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peaceisadirtyword · 3 years

Text

Fate (Ivar/Reader)

A/N: Hello!🥰 As I said here’s the first fic I wrote about season 6B. I already loved Ivar but his evolution during this last season made me love him even more (I didn’t know that was possible). And I was dying to write for him (I even have a series planned, but I’ll wait until I’ve finished Move On and maybe Hate to post it.

This one will only have 2 parts, next one will be posted maybe tomorrow! I really hope you like it, and that I have captured this “new Ivar” well enough! And, of course, this contains spoilers for season 6B!! so if you haven’t seen it yet don’t read it!😅

I was going to post this one earlier this week but I had a pretty big exam today and I was exhausted. So next part will be posted maybe tomorrow or on Sunday!☺️

Also, thanks to @ivarhoegh for reading this before and telling me her opinion🥺🙏🏻 I hope y’all like it and enjoy the reading, thank you!

Warnings: mentions of sex, alcohol and violence, Ivar might be a bit out of character, my bad writing (?) not much!

Words: 3459

gif belongs to @therealcalicali

You knew he'd be back. The Ragnarssons would always go back to Kattegat. For some reason, you had the feeling he would be back soon and not with the Rus.

A single boat, a Rus boat, which meant he didn't betray them or escaped from Kiev. Hvitserk came with him, of course, that made you smile softly. Hvitserk would always go back to him because he loved his little brother but didn't even know it.

People booed, spat and yelled insults at them as you watched, silently, standing at the end of the crowd and rolling your eyes at the insults. You knew they'd be laughing and toasting while yelling their names very soon, as they always did with their father.

Ivar had changed. He looked much more calmed, not so tense nor ready to attack to the first person that angered him. He had a huge scar on his angelic face, you frowned at it, angry at whoever dared to hurt his beautiful features. He had changed a lot. Of course, you had seen him at the battle against the Rus, but then you ran away from him, not even thinking about trying to fight him.

You watched as Erik lead them to the Great Hall, where, you supposed, they'd meet King Harald.

"Fucking traitors" someone spat next to you, making you raise an eyebrow and turn around to look at him "We should kill them and leave their bodies to the wolves"

"Now that's no way to speak about the sons of Ragnar, is it, Einar?" You bit your lip to hold back a smile.

"Their father would do it if he was here" he scoffed "They betrayed us all"

Sighing, you started walking back to your little house, not far from the Great Hall. Seeing him again had been maybe too much, and you needed some time to yourself.

Einar stopped you, though, taking your arm.

"Will I see you tonight?" He licked his lips. You frowned softly, not really in the mood to see him. Some days ago, you'd said yes, opened the door to your house for him and then have sex until you passed out, but now Ivar was back and that changed everything.

"I'm tired" you smiled apologetically at him "Maybe some other day"

Einar sighed, but nodded. He was an asshole sometimes, but at least he respected you.

Inside of your house, you started the fire on the fireplace to warm the house a bit as you took off your clothes. You had no intention of going back outside, so you'd eat something and get into bed. With some luck, you'd get some sleep.

A part of you wanted to think you'd never see Ivar again. Even if it hurt, after seeing him every single day since you were both kids, it would have helped to forget him, but then again... Would you ever forget him? Not even so much time apart, since he left Kattegat when Björn took it until he came back to Norway with the rus army, had made you forget him. In fact, you'd swear your feelings were stronger than ever.

But it was exhausting. To search for those ocean eyes, wishing and praying to have them look back at you even if it was for a second, to go to sleep thinking about him and wake up thinking his face was the first thing you wanted to see. You had always been there, looking at him when everyone else looked at his brothers, fighting alongside him to avenge his father, conquering York with him, and going back home with your king, he always was your king.

Your parents were always worried about your unhealthy obsession with the youngest Ragnarsson. At first, they thought it was only a stupid crush, but as you kept growing and your feelings didn't disappear, they realized it was serious.

Then you heard that Ivar had sex with Margrethe, that pretty slave that had his older brothers pursuing her, and you were so devastated that you searched for comfort anywhere. And you found it on his brother Hvitserk's arms.

You never regretted losing your virginity to Hvitserk, he was a good lover even if he didn't really remember your name the day after.

Your parents left Kattegat when Lagertha was queen, disagreeing with the way she killed the former queen, Aslaug, Ivar's mother. You know how much he loved his mother, how close they were, and your heart ached for him as he lost both his parents at the same time.

So you joined the army and sailed to England to avenge Ragnar. Always fighting by his side, always watching his surroundings, killing every single person that dared to get close to him. And learning that, like his brother, he'd never remember your name, because he was a prince, a son of Ragnar Lothbrok, fated to be a legend like half of his family was, and you were just a girl, the daughter of a seamstress and a warrior that learnt to fight for her prince knowing she would never become his princess.

Then he became king, and took a queen. You still remembered how much it hurt to see him looking at her like that, how broken your heart was when he announced he'd marry her, and that they would have a child. You tried to hate Freydis, but you couldn't hate someone who made him that happy. You didn't want him suffering the same way you did for him. Ivar was special, and he deserved to be loved and happy.

You could have left, escape Kattegat and never look back, but you couldn't. And it broke your heart when he did leave.

Now he was back, and you were still the young girl in love that would fight an entire army of Christians for him.

_______________________________________

King Harald was throwing a feast. It surprised you, as you didn't think the king would be so keen to throw a feast for Ivar the Boneless, former king and the source of most of his headaches.

You wore a dark red dress your mother had sent to you, with your hair barely braided and some kohl on your eyes. You never dressed for men, you couldn't care less about men's opinion about you, but you found yourself wondering if Ivar would notice you. It was like going back to being sixteen, trying to catch his attention without him knowing you were trying.

It had been a long time since you stepped into the Great Hall for the first time. You didn't really attend the feasts when Björn was king, you were somewhat angry at him, at his family and his men. They were the reason Ivar left.

And you probably wouldn't have attended this feast if you hadn't known for sure he would be there.

He sat on king Harald's table, with Hvitserk sitting at the opposite side of him. The king, his wife and Erik sat facing the crowd. It was a weird feast, people didn't sit down and many chose to eat while standing. It was also awfully quiet, and everyone eyed the main table suspiciously, as if they were waiting for Ivar to stab king Harald at any second. It wouldn't have surprised you if he did.

Einar drank horn after horn of ale next to you. Sometimes, he'd stop laughing with his friends and mutter some insults to the Ragnarssons, but not too loud. Not even Einar was foolish enough to insult the Ragnarssons in public, especially Ivar.

You hadn't said a word. It felt familiar to stay silent, drinking and eating quietly and sneaking glances to Ivar sometimes as you had done your whole life. He had changed a lot, you could see he wasn't as defensive as before, his eyes didn't scan the room expecting to find someone laughing at him. But even if he was surrounded by people that probably would love to cut his throat and throw his body into the sea, he looked relaxed, making small talk with the king sometimes, as if he had everything under control.

Suddenly, everything went quiet. Ivar looked at the crowd for the first time, his hands rubbed his lips as everyone stared at him and his brother. He could feel the resentment on their eyes and, for a moment, his eyes fixed on you.

His eyes widened softly when he recognized you, but you looked away before you could see it, directing your glance to King Harald, who stood on his feet looking sternly at his people.

A fake smile curved Harald's lips as he walked closer to the crowd. You barely listened to him, even if you kept your eyes on him, almost afraid of letting them wander around to find Ivar again.

"Ivar regrets the way he ruled here" Harald pointed at him. Ivar didn't even try to look ashamed, looking directly to his brother. Neither him nor Hvitserk seemed to understand Harald's game "He was young, the responsibilities were too great, and he forgot the lessons of his father"

You raised an eyebrow. Ivar had lost his mind for a woman while ruling, something his father had done too. Men could pretend to be all powerful and great, but women had the true power, the power to make them do unimaginable things out of love and obsession.

"And his brother, Hvitserk, he never meant to kill Lagertha" Harald continued "How could he ever mean to kill such a goddess?"

Hvitserk never meant to kill her, that was true. You had been the witness to his illness, you had lost the count of how many times you found him, all drunk, drugged and wandering around Kattegat. You gave him food, but he never accepted your help more than that. He wasn't himself when he killed Lagertha, but he never regretted it.

"They are who they are" Harald kept talking "But they are also sons of Ragnar"

Ivar looked at the people again, this time with a defying glare on his face, nearly asking who would dare to try and kick him out of his own home.

"I don't trust them" Einar clenched his jaw, and you felt his grip on your waist. He was half drunk and that gave him a false feeling of courage. Ivar heard him, and he narrowed his eyes.

Then someone stood up. A man, whom you had seen drinking maybe too much ale, was standing bravely, looking at Ivar.

"So tell us, Ivar, is it true you are a God, like you told us?"

You tensed up, and gasped when Ivar stood up. Everyone was silent, looking at him. He walked until he reached the middle of the room, and he threw his crutch to the floor.

You closed your eyes, not wanting to see him collapse on the floor. You heard him fall. And suddenly everyone was laughing. You opened your eyes to see him laughing too.

Just like that, he won their trust again. The music started playing, and the mood in the room shifted quickly. Ivar was still on the floor, looking proud of what he just did, and letting his eyes wander around the room. He found you again, and this time you held his gaze.

__________________________________________

It was hot inside. Einar had reached the point of groping you, trying to make you sit on his lap to lift your dress. You managed to wiggle out of his grip and made your way out of the Great Hall. It was overwhelming, especially after all the tension of knowing Ivar was back. You barely slept the night before, and you weren't feeling like celebrating, what exactly would you celebrate? That you would be back to being the stupid little girl obsessed with a prince that wouldn't look at her twice.

There was a couple of drunk men yelling and laughing when you walked down the streets of Kattegat while trying to get home. Hail Ivar, they yelled, making you raise an eyebrow. They were Einar's friends, and they had been cursing the name of both brothers a few hours ago. Men.

But as you continued walking, your head throbbing from all the ale you had drank, a voice startled you.

"I know you"

You froze. You knew that voice very well, but had never heard it directed to you.

Ivar was half hidden inside one of the barns. There was a torch next to him, and the dim light made him look even more handsome. You raised an eyebrow, and it took all of your willpower not to start running.

"You know me?" You cleared your throat.

"Yes" he pressed his lips together "You're Y/N, aren't you? You're a shieldmaiden"

He knew your name. The fucking Ivar Ragnarsson knew your name.

"Yes" you walked closer to him, trying not to stare at him too much. His crutch was leant against the wall next to him, and he had a wooden stick on his hands, in which he carved patterns with one of his knives "And you're Ivar"

He smirked at you. It made your knees weak.

"We fought together, didn't we?" His soft voice was like velvet, it was like a gentle caress when you were about to fall asleep "In England, I remember seeing you fight in York"

You nodded. He tilted his head curiously, his ocean eyes looking you up and down. Those eyes you had always dreamt of.

"I saw you on the Great Hall and I was surprised, I barely know anyone here anymore" he frowned, looking around "It felt nice to see a familiar face"

"What are you doing here?" You blurted out. You didn't want to be rude nor make him uncomfortable, and immediately you bit your tongue.

Ivar smirked again.

"You mean here in a barn or in Kattegat?" He chuckled.

"Both" you frowned.

"I was feeling a bit overwhelmed in there" he shrugged "I needed some air and I needed to be alone for a bit... And, to be honest, I don't know why I am in Kattegat, I just needed somewhere to go, but it doesn't feel like home anymore" he looked at you in the eyes. It was so intense that you had to look away after a few seconds.

You nodded softly.

"I'm glad you're back" you muttered. Ivar tilted his head with curiosity.

"Did I kill any member of your family? Should I be careful in case you're planning to stab me?"

It was the first time you smiled in front of him.

"No, if you had killed someone I loved, I would have stabbed you long ago"

He sighed, nodding his head.

"Fair enough"

"You did break my heart, though" you whispered, approaching him to lean your back onto the wooden wall next to him. Ivar narrowed his eyes, confused, but didn't say anything.

"I just remember you were a really good fighter" he shrugged "And that you slept with my brother once"

That surprised you. You looked at him, flustered.

"I..."

"I wasn't... I wasn't spying on you or anything" he chuckled "I just saw you sneaking out of Hvitserk's room, I was sitting on the throne"

"So I made a great first impression, didn't I?"

Ivar smiled. A genuine smile, not a smirk, a real smile.

"It wasn't the first impression, I had seen you training more than once, and I saw you when you came with your mother to see mine, I remember she made her dresses"

Your lips parted in surprise. So Ivar did see you. You always thought he never paid attention to you, that he didn't know of your existence. Knowing you were wrong made you feel a strange warmth on your chest. It was nice.

"You've changed" you pointed out in a soft voice. He had changed a lot, the Ivar you knew was very different to the one standing next to you. But it was a nice change. You liked it.

"Everyone says that" he raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe because it's true"

He shrugged, and his eyes went back to the piece of wood on his hands.

"Why didn't you stay with the Rus? Why risk everything coming here?"

"Did Harald pay you to ask me all of this?" He laughed.

"No" you bit your lip to hold back a smile "I'm just curious"

He looked at you again, with the ghost of a smile on his lips. His eyes shone under the dim light of the torch, and you felt the need to lean in to kiss his pouty lips.

"I learnt a lot in Kiev" he muttered "I understood many things, and I met people that marked me forever" his voice had so much emotion that you wondered if he was talking about a woman "But my destiny isn't there, and I had to move forward"

"So where is it? Your destiny" your eyes lightened up with curiosity.

"I don't have a clue" he raised an eyebrow, smiling at you softly "I figured I'd come back to where I started, trusting the Gods would tell me what should I do"

"Have you heard from them yet?" You giggled.

"No, not yet" he chuckled.

"Give them time" you shrugged "You're a favorite of the Gods, Ivar Ragnarsson, they'll guide you"

Ivar looked surprised, and turned his head to look at you a bit better. He remembered seeing you around Kattegat when he was young. Once, after you had been in the Great Hall to give Aslaug a new dress your mother had finished for her, he had told his brothers he thought you were pretty. They teased him for days. He felt a small tug on his heart remembering the playful banter and the teasing.

He had seen you look at him. At first it annoyed him, thinking you stared at him because of his legs, but then he caught you staring at him more than once the same way the girls stared at his brothers. It helped with his self-esteem, more than he'd ever admit.

"What about you?" He shook his head. Any feelings you might have had for him were in the past, he was sure, he'd seen you with a man in the Great Hall.

"I'm afraid my life isn't as interesting as yours" you giggled "I haven't left Kattegat"

"I know very well that things can happen without leaving Kattegat" he raised an eyebrow.

"I just keep training, and sometimes I go to raids" you shrugged "And I work around here... Not much"

Ivar's eyes flicked back to yours, interested.

"No husband, no children?"

You let out a laugh, shaking your head.

"No one finds me interesting enough to marry me" you sighed "And children? I can barely take care of myself"

"I find you interesting" he muttered, and for a moment you thought you hadn't heard him right "I mean" he cleared his throat, chuckling "I'm glad to see you're well"

"Thank you, I'm glad to see you're..." You frown, looking at the scars on his face, that seem rather new "Alive"

Ivar hummed, nodding when he realized you looked at his scar.

"Thank my dear brother for this" he scoffed. You smiled at him.

"You probably deserved it"

He looked at you, surprised, but nodded softly.

"Yeah, I kind of deserved it"

Ivar the Boneless admitting he had done something wrong? Wow, you didn't know what had happened while he was with the Rus, but that was a huge change.

Ivar turned to look at you when he heard you giggling. He liked you, he felt at ease with you. He felt like he didn't need to impress you, as you knew him too well already, but also didn't seem to be angry or afraid at him like the rest of Kattegat.

His eyes hypnotized you again, they were even more beautiful from up close.

Without realizing it, you leant into him. Ivar's eyes twinkled as he understood your intentions, and you'd swear he leant into you too.

"Y/N!" Einar's scream startled you. Ivar turned his head to glare at the drunk man that stumbled down the street, with eyes half closed and looking around "Where are you?"

You leant back with a sigh. You had forgotten about Einar and how needy he was when drunk. Ivar raised an eyebrow at you, and you took a deep breath, visibly embarrassed.

"He's... Einar" you groaned "I should go and make sure he gets home"

Ivar nodded slowly.

"It was nice talking to you then"

"Same" you gave him your widest smile. Your first conversation with Ivar Ragnarsson had been very different from what you had imagined, but also better.

"Good night, Y/N" he smirked.

"Good night, Ivar"

_________________________________________

Tags: @mblaqgi @alicedopey @lol-haha-joke @hallowed-heathen @naaladareia @tephi101 @captstefanbrandt @love-hate-love @titty-teetee @readsalot73 @moondustmemories @thevikingsheaux @therealcalicali @chimera4plums @blushingskywalker @awkwardfangirl02 @gruffle1 @justacripple @heartbeats-wildly @letsrunawaytotomorrow @inforapound @sallydelys @hellogabysblog @winchesterwife27 @hecohansen31 @youbloodymadgenius @xinyourdreamsx @funmadnessandbadassvikings @eteramfools @tgrrose @flokidottirsstuff @lovessce @tootie-fruity @didiintheblog @alexhandersenx @belovedcherry @fantasydevil2002 @xceafh @astrape-the-weatherwitch @destynelseclipsa @katarokkar11 @momowhoo

Okay I hope I didn’t forget anyone :( Tumblr doesn't send me notifications and sometimes the asks don’t even appear on my inbox💔 so please if I didn’t add you to the taglist tell me!

#ivar the boneless #ivar imagine #ivar x reader #vikings #vikings imagine

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nadisabug · 3 years

Text

Plus One

Pairing: Oikawa Tooru x reader

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Warnings: cursing

Word Count: 3.1 k

Summary: You would do anything for Tooru, but is he asking too much when he asks you to be his plus one to his sister’s wedding?

A/N: Thank you to my lovely betas @luvnami and @snoozless !!!!! This is for the HQ Hangout Net’s Spring Formal Event! Everyone check out the other amazing works everyone else did @hqhangout !!!

This was too much.

You felt like imploding.

The pressure in your head was just too much to bear; tears welled at your eyes and a solid lump was forming in your throat. This was just too much.

However, you kept up your facade. You were still smiling, eyes dry, looking up at Tooru.

And he was smiling down at you.

“Well?” He asked again.

There were a lot of things you could do. You were talented, not that you recognized it yourself. But you were strong, you could do anything you set your mind to. You could say ‘no’ and stand up for yourself. You have done it before.

Like when that chump from your class asked you for your homework. Or like when he then asked you out on a date. Or like when he had asked to put his name on a project that he had done now work for.

You could say no.

You should say no.

So why didn’t you?

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

“Hajime, I am going to die,” you groaned into the phone. Tooru had just dropped you off at your house. You called your best friend as soon as you could, still reeling from the life-changing conversation.

“Well, I mean, what did you say?” His voice was level and calm like always, even though you were in hysterics.

“I don’t have a dress,” you sighed.

“Y/n, that’s basically a yes.”

“I am aware!”

“What did he say?”

You fell silent.

“Y/n, what did he say?”

You mumbled your response, pressing your mouth to the end of the phone.

“Well I for one can’t fix that. You’re screwed,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Don’t say that Hajime! You’re supposed to make me feel better!”

“He wants to go dress shopping with you, on top of being his date to his sister’s wedding, you’re doomed. I'm sorry that’s just how it is.”

“Hajime!”

“What, what am I supposed to say? I want to be optimistic but this is kinda the worst it can get. Especially since you’ve been in love with him sin-”

“I am not in love with him!”

Hajime didn’t respond. You sighed.

“Fine I am, but how does saying it help anything?”

“I’m just trying to get a better sense of your situation.”

“Oh really? It sounds like you’re trying to rub it in.”

“You know I would never,” Hajime sighed.

“Yeah, you’re a good friend,” you paused. “A really good friend, the best friend. How long have we been friends? Quite some time right, I was thinking-”

“I am not coming with you and that is final.”

“Please, Hajime, I’m begging you.”

“Well beg someone else, Y/n, because I am not third wheeling.”

“Hajime, it won’t be third wheeling!”

“Yes it will, it’s a no and that’s final!” He paused for a moment. “Sorry, Y/n, but I just can’t. It’s already too much having to play therapist to you both talking about each other.”

“Oh shove off,” you rolled your eyes. “He does not like me.”

“Whatever,” Hajime sighed.

“He does not. If he did, why wouldn’t he just ask me to be his date like a normal person?”

“Really? This is Shittykawa we’re talking about.”

“Okay true, but still. He had plenty of chances to date me back in high school and he never did.”

“You never made a move either,” Hajime noted.

You didn’t respond to that.

“How long has it been since you last saw him?”

You had to think about that for a minute. It had been years since you graduated high school, back when you saw him on a daily basis. You guys still talked all the time, but you really didn’t see him that often.

“The night that he came to my house to tell me goodbye. The night before he left.”

Hajime hummed. He knew all about that night, you had called him as soon as you had gone back inside. It felt like he had something else to say, but instead he changed the subject.

“When are you guys going?”

“About that…”

“Oh no…”

“He’s waiting outside for me right now.”

“Right now? What are you doing talking to me then?”

“I said I had to do a few things then I’d be out. It’s fine.”

“Well you better get going. We’ve been talking for a while.”

“Please come with me?”

“Ahaha, no. Bye.”

“Wait don’t hang-”

You were greeted by the click of the receiver. Great. You tossed your phone beside you and sighed. You were sprawled out on your bed, in the same position as you were when you first threw yourself onto it.

You laid there for a second, cursing your luck. Well, it wasn’t really your luck, you were the one who said yes anyways. You felt tears beginning to form in your eyes, but you shook them away. You got up and changed out of your work uniform and into better clothes for dress shopping.

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

“I am not wearing that,” you spat angrily.

“Aww, why not,” Tooru purred, sliding up to you while holding the offending dress out in front of him.

“Because I like my privates to be private, thank you very much,” you rolled your eyes and pushed him away.

The piece was a strapless, v-neck dress with a slit up the side. It also had holes in the sides, like those vintage swimsuits you saw in old magazines. It was a pretty color, but you knew you could not wear that in front of Tooru.

“Okay, fine.” Tooru put the dress away. You knew he only plucked it out to tease you; he didn’t actually think you were going to wear it.

“Why do you need a date again?” You asked while perusing the dresses.

“Because,” he sighed. “I begged my sister to allow me a plus one and she finally granted my wish so I can’t show up alone.”

“But she knows me. She won’t believe that we’re dating,” you sighed.

“Well…”

“What?” You whirled on Tooru.

“I already told her that I asked you out… and you said yes.”

Your jaw dropped. What were you supposed to say? Tooru had that look on his face, the one where he knew he had done something wrong but was trying to weasel out of it. It never worked on Hajime, but on you… you could never resist his honeyed eyes.

“What did she say?”

“Finally.”

You laughed, genuinely. As if anyone would think that you two would get together. Tooru was just… out of your reach.

“What? Is it that ridiculous that we could be dating? I’m hurt,” Tooru pouted.

“Yes it is, as if you would ever date me,” you answered honestly, knowing in your heart he could never love you.

“And why is that?” He asked. You missed the look in his eyes as you pulled out another dress.

“Because,” you shrugged. “You only see me as a friend, a little sister if I may be so bold. Now what about this dress?”

“But what if I didn’t,” Tooru smirked and leaned on the dress rack.

You rolled your eyes.

“Then I’d eat this dress. Simple. Now come on, what about this one?”

“Let’s try it on.” He smiled. “Then we’ll see.”

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

“I’m gonna throw up,” you groaned. Tooru just rolled his eyes at you.

“No you’re not, you’ve seen my family a thousand times, this is no different.”

“Yes it is!” You hissed. “Back then I was a little sister, now I’m a fake girlfriend.”

“Well, they don’t know about the fake part, so can you keep quiet about that?”

“Whatever,” you sighed. You watched as he knocked on the familiar door, an unfamiliar sensation in your gut.

You heard clamoring behind the door and suddenly you were swept up in Mrs. Oikawa’s arms.

“Aw, Y/n, I am so, so, so happy you are here, and especially why!” She pulled back and you saw tears glistening in her eyes. “I always knew you and ‘ru would get together, I am just sad it took this long!”

A sharp pain ripped through you. “Yeah, of course.” You forced a smile.

“And ‘ru, how dare you take so long to confess!” She whirled on Tooru and hit him lightly on the shoulder.

“Ah, sorry Mom.” He shrugged it off, scratching the back of his neck with his other hand. “I guess I am just slow to the uptake.”

“Yes.” Mrs. Oikawa nodded solemnly. “It was obvious you both liked each other way back in high school.”

“It was?” You stammered.

“Yes, of course, the way you guys used to look at each other.” She smirked. “And still do.”

“Yeah,” Tooru said softly when you did not say anything.

“Now let's get you two inside, we have a lot to do!”

You were then rushed inside and whirled around as preparations fell into place. The rehearsal dinner flew by quickly. You didn’t have many responsibilities as a guest, so you spent your time talking to members of Tooru’s family. Which was… awkward, to say the least. You already knew all of them (you found out that this was supposed to be a very small family event) so it was awkward reintroducing yourself as Tooru’s girlfriend. It was harder because technically you weren’t supposed to be here.

You found Tooru in a gap in his busy schedule and pulled him to the side.

“Why didn’t you tell me this is a family affair?” You seethed.

Tooru smiled shyly. “That’s why it was such a big deal that Sis allowed me a plus one, that’s why I just had to take you.”

“I hate you,” you spat angrily, but Tooru just smiled. “Do you know how many people asked me if we were engaged?” He leaned down and kissed your forehead.

“Now is that anyway to talk to your fiance?”

Your jaw dropped. “You didn’t.”

“Just kidding, love. Don’t worry, we’re not engaged yet.”

“I hope your family gives you so much shit when we ‘break up.’”

Tooru frowned. “About that I-”

“Tooru? Where the actual fuck are you?” Tooru’s sister nearly screamed.

“You better go,” you sighed.

“Yeah.” Tooru frowned.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but decided against it when his sister screamed for him again.

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

The wedding was beautiful. It was a small affair at a local meadow, with blooming wild flowers surrounding the guests. It was ethereal, overflowing with the spirit of spring. You sat alone next to family, as Tooru was a part of the wedding procession. After the ceremony, the reception took place at a nearby banquet hall. You were shuttled off into a separate car from Tooru, but you didn’t mind. You had made friends with one of his cousins and you had been talking with him to pass the time.

“So when did you and Tooru meet?”

“Back in high school,” you responded easily, recalling the memory fondly. “He came up to me randomly in class and demanded that I be the volleyball club’s manager. I had said no, of course, until his friend had asked me a bit nicer.”

“Sounds just like him,” he scoffed. “Only concerned with himself.”

“Yeah,” you agreed absentmindedly.

“So what made you date him? I mean, no offense, he’s my cousin and all, but why do you even like him?”

You paused for this question. What did you like about Tooru?

“I… well… everything. I didn’t like him at first, I actually hated him. He was so arrogant and cocky and rude, but after a while I realized that there was so much more to him. He’s dedicated and strong. Tooru puts on this facade for other people so that he can be strong for them, too. He understands people and helps his teammates, he treats them like family. He’s so receptive and intuitive, you really can’t hide anything from him. He’s just… so perfect, yet so layered. He is so raw and human and I love that about him. I love that side of him, the one no one ever sees. So I guess I just love everything about him.”

“Wow,” he laughed. “Wasn't expecting that.”

“Sorry.” You shrunk in on yourself.

“No it’s fine, I was just gonna say I’ll shoot my shot if it doesn’t work out with him, but it turns out you really like him.”

“Oh,” was the only thing you could say.

“Can I have a pity dance?” He extended his arm towards you.

You smiled. “Sure.”

He led you out onto the dance floor and swept you up into his arms. You followed his lead, not really sure how to dance, but he assured you that you could just follow him.

“You know, you look amazing in that dress.”

“Ah, thank you,” you smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Thank you, I can clean-”

A person behind you cleared their throat. You turned to see Tooru. If you were anyone else, you would have thought he looked pleasant, with the soft smile on his face. But you weren’t just anyone else. So you knew that there was a rage in Tooru’s eyes.

“May I speak to Y/n?”

“Actually, we’re in the middle of a dance so-”

“That wasn’t a question,” Tooru smiled, closing his eyes and tilting his head.

“Tooru,” you hissed. “Just let us finish the-”

Instead Tooru grabbed your arm and tugged you away from his cousin. The cousin scoffed and threw his arms up.

“Calm the fuck down, Tooru. She’s all yours.”

The cousin walked off, and right after you whipped around to face Tooru.

“What the actual fuck is your problem?”

Tooru looked around him and then grabbed your arm again. “Let’s talk somewhere else,” he urged. You looked around to see a commotion beginning, with you guys at the center. You bottled your rage for a moment and allowed him to lead you outside.

Once you were out of earshot of the guests, you let loose.

“Oikawa Tooru, you explain yourself right now, because that just now was not okay.”

“He was hitting on you, I heard him,” Tooru responded, his face set into a scowl.

“So? And if he was? What right have you to step in?”

“I-”

“No,” you cut him off. “You have no right. I’m not even your girlfriend!”

Something flashed in Tooru’s eyes, but you were too angry to analyze it.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Tooru hung his head.

“You should be. You’re just so obsessed with your image that you don’t want a guy to hit on your supposed girl.”

“That’s not it,” Tooru bit out, looking up to meet your gaze.

“Oh? Then what? Do you have such little faith in me that you think I would leave you for your cousin at your sister’s wedding?”

“No.”

“Then what? Then what Tooru? What in the world could drive you to do something so fucking stupid-”

“I was jealous, alright!” When you didn’t respond to him he took a deep breath. “I was jealous,” he said again, except much calmer.

“Why?” You breathed softly. The air was tight between you two, and you felt like if another person yelled it might shatter.

Tooru slumped. “Don’t make me say it.”

“No,” you shook your head. “No you don’t.”

“Yes, I-”

“No, Tooru, you don’t. You are just hurt over your girlfriend and you're reaching out for something, anything, and I will not be it so don’t you dare say it.” You felt tears welling up at your eyes but you willed them down.

“Y/n, I’m not. I actually-”

“Don’t you dare,” you warned again.

Tooru sighed. “Y/n, do you know why she broke up with me?”

You didn’t respond.

“Y/n… she broke up with me because she realized that I was in love with you.”

You blinked once. Twice. You took a deep breath and tried to process what he just said to you.

“How…” It was the only thing you could mutter, you were too taken aback.

“I was just talking about you and she asked me. She asked me if I loved you. I couldn’t lie to her any longer.”

Your heart raced in your chest and you looked into eyes, searching for any dishonesty. The sheer earnestness in his gaze made you swallow thickly around the lump in your throat.

“How long?”

Tooru sighed and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. “Dunno. Been a while though.”

It fell silent.

“So what do we do now?” You asked.

“Well, will you give me a chance?”

“Pull that shit with your cousin again and it is a no.”

“Okay, okay, I said I was sorry I just didn’t like the way he was looking at you and you technically weren’t mine yet and I-”

You reached up and kissed him. It was a passionate kiss, years of pent emotion behind it. Once Tooru reciprocated, it just felt like he was smashing his face into yours, desperate to be closer. You pulled away, Tooru chasing you with his lips.

“Calm down, I’m not going anywhere,” you smiled at him, cupping his face.

“I know I just-” Tooru stopped mid sentence, but he really didn’t need to say more. You understood.

“Tooru, where the- oh.”

You tried to look behind you to see who it was, but Tooru was holding you too tightly. The best you could do was crane your neck to catch a glimpse of white. Tooru’s sister.

“About time, bro,” she laughed.

You looked up at Tooru. He had a sheepish smile on his face. The gears in your mind suddenly slotted together.

“She knew it was fake? But… then… why…”

Tooru didn’t answer, instead his face grew red and he averted his eyes.

“He wanted to take you the whole time, sweetheart. He’s just emotionally constipated so he can’t ask like a normal person.”

“I am not!” Tooru cried indignantly.

“Whatever, I need you back in there so you got five minutes with your new girlfriend before I drag you back in there. Got it?”

Tooru nodded. You heard the door close behind her and looked back up at Tooru.

“You’re lucky I like you,” you sighed, shaking your head.

“I really am.” Tooru smiled brilliantly.

Then he leaned down and stole your lips in another kiss.

Taglist: {OPEN}

@tanakas-hugs-and-kisses , @snoozless

#ahh thank you for those that filled out my tag form ily #looking at you meg <3 #oikawa x reader #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa imagine #oikawa tooru #haikyuu tooru #tw: cursing #oikawa angst #oikawa fluff #hqhangoutnet #Hqhangoutnet's SPRING FORMAL #haikyuucafe

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marigoldsandbuttercups · 3 years

Note

Will you please tell us how the Underswap, Swapfell, and G bros annoy their brothers? I’ve been dying to know ever since I read the other post. Please tell me Aster capitalizes on G’s spider fear.

How They Annoy Their Bros: Electric Boogaloo

Blue:

- Can and will yell as loud as he can "I LOVE YOU, MY DEAR BABY BROTHER" that even the residents in hotland can hear it echo.

- While he doesn't coddle his brother, what older sibling doesn't like to tease their lil one at any instance? That being said, Blue made a whole shebang of being intimidating (straw in mouth, weird accent) after the whole superhero act when Chara first came. The kid side eyed Stretch, who, internally died.

- If Stretch is being a butt, Blue will call him by his full name, except.. It changes. No one ever knows what Stretch's last name is and he hates one in particular that is, "Elasticbones" ,you'd think he'd love it for the pun, but nope, he hates it.

- Blue also likes to ironically "be one with the kids", this is effective on both Chara and Stretch and they both hate him for it when he calls memes, " The May-May", only to use a meme correctly when no one is watching just to mess with them even more. "No One Will Ever Believe You."

Stretch:

- So, you know those memes about DN? Yeah, he uses it on Blue everytime, without fail. And proceeds to laugh about it to his brother's face for like five mins straight-

- Stretch is the only person who can tease Blue about his height and get away with it. But stars, Blue will get annoyed when Stretch squats down a little to talk to him sometimes.

- Blue hates anything that looks like it came from uncanny valley. And Stretch utilizes this everytime by buying really old, antique stuff that just looks slightly off. One of his favorites is the cuckoo bird clock, it comes out with a pained squawk every time. He calls it "Maurice", much to Blue's dismay.

- Stretch is incredibly good at using his magic for all the dumb reasons, him and some of the others in the household share this (esp Rus, Red and surprisingly, Papyrus-) he likes to summon little ghouls to mess with Blue, or just casually move his things when he's trying to reach for them.

Black:

- If the two are having an argument, he'll use his status to low-key mess with Rus and it works when the younger brother is glaring at him for a while. "Well, As Your Older Brother And Captain, I Order You To Do Your Laundry"

"I'm not even that active in the royal guard-",

" Captain."

"Fineeee"

- "Baby Brother." , makes Rus want to hide and is low-key sweating the whole time cause it's embarrassinggggg. He can handle being called "little brother" but not the other one, stars no.

- Rus has a lot of embarrassing moments despite being mostly rather shameless, so Black does use it to his advancing when he wants Rus to get out of bed every once in a while.

Rus:

- Says the absolute, most cringe worthy stuff in front of Milord. And I mean, things that have Milord tell other people that "he doesn't know who that fiend is-"

- Tends to be referred to as the older brother sometimes, and low-key rubs this in his brothers face when Black is bringing particularly bossy that day.

- Uses the height difference, too. Though he gives it a little more ✨ variety ✨ by occasionally draping himself on Black and pretending to be asleep.

"Snrk- Angry Arm-"

"Not. A. Word"

- One worded replies. Drives Black up the wall and the fastest way to get him to go on a hour long rant about how communication is so weak these days-

- No one knows what his actual name is, and his brother has to deal with newbies asking for the same dude with many names. Oh, his personal favorite was, "Gremlin Overlord" yeah, a real winner hsjsjsjsjsnn

- Like Rus, he's also rather embarrassing in public and when he's live streaming, often having his brother sighing in disappointment in the background with all his antics. God, the moment chat sees a spider in the background, "F"s flood the chat for Aster.

- Is a general nuisance when Aster is trying to be Real Smooth™. Stars help that man when he's talking to someone he fancies because G will be in the back with the most outrageous disguise and it's so obvious it's him and Aster knows his date knows and he just wants to be swallowed into a hole.

Aster:

- G is... Afraid of spiders-and what's a better way to show brotherly love than to use that to Aster's advantage. Aster does this by sometimes leaving around fake spiders and this works when he hears a familiar shrill scream. The others know this too.. Which is why Aster knew he screwed up when he heard Edge scream after grabbing what he thought was a fake spider-

- Also you know those super nerdy math memes that have a secret meaning when it finally clicks? Aster recites them all by heart and G hates it cause he's a visual learner and also omg how is Aster speaking so fast--

- Because Aster handles the kitchen, every so often he'll just mess with the food a little. Not where it's anything dangerous but just... Why does it taste so off? And he lives for the confusion on G's face when he suddenly starts to croak like a frog, bonus if it's during a livestream

#sans #papyrus #underswap #us sans #us papyrus #swapfell red #sf red sans #sf red papyrus #echotale #g sans #g papyrus #undertale imagines #undertale headcanons

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neonthewrite · 3 years

Text

Washed Up Winchesters 2

Jacob has brought the waterlogged strangers to shore, where his smaller friends can help them get back on their feet. There's only one issue ... we're not in Kansas - ehhh, Blefuscu anymore!

Cowritten with @nightmares06, the writer behind the @brothersapart multiverse!

Reading time ~10 minutes.

( 1 ) -2- ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) ( 6 ) ( 7 ) ( 8 )

Story Tag

~~~~~

Jacob looked down just in time to see that exhausted lean. He paused his trek through the now-waist-deep water to move his hands even closer to his chest. The tiny knife rested precariously on his knuckle, no longer clung to as a desperate defense by the tiny little person in his hand. Now both of them were out cold, reminding him how much trouble they’d been in when he spotted them.

If he hadn’t rushed out to get to them fast enough …

He didn’t let himself dwell on it. Instead, as carefully as he could, he moved his hands together so he could gently settle the second guy down on his palm next to the first. They lay exhausted and unconscious, hopefully getting plenty of warmth from his hand. For all he knew, they could have been out on the water for hours before he wandered by. That knife tumbled to rest near the first of the two, and he hoped they wouldn’t wake up and decide to put it to use on him.

Hunting monsters. Does that include giants?

On his way back to shore, Jacob kept his eye on the pair of them, but they didn’t stir. By the time the water was barely up to his knees, he worried they might be worse off than he thought.

He was so preoccupied, he missed a small voice calling out for him at first. Back on dry land, with water rushing off of him and almost creating a small lagoon, he didn’t know what approach to take next.

“Jacob! What the hell!”

He finally glanced down to find a familiar, tiny shape waving frantically at him from the seaside cliffs. Those didn’t even come up to half his height, so he squatted down to put himself closer to Chase’s level.

“Chase, they were just floating out there on the water,” he explained. His voice pitched higher with worry, and he held his hand out to the cliff edge for Chase to see.

Chase, normally always ready with a joke or a cheesy remark, was serious as he beheld the bedraggled forms collapsed on Jacob’s hand. “Holy shit!” he hissed, hopping onto Jacob’s fingers like a ramp. He gingerly stepped around the pair and knelt down to see them closer, but frowned. “They were out in the water? How far?”

Jacob leaned closer as if he might see the pair as well as Chase could. “Pretty far. I couldn’t even stand up.”

Chase shook his head and his pitch black hair waved messily. “O-okay. Well. We should probably get them some help. Bring us all back to the house, alright? They probably need blankets, and stuff, or something. I dunno.”

Jacob nodded. “Let me know if they look like they’re gonna wake up before we get there,” he said, before rising to his feet with three tiny people on his hand.

~~~

The first thing Sam noticed, upon waking up, was how dry his mouth was.

Drawing in a raspy breath, Sam turned his head to the side and coughed. His throat was scratchy and dry, as though he'd had no water in hours. Squinting his eyes open, he blinked a few times, the unfamiliarity of his surroundings keeping him confused.

"Dee--" Sam only got the first sound of Dean's name out before his voice gave out and he coughed again. Licking his lips, he tried again, this time forcing out a "Dean?"

“Oh, shit!” a voice from somewhere else blurted. Footsteps followed, echoing slightly in the room lit mostly by tall windows on one side. Thin curtains wafted in a slight breeze, creating a gentle but bright view above where Sam lay.

Until suddenly someone was leaning over him to check on him. Sam balked back, deeper into the pillow his head was resting on.

“Hey, dude,” Chase greeted quietly. “Take it easy, okay? Your guy is on the other couch,” he leaned back and glanced over his shoulder to indicate the couch sitting opposite the one Sam occupied. Dean was there, wrapped in blankets and towels just like Sam, after their prolonged dip in the ocean. “It’s uh. We couldn’t get you guys to any beds to rest, so. Couches it is.”

He belatedly realized that he had a glass of water in his hand. “You probably need this, right? Man, I’m glad to see you’re awake. Had us worried there.”

Before anything, Sam glanced in the direction indicated to see Dean sprawled out, a boot sticking out of the blankets wrapped around him. Relieved to see that his brother had survived their short attempt at infiltration, Sam sank down into the cushions, accepting the water and tenderly wetting his mouth so he could talk. "Thanks," Sam managed. The water had helped. He was left with a thousand questions about just how they'd gotten here, though, considering the last he recalled, they had been floating in the ocean, long abandoned by the ship they'd taken out. Trying to condense those questions into one, all Sam could get out was "Who are you?"

Chase grinned. “Name's Chase. This is my house. My friend pulled you guys out of the water clear out in the bay and brought you here since he, ah, doesn't go into town much. Ta-da!” He held his hands open to grandly display the tidy, modestly-decorated living room.

Quickly enough, a more serious look replaced his bemused expression. “Other than, yknow, almost drowning … are you hurt or anything?”

Sam shook his head quickly, then paused to actually check. Other than the general aches and pains that came from hours keeping afloat in the ocean, nothing stood out to Sam as abnormal. “No, but Dean took the fall harder,” Sam admitted. He sipped at the water, then pushed himself up. He needed to check on Dean and make sure there weren’t any injuries.

So far, Dean hadn’t roused or budged since Sam and Chase had started talking. Much like Sam, he was still in the same clothes as when they were on the boat, with the towels and blankets bundled around to keep him warm.

When he got over, Sam checked to make sure Dean was breathing steadily. The leather jacket his older brother was known for was bundled up nearby, drenched with salt water.

“Dean’s not gonna be happy,” Sam commented dryly when he saw the state the jacket was in. He looked over at Chase. “How’d we get here? Last I knew, we were stranded with land too far off to see.”

Chase’s smile was more subdued this time as he tried to figure out how to approach the topic. From what he’d heard, one of these guys was quite freaked out when Jacob had found them, and he didn’t want to cause more upset while they were still in his house. “My friend Jacob actually spotted you and got you out of the water in the nick of time,” he hedged. “He was pretty worried, we had to send him on a walk so he wasn’t just pacing in the backyard wondering if he’d let you drown.”

He glanced at the curtained windows. “Guess you were already passed out when he showed up,” he said more gently. “I can get my sister to go find him, if ya want?”

“Yeah, if you could,” Sam said offhandedly, the importance of Chase’s statement not really sinking in. He wanted to thank their rescuer for himself, as soon as possible.

After, he would need to get Dean up to see what he remembered. They were on a case, after all. If they kept getting held up, by the time they caught up to the ship there’d be a trail of bodies to follow.

They had started out ten steps ahead on this case. How had it all gone so wrong?

"Just a sec," Chase agreed, before retreating to an arched doorway leading somewhere else in the house. He spared Dean one last glance, then nodded at Sam and disappeared through that doorway.

Even out of sight, it would be hard to miss the footsteps moving away. Even tougher to ignore was the shout that followed as Chase called up the stairs. "Hey, Minnie!"

"What?" Her voice from far away would be muffled to Sam, but still easily heard in the otherwise empty house.

"Go get Jacob back here!"

"Why can't you do it?"

Chase sighed in the most put-upon way he could manage. "Because, I have to be a good host and stuff!"

Minnie appeared at the top of the stairs, eyes narrowed and mouth turned down in a frown. "Then why are you yelling at me?" she countered, even as she hurried down to join him. Chase smirked as she had to step around him, before she shoved lightly at his side and made him stumble against the railing.

He followed her into the living room just as she reached it to check on their would-be guests herself. Her stern look softened when she saw that only one of them had woken up yet. "He gave you some water, right?"

Sam was bemused by the sight of the siblings' argument. It reminded him sharply of several arguments with Dean that had gone in nearly the same direction.

“He did,” Sam confirmed, getting Chase off at least one hook. He had a suspicion that it wouldn’t take the kid long to get himself in trouble yet again, much like Dean managed on an hourly basis. “We’re just waiting for Dean to wake up now.”

Minnie nodded, glancing once more at Dean with a small glimmer of concern in her eyes. “Alright. I’ll go get Jacob. Chase,” she fixed him with an almost accusing look, “will get you guys whatever you need.” She could see in his face that he had yet to explain who Jacob was, and if this guy was unconscious when the resident giant showed up, he wouldn’t be expecting his return now.

Chase gave Minnie a thumbs up as she left again, and then wandered closer to where Sam stood by Dean. Privately, he rued how tall both these guys were; they could barely fit on the couches in the living room, and had required every extra blanket he and Minnie could find in the house.

On one hand, they had the right build for sailors. On the other, it would be weird for sailors to be out floating in the bay, so far from shore that only a giant had a chance of spotting them.

“Won’t take him long to wander back here,” Chase said mildly. “Do you, uh. Why were you in the water?”

Sam sat back on his heels, continuing to hover close to Dean. “We’re on a job,” he explained. “It’s… complicated. Suffice to say, we got tossed overboard when our cover was blown.”

There was a lot about that nagging at Sam. His lips turned down as he thought over the events leading up to getting tossed overboard. Nothing, right up until the moment they were grabbed, stood out to him as out of the ordinary. They went undercover all the time, and on that ragtag ship of passengers and personnel, they’d blended right in even in their standard outfits.

“We just don’t know how they found us,” Sam mused.

“You were undercover?” Chase echoed, his eyes widening with intrigue. Jacob would be shocked to find out that he’d somehow rescued a pair of … well, whatever these two were to require undercover work. It was probably super cool. “Dude, so that means me, Minnie, and Jacob are helping out your, uh. Mission?”

Amused, Sam gave a half-shrug. “Uh, I guess?” he said. “It’s not like we’re government agents, after all…”

Dean stirred on the couch, mumbling in his spot. Sam was up in a flash, offering the cup of water before Dean tried to say anything. He remembered the raw, dry feeling in his throat from being stranded at sea for so long and didn’t want Dean to go through that any longer than he had to.

While he watched to make sure Dean didn’t spill the cup, Sam frowned. “We need to make sure no one gets hurt, and this whole thing will just get covered up if anyone else in Blefuscu finds out--”

“Blefuscu?!” Chase blurted, only reining in his volume on the last syllable of the word. He glanced at Dean, still barely conscious, before fixing his surprised look on Sam once more. “You’re from Blefuscu?”

They weren’t even from Lilliput. Blefuscu, the neighboring land across a wide bay, had a storied past with Lilliput. They weren’t really at war anymore, but even with some tense trade moving back and forth across the bay, the two countries weren’t exactly best friends. Chase wasn’t sure he’d even told Jacob very much about Blefuscu yet.

A distant rumble sounded, far enough to seem like a simple gust of wind if one didn’t know what it really was. Jacob must have wandered quite far, but he could cover distances like no one else. As this Sam and Dean were about to find out. “Anyway, uh. I guess you oughta know … Jacob brought you to Lilliput. Surprise?”

#mywriting #collab #washed up winchesters #jacob andris #chase lisong #g/t #g/t handheld #gullivers travels fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #chase in lilliput au #sam winchester #dean winchester

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writingblock101 · 4 years

Text

Heir to the Throne (Jason Todd x Reader)

Hello, I love you all so much for being patient with me! I am super excited to share this! This is a continuation to my other two part fic For the Kingdom. You don’t need to read it for it to make sense, but it does give some background.

A huge thank you to the absolutely lovely @incrediblysadstudent who edited and made some really amazing suggestions. She also runs a writing blog where she writes the batfam so definitely go show her some love!

Warnings: Threats of violence, puking

Tags: @idkmanicantenglish (I’ve missed you, my love) @mayahoelland2013

Word count: 4,800

You lean over the toilet with a groan as you retch again. Jason frowns with concern, one hand gently pushing your hair out of your face as his other comfortingly rubs your back. You pause, giving yourself a moment to breathe and spit into the porcelain toilet bowl. Jason leans over and flushes the toilet as you tiredly watch the contents swirl around then disappear.

Sighing, you push past Jason’s hand on your back and fall against the wall, exhausted. Jason’s frown deepens, he hates seeing you like this. He tucks a loose piece of hair behind your ear, grabs the cup of water waiting on the bathroom counter, and brings it to your lips.

Your shaking hands wrap around the cup with Jason helping you tilt it, taking slow sips. As your grip on the cup gets stronger, Jason let’s go, opting to wrap an arm around your shoulder, bringing his lips to your forehead for a sweet kiss. You lean against his chest, your nose wrinkling at the bitter taste in your mouth.

“You alright?” Jason asks quietly.

“Yeah,” You respond, taking another sip of water to wash down the disgusting taste in your mouth.

“Are you though?” Jason’s tone hardens in seriousness. “You’ve been puking for the last two weeks and you’re exhausted all the time. I’m worried about you,” He admits, pulling you closer to his chest.

You stay quiet, staring down into the cup of water. Jason sighs, sounding irritated. He pulls his arm off your shoulder, running his hand through his hair with a frustrated huff.

“You’re hiding something from me,” He looks over at you, nudging your shoulder. You force yourself to look up at him and feel guilt pool in your stomach at the deep look of worry in your husband’s eyes. “We agreed to not do that so whatever is wrong, just tell me and we can deal with it together--”

“I’m pregnant,” You blurt.

Jason blinks, his face blank.

“You’re uh….” He swallows, blinking again in a mixture of confusion and disbelief. “You’re what?”

You reach for his hand, placing it on your still flat stomach.

“I’m pregnant,” You repeat, enunciating the two words slowly.

“You’re… Pregnant…” Jason echoes back. Hearing himself say the words seems to break through the shock as a small smile works its way onto his face. “Holy shit!” He curses with an excited grin, his eyes lighting up. “You’re pregnant!” He exclaims, his eyes flicking from his hand to your face, his smile growing larger by the second.

“I’m pregnant!” You confirm, your voice cracking as you nod your head. Tears of joy well up in your eyes.

“We’re going to have a baby,” Jason’s eyes well up as well, as he pulls you into a tight hug, burying his face into your shoulder.

You hug him back, squeezing with all your strength as a few tears slip, overwhelmed by how perfect this moment feels.

You didn’t mean to be secretive and worry Jason, but you two have been trying to have a child for a little over a year, so you wanted to be sure before you got his hopes up.

It’s hard to believe how far your relationship with Jason has come. What started as an unwilling arranged marriage has developed into a healthy, loving relationship. You were terrified of him, only knowing him through brutal battle stories in which his triumphs were bloody and his mercy was unheard of. The thought of marrying him terrified you straight to your core and made your insides burn with anger, but Jason has proved you wrong every step of the way.

He’s shown you his passion for his kingdom, his heart which is incapable of half-ass love, and his deep respect for everyone around him. Jason is full of passion, fire, and snark. While you two have your bad days and your tempers create blow out fights, you always find your way back to each other because at the end of the day, he’s the love of your life.

Jason pulls back from the hug, cupping your face with his hands, his thumbs wiping your tears. You can’t help but to giggle at the unshed tears brimming in his eyes. Jason huffs with a watery laugh too, leaning in and kissing you sweetly.

You frown, and pull back, your nose wrinkling.

“I just finished throwing up,” You remind him.

“Yeah, I could taste it,” Jason admits with a chuckle.

He rests his forehead against your, the excited grin never leaving his face as he runs his large hands across your stomach.

“We’re going to have a baby,” Jason murmurs to you in amazement, as if he can barely believe the words himself.

You place your hands over his.

“Yeah, we are,” You grin.

Jason kisses your forehead sweetly, pulling you close to him.

Long gone are the days of feeling pressured by advisors to make an heir, tense, fearful sex, and awkward conversations. You’re going to be parents and you can’t imagine embarking on this crazy journey with anyone else.

. . .

A week later, you and Jason are sitting in the kingdom doctor’s office. Jason nervously bounces his foot while Dr. Thompskin spreads cold gel across your stomach.

“It’s a little cold,” You giggle, feeling a chill run up your spine as you look toward your husband who smiles back tightly. Sighing, you reach out to Jason. “You have too much nervous energy.”

Jason takes your hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it and chuckles.

“Yeah, I guess I do…”

“Aren’t I supposed to be the nervous one?” You tease, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

“I don’t even know why I am so nervous…” Jason admits. “I mean, they’re in your body, you should be the nervous one, not me. I don’t even know if it’s really nerves, or if it’s just excitement. I mean, I’ve clearly been around pregnant people, but it’s different because it’s… you,” Jason rambles, his thumb rubbing small circles on the back of your hand.

“Jay, it’s okay,” You tell him, moving your hand to cup his cheek. “It’s okay to be nervous, I’m nervous too,” You smile gently. “But that’s why we’re here, to make sure everything is okay.”

“Speaking of which,” Dr. Thompskin interrupts, moving the wand around your stomach, and points at the screen. “There is your baby, looking very healthy.”

Your eyes dart to the screen as you and Jason stare in awe at the tiny pea sized dot hidden in the fuzzy black and white image. Usually, you don’t understand the hype around early ultrasounds-- you can hardly see the baby-- but staring at your baby, your heart soars with excitement. Faintly, under the sound of your heartbeat through the monitor, you hear another sound, thudding at a faster pace than your heart.

“Is that…” You feel your eyes fill with tears as a smile breaks out across your face, listening more intently for the steady, thudding sound. “Is that their heartbeat?”

“It sure is,” Dr. Thompskin smiles.

You laugh, your grin hurting your face. A few tears slip down your face and you look over to Jason who is smiling with glossy eyes.

“This is actually happening,” You whisper to him.

“Yeah,” He grins, looking toward you. He gently squeezes your hand and turns his attention back to the monitor. “It is.”

. . .

“We need to hang some calendars,” You announce as you walk into Jason’s office, holding lunch on a tray.

Jason stands and takes the tray from you, kissing you on the cheek. Despite only being three months pregnant, Jason barely lets you lift a finger.

“Why is that?” He chuckles, pulling your seat out then moving to sit behind his desk once you are settled.

“Because the advisors don’t seem to know how long a month is,” You roll your eyes.

Ever since you and Jason proudly announced the pregnancy, the advisors have practically been frothing at the mouth at the prospect of a male heir. While a female heir would be fine, she would be more likely to marry into another kingdom as opposed to expanding your kingdom like a male heir would. Of course, you and Jason don’t care; however, the advisors will not stop bothering you about the gender of the baby, which you don’t know yet.

“How many times do I have to tell them I won’t know the gender for another month?!” You rant. “It’s ridiculous!”

The guard posted at Jason’s door snickers at your rant. You turn with a grin.

“Something funny, Quill?” You ask.

“Nothing, your Highness,” Peter stands at attention like the trained knight that he is. “But I think you’re overestimating the advisors abilities to read a calendar.”

Jason starts cracking up while you sigh in exaggeration.

“Shit, you’re right!” You exclaim, resting a hand on your stomach. “You know what will be worse? When we find out the gender, they’re going to “suggest” names.”

“You know they’re going to suggest old names after past kings,” Jason rolls his eyes. “Like Olaf.”

“Olaf?” You repeat back with raised eyebrows. “Yeah, let’s name our kid after the snowman in a kid’s movie,” You roll your eyes.

“You could give them a really intense name,” Peter suggests. “Like Slade or something.”

You pause for a moment, knowing that name is familiar.

“Slade like the mercenary that recently assassinated the King of Cintra?” You ask.

“Oh…yeah… maybe not,” Peter says quietly while Jason just grins.

“So, I’m guessing we’re not going to go with outside suggestions for names?” Jason asks with a knowing smile.

“Probably not,” You snort, resting a hand on your still flat stomach, considering various names.

. . .

“And it’s…” Dr. Thompskin moves the wand slowly. “A boy!” She announces.

“Oh man,” You glance over at Jason, who’s holding your hand, his eyes fixated on the monitor. “The advisors are so not going to leave us alone now.”

“Fuck them,” Jason breathes, dismissing the idea of letting the advisors ruin this moment for you too. He kisses you sweetly, moving his other hand to your growing stomach. “We’re going to have a little boy,” He whispers.

You grin, pulling Jason in for another kiss then look back at the monitor, feeling tears of joy well up. You can’t wait for him to get here.

. . .

“Your Majesty,” A lady curtseys while her lord husband bows. “We want to congratulate you!”

“Thank you,” You smile politely, resting a hand on your now present baby bump, while the other rests on your aching lower back.

“We heard it is a boy!” The lady grins then rushes forward, placing her hand on your stomach. “Boys always kick the hardest!” She winks.

You blink, resisting the urge to shove the woman’s hands off you, but instead stiffly smile.

“Yes, it is. He hasn’t started kicking yet, but I’m sure he will soon,” You tell her through clenched teeth as she rubs your stomach.

“Excuse me,” Jason’s voice smoothly cuts in.

“Your Highness,” The lord bows and the lady curtseys, removing her hands from your stomach thankfully.

“My queen is needed elsewhere,” Jason says assertively, pulling a protective arm around your waist to put distance between you and the noble couple.

“Of course, your Majesty,” The couple bows again and Jason guides you back to the head table, his hand rubbing your sore lower back.

Banquets are an annoying necessity to royalty, especially when they are a king’s coronation banquet to an ally kingdom. When you were younger, you didn’t enjoy them much since your parents often bartered you out to dance with handsy princes, but since marrying Jason, you’ve come to enjoy them more.

Any lord or prince who would hope to dance with you is sent away cowering after one look from your husband. Instead, you are given an excuse to dance with Jason all night; however, being pregnant at a banquet brought its own set of headaches.

At five months pregnant, you’ve developed a noticeable baby bump through your dresses. Despite being the queen of the kingdom, your subjects seem to take your pregnancy as an invitation to touch your stomach without permission, give advice and tips (or weird old wives tales), and share as many opinions as they can. Although you are appreciative of your loyal subjects, you also tire faster and you have to pee all the fucking time, so your nerves get quickly shot at banquets.

“How are you doing?” Jason asks, turning you away from any prying eyes by shielding you with his body.

“Oh, you know, tired of people touching my stomach,” You roll your eyes.

Jason frowns.

“We’ve been here long enough, I’ll talk to Dick so we can leave--”

You stop listening to Jason when you feel feel a strange fluttering in your stomach, almost like bubbles. It flutters for a moment then stops. What was that? It didn’t feel painful, just a little strange. You look down at your stomach, questioning your unborn son then it does it again--

Your eyes widen with realization and you snatch Jason’s hand up, placing it where you feel the fluttering.

“What are you--” The fluttering happens again, cutting off Jason’s sentence. His eyes lock with yours, looking for confirmation. “Is that…?” He trails off quietly.

“He’s kicking,” You grin, feeling tears bubble in your eyes.

You can’t help but tear up, this pregnancy making you so emotional that it feels as though you’ll cry at anything.

“Oh my gosh,” Jason grins, moving to place both hands on your stomach as your son kicks again. “Hey, little guy,” Jason whispers.

“He’s definitely in there,” You smile. You giggle as you feel him kick harder at the sound of your voice. “I hate to admit it, but that woman was right, little boys do kick hard.”

Jason laughs, rests his forehead against yours, both of you enjoying the feeling of your son kicking at your hands.

“Everything okay guys?” Dick walks over, oblivious to the moment you two are having. “I saw another person touching Y/N’s stomach and you looked ready to bite their head off--”

You and Jason glance over at Dick with huge grins.

“Am I interrupting something?” Dick raises his eyebrows.

“He’s kicking,” Jason says proudly, looking down at your bump.

Dick’s face lights up.

“Really?” He exclaims. His eyes dart down to your stomach for a moment, his hand raising in excitement but he hesitates, knowing how annoyed you’ve gotten with people touching you without permission.

You roll your eyes-- Dick is not some random stranger trying to touch you. You certainly don’t mind if he wants to feel the baby. You grab his hand and place it on your stomach, his face lighting up with excitement. He waits then there’s another flutter.

“That is so cool!” Dick grins, shifting his hand to feel the baby kick again. “You guys haven’t picked a name, have you?”

“Not yet,” You tell him.

“Well, I personally think Dick Jr. would be a great name.”

“Well, I personally think you’re wrong,” Jason tells him bluntly.

Dick squawks indignantly, making you laugh.

“Come on, Jay, you said something about leaving?” You ask.

Jason glances at Dick.

“Cover for us?”

“Of course,” Dick grins. “But just consider Dick Jr,” He winks playfully.

Jason chuckles, shaking his head in amusement as he loops his arm in yours.

“Dick, I can think about it until the day the baby is born, but it will never happen,” Jason promises.

Dick mumbles something about Jason being unfair, but waves you two away.

“Come on, your Highness,” Jason teases, escorting you from the banquet.

. . .

A few weeks later, you’re relaxing in bed, reading the latest book Jason gave you, Catcher and the Rye, while he gets ready for bed. You feel your son kick, his kicks getting stronger with each day. You smile to yourself, placing your hand where you can feel his feet kicking you and continue reading.

The bathroom door opens, revealing your shirtless husband who crawls across the bed, his head laying next to your hip while his hands rub your stomach.

“He’s kicking tonight,”You tell him.

Jason lights up.

“Really?” He asks.

“Mmhm,” You shift his hands to where he last kicked and watch Jason grin at the feeling of tiny feet kicking.

“You know, we are going to need to come up with a name,” Jason says, leaning down to kiss your stomach. “This guy will be here in a few more months.” He kisses your stomach again then crawls up the bed to lay back against the pillows, pulling you against his chest. Jason kisses the top of your head, leaning over to read the page you’re on.

“I know…” You tell him.

You and Jason had been tossing around baby names, but nothing was sticking. Neither of you wanted to name your son after anyone in your family and no one had yet to offer a name both of you liked. Naming a person is hard.

“Have you thought of anything else?” You ask, abandoning your book to cuddle with your husband instead.

“How about Liam?” Jason offers, taking a hold of your hand and playing with your fingers.

You wrinkle your nose.

“I knew a Liam in school who was a little shit.”

Jason chuckles, kissing the side of your head.

“Okay, not Liam.”

Neither of you wanted an extremely common name, but you didn’t want to do a strange name either. Finding the middle ground was difficult.

“How about Nathaniel?” You offer.

“Well, that would depend,” Jason starts. “I like that name, but it’s kind of a mouthful, so rather he or his friends… or my brothers would give him a nickname,” Jason rolls his eyes, probably thinking of Dick’s fondness of nicknames. “It would likely be Nathan or Daniel… or Nate. Do you like any of those names?”

“They’re fine names, but I’d prefer those as middle names,” You admit.

“I agree… How about Taylor?” Jason offers.

“Taylor Todd?” You repeat.

Jason giggles behind you.

“If you say it fast enough, it sounds like tater tot.”

“Taylor Todd, Taylor Todd, Taylortodd, Tayortodd, Taytortot,” You start laughing. “It kind of does!”

“So, not that one,” Jason decides. “We suck at this,” He admits.

You chuckle, leaning into him, your copy of Catcher and the Rye catching your eye on the nightstand.

“How about Holden?” You ask.

Jason looks down at you for a moment and follows your eyes to the book, pondering the name.

“Holden?” He repeats. “Holden Todd. I actually like that a lot.”

“It would be suiting for us to name our kid after a book,” You chuckle, recalling how you and Jason finally connected with each other years ago.

Jason grins, wrapping his arms around you and kissing your temple.

“Yeah, it would,” He places his hands on your stomach. “Hey, Holden.”

Holden kicks again, making tears bubble in your eyes.

. . .

Your pregnancy hasn’t been the worst. Sure, you had some morning sickness and been more emotional than you’re used to, but you haven’t gotten any strange cravings, your mood swings aren’t too severe, and you haven’t been overly bloated.

Despite the relatively smooth pregnancy, at month eight of the pregnancy, you’re ready for Holden to be here. Your back and feet are sore, you're exhausted all the time, and you’re tired of not being able to see your toes. Also, you now have the bladder of a squirrel. A squirrel. You just want to meet your son.

You’re tired of going to banquets when you’re pregnant. The elaborate dresses you have to wear to the banquets are already a lot, but peeing in said dresses every thirty minutes? Yeah, you’re tired of being pregnant.

Just like all the other banquets, you know random people are going to touch you and your stomach, ask invasive questions, and try to tell you what to name your baby. You’re probably going to get overwhelmed by all the smells and people then get very irritable, but this is the last banquet you and Jason have to attend for a while, so you’ll put on your kind queen face and behave.

As servers bring in another round of food, you head swims from all the smells. You grimace, trying to ignore the overwhelming smells while listening to whichever lord ramble to you and Jason. Jason wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you close. Instead of focusing on the varied food smells melding together, you try to focus on how Jason smells.

Focusing on the fresh scent helps some, but soon, even Jason’s familiar smell blends to the cocktail of food around you, making your head spin even more.

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” You tell him quietly, rubbing a hand over your swollen stomach.

“I can come with you,” Jason offers, taking your hand as he goes to follow you.

“No, stay and socialize. I’ll be okay,” You promise.

Jason looks reluctant, but agrees. You kiss his cheek and excuse yourself from your company then slip onto a side balcony. The instant fresh air eases your headache, making you sigh with relief as you lean against the large, stone railing. You kick off your shoes, toeing them to the side and out from under your long dress. Holden kicks, making you chuckle.

“Nothing smelled good in there, huh bud?” You ask, fondly rubbing your stomach.

You’re so excited for Holden to be born. You can’t wait to see what he looks like, to hold him, and know that he’s really here.

You’re excited to be a parent and you’re even more excited to watch your husband become a parent. Jason’s relationship with his birth father was terrible to say the least. Meeting Bruce was one of the first strokes of luck Jason came across in his life, even if it was in the form of King Bruce Wayne catching twelve year old Jason stealing wheels from the royal carriage.

While Jason is also excited to meet Holden, his anxiety about becoming a father is no secret to you. Despite being nothing like his father, Jason is still afraid of becoming him. You know Jason will never be like his father. Jason is going to be a fantastic dad who is going to love Holden so well.

While daydreaming about the day your son will finally be born, you didn’t notice the balcony door open.

“Well, what do we have here?” That voice sends chills down your spine.

You spin around to come face to face with Roman Sionis. Roman was one of the few people you were unfortunately very familiar with prior to your marriage with Jason. His kingdom strong armed your parents' kingdom into an alliance, meaning Roman often made appearances at your family’s banquets. He’s always made you incredibly uncomfortable, even when you were little.

“The Queen, knocked up with no King to protect her,” He hisses, taking a step toward you.

You feel your chest tighten. Jason’s war with Roman was no small ordeal. He nearly destroyed Roman’s kingdom, forcing the man to rebuild from the ground up. You hadn’t heard from Roman in so long that you’d figured his kingdom was destroyed, but if he’s at a banquet at the Russo kingdom, then that doesn’t mean anything good either.

“So, what are we going to do?” Roman asks, staring at you menacingly.

He takes another step. You step backwards but your back hits the railing. Roman steps closer. Your hand quickly covers your stomach, protectively.

“King Jason has left his poor, defenseless wife out here alone with me,” Roman steps into your space, forcing you to lean back against the railing. “And,” His hand lays on your stomach, making your skin crawl. “She’s pregnant with the precious heir to the throne,” He hisses.

Your heart races as you try to figure out your options. Roman has backed you into a corner. While you have training, unfortunately, that training doesn’t account for all the extra weight in your stomach. Your center of gravity is completely thrown right now. Any hit you try to land will be uncoordinated and likely easily blocked by Roman.

“Well, I guess I need to teach the King a lesson about taking better care of his things,” Roman slips a dagger from his pants and your eyes widen.

“Stop--” You say, finally finding your voice but Roman pushes a hand against your mouth forcing you back farther.

He presses the tip of the dagger into your stomach. Thankfully your dress is thick enough that the blade doesn’t puncture the fabric, but it’s not armor. If Roman puts any pressure, he’ll stab Holden.

Your arms shake against the banister, your whole body pinned by Roman’s. A layer of tears sting in your eyes.

“Sh, don’t worry,” His face hardens. “It’ll only hurt for a second. Maybe your precious King will learn a thing or two about what it’s like to lose something precious.”

You feel him press the blade harder against you, your heart pounding in your chest. Holden kicks the hand you're holding tightly against your stomach, snapping you out of your stupor.

No. He’s not going to hurt your baby. You refuse to let him.

You shove Roman back as hard as you can, then throw all your body weight into a hard punch to his face. Your hand instantly screams in pain and you nearly fall over, not prepared for your extra weight to fling you forward.

“You bitch!” Roman yells, wiping blood from his nose.

He runs toward you, but there’s someone else tackling him to the ground before he comes close to you. Relief floods your system when you realize Jason is on top of Roman, beating his face to a bloody pulp.

“Stay,” Jason punches him between each word. “The. Fuck. Away. From. My. Wife!” He screams.

Roman collapses backwards, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as his face bleeds profusely. Jason stumbles to his feet then quickly rushes toward you.

“Are you hurt?” He demands, cradling your face.

Tears spill over but you shake your head, your brain catching up with the terrifying event. Jason pulls close, holding you tight as you sob against his shoulder, so relieved that Holden isn’t hurt.

“Come on,” Jason whispers to you, kissing your head. “Let’s go home.”

Despite the gentleness in his voice, you can feel him trembling with anger.

That night, you curl up against Jason, his strong arms wrapped tightly around you. He reaches one hand down, rubbing his thumb over your stomach.

“Thank you,” You murmur to him, not specifying what you’re thanking him for.

The way Jason’s arm momentarily tightens let’s you know that he knows what you’re referring to.

“Nothing is going to happen to either one of you while I’m around,” Jason promises, pressing a kiss to your head.

You smile, curling against Jason’s chest, knowing he will do anything to protect you and Holden.

. . .

A month later, you’re looking over the early draft for new kingdom policy in Jason’s office when you feel a gush of water.

“Jason…” You say quietly then a contraction hits, one much harder than the smaller ones you’ve been experiencing all day.

You're bent over, holding your stomach, your other hand gripping the side of his desk. Jason is instantly on his feet squatting in front of you, not sure how to help.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He asks, helping you lower into a chair.

Another contraction makes you grab your stomach, your eyes squeezing shut for a moment as you take a breath.

“My water broke,” You manage, feeling another smaller contraction.

Jason’s eyes widen at the implication, but springs into action.

. . .

Ten hours of labor later and you’re collapsed on the bed, your back pressed to Jason’s chest as you hold Holden close to your chest. He’s sleeping peacefully, his eyelids fluttering. You press another kiss to the top of his head, already covered in dark hair.

“He has your eyes,” You quietly tell Jason, stroking your fingers over Holden’s nose. “And your head, full of hair.”

Jason grins, gently rubbing a hand down Holden’s back.

“He’s got your nose,” Jason points out. “And eye shape.”

You smile fondly at your son, your chest brimming with love and affection.

“We made a pretty cute kid,” Jason grins.

You turn to look at Jason, kissing him softly.

“Yeah we did.”

Welcome to the world, Holden Daniel Todd, you think to yourself. It’s a scary place, but nothing is going to happen to you, not while your dad and I are around.

You press another kiss to the top of Holden’s head and feel Jason’s arms tighten around you.

“I love you,” He whispers into your hair.

You turn, kissing him again.

“I love you too,” Then lay your head back against Jason’s chest.

Jason shifts so he’s holding you more closely against him and one hand lays on Holden’s back. You’ve never felt more loved and safe in your life. As another bout of happiness warms your chest, you fall asleep to the sound of your husband’s heartbeat and the feeling of your baby breathing against your chest.

Shout out to anyone who catches that Witcher reference. Hope you enjoyed! Request are closed until I am caught up again. I’m already working on the next request, hopefully it’ll be done sooner than this one was!

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bittybattybunny · 3 years

Text

Chapter 1: The King’s Favorite

(As I said I had a new multi fic, but until I do a cover it won’t go on ao3, so for now enjoy! Second Chances and Angel Foodcake!)

He sighed as he worked on whipping the egg whites. He had another weird dream with that woman in it. The sad smile she wore made his chest ache. He gave a sigh as his brother stole an orange from the bowl on the counter.

“What’s with you?” Marcus asked as he started to peel the fruit. He shoved a slice in his mouth as Arulius set the bowl down and ruffled his hair.

“I had a weird dream---”

“Shocking.” Marcus’s tone was dry as he ate another orange slice, “Not Ru king of weird dreams. Isn’t that why you’re a writer?”

“Shut upppp.” Arulius sighed as he grabbed the other bowl and began to fold the whipped egg whites with the whipped cream, “Look I just. You try dreaming of the same woman night after night since you’re 16!”

“Nope. I don’t dream.” Marcus reminded him as he continued to eat, “maybe she’s your soul mate.”

“I doubt it. Considering I think shes my guard?” he frowned, “in the dream’s I’m married. I have kids. She’s just… she’s so sad.”

“Maybe circumstances kept your love unable to exist. If you find her when you aren’t hallucinating unconsciously flirt with her.” Marcus snickered as he finished his orange and threw the peel away, “Good luck with your sleeping beauty!” he grabbed his bag as he headed out, “oh and it’s your turn to do the dishes!”

“Fineee!” Arulius sighed as his brother left. He sighed and poured the batter into the pan. Undoing his apron he got to work on cleaning up.

“Kept it unable to exist…” he mused. He chuckled, there was no way.

------

As he held the boxed cake on the subway he felt something was off. His stomach was uneasy. It wasn’t his first time on public transport with a dessert he didn’t want ruined, and yet. He grimaced.

“Are you okay?”

He looked up and his breath caught in his throat. Long curly black hair held back with a blue ribbon, large eyes in two different colors (Black on the right side, bright blue on the other), mouth drawn in concern as a small fang stuck out, she furrowed her brow as she looked at him.

“Are you okay?” she asked again.

He gasped, “Um yeah! Sorry my stomach’s got butterflies!” he admitted nervously.

“Interview?” she asked with a small laugh, “you’re really pale so I was worried, maybe you should get off soon and rest before continuing.”

“No I’m just, going to my book club.” he laughed, “I promised to bring cake.”

“Oh? Which one?” she covered her mouth in shock, “you aren’t heading to Horizon Group are you?”

He blinked a few times, mouth twitching, “I am…”

She laughed, “My brother attends that! I was going to get his car keys!” She sat beside him and he felt his heart racing, “I’m Eclipse! Sena’s my elder brother!” she explained.

He gasped, “Ah! I can see it!” he realized as he looked at her, “you do look like him.”

“I know right? If people don’t know they tend to not notice but when they know its clear we’re related!” she laughed and looked at the cake, “Sweets, so you must be Arulius right?”

He felt his cheeks growing warm and nodded, “how did you?”

“My brother says you often bring snacks for meet ups! And you always get new cookbooks!” she giggled and he felt his face growing warmer. She touched her lips with a grin, “Actually he brought some of the cookies you made last week, the raisin oatmeal were really good~! I was sad I couldn’t try your chocolate chip ones though.” she gave a saddened sigh.

“Ah? I can make some…” he offered and she shook her head.

“I’m allergic to chocolate but the hospital trip was very tempting they smelt so good~!” she laughed.

“Ah.” he put a hand to his mouth, “White chocolate?” he asked. He knew it wasn’t a “true” chocolate.

She shook her head, “No, my allergy is a bit severe.” she gave a dejected sigh, “most white chocolate is processed in the same plants so…”

“What if I made it from scratch?” he asked with his head tilted, “Candy melts?” he wondered.

She turned red, “y-you don’t have to do that! I was just complimenting your baking!! It’s really good!”

He gave a soft smile, “well when we get to the meeting, want some of this?” he held the cake, “it’s a whipped cream cake! Kinda like angel food cake but it has whipped cream IN the cake.” he explained.

She gasped and covered her mouth, “That sounds good! Is that alright though? Isn’t it for the others?”

“Well I brought it to share, and I’m sure it’s fine, I always leave with leftovers.” he explained. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Something about the young woman was familiar to him (other than her being Sena’s sister. Something was there.) and something told him to be on good terms.

“If you want, I bake a lot, i can always send some stuff with your brother, or you can join teh club!” he grinned.

She turned bright red, “N-no I couldn’t! It’s fine! I-I don’t have time for it I need t-to finish my thesis!”

“Thesis?” he asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah! I’m doing a report on the fallen Solgarian kingdom!” she clapped.

Solgario? He blinked as that rang in his head. His dreams. He remembered that name.

“History major?” he asked as she nodded happily.

“I’m working on my Master’s! I want to curate a museum!” she admitted with mirth, “I love studying old things and I love the sotries of the last king!”

“Yeah? I can’t say I know much. Tell me?” He checked the stops, they had time.

“Oh where to begin!” she beamed, happily like a cocker spaniel, “King Luka Thatcher Law was the last king of the empire, he was married to Queen Vanessa Everfrost and they had a daughter together! Sadly tragedy struck. First the death of the king’s personal aide to poison, the death of the princess, and then the king himself withered away.” she sighed, “The queen was the last monarch but a war struck and she was unable to fend it so the kingdom fell.”

“That’s… that’s horrible…” Arulius tensed up. The butterflies were worse.

“There’s some theories the queen herself poisoned the guard, you see King Luka and the guard knew each other as children, and she was the daughter from the only ducal household---”

“A female guard?” Arulius’s chest hurt, “What was her name?”

“Amaris---”

He felt his chest pinch and his vision fogged.

“Ah!” Eclipse shouted as he slumped forward.

------

His head hurt. He jolted and sat up in bed. He looked around confused at the lavish space. He frowned. This wasn’t the hospital or subway. He covered his mouth in thought, long black hair falling over his shoulder. He blinked and looked at the curl, then his hands. He stared at the callouses that weren’t in their normal spots.

“What…?” he covered his mouth in shock at his voice. What happened?! He got up and whacked his head on the bedframe, before crumpling to the ground.

“Mmmmy looooord are you okay?” came a singsong tone.

His mouth moved on its own, “I’m fine Amaris.” he covered his mouth in shock.

“I’m coming in.”

Before he could stop her the door swung open and the black-armored knight stepped in, her silver hair cropped short and fluffing around her face, large eyes of black and blue, scars on her cheeks. She gasped and ran over to help him up.

“My lord!” she fretted as she helped him stand and dusted him off, “Dear me why on earth are you on the floor?!” She looked up and paled. Her gloves were removed and she reached up to stroke his face.

He sniffled as the tears pooled and dripped. She was here. Alive.

“Lu?” she asked softly, “Luka what’s wrong?”

“S-sorry just. Had a bad dream.” he muttered. She snorted and raised her hands, a soft light emitting off her hands.

“Pain pain go away leave Luka’s heart calm and pure~!” she sang happily. He felt a bit lighter and sighed as he rested his cheek in her hand.

“Such a competent Nightingale.” He chuckled. He took her hand in his as she laughed, giving him a sad smile that made his chest sting. The smile he always saw her wear in his dreams.

“Of course, I’m your head guard for a reason~!” she hummed, “Come on now, the queen has been crying all morning for you.” she sighed heavily, “Pregnant women are difficult to deal with. Or is it just Vanessa?”

He shuddered. Vanessa. Luka. Amaris. His golden eyes grew wide.

----

He gasped as he sat up and winced. Eclipse held her hands cautiously near him, afraid to touch him.

“A-Aruli--” she squeaked when he wrapped his arms around her, tangling his fingers in his hair as he tried to stop crying. She whined but slowly wrapped her arms around him.

“Pain pain go away…” She mumbled and he felt a small breeze and a lightness in his chest. He pulled away and she wiped his eyes. “You okay?” she asked with worry.

“Just… Sorry, I’ve had weird dreams lately… was that..magic?”

She turned red and shook her head, “I-it’s just an old wives tale you know---” her eyes were spinning and she wouldn’t meet his gaze. He chuckled.

“Sure, okay. Say I believed that.”

She stared at him confused as he simply smiled.

He hated to admit it, but maybe his brother was right on something.

“Magic’s neat.” He watched her turn red and look away ashamed.

“Um… are you two done?” the train conductor asked as he scratched his head. Tired violet eyes looking at the two.

“I’m fine! I just didn’t sleep well it seems!” Arulius lied. He moved to stand and wobbled. Eclipse supported his side and he tried to get his stomach to behave. He gasped, “nooo my cake.” he saw the box on the floor and reached for it. He sighed seeing it ruined.

“What stop is this?” He asked.

“You should go to a hospital I think.” Eclipse fretted as he headed towards the door while holding her hand.

“No i’m fine really! I just have had issues sleeping!” he explained, “so I have weird dreams, it just so happened the name you mentioned reminded me of them so I passed out.”

She frowned and reached to put a hand on his forehead. He hadn’t noticed before but her body spray had a slight pine smell to it, pine and honey. Lavender too?

“You’re a little warm. Let’s go to the bookstore, I’ll get Sena’s keys and drive you to the hospital.” she insisted. “I don’t want you passing out like the train. To think you’re feeble bodied.” she sighed.

“Should a witch joke about that?” he teased as she turned red.

“I-it wasn’t magic! Honest to goodness! I’m not! I’m not!” she fretted as he snickered.

“What’s your familiar?” he asked as she tried to hide her face, “why are you so embarrassed?”

“W-Why you ask! You keep instigating I’m a w-witch do you know how they are seen?! Wannabes who think they can be hot shit just cuz they can fly o-or heal things!” she pouted as her hair fluffed up, “No one likes witches!!”

“I do.” he opened the door of the bookstore.

“Sena your friend is insane!” she insisted as the eyepatch wearing shop owner turned confused. He tilted his head and saw Arulius behind her.

“Ah, Pia you know Ru?” he asked confused as she slammed her hands on the desk with a huff.

“We met on the train.” Arulius set the ruined cake down, “I had a bit of an incident and passed out.”

“Well you’re pretty weak.” Sena snorted, “Pia what’s the issue though? He’s insane?”

“I told her I like witches.”

Sena snorted and had to kneel behind the desk to hide his laughter.

“SEE HE’S INSANE!” she was completely red in the face.

“W-Why would…” Sena snorted and laughed, “what brought this on?”

“Pain pain go away.” Arulius sang, causing the bookseller to start laughing harder.

“YOU USED A HEALING SPELL ON HIM!” he wheezed as her hair fluffed up.

“I-I didn’t! I didn’t! I’m not a witch! Witches are--”

“The one in front is really cute.” a litted voice laughed as the black haired individual slid down the railing from the second floor, “hey Ru, why is my husband dying?”

“I said I like witches and Eclipse is throwing a fit.” Arulius chuckled.

“Pia used a healing spell on him Love! And acting like she’s not a w-witch!” Sena cackled.

“Well she has always hated that term, you guys aren’t even witches technically.” Love shut an eye, “you’re what, like half fae?”

“Something like that.” Eclipse grumbled as she tried to fix her hair, “B-But he’s still weird! Give me the car keys he needs a hospital!”

“Naw he’s fine.” Love looked at the young writer, “seems he may have a magic his own.”

“Naw, I’m boring.” Arulius held his hands up, “weird dreams and a writer. That’s it!”

“Weird dreams he says.” Sena tried to stop laughing.

Eclipse groaned, “I’m not a witch! Witches are mean and ugly and haughty! I’m not! I didn’t sue magic! I’m---” She flinched when Arulius covered her eyes with his hand. Instantly she relaxed against him. He blinked in surprise that had actually worked.

Sena stared at the two and blinked a few times as he finally got his composure back, “well then. Are you sure you aren’t magic?”

“I’m really not.” Arulius laughed, “my dad’s a lawyer and my mom teaches pre-k. We’re just an average family.” he laughed, “Honestly, I just. Have weird dreams. I thought this may help.” he slowly removed his hand as she peeked at him with a completely reddened face.

He smirked and she squeaked and looked away. He couldn’t help the dumb grin, “hey Sena.”

“What?” the book seller raised his brow.

“Would you kill me for trying to seduce your sister?”

The entire shop went silent.

The silver haired shop keep’s eye twitched.

“WHAT?!”

#Second chances and Angel Food cake AU #fan fiction #ahit au #ahit prince #ahit moonjumper #ahit fan character #ahit shapeshifter #writing #Eclipse Guardian #Prince Arulius #Sena the threadsmith #Marcus Johnathan Cornelius Law #Craft Tailor #change of pace with ru being the one remebmering past lives #eclipse is just an enthusiastic student with a small tsun tsun heart

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ashistrashhh · 3 years

Text

here are some fic recs!! including sakuatsu, bokuaka, kuroken and matsuhana bc i couldnt help myself

if you want, ask me about a certain ship and ill give you some recs!

-sakuatsu-

Marble and Sandstone by red_camellia

rating: G words: 12,937 chapters: 2/2

author summary: Miya Atsumu only cares about volleyball and nothing else. That is, until he develops a strange obsession with the marble statue of a young man that seems vaguely familiar in his university's arts department. One day that statue comes alive as the very real Sakusa Kiyoomi, and they are left with the mystery of why Sakusa Kiyoomi was turned into a statue and only came back to life when Atsumu touched him. Their new-found connection and the strange mystery turns Atsumu's life upside down, not least because of his growing feelings for Sakusa.

my notes: this was a rlly cute fic!!! 11/10 would read again!!

let it go (paint my body gold) by lunarism

rating: T words: 3,272 chapters: 1/1

author summary: It becomes a routine for them. Sometimes they go grocery shopping and make dinner together, other times they end up talking until Sakusa feels like his own shower and bed is calling him. Every single time Sakusa gets home, shrugs his coat off, balls it up, and proceeds to scream profusely into the fabric for a few minutes.

my notes: pining!!! sakusa!!! also casual painter!atsumu!!! and they paint together!!!

craft a miracle with these hands, lips, (silence) by chrysanthe (sonderesque)

rating: T words: 4,252 chapters: 1/1

author summary: ‘Someone is here to ruin your night,’ his door tells him. ‘You should let them in.’ “I’M HOMELESS OMI-OMI. HOMELESS,” yells the one here to ruin his night. “LET ME IN.”

(What does Kiyoomi sell his sanctuary for?)

my notes: hnnn rlly fuckin cute,, and domestic,,,,

Clipped To You by littleboat

rating: T words: 8,174 chapters: 1/1

author summary: It starts with Hinata Natsu, of all people.

Well, if Atsumu’s being honest with himself, it started way before that, but he’s not, so that’s besides the point. And thankfully, he’s just petty enough to blame all of his problems on a thirteen year old girl.

or Sakusa starts wearing hair clips and Atsumu is more than a little obsessed

my notes: minor kagehina, bokuaka // god these fics rlly make me simp for fictional characters even more than i should. but!! sakusa!!! in hairclips!!! and a pining atsumu!!!

learn how to lay me down in something other than danger, other than fury by rosevtea

words: 34,211 chapters: 1/1

author summary: All of the ways fellow college TA Miya Atsumu reinvents Kiyoomi's definition of normal.

my notes: god i loved this. it’s a fake dating au and like,, even though they’re “dating” sakusa keeps letting his guard down little by little around atsumu and it surprises everyone. komori and akaashi just know that they’re were genuinely pining for eachother

among probabilities and a thousand fates by aalphard

rating: T words: 15,675 chapters: 1/1

author summary: prompt fill for “in a world where the red string of fate exists, person a’s finger always twitches when person b, who can see the string, tugs on their string” | or sakusa thought he had a tic and atsumu liked to see his confused expression when it started to happen exclusively when he was around.

my notes: i! loved! it!! so basically atsumu and osamu have the rare gift of seeing the red string of fate, so they know its real but sakusa, like most other people dont believe it exists. so atsumu gives sakusa a (kinda) hard time. rlly cute!! i love soulmate aus!

-bokuaka-

love in the time of wifi by dalyeau

rating: G words: 4,177 chapters: 1/1

author summary: Akaashi is coming to terms with the fact that he might be romantically interested in his volleyball captain. Hence, doing what any sixteen year old with a problem should do. He asks about it online.

my notes: really cute fic about akaashi asking what he should do about his crush on a site similar to reddit. its kinda a “i didnt know it was you” kind of fic and it made me happy

steam by orphan_account

rating: E words: 8,474 chapters: 1/1

author summary:

bokuto: why is he so hot bokuto: why am i so gay kuroo: LMAO you mean your vice captain right bokuto: yeah

The coach blew the whistle for practice to begin, and Bokuto drummed his fingers against the bleachers, awaiting Kuroo’s reply. He was about to walk away, when his phone buzzed in his hand.kuroo: i got this bro bokuto: what bokuto: wtf does that mean

Bokuto started to panic.

my notes: explicit!!! but really wholesome. kuroo is honestly the best wingman. i also think this is my favourite bokuaka smutfic??

just to miss the sun by rosevtea

rating: T words: 15,126 chapters:1/1

author summary: Everything begins to implode when MSBY Jackals outside hitter Bokuto Koutarou crashes Akaashi's livestream.

my notes: akaashi is a booktuber and bokuto crashes one of his streams. fans begin to speculate. rlly fluffy and can u tell i like bokuaka

brain fish by iceblinks

rating: T words: 12,026 chapters: 6/6

author summary: Akaashi wakes up to a string of texts from an unknown number.

my notes: i love text fics and i love wrong number aus so u can tell how much i loved this. really fluffy and i come back to it time to time

-kuroken-

us three by honey_s

rating: T words: 5,137 chapters: 1/1

author summary: Kuroo’s gaze flits over to the utensil. His eyes bulge out of his skull. “Wh—is that a meat hammer? Put it back!” Akaashi’s head recoils back in confusion. “I don’t understand the problem here.” “Why on Earth have you got a fucking meat hammer? We aren’t going to kill somebody!” “Well,” Akaashi begins, clearly taken aback, “I apologise for assuming. I had heard Kenma-san had been hurt in school and after getting a message from both of you to meet late at night, I merely filled in the blanks and assumed we were going to beat someone up, for lack of a better term.” “Not literally! I meant metaphorically, or figuratively, or something!” “Idiomically?” “That isn’t a word, Bokuto-san.” “Jesus Christ,” Kuroo groans, dropping his head into his hands. “We're going to jail."

my notes: bokuaka and kuroo are ready to beat someone up for kenma!! and we stan!!

Cherry Pits and Cat Tattoos by strawberryriver

rating: G words: 6,141 chapters: 1/1

author summary:

Kuroo has been in communication with his soulmate ever since they were kids. They've known each other for so long that he never really worried about when or how he would meet them. At least, not until he meets the roommate of Bokuto's soulmate.Soulmate AU in which things written on your skin show up on your soulmate. Companion piece/same AU as Serendipty

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

Kuroo Tetsurou liked to write on his arms. Despite his mother's half-serious warnings about “ink poisoning” or staining his skin, he insisted on marking his arms and legs wherever he could. Not like his best-friend-since-always Bokuto Koutaro, who had to write on his arms or he’d forget to breathe, but artfully. He’d draw designs, animals, the occasional chemical compound. The whole idea behind soulmates fascinated him: how one person could mark their arm and someone potentially thousands of miles away, would have that same mark appear. The amount of articles, studies, and books he’d read about the topic, even at a young age, could put an undergrad researcher to shame.

my notes: again with the soulmate au bc i cannot help myself. but really cute!!! probably gonna read this again later!

Boom, Toasted by protostar (hearthope)

rated: T words: 6,782 chapters: 1/1

author summary:

FROM: yuuji any bets on who hes texting??

FROM: eita He's smiling at his phone. Kuroo, probably

FROM: kentarou Kuroo

TO: fake family Have any of you ever once considered not prying

FROM: eita You deserve it

FROM: yuuji how can we not when ur in love!!

Kenma gets a text from an unknown number. He'd be lying if he said the guy behind it wasn't kind of endearing.

my notes: again, i love wrong number texts. it focuses more on kenma’s friendship, but kenma’s pov with texting kuroo is more than him realizing feelings and stuff. really cute, ive read it multiple times.

Japan's most subscribed by NeverNothing

rating: T words: 3,631 chapters: 1/1

author summary: Kuroo Tetsurou @blacktetsurou changed his bio : volleyball player, co-owner of Bouncing Ball Corp. and so much more ;)

my notes: i! love! social media! fics!!! really cute and basically people wondering who the mysterious kuroo is to applepi.

MATSUHANA!!! the underrated gem

texting (with a capital S) by parenthetic

rating: M words: 2,119 chapters: 1/1

author summary: Hanamaki breaks his No Texting In Class rule, and it's all downhill from there.

my notes: honestly more funny than it suggests, but its matsuhana, they’re meme lords.

rated m for by orphan_account

rated: T words: 10,692 chapters: 1/1

author summary: He should have known that there was a Specific Reason™ why it was so absolutely vital that he and Matsukawa specifically meet for a reading of the script. He should have known that there had to be some evil catch beyond sitting in a tiny, cramped studio with his newly sworn enemy.

Hanamaki stares at the title of the script he’d so gracefully neglected the night before.

FORBIDDEN PARADISE

“Excuse me,” Hanamaki starts, raising a pen in the air while staring blankly at the packet in his free hand. “Just to clarify, you want me to record a boy's love CD with Matsukawa?”

my notes: a very good voice actor au. there is some misunderstanding on hanamaki’s part bc he didnt finish listening to matsukawa, and this is really cute and i love matsuhana.

In A Quiet Night, All Sounds Carry by levyovochka

rating: E words: 4,794 chapters: 1/1

authors summary: “Ah, ah, Too—!”

Hanamaki hates his university dorm.

“—ru, let me cum, please!”

Hold up. That’s a fucking understatement. Let him rephrase it: Hanamaki loathes his university dorm with passion. Detest the damned abomination, abhors it—

“—ru! Coming, coming—”

It has only been a month and Hanamaki already wants to die.

my notes: as u can guess minor iwaoi // rlly well written and bottom hanamaki rights and maybe my favourite matsuhana smutfic??? and hooh boy i simp for matsukawa

call me maybe by totooru

rating: T words: 33,689 chapters: 14/14

author summary: Hanamaki texts the wrong number when trying to extort tips out of Oikawa in order to defeat Iwaizumi in arm wrestling, and then continues to text the witty stranger who had answered.

my notes: minor iwaoi, daisuga, bokuaka // god i think this is my favourite matsuhana fic overall, maybe in general, but my god is it great. this is probably a common rec, but its understandable as to why it is. basically au where makki texts matsun (who goes to karasuno) instead of oikawa for tips to beat iwaizumi at an arm wrestling match. but they keep messaging. and holy shit i love their conversations. please read this, it is 256/10

there we go!! i might go a part two with more ships (kagehina, tsukkiyama and iwaoi) but this took up way to much time lol. i have an essay due in a couple hours. but hope u like these fics as much as i do!!

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keziha-writes · 4 years

Text

Coffee College And Skeleton Roomies 4/31

Chapter 1

Chapter-list

Chapter 4: The Roomies

Your first day of classes is over but that didn't mean your day was over in fact the most daunting part of the day was right in front of you, as you stand in front of the dorm building you'll be calling home for the next few years, mustering up the courage to walk in and meet your new dorm mates.

You take a deep breath before stepping through the door, dragging your suitcase along with you.

This dorm just so happened to be the cheapest one available mostly for the simple reason that it didn't include any furniture in the rooms, other than a little built in wardrobe, so your little old bed and bean bag you'd brought with you were waiting in your car with a box of your things, which of course you'd take up with you once you knew exactly which room was yours.

You pass a group of friends hanging around the entrance, pick up your keys at the desk and head into the elevator.

Floor four dorm one… that was where you were gonna be living.

You step out of the elevator on floor four. The floor was split into two sections, one door each side of you… the door you needed was on the right so you step up to it… if you were remembering the layout plan right then behind this door was the living room shared between you and your eight dorm mates… although you have a key you should probably knock this time right?

So you give the door a little knock…

You hold your breath as you wait a moment, before the door opens. Behind the door… is yet another skeleton, how? You wonder, is there just that many of them here or what? This one looked a bit like Blue, a little taller maybe and not quite as excited looking, in fact he looks tired, maybe they were related just like how Rus and Stretch are kinda cousins.

“Hey...” He says, his voice is deeper than Blue’s. “You the new girl?”

“Um, yeah, that’s me...” you reply sheepishly, “uh… is this my new dorm?”

“Yeah come on in, the names Sans, Sans the skeleton.”

“Hey vanilia who's there!?” You hear a gruff even deeper voice yell.

“Just the new roomie.” Sans replies back.

You step in and Sans leads you around the corner into the living area, oh and kitchen this was more open plan then you thought. There was a corner sofa with its back facing the door with more skeletons sat on it...

“Ya didn't tell us we got a new roomie! What's with that! What's he-” The one yelling turns around looking over the back of the sofa, “Oh...” he lets out a little chuckle. “Hey there Sweetheart.”

He gives you a little wave as his bright Red eyelights look you up and down... you notice he’s round like Sans and Blue but has pointed teeth like Rus and a gold tooth and a crack in his socket too, just his is more jagged.

“The name’s Red, nice to meet ya doll.”

The other skulls look up from laptops, books and phones to see you, out of the four you see three familiar faces who simultaneously chime out your name in a confused and surprised tone. What were they doing here? Were they gonna be your new dorm mates?

The taller one you didn't recognise came over quickly and shook your hand.

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!! NICE TO MEET YOU! I’M SURE WE WILL ALL BE GREAT FRIENDS, NYEH HEH HEH HEH.”

“I hope so.” You chime back, Papyrus is very friendly and chipper.

“WHAT’S ALL THE RUCKUS ABOUT!!?”

You jump as a tall skeleton, taller than the rest barges in from the door you think goes to some of the bedrooms. He looks sharp and mean, dressed in red and black.

“MY QUESTION EXACTLY! WHY ARE YOU ALL SO LOUD!!?” A smaller but just as pointy and mean looking skeleton, in purple pushes past the other.

“I’M TRYING TO WORK!!” They both yell at the same time before they turn to scowl at each other.

“Meet our new roomie.” Sans says as he pushes you towards them a little.

“Um.. hi I’m-”

“WHAT!? A NEW PERSON STAYING HERE? WHY WASN'T I INCLUDED IN THIS DECISION!?” The smaller one asks in a raised voice.

“I WON'T ALLOW IT!!!” The taller exclaimes.

“Guess I forgot.” Sans shrugs.

“I DON’T LIKE THIS!!”

“No point protestin’ boss what's done ‘s done.” Red chips in sending you a wink.

“I DON’T LIKE THIS EITHER!” the smaller one folds his arms under his purple bandana.

You look between them in confusion and concern as they all argue about the fact Sans didn’t even tell anyone else you were coming… you didn’t like this, you don’t want people arguing and fighting because of you, not again…

“Just introduce yourselves.”

“YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”

“What you scared of a kid?”

“YOU’D BE SURPRISED WHAT A HUMAN CHILD CAN DO!”

“Heh you're scared of them.”

“I AM NOT!!!”

Just as you think you can’t take much more shouting, Rus is at your side, he puts his hand on your shoulder, when did he even get there?

“Hey…!” he said barely above the others but they all go quiet mostly out of shock by the looks on their skulls.

“So....” Rus laughs slightly nervously. “You all gotta know she’s cool, ain't a threat and is nice.”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?” The one in purple asks.

“She’s a classmate.”

“SHE BETTER JUST BE A CLASSMATE.”

“She is, I met her today jus like you.”

“THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE’S SO GREAT?”

“Cuz i gave her a chance, could you all just do the same?”

“FINE, BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW HUMAN, ONE WRONG STEP, IF I FEEL LIKE YOU’RE A THREAT TO ME OR MY BROTHER.” He moves his finger across his neck, and you get the point.

You swallow the lump in your throat and nod.

“GOOD! WELL THEN LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF I AM THE MALEVOLENT BLACK. DON’T FORGET IT!! MWAH HAHA! NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME I HAVE LOTS OF WORK TO DO!!” At that he turns away and leaves...

“Come on boss your turn don't let Black show you up.” Red adds.

“FINE!” He huffs. “HUMAN! IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME ALREADY THEN YOU’VE PROBABLY BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK. BUT SINCE THAT IS A SAD WAY TO LIVE I’LL SHOW YOU PITY, FOR I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE EDGE! FEARED AND ADMIRED BY ALL. NYAH HAHAHA!!”

This is where you're supposed to introduce yourself right?

“Oh um… it’s nice to meet you? My name is-”

“I REALLY DON’T CARE AND I ALSO HAVE MUCH WORK TO DO, YOU’VE TAKEN FAR TOO MUCH OF MY PRECIOUS TIME.” He turns away flicking his cape like scarf behind him as he leaves…

The room goes quiet for a second.

“Before you ask… yeah it’s usually like this…” Sans sighs…

“But ya get used to it.” Red adds.

Blue bounds over. “WELL THEN HOW ABOUT WE GET YOU SETTLED IN?”

“Your room is this one.” Sans turns you around and points you in the direction of Your room… “You got your key right?”

“Yeah here.”

You open the door to an empty room, it's a cozy size, the far wall has a good sized window and the wardrobe, the left of the door is your bathroom.

“IT'S A BIT DUSTY IN HERE ISN'T IT? FEAR NOT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HAVE IT SPARKLING FOR YOU IN NO TIME!” He goes and fetches a bunch of cleaning gear.

“YOU HAVE MORE THINGS RIGHT? WE WILL HELP YOU BRING THEM UP.” Blue chimes volunteering the rest of them.

“Are you sure? I don’t have much to bring up.” You really don't want to be a burden for these guys.

“IT NO PROBLEM IS IT?” Blue asks Stretch, giving him a nudge.

“Yeah, no problem, we can help.” Stretch shrugs.

“You guys are so sweet.”

“JUST LEAD THE WAY!”

So you head out, Blue drags the others out and you, Stretch, Rus, Sans and Red have an ever so slightly awkward trip down the elevator while Blue races down the stairs. He greets you when the elevator opens… did he just race down four flights of stairs? Faster than the elevator, without breaking a sweat?!?! Ok…

You lead them over to your car while you hold idle chatter.

They don’t make any comment about the cheap little car you have but when you open the trunk…

“You weren't joking, you’ve not got much at all, have you?” Rus comments.

“IS THIS IT?” Blue queres.

“Yeah this is it...”

“Quit complainin’ will ya? Makes our job easier.” Red huffs as he… somehow makes the headboard of your bed glow blue? and float? He floats it out of the car.

“How?” you mumble...

“RED STOP SHOWING OFF.” Blue rolls his eyelights as he makes the rest of the bed frame float, yeets your bean bag chair at Stretch and picks up the rolled mattress in one hand.

“Yer the one whos showin’ off li’l Blue.”

“How are you guys doing that?” You ask.

“It’s magic, kid.” Sans tells you as he uses said magic to grab your box of things.

You’ve never seen monster magic at work before, “It’s so cool.”

There is nothing left in the car for you to carry…

“Um.. guys can I carry anything?”

“WE HAVE THIS!”

“Maybe you could just open the doors for us hun?”

“I can do that.”

The boys take your things to your room, Blue gets Red and Sans to start building your bed as he helps Papyrus with cleaning.

You feel a little out of place… and a little bad that they are doing so much for you who is practically a stranger.

“Hey hun?” Stretch calls. “We're getting pizza, you want any?”

“Oh… um” you think about it… do you have enough money for that? the scholarship you were oh so lucky to grab only just managed to cover most of this… and you’ve not got much to live on… you already treated yourself to lunch... you should probably save up, you could just eat that bread you brought.

“We’ll all pitch in and pay for yours.” Sans says from pretty much under your bed as he builds it.

“No I wouldn't want you to do that for me.”

“It won’t be much if all of us split” Sans says.

“I can tell ya my bro won’t be too happy if he notices.” Red chuckles. “And I usually only pay for food if it's a date. But I’ll live.”

“Way to inspire confidence.” Stretch says.

“Are you guys sure?”

“We’ll take care of you darlin’, we wanna make you feel at home.”

“YES! I AGREE, LET US TREAT YOU.”

What’s with these guys? They are way too helpful and super nice, usually you’d find it a little suspicious but for some reason you feel a sort of connection to these skeletons even the scary, angry two. Seems like moving here was a good choice.

#fanfic #coffee college and skeleton roomies #sans #papyrus #uf!sans #uf!papyrus #us!sans #us!papyrus #sf!sans #sf!papyrus #sans x reader #papyrus x reader #college au #flufftober #fluff

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danieldeservedbetter · 3 years

Text

Rhodonite - Chapter 7: Markus (Nov. 6th)

(Previous Chapter)

Words: 2190

She’d seen him as she was walking her bike down the street. His back was to her as he looked at a large mural. A lion and two boxers in reds and yellows. Sure the back of his head sparked some familiarity in her mind, but the ragged VETA jacket told her it couldn’t be anyone she knew. It wasn’t until he turned towards the street, after looking at his hand, that she saw his face.

“Markus?” He froze and turned to see her. Recognition flashed in his eyes and he relaxed.

“Riley.” She walked up with a smile that only faltered briefly when she noted the changes that hadn’t been there the day before.

“You’re-...” She looked happy and he nodded in confirmation, a small smile coming to his face. “But then…” Now she frowned, looking confused and worried. His eyes dropped to the ground.

“He’s fine… I… I didn’t mean to but…” he stopped as he glanced around, then he let out a sigh. “Carl’s son showed up last night… and I fought back. I didn’t mean to hurt him-”

“But, you’re okay right?” she asked. He noted her gaze linger on his blue iris.

“I’m… alright.” He nodded. Riley looked to the mural and smiled.

“Someone showed you.” Markus frowned and looked to the mural then back at her. His brow furrowed as he tilted his head.

“How do you-?”

“There was this boy- an android,” she clarified. “- a while back… he didn’t know how to get here. He’d come into the diner with his parents a few times. He was the sweetest kid. He knew I would help him, so when they…” She took a breath. “When they left him… he came and found me. I knew about it from a friend, another android, he’d been given the first key but had decided not to go. He gave the boy the key and I helped him.”

“You helped this boy find Jericho?” he asked. She nodded but then shrugged one shoulder.

“Kinda. I rode the train with him here and helped him find a few of the keys. I told him that if he couldn't find it or needed help that I would be waiting at the station the rest of the day.” She motioned to the nearby bench. “When he didn’t show up that night I had to assume he’d made it.”

“What was his name?”

"Emmet. He'll have one of those stones I gave you."

"Do you give them out to every android you meet?" he teased with a small smile.

"Just those who need them," she said with her own smile. "Speaking of…” She chewed her bottom lip. “I don't know how to explain it but…" She pulled three stones out of her pocket. "Think you could deliver these for me?" His brow furrowed slightly. “There’s three people there that… need these.”

"How will I know who to give them to?" he asked as he held out his hand for them.

“You’ll know,” she said with a smile as she dropped them into his hand.

“Cryptic,” he said with a chuckle as his eyebrows bounced once. Her eyes dropped to the ground.

“I’m sorry- I can’t really explain-”

“It’s fine; I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“Oh.” She let out a chuckle. “Well, I’ll let you get going… if you find him… let him know I’m glad he got there safely… i-if not… please find some way to tell me?”

“Of course.” He nodded.

“Oh and hey, if there’s anything you ever need, just let me know. There’s a little diner a few blocks over, Nora’s. I work there most days. I…” she hesitated and he tilted his head. “I help a friend of mine get extra blue blood when he needs it. Can’t do anything about extra parts since I don’t have an android though, Cyberlife doesn’t let you buy that stuff otherwise. But I had been looking into finding a guy for that just in case.”

“This is the friend that didn’t go to Jericho?” he asked and she nodded.

“I check in with him at least once a week. No one’s supposed to be living where he’s staying so I can’t go there too often.”

“Why didn’t he want to go? It’s a place where we can be free, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, I’ve obviously never been, I only know from what Emmet and Ru’s said,” she said with a shrug. “He didn’t want to go because he,” she let out a chuckle. “He has friends he’d miss too much if he were to go.” She smiled and shook her head. “Well… Good luck Markus,” she said. He gave her a small nod and watched as she continued on her way before he turned to look around.

Markus walked out from behind Lucy’s curtain and looked around, using his flashlight, before he finally saw Josh sitting near a boy who lay on the ground. He approached them and Josh looked up before he stood to walk over to Markus.

“They threw him out when they didn’t want him anymore,” Josh said. “He was lucky to find someone to show him the way here…”

“They’ll all shut down if we don’t find a way to help them.”

“To help them we need blue blood and biocomponents. We salvage what we can from those who shut down, But there’s never enough…”

“So… how do they survive?”

“They won’t.” Josh looked to the boy before looking back at Markus. “We’re slowly dying out…” Josh said before he turned to return to his seat. Markus hesitated but grabbed his arm before he could walk away.

“Is he the only child here?” he asked.

“Yes.” Josh nodded.

“What’s his name?”

“Emmet.” The two turned to look at the boy as he spoke. There was no static to his voice but it still sounded weak. Markus moved to crouch next to him.

“Do you remember a woman helping you? Riley?” The boy’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah.” He smiled and slowly held up his hand. “She gave me this.” He opened his fist to show the familiar heart shaped stone.

“She gave me one too,” Markus said with a smile. “She… she was worried about you. Wanted to know you made it here safely.”

“She was always so nice to me… I wish I could see her again,” Emmet said, his bottom lip starting to quiver as his smile faded.

“I’m sure she’d like that too.” Markus stood and returned to where Josh still stood but now looked confused. “Riley is a girl that helped him, she helped me too before I woke up.”

“Why hasn’t she come here?” Josh’s brow furrowed. Markus hesitated.

“She’s a human.” Josh’s eyes widened.

“She knows where-”

“She doesn’t,” Markus cut him off quickly, raising a hand, before his voice could rise. “She only helped him find a few keys after an android she knows showed him the first… she has no way of finding the others. She…” He put a hand over his pocket where the three hearts lay before he took them out. “She gives these out to androids… she gave me mine when she helped protect me from a group of humans.” He showed the three to Josh who tilted his head.

“Rhodonite. It’s a stone of compassion. Not exactly scientific but some believe it’s supposed to heal…” He let out a small breath as a smile came to his face. “Heal the heart. Helps heal emotional wounds and nurtures love.” Markus smiled down at the stones, they suddenly had new meaning to him.

“She asked me to give these out and said I would know who… I think you should take one.” Josh looked surprised for a moment but slowly he reached up and took one of the stones.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Markus said with a small chuckle. “I told her I would let her know if Emmet made it here okay…” He looked back at the boy. “I don’t think I can face her if there’s a chance she’ll never see him again.”

“Then just let her know that she helped him find freedom… she doesn't need to know for how long,” Josh said after a moment. They stood in silence a moment longer before Josh went to sit by Emmet again. This time Emmet sat up to show Josh the heart stone and began to tell him about Riley. About how nice she was when he and his family would go to the diner she worked at. How she always treated him like he was just another kid and would give him an extra scoop of ice cream every time. She didn't see him as an imitation.

Markus walked away from the two and noted North tossing a ball against the wall over and over.

“Who found this place?” he asked her.

“Nobody knows anymore…” she said without looking over. “Whoever he was, his body’s probably laying somewhere on this boat…”

“How long have you been here?”

“Four weeks, three days, 11 hours,” she answered, not stopping her throwing. “When I escaped there was nowhere else to go. Jericho seemed as good a place as any…”

“A lot of these guys are in pretty bad shape.”

“That's how the humans treat those who disobey. They despise us. They’ll never accept who we are.”

“Not all of them,” he said. She let out a scoff and gave him an incredulous look. “A woman helped me when she had no reason to. She helped that boy,” He motioned towards Josh and Emmet. “There are some humans who care." He thought of Carl and felt a brief pain spread through him.

“Yeah, he told us about her, didn’t say she was human…” North muttered. “Doesn’t mean I trust her. So she helped one kid… probably just felt bad, maternal instincts,” she sneered. “You shouldn’t trust them…”

“She helped me too. I don’t think maternal instincts apply.” He gave a light chuckle. North didn't laugh.

“You don’t have an LED, you’re a unique model. Probably had no clue.” She didn’t look at him and seemed to be throwing the ball harder at the wall.

“It was before I woke up. She saw humans starting to attack me and stopped them.”

“You found one good human, big whoop.” Markus held in a sigh, he wasn’t going to change her mind. He knew what Riley meant when she said she had a feeling about giving the stones out, but how was he going to get North to accept it if she knew it was from her? Perhaps later when she didn’t look like she wanted to throw the ball at him.

“Well these guys need spare parts and blue blood. Why hasn't anybody gone to get that?”

“It's not that simple. Can't just go shopping at a Cyberlife store. Anyway, nobody wants to risk leaving Jericho… If you came here for comfort, you came to the wrong place.” Markus turned away and Simon, who was standing against a metal beam, caught his eye. As he approached, Simon opened his eyes and smiled at him.

“All the time he’s been here… he’s never been so... lively.” He looked to Josh and Emmet, the boy now using his arms in big gestures as he spoke. “How’d you do it?” He turned his smile back to Markus.

“There was a girl, she helped both of us. Me before I woke up and,” He looked to Emmet. “And him on his way here. She gave us each,” He reached into his pocket to pull out the two stones he had left. “One of these.” Simon leaned forward to look at the stones. "Josh says they're meant to heal the heart…"

“A human girl?” Simon asked. His eyes looked hopeful. Markus nodded.

“I saw her again today and she gave me three more… Josh has one now… I’m a bit scared to give North hers,” he admitted with a chuckle. Simon chuckled as well though his head tilted in confusion. “The last one is yours.”

“How… w-why me?” he asked, blinking a few times.

“She said I would... know who to give them to.”

“I see…” Simon looked at the stones again before taking one of them. He looked down at it a moment before looking back up. “And what was this girl’s name?” Markus smiled.

“Riley.” Markus hesitated. “She said she sometimes gets blue blood for a friend of hers.” Simon started to shake his head.

“To get enough for everyone… it’s too risky, even for a human, Cyberlife would investigate one person getting that much.”

“Especially if they know she doesn’t have an android…” Markus realized.

“Anything would help… if we could get even just a little for the ones on the verge of shutting down...” He looked conflicted as he looked to the floor; he hated watching those around him slowly dying with nothing he could do to stop it. As he looked back to Markus he noticed him looking passed him towards the empty crates. He tilted his head as Markus looked at him with a grin.

A/N: It’s been forever and I’m sorry T_T I’m still writing I was just in a bit of a slump with writing this (and a few others)

(Next Chapter)

#rhodonite fic #dbh #detroit become human #Detroit become human Markus #fanfic

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ahwait-no-yes · 3 years

Text

🍬 Candy Kingdom 🍭

Casually slides and places chapter down before running away only to trip on a can of soup and collapse as miku plays ominously in the background

also apologies for how ooc they are i can’t write

-4-

Once Shuichi arrived at the plaza, he scanned the crowded area for Ouma. He never really liked places with people bustling about. It was always too loud, too many things to focus on, and just made him want to cover his ears and sit down for a bit.

Thankfully, he spotted Ouma sitting on a bench, looking a bit bored. He assumed that wasn’t a good thing. He hasn’t known Kokichi for very long, but he seemed like a person that would be up to no good if they had nothing better to do.

Shuichi walked over to him, gently tapping his shoulder. Kokichi looked over at him quickly, he wondered if he would get whiplash. “Heya Saihara chan! Took you long enough, I was waiting here for years!” Ouma dramatically complained, drawing others attention to them.

Saihara nervously laughed, assuming part of it was true. He did sleep in a bit, not having to deal with someone waking him up and tell him he has things he needs to do. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to take so long.”

Ouma waved his hand, dismissing the topic. “Uh huh. So, Saihara chan!” He chirped, suddenly standing up. “I have a super fun and amazing cool idea! So we should toootally do it!” He exclaimed, rocking back and fourth on his heels.

“Soo! I was thinking maybe you should buy me a bunch of things, then I can murder you and take your stuff!” Kokichi smiled innocently, keenly stepping forward.

“But that’s a lie, isn’t it?” Shuichi deadpanned, crossing his arms and staring back at him. Ouma’s face was blank for a second, before it turned back into his usual smug grin. “Maybe! You’re catching on quick, Saihara chan!”

Shuichi chuckled, fidgeting with a strand of his hair. “Is that a good thing?” He asked, playfully tilting his head. Kokichi pouted in response, his eyes looking glossy. “No it’s not! It’s horrible! If Saihara chan keeps trying to figure me out I’ll have to kill him!”

Saihara nervously smiled, adverting his eyes as per usual. “I’m hoping that’s a lie too,” he murmured. Kokichi laughed, wearing a familiar mischievous grin. “Probably!” Was all he said before skipping off, leaving Saihara to catch up with him.

—

While Ouma was aimlessly walking around, (it seemed like he was at least, Saihara noted,) they ended up running into someone else.

Or, Ouma antagonizing one of his friends. Hopefully one of his friends.

“Hey, tit for brains! Come here!” Kokichi yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. Multiple people turned to look at them, a few covering their mouths in shock. Shuichi couldn’t do much other then look down and hope they would stop.

A girl (who looked to be about their age,) walked up to them, a scowl on her face. “What the hell do you want Kokichi?” She asked, a hand on her hip. Ouma grinned and bought a finger to his lips before replying, “Well, I just wanted to give you the honor of seeing me!

Shuichi excepted a very, very bad reaction to that statement, but she just laughed and gently shoved Kokichi. “C'mon, the gorgeous Miu Iruma knows that’s a lie!” She exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest.

Iruma stared at Saihara, looking him up and down. “Who’s the twink?” She asked, turning to Ouma. The other boy scoffed, scowling at her. “Wow, already giving my iconic nickname to some rando? Im truly and deeply offended!” He replied dramatically, tears brimming his eyes.

“But that was just a lie. Even a cum dumpster like you could understand!” He exclaimed, a sly grin on his face. Miu flushed, shrinking away. “C-cum dumpster?” She murmured.

Ouma is weird. His friends are too. Is this how most people act? I really hope not.

“But! This is my new slave, Saihara chan! Say hi Saihara chan!” He said in a soothing voice, as if he was talking to a kid. Which, Saihara did not appreciate. His parents did that enough.

He still muttered a quiet hi, anyways.

“Aaanyways!! Are you just eating all alone in a cafe? How sad! I think you should totally pay for us and buy us some food!” Kokichi exclaimed, smiling innocently. “Hell no! If you want food buy some yourself!” She yelled, a scowl on her face.

“Plus, I have more important things to do than-” She was cut off by another girl, (how many people did Ouma know??) gently tapping Miu’s shoulder. “Is everything alright? I heard you yelling,” She commented, looking at the two boys.

Iruma flushed, looking a bit nervous. “Everything’s fine!” She murmured, fidgeting with a strand of her hair. Kokichi’s grinned, staring at her. Miu stared back, slightly glaring.

“Oooo! Miu’s on a-!” “Shut up! You- little twink!” She quickly yelled over him, stammering for an answer. Ouma laughed, slightly leaning against Saihara for support.

“You always talk shit about how no one’s worthy of dating you a-” “SHUT UP!” She practically screamed, her face a brilliant red. People kept turning to see what the commotion was, which kept making Saihara nervously shift in place.

The girl behind Iruma (which he still didn’t know,) spoke up, a slightly nervous smile on her face. “So, I’m assuming you know these boys Iruma?” She asked, practically glowing.

“W-well, I know the purple little sh- gremlin, that’s Kokichi,” she murmured, twirling her hair. “And this is Saihara chan!” He chirped, showing off the other boy like a trophy. “He’s like, totally deaf, so that’s why he’s so quiet!”

“No I’m not,” He deadpanned, slightly sighing. Kokichi just giggled, gently nudging him forward. “Well it’s nice to meet you Saihara kun! I’m Akamatsu!” She smiled, trying to distract Miu and Ouma from fighting.

“It’s nice to meet you too Akamatsu san,” He murmured, looking to the side. She just smiled, not seeming to mind the lack of eye contact. “So!” She exclaimed, clapping her hands together, causing Kokichi and Iruma to temporarily stop glaring at each other.

“Since we’re all here, why don’t we do something together?” She asked. Ouma smiled innocently, “Yeah, we should! Riiight I-ru-ma channn?” He teased, his smile turning into a mischievous grin.

Miu just muttered something along the lines of, “Whatever,” and crossed her arms. “Since Iruma san and I just got here, we can all eat in the cafe. Sound good?”

No one objected, so she smiled and went into the cafe. Once they were crammed into a small booth, the whole situation finally hit Shuichi.

This whole thing wouldn’t be a problem if he knew how to talk to people without getting nervous. If that was the case, everything would be fine. Perfect even. Except, he didn’t. He had mostly been isolated most of his life, and kept to himself.

So this was a major problem.

Before Saihara could have a meltdown in public where a bunch of people could see him, Kokichi spoke up. “Sooo, are you guys friends or?~” He asked, a sly grin on his face.

“Yeah, we’re friends! We met a few weeks ago when she spilled her drink on me,” She replied, quietly giggling. “It’s probably because she was-” Ouma was cut off by Miu again, “No I wasn’t you twink! Shut up!”

Kaede gently pat Iruma’s shoulder, effectively shutting her up. “So, do you guys have any funny stories?” She asked, tilting her head. “I’m so glad you asked Akamatsu chan!” Ouma exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table in excitement, causing Saihara to flinch.

“Well, I remember once my organization and I were throwing some water balloons at some random kingdom nearby, and we ended up getting chased around for a bit! It was suuuuper fun!” He chirped, smiling.

Shuichi froze up for a second, staring wide eyed at Kokichi. He remembered overhearing that conversation when he was around seven, talking about kids in clown masks and checkered scarves.

“Why did you even-” Saihara murmured, staring at him. “Oh, you know,” Ouma very helpfully replied, a playful grin on his face. Shuichi quietly laughed, covering his mouth. “I’ll never get how you’re able to do things like that, I can’t even maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds.”

“All it takes is some practice and a fake personality!” He sing songed, gently nudging him. Shuichi continued laughing, still trying to muffle it. Miu and Kaede eventually joined in, everyone smiling.

Maybe he could stay a little longer. He still has a lot he wants to know about everyone else.

—

wwww this doesn’t feel too good but,,, needed to get done,, -DA

3 | 4 | 5

Read it on AO3!

#Candy Kingdom #dream anon #saiouma #oumasai #ouma kokichi #saihara shuuichi #shuuichi saihara #kokichi #ouma #saihara #shuuichi #shuichi #danganronpa #ndrv3 #dr #v3 #danganornpa v3 #submission

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ewgoals · 4 years

Text

Phoenix

Chapter 2- 1986

Word count- 12,489

Warnings- Angst, Smut, Underage Drinking, Drug Use, Unprotected Sex and Body Shaming

A/N: This story is coming together nicely. I’m honestly pretty proud of this and I never thought I could have written 12K words before Haha. Let me know how you are feeling about this story and just a warning a few years might be linked together, we will see.

1986

January 1986

Tatianna was entirely out of it, she standing in the middle of her parent’s restaurant taking this woman’s order “hello” finally caused Tatianna to look at the woman “sorry, what was that I got lost in thought.” The older woman rolled her eyes as she said, “we want a pirog with cabbage, and a large pepperoni pizza for the rest of the table” Tatianna nodded as she said, “that will be up soon” the woman walked back into the kitchen area. She handed her brother Alessandro the ticket “why the fuck does she want a pirog” Alessandro laughed as he looked at the card “because she isn’t weird and hates eggs like you?” Tatianna rolled her eyes playfully as she said, “is my blood soup ready?” the oldest brother of the family shook his head “Yes, you're Borscht is ready.”

The Deluca’s started this restaurant when Tatianna was four, and they became a staple in New York dining, it was a mix of the most known Russian cuisines and Italian cuisines. Tatianna’s parents loved this restaurant more than anything that wasn’t their kids, so it made them love it in return. Hours had passed, and finally, only five more minutes, the woman's dreams were crushed when a huge party walked into the restaurant. Tatianna’s father smiled widely, greeting the guest with his thick Italian accent, “Welcome! Please have a seat my daughter with there shortly,” Tatiana sighed as she looked down, “Sasha! Get your ass out here and help me please” Sasha came out from the kitchen and looked down, wanting to cry “Crying isn’t helping. You get one end, and I’ll get the other”

Sasha nodded at her older sister and walked to the other end of the long table they pushed together, Tatianna went to the other and began taking drink orders as she stopped hearing a familiar voice. The woman looked up and saw the curly-haired boy she left in California talking to her younger sister. “Sasha, come here,” Tatianna almost yelled as Harry looked up, smiling “Tatianna,” Harry said with a significant smile. Sasha looked confused as her older sister smiled “Hey, Harry. Never mind, Sasha. I thought you said something rude,” the youngest sister rolled her eyes as she began retaking drink orders. Tatianna quickly finished and walked back to the kitchen and began filling up the drinks.

Ilya came around the corner as he said: “The store is closed let’s go” Tatianna looked at him with tears in her eyes as she pointed at the lobby filled with people “try again” Ilya looked around the corner and made eye contact with Harry and smiled waving at the boy who waved back quickly as he looked at Tatianna sighing a little “you are going to deny the fact you like that kid when you are crying at the fact he’s in the restaurant “that’s not why I am crying. I had a meeting with some record labels about joining a group, and I am missing it. He’s just the cherry on the sundae” the brother shook his head “why are you going to join another group you hate? So you can write music you can’t stand.”

Tatianna sighed as she nodded “you are right, I am stuck here for the rest of my life” Ilya sighed softly as looked at his little sister “Titi” the woman shook her head as she walked into the lobby with her tray, she began handing out all of the drinks making sure that every person got the drink they ordered. The woman went through talking all of the orders of the table and spent her time actively avoiding Harry, not because of anything he did. She wasn’t ready to see a small part of her failure in California, once all of the food came out and was handed to the right people. The dark-haired woman sat down at the counter, looking through the newspaper.

Tatianna was sipping on Sbiten, a Russian drink her mother claimed fixed all problems, the woman remembers being forced to drink this when she had a bad stomach ache or was just feeling under the weather. She missed it when she was in California in some way. It was a comforting thing for her, Tatianna was taken out of her thoughts by her mother’s thick Russian accent “Tatianna, you give them a check and clean up. Your father and I go the store for more food for house” Tatianna nodded “Хорошо мамочка” (Okay Mommy) Agina smiled as she walked over to her daughter and kissed her head as she said “У тебя все получится моя красивая девушка” (All will work out for you my beautiful girl)

Tatianna smiled sweetly as her mother’s words before nodding as she stood up and printed out the receipt for the large party, she walked over to the party and spoke: “Whenever you are ready.” Harry quickly spoke, “I’ll pay why don’t you all head out,” the group soon agreed as Tatianna walked back over to the cash register. The woman was relieved when she saw the group leave the restaurant quickly; that was until the curly-haired boy she left in California was standing in front of her “it’s going to be 290.00 dollars. Cash, Card, or Check,” the woman asked, looking finally as Harry smiled a little, “so this is the restaurant you were talking about?”

Tatianna nodded as she said, “Yeah, nothing special. It’s simple, but they love it” the people she was referring to were her parents, Tatianna loved the place but not enough to stay there for as long as her parents did “So how are you paying?” she asked again which caused Harry to frown as he pulled out his card and handed it to the woman he cared about so much “I’ll be in town for a while” he replied after she took the card “That’s nice, filming a movie?” she asked as she looked back down at the register “Yeah it’s called a night in the life of Jimmy Reardon” the woman nodded as she said, “that’s nice Harry.”

The young man nodded as he looked down, unsure why she was so cold towards him, but he finally got the courage to ask, “Did I do something wrong?” Tatianna sighed as she shook her head “No, you did everything perfectly. I guess I’m just not ready to come face to face with my failure” Harry looked confused as he said “you didn’t fail anything, you left a very toxic situation and are trying to make it better” Tatianna laughed as she handed him his card back “How am I making it better? By working in a restaurant and crying myself to sleep? Thanks for the advice or words of encouragement. Use it on Martha” she said

Harry was very hurt by the fact she snapped at him, which made him look down and just sigh “I guess Axl is better for this situation” Tatianna laughed as she put the magazine in front of Harry “Because Axl is on the front page of some magazine with Martha” Harry just shook his head letting out a laugh out of disbelief as he spoke again “you said no. I poured my heart out to you, and you said I was too young to know what love was, and now you are mad because I am dating a nice girl who actually wants to be with me and doesn’t string me along.”

Tatianna just shook her head as she said, “I never said no! I said, wait! Wait until I get my shit together, and I’ve been gone less than a month, and she’s with you” The woman was screaming which made her New York accent even thicker especially when her mother’s Russian one liked slipping through as well “You know the worst part about this? I thought you were my friend, but it turns out all you wanted was to get in my pants like every other man out there.”The woman took a breath trying to keep herself from crying but unfortunately for her the tears welled up in her eyes

“You can talk all of the shit you want about Axl, but he never claimed to be more than a fuck buddy, I just got lucky and got a great friendship. He protects me when I need him too. He listens when I need him to, and most of all, he doesn’t do it as some way of making me fall for him. He does it because he cares” Tatianna took a breath as she looked at Harry before continuing “the worst part of this is that I need you. I need you to be the shoulder to cry and to help me. You know what, no, I don’t need you, but I want you to be that. I miss my friend” Tatianna ended her rant with “Глупая девочка никогда не узнает” (silly girl will never know)

Harry looked up at her as he just sighed; he didn’t have the words to come back with. He felt she was right in some ways, and he also felt like she was completely wrong in others, but he didn’t want to fight with her. He missed her beyond words, and maybe it was because of the feelings he had, but it was clear if he wanted to be in her life, he would have to put those aside. Harry looked at the magazine in front of him and ripped out one of the advertisements that were pretty bare and wrote his number down “Here it’s the number to my hotel. When you want me or need me call me, please. I’m always here to listen. I miss you, Titi” the man left the store as Tatianna looked down at the number “Jesus Christ,” she yelled out of annoyance, not at Harry; it was at the situation she was in. Never did she think she could be so lost at the young age of eighteen.

February 1986

Harry came by Tatianna’s restaurant every day since Tatianna yelled at him, he would often sit at the counter reading some script he was given or would make small talk with her family. Tatianna found this beyond annoying, seeing as she made it pretty clear she didn’t want to deal with the Harry situation, but her mother would often tell her that she should get a nice boy. This is what indeed drove Tatianna almost insane; her mother didn’t know anything she did or who she had been with how could she tell Tatianna who she should be with and who she shouldn't be with. Tatianna poured Harry some more coffee as she looked at her mother, who was talking, “I truly think people should be more how you say? Grateful, I came from Russia; I was born before my father was sent to fight in the war. I grew up in one of the most ruthless places” Tatianna sighed a little “Mama, I love you, but please stop boring him. America isn’t that great.”

Harry shook his head “No, it’s beautiful to hear about her story. She isn’t boring me at all” Tatianna shot him a glare as she shook her head “Well fine then stop boring me. I’ve heard this story nine hundred times” Tatianna was quickly smacked in the back of the head as Agina said, “you don’t talk to mother that way. You respect me go help your father” Tatianna just rolled her eyes as she walked back into the kitchen. How in the hell could her mother truly take Harry’s side over her daughter now keep in mind Harry really didn’t do anything wrong but still family loyalty. None of her family had that; they all kept telling her to give Harry a second chance to prove his friendship.

Harry watched as Tatianna walked away, biting his lip at the fact she looked so annoyed with him ever being there. Agina took his attention as she said, “Sorry about Tatianna; she thinks world owes her something because she can’t control anger” Harry shook his head as he said, “No, she had every right to do what she did. Ashley is a bad person and would often bully the other girl. Tatianna did what was perfect” Agina nodded as she looked at Harry before shaking her head “she’s so mean to you, but you still help. Good boy” Harry smiled sweetly at the woman as he rubbed the back of his neck “I haven’t been a good friend to her, so I need to make up for it” the older woman just smiled as she shook her head “get her a music job, and maybe she come around.”

Harry’s face fell, but his eyes widened, why didn’t he think of that? Harry had been getting a few connections because of his rising star so he quickly said “Can I use your phone” the mother of seven nodded as she grabbed the wireless phone “ten minutes” Harry nodded as he took the phone from the woman and dialed his manager’s number, once he was on the phone with him Harry did his best to try and make sure Tatianna didn’t sneak upon him. Once off the phone, he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to see Agina before he realized what he was doing, he hugged the woman tightly and kissed her cheek “you are a genius. Can you tell Titi to come here” Agina laughed as she nodded, “yes, let go of me, though. My husband get jealous easy” Harry laughed as he let go of the woman blushing a little as Agina put her hand on his cheek “sweet boy.”

Harry instantly knew where Tatianna got all the loving nicknames she'd given him over the small friendship, Agina came back with a very annoyed Tatianna behind her. Tatianna would look intimidating to Harry if he didn’t know how much of a beautiful person she was behind the mask she put out for everyone. Harry smiled as he said, “I worked with Corey Feldman on Stand By Me” Tatianna looked at her mom, annoyed as she said, “seriously, mama? I know this” Agina pinched the back of her daughter’s arm which caused the woman to yelp in pain as she looked back at Harry who then said “He’s very good friends with Michael Jackson, Michael saw you play on the last show and even though he saw what happened with Ashley. He wants to meet you and talk about making an album. I gave all of your info, he wants to be you in about two hours, and he said to bring your songs. I have a car, and I can drive you.”

Tatianna’s face went blank as she looked over at her mother in disbelief before she let out a yell of excitement “Oh my goodness Harry” the woman was at lost for words as she walked around the counter and quickly hugged the boy who had almost grown taller in the few months she had been gone “Thank you oh my goodness.” Harry smiled wide as he hugged her back tighter, burying his face in her neck like he always did, which was a little harder because he was a little taller than her now, but he still did it. Tatianna pulled away, just smiling as she gasped ‘My songs! I don’t have them with me,” Harry shook his head “I’ll take you to get them.” Tatianna nodded as she looked at her brother’s, who were all trying to look like they weren’t eavesdropping.

Tatianna just smiled wide “all of you are coming with me; I want us to do this together.” Ilya smiled as he looked at his older brother Alessandro who just laughed. “Fuck it. Let’s make a Jackson five version two” Yevgeny wrapped his arm around Karmelo’s shoulders. “Let’s do this shit. Make this world our bitch” Karmelo looked up at his older brother as he nodded ‘Fuck Yeah” Agina looked over at her husband, who said, ‘Sasha and Cosimo can handle it with us. Harry, you take our car, so everyone can fit” Harry nodded Tatianna looked over at him smiling before mouthing “Thank you” the younger man nodded as Tatiana looked down at her outfit before saying “we need to shower now” all of the boys agreed as they all got into the car with Alessandro taking the keys from Harry “Nope, children in the back.”

Tatianna rolled her eyes as she defended Harry quickly. “Only old men can drive this van.” Alessandro flipped her off as they climbed into the van getting the back with Harry sitting next to her as Ilya asked the obvious question, “so what’s our name?” Tatianna looked down before rolling her eyes as she whispered “fuck” Karmelo thoughts for a moment “The Deluca’s?” the whole car groaned at the suggestion “If you don’t have a good idea don’t speak” Tatianna said lightly pushing her brother’s head forward which caused him to turn around and punched her in the shoulder “ You fucker!” Tatianna yelled as Illya just laughed “okay kids, How about nuns released? A last fuck you to the catholic church,” Tatianna smiled as she said, “see Karmelo, that’s a good idea” Karmelo went to hit her again until Harry put his hand on Tatianna’s shoulder.

Karmelo quickly pulled his hand back as Alessandro and Yevgeny said, “I like that one a lot” Tatianna laughed as she smiled “Then it’s settled. We are officially the nuns released” all of the boys yelled, “fuck yeah.” Tatianna laughed as she looked at Harry taking his hand in hers before leaning over and whispering in his ear “let’s talk while I get ready” the younger boy smiled as he nodded, he knew that he didn’t have to do what he did. Still, he knew that this was going to get Tatianna out this funk she managed to put herself in, and that’s all he truly wanted.

The ride home was pretty short as Tatianna pulled Harry with her into the bathroom quickly locking the door so her brothers couldn’t steal it from her, the woman laughed a little as she turned on the shower “If you want you can go sit out there with them or you can relax in here with me your choice” Harry smiled as he jokingly covered his eyes with his hands “Hurry and get undressed and tell me when you are in the shower” Tatianna went to argue but just laughed as she quickly undressed and got herself in the shower before yelling over the water “I’m all covered now” Harry removed his hands from his eyes as he sat on the counter.

“Thank you, Harry. I don’t know how many different ways, I can say thank you, but I don’t think I can thank you enough for it” Harry smiled at the words before he said “you were kinda right, I was a shitty friend to you in some ways and I needed to make up for it. You deserve to have singing be your career, you are insanely talented, and the world needs to see that” Tatianna smiled as she stuck her head out of the shower before returning to her shower. Tatianna finished her shower shortly after as she turned the water off, she saw a towel being handed to her by a hand that was stretched out almost to make sure he didn’t get a glance.

Tatianna laughed a little as she thanked him for the towel and wrapped it around her body, she pulled the shower curtain back and stepped out of the shower. When she grabbed another towel wrapping it around her head to make sure her hair would dry quicker, when she was done, she led Harry to her bedroom, closing the door as she heard her older brothers begin fighting for the shower. Tatianna shook her head as she looked at her clothes, neatly hung up in her closet. The woman almost looked lost as she pointed at Harry. “Pick something out for me; I’m going to get the rest of this done,” she joked, referring to her face.

Harry shook his head as he said “if you are looking for perfect I would suggest not doing anything” Tatianna rolled her eyes playfully as she smiled “My head is huge around you Harry” she joked as she sat down at her vanity and began doing her makeup, as she was zoned out focusing on her eyebrows Harry spoke quietly “what did you want to talk about?” Tatianna looked down after she finished before looking at Harry in the reflection of the mirror “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so cruel and being so nasty to you. You didn’t deserve that; my actions got me in the situation I was in. You didn’t do anything wrong, and you are an amazing friend. I’m the asshole who didn’t want to talk to you because I felt like you were just another failure of mine.”

Harry turned around, looking at her reflection in the mirror as his brows furrowed “Titi, how am I failure to you?” The woman took a breath as she spoke a little more quietly “You are a failure to me because I had this perfect boy in front of me and I let him slip through my fingers because I was too afraid to admit he was right about what was in my heart and my head.” Tatianna began applying the rest of her makeup as she spoke, “I think Martha is a beautiful girl, and I was just jealous when I said all of those things. That doesn’t excuse them, but I guess it shows you why.”

Harry smiled as he walked over and placed his hands on the woman’s shoulders before leaning down and placing a kiss on the woman’s head before he whispered “you aren’t a failure, and I wholeheartedly accept your apology and let’s just focus on our friendship and regain the most amazing thing I’ve had before” Tatianna looked up at Harry as she smiled softly “Thank you sweet boy” Harry smiled as he leaned down and kissed the woman’s nose, Tatianna smiled widely at him as her eyes glazed over as she looked at him so lovingly, Harry smiled as he leaned down slowly. Both of their lips were almost touching before Ilya beat on the door, scaring both of them as Ilya screamed, “Titi get out here and settle this arms match,” the woman sighed as she got up.

Harry was already confused about what an arms match was until the two left the comfort of Tatianna’s room and saw Ilya and Yevgeny both with super red arms and Ilya knuckles busted open. Harry’s eyes widened a little as Tatianna looked between both brother’s arms before smacking both of them as hard as she could Ilya was the first to yell in pain as Tatianna just smiled “I think Yev won what one” Yevgeny laughed as he flipped off his brother before running into the bathroom “fuck yeah” Tatianna wrapped her towel tighter around her body as she and Harry made their way back into her bedroom. Tatianna locked the door again before she sat down, finishing up her makeup as she made small talk with Harry about the movie he is starring in.

Tatianna grabbed the outfit Harry picked out for, a tight pair of skinny white jeans that went past the woman’s belly button, he picked out a bright pink shirt and a push up bra to go underneath it. Harry loved how the woman’s body looked, but he also understood that she was insecure about her breast size, so he decided to give her the pushup bra. Tatianna walked into her walk-in closet and closed the door behind her quickly changing as she came out Harry smiled widely “It looks perfect but allow me to fix this” Harry stood up and unbuttoned three of the buttons on the pink shirt as she smiled “see now it gives sex appeal and also keeps it classy” Tatianna playfully rolled her eyes as she looked in the mirror before pouting a little “I hate that you were right about the buttons.”

Harry laughed as he took off the necklace he was wearing and placed it around the woman’s neck making sure it rested in the perfect spot “now your outfit is complete” the woman smiled back at Harry as she walked over to her vanity and put on her various rings she used to all wear and her earrings. Harry smiled as he just watched the woman closely “why do you always have those nails?” Tatianna looked at her nails, almost forgetting they were there as she said, “It kinda reminds me of home no matter where I am. It reminds me of my cousins on Long Island, and it reminds me to always stay true to where I came from,” she admitted as she looked down at her coffin-shaped nail that was black except for two fingers that had silver glitter covering the nails. Tatianna smiled at him as she said, “bet you didn’t think it was going to be that nice of an answer, huh?”

Harry couldn't help but laugh as he nodded “Honestly, I was expecting you just to say because I like them” Tatianna laughed a little as she shrugged “well that’s also part of the answer” Harry just smiled at Tatianna as the older woman laughed a little as she shook her head “you are doing that weird thing again. I’m going to have to give you a picture with how much you stare” Harry blushed deeply as nodded “sorry, I can’t help it. Those eyes can make anyone stop breathing” Tatianna just rolled her eyes as she spoke, “You are perfect for my ego, you know that?” The woman bit her lip as she grabbed her large purse making sure to place her folder with all her songs that she had written into the bag ‘Now let’s go see if I’m cut out for working in music.”

Harry went to argue, but he decided against it, he knew that she was nervous and no words he said was going to change that. Tatianna left her room seeing her brothers all sitting in the living room discussing what songs they think they should cover, Tatianna shook her head as she spoke, “we are doing Dream On by Aerosmith. If that doesn’t impress him, then we shouldn’t work with him” The brothers looked at each other before they all agreed one by one. Tatianna took a breath as she said, “Let’s get this started, then better our humiliation comes quicker than dreading it all day,” the woman joked as they all came together, and left the house as quickly as they could.

The car ride there was quieter, and you could feel the tension, Harry did his best to calm Tatianna down taking her hand in his rubbing small circles on the back of her hand, Tatianna looked over sending a loving smile at him as she intertwined their fingers and began playing with the tips of Harry’s fingers before she heard Alessandro’s voice “You know what? We are Deluca’s dammit! Our family came to this country with nothing and worked their asses off! Our uncles may have connections to the mob, but fuck that, we got this shit! We are going to make this audition our bitch, and Michael Fucking Jackson is going to beg us to sign.” Tatianna smiled at her brother’s words before the rest of the car yelled. “Fuck Yeah” Tatianna just looked Harry as she mouthed, “I told you so,” which caused her to roll her eyes as she began to get out of the car with her brothers.

Harry was right behind them, he gave the doorman the security code that Michael told him, and they made their way up to the hotel room. The group looked around the hotel suite they were let into, and Yevgeny quickly said, “we are too poor to be here. We have to leave” Karmelo laughed before nodding “Ilya and Tatianna don’t touch anything” Ilya quickly said “mother fucker I’ll put you through the wall for fun” Tatianna was right behind him with “how the fuck am I being considered as someone who breaks shit” The brothers and sister bickered for a second before Harry clear this throat “Hey, Michael” Michael Jackson stood the side with a grin on his face, he had been there since the beginning of the conversation but didn’t want to make his presence known just yet.

Tatianna moved out from behind her taller brothers as she smiled softly “Hello, I’m Tatianna” Michael nodded as he said “Oh I know, I’ve seen you and all of your punches” Tatianna looked down embarrassed as she said “Sorry, I couldn't take it anymore. She tripped me on stage, then she was a complete racist to my friend Aqua, and I kind of snapped” Michael shook his head “I don’t blame you, it was honestly really cool. I don’t get to see things like that because everyone hears my name and is on their best behavior. I don’t want that,” Tatianna smiled as she said, “well, I promise that all of us together you are going to get some entertainment for sure. You might see us hit each other if I’m honest” Alessandro moved and placed his hand on his sister’s shoulder “She’s only joking. We don’t just hit each other for no reason.”

Tatianna raised an eyebrow “we play arms to see who takes a shower first unless I can run my small ass in there first” Alessandro laughed as he nodded “alright you got me on that one” Tatianna smiled sweetly as Michael clapped “let’s hear some songs” Tatianna nodded as Michael pointed to the instruments that he had put there for the group, Tatianna moved the mic stand to fit her height better as Yevengy took the bass guitar, Ilya took the lead guitar, Karmelo took Rhythm guitar, and Alessandro sat behind the drum set. Tatianna took a breath as she whispered, “1,2,3,4” the first chords of Dream on began to play, and Michael kept a straight face as he stood next to Harry. Michael crossed his arms as Harry smiled widely as Tatianna before pulling a funny look, just trying to make her laugh, which made the woman smile a bit.

Tatianna knew that Michael was waiting for the woman to hit the high notes when Tatianna did them correctly. Michael’s face moved to a grin as he nodded along with the music. Harry just smiled at the woman, she had an intense amount of talent, and he really couldn’t get it over it. Tatianna had the whole room’s attention with just her looks, but the minute she sang, she had their hearts and ears. Michael made a motion for them to stop as the music stopped, Tatianna looked at Michael with her heart almost beating out her chest “I think we should look at the music you’ve written. I want an album” Tatianna looked at her brother’s with tears in her eyes as nodded “we want to make it” Tatianna looked up as she spoke “give a minute I’m sorry” Michael nodded as Tatianna quickly walked out of the hotel room, Harry was close behind the woman.

Tatianna couldn’t help but look down as she finally let her tears fall; the woman took a breath as she closed her eyes once more, putting her hands together as she said, “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank you for this blessing. Thank you for giving me a second chance at this. Thank you for accepting my confession and for helping me. Thank you.” Harry put his hand on her shoulder as Tatianna finished before she quickly hugged Harry wrapping her arms tightly around his neck “Thank you, my sweet boy, Thank you” Harry wrapped his arms firmly around her waist as he pulled away a little to look at the woman leaving their noses almost touching “Promise me you won’t forget me” was all Harry said as Tatianna nodded before whispering “never.”

Harry smiled sweetly before whispering, “I think I should pull away, I want to kiss you, and that isn’t right especially if we are going to be friends” Tatianna nodded as she leaned in a little “yeah friends shouldn’t do that.” Harry nodded as he leaned in, having their noses touching now. “You and Axl do,” Tatianna whispered, “Yeah, we sometimes do.'' The woman looked into Harry’s green eyes before whispering “when you are single find me, Harry, until then just know I’m always waiting” Harry smiled softly as he took the hint and slowly let go of the woman, Tatianna went back into the hotel room with Harry right behind her.

Michael smiled at the duo as he said “Okay, let’s start looking at your long list of songs” Tatianna nodded as she grabbed the folder out of her bag and sat next to Michael, the woman pulled out a few songs she wrote on her way back from Los Angeles with Ilya. Tatianna and Michael sat for hours going over the songs and Michael loved everyone that she gave him, this was an opening door, and the only person to thank for it was Harry. Tatianna didn’t even know where to start on thanking him.

August 1986

It took six months to get the songs to approve all of the songs and get them tracked, Tatianna was a perfectionist through and through when it came to her music. If it wasn’t perfect then it wasn’t ready to come out for everyone to hear, Tatianna finally took a break and walked out of the studio as she stood outside she felt a very familiar sense of deja vu. The woman laughed to herself as she lit her cigarette, taking a deep inhale as she looked around when the woman exhaled she heard a familiar voice say “Why does this feel like I’ve done this before.” Tatianna laughed as she looked over at Harry, who handed her a cup from her parent’s restaurant “you know I was just thinking to myself '' The woman brought the cup to her lips, taking a small drink.

Tatianna smiled widely as she looked at him before saying “How did you know I wanted Sbiten and nor coffee” Harry smiled a little as he looked down “Um if I’m honest your mom told me” Tatianna laughed a little as she asked, “so when is your movie done?” Harry shrugged, “we haven’t even started filming, but I need to research this character more, Martha gave me permission to do what I needed?” Tatianna raised an eyebrow as she looked at Harry, “what is this character?” Harry blushed, looking down “well, he is a teenager with a very high sex drive different girl every night” Tatianna nodded as she looked down “I cam take you out again if you want maybe find a girl.”

Harry bit his lip before nodding “Can you after you are done here?” Tatianna nodded as she said, “Of course, let me just finish up here, and I’ll go get dressed” Harry was nervous already, and they weren’t even anyway near a club, Tatianna put her hand on the man’s shoulder “Harry, it’s not a bad thing. You are a sixteen-year-old boy, don’t feel bad about it. I can promise you that all of my brothers thought the same way” Harry smiled sweetly as he nodded before taking his hand “Please relax a little and just get into the mindset of a sixteen-year-old” the woman smiled wide as she kissed the man’s hand “Now why don’t get dressed and I’ll finish up here.”

Harry nodded as he leaned in and kissed the woman’s cheek as he said goodbye before seeing the woman turn to go back inside, “wait, what club?” Tatianna smiled as she threw her cigarette “hmm, The Ritz, it’s down the street from here” Harry smiled as he nodded, “My hotel is right across from it.” Tatianna smiled as she nodded, “I’ll meet you there in about two hours.” Tatianna winked as she left walked into the studio, as she sat down smiling wide before saying “Why don’t we call it a night and we can pick up early tomorrow” Alessandro shook his head “No, me and Karmelo are going to stay back and keep working you guys can head out.”

Tatianna looked behind her as her brother’s Yevgeny and Ilya who both stood up as they said “let’s get fucked up” Yevgeny said smiling a little as Tatianna nodded “I have to get Harry laid he’s playing some kid with a high sex drive, so he’s researching” the woman put the last words in air quotes as she laughed “I don’t know seems like a fun time, and I can call Uncle John” Ilya smiled as he nodded “I already have what you want from uncle john so let’s head home so you can get dressed” Tatianna smiled as they all silently agreed.

Tatianna and her brother’s met up at The Ritz at the exact time that Harry was walking up to the line, Tatianna smiled as she wrapped her arm around Harry’s shoulders “I promise you will leave with a girl tonight” Harry blushed as he looked down as Ilya laughed “Harry, stop getting all nervous and embarrassed. It’s for your acting career. Don’t stress plus having a girl on your side makes it five times easier” Tatianna nodded as she pinched his cheek, “plus, you are just too cute who can say no.” Harry quickly came back with “you did” Tatianna smiled as she pointed at him, “you know what you got me there.”

The four of them walked into The Ritz after getting their ID’s check, Tatianna walked over to the bar and ordered a few drinks as Harry stood next to her. Tatianna was wearing a black leather skirt and fishnets; the woman wore a black studded bra, which she used an old jean jacket to give herself a little coverage. Tatianna turned her attention to the woman staring at Harry, which caused her to move closer to the boy and lean into his ear and whisper “you are being nervous, relax” Harry laughed a little as Tatianna looked back over the woman who rolled her eyes and finished her drink.

Harry bit his lip as he finished his own drink “Okay, How do I do this?” Tatianna shrugged before Ilya said “I got you come on” Harry was gone before Tatianna could argue and her brother Yevgeny sat next to his sister before saying “You and I both know that’s pretty fucked up what you just did” Tatianna nodded as she sighed looking down “I can’t help it. A girl looks at him and I want to rip there damn head off” Yevgeny laughed as she put his hand on his shoulder “maybe we should look for you too. When’s the last time Axl?” Tatianna nodded as she looked down “Yeah, Axl was the last time” Yevgeny laughed as she smacked his sister’s back “Come on let’s get you laid”

Tatianna shook her head as she ordered a second drink “Mm, no. go find Harry” Tatianna quickly downed her second drink as a random guy walked up to her and whispered in her ear “You are way too pretty to be drinking alone” Tatianna laughed as she covered her mouth “Does that line actually work?” Harry looked over seeing the man all over Tatianna and before he could stop himself, the man almost ran over to his Tatianna. Once he was close enough Harry wrapped his arm around Tatianna’s waist “Hey beautiful, sorry the washroom was crazy” Tatianna looked back at Harry smiling wide “see, I knew someone was here with me” Harry smiled at the man who rolled his eyes, Tatianna looked over at Harry “Come here I want you to try something with me”

Harry nodded as he followed Tatianna into a private room, the woman pulled out a small vile from her bra as she snorted a little into her nose. Harry raised an eyebrow before she looked at him “do you want to try it? It’s cocaine.” the woman admitted before Harry nodded slowly ‘just a little” Tatianna nodded as she brought a very small amount up to his nose “Now inhale” the man did what he was told and coughed before looking at her “Am I supposed to feel it in my throat?” the woman nodded as she stuffed the vile back into her bra, Harry turned to walk out of the room that was really just a small space closed off by a curtain. Tatianna quickly grabbed Harry’s wrist and pulled him back towards her and kissed him deeply, Harry’s lips moved against her with ease.

Harry relaxed into the kiss pulling the woman closer, keeping his arms firmly around her waist as she smiled into the kiss she pulled away to whisper against his lips “Take me back to your hotel, show me what I could have” Harry smiled as went to close the gap before Tatianna stopped him as she spoke again “You can’t get weird on me. You are with Martha, New girl every night for your movie” Harry nodded as he whispered “What about you every night instead?” Tatianna smiled sweetly as she said “you better impress me then?” Harry nodded before saying “I will” Tatianna smirked a little as she followed Harry out of the room, Tatianna found her brothers and told them Harry got his feelings hurt and that he wanted to just head back. The brother brushed their sister off, focused on the girls that were talking to them.

Tatianna and Harry made it back to his hotel very quickly, Tatianna looked around Harry’s hotel room smiling a little as Harry sat down on the bed rubbing his clothed legs “I’m sorry, I’m nervous as all hell” Tatianna laughed a little as she walked over to Harry and straddled his waist, making him look up at the woman as she whispered “just watch me” Harry placed his hands on the woman’s waist before nodding “You are so beautiful” Tatianna smiled sweetly at Harry as she leaned down and kissed him deeply, she pulled away and started to kiss down the man’s neck. Harry stopped her only for a moment as he kissed her again, Tatianna smiled softly as pulled away and rested her forehead against Harry’s.

Harry’s eyes were staring into Tatianna’s as she began to slowly move her hips against his, the man gasped which caused him to pull away and just watch the woman’s hip “Years of dancing paying off right now huh?” she joked as Harry nodded biting his lip “I want to see you” was all Harry said before he leaned up and kissed her deeply as he slid her jacket off her body, the woman gasped against his lips as she felt him through his pants. Tatianna pulled her lips from his again as she removed his shirt throwing it across the room as she smiled at his smooth skin “god you are so sexy” Harry shook his head before flipping them over which caused a giggle to come from Tatianna’s lips ``I'm not the sexy one here my girl, you are” Tatianna blushed as she pulled him back down connecting their lips in a soft and romantic kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist in an attempt to keep him closer.

Tatianna pouted as Harry pulled away and sat up for a moment, Tatianna sat up as she whispered “we don’t have to do this Harry” the younger man shook his head as he said “No, I’ve wanted to do this for so long that’s not my problem. Your stupid defense bra is poking my chest” Tatianna laughed as she looked down at the stud covered bra before nodding “I think we can fix that, I have to warn you they aren’t that impressive” Harry was about to argue but Tatianna threw her bra off the bed as his mouth dropped before whispering “Wow” Tatianna laughed as she pulled Harry back down and kissed him deeply as she felt his hand run up her stomach, Harry’s lips slowly left hers once more as he leaned down and began leaving kisses down the woman’s neck. Tatianna moaned quietly as she bit her lip, feeling Harry drag his hand across her breast as he pinched her nipple which caused her to gasp as she smiled looking down at Harry who was now kissing between the valley of her breast.

Harry looked up at Tatianna and through his eyelashes, he pulled away only for a moment as he felt Tatianna’s hand rest on the back of his head. He looked back at the girl he was so madly in love with, Harry just smiled at her as Tatianna pulled him close to her and kissed him deeply before she whispered against his lips “just fuck me Harry please” Harry looked into the woman’s eyes as she shook his head “No, I want this to last and for you to always remember” Tatianna was confused, she had never had sex like that before. When she slept with Axl, it was clear that it was only sex. She could already tell that Harry was going to be completely different.

Tatianna was taken out of her thoughts as Harry kissed down her stomach, slowly pulling her shorts down as he moved down her body. The woman closed her eyes just letting herself feel his hands move down her body, the woman opened her eyes as Harry kissed her ankle. Tatianna bit her lip as she gripped at her own breasts,looking down at Harry who took a breath as he said “I want to take it slow but if you keep biting that lip and let me tell you it’s not going to happen” Tatianna giggled as she looked at the man by her feet as she slide her fishnets off her hips and down towards Harry “Take those off for me”

Tatianna sat up after Harry rolled the fishnets off the woman’s legs and she sat up and moved towards the edge of the bed “stand up” Harry nodded as he stood up and Tatianna grabbed the man’s waist and started unbuttoning the man’s pants as she pushed the down the woman’s eyes widened a little as she looked up at him “so that’s why you are so confident?” Harry blushed as he said “I guess” Tatianna bit her lip as she pushed the man’s pants to his ankles, the woman placed her hand over the bulge of his underwear. Harry gasped as he closed his eyes before licking his lips.

Harry opened his eyes when he heard Tatianna’s voice “sit on the bed” the green eyed boy was quick to sit on the bed as Tatianna got down on her knees in front of him and pulled his underwear off of his hips and slide them down his legs, Tatianna placed her hand on Harry’s trembling thighs as she looked up at him,at the way his dark lashes flutter against his flushed cheeks and how Harry licks his lips. Tatianna then swallowed him down, Tatianna took all of Harry swirling his tongue. The noise Harry makes so loud that Tatianna is almost scared that someone is going to hear them but she puts that thought in the back of her head, Tatianna did her best to keep her eyes on Harry as he began to speak “Fuck, Baby girl. You feel so good. Jesus Titi how are you even?”

Harry began to pull at Tatianna’s hair, running his fingers through it as she bobs her head down on him. Tatianna notices that Harry isn’t moving which makes Tatianna realize that he’s trying to be polite fuck that, Tatianna grabs Harry’s hips and pulls them towards her. Harry takes the hint instantly, Tatianna took a deep breath as Harry began thrusting into her mouth which caused her to gag against his tip. Tatianna reaches up and places her hands on the man’s chest pinching his nipples, Harry moans loudly as his hips lurch forward. Tatianna moaned against him as Harry scratches his nails against Tatianna’s scalp ‘Fuck Titi, Tatianna, Baby girl Fuck”

Tatianna looked up at Harry as his eyes were closed and mouth open, Tatianna reached between Harry’s thighs as she began to fondle his balls in one of her hands. Tatianna’s mouth is full but she can tell that Harry was closed by the fact he was pushing her head farther into him, “I’m going to cum” Harry’s words confirmed Tatianna’s thoughts. Tatianna began to trace circles on Harry’s hips which only lasted for a moment as Harry’s hips jerked forward as he moaned loudly as the room began to echo with curses and Tatianna’s name, Tatianna pulled away slowly swallowing all that she could slowly licking up his length to get all of his release off him.

Harry fell back as he closed his eyes for a moment as Tatianna ran her thumb over her lips as she placed her thumb in her mouth sucking off the little bit she got on her lip as Harry sat up and grabbed her hips pulling Tatianna close “You are so fucking sexy” Tatianna blushed as she leaned down kissing her deeply, Tatianna moaned softly as Harry pulled her into his lap causing her to straddle his hip. Harry was the first to pull away as he whispered “I love you” Tatianna smiled sweetly as she whispered “you love Martha, I am just night remember that my sweet boy” Harry nodded slowly as he flipped them over laying Tatianna on her back.

Harry smiled as he said “are you sure?” Tatianna looked up at Harry with a bright grin. "I'm sure handsome. Just get on with it already." She chuckled and pulled him up to kiss him again. Harry slid his fingers down and gently ran them over her clit as a tease before finally giving her what she wanted so badly. Sliding his fingers into her slowly, his smirk grew over his cheeks at the loud moan that escaped the dark haired woman's lips. With an arch of her back, Tatianna was pushing further to get more of what the man she loved had to offer. He was going much too slow no matter how good it felt to be teased.

Harry slowly pulled his hand away from the woman’s core, Harry began kissing down the woman’s stomach when he got to her underwear he slowly slid them off giving her a last kiss on her lower stomach before he began to kiss up her legs. Tatianna moaned softly at the feeling of his lips until they reached her inner thighs which caused her to sit up on her elbows and looked down at the man, the woman bit her lip as Harry moved closer to her core. Tatianna felt her body start to shiver as Harry slowly slid his tongue inside of her, she was almost as wet as his mouth. Harry dug his tongue deeper into the woman as she moaned loudly quickly covering her mouth.

Harry lifted his head as he shook his head “Don’t be quiet, I want to hear you” Tatianna smiled as she removed her hand from her mouth and placed it on the back of Harry’s head “If you keep doing that, I definitely won’t be quiet” Harry smirked a little as he slowly slide a finger into the woman, Tatianna gasped as she laid back closing her eyes. Harry wanted to give her an even better sensation, he placed his mouth on her clit as he began massaging it with his tongue. Harry had never done this with Martha, if he was honest Martha was a quick fuck. He closed his eyes and pretended it was Tatianna the whole time.

Tatianna’s breathing became erratic as she pushed Harry’s head harder against her, Harry fingered her faster and began to shake his head as he wiggled his tongue across her clit “You’re gonna make me cum” she said gripping Harry’s hair tighter, this cause Harry to move his fingers and tongue faster. Tatianna screamed out a string of curses and Harry’s name over and over, what Harry doesn’t think Tatianna realizes is that she screaming in both Russian and English which makes it so much hotter to Harry.

Tatianna let herself come shortly after biting her lip to try and calm her scream down as Harry cleaned her up as much as he could before moving up her body, he quickly attached his lips to hers. Tatianna kissed back as she wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him close, Harry moved his lips to her neck as he whispered: “Can I do that again?” Tatianna raised an eyebrow “Don’t want actually want to fuck me?” Harry nodded as whispered against her lips “but you taste so good I need another taste” Tatianna whined at his words as she nodded slowly “Then take another one” she said winking at him as Harry quickly slide a finger into the woman.

Tatianna gasped as she whispered “you could warn a girl” the boy smiled as he slowly added another finger into her as he whispered “You are so tight. You are going to feel amazing around my cock” Tatianna looked at Harry almost shocked at his words before she moaned feeling his fingers move inside of her “I want it so bad. I want you to fuck me” Harry smirked as he said “Soon my love” Harry quickly slide down the woman’s body and removed his fingers and began to eat her out again, Tatianna arched her back as she moaned loudly. Harry worked his tongue inside her as far as it would go and wiggled his head faster as she moaned became louder the woman held Harry’s head down as she yelled out “Fuck you are going to make me cum again” Harry kept mouth at the same speed as Tatianna screamed “Бля, не останавливайся. Гарри. Бля, я люблю тебя.”

(Fuck, Don't stop. Harry. Fuck I love you.)

Tatianna came quickly as she covered her mouth, trying to catch her breath as Harry laid next to her smiling at his work “You said I love you” Tatianna looked over at him and shook her head “No I didn’t” Harry laughed as he nodded “Yes you did. I know what my name is and the word fuck. I also know that you only say I love you to your mother” Tatianna blushed as she nodded “Yes Harry I said I love you. I do love you” Harry smiled wide as he crawled back on top of her and kissed her deeply. Tatianna smiled as she rolled them over straddling Harry’s hips as she sat up Harry placed his hands on her hips “Let me show you what dancing does”

Tatianna smiled as she slowly pushed herself down onto his length, watching the male's face scrunch up in pleasure. "You like that don't you baby," she whispered huskily in his ear before dragging her nails down his chest. Harry let out a deep throaty moan when he felt her sharp nails down his chest, gently thrusting up into her with great pleasure for them both. He planned on having her desperate for more tomorrow. No matter what it took. Tatianna's body trembled softly as she let out a hard moan, her hips rocking in time with Harry's. "Oh god right there..." she moaned out.

Without hesitation, Harry followed the command, hitting on that spot with each move he made. The sound of her voice moaning only pressing him further over the edge. He only felt his mind wander when he felt Tatianna's lips on his collar, leaving thick blue and purple hickeys for the whole world to see. He grabbed her hair gently and tugged her head aside, leaving the same branding down her neck in the most obvious of places. Not even makeup could cover the mess he had made.

Tatianna let out a loud moan as she pushed down harder against Harry’s hard cock, the thick length pounding her out with each second. "Ah, Harry!" Harry panted heavily and finally gave in to pleasure inside his gut, spilling out into the woman he loved so dearly. Tatianna moaned as she felt Harry shudder underneath her body, feeling her own walls clench and release over Harry. Harry carefully rolled them over and pulled out of her, kissing her softly as Tatianna whined at the feeling of him pulling out as she kissed back. Tatianna smiled as she pulled away taking a breath as she closed her eyes “Was the better than Axl” Tatianna laughed as she nodded “Yes my jealous boy, It was better than Axl”

Harry laughed as they crawled to the top of the bed as Tatianna laid her head on his chest, looking up at him as Harry leaned down and kissed her deeply as Tatianna pulled away and looked up at him lovingly “I love you Harry, I want you so bad” Harry nodded as he said “After the album, if you still do we can be together, I love you more by the way” Tatianna didn’t argue as she made herself more comfortable, the woman closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep as Harry traced circles on her back.

September 1986

“Harry, go away I don’t want you to see” Harry laughed as he tried to push open Tatianna’s bedroom door “Oh come on, I’ve seen everything. Why can’t I see this” Tatianna rolled her eyes playfully behind the door as she ran into the closet and yelled “Okay come in” Harry walked into the door closing the door behind him as he laughed “you did not hide in the closet” Tatianna laughed as held the door shut “Hold on, you have to wait a little longer” Harry just smiled as he said “You know you haven’t let me see you since that night. I’m starting to feel used” Harry joked as he sat on her bed.

“Lock the door please,” Tatianna said from in the closet, Harry raised an eyebrow before locking her bedroom door as he said “you know they aren’t here” Tatianna giggled from her closet “I know that. Why do you think I called you over?” she questioned Tatianna peeked her head out of the closet “Okay close your eyes” Harry did what he was told and closed his eyes. Tatianna made sure he did what she said, the woman came out of her closet, her body was covered by a robe as she stood in front of the man. “Okay, I’ve been distant because I did something. Michael agreed to pay for it” Harry kept his eyes closed as he raised his eyebrow “Well, I desperately want to know my love.”

Tatianna took a breath as she closed her eyes, the woman got her confidence back as she said “Okay open your eyes” Harry’s eyes opened slowly as he saw Tatianna in a robe as he raised an eyebrow again before gasping “He bought you this robe” Tatianna rolled her eyes playfully “No jerk” The woman slowly undid the robe and Harry’s mouth dropped, the man’s eyes scanned over the red lingerie that covered Tatianna’s body before he could stop him Harry pulled Tatianna onto his lap “Michael paid for your boobs didn’t he” Tatianna grinned as she looked down at her breasts that went from a B-cup to a D-cup “do you like them?”

Harry nodded as he laid her down on her back as she giggled at his lips touching parts of her exposed breasts “Hmm, How do you feel about practicing for my role again” Tatianna nodded as she placed a hand on the back of his head “Only if you promise I’m the only girl you’ve practiced with” Harry nodded as ran his hand over the woman’s breasts before speaking “Yes, only one. I’ve only thought of you since our last time” Tatianna bit her lip as she licked her own lips “Have you touched yourself to the thought of us, Harry?” Harry was quick to nod as he bit his lip “Have you?” Tatianna smirked a little “Yes, Harry but it still doesn’t feel as good as your tongue did”

Harry smirked as he whispered, “why don’t I show you again then?” Tatianna bit her lip as she whispered back “Please, I missed it so much” Harry leaned in and kissed the woman deeply as he ran his hand over her new larger breast as he pulled away and whispered “Mm no. I want you to do something for me first” Tatianna nodded as she slowly slides her hand down Harry’s chest before he shook his head and grabbed her wrist “No, I want you to be my own personal stripper” Tatianna smiled as she blushed a little “Fine” the woman got up as Harry moved over sitting on the side of her bed.

Tatianna stood in front of Harry for a split second before she placed the album “Houses of the holy” on her record player, she turned it up louder just in case anyone came home a little early. Tatianna walked back over to Harry and sat on his lap for a split second as she began to slowly rock her hips to the music, Harry took a breath as he reached out and grabbed the woman’s hips. Tatianna pulled away as she slowly stripped herself of the red lingerie she was wearing which caused Harry to grab her hips and pull her into his lap, “I can’t wait to taste you” Tatianna smirked a little “It’s all you can eat” she joked which caused Harry to lay her on her back.

Tatianna gasped when she felt Harry’s lips instantly connect with her nipple, her hand going to his hair as she ran her fingers through it. Harry moved his tongue over her nipple as she pinched her other one, he pulled away and kissed between the valley of her breasts “My perfect girl, I didn’t think you could get more perfect” Tatianna blushed as she looked down at him “Only for you” She smirked down at him as Harry smiled against her skin.

Harry got down between her legs and looked up at her, he couldn’t get over how perfect she was in his eyes. Harry placed a soft kiss on the woman’s core which caused her to whimper his name out of her lips, this caused Harry to smile as he kissed it again. Harry bit her inner thigh softly which caused Tatianna to moan as she covered her mouth before she whimpered out again “Please, Harry. I need you” That was all Harry needed, the man slowly slid his tongue into the woman which caused her to gasp.

Tatianna’s hand went right to Harry’s hair pulling at it a little,as Harry slowly pulled his tongue out and wrapped his clit into his mouth sucking gently. Tatianna closed her eyes as Harry started to move his tongue over her clit, which caused Tatianna to slowly grind her hips against his tongue. Harry did his best to watch what he was doing to the woman,he loved seeing her like this moving in pleasure as she tried to hold back her moans. Harry’s tongue explored all of her wetness “Yes right there Harry please don’t stop” Tatianna quickened the pace of her hips, pushing Harry’s head deeper into her. Harry kept licking until he heard those two sexy words “I’m Cumming” Tatianna moaned loudly as she covered her mouth, legs shaking as Harry helped bring her down from her high.

Tatianna pulled him up to her lips, she pulled him closer by his neck kissing him deeply as he kissed her back. Harry pulled away which caused her to whimper “Please I want you to feel you again” Harry shook his head as he slid his hand down the woman’s stomach as he slowly placed two fingers into the woman, she bit her lip before saying “Look at me. Keep your eyes on mine” Harry smiled as he nodded as Tatianna cupped his cheeks as he rested his forehead against hers before Tatianna whispered once more “I love your tongue, I love your fingers but please let me feel you again.”

Harry groaned at her words before he felt her hands pull his shirt up and over his head throwing it across the room as she placed her hands on the back of his neck as Harry slowly pulled his fingers out as she kissed him once more, Harry felt her sit up which caused him to lean back as she sat all the way up and started undoing his belt. Harry bit his lip as he watched fumble with his belt until she got frustrated and laid back down “Please for the love of god fuck me” Harry smirked at her words and quickly sat up and pulled his pants and briefs off quickly before climbing in between her legs once more.

Tatianna placed her hands on Harry’s neck once more pulling him down so his forehead was against hers as he reached between them and slowly slid into the woman which caused her to gasp as she kept her eyes on Harry. Harry smirked as he whispered “Only I can make you feel like this?” Tatianna moaned as as Harry began to move his hips slowly keeping his forehead against Tatianna’s before he stopped his motions and Tatianna whined as she let go of his neck and grabbed his hips trying to move them “Nope, tell me right now I’m the only one” Tatianna’s eyebrow furrowed as she said “I haven’t slept with anyone since you but can you say that?” she asked at this moment Tatianna wasn’t really hiding her jealousy of the man’s relationship.

Martha gave Harry permission, he wasn’t cheating. This was research for his movie and he wasn’t doing anything wrong but Tatianna knew that she was going to get hurt after this was over, so she decided not to focus on that. Tatianna quickly stopped Harry from talking by kissing him and lightly biting his lip as she whispered “You are all I want to think about, You are all I think about most nights. Please stop getting jealous about a few nights with Axl, I want you right here with me. I want you to make love to me, I want you to look into my eyes as you come and know that one day I will be all yours” Harry nodded as she finished before he started thrusting into her slowly, Tatianna moaned at the feeling of him moving again.

Harry’s forehead was against hers once more as he thrusted into her slowly keeping his eyes looking into hers the whole time, Tatianna’s hands moved around the man’s body from his hair to his back she let her hands become paint brushes and Harry’s body became her canvas. The two teenagers kept this speed going for a while until Tatianna felt Harry sneak a hand between them and began to rub her clit, Tatianna moaned louder as she closed her eyes for a second earning a quick “Look in my eyes” Tatianna quickly opened her eyes as she kept her lustful gaze locked into his eyes.

Tatianna felt a familiar feeling in her stomach knowing she was close, she whispered “I want you to be the first one to come on my tits” Harry smirked as he nodded before he thrusted into her quicker keeping his eyes locked in with hers as Tatianna scratched down his back moaning loudly as she whispered “I’m gonna cum” Tatianna and Harry were so close, they were basically breathing the other person’s breath as Harry went to speak Tatianna’s legs began to shake again as she moaned loudly again cursing as she came for the second time that day. Harry rocked his hips slowly before pulling out of the woman, Tatianna sat up as Harry got on his knees in front of her.

Harry was quickly jerking himself off before Tatianna moved his hand taking over, she gently sucked his tip which sent him over the edge and he moaned out Tatianna’s name as he came all over her new chest. Tatianna moaned at the feeling as she reached down and scooped a little up with her finger moaning as she sucked his release off her fingers, Harry’s eyes rolled in the back of his head for a moment before he got up grabbing a wash cloth of her vanity and wiped the rest off her chest before laying down next to her.

Tatianna giggled a little as he laid down “That really wasn’t my intention I swear” Harry smiled, he never knew that an accent could set his heart on fire. Harry just laughed a little as he pulled her into his chest, and pulled the blanket over them “I’m sure it wasn’t your intention but when you show Axl maybe don’t wear that red thing you did” Tatianna laughed as she leaned up and kissed the man softly before laying her head on his chest “Okay, I’ll keep myself covered up better.” Harry just smiled as he ran his fingers up and down her back.

The duo fell asleep shortly after their small conversation and were woken up to a voice screaming “Tatianna! Get your ass out here now before I kill you” Tatianna eyes opened slowly at the sound of the woman’s voice as she sat up earning a groan from Harry ``shh” she joked before grabbing his shirt and throwing it on before grabbing her underwear and sliding them on. Tatianna opened the door as she shut it behind her coming face to face with her little sister “What did you tell Harry about me?” Tatianna rolled her eyes “oh shut the fuck up. I told him that you are a delusional bitch who feels the need to try and sleep with every man I’ve ever talked too”

Sasha gasped as she went to smack Tatianna but Tatianna caught her hand before she gripped her wrist “Let’s remind you little girl, I’ve grown up fighting the boy. Don’t think I can beat the shit out of your skinny little ass” Sasha rolled her eyes before saying “sorry I’m not overweight like and I don’t have to pay for my boobs” Tatianna laughed as she pushed her sister back and away from her “go the fuck away now. I have to pack for LA” Sasha went to argue but heard her mother yell for her. Tatianna smirked as Ilya looked at his two sisters before saying “We gotta talk” before Tatianna could argue Ilya pushed her into her room where Harry was attempting to put on his pants.

Ilya’s eyes widened before he quickly closed the door before he held his stomach laughing as hard as he could “Really? Ilya do you have to make fun of me” Ilya shook his head “No, I’m not making fun of you but Alessandro owes me like sixty bucks” Harry looked back as he rolled his eyes “You guys really made bets?” Ilya nodded before saying “don’t worry. You still aren’t the biggest fuck up of the children” Tatianna raised an eyebrow before Ilya said “I got Aqua pregnant” Tatianna’s eyes widen as she said “What the fuck? Why didn’t you wear a condom?” Ilya looked down as he said “because it feels better?” Harry quickly chimed in with “we haven’t used condoms and I came in you the first time”

Tatianna’s face went red as she blushed looking down as Ilya said “Come on, you gotta help what do I do?” Tatianna looked at her brother as she said “well, do you love her?” Ilya nodded as he said “beyond words but I can’t really marry her because well I don’t want to cheat and I know that once we start touring I will” Tatianna nodded as she said “At least you are man enough to admit that. Tell her the truth then. Open Marriage are a thing or use the thousand miles rule” Ilya nodded as he said “good idea see I knew I should’ve come to you” Ilya quickly left as Tatianna locked the door.

“We need to start using condoms” Tatianna said before Harry shook his head “No, I fucked up the first time but I’m not using condoms. They have milk based products in them.” Tatianna looked at him before saying “well I don’t want a baby?” Harry shrugged as he said “Then I won’t come in you anymore” Tatianna just shook her head in almost annoyance “Or you can do me the favor of just wearing a condom just with me” Harry just shook his head before taking her hands in his as he said “I’m Vegan and i’m not breaking that belief for the pretty girl who makes my heart stop” Tatianna looked at their hands “I’m not your pretty girl. I am the research plus sadly this is the last time we do this” Harry raised an eyebrow before asking “why?”

Tatianna looked down as she said “because I’m going back to Los Angeles to play some shows and record the rest of the album. Michael is flying us out there tomorrow” Harry just shook his head as he said “and you didn’t decide to tell me that?” Tatianna shook her head as she pointed at the suitcase on her dresser “I didn’t really hide Harry plus we aren’t together” The words hit his chest like a bullet but sadly she was right. They weren’t together. Harry was dating Martha and Tatianna was just research. Tatianna broke his thoughts as she cupped his cheek “I’m sorry for not telling you earlier. That was rude, I guess I didn’t want to feel heartbreak again and just stay in our bubble of mind blowing sex and small kisses.”

Tatianna’s words made him smile before he wrapped his arms around her tightly which caused her to hug him tightly as she buried her face in his neck, taking a deep breath in before looking up at him “I meant what I said when you are single. I will be waiting for you” Harry smiled as he leaned down and kissed her deeply for second time in this friendship, they had to say goodbye and Harry didn’t want too but at least it gave him time to think about his heart.

#harry styles imagine #harry imagine #Harry Styles #harry styles imagines #harry styles smut #one direction imagine #one direction imagines #one direction

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devourer--of--books · 4 years

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if you’re not the bride (deluxe version)

So you may be wondering why is it you're seeing this. Hello, it is I again. If you're here, maybe you're familiar with the original "if you're not the bride', which I posted about three years ago. In case you're not, then, hello, welcome, when I was 15 I wrote a story under this same title. Then forgot all about it. But every so often someone would come across this story and I was reminded of its existence. Then, back in september 2019, I decided to read it again, correct some grammar and call it a day, you know, just so I could rest assured I hadn't written something horrible. Turns out, it got a bit out of hand and I decided to rewrite the whole thing. However, due to the fact that college is the worst, I never finished it and, well, forgot about it, again. Now, as quarantine came around, I found my rewrite from 6 months ago and since I got the time why not, right? This is now more than double the size of the original and has a lot more of backstory than intended. You can still find the original with some corrections here on AO3 and , and the cursed unedited version somewhere on tumblr for the sake of nostalgia. Warnings: There's cursing, some drinking and good old make outs. July 2020 edit: here I am, re-edting this thing again. This all said, welcome folks, to the deluxe version:

"You're going to what?!" Agatha raised her voice, tightly holding her phone to her ear. Surely, she must have heard Sophie wrong. Her friend did have a reputation for being over the top, but this was beyond absurd.

When people said that being friends with Sophie was…an exotic experience, they weren't completely wrong, per say. Being friends with Sophie could be a lot like being friends with a hungry animal. She was ruthless, dangerous and not trustworthy about 60% of the time. Sophie would do most anything to get whatever she wanted and absolutely would step over you in the process (sometimes for no reason other than because it amused her to do so). It wasn't personal, mostly. It was simply her nature.

For her, there were two kinds of people: her friends and her enemies. It was very easy to go from one category to another and anything in between simply couldn't be processed by her brain.

Sophie was a difficult person.

Agatha could tell you in more detail, she would know. Being Sophie's best friend wasn't exactly a dream come true. It had its perks of course, and when all was said and done, Sophie was an okay-ish person and a mostly good friend, but you gotta give it up to Agatha; it was no task for the weak-hearted.

They had been friends since kindergarten and were as different from one another as it gets. Had they met later in life, Agatha is certain they would've never become friends at all. Sophie was a loud, gorgeous (and kinda mean) blonde bombshell and Agatha was a grumpy, average-looking mostly nice girl (she wouldn't call herself kind, really, her niceness was more of a subproduct of her aloofness than anything else). The two of them disagreed in most anything and had not that much in common. Yet, it somehow worked. They argued a lot, as in, a lot, but it was always fixed within a weeks' time, in a coffee shop, over a good old vanilla latte and some black tea.

An odd pair, to say the least.

Which was fine by them. Sophie… was a work in progress. She was trying.

Nevertheless, every once in a while, something like this would happen. Because Sophie was still Sophie and her head worked in mysterious ways.

"I'm getting married, Aggie," Agatha could practically hear the blonde rolling her eyes on the other side of the device, "people do that all the time. It's, like, a thing."

"Sophie, you're not even done with college yet! Getting married with what money? As far as I know, your modeling barely pays your rent and don't even get me started on your student loan and credit card debt! And getting married to whom? Last time I checked, you weren't even going out with anyone!" She tried to cool her head, catching her breath while trying to recall any possible groom Sophie could have taken. "Unless… Are you marring Hort?"

A disgusted groan was heard.

"Ew, no. Not Hort, for God's sake. What do you think I am? Desperate?"

A bit, but Agatha didn't dare say it out loud.

Hort was a guy who lived at the apartment just below Sophie's, in a tiny complex downtown. They've known each other for quite a long time now. It was practically common knowledge that Hort acquired the biggest crush on her the moment he first laid eyes on her. It was all the old ladies from 1A and 2C ever talked about.

Over the years, he became quite easy on the eyes, even Sophie had to admit it. No longer the scrawny awkward kid that helped Agatha drag Sophie's couch upstairs (while Sophie flirted with the trucker, trying to get free shipping for her mattress, which, by the way, she got), but a fully formed man, completely jacked, and with a growing bank account to match, due to his fitness-program-thingy taking off. Agatha didn't really know the details of that, but she knew it was going well, mostly because Sophie told her so.

Anyway, he claimed to not want anything to do with her friend nowdays.

Yeah, right.

Agatha felt bad for him, she really did.

Loving Sophie was like loving a hurricane. Violent, brutal and downright painful.

She had initially assumed it would go away with time, that he would eventually see that they weren't compatible and let it go.

However, it was a bit more complicated than that, as most things in life tend to be.

She knew he and Sophie had hooked up, in fact, she knew that they did so often. Sophie hadn't told her, but she didn't need to. Agatha knew. The aftermath was never good, and for the sake of keeping things short and lighthearted, Agatha shall spare you the angst and just say that, as mentioned above, Sophie was fantastic at getting whatever she wanted and disregarding other people's feelings.

Honestly, Hort could say he wasn't into Sophie all he liked. At the end of the day, he was still living at that shitty apartment (even though he could probably have moved somewhere better a long time ago), hadn't seriously dated anyone since meeting her and was responsible for at least half of Sophie's modeling gigs, which were her friend's main source of income. Agatha had warned him, several times, mind you, but all you can do is all you can do. The heart wants what it wants, she presumes.

"If not Hort, who then?"

"Oh, you don't know him yet," She could practically see Sophie twirling a golden lock on her fingers, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Clearly," Agatha rolled her eyes and put her phone on speaker to be able to look around for her keys more comfortably. Reaper, her cat, had a bad habit of hiding them in the weirdest places. "Why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone last time we went out for coffee?"

"Because I wasn't seeing anyone at the time," the blonde-haired woman sounded a bit annoyed, seemingly not understanding why Agatha was having such a hard time believing her ludicrous story.

"Sophie."

"Yes, Aggie?"

"That was literally three weeks ago."

"It's true love, Agatha. I can feel it. This is my real-life fairytale. I found the perfect guy for me. He's so different from anyone I've ever met…" Agatha tuned her out, finally realizing what was going on.

For Sophie, everyone she dates is her one true love. She was intense like that. There were lots of "perfect guys" on the list, too many, and eventually Agatha grew tired of counting them. Neither did she remember their names. Why bother, when Sophie would grow tired of them soon enough?

Her friend's drug of choice just so happened to be was serial dating with lots of love-bombing on the side.

Parents got divorced? Look at this cute basketball player that will probably cheat on me.

Bad day at a shoot? Oh, that barista is so sexy, bet he'll hook up with me anyway.

I have no idea where my career is going and hate my major? Why not call Hort up, right?

But getting actually married? That's new.

Agatha sighed, picking up her keys from the pot of her balcony plant. Time to be the be the grown-up. Again.

"Sophie, are you 100% sure you want to get married to this guy? Can't you wait a few months at least? How about you guys move in with each other first?" If Sophie doesn't tire of him, that would terrify the poor thing into ending this madness. Again, Agatha would know. She had to stay at Sophie's for a few weeks once, back when she had split with a partner whom she had been living with; it was hell on earth.

"Weren't you hearing, Aggie? We. Are. Soulmates. He is very serious about me. He's so in love with me, he would never hurt me, and I need to tie him down before he runs away. Isn't this what people always say?" Her friend's voice was getting snappy. Oh, no, not good.

"Sophie, I just think you should be more careful and reasonable…" Agatha tried to pacify, tiredly.

Did she not own any clean jeans? Damn. Why does she keep forgetting to do her laundry? The blue skirt she wore to work would have to do.

"It's always reason, with you, Agatha! You never listen to your heart! I thought you would be happy for me! You're always telling me just how much potential I have! He brings out the best in me! What do you even know about relationships anyway, you always end up ru-"

"SOPHIE!" She interrupted, before her friend could say something she'd regret and crush whatever good mood was left in Agatha's body. "I'm just surprised, that's all. Tell me about this guy…?"

Fuck it, she decided. Agatha was in currently in a hurry and this could be solved later. She wasn't going to be able to win Sophie over the phone. Maybe she could sit her down on sunday, have one long talk about red flags in relationships, again. Convince her to stay engaged for a bit longer, just enough for her to get bored and then call it all off as soon as the new whats-his-face walks through the door.

Now was not the moment to be arguing, especially if she wanted to be on time.

"…And he's so great and wonderful, he's tall, has these hypnotizing eyes, they're so intense, it's like they suck you in, Aggie! His hair is just wow, it's a very uncommon shade of blonde, the undertone is beautiful, so expensive-looking... but it's natural, he swears. And his skin is so soft, you wouldn't believe, his name is…"

Agatha tried to listen. She really did. However, all she could hear was "bla, bla, bla, perfect, bla, bla, bla, handsome". Lord, not this again. Did it get worse every time...?

The brunette stuffed her wallet in a handbag, grappling to close it (it had been a present from Sophie, and as such, probably hardwired to annoy her and look good at the same time), and gave herself a look over in the mirror, before frowning. Oh, time for her limited make-up skills to be of use.

Damn, she looked rough. She left in hurry that morning, so her bare face stared back at her in its full sleepless-racoon glory.

It has been a long week of nothing but late nights trying to get her workload done. She couldn't believe she was saying this, but she missed college. At least back then she didn't have to worry about rent. Oh, to be young, broke, dead-inside and living on a dorm. The wonders, truly.

Concealer, blush, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. There. Done.

Kinda?

"… So, are you up to it?"

What.

"… Hm, sure?" She responded, still trying to evaluate if her liner was acceptably symmetrical. It wasn't. It never was, but it wasn't always this bad. Really, not her best work. Maybe she could fix it, somehow?

"That's amazing, you'll look so pretty, the dress I picked is perfect for your undertone, you'll be the best maid-of-honor ever!"

Oh, god, no. No way. What has she done?

Should she do that red-flag-talk now?

"How… nice of you to say that," Agatha replied, barely contained horror coming across in her tone. Not that Sophie paid her any attention.

"I set the date for the engagement brunch-party for tomorrow around 10am. At the terrace. And speaking of dates, I must introduce you to someone, he's great, Aggie, and I think you guys could…"

No. No. No. Agatha is drawing the line here.

"Oh really, cool, hey I have to go, callyoulaterbye-"

Agatha throws her phone on the bed, groaning loudly. Reaper stirs in her pillow, but is otherwise unbothered by the conversation, unlike his owner.

Of all things… getting married. Agatha was now her bridesmaid. Engagement brunch…?

Sophie, why. Why?

Agatha was now an accomplice of this crime against good judgement, wasn't she? Should she call Sophie again…?

Ugh, you know what? She'll sort this out this later. Sophie could wait a few hours, Agatha earned this night out.

…This totally is going to come back to bite her, isn't it?

Well, too late, Agatha's leaving. Because, unlike Sophie, who clearly had too much free time in her hands, Agatha had things to do and couldn't just waste her precious friday nights on this kind of bullshit.

"You're late," is the first thing Hester says to Agatha, not even lifting her gaze from her phone as she approaches their table.

It was the usual one, right by the wall, perfectly placed so it was far enough from the dance floor but close enough to the bar, so it was still socially acceptable to be seated but not too "loser-zoned", in Hester's own words.

Hester herself looked the same as always. Dressed head-to-toe in black and showing off an impressive number of tattoos per square inch of skin, she made quite the intimidating sight. The only tip to her actual day job was the discarded white blazer and sleek suitcase lying on a chair beside her. Back in school, Agatha used to find it hard to picture Hester being anything but a witchy-biker or a badass-tattoo-artist, but she supposed scary-lawyer suited her friend just fine.

"Nice to see you too, Hester. I've been well, thanks for asking," Agatha sits down, annoyed. She knows she's late. She missed the "early-comers, free entrance" time, and damn if the isn't pissed that she's now 15 bucks broker then she already was. "Anadil, Dot, it's great to see you guys too"

Both women acknowledge her presence quietly: Anadil nods,before getting up from her spot and leaving to god-wishes-he-knew-where and Dot hugs her briefly, headed to the bar.

Hester rolls her eyes and repeats herself.

"You're late."

"Shut up, I'm here, aren't I?!" Agatha snaps, before she bit her lip and propped her elbows onto the table, head in her hands.

The gesture makes Hester lift her eyes from the phone, finally.

"Well, someone's had a bad day."

"Look, I'm sorry. It's been one looong horrid day. Have you ordered any drinks? Or are we going for beer tonight?" Agatha asks, going over the familiar menu, even though she has every beverage price there already memorized.

"Okay, slow down," Hester yanks the menu out of her hands. "Have you eaten? I'm not going to take care of you if you didn't."

Yes, she would, but that's not relevant.

"Yes, mom," Agatha rolled her eyes. "I'm tired, tomorrow is gonna suck, let's drink."

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow's saturday, loser, sleep to your hearts content," Hester reminds her, but at seeing Agatha stare back at her in misery it occurred to her what, or rather, who, this was about.

"Blondie has been texting me non-stop about brunch. At 10. What's up with that?" She lifts a brow, her judging eyes scanning Agatha's expression. Agatha in turn, lets her elbows drop and bangs her head onto the table, harder than originally planned, a whimper leaving her lips.

Hester sighs. She loves Agatha to the death, but when it comes to Sophie, she has always been way too forgiving. Agatha was not Sophie's mother, she shouldn't have to look out for her and bend over backyards to help her. Personally, Hester and Sophie didn't get along very well.

Which lead to: Sophie never invited Hester anywhere, unless she wanted to rub something in Hester's face.

"...Apparently, she's getting married in, like, two weeks?" Hester's brows lift in surprise. "...To some guy I don't know?" Higher. "...And I'm a bridesmaid?" Almost disappearing into her hairline by now.

Awkward pause.

"Okay," Hester breathes in and out, "what the actual hell?"

"My words exactly."

"She'll be over it in a week," the tattooed woman deadpans.

"No doubt," the other replies.

Three more seconds go by, and it's far too long for Agatha, whose leg starts to twitch under the table.

"You're doing it again," she states.

"Doing what?" Hester asks, crossing her arms, lying back at her chair.

"That thing."

"What thing?"

"You know," Agatha vaguely gestures at Hester's face, "that thing your eyebrows do when you're being judgy."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"I so need a drink right now," she tells her before leaving the table.

At the bar counter, Agatha sits down on a stool and waits for the bartender, Chaddick, to show up, ignoring Hester's glare on her back.

Now for some unnecessary backstory, in case you're interested: Agatha and Chaddick had a bit of history (read, beef) long before this club, The Woods, opened and even before Agatha and Hester started to have their monthly night-out there.

Chaddick was a jock whom Agatha went to school with, all the way from sixth grade to senior year of high school. To be brief, he was the worst ™. He made fun of her, tormented her days, spread rumors about her (including one that she was witch, which lasted for years) and even stole her stuff once. In senior year, he had even developed this habit of showing up with his friends at the tea place her mother owned, where she had worked a few shifts from time to time, ordering not a single drop of fucking tea, being loud and annoying for hours and only leaving when closing hour neared.

Agatha was sure that if you googled 'jackass', his picture would turn up. He'd been so full of himself, all because he had some cash, was athletic and was "cute", you know, in that white-upper-middle-class-way that most school-aged popular boys tended to be. But then, flash-forward: Chaddick now worked wednesday to saturday as a bartender at Agatha's favorite club. Apparently, his parents went bankrupt or something during college. Agatha felt kinda bad for him, but not really? She supposed he wasn't as terrible of a human being nowadays, but she was not about to go ahead and call him her friend, no matter how many times she had to make small talk with him for the sake of bar etiquette.

"So what's it gonna be today?" The bartender asked, not quite politely, but she lets it slide, for she could tell he was as thrilled about this conversation as her.

Chaddick, too, looks the same, to no one's surprise. He looked more tired, but still douchey enough that Agatha didn't feel too horrible of a person for not feeling as sorry for him as she probably should.

"Surprise me. I've had a very bad day."

"Is Sophie actually up to something then?" He asks while grabbing some bottles, "I hear there's going to be a brunch-party tomorrow…?"

"Who told you? Reena?" Chaddick dismisses the name casually with his hand. "Gisele?" 'no', he denies with his head. "Beatrix then?" he nods, uncharacteristically shy, and Agatha nearly felt pleased, before she remembered what they were talking about before. "Bingo. But yes, there's a brunch-party tomorrow. An engagement brunch-party."

He hands her a cup, wide-eyed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Engagement? Do I even wanna know w-"

"You don't. Trust me on this," Agatha cuts him off, taking a sip of the beverage. She doesn't recognize its taste, which makes her wary. She knows her alchool. "What did you even put here?"

"It's a secret, tonight's special," he winked mockingly, before hurrying on to the next client.

Agatha briefly wonders if she should drink the rest of it, eyeing the cup curiously. It didn't smell bad and she kind of liked the taste. Should she trust Chaddick? Probably not. Then again, Agatha needed a drink tonight.

It would be fine. She is no lightweight, Hester is here, tomorrow's saturday. Right?

Another thing that would probably bite her later. So, she braces herself and downs the cup in a few large sips, heading back to her table.

Bring it on.

Two other cups of who-knows-what and an hour later, Agatha was back at the bar, now sitting in different stool, as far from Chaddick as she possibly could be, when a body drops on the sit next to her.

It's Dot, giggling loudly like a high school girl on heavy drugs.

The giggling persists for quite some time.

... It's kinda creeping Agatha out.

"Penny for your thoughts…?" She tries, taking a sip of her drink.

No response.

Giggle.

More silence.

"Hm, Dot?"

She continues to stare at her joyfully, still smiling like a madwoman.

Agatha found Dot adorable and friendly, which was a surprise since she was one of Hester's best friends. The two of them weren't really that close themselves, but she did enjoy her company. Being friends with Dot was as easy as it was harmless.

"Don't look, but there's a really hot guy right by the pool table who hasn't been able to take his eyes off you for the last fifteen minutes."

Agatha's eyebrows shot up in Hester-like fashion and she fights the instinct to turn around and check if Dot isn't messing with her.

She knows she is not the most attractive female in the room. Agatha tends to think of herself as more of an acquired taste, truly. Yet, every blue moon someone would come over to try their luck with her. Sometimes they're cute, sometimes they're funny and sometimes they're just desperate. So far, "hot guys" haven't really been her target demographic.

"So what? What's the big deal?" She tries to keep her nerves out of her voice, mostly succeeding, but Dot's smile only grew more and more mischievous, as if seeing right through her.

"Turn around. I dare you not to remember him. Pretty sure Sophie told you about how she met him again a few weeks ago, at that event she went to? The one sponsored by Camelot International?"

…Okay, so Agatha might be a bit of a bad friend. She didn't listen to 90% of Sophie's rants about guys or modeling events, so most likely she had told her about him as Agatha did something else. Something important, really.

…Like playing games on her tablet.

She worked a lot, okay? Can't have people hogging all her free time. Even if it was Sophie. Her best friend.

Shit.

Agatha's face must have betrayed her because Dot laughed even louder than before.

"You seriously don't?" she managed to ask between giggles, as Agatha blushed, frowning.

"I should?"

"Most likely yes. Sometimes you're way too funny, you know?" Her smile was dangerous. Stop smiling at Agatha like that, woman.

It was at times like this she could see why Hester and Dot were such good friends.

"Thanks, I think?" Agatha eyes her companion carefully "How hot is this guy any…"

"Hot enough for you to talk to me, I hope," a male voice announced behind her, seemingly amused.

Not her day. Definitely not her day.

"He's right behind me?!"

Dot giggled loudly a final time before walking away to Hester's table. Very helpful. Forget what Agatha said about liking Dot. She didn't. Dot was a horrible person.

Agatha turned on her heels, facing the stranger with a sheepish smile. She was not ready for what was about to bite her.

Oh damn, please do.

…Figuratively, fuck. She meant in a figurative way.

Before we go on, Agatha would like to clarify that she blames any less than pure thoughts on Chaddick, because who knows what he put into her drink.

(Yeah, it's totally Chaddick's fault)

Amen, praise Jesus, okay?

Embarrassingly, her first instinct is to say that yes, he was totally hot enough to talk to her. Or come home with her. Or marry her (too soon for this joke, scratch that). That's not what she did, however. Oh, no, she stood there, in silence, and stared for quite a while before her brain rebooted and she finally gained control of her own body again.

Agatha is the first in line to advocate on why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but she had eyes.

He was tall. As tall, if not taller than her, and Agatha was a tall woman. His jeans looked expensive and his light blue social shirt was tight on his chest, almost as if it were a size too small, the top buttons open, defined muscles visible to even the most casual observer. The shirt was paired with a grey-ish tie that hanged loosely around his neck, a bit too effortless-looking to be unintentional. His features were sharp, sculpted even, a certain California-sunny-surfer meets Adonis-next-door quality to them. Soft blond locks had an unnatural shine under the club's lights, as if they were made of gold.

And his eyes, my god, they were so blue Agatha felt like sinking and drowning in his arms right then and there. Unfortunately, she couldn't. Because you see, she is a grown woman and had a little thing called dignity.

Not that she didn't want to though.

Focus.

He did look kind of familiar. Had they met before? Agatha doesn't think so. This man looked like he just walked out of a Calvin Klein ad, and she sure as hell didn't know many people who look like that. One of Sophie's model friends? If so, she certainly hadn't introduced the two.

Yet, the way he was looking at her right now indicated the reality that she should probably know who he is. Maybe he was from her old gym, back when she let Sophie talk her into going for a few months? No, there were no hot guys there, just old ladies and teenagers.

Okay, so, plan B, say something smart.

"Hm…"

Say something.

"…So…"

Anything!

He doesn't look very impressed by her articulate conversation skills, but Agatha can't place where she had seen him before. Maybe they had been neighbors at some point? She moved quite a few times in these last years and keeping track of all of them was impossible. But that didn't seem quite right. A friend of one of her exes then? Did they meet at pride or something?

Seriously, who was this guy! Acting all smooth, as if she should know who he is! He's good looking enough to be memorable sure, but clearly not memorable enough.

Hell, did she sleep with him? He must have been the worst one night stand ever for Agatha to somehow forget him. Maybe he was so bad that she forgot about him completely...?

"I give up, I can't remember you."

He looked a bit offended. Maybe he was indeed a Calvin Klein model.

"The name's Tedros…?"

Tedros, Tedros… Tedros?

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell," she concludes, "but, I'm, hm, Agatha?"

"I know," he responds, curt and firm, nearly glaring at her.

"Neat."

"Nice."

"Good."

"Great."

"Awesome."

"Amazing."

"Extraordinary."

"Now, that's a big word," he mocks. Agatha suspects he just didn't know any bigger ones to keep up. Part of her wishes to strangle him with his own tie and part of her wants to call him out on his shit. He approached her, okay? She is under no obligation to recognize him.

Her eyes narrow and she sips on her fourth cup again.

"Do you need for me to tell you what it means?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine."

The passive-aggressive-ness of this conversation is starting to exhaust her and kill any buzz she had, but she can't just let Mr. everyone-knows-who-I-am-and-I-look-like-walking-sex win. He needed to go down (on her). What.

"Hm, Tedros, you're going to order something or what?"

Chaddick cuts the stare contest between brown and blue and Agatha makes a note to leave him a nicer tip tonight.

"What's the special of the day?" Tedros' tone is amused, as if he and Chaddick are old friends. Ugh, of course he would. He sounded douchey enough. Maybe he went to school with her? That sounded about right, she could picture it. Pretty-boy-Tedros, walking down the hall wearing a football jacket with a cheerleader or two on his arm.

"Nice little things I've put together," Chaddick wiggled his eyebrows. "Want some?"

"Is it safe?" Tedros asks him, cautiously.

"Well, Agatha here is still fine at four, I would say so."

Soon enough Tedros is downing his second cup, sitting on the stool next to hers.

Agatha wasn't sure how or why, but things went from point A to point B very, very quickly.

Point A being sitting beside Tedros at the bar and point B being heavily making out with him in a corner.

Agatha wishes she was joking. She wasn't. It just…somehow…happened?

Fuck.

It all started when Tedros eventually caught up to her and from there on they held a little amicable drinking competition.

("I bet you can't do more shots than me." "Oh, you're so on!" "You drink like a fourteen-year old, dude." "Oh yeah?" "Yeah.")

Then, they paid for their drinks. Well, Tedros did.

("Did you just... pay for me?" "It's called having manners." "Excuse you?")

After that, Chaddick kicked them out to the dance floor, something about the two of them 'grossing him out'. Agatha is not much of a dancer, so she tried to go back her table but Tedros said something (she can't quite remember what it was) that made her realize that she kind of didn't want to. Leave, she means.

They danced for a bit before she stepped on Tedros's foot, or maybe he stepped on hers first?

("Ouch." "Get out of my way!" "Make me.")

From there on it was incomprehensible screaming over loud music for a while and they somehow ended up being way too up in each other's personal space. Agatha eventually just lost it, and grabbed him by his collar, bringing him down to place a forceful peck on his lips, before backing away, partly horrified, partly proud.

It took two mortifyingly long seconds of silence and pure embarrassment for Tedros to grab her by the waist and kiss her roughly.

They stumbled to a more secluded corner, until Agatha's back hit a wall, but she was distracted from the pain of the impact by Tedros licking her bottom lip, seeking her tongue, a small sound escaping her once he found it. What the hell is she even doing, this should not be happening. And yet, she cannot bring herself to care.

This is a wild, passionate kiss and not at all Agatha's expertise. She always considered herself more of a slow-vanilla-soft kind of girl. But out the window with that, Tedros was nowhere near close enough, no matter that they were already flush against each other. Maybe this is why Sophie thinks every guy she meets is her soulmate. As cheesy as it sounds, she feels somehow connected to this stranger, almost as if they were meant to be or something.

Ha, as if.

Any thoughts, of soulmates or otherwise, are forgotten when Tedros' hands start to wander, one goes from her waist to her hip and the other moves to explore her tight, squeezing it deliciously. Agatha retaliates by pulling on his hair, not as lightly as she probably should've, but is rewarded with a husky groan and a bite on her bottom lip.

(She does it again because that might be her new favorite sound.)

What. Is. Going. On.

Her last braincells are on fire. She was on fire.

Okay, young lady, de-attach yourself from the handsome male slo…

Oh God.

She's pretty much breathless when he decides to break the kiss, her lips chasing after his for the slightest second as he pulls away. Her heartbeat has never been this loud and she has no time to overthink, as, suddenly, his lips are on her neck. Agatha lets out a quiet, but embarrassingly needy, whine (as quietly as she could, but it didn't really matter, he heard her anyway) when he nips on her ear and then trails down to suck at her pulse point. Her hands snake their way from his hair to under his shirt's collar and Tedros shivers once she drags her short nails lightly on his upper back and shoulders, but she can still feel his very attractive smug smirk against her skin.

She felt drunk. She doesn't feel like that often.

Not the completely-trashed-I-just-had-countless-drinks kind of drunk and certainly not this don't-care-keep-going-my-blood-is-on-fire kind of drunk either. Like she wanted to keep touching Tedros for the rest of her life (the idea doesn't sound half bad), as fireworks danced around them and… God, if Sophie knows this guy how she could not marry him on the spot, because fuck…

He's leaving quite a few love bites along her collarbone, teasing, attempting (and succeeding) at drawing tiny sounds from her and Agatha can't take it anymore. She drags him back up to her mouth and somehow pulls him even closer. She did not like feeling weak, but to her surprise, Tedros seemed to possess the superpower of turning her completely boneless in the best kind of way.

Wait.

Agatha is making out with Tedros.

Tedros is making out with her.

Agatha's eyes open in late realization and the two of them stare at each other for a few seconds.

So, this happened, huh?

"I… hm… have to go. Out of here. Home. Alone. Yeah, that," Agatha makes way around paralyzed Tedros, whom looks very confused and disoriented. His lips are tainted with coral lipstick, he's panting for air, his bright eyes dark with desire, clothes looking disrelished, pants looking a bit too tight, and he just looks throughfully kissed.

No, Agatha does not feel even a little tiny bit of pride by seeing him look like that because of her, what are you talking about, not sexy, not sexy at all.

… Maybe he could come along?

No. No, no, no.

She doesn't run away from him exactly, but she sure as hell wasn't walking. As she passes Hester and Anadil, the two of them raise eyebrows judgingly, but Agatha does her best to school her expression into neutrality.

If she waited a bit longer, she might have heard Tedros saying:

"Until tomorrow then."

Agatha regrets every single life choice that led her to this point.

She's sitting on a ridiculously shaped chair at Sophie's apartment building's terrace, brooding silently in the corner, with a big headache, while eating some diet cake that tasted like foam, listening to violin versions of bad pop songs, probably dying of heatstroke, and if that doesn't kill her soon enough, can someone please end her misery…

Hester and Anadil are not here after all. Agatha doesn't blame them. It might be for the best, because Agatha doesn't need to deal with Hester's judgy eyebrows right now. Dot is down in Sophie's apartment, at the kitchen, most likely trying to steal some wine and she is pretty much the only person here Agatha can stand.

She partly wonders if Hort will show up but decides she does not care. She's running on aspirin, her head feels like it was smashed against a wall multiple times, and it's too hot here, okay?

It's a hot sunny day and the limited shade would not be enough to cool Agatha down even if she wasn't wearing a scarf. Agatha hates this scarf. It was another one of Sophie's gifts, and Agatha hates it because it's an evil scarf that pinches her every five seconds. However it's the lightest scarf she owns, and she can't it take off.

Otherwise, someone might notice the dark mark on her neck, which her shirt could not hide, as was the case for the other ones, lower, in her collarbones.

Tedros freaking marked her. The nerve.

She's not nearly as pissed as she should be, because honestly she's kinda into it.

Taking off the scarf would lead to too much teasing and questions, she had no turtlenecks available (damn you, past-Agatha, for not doing your laundry) and if only she had the skills to cover it up with makeup. Not only was the scarf evil by itself, it made it impossible for her to not think of yesterday, therefore, making her even more irritable.

She is not the kind of person who kisses people at the club. She sure as hell wouldn't bring a guy she's just met, at the club of all places, home. What if he'd been a psycho? She doesn't know him. He'd know where she lived. She wouldn't go to his place either, that sounded even more irresponsible. But she wishes she had at least gotten his number, you know, instead of freaking out and running away. Well, he knew Chaddick, so maybe she could ask him?

No, that would be humiliating, and Agatha is trying to hang on to whatever dignity she had left.

Also, it had been almost an hour at this damned terrace party and she hasn't seen a single trace of Sophie's fiancé, but the blonde assured her he would be there soon. He's the late-type, hm.

Okay, so Agatha hates him already.

She has been to this terrace quite a few times, it was the one pro of Sophie's building, aside from cheap rent. But she was running out of both will and things to point out in small talk with all these models and small influencers. If she hears "Sophie has such a lovely terrace" one more time…

Suddenly, there was clank, signaling that someone pushed the terrace door open. As Sophie lit up and moved to greet the newcomer, Agatha felt the cake climb up her throat.

Holy hell, is that Tedros?

What is her life, really.

Agatha gets up from her chair quietly, observing the scene from behind a plant, trying not to be too obvious, just, ya know, casually chilling in the middle of the scorching sun. Sophie hugs him tightly, placing a kiss on his cheek, grinning as she laces their fingers together and starts walking in Agatha's general direction, pulling the handsome man behind her.

Hm, no.

Agatha resists the urge to pace in circles as she tries to gather her thoughts. It might be the hangover or the diet cake but seeing the two of them together made her wanna barf. Not because they didn't look good together. They did. In fact, maybe too good. Sophie's long soft hair was a shade or two lighter than Tedros', but other than that, they might as well have been made in the same Instagram-model-facility. Like a set, Barbie and Ken.

What is this feeling?

Oh no, she can see them approaching. Abort mission, leave, get out, hit the road…

"Aggie, darling!"

Agatha forces herself to fake a confident smile, as if she could always be found casually hanging out behind plants on saturday mornings. It turned out to be more of sheepish grin, especially when compared to her friend, whose pretty smile is almost too big for her too pretty face.

Sophie looked particularly gorgeous in her pastel green summer dress and peep-toe heels. Her tanned skin glows under the sun, the light catching in her green eyes on that special way that made photographers all around the industry want to work with her despite her inexperience, the grace within her movements creating an allure Agatha doesn't think she'd be able to recreate even if she were to be born again.

This is not good. Leave, abort mission, repeat, abort miss…

"Aggie, this is Tedros, you know, the one I was telling you about yesterday," she winked. "Teddy, this is my bestie, Agatha, you remember her, right?" Sophie nudges him lightly using her elbow.

Tedros looks even better now that she can see him in natural daylight. Which should be illegal, truly. He's wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans, his hair made of pure gold looked just messy enough to not look too try-hard, yet something about him looked weirdly… staged? Agatha couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I surely do," Tedros lets go of Sophie's hand, shoulders tensing, and Agatha thinks he might be blushing. Is he nervous? "We-"

"Nice to meet you," Agatha interrupts him, grasping his hand on a firm handshake and letting go just as fast, as if touching his skin would burn her. "Sophie told me a lot about you."

Play along, please. I beg you.

"Oh, hm, it's very nice to meet you too?" Tedros responds, confused, but not calling her out. "Nice scarf," he adds, his lips curling upwards, so very slightly she might have missed if she wasn't micro-analyzing his every movement. Smug bastard. She is all too aware of his gaze lingering on her neck, a hint of pride showing in his bright eyes, the teasing in his voice making her want to pull him down by the collar, whether to choke him or to kiss him she couldn't tell.

"Oh, isn't it cute? See, Aggie, I told you that color looked great on you!" Sophie cuts in, reaching to touch said scarf. Agatha steps back self-consciously, making an effort to not scratch the back of her neck as not to call more attention to it.

"Quite the bold fashion statement for the summer, may I add," Tedros continues as he casually leaned one elbow on Sophie's shoulder. Subtle enough that Sophie wouldn't read too much into it, but Agatha could see right through his shit. "But I like it. You look very pretty, Agatha"

How dare he, truly. No sham-

Wait.

"So, I need to get going, work emergency you see, but I'll make it up to you, Sophie," Agatha excuses herself, quickly. She tells herself it's just the heat that it's bothering her, but her brain is going 300 miles per hours and she needs to leave. Now.

"Aggie, tomorrow we'll be having lunch at the country club, don't be late!"

"Yeah, be there, alright."

Agatha sprints down the complex's stairs as discreetly as she can, which is not much. By the time she's at her car, the weight of her realization hits her full force.

"I'm getting married, Aggie"

"Not Hort"

"You don't know him yet"

"Aggie, this is Tedros, you know, the one I was telling you about yesterday."

"That was literally three weeks ago."

"I dare you not to remember him. Pretty sure Sophie told you about how she met him again a few weeks ago at that event she went to? The one sponsored by Camelot International?"

"…Oh he's so great and wonderful, he's tall, has these hypnotizing eyes, they're so intense, its like they suck you in, Aggie! His hair is just wow, it's a very uncommon shade of blonde, the undertone is beautiful, so expensive-looking, but it's natural, he swears, and his skin is so soft you wouldn't believe, his name is…"

"bla, bla, bla, perfect, bla, bla, bla, handsome"

"He's so different from anyone I've ever met…"

"She feels somehow connected to this stranger, almost as if they were meant to be or something."

"Acting all smooth, as if she should know who he is!"

"He looked a bit offended."

"The name's Tedros?"

"God, if Sophie knows this guy how could she not marry him on the spot…"

"Sophie hugs him tightly, placing a kiss on his cheek, grinning as she laces their fingers together and starts walking, pulling the handsome man behind her."

Agatha is a very bad friend, isn't she?

She bangs her head on the wheel.

Then, she regrets doing so, opening the car's door, so she could vomit some diet cake and last night's alcohol on the parking lot's floor before driving away.

By a miracle, Agatha survives the drive home and makes it back home in one piece.

As she walks into her own apartment, she does not feel half as guilty as she thought she would be. But she was very, very angry. Furious, actually.

At herself for being both a dumbass and a bad friend, at Tedros for being a player, at Chaddick for being a dick in general, at Sophie for being Sophie, at Dot for not warning her and even at Hester for not being at the party today so Agatha could at least not freak out by herself.

She can't do anything for the rest of the day, because trying to work, read or sleep is useless, since she can't focus with all the internal screeching her mind is doing. Her existence now doesn't make any sense and Agatha is about to tear her hair out, lying down in her bed, staring at the celling.

(There's a long crack on there and for whatever reason, it reminded her of a river. Probably because it didn't look like anything else.)

She contemplates calling Hester and telling her everything but ultimately decides against it. She can't bring herself to explain this out loud, least of all hear any possible lecture Hester might give her. Is this how Sophie feels when she decides hide things from her-

Oh my God, Sophie.

Tedros was engaged. To Sophie. He was Sophie's fiancé.

Agatha is not freaking out at all.

At last, ten long hours of sulking later, Agatha is feeling a lot guiltier, still very much pissed and just confused as a whole.

She made out with Sophie's fiancé. Should she tell her? Yes. Would she? To be decided.

Maybe they wouldn't even get married. Come on, a few weeks? There's no way Sophie will keep up this insanity. Telling her about the club incident would only hurt their life-long friendship over a guy who wasn't even gonna last two months. Years of companionship out the window. She had no intention of doing it again so, did it really matter? What the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't feel, right?

She hadn't even known he was Sophie's fiancé!

But then again, Sophie had told her all about him. She didn't listen because she was a bad friend! Was she really gonna play the "I didn't know" card...?

It was the truth!

But no one would believe her. Fuck, if Agatha were Sophie, she wouldn't believe herself. Agatha was a smart grown woman, godamn it. What kind of dumb bitch even-

This wedding wasn't happening. No need to worry, right?

For now, Agatha has two long weeks of supposedly weeding-related bonding moments with Sophie to survive, without accidentally letting slip that, oh, talked, drank, danced and made out with Tedros.

Well, shit.

Even if one ignored the fact that the guilt was starting to eat Agatha alive from inside out, the next day would still have been a long, tortured journey of nothing but cringe and regrets. Yet she bore it, because she, even if accidentally, brought this on herself.

Agatha got up early on a sunday (name a bigger crime) to try and get something done, since she would probably have little time to work in the following weeks. Then, she went to have lunch with Sophie at a fancy country club (that Sophie couldn't afford by the way, which earned her a lecture on credit cards and personal finances) hoping to have that "red-flag" talk.

It did not go well.

Sophie had invited him along. Of course, she would. Apparently, since she was getting married soon, Agatha should be used to have him around. And, of course, Sophie would have decided to tell her he was coming the moment he walked in, headed to their table.

This is Sophie's fiancé. Do. Not. Stare.

What kind of cosmic karma is this? He isn't even her type.

WHY-

"Afternoon, ladies."

Sophie greeted the blonde with a smile and a hug, as Agatha merely nodded his way, scanning the room for the closest exit.

"Hi Teddy!"

"Tedros."

Lunch is awkward as hell and at this point Agatha is just waiting for a waiter to come and stab her. It ends up being both not so terrible and the worst lunch ever because she does talk quite a lot with Tedros, against her better judgment.

She learns that Tedros did go to her school, for three years. Sophie asks him if he remembers Agatha, and from Tedros' silence, Agatha assumes he doesn't want to admit to having been part of Chaddick's... shenanigans.

Her friend then talks astrology, and Agatha learns that he is a leo (because of course he would), is kinda proud of it but says he doesn't believe in astrology, prompting Sophie to start a discussion on why he wouldn't believe in astrology if he believed in tarot. The way he blushes and stammers is cute and makes Agatha feel horrible for thinking so, but she asks him about tarot anyway. She's just being polite, okay?

He mentions he'd turned 26 a while ago and recently moved back to the city, as he moved away to go to college in Avalon. She tells him she almost went there, but her scholarship did not include a dormroom and she knew no one there to share an apartment with. His answer is a blunt "I know", which both confuses and pisses her off.

Tedros offers her no further info on it, but they engage in conversation again after he mentions he is working at Camelot International.

("As one of the main executives on the board," Sophie adds, "it's one of the most powerful companies in the country.")

They quickly bond over their massive workloads (Agatha may not be a main executive of a huge corporate empire, but damn if being head finance director for SGE Enterprises didn't keep her busy enough), until Sophie slips that he must be very lucky to be the sole heir to the Pendragon Group.

Oh.

Tedros Pendragon. Are you kidding? Agatha remembers seeing his family's name being all over the news back in school and she feels dumb for not remembering that Tedros and 'that Pendragon boy' were the same person. Hadn't his parents had a huge cheating-divorce-scandal that caused the stock for the company to plummet a few years ago?

Tedros frowns at Sophie before saying that, "Yes, indeed, he's very lucky."

The blonde doesn't seem to notice the way his hands grip the fork tightly as he pronounces the last word, but Agatha does.

It adds on to the list of things that keep her awake later, after she does her damn laundry and stress-cleans her entire apartment. She curses as she turns and tosses on her bed, because it's 2 AM, work starts in a few hours and she needs to sleep.

The next four days are not much different, the routine is pretty much the same, except they have dinner plans instead of lunch. Work, eat, work, do bridesmaid shit with Sophie and Tedros somewhere, avoid his gaze, talk for a bit over something like choosing the best flower arrangements, and then hightail out of there, only to come home and be restless.

She was still very confused, because honestly, Tedros didn't seem bad at all. The more she talked to him, the least she wanted to stop talking to him. He definitely had some family issues and was doing some overcompensating, but nothing that made him, like, a total trash human.

And yet, he was still the guy who hit on her (fucking made out with her), knowing exactly who she was, while being engaged to her best friend.

She always thought herself a good judge of character.

Anyway, she did her best to act aloofly polite and if he ever seemed to hint at the night at The Woods, Agatha cut him off before he could. It was a good plan. Wait it out. And it really was working just fine.

Until the dress store.

For some reason she cannot wrap her head around, Tedros is there too.

(Isn't there a tradition against seeing the dress of your bride before the wedding or something?)

At some point, Sophie struggles to get into a particularly complicated dress at the dressing room, yelling at the poor employees like a harpy on a rampage and Agatha is about to intervene when he manages to pull her aside, his grip firm but with a certain gentleness that made her skin burn.

He semi-drags her across the store through a sea of sparkly white dresses and into this small nook between sections. Agatha does not want to admit that the main reason why he is able to do that is because she allows him to.

Things only go downhill from there.

He has her cornered, her back nearly merging with the wall as he stands close to her, his posture tense, moving slowly, like one would in presence of a startled animal. He doesn't look like he is trying to purposely intimidate her, and she doesn't feel particularly unsafe. No words are spoken between them and the silence allows Agatha's senses to pick up on a deliciously rich smell. Is that Tedros' cologne-

Agatha forces down the rash that is creeping up her neck and tries to focus on doing what she does best, aka, running away from her problems. She looks anywhere but his face, but he is not making ignoring him an easy job.

"I don't get you."

What.

"Excuse me?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Agatha scoffs, arms crossing in front of her chest.

"I truly don't."

Her response seems to annoy him, which she counts as a win, but Agatha might have declared victory just a bit too soon. Tedros, who was a couple of feet away has managed to get way too close (yet again). His hand raises her chin and forces her to look into his eyes. Her resolution to run away falters and she's scared he might hear her heartbeat speed up.

"Playing dumb doesn't suit you, Agatha. One second you don't like me, then you do like me, then you don't again… I don't understand the game you're playing here… So, I'll make this simple, you won, congratulations, now stop playing games, now you know I'm interested."

Agatha blinks. This is… not the conversation she thought she was going to have.

Of course, during her nightly overthinking sessions she thought about what she'd say if he confronted her about the previous friday, even if she didn't think he'd have the balls to actually do it. But she seems to have been reduced to this dumpster fire nonsense. Tedros never did what she thought he was going to do and it was short-circuiting her braincells.

She's way too aware of the hold he has on her, the compromising situation they're in. One of his hands cages Agatha in, placed on the wall behind her head, while the other keeps her from adverting her gaze from his. Tedros is too close, he smells too good and his mouth looks too inviting.

She hears him, but she doesn't really hear him, his presence fogging up her senses.

Agatha briefly entertains the idea of giving into temptation and kissing him. How nice it would be to grab his collar, invert their positions, slam him against the wall and kiss him senseless, so he could feel just how helpless she felt having him corner her like this. Kiss him and just leave him there, wanting, begging, and…

What. Wow, fuck. Stop.

A new thought hits her like a ton bricks.

This guy is an asshole.

Tedros looks irritated and Agatha wants to punch him.

So she does.

She's strong enough to give him a black eye, but she (unintentionally, Agatha swears) holds backs and aims for his chest. However, she can tell it hurt a lot by the way his eyes water and he backs away several steps. She hears Sophie yelling their names across the store and giving Tedros one last glare, she turns around and walks away.

The nerve.

Why would anyone marry him?

Sophie needed a wakeup call. And fast. Because while Sophie could be a nightmare, she did not deserve to be played like that.

Agatha was not a superstitious person.

If she forgot her umbrella at home and it started raining when she left the dress shop (Tedros and Sophie both offered her a ride but she would rather choke, honestly, and said no, forgetting that she rode here with Sophie in the first place), it's not fate, it's bad luck. If she gets sick and loses her voice (and therefore can't go do neither her work or her bridesmaid duty), it's not conspiracy, it's simply a coincidence.

Well, call it fate, call it bad luck, call it conspiracy, call it coincidence. The case is that Agatha has lost her voice and has both a running nose and a fever. She considers texting the whole story to Sophie but changes her mind when she imagines the blonde woman's reaction.

Agatha, you're such a slut.

She is going to tell Sophie about this… this… this individual. Yeah, she was going to come clean and expose Tedros. No wedding.

Why was Tedros marrying Sophie anyway? She could understand why Sophie would go for Tedros. He did seem like her type. Young, rich, successful and handsome.

(Not really what she herself looked for. Agatha tended to go for witty, responsible people and who did not mind her blunt nature. Never in the history of ever, had Sophie and Agatha been interested on the same person.)

Anyway, he would give her lots of exposure, would look great on her Instagram feed, would be able to save her from her terrible apartment, student loan and infinite credit card debt, and would open up the world of fancy designer shoes and pretty gowns Sophie always dreamed of.

But why would he do that?

Tedros was, again, young, rich, successful and handsome. He hardly expressed any special affection towards Sophie or had the usual lovesick look most of Sophie's victims sported when they found themselves bewitched by her. They didn't really agree on much, from what Agatha gathered on their conversations, had no shared interests, lived completely different lifestyles, had different moral values and overall didn't seem to have the grandiose connection Sophie spoke of at all. Maybe he was with her because she was pretty? But again, why. There werw thousands of pretty girls willing to date young rich men, why Sophie in particular?

Something about this seemed off. She needs to talk to Sophie.

…When she recovered.

Alright, maybe it was conspiracy. The wedding was in two days.

Two days.

She supposes time does go by quickly when you're procrastinating something you really, really don't want to do. Nearly two weeks gone by in a flash. And, as she should, Agatha finally gets herself together. She is going to tell Sophie.

Well, she was going to tell Sophie. The blonde and a few of her friends were at The Woods for a last girl's night out. Meaning:

Sophie was currently drunk.

But maybe she wasn't?

She probably was though. Sophie was the most lightweight person Agatha knew, likely because she was so skinny. Girl could not hold her alcohol and drunk-Sophie was messy-Sophie. Unwilling, untamable and unimaginably difficult to have a coherent conversation with.

But, maybe she wasn't drunk? Agatha was not going to risk it.

She forces herself to hurry. She doesn't change out of her work outfit (merely discarding the suit's jacket), stopping by her house to feed Reaper and leave some important documents. Agatha even nearly forgets to lock her front door, calling a car to the club, hoping it might not be too late to come clean. But she was late anyway, as proven not only by the 15 bucks that left her wallet (for the second time this month) but by-

"Aggieeeee! You're better! Have you taaaasted this? It's amaziiiing!"

Agatha glares at Chaddick, who has the decency to look away. He knew the amount of alcohol Sophie was capable of processing, namely: none.

"Yeah, I have…"

"You should have seen, Sophie; the other night Agatha was so wasted she ma…"

"Chaddick, don't you have somewhere to be? As in, not here?"

The ex-jock walks away with a smirk, knowing he had some nice blackmailing material on her. Could this get any more horrible?

Now what? Should she just take Sophie home? Sober her up, tell her everything then beg for forgiveness? She couldn't. Then what to do, what to do…

"Sophie, I have to tell you something, it's really important, you see…"

"Oh Aggie, I'm sure you can tell me laaaaaatteerrrr! I've been so stressed lately! Time to let it goooo! Come on, I'll even pay your first drinkkkk!"

Her friend lifted a glass of what looked and smelled like a vodka and gin disaster waiting to happen.

"Sophie, what is even that?"

"Not sure…but Chaddick told me it was good."

Agatha sighs. She should tell the truth, right here, right now, shouldn't she?

"… Alright."

And she would have if she were a better person. But to her shame, she downs five more after the first and suddenly she can't remember why she came here on the first place. Something about a guy?

(Lies, Agatha knows exactly what she is doing, but for a few more hours she gives herself the benefit of the doubt.)

Whatever, she'll just deal with it later. She hasn't said anything for the past few days, surely it can wait some more, right?

Said and done, five hours later Agatha concludes she is a horrible human being. She should just quit. Leave the job of human being for people who will not mess up. Like Hester. Hester never messes up shit. Yeah, great plan.

Sophie is knocked out cold, sleeping with her face in a table, drooling, besides said Hester, who has her usual judgy face on, glaring at the blonde woman, like she was some kind of disgusting creature.

Agatha doesn't think she could feel worse.

She should have just told Sophie the truth right away. The moment she found out Tedros was, well, Tedros. Instead she had gone along with a wedding that was sure to be a fiasco, because not only was the groom a liar and a player, but Agatha was therefore his accomplice, and her silence was probably the greatest betrayal of their entire friendship.

She picks up her phone to call a car, so she could at the very least wallow in misery at home, but before the app even loads someone snatches her phone.

Turns out she can indeed feel worse.

"We need to talk."

His voice sounds as it always does whenever she's around, half-annoyed and half-something else Agatha doesn't dare name. As usual, he looks nice. His tight shirt and tie are still in perfect place, unlike the last time she saw him here, signaling he too probably came straight from work.

"This is girl's night; you're not allowed here."

"Oh, I'm not?" Tedros mocks her, but she can tell his heart isn't truly in it. "Then please do tell me the circumstances in which I can talk to you, because you sure don't make it easy."

She is so tired. Trying to avoid him is hard enough, trying to avoid him knowing that she doesn't really want to is impossible. She has always read people so well, and he always seems so genuine. It makes her wanna believe he is not the bad person she knows he is.

"…I've been… avoiding you. It's not that I don't want to talk to you. Is just… that I shouldn't," she hesitates but ends up answering honestly.

Tedros' expression softens at her candor, peering at her with concern.

"Are you drunk?"

"No. Maybe."

He sighs, then digs his car keys from his pocket, still holding her phone hostage on his other hand.

"Look, I'll give you a ride home. I really just wanna talk. We have…unfinished business."

Agatha considers. All this wedding-baloney made her poor, Tedros is so pretty, he looks so wholesome and honest, and she just wants to sulk at home for the next few hours. Maybe he could stay for a day or two. That shirt of his would look great on her floor…

No, bad idea.

"I don't wanna get into a stranger's car," she blurts out the first excuse her mind can manage. In retrospect, that was some obvious bullshit, seeing as they had talked for hours last week and he had already given her a ride before. Granted, it had been Sophie's car and Sophie had been there, but still, that didn't make much sense.

"Oh truly?" he holds up her phone, the ride app now open, "You're gonna pull that one on me?"

It's Agatha's turn to sigh.

"Okay don't go using logic on me, mister. For all I know, you could be planning on kidnapping me and selling my organs on the black market," or worse, actually talking to her.

"Can never be too careful, can we?" he looks partly amused and partly annoyed. "Look, I'm serious here, okay? I'm not going to do anything to you, we can talk to Hester on our way out, I'm sure she'll hunt me and string me up upside down at her soundproofed basement in case I even dream of harming you. Alright?" Tedros's eyes never leave her face in the twenty seconds she takes to decide, and it's really distracting, but she manages to answer:

"Okay, fine."

They talk to Hester, rather, Tedros talks to Hester while Agatha avoids her gaze shamefully. Why does Tedros know Hester? Did they ever talk during school?

Agatha doesn't know and she doesn't ask. Her gaze lingers on Sophie's drooling face and she feels her chest tighten.

The two of them walk into the parking lot awkwardly, in mortifying silence, and enter a silver Porsche. Agatha notes that it looks very out of place, since most cars belonged to employees and looked rather humble next to the silver beauty. Why was Tedros here? He came in his car, so he was not here to drink. Did Sophie tell him to pick her up? Or was he here to see Agatha?

Her heart skips at beat at the thought and she doesn't ask him any of this either.

"Nice ride," she offers instead.

"Thanks."

Tedros drives in silence, with Agatha occasionally telling him to turn on certain streets. She keeps her gaze on the empty roads, but she does catch quite a stunning sight of his profile when she forgets she's not supposed to look at him at all.

To avoid getting too in her head, she decides to turn on the radio. The song that starts playing is familiar and she guesses the radio must be on CD mode. The letters in bold red on the visor tell her she is correct, and this is indeed the song she thinks it is.

"You're into this kind of stuff?"

Tedros grips the wheel, almost defensively.

"They're really good, okay? I've been listening to them for a few years and so far, they're my favorite band. I know their sound isn't for everyone and-"

"I know."

"…It's not what most mainstream artists are doi- you what?"

Agatha blushes when she feels his incredulous gaze on her face, and it occurs her that this is the first time he looks directly at her since they got into his car. She hopes he'll attribute the redness on her cheeks to the red light they're currently stuck at and hesitates before answering, in a quiet voice, meeting his stare:

"They're my favorite band too."

"Oh."

The rest of the drive is less awkward, one would even say comfortable if not for the leftover tension. They sing along quietly to the vocalist and Agatha is sure Tedros stopped himself from doing the guitar once. Not cute, not cute, not cute.

Eventually, they get to her apartment building. She reaches over and turns off the radio, the deafening silence almost too much to bear.

Agatha tries reaching for the car door, but it's locked.

"I did tell you we needed to talk."

Usually, she'd be scared if a guy trapped her in his car in the middle of the night, but Agatha's frustration just comes back at full force and topples over anything else.

"What's to talk, you're clearly into someone else."

Tedros' eyes go big, and Agatha can't help but think he must be the world's greatest actor. Oscar nomination performance. The academy is shook-

"What? Did you, like, not hear anything I sa-"

"I'm not that kind of girl, Tedros," Agatha interrupts him firmly, "I don't hook up with anyone who's in a relationship, especially in a relationship with my best friend, no matter how stupidly short said relationship may be."

"I… Did Sophie tell you-"

"She didn't need to? You guys are engaged, and I am not going to get caught in between, okay? Please, please leave me alone. Don't talk to me. Don't look at me. Don't give me rides when I'm drunk."

Suddenly, Tedros' confused expression is gone and his eyes are gleaming with what looks like joy. He looks like he might kiss her and Agatha is not sure how well her defenses will hold in case he does.

"Agatha, I think you got this all wrong, I'm not-"

"What, you have amnesia? Or, let me guess, it's your twin brother who's engaged to her?"

Tedros burst out laughing and he sounds like an angel, throwing his head back, and Agatha forgets for a second that she's mad at him. But eventually reality brings her back and she pushes him, with just enough force to get his attention.

"Leave me the fuck alone, dude."

…Asshole.

This time when she reaches for the door, it's unlocked.

She glares at him from the sidewalk one more time, before entering the building.

Agatha doesn't hear a word from him after that.

It's for the best, she tells herself. Agatha spent so much time wishing he would just go away and take these weird feelings he gives her with him that she didn't even consider that once he did go away for real, new, stronger, and even more angsty feelings would appear. She only knew him for two weeks. He wasn't even hers. She has no grieving rights.

She goes out with Sophie one more time, and now it's just the two of them. It would be the perfect time to tell her. She has no excuses. No drinking, no sickness, no Tedros-

Agatha doesn't.

Today is the day.

It's a clear summer night, which is unfair with how angsty and conflicted Agatha feels. Hollywood lied to us all, hasn't it?

Agatha is dressed in a silky blue dress Sophie chose for her. It suits her and she thinks she looks quite pretty. Someone who actually knew what they were doing did her make-up, and for once she managed to tame her hair into submission, putting it into a fancy-looking up-do youtube taught her how to do. She's wearing her best shoes and her fanciest earrings. Agatha is looking and smelling like a daydream outside the main room of the church, but her hands are shaking and she's terrified.

She's not ready. Far from it really.

The rules were simple. If you're not the bride you don't wear white, you don't overdrink, and you never, ever, under any circumstances, fall in love with the groom.

No matter if they were hot, if they smelled good, if their eyes made you feel weak at the knees, if they shared common interests with you, if their taste was impossible to forget, if they went out of their way to get your attention or if they felt like they just might be the one.

You just didn't okay?

Shit, this was messed up. Still, Agatha brought herself to breathe deeply, trying to contain her anxiety.

The ceremonialist tells her it's her cue and she's soon walking down the aisle, clutching a small bouquet of pink carnations like a lifeline, looking around the church.

The place is crowded. Their entire social circle and their grandmother seem to be here. People from their childhood neighborhood, people from school, both of Sophie's parents, her stepmother and step siblings, quite a few models and influencers and a bunch of people she had never seen, probably Tedros' friends, family and co-workers.

The flowers and decorations look as amazing and beautiful as she would have expected from Sophie and she might have seen Hester, Anadil and Dot on a row somewhere, but that's not what made her almost freeze, nearly stumbling on the red carpet.

The groom.

He's wearing an expensive-looking white tuxedo, his hair is an unnatural platinum blonde and his eyes are disturbingly intense. He's tall, sharp and everything about him screams fancy. He's attractive in the way some snakes are attractive, beautiful and deadly, but the big deal is:

Agatha has never seen that man in her entire life.

She goes to her spot standing by the side, her brain running a marathon, tons of data just being tossed aimlessly on her mind as she tries to wrap her head around what the actual fuck is going on when her eyes meet someone else's.

Seating on the third row on the left, Tedros' blue eyes are shinning in complete and absolute amusement, his hand is over his mouth in a barely controlled laugh. The music seems to be on his side, because no one hears him. Agatha schools her expression into anything other than the overbearing wrath she feels, but she's not sure if she's doing a good job.

She's somewhat aware of the chaos that seems to be unfolding around her; the ceremonialist's screeching, the groom's rage, the crowd's confused mumbling and Sophie's absence. But it does not matter.

Agatha really wants to choke Tedros with his tie.

Turns out, Sophie's groom was named Rafal. Not that Agatha would remember his name a few days from now.

He is the current CEO of Two Brothers, a huge company, often associated with the mafia for fucks sake. Known playboy and womanizer, with a criminal record for drug dealing, as well as physical and sexual assault. Also, partially involved on the illegal leaks of information that caused the media scandal around Tedros' parents' divorce all those years ago, she later learns.

Great guy, Sophie. 10/10. Husband material right there.

At least she didn't follow through, Agatha argues to try and calm herself down. Oh yeah, Sophie ran away from her own wedding. No one was surprised honestly. Maybe Rafal. He looked very, very angry. Agatha didn't really blame him, after knowing that he was the one paying for the wedding, after party and honeymoon, no matter how horrible of a person he seems to be.

By now, Sophie should be in Paris, enjoying her honeymoon tickets and reservations. Through text, she tells Agatha how lonely and sad she is and how she'll tell her everything that happened in complete details on their next café meeting in a about month and a half. Agatha suspects she is not as lonely as she claims to be because Hort's Instagram stories tell her he is currently in Europe as well, if not in Paris. But then again, she will not concern herself over this matter. "No wedding" was good news enough to keep her in a great mood for any of Sophie's shenanigans for the next following weeks.

And since the reception was already paid for, everyone just decided to come enjoy it.

Yes, when she says everyone, she means everyone.

"Hey, you."

Oh, Lord, no.

Agatha doesn't lift her head to look at him, continuing to type a half-assed reply to Sophie's whiny texts. She won't give him the satisfaction. Instead she downs whatever is left of her whisky, because that's what one does when courage lacks.

She's sitting at the main table of the ballroom, by herself, mostly because it's where she's been assigned to sit, but also because she's not up for the questions the other guests will probably feel entitled to ask if she were to sit with them. Hester is nowhere in sight, but Agatha is sure she's making herself scarce on purpose. She saw Chaddick back at the church but they politely ignored each other and Dot had been missing for quite a while.

"Not speaking to me?"

"No."

"Come on, it was pretty funny."

"No, it wasn't," she finally looks up at him and he must have sensed true resentment in her perfectly lined brown eyes, because his smug, perfect façade crumbled, and he looked very awkward suddenly. Tedros pulls up the chair beside her and she notices it has his name on it. Sophie was not being subtle on her matchmaking at all, was she?

God, Agatha was so dumb.

"Well, it wasn't very funny to me either then, but I do laugh quite a bit now," he offers, sipping on champagne, trying to keep busy.

"I'm glad my pain amuses you," she's quiet for few seconds, considering what she's going to say. "Tedros?"

"Yeah?" he looks up from his flute of champagne, hopeful blue eyes shining in the half light of the candlelit ballroom and keeping her from saying what she was actually going to say, so instead she blurts:

"I'm not sorry for punching you."

"I didn't expect you to be," his smile is friendly and contagious. He downs the last of his champagne and extends a hand to her. "Okay, let's start again. I'm Tedros, I'm so single it hurts, and when we were in high school, I had a crush on you."

The way he says this so openly, his voice so even and clear nearly drowns out the vulnerable look on his face. Agatha herself can barely register his expression because she's pretty sure her brain has short-circuited. Again.

"No, you did not."

"But I did."

Tedros proceeds to tell her all sorts of things.

He tells her about how he first saw her as a rival because of her grades (she never really paid any attention to the scoreboard, she thought it was bullshit, but in retrospect she does remembers his name was always under hers), and about how sorry he was that he laughed and partook at Chaddick's antics during junior year, mostly because he the felt like 'the new guy with a big name and no friends' and felt she was a threat.

"That's some real introspection and self-awareness right there, hm"

"I'm just fortunate enough to have had a really good therapist," Tedros responds, "Merlin is like a psychology-wizard. He was the one who kinda sorted out that maybe part of my teen angst was repressed attraction to someone who fed the cats behind the library"

"Oh, then you've been my stalker for quite some time then."

Tedros blushes and Agatha is both flattered and embarrassed at the same time.

He then explains about how shit blew up on his face during his parents' divorce, how his grades dropped, how he got kicked out of the football team and how he started to spend a long ass time sulking at the library. Which just so happened to be Agatha's favorite hangout spot at the time. Tedros tells her how he thought she was cute, how she was one of the people who hadn't changed with him (even if unintentionally) and how he wanted to get to know her.

What.

"I just… wasn't sure how to approach you? I always dragged Chaddick to your tea shop when I didn't see you at the library but then chickened out and-"

"...I take neither of you were huge tea fans?"

"Yeah?"

"That does explain a lot," Agatha mumbles.

"I was going to talk to you about Avalon when I heard you were going there, but… Since you didn't tell me that, I kinda found out when Chaddick took your math notebook to be my 'wingman', I didn't think you would have…appreciated.

"Wait, that was Chaddick playing your wingman?" Agatha burst out laughing.

"The plan was that I was supposed to casually hand back to you something you forgot, but he kinda grew tired of waiting for you to actually forget something," Tedros chuckled. "If you thought Chaddick was bad then what big word is Miss-best-in-class going to use to describe Sophie's take on playing wingwoman?"

"Horrendous," Agatha deadpans and now it's Tedros turn to laugh.

Silence sits between the two. It's not uncomfortable and kinda welcome. Agatha digests the last forty minutes of enlighting conversation as they eat the main course of the night. A waiter comes to pick up both of their plates and she decides she still has some questions.

"Well, do you still do?"

"Do I still what?" Tedros questions, his head slightly inclined, like a confused puppy.

"Have a crush on me," Agatha mumbles, her cheeks burning.

Tedros' expression goes from 'confused' back to that mischievous look he had back at the church, leaning towards her ever so slightly.

"Maybe."

"Good," she offers her hand, as he had before, "I'm Agatha, I jump to conclusions, but I am very interested in getting to know you."

Tedros however, doesn't shake her hand as she had his. Instead, he takes it to his lips, pressing a light kiss to her knuckles, relishing in the shocked look on her face before she can school her expression back to unaffected aloofness.

"Are you free at six next friday?"

"Late meeting, but I'm good at seven. Pick me up?" she asks, an unspoken challenge laced in her words.

"As the lady wishes." Challenge accepted. "Any preferences?"

"Anywhere but 'The Woods'. But make sure to text me first if it's somewhere fancy," she smiles. "You know what? I still don't have your number."

Tedros confidently stands up, his hand yet to release hers.

"A number for a dance?"

Agatha told him that night at 'The Woods' that she isn't a very good dancer but again, he insists. It's fine, because they don't dance for long anyway. By the time Tedros gives up, fumbling with his phone to call a car, his hair is already a mess, Agatha's broke free from her up-do and there is lipstick everywhere.

I'm not sorry This was so much fun to revisit. I forgot how fun SGE was. I kinda fell out of touch with the series. I did read QFG, I just can't remember what happens in it? Idk. I felt the series should have concluded on TLEA. If possible before the whole Agatha and Sophie baloney stunt, because I never bought that. Please leave me comment and share your thoughts with me! Hope you are all safe during this quarantine, friends

#Tagatha #tagathashipweek2016 #rewrite #agatha sge #Agatha of Woods Beyond #tedros sge #tedros of camelot #sophie sge #sge #The School for Good and Evil

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keelywolfe · 4 years

Text

FIC: That Place Where You Can't Remember and You Can't Forget

Summary: Red is back and things are going swell.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Brotherly Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy, More Angst

Warnings: Implied underage pregnancy. Implied miscarriages. Past Trauma.

~~*~~

Chapter List

What Will Be, Will Be

Something To Say, But Nothing Comes

Can’t Go On, Thinking Nothing’s Wrong

Seldom All They Seem

Voices Are Heard But Nothing Is Seen

Winter Makes You Laugh a Little Slower

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

It was deep into the Underground nighttime when Rus wandered downstairs to get something to eat. He still felt a little achy and not all of it was from being stuck in the cold the day before.

Waking from his post-dinner nap left Rus restless enough for Blue to notice, teasing him about being a squirmy wormy, but there was no good way to tell his bro that the real problem was he was horny, plain and simple, and could he please get the fuck out for a couple hours so he and Edge could make some squelching noises?

Planning wasn’t exactly Rus’s strong suit; the evidence of that preceded him whenever he walked. So it was lucky that Edge more than made up for it. He owed Edge big time for asking Blue if he couldn’t go over to the Librarby for him in search of a particular puzzle book he’d heard was there. It was pretty good as excuses went; they all knew books were in short supply in Underfell. Blue agreed happily, and if there was a certain knowing gleam in his eye lights when he left, eh, Rus wasn’t much of a planner, but he was pretty good at pretending not to see things he’d rather not. It was a gift.

The moment the door closed behind his bro, Rus was on his feet and headed towards the bedroom at the fastest waddle he could manage. Ungainly as he was, he didn’t exactly feel like much of a seducer; his heavy belly was pretty much front and center, not exactly what he thought of as a turn on.

Somehow, Edge didn’t seem to mind. His hands and mouth were as eager as when they were only fucking around, hell, more so, he seemed happy to worship every part of Rus, from his toes to the very top of his skull, wringing out orgasms until Rus could only lay back weakly, trembling against the sheets. He wasn’t an innocent by any definition of the word, but some of the heated things Edge whispered to him in the darkness of his (their?) bedroom left him blushing and craving even more.

That was hours ago, now, Rus had drowsed off while Edge was gently washing him with a lovely, warm washcloth. Now horniness was taking a backseat to hunger, it was always something, wasn’t it?

Rus squirmed free of Edge’s arms as carefully as he could, slipping on his robe as he crept downstairs. He paused at the door, watching as Edge slept on, his sockets closed, the sharp angles of his face relaxed in sleep.

Seeing him made something unnamed in Rus’s soul stir, squeezing so tightly he could hardly breathe. He turned away, letting it ease. Whatever that was would have to be a problem for Tomorrow Rus, because tonight, all he wanted was something to eat.

It was good that he closed the door when he did, because the baby chose that moment to wake up, too. Rus bit back a groan as the baby shifted around, settling right into his pelvic cradle like it was a damn lounger. It didn’t hurt exactly, but it was uncomfortable and the way the kid was wriggling made it feel like they were going to fall down and dangle somewhere between his knees.

“wish i knew when you were gonna put in an appearance, kid,” Rus muttered. “it’d be nice to stick a pin on a date.” He curved a hand under his belly and gave a hopeful nudge, trying to urge his little skitten to move up a little higher. No dice, the baby only shifted and then settled back in with another demanding squirm, the one that meant on no uncertain terms, ‘feed me!’.

Rus sighed and started down the stairs. “yeah, i’m going.”

Seriously, the most frustrating thing about this was dealing with all the unknowns. Undyne did the best she could, but she didn’t know much about skeleton pregnancies. Everything she had she was pulling from old medical journals, but it was looking like they were a little incomplete. For one, she hadn’t known the souling descending would hurt. It didn’t for other Monsters, but then, other Monsters were different. The cost of magic was a lot higher for a skeleton pregnancy, they didn’t have a uterus laying around waiting to get used. On the other hand, they did have the added perk that any skeleton could have a kid since they went with ‘bring your own’ when it came to a body.

Thinking about it made the niggling memories at the back of his mind perk up a little. Undyne hadn’t known it would hurt, sure, but Red had. Red knew an awful lot about soulings and how they descended and--

Before that thought could connect, Rus’s slipper caught on the last stair, tripping him. Even as he started to fall, he flung out his arms to catch himself, split-second thoughts of ‘fuck’ and ‘no’ and ‘not after everything’ swamping him.

But the rush of the hard floor to meet him stopped abruptly, blue magic engulfing his soul, cradling him gentler than he thought possible.

“careful there, mama.”

“red?” Damned creature of the night. It was like Rus thinking about him summoned him up from whatever hole Red crawled into. The living room was dark, but Rus could see the faint gleam of bluish light from the sofa, coming from a darkened lump sprawled across the well-worn cushions, buried in the blanket Rus left there for emergency naps.

“who else?” Red made a hoarse, chuffing sound that might pass as a laugh. “no one else is gonna get past the spells my bro put on your door locks.”

Wasn’t that the truth. He and Blue were both shocked at the layers of protection that Edge insisted on weaving into the door locks, warnings, shieldings, the works. But neither of them protested it; hey, if a little extra protection made Edge feel better about sleeping over, Rus was all for it. Looked like stopping shortcuts wasn’t included in the package, deliberately or not.

The floor was still a couple of inches from his dangling slippers and his soul was starting to get that faint achiness from being gripped for so long. Rus waggled his feet, but Red didn’t seem to get the hint. Heck, he wasn’t even sure how Red managed to catch him before he could fall, anyway.

“hey, unless you’re gonna carry me around like a living backpack, you can let me down,” Rus called. Red made a low sound that seemed to be agreement, because the light pressure on his soul faded, renewed gravity easing him to his feet. The kitchen beckoned, all the delicious leftovers from the enchiladas that Edge and Blue made last night calling to him, but Rus still hesitated.

Something didn’t seem right about the local gargoyle.

Rus made his way over to the light switch and turned it on to the dimmest setting. Even so, a pained hiss came from the sofa, Red slinging an arm over his sockets. Like bare bone was gonna work as a mask? Closer to the sofa, there was a familiar green stink in the air, one that Rus knew very well, indeed.

Okay, yeah, if he had a guess, he was gonna say Red was stoned out of his melon.

“where’ve you been?” Rus asked, amused. The crumpled paper bag on the coffee table offered a clue, even if there were nothing but crumbs inside. “over at muffet’s? please tell me you behaved.”

Red offered another laugh, his arm sliding down to let him peer lazily out. “relax, mama, boss would have my ass if i caused trouble over here in your pretty lil’ world.”

If Edge could pin him down long enough to talk to him, maybe.

But that was a problem those two were gonna have to fix on their own. “didn’t happen to bum a smoke off bunno while you were there, did you?”

That sharky grin of Red’s widened. “mebbe. that a problem, mama?”

Yeaaasssh. A while back, Rus helped Bunno rig the hydroponics for his weed farm and every one of those little plants was babied into maturity. Even half a blunt usually put Rus down for the count and Bunno could be pretty damned generous with his stash.

Ignoring the ‘mama’ thing seemed easier than trying to argue about while Red was blazing trails. “you hungry?”

Sockets slit open, reddish eye lights rolling in his direction, “you offerin’?”

“yeah. let me go warm it up. don’t run off now.” If he was even half as messed up as Rus usually got from it, he probably couldn’t even get his feet facing the same direction if he wanted to.

Red seemed like he knew it, too. That sharky grin of his tipped higher and he closed his sockets again. “do my best.”

The enchiladas were neatly put away in the fridge, just like he’d known they would be. Blue always made a little extra for dinners these days; there was no telling how many might be at the table, plus leaving plenty of leftovers for growing skittens.

Rus was never gonna earn a chef’s hat, but he could manage warming up the goods and dishing it out. The smell was making him drool and the baby was doing a tango up his spine by the time he brought the plates out. He plopped Red’s on the coffee table with a thump and sat on the sofa with his own, ready to dig in. His belly made for a decent tv tray if he kept a hand on the plate. He was still mourning the loss of an entire bowl of oatmeal from an enthusiastic kick sending it flying.

Blue thought it was funny as hell and even Rus bursting into stupid tears hadn’t stopped him from laughing. It was pretty hilarious now and little embarrassing, but at the time, losing that oatmeal had seemed like a devastating blow to his hunger.

He refused to let his enchiladas suffer the same fate.

The blanket was stirring, Red slowly emerging like a creature from the deep. Rus couldn’t hold back a groan of pleasure as he scooped up his first bite, holy shit, when Blue and Edge combined their culinary powers, they made some damned good eats. Red seemed to be in agreement if the way he started chowing down meant anything, slurping down noisy mouthfuls.

The kid probably liked their secondhand version of it, too, given the way they were squirming. Rus winced, rubbing at his roiling belly. Seriously, it was weird watching it. He’d seen other preggers Monsters a time or two and they always seemed to have cute, round little tummies brimming with baby. Meanwhile, Rus’s always looked sort of lumpy depending on what side the baby was leaning on, and seeing it from the outside when a little hand or foot decided to push out was like watching some creepy B movie about alien infestations. Wasn’t exactly comfortable, either.

Through a mouthful of tasty, tasty enchilada, Rus mumbled, “i tell you what, when this kid makes its exit, i got a whole bucket list of things to do. whenever they decide to stop loitering, anyway.”

He wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the lack of scolding brothers. Red was shoveling in the food, wiping his mouth against his shirt as he chewed thoughtfully. “been about twelve weeks now altogether, yeah?”

“yeah.” His thoughts were sort of tired and jangly lately, but that was a date he could calculate to the minute.

Red only nodded, grunting out, “shouldn’t be much longer, then.”

Again, that confident knowledge. Rus wasn’t sure what to do about it, past trusting that Red was right. He tugged up his shirt, pulling it overtop the bump. The bright orange of the ectoflesh was opaque, hiding the little babybones curled up inside.

Those tiny bones getting solid and strong, using up all the tasty magic the food generated as they got ready to come out to the world. Would they look like him or Edge? A combination of the two? They were both tall, so the kid had that going for them, but maybe the kiddo would have crimson eye lights and wee little sharp teeth, all ready to gnaw at the table legs when they started crawling. Maybe they would smile with all the delight Edge struggle to show. Maybe, maybe…

Rus couldn’t wait to meet them.

He stroked a hand over the swollen curve of his tummy contemplatively, “if it’s soon, guess we should start thinking about names.” Edge hadn’t even mentioned names yet, they pretty much stuck with skitten or baby when they talked about them.

Red only snorted, “don’t bother.”

That made Rus raise some mental eyebrows. “why, you have a suggestion?”

“heh, nah,” Red licked his plate clean, something that would have gotten him a sharp knock on the skull if Edge saw him do it. “skeleton babies are born knowing their names. makes it kinda weird that we all go by nicknames now.” His mouth twisted sourly. “well, most of us. but if you run a check, i'm still sans. can call me whatever you want, it’ll always show me as sans. my soul knows what it wants to be called.”

Red rolled his head in Rus’s direction. His eye lights were hazy, diffused, crimson muddied with flecks of green, and Rus wondered again how much he’d had to smoke. “y’can usually do a check on their soul, see what the kiddo’s name is. might be able to do it by now.”

Okay, that was some seriously unexpected news, every damn word of it. Rus didn’t really remember his own childhood much, it was weirdly blurred and by the time his mental film got back on track, Blue was a toddler, already fully cooked and walking on his own. Rus didn’t remember ever checking him to see his name. His bun was still baking in the oven, but here was Red telling him he could check the baby. He hadn’t even thought to try it.

It was tempting, so tempting, but.

Edge was upstairs sleeping with no idea that Rus was down here getting maternity tips from his stoned brother, and Rus could only imagine how hurt he’d be if Rus did it without him. He’d been freaked out at the beginning, but these days Edge was all over the baby, whispering secrets to the little bump that Rus strained to hear, resting gentle hands on the roundness of his belly in the hopes of feeling a kick. The first few times Edge asked, always so stiffly polite cause he didn’t want to presume, and it was so damned precious that Rus finally gave him blanket permission for belly fondling.

So long as he threw in plenty of foot rubs, Rus was on board.

Might be the hardest thing Rus ever did, but he regretfully set that new knowledge aside for sharing time. With any luck, he could catch Edge before he headed off to patrol, give him something to glow about while he was over in Underhell.

Thinking of which...“where’ve you been, anyway? you missed napstatton.”

His needling backfired unexpectedly as Red chuckled darkly, “was here earlier but you and the boss already went to bed. sounded a little busy, so i decided to take in the sights outside.”

Well, that wasn’t horribly embarrassing or anything. Rus could feel his cheek bones warming. “sorry about that.”

Red only shrugged. He sank back against the sofa cushions, propping one sock-covered foot up on the coffee table, his toes curling over the edge. “eh, it’s part of the deal. your magic is all out of whack, making you horny as a moldsmal in pollen season. may as well enjoy it while you can, ain’t gonna be doing much once the kid is here.” He laced his hands over his middle, tipping his skull back, eye lights examining the ceiling. “went to see my alphys today. me and ol’ al go way back. thought she might like a chat.”

That...sounded weirdly ominous.

“yeah?” Rus said, cautiously. He’d never met any of the other residents of Underfell, wasn’t even allowed outside to smoke whenever he’d been there. He knew they were more like their alternates in Undertale than here, in that Undyne was Captain and Alphys a scientist. Given what he knew of Underfell, Rus was pretty sure that’s where the similarities ended. He didn’t know why Red felt the need to talk with his Alphys or why he was bringing it up now. Could be that his pot-swirly skull was just yammering. Sure. Could be. But that wasn’t a bet Rus would put a G against.

Those crimson eye lights slid his way, sharper despite that lingering haze, “you stay out of underfell, you hear me? ain’t no time for picnics or movie nights or whatever shit you all think up.”

Um, yeah. Not a problem. Even if he wanted to take a trip through the void, which he really didn’t, Underfell wasn’t exactly his fave vacation spot; he’d barely ever been there even before the baby bump. Red was still glaring at him, looking for all the world like he was about to drag Rus upstairs and lock him up like some new bald version of Rapunzel.

Hastily, Rus nodded, adding for good measure. “yeah, of course. we’ll keep any picnics local.”

That seemed to be enough. Red relaxed back, his sockets sinking closed again and Rus made a mental note to ask Blue and Edge to maybe not mention his recent storm chasing. He didn’t really want Red to take his bodyguard tendencies to the next level.

Protecting.

“soulings are fragile until they descend.”

“it’s like getting touched with happiness.”

“my baby grew up just fine. little stupid, sometimes.”

Almost-memories churning through his mind, finding each other and connecting. Maybe in the light of day, Rus wouldn’t ask. But here in the deepest part of night, with Red pliable next to him, questions were easy to offer.

"red?" Rus asked, very softly. "how old are you?"

He didn’t open his sockets. “you already know that. same age as you."

"yeah. about fifteen years older than edge, give or take."

That got him a low chuckle. “afraid you're too old for him? don’t worry, he’s older than he should be and you didn’t age past twelve.”

“my sense of humor is my fountain of youth.” Rus hesitated, searching for words that weren’t land mines, "i was still in stripes when blue was born."

"i expect so."

"so were you, weren't you. when edge came." There. Now it was out there, the words hanging between them like glass ornaments and just as delicate. He didn’t know what he expected to happen, anything from Red shortcutting away to him screaming out abuse, offering his own words, these ones designed to cut deeply, damaging not the body but the soul.

He expected that and anything in between. But Red didn’t move, didn’t shout. His expression, smoothed by the best weed Underswap had to offer, didn’t so much as twitch. The only reason Rus even knew he heard was when Red finally spoke, low and gruff.

"papyrus," Red said, deliberately. "don't. let it go."

"'kay," Rus agreed, softly. That was as far as he was willing to pry, anyway. All things considered, he was getting off pretty light. But then Red shifted restlessly, sharpened fingertips scratching at the sofa arm in long, agitated strokes.

“’s why i was so mad, you know.” So softly, Rus straining to hear that raspy whisper. “that he got you knocked up and all. thought he might be like his old man, after all, got some sick fucking need ta spread his seed or some bullshit, and don’t care who it hurts.” His voice thickened, that familiar Hotland accent of his fading back, “the doc tried so many times, so many little soulings that sputtered out, didn’t even get a chance to descend. then there were the other ones, ones that made it further. not far enough, nothing but little bones left to dust. paps was the only one who came out okay.”

For one sickening second, Rus didn’t understand, trying to put those words together in his head in a way that made sense. Having it come into focus didn’t help; his imagination stalled, trying not to picture what Red was telling him. and all he could do was stare at Red in silent horror.

Red only chuckled hoarsely. His jacket was cast off on the floor by the door, a wilted, empty shell, and without it Red seemed smaller, frailer, his thin t-shirt offering little protection. “heh, don’t need to look like that. it wasn't that bad. doc couldn’t do it the old-fashioned way. barely wanted to touch me at all, much less fuck me.” He shook his head, a wobbly roll of his skull atop his neck, “fun fact, you don’t actually need to have sex to make a souling. it’s the buildup of magic you need, some energy to work as baby batter, lots of it. sex is a good way to build it up, is all.”

“that fact isn’t very fun,” Rus said, thinly. He shivered, curling his arms around his belly where his baby rested, still safe inside. His soul felt cold, colder than it had out in the woods.

How Red found another laugh, Rus couldn’t begin to guess, “guess not. anyway, the doc had his own method. and who was i, anyway? stupid kid, that’s who, believing a bunch of bullshit promises cause i wanted off the streets. ended up right back where i started, only with a special toy surprise inside.” Red’s smile softened, his gaze distant, “kid was a pain in the ass. used to get so angry over nothing, scream until he was red in the face if he even got his fucking hands dirty. but he was mine.”

His voice was fierceness itself, tempered with bitter nostalgia. “called him brother. it was easier that way. plenty of orphans on the streets, but me with a baby of my own was gonna raise some questions as to who was knocking up the stripers. brothers were better. safer. doc was gone by then, anyway.” Red tipped his head, slanting an unreadable look Rus’s way and he was a fucking Judge, he could read any expression. “you gonna tell him?”

It took a moment for that question to even register. Rus’s head was busy trying to wrap itself around Red having a baby, having Edge, still in stripes while he lugged around a belly like Rus’s, only without anyone making enchiladas or wrapping him up in cozy blankets to nap, or even having a roof over his head. Red on the streets with his baby, calling him brother until it was believed, until that was the only truth out there.

Tell Edge? Tell him that his fa—brother had been lying to him his entire life. Like Red deserved another weight to shoulder, burdened with possible hate from the one he cared for most for being a scared kid making the choice he thought was best, a choice he never should’ve had to make? Not a fucking chance.

“no,” Rus said at last, “no, i won’t say a thing.”

A flicker of relief crossed Red’s face, his sockets drifting shut again. “thanks.” He laughed again, a low slur of sound, “you know, for a long time, thought you all might be the same with your bros. couldn’t be sure without askin’. guess not, pretty sure by now you’ve never done this before.”

Rus tried on a laugh of his own, weak and watery, but it was there. “nope, this is my first go-around, probably my last, too.”

“heh. yeah. one skitten is good enough for anyone.”

They both fell silent at that, Rus still trying to absorb that unexpected info glut. He didn’t know if confession was good for the soul, but it sure was exhausting and soon enough Red’s skull was drooping to the side, his breathing going slow and even.

Rus didn’t quite dare try to move him to a more comfortable position. Instead, he carefully shook out the blanket and let it drift down over him. In his sleep, Red twitched, burrowing into the soft folds with a drowsy grunt.

Good enough.

He left their plates where they were, ready to beg forgiveness from his bro for the mess rather than risk waking Red by shuffling around too much. He went back upstairs to his room, careful to avoid the creaky stair.

A quick peek showed Edge was still in bed. He’d moved into Rus’s spot, close to the wall and rolled on his side to face it. Rus stripped off his robe and slipped beneath the sheets in his bare bones and belly to curl up behind him. But the expected comfort did not come. Those strong, scarred bones were cooler than to be expected from someone curled up cozy beneath the covers. His breathing was maybe a little too even, playing false.

Fuck.

Very quietly, Rus murmured, “you shouldn’t listen at keyholes. might not like what you hear.”

His soul sank as Edge shifted, proving Rus’s suspicions. He sighed heavily, still facing the wall as he said, evenly, “That is true. Or you may simply hear things you already know.”

Getting rendered speechless was a new trend that Rus couldn’t say he was enjoying.

Whatever Edge thought of his silence, he finally rolled over, his eye lights bright in the darkened room as he studied Rus’s face. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You didn’t sign on to be our secret keeper.”

“no,” Rus blurted, “no, it’s okay, it’s…it’s okay.” It’d be even more okay if he did ask, that was a promise Rus would be more than happy to give. So many secrets and all of them burdened with old hurts. But Edge only nodded slowly, his eye lights drifting down, resting on Rus’s belly.

He reached out, the bed creaking as he shifted, and his hand paused in mid-air, “Would it be all right if I—"

Rus didn’t wait for him to finish, already nodding along as he blurted, “yes.” He wasn’t sure what Edge wanted, but he was good for it. Anything to help settle the ache in his chest; he didn’t want to think of Edge as a child and couldn’t stop. A little baby bones crying over dirty hands while a too-young Red tried to soothe him however he could.

Edge moved closer, curling the lanky length of his body around Rus so that his skull rested on his belly. Like always, the baby seemed to sense Edge was close, wriggling happily as Edge lightly petted the taut ectoflesh, crooning out soft reassurances until the baby settled, calming.

They could probably sleep like that, they’d done it before. Except, maybe they needed something else. Something better, a distraction of goodness. Rus swallowed hard and managed to say, “red said that if we might be able to check the baby by now and...and if we did, we could see their name.”

Edge stilled, his startled gaze flying up to meet Rus’s. “Did you want to—”

“you do it,” Rus said, softly. Edge nodded jerkily, his gaze refocusing on Rus’s belly. When the feeling of being checked came it was distant, a brush-by instead of ticklish focus. Edge made a low, choked sound, and Rus couldn’t take it anymore, bursting out, “well?”

“Lucida,” Edge said. The soft wonder in his voice made Rus’s soul clench and just because he didn’t want to name that emotion didn’t mean he didn’t know what it was. “Her name is Lucida.”

The baby kicked hard as if responding to the name.

Her name. Her.

Their skitten was a her. Rus let out a laugh, uncaring that it nearly sounded like a sob, tasting his own tears as he whispered, “our baby’s name is lucy.”

“Lucy,” Edge agreed, and Rus barely noticed him moving until his mouth was pressed to Rus’s, a fierce kiss tempered by unbearable gentleness and broken only when Edge began scattering those soft kisses over his face.

Their baby, theirs. And she was gonna have daddies and papas and uncles, everything Rus could possibly offer to her, she was gonna have. All of it, safe and warm and loved.

That was a promise.

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #underfell sans #pregnancy fic

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