nat so I think I’m pretty set in having the best teacher you can get” you explained, Sam nodded walking out the quinjet to lead the way.

“Okay, on my lead, Buck and (Y/N) you go left, Thor and I will head to the right on my signal.....go” Sam led away

“You have my six right?” Bucky asked you

“No shit, you’re part of the team” you replied, the genuine comment surprising Bucky

“Plus I don’t want to deal with Steve’s reaction if you were to be gone forever” you added

Well that was too good to be true Bucky thought to himself. 

You were both deep inside the building where there was Sokovian evidence about new mutants

You were beside Bucky when you heard a loud gunshot, immediately reacting quicker than Bucky due to your demigod senses, you pushed Bucky out of the way causing you both to fall down to the first level, you felt your left arm break. A bullet had hit you on your left rib, without hesitation you shot back to where the bullet had come from, you had great aim killing the suspect instantly.

You felt pain, worse than what a normal gun shot would feel like. When you took out the bullet to saw that it was Sokovian made, this bullet was different you thought to yourself, this wasn’t going to kill you but you knew it could’ve killed a human being. You felt yourself drifting away into a deep slumber, you could hear Bucky yelling for you.

He got up slowly from the nasty fall, made sure the coast was clear, he then knelt down next to you placing you onto his lap.

“No no, (Y/N) WAKE UP! WAKE UP!” he yelled over at you repeatedly.

You looked up at him giving him a soft smile, “Give this.... to... Wanda, she’ll know” you tried your best to speak and then it all went pitch black.

“Bucky! (Y/N)! You guys okay?” Sam yelled over the earpiece

“I’m okay.....(Y/N) has been hit, she’s...down” Bucky said in disbelief, he couldn’t believe the girl he was in love with was dead and he never got the chance to tell you how he felt about you.

He picked you up cautiously, walking back to the quinjet sadly.

Thor was the first one to look at you, he looked over your wound, opening your vest open. “She’s not dead but we need to take her back quickly” he said to Sam and Bucky

Sam nodded heading to the pilot chair to fly you all back home.

Bucky tried not to cry but his tears betrayed him

“She pushed me out of the way” he sniffed

Thor placed his hand on Bucky’s shoulder to calm him down, “She would have done it for anyone, it’s not your fault” he said sitting down next to him

“I never told her how I felt about her” Bucky whispered

Thor smiled at the sound of him saying that, “I knew it” he teased Bucky

“I’m sure everyone did except her, I was an idiot in not showing it in the correct way” he explained

“She’s not dead Bucky” Thor said.

“How do you know?” he asked

“Well for one, I can hear her heartbeat, it’s very faint. And I’d know if I have lost a best friend” Thor explained. 

The rest of the flight back home was quiet.

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

“Let me see her!” Tony yelled running over to you.

“She’s not dead Stark but we need to check on her wounds, it’s the one on her left rib and she has a broken left arm” Thor explained

“I called Dr. Cho, she should be here soon” Tony nodded at Thor

Tony looked at you, you looked peacefully asleep, he had felt his heart drop when he heard about you. He couldn’t lose his best friend. He wiped away a tear before pushing you over to the emergency room. Bucky followed quickly behind.

“Barnes you can’t be here” Tony said to him

“I’m not leaving her Stark” he replied firmly. Tony looked over at him, eyeing him up and down, he knew it, he knew Bucky liked you. He would save the teasing for another time though, first he had to save his best friend. 

“She also said to give this to Wanda, that she would know” Bucky said handing over the bullet you had placed in his hands.

Tony looked over at the delicate item, how did something so small take down a demigod like you.

“I’ll call Wanda once (Y/N) is out of the emergency room” Tony confirmed.

After what felt like forever, Dr. Helen Cho finally arrived, she looked over at you, replicating your own cells to heal the wound on your rib, it wouldn’t look the same but it was enough to stabilize you. Once she was done with surgery, they wheeled you to the recovery room.

“She looks like she’s asleep peacefully” Nat sniffed looking at you. 

“Yeah she does, how did it go wrong?” Steve asked

“She took the bullet for Barnes” Nat said, this surprised Steve, he in fact thought that you hated Bucky but he was very appreciative that you would protect his own best friend as if he were yours.

“Don’t look so surprised Steve, she would do this for anyone of us. Besides she has a soft spot for Barnes” Nat smirked

“That I have heard” Steve chuckled. 

“Will you two shut up, I feel bad enough as it it” Bucky interjected

They stood there a little bit longer, Nat and Steve headed out, Nat stopped by Bucky, “You should get cleaned up Barnes, it’ll take a while”

“I’m not leaving until Wanda gets here” he replied, with that Nat left Bucky alone with you. 

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

Wanda and Vis had to cut their honeymoon short

“I’m sorry Wanda but (Y/N) told Bucky about the bullet that hit her, Banner and I have been trying to figure it out but-- I wouldn’t ask you to come back if it wasn’t serious...this is my best friend” Tony choked out at the end. 

“Tony....don’t worry, Vis and I understand, we are heading back , I have a clue on what that bullet could be” she replied calming Tony down over the phone.

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

Nat and Maria were visiting you again, Maria hadn’t seen you until now. 

“She looks like a sleeping beauty doesn’t she” Nat said, “even with all the debris....maybe we should clean her up, I know she would flip if she saw how dirty she was” Nat laughed at the thought of you

“You’re right, hey Barnes, you have to walk out” Maria ordered him 

“I’m not lea-”

“You have to leave, wait outside for Gods sake, take a shower, she is in good hands and she needs privacy while we clean her up” Nat said

“Fine” Bucky got up from the chair next to you, giving the girls a stinky eye. He quickly went to his room to shower. Although he wouldn’t admit it, the girls were right, he definitely needed a shower. 

Once he was done he went over back to the room they had you in, Nat and Maria were quick to clean you up. Your hair was brushed back, it smelled like subtle lavender, your face was clean and makeup free however your long eyelashes still stood out to him, your clothes were changed. Nat was right, you looked like a sleeping beauty, it hurt his heart though to see you this way. 

Bucky sat down next to you again, Nat handed him a tray with food.

“I know you haven’t ate so here” she said before walking out the door.

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

Throughout the next few days, everyone else came in to check on you while they weren’t on missions. Thor and Tony checked on you the most, Bucky never left your side unless it was to shower. He felt a sigh of relief when he saw Wanda come inside the room.

“How is she?” Wanda asked looking over at you

“She’s been the same since” Bucky replied

“You look tired Bucky” she said to him, he replied with a faint smile. 

“So what is it?” Tony asked her as he came inside the room followed by Thor.

“The bullet can kill any one of you except-” Wanda was going to explain

“Except demigods and mutants, they use these to knock them out however it sends you into a deep sleep, not a peaceful one though” Banner interjected, he was now followed by Steve, Nat and Clint who had been on leave with his family

“He’s correct” Wanda smiled at him, “Pietro and I never got hit by one of these thankfully”

“So if it’s not a peaceful sleep, why does she look like it is?” Clint asked, “Sorry, I got here as soon as I could”.

“Well it’s more of a battle within, whatever your worst fears are, your past that haunts you, it’s all alive in your sleep” Wanda said

“Oh god” Tony said, he knew what your past was, a traumatic one, you were reliving it and there was nothing they could do about it

“So how do we bring her back?” Bucky asked

“It’s not a how can we its when will she” Wanda said sadly, “I think I may be able to get into her head though, give her some kind of signal” she added

“Sure, it’s not like you haven’t done it before” Nat teased her

“Can you?” Steve asked, Wanda nodded closing her eyes as she placed her hand on your head gently. 

Wanda saw your worst fears; losing Tony, Thor, losing anyone on the team. She saw your past; your dead family, dead friends, everything. She backed out of your head immediately, trying to suppress a cry.

“Honey, it’s okay” Vision soothed her

“She’s going through hell....I have to bring her back” she said, walking over to you again. 

This time she was able to contact you, “(Y/N) you have to wake up, this isn’t real” she explained to you in your dream. 

“I can’t yet Wanda I have to finish this mission” you replied

“There is no mission, you’re in a dream”

“NO.....Tony is gone and I couldn’t save him” you cried out

“It’s a dream....come back to us” Wanda pleaded

“I will Wanda, when I am done here, I will” you said

Wanda was brought back to reality. 

“She’s not ready yet” she said walking out of the room, “she will wake when she is”.

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

It had been over a month since you were out, everyday the team had a routine to check on you, Bucky never left. 

He was observing you, your eyelashes, he was deep into your face that he didn’t realize you had opened your eyes. 

“(Y/N)?!” he yelped

You looked back at him, fluttering your eyes slowly, sensitive to the light. Then you sat up fast looking over to Bucky, your face in panic.

“Where’s Tony?!” you yelled

“He’s with Pepper” Bucky stammered still recovering from you being suddenly awake

“Don’t bullshit me Barnes, is he alive?!” you said

“Yes! Why would I lie about that, I’ll call him” he said quickly getting his phone out to dial Tony

“She’s awake” was all he said before hanging up

He leaned closer to you, squeezing your hand, “Honey” he said to you

You scoffed at the nickname, “Who are you and what have you done to James Buchanan Barnes?” you asked curiously

Bucky laughed, he slipped at the nickname, “I’m sorry (Y/N)”

After five minutes Tony came into the room, you looked up at him, feeling your breathing come back to normal to see that Bucky wasn’t lying to you.

“Tony” you choked out pulling him in for a tight hug. You felt your tears fall down your face, you were happy to be back after the nightmares you were dreaming of. 

“I dreamt you were gone and there was nothing I could do and it was so awful” you sobbed into his shoulder. Tony soothed you, rubbing your back softly.

“There there, look you are snotting all over my shirt so obviously I am not dead” he joked causing you to laugh. Bucky had missed that laugh more than anything.

“It was so horrible” you said looking back to him

“I know, Wanda explained to us” he replied, “I’m glad to have you back” he said pulling you in for a hug this time

“You know I mainly missed you wanting to kill this one all the time” he said motioning over to Bucky, “Thor and I were here a lot but this one never left your side” he said giving you a kiss on your forehead, “I’ll let the team know you’re awake, Morgan has been dying to see you but we chose it was best for her not to see you in this state, calm down, I’m in one piece” he said heading out. 

You were still crying, so many emotions were all over the place. 

“I’m sorry about this” Bucky said

“What? No this isn’t your fault Bucky” you said

Bucky’s breath hitched at you calling him Bucky, you had never called him that.

“I would do it again if I had to” you added, giving him a small smile.

“She’s BACK!” Thor came in yelling with a bouquet of flowers, “I missed you so much, we have so much to catch up on!”

“How long have I been out for?” you asked afraid to know the answer

“Over a month” Thor said

Each Avenger came in to greet you back to reality. Every single one giving you the strongest hug you had ever received from any of them. Somehow they also each seemed to mention that Bucky had always been there beside you, that was odd to you but you thought back to what Tony and Thor had said, it couldn’t be though. 

“Auntie (Y/N)!!!” Morgan yelled throwing herself onto you, Pepper and Tony were quick to scold her

“It’s okay.....I’m okay guys, I missed you baby Stark” you chuckled at her excitement giving her a kiss on her head, “are you ready for our monthly date, rumor is we are backed up on two now” you said, Morgan nodded as her smile grew bigger. 

Bucky loved how you were always extra gentle with Morgan, he loved seeing you with kids, you were like a magnet to them. 

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

The nightmares came every other night, even though you were out for a month you didn’t feel rested.

You showed up late to your first meeting, apologizing profusely for doing so, everyone was extremely understanding since the word had spread that you were still recovering. 

You were dazing in and out of the briefing, looking over at Thor to your right who would always give you a smile. After the meeting was finally over you asked him, “Hey so baby Stark and I are going to our usual, want to come?” you asked

“I would love to but Jane and I have plans” he said, “but I can cancel them”

“No no don’t do that....you and Jane are back! That’s amazing Thor” you genuinely said, you knew how in love he had been with her. 

“(Y/N) can I talk to you?” you heard Steve call you 

You nodded at him, “Tell me everything once I’m done” you said to Thor.

“Hey Steve, I’m sorry again about being late I’m-”

“Don’t worry I’m not here to scold you, actually I want to thank you for saving Bucky’s life. That could’ve killed him” he said sadly at the end.

You pulled Steve in for a hug, “I would do it again if I had to Rogers, I would like to think that someone would save my best friend too” you said. 

“I gotta go, baby Stark is waiting for me” you smiled

“Usual hangout for you two?” he asked smiling

“Yep, I’ve been away for too long” you walked away to get ready with Morgan

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

You were saying goodbye to Tony and Pepper while you and Morgan headed out the compound. You bumped into Bucky, to be honest you noticed he was around more but you never thanked him for being by your side.

“Where are you ladies off to?” Bucky asked with a smile

“We’re going to the aquawium and ice cweam Mr. Barnes” Morgan answered, “would you wike to come with us?” she asked 

“I’m sure he has other things to do Morgan” you said politely

Bucky looked over at you and Morgan, then back to Tony and Pepper.

“I’m okay with it” Tony said loud enough for you to hear

You laughed at his comment, “Well Mr. Stark said it was okay...really Bucky you don’t have to” you added

“Actually it would be my pleasure” he replied

“YAY! Auntie (Y/N) and I always have fun” Morgan said

Now the three of you walked towards the car garage, you normally took Pepper’s car since Morgan’s car seat was in it. You buckled her in and were about to get into the drivers side when Bucky stopped you.

“I’ll drive” he said

“I can drive Bucky, I’m not hurt” you replied

“(Y/N), you have a cast on your left arm” he asked pointing at it. To be fair you had indeed forgotten about your broken arm.

“Fineeee Barnes here” you playfully threw the keys at him.

He opened the passenger door for you to get inside the car, as he walked over to the driver’s side Morgan spoke.

“I think he wikes you” she giggled

“Morgan not you too” you laughed

Thankfully she didn’t say anything else once Bucky got inside the car. “So uhmm I don’t even know where we are going” he said a little embarrassed,

“Bless you, well first we’re going to the aquarium and then Dairy Queen” you said

“Off we go” Bucky said putting the car in drive heading towards the aquarium.

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

The ride to the aquarium was quiet besides Morgan talking away, she was very much like Tony in that sense, Bucky caught onto that. 

“I thought we left Stark back home” he half-heartedly joked

You laughed at that, looking over to him, “We did but we have his mini version back there”

Bucky looked back at you, he looked at you differently, this was the first time either of you had hung out without anyone else on the team being around. Morgan seemed to be enjoying both of your company.

The trip around the aquarium was always fun when it was you and Morgan, having Bucky around only added onto it. He would hold Morgan up to see the fishes closer, you would hold her hand to touch the starfishes, you all walked around like a normal little family.

You were going to take a selfie with Morgan when Bucky offered to take it instead.

“Here stand in front of this glass wall” he advised, Morgan and you complied, you knelt down by her side smiling for the picture.

“I can take a picture for you guys, stand right next to your girls, young man” an older lady said to Bucky. Bucky blushed at the lady, not knowing how to tell her that you guys weren’t together. So he handed her the phone and walked over to you and Morgan, you were trying your best to not laugh.

“You have beautiful women here” she added

“Thank you mam” you replied once she took several pictures of you all.

You took the phone looking at the pictures; you, Morgan and Bucky did in fact look like a cute little family. 

After the aquarium you guys headed off to Dairy Queen, Bucky was going to the local one but you let him know that you and Morgan went to a specific one that overlooked the city.

You all ordered your personal favorite ice creams then walked over to a bench that was on the dock. You sat Morgan between you and Bucky, all three of you quietly overlooking the beautiful skyline sunset. 

“I had fun today, you should come more often Mr. Barnes” Morgan said

“Thank you, I had fun too, call me Bucky” he said to her.

Once you all were done you headed back to the car, Morgan asked you this time if you can sit in the back with her, you agreed to do so, you often did when you were with Tony and Pepper, she called you her car buddy. Somehow you and Morgan dozed off on the way back to the compound. You were awaken gently by Bucky.

“Hey, we’re home” he said softly

You rubbed your eyes, yawning again, smiling at Bucky.

“Sorry I don’t know what happened” you said unbuckling your seatbelt. You got out from the car to carry a sleeping Morgan out to her room. 

“Here I got her, you can lock the car” Bucky said as he placed Morgan into his arms.

You guys walked up to the compound, first to drop off Morgan with Tony and Pepper.

“She’s knocked out, yay” Tony joked as he grabbed his daughter from Bucky. 

“The pictures of you three were so sweet and cute” Pepper said, she pulled you over discreetly, “You two would make a cute couple” causing you to blush.

You all said your goodnights, Bucky walked you over to your own room which was a floor below.

“Thank you for this day, that was a lot of fun” he said to you

“Nahhh its all Morgan, she gets it from Tony” you teased

Bucky stopped you in the middle of the hallway, “Look I’m sorry about always being a dick to you. I thought that by doing so my feelings for you would fade away and they sure didn't’” he laughed nervously, “I can’t thank you enough for saving my life, I will forever be in debt to you. After almost losing you, it scared the fuck out of me” he said trying not to cry, “I realized that I could not live without you so I have to ask, will you forgive me for being a jerk and will you go on a date with me? It’s okay Morgan can come along” he joked causing you to laugh.

“Ehhh I wasn’t too nice to you either, you don’t owe me anything Bucky...like I said I would do it again if I had to. As much as I hate Tony and Thor being right, I like you too Bucky. I want to thank you for being by my side even though I wasn’t there to see it, it helped knowing someone else was there for me too. Yes I will like to go on a date with you” you said smiling back to him.

Bucky knew in that moment that his life would get better with you in it, he couldn’t wait to see what the future held for both of you.

#Bucky Barnes x Reader #Bucky Barnes Imagines #Bucky Barnes Imagine #Bucky Barnes fluff #Bucky Barnes #Sebastian Stan #mcu x reader #mcu imagine #MCU IMAGINES #MCU #marvel x reader #marvel imagines #marvel imagine #marvel

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Avenger Things - Bucky Barnes x powered (f)reader

Summary: You’re just trying to make it through the day without breaking anything, or anyone.

Warning: language, fluff, bit of nonesense

Masterlist

Practically limping into the Avengers large kitchen you couldn’t believe how sore you were from, well, let’s just say you’re not entirely so sure. What you do know is that it’s the morning after a stealth mission and your more beastly self, if that’s even the correct term, must have done or gotten into something last night that might have knocked you out cold. 

Hence the memory loss.

Honestly you could laugh, it’s like trying to figure out what drunk you was getting themselves into. Problem is, this “drunk you” at the time was 2.4lb of absolute raging adrenaline with an apparent lack of safety awareness and good judgment skills. 

Not a good combination. Also you were a hawk.

So here you are, piecing together the jumbled puzzle of last night while you make an attempt at finding breakfast before the crowds come noisily shuffling into the temporarily quiet hang out room slash luxurious kitchen, of the famous Avengers Facility. Ah, the life of an Avenger who’s fantastical ability allows them to shift into any animal in existence.

Although it’s a blessing, you sometimes suffer the consequences of being an actual avenger, and shit, your left shoulder and rib cage are so sore right now you could scream. Your accelerated healing has already kicked in but alas that does not mean your body will spare you some soreness and bruising.

“Fuck what did I do?” You mutter grumpily while reaching for the fridge door handle, making certain not to pull to hard for fear of ripping the metal right off.

Soon your eyes scan over the multitude of various healthy snacks and equally as healthy leftovers due to Steve’s insistent attitude towards fueling yourselves with the best, to be the best or some cheesy hero shit like that.

Spotting your left over hidden burrito in the back of the fridge sends an excited thrill into your otherwise tired and achy self, you snatch it up quickly, and without thinking pull the metal door off its hinges while quickly trying to close it.

Shit.

Tossing the burrito onto the nearby counter top, you swiftly grasp the large food filled door with both hands as you hold it up with ease. Well this is just a fantastic situation isn’t it? Apparently you’re incapable of having an easy morning like just previously planned. Wait are those footsteps?

“You know, you can just have Tony buy you a mini fridge for your room.” Quips Sam with an amused chuckle as you quickly snap your head over to the startling sound. “I think he could afford it.” 

Your eyes widen in surprise before narrowing in annoyance at his happily smirking face, Bucky and Vision right behind him to your great pissed-off-ness. “Fuck off I didn’t mean to do....this.” But of course it happens to me.

Eyeing you up with a face that practically says “I know but this is hilarious” Sam nods before sitting down on the bar’s stool, Vision coming to your aid as he phases through the counter to take the fridge door out of your hands.

“Thanks Vis.” You mutter with an appreciative nod.

Setting down the door onto the floor, Vision turns to greet you, “No problem Y/N, it appears you needed the help, I’ll just um....go inform Tony of this....fridge.” He says before turning to leave out the way he came. Guess he’s not one for awkward situations.

Watching him go you suddenly glare down at the two whispering Avengers seated in front of you on the other side of the counter, “Thanks for helping assholes.” You growl unenthusiastically, reaching into the fridge to pick up a water bottle.

“Oh doll, we would have helped you.” Assures Bucky with a kind smile as you force yourself to keep a stoic face. “Vision seemed to handle it pretty well on his own.”

“Yeah well now this fucking fridge is broken and I still feel sore.” You complain with a sneer as Bucky and Sam share a chuckle.

“What?” Laughs Sam, “Don’t tell me you both?....and after the mission too?” He implies with raised brows as you send him the most done-with-your-shit face you can muster.

Sensing your growing irritation, Bucky speaks up, “No, no....definitely not that..it was the mission.”

“Oh shit you’re right.” Realizes Sam as you roll your eyes at him, let’s just say that last mission was a rough ending one. Also you can’t remember much after shifting into a hawk, seeing some bright lights and then...

“Yes.” You grumble, “and I’ve come to the thrilling conclusion that I must have gotten hit by a car......so that’s fun.” You mutter with as much enthusiasm as a stick, causing both Bucky and Sam to begin laughing again. What the hell is so funny?

Listening to them lose it inevitably causes you to start chuckling which in turn causes your ribs to shoot with a hot flaring pain. Holding your injured side you use your other hand to pound against the marble table, “Stop laughing this shit hurts and neither of you dumbfucks are helping.” You grumble half-heartedly.

“Alright.” Says Bucky standing up, “Come on doll let’s get outta here and get a heating pad on that tire mark under your shirt.” He adds sarcastically with another laugh.

Letting out a quick snort you shake your head at his handsome face, “Okay smartass I’ll let that one slide.”

He smirks at your good humored reaction and admittedly adorable messy hair, “I’m thinking we get cozy, watch that weird pirate movie you like with the Sparrow guy, and then see where it takes us.” Suggests Bucky with a lazy smile as he stretches his arm causing his shirt to rise up and reveal a bit of toned tummy.

Sam whines, “What? We have sparring at three this afternoon and you’re gonna leave me hanging for Miss. Grouchy-pants over here?” Points out Sam to Bucky as you cross your hands over your chest while raising a brow.

“Yup.” Quips Bucky with a shrug.

Sam blinks, “Unbelievable.”

“I like Y/N more.”

“You suck and I need a new sparring partner now.”

“Just ask Steve or Nat.” You suggest, not caring much for Sam’s problems at the moment.

“No they’re hard-core and mean.”

“Spar with Clint then.” Adds Bucky.

“No he cheap shots.”

“And I got hit by a car last night we all got problems.” You sass, gaining their distracted attentions once again. “Try and steal Bucky from me and I will make sure you remember what getting a wet towel slapped across your ass feels like.”

“Very specific and greatly noted Y/N. He’s all yours.” Says Sam while raising his hands defensively, “By the way you look rather stunning today did I mention that yet?”

“Don’t press your luck bird boy I’m not known to be very forgiving.”

“Clearly.” Jabs Sam under his breath while you take a swig of water, though you’re increased hearing enables you to catch that loud and clear.

After twisting the cap back on you immediately chuck it at his head, conveniently nailing him right in the temple causing him to yelp in surprise. “Jesus!” He shouts before falling off of the stool and onto the wooden floor below.

“Nope just me.” You deadpan with a satisfied smirk, walking over to Bucky while Sam gathers his bearings.

Bucky immediately throws an arm around you, making sure not to squeeze you too tight in the process. Leaning into his warm side, Sam throws you a half annoyed glare, showing how much he’d like to retaliate but also knowing he’s outnumbered in more ways then one.

“As much as I’d like to see you two beat each other’s ass right now.” Suddenly announces Steve, “We have a mission report in five.”

“What?” You sigh in annoyance, “Really? Right now? Can’t this shit wait?”

Steve sends you an apologetic smile, understanding you’re still in pain and thus very grouchy, “It’ll be quick. The team just needs to go over some credentials about the mission yesterday. Then you can go about your day off.”

Holding Bucky close, you pull him in a little closer, eyeing up Steve defensively, “Bucky too.”

Steve gives you an unsure look, “Well uh...”

“That wasn’t a question Rogers.” You growl, causing Steve to take a cautious step back as Sam lets out a chuckle.

“Yeah Cap I wouldn’t.”

“Right.” Nods Steve, “Yeah, you two are off the rest of the day after the meeting. Uh, see you guys then.” Waves the man with a plan himself, smartly deciding not to linger for much longer or face another steely glare from you.

“Fine. Let’s get this over with.” You mutter, parting from Bucky to lead the way down the hall to the usual meeting room.

——

After nudging Bucky to go on ahead to claim your unofficial official meeting chairs, you swung by your room to put on a sweatshirt and now are finally, though begrudgingly, making your merry way down the hall and into the expensive meeting room. 

Hood up, you trudge into the brightly lit area, practically squinting as the sunshine hits you like a blinding wall through the obnoxiously giant glass windows. “Nice of you to join us Y/N. Get lost on your way here?” Quips Clint as the whole entirety of the Avenger’s turn their heads to face you. 

“No, I just didn’t want to come.” You deadpan with a humored glare, earning a couple snickers from your friends. 

“Yeah that’s fair.” He shrugs.

Plopping yourself down in the facility’s decently comfortable swivel chair, you slouch tiredly, leaning your body against the arm rest to keep your bruised side from bothering you more then it already does.

Bucky is already in the seat to your left, Sam opting to snatch the one across from you two, while Vision and Wanda have claimed the seats to Sam’s right. Natasha and Steve sitting at the two chairs at the far end to your left, while Clint stands. 

“So...” Begins Clint, the apparent leader of todays meeting, “Yesterday’s mission in Quebec was a challenging one, I won’t lie to you. We took a hit, some more then others.” Nods Clint in your direction.

“You’re fucking hilarious.” You mutter, rolling your eyes in annoyance as Sam and Bucky hold in their laughter, while the others ignore the obvious implication, keeping it professional and in your good graces. 

“Thank you Y/N I know. Anyways, I think our team training days have improved our performance and been worthwhile. Now, as usual, Steve and Nat...great leadership skills. Vision, Wanda, the whatever the shit you guys are able to do, amazing...keep it up.” Clint glances back down at his notes while you yawn, “Sam and Bucky, nice recovery at the end, things where getting heated and you both really pulled through.”

“Hell yeah.” Smirks Sam as he leans over to fist bump Bucky from across the table.

Practically lowering yourself deeper into your seat, you mentally prepare yourself for whatever smartass comment you’re about to get from Clint. He looks down at his notes then moves to pick up a thin metal remote that connects to the blank screen behind him. 

“Uhh lets see here,” He mumbles while clicking some buttons that inevitably turn the screen on, “Okay good it works.” Swiveling around on his heal, Clint points the remote directly at you, “Y/N.” He says with a mischievous grin.

“Clint.” You point back in confusion, side eyeing Wanda nervously.

“Let’s talk...” Stretching out his arm, he clicks the remote to reveal a PowerPoint, “about safety awareness.”

Okay fuck you.

Chuckling tensely you shake your head, “I’d rather not.”

“Which is precisely why we...meaning you all,” Motions Clint to all of you with both his hands in two circles, “need to be educated on safety in the field.” A second later he flicks the lights off with a swift click of the remote, Okay great.....slide number one, do you have a buddy?”

As Clint keeps droning on and on for the next five minutes you suddenly decide to scoot over to rest your chin against Bucky’s right shoulder that's leaning against the table. He immediately smiles, turning his head away from an obliviously jabbering Clint, “Buck I’m going to commit a crime in the next two minutes if I don’t get the fuck out of here.” You whisper, squeezing his shoulder for emphasis.

Biting his lip to refrain from laughing, he reaches to take one of your hands with his, “And what crime will I have to admit in the police report?” He quietly muses.

“Murder.”

Kissing the pack of your hand to help you try and relax for the moment, he smirks, “Y/N it’s going to be difficult to break you out of jail.”

“Not if I don’t get caught.” You quip smartly while resting your head against his shoulder, “I’ve been contemplating taking out Clint since 2012 but then Natasha always stops me.”

“What’s stopping you now?” Challenges Bucky with the tiniest snort of amusement.

“Natasha.” You mutter, “Also I’m god-mother to one of his kids so I’m morally not allowed to kill him.....but I’ve never been more tempted then today.” 

“Shh.” Whispers Bucky with an amused smile as you roll your eyes, wanting nothing more then to leave this boring meeting. Fine, but if it was just me and Clint I would pummel his ass into the wall without a second thought, you think to yourself.

A moment later Wanda lets out a random snort of laughter that causes the team to look over at her in confusion while Clint is in the middle of explaining why it’s important to (make sure the enemy is knocked the fuck out before walking away). She quickly covers her mouth in embarrassment as Clint abruptly ends the PowerPoint, clicking back the lights on as he sighs in disappointment.

“Come on Wanda I was almost done.” He whines, setting a hand on his hip as she bites her lip to keep a straight face. Parting from Bucky, you move to lean yourself against the table top and listen to Clink complain. She looks down then glances over at you while Clint fumbles to turn the screen off. 

Oh, shit did she hear me say that?

“Sorry.” Mutters Wanda as you quickly realize you’re the reason she started to laugh, resulting in the abrupt ending of Clint’s 30 minute presentation. 

Giving her a quick wink, you quickly stand, causing your friends to look over at you, “Alright, good work team, we’re the best huh,” You add sarcastically before looking directly at Clint, “also Clint fantastic work at being the most interesting 87 year old, I’m thoroughly impressed you even know what a PowerPoint is. Kudos to you, I’m out.”

Before anyone can stop you, you’re already at the door, “Y/N you can’t just leave we’re only taking a break. And I already know how to use a PowerPoint.”

“Yeah and you also know how to put someone to sleep even without an arrow.” You sass while the others start to get up as well. 

“What? Guys, come on.” Complains Clint as Bucky almost trips shuffling quickly to the door.

“Babe I’m with you wait up.”

——

“So you really did get smacked by a truck. Who would’ve thought.” Mumbles Bucky humorously as the two of you lay sprawled out on your shared bed, a heating pad on your side as Bucky’s head lays on the corner of your right hip. His hands absentmindedly holding your right hand to his chest while your other one presses the heating pad to your ribs.

You lazily stare up at the ceiling while he studies your face, “I guess it makes sense since I can’t remember anything after that. I didn’t even see the damn hunk of moving metal coming either, so stupid.”

“No.” He assures softly, “We all fuck up and miss things sometimes. It happens to everyone.”

Smiling you simply roll your eyes, “Bucky you’re adorable but I, who was a hawk at the time....to be real here, got bitch slapped by a truck.”

“I’ve been thrown off a car a couple times actually.” He confirms with a shrug, “But yeah, you’re way tougher then me.” He finally chuckles.

“I’m tougher then everyone.”

Bucky smiles proudly, “Fuck yeah you are.”

#Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier #marvel imagine #marvel x you #marvel x reader

[hualianff]

More Than This VI 《V》

It’s no surprise XL gains his own taste of fame after walking the red carpet with one of the most sought-after actors in the country. He doesn’t mind it, going as far as to create a few social media accounts to interact with fans and scroll through their photos and edits of him. He has a few fan sites too, but only for fancy events where he chooses to be recognized in public.

XL and HC agreed before sharing their relationship with the public that they would maintain a strong sense of privacy when it came to their personal lives. They only share what they want to. The paparazzi who manage to take photos without permission are immediately disciplined so it doesn’t happen again.

(“I can’t believe you did it.”

“Hmm, Gege said he was okay with it.”

“I know! But I didn’t expect you to actually....” XL stares at a recent selfie of them HC had posted on his Twitter, taken the night HC won his award. “We look like we just had sex.”

“Nobody’s gonna know.”

XL raises an unimpressed eyebrow at his boyfriend. HC insists again.

“Nobody’s gonna know-”

“They’re gonna know,” XL says with a sigh, pointing to the hickey marks clearly visible on the photo. HC rolls over closer to XL in their bed, scrutinizing the image on XL’s phone.

“Oh, I didn’t see those when I posted the photo.”

“San Laaang!” XL cries, pushing at the taller man’s shoulder before burying his face into his pillow. HC makes XL breakfast in bed as an apology and promises to not drunk-post anything again.)

Eight months after officially dating–which is over two years since they met–HC asks XL to move in with him. XL doesn’t even need to think about his answer, a simple “Yes! Yes please!” escaping his lips. Both HC and XL’s faces light up with overjoyed smiles.

They seem to have had the same idea about where to live, purchasing a home they’ve been eyeing for months! The best aspects include a massive yard (front, side, and back) for XL to tend to, a hot tub, and a spacious living and dining room area to entertain guests. It’s not the grandest or most impressive residence by size or feature. In fact, the first months have them living in a half-finished, rusty house with the prettiest garden you’ve ever seen.

It gradually gets better. HC and XL knew they would have to do a lot of work to improve the shape of their home. Over the next year, they repair and remodel the house themselves, simultaneously adding value to the property and curating the style to fit their dream home. XL makes sure to post progress photos on his social media. His most recent selfie of HC and himself in hardware glasses got over 500k likes! He pinned HC’s comment that said, “Gege is my own very handyman!”

(HC, in a sleeveless tee, shorts that show off his ass, hair pulled back into a high bun: “Gege, you’re the boss now. Tell me what to do.”

XL, struggling not to gawk at HC’s side boobs: “O-okay, first, can you smash those cabinets-”

Cue them making out against the counter when it’s the only part of the kitchen that is fully done.)

***

Having a partner who considers the outdoors as a second home is a special experience. XL often takes HC on dates to national parks and plant nurseries. They go on weekend camping trips where XL teaches HC how to properly filter water, summit long stretches of terrain, and stay warm during cold nights with below-freezing temperatures.

(HC, trying to fit into XL’s sleeping bag: “Hi, gege-”

XL: “San Lang, you have your own sleeping bag that you can actually fit in.”

HC: ‘But I’m cold. Gege helps keep me warm.”

XL: “Fine. But let’s use yours because it’s bigger.”

HC, kissing XL’s forehead: “Thank you, my love.”)

On their hikes, XL points to different plants, explaining their origins and why he finds each one particularly beautiful. At first, HC picks up random flowers on the way home and then he asks XL about what flower fate gave him that day to gift his beloved. (“San Lang, that’s not allowed!”) HC eventually stores all the random facts in his mind, always eager to listen to XL talking about his passion. He also learns to keep his hands from digging up “poor, helpless plants from their home soil.”

However, this unfortunately doesn't prevent HC from accidentally squishing some plants in their yard that he thought were just weeds.

(HC, thinking he’s a good partner: “Get out, stupid weeds. CHOP CHOP!”

XL: “SAN LANG STOP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

HC: “Gege always works so hard. I just wanted to help you in the yard today because you deserve it.” 🥺

XL: *sigh* “I appreciate the gesture, San Lang. But those particular grasses took months to grow, and you just killed them-“)

***

Countless media outlets try to stir up trouble like they typically do with celebrities. Especially when HC has roles that involve romance, articles claiming HC and XL are on the brink of breaking up receive lots of attention. However, what gains more attention are the videos the couple posts on Youtube or Instagram live of their reactions to their “scandals.”

(XL, reading a headline: “Actor bachelor Hua Cheng and co-star Yushi Huang seem to be cozying up after a late-night shoot.’”

HC: “I’m not a bachelor, the fuck?”

XL, smiling: “You could be. Me as well. We can be bachelors together.”

HC, chuckling: “All right. If gege is, then so am I.”

The comments: “That doesn’t make any sense!?”

HC, reading another headline: “HC’s lover found with a mysterious third party??”

XL, exclaiming: “Oh, that’s Shi Qingxuan! You know, the designer for all our red carpet outfits!” 🥰🥰

HC: *nodding along*

XL, cheekily: “-and my secret second-lover”

HC: *blanches* “What.”

XL: “Kidding!!!! San Lang is the only one for me, hehe.” *kisses HC’s cheek* “Okay, next one!”)

Everyone watching the videos is 50% confused and 50% entertained as HC and XL make light of any drama the media portrays them in. Viewers accept that of course, the rumors aren’t true; HC and XL are still very much in love.

They’re in love with each other and will continue falling for many years to come.

***

HC doesn’t like watching himself on screen. However, he does enjoy previewing his own movies for the first time with his boyfriend.

While XL watches the new movie, HC observes XL’s reactions. It helps that XL is a conversational movie watcher too. XL’s narrations consist of horny comments during the sexual scenes (“Ooh, that’s hot. Nice tongue.” “Thank you?”), side remarks about the plot and characters (“San Lang, your character is very rude.” “...”), and dramatic reactions to the huge reveal scenes where HC becomes a human punch bag. (“Oh my goooosh, San Lang!! It was him all along- AHH!!”)

As a perfectionist, something you have to be in HC’s field of work, HC is incredibly self-critical of his performance. Which is another reason why it’s nice to have XL watch alongside with, who never has a shortage of praises for his boyfriend.

(HC: “Fuck, why did they leave this shot in the final? I’m supposed to be mourning for my dead lover but instead, I look like I’m crying out of daddy issues. Why did no one tell me!? It looks so bad-” *pointing to himself on the screen* “-stop looking so constipated-!”

XL, squeezing HC’s nape and massaging his shoulders: “San Lang, no one thinks that except for you. You did everything perfectly. Please acknowledge your hard work and just enjoy the movie.”

HC: *sigh* “You’re right. Okay. Thanks, gege.”

A beat of silence. HC cuddles closer to XL.

HC: “Love you.”

XL: “Love you too.”)

***

XL now knows HC’s movies well enough to quote HC’s lines in his movies to make him laugh. HC happily indulges him, questioning after breaking character, “Gege, are you sure I’m the actor out of the two of us?”

One time, HC and XL are in their kitchen re-enacting a scene with HC as the investigator going to a bartender for more information on his suspect. HC has XL caged against the counter, asking in a teasing manner, “How can I repay you for your help tonight?”

XL lowers his eyelids, looking up through his lashes, flawlessly depicting his character. “Any restrictions on your offer?”

“No, darling. Name a price, a brand, a desire. Right now, anything is on the table,” HC says huskily. XL slyly bites his lip.

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

XL brings a hand up to cup HC’s jaw, then smooths it down his neck, traveling down his bare chest. XL tilts his head to expose his neck, wanting to build up his boyfriend’s anticipation. But before he can say his next line, HC effortlessly throws XL over his shoulder like a bag of rice.

“San Lang, wait, this is not how it went in the movie!” XL shouts, a little dizzy from the sudden lift turning him upside down. HC takes long strides to their bedroom, plopping XL on their mattress and blanketing him with his larger frame.

HC only utters a husky “we’re improvising” before diving down to devour XL’s lips. XL’s arms hook around HC’s neck, holding him impossibly close.

***

After a filming shoot where HC’s character gets beaten up–HC performing his own stunts–he heads home beyond exhausted. He just wants to take a relaxing shower and cuddle his boyfriend in their warm bed.

HC arrives at their house a little past midnight. He opens the door and finds XL’s back facing him, quietly humming a song as he takes care of the vase in the living room. The sight makes HC smile.

However, as XL turns around, the vase slips from his hands and explodes into pieces on the ground.

“San Lang! What happened to you!?” XL cries out, the panic in his voice only comparable to the day he had confessed. HC stands in the doorway confused. Was something wrong with his appearance?

XL is on him in an instant, his pupils shaking as he frantically asks, “Does it hurt a lot? What happened!?”

HC blinks, expression blank as he still doesn't understand what has freaked XL out. But as the shorter man gently caresses HC’s face, it suddenly hits him.

The make up!

HC urgently starts rubbing the fake bruises off his face. “Gege, I’m okay! It’s just make up, none of this is real. See?” He holds his hands out for XL to see as the pigment stains HC’s palms. “I’m so sorry! San Lang is dumb, he didn’t mean to make you worry,” HC murmurs as he takes XL between his arms. He really loves this man too much.

XL’s teary eyes shine glimmer as HC embraces him. “Y-you’re sure you’re okay?”

HC nods, leaning into the slender hand that cups his cheek.

“Thank goodness,” XL breaths out as he buries his face into HC’s neck. His next words are slightly muffled. “It looks…so realistic.”

“Yeah, the make up artists are all quite talented, aren’t they?”

XL clings tighter to HC.

“Very much so. Let’s shower so we can properly wash it off.”

“All right,” HC says. “Wait, we?”

XL tugs HC toward the master bathroom.

“Hush, let’s go.”

***

They lay in bed together after four long months of separation. Both of them had been in different parts of the country; HC filmed a drama series while XL traveled for several high-profile projects. Their respective busy work schedules limited communication to brief video chats and text messages, which never seemed enough.

Now, with his head resting on HC’s chest, their legs overlapping comfortably, XL finally feels like he’s where he belongs.

“Why did you choose me?”

Tactical fingers massage XL’s scalp, lulling him into a serene state of bliss. XL nuzzles further into his boyfriend-sized pillow.

“It’s not like I can choose who I fall in love with, Gege,” HC states with a light chuckle. “But if you want an answer, it’s because you are everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner.”

XL looks up at his boyfriend, mouth forming a shape of an O.

“That simple? Even when we made a deal to have no strings attached?” XL asks. HC groans at the reminder of their initial agreement.

“Yes, which was a dumb decision on my part.”

“I agreed to it too. We were both dumb.”

They are silent for a moment. It’s not the first time they’ve talked about or referenced their insecurities when it came to confessing their feelings. XL’s luck when it came to dating someone who could love him for every part of him was practically nonexistent. HC’s constant grappling for his self-identity and worth rendered most of his relationships superficial. And temporary.

Always temporary.

“I can’t believe you thought I didn’t like your plants though. They’re so pretty. And fascinating.” HC says, breaking the silence.

“They take up half our living room space.”

“So? You work with plants all day. They’re bound to be a part of your personal life as well.”

XL’s heart bursts with a sudden fondness. It’s a wonderful thing to be appreciated for the little things.

“I’m glad you think so,” he says happily. HC hums in response, sending vibrations to where XL’s cheek lays on his chest. “I can’t believe I didn’t know you were a famous actor for the first three months we…”

“Met up for sex?” HC finishes with an impish grin.

“Yes,” XL laughs.

“It was nice not to be recognized for once. With you, I could just be myself,” HC says with ease he never thought he would be able to do. He’s struggled with letting himself be vulnerable his whole life. It turns out, HC just had to find the right person. And thank god he did. XL is more than HC’s outlet from his career. He’s become HC’s closest friend who knows him the best; he is HC’s number one supporter in any endeavor he pursues; he makes HC feel important. XL sees and loves HC for who he is. No amount of fame or wealth could come close to comparison.

“Gege?”

“Hmm?”

“Does it ever bother you that my life is always everyone else’s business?” HC softly asks.

“Well, the fame can be a bit…uncomfortable,” XL admits. “But you’re an amazing actor. And a remarkable person. I can’t blame your fans for loving you so much, you know? I also got to ride in a limo-“

“Which you rode very well-”

XL flicks his boyfriend’s forehead.

“You’re so predictable.”

“You would’ve said the same thing given the chance. Don’t lie, gege.”

They go back and forth a little longer, never once creating unnecessary distance between each other as they roll around until they’re on their sides. Facing each other in their bed that’s been vacant for months, HC and XL are inseparable.

“As I was saying, fame is something that comes with your job–your passion. You can’t control it, nor does it solely characterize who you are. Besides, I get to be a part of your life! That’s all that really matters,” XL continues. He shifts forward so their bodies are closely pressed together. XL plants a kiss on HC’s chin, then whispers a confession that tilts HC’s entire world on its axis.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life for someone like you.”

HC’s world spins and spins until all that he sees is his beloved, gleaming brighter than all the galaxies without the power to disrupt their orbit. He wraps his arms around XL and kisses the top of his head.

“Me too, Gege.”

Bonus:

HC watches wearily as XL salivates at a showering scene where HC’s bare ass flashes in the frame. XL turns to HC with a serious look in his eyes.

“San Lang! Hiking has done your ass wonders.”

XL sneaks a grope to a meaty cheek. HC chokes.

***

“You can’t be late to your own premiere!” XL cries incredulously.

“Try me,” HC purrs into XL’s ear, delicately kissing the lobe.

XL gasps as teasing hands roam around his torso, one of them slipping down to cup his behind. He vaguely thinks about how SQX is expecting them in the next hour to help with their red carpet outfits. But when hungry lips attach to the sensitive column of his neck, XL is a goner.

“Gege doesn’t have to do any work. Just lay back and look pretty.”

(Brainchild with @no-one-says-hi!)

#tgcf #heavenly official's blessing #hualian #hualian au #cerdrabbles #fluff #Actor HC #Landscaper XL #fine.

[goodvibesandmemes]

VIDEO GAME MEMES: “Mass Effect” (2007) 🌌💫🪐 ↳ Please feel free to tweak them etc.

Themes: space, violence, weapons, military, technology

“In case you hadn't noticed, this whole place is falling apart!.” “Oh crap, a pop-up!” “You think I'm crazy, don't you?” “Why is it whenever someone says "with all due respect", they really mean "kiss my ass"?” “Exhilarating, isn't it?” “I think we're gonna need a bigger boot.” “You swore to protect the galaxy. Then you broke that vow to save yourself.” “We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure.” “Your mission ends here, [ name ].” “I'm pleased that the imminent destruction of all organic life has improved you career opportunities.” “What is it about you that makes people think we enjoy being in harm's way?” “You trying to make me cry, [ name ]?” “Sometimes crazy is the best way to go.” “Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh.” “You can't handle this.” “If aliens express their opinions at gunpoint, then why shouldn't we?” “Huh. Nobody died.” “You all know the mission, and what is at stake.” “You can't bludgeon your way through bureaucracy, [ name ].” “You must have had some kind of interesting experience.” “Who votes to take the vehicle into the creepy underground tunnel?” “I don't think this is a VI.” “ In the battle today, we will hold the line!” “[ group / name ] can kiss my ass!” “If by "secure" you mean "shoot every monster I see," sure.” “You don't truly believe that. And if you do, I am very sorry for you.” “That never gets old, does it?” “I hate that [ guy / etc ].” “Next time we touch down, let's try not to park the ship in a colony of mutant zombies. Just thinking out loud here.” “[ name ] gave you a compliment, so you hate him?” “Is it madness to see the future?” “I thought you were a hero! Heroes don't do things like this! I wish I'd never met you!” “Don't try it.” “Please tell me you didn't hear that.” “You cannot silence the truth! My voice must be heard!” “I have come to trust each of you with my life.” “You must have family other than your [ father / mother / sibling / etc ]. Don't you miss them?” “They probably just want to keep everything running.” “You’re paranoid.” “Surrender. Or don't. That would be more fun.” “You have the right to remain silent. I wish to God you'd exercise it.” “I could shoot someone if it would make you feel better.” “We're gonna need bigger guns.” “I haven't been shot in the head nearly enough times to make that sound like a good idea.” “Our numbers will darken the sky of every world.” “Yeah, well if you want me in a tin foil mini skirt and thigh-high boots, I'm gonna need dinner first...” “We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed.” “You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.” “We must fight against them as one!” “You don't take much shore leave, do you?” “Let's not start a fight.” “Just because I like you doesn't mean I won't kill you.”

#ask meme #ask box #rp sentence prompts #roleplay sentence meme #sentence starter meme #Ask memes #mass effect ask memes #video game ask memes

[css1992]

Guilty Pleasure

Summary:  Peter and Beck used to be a power couple in the porn industry, but after Beck dumps him, Peter is forced to start over. With no money, no family and nowhere to go, he doesn’t have much choice other than to keep doing porn, so he joins Just4Fans to get back on his feet and then one day he gets a very generous tip from someone under the username of YKWIM. 

All the warnings listed on Part I apply.

Read on AO3

Part I / Part II / Part III / Part IV / Part V /  Part VI /  Part VII /  Part VIII  / Part IX / Part X /  Part XI / Epilogue

-x-

Almost two months after moving out of Beck’s place, Peter was able to rent an apartment in the same building as Ned and MJ. It was tiny, of course, but pretty inexpensive, compared to other options he found around that area. Besides, with the money he made with Just4Fans over those few weeks, he would be able to afford it comfortably for at least a few months – largely thanks to YKWIM. He still planned on saving up as much as possible, so he put a lot of effort into making his account grow and it was working – by the end of April, he was up to five hundred subscribers.

He didn’t check to see what Beck was doing, he was too afraid to look and see him with his new boyfriend, but he got lots of comments from his old fans, who still followed Beck, telling him that the new boy had nothing on him. Again, he didn’t dare to check, but the ego boost was nice, even if he didn’t really believe them. Also, he was down to crying once every two days instead of every other day, so he was counting that as a win as well.

His apartment was still pretty empty, specially because he spent most of his time downstairs at his friends’ place, but he decorated the bathroom and his room to the best of his ability, since they would be the background of pretty much all his videos and pictures. He also bought some new lingerie sets, a few costumes and sex toys he wasn’t even sure how to use, but he was slowly figuring them out.

Aside from decorating his room and the bathroom, he also bought an armchair and placed it by the  window with a couple of pillows. It was a nice spot to spend the afternoon reading or working on his computer. The light in that apartment was great, sunlight streamed right into his living room and warmed it up nicely. As they approached the end of April, the weather was getting better everyday.

Some days, he felt happy. He felt okay with the fact that he was still doing porn and that it wasn’t a terrible crime. Sure, it wasn’t what he had planned to do with his life, but he was young, he would eventually figure things out. For the time being, he needed that gig and he couldn’t beat himself up for it. Also, it wasn’t so bad now that he was only doing solo stuff.

Some other days, though, were just – hard. He remembered all the videos that were still online and he felt awful for the sole reason that they existed. Not so much for the ones he filmed with Beck, he was somewhat okay with those, the guy was his boyfriend after all, they had sex anyway, the only difference was the camera in the room. But the other ones…

When he started filming with other men, it quickly turned into an unpleasant experience for him. He hated every second of it and always ended up feeling guilty, used and disposable at the end of the day. Beck didn’t make it any better with the way he looked at him afterwards as he told him to get in the shower.

He wasn’t entirely sure of the reasons why those videos bothered him so much, sometimes it felt like it wasn’t even him in them. It was like he was watching a different person, he looked at himself and felt completely dissociated from that boy – at the same time, he looked at him and he knew – he knew – exactly what he was feeling when those were shot.

But that was a lot to unpack and he just wasn’t ready for that particular crisis.  

So in short, sometimes he was still a little unsure about how long he would be able to keep his Just4Fans account, because even though most days he didn’t feel too weird about it, sometimes it reminded him of things he preferred to forget. But that was fine, he was usually able to work around that. Also, most of his subscribers were great and didn’t make him feel like a cheap whore, so he had that going for him as well.

YKWIM was one of the good ones. They chatted almost daily, and Peter always sent him exclusive pictures and videos just because. He never posted those pictures on his feed once he sent them to him, it was their little secret. In return, he got his own collection of short videos of YKWIM finishing himself off. He didn’t know much about the person behind the videos, he’d taken to calling him daddy because most of his subscribers seemed to like it and YKWIM never complained, so it stuck.

Peter did know he lived in New York – which made him shiver – and that he was a businessman of some kind, but he also always talked about a workshop, so Peter wasn’t sure and he avoided asking personal questions. He worked most of the day and into the night, they usually talked when it was late, always around two in the morning.

He traveled a lot, too, and sometimes sent Peter small clips of his hotel rooms or the view from his balcony. In return, Peter sent him pictures of his messy bedroom and the horrible view from his window as a joke. It was nice talking to him, he always made Peter laugh – and then it often ended with a very satisfying orgasm that put him right to sleep, which was awesome.

Peter estimated YKWIM was older than Beck, but not by too much. He clearly had a fit body, which at first led him to believe he was in his thirties, at most; but he noticed YKWIM sometimes talked about the 80’s like he lived them, so he had to be at least in his forties, but Peter couldn’t be sure. He really wished he would show his face, though, it would be nice to have one to fantasize about. But then again, maybe it would ruin the whole thing.

One afternoon, after Peter spent hours taking pictures, shooting videos and editing them so he could post them over the following week, he got a message from YKWIM. He hurried to check it and was shocked to see that he had sent him yet another tip – forty thousand dollars this time.

“For you to buy pretty things so you can show them off to me.” Said the message that came with the money.

Peter almost dropped his phone when he saw it. It had been only five weeks since his last insane tip, so that made fifty thousand dollars in just a little over a month. For, like, thirty nudes. Who even was that guy?

“Wow, daddy, that’s way too much!” He added a flushed face emoji, for lack of something better to say. He was honestly feeling a little overwhelmed, even if the guy had millions to spend, there was no way just giving someone that amount of money was normal.

“That’s not nearly enough for what you’ve given me, baby.” Peter’s cheeks burned.

“I’m very flattered, but please, I really don’t think I deserve all this.” He was pretty sure he sounded pathetic, but that was how he felt, so. Yeah.

“Oh, but you do. Trust me, you really, really do. You’re worth every penny.” Peter bit his lower lip, a little unsure and still a little shocked.

“At least tell me what you’d like to see from me, please. Do you have any kinks that you’d like me to perform? Don’t be shy.” He asked, even though it always made him nervous to offer that kind of thing. Sometimes people were just waiting for the perfect opportunity to make the weirdest requests.

But, to be fair, he had been talking to YKWIM for over a month, so he somewhat trusted him not to ask for anything too absurd.  And then again, the guy had just paid him forty thousand dollars.

“Well, if you insist...” Here it comes, Peter thought, bracing himself. “Red and gold are my favorite colors. I’d love to see you wearing them.” Oh. Not what he was expecting at all.

“Done! Anything else? Come on, there’s gotta be something else.” Again, risky move. But again, forty thousand dollars.

“I’d love to hear you. You’re always so quiet in your videos. If you feel comfortable, I’d love to hear you call my name.” The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end at that request. It sounded… almost sweet? It obviously wasn’t meant like that, it was completely sexual, but out of all the wild things he could have asked for, he wanted to hear Peter call his name.

“What’s your name, daddy?”

“Tony.” Tony. Peter tested the word out on his tongue, saying it out loud once, twice. Tony. It suited the image he had created in his head. Tony.

“I can definitely do that, Tony. Anything else?”

“Buy yourself something pretty and send me a picture wearing it. Nothing sexual. Something you’d wear to a date with me.” Peter’s breath hitched. He supposed it was probably just a weird, rich people kink or something, but his mind went wild anyway. Very, very wild.

“I don’t know what I’d wear to a date with you, daddy. Any advice?”

“I like expensive and beautiful things such as yourself, baby.”

Normally, Peter wouldn’t appreciate being called expensive, like he was a thing to be bought, but he felt weirdly flattered by the answer. He promised YKW – Tony – he would send everything he requested over the next few days, and he was actually excited about the whole thing. And of course he knew that feeling was trouble, there were warning signs flashing like crazy before his eyes, but he ignored them and convinced himself that he was just having fun and he was allowed to have fun if he was going to keep doing porn. He didn’t have to feel miserable and guilty all the fucking time. He could – and should! – take some pleasure from it. He deserved it.

So the following day he asked MJ to go shopping with him, but he still didn’t tell her the whole story, he just said it was for his Just4Fans and she readily agreed to go. They went to Victoria’s Secret and Peter told her what he had in mind.

“So, how’s the job going? You’re doing okay? Not too overwhelmed?” She asked coolly as they searched through the panties section.

“Yeah, it’s fine, it’s different when I’m in control, you know? Like, I know my limits and I don’t need to count on other people to respect them. Well, most of the time. So it’s cool.”

Some subscribers were a little pushy sometimes, asking for things Peter wasn’t willing to do and then getting really aggressive after being told no. But it didn’t affect him as much as it did when Beck ignored his boundaries, because those pushy subscribers could be easily blocked, whereas with Beck, well. It was a different story.

“Don’t ever feel like you need to push your limits, okay?” Michelle stopped what she was doing to grab him by the shoulders and force him to look at her. “If you ever feel like stopping, for whatever reason, just do it. No matter what, you’ll always have me and Ned, understand? We’re family, we’re here for you, we’d never leave you alone. If you want to stop, we’ll figure something out together, you hear me?” The way she looked into his eyes made him understand that she really meant every single word of it.

Family. He had a family with them.

Peter felt silly tearing up in the middle of Victoria’s Secret, so he pulled her into his arms and hid his face in her neck.

“Thank you. I needed to hear that,” he muttered, as she squeezed him a little tighter, before pushing him away.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get all teary-eyed on me, come on, you’ll ruin my reputation.” She looked around, sniffing, then stuck her hands in her pockets. Peter laughed halfheartedly, drying the corner of his eyes. “C’mon, there are panties to be bought.”

They spent a couple of hours searching the store, but in the end he found the perfect set. He bought some other pieces, too, for his feed, people had been asking for lingerie a lot lately, after a slightly weird phase of cat ears and tails. Once they left Victoria’s Secret, Peter was nervous because he had to tell MJ at least part of the truth to get her help with the second part of Tony’s request.

“So, listen,” he started and she turned to him, happily sipping her large coffee as they walked down the street. “I have this subscriber. He’s, like, a rich, old dude who always sends me tips and stuff. Anyway, he gave me some money and asked me to buy something nice and pose for him, but like, not in a sexual way. He wants to see me clothed.” She frowned, staring at him suspiciously. “Um. I was wondering if you could help me with that?”

She was silent for a few seconds, just looking at him with narrowed eyes. He looked away discreetly, trying to avoid her mind-reading skills.

“Should I be worried?” She asked, finally. He shook his head and chuckled nervously, waving a hand dismissively.

“He’s harmless, just some lonely, old dude. So, will you help?” He looked at her expectantly. She was still frowning and definitely knew something was up, but she nodded anyway, to Peter’s relief.

“What do you have in mind?” MJ asked and resumed her stroll down the street, Peter had to jog a little to keep up.

“Something expensive and beautiful,” He quoted Tony, like an idiot, because he honestly had no idea what that meant.

“That’s oddly specific and somehow not helpful at all.” She lifted an eyebrow and looked around the busy street. “How expensive are we talking about?”

“I’m not sure. Very?” He answered nervously, and, yet again, she looked looked like she wanted to rip the truth out of him, but she also knew that was not the way to go with him.  

“How much did this guy give you?”

“Um. for – five thousand dollars.” He stuttered. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her the actual amount, because it sounded absolutely insane and she would worry unnecessarily.

“Holy shit!? Fuck, why aren’t I doing porn?!” She screeched and Peter hurried to put his hands over her mouth, because at least three people turned around to look at them.

“Don’t even joke about that, you hear me? You have a bright future ahead of you, don’t fuck it up,” he told her seriously and she looked like she wanted to argue just for the sake of being annoying, but something in the way he looked at her must have made her realize he meant it.

“Chill, I’m joking.” She patted his shoulder and looked away. “So. Five thousand dollars? We can work with that.”

He was a little scared of the weird gleam in her eyes, but followed her anyway.

They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, it was a lot of fun and he even got her a pair of shoes she kept staring longingly at. She was worried they would go over the budget because she wanted him to save some of the money, but he assured her he could afford it. They managed to put together a great outfit that he was very confident about and then called Ned to meet them for dinner in the evening.

Later, they took the subway home and, for a while, he felt like a normal 20-year-old guy – happy, weightless and just a little heartbroken, like everyone was bound to be at some point in life. He was going to be okay, he realized. That thought hit him like a punch in the face and it felt fucking awesome.

He rested his head on Ned’s shoulder with a sigh of relief, feeling the warmth of MJ’s hand on his thigh.

It was around midnight when he got home, which for him was still a little early, he had developed the terrible habit of going to bed well after two in the morning – he blamed Tony, but to be fair, many of his subscribers were mostly active around that time as well. He debated whether or not he should start working on Tony’s requests, he was a little tired from a long day of walking around carrying bags, but also surprisingly eager to show the older man what he got for him.

He took the Victoria’s Secret bag and displayed the new outfit on the bed. It was a simple, but beautiful lingerie set. What Peter loved most about it was the fabric – it was made of deep red satin, smooth and glossy, and it felt simply amazing on the skin.

He decided to try it on, just to make sure it fit properly.

The top was a delicate bralette, two little triangles only big enough to hide his nipples and a little bit of his pecs. It was the perfect size for him, it sat flush with his skin, no unflattering cup gaps. The panties were tiny, Peter wasn’t too sure about those back in the store, he was worried not everything would fit in it. It did, but just barely, but it actually worked in his favor, in his humble opinion. Lastly, he put on the garter belt, which was just a thin piece of fabric that went around his waist, with two straps that hung down to clasp onto two elastic bands that went around his thighs.

Since Tony said red and gold, he also put on a thick, golden choker, just to see how it would look.

Once he was dressed, he went to check in the mirror. He bit his lower lip, running his hand over the fabric that covered his chest. It felt really smooth, and the way it brushed against his nipples sent shivers down his spine. He closed his eyes and imagined it was Tony’s hands on his body. They looked strong enough to hurt, but he imagined they would be gentle with him, as they traced a path from his collarbone to his neck, to wrap themselves around his throat – but not tight enough to choke him, just a promise.

He sighed, as if to check that he could still breath under the pressure, and slowly slid his hands down from his neck, brushing his hard nipples on their way down to the front of the panties – God, it was so smooth...

For some reason, he imagined Tony would be a gentle lover. Maybe it was the way he talked to him, always so charming, all sweetheart and baby, all praise and compliments. Maybe it was the way he never demanded anything, only asked nicely, all please and thank you.  

Tony wouldn’t ruin him, like he promised so many times in those last few weeks, he would fuck him long and slow, raspy voice whispering sweet praise in his ear, rough hands holding him down, hips snapping with each unrelenting thrust.

He bit his lips, knees buckling as he felt the front of the panties getting wet, while his leaking cock struggled to get free.

Well, then.

He grabbed his camera from the closet and positioned it on a tripod in front of the bed, just a few feet away, and programmed it to take pictures every five seconds. He sat on the bed, facing the camera, feet still on the floor, and just closed his eyes for a minute, letting a sigh escape his lips as the fantasy from before filled his mind again.

He spread his legs and his fingers reached down to the front of his panties again. His cock felt impossibly hard, straining against the delicate fabric, dark pink tip peeking out of over the top of the tiny underwear. He touched himself slowly, hips rocking lightly to match the pace of his own hand, as he listened to the clicks of the pictures being taken.

He had to force himself to stop, before he lost control, and moved to kneel on the bed, with his side facing the camera, and lowered his chest until it was touching the mattress, letting his back curve in a sinful arch, head turned to the side, staring right at the lens. At Tony. Imagining what he would do if he were there.

He sat back on his heels and turned his back to the camera, spreading his knees, each of his hands grabbing one ass cheek, pulling them apart, only a thin, barely there strip of fabric hiding his nakedness. He looked over his shoulder and waited for the camera to take at least a couple of pictures.

Next, he laid on his back, side facing the camera again, left hand rubbing one nipple over the silky fabric, as the right one reached down the front of the panties, to finally give himself some sort of relief. He let out an almost pained moan as he wrapped a hand around his cock, pumping it slowly, once, twice, but all that teasing was driving him a little insane.

He knew he should probably take a few more pictures, but he also knew wouldn’t last much longer.

He got off the bed and went to the dresser where he kept all of his “work stuff”. He grabbed a tube of lube and a vibrator that was neither too small, nor too big, it was a size Peter was comfortable with.

He switched the camera to video mode, pressed record and resumed his position on the bed, knees on the bed, holding his lower body up, and chest resting on the mattress. He squeezed a generous amount of lube onto his fingers, pushed the panties a little to the side and circled his hole gently, slowly, because that was how he imagined Tony would do it. Those big, rough hands would have grabbed him by the hips, put him in that exact position, before teasing him mercilessly.

He moaned quietly and closed his eyes, rubbing slow circles around his rim, pressing a little against his entrance, but not hard enough to breach it. He felt his cock pulsing, begging for attention, but he didn’t dare to touch it, not yet.

“Tony, please...” He whined, pushing his hips back against his own hand, he was so lost in his fantasy he almost forgot he didn’t need to beg. Almost. “I need you...”

Gently, he started pushing one finger inside, knuckle by knuckle, he was so aroused he barely felt the burn, just delicious pressure that made his eyes roll to the back of his head. He started fucking himself on his finger, feeling the muscles around it slowly make way.

“’Been thinking about you, Tony…” he rasped out, hips pushing back against his hand. “Can’t stop thinking ‘bout you...” When he felt loose enough, he pushed another finger inside, the stretch becoming a little more noticeable as he slowly scissored himself open. He got on all fours and turned his back to the camera to give Tony a better view, all spread out for him, and kept fucking himself, picking up the pace once just those two fingers weren’t enough. “Fuck, daddy, need you so bad...”

He eased the fingers out of himself, sighing at the loss, and reached for the vibrator that was sitting on the bed and turned to face the camera again. He knelt on the bed and, with one hand, he propped the vibrator up on the mattress, holding it down from behind him, as with the other hand he guided its tip to his already abused hole.

He flicked the switch and it vibrated to life, nudging against his hole before finally slipping in. Peter’s breath hitched at the intrusion, feeling the delicious burn on his lower back, as he moved his hips up and down slowly, trying to push more of it inside with each painful thrust.

“Fuck me, Tony,” he begged, as his free hand finally reached for his neglected cock, pumping it hard and fast, matching the maddening pace his hips set. He lost all sense of rhythm when he felt the tip of the vibrator finally – finally – reach his prostate and he pushed it even further in, until the pressure against the bundle of nerves became too much and he exploded in one of the best orgasms he had had in a long, long time. “Oh, f-fuck!” His vision went dark for a second as he let himself fall back on the bed, wasted.

He spent almost ten minutes just lying there, trying to catch his breath and regain consciousness. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like that, he was boneless, floaty, completely satisfied. It was honestly the best he felt in months.

When his legs stopped shaking, he got up and headed straight to the shower, still feeling a little dizzy and weak, but he wasn’t complaining.

Once he was finished, he debated whether he should just go to bed or send Tony what he had, but with the way he was feeling, he knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep so easily. So decided to send at least the pictures right away, even though it was nearing 3AM. Peter knew Tony was probably up, the man did say that he was an insomniac and that he sometimes went days without any real sleep, so it wasn’t a surprise when he answered just a few minutes after Peter sent them.

“Holy fuck, Peter!!” Peter bit his lower lip, burying his face in the pillow to hide his blush, even though he was alone in his room.“What the fuck, baby, it’s three in the morning, are you trying to fucking kill me?!”

“So you like them?” He asked with feigned innocence.

“I fucking love them, you little tease, these are hands down my favorites yet. I swear I’m gonna have them framed and hung in my workshop and I’ll spend the rest of my fucking days just writing odes to you.” Peter giggled into the pillow, turning on his side to get more comfortable on the bed.

“I bet you say that to all the boys.” He joked lightly, blushing again, which was stupid, but he couldn’t help it.

“Fuck no! You’re something else, kitten, and you don’t even know it.” Peter suppressed a smile, biting his lower lip.

“Are you touching yourself right now, daddy?”

“To be honest, I’m so fucking hard I think I’m gonna come instantly if I even brush my fingers on my cock. I’m literally just staring at the pictures right now and worrying I’m gonna come untouched just from that.” Peter laid on his stomach and bit the pillow, gently rocking his hips against the bed.

“That’s so hot. Can I see it?”

Seconds later, there was a video in the chat. He played it immediately and, sure enough, Tony wasn’t kidding. His cock was rock hard, throbbing, the head was an angry purple, already glistening with pre-cum. Tony was just holding it at the base, not daring to touch it, and the whole thing almost made Peter hard again, but he was really exhausted.

“Fuck, daddy, I really wish I could help you with that.”

“Oh, you don’t even know what I wish.”

Tony didn’t say anything for a few minutes and Peter figured he had gone to sleep, but then his phone beeped, alerting him to another message from him. It was, of course, a picture of Tony’s spent cock, resting against his belly, which was covered in come, so much of it Peter’s mouth watered.

“Was it good, daddy?”

“The best, sweetheart. Thank you. I’m gonna sleep like a baby today.” Peter chuckled. Tony always said that was high praise coming from someone who hardly ever slept and the younger man took his word for it.

“Goodnight, Tony. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Looking forward to it, Pete.”

He knew he was fucked the second he tried to suppress a small smile, but couldn’t.

#starker #peter parker x tony stark

[mobagehelllocal]

“i can hold the world in my hands” ver ii - deuce, jade, floyd & silver

A/N: Hello hello I finally finished farming the FGO event. I’m continuing the “i can hold the world in my hands” series with some self-indulging choices~ I won’t write anymore for this series unless people request for it. For the ones who have sent in requests, please do not worry! I will get right on it since that will be my next writing priority~! :)

Now! Without further ado~ Let’s get some fluff!

other versions: ver i (dorm leaders), ver ii (this), ver iii (jamil), ver iv (ruggie, rook, lilia), ver v (trey), ver vi (ace, jack, epel, sebek)

--

Underneath his breath, Deuce rapidly muttered out the magical theories written in Riddle’s notes. His brows furrowed, and his mouth, pouted--a soft giggle escaped your lips because you can’t help admire how genuinely adorable he was being. 

You knew about his past--he had already told you that he used to be a delinquent, and that he worried his mother so much so that he wanted to change his image in high school. He was doing his best to be a model student--the type of student he thought, would make his mother proud. It was sweet, and it made you want to cheer him on as much as possible.

You quietly slid a drink his way, just something he can use to refresh himself with--studying magic theory was difficult. It wasn’t exactly for everyone. It was something you couldn’t help with either, because regardless of how much you tried to understand--you had no magic. You would never be able to really comprehend the topic. So, the most you can do was sit by his side, give him a drink and maybe snacks when he looked really stressed.

Seeing the drink at the corner of his eye, Deuce closed the notebook and leaned his head back against his seat.

“My head hurts.” he whined, and you laughed.

“But you’re almost done.” you placed a hand on his shoulder, and he hummed as you rubbed it gently, “just a little more.”

“I might need a break.” he said after a moment of silence, the faintest glitter of mischief in his green eyes was definitely the delinquent in him. You smiled, you loved this about him too-of course.

“Hm...” you tapped your lower lip, “then let me tell you a trick I learnt back home.”

He tilted his head in interest, and you shot him a grin.

“Did you know, I can hold the world in my hands?”

“What?” he gaped, you chuckled at his expression--leave it to Deuce to actually believe you meant it--literally. “Wait, how? Like is it magic? But no it’s not magic, you don’t have magic--so wait how does that work--”

Your hands land on his cheeks, and you squished his face.

“What are you doing?” he shot you a quizzical look.

“Holding the world.” you winked. He stared at you confused.

“I...” you tilted your head, patiently waiting for him to respond. “I don’t get it.” he said finally, and a snort slipped out of you, followed by a guffaw. In fact, you’re so amused, you begin to tear up, and your hands slip away to cover your mouth.

“What? Why are you laughing Prefect? I really don’t get it!” He had a genuinely frustrated expression on his face, and it makes you laugh even harder.

“Oh you adorable boyfriend of mine.” you pinched his cheeks, and he lets out a yelp. “I mean that you’re my world.”

“Oh.” his eyes are wide, and you give him several more moments to understand what you tried to convey to him. “Oh... you mean... I’m your... that is...”

“Yes.” You nodded firmly, “you’re my world Deuce.”

He stared back at you, genuinely amazed, as heat crawled up his face. “I’m-- that is--eh--you” he shakily cleared his own throat, before his hands moved to cup your cheeks as well.

“You...” his face turned a brilliant shade of red reminiscent to a certain dorm leader’s. “you’re my world too.”

When Ace and Grimm returned to the dorm room bringing even more snacks, they’re met by the sight of the the two of you sitting a space a part, with beet red faces. Ace and Grimm shared an expression of disgust.

“Eww.”

--

When Jade couldn’t entertain you because he was busy doing errands for Azul, or working at Mostro Lounge--he would calmly slip an arm around your waist, and lead you off to relax in his bedroom. He would usher you into his bed, wrap you tight in his blankets, before leaving to go back to whatever he was doing.

So here you were, wrapped snugly in his blankets, blinking slowly as you had just awoken from a brief nap. The door opened, and Jade slipped in with a tray of your favourite drink from Mostro Lounge.

“Good afternoon my flower,” he greeted softly, “did you have a good nap?”

“Mhm... yeah.” You blinked rapidly, trying to shoo the sleep away now that your beau was here. “you spoil me too much Jade.”

“Ohoh... I’ll have to disagree,” his lips curled into that familiar smile that made your heart skip several beats. The same smile that made you fall head over heels for the merman. “I do not believe I spoil you enough.” He gently gave you your drink, and placed the tray down onto the bedside table. You take the straw, and slip it between your lips as you watched him undress his outer layers, at a slow pace. He put his hat down, carefully folded his scarf at the end of the bed, and slipped off his outer blazer. When he looked up, and caught your gaze, his smile widened.

“Oh my. Is there a reason you were staring, my flower?” You felt your whole face flush red at that.

“N-no!” you stuttered out, and his eyes slid shut, making him all the more devious looking.

“Please stop teasing me Jade.”

“I can’t help it. It comes naturally to me.” He chuckled lightly, as he removed his bowtie, and took a seat next to you. He noticed you were done with your drink, and without saying anything, grabbed it, to put on the bedside table. You couldn’t help but pout a little.

“Jade--I want to do something for you too.” ‘Or rather, I wish I could fluster you the way you do to me.’

“Hm?” he wrapped an arm around your waist before he gently pulled you up against him. You basically slackened in his arms, and his smile had a glint of amusement. What people seemed to forget was that as Floyd’s twin brother, Jade gave some pretty great tight hugs too. You could spend all day in his arms if you could.

“This is enough for me, flower.” he said, as he rearranged the two of you to be lying down on his bed--with you halfway on top of him.

“Yeah but... I feel like you’ve given me so much--and I don’t give back a fraction of what you do.” He tilted his head, his gold and olive eyes glimmered with affection. “You can try.” He said, his lips curled. You puffed your cheeks, and he chuckled as he stroked your back, while you buried your head in the crook of his neck.

‘What can I do for him?’ You nuzzled your head. ‘Or rather--I want to him to be flustered. I want him to blush. What can I do?’ Sensing that you were deep in thought, his lips curled even more, before he shut his eyes, waiting patiently for whatever it was you would throw at him. That, was what was fun with you after all. You weren’t very predictable, and it gave Jade a thrill.

When you suddenly moved away from his hold, he opened his eyes, to find you staring at him determinedly from above.

“My my...” his lips curled, “isn’t this a sight I can get used to?”  You feel your flush rise all the way to your ears.

“Jade!” he chuckled in response.

“I do apologize flower.” he quirked his brow. “so what are you planning on doing now?”

You steadied yourself above him and took in a deep breath.

“Jade, do you know I know how to hold the world in my hands?” He arched a fine brow at that. You could tell he didn’t think it was possible, but that he would humor you for now.

“Oh? I haven’t heard about this before.” he looked at you thoughtfully, “how exactly would one go about holding the world?”

When he feels your fingers slide across his jawline, and curve around his cheeks--he blinked in wonder.

His normally heavy lidded eyes went wide, his brows raised, his lips were parted ever so slightly and the slightest rush of pink rose to his cheeks.

Jade--startled and flustered--you had rarely seen such a face.

“I’m holding my world in my hands.” you said, with such a beautiful, tender smile that Jade’s heart instantly fluttered in excitement. His smile bloomed again--except this one wasn’t sly, or amused--but sincere and filled with love. His blush was still there, just the slightest shade of pink--but you can see it--and you couldn’t help but bask in your success.

“Oya... you remain the only one who can surprise me like this.” he chuckled softly, as he reached out a gloved hand to pull your face closer to his. He pressed a soft, but heated kiss on your lips. Once he pulled away, you regarded him with a pink face.

“How cute.” he muttered, and the next thing you knew--was that he flipped your positions.

“Jade!” you squeaked lightly, and he smiled in response. With his bigger frame, it was easy for him to grab both of your hands and keep them beside your head. Meanwhile his other leg moved between your thighs. “Jade!” your breath hitched in response, and this time for sure--there was a very satisfied smirk on his lips.

“I do apologize my flower, but I couldn’t help myself with you being as cute as you are.” He leant down to kiss your forehead, then nose, cheek and finally lips. “Won’t you show me cuter expressions?”

“--!”

“Yes,” he mused “just like that...” he trailed off as he moved to kiss you once more.

--

When you enter Mostro Lounge in search of Floyd, you’re immediately greeted by Azul.

“Ah, you’re here.” Azul nodded in acknowledgement, “Floyd is... having one of his terrible moods...”

“Say no more.” Azul breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the Witch of the Seas that you were always willing to reign in your boyfriend--especially when Jade was out, busy. “I’ll handle it. Is he in his room?” When he gave you an affirmative nod, you went on your way. The Octavinelle students parted around you--all shooting you thankful expressions in the process.

You knocked gently on his door, only to hear incoherent grumbling. You giggled to yourself, pushed open the door, and playfully peeked in. Floyd was hidden underneath his quilt--making it look like there was a huge mound just shifting around on the bed.

“Azul go away.” the mound shook, and you almost let out an ‘awww.’

“Nope~” you said in a sing-song tone. “Guess who?”  

The mound paused, before Floyd’s head peaked out of the covers. The lifeless frown on his face immediately turned into a smile often reserved only for you. Your heart melted at his change of expression, and the gleam of adoration on it--but you also felt a little sad, it’s not as bright as it normally was.

“Shrimpy!” He quickly sat upright, and opened the blanket in invitation. With a smile, you took off your shoes, before Floyd impatiently pulled you into his arms, and underneath the blanket. He repositioned the two of you so that you were sitting on his lap, with your legs wrapped around his waist, his arms around your own waist, and his face nuzzled into your neck. You could also feel the way he wrapped the blanket around you, and the following squeeze he gave.  

“Hello Floyd~ how are you?”

“Better now that you’re here.” was his muffled reply, and you felt your face warm.

“Why, did something happen?” You felt him shrug.

“Nothing. Just sad.”

“Aww.” you reach up a hand to brush through his hair, and he hugged you tighter in response.

‘How could I cheer Floyd up?’

The thing with having Floyd as your boyfriend, meant that you often had to come up with different ways to cheer him up. Often, a method you used once wouldn’t work twice. The one method that always worked was if you submitted yourself to his cuddles for as long as he wanted.

The reason you came up with different methods was--

Well.

You loved him. Truly. Even if you knew it was normal for him to be as moody as he was--you never wanted to see Floyd sad. So you were always just willing to come up with ways to cheer him up.

‘So what could I do...’ While you were thinking, Floyd rubbed his cheek against yours absentmindedly, and your eyes widened in realization. ‘I can do that!’

“Floyd, baby, can you look at me?”

“Hngh...”

“Come on, just a second okay?” you coaxed gently, until he pulled back and stared at you with a confused pout.

“Shrimpy... why... I want to keep cuddling...” he whined softly.

“Listen to this Floyd.” You slid your arms away from his waist, at which he made a mournful noise that broke your heart.

“You know, I can hold the world in my hands.”

“I don’t care.” his pout grew severe as his hold on you tightened.

“Come now, let me at least show you how I can do it--then we can go back to the cuddles.”

“... Fine... just so we can cuddle fas--”

When he feels your hands slip to cup his face gently, he stared at you in surprise. Your eyes grew tender as he finally met your gaze.

“There we go. I’m holding the world in my hands.”

“Shrimpy...” he stared at you, awed, ‘for you to think this of him... he feels....’

‘He feels.’

His face lit up with the big smile that you’ve come to so ardently love.

“And there’s the smile I love!--” you let out a yelp when you’re suddenly tackled down onto the bed.

“Floyd?”

Floyd looked down at you, and you gulped a little at that gleam of mischief in his two-toned eyes and that slight curl on his lip...

“I too~ Will show Shrimpy... how important you are to me...”

“Wait--mhm!”

“Mhm~ I love you too Shrimpy~”

--

Silver was asleep again.

You smiled wryly to yourself, as you carded your fingers through his hair. When he hadn’t picked you up after class, you knew you’d find him here--in this meadow. His last class for today was flying, with this meadow being at the midpoint between the field and your classroom. This wasn’t the first time he hadn’t shown up to pick you up, only to have fallen asleep here.

You were always worried about Silver--worried about where he might accidentally fall asleep, and in the chance he gets endangered by it. You tried not to--after all, you knew he was a knight, and how well he did his job when... well... when he was awake.

Whenever you conveyed your worries to Silver, he always dismissed it--saying that he had gotten used to it, and that he had never gotten in danger before.

But what was he expecting? For you to be able to completely stop worrying?

You cared about him very deeply--after all, you loved him.

So you did what you could do given the circumstance--you tried to see him as often as possible. Just to make sure he was awake. He had originally raised a brow at your sudden... well... clingy tendencies... but all in all didn’t seem to be suspicious.

Lilia knew though, and the old man laughed.

“He really should stop making you fret... it’s not very knightly of him.” Lilia’s smirk revealed the tip of his fangs.

“It’s really not because of the sudden sleeping,” you confessed, “either way, I’ll always be worried for him...because...” you flushed red, and Lilia’s smirk widened. “I really do love him.”

“It makes me happy to see you so devoted to that child.” he mused. “I genuinely am... but”

“But?”

“But little one, you really should explain it to him--your worry that is.”

“I’ve tried Lilia.” you frowned, “I can’t seem to get it across to him.”

“I’m certain you just haven’t tried everything you can do.” he gestured for you to lower yourself so he can pat you warmly on the head. “Why don’t you tell him how important he is to you?”

“I’m sure you can do something about our Silver.”

You idly wondered how to go about Lilia’s advice, when you noticed movement on your lap. You looked down to see Silver’s pale, tangled lashes flickering ever so slightly.

“Good morning Silver...”

He blinked blearily up at you.

“Ah... did I... fall asleep?”

“Mhm.” you hummed, his eyes slipped shut again.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” ‘I’m used to it.’

“Your lap is comfortable.” he murmured, and the light flush that had already been in your cheeks since you decided to put his head on your lap--darkened considerably.

“Why don’t you tell him how important he is to you?”

You weren’t very good at serious things, but maybe that played a part in why Silver didn’t really understand your worry.

“Hey... Silver?”

“Hm?”

“Did you know... I could hold the world in my hands?” His nose scrunched up, and he opened his eyes to gaze up at you.

“Is that... possible?”

“Yeah.” you hesitated as you stopped stroking his hair. “can I show you?”

He nodded his head as well as he could from his position when he felt the way you place your palms against his cheeks. His eyes widened as he stared into your own glimmering ones.

“You’re my world, Silver.”

He exhaled at that, and he momentarily shut his eyes in irritation at himself. ‘I’ve made her needlessly worry about me, haven’t I?’

“I... I don’t know how much I can promise you.” He started, “Lord Malleus... even my old man... they don’t fully understand my condition but... I’ll try to stay awake more.”

“If you can’t... can you sleep in a more crowded place? Like maybe where people will see you at least. So they know where you are.” He blinked at your suggestion before he nodded.

“I think I can do that.”

“That’s good.” you sighed in relief, and just as you were about to move away, Silver reached for your own cheek. He stroked it, before he guided your face closer to his own.

‘From this angle--’

“You know, from this angle...” he smiled very gently, and you felt hot, all the way to the tips of your ears. He was so beautiful--his features so delicate--he was like a prince. “All I see is you. You’re my world to you know?”

His grip tightened, and he used his other elbow to slowly raise himself to give you a light feathery kiss.

--

#aiwrites #aiscenarios #twisted wonderland #twst #twst scenarios #twst deuce #twst jade #twst floyd #twst silver #jade??? my favourite??? *dodgy eyes* where'd you get that idea... #what's this??? the leech twin stories take place in their bedroom??? #nothing suspicious at all i assure you #its just soft warm cuddling here friends #silver's got slightly angsty by accident im sorry #*innocently sips iced chocolate* #ai twst hold series

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Paralles | Chapter 10

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist! | Parallels Masterlist

Characters: OC! Violet Grace Dawson, Luke Patterson, Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, Flynn nolastname, Willie nolastname, Nick Danforth-Evans, Dirty Candy 

Guideline: Sunset Universe is the universe in which Sunset Curve is famous and Violet is friends with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. Candy Universe is the universe in which Dirty Candy is more famous and Sunset Curve has broken up. 

Song(s) used: Boy Bye - Emma Bale

Warnings: I wrote this after watching Ginny and Georgia, so.... I added Marcus Baker as a character don’t @ me. Minor anxiety. 

Words:  4,231

The second Violet woke up the day after her date with Luke, her phone started ringing. Glancing down at the screen, Carrie’s picture smiled back at her. Violet chuckled, not surprised that the girl was FaceTiming her at this moment and immediately picked up. 

Before Violet could even greet her best friend, the blonde girl attacked her with the important question. “How was it? Tell me everything!” 

Violet chuckled as she sat down on her bed with the phone angled in front of her. “It was so amazing! He took me to this fancy Italian restaurant called “Figurati Italia”, which I’m pretty sure means “Imagine Italy”.” She sounded dreamy and resembled a lovesick puppy. It scared Carrie a little as the girl droned on and on about how chivalrous and amazing Luke had been on the date. 

“He did say something about a blind date you guys had set us up on…” Violet continued after minutes of dream-talk about the date. “What’s that about?”

Carrie swallowed harshly. Being reminded of that mistake made the guilt well up in her stomach. “That was – uhm…” She searched her brain for the right words. “Violet – other Violet – was so in love with Luke and the boys knew Luke had a minor crush on Violet too, or at least they thought he did. So, we set them up on a date, before the whole Sunset Curve thing blew up. When they realized what we had done, Luke kinda laughed in her face and told her he’d never date her…” 

Violet’s jaw dropped. “What an asshole!” she snarled. “And you let me go out with him?!”

“I’m sorry, Vi! But this is different, this is – this is to get you back!” 

Violet chuckled, her second of anger switching out into worry. “And what if that’s not how we get me back?” 

“Then we’re just gonna have to find another way and in the meanwhile, get you used to this universe?” Carrie suggested. Her stomach felt weird in that moment, like a bad omen, a foreboding that something terrible was going to happen. 

The brunette girl nodded her head slowly, trying to wrap her mind around the idea of being here. Forever. She wasn’t the Violet that used to live here. She was nothing like her. Or at least, she didn’t think she was, judging from the stories she’d heard. People would notice, at some point that she wasn’t who they knew her to be. There had to be a way to mislead them. To learn to be the Violet they knew. 

“Do you know if Violet had some sort of diary? Just so I can get a sense of what she was like, how her brain worked and stuff?” 

Carrie pondered over it for a moment. “She did have this songbook she used to write her songs and thoughts into? I believe she hid it in her nightstand.” 

Violet immediately dove towards the white nightstand and opened the first drawer, finding a bright blue fake leather notebook with ‘VGD’ embossed in gold on the front. 

“I found it…” 

Curiosity rose within both girls. Carrie had never been allowed to look into that unless it was a song Violet was willing to share. Though she knew there was more in there than she was allowed to see. Violet’s biggest secrets, her deepest thoughts. They were all stored in there and now, the girls were granted a free pass into Violet’s mind. 

“What’s in it?” Carrie asked. 

“Songs, mostly,” Violet replied as she browsed through the notebook. She halted at a song titled ‘Homesick’ and as her eyes scanned the lyrics, she could feel every single feeling her parallel self was feeling in that moment. Her eyes halted at the date that was scribbled at the very top of the page. “Care… Around what time did you set her up with Luke on that blind date?” 

“Uhm…” Carrie hummed as she pondered about the question. “I’d say around March 2018 or something.” 

Violet’s heart dropped. “Huh…” 

“What?” Carrie asked. 

“I think Violet may have written a song about him,” she mumbled, but Carrie heard her, loud and clear. “It’s kinda heartbreaking…” Her fingers traced over the stains of run-out ink. Violet had been crying while writing this song. “Luke’s an asshole…”

“That’s no news,” Carrie scoffed. 

Violet stared at the paper while the gears in her brain started doing their work. “He needs to pay for what he did… He needs to pay for breaking that poor girl’s heart.” 

“And how are you gonna do that? He’s so self-absorbed and obsessed with his fame, he won’t even notice you’re trying to make him pay for what he did…” Carrie reasoned, but to no avail. Violet was already plotting the perfect scheme in her mind. 

“Vivi,” her mother walking into her room made her snap out of her train of thought. “Can you go to the store for me, please? I forgot the feta cheese for dinner tonight.” 

Violet rolled her eyes at her mother. “Of course, ma, I’ll go in a minute.” 

“Don’t call me ‘ma’,” her mother frowned. “And get outta bed, it’s past noon!” 

The girl managed a smile. “Sorry, mom. I’ll go in a minute.” 

Her mother shot her a smile before turning on her heel and leaving her daughter’s bedroom, letting Violet and Carrie to their conversation. 

“I hear there’s a super cute new bag boy in the store around the corner,” Carrie informed with a smirk. “Total cool guy. Guitarist and has a motorcycle.” 

“Huh,” Violet hummed as the gears in her brain started working yet again. “I do have a thing for guitarists, don’t I?” 

“That you do,” Carrie agreed. 

Violet chuckled before saying goodbye to Carrie and getting off her bed. After throwing on some fresh clothes and doing her makeup, Violet left the house for the store with the scheme unfolding in her brain. The new bag boy would be the perfect pawn in her plan. 

Though, when she entered the store and laid her eyes on the new bag boy, she didn’t expect him to be this gorgeous. His sharp jawline and high cheekbones, along with the perfect swoopy brown hair was enough for her heart to nearly burst out of her chest. 

“Fuck,” she muttered and made her way towards the cheese aisle. With her mind set on the pretty bag boy, she searched the shelves for the feta cheese and once she had found it, she reached for it. Being in such a rush, however, caused her to take the packet behind it with her, causing it to fall to the floor. “God dammit, stupid cheese,” she groaned to herself as she bend down to pick it up. 

A hand bumped with hers as she reached for it, and, when she looked up, she stared straight into Pretty Boy’s light brown eyes. Violet swore they stared right through her soul, baring every little piece of her. 

“What’s the cheese done to you?” he asked, chuckling as the two of them got up again, both holding the cheese. 

She regathered herself from the impact the boy had on her ovaries and flicked a strand of hair out of her face. “It did what I want you to do.” She confidently said, her lips slightly parting as it had always been one of the many tricks she had up her sleeve. 

Pretty Boy’s eyes skidded from the left to the right, trying to figure out what she meant. 

Smirking, Violet wrapped her hand tighter around the cheese and, as he was still holding it, pulled it closer towards her, pulling him along until his face was inches away from hers. “Fall for me,” she whispered before letting go and pushing past him. 

“You got plans tonight?” he shouted after her. 

Violet smirked and turned around, glad her plan was working. “Yep, I’ll be at Red and Blue tonight,” she told him, hoping he’d get the hint. Judging by the smirk that lifted his plump lips, Violet knew she was winning. 

“I’ll see you there then.” 

And the boy managed to keep his word. That night, when Violet was at Red and Blue with Julie, Flynn and Carrie, the Pretty Boy showed up too. Her breath hitched in her throat as she noticed him approach her. 

“You didn’t,” Carrie gasped in Violet’s ear. 

“I did.” She smiled at the boy. “Hey,” she greeted when he was close enough. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” he teased as he reached for her hand and kissed the back of it like a true gentleman. “I never got your name.” 

She went on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his ear. “Violet Dawson,” she introduced herself over the loud music. 

“Marcus. Marcus Baker.”  The two of them smiled at one another, causing Violet’s world to stop spinning for just a moment. “Wanna dance closer to the DJ? The atmosphere’s always better there.” Violet bit down on her lower lip as she nodded her head in response. Marcus then led her through the sea of dancing people, holding on tight to her hand. 

As the two danced together to the music, Violet noticed Luke walking into the club with his bandmates closeby. His eyes skidded across the crowd and halted when they met Violet’s. He hadn’t even noticed who she was dancing with until he had approached them. 

“Hey,” he said, “Who’s this?” 

“Marcus,” Pretty Boy introduced himself with a smile as he reached his hand out for Luke to shake, which the rockstar completely ignored. “Okay…”

“You wanna get out of here?” Luke asked Violet, cocking his head towards the door. 

Violet’s eyebrows knitted together, “I’m actually having fun, Luke. I’d rather stay.” She looked up at Marcus, shooting him a quick, apologetic smile. “But you can go if you’re not having fun.” 

“Oh, uhm… No, I’m staying. You want something to drink?” he asked instead, and Violet could tell he was getting a little nervous. 

“Sure. You want something, Marcus?” 

Marcus hummed and grabbed Violet’s hand again before guiding her towards the bar, leaving Luke to trail behind them. 

“When were you gonna tell me you had a boyfriend?” Marcus asked, his lips pressed to her ear to make sure only she would hear. 

Violet chuckled. “Oh, he’s not my boyfriend. We went on like one date and I think he’s desperate for another, but I’m not really that interested.” 

“Ah,” said Marcus, nodding his head. “You need me to make sure he knows that?” 

Violet smirked. “No, I’ve got another idea for that.” She said and confidently made her way to the stage. Marcus watched as she walked, his lips turned up into a smirk. 

She grabbed the microphone on the stand and cleared her throat before nodding at the band, telling them to start playing the song. While the upbeat, bass-driven music chimed through the venue, the girl started swaying her hips before starting to sing with her eyes focused on Luke. 

“You thought I'd worry That I've made the wrong decision But I'm moving on way faster than I thought I think I've grown out Your destructive efforts Still you're holding on to all the things we loved”

A soft, yet distinctive guitar riff chimed in at the pre-chorus and when she looked up, she found Marcus next to her with a guitar in his hands and a smile on his face. 

“You want me to come back Like I want you anytime Now I'm here with somebody Now it's the sad boy you play out And again I'm falling Yet again that's no surprise Thought I left it behind”

Having Marcus there gave her the confidence to really go for it on the chorus. She started moving her hips to the music while singing the lyrics to Luke, who stood near the bar, watching her and Marcus like a hawk. 

“But I don't want this You think I want you back But I'm so over this Boy bye And I'm not homesick You think I want you back But I'm so over this For now?”

The music went back to its bass-driven core and while Violet focused on Luke at the back of the club, Marcus couldn’t keep his eyes off of Violet as she sang. From the moment they had met, he had found her interesting. She was this overly confident, attractive woman and it intrigued him. He wanted to know what she was compensating for. 

“Friends keep asking why we're not together So I guess you haven't told 'em what you did Oh You may be sorry It's not better late than never And I think this time I'm glad we called it quits”

As even Marcus grew more confident on the guitar, Violet made her way over to him and leaned on his shoulder. This action made him look up. Neither of them could hide the smile crawling to their lips as their eyes locked. 

“You want me to come back Like I want you anytime Now I'm here with somebody Now it's the sad boy you play out And again I'm falling Yet again that's no surprise Thought I left it behind”

She stepped away from Marcus again and for a few seconds, kept eye contact with him until she got lost in the music and let herself go during the chorus. 

“But I don't want this You think I want you back But I'm so over this Boy bye And I'm not homesick You think I want you back But I'm so over this For now?”

Her eyes landed on Luke again to see his reaction on her performance. She didn’t like what she saw though. He looked at her in the same way he had during their dinner. The literal embodiment of the heart eyes emoji. It frustrated her, but it didn’t distract her from the song. 

“But we gotta stop the playing round The playing round For Gods sake Oh we gotta quit the playing round It's more than we can take Oh we gotta stop this playing round The playing round For Gods sake Oh we gotta stop the playing round It's more than we can take”

“But I don't want this You think I want you back But I'm so over this Boy bye And I'm not homesick You think I want you back But I'm so over this For now?”

Marcus took Violet’s glance his way as a sign to really go at it on the guitar and show off a little. It did seem to impress her as she turned towards him, giving him that same smirk she did in the store. 

“But I’m so over this Boy bye And I'm not homesick You think I want you back But I'm so over this Boy bye Boy bye”

She let out a very last hum as the band stopped playing, Marcus included. The crowd then burst out into applause and even the guitar boy next to her clapped for her. Her cheeks heated up whilst she locked eyes with him. 

“I didn’t know you could sing,” Marcus said, placing the guitar back where he found it. 

Violet shrugged. “Didn’t know you played guitar.” That was a lie, Carrie did tell her that, but it was the right thing to say as it caused Marcus to bare his pearly white teeth that nearly caused Violet to get a heart attack. 

“That was hot,” Luke grunted in her ear when she and Marcus approached the bar for another drink.  

Violet furrowed her eyebrows. “You didn’t get the hint, did ya?” she asked and Luke tilted his head a little, the smirk vanishing from his face. “Leave me alone, Luke. Please?” 

“Wha– Violet?” Before he could say anything else, Marcus had already whisked her away to go and dance on the dancefloor with a drink in their hand. None of it made much sense to Luke, but he figured it was just the new way Violet operated. Maybe she didn’t want to be exclusive. Maybe he needed to try harder. 

And that’s what he was going to do. 

Try harder.  

Violet was almost scared to turn up to practice the next day. Luke would probably hate her for rejecting him and it would make everything awkward and weird. It wasn’t going to end well and she knew that. 

When she arrived at the garage, she was proven right. Luke acted cold towards her as soon as she entered the studio and everyone could feel how the warm, comfortable bond they had, had turned ice cold. 

“No, Bobby!” Luke groaned for the nth time that rehearsal. “It’s a B chord, not a C chord! Are you ever gonna get it right?!” His voice was thundering through the garage and it startled each and every person in that room. 

Violet glanced over to Carrie, who furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She hadn’t been informed about the conversation Violet and Luke had had the other day, but she could tell something had been off about the two since rehearsal started. 

“Luke, calm down!” Alex yelled at the lead guitarist. He did know what had happened between the two and he knew Luke was taking it out on everybody else instead of owning up to it like an adult. 

Luke scoffed, “No, Alex! This is exactly why we broke up in the first place! Because we don’t work!” His eyes flicked over to Violet, making her feel like there was a different layer to that sentence. They wouldn’t work either. 

“No, you’re just mad because you got rejected!” Alex fought back. At least someone mentioned the elephant in the room. The girls on the sofa gasped and all three of them immediately looked at Violet, who shrunk in her seat behind the piano. 

Luke clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Rub it in, why don’t you?” he muttered before placing his guitar on its stand and gathering his stuff. 

As he started to make his way to the door, Violet got out from behind the piano and ran after him. “You can’t run out of rehearsal, Luke! Come on! Just because I didn’t wanna go on a date with you, doesn’t mean you have to quit the band!” 

“I do though,” he said and turned around. With a few large, but slow-paced steps, he stopped in front of the brunette girl that had broken his heart and hurt his fragile reputation. 

“Why?” 

Sighing, Luke muttered,“Because I joined for you, you idiot.” 

Violet couldn't possibly say anything to that and let Luke walk away again. The feelings she had been feeling for him all this time finally got reciprocated. By a different version of Luke, that is, but still. It didn’t quite matter which Luke said it. She heard it coming from his mouth. The words she’d been wanting to hear for years. 

“I am so sorry, guys,” she breathed, hiding her face in her hands. “This is all my fault.” 

“It’s not your fault, Violet,” Reggie said, shrugging. “Luke’s just stubborn. He can’t take no for an answer.” 

It was supposed to make her feel better, but it didn’t quite. She had ruined any and all chances she had of returning to her own universe just because one version of that guy had hurt her years ago. 

“Can we end rehearsal early then?” Alex questioned, coming out from behind his drums. “I got a date with Willie tonight.” 

Violet smiled. At least that was a thing here. “Yeah, sure. It’s not like we’re gonna be able to perform at Chubbie’s anyway,” she said, shrugging. 

“We’ll get there, don’t worry,” Alex tried to soothe her and placed a hand on her shoulder as he passed her on his way to the door. 

“Yeah, we’ll be ready in time,” Reggie agreed as he, along with Julie and Flynn left the garage, leaving Violet with the Wilsons. 

Violet shook her head, trying to wrap it around what had just happened. “How can we be ready in time when the gig is this weekend?” she mumbled to herself when Carrie wrapped her arms around the girl. 

“I know how to get your mind off of everything,” she said, pressing her temple against Violet’s. “Girl’s night at my place.” 

Violet couldn’t help the smile reaching her cheeks. That did sound like a good plan. The best plan, even. It would keep her mind off Luke and the gig and the whole universe thing. It would calm her nerves and anxieties. 

Or at least, she thought it would until they arrived at the Wilson’s house. A group of girls stood at the front door, angry expressions on their faces and arms crossed in front of their chests. 

“Where have you guys been?” Kayla asked, grumpily. “We’ve been waiting here for over an hour!” 

Carrie squeezed her eyes shut. “Fuck, I forgot about rehearsal…” she muttered. 

“Rehearsal for what?” Violet questioned, unaware of any gigs that were happening for Dirty Candy. Though, judging from Kayla’s shocked face, there was a gig she should be aware of. 

“The gig this Saturday!” she sneered. “A mega-important gig at that!” 

Carrie and Violet glanced at each other, eyes widened in complete horror. The exact same day as the gig at Chubbie’s with the boys from Sunset Curve. As Kayla and the girls started yelling at Carrie and Violet, the latter completely zoned out. She couldn’t hear a word of what was said. All she could think about was how she might be stuck here for the rest of her life if she didn’t perform at Chubbie’s on Saturday with the boys. 

What if they didn’t show up after that humongous fight? What if that wouldn’t be the thing they had to do to get her back? 

The girl’s storming off snapped Violet out of her thoughts, yet she still found herself in some sort of state of shock. Nothing felt right anymore and everything kind of sucked. There was no way she was ever going to survive in this universe if stuff like this kept happening. 

“Vi?” she could hear Bobby’s voice in the far distance. “Are you okay?” 

She coughed, shaking herself back. “Yeah… Yeah. I’m okay,” she clearly lied but the Wilsons didn’t push further and instead took her inside where the girls watched some movies together. 

Within half an hour, Carrie had already fallen asleep and Violet couldn’t bear watching the rest of the movie. Her mind was restless and kept running back and forth over her options and every possible scenario that could happen. 

There was only one thing that could keep her mind off everything. So, she hoisted herself up from the couch and made her way to the music room where she took a seat at the piano. 

Her fingers grazed the keys, letting a soft melody fly out the instrument. A content sigh left her body as she let the music take her away. It felt nice to let everything out of her system. It seemed to be her one and only escape to her from this crazy world. 

“You okay, Vi?” Bobby’s voice shook her out of her thoughts, causing to stop playing the piano. “You seemed a little out of it earlier.” He moved over towards her and sat down next to her. Their shoulders touched and it caused a weird spark to send shivers down Violet’s back. Something she had never felt before. 

“Yeah… Everything’s just… a lot, you know?” Bobby tilted his head, urging her to elaborate. “The switching universes, Luke suddenly being into me, the pressure of being in Dirty Candy…. It’s just – a lot… I’m used to being on my own, writing music with my best friends, but now I’m suddenly supposed to be this whole other person…. It’s exhausting.” 

A single tear rolled down her cheek, which Bobby caught with his thumb just before it reached her lip. The two locked eyes and for a second, Violet found herself drowning in his eyes. She had never noticed how gorgeous they were until now. The dark brown, the slight twinkle that was in them. She had never seen him up close like this. Her eyes took that liberty to scan his entire face. From his eyes to his nose and cheeks to his lips. Before they could move back to his eyes, Bobby closed the gap between the two of them and kissed her, full on the lips. 

Violet was startled, at first, but quickly melted away under his touch, closing her eyes as he deepened the kiss. The kiss lasted longer than it should’ve, but Violet didn’t quite mind. Or at least not until her mind drifted back to Luke and she felt like she was kissing him instead of Bobby. 

This caused her to flinch back. 

“Sorry! I shouldn’t have…. I’m sorry,” she quickly muttered before getting up and running out. 

Though it was a mistake to Violet, Bobby didn’t quite see it like that. If it were up to him, this would’ve happened a lot earlier and could happen a lot more often. He had never admitted it to anyone, but he had been in love with Violet for years. Those feelings had never been reciprocated, so he didn’t act up on them either. Violet was just Violet. Until now.

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TAGLIST |  MASTERLIST | PARALLELS MASTERLIST

#parallels #luke patterson #jatp #julie and the phantoms #oc! violet grace dawson

[aelin-queen-of-terrasen]

You used to bully/mess with me in elementary school and it turned out it was because you had a major crush on me AU for jurdan? I hope its not too "basic" for them

note: In spirit of being cooped up inside my house, I present to you a lockdown fic. 😂 this is totally not what you asked for but hope you'll like it anyway!

Full Masterlist

Quarantine Times

These days, there was little Cardan hated more than online classes.

It was hard enough to focus on the professor's words when there was no one to keep him in line without the added temptation of staring at Jude's screen while she paid attention, her brows drawn together in concentration as her lips pressed in a thin line. He had the face memorised now from how often he stared at her during class or in the cafeteria while she talked to her friends or in the library where she'd read for hours, lost in her own world.

Even at the ass crack of dawn, she looked beautiful. Her face had that concentrated look when she focused on something. Her auburn hair were braided neatly to the side of her head, her dark, half asleep eyes staring at the screen with an intensity as though she was willing the whole screen to explode into pieces. She bit her lip, tucking a strand of her hair back—

"Zoom classes are for studying, not so you can stare at your crush," Dain said, looking up from his phone.

Cardan gave him a hard look but it did nothing to wipe the shit-eating grin from his elder brother's face. He said through gritted teeth and barely restrained temper, "Jude isn't my crush."

His brother looked amused. "Do I look like a fool to you, brother?"

He did. He very much did look like a fool with that smarmy grin and the knowing look Dain sent him. Cardan told him as much but it only made Dain grin wider than before. He patted his little brother on the shoulder. "It's okay to admit you like her, brother. She's smart and pretty, even you can admit that, rivals and all."

But they weren't rivals anymore. They had been once—all through middle school—but there was no fight or bitter feelings on his side, at least. Not since Cardan went and gods-damned crushed on his enemy somewhere between all the unresolved arguements and hurled insults and attempted sabotages and the many, many pranks. She snuck up on his heart that way. He didn't notice she had coiled herself around his head so deep until she was all he thought about. As far as he was concerned, the rivalry between them was resolved.

"But you aren't," Cardan said, pouting at the idea of his brother liking Jude. "Leave me alone, Dain."

Dain grinned again, cooing at him. "Aw, look at you being jealous, brother. Don't—" his words were cut off by the pillow Cardan threw at his brother's face. The other got him in the stomach but he was still laughing, zoom meeting forgotten as he ran around the room, trying to dodge and weave around the pillows and cushions Cardan aimed at him, making a mess of the room in the process.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving," Dain surrendered, running out of the room.

Cardan once again focused on the screen, watching her write whatever it was. His own video was turned off right now and as if his thoughts had directed their teacher's attention towards the fact, the man said, "Cardan Greenbriar, open your video. And keep it open." Cardan watched Jude look up at the screen when she heard his name. Her brown eyes looked prettier when they stared through him (even though she wasn't looking at him but at her screen, it sure did feel like it) and the tense shoulders were drooped now, Jude looking more relaxed than ever.

He didn't realize what she was frowning at until he noticed he had turned screen sharing on instead of video.

Which meant everyone could see the wallpaper in his phone, a photo of Jude at a recent bonfire party where he'd apologized for years worth of pranks and she refused to believe him, convinced that it was some trick. Colour rose to her cheeks and his own ears pounded with warmth as he fumbled with the features on his phone, turning screen sharing off. The damage was done, Jude was looking at her screen with colour rising on her cheeks before she left the meeting.

Nicasia was hiding her smile behind her hand, Locke looked pissed off and Taryn had a surprised, lost look on her face.

Cheeks burning with embarassment, he ignored the looks his friends gave him as he stared straight ahead. Most looked positively scandalised, as if they'd just seen the earth turn upside down or something. He didn't know how he endured through the class but he buried his face in the pillows, groaning loudly in shame.

His phone buzzed, an unknown number flashing across his screen. "Hello?"

"You have me as your wallpaper," Jude said, her voice amused. There would be no mincing words then.

Trying to save face one last time, Cardan reasoned, "Yeah, uh, it was more for the sake of the scenery in the background." He realized his mistake when he saw that the scenery he was talking about was a brick wall that Jude leaned against, laughing as she held a can of beer in her hand while the other rested on her thigh.

Jude said in a teasing tone, "Ah, yes, the background. Beautiful."

He had never known Jude to act like this—this bold and confident and teasing. She always shied away from the simplest of flirting. Perhaps she was more comfortable over the phone? He couldn't fathom another reason why she'd be so willing to talk to him now. He was mortified still.

"I can change it though, I'm about to—I mean, if that makes you uncomfortable. Not that I care what you think," then cursed himself for falling into old habits of insults when he got flustered. "I mean I do care what you think—because you're my friend, of course. Like, we're not friends yet, I know, I know. But I'd like to be. I don't want to make assumptions on who we are. I mean, we hated each other but I don't hate you now. I like you. Like, gods, I don't like you but—"

"Cardan, breathe," her calm voice instructed from the other side. Jude said, "Is that the only reason I'm your wallpaper, Cardan? The background?"

There was no way she believed his lame ass excuse about his background. Jude was too smart for all that, and she had an ability of spotting all his tells from childhood. He instead changed topics in favour of outright lying, "Darling Jude, I've never known you for being bold."

She huffed. "You callin' me a wuss?"

Now that his mortification had somewhat subsided, he heard the slur in her voice. "Jude, are you drunk? At nine in the morning?"

"I saw the wallpaper and panicked. Vivi said I needed alcohol, we broke into Madoc's wine cellar." Laughter escaped her lips.

"Jude, darling," Cardan said, deciding to shoot his shot now, hoping Jude was not the kind of drunk who would forget everything when she was sober again. "Fine. I have you on my wallpaper because I like looking at you. You—You're cute and I, kind of, sort of like you. Like, for a while." If she remembered this later, he'd finally have confessed. If she didn't, then it was his own bad luck. He just had to say it once.

There was a long pause on the other side, followed by a shushing sound. "Don't tell Cardan but I kind of, sort of like him too."

Cardan couldn't stop his answering smile if he tried. "I won't, promise."

──────✧❅✦❅✧──────

tags:

@judexcardanxgreenbriar // @thesirenwashere // @nite0wl29 // @queenofgreenbriar // @jurdanhell // @mysweetvilllain //@clockworkgraystairs // @blog-lady-vi // @the-dark-swan //@storiesandschemes // @fangirltrash74 // @augustintodarkness // @queen-of-glass // @jurdan7 // @aesthetics-11 // @mijaldraws // @hades-flame // @sensitivehighlord // @annejulianneh111 // @b00kworm // @mysweetvillain // @doingmyrainbow // @curlyredqueen06 // @chaotic-fae-queen // @thewickedkings // @thesurielships //@df3ndyr // @clouds-and-peonies // @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln

let me know if you'd like to be tagged. also, if you like this, do share your thoughts! there's little that delights a writer more than validation.

#the cruel prince #fluff #jurdan #jurdan fluff #cardan greenbriar #fanfiction #jude duarte #the folk of the air #tfota #headcanons #jude x cardan #aelin-queen-of-terrasen #queen of nothing #qon #the wicked king #twk

[ericsonclan]

Changed for the Better

Summary: Clementine finds Louis practicing his archery skills and decides to hang out with him.

Word Count: 1758

Read on AO3:

Clementine carefully walked down the staircase of the admin building, making sure her footing was firm on each step. Her fingers brushed against the dusty staircase railing, staying there in case her prosthetic decided to crap out. It wasn’t a common occurrence - in fact it grew rarer and rare with each improved version that Willy made - but still. Clementine knew it was better to be safe than sorry.

After a minute or two she was done with the stairs and on her way to the door. With a heavy push she opened it, revealing the sounds and sights of the courtyard. Willy was busy trying to get some sort of tool back from Garbage who was determined to add it to her little den. AJ was right beside his friend, giving chase and hurling sharp insults at the possum.

“Get back here, stupidhead!”

“Hey, don’t call Garbage stupid!” Willy jumped over some supplies that had been taken out of the basement. “She's just excited about her new den!” The two friends continued to argue as they pushed themselves to the limit to chase the feral creature. The pair did a circle, passing by Omar who was on the watchtower being ever diligent while his mind was consumed with new ways to flavor the food better. Willy and AJ continued the wild chase, sliding under the joined hands of Prisha and Violet who had just returned from fishing.

“Be careful, boys!” Prisha called out to the rambunctious pair who gave thumbs up before going off like shots again. Prisha and Violet shared a look then started up their conversation once more as they passed by Ruby and Aasim who were preparing Molly for a ride. The horse seemed just as excited as them at the thought of a nice ride around the courtyard.

As Clementine wandered down the steps she couldn’t help but smile and feel her heart bubble with warmth. It really was amazing finding a place like this, a home with people she cared about deeply. Her eyes wandered round the courtyard once more in search of her husband. But it wasn’t her sight that drew her to him first but her ears as the steady thunking of arrows appeared to her left. Clementine felt her heart flutter excitedly when she spotted Louis practicing his archery. It took him a few seconds to notice Clementine walking over as his focus was primarily on his shooting. But as soon as he did his face lit up with joy and he placed down the bow to greet his wife with a hug. Immediately his arms wrapped around Clementine and he spun her around once before setting her back down on the ground and planting a big kiss on her cheek.

“Come to see my amazing archery skills?” He gave a playful smile down at Clementine.

“Yep, I need to see if I’m going to be replaced as the master archer around here,” Clementine placed a small kiss on his nose before intertwining her hand with his. The simple gesture filled her heart with excitement even after all this time but it also held a depth of security and safety within it. Clementine knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was happy and safe whenever she was with Louis.

“Uh oh, better not say that in front of Aasim,” Louis grinned and leaned forward, his warm breath tickling Clementine’s ear. “I’m sure he would get his goatee in a twist if he heard a claim that he wasn’t the best archer,”

“Eh, let his goatee twist,” Clementine smirked, causing her husband to laugh.

“Have I told you how much I love you yet today?” Louis swayed their joined hands as he walked back to the bow.

“Only about a dozen times so far. I’ve definitely got some catching up to do today,” Clementine brushed her thumb on the top of his hand, finding herself lost in the brightness of Louis’ eyes for a second.

“Well, you’re gonna be chasing me all day because I’m gonna keep saying it. I love you, my darling,” Louis placed a kiss on Clementine’s hand and looked at her with a loving expression.

“I love you too,” Clementine smiled when she saw how happy those words made Louis. His joy radiated off his face as bright as the sun as his classic dorky smile shone through. Pressing a kiss to Clementine’s cheek he let go of her hand and strode forward, his confidence building as he picked up the bow. Notching an arrow, Louis pulled back the bowstring and steadied his breathing. After a moment he released the string, causing the arrow to go flying and land fairly close to center. Clementine smiled at that; Louis had really improved over all this time. Louis caught sight of her proud smile, making one form on his own lips as he notched the next arrow.

“Speaking of the goateed man, it seems like him and his lady are about to go on a romantic horseback ride together,” Louis nodded back at Ruby and Aasim. Clementine turned around and saw Ruby getting up on the horse before holding out her hand and hoisting Aasim up onto the saddle as well. Aasim’s arms quickly wrapped around Ruby’s waist and the two shared a smile before kissing. Soon they were off, guiding the horse around the courtyard at a casual pace as they spoke soft, tender words to each other.

“Yeah, we should go horseback riding again,” Clementine saw the excitement twinkle in Louis’ eyes and she immediately reacted to that, her nose crinkling with happiness.

“We should, and we’ll still be better than Prisha and Violet on horseback,” Louis took another shot, the arrow hitting a bit closer to the center this time. “Last time they tried to ride a horse it was a disaster,” Louis chuckled at the memory and Clementine couldn’t help but laugh as well. It had lasted all of two seconds before it went disastrously wrong. Although she supposed it couldn't have gone too well considering that with Prisha’s one working arm and Violet’s limited sight they were at a huge disadvantage. Louis seemed to have read her mind in that moment as he spoke his next words. “Prisha is too stubborn to let horseback riding not be a possibility for her and Vi though. She’ll keep on trying until she masters it. Such is the price for being a stubborn romantic,” Louis shook his head good naturedly. He knew that Violet was going to be the same way though; it was definitely a similarity between her and Prisha.

After a few moments the conversation shifted and the couple began to talk about this and that: chores that needed to be done, dreams for improving Ericson, dates that needed to be had. All great conversations but it wasn’t until many, many arrows in that a new topic came up that stuck out. As Louis pulled back the drawstring once more, he said something that made Clementine’s attention pull away from the target.

“Thanks, Clementine,”

“What for?” Clementine focused on Louis who released an arrow then let the bow fall to his side. He looked back with a warm smile. “For inspiring me to change for the better,” Those words made Clementine’s heart warm as she stood frozen by them. Louis turned his attention back to the target and prepared another shot.

“Because of you I finally stepped up and realized that Ericson was a place worth protecting and that I was a person who could do that.” An arrow thunked into the red line right outside the center. Louis slowly notched another arrow. “You made me want to give myself another shot and I did. It took me a while to believe in myself like you did but I got there. Because of you, I became a better version of me,” Louis’ fingers let go of the bowstring and the arrow flew true, embedding into the center of the target. He glanced back at Clementine and noticed that she was making her way towards him.

“Louis,” Clementine took her husband’s hands in hers and gave a tender smile up at him. “You’ve inspired me too. You challenged me, showing me that it's important to enjoy the everyday moments that life brings. It's thanks to you that I’m standing here today, being the person that I am,” Clementine reached up a hand and gently cupped the side of Louis’ face as his eyes shimmered with emotion.  “ You helped me become a better version of me,”

A tear suddenly slid down Louis’ face, making Clementine panic.

“Shit, Louis-”

“No, no, this is a happy tear,” Louis smiled at Clementine before kissing the palm of her hand and placing it back on the side of his face. His own hand pressed against the top of hers as he leaned into her touch. The two of them looked deeply into each other’s eyes before their lips met in a warm kiss. Deepening the kiss, the couple held onto it for a few more moments then pulled apart. Their foreheads rested against each other as the feeling of love flowed through their veins, both of their hearts overflowed with their feelings for each other as they took in this moment. But the moment eventually passed and Louis shifted the topic.

“Did you see that bullseye I made?”

“I did,” Clementine smiled at how happy her husband was.

“Heh, eat your heart out, Aasim. Turns out I am the greatest archer of all time,” Louis grinned as he pulled on the sides of his coat. “I’ll be sure to tell him that at dinner tonight,”

Clementine chuckled at those words. “That’s going to really ruffle his feathers,”

“Especially if you agree with me,”

“Okay, I’ll do it, but I want a foot massage tonight. My foot is really getting sore,” Clementine glanced over at her husband who pretended to be weighing out his choices.

“You drive a hard bargain, m’lady. Deal!” He smiled and shook Clementine’s hand before stealing a kiss. Clementine smiled into the kiss and held Louis close before pulling back.

“Well that’s a new way to seal a deal,” Clementine held a playful smile on her face which Louis instantly mirrored.

“True, but I like it,”

“Me too,” Clementine stole one more kiss then let go of Louis as a new conversation started, both of them falling back into the casualness of conversation as their hearts happily swelled because they were near the one they loved.

#twdg #twdg clementine #twdg louis #twdg ruby #twdg aasim #twdg violet #twdg prisha #twdg willy #twdg garbage #twdg aj #willy aj brotp #clouis #rusim #twdg privet #fanfic

[mischievousmoony]

Doubtful || pt. VI

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Summary: An unexpected team-up between you, a Slytherin, and the proud Gryffindors that go by “The Marauders” causes an unexpected relationship between you and the one and only Sirius Black.

Warnings: none

Masterlist

Part I // Part II // Part III // Part IV // Part V // Part VI

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You and Sirius were conversing merrily when someone grabbed your arm. You tensed up, thinking about how the last few times someone did that ended with you being forced away into an unused classroom.

However, you were pleased to hear, “Y/N! I haven’t seen you all week!” It was just your friend from Hufflepuff, “Where have you been?”

You relaxed, smiling at her and explaining that you were simply busy, leaving out that avoiding a gang of wannabe Death Eaters was the reason.

Meanwhile, Sirius had just made eye contact with his other friends leaving Three Broomsticks. He waved them down with his free hand.

Upon noticing his friend, James started making all sorts of excited hand signals. Sirius had no idea what was going on. He looked to his other two friends for help, but Remus was only standing there with a smirk on his face and Peter seemed to be laughing. It was only when James finally decided to point at something that Sirius got it.

Sirius’ eyes followed the direction of James’ finger to reach his own hand. Intertwined with yours!

Suddenly, Sirius was bright red. He mouths to his friends, “I had no idea!” 

Peter started laughing harder and Remus joins him with some chuckles of his own. 

“What do I do?” Sirius mouths to his friends. James just continues to make obscure hand gestured that Sirius does not understand. While Sirius was trying his best to interpret them, you were completely oblivious to the silent conversation, having been in a discussion of your own.

Your Hufflepuff friend leaned close to your ear and, in a whisper, asks, “So when did you and Sirius Black become a thing?”

“What!?” Your face immediately begins to warm up. In a hushed tone, you say, “We’re not! Where did you get that idea?”

Your friends gaze lowers to something and your eyes follow to find Sirius’ large hand wrapped around yours. 

You gasp, the shade of pink on your face deepening into a red. You open your mouth to respond but before you can a beam of light shoots between you and Sirius, causing you two to break apart. 

“Sorry to break it up, love birds,” a voice that could only belong to Rabastan Lestrange calls out. His voice alone makes your blood boil. 

You and Sirius turn around, wands out and ready for a fight. It looks like detention was over, because all seven of the Slytherin boys stood before you, matching your stance with their wands out as well. 

James, Remus, and Peter were quick to come to your and Sirius’ aid. 

“Well look at that,” you said, “the boyband got over their stage fright.”

Rabastan scowled, “We’re tired of waiting and it doesn’t matter. We can do just as much damage with your fanboys at your side.”

“Aw,” you placed your free hand over your heart, “you’re learning how to talk back! Glad to see I’ve had an impact on you!”

That must have made him mad, because after that he fired the first shot. 

All of a sudden, beams of different colored light were shooting across Hogsmeade in all directions and students and other residents of the village were scattering away to safety. 

The Marauder’s were each in a one-on-one duel: Sirius against Mulciber, James against Snape, Remus against Rosier, and Peter against Wilkes. 

Lestrange and Avery had ganged up on you. You were their main target so they wanted to make sure they had as many people on you as possible.

But that just left one person. The one person in all of Hogsmeade who wasn’t either running or fighting: Regulus Black. He simply stood at the sidelines, watching, wand out but left at his side. 

“What are you doing, Black?” Avery shouted at him after unsuccessfully trying to cast a slippery jinx on your wand, “Don’t just stand there!”

Regulus inhaled sharply. Suddenly, he had a choice. His brother and you or the Death Eaters. There was a pit in his stomach. It seemed that choosing a side in this simple childish fight was more important than it looked on the surface.

If he chose his friends, he wouldn’t be able to turn back. It would be the final straw that if broken would not allow you or Sirius to ever forgive him. If he chose to fight alongside you and his brother, the path he’s been following that made his pureblooded parents oh so proud would be blocked forever. 

That’s why it was so important. After this, he wouldn’t be able to change his mind because there would be no one to go to if he did. 

A part of him wanted to just walk away and forget all of it. To just turn around and walk back up to Hogwarts like none of it was even happening. Maybe he would’ve if it hadn’t been for what happened next. 

“What’s wrong, little brother?” Sirius teased, “Scared your hair gel won’t hold? Or do you just not have the guts?”

Regulus felt the anger build up inside him. For that moment, he didn’t care about what anyone thought of him. He just wanted to make Sirius angry. 

So he shot sectumsempra at Sirius, who luckily used the protection spell at the last second. Sirius looked at his brother wildly. You all have seen Snape use that spell before. If Regulus had been successful...

Your breath hitched. You had been watching Regulus contemplate his next move. You almost thought he would do the right thing. You scoffed at yourself for being naive, but you were still hurt. The hope you had for Regulus had just been taken away.

In your moment of distraction, Lestrange and Avery had the upper hand. At the same time, they each hit you with the knockback jinx sending you flying into the side of a building.

You groaned in pain as they walked closer to you, a menacing smirk on each of their faces.

But of course, Sirius had been keeping an eye on you throughout the whole duel, so he saw these events occur.

As Lestrange and Avery took their time making their way over to you, basking in what they thought was their victory, they gave Sirius just enough time to petrify both Mulciber and his brother and come to your aid.

Sirius jumped in front of you, sliding just a little bit on the mud beneath his feet.

“Look who’s come to try to save his girlfriend,” Avery said patronizingly.

“Not try to save,” Sirius responded, “just save.”

And then just like that, the beams of different colored lights and energies were shooting through the air again.

“This seems a little familiar,” Sirius called between spells, “Don’t you think?”

Sirius brought you back to the first time you met him. The first time he came to your rescue.

“And just like last time,” he continued, “you’re taking too long to get back up!”

You barked a laugh, jumping to your feet at once, “I was just letting you get your exercise.”

“Please,” Sirius scoffed, “Dueling them is more like a walk in the park.”

The duel went a lot more smoothly now that Mulciber and Regulus were taken out of the mix. James, Remus, and even Peter had already gotten the upper hand on their opponents. And now that you and Sirius were one on one with Leatrange and Avery respectively, it wasn’t long before you both dominated the duels as well.

But before you could really finish them off, the fight was interrupted. Everyone’s wands suddenly flew out of their hands. Uh oh.

––––––––––

You couldn’t believe how lucky you were. Walking out of Slughorn’s office, you couldn’t even be mad about your punishment.

You may have been banned from participating in a Hogsmeade weekend for the rest of the year and you may have been given a truckload of detentions, but you honestly should’ve been expelled. A fight like that usually wasn’t taken lightly. Especially since the entire group of Slytherin boys ended up in the hospital wing. So, you walked with a pep in your step, even though you were walking to detention.

Ten minutes later, the pep was gone. You were dragging a cart of books through the library, having been tasked with reshelving them. The books in the cart were completely disorganized and you wouldn’t be surprised if that was on purpose. It would take you all day to make your way back and forth through the library to find the home of all these books. And you had to do it alone... or so you thought.

As you were about to place a book about mandrakes on the shelf you found yourself looking into a pair of light blue eyes. You gasped, startled, and the book slipped from your hand and fell to the ground.

Sirius was smirking at you through the space in the bookshelves from the other side. You were about to shout at him for scaring you, but he put a finger to his lips. You settled for giving him and angry glare.

The Gryffindor jerked his head to the left to gesture to meet him at the end of the aisles and then he disappeared. You abandoned your cart and the fallen book to meet him. 

The first thing you did when you saw him was slap him in the arm, “That’s for scaring me!” 

Sirius hissed in pain, rubbing his arm as he shushed you, “We aren’t supposed to be talking. Pince said absolutely no socializing with the other delinquents.”

You rolled your eyes, whispering in a playful tone, “She really called us delinquents and expected us to follow the rules?”

Sirius chuckled while you changed the subject, “So how’d it go with McGonagall?”

“Threatened expulsion. But thanks to Lestrange taking the first shot, we were technically acting in self-defense, so we live to see another day at Hogwarts,” Sirius responded.

“Sluggy wouldn’t ever threaten me with something like that, he loves me too much,” you said, thinking of the countless Slug Club parties he’s invited you to that you never attended, “But he did ban me from Hogsmeade and probably gave me more detentions than there are days left in the year.”

“Yeah, me and the others got the same. But hey, we’ll be in this together, yeah?” Sirius asked rhetorically, “Plus, it was worth it. That was some fight.”

You nodded, “And I don’t think there will be another one.” Sirius tilted his head curiously and you explained, “I think they learned their lesson. I was the only one sent to Slughorn because every single one of them had to make a pitstop at the Hospital Wing first.” 

Sirius erupted in laughter, probably imagining the seven groaning in their hospital beds. He covered his mouth to quiet himself down as to not attract the attention of Pince. You couldn’t help but find that so terribly cute and a soft smile grew on your face as you watched Sirius bask in the victory. 

“Hello?” Sirius dragged out the ‘o’ as he waved a hand in front of your face, “Is there something on my face or am I just so attractive that I’ve left you speechless?”

You snapped out of it, not missing a beat and saying, “Actually, you’re right there is something on your face.”

Sirius’ smile turned into a frown, “What!? Where?” He began dragging his hands all over his face to get what was supposedly on it off. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” you brought your hand up to his face and flicked him in the nose. 

Sirius caught your hand just after you did, scowling at you playfully for tricking him.

But now it was his turn to get distracted. His eyes darted to his hand that was wrapped around yours. Then, feeling bold, he shifted his hand around until his fingers were intertwined with yours. 

Once again, Sirius was holding hands with you. But, this is the first time he meant to.

Your breath hitched in your throat, eyes trained on Sirius’ face that displayed an unreadable expression.

“I think,” Sirius moved his gaze from your intertwined hands and back to your eyes, taking a deep breath as he did so to prepare himself to continue, “I think it’s time for me to tell you that secret you wanted to hear this morning.”

You stayed silent to allow him to continue.

“It’s like… okay I-” Sirius gulped, “You… There’s something about you. You’re special! Like, in a good way, of course. And you make me really nervous, which has never happened before… and I don’t really know how to do this,” Sirius laughed nervously.

As he continued his rambling, the grin on your face grew wider and wider until you finally decided to put him out of his misery. 

You took a step closer, got on the tips of your toes, and kissed the boy in front of you. 

It was innocent and short, and when you pulled away Sirius was beaming. 

“Thanks,” he said, and then mentally kicked himself for saying that.

You giggled softly, “You sounded like you needed some help.”

Sirius scoffed, and defensively asked, “Well I got the girl, didn’t I?”

He said it playfully, but when you looked into his eyes you could see the truth behind them. He was really making sure that this was actually happening. 

You nodded, “Yeah, I guess you did.”

Sirius’ face broke out into a huge smile and he let go of your hand to settle both of his on your hips, pulling you a couple inches closer.

You suddenly thought about everything he said moments ago about how he isn’t usually so nervous around girls. That brought your mind to his reputation with them.

So, you did what he did earlier. You masked a real question with a playful one, “You gonna break my heart, Sirius Black?”

Sirius smirked, tightening his grip on your hips and pulling you even closer to get rid of those last few inches of space between you. He leaned his head in close, and just before his lips met yours, he whispered a response. 

“Doubtful.”

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Note: i can’t believe i finally finished this story, i hope you guys liked the ending!

#sirius #Sirius Black #Sirius orion black #sirius black fanfiction #sirius black fanfic #sirius black imagine #sirius black imagines #sirius black x reader #sirius black x slytherin #sirius black x slytherin!reader #slytherin!reader #James Potter #james fleamont potter #james potter imagine #james potter imagines #james potter fanfiction #james potter fanfic #James Potter x Lily Evans #jily #Remus Lupin #Remus John Lupin #remus lupin fanfiction #remus lupin fanfic #remus lupin imagine #remus lupin imagines #peter pettigrew #peter pettigrew imagine #regulus #regulus arcturus black #regulus black imagine

[sooibian]

Paragons of Virtue

image from pinterest

🚸 pairing: sehun x fem!reader

🚸 description: “the dog ate my homework!”

🚸 themes: innocence, friendship, fluff

🚸 au: childhood au

🚸 word count: + 1.7k

🚸 a/n: the EXOs are 12 year olds! no, really. in this universe they are! this one-shot kicks off the ‘Back To School With EXO’ series of drabbles/one-shots for all individual members. hope you enjoy!!! @is-that-baekhyuns-shirt​ you have the craziest elementary school stories! thank you so much for sharing

_______________________________________________

Your parents never ‘mistakenly shred your homework to bits just to show you how a paper shredder worked'. Neither did your homework ever ‘blow away in the wind while you were walking to school’. Because a: you hardly ever walked to school - your mother drove you everyday and b: your worksheets were always neatly stacked and sealed in shiny new folders (you’d even devised a foolproof method of avoiding unsightly smudges of fingerprints on the transparent ones). If academic learning was your one true love, simple but highly functional stationery was a close second - colour coded writing equipment, neutral notebooks (the ones with animated characters were a guilty pleasure), even your year old geometry tools were as good as new. 

A stringent schedule did now allow for any embarrassing dents, cracks, or cavities wherein lived the perennial ‘I did not have the time for homework’ excuse. Come hell or high water, you were always at the top of your game.

Additionally, your greyhound was a well-behaved, not-so-little fella, so the dog never ‘ate your homework’ 

….until he did. His choice of breakfast this morning was your Geography worksheet. Ravenous, he obliterated your hours of work in a matter of seconds. You fought tooth and nail to salvage it but his grasp on the paper was ridiculously strong. 

So just like that, all of your hard work was reduced to shreds of chewed-on paper. 

If there was one thing worse than ditching school, it was turning up without having the homework done. So you clutched your stomach with clasped hands and cried wolf, “Mom, my tummy hurts! I don’t think I can go to school today!”  Just then the corner of your mouth twitched ever so slightly and her keen eyes didn’t miss the movement. 

This awfully weird sudden convulsion happened every time you told a lie. 

Stupid twitchy mouth was a dead giveaway. 

The car ride to school, although a short one, felt like an eternity. Mother told you a story about a gardener boy who became king only because he told the truth. But you were no gardener boy! And you didn’t even want to be a king --- queen! All you wanted to do was to lie low and maintain your grades (and a spotlessly bright impression in the staff room - like a shiny new pencil holder, or a stainless steel writing pad). 

The wall clock loomed over the green chalkboard, ticking away frighteningly. If you told your mother about your tummy ache now, your mouth wouldn’t twitch.

The bell rang. Your heart sank.

It was time for the short ten minute break.

Feeling helpless, you put your head down on the desk only to be startled by a sudden tap on your shoulder. A lanky boy stood blinking at you, his eyes covered with unruly bangs and lips stretched into a rationed grin. 

It was the science teacher’s son - Oh Sehun. 

Vacantly, you blinked back - hands still folded upon the desk, posture crouched  somewhere in between sitting up straight and spiralling back into the comforting state of denial.  

You wonder how he manages to read at all with a vision obstructed by a cloud of black frizz. 

You’ve never bothered about Oh Sehun before (or anyone else for that matter), except for the one scarring thing you’d once witnessed him doing - truth be told it had left you a little concerned. It was really stormy one day after school and the grounds were empty. You’d stayed back to complete an assignment and he was  probably waiting for his mother to wrap up her teacherly duties. 

The wind motioned in circles, swirling dry leaves and whatever else it could muster in its rotations. Oh Sehun stood in the middle of this ‘mini-typhoon’. Hands outstretched, mouth open, eyes shut, eyebrows raised, head thrown back toward the dark skies, he pronounced, “I am the God of Wind! Bow before me you lesser mortals!”, to absolutely...no one.

He’s blissfully unaware that you’ve been witness to his indignity and you’d like to keep it that way. For one, he’s always stood second in class and never vied for your top spot (his consistency, you think, is commendable) and secondly - and most importantly - he is the son of an authority figure.

The boy's still hovering. Shifting his mingy weight from one foot to the other. Despite your inner turmoil, you plaster a polite smile onto your face and ask, “Can I help you with something?”

“No, but I think I can?” grin still rationed, eyes still clouded, uninvited he takes the empty seat to your left.  

“You can what..?” Your eyes follow his frame as he parks his bony bottom on the worn out wooden bench.

“Help you with something? There’s obviously something wrong with you today.” He rests his chin in his flattened palm and purses his lips. Blinking.

Am I that obvious? You have an indescribable urge to shake his hair out of his eyes - to get an idea of what he’s thinking exactly.

“What makes you think there’s something wrong with me?”

Moon Taeil, the class rep, is dusting the chalkboard clean for Geography but you know his ears are on your conversation.

“Your hand didn’t shoot up once during any of the lessons today...are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse’s room?”

Your face flushes out of embarrassment and this is….an invasion of privacy. This scrawny boy is making you uncomfortable. But you know that you could use a friend right now. Is this what friends do? Share embarrassing secrets?

“I didn’t do my Geography homework”, you start and beneath the mop of hair you notice his eyebrows skyrocket to his hairline so you hurriedly explain, “I mean, I did the homework but...”

Blink. Blink.

“My dog ate it”, your hand slides down the pocket of your skirt and you pull out shreds of paper.

You fully expect Sehun to laugh, but he doesn’t. Instead he raises his twig-like index finger and says, “Wait.”

He dashes out and returns with his backpack dangling down one shoulder and slumps back into the seat to your left. He takes out a spotless transparent folder and hands it to you.

It’s his Geography worksheet.

“There’s no way I’m copying this! I, obviously, can’t now...Madam Park will be here in like, five minutes.” You’re mortified at your desperation.

“I want you to have it. Also, Madam Park is on leave today onwards since she’s going to have a baby and all that... A new teacher is coming in who, obviously, won’t know what your handwriting is like. You can submit my worksheet instead.”

“A new teacher?” Your mouth goes dry, completely aware of how important first impressions are.

He nods.

“But why?” You notice he’s left the space given for personal details blank.

“Loyalty.”

Eyes narrowed, you shrug, utterly bewildered.

“Toward my classmates. We’re all friends first. And if this is so important to you, you can have my worksheet.”

He can’t be serious (or not serious)! 

“Are you some sort of a “Homework Peddler”? Won’t people take advantage of your -” generosity, you wanted to say, “of--of you?”

“I’m not stupid, A+...I have a system.” He relaxes into the chair and you can practically see the ‘bow-before-me-you-lesser-mortals’ aura around him. 

Students are trickling back in and you’ve consciously kept the cruel clock out of your sight. Sehun doesn’t go back to his seat, instead he settles besides you.

I don’t want to be queen.

“What’s that?” He quips.

With the corner of your mouth twitching again, your gaze drops. You take the sheet from his hands and gently put it down between your outstretched arms on the desk, “Nothing...thank you.”

His lips curl upward. Faintly.

The after-break cacophony dies down as the new teacher introduces herself as Madam Jung.

In exchange for her introduction, she wants all of yours. So to submit worksheets, she individually invites every student before the class to introduce, and to say one good thing about themselves. 

She starts from the row to your right and your stomach clenches.

One good thing? I am incapable of making friends. I am careless about my homework. There’s nothing good about me! 

Your eyes flit between Sehun (who is annoyingly unperturbed) and the worksheet which boasts of his loyalty and illegible chicken scratch.

When you realise it’s your turn next, you glance over at Sehun one last time (who is now twirling a pen between his fingers). He feels your eyes on him and catches your worried gaze and nods as if to say that it’s okay.

Feeling yet another telltale convulsion rise, you quickly scribble into the personal details space as Moon Taeil drones on about his fourth “good quality” and Madam Jung seems mighty impressed.

Before stepping in front of the class, you shove the worksheet back into Sehun’s hands. He first gapes at it which has his own name written on it and then at you - your surprisingly confident stance. Chin up, shoulders back, although your breathing is a little heavy.

Madam Jung encourages you with a motherly smile and you return it.

After introducing yourself you say, “I don’t think I have any impressive qualities, dear friends”, from the corner of your eye, you catch Sehun intently studying your face, “unlike some of you here who are complete embodiments of friendship and loyalty...”, you nod in Sehun’s direction. His wide grin makes his eyes crinkle. He sticks his tongue out and sinks into his seat, making himself tinier. 

“...but I’d like to think of myself as an honest person and, Madam Jung, I hope you’ll believe me when I say that my dog...” a now wide-eyed Sehun is shaking his head furiously, “ate my homework.”

You produce scraps - a week’s worth of toil - and lay them on Madam Jung’s desk, and the class erupts in laughter. Pursing your lips, your eyes catch Sehun’s who wordlessly encourages you to laugh along. 

Shoulders relaxed, you look at your classmates with an inexplicable sense of achievement. The kind Madam Jung chuckles, shaking her head and patting your back and your new friend (you dearly hope you can call him that now) - Oh Sehun - stands up amidst the cheerful ruckus, applauding you.

#exowritersnet #exosnet #sehun #exo #exo fluff #sehun fluff #exo oneshot #exo oneshots #sehun oneshot #sehun oneshots #sehun drabbles #sehun drabble #exo drabble #exo drabbles #exo scenarios #sehun scenarios #oh sehun #please don't judge this is healing writing!!! #exo childhood au