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#since my graphics card was second hand I was able to get everything else a little better than what was needed for the gc
neotula · 3 months
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i love character creation!!!!!!!!!!!!
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nekoannie-chan · 1 year
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Night stop
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Pairing: Dark!Steve Rogers X Reader X Dark!Brock Rumlow.
Word count: 1613 words.
Summary: You stop at an old hotel for the night but the accommodation is not as nice as it seems.
Warnings: Horror, dub-con, smut not so explicit, stalk, mention of crimes.
A/N: This is my entry to @darkficsyouneveraskedfor​  Roo’s HalloCream Extravaganza with the card #4.
@saiyanprincessswanie​
My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them.
I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics to be posted on other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don't steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other's people. The only exception is the ones I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.
My other media where I publish: Wattpad, Ao3, ffnet.
If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.
Tags: @sinceimetyou​ @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad​  @navybrat817​  @angrythingstarlight​  @shield-agent78​ @charmed-asylum​  @pandaxnienke​ @real-fbi​  @smokeandnailz​ @white-wolf1940​  @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @xoxonotme​  @bluemusickid​  @leyannrae​ @harrysthiccthighss​@marvelatthisone​ @hallecarey1​  @nana1000night​ @sheismarvelousworld​
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You made a gesture of exasperation. You were sure that you had gotten lost. You threw your cell phone into the passenger seat. The battery had died, so you could not use the GPS or any application to know where you were or where you could rest for the night.
From the glove compartment, you pulled out the map, which apparently indicated that you were in the middle of nowhere on the road. Obviously, you could not stop in that place; it would be very dangerous. You checked the gas tank indicator; you still had enough to continue your trip for a couple of hours. You expected to find a hotel or a place to rest. You knew that you would not be able to keep driving all night since you felt tired. And there was still a long way to go to get to the audition. You were so confident that you would be chosen, and your desire to play the lead role was so strong that you didn't mind travelling across the country to the location where the auditions were holding. You always knew your future was bright and you would do whatever it took to make sure it was.
You travelled ten kilometers more and saw a sign for a hotel. Although you could not distinguish the name, you would have to deviate a little from the road to get to the hotel, but you really needed to rest, apart from saying that it was approximately one kilometer away. You go along the nearby road as marked by the signs. You stopped when you arrived at the place. You frowned when you saw the hotel. You weren't sure if it was still running; the place looked too old.
You turned off the car engine, took your bag, and got out. You did not notice the movement in one of the curtains of the place. You stopped when you put your hand on the door of the enclosure. You turned and looked around. Everything was quiet. You slowly pushed the door. You smiled when you noticed that it was not safe. That meant that the hotel was still working. You rang the doorbell at the reception when you didn't see anyone. It was past ten o'clock at night, so probably the person in charge was asleep.
A few seconds later, a blond man emerged from what appeared to be a small office behind the lobby wall. He looked friendly and gave you a warm smile and a welcome greeting.
"Hello... Steve," you said, looking at the name on his uniform badge. "I would like a room for one night, please," you asked.
"A person?" Steve asked, and you nodded.
"What's wrong?" Another man asked, coming out of the same place.
"We have a guest," Steve replied in a calm tone.
You watched the two men; there was something that drew your attention to both of them, but you didn't think you needed to be concerned because you'd only be there for one night. Steve waved a hand in front of your face; you hadn't heard what he said because you were focused on your thoughts.
"Is the payment in advance?" You asked immediately, although you didn't know what Steve had told you.
"Half right now and a half when you check out," Brock replied.
You swallowed hearing his voice; it had made you feel something "strange" inside.
"Miss, is everything okay?" Steve's voice had a hint of concern.
"Oh, of course, sorry," you said, opening your wallet to get the card. "You accept cards, right? " You could feel your heart beating rapidly.
Steve nodded with a smile, which you returned to him while giving him your card to pay.
"Enjoy your stay.
"Because he's not leaving," Brock mumbled almost inaudibly. You turned around because you didn't understand what he told you.
"Excuse me?"
He said, "Have a good night," and he asked if he had brought suitcases to help him get them to his room. It's part of our service, "Steve quickly corrected to divert your attention while directing a quick warning glance at Brock.
"Thank you, too. My bags are in the trunk of my car, "you replied.
Brock walked you to the car. You opened the trunk. He took out your bags and took them to the room you would be in that night.
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Even though the look on the outside and at the reception looked deplorable, very old and dirty, the room was pretty much the opposite; clean, cozy, comfortable, not as modern as other hotels you had stayed in, but it had a TV and phone. You had not even thought that such services were possible in that place that seemed so far from civilization, they would probably fail. You turned on the TV. You didn't even pay attention to the movie that was playing at the time. You opened one of the suitcases to take out your clothes. All you wanted was to take a shower and then sleep. You really needed to rest.
You showered However, the feeling that someone was watching you was constant. Even though you had checked the whole room before anything else, you did not find any cameras or anything suspicious. Maybe it was your nerves or the stress of hearing, but for the moment, you needed to relax and unwind in order to give the best performance of your life.
Just when you finished putting on your pajamas, someone knocked on your bedroom door, frowned strangely, moved the curtain a little, and saw that it was Steve, who opened the door a little. You thought there might be some problem with your payment or room.
"Is there any problem?" you asked.
"None, nothing else. I brought you tea, courtesy of the house," Steve replied, showing you the steaming cup, which you drank carefully and thanked him with a smile.
You had the tea. It tasted delicious. It even had the temperature that you liked to drink it at. Although you found it strange that it was one of them who took it to you and not someone else from the staff, maybe they didn't even have more staff, they probably wouldn't have had many customers.
You laughed when a thought went through your head. At least the two employees you spoke to were too attractive. Of course, you wish something else had happened.
You put aside the curtain to look out the window. Even the lights at the reception were off. You didn't even know if there were more guests. You couldn't see the book. You barely remembered that you didn't even sign it. However, you didn't think there was any problem if you did it the next morning. You got under the blankets. Strangely, the bed was too comfortable, just like the one at home. You lowered your hand. You thought about touching yourself for a while. However, you felt too tired and closed your eyes.
You weren't sure how many hours had passed, but suddenly, you felt a hand running down your legs. You tried to open your eyes, but your eyelids looked like they were very heavy. Although you didn't pay much attention, it was probably some sort of dream.
After several minutes, the feeling was stronger. The hands were rising higher until they caressed your underwear. You were definitely not dreaming. You opened your eyes with a lot of effort. What you felt you no longer believed was a dream. You felt that a hand covered your mouth so that you could not scream. You used slaps to try to get rid of whoever was on your case.
"You better keep quiet, don't make things more difficult," Brock whispered in your ear as he continued to caress you, causing you to let out a choked moan.
"You seem to need help," Steve said from the door. You looked at him.
You didn't know how it had happened. It all happened so fast, but when you realized Brock was fucking you while you were sucking it on Steve, it all made sense.
"I thought you had a pretty face ever since I saw you when you got out of your car," Steve said, one hand caressing your left nipple and the other hand taking your hair to help him to fuck your mouth.
"It's been a long time since a woman as beautiful as you visited us," Brock spoke as he raised his leg further to deepen his onslaught.
The next morning, you were still trying to process what happened. You had the two men by your side.
"I told you; you weren't going to leave. We didn't plan to do the same thing to you as the other girls because you're so cute," Brock realized that you had already woken up.
You laughed when you heard their words because, after the first time they fuck you, you had decided to forget the audition and stay there to live with them. They have already shown you that they could please you in everything you wanted. In the end, your goal of being a famous actress was to have enough money to buy all your whims. But you knew they could do it. After all, you had heard their conversation, where they confessed many things.
Apart from that, if you caught the attention of the media, they could easily find you for some crimes you had committed. Although you were really surprised that they knew about it, you also knew their secrets, so nobody would betray anyone. Finally, you found a safe place that you could consider your home. There was no need to keep fleeing.
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could you maybe do something based off the song Dark Red by Steve Lacey with Kaz?
ill leave everything else up to what u feel like, and welcome back :))
Ya Sila- Kaz Brekker
Okay, this one got really bloody really quick, and I apologize in advance if any of the phrases in Romani or Russian are wrong! I googled the languages that the Suli and Ravkan languages were based on and then used google translate to go from english to romani or russian, so if they’re incorrect, that’s why!
Fic type- a safe middle ground between fluff and angst, more on the side of edgy probably
Warnings- mentions of murder, a lot of mention of greedy men, slightly graphic depictions of violence, mentions of the Menagerie and Pekka Rollins, this is unedited and the ending is rather rushed. 
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From the moment you entered his life, Kaz knew he was fucked. You worked out of the Crow Club, as a musician that Inej had convinced Kaz to hire so as to keep losing gamblers spirits up at the tables. After a month, you had the crow and the cup on the inside of your forearm and it seemed like you had every single gambler wrapped around your finger, but Kaz knew you.
He knew you worked that way; you captured the attention of everyone in the room and you did so intentionally, your music just one asset that made you valuable to the team.
You were like Nina in that you had the gift of being able to flirt with anything that moved, a skill that you knew you had and used well. You could persuade just about anyone into anything; Kaz had once watched you cajole a skimming bet keeper into cutting off his own pinky in favor to Jesper and as a lesson to the bet keepers and the ones who ran the cards at the tables. 
"They'll break your heart, Kaz," Jespers tone carries warning as the pair head back toward the club, heist successful and information filling their pockets to the brims. "They do it just about every man that enters the Crow Club. They’ve lasted half a year here since Nina helped them perfect the art of flirting.” 
"They flirt so that they get their tips," Kaz said. "How do you think they can afford to live in the financial district?"
"So, what you're telling me is that they flirt the money out of elligible customers' pockets, and you're just... you're perfectly fine with that?"
"We all need to make a living, Jesper," Kaz tightened his hold on his cane as a cool breeze smacked him across the face. "If they want to flirt the money out of idiots who would've lost every game that they played, I'll allow them to be my guest in doing so. I'd rather have Y/N stealing money from the pigeons and using it to pay off their mortgage than the pigeons going into debt and returning each night to try to get their money back."
"I doubt you'd be saying the same if it were Nina," said Jesper. “She taught Y/N all her tricks.”
"I would be, perhaps," said Kaz. "She can kill me with a thought, Jesper. Y/N can't kill me at all." He was partly lying; your skills as an assassin were known to few, Kaz among them, but even if he wasn’t quicker, a smack with his cane could break bone. 
"If they tried, you'd let them." 
Kaz rolls his eyes, hating Jespers incredible observational skills for a split second.
"Perhaps I would," said Kaz. "It'd be a hell of a fight to witness, though."
"I'd pay to see it," Jesper mused. "A musician against a Barrel boss. Who'll win?" Kaz coughed out a laugh as they entered the club, the sound of your cello hitting their ears instantly.
"What is infinite, Y/N?" Nina asks as she passes you a whiskey. You're taking a five minute break, throat tired and hands achy.
"The universe and the greed of men," you answered. "Especially the greed of the gamblers this past week. How you’ve been able to put up with it is beyond me.” 
"This from the person who's so persuasive that they cajoled a bet keeper into cutting off his pinky."
"It was a favor for Jesper."
"A rather bloody favor, Y/N." You shrug, smirk playing at your lips as you take a sip of the whiskey. The burn is welcome, and you watch as Hannlen, one of the newer Dregs recruits skims on the profits, hastily stuffing what must be fifty kruge into his pockets whilst he thinks nobody is looking.
“Hannlen is skimming,” you noted. “He’s got a pinky cut off as is. I don’t think he’s learned his lesson.” You could play the cello, sure. You were good at the violin and most string instruments, but your musical talents weren’t why Inej had convinced Kaz to hire you.
Not entirely, anyway. 
Your keen observational skills, the talent that you had to see something even if it were behind you. You’d been trained as an assassin growing up, having fled the program at ten and finding yourself stuck in the Menagerie until you were fifteen. At eighteen, you were pretty decently off, you’d say. 
You worked with gangs but held no loyalty. You were paid to kill and you did, but you never once got the ink of the Black Tips or the Dime Lions. The Dregs were the first and only gang that you were truly loyal to, for the good wages, the good whiskey and the good company. Putting your skills as an assassin to work was something that happened only during missions or when skimming was caught at the tables, and even as such, you weren’t like most of the people in the Barrel.
Your bloodlust had only been slight, you rarely killed if there wasn’t a reason to do so. You’d been trained to do it, and you were used to it. Kaz offered payments for each drop of blood you had to shed, so you did it for the money. Money had been the only real reason you’d ever killed, and the loyalty you’d sworn to the Dregs was a first. You’d not sworn loyalty before then, only killed members in the Dime Lions that needed killing or members of the Black Tips who’d gone askew. 
“Kaz plans to deal with it tonight,” said Nina. “He’ll have eight fingers by the time that Kaz is done, or with luck, he’ll lose a hand.” You set your whiskey on the stool beside you, nodding as you grabbed your cello again.
You start playing as Kaz and Jesper enter the room, turning your focus off your cello to catch Kaz’s eye for a moment. You glance toward Hannlen and he gives you a nod, splitting from Jesper and heading toward Hannlens table.
“Consider it dealt with, babe,” Nina presses her cheek against yours as she stands. “Your boyfriend seems to have it handled.” You rolled your eyes but grinned, letting some of your focus turn to Nina.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” you said. 
“Half the Barrel seems to think otherwise,” she said. “Use it. Being with Kaz for any reason gets you protection. Whether you love him or not, the people love you and with Kaz around, they’ll know to keep their distance.” 
“I can handle a few grubby handed idiots who think their money is worth more than a song.”
“I know that you can,” she said. “I’ve seen you cut fingernails off, Y/N, but even as such, you love Kaz and he loves you in his own way. You might still have to flirt to make the mortgage payments in time, but with Kaz around, you’re less likely to have to cut off more than the occasional pinky finger.” 
You rolled your eyes as she walked away, smile playing at the corners of your lips. 
You caught sight of Kaz exiting the backroom of the club with blood drying on his shirt and spattered over his face about two hours later. You finished the song you’d been playing and bowed as you stood, thanking the people for the tips they’d dropped into the plastic bowl you’d taken to using for them. 
You put your cello back into it’s case and wheeled it to the backroom, not even flinching at the sight Hannlen, pinky completely gone as his hand bleeds on the table.
“Help me, Y/N!” He begged. “Your boyfriends gone insane! Talk some sense into him!”
“You reap what you sew,” you said simply. “You’ll perfect your shuffle again, Hannlen. Try your hand at the Kaelish Prince, but if you skim there, the old kaelish fucker Pekka will cut both of your hands off.” 
He looks at you pleadingly, and all you can do is shrug. “Be glad that Kaz decided he was feeling merciful,” you said. “If it were me, I would’ve taken the rest of the fingers on your right hand and all but two of the fingers on your left.” 
“You’re insane,” 
“I’ve got some bloodlust issues,” you exaggerated as you shrugged. “When it comes to punishments for going against the rules of the club, I tend to think in extremes. It’s why Kaz and I work so well together.” You turn, giving Hannlen one last smirk before exiting.
“I have a job for you,” said Kaz. You grinned. 
“I play music for six hours and my night begins with a murder?” You asked. “How kind, Mr. Brekker.” 
“I aim to please,” Kaz said. The pair of you exited the club, beginning the walk through the Barrel and up to the East Stave. “Nina has a meeting with a client in the White Rose in thirty minutes. She spikes his adrenaline, you kill him, forty thousand kruge goes straight into your pocket.” 
“What’d he do to be worth so much?” 
“One too many visits to the Menagerie, several family members dying when he was ‘out of town on council business trips’ and a hundred thousand dollars in debt to the Dregs and the Crow Club,” Kaz said. “He has three hundred thousand in his bank account. Nina gets forty thousand, you get forty thousand and I get twenty thousand. He’ll die a man in debt but the money that we’ll steal from his bank accounts will go into business and payments for future jobs.” 
“And how, exactly, are you getting all of his money without it seeming suspicious to Kerch officials?” 
“His sole beneficiary is one Kaz Rietveld,” Kaz responded. You caught as he gripped his cane just a bit tighter, fought the urge to ask how his leg had been handling the cold. “The money goes to him, and by extension, it goes to us.”
“Perfect,” you said. “That’ll be the last of my mortgage payments.” Kaz nodded.
“Payments on your house should be covered by this mission, yes,” Kaz said. “After then, I won’t force you to stay with the Dregs.”
“I have the crow and the cup,” you said. You bent for a moment, plucking the knife you’d hidden there from your boot. “You might not force me to stay, but I’ve already chosen to.” 
“Wonderful,” said Kaz. You could’ve sworn you caught a grin on his face for a mere moment, but thought nothing of it as you looked at him and saw nothing there. “Who would get the pigeons to come to club with nothing but a smile if it weren’t for you, Y/N?”
“Nobody, perhaps,” you said with a shrug. “So long as I get to cut someone when they get too close, all else can remain as normal.”
“You’re going to stop running the gambling men out of money before they’ve even started down at the tables?” Kaz asked.
“With my mortgage paid off, I should be just as well using the wages I get from working at the club for groceries and other essentials,” you said. “I used to run the men out of their money to pay for things but I won’t need to do that anymore.” 
Your gift in the art of flirting had been a learnt skill, and you were thrilled at the prospect of having the opportunity to unlearn it. With your mortgage paid off, you could put your wages towards bills and food and an upgrade in terms of the weaponry you used. 
“But you’ll still find comfort behind a glass of whiskey?” Kaz asked. “With Nina at your side, shit talking one of the more terrible players?”
“She and Inej,” you said. “I’ve been friends with Inej since I was caught in the depths of the Menagerie. No way am I giving that up for a damn thing.” You flipped the knife you held in your palm.
You showed Kaz the handle, letting him read the Suli inscription on one side. “Eu sunt puterea,” Kaz says. “Suli.”
You gave a nod. “Inej says that it means ‘I am strength’. I’m not sure if it’s a  proverb, but if it is, it exists in Ravkan cultures as well.” You flipped the knife, showing Kaz the inscription in Ravkan. 
“Ya sila,” said Kaz. “Ravkan for the same thing.”
“Inej gave it to me the night you recruited her into the Dregs,” you said. “I’ve been training to become the person I became since I was five. She told me to take it as a reminder, to make sure that the assassin that boiled within my blood stayed as active as possible. Two months after, I’ve escaped the Menagerie and I’m being introduced to you after another six. .” It was weird to look back on how things were before you’d met Kaz. You hated to think of your time in the Menagerie, let alone talk about it, but as you walked to the White Rose, it almost felt easier to discuss it rather than not. 
“I’m sorry that it had to happen to you,” said Kaz. “The worst things tend to happen to the best people. Most of them turn into menaces.”
“Or assassins with bloodlust issues,” you mended. Kaz rolled his eyes as you approached the White Rose.
“All right,” said Kaz. “Nina should be waiting.”
“I’m thirty minutes off from never having to pay a mortgage bill again,” you said. “Saints, that feels wonderful.” 
“You might make frequent visitors of Inej and I,” said Kaz. “It’s a long walk, but a worth it one.”
“Thank you, love,” you say as the pair of you head to Ninas room. “I promise to stop being a flirt.” 
“You can flirt with the wall for all I care,” Kaz said. “But the moment that anybody thinks they get to take more than your wink and faux fancy-eyes, I intervene.”
“You end his life?”
“I happen to deem flirting with my investments a worthy cause for a kill.” 
“Quite the charmer, Mr. Brekker,” you said. “I didn’t think you knew that the first way to an assassins heart was to murder anyone who deemed themself worthy of anything more than a wink.” 
“I don’t know very many assassins,” Kaz said, knocking on the door once, twice, three times. “But I know you, Y/N, and that’s enough for me.” 
You know he doesn’t mean it as an insult so you don’t take it as one, grinning at Nina as she opens the door.
“Get this done with and give me the money I’m owed,” she said. “I’d much prefer if I could go to sleep before midnight, Kaz.”
“Evening to you too, Zenik,” he said. She rolled her eyes as she let the two of you in. You grasped your knife, glancing at the man in front of you, standing like he’s been stuck to the wall like a moth to a light. 
“This kill will be fun, at least,” you said. “His most frequent visits to the Menagerie were when I was fifteen, Kaz. You would’ve been about the same age, I think. How long has he been in debt with the Dregs?”
“Five years,” said Kaz. “You’re right, though. He was spotted going to the Menagerie every single weekend that year, even when the rest of the world was basking in a holiday.” 
“You know him?” Nina asks.
“Enough that this kill will bring me satisfaction in the knowledge that he’ll never head into the Menagerie again,” you said. “Say a prayer to whatever saints you believe in, Jakob.”
Kaz stood dutifully to your left, meeting Jakobs gaze and giving him an evil smirk. 
“You knew?” Nina asked. “You’ve known about him since...”
“I’ve known that he was visiting Y/N for three weeks,” said Kaz. “It took time to plan, Nina, and a revenge kill is a revenge kill, regardless of when it happens.”
“Ya sila,” you whispered. You took a step forward, killing him with the force of a blade to the jugular and again through the chest. The killing is swift, easy for the sake of it and so that clean up wouldn’t be too difficult when the Stadwatch found his body in the morning.
You, Nina, and Kaz headed back towards your place, and as Kaz caught sight of your eyes, glinting under the moonlight, he realized that you were all he truly needed. 
Only you darlin’, only you babe
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zackcollins · 3 years
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my heart || shohei ohtani
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Author’s Note: Hello, my peeps! This was another anonymous request I got! It was a request based on a three second clip someone sent me of Ohtani hitting his bat against something in frustration. They asked me to write something based around that. I hope I did it justice for whoever sent it in! Let me know! GIF credit to canubelievethis!
Warnings: Maybe an allusion to sexual overtones? It’s nothing graphic or anything. There’s just a make out session that gets a little steamy. I’ll include the warning just to be safe because you can never be too careful, ya know?
Word Count: 1.3k+
Title: She’s Got It All by Kenny Chesney
Additional: The reader is mentioned to be a member of the Angels. So, maybe that would make them masculine since, as far as we know, every player in the MLB is masculine. That being said, I still made the language vague to make them appear to be gender-neutral because I thought it would be nice for everyone to be able to envision themselves as being a baseball player. Ya know? Also. I didn’t know who the heck the Angels were playing on the day the clip was timestamped for. So like. I just decided for the sake of the fic, they’re playing Oakland. Hope that’s okay...? Anyways! I hope everyone enjoys this. and, as always, I love hearing feedback!
From where you were sitting in the dugout, you could tell that Shohei wasn’t happy as soon as he walked down the steps. He normally gave you a smile or a nod; this time, however, he ignored you and went straight for the equipment cubby that was next to the lineup card.
Just as you turned to ask him what was wrong, you saw him slam his bat against one of the compartments and mutter something angrily in Japanese. You could tell that he wanted to slam his helmet down but you saw him think better of it because he took it off and simply placed it inside of his cubby. He carefully slid his bat and protective gear in alongside it before he walked over to the bench and sat down beside you.
“Everything alright?” You asked, though you asked in Japanese so nobody else on the team would fully pick up on what you were saying.
Shohei looked at you pointedly and shook his head. He sighed and ran a hand down his face before he looked back out over the field. “That at bat was bullshit. I should’ve gotten a hit.”
You brought your hand over and gently squeezed his knee. Shohei brought his own hand over and squeezed your knee, running his thumb along your knee briefly. You shivered a little, swallowing thickly at how nice the sensation made you feel. Shohei then brought his hand up and started massaging your thigh. Your throat went completely dry as you looked down at his hand and then up at him. He wasn’t even looking at you; he was still focused on what was happening on the field. And that appeared to be Oakland getting ready for their turn at the plate because Jared had grounded out to Matt Olson.
When you realized you hadn’t responded to what Shohei had said yet, you swallowed to collect yourself. You didn’t want to sound too distressed when you spoke for fear of giving away how Shohei rubbing your thigh was really making you feel.
“I know that’s how you feel,” you said, though your voice still came out croakier than you would’ve liked. Shohei shifted his attention from the field to look at you, his expression one of slight amusement.  He had a smirk on his face as he continued to run his hand along your inner thigh, though he had moved it lower so that it was further away from your crotch. “But Sean threw a nasty pitch. I think you should be proud of yourself for even getting wood on it to pop out to Chapman.”
Shohei hummed, nodding along to what you were saying. “Maybe you’re right. A pitcher like myself should be able to recognize the talent of another pitcher such as Sean Manaea.”
“Exactly!”
Shohei smiled as he continued to run his hand along your inner thigh. You inhaled sharply when he once again got close to your crotch. Shohei raised an eyebrow and quirked the corner of his lip into a smile. He motioned his head toward the tunnel that lead to the clubhouse before he slipped off the bench and walked away. You waited a few minutes so it didn’t seem suspicious before you followed after him.
Once you were in the tunnel and away from the cameras and the prying eyes of your teammate, you smoothed out the crease Shohei’s hand had caused in your pants. Shohei only smirked as he grabbed both of your wrists, held your hands above your head, and backed you against the wall. You made a surprised noise because you hadn’t been expecting to be manhandled like that, though you weren’t exactly going to complain when you looked at Shohei and saw the look of pure determination in his eyes.
Shohei slotted his knee between your legs as he smirked at you. He grabbed both of your wrists between one hand, using the other hand to wipe some sweat off of your forehead. You breathed a couple of uneven breaths, suddenly very overwhelmed by what was transpiring. When Shohei brought his free hand down to untuck your jersey, you swallowed thickly and rocked your hips against his knee.
“How long?” Shohei asked, putting his hand underneath your jersey once it was untucked. He carefully began to move it along your skin, shifting it to your side to gently brush his fingertips over your ribs. You shivered as you rocked down against his knee again. Shohei looked at you pointedly and squeezed your wrists tightly. “How long, (Y/N)?”
“Huh... How luh—long for what?” You stuttered a little because you were having trouble keeping your breathing even from how overwhelmed Shohei was making you feel.
“How long have you wanted to do this with me?”
“Seh... Sehc—second week of the season.”
Shohei leaned in so that his lips were just barely separated from your ear. He blew a warm breath against the shell, causing you to shiver before he whispered: “Second week of spring training for me.”
You swallowed around a thick knot in your throat as Shohei dropped your wrist. Without hesitation, you brought your hands to the front of his jersey, pushed him backwards, and connected your lips to his. Shohei smirked into the kiss before he started moving his lips in tandem with yours. To make matters worse, he was gently, tortuously moving his knee against your crotch. It was making you want to hit him with the baseball bat in the same way he hit the equipment cubbies with his baseball bat earlier. It was driving you mad and you loved it.
“Uh... Shohei? (Y/N)?”
You pulled your lips apart and turned to see who had interrupted you. Standing at the top of the stairs was Max Stassi. He was holding an iPad and looking rather flustered.
“Can we help you, Max?” You asked, dropping your hands from Shohei’s jersey and sticking them in your pants pockets instead.
“I, uh, came to find you,” he pointed to you as he held up the iPad, “I wanted to discuss how we’re gonna attack the A’s hitters tomorrow since I’m the one catching your start.”
You glanced up at Shohei; Shohei nodded before he stepped backwards.
“Alright. I’ll come have a look so we can figure it out.”
“Th—Thanks.” Max rubbed the back of his neck as he looked nervously between you and Shohei. “Sorry to interrupt by the way. Do you two need a few more minutes? I’m willing to wait.”
Shohei shook his head as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“No, it’s alright. We can pick this up later.” He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to your cheek. You felt your face heat up as you looked over at Max; Max smiled awkwardly as he shifted from foot to foot and fidgeted with the iPad in his hands. “We’ve waited this long to get together. What’s waiting a little longer?”
You reached out and patted Shohei on the chest, smiling weakly as you did. Shohei chuckled as he patted your upper arm in return. He kicked your cleat before he walked away, walking past Max and back into the dugout. You saw him slap Max’s ass and mouth ‘sorry’ as he walked past but all Max did was chuckle nervously and give a half-assed thumbs up in reply.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Max,” you said after a few minutes of awkward silence.
Max looked at you with a confused expression as he leaned against the doorway. He held the iPad against his chest and crossed his ankles over one another.
“I’m not uncomfortable,” he chuckled. “Trust me. I’d tell you if I was.”
“What’s the problem then? Because you look like something’s off.”
“Everyone had a bet going for how long it would take you two to get together.”
“Who won?”
Max smirked, motioning over his shoulder. “Shohei.”
“Bastard!”
“I’m your bastard, though!” Shohei yelled from somewhere in the dugout.
“Yes. Yes you are.”
277 notes · View notes
adorerdraco · 4 years
Text
It’s Only Quidditch ✧ Draco x Slytherin!Reader
Request: can i please request you and draco being in slytherin and dating for a while and you two are on the quidditch team with him so maybe you two are in a match together but you get hurt and he gets worried and has to win the game and visits you after and maybe even wrecks the person who hurt you hehe just fluff and angst
AU AROUND 6TH YEAR NO VOLDY
Warnings: angry!draco, vengeful!draco, VIOLENCE, kinda graphic details like blood and injuries, lil bit of angst
Words: 3.9K (love making these long for no reason)
A/N: ANGRY DRACO IS SO HOT IM SORRY WOW BUT I HOPE THIS IS GOOOOD PLEASE ENJOY MY MADE UP CHARACTER AND MY SUPER LONG QUIDDITCH GAME THAT CONFUSED ME AFTER A WHILE OF TRYING TO WRITE LMAO and i made gif :)
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November had begun and with it came the new season of quidditch at Hogwarts along with very poor weather and over-bundling nerves. Tensions had always gotten high around this time of the year amongst the teams and all animosity between the house’s respective players was on the forefront as the competition was building. It was like clockwork every year; captain’s starting strenuous training schedules, begging Snape to help book the stadium even if it was already occupied, spying on other teams to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. Not to mention the arguments that would happen regularly in between the first couple of games when you and your teammates would be accused of cheating or using dangerous and illegal moves. Which did happen to be true most of the time.
It was safe to say that it was the most eventful time of the year, and as suffocating as it sometimes got - you looked forward to it every time the new term started. It was in quidditch that you found yourself feeling the freest in, zipping around the stadium in a flash of green with the wind blowing through your hair and crisp autumn air biting at your cheeks. But most notably, it was in quidditch that you met Draco Malfoy and had quickly evolved from teammates to friends, to him now being your boyfriend.
You made Slytherin’s team your second year as a Chaser, a shiny new broom being given to you on the first day of scheduled training when Lucius Malfoy had made a generous donation that came along with a new platinum blond seeker. With the two of you being the latest additions to the teams, your captain, Marcus Flint, had decided to leave the dirty work for the two of you to do in the downtime every one else was able to enjoy. Marcus never changed that as the years went on.
So you and Draco would be sent off to other teams’ practices nearly every other day or week, depending on how secure Flint was feeling, both of you huddling closely together for sometimes hours behind the thick wooden benches as you watched and studied tactics with conversations in between. You would joke around a lot and call him your partner in crime which he would always roll his eyes to and make a snide and playful comment about even if he secretly loved hearing it. And the two of you stayed partners in crime for a while, neither of you ever making any move towards the other besides lingering touches and longing looks, and very rarely, a shy compliment.
It wasn’t until last year when you were hiding behind the bleachers, bored out of your mind watching Ravenclaw have a flawless run through around the stadium when you were graced with the dumbest idea.
“They’re playing good today,” you drawled out, “too good that it’s boring.”
“You reckon they studied so hard and found the key to quidditch?” He snickered as he played around with a pebble on the ground with his wand.
“We should help them out,” you suggested as Draco turned to raise a puzzled eyebrow at you. “Prepare them for the unexpected, nothing too crazy.”
You took out your wand from your pocket and pointed it towards one of their Beaters that was sitting idly by on their broom, a faint “confundus” leaving your lips that caused the broom to jerk swiftly to the side and nearly topple over its rider.
“You’re a genius,” Draco laughed quietly, repositioning himself so that he was right beside you with his wand directed out into the field. He spotted one of the bludgers flying towards the same Beater and instead of colliding with the bat, he used a charm to direct it into the back of their broom and then doubled it back around to try and hit one of the passing by Chaser’s that moved at the very last minute. 
You were a giggling mess, gripping tightly onto Draco’s arm as you watched everyone begin to look around wildly for the wild bludger with panicked expressions. What either of you didn’t realize in the middle of your joyed hysterics and Draco’s smugness for causing the angelic sounds, was that the bludger was flying idly still in front of the bleacher’s as his wand was still trained on it without moving it around anymore, his focus completely gone and concentrated on you.
It wasn’t until you heard someone yell out a, “Is that Malfoy and Y/L/N back there again?!” That made you get up with a sudden jolt, grabbing onto your accomplice’s hand as you ran towards the set of stairs that descended out of the stands. All you heard was distant angry insults and threats quickly fading out of ear-shot while you ran, laughing uncontrollably alongside Draco with his hand still tightly gripped in yours. 
When you finally reached the entrance of the empty courtyard of the castle with flustered cheeks and wheezing chuckles, you looked down at your joined hands at the same time he did and after a few seconds of realization and lingering adrenaline, you quickly moved into each other with a yearning kiss that changed everything from that day forward.
Draco stood beside you while you sat on a bench outside the locker room, your head resting lazily on the side of his leg while his fingers carded soothingly through your hair. Marcus was pacing in front of you, using his broom as a walking and pointing stick whenever he wanted to add any calculated words to his very hostile pep-talks that left everyone feeling more irritated and stressed.
Today was the last game of the season and the most important, it was the game that ended the season with a shimmering Inter-House Quidditch Cup and it just so happened to be against Gryffindor, making the stakes much higher than they already were. The matches against Gryffindor were by far, the most dangerous as they weren't afraid to play roughly either if push came to shove. The determination to beat each other and to win was critical on both sides and the day always ended with some sort of injuries.
“I don’t care how dirty we have to play today,” Flint fumed to the team, “I don’t care how many fouls we get, as long as we win.”
“Relax, Flint,” you sighed deeply. “We have the best players on our team and we’ve been working our arses off all season, we’ll be fine.”
“Still, I want to see blood out there,” he muttered back, walking towards the entrance of the field as Madam Hooch started calling your team out to start.
You stood up with a huff, Draco frowning when he noticed how tense you looked when your eyes worriedly met his.
“All right, love?”
“I'm just nervous,” you shrug, “I don’t want to mess up.”
The silver-haired boy moved to stand in front of you, placing two strong hands on either side of your arms to stand you in place so that he would be the only thing your wandering eyes were able to focus on.
“You are the best Chaser that Slytherin has ever had, no, that Hogwarts has ever had and I know for a fact you’re going to do amazing out there,” he cups your face with care, brushing a few stray hairs out of your face as he spoke. “You’ve got this.”
He pressed an encouraging kiss onto your forehead and then your lips, smiling at you supportively before taking your hand and hurriedly walking the two of you out into the field where the match was about to start.
Almost the whole school had shown up in an overcrowded sea of red and gold for Gryffindor. There were red sparks and small fireworks of lions that were charmed to roar when the animal would open its mouth. On one end of the stands, however, was the entire student body of Slytherin that was throwing green and silver ribbons and sparklers from their wands, yelling loudly in support as if their life depended on it. Over the rails, they had thrown down a large poster of a snake that moved around sleekly over large green words that read, “SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN.”
Rain was lightly drizzling from the grayed dense clouds above, a sharp chill in the air from an approaching winter that always seemed to give the worst weather during the last couple of games of the year. You didn’t mind it since the cold had always felt nice against your sweaty skin during the game and it served like a small revitalizing shock that gave you a surge of energy to push forward with. 
Madam Hooch quickly went over the rules, set free the bludgers, and the snitch, forced the two captains, Wood and Flint, to shake hands and by the time she had counted down from three to one - brooms were soared into the sky with such speed it looked like a tornado had formed as she threw the quaffle up into the air.
A roar of cheers erupted from beside you as you got ahold of the quaffle, dashing past your House while you headed straight towards the Gryffindor’s goal post and managed to make the first shot in within the first five minutes of the game putting you at 10-0. You spotted Draco flying around above, smiling down brightly at you with triumph that only fueled your confidence as you darted forward to catch the ball again. You were, just as Draco had said, the best Chaser on the team and in all of the school. You were fast, agile, and smart when it came down to it and you were the reason why your team had easily wracked up 40 points with thirty minutes down in the match. Marcus was always trailing behind you with focus, shoving anyone who tried to get to you or pulling them back by their robes that landed Slytherin a couple of fouls throughout. 
You didn’t like to play dirty, but when Katie Bell had rammed into your side either accidentally or on purpose, it knocked the quaffle out of your hands and into one of their other Chaser’s, Rowan Rees, a muscular and tall seventh-year boy that had made the team that same year. With Katie still closely trying to cut you off, you veered sharply into her with your shoulder before breaking away from her and heading towards your goal post where they were trying to shoot. 
“ILLEGAL PUSHING FROM Y/L/N, FOUL AGAINST SLYTHERIN!” 
You rolled your eyes at the announcer, completely ignoring the boo’s that had filled the air as you whizzed past the other houses even though it was you who got hit first. Just as Rees had raised his arm to score, you flew over him, swooping your arm underneath your broom until you felt the quaffle back in your palm and ripped it from his grasp. The match was becoming more intense by the second, Gryffindor was promptly catching up in points because of the penalties they were awarded from the illegal moves your team was making and it left you feeling more pressured that it was nearly a tie now, Flint reminded you of that every chance he zoomed past you.
Unbeknownst to you, Draco was watching you cautiously from across the field most of the game when he noticed how close everyone was trying to get to you. You didn’t see the way you were almost tugged back multiple times or were missed by inches when someone was about to push you. Or how the Beaters were deliberately directing the bludgers in your direction. You also didn’t see how irked you had made Rees with your constant scoring and with the sporadic few times you had cut him off or almost bumped into him - but your boyfriend did, and he was much more focused on your safety now than the Golden Snitch he or Potter hasn’t spotted yet. Instead of searching for it, he was purposefully maneuvering himself around in front of the other Chasers to throw them off their focal point towards you so that you would have a clearer path to fly through.
He watched as you pulled your broom upwards to try and twist away from the area but Rees had reached out and pulled at your ankle, sending you out of your seat as the quaffle fell while you tried to rebalance yourself. That was all the encouragement the blond needed when he hurtled down into the mess, kicking at the back of Rees’ broom and sending him quickly spinning on a dive before he could try and move any further. 
“FOUL AGAINST REES AND MALFOY FOR KICKING AND TUGGING!”
“MALFOY!” Flint roared as he flew past, “Potter’s spotted the snitch! This isn’t your place, get out of here, NOW!”
And when he looked up, sure enough, Harry was going around desperately with an arm outstretched towards the small glint of gold that was moving too fast. 
“Go, I’m fine!” You shouted out to him when you flew back up with the ball back in your arms.
It was like slow motion when he forced himself to leave your surroundings, everything around him was moving fast and intensely with everyone screaming wildly that he couldn’t think straight. In a daze, he haphazardly sped towards Harry but noticed the panicked look on the seeker’s face when he had lost sight of it again which directed his attention right back to you. You were right in front of the Gryffindor goal post, arm stretched over your head and releasing the quaffle with a harsh throw.
“Y/L/N MAKES THE GOAL, TEAMS ARE AT A TIE-”
It wasn’t until the very last minute that everyone, including you, had realized the flash of red that came hurtling into your side at full speed, Rees colliding so loudly with you that it echoed around the stadium in a powerful clang and crack.
Draco watched in horror as you were thrown off your broom, your now unconscious body falling like a rag doll with a speed that sent his stress levels into overdrive. He had never pushed down on his broom so fast, immediately abandoning his spot to bolt towards you even as Marcus was screaming at him to not go. 
A few feet above the ground and before you met it, he managed to loop his arm around your waist and heave you onto the front of his broom with a slight struggle as it was now raining hard and clouding his vision. He saw Madam Pomfrey and Mcgonagall rushing into the field, hands holding tightly onto their hats as they worriedly rushed towards the area where your broom had fallen and where Draco was hovering over with you. 
“TEAMS ARE TAKING A 10 MINUTE TIME OUT!”
Marcus had flown down towards him, face twisted in fury and annoyance as he approached. 
“Is there a reason you’re not being a seeker, today?” He spits, “because I’ve been seeing you do everything but your job.”
“My bloody girlfriend just got knocked out!” Draco seethed at him. “I’m not going back into the game, I’m going with her to the hospital wing.”
“Like hell you are,” Flint scowled, “if you leave, you'll forfeit us the game. If you stay and let Potter catch that Snitch so it’ll be over quicker, I will personally make sure that this is your last year on the team. You’re going to win this for us.”
“Mr. Malfoy!” McGonagall called up to him, waving her arms hastily. “She needs to go to the infirmary, immediately!”
The two Slytherins were staring each other down aggressively as Draco contemplated the threat he was just given. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to throw a hex at Flint and leave with you, but he just swallowed thickly and nodded at him before descending towards the ground and letting you off carefully into the hands of Madam Pomfrey. A surge of fear ran through his body when he finally saw you clearly; a harsh red mark was making its way up to your neck, the corner of your bottom lip had split and doubled in size, there was a small scratch on your cheekbone. It made him feel queasy, but he tore his eyes away from you and hopped back onto his broom while glaring angrily at Marcus and the distant group of huddled Gryffindor’s. 
He was blinded in rage when the match resumed and even more enraged when Flint had cheered loudly when the announcer granted Slytherin a penalty for the injury Rees gave you, allowing them basically to get a free score in against Gryffindor. Draco let his eyes wander around for the snitch for the first time that day and he could hear his heart thundering in his eardrums in distress as the rain continued to make his search worse. All he wanted was to get out of the game to check up on you, and then he'd come back to the stadium to throw his fists into Rees’ face with maybe a few hits in on Marcus.
Just as he was losing hope, he saw a flash of gold whiz past him with a loud buzzing that shocked him into alertness. He didn’t care that catching the snitch would win the game, or the cup, or give him all the glory, no - this was his ticket out. He dived towards it with his arm outstretched, hand thrashing around in the wind as he tried to eagerly catch it. In seconds, Harry was right beside him, bumping him with his shoulder to try and throw him off the path but Draco only pushed back harder. There was a flurry of shouting as everyone watched, the announcer was yelling into the mic about the seekers going head-to-head, bludgers were flying past him. 
It was pure chaos and urgency, Draco could feel the fluttering of its wings beneath his palm and when Harry pushed into him one more time, he felt the coldness of the Snitch get trapped into his enclosed hand, the vibration of its wings sending a current of relief up his arm that spread throughout his whole body as he soared up into the sky while brandishing it to the schools’ painfully watchful eyes.
“MALFOY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, WINNING SLYTHERIN THIS YEAR’S INTER-HOUSE QUIDDITCH CUP!”
Draco hurriedly made his way down to the field where the rest of his house was pooling into, celebrating proudly and calling out for him to praise, but when he landed on the ground and was met with half of the Gryffindor team including Rowan Rees - all his wrath came flooding back into him. 
Angelina, another Gryffindor Chaser, had nudged Rowan with her shoulder, pointing towards the Slytherin Prince that was stalking towards them.
“Malfoy,” Rees started bitterly, “sorry about the girlfriend, I was only trying to knock the quaffle out her hands.”
“After she had already thrown it?” He glowered, walking closer up to the boy that was beginning to straighten himself out and flex. “Looked a little personal seeing how she was dragging you through the dust the whole game.”
“Accidents happen, mate,” Rees shrugged, “it’s only quidditch, you won didn’t you? Maybe you should be thanking me for giving you that extra push to win the game.”
A clear line had been crossed and everyone who was listening knew it. But before Rowan could say anything to try and drag himself out of the hole he had just dug himself into, he was being tackled into the ground with Draco above him throwing punches wherever he could land them. There was loud hooting and laughing coming from the Slytherins that gathered around the fight, cheering loudly for their House superior.
Rees was thrashing around on the ground, trying frantically to throw off the extremely infuriated boy that was repeatedly pounding into his face with bloodied and bruised fists. Oliver Wood ran up to the sudden brawl, Fred and George following closely behind him as they all started trying to rip the fighting boy’s apart from each other. Oliver had gotten Draco off briefly, allowing Rees to try and get a hit in but it was dodged at the last second as the blond quickly leaped up to his feet. The fight immediately ended when a muddy shoe had collided with Rowan’s jaw and Draco stepped back satisfied with the damage he had done, roughly shrugging off the grip Oliver still had on his arm.
“It’s only quidditch, right?” He spat venomously from above the Gryffindor who was holding his now battered face in pain. “That’ll teach you from putting your hands on a woman too.”
“Mr. Malfoy!” Madam Hooch bellowed as she broke through the crowd in a frenzy. “50 points from Slytherin, go wait outside Professor Snape’s office for further punishment, go right now!”
Draco did go, and instantly, but he didn’t go down to the dungeons to hear about the lengthy detention that he knew he was going to get and the scolding for being reckless and stupid. His feet carried his sore body up the many stairs that led to the hospital wing, his pace picking up swiftly when he saw the large double doors of the infirmary ajar and he was able to hear a faint and familiar voice speaking indistinctly. 
He threw open the doors, walking straight in as if he owned the place and ignored Pomfrey’s requests for him to leave as he made a beeline towards your hunched figure that was facing away from him. 
“I need to see her,” he said to the nurse quickly when she stopped in front of him. “I’ll leave soon, please.”
At the sound of his voice, you hastily turned around in your spot to face him, a yelp escaping your lips for moving too quickly through your injuries. Pomfrey stepped out of the way with a sigh allowing Draco to jog over to you.
“I’m going to kill him,” he scowled when he reached you. You were wearing a sling, a deep purple and yellowed bruise quickly set itself over the side of your arm and the same cuts he saw from earlier were still scattered over your features. His fingers ghosted over your skin and he let out a deep shaky exhale of anxiousness before moving his thumb up to graze your cheek tenderly.
“What happened to you?” You asked quietly in shock when you noticed his mud-splattered clothes and tattered fists. 
“Long story,” he drawled. “Don’t worry about me, are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” you muttered with a slight shrug that made you whimper lightly. “Did we win?”
He nodded quietly, his eyes still scanning sadly over your face with a frown. “I swear, I’m going to kill him.”
“Only if I can help,” you sniggered faintly, trying to make light of the situation and succeeding in doing so when you saw he had cracked a small smile. With his hand still on your cheek, he bent down to press a firm kiss on the top of your hair and then warmly on the side of your mouth that wasn’t bleeding.
“I’ll just let you finish him off then,” he mulled amusingly when he pulled away.
“Finish him off?”
The doors of the hospital wing were thrown open again, a sea of red flowing inside as they carried in a pummeled Rowan with a busted lip, bloodied nose, black eye, and deeply bruised jaw. You looked briskly between Rees and Draco, both of them staring daggers at each other and it rapidly clicked in your mind why your boyfriend had looked like he just walked through a battlefield in your absence.
“Oh.”
3K notes · View notes
hangovercurse · 3 years
Text
Blind Date
After being single for three months, your friends decide to set you and Colson up on a blind date.
Request: Hey!! Could you do one about the reader and Colson meeting by a blind date? Let your creativity go wild ❤️
Colson x Reader
Warnings: Cursing
A/N: This is a little bit different from how I normally write, so let’s see how this goes.
Word Count: 1916
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It’s funny how the universe makes things happen. While some people are having their first kiss, others are taking their last breath. Every moment in time is so intricately woven together, it sometimes seems ironic how things happen.
Like tonight, on two sides of California, two very different people were having the same conversation.
“I’m not sure about this.”
“What if she thinks my tattoos are too much?”
“What if he thinks I’m too weird?”
“What if she hates music?”
“What if he hates art?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
“I don’t think I can do this.”
Your best friend stared at you from your bed as you paced around the room. “Y/N, you’re going to be fine. You said it yourself, you need to get back out there. Baze says he’s a good guy, and I trust Baze.”
Baze was in a similar situation, laying on the couch as Colson paced around the house. “Colson, dude. It’s gonna be good, she’s gonna like you.”
“I don’t know why I’m so nervous. It’s not like I’ve never been on a first fuckin date before. I used to do this shit every night.” He sighed, sitting down.
You let out a frustrated groan, “I know. I just feel like after everything in the past few years I feel like I’ve forgotten how to do first dates.”
“You’re gonna be great, just be yourself. And remember, it’s a blind date, so if you guys don’t hit it off or something goes horribly wrong, you never have to see him again.” She smiled as you threw her a playful glare.
“Colson, I love you man, but you have to do this. I don’t think you’ve even looked at a woman who isn’t Ashleigh in like three months.”
The light-haired man sent his friend a glare, “I’m sorry that I was recovering from the worst heartbreak of my life.”
You finally sat down, pulling on your shoes. “Maybe it’s too soon. Maybe I’m not as ready as I thought I was.”
Your friend sighed, sitting up and placing her arms around your shoulders, “It’s been three months since you and T broke up. You grieved, and now you need to move on. You deserve this.”
“Dude, you said you were over her. You are over her. Now you get to find someone else and try to be happy. You deserve this.”
“Maybe don’t bring up your disastrous ex, Y/N.”
“But please, for the love of god, bro, don’t bring up Megan.”
 You entered the small, classy restaurant, your hands shaking slightly. The entire place was dimly lit, with candles scattered around any surface available. You walked to the hostess stand, “Baker for two.” You told her, a small smile gracing your features.
She nodded, leading you through the floor. “He got here not 30 seconds before you did.” She laughed and you blushed a little bit.
You were grateful he wasn’t late, but you were also grateful he wasn’t extremely early , or else you would have felt awful for making him wait.
You were finally brought to a small table in the back of the restaurant to find one of the prettiest men you have ever laid your eyes on. When his eyes met yours, he stood up immediately, a smile on his face. “Y/N?” He asked.
“Colson.” You responded. He pulled your chair out for you, and you felt heat rushing to your cheeks at the kind gesture. None of the guys you had ever dated pulled your chair out for you, especially not your most recent ex.
“Baze told me you were pretty but this is…” He trailed off, seeming a bit lost for words. “You are absolutely gorgeous.”
He was good at this, good at making you nervous, making you blush like a teenager. “Thank you.” You whispered, “I think you are one of the prettiest people I have ever met.” You returned his compliment with one of your own.
The redness in his cheeks made you smile, a bit of pride rising in your chest. “Baze truthfully didn’t tell me much about you.” He started, “so, what do you do?” He was kicking himself for the lame question, but his mind was half occupied with the color of your eyes and he couldn’t form a coherent thought.
“I’m an artist.” You probably didn’t realize it, but Colson could see the slightest bit of a light in your eyes as you spoke about your passion. “I do graphic designing for websites, making logos and designs and such. That’s my day job, at least. I do some painting and sketching on the side, though. Eventually I’d like to be able to make that my whole job, but it is a hard industry.”
Colson nodded in understanding, his eyes holding the same weight as yours when you spoke of your flailing dreams. You wondered how he knew exactly what you were talking about.
Seemingly reading your mind, he answered. “I get that so much. I’m a musician, so I’ve been there. Luckily, I did make it my full-time job, but I remember before I made it, all the stress and struggles. It gets better.”
You smiled, “easy for you to say, aren’t you like, a big Rockstar?”
He chuckled, looking down, “yeah, sort of. But I wasn’t, you know? Like before all this I was dirt poor and the picture of a starving artist. I mean I’m still not like, winning Grammys or shit now, but I’m not there anymore either.”
You nodded, studying him. “I was lucky, I had support through art school and got a job as soon as I graduated. I’ve never had to struggle in that sense. I don’t think I’d be happy staying where I’m at for the rest of my life, but I am definitely in a stable place right now.”
He seemed so interested in what you were saying. Soon the conversation moved into the type of music he made, and then to your art styles. You flowed together easily, never becoming awkward or uncomfortable. As the night went on, your nerves fell away, as did his.
You were talking about your favorite movies when your food arrived, but even then, your conversation continued. At one point, he paused mid-second. “You’ve got something, “ he pointed to his face. “Fuck it, this is gonna be so cheesy.” He grabbed his napkin and wiped the bit of sauce you had on your cheek off.
You blushed in embarrassment, “thanks.” He was right, the moment was very cheesy. His hand pulled away slowly, lingering near your skin a bit longer than necessary. You didn’t mind though.
As much as you hated to admit it, especially since you had only known him for one night, you could be really into him. And that scared the fuck out of you.
Colson was, too, scared shitless. Why the fuck was his heart fluttering every time you giggled. He’d just met you. But already he could tell you were something special.
 He paid for dinner, like a gentleman, even though you protested. “It’s our first date, I am paying.”
You liked the way that he said, “first date,” implying there may be more. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to pay next time.” You said, smugly.
His eyebrow raised in question, a small smirk on his face. “We’ll see about that. I might just give them my card ahead of time.”
“Then I’ll just have to get there before you.”
You two laughed at your small competition as he led you to the parking lot, his hand in yours. “Did you drive?” He asked and you shook your head no.
“I called an uber. Speaking of…” You reached for your phone before he stopped you.
“Let me drive you home. If that’s okay?”
You let him lead you to his car, hand still tightly in his. He pulled the door open for you, guiding you in. Everything with him seemed like a new experience, his gentleman gestures catching you off guard.
“You should play me some of your music.” You told him when he got in. He smiled at that, pulling his phone out and opening his library.
“I don’t know if you’ll like the type of music I make.” He blushed, scrolling through to find a song he thought you might like.
You rolled your eyes, “well I like you so I think, by proxy, I’ll like your music.”
He bit his lip to hide the way his face lit up at your subtle confession. “Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
You heard a somewhat familiar rhythm, something you had probably heard on the radio. “Wait, this is you? I swear I’ve heard this before.”
He smiled, glancing over at you before turning his attention back to the road. “Yeah, me and my friend Matt dropped this right before my last album release.”
You let the music play, listening to his voice as he sang. “You know, this somehow sounds exactly like you and nothing like you at the same time. Like if you hadn’t told me I don’t think I would’ve known this was you. But I do know so I can hear it.”
He chuckled but didn’t say anything, occasionally looking at you as you nodded your head to the music. A few more of his songs played from Tickets to My Downfall and you seemed to enjoy it. “You’re really good.” You commented. Your voice was truthful, you weren’t trying to flatter him, you were just saying what you thought. Your words were genuine.
He didn’t know why but hearing that from you meant so much more to him than he expected it to. He finally parked in front of your house, getting out and opening your door for you. Like a true gentleman, he walked you to your door, pausing before you unlocked it.
You turned to face him, looking up into his bright eyes. “I had a really good time tonight.” He said softly. “Probably the best night I’ve had in a while, honestly.”
You smiled widely, “I did too, Colson.” You grabbed his hands in yours, swinging them slightly. “I’m really glad we did this.”
He nodded, leaning closer to you, “would you, maybe, wanna do this again?” He asked, his voice falling closer to a whisper.
“I was hoping I had made that obvious when I said I’d pay next time.” You giggled, leaning up closer to him.
He rolled his eyes playfully, “just wanna make sure you didn’t change your mind.”
“Trust me, I didn’t.” You whispered, before leaning up and connecting your lips with his.
The kiss was short and sweet, but it seemed like everything you had ever wanted. When your lips left his, you both stayed very close to each other, hands still clasped. His face was still only inches from yours, eyes studying your every feature.
Eventually he let out a small sigh and leaned back up. “Well, uh, goodnight, Y/N.” He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he took steps backwards towards his car. You smiled at him, waving a small goodbye before turning to unlock your door.
Your hand touched the handle before you turned around, finding Colson in the same situation at his car door, still looking at you. “Do you maybe wanna… come in?” You asked, biting your lip. His face lit up, a smirk highlighting his features.
“I would love that.”
239 notes · View notes
luci-in-trenchcoats · 3 years
Text
By Your Doorstep (Part 4)
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Summary: The reader and Dean celebrate Tessa’s birthday with a big surprise before making a drastic change to their relationship...
Pairing: Doctor/Neighbor!Dean x reader
Masterlist
Word Count: 4,100ish
Warnings: language, angst, mentioned past sexual assault (not graphic)
A/N: Parts of this series are told from two different POV’s. Dean’s POV are written from limited third person. Reader’s POV are second person (like a typical reader insert). Enjoy!…
_________
Dean’s POV
Two Weeks Later
“Oh fuck yeah!” said Dean, jumping up and down in the driveway as he read over the letter in his hands. 
“Dr. Dean that’s a bad word,” said Emily, the five year old three houses down. Dean slapped a hand over his face as she rode past on her bike, her father laughing to himself.
“Hope it’s good news, Dean,” said Chris.
“Very. Sorry about that,” said Dean, Chris waving him off as Dean jogged back inside. He read over the letter again and looked through the packet. “Alright. As long as you keep a B average or above you’re golden kiddo. You get straight A’s anyways so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Dean smiled and gathered up all of the documents, getting them together with Tessa’s birthday present. Y/N had tried to tell him that giving away his old iPhone was too much but all it did was sit in a drawer now when it worked perfectly fine. He was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be thinking about the phone at all once she found out about the grant.
He looked back at the bag on the table and frowned. Maybe she’d take it the wrong way, like he was trying to save her sister or their family or something like that. He could have given them the application and had them fill it out. They would have probably gotten it still. Dean knew his letter he’d included didn’t hurt but he didn’t want to be that guy. He was already a doctor, already helped Y/N with a job, already paid for dates and things. It was no issue for him at all and he knew she didn’t care about the money but he didn’t want to rub it in her face that he could help more than she could.
Dean grabbed his phone and called Cas, Sam stuck in some network client thing all night he’d told him. It rang a few times before it picked up, the echo in the background telling him he was on speaker.
“Deano!” said Benny. “Gonna make it over tonight after all?”
“Hey guys,” said Dean, sitting down on his couch. “You got the crew together?”
“Nah, just us and the girls. They’re still out shopping. What’s up?” asked Cas.
“You know Y/N?” asked Dean.
“The girl you’re clearly in love with? Yes we know her,” laughed Benny. Dean was quiet and heard them shift on the other end.
“Everything okay?” asked Cas.
“I think I fucked it up. I think I’m going too far too fast.”
“What do you mean?” asked Benny.
“Tessa, her little sister, she’s in high school and I applied for a grant on her behalf for her college and she got it,” said Dean.
“That’s a problem how?” asked Cas.
“I don’t want it to come off as me trying to save them or anything. I’m nervous she’s gonna get mad at me,” said Dean. His friends were quiet and knew a teasing comment wouldn’t come. “Guys.”
“Tell her you applied on a long shot and a grant is what helped you with school. You’re not saving the day, just sharing a benefit you got,” said Benny. “Shit I wish I’d had someone do that for me.”
“What’s going on Dean? You’re normally the last person to freak over shit,” said Cas. Dean sat back and stared up at the ceiling. 
“Talk to us bud,” said Benny.
“I like this girl and it’s been years and years since I had a girlfriend. You guys know I’m not good for more than a fuck,” said Dean.
“Lisa was a super bitch and you know that’s not true,” said Benny.
“I am in my thirties and I’ve never had a real relationship. I don’t even know how. I’m gonna fuck this up so bad. I know it.”
“Contrary to how often I call you a dick, you are one of the best people I’ve ever met,” said Cas.
“I agree and you know all our friends and especially Sammy would say the same thing. Brother you gotta relax. This girl from what you’ve said and everybody else says, well we ain’t never seen you so happy so stop freaking, go get ready for your date tonight and put some faith in this girl that she’s not gonna hurt you back,” said Benny.
“I didn’t say-”
“Dean, we’ve known you forever. We know when you’re scared. I know most people in your life end up hurting you but take it from us, not everyone will. I got a good vibe from her,” said Cas. 
“Me too,” said Dean quietly.
“You doing okay?” asked Benny. “In general you know.”
“Yeah. Most of the time I’m great now. The past few weeks have been awesome. I think maybe that’s why I keep freaking out over this girl. It’s like, fucking finally, I understand what a good relationship can be.”
“You been to Ketch lately?” asked Cas.
“No, not as a patient. I’m okay.”
“Well still go for a tag up every once in a while for us,” said Benny.
“I know. Never would have gone without you assholes getting on my back in the first place.”
“That’s what friends are for,” said Cas, Benny chuckling. “So where you guys going tonight?”
“Monico’s.”
“Fancy,” they both said and Dean rolled his eyes, smiling to himself.
“Goodbye assholes,” said Dean, hearing them laugh before he hung up. He sat up and took a deep breath. “Alright. Shower. Shave and fingers crossed tonight goes well.”
Reader’s POV
“Okay, presents before or after dinner?” you asked as you carried in a bag to Tessa’s room. 
“Before, obviously,” she said. 
“Alright, well I know you wanted something really badly this year,” you said. “Why don’t you open the green one first?”
“This feels like an iPhone box…” she said with a big smile. She tore off the paper and grinned. “Awesome! What one is it?”
“It’s a ten. It’s used but in really good condition. I got you a case and extra charger too,” you said. “We can swing to the store and activate it tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Y/N, really,” she said. She grabbed the card next and her eyes went wide when she saw the cash inside. “Y/N.”
“It’s your money you gave me. It’s yours. Buy whatever you want, okay?” you said. She nodded and unwrapped a few more small things, a book she’d been talking about, some make up you knew she’d use, a new pair of her nike running shorts that’d been on sale thankfully. You smirked when she picked up the last two presents in the bag. “Alright. I hope these are...suitable for you.”
She tore off the wrapping on one and started to laugh.
“It’s hot pink,” she giggled. “Why is it hot pink?”
“Cause vibrators come in a variety of colors,” you said with a laugh. “I will let you read through the charging instructions on your own and same for the other box. There is toy cleaner because yes you need to wash these things properly and I got some water based lube. Go with water based. It dries up faster but it works better to me. Oh and wash everything like five times before it goes anywhere near anything, okay?”
“Okay,” she laughed. “I can’t believe you actually bought me this stuff.”
“Can’t get pregnant off a toy,” you said.
“Definitely can’t do that,” said Dean, Tessa wide eyed as he popped his head into the doorway. She shoved the boxes back into the bag and he laughed. “I’m a doctor. Sex doesn’t bother me and I think your sister has a point.”
“Oh my God, I forgot he was here,” she said, running her hands over her face.
“I was wondering where you two ran off to,” he said. He stepped inside and pulled out a box from behind his back. “Happy birthday, Tessa.”
“Thanks,” she blushed. She undid the bow and paper, smiling as she opened the box. There was an envelope inside but she picked up the headphones and shook her head. “Dean I can’t accept this. It’s too much. I already know the iPhone must have been yours.”
“You are smarter than you look,” he said. “But I can’t accept your refusal of my present. I have new ones and those never get used and I’m bigger than you so you’re gonna lose this argument one way or the other.”
“I’d listen to him, Tessa. He gets his way when he wants it,” you said. She rolled her eyes but smiled.
“Thank you. People haven’t been nice to us the past couple years,” she said. You glanced down to the floor, Dean leaving his arm wrapped around your waist. 
“People weren’t all that nice to me either for a long time,” he said with a nod. “Someday when you’re able, you help somebody else out, understand?”
“Yeah,” she said with a nod.
“Open the envelope. This one’s a present to you both,” he said. You cocked your head as she tore it open, reading for a long time before she pulled out a paper and handed it to you.
“Dean,” you said, sitting down on her bed after you’d read it a few times. “Dean this…”
“It’s a grant. It’s very similar to a scholarship. I’m an alumni of Elmdale and the medical school there. Tessa you qualify and so I applied on your behalf a few weeks ago and you were accepted. The grant will cover half of four years of tuition,” he said.
“What does that mean?” asked Tessa.
“It means we will have to pay very little with financial aid,” you said. She was beaming and you shook your head. “You applied weeks ago?”
“After I met you two. This house seemed familiar to me for some reason until I remembered. Y/N I told you someone helped me when I was eighteen?”
“Yeah?”
“I think his picture is hanging in the hall,” he said.
“Our dad?” asked Tessa.
“He got me a job and helped me pay for part of my school. I came here once when I needed his help. Your father was a very good man and it’s clear his daughters are the same. Neither one of you deserves to go through all the pain I did. I don’t want you to. It was no trouble at all to do, I swear.”
“Tessa, I work at Dean’s office as a lab tech,” you said. She turned her head and you saw Dean nod. “I lost my job before. We were scraping by. Barely. We’re okay now but without this grant...it would have wiped out our inheritance. That was for weddings and down payments for houses. We can keep it now...we can keep the house now.”
“You hate this house though,” she said. “I hate this house.”
“Tessa-”
“We can downsize,” she said. “Y/N, every night you stare down at their bedroom door. It’s like we live with ghosts or something. It doesn’t have to be so tight. Do we really need a five bedroom house?”
“It’s not as tight anymore. We’ll talk about it. Let’s go celebrate all the good news,” you said. “I’ve been dying for a Monico’s steak.”
“She seemed pretty happy tonight,” said Dean as you sat on the front porch a few hours later. You hummed and rocked in your seat beside him, resting your head on his shoulder. “Did I overstep?”
“No. You were the boy in the mailroom, weren’t you. Dad used to talk about you sometimes. Mostly when I didn’t want to do something. He told me some people my age have it so much harder.”
“True. But you can’t compare one person’s struggles to another’s. It’s not fair to either one.”
“Would you sell this house if you were me?” you asked.
“I like that you live close by. I’d miss that. But it’s a lotta house for the two of you and it sounds like a change might be a good thing. You could downsize to somewhere else in the neighborhood and probably bank a good chunk of money for later on.”
“We could.” Dean was quiet, gears turning in his head. “What are you thinking of?”
“My house is a five bedroom too.”
“Yours is also newer,” you said. “And bigger.”
“Tell me if I’m crossing a line but...you guys...could stay there if you decided to sell this place. Temporarily. Or not temporarily,” he said. You stared up at him and he looked away. “Like I said, I’m sorry, I know it’s...I should go.”
“Hey. I’m not afraid of you.” His head turned back towards you and he swallowed thickly. “Tell me another secret and I’ll you one.”
“I think I I’m falling in love with you and I’m afraid I’m going too fast and that you think I’m creepy or weird deep down and I’m up to something when all I really see is me and my brother in you and your sisters places and I know how much it sucks and how much it hurts and I know you protect her from stuff she doesn’t even know about. I’m sorry for saying that about the house just now. I’d still like to see you though if that’s okay.”
“I think this is fast too but I also think that part of me fell for you the day you carried her home. You don’t want anything from us. Just to help and it’s not because you pity us or anything like that. If I’ve learned anything yet in life it’s that you don’t know when it’s gonna stop and there’s no use in wasting time.”
“What are you saying?”
“You willing to put up with a teenager, a service dog and someone who has not had a moment to themselves in two years?”
“As long as you don’t snore,” he smiled. You laughed and kissed his cheek. “Are you serious?”
“I don’t like this house anymore. If she doesn’t want it, I don’t want it. Maybe we can do some test runs, stay over for a weekend or two, see if we want to make it a not temporary thing.”
“That sounds great,” he smiled. “We’ll figure it out, sweetheart.”
Two Months Later
“I’m home,” you said on the way back from the store. You’d been staying at Dean’s for two weeks now after a nice couple closed on your old house. So far it’d been great and you were perfectly happy to stay there with him and Tessa for the foreseeable future. “I picked up some-”
“He is not my dad. I am eighteen,” said Tessa as she stormed over to the foyer. You glanced back to where Dean was over in the kitchen and sighed. “I want to go to Paulie’s tonight.”
“Who is Paulie?” you asked as you kicked off your boots.
“A friend,” she said.
“You’ve literally never mentioned him before,” you said, carrying some groceries through the family room and to the kitchen.
“That’s what I said,” said Dean as he peeled a potato at the island.
“I thought I said you’re not my dad so you can shut the fuck up.”
“Hey!” you shouted, Tessa freezing up. “Apologize to Dean.”
“He-”
“We are stable for the first time ever because of him. I trust Dean to make decisions for you when I’m not home. If he said no, then the answer is no. Go to your room,” you said. She grumbled and pounded her feet upstairs. You washed up and gripped the countertop. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe she said that to you.”
“It’s okay. I’ll be the bad guy,” he said as he picked up another potato. “Paulie what’s his face doesn’t sound like he wants anything other than in her pants so she can swear all she likes at me.”
“What’d she say exactly?”
“She wants to go over to Paulie’s tonight to hang out with some friends but I overheard her and Hailey talking earlier this week about a party and I don’t need a medical degree to put it together.”
“If she sneaks out I’ll kill her,” you said. You glanced down to Toast’s dog bowl and paused. “Dean what would happen if she drank on her medication.”
“She can’t drink alcohol on that stuff,” he said. 
“What would happen if she did.”
“She could have a seizure,” he said. 
“Tessa!” you shouted. You jogged upstairs and found her bedroom empty. “Tessa!”
The house was quiet and you put your hands on your head. 
“Toast!” you shouted, the dog trotting out from Dean’s bedroom. You immediately ran inside, Dean already upstairs and you saw her sitting out on the balcony in a chair, her face in her knees. 
“Can I…” said Dean and you nodded. You followed him outside, Dean walking over and squatting by her seat. “Tessa, what are you doing out here?”
“I wish I was normal, didn’t have a fucked up head.”
“I got one too,” he said.
“Do you have to take medicine for seizures? No?” she said.
“No but my dad used to beat me up,” he said. She turned and he nodded. “He would try to beat up my little brother too sometimes but I would take the hits when I could. Tessa, you can’t drink when you’re on your medicine. You just can’t.”
“I know that,” she said.
“You can’t sneak out and leave Toast behind either. It’s not safe.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Y/N and I get scared too is all.”
“You just pretend to like me cause you fuck my sister.”
“For the record, I don’t fuck your sister. Relationships are complicated. You might not realize this but I care about you for you. If I didn’t I would not want you in my house, in our house, and I wouldn’t get scared about you going to parties with guys that just want to use you for sex. I give a shit about you Tessa whether you believe me or not.”
“You don’t care,” she scoffed. “You feel sorry for us. Nobody on earth would ask two strangers to move in unless you-”
“Tessa you can think whatever you want about me. I’m not your father and I’ll never try to be him. But I sure as shit know how to be an older brother. So be pissed off and be rude and whatever else you want to. I’ve done this before with my own brother. You don’t scare me. The only thing that does is you getting taken advantage of or you getting hurt and Toast isn’t there to help. Someday you’ll get it through that thick skull of yours what the truth is but until then, I’ll be the asshole who doesn’t let you go to parties you’ll get hurt at.”
“You pity us.”
“I’m jealous of you.” She stared at him and you swallowed in the doorway. “Your parents loved you. Mine didn’t. You want to talk about being fucked up? I’m here anytime.”
She nodded and he sat up on the bench with her. You went inside and finished preparing the potatoes, mashing them up and saving them for later. It was nearly ten by the time you heard the stairs creak and Dean walked down them.
“Y/N,” said Tessa. You got up from the couch and walked to the bottom of the stairs, Tessa glancing down. “I’m sorry for how I’ve acted today and treated Dean lately. I was…”
“It’s okay,” he said quietly as he rubbed her back.
“I was scared when we moved in here a few weeks ago. I don’t want to lose you too and Dean takes up time that it used to be just us and I know the accident wasn’t my fault but I feel guilty still sometimes and I know your life is different because of it too and I want you guys to be happy, I do. I just get scared you’ll forget about me. I don’t wanna be alone. I’m not ready.”
“You don’t ever have to be alone, Tessa,” you said. She nodded and looked up at Dean.
“I know. I was silly. But I’m better now,” she said. 
“It wasn’t your fault,” you said.
“I know,” she said. 
“Why don’t you head to bed, Tess. Tomorrow I can come to your session with you like we talked about,” said Dean. She nodded and walked upstairs, Toast trotting into her room. You walked upstairs and into your bedroom with Dean, shutting the door after yourselves. “I should have...change is difficult on kids with PTSD. I should have realized that’s why she’s been so snippy. I thought it was just hormones.”
“Probably both,” you said, climbing onto the bed. He lay down next to you, staring up at the ceiling. “You care for her.”
“You two are a package deal, sweetheart,” he said with a light chuckle. “Can’t love one without loving the other.”
“Like you and Sam,” you smiled. “I can’t wait to meet him in person.”
“Me too.”
“Is Tessa okay? You guys talked a really long time.”
“She was afraid I would replace her, push her out. Granted I do like spending alone time with you and everything but she needs you and I’m not here to take you away from her. I think she understands that now.”
“Dean why haven’t we had sex?” you asked. He sat up and you shrugged. “We’ve dated nearly three months and you don’t even try to cop a feel. For how fast certain things are between us, that one feels a little slow. I just want to understand. I don’t...I’m not saying it’s a problem I just want to know.”
“You asked me on our first date, or you made a comment, that I don’t seem like the shy around women type.”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t use to be. A smidge, especially if they were the one that seemed to be controlling the situation but it was always good. I had some girlfriends, had some hookups. More than my fair share of hookups. The girlfriends…”
“The bitch one?” you said, getting a chuckle out of him.
“I stopped thinking I was relationship material for a while. So I did hookups for a long time and that was good. Until about two years ago. I haven’t had sex since.”
“Did someone hurt you?”
“No. I just...I asked her to stop and she didn’t.”
“Dean she hurt you.”
“It’s not that big a deal.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Well I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay?” he said. He put his back to you and you took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I know we sleep in the same bed and…”
“And I don’t need to have sex with you. Would I like it? Sure. But my sister and I aren’t the only ones in this house that need to be taken care of. You’ve done a really good job of that lately and I’d like to start pulling my weight in that department. When you’re ready for sex, you tell me, otherwise, I will just cuddle you real hard until then, okay?”
“Alright,” he said quietly. He reached behind himself and wrapped your arms around him. You kissed the back of his neck, Dean taking slow breaths. “I don’t really know how to let someone take care of me though.”
“We’ll take it slow,” you said. “Like maybe with you being little spoon tonight.”
“Alright. I can try, sweetheart.”
_______
A/N: Read Part 5 here!
277 notes · View notes
enmy-writes · 3 years
Text
Just Let Me Help You
Summary: Zuko, trying to keep is girlfriend safe, unintentionally gains the trust of the Gaang after a showdown with Combustion Man.
Word Count: 2728
Fandom: ATLA (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Pairing: Zuko x Fem!Reader
Genre: Mostly fluff, is fluff-angst a thing? Idk guys I’m soft, you tell me.
Rated: 18+
Content Warnings: Profanity, some gore graphics (brief mentions of blood, killing, murder), uhhhh that’s it I think I’m sorry if I forget anything else.
****Huge shout-out to my friends Kenz and Jenna for editing this and hyping me up. Hopefully, since this semester from Hell will be over soon, I’ll be able to write more. Please request things! Thank-you all for supporting this and let me know more of what you want to see in the future :) Also, feedback is always welcome. Enjoy!****
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They had landed the war balloon days ago, stalking the tired and defeated Team Avatar and trying to figure out how the complicated Fire Prince would convince the people he chased for months that he wants to help them now.
(Y/N) was stoking the hot flame provided by the fire bender, making sure the coals were burning a cherry red before she added leaves and herbs into a pot to make a stew for the two to enjoy. Her eyes followed Zuko as he paced back and forth, practicing what he was going to say when he finally decided to confront the rebel group, lips turned upward in an amused smirk.
“Hey, Zuko here…” she heard him say before he started rambling a bunch of nonsense about his past; from his discovery, to Azula, to his father-- all the tragic topics. It took him about three minutes, but he finished with a hopeful look in his direction.
“Well?!” He clenched his fists at his side in a nervous gesture, only wanting to get this right.
The girl on the log cleared her throat before speaking, obviously hiding her laughter from the sensitive boy. “Well… it’s perfect. I especially liked the ‘Hey, Zuko here’ part. I’m sure that Aang and his friends with be very pleased to finally learn your name instead of thinking you’re called ‘Angry Ponytail Hotman’.’’
He groaned loudly, rubbing his eyes with clenched fists. The melodic laughter from his companion tempted him to give up his quest and just run away with her and live a happy life free of his father and his destiny… whatever that may be.
Still laughing, (Y/N) stood from her log by the fire and made her way to Zuko, coming up behind him. Her arms slid right around his slim body, holding on tight as she tried to pull his mind from the depths of his insecurities.
“Zuko, love.” Her voice is soft, but intense. “Just go down there. I won’t lie, they might not take you right away. You have done a lot of damage to them and their goals.”
His warm hands slide down the tops of her forearms and slide between her chilled fingers, entwining them together as Zuko grips her like she’s holding him down on the land they’re on.
“I… I just…” He struggles to get his feelings out, finding it hard to convey how he feels even to the girl wrapped around him.
She shushes him. “I know.” Is all she says, as they stand there in a momentary comfortable silence before she detaches from him to continue dinner.
____________________________
Zuko had told her to stay behind, that he’d be back to either get her or because he failed to convince the group that he came to support them, instead of harm them.
“Zuko! I could easily be an alibi for you. A reason for them to trust you!”
“No. End of story. They could attack me and you’re in Fire Nation clothes. You’re staying here.”
A staring match between the two only lasted a few seconds, but (Y/N) let it go; remembering Iroh’s advice that sometimes the boy has to do what eases his mind to grow.
The empty pot gleamed an orange glow from the flames, a light in the dark woods that surrounded the two as they lounged by the fire.
(Y/N) was carding her fingers through the upset prince’s hair while he stared at the sky; confused. His emotions spilling onto (Y/N). He didn’t talk much about the encounter, only enough to tell her that they wouldn’t be helping the Avatar defeat his father anytime soon. Rather than pressure him, she offered her solace with calming actions rather than words.
The two had met in their early childhood, (Y/N)’s father being the leader of the Yuyan Archers and of course the Fire Lord wanted the talented girl to meet his… troubled son. In hope that she could help bend his son into the ruthless leader the nations needed to proceed him. Though they didn’t see each other as much as they should have due to (Y/N)’s schooling, the two quickly became close friends and were often found with Lady Ursa quietly running around the palace grounds.
His banishment led to (Y/N) perfecting her skills, and becoming the master she was destined to be, given there was no more distraction. No one could understand her in the way that Zuko did— they fit together like they were made for one another. Where he was hotheaded, she was cool; Where he was nimble and direct, she was resourceful and hidden. The two were the perfect set of opposites who ultimately balanced each other. And one without the other was a heartbreak everyone could see.
When she heard the news of his return, she rushed to the palace; radiant as ever. In an instant, the two fell back into where they left off;  barely any words needed between the two. Her fingers and lips had trailed over his scar often in those few days, brushing away the tears and insecurities that came with it.
Leaving the Fire Nation with Zuko wasn’t even a debate in her mind. She was tired of the life of lies and torment that her nation inflicted upon the world. She had spent the last two years relocating and rebranding people who were targets to the Fire Nation. In total, about one hundred innocent lives were saved from her dangerous missions. Her skill level was better than even her father’s, and she prided herself in her abilities. (Y/N) was truly a professional in her art with the eye of an eagle.
When she caught Zuko writing a letter to her with packed bags on his bed, she instantly went into the shadows and caught up with the boy easily, hiding in the balloon behind the engine for a while until it was too late for him to turn back. It was hot and the most uncomfortable thing she has ever done, but she regrets none of it. She joked with the boy; how did he not question a pile of fabric behind the piece of equipment that holds fire? She let it go after he hugged her close and cried for a while.
“Don’t do that shit again, Zuko.” Her voice was stern, though her voice stern, she held him close. She ghosted her fingers over his tense shoulders; the shoulder that carried such burdens. She pressed her fingers into his shoulders; trying her best to rub the tension from his body. 
“I won’t. Never again. Don’t leave me, I need you.”
A rustle of leaves and broken trees in the forest near the edge of their little camp put the two into defense, instantly gripping her perfectly crafted bow and quiver. Her ears pricked at a slight movement and she aimed her bows in the direction of the noise without even looking. Suddenly, green clothes fill the area as a younger girl makes her way into the clearing. Startled, Zuko sends a wave of fire towards the intruder, burning the girl.
Everything happened fast.
(Y/N)’s left foot—her plant foot—sunk into the ground and twisted inward, releasing a loud crack into the air. The Earth girl was long gone now; Zuko had been screaming at himself when he heard the cry of pain and the sickening noise that left the lips of his girlfriend.
The earth has released its hold on her, but the damage was done. She kneeled, trying to hold back tears but failing as they kept streaming down her face in a pain response. Zuko’s own eyes filled with tears as he ran over to her, helping her sit down and take the tension off of it.
The joint was already beginning to swell, black and blue and purple and yellow starting to show up in swirls around the area. Zuko carefully tried to feel the injury, barely touching the girl in fear of hurting her more. (Y/N) sighed, pushing his fingers away and ignoring his protest. She rotated her foot outward, cringing at the pain, but crying out when she turned it the other way. Zuko cupped his hands around her ankle, hands heated slightly to hopefully alleviate the pain.
“Baby… it’s okay—”
“No, you’re hurt! I knew this would happen!” He cuts her off with a panicked yell. (Y/N) places her hands on the sides of his face, forcing his eyes upon hers with a slight wince of discomfort.
“It’s most definitely, at worst, a fracture. I can still move it outwards without a lot of pain. It’s, like, a week off my foot at most and then another week with a splint and a crutch. I am okay, Zuko.” They stared at each other for a solid minute, saying nothing.
"Promise?" Zuko whispered.
"You think I would lie to you, Zuko?" She says as she wraps her pinky his for good measure
They turn in not too long after, (Y/N)’s ankle wrapped up in some extra clothes for stability. Zuko’s arms hold her to his chest as they slip off into the world of dreams.
_________________________
Oh shit. She thought from her perch on top of the cliff edge. The assassin that they have also been trying to find has been blowing up the place, really testing the stability of the edge of the cliff in shakes after shakes like an earthquake. Zuko had told her to stay at camp, but unfortunately for Zuko; (Y/N) was never that good at listening to commands.
She was sitting down, watching the Avatar, his friends, and her boyfriend try to figure out how to win this fight against the combustion bender, feet dangling over the edge. She didn’t want any pressure on her foot from standing on it; settling for the dull throbs of pain coming from the force of gravity alone.
Some third eye. (Y/N) thought to herself as she watched her boyfriend get too close to being blown off the edge of the cliff, wincing. She quickly strung her bow, aiming it at the man. She smirked, a devious smirk, and aimed it in a precise location.
Zuko was still trying to talk the man out of it when suddenly, his eyes went blank and the grossest sound he has ever heard reached his ears. Everyone watched the man, confused as to why he just stopped. It’s not until red trails down his forehead and around his nose in a slow trickle that they look at his eye.
In the middle of the red eye, that at one point seemed indestructible; an arrow sat; a perfect shot — his perfect shot. "Bullseye!" (Y/N) howled, her voice resonating in his ears.
In the midst of Zuko's panic, he failed to recognize the cliff he was standing on becoming increasingly unsturdy; turning he locked eyes with the archer. A ghost of a smile graced her lips, pride radiating off of her. Though he was angry, he couldn't help but share her pride. He locked eyes with his girlfriend who was sitting nonchalantly on the cliff edge above them all, waving nonetheless, when he told her to stay back. It’s then that the earth beneath him rumbles and falls, taking him with it.
“Zuko!” She screams, jumping to her feet; a loud crack coming from her ankle, buckling under the pressure and bringing her to her knees.
With a hobble in her step, (Y/N) climbed down the cliffside. The tears ran down her face at a ferocious pace, making her way over to the cliffside, a loud sob relented from her mouth as she saw Aang helping Zuko up over the edge of the cliff. 
"Spirits, Zuko!" She breathed, limping her way over to him and hugging him tight. "I should kill you, you fucking idiot!" She sobbed, pulling him into her chest. 
Zuko huffed out a laugh, wrapping his arms around her. He took deep breaths, calming his nerves from his near death experience; he focused on the feeling of her hand carding through his hair to grip it tight, and the hold on his shoulders. As he calms down, he remembers that he told her to stay put; and he sharply pulls away.
"I told you to stay at camp!" He huffed, "I told you I was coming back for you!”
She scoffs pushing on his forehead with two fingers. “In case you have forgotten, Zuko, I have authority issues. If I weren’t here, who would be saving your stupid royal ass? No one! You’re welcome, by the way. He wasn’t going to negotiate, Prince Pouty, and you and everyone else here is no good to the world dead.”
“You—You---You could’ve been hurt! (Y/N)! Or worse!” His protest was a whisper, trying to make the scene more private as he’s aware of the crowd around them.
“Zuko, love, I can handle myself. I’m a master at my craft--.”
"—your craft of carelessness, you could've been killed—"
"—but I wasn't Zuko!"
"That's not the point." His voice stern, making it clear that the conversation was done for now. (Y/N) simply nodded, pulling away from him and fixing her clothes.
Aang, Toph, Katara and Sokka watched the two as they argued; watching as they continuously tried to out-care the other. They watched as the two eventually stopped arguing, instead remained staring, as if daring each other to speak
“That was a ... nice shot? I guess?" Aang spoke, clearing his throat and drawing the couples attention to him. "He's definitely you know, dead."
(Y/N) smiles at the boy. “Thank you, Avatar, for helping save this dumb ass from falling off a cliff.” She gets up and bows to him. Zuko suddenly picks her up, the world turning sideways as he put her bridal style in his arms.
“Stop putting weight on your ankle!”
“I’m literally showing respect to the person who just helped you, is that a crime?”
“What if you break your ankle so much that you have to cut it off.”
“Oh, now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“Okay well you were first when deciding to sit on the edge of a cliff with a broken ankle.”
“You’re right! Sitting is dangerous. Next time, I’ll make sure to stand so at least I’ll have a better chance of reacting if the cliff side starts falling from under me. Oh wait, you were standing, and you still fell.”
Zuko sets her down on a broken rock that’s suitable enough for her to sit on. “Will you just shut up already and let me help you.” He reaches for her ankle, but she moves it from his grasp. Their eyes meet again and narrow in competition.
A mess of limbs as the (Y/N) evades the grip of Zuko, occasionally slapping his hands away if they get too close.
Sokka tilts his head in confusion and opens his mouth. “Is he—is he actually caring for someone?”
Aang nods. “I think? I don’t know, they’re kind of fighting a lot.”
Toph cringes, “Guys, I think it was me who hurt her in the first place. Last night at their camp. Zuko instantly stopped trying to help me when I heard her scream.”
“Guys… I think I’m supposed to let him be my master. I mean, he did just risk everything to save us.” Aang says, eyes locked on the one member who he cares more about than anyone.
Katara, still holding off on agreeing, looks to the two Fire Nation kids again.
“Ow! You bit me! Are you crazy?!” Zuko yells, shaking his left hand out.
The stranger girl laughs cheerfully. “Only crazy for you, stupid.”
And a phenomenon occurs. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation blushes and looks down at the ground, a huge smile on his face.
“I hate you.” Is all he says.
“Yeah, I love you too.”
Katara, seeing the humane side of the prince, finally lets her guard down and walks over to them. Zuko’s eyes widen at her proximity, but the water tribe girl holds his gaze.
“I’ll heal the girl if it gets you two to shut up. And you have to find dinner for tonight.”
Katara’s eyes widen again at the sight of the crying prince who suddenly bows to her feet, thanking her with his whole heart. He then turns to his smiling girl beside him and pulls her into a hug.
“Thank you, (Y/N). For everything.”
“I’ll always help you… stupid.”
417 notes · View notes
atlafan · 3 years
Text
Wrecked - One Shot
a/n: this is slightly inspired by the wilds because I watched that recently, but it’s in no way as messed up or sad. psychologist/therapist!Harry is detective Nikki Reese’s ex’s best friend. They end up on the same cruise, and the two end up going overboard due to a freak hurricane. What happens while they’re stranded? Well, you’ll have to read to find out! Feedback and reblogs are super helpful! I really want to know what you all think of this one!!! (not proofread) You can support me here if you’re able!
Warnings: a lot of angst, a little fluff, and some smut. TW: trauma/dealing with trauma (Nikki is an SVU detective, so some things of that nature are brought up, but not in graphic detail)
Words: 14K
Pairing: Harry x OC
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It was supposed to be a cruise, a ten-day cruise around the Caribbean to help clear her head. Well, it was originally an engagement present to herself and her ex, but since they were now broken up, it was to help clear her head. Nikki never would have thought she would end up in this situation, and especially not with someone she hated just as much as her ex…his best friend. As she lays under the stars for yet another night, she can’t help but think back to how she got herself into this mess in the first place.
//
She was packed and ready to go, excited even. Nikki had never gone on a cruise before, and she was looking forward to meeting some new people. She was never one to be nervous to go to things alone, she knew how to take care of herself and keep herself safe. She had grown up as the mom friend, so her purse was always stalked with essentials. She had one of those ones that was like a little backpack.
Nikki got to the docks a little later than she was hoping, but there was nothing she could do about getting stuck in traffic. She gets out of her cab in her white sundress, large sunhat, and sunglasses, and rolls her suitcase up the pathway to the boat. There was a bit of a line, but she didn’t mind. For the next ten days, she had all the time in the world.
There was a large area for her to check in at, and get her room key. She was surprised she wouldn’t be able to do it over her phone, but she knew that once they set sail the WIFI may not be as strong in certain places. She brought a spare lanyard to stick it on and everything.
“Hello, Miss.” The woman at the table smiles.
“Hello, I’m Nicole Reese.” Nikki smile.
The woman nods and looks her up in the system. She takes out two room keys and hands them to Nikki, along with a couple of pamphlets that were full of activity options, and where the boat would be stopping.
“Here you are, Miss Reese. We hope you enjoy your stay with us. It’s going to be an excellent cruise. Your other party has already checked in.”
“My who?” Nikki’s heart stops.
“There’s two of you signed up for this suite. A nice gentleman checked in about twenty minutes ago.” She taps a few times on the keyboard. “A Mr. Harry Styles.” The woman smiles. “Has there been a mix up?”
“Nope.” Nikki swallows. “Everything’s fine.”
Nikki quickly makes her way to her room. The ship was pretty easy to navigate. She was enraged. Had Kyle sent Harry in his place? Why the fuck was Harry even there? Did he suddenly acquire time off from work? She scans her key card, and enters the suite.
“Jesus, fuck!” Harry shouts. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?! What are you doing here?!”
“Kyle sold me his ticket…he…he didn’t think you’d still go.” His face falls. “Why did you?”
“Because I paid for my own fucking ticket, and I wasn’t going to let him ruin my trip! I planned the god damn thing, I should get to enjoy it. You need to leave before the ship does.”
“Sorry, I paid to be here too, I’m staying.”
“Don’t be a prick, Harry.”
“M’not trying to be. I got the time off last minute, I need a vacation just like anyone else.”
“And you came here alone?”
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “Thought it would be nice to meet some new people…apparently you thought the same. Unless…oh no, did Alex come with you?” He groans.
“No, she’s not with me.” Nikki rolls her eyes. She knew it was useless to argue with Harry. “That couch should be a pullout, you can sleep on it.”
“But I’ve already started to unpack in the bedroom…you know I have a bad back, Nikki, come on.” He follows her into the bedroom. “It’s a king sixed bed, we can just share. I’ll even make a pillow divider if that makes you more comfortable.”
“I am not sharing a bed with my ex fiance’s best friend!” She looks around. “It’s bad enough we have to share a fucking bathroom.”
“Look, if I thought this boat would have any extra room, I’d go ask for one, but the woman at the desk said it was a fully booked cruise.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I know this isn’t an ideal situation…but think of this way, it’s nice to know at least one person here, right?”
“Wrong.” She shakes her head. “I came here so I could have some time to just not be reminded of Kyle for one fucking second! Now with you here…I’m gonna be reminded of him every single fucking day.” She blinks away a few tears. “You probably think I’m being stupid since it’s been three whole months since we ended things, but-“
“I don’t think it’s stupid…you two were together for three years, that’s a long time to be with someone.”
Nikki nods, and then sighs heavily.
“I think they’re going to make the safety announcements soon. Uh, let’s back out to the main deck, yeah? We can figure all of the sleeping arrangements out later.”
“Fine.”
The two silently head up to the main deck and listen to all of the announcements on how to stay safe, and other things they might need to know. There were a lot of passengers all around them. Nikki was hoping to have some type o rebound while on this trip. How the fuck was she supposed to bring someone back to her room with Harry there? Maybe he was thinking the same thing. His cruise could have easily just been ruined like hers.
“Have you told him I’m here?” She asks him as they move towards the railing to watch the boat take off.
“No.” Harry says. “My phone’s on airplane mode, I’m trying to unplug while I’m here. It’s really none of his business, Nikki.”
“That, or you just don’t want him asking questions.” She scoffs.
“Either way, I haven’t told him, and I’m not going to, okay? You can relax.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the suite I thought I was going to have to myself has been infiltrated by a six foot, curly headed, no good moron!”
“Hey! I’m not the one who cheated on you, okay?! Don’t take it out on me. Maybe you should have been a better partner to him and he wouldn’t have felt the need to stray.”
“Fuck you, Harry.” Nikki huffs, and walks away from him.
He knew he shouldn’t have said that, but she shouldn’t have called him a moron. That was the problem with Nikki, she thought she was smarter than everyone else, but you don’t get to become an SVU detective by being stupid. It wasn’t her fault that her work was a 24-hour job. She was lucky she even had the time off for this. All activities on the boat were all inclusive, and she wasn’t going to waste it. When she gets back to the room, she starts to unpack so she can freshen up. Harry comes in shortly after. She was just getting out of the bathroom.
“Nikki, look, I-“
“The pillow divider should be fine…I’d feel bad if you hurt your back.”
“Are you serious?”
“We’re both adults, think we can share a bed without it getting weird. You were right before…it’s good to know at least one other person.”
“Nikki, I’m sorry about what I said before.”
“Don’t be. You were absolutely right. I drove him to it.”
She knew how to play the game and keep the peace with someone. It would be easier to play nice with Harry so she could enjoy her trip than it would be to fight with him the entire time. And he was right about one thing, he wasn’t the one she was truly mad at. A little resentful maybe, but she wasn’t mad at Harry.
“Do you…wanna head down to the bar?” He asks her.
“Yeah.” She smiles. “That sounds good.”
Nikki doesn’t stay with Harry for long. She finds herself talking to a cute guy that was seated next to her. Harry didn’t mind because he was talking to some other folks as well. Nikki has dinner with the cute guy, and eventually goes back to his room with him. She has her fun and goes back to her own room. Harry was there, just getting out of the shower, his towel hanging low on her hips.
“Hi.” Nikki says, blushing. “Are you done in there?”
“Yeah, it’s all yours.”
“I…I talk in my sleep sometimes…and sometimes I…punch.”
“Punch?”
“Yeah, I have, like, bad dreams because of work.”
“Oh…well, thanks for the warning. I’m sorry that happens to you.”
“I’ve learned to live with it.” She grabs something to wear to bed before going into the bathroom. She takes a shower, and then comes out. She smirks when she sees the pillows in the middle of the bed. “Thanks.”
“It’s the least I could do since I ruined your vacation.”
“You didn’t know I was coming.” She gets into the bed and turns the light off. “Just like how I didn’t know you were coming. I had a bad reaction before.” She sighs as she gets comfortable. “Nice bed.”
“Yeah, better than a hotel. Well…goodnight, Nik.”
“Night, Har.”
//
Harry was rustled awake around four in the morning. He looks over his shoulder and sees Nikki thrashing around. He sits up immediately and moves the pillows out of the way. She was drenched in sweat, so he rips the blankets back. She was gritting her teeth and kicking her legs.
“Nikki!” Harry grabs her shoulders to try to wake her up. “Nicole!” He straddles her hips to try to still her body. She was really strong. Her eyes burst open and she gasps for breath.
“What are you doing?!”
“You were having a bad dream!” He strokes her cheek, and moves her matted hair away from her face. Her breathing calms eventually and he gets off of her. “Do you want me to get you some water?”
“Please.” She sits up. Harry jumps out of bed and goes to fill up a glass. He comes back quickly and hands it to her, sitting on her side of the bed. She takes slow sips. “Thanks.”
“That looked pretty scary…do you remember what your dream was about?”
“Um, yeah, but I don’t want to scare you. I can’t really talk about cases.”
“If you need someone to talk to, I don’t-“
“It’s fine, Harry.” She snaps.
“Is…is this why you and Kyle never moved in together? Because you get these night terrors?”
“That…among other things. I don’t want to talk about him right now. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Don’t be.” He puts his hand on her leg, giving her a squeeze. “Why don’t I put the TV on, hm? We can just relax for a bit, and-“
“Harry, fuck, I don’t need you to be my shrink!”
“I’m not trying to be! Jesus, you cops all think seeing a therapist makes you weak, but it’s actually the strongest fucking thing you can do.” He huffs. “I’m turning the TV on so I can get back to sleep. I need the white noise.”
He grabs the remote off the dresser and turns the TV on. He flips around the stations until he finds MTV.
“MTV?” Nikki asks.
“They show music videos early in the morning. It’s what the whole fucking station was created for in the first place.” He puts the volume on low, and gets back into bed. Neither of them bother putting the pillow barriers back.
“You don’t understand the stigma. If we see psychologists…they think we can’t do our jobs properly.”
“So you just suffer in silence? Must be fucking terrifying to have nightmares so often.”
“It’s my problem, not yours.”
“But it doesn’t have to be a problem, there are a lot of things you can do to-“
“Harry, please just drop it.” She turns away from him, sinking back into the mattress, and pulling the blankets back onto herself. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Whatever.”
//
They barely speak for the next couple of days, which sucks because the first couple of days are just spent on the boat until they reach the Caribbean islands. Their first stop would be in Florida, and Nikki couldn’t wait to get off the boat and explore where they were getting off at.
“Hey, uh…do you think we could grab breakfast together this morning?” Harry asks her just as she was packing her bag for the day.
“Sure.” She sighs.
He nods, gets his own backpack together, and they head to the breakfast buffet. They both had started to make other friends, but Harry thought it might be nice to explore the Florida coast with her. Luckily, Nikki hadn’t had any more night terrors since that first night. Her head was really starting to feel clearer. They’re quiet at the table they choose to sit at. Harry sighs heavily as he sips his orange juice. He notices Nikki stuffing a few apples into her bag.
“What are you doing?” He asks her.
“We’re going to be out all day today, I wanted to make sure I had snacks.”
“You need three apples?”
“For someone else…if they need one.” She mutters. “I just like being prepared, I can’t help it.”
“Well, I suppose if I get hungry later, I’ll be thankful.”
“Oh, are we wandering around together today?” She raises her eyebrows, and takes a bite of her bagel.
“I was hoping so. I don’t like that we’ve barely spoken these last couple of days. We’re friends, Nikki, why can’t we act like it?”
“I stopped being friends with you the day I found out Kyle was fucking cheating on me.” She stands up and storms off. Harry groans, but follows her. It had gotten increasingly windy out, normal stormy morning in Florida. Although, it had started to drizzle. “Stop following me, Harry!”
“No!” He grabs her wrist. They were outside on one of the lower decks. Not many people were outside due to the weather. “I didn’t know, okay?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I didn’t know Kyle was cheating on you!”
“How could you not have known, you’re his fucking roommate! And apparently, it was going on for over six months!”
“He never brought her home! Any girl that he brought over was you, and any time he was gone for the night I just assumed he was with you…if I had known…” He steps closer to her. “I would have confronted him, and told him to cut it out. I would never condone something like that.”
“But you’re still friends with him! You just sat in your room while we were fighting!”
“I’ve been friends with him since uni! I was confused, I thought it’d be better to be on his side and keep the peace. I yelled at him afterwards. I told him he was an asshole for proposing to you while having someone else on the side. And I don’t live with him anymore, alright? I moved out a month ago, got my own place. We’re still friends, yeah, but I…I couldn’t look at him every day knowing what he did to you.” He puts his hand on her shoulder. “I always liked you, Nikki. From the second he started bringing you around, I thought he hit the jack pot, and he fucked it up.”
“He told me I drove him to it. That I wasn’t around enough, that I wasn’t giving him what he needed, but he didn’t feel like he could break it off because we already invested so much time. The fact that it was with his co-worker, someone I never even really trusted.” Nikki scoffs. “I’m glad we weren’t living together, sort of made things easier.” She looks down. “I can’t help that my job keeps me busy, and that I’m not always up to fucking my boyfriend after dealing with a sexual assault case.” She looks back up at him.
“I get it.” He sighs, and grips the railing. “Somedays I come home after a rough session with a patient…like, you know when it’s so bad that when you drive home in silence and go the speed limit?” She nods at him. “It sucks sometimes…being someone that makes other people’s lives easier.”
“Right, because telling a worried mother that her child was found dead and buried in the woods totally makes things easier.” She rolls her eyes.
“That mother gets closure at least. She knows where her kid was and what happened. It helps with the grieving process.” He looks at her again. “You know I work with a lot of victims and survivors, right? I’m not out prescribing anti-depressants to a bunch of rich fucks.”
“I guess I forgot about that.” She furrows her brows at him. “You really didn’t know he was cheating on me?”
“Nikki, I swear, I had no idea.”
Just as she was about to say something else, the wind had picked up. Everything happened really fast from there. Sirens had started to go off, a hurricane was whipping up the coast. It wasn’t supposed to, it was supposed to travel out east, but it didn’t. Harry and Nikki had grabbed onto one another, but it wasn’t enough to stay grounded. They both got flipped over the side of the boat. Nikki had just grabbed at one of the life boats that was attached to the side in time. She pulled the tag, it inflated, and they landed in the water. They were dragged under at first, trying desperately to hang onto the raft. Nikki wasn’t sure how much longer she could hang on for, though. Everything around her started to fade. All she could see was her hand grasping around the rope of the raft before everything black.
//
Nikki’s eyes fluttered open when she felt water splashing on her face. She sits up slowly when she realizes she was drifting along the shoreline. She stands up and tries to figure out her surroundings. She remembered the storm, but she could have been blown all the way to Cuba. She looks to her left and sees the orange raft. Her backpack was next to it, thank god. She stands up slowly and goes over to the raft to flip it over. She steps back when she sees Harry laying there.
“Fuck.” She breathes and kneels down next to him. She almost forgot he was swept away with her. She checks his pulse first, he’s alive. She starts performing CPR, just the chest compressions. Before long he’s coughing up water. “Oh, thank god.”
“What…what happened?” He sits up slowly.
“We got…blown off the boat, I think. There was a big storm that wasn’t properly forecasted. I wonder if anyone else got thrown off like we did.” She looks around, but doesn’t see anyone else. “I have no idea where we are.” She opens her backpack. Everything was wet, but still useful. “My phone’s fully charges and working.”
“How?”
“I have one of those waterproof cases.” She squints at it, raising it up. “No signal.” She digs through her bag and finds a small baggie.
“What’s that?”
“Personal hot spot.” She turns it on and connects her phone. “The signal’s weak, but it’s there.” She stands up and starts walking around. “Map app won’t work.” She groans. “Fuck, I just wanna know where we are!”
“Try calling the ship director, I bet they’re taking attendance for safety measures.”
“Do you happen to know what that number is?”
“No.”
“Well, neither do I. Let me call my partner. The WIFI calling should work.” She taps the number and puts the phone on speaker.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”
“Dan! Thank god you answered.”
“Woah, Reese, what’s wrong?”
“There was a freak storm down in Florida…I got thrown off the boat. I just woke up ashore somewhere, but I have no idea where…could be an island off the coast, or we could be in another part of Florida.”
“Can you try sending me your location?”
“The map app won’t work…”
“But you might be able to send your location over iMessage. Are you alone?”
“No…a man named Harry Styles got thrown over with me. He’s a friend of Kyle’s.”
“Gross.”
“There are worse people to be stranded with.” She smirks at Harry.
“Are either of you hurt?”
“I’m a little achy, but nothing’s sprained or broken. Harry, are you alright?”
“Yeah, m’fine.” He says as he stands up.
“Alright, I’ve got your location…shit.”
“Dan.” She sighs. “Where the fuck are we?”
“Cuba.”
“How the fuck did we end up in Cuba?!” She shouts. “The ferry here would be an overnight trip for fuck sake.”
“Don’t know. I’m looking into it now and it looks like a pretty powerful hurricane swept you guys away. It’s like it chewed you up and spit you out. You’re lucky to be alive. I have the name of the cruise ship, since you left me the contact info, I’ll alert them right away. I’m sure they’re taking stock of who might be missing. I’ll have to get special clearance to get you out of there. It could take a few days. Do you have any supplies?”
“Yeah, I’ve got my mini water purifier, and a couple of bottles, some fruit and granola bars…basic essentials.”
“Okay, stay where you are, try to make a shelter in case more rain comes. Don’t use your phone at all unless I call you. I don’t want your battery running out. I’ll get you out of there, Nik.”
“Thank you, Dan. You’re amazing.”
“I’m sorry your vacation got ruined. I’m sure Captain will give you an extended leave.”
“I’m not worried about that right now. It’ll be dark in a few hours and we need to get to building a shelter like you said. Keep me updated.”
“Will do, stay safe.”
Nikki hangs up the phone and looks around.
“What are you looking for?”
“Drift wood. We can use some and the raft to make a little shelter to huddle under. We also need to make a fire to stay warm. If we’re going to be out here for a few days, we need to think smart.”
“What if there are wild animals running around, or-“
“Harry.” She puts her hands on his shoulders. “I know this is really scary, but you can’t freak out, okay? Did you ever read Hatchet growing up?”
“Y-yeah?”
“Okay, so, that little boy got stranded in a fucking forest in Canada…in winter! We’re at least on a warm beach. We can still wash up, and I have a mini water purifier. We’ll be okay. I just need you to not freak out. I’ll need your help.”
“Okay, but after we’re rescued you better let me freak out as much as I want.”
“Deal.” She sighs and goes to her backpack. “Here, put on some sunscreen.” She hands him the sprayable can.
“What are you, the fucking grandmother from Halloween Town? Is that a bottomless bag?” He chuckles as he sprays himself with the lotion.
“No, but I’m a detective that helps people that go missing, so I’ve learned some things along the way. I never leave my house without a stocked bag.”
//
The two work together to move the raft back so it wasn’t near the water. They’re able to find some wood sturdy enough to prop it up for a small shelter. Next, they work on making a fire. Luckily, Nikki’s lighter was still working. Harry was able to keep things going as she checked their supplies.
“We’ll have to ration a bit. Apples are high in carbs, so they should keep us full enough. I’ve got two bottles of water in here. Once we finish them we can use the purifier. I even have two travel toothbrushes and toothpaste in here.” She smiles. “I have deodorant too, but no soap, sorry. We’ll just have to use the salt water to keep us clean.” She furrows her brows as she keeps looking at everything. “I have granola bars as well. Ugh, thank god I had my period last week. I’d be pissed if I had to deal with that too.” She takes out a couple of tampons. “Besides, these’ll be great fire starters.”
“I guess things could be a lot worse.” He sighs and sits next to her once the fire is good to go. “We’ll probably have to take turns watching it, huh?”
“Most likely.” She starts laughing.
“What could possibly be funny?” He asks.
“Nothing, just…wouldn’t it be hilarious if we were just in some rich family’s backyard?” She looks behind them. “I know we’re not, but it would be funny.”
“Yeah.” He smirks. “Well, now that most of the excitement is over, I’m gonna go take a leak.”
“Hey, if you shit, make sure you dig a hole first and cover it. We don’t need to attract animals.”
“Not that I have to do that right now, but you don’t have toilet paper in there do you?”
“I have a packet of tissues, but they need to dry out a bit. Got pads too, those could work…but I may hog them since I have more areas to wipe than you do.”
“Fair enough. Suppose I could use some leaves if need be. I’ll be right back.” He disappears into a discrete area so he can wee, and then comes back to find her rubbing lotion onto her bare arms and legs.
“I’m really glad I wore shorts today and not a dress.” He sits down next to her. “Don’t worry about your luggage back on the ship, either, Dan will make sure everything will get back to us.” She takes out a gun from her bag.
“Holy shit.” He flinches.
“Relax, it’s a flare gun. I’m saving it to use for when they come for us. No use in using it now. I don’t really feel like getting thrown into a Cuban prison.”
“Yeah, that’s not exactly on my bucket list.” Harry chuckles. “What did you do to the water bottles?”
“Oh, I used a marker to mark off how much we should drink at a time to conserve it.”
“God, if there was ever someone to get stranded with, I’m glad it’s you. You’ve thought of everything.”
“I’ve just been trained well.” She shrugs. “Wish I had some blankets or something. It’s gonna be shit sleeping on the sand.”
“We could lay our clothes out and sleep on those.”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea. We’d create more body heat if we’re almost naked.”
“Oh, so we’re cuddling?” He smirks.
“Not cuddling, surviving.” She corrects him.  “We could drag out some of the larger leaves too. Make a pellet of sorts.” She stands up. “Come on, let’s go search for some.”
“Okay.” He watches as she grabs a lipstick out of her bag. “Freshening up?”
“It’s to mark the trees so we don’t get lost.” She deadpans, and he follows her into the unknown territory.
//
“Four days?!” Nikki shouts into her phone.
“I’m sorry, that was the quickest I could get clearance for a plane to Cuba.”
“But it’s a rescue mission, Dan!”
“Yeah, into a non U.S. territory, Nikki. I spoke with the cruise ship director, you were the only two unaccounted for. Your things are safe. I flew down to Florida today and gathered both of your things. I made sure to get you both a full refund on your tickets. I also contacted the people on your emergency contact lists so they’re informed. It’s going to be okay, you just need to survive on that beach. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Try to get some sleep. I’ll call you in the morning if I get any new information.”
Nikki sighs heavily and lays back under the raft. Her and Harry had made a decent enough pellet with leaves so they could keep their clothes on.
“Four days we’re going to be stuck out here.” She shakes her head. “This is all my fault.”
“What are you talking about?” Harry lays back next to her.
“If I hadn’t stormed off from breakfast, we never would’ve been swept off the ship!”
“Hey,” he turns on his side to look at her better, “don’t do that. Neither of us had any idea a hurricane was coming. At least we know someone’s coming for us. So we’ll feel a little hungry and maybe we’ll get bored. Let’s just pretend we’re on a really remote vacation.” He smiles at her.
“I have to pee.” She stands up and finds a spot to do her business before joining him back on the ground. “Let’s try to get some sleep.” She rolls away from him.
“Didn’t you say we needed to keep each other warm?”
“Yeah…I…prefer to be the little spoon.” She smutters. Harry wraps his arm around her, and gets his leg between hers. “Hold on.” She sits up and takes her bra off under shirt, then she takes her shorts off. “Need something to put under my head…and I can’t sleep with this thing on.”
“Good idea.” Harry peels his shirt off and puts it under his own head. They get back into position. She feels warmer with his bare chest against her back. “Goodnight, Nik.”
“Goodnight, Harry.”
//
The next morning, Harry wakes up alone. He sits up and gets his shirt back on. He squints towards the water and sees Nikki in her bra and underwear. She was about calf deep rinsing herself. She brushes her teeth and walks back towards their little campsite.
“Morning.” She says as she throws some wood on the fire. “Water’s warm. I was just cleaning off yesterday’s sunscreen.” She grabs the can and sprays her body, rubbing it in on certain spots. “What?” She noticed he was staring at her.
“N-nothing, uh, where’s that other toothbrush?”
“Here.” She tosses it to him, along with the toothpaste.
“Thanks.” He clears his throat and gets up. When he comes back, he sees that she’s put her other clothes back on. “So…how should we handle not dying today?”
“Think we need to treat it as a beach day, but in the shade. I don’t want us getting dehydrated.”
“I can’t sit around for four days, I’ll go bananas.” He sighs. “Can’t we go for a walk?”
“Sure, but we shouldn’t go too far.” She looks at her watch. “This’ll tell me when we hit a mile, how does that sound?”
“Works for me.” He shrugs. The two go for a walk. Nikki puts her phone and hotspot in her back pocket. “What’s your percentage at?”
“Eighty. I put it on airplane mode last night to conserve it. I know it won’t last a full four days, but I’m hoping Dan can get here sooner than that. Special clearance for a fucking rescue mission.” She scoffs. “This is ridiculous! Who’d you put as your emergency contact?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“Harry.”
“It’s Kyle, alright?”
“Wow, so you can barely look at the guy, but you put him down for an emergency contact.”
“I’m British, my family lives in the U.K., he’s the only person close enough to me here that I could put down. Who was yours?”
“Alex.”
“She’s so annoying, I don’t know how you stand to be friends with her.”
“I happen to love her, so it seems like a you problem.”
“She’s never been nice to me.”
“It’s because she likes you and you don’t like her back, and she’s not great with dealing with it.”
“She likes me?!”
“Yeah, she thinks you’re cute.” Nikki shrugs. “Think you were still seeing Tina when I first introduced her to you, and then you broke up and didn’t make a move, she was sort of hurt, but to be fair she didn’t make a move either.”
“She’s pretty, but she’s not my type…sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. Can’t help you like, you know? I still can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for a lawyer, especially with the business that I’m in.”
“You know, he used to talk about you all the time. He loved how were this strong, independent woman who was just…badass. He saw you as fearless, and he really liked that. We’re both needy guys…I think the busier you got, he just didn’t know what to do with himself. I personally would have tried to talk to you about it and not my colleague, but that’s just me.”
“He’s a brilliant lawyer, but he sure is a fucking moron. Has he…mentioned me at all since we broke up?”
“I know he felt like shit at first, but…th-the woman, Katie, moved in with him when I moved out…I’m sorry.”
“Well, they’ve been together nine months, perfectly acceptable amount of time to be together before moving in. I bet she never has nightmares.” She looks down at her watch. “We should turn around.” They do, and get back to walking towards their things.
“I know you were blindsided, but…I think things happen for a reason. You two weren’t supposed to get married. I…and this is just my inner psychologist speaking, but when I’d observe you two, you just never really seemed all that compatible. Especially as time went on. Your witty banter turned into hushed arguments. I think when two people get too comfortable, they’re too scared to break it off and start all over.”
“I wanted to marry him. He was the love of my life, Harry. And he…he ripped me to shreds. In my profession, it’s pretty male dominated, or there’s a ton of lesbians, which is fine, but…sometimes I don’t always feel like a woman first. Kyle…Kyle always made me feel like a woman first, and a detective second. It made me feel special.”
“Nik…he…he learned how to treat you like that because of me. He was constantly asking me for advice on how to deal with you.”
“How to deal with me?” They get back to their camp. “Didn’t realize I needed to be dealt with.” She huffs.
“See, that’s your problem right there. You’re extremely hot headed! Are you, like, the bad cop at work? Do you get into the suspect’s face, and scream at them?”
“No, I keep my cool at work. No one gives you information when you yell at them.”
“You’re constantly jumping to conclusions, Nikki. You look down on people when they can’t figure things out right away. He wanted to be with you, but he didn’t know how. So I helped him.”
“Right, are you done pointing out my flaws now?” She rolls her eyes.
“I’m not trying to do that. I just think-“
“That’s your problem. You never stop thinking. You never do. You’re a fucking wallflower, Harry. You come off cool with your tattoos and your nail polish and your rings, but underneath it all you’re a shy little boy who never speaks up when he should.”
“And you like to push people away so much that every word you spit stings.”
“I think we should not talk until it’s time to eat later.” She says, looking away from him.
“That’s your best idea yet.” He says, and storms off. She watches him peel his cloths off, stripping to his boxers, and dive into the water.
//
They share an apple in the midafternoon. She was able to cut it up with her swiss-army knife. They didn’t say anything to each other. Nikki and Harry used to have a decent enough friendship. He would often watch a movie with her and Kyle, or he’d come out to the bar to hang out with their other friends. They got know each other well for the most part. She hated feeling such disdain towards him, but right now he was the only punching bag in sight, and she was abusing him for it. Around three in the afternoon, she comes over to sit with him.
“You should put more sunscreen on your face.” She hands him the can. “I just reapplied.”
“Thanks.” He spritzes it into his hands and works it into his skin. “Look, about before…I’m sorry we keep getting into these heated debates. I truly think you deserve better than Kyle, and it kills me to see you still so hurt and hung up.”
“I’m just…grieving the loss of the last three years still. I’m sorry for flipping out so much.”
“You get a pass while we’re stuck here. It’s not easy to keep your cool while you’re stranded.” He nudges her and she chuckles. “Can we just call a truce for the time being?”
“Yeah, definitely.” She smiles at him. “What do you say we go with that beach vacation idea of yours, and build some sand castles?”
“Oh, that sounds like fun.”
The two get to work on building sand castles, and laughing when they knocked them over afterwards. It was good to exert a little energy so that they could sleep that night. Just like the night before, Harry cuddled Nikki with his bare chest pressed to her covered back. They didn’t get any updates from Dan that day other than an iMessage that things were still a go for a rescue plane to come in a couple of days.
Harry woke up in the middle of the night feeling cold. When he reached for Nikki, she’s not there. He sits up in a panic. He hasn’t really panicked yet since he woke up the other day because she told him to stay calm. Without her, he wasn’t sure how to stay calm in such a stressful situation. Yes, they knew people were coming for them, but it was still their job to survive on this unknown beach. His breathing slows when he sees her laying closer to the fire, staring up at the stars. He gets up, without grabbing his shirt to put back on, and goes to lay next to her.
“Nearly gave me a heart attack.” He says, turning his head in her direction.
“Sorry, I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s alright…just got a little cold is all.” She hums her response without looking at him. “Are you looking at the constellations?”
“Not necessarily.” She sighs. “The only time I’ve ever seen the sky this dark, like, without light pollution, was when I was twenty-one. I got to go to Israel for a birthright trip with my older sister. We camped out in the desert. We all stood in this big circle and preyed and reflected on where we were. I had never seen so many stars.” She turns to look at him now. “I was so overwhelmed that I cried. It was so beautiful.” She looks back up at the night sky. “What you said earlier, about things happening for a reason…I think you’re right. Maybe it wasn’t a cruise that I needed to clear my head…maybe it was getting stranded out here with zero distractions. That’s all the cruise was, a big distraction, but now…being out here…my head’s never been more clear.” She takes a deep breath. “I think I’m done mourning that relationship. The good was good, but the bad was bad…we weren’t right for each other, and I think I’m starting to really see that now. I…I’ll never forgive him for hurting me the way he did, but I want him to be happy, and if that other woman makes him happy and can give him the things that I couldn’t, then, well, good for him.”
“That’s a very adult way of looking at things.” Harry smirks. “It’s amazing what a little unplugging can do for people? A lot of the time I tell my patients to think of a calm, happy place when I have them close their eyes. Nine times out of ten guess what they say their happy place is?”
“Where?”
“The beach. And not at a resort or anything fancy, they just see soft sand, warm water, and a place for them to just sit and breathe for a while. It’s good you were able to come to those conclusions on your own, Nikki.”
“You helped me get there.” She looks at him with a smile. “Guess I respond better to tough love than anything else.”
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many stars either, it’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, it is.” She sighs. Her lips start to quiver, and she sits up.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Harry sits up as well and gently rubs her back as she starts to cry. “You know, other than the fact that we’re stuck on an underdeveloped area of Cuba.”
Nikki chokes out a laugh, and turns to look at him.
“It’s just…I’m so lonely, Harry.” She sniffles as more tears pour from her eyes. “I love my job, and I know I have this tough exterior, but…it’s so fucking hard to meet people in my line of work. I feel like I just latched on to Kyle…and when we ended things I was like what the fuck am I gonna do now, you know?”
“You’ve got Alex…and your partner, Dan…”
“As close as I am with him, I’d never date my partner. Things get too complicated that way. Alex is my best friend, she’s not someone I can be in a relationship with. And I can’t…talk to her about everything. With Kyle, like, he understood where I was coming from sometimes with my cases.”
“You know you can always talk to me. I was sort of…sad that we lost touch when you and Kyle broke up.”
“I hated you by association.”
“Clearly.” He keeps his arm securely around her shoulders. “You and I aren’t so different, Nik. And…sometimes I need someone to talk to too. I listen and help with such heavy shit all day, it’s hard to shake it off and pretend like everything’s normal. I’d like for us to be friends again.”
“I’d like that too.” She wipes her tears and gives him a soft smile. “I’ve missed hanging out with you, you were always so much fun when we’d go grab drinks.”
“Wish we had some booze here. It would certainly take the edge off.”
“Wait!” She stands up. “I think I have a few nips in my bag! I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want us to get dehydrated while we were out in the sun. Hold on.” Nikki quickly goes over to her bag and pulls out two nips, and then goes back over to Harry. “Grapefruit vodka, it’s really good.”
“Anything sounds good right now, honestly.”
They clink the little plastic bottles, open them, and down them. Normally something of this size wouldn’t have an effect on either of them, it was just a double shot. However, with little food over the last couple of days, the alcohol went straight to their heads.
“I don’t know why people hate on grapefruit so much. It’s sweet and it’s got a kick.” Harry says.
“It’s the vodka.” Nikki says. “Vodka makes everything better.”
“Scientifically speaking, it doesn’t. It’s a depressant, and a poison, so technically-“ In an instant Nikki was straddling Harry and putting a hand over his mouth.
“Hey, shrinky-dink, shut up, yeah?” He nods his head yes. “Good.” She gets off of him and sighs as she lays back into the sand.
“Did you ever own shrinky dinks?” He asks, hugging his knees to his chest.
“What?”
“You know, those little plastic things you’d bake in the toaster, and then they’d harden into these little keychain things.”
“Oh my god! I remember the commercials for those! I always it, but my parents never bought stuff off infomercials.”
“We saw it in the store one day. I whined until my mum threw the box in the cart. Even though she was mad at me for behaving poorly, we had a blast making them together.” A few tears come to his eyes. “The first thing I’m gonna do when we get back is call her. She’s probably worried sick.” He wipes under his eyes.
“You know what I’m gonna do?”
“What?”
“Get a Big Mac from McDonald’s.” She looks up at him and they both start laughing. “Yup, gonna stuff my fucking face. Might sue the cruise company too, just to see if I can make a cool million and never have to work another day in my life.”
“Now that’s a brilliant idea. Might have to join in on that. Might just offer us a settlement so we don’t have to go through the whole court process.”
“That would be too easy. They’d say something like, ‘the hurricane was just as much of a surprise to us. We put on sirens’.” She scoffs.
“I think the sirens are the last thing I remember hearing before you woke me up. Can’t believe I only have a few scrapes and bruises.”
“I know, we’re lucky the ropes from the raft didn’t get stuck around our necks.” She sits up.
“Extremely lucky…in all sorts of ways.” He puts his hand overs and gives it a squeeze. “Come on, we should try to get back to sleep. We need to look for more wood tomorrow for the fire.”
“Yeah, alright.” She sighs and they both stand up. They head back over to the shelter and lay down. “Do you think…would it be alright if I just rest my head on your chest?”
“Sure, makes no difference to me.”
She gets comfortable, resting her head on his bare pec, her arm string across his stomach, and a leg over one of his. He puts his arm around her, keeping her close. They don’t say anything else to each other, they both just drift off, succumbing to sleep.
//
“God, I feel disgusting.” Nikki groans the next morning. “I wish I had a razor in here.” She mutters as she rummages through her bag.
“You’re telling me, I usually like a clean shave because my facial hair grows in all patchy.”
“Actually, a little scruff suits you.” She says without looking at him. “I wouldn’t want you with a full beard, but just a little something looks nice.”
“Nikki.” Harry chuckles. “You don’t want me at all.” Her head whips in his direction and he blushes.
“What is that supposed to mean?” She raises an eyebrow at him.
“N-nothing.” He clears his throat. “Uh, why do you think you need a razor anyways?”
“Because my pit hair is starting to grow out, and when it grows out I sweat more, and if I sweat more I’ll stink more.” She says in a quick breath. “Also, my leg hair is starting to get prickly, and I have sensitive skin so it itches like crazy.”
“You could try rubbing your legs with some of the mud and salt water…that might help.”
“Nah, it’s okay.” She sighs. “Think I’m just gonna go for a swim and clean up that way. You know how I said I was going to get a Big Mac?” Harry nods yes. “That’s now the second thing I’m going to do.”
“What’s the first?”
“Shower, in fact, washing my hair is the first on the list.” She takes out of the elastic and shakes it out. “it’s all greasy, but the salt water’s been good for it, I think.” She peels off her shirt and wiggles out of her shorts before walking down to the water.
Harry hadn’t been able to relieve himself in almost a week, and it was really starting to get to him. It especially wasn’t easy because he was around someone like Nikki. Harry always thought she was beautiful, and he thought Kyle was the luckiest bastard for scooping her up. When he saw her come into the suite that morning, he hid how overjoyed he felt. He hated fighting with her, but he was grateful for any interaction he was having with her. He missed her. In all honesty, his plan was to reach out to her another month or so from now, reconnect, tell her how he felt about her…how he really felt about her. It took him nearly a year to figure out why he liked being her friend so much, and why he was so happy for Kyle. It was because he liked Nikki…as more than a friend. But he wasn’t the type of guy to make a move on his best friend’s girl. He wanted to throttle Kyle. Harry truly had no idea he was treating on Nikki. He would have knocked him off his ass and gotten him to either stop, or just break up with Nikki before anyone had to get hurt.
He decides to get up and join her for a swim. He takes his shorts off and goes down to the water in his boxers. He dives in to submerge his body, it was incredibly refreshing. He stands up so he’s only about calf deep. They both agreed not to go too far in because there could be sharks or other predators.
“Think I’m about done with this underwear.” She says to him. “Might go commando for the rest of the time we’re here.”
“You could walk around naked for all I care.” He smirks, and she splashes him. “Oi, I was kidding!”
“Mhm, sure.” She rolls here eyes. “I’m gonna go dry off, and then we can look for more wood.”
“Okay.” He nods and watches her walk out of the water.
They’re able to find more wood later on to keep the fire going. They split a granola bar, and they both sigh once it’s gone. The sun was setting, and Nikki couldn’t help but take a picture of how beautiful it was. Just when she was going to put it down, Dan calls her.
“Hey, Dan.”
“Hey! Great news, I’ll be on the rescue plane first thing in the morning. How are you two holding up?”
“We’re…okay. Mostly just hungry. Bring lots of food.”
“I’ll try. The medic may not want to overwhelm your stomachs. We’re gonna bring you both right to the hospital to get checked out. Your bills are going to be paid by the cruise ship company. If I were you I’d threaten to sue to get some money out of them. They’ve been able to keep this story under wraps and I’m sure they’d like to keep it that way.”
“Okay. I have a flare gun, what time should I set it off so you can find us?”
“Try for around 7AM, we should be close by then.”
“Sounds good, thank you.” She hangs up and looks at Harry. “They’re coming for us bright and early.” She nearly squeals.
“That’s incredible news.” He sighs with relief. “Think we could eat some more food?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s like, you know how the night before it snows you don’t do your homework, but you don’t end up getting a snow day so you’re fucked?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’d rather not eat the food just in case something happens.”
“Fair enough.” He shrugs. “Think I’m just bored anyways.” She sits down next to him.
“Me too. We’ve already played twenty questions, never have I ever…I think if we play another game I’ll go bananas.”
“We could have ourselves a wank.”
“Very funny.”
“M’serious, Nik.” He looks at her. “I think I’ll go bananas if I don’t come soon.”
“Harry, it’s only been a few days…”
“Yeah, but I haven’t done anything in over a week because I thought it would be disrespectful while we were sharing a room on the boat.”
“Alright, so go behind a tree and jerk it.” She shrugs.
“Yeah, I could do that…or…”
“Harry Styles.” She gasps, a smile growing on her face. “Are you seriously suggesting that I stick my hand down your sandy pants, and give you a hand job?”
“I’d be getting you off at the same time so-“
“Are you kidding?! I’m all stubbly down there, and I probably smell disgusting, and-“
Just as she had done to him the night before, he was pinning her down and putt his hand over her mouth.
“Nikki, if you really don’t want to, I’ll drop it and go behind a bush and handle things myself, but I have no problem with a little bit of hair, and I’m just offering to finger you, my face doesn’t need to go anywhere near you if you don’t want it to.” He lifts his hand away from her mouth, but continues to hover over her.
“It’s just…we’re friends.”
“Friends help each other out, don’t they?” She nods her head yes. “Do you want to? Don’t let me pressure you.”
“I…I want to, I mean…getting off doesn’t sound terrible. And it could be a good time killer.”
“Right.” He smirks and moves to lay on the ground next to her. She rolls onto her side and so does he. “Can I…touch your chest?”
“Yeah, I’ll take my bra off, but I’m leaving my shirt on. I just…I feel gross, you know?”
“Whatever makes you more comfortable.” Once she’s situated, she unbuttons her shorts. “I went commando today…put my underwear in the fire.”
Harry nods and undoes his shorts. He was a little nervous.
“Can I kiss you?”
“No.”
“We’ve been brushing our teeth, what’s the big deal?”
“Kissing would make it more intimate, Harry. I don’t want this to be some big, emotional thing.”
He furrows his brows, but chooses not to speak. Instead, he reaches his hand inside her shorts and starts to rub at her folds. Her breath hitches, but she reaches him. Her hand slides inside his boxers and she starts to pump his hardening cock.
“You’re already hard.” She breathes. Their faces were only an inch or so apart.
“M’turned on.” He grunts as her thumb swipes over his tip. He feels her getting wet, and he drags it up to her clit. She bites her bottom lip and twists her hand around his cock. He slides his middle finger inside of her and her mouth falls open. “Fuck, you’re tight.”
“Haven’t done this in a while.” Her hips buck in his direction. “Feels nice. Use two.”
“Are you, ngh, sure?”
“Yes.”
He slides a second finger inside of her and uses his thumb on her clit, applying just enough pressure as he presses circles into it. A moan leaves her lips, and for the first time he was hearing because of something he was doing, and not through the walls of his old apartment. It just makes him work harder, curling his fingers up inside her.
“Fuck, that’s so good.” She mewls. “Don’t stop.”
He presses his forehead to hers and pinches his eyes closed. He was getting closer. His cock was slick with precoma, and she was pumping him perfectly.
“Shit, Nikki.” He moans, and it makes her own closed eyes pop open. She had never really heard a guy genuinely moan before, and she thought it was hot, really, really hot. His fingers were petting against her g-spot in just the right way. He opens his eyes and sees her already looking at him. “Is everything alright?”
“Y-yeah, just…say my name like that again.” Her hips were grinding against his hand. “I’m so fucking close.”
“Me too.” He pants. “Fuck, Nikki.” He moans again. He bites his bottom lip to ground himself.
“Oh my god, Harry!” She cries out as she comes around his fingers, and she feels warmth against her hand. He had also come to his release. He slowly takes his hand away, and she does the same. “Shit.” She breathes and sits up. “I, uh, I need to go pee, excuse me.”
He watches her grab some tissues, and she goes to her designated bathroom area. Harry lays back under the raft and tries to catch his breath. He could clean himself up later.
//
The next morning went by painfully slow. They were up at sunrise in anticipation of the plane coming for them. Nikki’s phone and hotspot had finally died. They made sure to put the fire out safely, and once 7AM hit Nikki shot the flare gun. About ten minutes after that a small plane flew over them, and a rope ladder was thrown out.
“It’s here, we’re saved!” Nikki exclaims, throwing her arms around Harry. He holds her tight for a moment. “I’ll climb up first, okay?”
Harry nods and watches as she starts moving up the ladder, her backpack slung on her back. He climbs up after her, and they’re both pulled inside. Nikki falls into Dan’s arms.
“Thought I was gonna have to go through getting a new partner.” He mutters into her hair. “I’m so happy you’re okay.”
“Me too.”
“How you holding up, Harry?” Dan asks him as the medic checks Harry over.
“I’m alright, I’m feeling really tired, though.”
“So am I.” Nikki says.
“Rest up, we’re headed to a good hospital in Florida.” Dan says, keeping Nikki close to him.
The next time Harry wakes up, he’s in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV. Kyle was sitting by his side. Harry groans as he looks over at him.
“Hey, you’re awake!” Kyle says. “I flew down here as soon as they called me, man. They said you were severely dehydrated, and you had way too much sun, even with all the sunscreen you guys were using. They want to keep you overnight for a psychological evaluation.”
“Makes sense.” Harry sighs. “We’re bound to have some shared trauma, nightmares, remembering certain parts of being thrown off a fucking cruise ship, you know, normal stuff.”
“I haven’t been able to see her yet. I guess Dan’s been in with her, trying to get more info on what happened.”
“Is she awake?”
“I think so…I’ve walked by her room a few times. Did, uh, did anything happen between you two out there?”
“Right, because being stranded is super romantic.” Harry rolls his eyes.
“M’serious, man, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know how you feel about her. The way you’d look at her sometimes…I could see it.”
“Nothing happened.” Harry swallows. “We were out there as friends, and we came back as friends.” Harry sits up a bit. “Is your girlfriend here?”
“No, she’s back at home. She was, uh, very understanding of me wanting to come down here and make sure you both we alright.” Harry nods at that. “If…if something did happen, like, if the next person she ends up being with is you…well, I’d be alright with that.”
“Oh, well, thank god for that. I was really worried about how you’d feel about her moving on.” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Kyle. “You really fucked her up, you know that? She’s not going to be happy to see you.”
“I know what I did was wrong, but I still care about her wellbeing. I’m gonna go check if I can see her now.” He squeezes Harry’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Kyle stands up and goes down the hall to Nikki’s room. Dan was no longer sitting in there, so he figured it was now or never. He knocks on the door, and she sits up when she sees him.
“Kyle?”
“Hey.” He comes in cautiously. “When Dan called me…I got down to Florida as soon as I could.”
“Yeah? Where’s Claudia?”
“Back home…how are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” Nikki sighs. “I’m not roughed up or anything, I guess we were really dehydrated, though. Must have been from all the sun because I had my water purifier…must not work as well with really salty water.”
“I was really worried about you, Nik.” Kyle starts sniffling as tears come to his eyes. “I would have never forgiven myself if you died and the last words you said to me were that you hated me.” He takes her hand in his. “I miss you so much. I hope…I hope we can find a way to be friends.”
“You can’t be serious.” She scoffs and takes her hand away. “You come here, make things about you, and then ask me to be your friend? You cheated on me for six months, Kyle, six months! And you still had the nerve to propose to me! You broke me in so many ways, and I’ve finally been able to put myself back together. Getting stuck out there was almost a blessing. It gave me a lot of the clarity that I needed.”
“I didn’t think you’d still go on the cruise…if I had, I never would have sold Harry the ticket. You must’ve been so mad when you saw him.”
“I was…but he was the perfect person to get stuck out there with.” She shrugs.
“Did anything happen between you two?” He chews on his bottom lip. “I saw him before you, and he said nothing happened, but…he’s a terrible liar. He said you went in as friends, and come out the same way, or something.”
“Well, he’s not wrong about that.” Nikki smirks. “You really wanna know what happened between us?” Kyle nods yes. “Too bad.”
“What?”
“You don’t have the right to know. I meant it when I said I hated you, Kyle. I do, I hate you. It was very nice of you to come down here and make sure we were both okay. I actually appreciate it, but I’ll never forgive you for what you did. Cheating…it’s just not something I can forgive.”
“Okay.” He nods. “Well…I…I really am glad you’re alright. Did they tell you when you’d be able to go home?”
“In a couple of days. They’re keeping us overnight, and then they’re sending in a shrink to evaluate us. Standard procedure.”
“If you need anything at all when you get home…any help suing the cruise ship company, please don’t hesitate to ask. I could help you pro bono.”
“My god, how selfless.” She rolls her eyes. “Go home to Claudia, Kyle.”
“Bye, Nikki.” He lingers for a moment, and then leaves. A few tears roll down her cheeks, but not because of him. She just…missed Harry and wanted to see how he was.
//
Nikki and Harry weren’t given much time together during their evaluations. They were each spoken to separately, and when they were brought into the same room, they had to speak to the psychologist directly. Nikki desperately wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but she wasn’t really given the chance. Harry was able to catch her in her room before they left the hospital. They were to go directly to the airport to head home.
“Hey.” He says to her.
“Hi.” She says as she zips up her bag. “I think I’m sitting with Dan on the plane.” She swallows.
“Right.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Um, listen, when we get home…don’t be afraid to talk to me. Like, if you have a nightmare or something, don’t be afraid to call. I won’t care what time it is.”
“That’s nice of you, thanks, but I’ll be alright. It’s no different than seeing some bad shit at a crime scene.”
“No, it’s not.” He sighs. “You might-“
“Harry, please.” She shakes her head as she grabs her bags. “I’m a big girl, I think I can handle what happened. It’s not like it was traumatic.” She scoffs.
“Yes it was, are you kidding me? A hurricane-“
“I was there, I know what happened.” She shakes her. “I appreciate you being so nice, but it happened, and it’s over now. Back to reality.”
What she said carried a lot of weight. She was coming down from her cloud, and she realized her and Harry needed to part ways here. Every time she looked at him, she saw Kyle, and she just couldn’t deal with that right now. Harry knew what she meant too. He was extremely disappointed. Even though he was the one that suggested they do what they did that night, he was feeling a lot of emotions about it, almost regret because he knew he’d never get another chance to feel her like that again.
//
“Captain, I swear I’m fine. I just want to get back to work.”
“I know you do, Reese, but you’ve been through a lot, and-“
“Sir, not to be disrespectful, but I disagree.”
“Nikki.” He sighs. “Take another week off, alright? Work will be waiting here until you get back. I’m happy to see you, but I’ll be happier once I know you’re home. It’s an order, Reese.”
She sighs, but does as he says. She couldn’t really argue with the captain of her precinct. She tells Dan she’ll be out for another week, and then heads home. She hadn’t spoken to Harry, but to be fair he hadn’t made an attempt to reach out to her. He wanted to give her some space, and let her come to him if she wanted to. By the third night she woke herself up screaming and in a cold sweat, she knew she had a problem. She kept having flashes of being dragged under water and not being able to breathe. She finally worked up the nerve to call him…at 3AM.
“Nikki?”
She could tell she had woken him up, but it felt so good to hear his voice.
“Hi.”
“Are you alright, love?”
“No.” She swallows. “No, I keep having nightmares.”
“So do I.” He sighs. “Do you want me to swing by?”
“No, that’s okay…I kinda just wanted to hear your voice. I’m sorry if that’s weird.”
“It’s not…it’s nice to hear yours too.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t reached out until now. I feel like I’ve been trying to pretend nothing happened.”
“A lot of people try to cope that way, but repressing shit isn’t healthy, Nik.”
“So I’ve come to realize. It’s crazy, like, I work with all of these victims, and I’ve never really understood how they couldn’t remember certain things, but I get it now.”
“Trauma’s funny like that.” He says softly. “Have you been back to work?”
“I tried, but my captain told me to take another week off. What about you?”
“I’m doing the same. I’m too distracted to properly help my patients. They’ve been very understanding.”
“That’s good.” She chews her bottom lip. “So, you’ll be home tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe I could come by in the afternoon? It would be nice to talk…maybe we’ve been having the same nightmares. I keep waking up screaming and sweaty.”
“Are you dreaming about being dragged under the water?”
“Yeah…”
“So have I.” He sighs. “Come over around two tomorrow, yeah? I’ll text you my new address.”
“Okay, that sounds good, thanks, Harry.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Well…I’ll let you get back to sleep now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, Nik.”
//
Nikki knocked on Harry’s door promptly at 2PM. She was just in a simple quarter zip and jeans, along with her hair up in a messy bun. Harry opens the door wearing a tee shirt and joggers.
“Hi.” He says.
“Hi.” She says.
He steps aside to let her in. They look at each other for a moment, it looks like they’re both about to speak, but they both close their mouths. There was so much to be said, but neither were sure how to articulate it. Her eyes well up with tears, and she rushes towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, crashing her lips to his. He wastes no time wrapping his arms around her, and returning the kiss. Even though her mouth was preoccupied, kissing him made her feel like she could breathe for the first time in days.
“I missed you.” She says, pressing her head into his chest.
“I missed you too.” He rests his chin on the top of her head.
“I’m sorry if that was weird, I just-“
He cups her cheeks so she’ll look up at him. He gives her a soft smile.
“Nikki, I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”
“Really?”
“Yeah…I was pretty jealous of Kyle for a while. I’ve always thought you were wonderful. Feel like we have a lot in common.”
“We do.” She agrees.
“We don’t have to rush into anything…I’d rather us work on ways to not have nightmares and such, but…if you’d be willing to give it a try, I’d love to take you out sometime.”
“You wouldn’t feel weird…about Kyle?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I…I don’t think he’s really someone I want around anymore. I’d rather have you around.” He kisses her tenderly, sucking on her bottom lip for just a moment. “I really fucking like you.”
“I can see that.” She swallows. “I think…I think we could have a lot of fun together.” A smirk grows on her lips. “Just don’t become my therapist, or I’ll beat the shit out of you.”
“Is that a threat or a promise.” He smirks, nuzzling his nose to hers. “Wouldn’t mind seeing how you use your handcuffs.”
“Remember when I called you a moron?” She chuckles. “I meant it.” She shoves him.
“I was kidding, relax.”
“Mhm, sure.” She rolls her eyes.
“Do you want some tea? We could sit and chat. I’ve been trying to record the dreams I’ve been having in a journal. I have my patients do it, so I figured I’d take my own advice.” He leads her into his kitchen and has her sit. “I keep having the same one: drowning.”
“I have that one, and then I have one where…where I wasn’t able to hold onto you.” She frowns as he gets his kettle going. “You know…I had less night terrors sleeping on that beach with you than I have in a long time.”
“Can I ask…would Kyle hold you at night?” Harry sets a mug in front of her before he sits down.
“Um, usually when I’d first fall asleep he’d spoon me for a bit, but he’s not a cuddly sleeper, and he’d eventually roll over. We didn’t spend a lot of nights together because I’d usually wake him up by accident. What does any of that matter?”
“I held you all night while we were on the beach.” He puckers his lips in thought. “Do you have a weighted blanket?”
“No.”
“Do me a favor, get one. You may need the extra weight at night to keep you calm. They work wonders, I have one myself, and a body pillow. I’m a cuddly sleeper.”
“I’ll, um, I’ll look into that.” She takes a careful sip of her tea. “How can I get them stop? The nightmares.”
“Well, talking about it usually helps, and doing things like getting a weighted blanket can help. I think you’ve repressed a lot, Nikki…you need to talk about the things you see and feel.”
“It’s not that simple, Harry.” She sighs. “If anyone at work found out I was seeing a therapist-“
“If it’s that big of a deal…then don’t tell them.”
“Things have a way of getting out.”
“Then…just say you’re seeing me.”
“That’s not fair, though.”
“Nikki.” Harry sighs and places his hand on top of hers. “I’m not offering to be your therapist, I’m just offering to be someone that you can come to if you need to talk about something. M’a really good listener.” He smiles.
“I know you are…thank you. I just don’t want to come to you, and dump on you when people pay you to do that all day. Why should I burden you with my problems?”
“Oh, darling.” He raises her hand to his lips and kisses it. “Nothing about you is a burden. Tons of people feel that way, and that’s why they don’t want to talk to anyone, but once you get talking it just gets easier and easier. I always liked when you’d tell work stories…you could just tell me about the not so great stuff when it’s feeling really heavy.”
“So, if I come to you and say I just spent the day searching for a kid, and we found their dead body in the trunk of a car, you’d be okay with that?”
“Probably wouldn’t wanna chat about it over dinner, but sure.” He shrugs. “Nikki, I told you, I see people who have been through shit, victims and survivors, that stuff doesn’t scare me.”
“I may not open up right away.”
“That’s alright, we don’t always have to talk about the heavy stuff.” He smiles.
“What if I don’t wanna talk at all?” She mutters.
“Well, I don’t know if you remember what happened between us that one night on the beach, but I’m pretty good at not talking too.” He smirks.
“You know, if I had known you had liked me for a while, I wouldn’t have been such a jerk about kissing and stuff that night.”
“I was too blissed out with your hand wrapped around my prick to really care.”
Nikki licks her lips and swallows, looking at his lips briefly.
“You know what would be great?”
“What?”
“A tour of your apartment.”
“How rude of me to not offer when you first came in.” He stands up and extends his hand. She takes it, and lets him lead her around. He shows her the art on the walls, and the various books in his home office.
“Do you ever see patients here?” She asks as she sits down in one of his comfy chairs.
“God, no.” He shakes his head, leaning his bum on his desk. “Sometimes patients can grow certain attachments to their therapists, it’s better for them to not know where I live.”
“Right, because you’re the hot Dr. Styles.” She smirks. “Same thing happens to me sometimes. I’m usually the one they send in undercover to seduce some sick fuck.”
“That’s because you’re incredibly skilled and talented at what you do, Detective Reese.” Nikki stands up and wraps her arms around his neck. “You’re also insanely gorgeous, but that’s besides the point.” He kisses her nose. “Would you like to stay for dinner and watch a movie?”
“Yeah, I would.”
//
Five months later…
“Dan…what is this?” Nikki points to the plant Dan plopped down on her desk.
“It’s a bonsai tree, they’re super easy to take care of. Consider it your first house warming gift.” He beams at her.
“Aw, you old softie, thank you.” She gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Allie can’t wait for our next game night, by the way. She was thinking we could have you two over to play Clue once you’re all moved in.”
“Yeah! That sounds great. Oh! I wrote down that recipe for that dessert I made for her.” She grabs an envelope from her desk. “That cookies and cream pudding pie.”
“God, thanks.” Dan takes the envelope. “She’s been dying to make it, but she wants to make it the way you did so she can start selling it at the bakery and call it ‘The Nikki’.” He chuckles.
“She’s too sweet, honestly. If you don’t put a ring on it, I will.”
Things had been going really well for Nikki. Thanks to Harry, she had gotten better about opening up about things. It was so slow going at first, but eventually she got to talking, and it helped her be a better detective. Being Harry’s girlfriend was amazing. It didn’t take much for her to fall head over heels in love with him. And there was no denying that he was gaga over her. That’s why after just five months of dating, they were moving into their very own town home together. It didn’t feel fast to either of them because they had known each other for years, and they slept at each other’s places all the time as it was. It just made sense to move in together. They were in love, and were a great pair. Alex had even gotten used to it, and Harry set her up with one of his friends, Ben. Their friends helped them move, and Nikki put her new bonsai tree in her kitchen bay window. Everyone left after having some pizza and beer.
“Can you believe this is all ours?” He says into her ear as he wraps his arms around her from behind.
“No.” She giggles as he nibbles on her earlobe. “But I’m really happy.”
“Me too.” He hums. He sponges kisses to her neck and sinks his teeth into her skin.
“Harry.” She whines. “We need to unpack.”
“Don’t wanna.” He mumbles into her skin.
“Can we at least do the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom? You know, the, um, essentials.” She swallows. Harry was often very affectionate with her, and she liked it. She really, really liked it.  
“Fine.” He turns her around. “But when we’re done with the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom, we’re doing the bedroom.”
“Seems fair to me.” She pecks his lips.
The two work in tandem to put their essentials away. It was actually fun to organize the cabinets together. Next, they go upstairs to work on their bathroom. Actually, Harry handles the bathroom while Nikki gets some fresh sheets on their new king sized bed.
“Bathroom’s all set.” Harry says.
“I just got the foam topper and the fitted sheet on the bed, I just have to – ah!”
Harry had grabbed her and thrown her onto the bed. She squeals as he launches himself onto it, almost crushing her in the process.
“Making the bed fully would be a waste of energy.” He says into her ear as he pins her wrists down. He sucks on her supple bottom lip, and lets it go, causing her to whimper. “Don’t you think?” She nods her head yes. “Just wanna fuck my new live-in girlfriend, can I?”
“Please.” She breathes. “Need you to take care of me.” She pouts at him.
“Aw, my angel-baby-detective needs some lovin’?” He pouts back at her.
“Uh-huh.”
He grins at her and has them both sit up. He peels off her tee shirt, and lifts off her sports bra. He gropes her breasts before kissing on them. He sucks bruise after bruise into her plushy skin. He pulls her into his lap so she can grind on him while he paid attention to her breasts. She liked it when Harry left marks on her like this. She liked being his. He lays her down onto her back. He kisses down her torso, nipping where he pleases. He loved kissing on her pudgier areas because he wanted to show how much he loved every inch of her. She did the same with his love handles. He drags her yoga pants and underwear off, and tosses them to the floor.
“Look at you, so wet already.” He says as he pulls her thighs apart.
“You were already making me feel so good, Har.”
He hums his response as he laps his tongue around her center. He moans once he gets a proper taste of her. He licks his way up to her clit and sucks on it while he works two fingers inside of her. She grabs at his hair and tugs on it while her body starts to tingle.
“Fuck, just like that.” She mewls while raising her hips to meet his mouth more. She comes to her release, and she tugs him up to her. She licks into his mouth and sucks on his tongue. “Get naked, now.” She nearly growls.
Harry grins and gets his clothes off. He sits up against the headboard and waits for Nikki to swing her leg over his lap. She lines him up with her center, rubbing his tip along her clit before sinking down onto him. They both moan out, and he grabs at her hips to help her find a rhythm. She puts her hands on his shoulders and starts bouncing up and down on his cock.
“God, I love you so much.” He grunts.
“I love you too.” She kisses him and runs her hands through his hair. “Don’t know I ever survived without having your big dick inside me, fuck.”
“Yeah? M’making you feel good, baby?”
“So fucking good.” She pants. “Best I’ve ever fucking had.”
She comes again, and with the way she clenches around him he nearly loses it inside of her. He lifts her off just in time and comes on her stomach. He kisses her over and over, and they both giggle. Once they’re both cleaned up, Harry helps Nikki get the bed made, and they both climb in. She rests her head on his stomach while he reads his book.
“Harry?” She looks up at him. “Could you out your book down for a second? I have something to tell you.”
“Sure, sweetie.” He dog-ears the page he’s on and sets his book down. “What’s up? Oh, is this about me buying the Hamilton Beach food processor instead of the Cuisine Art one like you wanted?”
“No.” She chuckles.
“Are you sure? Because you cried when I brought it home. I swear, the Hamilton Beach one had better reviews, that’s the only reason why I got it.”
“I cried because I was hormonal.” She chews her bottom lip. “Harry, I’m pregnant.”
“But I came on your stomach.” He blinks, and then looks down at her.
“Yeah, tonight you did.” She sits up so she can look at him better. She kisses his shoulder and then smiles at him. “My period was late, so I took a test just for the hell of it…I’m six weeks.” She grabs her phone off the side table. “I even took a selfie with it to show you.”
“Oh my god, you’re not kidding.” He looks at the picture and then at her. “How long have you known for?”
“Only a week. I wanted to wait until the move was over to tell you. How, um, how do you feel about this? We haven’t really talked about kids or anything.”
“I know.” He hands her back her phone and throws his arm around her. “I mean, I fully intended on proposing and all that, just not for another few months. I wanted to see how living together went.” He smiles down at her. “And I was hoping you’d want kids at some point…think you’d make a great mum. I’ve seen you with kids, you’re amazing.” He kisses her temple and starts laughing. “I can’t believe I’m gonna be a father.” He shakes his head. “Thanks, Nikki!”
“You’re such a dork.” She chuckles. “You’re really not mad, or upset?”
“How could I be? I’m living with the girl I never thought I’d even get the chance to kiss, and now she’s pregnant with my baby. I’m ecstatic.” He pecks her lips. “How are you feeling about all of it?”
“I’m…actually pretty excited. I mean…I went off birth control months ago for this very reason. I didn’t think it would happen quite this fast, but this is a pretty happy accident.”
“I wonder what we were doing six weeks ago.”
“What does it matter?”
“I’d just like to know how our little fetus got conceived.”
“I, um, think it was the night, you, uh, let me lick the whip cream off you on your desk.” She swallows.
“Oh, yeah! Blew my load right up into you, didn’t I?” He smirks. “We should do that again, it was a great sensory exercise.”
“Harry!” She smacks his chest.
“You’re really okay with all this, Nik? It’s your body.” He caresses her cheek and she leans into his warm palm.
“I’m more than okay with it. Just don’t rush an engagement or anything like that, okay? I wanna marry you at some point too…but…not just because I’m pregnant.”
“So…if like four months from now I had a long weekend for us planned to go apple picking up north, and while we were settling down in the evening getting cozy in front of a fire place…you wouldn’t want me to propose?”
“You know, I hear being pregnant can make you forget all kinds of things, so I can’t wait to be surprised four months from now when you suggest going away for a long weekend to go apple picking.” She beams at him. “I think I’d really like that.”
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Text
Raise the Stakes, Part 8
I swear, I will wind this one up in the not-too-distant future but I keep kind of thinking of different things to do with it. Bad writer, bad. Finish your work!
You can find the previous bits of the story:
Place Your Bets
Part one two three four five six seven
Pairing: David Finlay x OFC (referenced Jay White x OFC)
Word count: 3,824
Content advisory: graphic sexual content, cursing
You feel like an idiot for actually believing that he was going to talk to you the next day, or that he was going to do anything other than ignore you the way he has since your arrival. If anything, he’s ignoring you harder than ever, or at least taking greater pains to be anywhere around you. If you see him, he’s always moving and with others. The wall between you is so thick you start gaslighting yourself, wondering if you imagined the tryst in your car.
The whole company is buzzing. It’s the last few days before the big Slammiversary show, the peak of their year. The excitement for the show and for finally having a small audience is mingled with the knowledge that every year, there are some surprises. THe bigwigs play their cards close to their chests, which means that the talent and behind the scenes people, yourself very much included, don’t know who could pop out at any moment. New Japan has been frustratingly tight-lipped. It’s supposed to be your job to bridge the gaps between New Japan and Impact but no one will tell you who might be trying to cross those bridges.
Is Nagata coming back? You’ll find out.
Another appearance by Phantasmo? Wait and see.
Tama and Tanga are mouthing off at the Good Brothers all the time on social media. Are they showing up?
It’s like shouting at a wall.
Finlay and Robinson are there, they tell you. Take care of them.
It’s almost more frustrating to hear that because, of course, you’d like to do that but one of them is very determined not to let that happen.
By Thursday afternoon, you’ve done everything you can.
“Take a day off,” Scott Damore, the man tasked with keeping this little beehive running tells you. “Go home and relax. You’ll want to be rested for Saturday.”
You want to tell him there’s no need for you to leave now but your aching back, neck, and head disagree.
“What time do you need me here Saturday?”
“Morning?” He looks surprised. “Just come in an hour or so before the show.”
“But what do you need me to do?”
“Sit in the audience, cheer at the right points, look excited if the camera passes you.”
“That’s it?”
“There’s nothing that needs to be liaised in the middle of a show. Grab a seat, have some fun. Be a fan for a few hours.”
You laugh a little because you can’t remember the last time you were able to just be a fan.
“You do like wrestling, don’t you?”
“I do,” you chuckle. “I just don’t really have the opportunity to indulge that very often.”
“So go home, have a nice dinner and a glass of wine. Do whatever it takes to get rid of that headache that I can see right through your skull. Spend the day in your pajamas playing videogames with teenagers online.”
You rise slowly, thanking him as you move to go.
“Hey,” he calls softly, “you’re doing a great job. Don’t think they’re not going to hear about it in Tokyo.”
It’s such a sweet note to leave on that you’re most of the way home, or to the temporary rental that’s passing for home right now, before you think about the fact that you haven’t laid eyes on David all day. He’s been around, because if he hadn’t been, you’re the one who would have had to field questions about it. But he’s been invisible to you.
You end up taking Scott’s suggestions very much to heart. You order dinner from the Chinese place you’ve become addicted to, watch early episodes of The Walking Dead, and have a couple of drinks until you can feel a warm blanket of sleepiness wrapping itself around you.
And that’s when your doorbell rings.
You grab your phone, although there’s a large part of you that wants to ignore it because it’s a little unnervingly late to be getting callers. But you pick it up just on that off chance, because there’s that sliver of hope that it’s…
“It’s David.” He sounds tired and grumpy but you don’t even care because he’s there, at your door and it makes your heart race. You buzz him in and then just stand in front of your apartment door like a complete idiot until you hear him knock.
As soon as you open the door, though, your heart sinks.
“Seriously?” he snaps, holding your panties up for anyone to see.
“How long does it take you to go through your damn pockets,” you hiss, trying to hide how close you are to crying.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You want me to get a restraining order?”
“I’m sorry,” you croak. “I know it was stupid, I just thought maybe if I left you a little reminder that… I don’t know. I thought that if I could get you back once…”
“You did not get me back. I’ve been lonely and I had a weak moment. And even then I couldn’t bring myself to fuck you.”
“Fine. I misinterpreted and thought it was me you wanted. Happy to have given you a show and a nice warm surface to rub one out.”
He throws your panties on the floor without another word. Now you have a problem. You know perfectly well that the second you let him out of your sight, he’s going to disappear. But the door to your apartment is going to lock automatically if it closes unless you step back inside and adjust it. So if you want to avoid giving him the chance to run away, you have to find a way to reach your discarded panties without allowing the door to close behind you.
Awkwardly, you bend forward but it’s immediately obvious that the offending garment is still out of reach. You try looking at him but he seems amused by your predicament. So you have to get right down on your knees and stretch, all while keeping your foot on the door, which weighs a ton. You’ve never felt less elegant in your life, nor more ridiculous than when you glare up at him. His expression is scornful and amused, but there’s a hint of something else you can see in his eyes. There you are, the bitch who he believes used him, the one who’s been begging for his attention, now on her knees in the most humiliating position.
You grab the scrap of fabric and scramble into a standing position before starting to speak. Unfortunately, you move enough that your foot slips from the door. You flinch as you hear the heavy thud.
“Fuck!” he yelps, loud enough you think the neighbors will show up.
It takes a second for you to register that he stuck his hand up to stop the door from closing and that the full weight of it crashed onto his fingers.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” It’s like every time he gets near you, something awful happens to him.
You push the door open and take his hand, trying to see if there’s any damage. He’s obviously irritated and tries to pull it back but it occurs to you that this could be serious.
“Come on, you have to at least let me put some ice on that.”
“No.”
“You have to. If it swells up, your hand could be screwed up for Saturday.”
He looks positively disgusted as it dawns on him that you’re right but he lets you lead him gently into your apartment.
You take out your ice tray and wrap a few cubes in the dish towel, pressing it softly against his hand. He swats you away and holds the makeshift ice pack himself. There’s a little grunted sound that might be a thank you.
“What even happened?”
“I thought the door was going to lock if it closed, I just tried to stop it. Don’t know why I did that.”
“Thank you,” you say softly, guilt soaking your voice. “I would have been locked out.”
“Boohoo.”
“I’m really sorry about the panties, I just-”
“You’re just a disaster area and I need to stay the fuck away from you. I should have just thrown your little present in your face at the show.”
“I’m so glad you didn’t.”
“I’m going to wait a few minutes until I’m sure my hand is ok. I would really appreciate it if you would just not speak for the rest of the time I’m here.”
The look on his face is so pained, so defeated, that you just nod and look at the floor. But you can’t hold it in. The insanity of the situation you’ve put yourself in and the feeling of having him close enough to touch while also being so remote burns through your insides like a wildfire and you just… break.
You let one loud yelp out and then it’s nothing but tears and loud sobbing. He immediately looks up at you and although your vision is blurred, his expression isn’t unsympathetic but that just makes it worse and you cry harder as you try to speak.
“You’re right, you should stay away from me… I thought that if I came here… I thought that if you knew I left him… that I left him for you…”
Your voice breaks up and you have to wipe your face just to keep yourself focused.
“I didn’t think about how bad I am… for you… for whatever… I just wanted…”
You break down in sobs again and you’re just about to go and hide on the balcony until he leaves when it happens. A miracle. He lays the towel on the counter and walks towards you. Even through your tears, you can see that his expression is much softer and that allows you to hold it together until he lays his hands on your shoulders and pulls you just a little closer.
At that point, once again, you lose it, the memory of how that touch felt back before you’d made a mess of everything. He presses you close to his chest, which amplifies the feeling and you feel like you’re going to pass out.
“Look at me,” he murmurs, cupping your face with his hand.
You open your eyes a little and he makes a face.
“You’re a mess.”
“I know,” you blurt. “I don’t know why I do the shit I do, it’s just-”
“No, I mean your face… there’s mascara stuff happening. It looks like an oil spill.”
Despite yourself, you laugh, holding back the tears as he uses his sleeve to wipe your face.
“Your hands are freezing.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have another pair with me. Besides, it helps with swelling, remember?”
You laugh a little again, trembling when he holds your face in his hands. For the first time in ages, he doesn’t have any of that vicious resentment in his eyes. It’s almost like the way he looked at you that day you had breakfast in the cafe, just sadder.
He looks at you that way for what feels like a long time, allowing you to regain control of yourself.
“You have really cute ears.”
“Wh- what?”
He smiles. “Your ears. They’re so cute, you have no idea. You always have your hair pulled back or up and I just remember noticing at one point. I’d smile about it all the time when you weren’t looking.”
“How do ears… be cute?” You can’t imagine what he’s talking about and yet the weirdness of the compliment makes it wonderful.
“Come here.” He takes you by the wrist and leads you into the bathroom. He positions you in front of the mirror, standing behind you and pulling you back against his chest. He takes your jaw in his hand and gently turns your head so that you can see the side of your face and your apparently adorable ear.
“You see,” he explains, running his thumb delicately along the outer ridge, “it’s kind of big and round up here, and then it tapers right off into this perfectly proportional little lobe and it looks like a half a heart. So they look like two halves of a heart. I can’t believe you’ve never noticed this before.”
He laughs softly and presses his face against yours, the scrape of his beard on your skin sending shivers through your whole body. His lips touch your cheek so fleetingly that you almost wonder if you’ve imagined it.
“Crying takes it out of you,” he sighs. “Let’s put you to bed.”
You feel numb as he leads you into the bedroom and helps you onto the bed before turning to close your blinds.
“Do you like being back in the States?” you ask, hoping you can stretch out his visit a little longer.
“Yeah, I do. I mean, it’s weird, all the back and forth lately. I swear I think I’m still jet lagged, or I’m just permanently fucked up.”
You smile as he sits down on the side of the bed. He smiles back but he makes no move to touch you or get closer.
“How do you like Impact?”
“I like not working Japanese hours.”
“Damn, I’ll bet. It’s one thing with the wrestlers but they don’t give you guys a break ever.”
You suddenly realize that you don’t want to talk about your work in Japan at all.
“I heard your brother is getting into wrestling too now?”
“Yup. I’m not sure Dad wanted either of us doing this for a living but I guess it really is in the blood.”
He takes your hands and places them on your stomach, very ladylike and demure, and pats them with his.
“You need to get some sleep. I’ll go fight with the door to get out.”
“Tell me a bedtime story?” You try to make yourself sound as cute and harmless as possible and not like some crazed broad desperate to prolong the moment.
“No.”
You pout a little, gratified when you hear him chuckle.
“Ok, once upon a time there was an extremely silly little princess who could never figure out what she wanted. And no one ever seemed to be able to help her decide what that was, no matter how hard they tried. The end.”
You can’t help but give a wry laugh at that. “At least it’s nice to be a princess.”
“Who said I was talking about you?”
You stare at him a long time, trying to figure out how to untie all the knots of what you’ve done. You can’t even imagine. You’re still trying to figure it out when he bends down and touches his lips, very softly, very quickly, to yours.
He pulls back but then almost immediately repeats the gesture. Then repeats it again. And again. He shifts so that he’s hovering over you, continuing to give you these little kisses.
“Stop that,” he rasps.
“Stop what? You’re the one kissing me.”
“Hm. I guess you’re right.” He leans in again. “Stop me.”
“I don’t want to.”
He doesn’t stop.
“Yeah, I don’t really want you to stop me either.”
And from that point, it gets more insistent, more romantic, and more passionate, until you feel him easing your pants down and running his hands over your thighs and ass. Determined that he is not just going to turn this into another resentful mutual masturbation session, you pull at his shirt. He wriggles free of it immediately easing you out of yours.
“How do you manage to run around without a bra on like that?” He squeezes and licks at your breasts with a little wink.
“I’m in my own apartment. I’m allowed to walk around however I want.”
“Yeah. But you don’t always wear one at work either, do you?”
He crashes his mouth into yours, tongue eagerly breaching your lips.
“Don’t think I don’t notice,” he pants.
He slides down and presses his face between your legs before you can think of a witty comeback, and once he does, you can’t think of anything. It’s so intense, so determined the way he goes at this, the way he picks up on every little twitch and tremor in your body, how he paces himself and you enough that it never feels like a rush to a goal. You don’t deserve this. You have no right to have him be this good to you.
You twist your hand in his hair, pulling it loose from the disheveled bun he’s always sporting. The parts of it that were trapped inside are still damp and you tug firmly to make him look up at you.
“Did you shower before you came over here?”
He smiles coyly and presses two fingers inside you, curling them like he’s beckoning you forward, making you moan and twist even as you’re trying to keep your mind focused.
“I shower pretty frequently,” he grins, “what’s it to you?”
He presses his lips close to your clit, allowing his tongue to flick ever so lightly against it.
“I don’t know,” you breathe, trying not to get overwhelmed by what he’s doing, “I like thinking you got yourself all cleaned up and handsome for me.”
You feel the soft vibrations of his laughter as he dives back into you, tongue pushing up inside you and making you scream before you grab at his hair again.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this,” you whimper.
“Oh I love doing it.”
“I mean I don’t know why you’re doing this to me, when I’ve been so-”
You’re cut off as he goes right back at it, licking and pushing harder for a few seconds before he whispers, “If you had any idea how often I’ve jerked off fantasizing about eating you out, you’d probably stop speaking to me.”
With that he pins you down and continues in earnest, going at you with a zealot’s vigor so that you can’t question him or do anything but scream and beg him to continue what he’s doing until you fall apart, trembling and gasping.
You feel him wriggle out of his pants before he pulls you onto his lap, kissing you and playfully biting at your lips, his arms wound tight around your waist. You run your hand slowly down the length of his shaft, smiling at the little gasp this elicits.
“I want you inside me.”
“Yeah…” the hesitance in his voice terrifies you. “I was… I was hopeful enough to get all showered and freshened up before I came over but I wasn’t so confident that I actually brought any kind of protection with me.”
“I’m on birth control. And I get checked regularly, I swear, I’m-”
He kisses you hard, so passionately that you almost tumble over.
“You sure?” he whispers when he breaks the kiss.
“Very sure.”
He flips you onto your knees and pulls your hips back towards him. As he enters you, you realize that you’d convinced yourself you weren’t ever going to get this again. It’s like a reprieve from prison, feeling him fill you up.
He leans down enough that the feathery tips of his hair brush against the skin of your back, a stark contrast to the powerful hold he has on your hips. There’s an unbroken stream of praises coming from him but all you can think of to whimper in response is, “Thank you.”
“What?”
He slows his pace just a little.
“Thank you,” you repeat. “I didn’t think you’d want to touch me again. I don’t deserve you being this good to me.”
“Oh sweetheart no.” He pulls you up and holds you against his damp chest, one hand immediately falling to your clit while he continues to thrust inside you. “It’s ok, I’ve got you. I want to feel you come again, I want you to come on my cock.”
You let yourself relax into his touch and it takes very little time until he has you falling apart for him again, your muscles contracting sharply around him as he clearly fights to keep control.
He flips you onto your back like you’re nothing and smiles down at your dazed face.
“Let’s do this right.”
He leans down and pushes himself back inside you slowly crushing your body close to his and planting a fierce kiss on your lips. His movements are agonizingly slow, letting you feel every bit of what’s happening, picking up only when you hitch your hips against his. He keeps you wrapped up tight and close, faces practically touching as he finally lets himself come, eyes locked on yours. It’s a long, tender few minutes while he holds you, touching his lips to your forehead.
“I love you.” You just put it out there before the post-coital haze can fade, hoping it’ll stop him from closing himself off again.
“I love you too,” he whispers, nuzzling against the side of your head. “But you knew that already.”
You dig your nails into his shoulders a little.
“Stay with me. Sleep here, please.”
He looks thoughtful but it doesn’t take long for him to smile, stroking your cheek as he does.
“Yeah,” he beams, “I will.”
He rolls onto his side and pulls you close again.
“Did you seriously think I was going to be able to stay away from you forever?”
“Yes. I was pretty sure that you didn’t entirely want to, but I figured you’d fight it off.”
“How long have we known each other?”
“About six years.”
“You were working at the dojo and we all used to hang out together, right?”
“Yes.”
“How long had we been there before I asked you out to dinner?”
“I don’t know. A few months.”
“Closer to four. And I was already so hung up on you that I could barely think straight when you were around.”
You look at him in surprise. Yes, you’d known that he’d flirted a lot, but at that point all the boys at the dojo were trying to scheme their way into your pants. You’d always assumed that his real interest had developed much later.
“Yeah,” he says, noticing your expression, “I was that into you that early. And you know damn well it only got more intense from there.”
He wraps his arms around you and presses your head against his chest, kissing your hair. “And you thought that having finally gotten to take you to bed, having gotten you to say that you liked me, that I was going to be able to walk away?”
You squeeze him tight and nestle against him, your head immediately finding its way to the hollow of his shoulder. And as soon as it does, your whole body feels warm and safe and content. You want to keep talking to him but you can’t because this sort of bliss doesn't allow you to stay awake.
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hoodharlow · 4 years
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AN: Part 3 of the El Novio: Workout Mini Series. Someone needs to tell Cal to stop working out bc I need to get back on schedule.The picture was taken from @kindahoping4forever. Thank you to @d-oaks for always being down to beta read and edit. 
Requested: No, but @karajaynetoday​ gave me some ideas that I tweaked 👀👀👀
Warnings: smut
Word Count: 2.6 k words
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Calum pulled up to a shaded parking space when they arrived at Costco. The parking lot was surprisingly empty for a Saturday afternoon, so he was relieved that no one would notice them. He motioned Claudia that the coast was clear, and they got out, making their way hand in hand to the food court. 
“What are you getting?” Calum asked her. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.
“Mm… maybe an acai bowl? I wanna leave room for samples.” She responded. She tilted her head up and asked, “Do you wanna get pizza for dinner?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, “we can get some premade oven ones, so we can heat them up when we want.”
“That works.” Claudia agreed.
They waited in line to get in the store for what seemed an eternity because some lady was holding up the line; her husband was getting gas, but she didn’t have their Costco Card to get in. While they waited, Claudia stretched a bit to relax some of her muscles. She was still sore from the workout from a few days ago. 
“Are you not wearing panties?” Calum whispered to her. He knew her body all too well that he knew when she didn’t wear anything under. She gave him a simple shrug and pulled up her leggings, accentuating her ass even more. He gently placed his head on the cart and sighed. “Are you trying to send me to an early grave?”
“No,” she giggled, “not my fault you can’t handle all this ass.” 
“You know damn well I can. You practically begged me this morning.”
“Shut up.” she mumbled. 
Luckily the line started moving, so Claudia wasn’t going to deal with his teases. She led him to the kitchen decor section. Ever since they got their kitchen redone, they have been getting new things for it, from pots and pans to storage bins for the pantry. She bent down to get a better view of the kitchen carts. 
Calum knew she was going to be a while, so he went off on his own to get their other groceries. He took the car and went toward the cheese section. She ate about seven different kinds of cheeses. He knew she was a keeper when she introduced him to panela. Because now he was able to add pizzazz to his veggie tacos. 
Once he was done there, he made his way to the fruits and vegetables.He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his messages with Diego until he found the one about slapping a watermelon, a tip he wished he learned years ago. He saw a dad nearby that was also slapping the watermelons. After he finished grabbing the other produce, he made his way back to Claudia.
When he got to the aisle where she was, he was immediately annoyed. Claudia was leaning against the shelf laughing along to whatever some guy was telling her. Calum recognized him instantly. He had been out in the food court eyeing Claudia when she helped out a little kid with their soda cap at the napkin section. Now stood with his hands on his hips showing off the ginormous belt buckle. 
‘Must be compensating for something,’ Calum thought to himself. He saw the smirk the guy wore, ready to stake his claim at Claudia. Calum gripped the shopping cart, pissed at how sleazy some men were. The guy was probably lurking around waiting for him to leave so he can pounce on Claudia. 
When he approached them, the guy gave Calum a quick glance over, sizing up to him. He was about Ashton’s height, but more muscular and bigger, making Calum feel slightly insecure. He knew Claudia was big on arms.
“Are you ready?” Calum asked Claudia. The guy took a few steps away from Claudia. 
“Yeah, I ended up ordering one of the things I wanted online because they didn't have the color I wanted. Grant helped me out on how to order it.” She said gesturing to the guy that was flirting with her.
“Well, I best be going. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” The guy said. He had a deep southern drawl. He nodded his head at her like he was tipping a cowboy hat at her. 
“Bye.” Claudia said, oblivious to the guy’s intention.
“Are you ready?” Calum repeated to her. 
“Yeah, did you get everything else?” She asked him, rummaging through the cart.
“Of course I did. I wasn’t the one wasting time by chatting up some cowboy.” He mumbled loud enough for her to hear him.
“Seriously?” She scoffed, dropping the veggie straws. She looked up at him frowning. She opened her mouth and quickly closed it. “I’m not gonna get into it. Let’s just go back to your place.”
***
Calum peered into the kitchen. It had been an hour since they got back to 'his' place, and Claudia was baking. When they got home, she hadn’t said a thing. At the rate she was going, she could make a pop-up bakery with everything she was baking. He watched her pipe macaron batter on a baking sheet. Then she angrily hit the baking sheet against the counter, making Calum flinch. He wanted a snack, but he knew if he was in the same space as Claudia World War 3 would start. He knew the minute she said 'your place' instead of 'home' that he was in the doghouse. Ever since she moved in with him, he made sure she knew it was their home, not just his. 
He watched her stalk off to the bathroom, so he took his chance to serve himself some leftover noodles. He impatiently drummed the counter as if that would speed up the microwave. Before the last second went off he took out his food. He cleaned up any evidence that he was there and retreated back to his studio before she came back.
Claudia caught sight of him as he left and felt sad. She didn't even know what made him so jealous. As if she would even consider looking at any other man when she had him. She felt disappointed that he would even think that she would ever flirt with some guy like the one from Costco. She had seen a few military tattoos peak out of the guy's shirt. She made a vow to never mess with anyone in the military or law enforcement. She knew they lacked a few brain cells and mostly joined to fuck around with guns. Just imagining them made her shudder in disgust.
She pulled out her phone and texted her friends, Sara and Dulce, if they were able to video chat. They instantly replied agreeing. She hasn't been able to hang out with them. Mostly because Sara was in San Francisco working at a graphic design company while Dulce was at NYU starting some archaeology program. 
"I missed y'all so much. School's not the same without y'all." Claudia admitted. She loved USC, but it just wasn't the same without them.
"Oh, I know. I hate New York, everything is so expensive." Dulce agreed.
"Felt, San Fran is so yucky too." Sara said. 
They continued talking and catching up. Claudia filled them in on how her and Calum are out as a couple, not by choice and all that went down with that mess. She continued baking and decorating. Calum approached her and said something to her. She didn't catch it, so she just waved him off. After about an hour they hung up. Claudia went to the garage for some boxes, so she could send Dulce and Sara some baked goods.
She was coming back to the house when she saw a tall skinny blonde girl with Calum and his trainer. She was giggling at whatever Calum said. Even Duke was with them. Claudia stomped back into the kitchen. 
From the window she watched the girl get in front of Calum as his trainer guided them through another workout. She wasn't even sweating. She looked perfect. Like she was pretending to workout just for a few Instagram likes, but she wasn't. She was down doing the nit and gritty along with Calum. Then he took off his shirt. The girl was practically drooling for him and started finding  ways to touch him or just be near him. 
It angered Claudia. He was either allowing her to do all that to get her back for what happened at Costco or he was a dumbass. 
***
Calum was getting frustrated with the girl his trainer brought. At first he let her casually flirt with him because he saw Claudia walk by, but now he wanted her to back off. He took three steps back and she took four. He was thankful that the session was over. As he walked them back to their cars, he was very explicit with his trainer to never bring her around, or anyone at that.
He decided he was going to apologize to Claudia for being a jealous idiot after showering, so he went straight to their bedroom. His shower lasted longer than he expected because he thought back to what happened a few days ago when they worked out together. 
He was changing into shorts when he heard a crash and Claudia yell, followed by Duke's barks. He ran back down to the kitchen and found Claudia on the floor clutching her hand with the pizza pan on the floor. He grabbed an oven mitt and picked up the pizza, setting it on the cooling rack. Luckily it landed with pizza on top. 
"Show me." He told her quietly. He kneeled in front of her, reaching out to her. 
She hesitated but gave in. Her left palm was bright red. When she took out the pizza, she didn't even think about grabbing an oven mitt because of the baking she had been doing. She didn't notice she wasn't wearing one until she looked at her hand. 
Calum didn't think twice before lifting her up on the sink and running cool water down on her hand. He went to the pantry where they had one of the many first aid kits in their house. He let her hand under the water for a few more minutes before putting a thin layer of Neosporin on the burn and covering it with a gauze. Then he wrapped it in medical tape. 
"Does it hurt?" He asked her. She shook her head. "Oh, wait, I almost forgot. Sana sana colita de rana."
Claudia burst into a fit of giggles. "Where did you hear that?" 
"I overheard your brother tell Paloma that when she fell and scraped her knee while we were visiting your parents." He explained. He scratched the back of his back, shyly before continuing. "I googled what it meant and found out it was little saying you do when kids get hurt."
"Well, thank you for that." Claudia said awkwardly. She hopped off the counter and made her way out of the kitchen.
"Claudia, wait," He called after her. She turned around. "I'm sorry for being a jerk. I know you wouldn't do anything to mess up our relationship. I was just angry because that guy had an eye on you since we were getting our stuff at the food court. And also for letting the girl flirt with me. I was just being a petty asshole, and I get if you hate me and all that."
Claudia took a step forward, surveying him. "You're lucky you're cute and know first aid. But if you let some other girl openly flirt with you like that, I will end you. I'm not sure how, but I will."
Calum held out his pinky to her. She smiled and wrapped hers around it. He pulled their intertwined pinkies and kissed them. He leaned down and kissed Claudia. 
The kiss was filled with more apologies and promises. Calum backed Claudia against the counter as their kiss intensified. She lifted her hips up for him so he was able to tug off her leggings. He glanced down at her glistening core and back to her face. He dropped his shorts and towered over her.
"I retract all my comments about you not wearing panties with your tights." 
***
It was finally nightfall and they were settling for bed. Claudia emerged in one of Calum's t-shirts and her black Calvin Klein panties. 
"Why were these in the laundry basket?" She asked him, holding up her new leggings.
"I wore them? Why do you ask?" He asked her, confused. 
"They're mine!" She snorted. 
"No, they're mine." 
"I bought them last week."
"Well, that explains why they were tighter than usual."
"You're silly."
Claudia tossed them back in the basket and crawled in bed. She straddled Calum and laid on his chest. He ran his nails against her back as they mindlessly watched Tierra de Reyes. 
After a few minutes, Claudia gasped. "You did the sana sana colita de rana wrong."
"I did?"
"Yeah, after you say it, you must kiss where it hurts."
"Seriously?" Claudia nodded eagerly. She rolled off him and laid on her back. "Where does it hurt?"
"Here a little." she said holding up her bandaged hand. He gave her a quick peck and sat on his knees. She took one of his hands and placed it on her clothed core. "But it really hurts here. Can you kiss it for me? I tried rubbing it, but it didn't help."
"Well if it hurts we gotta do whatever makes you feel better pretty girl. No?"
Claudia nodded in agreement. Calum chuckled to himself and nudged her shirt off. She obliged and reclined against the pillows. Calum kissed her lips and kissed his way down her body. He paid special attention to her breasts before finally reaching her panties. He ripped them off her, tossing the ripped fabric off to the side. 
He situated himself in front of her. His fingers grazed her entrance, coating them with her arousal. He licked his fingers and continued to tease her. He smirked as her breathing quickened, and her soft pleas filled the room. 
He finally laid on his stomach and began to kiss the inside of her thighs before placing them over his shoulders. His cock hardened thinking of the times she would wear high heels and would dig into his back as he made her come. 
"Fuck." He moaned once he tasted her.
His tongue worked its wonders on Claudia. She was on edge minutes later. One of her hands wrapped around his curls while the other tugged with her breasts. 
"Cal, please make me come,” she begged. 
He slipped his fingers inside of her. She squirmed at how quick he was thrusting his fingers in her. Then he added his thumb and slowly rubbed her clit, bringing her to her orgasm. He continued licking and thrusting his fingers into her as she came. 
The tight grip on his hair loosened. Claudia sighed as Calum pulled his fingers out of her. He licked them clean and laid next to her. He turned to his side just as she did. She placed her leg proactively over his waist. 
"Thank you." She said. 
"For what?" He asked. He reached over and rubbed her leg. He tugged her closer to him.
"For being open with your feelings even if it's not right away. Like you allow yourself to be mad, sad, happy and stuff because you figure out what you're feeling and work off of that. You don't bottle it in and lash out after." She shrugged. She reached over and brushed off his hair off his beautiful face. She kept her hand there and twisted the end of his curls.
"I try my best to. Even if I end up doing something stupid or petty. I owe it to you. You've helped me process and think without even realising it." He said. 
He leaned over and pecked her lips. Claudia's hand kept him in place. They kissed for what seemed hours. It wasn't anything urgent, just them showing how grateful they are for each other. 
Taglist: @another-lonely-heart​ @sunshinebabycal​   @calumscalm ​@karajaynetoday​​ @cherryxwildflower​​ @myloverboyash​​  @idontneedanyone​​ @findingliam-o​​ @5-secondsofcolor​​ @spicycal​​ @sexgodashton​​ @sunshinebabycal​​ @another-lonely-heart
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yakocchi · 3 years
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My Darling’s the Strongest (Scenario Event) // Leonardo
(graphic is separate from the event)
me: wow i wonder what cool and amazing new content there will be for white day week cybird: we heard from no one that u like reprints that only have new ranking avatars. so heres another reprint that only has new ranking avatars me:
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…….cybird it’s ok to not make every event have ranking cards. yea i know they make gangbusters versus events without cards, but if it results in less new scenario events overall… that’s not great
anyway, it’s been like 4 months since a new Count scenario event has been released (which is a better track record than several charas) and i wanted to do a longer string of text to test out a keyboard i ordered. yea im very fickle with my output but ehehe what’s new i archive leo events sometimes, so i decided to dredge one up to translate. i actually wanted to do vlad’s first post-main-route event as a sort of celebration for when it would inevitably happen, but then said scenario event appeared and it ended up being an AU. why does this game like AUs so much? the canon universe already pretty farfetched… u literally have dracula and ure telling me u would rather put him in a situation where he would not be dracula. cowards
This event (first released ~July 2020) was made for the 3rd Anniversary of JP Ikevam later that month. The event was split into two parts, where iirc the first part contained the Count, Arthur, and Mozart. Leo was in the second part with Napo and Isaac.
Spoilers under the cut!! Please credit if you take any of it, thenk u (・ω・*) image-heavy!!
The master of the manse, from time to time, starts his conversations with the most unexpected topics. One of those “times”, was today.
...
[Count]: “—So, I’d like the two of you to go out for the Best Couples’ Contest.” [Leonardo & Kara]: “Huh…?” As soon as we had excused ourselves into his quarters, the Count had said something completely unexpected. Leonardo and I had responded with a confused noise spilling out of our lips. (The “Best Couples’ Contest” is that event where they pick the best couple in Paris, right?) (I wonder why he suddenly decided to say he wants us to go.) Even as the two of us stood bewildered in front of him, the Count’s smile remained, untarnished. Leonardo then heaved a massive sigh…
[Leonardo]: “Now, I’m used to you telling me crazy things—" [Leonardo]: “But at the very least, could you give us the entire story, O’ great Count?” The Count began to speak once more—
[Count]: “Well—” [Count]: “Last night, I had visited an acquaintance upon them telling me that they had gotten their hands on some good wine.” [Count]: “At one point, they informed me that they were going to hold a contest to determine the best couple.” [Count]: “Then, they asked me if I was acquainted with any prospective couples for it.” Leonardo then took over from Count as if he had read this story before.
[Leonardo]: “Then, in your drunken state you selfishly entered me and the little sweetheart to the contest, did you?” (And that means… the Count thinks me and Leonardo would have a chance?)
The Count responded to Leonardo’s summation of the events with apparent amusement. [Count]: “I do believe I wasn’t drunk at the time, I’ll have you know?” [Leonardo]: “That’s even worse, then.”
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[Count]: “Oh my, Leonardo. Is it really all right for you to say that?” [Leonardo]: “Hah?” [Kara]: “gh-…” The Count had turned in my direction— and so Leonardo, as if in pursuit of the gentleman, then turned to face me as well. Their gazes seemed to urge me to confess my true feelings on the matter, and I earnestly comply.
[Kara]: “Ah-, I… I just thought it sounded fun.” [Kara]: “And on top of that, I’d be really happy if everyone acknowledged me and Leonardo as the best couple.” (Even though I’d be nervous to stand in front of so many people,) (I’d be able to boast that such a wonderful person is my lover…) (And I also think it’d be a good opportunity to see if I’m able to become a suitable woman for Leonardo.)
[Leonardo]: “…” A surprised expression appeared on Leonardo’s face for a moment, before it was replaced with a smile…
[Leonardo]: “Shall we partake?” [Kara]: “Huh? Is it okay?” I had blurted out my question, and Leonardo gently patted my head. [Leonardo]: “This situation’s turned into nothing but a good opportunity, so we might as well have some fun and aim to win this thing, yeah?” [Kara]: “gh- Okay…!” Glad that Leonardo was also interested, my voice naturally gained a bounce to it.
[Kara]: “But, I wonder how they’re going to determine the best couple?” Muttering this, the Count then handed me the invitation, which had a general outline of the event written inside. Promptly opening it, written was—
(The contest is to be a few days from now, and I can look forward to what we’ll be tested on… on the day itself?) The portion I wanted to know about most of all hadn’t been written, and I internally slumped my shoulders.   The invitation concluded with a single line— “The key to victory is to have a mind and soul of love towards one another,” (I guess the ‘mind and soul of love’ is supposed to be a hint, but…) [Kara]: “Hmm… With just this, I don’t know what the contest could be about, at all.” [Leonardo]: “Don’t sweat it, sweetheart.” (Huh?) Leonardo brought his face up close to the Count… And as if he had devised a scheme, a mischievous smile had turned the corners of his lips. [Leonardo]: “You’re close with the contest organizer, right? I’m led to believe that they have some sort of hint on ‘em.” [Count]: “Leonardo…?” [Leonardo]: “We may have willingly chose to participate in the contest— but it doesn’t change the reality that it was our lovely Count who dragged us into this in the first place.” [Leonardo]: “So, naturally, you’re gonna cooperate with us, no?”
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As a result of forcing the Count (against his will) to spill the details, we were able to make a guess on what we’d be doing in the contest. But…
most everyone else in this event: (thinking hard on what to do bc they dont kno what the contest is going to cover) leo: fuc it CHEAT
[Leonardo]: “…” (…Leonardo has an awfully complicated look on his face right now.) In my mind, I think over our discussion from a moment ago:
The organizer of the couples’ contest appears to have hosted several dance contests as well. To put it plainly, the organizer is both a huge socialite and a huge fan of dances. (So, individuals are called from high society circles to be chosen as the “best couple”, and) (The probability of competing based on our dancing… is high.)
[Leonardo]: “Hagh…” [Kara]: “…Hehe.” Seeing Leonardo’s pouting face, I unwittingly laughed. Then— [Leonardo]: “What are you laughing for, sweetheart?”
[Kara]: “I just remembered something from back before we became lovers.” The conversation of that day, the day where a weakness of his had been exposed, replayed in my head—
[Leonardo]: “…I can’t dance.” (Huh…?) [Kara]: “You’ve got to be kidding, right…? You can build and play instruments, and yet…” [Kara]: “Is it because you don’t go to many socialite parties to begin with, so you haven’t had many opportunities to dance….?” [Leonardo]: “No, I’ve participated in ‘em the point where I’ve even had a hand in producing those sorts of dazzling venues.” [Kara]: “’Producing’…” (This person really can do anything and everything. No, no, that’s not true…) [Kara]: “Leonardo, the mystery that surrounds you is only getting deeper and deeper.”
[Leonardo]: “I avoided having to do it.” [Kara]: “…’Avoid’?” [Leonardo]: “…Try to imagine it. Me, dancing?” [Leonardo]: “It doesn’t suit me, I don’t have the look required for it…” (…What… is this?)
[Kara]: “…Hehe, ahaha!” [Leonardo]: “…Hey, sweetheart. What are you laughing for?
(He said the same thing back then.) Unable to hold it in, I continued to giggle… [Leonardo]: “Don’t laugh.” [Kara]: “I think you’re the one smiling here, though?” [Leonardo]: “…I’m just feeling terribly nostalgic right now.” Answering me, his eyes held a gentle light within them as if cherishing those days, [Kara]: “You still hate dancing, I assume?” [Leonardo]: “Even to this day, I find it embarrassing to do. Radiant, cheerful stuff doesn’t mesh with me. But—" (Huh?)
The second I wondered if Leonardo was going to start something, he suddenly pulled my waist towards him for an embrace… [Kara]: “Woah, woah-…!” Regaining my senses— Led by Leonardo himself, I properly danced. [Leonardo]: “I’m able to dance like the average person now— and it’s all because you came to keep me company.” While I was still surprised, Leonardo dropped a light kiss on my forehead. [Kara]: “Nn-…” Flustered, I looked up to find a completely composed smile on his face… [Kara]: “…ngh-“ An impulse overwhelming me, I lean my head against his chest.
[Kara]: “…Sly as usual.” [Leonardo]: “Hm?” [Kara]: “Even though I thought I had finally found a weakness of yours, you’ll get over that hurdle too pretty soon.” [Kara]: “When you do things like that, you become sly so smoothly, exquisitely.”
(When he shows this side of him… I get driven to work even harder than before so I can catch up to him.) While even feeling a frustration from it, I turned my gaze back to Leonardo.
[Kara]: “It seems like this world is going to become one where there’s absolutely nothing you can’t do.”
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[Leonardo]: “…Maybe?” (…Hm?) For a second it felt as if he were pondering over something, a particular emotion washing over his face.
But before I could say anything, I was swiftly embraced, and that thought of mine scattered, and vanished. [Kara]: “l- Leonardo?” [Leonardo]: “Hey, look there, sweetheart.” (Huh?)
Following Leonardo’s gaze— I could see the dusk dying the sky from a distance away. (Pretty…) The view that he showed me, was beautiful.   But, at the same time… my chest was tightened by this sorrow. (Although the scene before our eyes is the same between us, time passes differently between us…) (During moments like this, I feel that difference.) (However— When we became lovers, I had decided that no matter how different we are, I’m going to embrace the present, make the most out of it.) (I’m going to savor even the passing seconds, cherish them… as we live together, as two.)
As if to confirm he was really there, I embraced his warmth in return… [Kara]: “Leonardo, I’m looking forward to the contest.” [Leonardo]: “Mhm.” In the vivid sunset, we smiled to each other.
—Time passed, and the night of the contest arrived at last.
(W-Wow…) When we had entered the venue in our formalwear, there were several couples eagerly waiting for the contest to start. (All of the people here have to be participants for the contest, huh. …Somehow, my heart’s pounding.) I took a deep breath to calm myself down, and when I did that— Leonardo, as if to soothe my heart, lightly stroked my hair. [Leonardo]: “Why is it necessary for you to feel all anxious?” [Kara]: “Leonardo?” [Leonardo]: “To the point where there’s just no way we can lose to any couple here— I love you, you know.”
[Leonardo]: “—Well, and you?” Inquiring me, his smile was brimming with self-confidence… And caught up in his mood, I smiled cheerfully.
[Kara]: “I love you too— to the point where it’s impossible for us lose to anyone…!”
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[Leonardo]: “Heh… Very nice, then.” [Judge]: “—And so, the contest shall begin now. The means of competition is to be by dance.” (Ah-…!) We look to each other, and Leonardo, extending his hand towards me, says, [Leonardo]: “Kara… You’ll do me the honor of a dance, no…?”
PREMIUM END
[Kara]: “Yes, I’d be delighted!” (Even though I was so nervous about this until now… Now, I can’t help but just be excited about it.) (I want everyone to quickly feast their eyes on our dancing, and our bond!) Taking his hand, I nestled close to him as an elegant melody began to echo within the dance hall. To become a flower that offsets the man before me, I step forward—
—When the contest had ended without a hitch, the both of us walked along the moonlit Seine as we made our way home. The chilly breeze felt pleasant on my heated skin. [Kara]: “We really were able to win!” (I was able to prove my bond with Leonardo to all of Paris… I’m so happy that I can’t stop a smile from showing on my face.) [Leonardo]: “I did say we wouldn’t lose to anyone, didn’t I?” [Leonardo]: “But, well, to think… the winning prize was a year’s supply of wine of all things. ‘Guess sensuality and allure are as good as goddamn useless to them.”
he’s trying to say that he doesn’t like the prize cuz it isn’t very sensual/sexy (suppose he imagined a prize for a lovers’ contest would be more along those lines). even Arthur in the epilogue is like “…thought the prize for a best couples’ contest would be more special”….
[Kara]: Hehe, it’s a nice prize, isn’t it? Let’s drink it with everyone else in the manse.” [Leonardo]: “If you’re satisfied with it, that’s good, I suppose.” As he spoke, Leonardo looked to be the same as usual, but his eyes reflected some kind of joy from within. (I’m glad that this will become a lovely memory I’ll have about him.) (…But, even then) The very sight of Leonardo of when I had danced with him in the dance hall, wouldn’t leave my head. [Kara]: “Your dancing was really, really stunning.” [Kara]: “As I had always thought… you’re the strongest one around.” [Leonardo]: “What’s all this about, hmm?”
i probably should’ve bothered explaining it last year since i used the title “My Darling’s the Strongest” for the other translation but uh might as well do it now that it’s explicitly used in the story so by “strongest”, it doesn’t necessarily mean physical strength (though it can be). It’s “strongest” as in a form of “mightiest” or “most powerful”, kind of like when someone says “my baseball team is the strongest in the league”,
[Kara]: “I just think that you’re the mightiest lover as there’s nothing you can’t do.” Carried away by the thrill of victory, I professed my thoughts. In doing so Leonardo’s brows lowered, and a bit of a troubled smile graced his lips. [Leonardo]: “If I’m able to put some effort into it, then I guess there’s really nothing I can’t do. But…”
[Leonardo]: “There is something I simply cannot do, no matter how hard I try.” (Huh…?) [Kara]: “Something you can’t do… I can’t imagine such a thing existing.” He was undoubtedly an almighty genius, and was also the type of person willing to confront even his awkward dancing skills head-on.
At my murmurs, Leonardo continued as if the topic was no big deal.
[Leonardo]: “It exists.” [Leonardo]: “I cannot become an ordinary human.”
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(gh-…) His words had vanished into the night breeze.
I inadvertently stopped in my tracks, and he stopped as well… and the both of us stood still in that one corner.
In my current view, the moonlight illuminated his figure as he stood before me. [Leonardo]: “As a pureblood vampire,” [Leonardo]: “I give you much loneliness— A loneliness that, if I were an ordinary human, you would never have to experience.” [Leonardo]: “However, if I went and lamented over every single little detail of that truth, I would be rendered unable to be with you. —Thus from the very beginning, I do not intend to lament either.” [Leonardo]: “I’m going to use as much of my power as I possibly can to grant your wishes, and that’s all.” (Using his power, my wishes…) I recalled the exchange we had a few days ago:
[Kara]: “Ah-, I… I just thought it sounded fun.” [Kara]: “And on top of that, I’d be really happy if everyone acknowledged me and Leonardo as the best couple.” [Leonardo]: “…”
[Kara]: “Did… you say that we should go and try to win the contest… merely because I…” With a smile, Leonardo proceeded to stare intently at me. [Leonardo]: “Well, there’s that, but additionally… I had the same motive as you had.” [Leonardo]: “I also had wanted the both of us to be acknowledged as the best couple.” [Leonardo]: “I wanted news to spread that I had been able to become the man of such a wonderful woman, you know.”   (gh- Leonardo…) Leonardo, whenever and wherever, envelops me in his great, unparalleled affection. Roused by the surging love within me, I went to grip his hand.
[Kara]: “…Leonardo, I want to be by your side tonight, and all night.” (I want to give him, in return for the love I received from him… those same feelings, that same love.) (I want him… to feel my love as well.)
[Leonardo]: “…” [Kara]: “gh- Ah-!” I was suddenly yanked towards him; and almost stumbling over my feet, it had closed the distance between us. Bringing his lips to my ear, he whispered:
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[Leonardo]: “What a coincidence. I was just thinking the same thing.”
—As soon as we entered his room, we melded, deeply kissing each other. [Leonardo]: “…Hah-, Kara…” He called my name with a wet, heady timbre between kisses, the sensuality of it making me go lightheaded. Crowded atop the bed, he pried my lips open with his finger… [Leonardo]: “Thinking about it, I haven’t received a reward from you yet.” [Kara]: “’Reward’…?” [Leonardo]: “When I’m feeling, touching you like this… I know that you’re not so dumb to be oblivious to what I want?” [Kara]: “ngh-…” Taking a guess on what he desired from me, I slowly brought my face closer to his.
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[Leonardo]: “Good girl. Come on— Try to turn me on with a kiss?”
FIN
yes the event really stops here before the epilogue teaser. cybird when a sexi scene is about to start:
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since this was a glorified keyboard test, this is mostly a one-off… so don’t expect leo translations from me otherwise ahah
u know, it’s always weird to me that leo’s stuff is always very sorrowful bc of the vast diff in lifespan, humans vs. vampires thing. like, does he not plan to turn her into a vampire? the wedding stuff makes it sound like they’d like to be together forever but they still don’t really like to broach the topic itself……… kinda sus given that the Count’s stuff gets several mentions of biting in events and vlad clearly doesn’t mind biting whenever (and is just waiting for her to give him the go-ahead). ive seen some ppl talk about how maybe leo likes her because she’s human (both as in being a literal human and the figurative idea of being “human”) and honestly……… it is kinda messed up to think about, but i can see it LOL now im not saying the other pureblood x mc relationships are super healthy but that’s a convo for another time
well at least these guys don’t have to ask someone for vampire-turning assistance. im imagining one of the other charas having to ask the Count to bite mc akin to how teenagers have to ask their parents to drive them and their friends around to do stuff…….. who wants to relive that nightmare
also sorry if like leo’s voice doesn’t match up with w/e the official engl localization does. ive literally never played an engl cybird game in my life, so it’s a crime of ignorance i swear. tho imo if they’re not making him sound like a rascal… that’s very lame, im not gonna lie
the epilogue is obviously not available for purchase rn, but please buy it and/or support the game with purchases when you can!!
As always, thanks for reading!
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feisty-spirit-bear · 3 years
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Writing Lessons from Harry Potter
So, I just barely finished rereading Harry Potter for the first time in like 8 years, maybe more, so since it’s been a while and I learned a lot with fresh(ish) eyes that I thought might be fun to share for other aspiring writers.
The Do’s:
Consistent Characters through Actions- All the characters in the books are incredibly consistent. Before we even know that there is tension between purebloods and muggle-borns or that blood-traitors even exist, JKR lays the stones with Malfoy’s and Ron’s characters in their first conversations with Harry. It’s very cool how she knew who her characters were from the outset and shows us what they are like through their actions. 
Character Flaws-- JKR doesn’t shy away from character flaws and complexity (something that got watered down in the movies significantly, unfortunately) and it’s fantastic. Harry tries to use the Cruciatus Curse multiple times in books 5-7 and its dark and gritty. Everyone (even my beloved, angel Remus) has complexity and flaws that feel realistic, human, and that she embraces in her writing. She doesn’t try to make any of the characters a perfect hero.
Chekhov’s Guns -- These vary in how well they work (but not everything can be a slam dunk), but her consistent set-up before the pay-off is prime writing. These make the books feel realistic and grounded among the fantasy, as well as the added bonus of making it fun for the re-read to see how often Dumbledore mentions Aberforth.
Reusing characters vs Making new ones: This is a hard thing to balance and I think JKR balances it great. By reusing characters, she gives the world a sense of cohesion that would be missing if there was a bottomless pit of new characters at every turn (ex we know Cedric from Quidditch before the Triwizard Tournament and there are a lot of adult characters that come up again and again throughout the books, their role getting bigger and bigger as time goes on). But by knowing when to balance this with new introductions, JKR keeps the Wizarding World feeling expansive and deep and not like just a handful of families having a brawl. 
Why They are the Way that They Are: This is related to “consistent characters” but JKR was great at starting from the very beginning with her characters. Everyone has a past and everyone is a product of that past. We don’t have many characters act in unexplainable ways that are left unexplained. Even Kreacher is explained; at first we think he’s awful because his Masters were awful, but then we realize that it’s because he hasn’t been able to fulfill an order from Regulus for over a decade. This gives the characters a sense of wholeness. 
The Don’ts:
“Fly on the Wall” Syndrome: JKR suffers from what I’ve decided to call “Fly on the Wall” Syndrome. Almost 90% of the time, if not more, whenever there is an Information Dump taking place that Harry is listening to, Harry becomes inert and it feels like he ceases to exist. Instead of getting piece by piece reactions from him as he listens, we get pages on pages of exposition and only once its over do we get a bit of what Harry is thinking/feeling. With these uninterrupted pages of information, it feels like Harry disappears and he may as well not be hearing what we’re reading because these are BIG reveals and WE are having a reaction to, but Harry is a stone cold robot. It just takes one of the pitfalls of part of writing (exposition) and makes it even worse. In the movies, we get to see Harry’s facial expressions as these reveals happen, but in the book he just seems to disappear. (Prisoner of Azkaban is honestly the worst of all the books at this, but the pattern holds up for all 7). 
“And Then Everyone Clapped”: This is one that is tricky because I have a feeling that the fact these are “children’s” books might have something to do with this, but it’s still always irksome to me every time it happens. (This is really more of a nitpick because everything else is about technique but lemme have it okay?). Way too often in the books, there are times when “everyone cheered” that feel way cringe and super unrealistic. To be fair, a lot of the instances are semi-warranted (House Cup, Quidditch) but the way it’s written feels too much like Harry just became a fake internet troll. But the final duel between Harry and Voldemort in book 7 is just akkkkghhgh. I just don’t think that people that have been mourning over 50 dead family members and friends for the past hour after hours of combat would be cheering in the face of Voldemort himself. It’s war. People don’t usually cheer and clap during such tense situations. Just felt weird. I know what she was going for but it just didn’t land for me.
Loss of Scale: This is also a bit of a nitpick, but more technique based at least. When rereading the books, I was surprised how much pain Harry went through on a regular basis because I didn’t remember many of the instances that were described as “agony” and when Harry thought he was going to die from the pain (I was also surprised because it seemed dark for kid’s books but the age range for these books is a mystery to everyone). As I kept reading, the pattern started to emerge and I think I know what happened-- nearly every instance of Harry’s pain beyond minor bumps and bruises were skull-cleaving agony. It felt like Harry was always operating at either a 2 or a 20; his scar was either tingling or about to kill him, he was either barely burned/scratched/ached or throwing up in pain. There are some exceptions to this where he hovered at a 6 or 7 (ex: Umbridge’s detentions) but I think that the constant highs made it hard for the events to feel separate from each other. 
Audience Doesn’t Know What Harry Knows: This last one is also a bit of a nitpick because for the MOST part, the audience finds out information as Harry does. There are a handful of times, though, when the only reason the reader doesn’t know it is because JKR was waiting for that Dramatic Moment, but it feels undeserved when we don’t see the dots connecting. The biggest example of this is Harry figuring out that the Elder Wand belongs to him; both Dumbledore and Harry seem to be on the same page that the Wand was loyal to Snape and then Voldemort killed him so it is rightfully Voldemort’s. We never know that Harry is questioning this or having any sort of internal dialogue about other possibilities, but when they are face-to-face in the Great Hall, then Harry drops the bombshell that actually, it was Draco’s and now Harry’s. This comes out of absolutely nowhere and doesn’t feel like a set-up and pay-off but more like a fumbling card trick that worked at the last second. For the most part though, she doesn’t have this problem, but when it happened it wasn’t great.
So yeah that’s what I learned about writing from rereading the Harry Potter books after a long hiatus. I don’t even write prose so I don’t know how relevant this will be for graphic novels, guess we’ll find out later byeeeeee
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mayraki · 4 years
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The Trained Assassin.
Spencer Reid series. Part 5 (1/2)
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Not my gif! Credits to the owner.
Summary: Life’s not easy when you found out that instead of being trained to be a spy for the CIA, you are being trained to be an assassin, a killer. The people you wanted to stop, they were making you one. That’s when you joined the BAU to become someone new, you didn’t want to be someone’s toy. You wanted your past to be arrased, that’s all. But it’s not easy to hide a past like that.
Warning: graphic descriptions!
MASTERLIST
“A visit to the past”
The music was loud and your drink was strong, just how you liked it.
You were at a bar with the team, and the alcohol was the main character this beautiful night.
“I’m going to get another drink!” You said and Emily nodded.
You went to the bar and you noticed a really hot stranger waiting for his drink. The alcohol took over your body and you got next to him, brushing his elbow with your hand while you were reaching for the menu on the counter.
You noticed that he looked at you and you made yourself very interested in the drinks, even if you knew all of them.
“A Moscow Mule, please.” You said to the bartender and she nodded.
“You have nice taste” the man next to you said.
You looked up to him and nodded “I know” you smiled and he let out a little smile.
You had to take a good thing in your years of training, and seduction was one of them. And you were fucking good at it.
“So, are you here alone?” He asked.
“No, i’m here with my co-workers” you gave him a half smile. “You?”
“Alone” He said taking a sip from his whiskey.
You looked at Emily, JJ and Garcia on your table and they were looking at you. Garcia had her moth open in full surprise and you winked at her.
“Here you have, y/n” the bartender said and you gave her the tip.
“The bartender knows your name, you come here often?” He asked.
“Great work detective” you smiled and he let out a little laugh. “Yeah, it’s close to work” you looked down at his lips for more than two seconds, to make sure he notices your move.
He smiled and pulled out a card he had on his pocket and gave it to you “Well, let me know if you are coming back tomorrow. Maybe I’ll drop by again if you are”
You grabbed the car and looked at it.
“Lawyer. Come prepared I see?” You said “are you used to giving your number to random girls?”
“No, not at all. Only the special ones get the card”
“Oh, I see, and you think I’m special”
“Absolutely” He said with a smile.
“But baby, you haven’t seen me in action yet” you whispered in his ear and walked towards your table were the girls were waiting for you with big smiles on their faces.
“Lawyer” you put his card on the table and Garcia grabbed it.
“That was amazing” she said.
“What was?” You said taking a sip from your drink.
“You. The way you got this guy. And five others. Five guys turned their heads while you were walking. I counted.”
You laughed and suddenly felt an arm around you “What are this beautiful ladies doing?” Morgan spoked and you smiled at him.
“Waiting for you, my prince” Garcia said.
He smiled and went towards her, giving her a kiss on her cheek.
“What’s this?” Spencer asked looking at the card.
“Y/n successfully seduced a lawyer” Garcia said.
“You naughty girl!” Morgan said jokingly.
“He gave you his card? What a show off” Spencer said putting the card back on the table.
“You ok pretty boy?” Morgan asked him.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” He cleared his throat.
You noticed that Garcia smirked at Morgan and you didn’t want to give much thought into it.
“I haven’t had any action in months” Emily said and everyone looked at her with surprise because of her confession.
“My poor baby girl” Garcia said.
“Teach me” Emily said looking at me with puppy eyes.
“Me?”
“Yes! That guy gave you his number in less than five minutes. You’re good, teach girl!”
JJ laughed at Emily’s sudden change.
“Alright, I can’t teach you with words. I have to show you.” She nodded and you looked around. “See? That guy over there. He’s close so you’ll be able to hear me. Look at me, but you’re a profiler, see beyond the words”
You stood up and felt Spencer move uncomfortably. You didn’t care because your were too focused on this guy.
You passed him like you were trying to look something, when you dropped ‘unintentionally’ your keys next to him.
“Hey, you dropped this”
You turned to him and gave him a smile. You grabbed your keys and looked at him up and down, but slowly and smiled even bigger.
“Can I ask you something?” You asked.
“Sure, whatever you want.” He said.
Alright, he’s already behind you. Easy.
“Do you believe in the phrase ‘Everything happens for a reason’?” You smiled at him to let him know that this was one of those moments.
“Yeah, absolutely” you smiled and touched his shoulder.
“I’m glad”
“Are you here alone?”
You wanted to see if the girls were listening to this, so you looked over your table but instead you locked eyes with Spencer, he looked uncomfortable, he had the most serious face you’ve ever seen on him. His drink was done and before you looked away, you noticed that he was going to take another sip even tho the drink was empty.
Is he jealous?
“No, I’m here with my friends so I can’t stay with you a lot longer”
“That’s a shame, but if you come here again, let me know” he grabbed his card and handed to you.
What’s up with work cards today?
“I will” you kissed him on the cheeck and went back to your table.
“Amazing! You have a talent” Garcia said.
A chair made a noise and it was Spencer when he stood up and went outside. You followed him with your eyes but Emily caught your attention.
“I think someone didn’t like that” she said still looking at the way Spencer went.
“What?” You asked.
“He’s been looking at you all night” JJ said.
“Really?” She nodded and you looked again at the outside door.
You were questioning if following him was a good idea.
Maybe he just wanted to get some fresh air...
You got up and went to the door just to see if he left the bar, deep down you didn’t want him to, you wanted to talk to him like last time.
But when you went outside, you immediately noticed him talking closely to a girl. Your heart skipped a beat and you quickly went inside again, trying to not give much thought into it. But something made it extremely hard.
***
“There’s been a murder last night, a woman named Evgenia Oblonsky.”
You looked up from your file as soon as that name came out of JJ’s mouth. She was one of your old teachers when you were working for the CIA.
Hotch looked at you because he knew, but you nodded telling him that you were ok.
“Her body was found at her apartment, with a shot to her head in the forehead. She used to work for the CIA”
“The CIA?” Garcia asked with a tone of shook in her voice.
“There’s no clues, no leads, there’s nothing. So they want us to get involve in this.”
You sighed once the meeting was over and Hotch called you into his office.
“You ok?” You nodded “Did you knew her?”
“Yeah, she was one of my teachers. How could they let this happend?”
“I don’t know. But I need you to go back, y/n. To the place you were trained. You know we have to talk with her co-workers and find out more about her. And you are the best shot to do so. You know them better than we do.”
You sighed. The fact that you had to go back made your skin tense.
“I’ll go. It’s just... this doesn’t feel right.”
“Why is that?”
“This is someone with experience, there’s no way that they have no leads. One of the rules they used to teach us keeps coming back to my head, ‘Make sure to never leave anything behind. Have a clear path.” I’m sure Evgenia was smart enough to leave something without the killer noticing. So the killer knew what they were doing. And probably... even trained with her”
***
The building that you were used to see for almost eleven years was in front of you. The chills it gave you made you remember the first time that you saw it when you were twelve, you were so little and full of hope that this was going to be your new home. But nothing went according to your thoughts.
Nothing changed since the last time you saw it, the walls were still a sad color of grey and the giant black door was still scary as hell. You used to think of the building as Hogwarts like in Harry Potter, but what happened inside was no magic, but the contrary.
“It is bigger than I expected” Morgan said when you two and Spencer walked into the building.
“Welcome.” A dry voice said behind you and recognised it immediately.
You turned to the voice and the woman that ‘adopted’ you 13 years ago, was in front of you. Headmaster and Agent Agnia Smirnov, with her blonde bun on top of her head, her rid lipstick and her grey clothes. Same as you remembered.
“Hi, we are Agents Morgan, y/ln, and Dr. Reid.” Morgan said and you felt that he was a little bit intimidated by her.
Derek, this is only the beginning.
“I know who you are. I heard you were coming.” And there it was, she always had to be the one who was smarter than everyone else. “If you want to talk, we can do it in my office.”
Morgan nodded “Lead the way.”
She started to walk but you knew exactly were it was, the amount of times you were in there because they had to inform you about your missions, that was something you didn’t miss.
The smell of that perfume hit you like a rock and took you back ten years ago. Walking those corridors with books on your hands and trying to remember everything for your tests. With your ballet shoes, trying not to be late for class.
When the classic music touched your ears, you knew exactly what it was. As you were walking, a giant glass took over the wall and a bunch of ballerinas appeared on the other side.
The were so connected to each other, it didn’t look that there were five dancers, it was like there was only one and the other ones were the shadows.
A flashback of your trying to remember the steps appeared on your head.
“Y/n, remember your pointy feet. Delicate hands. Delicate hands. Shoulders back. Up! Up! Up!”
“Ballet?” Morgan asked.
When he asked that question, you remembered something your old teacher used to say.
“Always keep your enemies on their toes, unless your enemy is a ballerina. That’s where they are strongest.” his face of confusion didn’t change, and he looked back at the dancers trying to think.
“What is it that you wanted to talk?” Agnia said once you stepped inside her office.
“We want to talk about Evgenia. Do you know if she was involved in anything that she wasn’t supposed to?”
“No, not that I know of” she said while sitting down at her desk.
“Maybe, she had trouble with someone. Has anyone came here that was unusual and wanted to talk to her?” Spencer asked.
“No. She was always with her students.”
Lie.
“Did she ever tell you about someone she was seeing?” Morgan asked looking around the office.
“No. We didn’t talk about that stuff. And Agent, you can stop looking at my office now, there is nothing here that can help you.” She said and you closed your eyes.
Typical.
“Sorry, thank you for your time Ms. We will leave you now.” Morgan said trying to leave that office as soon as possible.
You left the office but you knew that there was something she wasn’t telling you. She wanted to talk to you alone, that’s why she wasn’t talking and she knew you were going to figure that out.
“Guys, I think I’m going to ask her some more questions” you said.
“Are you sure you want to be there alone with her?” Morgan asked “She’s kinda...”
“Intimidating? I know. I can handle it, trust me.”
Morgan nodded and walked away but you grabbed Spencer by the arm and he looked at you.
“I need to read the file JJ put together. Could you call Garcia and tell her if she can send it to me?”
“Why don’t you ask your friend from last night to help you?”
You stood there for a second because his response took you by surprise “What?”
“Never mind....” he was going to go where Morgan went but you stopped him.
“Spencer, wait. What do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
“No, it’s clearly not nothing. Spencer, what’s wrong?”
“Y/n! It’s nothing! I can call Garcia.” He said rolling his eyes and before you could stop him, he walked away.
You stood there for a couple of seconds in shook because you couldnt understand why Spencer was acting this way. You knew that something made him uncomfortable last night, but you didn’t think that he was this jealous.
You tried to ignore this thoughts and walked towards Agnia’s office.
“Come in, y/n” she said once you knocked on the door.
You rolled your eyes and opened the door.
“I knew you were coming back” she said while reading a paper she had on her hand.
“Well, that’s what you wanted.”
“Yes, but not like this.” She said giving you the look that she always used to give you. Since you left the CIA, she wanted you to come back, she used to see you as one of her best accomplishments.
“What aren’t you telling us?” You said going to the point. You wanted to leave.
“There’s nothing I am not telling you”
You sat down in front of her and she looked at you. “Oh, this takes me back” but she went back to her paper.
“I know what you’re thinking”
“You do? What? The work of a profiler made you more intelligent? Is that it? Is that what you want to show me?”
“No. You taught me this.” And there it was.
She put down her paper and took off her tiny glasses. Her blue eyes felt like they were penetrating you. Like she used to do. She was reading you. But you made sure you weren’t giving her much.
“What am I thinking, then?” She asked closing his glasses and putting them in order on her desk.
“You think one of your students did it.”
She try to not look uncomfortable and hide it perfectly, but thanks to her you were able to catch it.
“And what do you think?” She asked.
“The same as you.”
“It can’t be”
“You always trusted your instincts. Why change now?”
She stayed there in silence still trying to read you.
“You don’t think I did it, do you?” You asked trying to be one step before her.
“I wouldn’t think you’re capable of doing that.” she said trying to sound convincing.
“Lies. You know what I am capable of. You trained me. You made me. Isn’t that it? Why would you think I did it?”
“I don’t know”
“You don’t know? But you always knew everything”
“Don’t play games with me, y/n”
“I’m not playing games, I just want to do my job. That’s why I’m going to watch one of you classes today with my team.”
She opened her eyes widely and stood up.
“I don’t teach my students to kill their own teachers!”
And that was not what you were thinking, but you knew that she was embarrassed for it. She couldn’t face the fact that something went wrong with her teaching methods. She is the perfect one. Nothing goes wrong. It can’t.
“We will see” you said and walked quickly outside the office.
“Everything alright with you two?” Morgan asked Spencer while they were looking around in the academy.
“Who?” Spencer asked trying to avoid the question. “Maybe we can go here, hey, do you know if...?”
“Hey, don’t change the subject, you and Y/n, you seemed a little bit weird last night and the fact that you came later when we separated it means that you two talked, is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong.” Spencer said without making eye contact with Morgan.
“Hey, don’t make me profile you.” Morgan said jokingly to try break the tension. “C’mon, we’re not teenagers, it’s pretty clear what going on. With you and her, and you know it but don’t want to accept.”
“I don’t have anything to accept.”
“Ok, if you don’t, then why did you talked to her like that when you two were alone?”
“Wait, did you listened to us?”
“I came back and I didn’t want to interrupt because you clearly were having something going on in there. That’s not normal for you to react like that. She doesn’t deserve that either.
Maybe Morgan was right, Spencer did felt bad after treating you like that. Since he never talked to you about potentially having a little crush on you, it’s normal that you never suspected anything and go flirt with other guys.
You came out of Agnia’s office and immediately made eye contact with Spencer who was walking towards you.
“Hey, you did it go?” He asked.
He’s really rude and then seconds later he’s normal again?
“She thinks that one of her students did it, and to be honest, so do I.”
“Why would you think that?”
You sighed. You didn’t want to explain it. You didn’t know how. How are you going to say that this type of kills were perform by really well trained killers, and you knew because you are on of them.
“She said, that this type of kills is what they teach. One shot to the head, no leads, no sign of force entry. Everything is clean. That’s what they do. And I agree with her, this is not something we’ve seen before. I’ve told her that we’re going to see her classes, if the student is here, maybe we can catch something.” Spencer nodded. “Where’s Morgan?”
“He’s interviewing some students.” You nodded slowly and felt Spencer’s eyes on you. “Hey... I wanted to say sorry.”
You gave him a small smile and nodded. “It’s ok, sometimes we’re allowed to go crazy when it’s a case like this.”
“Yes, but the case is not why I went crazy...” he said but Morgan cut him off.
“Hotch just called me, we need to hurry. There’s been another kill.”
*****
PART 5 (2/2)
taglist: @itsarayofsunshine @whothefuckstolemykeds @haykayhesson @enigma-xlii @introvertedsin @mylovehes @infires420 @uwu-sebastianstan @my-life-is-here-soo @spencersdolore
If I didn’t tag you it’s because I can’t find you when I type your name. Sorry!
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kisskissbanggang · 4 years
Text
The Sabotage of Simkung House - Part 1
[Stray Kids Multi Fic - 5K Words/20Min. Read - Lee Know x Female Reader - Non-Idol!au, Variety!au - NSFW/Smut, Plot - Reverse Harems, Variety Shows, Secret Hook-Ups]
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Masterlist | Feedback
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This was your weirdest casting call yet. The assistant was taking the longest time looking back and forth from your headshot to your CV, and it was making you anxious. You could be doing better things on a Thursday night than get scrutinized more than usual. Finally, after an agonizing fifteen minutes of near silence on your end, the assistant motioned for the casting director to come over. This new person looked from the CV, to the headshot, to you, in a repeated loop until they ultimately asked you to stand up, turn in a circle, and walk around the room. You felt like a show dog, but relief finally came as the casting director motioned for you to follow, not leave. Was this your weirdest casting call ever? Probably. Would you pass up an opportunity to sign? Of course not. 
Yet another eager assistant trotted up to intercept you as casting led you down the hall.  “I got this,” he explained, politely shooing away the casting director and redirecting you into a new office. 
“Hi,” he greeted as he sat you in a chair, “so we’re glad you're here. I’m Felix,” he introduced himself, offering you a hand to shake before he sat you in a chair in front of the big desk in the room. He remained standing as he animatedly explained himself. “I’m the assistant for our executive producer. We know this has been a little unorthodox.”
“That's fine! I know some AV producers have really high standards,” you shrugged with a polite smile. You hadn't been shooting adult videos long, but in the time since you started you’d definitely had some weird auditions. None as weird as this, still, but weird nonetheless. 
“Right,” Felix nodded, “we were impressed with your materials. I'm already familiar with your work--” he blurted out before cranking back, biting into his lip as he blushed. You modestly nodded for him to continue. “--but I never realized you had such credentials otherwise. You have a very nice acting resume.”
“I've never needed both before,” you explained apologetically, “so I just left everything on there.”
“No no! It’s better than I could've dreamed of. I had no clue you went to school. And you’re bilingual? I thought I recalled you using English once or twice in streams, but I never realized--” Felix paused again, realizing his continued admission. You nodded for him to get going once again. 
“Don’t be embarrassed,” you kindly encouraged, “I’m glad you’re familiar with my work.”
“I am,” he eagerly nodded as he pulled some materials out from a folder sitting on the desk , “And we want you. So can I explain?” He waited for your approval once more before he launched in. We’re casting a new variety show. It’s called Noesengnam House.” The first piece of material he slid across the desk was a logo: a cheesy, bubbly text in front of a silhouette of a chiseled man with a graduation cap on. You raised an eyebrow. However, being enthusiastic was key to landing any gig, so despite any doubts you put on a smile. 
“Alright. So we’re focusing on smart, sexy guys?”
“We’re making smart, sexy guys,” Felix clarifies, and he’s so proud as he passes five headshots across the desk. You’ve always been puzzled by these overenthusiastic assistants, like they have a stake in every good idea so they have to be good. “This is like charm school, but for guys. The catch is they have to get equal marks in all their subjects by the end of the season in order for all of them to win their prizes.”
You got the smallest bit distracted looking over the faces of these five men, wondering how charm school worked as a concept with porn actors. “So the subjects are…?”
“What,” Felix suddenly halted, “not interested in the prizes?”
“I assume it’s money,” you flippantly shrugged, “so what are they supposed to be getting high marks in? I assume I'm working with them, so I'm interested in what they’re doing.”
It was Felix’s turn to shrug. Somehow, he apparently hadn’t predicted this. “The usual: manners, fitness, home economics, academics. They’re all secretly cast to have a specialty, so they have to work together to figure out each other's strengths and weaknesses.”
You finally held up your hands to formally stop him. “I'm sorry,” you politely apologized, “but I think I'm missing something. Where do I fit in?”
“Ah, that's the fun part. We cast them for variety, not for adult content. This will be their first venture.”
“For all of them?” You dubiously marveled, starkly curious how this would affect their performances. Almost no one was ever proud of their first time for more than sentimental reasons. 
“Yes, all of them,” Felix proudly nodded, “in our counterpart series, Simkung House.” He slid a new logo across the desk, the first crossed out and a bubbly pink text replacing it, with the silhouette of a -- no, really -- french maid tickling her duster under the chin of the man in the original design. The cartoon male even had blush added. You raised a sharp eyebrow at Felix. 
“Simkung? Who's the heartthrob, me or them?”
He jokingly waved you off, as if you could dare be so modest. “You, of course. They’re the stars of the daytime show, and you're the star of the nighttime show. Every good dormitory needs a housekeeper.”
“Daytime show?” You asked, backtracking. Your head was starting to swim with details.
“Yes. We actually have a daytime slot for Noesengnam House.”
“And so this--” you tapped on the gaudy pink logo in front of you, “is airing? On television?”
Felix slowed down a second. “Not quite,” he admitted, “it’s an online subscription for a well-negotiated price. Our clientele are loyal, and word of mouth has been our biggest asset.”
“So I just sleep with everyone.”
“Of course not,” Felix grinned, wagging a cheeky finger at you. “You’re working for a prize as well.” He slid a new graphic across the desk, this one a table of information. One row had a heart, the one below had a broken heart, and the one on the bottom simply had a question mark. The zeroes populating the prize side of the infographic made your pulse race. “Our five budding bachelors are all yours for the taking, but they can’t find out about each other. They each have to think they’re the one you chose. If you bed one of them, that’s 50 million won.”
Felix’s grin grew more wicked as your eyes widened.
“If one of them finds out about the others, you’ll lose 60 million won each. So control of information is key.”
“And what’s this?” You asked suspiciously, pointing at the ominous question mark. 
“That,” he explained, “is for added drama being incited. You’ll find out later.”
“So what if I get all five?” You asked, feeling a bit foolish for getting excited.
“Then you get the prize,” Felix said seriously, “There's 500 million won at hand here, but you don't get to earn any of your penalties back for anyone finding out.”
You felt a little nauseous. That much money could get you a modest house, and maybe a car, and maybe all sorts of things. 
“Where’s the contract?” You cautiously asked, not wanting to sound too eager. 
“Of course,” Felix nodded as he pulled out two packets from under his pile of promotional material, one for each show, “I figured you’ll want copies for your manager--”
“I manage myself,” you firmly replied to Felix’s surprise, taking the copies from him and grabbing a pen from your bag. You flipped through, immediately crossing out any transfer of representation and exclusivity clauses. You had to be able to work after this, and you had to be able to keep up your own streams on the side during production if the schedule allowed. Your pen paused as you hit something interesting. 
“What’s this about accommodations?”
“We’ve leased a house for production instead of making a studio more habitable for the cast. You’ll need to be accessible at all times given our schedule.”
“So my stream…?”
“Sadly, you’ll need to take a hiatus,” Felix pouted a little in sympathy, “but we’re confident you’ll find new fans. Now, are you going to use that pen to sign? Or do you want time?”
A miniature war broke out in your head over the prospects, but you quickly tried to decipher why -- the contract practically led in with the fact you’d get five million up front. That would help pay the bills in advance and settle some debt that had sat while money was tight. If you said no, someone else would say yes. You would meet new guys and network, and possibly come out with more money than you had going in. 
You signed. 
---
Felix wasn’t around on your first day on set, but you had his card in case you needed him. You wheeled your one suitcase to the front door of the handsome house, and an assistant immediately herded you to your room, further away from the chaos currently happening in the main living space. The bottom floor of the house mostly contained the impressive home gym, but appeared to also be where the laundry room and your room were located. You noted cameras tucked into all sorts of corners and crevices, some more obvious than others. 
Your room was modest, with a small bathroom attached and its own fair share of cameras around. It was cutely decorated, a little feminine with warm string lights and soft textiles, but not very personal. It could've been any girl's room, but for now, it was yours. Felix had assured you that the cameras in here would only ever be on at night, and always with a signal of one of the bulbs on your string lights blinking. You opened your closet to get a feel of the space and where you could put your things when you saw your uniforms set out for you. A number of soft blouses with coordinating skirts hung on padded hangers, ready for you to mix and match. When you opened the drawers beside them, you found pairs of sensible tights and delicate pantyhose, some patterned and some not. Thankfully, the costumes were pretty sensible. You didn't want to be parading around in a french maid costume, swishing petticoats in boys’ faces or bending at the waist to show off some frilly panties. If the show wanted you to actually seduce these men and do it with some romance and dignity, the modestly cute uniforms would work just fine. You did also bring some of your own clothes, something Felix so graciously insisted upon, so you had options should you grow tired of the same look. 
You unpacked and changed into a pale pink blouse with a black pencil skirt and some grey tights before heading upstairs where you were immediately intercepted by another assistant. 
“Noona,” the younger man politely greeted, “you must be our housekeeper.” You nodded with a smile in return, popping the first button on your blouse when the assistant held up a lavalier mic to clip on. He quickly averted his eyes as you threaded the cord down and around to your back, endearing you, but just a little. 
“What's your name?” You asked, watching for some sound tech to signal that you were fine or needed adjustments. 
“I’m Seungmin, noona. You can let me know if you need anything. For now, we'll get you to a stylist and get you today's pages.” Seungmin showed you upstairs to the attic of the grand house, a de facto control center just above the main floor. A stylist swept you up and sat you in a chair while Seungmin fetched your pages. As the first episode, you would really only get a short introduction with the other staff: a cook, and a valet. For some reason, these cast members didn’t also reside in the house, but you didn’t need to question the producers at the moment and cause trouble. The main cast appeared to be downstairs already getting set for their first takes, their voices muffled through the thick rugs placed on the floor on this level. A text beeped through your phone that you had stashed in the pocket of your apron, and you opened it. 
>How's my star? Ready for your first day? Can I get a picture? I have the big boss here. 
You rolled your eyes at Felix’s antics, but took a reluctantly cute selfie anyhow, even winking for the camera.
>Perfect. It's like your first day of school and I'm so proud lmao. Big boss says to tone down the sass. Clients are more into Hidden Charm. 
A heavy sigh fell from your chest. You were already nervous for your first real variety debut, let alone with the show tonight lurking ahead. Seungmin appeared right next to you, ready to lead you downstairs as the stylist set your hair one last time. 
The lights in the living room were a bit irritating and took a second to adjust to, but the room itself was great. The home was impeccably decorated, modern and smart and just cozy enough to not feel sterile. You were sat next to your other Staff cast members while the main cast finished up in the dining room, your introductions awkward and brief. An errant bead of sweat traveled from the nape of your neck down your back when the rest of the cast were led into the living room, tempting you to shiver until the crew was done setting up. 
You watched, distracted in the middle of rising from your seat when the cast filed in from the dining room down the hall, stretching and chatting as they took a quick break. The boys all had on some coordinating iteration of the same uniform, capitalizing on the ‘college boys in their dorm’ concept the show was toying with. First was Minho, a perfectly pressed crease undisturbed on his slacks despite filming all morning, and his sleeves bundled up over his hands as he nonchalantly entered the room and immediately took a seat on the couch. Next came Jisung, glasses gradually sliding too low and one end of his necktie a little too short. Changbin followed, looking down his long nose at a loose thread on his sweater vest, with Hyunjin right behind stopping him to fuss over it himself. He stooped down to see better and brazenly reached under the material to pull the loose thread back through before being prodded along by Chan pulling up the rear. Hyunjin straightened up, smoothing out his blazer and adjusting his beret before joining the rest of the boys on the long sofa, Minho now having scooted off to sit on a tufted ottoman. Chan casually rerolled his shirt sleeves and brushed a hand through his ashy blonde hair, opting to stand until the crew was ready. The assistant director stepping in to run down the scene finally pulled you out of your reverie. Clearly, your co-stars’ headshots didn't do them justice, but did they think the same of yours?
The scene was simple: following the round-table of introductions in the previous scene, the cast meets the staff before picking roommates. That was it, that was your big debut, and for some reason it was nerve-wracking. You and the staff all nodded greetings before filming even began, before you took your marks off camera. The boys were all polite, but none of them treated you with any familiarity. You would have to remember to ask Felix if they actually had seen your headshot before coming to set. 
Finally, cameras rolled. As the Seniors of the group, Minho and Chan led the discussion, but Chan was clearly filling his role as the show’s host. He spoke well, and with plenty of charm, but something definitely struck you as odd about him. You just couldn’t pinpoint what. Your cue snapped you out of your train of thought and you suddenly remembered you were nervous, just as you walked on set and into the irritating lights. The valet introduced himself first, and then the cook, and, to your horror… You forgot your cheesy intro line. 
What was it?
Amazing. Your first shot would require a reshoot, and it would be because of a flub. 
You momentarily floundered, opting instead to roll with it and improvise. 
“Hello, boys,” you beamed as you greeted them, “I’m your housekeeper. Keep a good home while you're here, since I'll be the one cleaning it. I hope you have nothing to hide.” You topped it off with a wink, and the boys all shared a momentary air of surprise. You didn't blame them -- it was awkward, cringy, and too ‘sassy.’ The Big Boss probably hated it. 
But the boys laughed. Actually laughed. The take finished without any more problems, and the stylist ran up to reset your hair between takes. 
“Was it bad?” You whispered as she touched up your makeup. 
“No, I liked it!” She smiled, reassuring you a little. In fact, the AD asked you to run it again the way you had, surprised you could improvise at all. The retake went more smoothly, and you finally allowed yourself a sigh of relief as the scene cut for transition. 
As the boys finally wrapped up, you set about your other duties. When the cameras weren't formally set and manned, the planted cameras caught plenty of action from the boys. The valet had it easy; he was come-and-go as the plot necessitated, but you and the cook actually worked. Your contract outlined that while the boys were usually “on” from eight o'clock to eight o'clock, that you were an actual part-timer during the day and working at night. You could “work” your show during the day, but you couldn't interfere with the daytime activities. If you were needed as a housekeeper during the day, then that was priority, and these bookshelves apparently came with dust on them. You set about dusting as the boys transitioned from their scripted work to more casual filming. They each gave you a look as they filed back out of the living room to get set up in their rooms. Some expressions were cryptic, Hyunjin and Chan especially, but some were clear, like Minho’s small grin as he subtly looked you up and down as you reached for a tall shelf. Not wanting to shy away from an opportunity, you smiled back. 
The rest of your day was pretty simple, all things considered. You dusted and swept and tidied up a little, but since all five men had just started living in the house, there wasn’t much else at the moment. The house calmed down considerably as the huge crew dispersed for the day, now resembling just a mostly normal home. You hung out and snacked in your room as you heard everyone eating upstairs, only emerging once you heard their chairs scooting free of the dinner table. At that moment, one of the bulbs on your string lights blinked three times and then turned off. 
You immediately straightened up where you sat in bed and cheerily waved at the camera. Felix had outlined that you would never have to do much talking if you didn’t feel like it. You rose from your bed, turning to fix the bow in your apron before heading out of your room, giving the camera an extra wave. As you turned to ascend the stairs, a figure landed right on the bottom step in front of you, making you jump with a startled laugh. 
“Chan--!” You gasped into a giggle. “I'm so sorry, you surprised me.”
“I’m sorry, noona, I’ll be more careful,” he nodded cordially as he briskly moved to step around you. You quickly took note of the basket in his hands. 
“Wait!” You jumped back in front of him. “You don’t have to do your own laundry, you know. Besides, you already have some on night one?” You held your hands open for him to set the basket into and he hesitated before reluctantly giving it up to you. 
“It’ll take some getting used to, noona, thank you. I just wanted to take care of my uniform and my street clothes from before I got to set.”
“Fair enough,” you smiled warmly despite his stiff demeanor, turning heel back towards the laundry room as Chan hesitated again before heading back up the stairs. Working quickly, you set about separating the meager pile of laundry and getting them started on washing before you returned to your original plan and headed upstairs yourself. 
Through the living room was the dining room, and beyond that was the kitchen down the hall. You peered in, spying a sink full of dishes from dinner. You pulled on some gloves and got to washing when your ears perked up at the sound of the kitchen door swinging open. Just like that, your assumption was right: someone had to be a late-night snacker in the cast. And, of course, it was Minho. 
“I'm sure you could’ve eaten with us if you wanted,” Minho slyly grinned as he pulled open a cabinet and peered inside. His uniform was swapped out for a much comfier number, a simple henley shirt and pajama pants. The thin layers hugged the subtle outlines of his figure and suggested that despite his casual nature, he still put in effort for his looks. He came away from the cabinet with a box of cookies and offered it to you. You smiled and silently declined. 
“I appreciate that, Minho, but I'm just the help.”
“Yeah, but you’re pretty,” he said bluntly, quietly picking the box open, “and I feel like we could be friends.”
You watched, quietly impressed with how cool Minho could be. He silently, nonchalantly took a bite of a cookie and offered you a bite of the same. Could you really say no to an advance like that? 
Sure you could. Where was the fun in making it easy? You spied a camera in the corner of the kitchen, tucked under the hanging cabinets. Stepping aside, Minho instinctively circled with you, opening your conversation up for the camera. 
“It’s only the first night, Minho,” you teasingly scolded as you leaned forward and took a bite of the proffered cookie, “you shouldn't be so eager.”
Minho surprised you again, his thumb instantly at your lip and cleaning off a crumb you hadn't even felt. 
“Are you sure you're just the help?” He laughed quietly. “You don't act like it.”
“I can act however you want me to,” you teased back, enjoying the way his eyes lit up at your little repartee. You locked gazes as you let his thumb caress your bottom lip, watching for his reaction when dipped your chin to take the digit between your lips for just a moment. You took a step back, leaning back against the counter. His turn now. Minho set the box of cookies down, a devilish grin tugging at his lip as he stepped closer. 
When the door swung open once again. You both rapidly turned away from each other, your hands plunging back into the sink and Minho turning back to the cabinets. Changbin blinked at the two of you. 
“‘Sup,” Minho cheerily greeted, “I'm making myself something to eat. Want anything?”
“Nah,” Changbin shook his head as his eyes darted between the two of you before settling on the box of cookies on the counter. He stiffly reached between you both and grabbed it. “I'll be just fine with this. Unless you wanted--?”
“No, thanks, that's fine, like I said, making myself something,” Minho enthusiastically prattled on, making himself look busy as he started facetiously searching for pans in the bottom cabinets under the counter. Changbin raised an eyebrow before shrugging, popping open the box of cookies and digging in as he left the kitchen. 
A beat passed in the silence as you both waited for Changbin’s footsteps to disappear, but you didn’t get a chance to say anything before you felt Minho press up behind you where you stood at the sink. You let yourself have a small smile as he reached his arms around you, grabbing a kitchen towel and pulling your hands out of the sink to dry them. His head leaned down over your shoulder, his breath tickling your neck as he took his time before you grew impatient. You leaned back against his chest, opening up your neck for him. Minho breathed you in and brushed your hair back, the impression of his smirk pressed into you as his lips brushed against the delicate skin. 
You turned in his arms, playfully pushing him back a couple inches by the hips, and he instantly stepped closer, getting on with it already and driving his lips against yours. His flannel pajama pants did next to nothing to hide his growing erection he was currently grinding into your thigh. You kissed him deep, readily spreading your legs for him as his hands searched you and played with the hem of your skirt. 
“Right here?” You asked coyly. 
“As if we weren't pushing for that this whole time already,” Minho chuckled as he kissed you up and back against the counter. He spun you back around, pressing your hips against the sink as he kissed and nibbled at your neck. “Say it,” he implored. 
“Fuck me,” you replied breathlessly, gasping as Minho immediately pulled your skirt up around your hips and bent you over the sink, his fingers dipping below the waist of your tights and tugging them down. His fingertips probed your dripping entrance from behind and you gave an encouraging moan for him to continue. “What,” you grinned back over your shoulder, “chickening out?”
“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting this,” he teased, “you sure you want it? You did say it's the first night.”
“Give it to me,” you said adamantly. Minho smiled back as he pulled out his hard length. One hand gripped your hip as he guided himself in, groaning as your depths took him deep. You squeaked out a surprised moan when he bottomed out before both his hands were on your hips now and pulling you deeper around him. 
You clapped a hand over your mouth to keep from getting too loud as Minho fucked you over the sink, his hips bucking hard against you as his length filled you up. Once he set a reliable rhythm, one hand crept lower, between your legs to caress your clit as he fucked you.
“I want to make you cum,” Minho gritted behind you, “tell me how and I'll do it.”
“Keep doing what you’re doing and you will,” you taunted. 
Minho seemed pleased with your answer, his fingers still rubbing firm circles on your clit as his cock drove in and out of you even faster. You pushed your hips back against his, gripping the counter hard as the refined angle helped hit your spot more consistently. Minho let out a deep groan at the sound of your quickening whimpers, the sound of you approaching your orgasm making it difficult for him to keep up his own pace. 
“Minho,” you gasped, “I’m gonna--!”
You threw your head back as you cried out, quickly muffled when Minho pressed his own hand over your mouth. He kept it there, his other hand still holding firm onto your hip as he fucked you through your orgasm and on his way to his own. You whined and moaned into his palm, the way his own desperate groans combined with his stuttering grip on you making you lightheaded. He came hard, suddenly, emptying himself inside you as he gritted out hushed curses and panted breaths. 
You both stayed there, connected at the hips before Minho pulled out and brought you back up from the ledge of the sink. It was sweet, the way he helped put you back together and kissed your cheek. 
“Thanks,” he panted with a grin, still catching his breath, “hope this won’t make anything weird.”
“Of course not,” you smiled back as you brushed your fingers through your hair, “we can even do it again some time if you’d like.”
“Yeah?” 
“Yeah. What’re friends for?” You winked, and Minho’s laugh was almost bashful as he playfully nudged your shoulder. His hand lingered on yours before he gave a cute wave and finally walked out of the kitchen. 
You waited a beat for Minho’s footsteps to disappear before you found the closest camera in the corner of the kitchen and gave it a wave and a smile. You finished the dishes and left them to dry and exited the kitchen, nearly screaming in surprise as you ran right into someone. 
Another assistant, blinking in surprised relief and taking a deep breath. 
“Well done, noona,” the assistant laughed quietly. 
“Who are--”
“Jeongin, noona, sorry.”
“Where have you been hiding?” You asked, bewildered. 
“Upstairs in the control room. I come in when the day crew leaves to help supervise in case you need anything.” He handed you a bottle of water and you nodded your gratitude, uncapping and taking a sip as you looked him over. He was an actual infant. He must've gotten roped into the industry right out of school. “Any other plans tonight?”
“Don’t think so,” you chuckled. “The show won’t be much fun if I get everything done in one week.”
“Sounds good, noona. You’ll be getting some rest then?” 
“Sure will.” You waved goodbye to the assistant as he crept back up the stairs and you headed down towards your room, making a quick stop to make a change over in Chan’s laundry for him. 
You stripped down in the comfort of your room, waving as the camera blinked on and you pulled on your pajamas. The sheets were welcoming as you crawled into bed, blowing a kiss to your viewers before the camera blinked back off. Your phone buzzed with a text from Felix as your eyelids grew heavy. 
>Good show tonight. Great start. The big boss loved it. Can you wear the dark blue blouse tomorrow? I want to see if it looks better than the pink. And don't make tonight a habit. We gotta keep things interesting. ;)
You sighed, now suddenly curious how you would “keep things interesting” between all five boys and wondering who would be next. 
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deweysdenouement · 4 years
Text
House of Cards
a/n: this has lived in my mind rent free for longer than i care to admit but i only actually wrote it all tonight. somethin’ a little different. somethin’ likely not that good.
or: years after beatrice and bertrand leave vfd, beatrice and frank get trapped under a desk together during a bank robbery. mostly just them, cameos from bertrand, violet, and ernest + much discussion of kit and dewey
TW for guns and blood (nothing graphic, no death)
“Well,” Beatrice says brightly as a bullet flies over their heads and dislodges some beige coloured plaster in the wall. “This is no good.”
“I thought we were just amicable strangers in a queue,” Frank replies flatly, folded up like the origami swans on the tables at his hotel, trying to keep his body hidden under the desk. 
“Amicable strangers surviving a bank robbery together,” she says. “It brings people closer.”
“That’s never been my experience of the world,” Frank says, and it’s punctuated by another two shots, an effect she imagines he rather enjoys. “In my experience, when people get scared, they just leave.”
‘Well,” Beatrice says, as her heart breaks behind her ribs, “I am actually stuck here right now.”
“You haven’t changed,” he replies, and a hint of softness creeps into his voice. “I thought being a mother would force you to learn to actually listen to people.”
It’s a dig, and an accurate one at that, but they might be dead in a few minutes, so she leaves her arsenal of words she could throw back at him alone. Partly because she’s listening for the footsteps of the man keeping them all in here, partly because Frank looks more pitiful than annoyed.
“I have two children now,” she says softly. “So I should be doubly good at it.”
“I saw. Dewey kept the clipping from the birth announcement in the paper.”
“How is he?”
“You know Dewey,” Frank says, tone carefully even. “If there’s a silver lining, he’ll find it.”
Someone on the other side of the room starts to cry. A few scattered voices hush them.
“He’s not great,” Frank finishes. “So we should try to avoid dying here.”
“We’ll be fine,” Beatrice says easily. “They just want the money. We’ve got nothing to do with it.”
“Bad timing,” he murmurs.
“Because you’re stuck in a hostage situation, or because you’re stuck in a hostage situation with me?”
Frank smiles crookedly for the first time since they had noticed each other in the queue.
“Oh, the latter,” he says. “If I was stuck here with Bertrand? No complaints.”
“Bertrand could have talked that guy down by now,” she says glumly. “You could run off back to the hotel and avoid any awkward conversation at all.” 
“Don’t you always claim to be some genius with people?” Frank shifts slightly, and she hears the crack of his bones. They’re both getting older.
“I can’t even get toddlers to go to bed,” she says ruefully, and it feels more honest than she means it to. “You think I can stop a hostage situation with the power of love?”
“Well, it would be nice. I have a meeting in an hour.”
“I cannot believe you are worrying about work,” she hisses. “Are you gonna try telling him that?”
“I’ve never seen the emotional card work in the movies,” he says, and she thinks he might be joking with her again. “Who can know what’ll work?”
“I do feel very inclined to tell him I have a husband and two children,” Beatrice huffs, and slides down the smooth wood so she’s half resting on the small of her back. “If anything happens to me-”
“Don’t be dramatic,” he says sharply. His face is closed off again. “Nothing is happening to you.”
“Never knew you cared.” She grins at him, knocks her shoe against his. “Anyone else would have let me have my moment.”
“Kit would tell you to shut up,” he says. “Then threaten to run you over with her taxi.”
“That was definitely her thing.”
“It still is her thing,” Frank says. “We didn’t all stop existing when you left.”
“I know,” she says, a little ashamed. “How is she?”
“How much have you forgotten about us that you think Kit and I are talking about feelings?”
“Good point,” she says, and laughs a bit. “But you can tell, can’t you?”
“I guess,” he hums. “She’s pretty mad at you.”
“That’s fair.”
Footsteps move right past their desk, separated only by a thin slice of wood, and they both hold their breaths for a moment.
“She does miss you both though,” he carries on, and she thinks maybe he’s using Kit as a shield, that they’re not really talking about her anymore. “Probably more than she’s mad at you.”
“I guess you can’t know,” she says.
“I guess not.”
“I really am sorry,” Beatrice whispers. “And you can tell her that, if you want. I think a lot of people would have made our choice if they’d been able to.”
Being friends with Frank, she remembers, is a lot like building a house of cards. There’s a lot of fragile and strategic placing, and a wrong step usually means starting over. It’s a shame this isn’t really a good time to be hesitant.
“I would have,” he says eventually, and she breathes a sigh of relief. “But then VFD made the hotel too critical to their operations, even though we just wanted it to be a hotel. And then there’s my brothers. Obviously.”
“I didn’t know you wanted it to be normal,” she frowns.
“Told you you didn’t know everything,” he says, smiling weakly. “What better way to keep us where we were than monopolising our only source of income?”
“Not very noble,” she mutters, then, “Why do you always talk about it like you’re not a part of it?”
“Don’t start reading into things,” he huffs. “I look at most things from the outside.”
“Well, that’s because you have problems,” Beatrice quips teasingly, and she’s about to make an excellent joke when there’s another round of shots so close to her ear that for a second her head is full of ringing, and then Frank is groaning next to her.
When the ringing subsides and she hears the feet move away and sees the light shining through the holes in her desk, she scrambles over to Frank.
“Oh shit,” she says, when she sees blood on the floor. “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah, feeling great,” Frank snaps, shifting so she can see the wound in his leg. It’s not deep, and he doesn’t look in any danger of dying, but it still makes her a little dizzy after a few years of mainly cleaning up baby food. “Not the first time.”
“When was the first time?” Beatrice asks, stripping off her cardigan to press it against his leg and trying to sound normal. “And why haven’t I heard this story?”
“Oh, it was meant for Ernest,” he says, and hisses when she applies pressure. “I kept up the ruse. Long story.”
“We have time,” she says.
“Not much,” he replies. “I heard police outside.”
As much as she would like to not be hiding from a man with a gun, Beatrice knows that when this is over, so is this conversation. They’re only trapped here together by freak coincidence and her pulling him down next to her when the first shots went off. He’ll be gone with the wind as soon as the doors open.
“Hey, Beatrice,” he says, snapping her out of her reverie. “Listen to me for a moment and don’t say anything.”
“Fine,” she says. “Don’t confess your feelings for me though.”
“Hah,” he snorts. “Well, if I do, it’s the blood loss.” 
“Making you reveal what you’ve felt all along,” she says brightly. “Come on now, before you pass out.”
“I’m not passing out,” he says stubbornly, and she believes this because she’s seen him go three days without sleeping before. “I just needed to tell you that if I die and you live-”
“Obviously not happening.”
“I said don’t say anything,” he grumbles. “If I don’t make it out of here and you do, I need you to tell my brothers-”
“That you love them? We know, Frank, maybe you should just show some affection sometimes.”
“Will you shut up?” Frank narrows his eyes at her. He’s a little pale and sweaty, but still as sharp as ever. “I need you to tell them one of them can take my place. If they want to. It’s probably easier than whatever they’ve got going on.”
“Well,” Beatrice says. “That’s insane.”
“I didn’t ask your opinion on it, I just asked you to do it,” Frank snaps. “Beatrice, for god’s sake, let a man bleed in peace.”
“You’re hilarious,” she says. “I don’t think you have it that easy though.”
“Your opinion isn’t really part of my life anymore,” he says bluntly, and closes his eyes. “I’d pass on a message for you.”
“Eh,” she says. “I think I’m kinda obvious now. I love my family, I want them to move on, I was very noble, blah blah.”
“Duly noted,” he replies. “You have fun with that.”
Then the doors break open, and there’s a cacophony of yelling, and when Beatrice peers over the top of the desk, she sees that the man who took them all hostage is in handcuffs.
“Told you we’d be fine,” she says. “I know you thought we were both done for, but you gotta learn to listen to me.”
Frank flips her off, and she helps him to his feet, slinging one skinny arm over her shoulder.
Outside, there are crowds of people all with their gloved hands over their mouths and some cheer as the little group of hostages trails out.
“Hi!” A little voice calls, and Beatrice looks down to see Violet toddling towards her at top speed, Bertrand hurrying behind her with Klaus in his arms.
“Oh,” he says slowly when he approaches, and sees Frank with her. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Frank says, making some vague attempt to look dignified despite barely being on his feet. “I hope you’re well.”
“Are you?” Bertrand asks, nonplussed. 
“What do you think?” Frank says flatly, and Beatrice nods subtly to the blood seeping down his leg so Bertrand will understand the sudden absence of a filter.
Before Bertrand can come up with any reasonable response to that (and she’s sure he could and she would admire him greatly for it), Ernest is swooping in, and it’s another punch to the gut of a familiar face even if it’s the exact same face.
“There you are,” Ernest says, pulling Frank off Beatrice to lean on him without a word to her. He looks dreadful, but she can’t tell if it’s the present stress or a new normal. “Dewey’s worried sick. Kit drove me here, that’s how dire things got.”
“Hi, Ernest,” Beatrice says. Bertrand stays wisely silent.
Ernest gives her the once-over.
“Thanks for helping,” he says shortly. “You probably shouldn’t come to the taxi.”
“Good call,” she says weakly. “Bye.”
It feels just as hard the second time.
“Bye,” Ernest says, and Frank raises a hand. “Okay, come on, you’re off work for at least a week.”
“It’s a graze,” Frank sighs, and then they’re both gone into the crowd, and Beatrice stands among the bustle of people with Bertrand’s hand on her shoulder and fresh blood drying on her dress.
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