#or 600 word things were i just want to prompt a thought and show off an idea | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mrs-march-ahs · 3 years

Text

Fashion Show for Kai

🎶I hit 600 and I’m at my peak Let’s all get excited for my Kai Week🎶 sorry that there’s so much author’s note today

Summary- Kai is sick of you loitering and bothering him, so he gives you a one time offer to go shopping and buy anything you want. The type of clothing you chose makes him realise giving you his credit card was a good choice, for both of you.

Warnings- Soft Daddy! Kai, knife & blood kink, nerd alert (Words- 2.5k) (Tag list- @tatestripedsweater)

Requests- “ Can u do a kai x fem!reader smut where kai is actually a soft daddy?? I know it sounds kinda impossible for kai but it really makes me feel nice to imagine him as a soft daddy so yeah. And reader's not a virgin but it's her first time with kai. Maybe like after a cult meeting.” Yes miss girl <3

“#52 & a lil bit of knife play with divine ruler?😇 you’re so talented ily <3 - @daddyevanpeters” I didn’t use the number prompt which I hope is okay, I think you’ll like this<3 no i love you

“CONGRATULATIONS ON 300 FOLLOWERS!!!! You are so inspiring and talented. I just joined the fandom recently, and you have been such an amazing person to look up to! I heard that you were taking requests, sooooooo do you think you could do a head cannon for James, Kai, or the Evans (if you want) on how the would react to seeing reader in lingerie for the first time!! THANK YOU!” I hope you’re still here! This request is clearly from a while ago, but this was the perfect opportunity! I love it, thank you you’re sooo sweet<3

you’ll need this picture for later, enjoy ;)

----

You slowly walk downstairs, and try to take a quick glance to see whether Kai’s cult meeting is coming to an end. Although you were almost always welcome, when it came to an upcoming murder, for some reason, Kai didn’t want you involved. And to keep you as safe and indifferent as possible, he didn’t tell you anything about it. But now that you were having a few days off work, you found yourself wandering around the house aimlessly, wanting to be with Kai even more than usual. You were usually welcome at the meetings, and it felt unnatural to you to have to avoid them. When you peaked your head around the corner of the bookshelf, Kai instantly notices you and hedges in his sentence, looking to the floor and sighing. He rubs his eyes before looking back up at you.

“I thought I was clear, can’t you keep yourself busy?”, he snaps at you. You walk over a little closer to him and sigh in exasperation.

“Can’t I just sit with you? I won’t even listen I swear-”, you don’t bother saying anything else when Kai stands up and burns you with his eyes.

“Go away”. You sulk at his words but continue to stand there, your eyes flicking around the floor, searching for something else to say and as you open your mouth to beg to stay yet again, another loud sigh interrupts you. He shakes his head and reaches into his pocket, before taking out his wallet and then credit card. He holds it in front of you and speaks with his regular authoritative tone of voice. He had to make sure that everybody at the meeting knew that he was completely in charge of you.

“Here. Don’t go crazy, but go somewhere and keep yourself busy”. You hesitantly take his credit card from his hand and nod at him, but when you pick your arms up to give him a grateful hug, he pushes them back down to deny it and snaps at you once last time.

“Do not come back here until I’m done with my meeting”

You nod and promptly leave, knowing that Kai doesn’t expect an answer, and just expects you to understand and follow every order he gives you. You quickly get dressed and leave the house, knowing Kai will get more mad if you sit around and don’t take advantage of what he gave you. Though he never particularly showered you with money, he always made sure he spoiled you some way or another so you would stay close to him.

You cautiously but happily spend Kai’s money, unsure how much you have or how much he is willing for you to spend, but in order to make sure that he wont regret giving you this gift, you decide to treat him too.

Within a little more than an hour, the very complicated plan of murder is clear to everybody in the cult and the meeting comes to an end. At that very second when most people begin to scatter, your phone in your pocket dings loudly, making sure you hear it. You’re in huge trouble if you don’t reply to Kai’s messages and calls, so to avoid having your phone taken away you never put it on silent or vibrate, and immediately read his messages. He asks when you’re planning to return home, and even though you were on your way for a coffee, mostly done with shopping, you don’t want to make him wait for you. Your thumbs dance around the keypad as you plan a message when your phone buzzes in your hand with another message from Kai.

‘Come home now’

Although his anger and fierce dominance strikes fear in others, and sometimes in you too, you go home with an innocent smirk on your face, already excited for angry Kai.

When you walk through the door Kai shuts it instantly after you, making you flinch, not having noticed him behind it. You attempt to hide your bags behind your back, but to no avail.

“I got a scam alert”, he says calmly, turning the key in the door to lock it.

“Uncharacteristic purchase from Victoria’s Secret”, he says quietly. Kai inches closer to you and puts his hands on your waist with a tight possessive grip, before looking over your shoulder at the bags behind your back. Most of them pink, one of them black. He exhales deeply in satisfaction at the sight of tissue paper, already excited for the show you’re going to put on for him.

Without a single word, he goes upstairs, and you follow him like a little lost puppy following its owner. He walks into a bedroom and sits on the end of the bed, facing the door. As you walk in behind him, he leans back on his arms and looks you up and down, examining your fully dressed body. When his eyes once again reach yours, he shakes his head to the side once, and you quickly nod.

“Yes, Divine Ruler, I’ll be right back”. You leave the room and go to the bathroom and weigh your options on which lingerie to show him first, but wanting to look as innocent as possible for him, you quickly rip your clothes off and jump into the shower for a minute, gently caressing your skin with body wash before dressing up for him.

As soon as Kai hears the water running, he sighs, and starts to look around the room, needy and already thinking of ways to punish you for wasting his time.

But soon enough, you gently step towards the bedroom Kai’s in and open the door, making Kai sit up when he hears the creak. You stand before him in your baby pink lacy underwear and bra and slowly walk over to him, making your steps as light as possible.

“I showered and oiled up for you, Divine Ruler”, you say seductively making Kai moan breathily at the sight of you glistening. When you get close enough, he puts his hands on your waist and slides them down to your thighs, one of his favorite places on your body, before putting his face to them. He runs his lips along your thighs and moans at how soft you feel under him. The soft sounds coming out of him turn you on immensely, and how his rough and dry lips slide along your thighs makes them tingle.

Kai’s hands rubbing over your ass makes your mind wander to the filthiest thoughts you have, ones you’d only share if Kai made you. A recent scenario that often came to your mind in the shower was one from a week ago, where Kai bent you over his desk as per usual, but instead of fucking you right away, he spread your cheeks and used his heavenly mouth on you, something he doesn’t do often. His hands on your thighs brought back every memory you have of him between them, making you cum over and over again until you grip his hair in the excitement, which always results in him putting you in handcuffs. Unexpectedly, Kai bites your thigh, making you gasp and break out of your trance of dirty thoughts.

“You’ve picked the perfect day to be sensitive, my love”. Kai’s new nickname for you instantly heals the temporary pain caused by his teeth, and you look at him, completely smitten and in love.

He stands up and kisses your lips once, very softly, before turning the two of you around and pushing you on the bed. But today, he does so gently, and you fall onto the mattress and feel the soft covers hug your skin and make you feel a way you never feel. Loved. It was obvious that Kai loved you, and even though he never said it, he showed it by prioritizing you over any other member of the cult, and trying to protect you from certain cruel things the world has to offer. He knew you were the strongest and most dedicated member and he always felt the devotion you gave him when you volunteered to do things for him that the other pussies were scared to do. Your heartless dedication to commit murder and crimes for him was what made gentle and innocent moments like this so special to him. Your naivety and trust for him made him hard.

He straddles you and looks at you beneath him. His eyes were as dark and lustful as always, so you put your hands up to the bed frame, all ready to be tied to up at his mercy. He smiles at your obedient actions ever so lovingly, before cupping your cheek and leaning down to you.

“Not today, little lamb”. You slowly put your hands back down confused by his words, almost worried by him not being as dominant as always, but all worries melt away when he kisses you once again, not forcing his tongue in and not making you feel like you must please him. Instead, kissing you so passionately that you are left breathless and occasionally forget to kiss back, enjoying your master taking care of you and kissing your gentle lips. He moves his attention to your neck, sucking on it gently leaving the tiniest bruises that will fade away within hours.

“Do you trust me?”, he whispers against your skin, giving you goosebumps.

“Of course, Divine Ruler”. Your instant response makes Kai smile against your neck and sit back up on you. He reaches into his pocket, and slowly takes out his pocketknife, flicking it open.

“I’m not going to tie you down, Y/N, so you need to stay still, you understand?”, he asks deeply. You look at the blade in his hand with pleading eyes and gulp at the idea of him hurting you.

“You want to… cut me?”. You ask, trying to sound as sure of yourself as possible. Divine Ruler hates weak girls.

“Of course not, I won’t cut you. If you don’t move”, he says as if it’s all so obvious. No matter how unsure you were about this, his confidence made you rely on him even more and you nod your head, willing to do whatever it is he wanted from you. His warm smile at your willingness to take whatever he does to you melts your heart and you take a deep breath before relaxing your body completely. You close your eyes and Kai shuffles down to sit over your legs, looking at your boobs and thighs in the gorgeous underwear you wore for him. Just for him.

He lays his blade against your boob, and slides it down your chest, making you open your eyes nervously but stay completely still. He hums as he slides it down your stomach, before getting to your panties and unexpectedly puts the blade under them.

“I like these”, he simply states, before in one quick motion slicing them off at one side.

“We’ll have to get some more”

He slices them off at the other side, and peels them away from you, making you bite your lip. No matter how many times Kai does a multitude of dirty things to you, your stomach fills with butterflies whenever you feel his eyes on your naked body.

He puts his knife against your lower abdomen and pushes it down slightly, making it dig into your skin without breaking it. He carefully inspects the dent in your skin as he moves it down your thigh, pushing the blade at an angle that won’t cut you. Kai is intoxicated at the incredible sight of you with your panties cut off, and staying still for him with fear behind your eyes. The vulnerability of you under his knife makes his cock harden, and he puts his other hand on your thigh with a tight grip. He gives it a harsh squeeze which not only sends a pool of arousal to your pussy, but also makes you gasp and move unintentionally, his blade digging into your skin making serious contact this time. But Kai continues to move it down, creating a slice in your thigh that begins to drool blood. You wince at the feeling but say nothing, willing to take it to see Kai pleased.

“Doing such a good job baby”, Kai mumbles under his breath, his eyes glued to the sight of you bleeding. The soft praise sticks in your mind, standing separate to the usual degrading you receive from Kai during sex. He puts the blade in front of his face and licks the blood off it, keeping strong eye contact with you, making you wet.

Just when you think you can’t get any more turned on by Kai’s sudden nurturing, as you feel your blood drip down almost to the bed sheet, he leans down and licks the blood up, then sucking the blood out of your scar. The stinging only adds to the pleasure, as you are far from new at pain and pleasure combined.

He continues sucking and kissing your thighs, getting dangerously close to where you yearn to feel his face, and starts mumbling sweet nothings against them.

“Took it like such a good girl, you know”

You lean your head back not being able to handle the praise, and bite your lip in excitement knowing you make Kai this happy.

“You’re gonna get a treat for this”. Kai sits up and puts his hands under your knees and picks up your thighs, taking a longing glance between your legs as he spreads them.

Although it takes everything from you to not sit and take the treat like a good girl, you hope the happier you make him the more he’ll do for you, and you use all the strength in your body to interrupt him.

“Kai, wait”, you say softly. “I have another outfit I think you might like”. He looks at you and considers your suggestion, before putting down your thighs. You quickly sit up and practically run to the bathroom, not only desperate to get your treat, but also knowing that the outfit will take a second to put on.

When you come back out to see Kai, his eyes widen and he resists the temptation to throw his mouth open, and clenches his jaw instead. He carefully examines you from top to bottom and back, soaking in your costume. You have a black sports bra with ropes on it, khaki shorts with a gun belt and a pistol, and your hair in a braid. Divine Ruler liked sweet obedient girls, but it was obvious the inner nerd in Kai would lose his mind at your outfit.

You walk over to him as confidently as possible, the hunger in his eyes giving you a huge ego boost, and he stands up to look down at you.

“Looks like you’re ready to be my naughty girl again, correct?”, he growls, and you nod at him. He smirks and walks over to the bed stand, taking out your handcuffs. But instead of following, you stay stood and look at him with a raised eyebrow, trying to look intimidating. He looks over at you and throws the handcuffs on the bed.

“Hurry up Lara, I have some digging and exploring to do”.

#american horror story #ahs #american horror story cult #american horror story smut #ahs cult #ahs smut #kai anderson #kai anderson x #kai anderson x reader #evan peters characters #evan peters character #evan peters smut #kai anderson smut #ahs kai

421 notes · View notes

sierraraeck · 3 years

Text

Struck by Lightning

Derek x Fem!Reader

Masterlist

Summary: After breaking up with your boyfriend, you go out for a girls night. Unfortunately, he follows you to the club to try and win you back. To show him just how over him you are, you kiss the first stranger you see walking through the door. Luckily for you, that man is a sculpted god of chocolate thunder.

Category: Spicy fluff

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol. Age gap between adults (maybe like 10ish years) but I never actually mention it lol. Some cussing.

Word Count: 2.2k

A/N: This was inspired by the song “Guys My Age” by Hey Violet. If you wanna give that a quick listen, go for it, if not, that’s chill too. This is also for @fortheloveofcriminalminds 600 follower celebration! The prompt “in the likely event that this all goes pear shaped, just remember I told you so” is in bold!

“I finally did it,” you told your friend over the phone.

“You did!” she squealed. “You dumped Brody? I’m so proud of you!”

You laughed, “Thanks, Jess. God, I was just so tired of his bullshit. He never wanted to do anything but hang around his house with his friends, ya know?”

“Yeah, I do know,” Jess responded very dramatically. “I’m so glad you’re done with him! This calls for celebration!”

“Oh god,” you mumbled, knowing exactly what that entailed. Jess was always a bit excited when it came to celebrating. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“Yes! Girls night!” The high frequency of her voice nearly blew your eardrums out. “There’s this new bar and club downtown that I’ve been dying to check out. I’m going to call the girls!”

Without getting another word in, she hung up, leaving you no choice but to start getting ready for what you were sure would be a wild night.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

Wild would not be the word you’d use to describe the night so far. Irritating would be more accurate.

Not even ten minutes after you’d arrived, Brody and his asshat friends showed up too. Of course, they couldn’t just keep their distance like any normal person who’d just been dumped would, maybe a normal person would even leave to go to a different club, but no. The first thing Brody did was approach you, sliding into the barstool next to you.

You could smell the alcohol and weed on his breath when he said, “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Go away, Brody,” you deadpanned. You’d finally gotten away from your immature, never-wants-to-do-anything boyfriend who never put you first, who now all the sudden that you’re gone, decides to start making an effort. And of course it had to be on the night that you were celebrating the single life again that he just had to show up.

“Don’t be like that, babe,” he said, reaching out to touch you.

You scooted out of reach of him, “Don’t touch me.”

“Come on, baby, we used to have a lot of fun. Let me remind you of that,” he said, leaning in to kiss you.

You put your hand in the way and pushed his face away from yours. “I would literally rather kiss anyone other than you,” you spat.

“You don’t mean that,” Brody tried to schmooze.

“Yes I do.”

“Oh really? Prove it,” he challenged.

“Come on, Y/N, let’s just go. He’s not worth it,” Jess told you, your two other friends at her sides.

But you were too competitive for that. Plus, this was your girls night out, at the club that Jess had been dying to see for ages now, and you weren’t going to let your stupid ex ruin that. So you accepted by saying, “I will. Next person who walks through that door.”

Brody shrugged, a smug smile on his face. “Fine. Let’s see it.”

You eyed the door as Jess leaned in and whispered, “In the likely event that this all goes pear shaped, just remember I told you so.”

You rolled your eyes, still facing the door. Then you saw movement behind the glass, the door swinging open to reveal the person you’d fated yourself to kiss.

And holy shit. You don’t think you’ve ever been so lucky in your life. The honest to god hottest man you’d ever seen walked through the door. He was tall, broad shoulders accompanying his strong build, and when you saw him turn and smile at the rest of what you assumed were his friends walking through the door, you thought you might pass out. He had to have been sculpted by Zeus himself.

You were staring in shock, as if you’d been struck by lightning, almost forgetting you had a small wager on the line. Jess gave you a small nudge, springing your feet into action.

You couldn’t believe you were about to do this. But, you strutted up to the man still partially in the doorway with confidence like you’d never had before, the group of people facing your way tracking your movements. The man himself had barely enough time to turn around and register you walking toward him before you reached up behind his neck and pulled him just slightly down to you. You smashed your lips to his with a bit more force than you intended, and could feel the shock coming from everyone around you.

They weren’t the only ones to be surprised, though. In only a matter of seconds, without pulling back to ask any questions, he started kissing you back. It caught you a little off guard, to be honest, thinking you were just going to kiss him and awkwardly walk away. But he kissed you back. Like really kissed you back. His lips were soft and smooth, and before you could fully register it, your tongues were exploring each other’s mouths, pushing and pulling in a way you’d never felt before. One of his hands rested on your jaw and the other snaked around your back, spurring on your confidence enough to place your other hand on his very firm, and very muscular chest.

You weren’t sure how long the kiss lasted, but you felt like you had to pull back when one of his friends cleared their throat. You looked into his dark, cocoa eyes now that you could really admire his face close up, and he was looking at you with a mix of confusion and wonder.

You bit your lip and turned to quickly glance at the brunette who’d cleared her throat. She was pressing her lips together to suppress a smile, but wasn’t failing dreadfully at it.

You turned your attention back to the man in front of you, still looking at you in awe. Running on pure adrenaline and confidence, you slowly looked him up and down, then let out a satisfied sigh. “Not bad,” you muttered to yourself, barely loud enough for him to hear it. You ran both your hands down his chest and flirtatiously continued, “Not bad at all.”

You easily slid out of his grasp and winked over your shoulder as you strutted away.

You heard the woman who’d cleared her throat say, “I know you’re Derek Morgan, and I know you’re a catch, but has that ever happened to you?”

You peered over your shoulder and saw him staring at you. Derek, you now knew his name to be, shook his head just slightly and mumbled, “Never.”

You quickly turned away, not wanting any of them to see your grin as you practically bounced back to your seat at the bar. Brody was nowhere to be found.

Jess was slack jawed, eyebrows almost lost in her hairline. You teased, “What was that you were saying about things going wrong? Something about telling me so or..?”

Jess pulled herself together and feigned annoyance, “Oh shut up. You know you got hella lucky.”

“Oh,” you nodded, “I know.”

“Seriously, Y/N, what the hell was that?”

You shook your head, feeling as in awe as the man you’d kissed only moments ago had looked. “I have no idea.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

You eyed each other for the next hour or so, neither of you being too inconspicuous about. You’d been on the dance floor while him and his group were at a bar table. He finally approached you when you’d taken a break to get another drink.

He walked up to you and leaned against the side of the bar you’d just order from. He hadn’t said anything yet, so, without looking at him, you filled the airspace. “You know it’s considered rude.”

“Excuse me?” he questioned. It was the first time you’d really heard his voice, and it was a deep velvety sound you wanted to remember.

“It’s considered rude to stare,” you started, turning to face him, “Especially if you’re not going to buy the next drink.”

He swiped his tongue across his bottom lip, “Is that so?”

You simply nodded as the bartender brought you your drink. He had already fished out a twenty, holding it up between two of his fingers. He never took his eyes off you as the bartender took the cash and you sipped at the liquid in your glass.

“That’s a little better,” you teased.

You stood there leaning against the bar shamelessly looking each other over for another moment before he spoke up again, “I’m Derek Morgan.”

“I know,” you stated, flashing him a smile. He looked at you expectantly, but you weren’t about to give anything up.

He sighed a little, but gave you a small smile when he asked, “Well, if you won’t tell me your name, would you at least like to dance with me?”

You opened your mouth in fake surprise, “Ooh, so you’re a trade off kinda guy.”

He quickly backtracked, “No, that’s not-”

You laughed, cutting him off. “It’s okay, I like a little trade off. How about I dance with you, and if I’m any good, you put your number in my phone. If I’m not, I’ll tell you my name.”

He smirked, “Deal.”

Derek offered his hand and you gave him a small smirk as you took it, letting him lead you to the dance floor.

You both started rhythmically moving to the deafening beat, sharing glances and mimicking movements. The two of you owned the dance floor, people from all across the bar looking your way, but neither of you bothered to notice. You were way too caught up in each other, slowing moving closer and closer as you danced.

Being around him was electric, and each time your skin touched his it sent shock waves through your body, as if the man himself was made from lightning. You were becoming more and more convinced that he was handcrafted by the gods themselves.

You couldn’t remember how long you’d been on the dance floor, but when Derek dragged you off, it seemed like you could have wasted endless time in your own world out there. He was a great dancer, and you loved that he was more than willing to dance with you. Not enough men were interested in dancing like he seemed to be.

He pulled you off to the side in a low traffic, dark hallway. His whole figure seemed to glow despite the dim lighting, and the only real sound was your labored breathing above the muffled bass.

Derek’s eyes raked from your eyes down to your lips, so it was no surprise when his actions followed his gaze. His lips were on yours, and your back was in contact with the wall in a flash. He kissed you with more passion and vigour than the first time, completely dominating the kiss. You didn’t mind, wrapping your arms around his neck to get as close to him as you possibly could and then some. Your heart was racing as you tried to cling to the feeling, ignoring your lung’s cry for air.

Derek was the one who pulled away, but only to trail kisses down your neck, giving you enough time to catch your breath. “Hey, hey,” you whispered. He looked up at you with curious eyes, “Does this mean I won our little trade off?”

A hearty chuckle escaped his chest making your knees weak and he beamed at you as he answered, “I guess it does.”

You grabbed a wad of his shirt and pulled his lips to yours again, then released it to take his hand. You led him from the hallway and back to the bar where you’d left your phone, handing it to him. After he’d typed in his number, one of his friends from earlier, the same brunette, approached the two of you. Derek gave her a defeated look and she nodded her head. He sighed, an entire conversation you couldn’t follow happening in front of you. She shrugged and walked away.

When Derek’s attention was back on you, he said, “It looks like I have to go. But is there really nothing I can do to convince you to give me your name?”

You shook your head with a cheeky smile, “I guess you’ll just have to wait for a phone call.”

“You know,” he started with a joking tone, “I work for the FBI and could probably get your name if I wanted to.”

You laughed, “Is that where you’re off to?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” he answered with dry humor.

“Interesting.” He gave you a look but you shrugged. “Makes sense, though, I’d pegged you as more of a SWAT guy.” He laughed and you couldn’t help but join him.

“Morgan, let’s go!” a blonde this time yelled to him.

He rolled his eyes, completely ignoring her and said, “I hope I hear from you soon.”

“Hang in there, Agent Derek Morgan,” you teased.

He flashed you that award-winning smile before turning to leave. You watched him all the way out the door, and once he got there, turned back to look at you. He smiled to himself again and left, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so.

Something about the energy in the room changed when he was gone, like all the electricity had followed him out. You were sure, then, that he wasn’t just created by Zeus, but had to have been Zeus himself. And you couldn’t wait to be struck by the lightning of his presence again.

Taglist

@90spumkin

#criminal minds fanfic #derek morgan fanfiction #derek x reader #morgan x reader #derek morgan fluff #derek morgan #morgan #criminal minds #criminal minds fandom #criminal minds fanfiction #cm

149 notes · View notes

citydreamgrls · 3 years

Text

they were roommates - part one

a weasley twins x fem!reader fic

summary: she had nowhere to go, fleeing home to pursue something along the lines of freedom, so being welcomed into the entrepreneurial twins life was a whole world of new experiences waiting to happen.

an: i would just like to point out that this isn’t a fic with a polyamorous relationship, sorry if that was what some people wanted, instead i wanted to keep which twin is the love interest a secret until the end. if u guys want to guess after reading this first part, feel free to do so, i would love to hear your guys’ reasons too !! secondly, i would like to say a huge huge thank you to everyone for getting me to 600 followers, that’s absolutely mad like i’m blown away beyond compare, i love u all millions and billions i really am so grateful so thank you . hope you enjoy this first part, as always, <33

words: 5,790

warnings: swearing?

None of the nights seemed to turn into excitement, but this particular Tuesday evening in the Leaky Cauldron was passing slower than the rest had done. The paintings on the walls cast their weary eyes over the few lonely drinkers scattered across the dim room as even they contemplated calling it an early night. Y/n flicked through an old magazine and wondered if this place had ever seen much action, or whether the inn had become somewhere that paintings came to rest alongside grumpy travellers.

The girl hadn’t worked behind the bar long, only a handful of months now. But since then not a single bar fight had broken out, no one ordered anything out of the ordinary, and she struggled to remember seeing a single nice man pass through the doors. Besides the Weasley twins of course, who were running late for their weekly drink.

“Slow night?” Hannah came up behind her, carrying a stack of clean glasses and placing them under the counter. The girl swiped away her magazine and nodded, doing her best to hide the guilty blush that grew on her cheeks whenever she lied. It had always been a curse.

“I can do that if you want,” She offered, taking over and letting her boss stand up straight again. There was a strange air of awkwardness between the pair, despite the fact that they had grown close since she had started working as a barmaid.

“It’s been like this a lot lately, just… empty.” Hannah huffed, pulling up two stools and letting the younger girl sit beside her for a while.

“Yeah, makes the time pass a lot slower.”

“Neville’s getting worried,” The woman chewed her lip, gazing around at the lack of people. “He thinks it won’t be long before we need to do something drastic.”

“Should I be worried?” Y/n asked, knowing everything rode on this flimsy job.

Just as the girl posed her question the two front doors burst open, revealing the Weasley twins along with two others that she recognised from their past visits.

“I’ll talk to you later darling,” The boss stood, squeezing her shoulder and going to greet the regulars who she knew so well.

As Neville appeared from the back office to do the same she was called over to the far table by a man who she’d already brought too many drinks to. With a sigh, she obeyed his whines, and went over to see what he wanted.

“About time sweet cheeksh,” He slurred, his head propped up by a weary arm while the other gestured wildly as he spoke. “Another round darling-” She nodded, taking his money from the table and turning to leave, but he reached out for her hand.

She shivered beneath his touch, the stench of bile and alcohol filling her nose as she tried not to vomit on the spot. It was best to just ride out whatever he wanted, knowing better than to anger any kind of customer.

“Why don’t you join me when you get those drinks sorted- I haven’t got another chair but I’m sure my lap would do nicely.” He grinned, showing off the layer of yellow on his teeth.

Y/n gulped back her grunt and pretended to smile, sighing with relief when he let go of her and slumped against the wall beside him. The feeling of his hand lingered on her until she managed to distract her mind a little, smiling wider when the twins came up to the bar to order.

“Evening boys,” She sniffed back the nerves and greeted them with a polite welcome. “Not giving you trouble was he?” One of them asked, nodding over to the drunken mess.

“Nothing I can’t handle,”

“Well you let us know if not,” The other chimed, their charms always making her feel comfortable around them. Which was much more than could be said for most of the creeps who roamed the inn each night.

“That’s very good of you both, thank you-” Her smile never faltered, they always had noticed that, “What can I get for you then?”

“Two hog’s heads, one rum and I’ll have…”

“Come on Fred,” The other nudged his brother, the girl finally able to differentiate them, that was until the next day when she wouldn’t be able to recognise the clothes they chose.

“Firewhiskey would be great thanks y/n,” He smiled sweetly, leaning up against the bar as she rang up their orders on the till. He delved into the pockets of his trousers as George left to speak to Neville a bit longer, placing the money in her hand. “Keep the change too,” “A-are you sure?” She stuttered, looking down at the remaining 3 galleons in her hand.

“George never tips, so consider it his debt too.” The boy scoffed, leaving to join the rest of his group. The girl pocketed the money before anyone else could see her doing so and went to fix the drunken man his seventh drink of the night.

He grumbled about how much work he did that no one appreciated, as his eyes raked over her body in a queasily slow trance. The man didn’t stop at that, further pressing her to sit on his knee and let him feel her up. Crude remarks fell from his lips as if he’d relayed them to every woman he’d come across, as if it was second nature. All the while, she stood and let him ramble on, doing her best to ignore what he was saying and just nod along mindlessly. This wasn’t even the worst one, the girl sighed to herself, grimacing at the way his fingers toyed with the hems of her skirt as if he was going to try and slither inside it.

With perfect timing, Neville called her back to the bar, faking some questions about the menu so that she had an excuse to dismiss herself from the dog’s company and scurry off. She heard him call after her, but couldn’t make out what exactly it was he was saying. The girl prayed that he was too drunk to actually get up and walk over to the bar, or else he would become truly relentless.

No matter what, y/n always smiled, regardless of who was talking to her or at her. And when she wasn’t dealing with the unruly men of diagon alley, she was happy, she was lucky that she had a job and somewhere to stay. She had no reason to be unhappy.

Fred and George liked that about her. That in such a dimly lit, run down little place like the cauldron, such light could shine through with her presence. Both of them had mentioned it once on their drunken walk back home one night, that they wished they could afford to hire someone else at the shop because she would be perfect for it.

Y/n always smiled because most of the time she was a happy person, until there was no reason to be happy. She discovered that dreadful sinking feeling later that night once the pub closed and the girl was finishing up with her cleaning.

Neville and Hannah were speaking in hushed voices nearby, words that she couldn’t make out over the sound of her brush swishing over the stone ground. But they continued to glance over at her when they believed she wasn’t watching, which made her heart tighten with nervous anticipation.

“Y/n… darling.” Hannah’s sweet voice sounded through the empty room, startling her slightly. The girl stood up straight and smiled, a sight which made her boss want to cry on the spot. None of this was going to be easy. “Could you come into the office with me, please.”

She followed, her hands shaky as she left the broom leant up against a lone table. The door shut behind them with a finalising jolt as the woman sat down before her, prompting her own body to do the same.

The air became thick, and constricting as her knees locked together politely. Hannah seemed just as nervous as she, delaying the inevitable by shuffling paperwork around and shoving into nearby drawers. Finally the movement ceased and she had no choice but to bite the bullet.

“I know we already spoke today, about how the business is going here, and I promise that Neville and I have tried to do everything we can to get around this. But I’m afraid we’ve been left with no other choice y/n.”

The sound of her name felt like a stab, one short sound that cut through her skin and deep into the bone. The girl dwelled on that feeling, hoping that whatever followed would hurt less in contrast. It didn’t.

“We have to let you go y/n,” The knife plunged deeper, somehow splitting open all her organs on its way through her body. She froze, knowing that in this moment her world was falling apart all around her like dominoes.

“A-and the room? I’m supposing you need it?” Her voice was wavering, constantly on the edge as she confirmed all the priorities.

“I’m so sorry,” The gesture was appreciated, but it did nothing to help in the moment as the now homeless girl’s mind raced.

“Thank you anyway, for the past few months.” It was a sudden bravery that brought her to her feet as she announced how she would pack her things right away.

In truth, she needed to be alone, just for a few minutes. So she could let it all go, cast a muffliato and sob away her worries for a small amount of precious time. Hannah didn’t dare follow her, knowing nothing could fix it for the younger girl, instead she brought the bottle of gin from the bar into the office and took long, thoughtful sips until it was no longer the only thing playing through her mind.

When the girl gathered her things and apparated down to the front door with them, Neville was there with a sad smile upon his face. Only giving her a brief goodbye, before swiftly leaving to busy himself with yet another maintenance job around the building. He never was one for complex emotions, so she didn’t think bad of him for escaping an awkward situation.

Y/n opened the front doors, seeing the pouring rain before her and almost bursting into yet another round of tears. Not that her red raw eyes could take it much longer. Maybe it was because she had been standing up for the good part of eight hours, or maybe just the pitiful sight of the gloomy street before her was enough to make her knees shake. As if they were going to buckle beneath her and send her crumpling to the ground.

But she shuffled forward, her trunk following behind her and she had quietly charmed it to do so. Admittedly she didn’t have a lot, when she had decided to try and live alone it had become a rushed affair to say the least. So she only owned a number of outfits within that case, along with some books and other little items she had deemed important enough to bring alone. That, and her guitar case, which loomed over her shoulder like a stalking figure in the night. The one thing she definitely didn’t have, was a coat to shelter her from the oncoming rain.

The girl walked a few steps, round the side of the building, and found a pile of crates to rest on beneath a small dripping canopy. It was dry, for now, and it gave her a chance to think properly. She needed to figure something out fast.

But y/n’s mind was full of white noise, watching puddles form between the cobbled pathway before her and thinking how she used to love the rain as a child. It had been relaxing and beautiful from the safety of her childhood bedroom, the window facing her parent’s courtyard as she watched them leave for work each morning.

Back then they would both turn and wave, with a generous smile on their faces, always reminding the young girl how they wished to see her when they returned. They were always happy when she was a child, the three of them a cacophony of laughs and giggles. Until it stopped. Her parents worked together, but never left the house together, and neither of them stopped to wave her goodbye, no matter how many times she waited for them to do so. They just stopped being happy, and as y/n shifted her weight upon the damp crates she realised that maybe her once beloved parents were never happy at all.

They became distant. To one another and to her, even more so as she grew older and became her own person. They tried to oppress it, probably seeing her joyful exterior and constant smiles and not recognising where it had come from. Not either of them. It angered them further, seeing her be such a resilient person, because they wished for her to feel the same neverending hurt they had caused one another. Regardless of the fact that it wasn’t her emotion to own.

Y/n remembered the night she was handed a file by her father, feeling stunned to have been called into his study while he was working. Often he would go inside and not appear for days at a time, so she knew whatever it was, it had to be important.

She read over the words he’d laid out for her, detailing their plans for her, what they wanted for her future. It was a plan of her life, given to her by two people who couldn’t be bigger strangers. But it wasn’t hers, it felt nothing like hers. She wanted to be someone, and she wanted to do it for herself, not because her parents feel it’s financially best.

The words, writer… and prophet echoed constantly around the page as she tried to make sense of it all. Her father barely looked up from his work as she struggled to remain calm, her lungs losing all motor function as she felt her stomach twist and turn. That was when she realised she had to leave, do something for herself.

Rain had been such a comforting thing for y/n, when she was a child. Now it covered her like a plague, and drenched her down to the bone as she did all she could to forget about that life. It had been her home, her playground, her school. It had been her whole life, without much chance to be free in the rest of the world.

Now it was nothing. She wanted it to be nothing. There had to be something she could do, there had to be somewhere she could go. Because that place was no longer an option.

“Y/n?” A voice made her head whip up, the tears on her cheeks easily disguised as the rain if it wasn’t for the way she snivelled to herself. She hadn’t even felt herself begin to cry, yet here she was, and it was a pitiful sight to see.

The light was bad in the alley, but when the two tall figures got nearer she recognised them instantly. Her heart broke a little more to see the worry in the twins’ eyes as they quickly took in the sight of her cramped body amongst her belongings.

“Are you leaving town then?” She thinks it was George, asked, he had been the one wearing a black shirt when she’d seen them earlier. The girl was in a daze, her head taking in their words a lot slower than it should have been as she begged herself not to cry in front of them.

To them, she looked like she was in a dream. Her eyes glazed over even as she glanced their way, making it look like she wasn’t really there with them. George’s question caught her off guard a bit, the girl looking as though she had forgotten where she was as she looked around her with bewilderment. Then the look of confusion fell to one of despair when it clicked once again, she was all alone.

“I suppose I am.” Even the two men could hear how her voice begged to break as she spoke with an airy tone. This was the first time they had seen her anything but bright and smiley.

It broke their hearts, in all honesty.

“Do you need somewhere to stay the night?” Fred, this time, asked. He knelt down to meet her eye level, their tall forms always towering above her at the best of times.

“We have a particularly comfy couch at our place,” George added, following suit with the kneeling.

“It’s got five star reviews,”

“And probably a few galleons hidden down the back if you’re lucky.”

Their smiles made her giggle, and it was all they could have asked for in the moment.

“That’s very kind of you,” Her sweet tone was back, like she’d taken control of her head again, “But I couldn’t ask that of you two.” It was her default to be polite, not wanting to be a burden to anyone. It was the one thing her nanny had taught her before being let go when she was twelve, not to ask anything of anyone but yourself.

“Nonsense,” Fred stood up, taking her guitar case that was leant up against the brick wall and swinging it over his shoulder.

“Really, I’ll figure something o-out - it’s fine!” She tried to protest, but the twins had already decided her fate. George lifted her trunk with ease, and Fred held out a hand for her, prompting the girl to clumsily lift herself off the jumble of crates with his assistance.

“Come on then,” They said, starting off towards the brighter part of diagon alley.

She didn’t move, Fred having let go of her as soon as she steddied herself again. They looked back at her, both frowning with the same face as she tried not to laugh at how they were so similar they even acted like one another.

“Well you better come with us-” “Or else it’ll look like we’ve robbed you!”

The girl just looked down at her feet, feeling as though they were only doing this because they couldn’t leave her out in the rain. Which was true. But the twins knew that she was someone worth helping out.

“Do you have anywhere else to go?” George asked, shifting the case into his other hand nonchalantly as they waited for her to come along with them. Silently she shook her head, embarrassed to meet their eyes as she admitted defeat.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Fred chimed in, still wearing their signature smile.

Y/n couldn’t help but return the sentiment, she didn’t have to be alone for at least one night. That was something to smile about, so she smiled. Her feet surged her body forward, a small skip noticeable as she reached the two patient men.

“We do look like we’ve just mugged you.” George laughed as they all walked through the alley and towards their shop, her little life packed away and in their hands. The girl slotted between them, having to catch up with their longer strides every now and then, as both twins chatted away as if nothing was amiss.

“Here’s the palace itself,” “Our pride and joy!” They announced, ushering her into the shop lined with all the products an excited teenage wizard could wish for. The shelves seemed to be full to the brim, some things piled up as a display. As haphazard and chaotic as it looked, y/n couldn’t deny that the bright colours shimmering off everything she could see instilled a happiness inside her that she rarely felt as a child. This would have been her dream when she was younger.

The twins’ shop was well known in the alley, by almost everyone who visited the leaky cauldron. Yet she had never dared step inside it herself. Most days she would have been busy with jobs around the inn, and on the off chance that she ventured around any other establishments, it was purely for essentials.

The two men watched as she scanned all that she could see from the doorway, her eyes wide and inviting with each new discovery. They would see kids come in every single day with the same reaction, yet with her it seemed new. It was if she had never seen a toy before.

“Have you eaten yet?” Fred asked, weaving through some unopened boxes to reach the stairs. Even on them there was an endless supply of treats to be found.

“I’m not hungry… thank you.” She followed behind him, slowly, with George closing up the front doors and setting up security wards.

“That wasn’t the question silly,” He laughed, catching up. “Have you eaten tonight?”

“No- but I’m really fine without.”

Once they reached the very top of the long set of stairs, past the ‘staff only’ sign, a door was kicked open in front of her. The apartment inside was a sight for sore eyes, and also the furthest thing from what y/n had envisioned on the walk there.

From how high they had gotten inside the shop, the girl presumed that the flat above had to be pokey and a lot smaller than what she was seeing. It was like a large loft, with brick walls and two levels and these huge windows that looked well over diagon alley. She could see all the lights of muggle London shining amongst the dark sheeted sky.

“My rooms up there, and George is through there.” Fred explained, nodding towards the opening to a small hallway and setting down her things in the excess of open space they had. It was comfortable.

“And here’s your bed!” The other twin exclaimed, throwing himself onto the huge sofa that stretched beneath one of the windows and came out into the room in an L shape. They weren’t lying when they said it was comfortable, because she could tell it was even by looking at it.

“Right! I, for one, am starving.” Fred announced, walking through to the open kitchen, his footsteps echoing on the floor as he went. “What about you y/n?”

The girl was too busy staring out the window to hear him. She’d never seen the city this way before. Her old house was well out in the country, and the alley didn’t give much of a chance for enchanting views. It seemed as though this was the exception.

“Just make her something, she’s busy.” George chuckled, watching her from the sofa. The girl turned and looked at him confused, but the man just shook his head with a smile. “Nothing important,” He whispered and let her go back to the hypnotising view.

As they sat down to eat together, George asked y/n many questions about her life, determined to learn all he could about her in one evening.

“Let her swallow first will you!” Fred huffed, passing her a glass of water so she didn’t choke in the process.

“I was homeschooled all my life, well- up until I moved really.” The girl smiled politely, trying not to go into too much detail with her answers. The two men were so kind, though, that it was hard not to tell them everything she’d been holding in. “So you didn’t finish it all?”

“I left before I got the chance to,”

They nodded in understanding, but she could see the cogs turning in their heads as they both took another bite of their food, all in unison. She snickered a little, enjoying the way they effortlessly put on a show with their mannerisms.

“Did you run away!” They both cried out, startling her as she sat across from them.

“W-well… I um- yes I d-did really.” A wry laugh sounded as she spoke, an out of place sound amongst the shock that displayed over Fred and George’s faces.

“Woah, did something bad happen?”

“George! You can’t just ask that- you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to y/n.” Fred rolled his eyes at his brother, but the girl felt a sense of relief that they asked, it felt nice to have the chance to tell someone after keeping it to herself all this time. It felt more out of place to not tell them.

“It’s okay,” She chuckled at them both, “My parents weren’t very happy people, and they both kind of kept their lives centered around work. I had no problem with it, either than the lack of freedom I had at home, but it changed when they basically showed me a plan for my life.”

The twins listened intently, nodding along with her words and silently reacting accordingly. They both frowned with the last bit, never hearing of someone having their lives planned out for them before.

“They planned your life? Isn’t that a bit, you know-”

“Controlling,” Fred finished, a look of pity on his face.

“We had different ideas, they wanted me to be a writer at the prophet when I’d shown no interest in journalism or even writing before.”

“That’s mad,” George said in a hushed tone, not wanting to cut her off.

“It was then that I realised the only way I was going to do what I wanted, was if I left. So I just packed my things and came here, hoping to find somewhere to stay with what little money I had. Hannah was nice enough to take me in free of charge, so long as I worked behind the bar for it.”

“Both her and Neville really are saints.” “It’s so much better than I could have asked for, but now they can’t afford it. It’s all understandable, it’s just a pain that I can’t ask my parents for help.”

All the while that she recalled her story, the girl smiled, reminding the men that she was a lot stronger than people might assume. Given what she’d been through, it was amazing that she hadn’t broken down already.

“We’ll figure something out for you, all of us.” Fred smiled, glad to see colour in her cheeks now that she was in the warmth of their loft compared to the drizzly alleyway.

“It’s not the end of the world if your parents don’t support you either, there’s plenty more people in the world who will.” George reassured her, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“Oh godric yeah,” Fred joined in, “Our folks went bloody mental when they heard this was what we wanted to start up instead of finishing at hogwarts.”

“Do they like it now?” She asked cautiously, feeling a little better knowing that they too skipped out on their academic life.

“They have to, given how well we’ve done.” “It is hard to deny our success,” They chimed like songbirds, the passion they had for their self made business shining through their wide eyes.

It was no surprise that the three of them got on, but as the night progressed quicker than they thought, the new trio found themselves with no awkward silences. The clock above them looked as though it had been enchanted when George finally glanced up at it, amazed to see that they’d been chatting for four hours already.

Only when y/n yawned did the two twins decide it was maybe time to call it quits.

“It’s getting late,” Fred spoke up, not wanting to keep the girl from her much needed sleep. It must have been a long day for her. “I’ll grab you some blankets.”

As he disappeared up into his room to look for something to keep her cosy all night, the girl helped George clear away their mess from dinner.

“I feel awful,” She smiled politely, handing him more plates to place into the sink that was doing all the work for them.

“What for?” The man seemed genuinely surprised.

“We spent all that time talking, but we never decided on what to do with me.” She scoffed, feeling like a child needing their help. “I promise I won’t hang around much longer, I’ll sort something out.”

“Like what?” He didn’t mean to sound harsh, it was more to show her that they were her only option right then.

“I-I’m not sure… sorry.” “Don’t be sorry, we want to help you.”

The door to Fred’s bedroom opened again and they fell into silence, the girl slipping back into the mindset that she was growing into a burden for them. She couldn’t ask anymore of them, they’ve already done enough for her. Then and there, y/n decided she would leave in the morning.

“Bed’s ready!” The shout came from the living room, where blankets had been laid over the sofa beneath the window. “Thought you would enjoy the view here.” Fred added when she came out to see his masterpiece.

“That’s hardly a bed!” George scoffed, laughing at the copious amount of cushions he’d left for her head, all different colours and sizes.

“It’ll be perfect, thank you.” She smiled, her eyes sparkling under the city lights that spilled into the room. It didn’t even matter that they would reflect against the ceiling as she slept, it looked like stars.

“As long as you like it then,” George muttered, eyeing his brother who clung onto a smug grin.

“Goodnight y/n, sleep well.”

“Night y/n.” They both smiled, turning to head off to their respective rooms as she opened up her case to look for something to sleep in.

“Night Fred, night George… thank you again, for all of this.” They both nodded at her words and disappeared, leaving her to change in the dark loft, only a small lamp beside her lighting her way to the sofa.

She clicked it off, casting lumos and stumbling over the fluffy rug to curl beneath the many layers of covers that Fred had left her. The girl chuckled to herself, peeling one off and folding it in a neat pile on the floor. Two would be just fine for one night.

It didn’t take long for her to drift off to sleep, the whole day’s nonsense catching up on her and slipping her body into a mini-coma. Her mind ran and slowed all at once, memories of nights she would spend in her childhood bed, reading books for hours on end until she’d fall asleep with the pages sprawled open beside her.

Many nights she would hear her parents scream at one another, that harrowing wailing sound would echo for hours until both of them grew tired and they decided to sleep apart yet again. That’s when she knew she could relax, she could finally do all the things that she wouldn’t have time for in the day between her tutor’s classes and meaningless chores.

She had been a night owl, revelling in the time she got to be truly alone, when the house slept she would come alive. Now, she couldn’t stay awake even if she wanted to. She needed to sleep, and fast.

Y/n vaguely heard a door opening and closing, unsure whether it was real or her mind replaying memories all too vividly. Either way, her eyes were far too heavy to open themselves and check. It could wait.

Fred cursed himself for not catching his bedroom door behind him, the noise booming across the loft. He waited, frozen at the top of the steps, watching to see if the girl would rouse at the sound. But he was in luck, she didn’t move a muscle.

He padded down to the bottom, making sure each step was lighter than the last as he headed into the small corridor. George jolted awake the second his door was opened, reaching for his lamp to see who was intruding on his sleep.

“What the fuck!” He almost shouted.

“Shut up! She’s sleeping in there!” Fred hissed, walking over to the empty side of the bed and sitting down calmly.

“So was I you git- what the hell are you doing, since when did we start sleeping together?”

“Disgusting-”

“I didn’t mean that,” George rubbed his eyes with a grimace and reluctantly sat up, “What do you want then?” His voice finally hushed to match his brother’s.

“I have an idea,” Fred started.

“Yes,” “Well, I’ve been thinking about y/n-” “If this is you coming to tell me about another sex dream, I don’t wanna know, okay?”

“Will you just shut up and listen to me,”

“Fine, fine, go on.” He pulled the covers over his bare chest, feeling suddenly exposed to the cold night’s air.

“Well, we’ve been saying for ages that we need someone to work in the shop, except we can’t really afford it right now.” Fred explained, and George nodded along. “Look, y/n needs somewhere to stay, but she would never stay here without giving us some sort of payment, right?” The man’s head looked like it was on a spring as he took in the words. “So, why don’t we let y/n stay here with us and in return she can help out in the shop?”

“Do you think she’d agree to that?” “It was basically the same agreement she had with Neville and Hannah, except we have no reason to get rid of her.”

“I suppose so,” He didn't sound overly convinced.

“She needs somewhere to stay, we need someone to work, it’s a win-win situation!” Fred exclaimed, smiling like a mad man to try and convince his brother that their plan could work out.

“Okay, fine. We can ask her in the morning.”

“Great, I knew you’d say yes.” “Well it’s not like she’s the worst person to live with, it hardly took much to sway me.”

“Not the worst person? Come on George, she’s great!” Fred, admittedly, got a bit too excited at this. His voice ringing out louder than he’d wanted it to.

“You have had a sex dream haven’t you?” “Oh shut up!” “Was she in it,” George teased, prompting his brother to get up and head for the door. “So i’m taking that as a yes.” He turned the light off, hearing one last hiss from Fred before the door shut behind him.

“Aren’t you forgetting the time you had a sex dream about Mcgonnogall?” Fred quipped, leaving quickly as not to get a beating up from the other twin, who was mentalling cursing himself for ever revealing that fact when they were drunk one time.

305 notes · View notes

scabopolis · 3 years

Note

Congrats on 600 followers!!!! How about Logan/Veronica and "Are you doubting my acting skills?" and/or any one of your 76 Danielle/Henry modern AUs?

Oh, Sarah, I’d do anything for you! I will eventually write a Danielle/Henry modern AU and it shall be dedicated to you, but for now, here is some Logan/Veronica friends to lovers inspired fake dating setup shenanigans.

--- Title: look at me like you like me Fandom: Veronica Mars Pairing: Logan/Veronica (side Wallace/Parker) Other Characters: Wallace, Parker, a frequent switching of tenses b/c this is barely edited. Additional Tags: Should be a multichapter probably, friends to lovers (or idiots to friends to lovers??), fake dating shenanigans, Wallace sees all and knows all Word Count: ~1,800 ---

Sitting at brunch, her plate piled high with pancakes, Veronica Mars wonders just how long her best-friend thought he could get away with this. Logan Echolls (said best-friend) is currently walking slowly back and forth in front of the restaurant as he talks on his phone. He isn’t speaking, which means his mother is in the middle of a persuasive monologue. And everyone at their table knows what that means.

“Charity gala?” Wallace asks.

“My money’s on a distant relative’s wedding,” Parker says.

“His parent’s anniversary is coming up,” Veronica says. “Could be their own party.”

“What will they celebrate?” Wallace asks. “Ten years of sleeping in separate rooms and ignoring one another’s affairs?”

“Regardless, I’m ready,” Parker says.

Okay. Apparently Veronica’s isn’t the only one thinking about Logan’s go-to family event strategy. “You think he’ll ask you?”

Parker frowns as she takes a sip of her coffee. “Why wouldn’t he?”

Veronica draws a line in the air, connecting Wallace and Parker. “Well, for one, you’re married now.”

“The people at these parties don’t know that,” Parker answers.

The woman has a point. Veronica turns to Wallace. “And you’re okay with this?”

“We’re living on two teacher’s salaries. If some wealthy man wants to be my wife’s platonic sugar daddy, who am I to stop him?”

“I wanted to buy a new dress for your brother’s graduation anyway,” Parker says.

“See! Perfect plan.” Wallace and Parker seal their agreement with a kiss and Veronica focuses on her pancakes. She cuts off a large bite with more force than strictly required and shovels the pancakes into her mouth.

She isn’t sure why this whole conversation needles her. Something about Parker’s certainty, Veronica supposes. That it is going to be Parker who Logan calls on. To be fair, Parker and Logan’s arrangement pre-dates Veronica’s friendship with either of them.

By the time Veronica met Parker their first year of grad school, Parker and Logan had been friends for four years. The pattern wherein Parker pretended to be Logan’s girlfriend at any and all society events his mother required him to attend was already well-established. Even after Veronica and Logan met, and it was quickly evident the two of them were destined to be platonic soulmates for the rest of their lives, it was still Parker that Logan turned to for help in these situations. Which, fair. Parker possesses levels of grace which Veronica can never hope to achieve.

Veronica is much more apt to give a Hollywood director in his fifties judgey facial expressions when he introduces her to his barely legal wife. (A real thing that happened at an Echolls family BBQ. At least it still makes Logan laugh all these years later.)

It just didn’t occur to Veronica that it would always be Parker. Especially now that Parker is married. What is going to happen when she and Wallace decide to have a baby? How will they prevent word of Logan Echolls’ pregnant girlfriend from making the tabloid rounds?

No. This is ridiculous.

“She’s definitely not listening,” Wallace says, disapprovingly.

“Some sort of fugue state?” Parker suggests.

“Could be.”

Veronica sighs. “What are you two talking about?”

“I wanted to know if it was all pancakes in general you seek to destroy, or if this one in particular had done something to upset you?”

Her first instinct is to glare at Wallace. And then at Parker when she sniggers. Introducing the two of them to one another is the worst decision she’s ever made. But then she looks down at her plate. Sure enough, at some point she traded in eating her pancakes for cutting them into smaller pieces and then smushing them into the maple syrup. They no longer resemble an edible object.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Sure,” Wallace says, taking a well-timed sip of his coffee. His expression is all smug and knowing.

Veronica is saved from additional Wallace stares and Parker sniggers by the return of Logan. He slides his phone into his blazer pocket and sits down beside Veronica, resting his arm on the back of Veronica’s chair. This is nothing new. Being best-friends with Logan means being comfortable with his rather tactile nature. But the look Logan’s action invites from Wallace is new. Veronica wants to spit at him. (Wallace. Not Logan.)

(Portrait of grace, indeed.)

“What happened here?” Logan asks, gesturing to Veronica’s pancakes.

“Nothing,” Veronica says. “What happened out there?”

Logan’s fingers still from where he is lightly tracing the contours of her shoulder. “My mom and dad are renewing their vows.”

For a moment all movement at their table ceases as they each take in this information. This despite Veronica's keen awareness of the fact that her guess was eerily close to being right.

“I’m sorry. What?” she asks.

“That was about my reaction,” Logan says. “Want my bacon?”

“Yes, please. They can’t be serious.”

Logan slides his slices of bacon onto Veronica’s plate. “Serious about drumming up some positive PR, absolutely. Aaron was spotted looking a little too friendly with a married co-star. So, he and mom are going on a romantic getaway to Italy. When they get back they’ll do a backyard vow renewal.”

“Logan—”

The man in question holds up a hand, stopping Parker’s softly spoken entreaty.

“No. I can’t do the talking about it thing right now. I can’t feel anything about it right now. What I need is a wedding date.”

“Of course,” Parker rushes to answer. “Just tell me when.”

“The weekend of June 11th.”

“Absolutely. Deal,” Parker says, nodding enthusiastically. “Consider it—,” she trails off, her gaze somewhere over Veronica’s shoulder.

“Consider it, what?” Logan asks.

“—Not something I can do.”

“Why not?”

“That’s graduation weekend,” Parker explains. “I’m the faculty speaker.”

“I’ll buy you shoes, too.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Logan says. “This way I can get very drunk and not feel bad about it.”

Logan’s arm returns to the back of Veronica’s chair. This time his hand sort of hangs over her shoulder and curls around towards her clavicle. It makes it impossible to ignore details about Logan’s hands — the surprising delicacy of his fingers, the length of them, the weird knot on one of his knuckles.

“I’ll do it,” Veronica says.

“Do what?” Logan asks.

“Be your fake girlfriend for the sham vow renewal. I can do it.”

She refuses to look at anyone at the table. Not Parker. Sure as hell not Wallace.

(Seriously. Does he know something? Was it that night they all played King’s Cup and the two of them stayed up talking until 3:00 AM? Did she say something she wasn’t supposed to?)

And absolutely not Logan. She scrapes the edges of the smushed pancake with the tines of her fork.

“Veronica.” Logan’s voice is soft, but she detects a hint of incredulity. Which, maybe she’s wrong and he isn’t her best-friend and he doesn’t know her very well, because it raises her hackles.

She drops her fork. “What? Why not?”

“Look, I love you. You know I love you.” Veronica ignores the little skitter of her pulse at Logan’s words, furrows her brow, and concentrates on being offended. “And you know me better than anyone.”

“But?” She prompts.

“But,” he says, “you don’t really—”

Before Logan can finish, she comes up with a dozen ways to complete the sentence. There is plenty she doesn’t have —the class, the patience, the height, the sweetness, the glamor, the—

“—look at me like you like me,” Logan finishes.

“Wait. What?” Veronica’s eyes dart from Logan to Wallace to Parker. Neither one of them appear surprised by Logan’s words. In fact, Parker is faintly nodding in agreement. “Of course I like you. You’re my favorite person.” She thinks about this. “When you’re not being a total asshole.”

“I know that. But, your face makes it look like you want to slap me most of the time.”

“Because I do.”

“It’s just not the most conducive to convincing my mother to not set me up with the daughter of whichever producer she is trying to impress.”

“I’ll change my face.”

“Change it?”

“I can look like I like you.”

“Really?”

“I’ve been in love before, you know.” Veronica’s hackles are now standing at full attention. “Are you doubting my acting skills?”

“I would never,” Logan says.

“Good. Because I could be the sweetest goddamned fake girlfriend you’ve ever had.” Veronica turns to Parker. “No offense.”

“None taken.”

“I’ll even use pet names. Schmoopsie. Snuggle muffin. Sweet cheeks. What’s your preference?”

“My preference is none of them.”

Still, despite his words, Logan seems to consider it. Veronica takes the time to nibble on one of the slices of bacon from Logan’s plate. If she isn’t mistaken, Parker and Wallace kept shooting each other, what they probably believe to be, covert glances. What are those glances supposed to mean? Does Parker know something too? Damned married couples with their telling each other things.

“My mom does love you,” Logan eventually says.

“See, I already have a leg up,” Veronica says. “And I can absolutely rock a floor length gown.”

“Can you?”

“I was on homecoming court senior year.”

“You were?” She’s not certain which of the voices speaking in unison sound more shocked, Logan’s or Parker’s, but regardless she is deeply offended. She’ll look classy and hot as hell and that will show them.

“Yeah,” Wallace says, “Keith still has the picture hanging up in his house. It’s hilarious.” Veronica glares at him. “Hilarious, because of how great you look. Obviously.”

“I don’t want to make you do this,” Logan says.

Veronica doesn’t have time to question why he would make Parker do this but for some reason wants to spare her.

“Hey.” She reaches up for the hand still draped over her shoulder and laces their fingers together. Logan looks down at her. His eyes are all soft and heavy lidded; like they sometimes get when he’s sleepy.

(She’s also noticed they can kind of look like that when she’s ranting about a coworker. Or, that one time she helped her dad install a fence and came over to Logan’s place after. Her hands were full of splinters and Logan was so careful and gentle, removing each one with a very expensive pair of tweezers.)

“This is going to suck. Isn’t it?” she asks.

He nods. “Yeah. I think it will.”

“Then let me be there for you.” He doesn’t say anything. “I’ll work on my face. Promise.”

That gets him to crack a smile. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Then great.”

“Great.”

“Did I just get replaced?” Parker asks.

Veronica shrugs. “I like nice shoes too, you know.”

Logan gives her hand a squeeze.

Oh. Look at that. She didn’t even notice they were still holding hands.

#vm fanfic #lv fanfic #veronica mars #logan echolls #logan x veronica #p: logan x veronica #otp: the one person #lavellenchanted #never stories

65 notes · View notes

nerdypanda3126 · 3 years

Text

Conceal and Reveal

This was written for the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers Sprint Fic Challenge.

The rules are three 15-minute sprints with 24 hours for light editing, which includes new writing to smooth transitions or make it feel complete. I ended up adding about 600 words (is anyone surprised at this point? 😅)

The prompt I used this time around was: Tan lines (although I went for the more painful cousin, sunburn lines)

And while I was writing, I started to consider this a prequel to Love Somebody Who Ruins Your Lipstick, one of the first sprint challenges I did. I always kind of regretted that I didn't show Luka actually putting the lipstick on her, or the conversation that they had that made Marinette realize *things* so, here it is. This can be read separately, but there's smooches in the other one, so....

Read on Ao3

Marinette detransformed in a flash of pink light in an alley close to the Liberty. If she was lucky she’d be just in time for Kitty Section practice. She slipped a macaron to Tikki and ran, still blinking spots from her eyes from the akuma she and Chat Noir had defeated moments earlier. She’d had a blinding power, as bright as the sun, and it baked like the sun, too. Marinette had had several near misses with it, and as she ran towards the houseboat the wind stung against her face. She could only hope she hadn’t been burned too badly.

She skidded to a stop in front of the gangplank and carefully climbed aboard before she realized that while she’d thought she would barely be on time… no one was there yet.

A quick check of her phone found a group text postponing practice due to the akuma. Which meant she was an entire fifteen minutes early. Enough time to breathe and try not to be angry with Chat Noir for sacrificing himself for the millionth time. Enough time to try to scrub the memory of him disappearing in a flash of blinding light from her mind’s eye.

She took a deep breath and it came out as a groan as she fell onto her usual cardboard box in front of the stage and covered her face with her hands.

“Marinette?” a familiar voice called. When she peeked between her fingers, she found Luka kneeling in front of her, his concerned blue eyes trained on her. But they widened when he caught sight of her face.

“Uh, Marinette? You’ve got…” He chuckled and gestured around his eyes. Marinette reached up to touch her cheek and winced as it stung again under her fingers. Luka glanced around at the empty boat before he stood and offered her a hand up. “Come with me,” he said, and pulled her gently over to the stairs that led below deck.

At the bottom of the stairs, he paused and held up a hand for her to wait as he looked around. When he seemed satisfied, he led her to the bathroom on the side and shut the door behind them quickly and locked it behind himself.

She didn’t have the energy to ask him what was wrong as he hooked his foot around the leg of a stool under the sink to pull it out and pointed at it for her to sit. When she had, he turned to a small linen closet and took out a black and purple makeup bag. As he turned back and saw her watching him, he chuckled again and gestured to the mirror and she was barely able to process that he wanted her to look at herself.

But when she did she gasped and covered her face with her hands again, hissing in a pained breath as her bright red cheeks turned white under her touch. Only the skin around her eyes was left untouched—in the exact shape of her Ladybug mask.

“Luka, I can explain—” she started, but he just smiled and started taking different bottles and sponges and brushes out of the bag.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said easily. “We can cover it up.”

“But—” He was too calm, too collected. Why wasn’t he freaking out? She was definitely freaking out. This was an absolute disaster! And Luka was acting like… like he’d thought about it before. Like this was expected—normal, even. She tilted her head to consider him. “Did you know?”

“Know what?” he asked innocently, but the corner of his mouth was turned up in a small smirk. “Hold still and close your eyes.”

She huffed impatiently at him, but did as he asked and his fingers swept something liquid and cool over her burning cheeks. As soon as he was finished, she opened her eyes again and hardened her gaze.

“Luka, seriously. How long have you known?”

He didn’t answer right away, instead keeping his head down, the blue tips of his hair falling over what little of his face she could see as he searched through the bag for something else he needed. The stick he pulled out was seafoam green, and when he took the top off and twirled the bottom, so was the product inside it. She pulled back from him as he turned back to her.

“That’s green,” she pointed out, a little bewildered. He laughed.

“And you’re red. They cancel each other out. Trust me.” He gestured for her to come back to him and she did, albeit reluctantly. He held her chin in his hand as he dabbed the green product along the hard line of her sunburn, contouring it along her cheeks and nose as he went. When he set it down, he started feathering it with the pads of his fingers, and that’s when his eyes met hers again.

“I suspected, I guess,” he answered finally. “It wasn’t anything solid, just a feeling.”

She caught his hand. “You can’t tell anyone. Not even Juleka.”

“Technically, I still don’t know anything for sure,” he said, chuckling. “There’s two people in Paris who might be having this issue right now. You could be either of them.” That little smirk twitched upwards as he teased her. But his words hit her sore heart and she couldn’t help but wince.

“I’m not Chat Noir,” she said quietly.

His hand lingered to cup her cheek and a beat of silence passed between them. “No, you’re not.”

After another moment, he smiled sadly and let her go, picking up a bottle of a more skin-colored shade and squirting a bit on the back of his hand. They were both quiet as he started sponging the foundation on for her. She only noticed that a tear had slipped down her cheek when he brushed it away gently.

“I saw on the news,” he murmured. “It must be hard.”

She nodded, but if the lump in her throat was any indication if she tried to speak she’d only end up crying and ruining Luka’s hard work.

“You must mean a lot to him,” he continued, “if he trusts you so much.”

“I wish he didn’t sometimes,” she admitted. He nodded and hummed, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t, he turned to switch products again, this time a white, shimmery powder and a fluffy brush. He ghosted it across her skin, focusing on her cheeks and nose before he set everything down and gestured for her to look again.

She barely recognized herself. All she saw were tired, sad blue eyes in a mask of pale skin with pink cheeks.

“Is that me?” she couldn’t help but ask. Luka looked in the mirror with her, then turned her face back to him gently.

“Two more things,” he said, smiling, and she could’ve sworn she saw a thought flash through his eyes. Something he hadn’t meant for her to see. He dug in the bag and pulled out two things she finally recognized—eyeliner and a lipstick tube.

He didn’t even have to tell her and she closed her eyes for him again, leaning her face forward blindly until his hand was cupping her cheek again. She felt him steady himself before the pen was on her eyelid. He drew soft, feathery strokes at first along her lash line, then winged it out on the side. She waited until he’d completed the other side before she opened her eyes and her breath caught.

She hadn’t expected him to be so close.

Apparently he had the same reaction because he chuckled nervously and drew back, then tipped her chin from side to side, checking his work. As he set the eyeliner pen down and reached for the tube of lipstick, she noticed his fingers were trembling. He had to take a deep breath and then he turned back to her with a crimson lipstick uncapped in his hand and a small angled brush.

He cleared his throat before he tapped the brush against the color, then gestured for her to lean forward again. She set her chin in his hand and watched as his eyes focused on her lips. As he followed their contours with the brush, only stopping occasionally to pick up more color.

And as he stopped once more to admire his work, his thumb lingering in the hollow of her chin and his eyes catching on hers, still full of that same thought she couldn’t quite place.

“There,” he breathed. “Ready to face anything.”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #mlb fic #lukanette #Pro LukaMari #lukanette endgame #endgame lukanette #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #lbsc sprint fic challenge #panda sprints

41 notes · View notes

whoneedsapublisher · 2 years

Text

What are We?

For February, I'm doing a Femslash February prompt list by someone called Ministarfruit. So that means daily fics again for a little while. Today the prompt is "What are We". It's NozoNico and that... might be the case for all of them, we'll see.

Words: ~600

Summary: Even though human relationships are complicated and messy, they're usually not hard to explain. "She's my friend." "She's my classmate." "I used to be in a club with her." But for Nico, it's a little harder than that. All those things are true, and yet they aren't enough.

Also on Ao3

*********************************

It had just been a joke.

They’d been on the train together on the way back from classes. The train had jerked suddenly, and Nico had stumbled forward into Nozomi and ended up falling against her.

“Oh!” Nozomi had said in mock surprise. “So bold, Niccochi.”

“Shut up,” Nico had said.

“What are we?” Nozomi had asked, fluttering her eyelashes at Nico as Nico had growled and turned away.

It had just been Nozomi teasing her. Nico knew that. But for some reason, she couldn’t get it out of her head. Something about the question had dug itself under her skin like a splinter.

It should be an easy question to answer. They were friends, weren’t they? Or maybe they were friends and roommates. Or friends, roomates, and classmates. All of those things were true. But somehow, just saying Nozomi was her roommate and her friend didn’t seem like enough.

They were former groupmate, too. The time they’d spent together in μ’s was important to both of them. Saving the school together, winning Love Live…both being part of that was definitely a big part of their relationship. But it still wasn’t… enough. Nico was friends with Eli. She’d been groupmates with Eli. But it wasn’t the same. And that wasn’t just because Eli didn’t live in the same apartment. There was something else with their relationship. Some nebulous, unspoken thing between the two of them, that had been why Nico was so happy when she’d gotten into Nozomi’s first choice university. The reason why she’d been so eager to live with Nozomi. In a way that didn’t quite match friendship.

Just what were they?

*********************************

“You’re awfully quiet tonight, Niccochi,” Nozomi said.

She tried to sound offhand. Teasing. Playful. As if she wasn’t too worried about it.

But she was. Oh, lord, she was.

It had been a stupid thing to say. It wasn’t something she should be putting in Nico’s head. She was too cowardly to try to make a move, and so she’d been carefully hiding her feelings, trying to act as normal as she could. Trying not to show how heart pounding little day to day realities of living together were. But when Nico had fallen on her on the train, she’d been a little overwhelmed. And so she’d tried to play it off as a joke, but she was so flustered that she let something slip that she really really shouldn’t have.

“What are we”.

It wasn’t something she should be asking Nico now. It was something she was too afraid to ask seriously, paralyzed by the thought that the answer would be a painful one. Thankfully, Nico hadn’t answered at all, but ever since then, she’d seemed... preoccupied. Which probably meant she was thinking about things that Nozomi didn’t want to her think too hard about.

“It’s nothing,” Nico said. “I’ve just been thinking a little.”

“About the homework due tomorrow?” Nozomi asked innocently, and Nico made a face.

“No, not about that.”

“Oh, so you finished it already?”

Nico sighed in frustration and stood up. “Alright, alright… jeez, the school should pay you for this.”

“I’m just trying to make sure you don’t drop out, Niccochi,” Nozomi said sweetly.

Nico grumbled to herself as she wandered off to get her books, and Nozomi let herself breath a sigh of relief.

She’d distracted Nico from it for a little while at least. She’d bought herself some time. More time to waste away, fretting over things and trying to build up her meagre courage.

Just what were they?

Former groupmates.

Classmates.

Roommates.

Friends.

And maybe, just maybe, sometime in the future…

A little bit more than all of those things.

#love live #nozonico #niconozo

6 notes · View notes

homeformyheart · 3 years

Text

bucket list - all pairings (twc)

author’s note: i woke up one morning with the thought of what would each UB RO do if they found out the detective had a bucket list because they thought they might die soon from all the supernatural activity, and we’ll all have to thank @pearlsandsteel, @kelseaaa, @wayhavenots, and @ohnobbwhatisyoudoing for bullying encouraging me to do this (if you don’t like it, blame them; if you like it, thank them). hope you all enjoy!

copyright: all characters, except the oc detectives, are owned by mishka jenkins @seraphinitegames. series/pairing: the wayhaven chronicles – all pairings (6 detectives) rating/warnings: 14+; minor angst based on/prompt: inspired by the movie a walk to remember word count: ~3.5k words in total (~500-700 words per pairing) summary: the detective has a bucket list of things they’d like to do before they die (these are all canon stories). each pairing is featured in a ~500-700 word drabble.

1. adam du mortain x detective lyra kingston x nate sewell (LT) 2. mason x detective ria knight 3. nate sewell x detective cassie knight 4. felix hauville x detective harley bishop** 5. adam du mortain x detective regina bishop** 6. mason x detective brooklyn kingston**

** the ones with asterisks have little easter eggs / connection to other prompt fills / fics i’ve written for those pairings. bonus points if you can figure out what they are before you get to the end of those!

and tell me which one you liked best / least 👀 (i need to know your angst thresholds for research).

bucket list

1. adam du mortain x detective lyra kingston x nate sewell (LT) (~600 words)

lyra rummaged through the drawer of her nightstand, tossing out old receipts, rubber bands, and other random knick-knacks that she really didn’t need but kept anyway “just in case.” her fingers finally wrapped around a thick card-sized envelope and she yanked it out of the drawer triumphantly, instantly recognizing the pale yellow color and her name written on the outside.

a knock on the door made her spin around and instinctively hide the card behind her back. nate opened the door, leaning casually against the doorway, and smiled gently at her in a way that made her forget she was supposed to be annoyed with him for how secretive he was.

“did you find what you were looking for?”

lyra nodded before walking out into the living room and sitting down on the couch. she patted the seat to her left and nate obliged, sitting close enough that their thighs touched. she did her best to ignore adam from where he was standing just a few feet away. he had insisted on coming with them to retrieve lyra’s belongings, for added protection and since nate couldn’t drive.

“it’s the card my dad wrote for me when i was born,” she said quietly, her usual energy tempered. “it’s been a while since i’ve read it.”

her fingers trembled as she opened the flap of the envelope and slid the plain white card out, the only embellishment being a simple watercolor of a few hydrangeas on the front.

nate hesitantly wrapped an arm around lyra’s waist, moving slowly and watching carefully for any signs that it would be unwelcome in the moment. he relaxed when lyra instinctively leaned towards him, the subtle shift in her body language not going unnoticed by a certain commanding agent from his station by the window.

“will you tell me about it?” nate asked softly, seeming to have forgotten they weren’t alone.

lyra opened the card and ran her fingers down rook’s scrawl-like handwriting. she swallowed heavily to keep the tears stinging her eyes at bay.

“nothing to tell really, he wrote stuff about how much he loved me already and couldn’t wait to show me the world,” she said quietly, her voice breaking. she cleared her throat. “he wrote a list of things he wanted me to experience.”

she grabbed a pen from her purse and proceeded to cross out items on the list, stopping only to circle the last one.

fall in love

nate leaned in closer, running his finger down the list of crossed out words before pausing on the last one and looking up at lyra quizzically.

her throat was suddenly dry. she dropped her gaze towards her lap. “bobby doesn’t count,” she whispered. “that wasn’t love. my dad would want me to be with someone who loves me for me.”

nate tilted her chin up with a finger so she was looking into his eyes again. “i hope one day i could be that someone,” nate murmured, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

lyra’s breath caught in her throat and she blushed under his intense glaze. “well, you’re certainly, um,” she paused and glanced away to collect herself, making eye contact with adam inadvertently. her body tensed subconsciously, warring with itself to stay in nate’s warmth and ignore adam’s magnetic pull.

she tore her eyes away from the pained look on adam’s face and forced a smile.

“you make it easy, nate,” she said, her own smile growing genuinely in response to nate’s, despite the soft bitter edge in her voice and how it cut through adam like a knife.

* * * * * 2. mason x detective ria knight (~560 words)

ria clutched a crumpled up note in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other, the thin paper disintegrating rapidly as she inhaled deeply, letting the smoke burn the back of her throat and lungs until she couldn’t take it anymore. her head fell back against the gate as she exhaled, the cloud of smoke stinging her eyes since she refused to close them.

just tell him.

“tell me what?” a gruff voice broke through the haze and made her blink. she hadn’t realized she said anything out loud.

she carefully schooled her features with a look of indifference as she crushed the cigarette under her foot.

“bold of you to assume i was referring to you,” she shrugged, turning to walk the short distance to the warehouse.

mason fell into step beside her, an easy silence settling over them both. ria kept crinkling the paper in her hand with her thumb, crumpling and uncrumpling it over and over again, glancing at it every so often until they were in the living room.

if mason was curious about what was on the piece of paper, he didn’t show it.

“what do you have there, ria?” felix’s eager voice brought ria’s attention back to the present and she inwardly groaned.

felix was the last person she wanted around right now. he was too observant for his own good.

“a bucket list,” she muttered, crumpling the paper inside a tight fist.

“what’s a bucket list?” the younger vampire asked.

ria sighed. “it’s a list that people make of things they want to do before they die,” she said, her voice so uncharacteristically soft that mason almost wondered if he had misheard. “i know my life is in constant danger, so i thought it might help to make sure i write down what’s important to me.”

felix’s mouth parted in surprise, but mason interrupted before he could say anything. “what’s on the list?” he asked gruffly, though not unkindly.

ria gave him a long, hesitant look. “i wanted to show you my dad’s grave. catch him up on everything,” she said, her gaze dropping. “it’s been a while since i’ve gone to see him.”

“name the time and place, sweetheart,” mason said quietly, the weight of his words washing over her and softening her features. he stepped closer to her, even though felix would be able to hear everything he said anyway. “you’re not dying on my watch.”

she swallowed the snarky, defensive retort that sat on the tip of her tongue. “thank you,” she mouthed silently instead.

“is there anything else on your list?” felix asked, stepping closer to ria.

she quickly pulled her hand behind her back and walked past him. “nothing important,” she snapped, tossing the crumpled ball of paper into the trash before heading to her room.

felix exchanged a knowing look with mason and dug the ball out of the trash, carefully uncrumpling it.

“this isn’t much of a list, there are only two things on here,” he said, trying to smooth out the paper so he could read her handwriting.

mason snatched the paper before felix could read the rest of it, skimming over the words himself, brows furrowing tighter before he let it drop to the floor. felix picked it up as mason stormed out of the warehouse, reading the only other thing that ria had written on her bucket list:

tell mason i love him.

* * * * * 3. nate sewell x detective cassie knight (~600 words)

cassie grabbed a tissue from the box on her coffee table, wiping her tears furiously as the credits of the movie they had finished watching began rolling on the screen. nate turned off the television with a smile, wrapping an arm around cassie and pulling her closer until she was practically in his lap.

“i thought you’ve seen this movie before,” he teased, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her arm.

cassie elbowed him playfully. “don’t judge me. i love the book but the movie always gets me, especially when he helps her finish her bucket list.”

“i can honestly say i prefer the book,” he said, genuinely surprised to see this side of cassie.

he hadn’t seen her this at ease in a long time, maybe ever. she looked comfortable and content, despite her puffy eyes and red nose, all of which he found absolutely endearing.

“the nathaniel sewell, connoisseur of historical tomes and vintage novels, read a nicholas sparks’ romance novel?”

it was cassie’s turn to be surprised.

things were still relatively new between them, but not for lack of effort. the steady stream of missions and supernatural activity in wayhaven kept them both far too busy for comfort. and when they weren’t on missions, she still had a lot of work at the station and nate always had mission-related paperwork and research to do.

it shouldn’t have been a surprise that there wasn’t much they knew of each other when it came to personal quirks and guilty pleasures, but nate wanted to know more.

nate’s gaze dropped at cassie’s inquiring look. “i—um, dated someone a while ago who really enjoyed his books and i thought reading them would help.”

he could almost see the gears turning in her head as her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“i could see why you might think it would make someone fall in love with you,” she said finally, a wistful distance settling into her eyes. “bobby liked to compare himself to noah calhoun from the notebook.”

nate felt his entire body tense and he had to clench his jaw to keep from violently flinching. just the thought of that reporter and how he had mistreated cassie was enough to make his blood boil.

“you said you liked the part where landon helps jamie with her bucket list. do you have one?” nate asked, trying to turn the conversation back to a safer topic.

cassie’s eyes widened slightly in confusion before she realized what nate was doing and gave him a grateful smile. “i do, actually. i’ve been meaning to update it,” she said, reaching for a leather-bound journal resting on the coffee table and flipping to a page in the back.

“may i?” he asked, noting the flicker of hesitation darkening her green eyes for a fraction of a second before she nodded.

nate took the journal from her and skimmed the list. it mostly comprised of things he thought were consistent with how thoughtful cassie was, but the second-to-last item stole the breath from his lungs in a painful way.

live to 30

he put the journal down before grabbing both of her hands. “i will do everything in my power to keep you safe, i promise. you will get to live beyond thirty,” he said, his eyes flashing with a seriousness that was rarely directed at her.

“then i will look forward to the day i can cross that one out,” cassie said, giving him a warm smile.

nate felt his breath return to him as cassie settled against his side once more, her warmth reminding him to cherish these rare moments they shared.

* * * * * 4. felix hauville x detective harley bishop (~500 words)

harley scanned the legal pad in front of her, two-thirds of it filled out with various experiences and things she wanted to do sooner rather than later. it took meeting felix and the rest of unit bravo for her to realize that she had become very content and complacent with her life. felix’s enthusiasm for this world made her want to explore and experience things.

but more than anything, hayley wanted to feel alive.

the trappers had become more brazen and the number of close-calls in the past few weeks didn’t sit well with her. she never really had any personal ambition or dreams, but she knew now that she wanted more moments with felix.

she looked down at the list that seemed to keep growing by the hour.

show felix the grotto

take felix camping

learn how to cook one dish

a knock on her door, followed by the sight of felix’s head peeking around the doorframe made her look up.

“hey babe, what are you up to?” he asked, clambering on top of her bed to get as close to her as possible.

“i’m just putting together a bucket list of things i want to do while i still have the chance,” she replied, trying to keep her voice light.

felix lifted his head from her shoulder so he could study her face. she made a point of avoiding eye contact as she held up the legal pad.

“these are some of my favorite spots in wayhaven,” harley said, her finger running down between the numbers three and ten. “i want to make sure that you get to see them.”

“and i can’t wait. but we have plenty of time for that babe,” felix said, wrapping his arm around her waist and tugging her closer. “i promise.”

“but what if we don’t?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “i want to make sure you don’t forget me.”

truthfully, that was what really had been bothering her the past few weeks. harley worried that compared to felix’s eternal life, hers was not only insignificant, but also incredibly boring.

he gently cupped her face in his hands. “i would never want to forget you. and we’re going to be together for a very long time, okay?”

she nodded and mustered a small smile. “okay,” she said, a warm flush spreading from the touch of his skin on her face through her body.

he gave her a soft kiss before grabbing the legal pad from her hands. “i want to add stuff to the list too. things i want to do with you,” he said, his cheerful energy rubbing off on her as she handed him a pen.

she rested her chin on his shoulder this time, so she could watch as he scribbled a few things near the bottom. they were mostly ideas for different types of date activities, but the last thing he wrote made her lift her head and freeze.

tell harley i love her.

harley looked at felix, stunned, to find him smiling softly at her. “one day, really soon,” he murmured, his eyes shining before his lips enveloped hers in a kiss. and she knew that day couldn’t come soon enough.

reference fic: camping.

* * * * * 5. adam du mortain x detective regina bishop (~570 words)

regina watched adam play with their children from where she was sitting on the porch, pretending that ten-year-old jacques and seven-year-old cecilia were able to pin him to the ground. she smiled as their youngest, four-year-old philip, waddled over and placed a fistful of daisies on adam’s face, before sitting down and rearranging them with a look of concentration on his round face.

she let herself bask in the moment of happiness that she knew would be fleeting, before looking down at the journal on her lap. she pulled out the worn sheet of paper tucked away in the middle, covered in hasty scribbles and crossed-out words on each layer of sticky notes, a bucket list she made years ago and continued to update.

tell adam i love him

get married

build a house by the sea

revive the du mortain line

raise our family together

regina smiled as she quickly skimmed over the crinkled pile of notes, sifting through them carefully so as not to further wear down the adhesive before she got near the bottom and pulled out a bright green-colored sticky note with only one thing written on it. all the other notes in the pile were pink and blue because she had wanted this one to stand out so she could easily find it.

turn?

don’t turn?

decide whether to turn

her smile faded. it hadn’t taken long to work through everything else she put on her bucket list. even the ones that took considerable effort (and really, it was mainly getting adam to come around to having kids), she was able to accomplish through sheer stubbornness and determination. but this last one was different.

regina was afraid to bring it up with adam and she knew he wouldn’t bring it up first. she knew him well enough by now that he would insist that this needed to be her decision and hers alone and refuse to influence her either way. but because she understood him better than he understood himself most days, she also knew that her death might break him and return him to an even darker and more repressed version of himself than before.

a sudden darkness brought her attention back up to meet a pair of wavering green eyes. her gaze flicked past him to note the children still playing together in the yard before meeting his again as he sat down next to her, reaching over to clasp his hand over hers.

“your bucket list?” he asked, with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

when he first found out she had created one, under the assumption that she could die at any moment, he was unsurprisingly fearful, and remained simultaneously distant and protective for a long while. it did, however, help spark the conversation between them about having children.

regina nodded. “i still can’t believe i managed to accomplish all the things i’ve written down over the years. i just really have one thing left to figure out.”

adam intertwined his fingers with hers and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. the small circles he drew seemed to relieve some of the tension in both of their shoulders.

“whatever you decide,” he said finally, a noticeable strain in his voice. “i will respect it.”

“thank you,” she responded quietly, a thick tension sending a chill over them both despite the bright and warm sun and the laughter of their children surrounding them.

reference fic: cottage by the sea.

* * * * * 6. mason x detective brooklyn kingston (~530 words)

mason leaned against the side of brooklyn’s desk as they turned off their computer and pulled out a loose sheet of paper.

“what’s that?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

things had been relatively calm in town and even though the quiet made adam tense and stern, mason enjoyed the reprieve. especially since it meant that he got to spend more time with brooklyn. they had threatened to quit the team and move out of town not that long ago, but had yet to follow through.

he wasn’t going to question them on it. he had already made it clear that he would follow them to the end.

“a bucket list,” they replied distractedly, not even bothering to look up at him. “a list of things i want to do before i leave wayhaven.”

mason raised an eyebrow. so they were still planning to leave. he leaned over and let his finger land on the sheet, pinning it to the desk.

“this is an ambitious list,” he remarked as he scanned the list of thirty things or so, most of which had been crossed out.

they lifted his finger and swatted his hand away before smoothing out the page. “are you doubting me?”

“i’d never do that, brooks,” he said, pulling a cigarette from his pocket. “come on, i’ll take you home.”

“i’m going to dinner at verda’s and he’ll take me home after. i’ll see you tomorrow,” brooklyn said quickly, grabbing the cigarette from his fingers and tossing it into the trash can under their desk.

“i should make you start paying for those,” he growled playfully.

brooklyn chuckled. “or you could stop buying them. now get going so i can finish up here.”

he smirked and leaned in close enough that they could trace the freckles on his face with their nose if they leaned forward just a little.

“do i get a kiss before i go?” he asked with a smirk on his face, his gaze focused on their lips.

their eyes flicked down to his lips and back up to his grey eyes, the playfulness simmering behind a seriousness that made their breath catch. they tilted their head slightly and leaned forward to press their lips to his, letting his wrap around theirs for a brief second before pulling away.

“goodbye, mason,” they murmured, smiling gently at him, hoping the ache in their chest wasn’t visible in any way.

mason’s eyes fluttered open and his heartbeat thudded in his ears, the sound becoming more familiar each time they kissed. this time, however, brooklyn’s lips felt different and not in any way that he could pinpoint. mason’s eyes searched theirs, confused but unable to figure out exactly why he felt so uneasy.

after a moment, he shrugged and got up from their desk, turning back to nod at them once before heading out. brooklyn’s smile faded and they looked over their list one more time. the few they had left were ones they had planned on knocking out that evening, starting with verda and his family.

they just hadn’t expected to complete the last item so soon:

say goodbye to mason.

reference fic: menage

* * * * * permatag: @kelseaaa; @kat-tia801; @anotherbeingsworld; @crackerdumortain; @pearlsandsteel; @gloynporslen; @writer-ish; @sosolenoo; @alyssalauren; @fhauvilles; @wayhavenots; @gingerbreton; @takemyopenheart; nate x detective: @missameliep;

51 notes · View notes

bokubonk · 3 years

Text

lucky charm

content: fluff, so much fluff, just bokuaka, childhood friends

characters: Bokuto x Akaashi

date: 03/08/21

word count: 600+

notes: Bokuaka is my absolute favorite ship and when I came up with this prompt I had the idea for a childhood friends to lovers type thing so Bokuto and Akaashi didn’t meet at a volleyball match but rather they grew up together. I hope you guys like it :)

His small hand clenched the fragile stems, tight enough so they couldn’t slip through the cracks of his fingers yet still loose enough that they wouldn’t snap.

Bokuto felt his cheeks flush and a childish grin tug at his lips.

He stood behind a tree, watching his childhood best friend, Akaashi, pick flowers and twist them to form a flower crown. He worked slowly and methodically so as to not break the stems of the flowers he tried so hard to find. Bokuto found the slight crease between his eyebrows as he focused adorable and he admired Akaashi’s hands as he worked. They were thin and slender, ones Bokuto wouldn’t mind holding for the rest of forever.

But for now, his main concern were the five four leaf clovers he had been lucky enough to find. His hands were caked in dirt from his excitement to find more after he stumbled upon the first one and when the thought came to mind for him to give them to Akaashi, Bokuto’s excitement only increased.

Akaashi didn’t seem to notice Bokuto’s intense search for four leaf clovers since all of his attention was focused on making the perfect flower crown, one he thought Bokuto would look beautiful wearing.

Bokuto stumbled out from behind the tree where he was watching Akaashi work. Hearing the rustling of the grass underneath his footsteps, Akaashi’s head snapped up, his gaze softening when he saw Bokuto shrouded in sunlight with his hands hidden behind his back.

“Bokuto-san?” he inquired, pausing in his search for flowers.

“Hi, Akaashi,” he smiled, stumbling over his pronunciation of the blue-eyed boy’s name once again. But Akaashi didn’t mind, after all, it was Bokuto.

Akaashi dusted the dirt off of his knees to stand up and walk over to where Bokuto was nervously shuffling his feet, unintentionally kicking up the grass.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, when the golden-eyed boy refused to look at him, a bright red painting his cheeks.

Bokuto took his hands out from behind his back and shoved them in Akaashi’s direction, glancing at him momentarily to see his reaction. “These are for you.”

He opened his palms to show five slightly crumpled four leaf clovers and his smile only widened when he saw the fondness grow in Akaashi’s gaze.

“Thank you, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said and Bokuto glowed at his words only for his smile to turn into a pout when he continued, “But I can’t take them.”

His outstretched hands dropped to his sides and he tightened his grip around them, hoping to get rid of the ache in his chest.

“But why not?” he questioned, his volume increasing with his distress before he sadly whispered, “I got them for you.”

“Do you not like them?” he asked, his voice cracking.

Akaashi felt his heart clench and he rushed to comfort him. “That’s not it, Bokuto-san. They’re lucky so you should keep them for yourself.”

He shook his head. “I already have a lucky charm. I got these for you so you could have one too.”

Akaashi could feel himself growing warm and his chest tightened, making it hard for him to breathe.

“What’s your lucky charm?” Akaashi found himself asking. While he was ecstatic that Bokuto thought of him while looking for four leaf clovers, he couldn’t hold back his curiosity about what Bokuto’s lucky charm was, seeing as he never mentioned having one until today.

Bokuto glanced away from him again, keeping his eyes on his feet.

“It’s you,” he replied, his voice uncharacteristically soft and his gaze still nervously locked on the ground.

Akaashi’s eyes widened and he grabbed onto Bokuto’s hands, gently prying them apart to reveal that all the four leaf clovers had fallen apart under Bokuto’s bruising grip.

Bokuto felt tears prickling at his eyes. All the hard work he put in to give Akaashi a gift went down the drain and it was all his fault. He opened his mouth to apologize but Akaashi brushed the clovers from his hand and intertwined their fingers instead, offering him a comforting smile.

“Looks like neither of us need these because you’re my lucky charm too.”

fill out this form if you want to join my taglist!

@cindyttnx @halesandy @haikyuutothetop @jujube1237

#bokuaka #bokuto x akaashi #bokuto fluff #akaashi fluff #haikyuu!!#hq #haikyuu fluff #hq fluff #haikyuu bokuto #haikyuu akaashi #hq bokuto #hq akaashi #bokuto kotaro #akaashi keiji

42 notes · View notes

fablesrose · 3 years

Text

Broken Earth, Broken Heart

Description: When someone’s heart breaks so does a piece of our world: this creates fissures, valleys, even cracks in the pavement. Let me tell you about the Grand Canyon.

Word Count: 1,285

Pairing: Loki x unnamed female character

Square filled: Angst

Warnings: fluff, ANGST, there is no happy ending here folks, death

A/n: this is for both @girl-next-door-writes Make Me Feel Bingo and for @kitkatd7‘s 600 follower writing challenge! Congrats hon! That prompt will be in bold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of the most beautiful things in our world come from heartbreak. Every break in the Earth, every crack in the sidewalk where dandelions grow, every canyon you’ve ever seen, every single one of them is the result of a broken heart. Many have wondered what caused them, who’s heart was broken, but there’s one love story that very few know. It’s the most speculated story in existence, and it’s one that will never be forgotten by the Earth.

The Grand Canyon.

Who’s love was strong enough to make a scar that deep?

Many thought it never should have happened. But nevertheless, here we are, with a gaping crack in our world.

It all started with a young woman. She picked flowers. She baked bread. She wore plain clothes. She swept her small cabin in the west where her family had all passed on and the dust swirled in their memory.

She didn’t have many visitors, but that was okay, she had her well for water, chickens for eggs, a garden for food, and frankly, that was all she needed.

It all started with a young prince from far far away, who had lived countless lives, but was still looking for his own. There was the life his family told him he belonged, a life that the rest told him, but somewhere in his heart he knew he had to find out for himself.

He had all her ever needed, all her ever wanted, but for once he didn’t want or need any of it. He needed to get away from the pressure, and what better place to go then a lush dessert, where the only one who spoke to you was the wind.

He walked for miles, not to get anywhere, but simply to walk. It must have been centuries since he had done that. He didn’t even realize he had stumbled upon a small house until he was right at the doorstep. It didn’t seem like anyone was home, but it was obvious it was well cared for. There was a chair in the shade that he sat down upon, figuring he could use a break.

“Can I help you stranger?” The young woman walked from the back side of the house with a bucket of water in her arms.

“Not unless you know where I could find myself.”

She placed the bucket on the ground and sat on a stool nearby, “I’m afraid I don’t, but if you have nowhere to go you can stay here until you do, if you like.”

“I would be delighted.”

This is a story of a god who didn’t know who he was until he found a young woman who knew who she was, and showed him the way.

He helped her with chores and talked in between. He found that the best place to find yourself was to not think. You do. He could lay under the stars and try to figure himself out like a puzzle, but what was more effective was him weeding the garden and fixing the door.

He knew he could do all of this with the wave of his hand, but she didn’t know that. And he found he liked the connection. The dirt on his hand grounded him and the sweat on his brow helped him breathe.

The young woman was used to being alone, but his presence was not unwanted. He helped her everywhere she asked, and she would be lying if she said she didn’t mind the company. In fact she had grown rather fond.

He was a little confused sometimes, but always sincere. She wondered if when he found what he was looking for he would leave, just as mysteriously as he had come.

Little did she know that she was looking for something too.

They both found it in each other.

It happened gradually. First they shared a few jokes and laughs, but then it came to the point where they stood close together in the kitchen, shoulders brushing softly together, neither knowing what the other would say, but hoping it was that they cared.

It led to holding hands which led to a tender kiss in the moonlight. The most precious discoveries come when thought is not involved, and what better to stop thought then a kiss?

The prince was still learning who he was, but he knew he loved her. And he knew he liked who he was with her. And that was enough for him.

The young woman didn’t know what she was looking for, but she knew she found it with him.

Neither of them had felt so much before. They had never felt such love.

The prince knew he must go home eventually. To his other worldly place. To announce that he had found himself and he found love. He was the second born, with less then an affect on the throne, but as much as his family had misled him on what he must do, they were well meaning, and he loved them. Though not as much as the young woman.

He explained what he must do and she had faith that he would always come home. For to him this little cabin surrounded by dust had become home.

His family was not as supportive as he would have hoped, but he understood. He was a prince, and her a simple woman in the middle of nowhere. They did tell him that he should live in the way that made him happy, but they all knew with how long they lived it would not be for long.

He knew it was worth it though.

But when he returned. Oh, but when he returned to that rickety cabin in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dust and chickens.

The door was swung nearly off it’s hinges. Some of the chickens were dead, the rest scattered far from where they should be.

Crows circled over head.

In the sun, lying under the sky, was the young woman, hands covered in blood from the wound on her head and her stomach.

The prince ran to her quickly, holding her face in his hands.

She smiled as she focused on his worried and panicked face, “I knew you would come home.”

“Stay awake, you hear me? Don’t you dare close your eyes! Please!”

And she didn’t. Her face was impossibly pale as she stared at the sun, but she didn’t stay awake.

“It’s for the best son.”

The prince turned to see that his father had followed him.

That’s when the reality that she was truly gone fell upon him.

The Earth beneath him started to shake. He wished for it to swallow him up as his heart shattered inside of him. But it didn’t. Instead he watched as the crack in the earth became a ravine that swallowed up the house and the garden that she loved so dearly and the ravine became a canyon farther than the prince’s eyes could see.

They say that if you walk the bottom of the canyon far enough, for long enough, without a thought in your head of where you’re going, you’ll stumble upon a small, rickety cabin, covered in dust. Inside you’ll find a young man, but eyes say he’s older then the canyon itself.

You could ask him a question. He’ll likely answer, but try not to ask about love. Some have tried to ask him what caused the canyon they sat in. He’s only answered once.

“Only the broken heart of a god with no hope, could break the Earth so tragically.”

Best Buds: @snarky--starky @kitkatd7 @confetti-its-an-imagine-blog @kaogasm

Loki: @whatafuckingdumbass

#loki fanfic #Loki Laufeyson #loki #loki x y/n #loki x reader #loki x unnamed female #angst #fluff #major character death #the grand canyon #Girl Next Door's Make Me Feel Bingo #make me feel bingo #kits600challenge

60 notes · View notes